Flyers from Film Classic Exchange

[Chris Snowden]

Well, I'm really posting these for Richard, but I thought some of you other guys might be interested too, especially anyone else who was collecting film back in the 1970s. Rob McKay loaned me these flyers he'd saved from 1978.

Film Classic Exchange was Charlie Tarbox's operation. Whereas Blackhawk Films used to mail out a complete catalog every month, Tarbox would send out occasional envelopes stuffed with flyers, listing a lot of rare titles with no description whatsoever. If you saw something you liked, you wanted to buy it immediately because you couldn't be sure it would ever be available again, and once in a while, the film you got was not what you were expecting. His quality varied from surprisingly good to basically awful, but every envelope from Tarbox was a treasure chest of intriguing possibilities. Here's a taste.

[Bruce Calvert]

I used to have a similar flyer, but I can't seem to find it now. I sure wish I had ordered something from him back then, but I was a poor paperboy, and most of my money went to Blackhawk Films.

[Steve Rydzewski]

Thanks for posting the Tarbox Flyers, Chris; don't know if I ever had those issues as I don't remember some of those titles.

How I'd love to see those two Frank Alexander titles (and surely some others)... where do I send my money? LOL

I once had Tarbox's book that I think was a "give-away" if you ordered a couple two-reelers. Nice pen pal he was, tho Film Classic Exchange was no Blackhawk.

SteveR

[Bruce Calvert]

You mean this book?

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Five-Ages-of-the-Cinema-by-Charles-H-Tarbox_W0QQitemZ220109335793QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item333f89ecf1

[Tommie Hicks]

I remember getting those thick envelopes in the mail from FCE. I was just like Bruce and spent a majority of my money with Blackhawk though I bought a couple of FCE's and Thunderbirds and one Essex. FCE had SAILORS BEWARE and Blackhawk didn't. The quality of the FCE prints I bought varied greatly. The LOVE 'EM AND WEEP looked like it was reduced from 35mm (although I have only seen 16mm transfers since, though Agee claimed to have found this in 35mm). But my FATTY AT CONEY ISLAND was dupe, dupe, dupe. It was the recieving of all of these catalogs and flyers that made me resent my father that didn't make himself a millionaire ;-)

Did FCE ever sell Super 8 ?