Allison Hayes in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Warner Brothers
Directed by Nathan Juran
Written by Mark Hanna
1hr 5min / Not Rated
CAST: Allison Hayes (Nancy Fowler Archer), William Hudson (Harry Archer), Yvette Vickers (Honey Parker) Roy Gordon (Dr. Isaac Cushing), George Douglas (Sheriff Dubbitt), Ken Terrell (Jess Stout), Otto Waldis (Dr. Heinrich Von Loeb), Ellen Stevens (Nurse), Michael Ross (Tony the Bartender/Space Giant), Frank Chase (Deputy Charlie).
Here we jump ahead to 1958 to look at a movie that is all three: Good, Bad & Absurd. I believe there is more good than bad and equal parts good and absurd; since it is a must see–you be the judge. The plot involves aliens (well, one alien anyway) a cheating husband, a floozy, and one very ticked off wife. The ticked off wife comes in contact with a giant alien and then takes on his proportions. How could you go wrong with that set up?
Allison Hayes, William Hudson & Yvette Vickers as Wife, Cheating Husband and Floozy in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
The movie is more silly science fiction brought to you partly by writer Mark Hanna who had a hand in writing Roger Corman’s incomprehensible The Undead (1957). This film at least has the added bonus of intentionally funny dialogue like:
Honey Parker: Didn’t you say she was in the nuthouse for awhile? Harry Archer: A private sanitarium. Honey Parker: What’s the difference. She was off her rocker, wasn’t she? Harry Archer: I suppose so. They’ve got some fancy name for it.
and:
[Finding a giant footprint on the Archer’s yard] Deputy Charlie: Wow! What is that? Sheriff Dubbitt: I don’t know. Whatever it is, it wasn’t made by some Japanese gardener.
The idea of the film was designed to ride the wave of films that were popular at the time, The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). All in all a film that is about what it purports to be about–Attack of the 50 Foot Woman works on its own absurdly funny terms.
Facts, Rumors, & Hearsay
The ad for this movie was designed by Roger Corman and is in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. It was also chosen as one of the 25 best movie posters of all time (coming in at #8) by Premiere Magazine.
Principle photography was completed in only eight days.
Starting off our list (which is in reverse chronological order) are two very original werewolf films, Ginger Snaps & An American Werewolf in London. Although An American Werewolf in London stays truer to the werewolf mythos, it turns the victims regret into a living dread, and Ginger Snaps is a brilliantly black comic look at the changes that can be brought on by the full moon. The following films remain the most imaginative of not only the werewolf genre, but of horror films in general.
Karen Walton’s screenplay renders an entirely original take on werewolf mythology. The script’s feminist’s tongue in cheek narrative takes the viewer into the darkness in wonderfully weird ways. Fawcett’s direction elicits exceptional performances by all, especially Isabelle & Perkins who quickly make the roles their own. This is a must see, Halloween or not. So when that moon comes up don’t forget to press play!
An American Werewolf in London (1981) Universal
Written & Directed by John Landis
1hr 37min / Rated R
CAST: David Naughton (David Kessler), Griffin Dunne (Jack Goodman), Jenny Agutter (Nurse Alex Price), Anne-Marie Davies (Nurse Susan Gallagher), David Schofield (Dart Player), Brian Glover (Chess Player), Lila Kaye (Barmaid), Joe Belcher (Truck Driver), Paddy Ryan (First Werewolf)
Griffin Dunne, David Naughton, and Jenny Agutter in An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Easily one of the most frightening of all classic monster horror films. Everything from the transformation to the haunting by the werewolf’s victims is terrifying. One of the most memorable scenes is a nightmare that is even more horrifying than the situation that Naughton (David Kessler) finds himself in after being bitten and killing his friend. An exceptional cast adds atmosphere and includes Jenny Agutter (Logan’s Run 1976, The Avengers 2012) as Naughton’s lover and nurse. This hardcore werewolf tale is not for the faint of heart, but is perfect for a terrifying Halloween.
The Howling (1981) MGM
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless
1hr 31min / Rated R
CAST: Dee Wallace (Karen White), Patrick Macnee (Dr. George Waggner), Dennis Dugan (Chris), Christopher Stone (William “Bill” Neill), Kevin McCarthy (Fred Francis), Belinda Balaski (Terry Fisher), Elizabeth Brooks (Marsha Quist), Robert Picardo (Eddie Quist), Margie Impert (Donna).
