The Fifty Dollar Tip

It seems that 'Blazer Don' owns the dubious honour of starring in both the LONGEST and the SHORTEST of all the home movies I managed to direct during my movie making mania years of the 1970s. The epic tear-jerker: 'In Search Of Esther' ran close to a full half hour (when not detached from: 'Esther, Teenage Runaway') while the not-so-epic: 'The Fifty Dollar Tip' ran about 29 minutes less.

On display here today then (for a very limited time) is the feel-good story of ownership and reward; of redemption and repayment. Filmed entirely outdoors in Blazerville on a cold December day in 1974 (I see a Christmas tree in a front window) and employing an establishing shot from the nearby Little Mountain Park (before the trees completely blocked the view), we find Don and Dan performing their photoplay for the camera in flawless one-take scenes that still dazzle the eye. (Try to ignore the bit where Don looks directly at the audience.)