# Movies that have just disappeared **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472 "2009-05-24T17:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/21 "2009-05-25T14:21:35Z")
> [@detop](#): > > I have that one on DVD (as part of a 50 war movies pack) and you’re right. The sound quality is extremely poor. I wonder if a good 35mm print of it still exists? Being that it’s in the Public Domain, I could buy it, have it transferred to digital for a few thousand dollars, distribute it, and make a mint selling it to enthusiasts! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/22 "2009-05-25T14:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > In any case, I think your assessment is a bit harsh. It’s pretty uneven but there are some real laugh-out-loud moments in it. It certainly doesn’t belong in the same class as Candy, Skidoo, and Myra Breckinridge. _De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est_. In my opinion, it sure as hell does. But tastes vary. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/23 "2009-05-25T14:33:34Z")
Quite a few old sci-fi and horror movies mentioned used to be shown on TV creature feature type shows in the afternoon or late at night, with comical cut-ins by the ‘hosts’. ‘Commander USA’ on the USA network in the early '80s had some real gems that disappeared. ‘Up All Night’? Rhonda Shear alternating with Gilbert Gottfried. Elvira, of course…They don’t seem to have those kind of movie shows any more. They were a memorable part of my childhood. Not of This Earth (the 50’s version) was really scary. Quartermass and the Pit (known here as Five Million Years to Earth) - I was living alone years ago and saw this on TV, and I was so creeped out I had to go stay with a friend for a couple of nights. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/24 "2009-05-25T14:36:37Z")
Oh, and my father was a theater manager at night, and my WHOLE FAMILY went to see Myra Breckinridge :o (though I refused to sit with them! I thought Rex Reed was, well, extremely good looking :o). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/25 "2009-05-25T14:41:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Quite a few old sci-fi and horror movies mentioned used to be shown on TV creature feature type shows in the afternoon or late at night, with comical cut-ins by the ‘hosts’. ‘Commander USA’ on the USA network in the early '80s had some real gems that disappeared. ‘Up All Night’? Rhonda Shear alternating with Gilbert Gottfried. Elvira, of course…They don’t seem to have those kind of movie shows any more. They were a memorable part of my childhood. > > Not of This Earth (the 50’s version) was really scary. Quartermass and the Pit (known here as Five Million Years to Earth) - I was living alone years ago and saw this on TV, and I was so creeped out I had to go stay with a friend for a couple of nights. I know they _used_ to be shown on independent TV and late night TV, but that was quite a while ago. Then they moved to cable, but it’s been over a decade since we had “Monstervision” on TNT. Even the small cable channels can get newer bad movies, and in color. The only places I seem to see these flicks anymore is in muli-volume DVD collections (or the rare “collectors DVD” or “Midnight Movie” DVD). We don’t get the “THIS” channel mentioned upthread. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/26 "2009-05-25T14:59:34Z")
How about **Scavenger Hunt**? The movie is from 1979, so it is highly unlikely that there are no copies left. The movie was often on pay tv in the early 1980s, but I haven’t seen it either on VHS or DVD ever. I haven’t seen it broadcast either sine around 1983 or so. [IMDB link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079858/) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/27 "2009-05-25T15:40:47Z")
Sonny & Cher’s Chastity. They named their daughter after it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/28 "2009-05-25T15:44:22Z")
_E.T.: the Extraterrestrial._ No, seriously, think about it - it’s one of the top 5 box office hits of all time, and yet somehow, it’s completely dropped off the pop culture radar. When was the last time you heard an E.T. reference? When was the last time you met an E.T. fan? Does anyone, anywhere have an E.T. poster on their wall? I’m not saying the film has disappeared, per se, but a mega-blockbuster of that magnitude should have a lot more “presence”, even after 27 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/29 "2009-05-25T16:00:36Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > …Not of This Earth (the 50’s version) was really scary. Quartermass and the Pit (known here as Five Million Years to Earth) - I was living alone years ago and saw this on TV, and I was so creeped out I had to go stay with a friend for a couple of nights. _Five Million Years to Earth_ shows up on TV occasionally. And it’s still creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/30 "2009-05-25T16:13:14Z")
Although it didn’t make a lot of money, [White of the Eye](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094320/) is an amazing, creepy, disturbed movie that I fear will never be available on DVD or Blu-ray. Luckily I have a VHS copy, but I’m afraid to play it anymore lest it break, and I don’t have the equipment to dub it over to digital atm. Also, since I have never met anyone who has seen this movie unless I showed it to them I have to ask: anyone else seen this movie? ETA: Cathy Moriarty! MRRRROWW! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/31 "2009-05-25T16:18:20Z")
Some of my favorite, but apparently obscure, favorite films - [Prospero’s Books](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102722/) [the Reflecting Skin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100469/) [Short Cuts](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108122/) [Fritz the Cat](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068612/) [La Planete Sauvage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070544/) I love Fellini’s Satyricon, but realize why it doesn’t get more airtime - it’s basically people strolling around having carnal sex again & again & again, straight sex, gay sex, weird androngynous characters - it wouldn’t play in Peoria. (Same goes for “Prospero’s Books” FTM). ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/32 "2009-05-25T16:20:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Movies I haven’t seen in a long time, if ever: > > **Moon Zero Two** I just got a copy of that on DVD, together with **When dinosaurs ruled the earth**. Only watched the first couple of minutes, but looks fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/33 "2009-05-25T16:52:18Z")
This is by no means a great film, but I’d like to revisit **What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?**. It’s a [piece of fluff](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063799/) from 1968 starring Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard about a “feel good” infection and it’s effect on New York City. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/34 "2009-05-25T18:04:50Z")
One of my favorites was [The Lady Takes a Flyer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051839/), a romantic comedy starring Lana Turner as part of a husband-and-wife pilot couple. Never got a DVD or even VHS release, but aired every couple of weeks on AMC. Now that AMC is just another crappy cable network, I may never get to see it again. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/35 "2009-05-25T18:22:10Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Quartermass and the Pit (known here as Five Million Years to Earth) - I was living alone years ago and saw this on TV, and I was so creeped out I had to go stay with a friend for a couple of nights. That one at least is available on DVD. Or at least it was - I have a copy. Also the awesome **Horror Express** with Telly Savalas as a Cossack captain - a staple of my childhood that I simply _had_ to posses. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/36 "2009-05-25T18:37:16Z")
Burt Reynolds action movies: Remember **Malone, City Heat, Gator, Stick…?**. No, and you don’t want to. They played these things to death on cable when I was little. And one more…Kenny Rogers’ **Six Pack**. I loved that when I was a kid, afraid to try and hunt it down now. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/37 "2009-05-25T18:38:31Z")
Around the mid 70s, I remember seeing something called **The Tenth Level** on TV. It was a movie with William Shatner, and it was based on the real-life experiment carried out in which people were allowed to give (or thought they were giving) electric shocks to subjects. Apparently some of them got really carried away with the shocks. It scared me at the time. I have no idea what became of it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/38 "2009-05-25T18:42:30Z")
There’s a lot of really great movies from the 30s through the 60s that are hardly ever shown or even talked about because they feel really dated today. I happen to like many of them because I don’t mind dated stuff, being kind of an old-fashioned type of person anyway. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/39 "2009-05-25T18:51:32Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Then [go watch it](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BD81D72E7BDB1A73)! 🙂 I ❤ you Hal! ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472/40 "2009-05-25T21:38:29Z")
[The Man Who Would be King](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073341/) This classic with Sean Connery and Michael Caine is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Never see it on TV and the only DVD available is of absolutely piss poor quality. But I bought one and watch it anyway! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-have-just-disappeared/497472.md?page=3)