Dee Wallace, Margie Impert, Patrick Macnee, and Elizabeth Brooks in The Howling (1981)
With a screenplay by John Sayles (Brother From Another Planet 1984) you must expect the unexpected and this offering is unique in the extreme. Joe Dante expertly juggles the frights with the funny and is assisted by an exceptional cast including Dee Wallace, Kevin McCarthy, and Patrick Macnee. One of the great werewolf pictures that digs a little deeper than the rest of the pack.
Wolfen (1981) Orion
Directed by Michael Waldleigh
Written by Michael Waldleigh & David Eyre & David M. Eyre, Jr.
1hr 55min / Rated R
CAST: Albert Finny (Dewey Wilson), Diane Venora (Rebecca Neff), Edward James Olmos (Eddie Holt), Gregory Hines (Whittington), Tom Noonan (Ferguson), Dick O’Neill (Warren), Dehl Berti (Old Indian).
Albert Finney, Dick O’Neill, & Diane Venora in Wolfen (1981)
This film stays even further from the pack, and has a very different take on werewolves. Wolfen is a horror film that is part mystery and suspense and set in the South Bronx. Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) is investigating a number of brutal deaths that appear to be animal attacks. Finney (Big Fish 2003) is supported by a strong cast as well as a well written script that also reflects on the plight of Native Americans. This is another must see that scares and informs. It may be due to its very original narrative that it has not received the popularity that it deserves. Be that as it may, a perfect Halloween who done it.
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Hammer Films
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Anthony Hinds based on the Novel by Guy Endore
1hr 33min / NR
CAST: Clifford Evans (Alfredo), Oliver Reed (Leon), Yvonne Romain (Servant Girl), Anthony Dawson (The Marques Siniestro), Josephine Llewellyn (The Marquesa), Richard Wordsworth (The Beggar), Anne Blake (Rosa Valiente).
Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, & Anthony Dawson in The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The Curse of the Werewolf is the most underrated of all of the Hammer horror films. Yet, even though it is one of their best efforts, it has never received the popularity of the Dracula and Frankenstein pictures. It boasts a competent script that reflects some 1960’s values, even though it is set in 18th Century Spain. It has a fine cast that includes Yvonne Romain (Circus of Horrors 1960) and Oliver Reed (Oliver1968) as the Werewolf. This neglected classic is Terence Fisher’s most accomplished work and is a fine way to spend a full moon with a loved one.
The Wolf Man (1941) Universal
Directed by George Waggner
Written by Curt Siodmak
1hr 10min / NR
CAST: Claude Rains (Sir John Talbot), Warren William (Dr. Lloyd), Ralph Bellamy (Colonel Paul Montford), Patric Knowles (Frank Andrews), Evelyn Ankers (Gwen Conliffe), Bela Lugosi (Bela), Maria Ouspenskaya (Maleva), Fay Helm (Jenny Williams), & Lon Chaney Jr., (as Larry Talbot, the Wolfman)
Lon Chaney Jr., Evelyn Ankers, and Maria Ouspenskaya in The Wolf Man (1941)
This is the film that started it all with a fine script by Curt Siodmak (I Walked With a Zombie 1943), and an astonishing cast that gives gravity to the story of the gypsy legend of the werewolf. Bela Lugosi is solid as the gypsy and Claude Rains (Casablanca 1942) scores once more as Talbot Sr. Evelyn Ankers (Ghost of Frankenstein 1942) is the love interest put in peril by the full moon. The film is one of the most popular of the original Universal horror films, and it made Chaney a star. For a classic Halloween, this film is fun for the entire family.
NEXT: Scream Queens 1950 – 2020: 70 Years of Horror
Two very different interpretations of Woolrich stories can be found in the work of two unlikely directors. The first, Deadline at Dawn, is the only film directed by well known theatrical director, Harold Clurman. The second, The Bride Wore Black, directed by one of the leaders of the French New Wave, Francois Truffaut. Truffaut was tipping his hat to Hitchcock with Bride, but the reasons for Clurman’s venture into the world of Noir is unclear. To further confound reason, the screenplay was written by Clifford Odets!
Deadline at Dawn (1946) RKO Pictures
Not Rated/82 minutes
Directed by Harold Clurman& William Cameron Menzies (uncredited).
Screenplay by Clifford Odets based on the Novel by William Irish (AKA/Cornell Woolrich).
CAST: Susan Hayward (June Goffe), Paul Lukas (Gus Hoffman), Bill Williams (Alex Winkler), Joseph Calleia (Val Bartelli), Osa Massen (Helen Robinson), Lola Lane (Edna Bartelli), Jerome Cowan (Lester Brady), Marvin Miller (Sleepy Parsons).
