Roddy McDowall Gets Busted: An Exclusive Excerpt From A THOUSAND CUTS by Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph

Editor, U.S. ; Dallas, Texas (@HatefulJosh)

I'm not the sort of person who is precious about my consumption of films.

For me, the recent hubbub surrounding the death of 35mm projection has largely been white noise that confuses the method of consumption for quality. However, if there is any argument that could possibly change my mind, it is sure to be found in the pages of the new book, A Thousand Cuts: The Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies, by Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph.

Bartok and Joseph are both experts in the world of 35mm film collecting and exhibition. Bartok has an impeccable pedigree as the former head programmer and current general manager of the fabled American Cinematheque. He has also recently worked with the upstart US distribution label Cinelicious Pics, whose small but impressive collection includes Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur, erotic anime Belladonna of Sadness, and a number of other outré features past and present. Joseph finds himself among the collector community as one of its most respected members, as well as an archivist. Joseph is currently working on preserving and restoring the works in the Hal Roach/Laurel and Hardy library.

The authors and the publisher, The University Press of Mississippi, have graciously allowed us to share one of the most interesting and notorious chapters of film collecting history with ScreenAnarchy readers: the FBI bust of Roddy McDowall, star of the Planet of the Apes saga, and the subsequent harassment of many other high profile film collectors during the seventies.

In the chapter titled "An Expensive Hobby," Bartok describes McDowall's famed 1974 FBI bust that ultimately led to a Red Scare styled outing of print collectors from Rock Hudson to Mel Torme.

(All text courtesy of University Press of Mississippi.)

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A Thousand CutsbookDennis BartokJeff Joseph

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