What do Ann Miller, Roy Scheider and Bing Crosby all have in common? The answer: commercials in the 70s! While Ann and Bing were very much known and recognizable, Scheider appears to have been just an everyday lucky actor who got a much sought-after gig doing a Folger’s Coffee commercial–I thought he’d have already been too big for a mere commercial but a look at his filmography tells us that, although he’d been appearing in films since the late 60s he really didn’t break through until ‘Klute’ and ‘The French Connection’ (both from ’71). By 1973 he was starring in ‘The Seven-Ups’ which firmly places this commercial in the 1970/71 space. The commercials from this period–at least the ones presented in this reel–are much funnier and more self-aware than the squaresville 50s commercials and the stylish but self-consciously arty 60s ones. These ads are wittily conceived, well shot and well edited with amusing performances from actors who are clearly glad to have the work. I particularly like ‘Hai Karate’ (which is the first one presented), the Ann Miller musical number done for ‘Great American Soups’, ‘Winkels Panty House’ (which features Vic Tayback) and ‘Camay Soap”. Also included is the legendary Alka Seltzer ad known to one and all as ‘That’s a some spicy meat-a-ball’, still funny after all these years…