Buckles Blog: From Eric Beheim

Friday, September 09, 2011

Coming soon to this Blog: CLYDE BEATTY’S ANIMAL THRILLS

Harry Kingston said...: Eric,
How about doing one on the MGM, Pete Smith short, Cat College with the one the only Clyde Beatty.
Now that would be a hum dinger.
Harry in Texas; 09 September, 2011 10:04
Eric said...: Harry,

What year was CAT COLLEGE released? Sometimes these old short subjects are included along with a feature film when it is released on DVD.

Most of the early Castle Films subjects were assembled from old newsreel footage and footage taken from theatrical short subjects that had played in movie theaters a few years earlier. The Beatty footage might have originally been filmed for CAT COLLEGE.; 09 September, 2011 12:50
Harry Kingston said...: Eric,
Just a guess but I would say 1939 or 1940.
Harry in Texas; 09 September, 2011 14:09
Ole Whitey said...: Cat College came out in 1940. Interesting in that it includes Patricia English, Beatty's one-time protégé.

It was shot at his Jungle Zoo in Ft Lauderdale.; 09 September, 2011 14:28
Roger Smith said...: In 1941 (I'll have to look for the issue date), LIFE magazine ran a photo feature of Beatty schooling Ms. English. The story claimed that when many eager aspirants showed up, Beatty's first lesson was to show them the pure savagery of the animals when their meat was forked in. Seeing the cats tear into 16-pound feeds changed many freshman minds.; 10 September, 2011 00:01

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