Under the name William Irish, Cornell Woolrich published Deadline at Dawn. The book is a nightmarish journey through the darkness of the city made by a paranoid sailor due to the death of a woman he meets while on leave. He feels he has to find the killer by dawn or he will be blamed for the murder. Helping him come to that conclusion are the cabby, Gus (Paul Lukas) and the Taxi dancer, June (Susan Hayward).
Harold Clurman was a theatrical director and this was his only feature film. The playwright, Clifford Odets had collaborated with Clurman on the stage and wrote the screenplay based on the William Irish novel. Odets’ treatment surely would be unique. His previous screenplays included: The General Died at Dawn (1936), None But the Lonely Heart (1944), and Rhapsody in Blue (1945/uncredited). Noir was not exactly his niche. Between that and Clurman’s feeling that he was slumming, it is astonishing that the film came out as well as it did. The final result has been credited to William Cameron Menzies who was uncredited as a co-director.
Above: Bill Williams, Susan Hayworth & Paul Lukas in Deadline at Dawn
The film showcases Susan Hayward in glorious black and white by cinematographer, Nicholas Musuraca whose prior credits include the atmospheric photography for Val Lewton’s Cat People (1942), and The Seventh Victim (1943). Atmosphere is what he brings to Deadline at Dawn as well. Hayward’s performance is the center of the film with the vitality that moves the characters through the shadows and into–well–more shadows.
The Bride Wore Black/La marie etait en noir (1968) UA
Not Rated/107 minutes
Directed by Francois Truffaut.
Screenplay by Francois Truffaut and Jean-Louis Richard based on the Novel by Cornell Woolrich.
CAST: Jeanne Moreau (Julie Kohler), Michel Bouquet (Coral), Jean-Claude Brialy (Corey), Claude Rich (Bliss), Alexandra Stewart (Mlle Becker), Michael Lonsdale (Rene Morane).
In 1968 Francois Truffaut released a film that was his tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, and he even went so far as to hire Bernard Herrmann to write the score. For that alone this film is a unique treasure.
The film stars the talented Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim) as the bride, Julie Kohler in a performance that enthralls the viewer in her role as the vengeful widow. Her husband is assassinated at their wedding. It is an accident, but that does not seem to matter to the Julie as she takes out the killers one by one.
Truffaut takes Woolrich’s tale and makes it his own, perhaps that is the greatest tribute he could bestow on Hitchcock. Truffaut’s style seems antithetical to Noir and yet, the film works in the same way that Truffaut’s second film, Shoot the Piano Player (1962) became a classic of the genre.
Both of these films are must sees not because of how they fit into the Noir mold, but because of how they don’t.
Directed by Christian Nyby, and Howard Hawks (uncredited).
Screenplay by Charles Lederer based on the story, Who Goes There by John W. Campbell, and Howard Hawks (uncredited), and Ben Hecht (uncredited).
CAST: Margaret Sheridan (Nikki Nicholson), Kenneth Tobey (Captain Patrick Hendry), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Arthur Carrington), Douglas Spencer (Ned Scott), James Young (Lt. Eddie Dykes), Robert Nichols (Lt. Ken MacPherson), Dewey Martin (Crew Chief Bob), William Self (Cpl. Barnes), Eduard Franz (Dr. Stern), Sally Creighton (Mrs. Chapman), and James Arness (The Thing)
Co-written and Co-Directed by Hollywood A lister, Howard Hawks (uncredited) The Thing from Another World is the dark mirror version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Howard Hawks was the credited producer of this creature feature that paints aliens as monsters of destruction. The Thing from Another World remains one of the classics of Science Fiction and Horror even if we are viewing through the wrong end of the telescope. All of our worst fears are confirmed: the aliens are coming and they are possessed by a mindless evil, or is it just a superior intelligence trying to survive? The second classic science fiction film of the fifties is as much horror as science fiction. It is as though Frankenstein’s Monster has fallen from the stars (and in fact when Hawks was trying to get the make-up for the film’s monster to his liking after many tries, he told make-up artist Lee Greenway to put a Frankenstein type of head on Arness). Instead of a village of frightened peasants, we have a group of military men, scientists, and a journalist, but the results are pretty much the same.
