Metropolis Café

What is the meaning of the name, Metropolis Café?

The question has been posed to me a number of times. . .

As my Bio will show (below), I have been broadcasting on the alternative air-waves for over two and-a-half decades, in addition to being the publisher of numerous websites – including one, which was founded seven weeks before the “wake-up call” referred to as 9/11. At the time, it was a somewhat unique site, which covered many issues that few would publish. By 2003 we were pulling in millions of hits per month from readers all over the world, and due to my growing concerns for the general direction which our faltering education system was headed, we created a new category, “Village of the Damned.”

The title of course came from the 1960 film of the same name, but was so-named because of then First Lady, Hillary Clinton’s comment, “It takes a village to raise a child,” in addition to my feelings that our children were truly ‘damned‘ if this system should be allowed to continue.

In addition to the expansion of the website, I occasionally began to devote a two hour segment of my daily broadcast to the very issues of concern. Somewhere in our archives, we still have the original recordings of those programs. Maybe…

Oh well – we are straying from the question… “What is the meaning of the name, Metropolis Café?“

As a young child, I remember the relatively early days of television – when they began to show movies (with many commercial interruptions) on the old black and white. Among the first movies that I could recall was ‘Red River‘ with John Wayne, Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan. I was hooked on the Duke from that night on. My family and I went to the East Troy (WI) Theater many times between 1954 and 1960, and I can still remember most of the films we went to see. My continued love of film continued to expand. I recall in about 1956 watching a 1936 film with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer about four times in a single week at my Grandfather’s home outside of Eagle, WI (I was the only grandchild born outside of the Highland Park, IL hospital – Wisconsin was MY home). The film was George Cukor’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ which included a supporting cast featuring John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone and Andy Devine.

In 1959, Errol Flynn died and I was introduced to a marvelous array of films, the likes which I had never seen, and I have spent the last nearly half century reading, studying, watching and collecting photos, lobby cards, posters and more, which related to films and the making of them. I was collecting at a time when the studios were throwing this stuff away. Me and Debbie Reynolds, huh?

In 1962, I was introduced to the world of the Silent Film – Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplain, Valentino, Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Keaton, Lon Chaney and so many more… and then I saw my first foreign (Russian) silent film – ‘Battleship Potemkin‘ and others with a young Greta Garbo. Then there were the German films; The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu directed by F. W. Murnau – and the single film which has influenced the way that I have thought for all of these years, Metropolis directed by the amazing Fritz Lang in 1927.

Metropolis was one of the last German Expressionist films, and was the most expensive silent film ever made. Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and examines the social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism. When I first saw the film, it was less than an hour and a half in length, yet due to the miracle of time the film has been restored to its nearly two and a half hour length. It took many years to restore this film to as close to it’s original state as possible, and there are several versions of the film on-line, and we have provided one below.

July 11, 2021 ~ When we first launched the Metropolis Café project in early 2017, the version of the film previously posted on this page was the most up to date restored version of the film, however it was removed from the net due to copyright infringements by the copyright holders. Be advised that the following presentation appears to be the fully restored version. If not however – you will more than understand. In addition, this film is closely watched and guarded and is the fourth or fifth offering of this film that we have posted. If it should once again be blocked, please let us know. ~ Editor

It is this film, which has provided the title and inspiration for the Metropolis Café, not because of the ‘social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism‘ – but to me – it has always represented the differences in the class of the educated versus the ‘un or under-educated‘ – the worker’s (givers) versus the takers as it were. Notice the opening scene of the factory workers, for this sets the stage….

There are many segments of the film, which will take the viewer down additional paths, including spiritually, debauchery, and even as some have suggested – occultism. One will draw from the film what touches you. You may agree with my assessment or you may disagree.

Welcome to the Metropolis Café  – where first we learn from our mistakes – and then we teach!

The time is past due for we the people to take back the responsibility of who raises and who teaches OUR children.. and with YOUR help, and the words of our contributors, we will do our best to bring your children to the world which they deserve to live in.

~ The Author ~
A veteran of Viet Nam, student of history (both American and film), Jeffrey Bennett has been broadcasting for over a quarter century as as host of various radio-satellite and internet based programs and has been considered the voice of reason on the alternative media – providing a unique and distinctive broadcast style, including topics such as your Financial, Physical, and Spiritual well-being, education, news, Federal and local legislative issues, which will affect our future, political satire (with a twist), and editorial commentary on current events through the teaching of history. Bennett has published numerous books on American History – TRUE history – not re-worked, altered history. The Book Shelf also published books for unknown authors, whose dedication to truth – stands alone.

Jeffrey is the founder and CEO of Kettle Moraine, Ltd. Publications, which is the host and developer of numerous websites, including Metropolis Café, Dr. Kelley’s Victory Over Cancer, Sierra Madre Precious Metals and The Federal Observer – a daily on-line publication, which co-authored and spear-headed a petition, which ultimately caused new legislation to be signed by President George W. Bush within 450 days of the events that rocked our world on September 11, 2001.