Get out the popcorn. It's November.

Welcome to NaJoPoMo 2015. I hope to make this film series fun. I also hope you'll enjoy the short subjects, and bookmark the longer films for a leisure hour or two when you're feeling up for something unusual and a bit off the beaten track of current offerings. As usual, if you want up-to-date film reviews, check Awix's archive. He's knowledgeable, and very readable. My choices are old and weird.

First, a word about Hans Conried (1917-1982). He was a brilliant voice actor from Baltimore. You've heard him somewhere – in addition to numerous radio appearances (he worked with Orson Welles, among others), Conried did voiceover work for Rocky and Bullwinkle, and was the 'Slave in the Mirror' for Disney's Wonderful World of Color [sic]. He was also all over classic US television, playing character parts. And what a gifted character actor he was. If you're old enough, you might remember him as Danny Thomas' Lebanese Uncle Tonoose, the larger-than-life relative everyone has.

His name was really Hans Georg Conried: his father was an Austrian Jew, his mother, whose maiden name was actually Gildersleeve, descended from the Pilgrims. Conried studied at Columbia University.

Today's Short Subject: Are you a fan of Dr Seuss? Then you'll love this clip from The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, a Seussian fantasy about a boy who hates piano practice. Conried plays Dr Terwilliker, the dictatorial piano teacher, and his fantasy counterpart, who is considerably more megamoniacal. It's in colour, and it's fun. It's the only feature film written entirely by Theodore Geisel (Dr Seuss) himself, and parts of it were directed by Stanley Kramer, although the famous director didn't take credit here.

Today's Feature Film: The Twonky. This wasn't a big hit, but you'll love it, promise. Conried versus an ambulatory television set. Remember, this film was released in 1953. TVs were new, and unfamiliar, and who says they couldn't be time-travelling menaces intent to take over? The film is independent, subversive, and based on a 1942 short story by Henry Kuttner and his writing partner/wife, CL Moore. You want a story of hers? here's one from Weird Tales. So this film is the goods.

Okay, it has low 'production values'. Okay, maybe next-to-no production values. But the coach and the students from the college athletic department are a hoot. And as an attack on US society in the early 1950s, it's perfect. In spite of its basically absurd and chuckle-worthy nature, the film did give me a genuine frisson of horror towards the end. See if you can spot the moment.

So, it's not quite The Terminator. But this time-travelling TV set still manages to raise quite a few philosophical questions about intellectual freedom. And you'll love Conried.