Sun Dec 20 2009 - New York City - At 3:00 PM EST today, the only known copy of The Perils of Francine was found at the bottom of a closet in a residential building on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The discovery ended an unexplained 44 year disappearance and an intense 18 month search by one of the Flomenbaum brothers, long
rumored to be the inspiration for the successful Coen brothers film makers. The 4 minute classic film was found in its original cardboard box together with eight other 4 minute epics in a very old Ziploc bag. Although one of the other 8mm reels apparently also contains rare footage of the Capitol Inn in 1963, the older Flomenbaum advises caution: "The film appears to be rather dark and extremely fragile, with at least one break at the beginning that will have to be repaired before it can be transferred to modern digital media and viewed." It will probably take at least two weeks before it can be determined whether the images have survived in any form other than the participants' collective memories.
When reached by phone a few hours ago and asked to comment about why it took so long to locate the missing film, Neal, noted for his occasional sharp insights, replied "it always seems to be in the last place you look, doesn't it?" Afterwards, a teenage voice could be heard in the background saying, "that's because after you find it, you stop looking, daddy," while an older voice could be heard saying "Didn't I ask you to clean out that closet months ago?"
A longstanding controversy regarding which of the brothers deserves most of the credit for the masterpiece may finally be resolved, with the film box (see attachment) seeming to indicate that the credit belongs to the younger brother. However, Neal points out that the information was clearly recorded in Mark's handwriting and he further adds that he is not sure his younger brother really knew the proper use of a semicolon in those days. More to follow...
