Tag Archives: 1980s

Interview, Television

The Roy Faires Collection: Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger (1987)

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Watch on Texas Archive of the Moving Image

Institution: Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Collection: The Roy Faires Collection

Running time: 10m 01s
Source film:  color; sound
Year: 1987
Production: KVUE-TV

Interviewer: Roy Faires

Three decades ago today, John McTiernan’s 1987 science-fiction-horror-action film Predator was released. The ensemble cast featured seasoned “tough guy” actors, a screenwriter, three future politicians, and in his seventh leading role, Arnold Schwarzenegger. During its theatrical run, Predator generated more than $59 million at the American box office and nearly $100 million worldwide, the most of any Schwarzenegger film up to that point. This sit-down interview with Austin, TX entertainment reporter, Roy Faires occurred during the sixth stop in the film’s publicity tour. While the KVUE-TV production set where the interview was situated is surprisingly dull, Arnie’s loud cardigan and side-part hair style is my new favorite measuring stick for awkward 1980s celebrity fashion.

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Ephemeral, Moral

Face Value (1981)

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Distribution: A/V Geeks
Featured on: Temptations of a Christian Teenager

Running time: 09m 32s
Source film:  16mm; color; sound
Year: 1981
Director: Fred Carpenter
Production: Mars Hill Productions; Campus Life; Sterling Educational Films
Writer: Fred Carpenter
Photography/Camera: John Snavely
Location Sound: Lloyd Poe
Post Production Mix: Tim Himes
Editor: Fred Carpenter

Cast: Greg Guy, Steve Herrington, Nancy Houston, Brent Johnson, et al.

A cursory reading of the 1979 song, “Head Games,” by the rock band Foreigner, reveals vague relationship troubles between its narrator and a lover, expressed through the sort of tedious lyrics favored by the commercial rock radio of the era. The “answer” to these problems, the song states, is “nowhere in sight,” and the narrator’s daydreams are “haunting” and possibly “warning” him. Perhaps these specific allusions convinced director Fred Carpenter to use the song as a musical refrain in his 1981 moral behavior short, Face Value, but it’s an odd fit for a film that attempts to lecture teenagers about the futility of unscrupulous social behaviors. Did Carpenter have any idea about how many teenagers in the 1970s and 80s made out (and more) while ballads by Foreigner played in the background?

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Educational, Ephemeral

Dr. Fox Animal Series: Cat Care (1987)

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Distribution: Maier Group Communication
Collection: Private

Other titles: CAT; Dr. Fox Series: Cat Care; Cat care: a video guide to successful cat care;
Running time: 43m 00s
Source: VHS; color; sound
Year: 1987
Production: United Media Production; Selluloid Video
In Cooperation with: Actors and Others For Animals

Cast: Dr. Michael Fox

Before there were YouTube tutorials and Pets WebMD (yes, it’s a real thing) people had video guides (often produced on VHS) and could learn just about any skill in the comfort of their own living room in front of their trusty VCR. From swing dancing to gardening, odds are your local library was (and still is!) a treasure trove of analog-based know-how.

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Educational, Health

A is for AIDS (1988)

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Watch now on Archive.org

Institution: Internet Archive
Collection: Educational Films

Running Time: 15m 00s
Source film: VHS; sound; color
Year: 1988
Director: Aron Ranen
Production: Perennial Education; Peregrine Productions; Charlotte K. Beyers
Writers: Charlotte K. Beyers, Aron Ranen
Music / Sound Effects: Andrew Newell
Computer Animation: Steven Walsted

Cast: Roger Peeks, Dov Christopher, Larina Williams, Jason Bennett, Jeanette Stoney, Celeste Carrion, Ryan White, Noe Zavala

Animation has a long and storied history of alliterative character names. Classic figures from Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound to SpongeBob SquarePants, have wormed their way into the collective conscience and TV schedules of generations of viewers. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that creators Aron Ranen and Charlotte K. Beyers decided to use this tried-and-true formula to name the talking (doctor) dog at the center of their 1988 educational film, A is for AIDS. Dr. Andy Answer (voiced by Dov Christopher) is the sort of oracle who supernaturally pops up on the television screen at the exact moment three adolescents react with curiosity to a televised news report about the AIDS health crisis. His invitation to the kids to teleport to his laboratory seems rife with problems, both technological and otherwise.

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Industrial, Occupational, Safety

Shake Hands with Danger (1980)

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Watch on Archive.org

Institution: Internet Archive
Collection: Prelinger Archives

Running time: 23m 8s
Source film:  16mm; color; sound
Year: 1980
Director: Herk Harvey
Production: Centron Corporation; Arthur H. Wolf; Russell A. Mosser
Writer: John Clifford
Cinematography: Bob Rose
Narrator: Charles Oldfather
Editor: Chuck Lacey

While I can’t say with 100% certainty that we won’t stumble upon another safety film that features chest wounds, a man on fire, or a titular country song, chances are that 1980’s Shake Hands with Danger is the only one containing all three. Helmed by Carnival of Souls director Herk Harvey and sponsored by Caterpillar Tractor Company, this film is among the more prolific safety films ever produced (it was even given the Rifftrax treatment).

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