The cast is led by Margaret Sheridan (Nikki Nicholson), who provides the playfully flirtatious love interest, and Kenneth Tobey (Captain Patrick Hendry) who was drunk under the table and left unconscious at a party by Nikki prior to her departure from Anchorage to return to the Arctic. Now reunited, the Captain tries to rekindle the romance.
Adding insult to injury, Nikki left a note taped to the Captain referring to his legs. We see that Nikki is enjoying stringing Captain Hendry along. Kenneth Tobey plays the lead straight and is good humored as Sheridan uses her wry whimsy to bait him.
The group of military men have been assigned to assist the scientists in investigating an object that has landed in the arctic. They find what appears to be a large saucer shaped object buried in the ice. The decision to blast it out with Thermite explosives turns out to be an error, because the blast indirectly destroys the object. It should have just melted the ice, but the heat generated by the blaze sets off something in the craft that causes the explosion, “that was the engine,” shouts one of the men.
As they start to investigate the cause, they find that something was thrown from the ship and frozen just beneath the surface. Having learned their lesson with the loss of the ship, they decide to cut the figure out of the ice. They then take the block of ice back to their base and into a large storage room.
ABOVE: Robert Cornthwaite, Eduard Franz, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Douglas Spencer, Kenneth Tobey, and James Young.
Unable to control the temperature of the room, the Captain orders the window in the room to be broken, he defies Dr. Carrington’s demand to be allowed to thaw the being for immediate scientific investigation. The Captain is trying to get orders on how to proceed, but they cannot get through on the radio. Tension builds between the scientists and the military over the handling of the creature.
ABOVE: Dewey Martin & Kenneth Tobey.
Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer, Kenneth Tobey, & James Young.
Meanwhile, Lt. Ken MacPherson, who is on first watch over the creature, is getting creeped out because the ice is clearing and he can better what is in the ice. He is especially bothered by the creature’s eyes. This and the dropping temperature cause the Captain to shorten the shifts on the watch to two hours apiece.
When the watch changes and the replacement throws an electric blanket over the block of ice (presumably so he won’t have to look at the Thing in the ice), and of course, the ice begins melting. Suddenly, the Thing is loose. The guard escapes to alert the others. They sound the alarm and dash to the storage room to try to contain the creature.
ABOVE: Dewey Martin, Kenneth Tobey, & James Young.
When they arrive in the storage room, the Thing has already gone outside. It is being attacked by the dogs and escapes when the men come out, but leaves behind an arm that has been torn off. While the scientists discuss what they are learning from the limb–the hand begins to move. This broadens their understanding of the creature. They have surmised that the creature is of vegetable matter and now they realize it feeds on blood. The blood of the dogs giving life to the detached limb is ominous and it reverberates in the men’s reactions. Seeing that the creature is a threat, they set off after it in earnest.
The film is still one of the best of the early Science Fiction/Horror films and it is a terrific monster movie. The cinematography is excellent, the script is well paced, and all of the players are on point giving a realistic feel to the base which enhances the horror of the situation. There is a good deal of action and the fact that you don’t get to see the Thing up close until nearly the very end, adds to the suspense of the movie.
The film was remade in 1982 as The Thing by John Carpenter who stayed truer to the original story with the Thing being a shape shifter. The effects are horrific and Ken Russell and the rest of the cast are in for a hell of a ride.
Facts, Rumors, & Hearsay
Directors John Frankenheimer, Ridley Scott, Tobe Hooper, & John Carpenter all credit the film as an influence on their own work.
James Arness complained that the Thing make-up and costume made him look like a giant carrot.
Hawks was turned down by a number of insurance companies when trying to insure the production due to the fact that the Thing was to be set on fire, ravaged by dogs, frozen in a block of ice, set on fire, & electrocuted.
The film was made at a cost of only $40,000.00 which is still low budget by today’s standards equating to about $380,000.00.
There is a possibility that Ben Hecht and William Faulkner, both friends of Hawks, contributed to the script.
Halloween is right around the corner and on this dreary Friday the 13th at F&TVR, I am planning on recommendations for Halloween viewing. As the lightning flashes and the thunder echoes and I’m thinking of the upcoming full moon, I am inspired to do two short early Halloween picks posts. This first one is general and the full moon post will be themed. So here goes. The first two are favorites of mine, the second of which has spawned an FX series. The third, the obligatory chiller! This is just a warm-up–more will follow.
