Freedomland USA - "Colossus" show, August 1961
I finally scanned the last of my Freedomland USA slides - not that there were that many to begin with. As you probably know, Freedomland was located in The Bronx in New York, and was intended to be the east coast answer to Disneyland. The project was headed by C.V. Wood, who had been instrumental in the development of Disneyland, until he and Walt had a falling-out. Wood even hired away many people who'd helped design the Anaheim park, presumably with larger salaries. It opened on June 19th, 1960.
All four of today's scans were something of a mystery to me, but a little bit of research told me that these are from a show called "Colossus" that was only performed during the 1961 season. As you can see, the show featured riders on horseback - from what little I've found online, it seems to have been an odd mix of cowboys, Roman-style chariots, and so on. One website said that a man named Ben Rossi was in the show and played an American cowboy; he later became part of Disney entertainment. I wonder if that's Ben in this first scan?
It's hard to see, but one fellow is wearing an Arab keffiyeh, two others are dressed as Mongolian warriors (I think?), and the rest are too indistinct. It seemed to be a bizarre combination of disparate cultures, but I found a mention of a segment of the show called, "The Greatest Horsemen in History".
"Ben Hur" had been a sensation at the box office in 1959, so it makes sense that a thrilling chariot race would be a part of this horse show. Gladiators glare from the distance, yelling curses in Latin. The one guy isn't dead, he just yelled "I am Spartacus!". WRONG MOVIE. So he was hit over the head with a rolling pin. Much to my surprise, there is one lady on horseback to the right. She played Gladys Khan.
It looks like the performers could have been in some real danger, those horses are galloping at a furious pace. I hope they each get an apple and a sugar cube after the show (the horses I mean), and if they need volunteers I will give those treats to them. I'm glad to have these photos of this short-lived show!
Freedomland USA closed forever (after its fourth season) on September 13, 1964.
3 comments:
Major-
My eyes immediately were drawn to the backsides of the pennant-topped 'signage' announcing to arriving autos "Freedomland". Odd that the backside of the 'O' has an 'F', and also seems to be the lone panel containing a tubular fluorescent lamp illuminating one side or the other.
Then my eyes were averted to the 3rd & 4th images, giving us a good look at a lone Electro-Voice, Model 644 'Sound Spot Microphone'. This is a highly-directional dynamic microphone, allowing for extended pickup directly in front of the microphone. So I guess if a performer [or MC] knew exactly where to stand many feet away from the microphone, his voice could be picked-up for amplification. (Good luck on that score).
Thanks, Major.
Looks like the Real Nanook has taken back his place...good thing.
Thank you Major as always!
Wow, these photos are super clear and crisp! (A discontinued Kellogg's cereal. Nobody wanted to eat transparent cereal.)
In the first pic, the horse is thinking, "C'mon, man. Hurry up. I've got an appointment to get my mane and tail combed in thirty minutes!"
It looks like Ben Hur's chariot has rubber tires. I was going to go into a long observation about those plaques below the flags and why only the "F" is visible from this side, but Nanook has done the job nicely. But I till don't know why they are arranged that way.
Given that Freedomland was created by former Disney personnel, it sure falls short of Disneyland's degree of coherency and wonder. I guess that's why it disappeared after only four years.
Thanks, Major.
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