Big Al's Place: FIGHT!

In A Nutshell

Years after his release from Alcatraz, bedeviled by hallucinations fueled by untreated, late-stage syphilis, Al Capone wanders the overgrown grounds of his Miami Beach estate, ruminating with ghosts. Tomorrow will bring his forty-eighth birthday and one week later he will be dead. Between then and now sprawls an epic life, from the wild streets of turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, to a bloody Saint Valentine’s Day that shocked the world; here is the glamorous ascent and shocking decline of America's true king of crime.

Some History

Jim VanBebber's 2004 feature, The Manson Family, was hailed as, "Crucial," by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone's four-star review. It inspired Roger Ebert to proclaim, "...it has an undeniable power and effect...it exists in a category of one film - this film." The film's successful theatrical release brought further critical acclaim and Manson then went on to thrive on home video, including as the centerpiece of Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber, a mid-career retrospective DVD box set released in 2008.

Capone first met VanBebber at Wright State University when both men were enrolled in the Motion Pictures Production program headed up by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmakers Jim Klein and Julia Reichert. When, in junior year, the class was divided into small groups with the purpose of producing a short film, VanBebber, with partners Marcello Games and cinematographer Mike King, decided to shoot a full length feature. That film, 1988's Deadbeat at Dawn went on to earn true cult status, playing to crowds on 42nd Street and on many waning drive-in screens before landing on cable's The Movie Channel where it debuted on Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater, hosted by Joe Bob Briggs, who had singled out Deadbeat in his nationally syndicated four-star review.

With funds derived from the sale of Deadbeat, King, Games and VanBebber began their follow up production, The Manson Family, which brings us full circle

11/7/09

FIGHT!

Put up yer dukes! Our own Jim VanBebber is fighting this weekend. Well, choreographing and fighting. In the desert. See, Jimbo's on location acting in a new movie and one scene has him caught up in an elaborate hand-to-hand battle. He's been revisiting some of his favorite movie match-ups, taking his vitamins and working out hard on the regular. This is all old hat to VanB.

As anyone who's seen Deadbeat at Dawn knows, the "Goose" is an old school king of kung fu.

That clip isn't actually from Deadbeat, but from one of the many Super-8 epics the man made back when he was just a wee lad. You can take a gander at a few of them as part of the recently released The Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber DVD box set, which includes the acclaimed short film My Sweet Satan, featuring our man Michael T. in the small, but pivotal role of "Albert Q. Ellessdee."

We look forward to seeing what Jim comes up with this time. Go get 'em pal!