ABOVE: Carol Kane, Iggy Pop, & Steve Buscemi
The Dead Don’t Die (2019) Written & Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
A departure for the director boasting a stellar cast including Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Chole Sevigny, Carol Kane, Tilda Swinton, Iggy Pop, & Tom Waits among others that have worked with Jarmusch on prior projects. Jarmusch decapitates the genre in his own unique style.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Written & Directed by Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi.
Again, more comedy than horror in this mock documentary about vampires that inspired the 2019 FX show of the same name. This is a great Halloween film that can be followed up with episodes from the FX series for an extended Halloween recalling good times along the Carpathian Mountains.
Silent House (2011) Directed by Chris Kentis & Laura Lau. Screenplay by Laura Lau based on the original screenplay The Silent House (2010) by Oscar Estevez
ABOVE: Elizabeth Olsen in Silent House (2011)
For those looking for a less humorous and more frightening Halloween, Silent House is claustrophobic creepy. A remake of Gustavo Hernandez’s The Silent House, Kentis & Lau’s Silent House is carried by the virtuoso performance of Elizabeth Olsen in a single shot tour de force.
Stanley Lieber wanted to be a novelist. When he started working for Martin Goodman at Atlas/Timely Comics that was his dream. He began by writing short prose stories (every comic book had to have one to qualify for the lower book rate shipping), but he changed his name to Stan Lee to sign off on these because he wanted to save his real name for the important writing that would be in his future, his novels. His first filler story was a Captain America story. Little did he know how long he would be working with this character. How could he? The comics were at an impasse. It seemed like they were about to go the way of the dinosaur, but then Stan Lee happened. Not only did he revive the faltering company owned by Martin Goodman by making it the marvel of the industry, but he influenced the company he would come to call his DistinguishedCompetition again and again. Just as DC’s Justice League had spurred him to create the Fantastic Four many of his innovations would be noticed and embraced by not only DC National Comics, but by anyone who was paying attention.
Two early issues of The Fantastic Four each featuring an enduring menace; Namor, the Sub Mariner in issue #4 who will be a temptation to Sue Storm for some time to come, and the brilliantly evil, Doctor Doom in issue #5. Namor, not exactly a villain, but a lothario and rival for Sue’s affections. Namor’s two concerns, protecting his underwater kingdom and making Sue Storm his queen. Dr. Doom, the King of Latvaria whose passions are defeating the Fantastic Four and ruling the world.
The personalities and private concerns of his characters became the drama and comedy that powered his stories and made them memorable, above: Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis), Alicia (Kerry Washington, and Stan Lee’s Cameo as Willie Lumpkin. Life was never simple with the Fantastic Four.
His most important contribution to comic books was not just the many wonderful characters he created or co-created with others, but how he managed to imbue them with real life characteristics beyond what was necessary to tell an action/adventure story. He all but literally breathed life into them. He simply gave them what he called ‘hang-ups’ which is how he referred to the real life problems that we all have. He brought them down to earth and in doing so, made them more credible to his readers even though their powers and adventures were incredible.
In addition, he was a master showman. With his simple ‘Stan’s Soapbox’ column, he managed to make readers feel that he was talking to them, and they had no reason to believe he wasn’t. It made the experience of reading comic books interactive before anyone ever dreamed of a PC. The letter pages contained letters from readers of all kinds including some who were destined to draw and write the very comics that they were reading and writing to. Even those readers that didn’t go on to draw or write comics were mentored by Stan. He helped them to see the world though his eyes of wonder and imagination.
The comics flourished, in part because they could make anything happen that could be drawn. The writer’s imagination could be full blown without having to worry about how to produce the powers, effects, outer space, even other planets and their inhabitants. Imagination reigned on the four color pages. It took television and the movies decades to catch up. Now, no matter what the artist puts on the story board, it can be translated to the screen.
ABOVE: Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), & Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in The Avengers (2012)
The current blockbuster super hero films are the result of an odyssey that Lee started out on in 1981 when he relocated to California to concentrate on developing Marvel TV and feature film projects. The earliest success was TV’s The Incredible Hulk (which may have prompted Lee’s decision to get more involved) starring Bill Bixby & Lou Ferrigno. Stan Lee was a consultant on 82 episodes from 1977 to 1981. Guest stars on the show included Loni Anderson, Ray Walston, Sally Kirkland, Pat Morita, Joi Lansing, and Mackenzie Phillips to name just a few that appeared during the five successful seasons.
ABOVE: The Incredible Hulk, Season 4 Episodes 1 & 2 Prometheus: Ric Drasin, Laurie Prange, Bill Bixby, & Lou Ferrigno.
