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Frank Cotolo
October 29, 2026 |
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Through the decades of my storied life in and around show business I have gathered an esoteric
taste for film. I don't disparage any movie based on its lack of depth or artistry but some of my
favorite films are abstruse works produced by people that never made the mainstream league. So,
once again, here are a few of my favorites.
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ROUNDABOUT ROBBIE, 1954
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This black-and-white-hand-held-shot film was written and directed and starred Russ Wiltgarten.
His script was given the go ahead by an independent studio that lied about having a big budget
for the film and kept putting off paying the cast and crew. But everyone involved so loved the
project they stayed involved with a promise that they would be paid.
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As for the story, it follows a man attempting to walk around the world on his hands. A former
circus performer and part-time podiatrist, Robbie Bendzit starts his journey and picks up
thousands of followers along the way. During his stops he sleeps with many of them and proposes
marriage to many of them when the task is over. Those relationships get in the way of Robbie's
goal and there are some comic moments before the surprise ending.
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STOLEN HEARTS ON A RUNAWAY CABOOSE, 1961
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Erma Stileyes' beautiful film exposes us into the ruptured lives of young people whom suffer from
parental abuse. Not from their parents but from the parents of people they date. Shot with used
film, one of the pairs of young men and women sharing deep feelings about one another board a
passenger train traveling across Canada and when no one working on the train is looking they
unhook the caboose and live there. The adventure inside the caboose is a metaphor for may things
psychological.
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