Kafka

This strangely charming low-budget filmstrip on the life of Czech novelist Franz Kafka was produced by the Peoria, Illinois-based Thomas S. Klise Company. By all accounts the company seemed to have been very small at the time, with just two illustrators responsible for every frame of this entirely hand-drawn filmstrips, and Thomas Klise himself narrating. Despite the current Thomas S. Klise company describing itself as "a woman-owned business" that started out as "the country’s premiere publisher of social justice filmstrips," by all accounts the Klise Company of the 1970s was known for its hand-drawn literature and study-skills titles, all narrated by the gruff, monotone Klise. One American teacher still using Klise filmstrips tells this archivist his students lovingly referred to Klise as "Mr. Mono." Thank you to Uncommon Ephemera, the orgininal poster.