Showing posts with label Wurlitzer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wurlitzer. Show all posts

29 Nov 2017

The Gator McKlusky duology (USA, 1973 & 1976)

The Gator McKlusky duology : two films starring Burt Reynolds wherein he played a character named Gator McKlusky. They are White Lightning (1973) and Gator (1976)...

White Lightning (USA, 1973)
Director: Joseph Sargent.  Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jennifer Billingsley, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins...

Skeeter (Gator's grandpa) plays a Rack-A-Ball (Gottlieb, 1962) on the porch of the family home...

There are flippers, but he doesn't seem to use them much, preferring to nudge the machine like in the days before flippers.

Skeeter: Just can't beat one of these Sears-Roebuck pinball machines, no siree!
Sheriff Connors: You gotta hit the flippers there once a while.
Skeeter: I hit the flippers all the time!



Sears-Roebuck may possibly have distributed Gottlieb pinball machines. The only info I could find on this is that they sold a bagatelle table called "Happi Time" in the 1930s.

Gator  (USA, 1976)
Director: Burt Reynolds.  Starring:  Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, Lauren Hutton, Jerry Reed...

Scene 1: Southside Shuffle Disco... Jerry Reed goes in to collect his protection money and we can spot a couple of pinball machines in the background: on the left is a Pot 'O' Gold (Williams, 1965)  [although the cabinet might not be right.] On the right is a Playtime (Chicago Coin, 1968)...

On the right of the image, there seems to be an arcade game, which at the time would likely be a car-racing type or a rifle/shooting type?

Scene 2: Hard-Hearted Hannah's.  Reed shows Reynolds the ropes on collection. We can spot an animal-themed pitch & bat game,  Target Gallery (Midway, 1962).

Not getting the results he wanted, i.e. cash, Reed decides to take out the place's Wurlitzer 3700 - Americana jukebox (Wurlitzer, 1972/73)...



29 Dec 2016

Portland Exposé (USA, 1957)

Portland Exposé (USA, 1957). Director: Harold Schuster. Stars: Edward Binns, Carolyn Craig, Virginia Gregg...

A low-budget sortof gangster noir, although with some rougher stuff than most. It does seem, as the main character remarks, that these organized crime goons and their methods are from another era, but apparently, this kind of thing was really going on in the 50s in Portland, OR.

The basic story is that a tavern owner is forced by the mob to run his place “wide open”, with all that evil stuff like slot machines, pinball machines, general gambling and B-girls. When his daughter is attacked by one of the gangsters, he starts collecting evidence in order to bring the syndicate down.

In the beginning, a local pinball machine supplier manages to convince the tavern owner to take a pinball machine, who doesn’t want more because he’s afraid of the evil gambling aspect. It’s a Yuma Arizona (United, 1950). BTW, The jukebox looks like it’s a 1954 Wurlitzer model 1700...

It was still the early days of flippers, and this machine had a pair that were activated simultaneously with one button. The kid even stands on one side to play after putting in a coin.

The gangsters rough up the pinball supplier to get his list of clients so they can move in on them. We spot a bunch of machines that end up in the tavern. In the foreground, an Ump (Stoner, 1941), and directly behind that is a Super Hockey (Chicago Coin, 1949), and on the right is the Yuma Arizona (United, 1950) again. Behind the goon’s head we can spot a bit of a Bally Beauty (Bally, 1952) bingo machine...

Behind the goon is the backbox or backglass of a “Match Bowler” (Chicago Coin, circa 1952) bowling machine...

As the goons leave, we spot a Pin-Bowler (Chicago Coin, 1949)...

Now the tavern is in full swing, with people playing the Yuma Arizona (United, 1950), and in the background we see bits of the Pin-Bowler (Chicago Coin, 1949) and Bally Beauty (Bally, 1952) bingo machine.

The place has a bunch of slot machines and we can spot a bit of the Super Hockey (Chicago Coin, 1949) on the left...

Here’s a closer shot of the Bally Beauty (Bally, 1952) bingo machine...

And a closer shot of the Pin-Bowler (Chicago Coin, 1949)...

And here’s the baseball-themed Ump (Stoner, 1941) again...