Art-22

I recorded this CBS program when it aired in 1989 only because my brother is in it. He's the mathematics professor who debunks systems which supposedly helps people win a lottery.. The program tries to be fair giving people who believe their winning systems will work a chance to explain, but all pretty much skirt the issue. One came across as odd; he photographs the "aura' emitted by fingers and says numbers appear on the prints when developed. Another hems and haws when asked how much money her system has won. A third uses astrology to get winning numbers. It's no wonder that one reporter concludes you can make money with a system you are comfortable with, not by using it, but by selling it. Indeed, one woman reported she sold half a million copies of her book.

The program also interviews a few lucky people who won millions in a lottery, but I found more interesting stories of people who were adversely affected by addiction to gambling. One resorted to stealing to satisfy a $200-a-day gambling habit. A reporter notes that 4% of gamblers are addicted, and that is a lot of people. Arguments are given by pro-lottery and anti-lottery proponents. At the time, 11 states ran lotteries with the proceeds used to minimize taxes, fund education, etc. The antis say simply it is immoral, or against God, or the state shouldn't be in the lottery business.

Overall, I found this to be a balanced, informative and entertaining documentary.

This film covers Chaplin's early life with stills, as there is no movie record of it, and his meteoric rise to fame in 1914 to about 1917, with clips of "Auto Races in Venice (1914)" (where he first used his 'little tramp' getup), followed by clips of 13 other shorts in the period, including "The Floorwalker," "The Rink" and "The Immigrant." It was fairly well written and nicely hosted by Joel Grey, but it could have been much better. I was disappointed in the quality of many of the clips. They were not only scratchy, but also overblown with heads often cut off. And they were run at sound speed giving it that jerky motion which gives silents a bad name. Even in 1980, better clips were available and should have been used.

The commissioner of schools himself urges voters to vote "yes" on all 7 bond issues, presumably to help education in San Francisco, California. Students are shown rushing to catch streetcars to take them to their next class, often 2 miles away. And they do this all day long 5 days a week for the entire term. I suppose the bond issue was for building a junior high school to alleviate that problem, but we are never told its purpose; probably the residents knew without any further explanation. When shown on the Turner Classic Movies channel, Robert Osborne's co-host, Annette Melville, mentioned many such political ads were made in the period, but few survive. In that context, I found the film fascinating. Ms. Melville also mentioned it was very effective, since the bond issue passed with 70% of the votes.