173: Abbott's Get-Together. Original film footage. 1952

[Abbott's Get-Together] Original film footage of Abbott's 1952 Magic Get-Together. Chief among the personalities featured in this footage is Edgar Bergen and his dummies Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy. Also appearing are John Mulholland, Gerrie Larsen, Bill Neff, Al Saal, and a delegation of British magicians. Two canisters of film shot and edited by Sid Lorraine of Toronto. 32 minutes total length. Accompanied by archival DVD transfers of all footage. In original canisters with Lorraine's hand-lettered labels. Good condition. Edgar Bergen appeared at the Abbott's Get-Together in 1952, not only on stage during one of the public shows, but spent a considerable amount of time mingling with convention attendees and filming a short comic film on the streets of the small town of Colon, Michigan. A significant portion of these films show Bergen producing the film, which incorporates his famous ventriloqual dummies, as well as magic tricks and gags. At the end of Bergen's film, the magicians from the convention chase him out of the small town. Before gaining worldwide fame, Bergen presented magic and ventriloquism on the Chautauqua circuits that toured rural America.