WGN Channel 9 - The Morning Movie - "Sorry, Wrong Number" (Opening, 1975)

Here's some really rare footage - from exactly 35 years old today - the opening to The Morning Movie presentation of "Sorry, Wrong Number" on WGN Channel 9.

This was recorded at Ridgewood High School in Norridge (by whom, has been lost to time) on 3/4" U-matic videotape using the 'ol rabbit ears, and thus unfortunately there is a bit of fuzz at times and the color goes out periodically. Also, due to the age of the tape, portions of the breaks have degraded in quality substantially. (seems in general like it gets worse as the movie goes on)

My sincere thanks goes out to our own Szake (Kevin Szaflik) - who essentially rescued the tapes this was recorded on from being thrown out after a few previous close calls. As he himself puts it, "The main story is that this stuff was supposed to be tossed out three times: in 1994, 1998 and November 2009. The last time, when I had run out of space, I was lucky enough to be familiar with your site, and that's how this material is being shared."

Makes you wonder how much other incredible stuff is currently sitting in landfills, perhaps ironically well-preserved under mounds and mounds of trash, but (seemingly) forever inaccessible...

Landfills...the video archaeologist's FINAL frontier... ;-)

What you are seeing here is the best restoration that could be done - among other things, the tape was baked in an effort to stabilize the oxide. Includes:

The Sharkfighters WGN bumper slide movie promo (voiceover by Len Johnson)

WGN Morning Movie opening (music by ??) (voiceover by Len Johnson)

Commercial: Gloss 'n Toss polish and cleaner by Johnson Wax.

Commercial: Coke - "Look for the real things."

Commercial: Lincoln Carpeting - "Can You Swing A Shag?" (featuring Al Parker) (link is to unrestored version)

Commercial: General Electric Automatic Chef microwave - available at "the new Polk Bros at 83rd & Cicero Avenue" (ending voiceover by Len Johnson)

"A pleasant good morning to all of you..."

This aired on local Chicago TV on Thursday, November 20th 1975 during the 9am to 11am timeframe.

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