Film, Motion Picture

"Bob-Lo" as seen on Weekend show, 1962

Silent color 16mm film containing footage of a trip to Boblo Island presumably shot and assembled for a 1962 episode of the WWJ-TV show "Weekend." The footage features the downtown Detroit dock, rides to and back aboard the Boblo Boats, and rides and other attractions on the island.

The reel opens with a shot of the Boblo boat COLUMBIA moored at the downtown dock, as shot from the shore off of its port bow. Shots follow of activity beside and within the Boblo dock pavilion, including a group of nuns boarding. The camera operator moves onboard to film a latter group boarding.

Next on board the boat, a band is shown performing on one of the promenade decks. The band consists of a snare drummer, a saxophonist, a trumpet player, and a bass drummer. From one of the upper decks, the camera next gets an overhead perspective on a group of workers as they remove the boarding ramp below. Then with children on the promenade in the foreground, workers on shore are filmed managing the mooring lines as the boat disembarks. The camera next gets a close-up of the boat's steam whistle as it blows. Shots follow of people on the promenade looking back at the downtown dock as the boat turns away from it.

While the boat is under steam en route to Boblo, the camera operator gets a shot of the downtown skyline and riverfront, with Cobo Hall in the front, a view of passengers on the top deck as they approach the Ambassador Bridge, the underside of the bridge, a view from the promenade as the boat passes a freighter also under steam, and two ocean-going freighters including one from Japan's Mitsui Line docked beside the Detroit Harbor Terminals Building.

After another cut, the boat is approaching Boblo Island's dock, and the camera get a view from one of the upper decks with a crowd of passengers in the foreground. The camera also pans across the decorative landscaping atop the hull of the former freighter QUEENSTON which forms part of the island's dock. Still from an upper deck, the camera next captures footage of passengers disembarking from the boat below.

Next, the camera moves to the island. The first shot here is of the train of the park's miniature railroad passing with the shore in the background. Then the camera rolls from on board the train for sequence interspersed with a still shot of some flowers.

The islands amenities for meals are the focus of the next series of shots--a group eating at a bench in the picnic area, the exterior of the cafeteria building, a snack bar, a woman putting mustard on a hot dog, and the seating area beside the snack bar.

Next, the film focuses on the islands rides with a series of shots. First, a pair of shots show the carousel in motion. Next, the Super Satellite Jet Ride's sign receives a close-up--it reads, "Be Your Own Pilot. Super Satellite Jet Ride. Direct From Germany. All Tickets 25¢." An adult and two children are then shown waiting in one of the ride's jets, before the ride is shown in motion in several shots. The pony ride, the Scrambler with the Moon Rocket in background, two children in one of the boats of the Scootaboat ride, the sign atop the Flying Coasters ride, and then the ride itself follow in the next series of shots.

Kiddie-Land and its attractions are the subject of the next set of shots. This begins with a shot of the Kiddie-Land sign, followed by the Kiddie Skyfighters, the Kiddie Tubs-Of-Fun, and the Kiddie Flying Saucers.

The Round Up is featured next, beginning with a shot of its sign which reads, "Round Up. Worlds Most Exciting Ride. Space Sensation Defies Gravity." Two people are then shown riding on the otherwise empty Round Up.

From a wide shot of the Round Up spinning, the film then cuts to parallel close up of the rotary head and bowl of a cotton candy machine as a cone is spun around it. Two children are then shown eating the cotton candy in separate shots.

The Bug ride is shown passing in a quick shot with its sign visible in the background. Then the Caterpillar ride is featured, first with a close-up shot of its sign, and then in a series of shots of it in motion.

The film documents the arcade pavilion next, beginning with an exterior shot. Then inside, a group of children are shown gathered around Genco's 3Dimension Invader game.

The Wild Mouse roller coaster is then featured. In a wide shot, cars are captured careening down the track with the ride's sign in the background. Then the camera follows individual cars on the ride in a short series of shots.

The camera operator then returns to one of the Boblo boats for a shot of the boat's whistle sounding. Then a wide shot from the shore captures the train of the miniature railroad passing the dock area with the STE. CLAIRE docked in the background. From on board the boat, the camera then films the crowds walking to board the boat below, with the "Bob-Lo" sign visible along the shore in the background. After the cut, the camera rolls on the dock from the same vantage point, as the STE. CLAIRE disembarks.

As the boat makes its voyage back to Detroit, the camera catches a freighter passing on the far side of a series of small islands, a flock of birds taking off from another island, a seagull in flight, the COLUMBIA passing as a group watches it from the promenade in the foreground, and the silhouetted view of the man steering the ship in the STE. CLAIRE's pilothouse. Then in the final shot, from another boat passing on the river, the camera films the STE. CLAIRE docked along Detroit's downtown riverfront, with Cobo Arena, and the Veterans Memorial Building in the background.

The film is housed on a metal reel in a metal canister. A Ritter Productions label is affixed to the lid of the canister, marked, "'Bob-Lo' as seen on Weekend on 7-31-62. 16mm original Kodachrome-Silent-24 f.p.s." The label is also pre-printed with "Originators of Weekend, Tuesdays 7 P.M. Channel 4." A memo "From Bob Ritter" is included in the canister. "For prints or lab work, we recommend," is handwritten above the stapled business card of R.G. Cole, manager of Capital Film Services of Lansing.