The Mystery of the Wax Museum 1933 Vs. House of Wax 1953 Vs. House of Wax 2005
This Double Vision pulls into perspective the original TheMystery of the Wax Museum that starred Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, and Monica Bannister and House of Wax that starred Vincent Price, Carolyn Jones, and Phyllis Kirk and the more literal House of Wax with Elisa Cuthbert, Paris Hilton, and Chad Michael Murray. All are Warner Brother’s films and all are credited to be based on the story, The Wax Works by Charles S. Beldon, but all is not as it seems. Join us as we solve The Mystery of the Wax Museum!
TheMystery of the Wax Museum (1933 Warner Brothers)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Screenplay by Don Mullaly & Carl Erickson based on the Short Story, The Wax Works by Charles S. Beldon.
CAST: Lionel Atwill (Ivan Igor), Fay Wray (Charlotte Duncan), Glenda Farrell (Florence Dempsey), Frank McHugh (Jim), Allen Vincent (Ralph Burton), Gavin Gordon ( George Winton), Edwin Maxwell (Joe Worth), Holmes Herbert (Dr. Rasmussen), Arthur Edmund Carewe (Sparrow/Professor Darcy), Claude King (Mr. Galatain), Monica Bannister (Joan Gale).
Released in an early Technicolor process, TheMystery of the Wax Museum was also a Pre-Code film that was more daring than the 1953 release, House of Wax.
ABOVE: Fay Wray in TheMystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
The script for TheMystery of the Wax Museum was based on the story Wax Works by screenwriter Charles Beldon, but Beldon did not write the screenplay for any of the films based on his story. More horror fans are familiar with the 1953 version than they are with this first film based on the Beldon short story. In this version there are elements of romance and comedy that do not appear in the 1953 version, House of Wax. For that reason, I will spend more time reviewing the first film’s narrative.
The film was directed by Michael Curtiz who began his career in silent films in 1912, and later directed such well know classics as Casablanca and Passage to Marseilles. We can see his talent in the opening shots of the film. The beginning is very like the remake of 1953, but the montage in this film is much more cinematic. When the film opens we see a shot with title, London–1921, and then through a rain drenched mew a Wax Museum. Then, inside of the museum the camera pans the displays as we hear the storm that continues outside. Finally we find Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) at work before cutting back to the outside and hear and see an approaching carriage, and next a cut to a man in the shadows. We see two men in the carriage wearing top hats. The men dismount and go to the museum door as the man in the shadows watches.
ABOVE RIGHT: Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell)
Ivan welcomes the two men, one of whom is a patron and the other is a distinguished art critic. Upon viewing Ivan’s work, the critic announces that he will submit the works to the Royal Academy. When they depart, the man in the shadows is watching and he walks through the rain and into the museum. He is Igor’s silent partner, Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell), and he grumbles that he is there to go through the books. The museum has lost money, he complains because Igor does not do the kind of displays the public wants. Igor’s distaste for the macabre has kept him from sculpting the type of wax figures that are the stock and trade of most wax museums. The horrific displays of murder and depravity are what draw crowds, but Ivan finds this type of art abhorrent.
BELOW: Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill), and Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell)just before Worth sets the museum on fire.
Although the critic is going to submit Igor’s work to the Royal Academy, Igor’s silent partner wants to burn down the museum to collect the insurance money. He and Igor argue and there is a fight, during which, his partner sets the museum ablaze. We see the burning wax figures as they fight and the fire spreads. Ivan is knocked out and left for dead as Worth leaves the building, locking Igor in.
Next the scene switches to New York, 1933 as the clock strikes 12 on New Years Eve. It is as he watches this celebration that we see Ivan Igor, peering out of a window, unscathed by the fire and very much alive.
Then we see a newspaper article about the suicide of Joan Gale (Monica Bannister). Then a shot of the aftermath of the New Years Eve madness as a shadowy figure walks across the ticker confetti littered street, and into a building.
It is not until he has entered his rooms and sitting at a desk that he turns to the camera and we recognize Joe Worth. He’s on the phone and there is something that he is anxious to get, but we don’t know what it is, and we cut to the morgue where a new body is being wheeled in by two attendants. A man is hiding under a sheet on one of the other tables and his face is horribly scarred. Once the attendants leave, he gets up and begins looking for a particular body.
He looks until he finds the body that he wants and wheels it over to a window and having tied the body to a rope, tips the table until the body slides out to go down to his unseen accomplices.
BELOW: Glenda Farrell plays Florence Dempsey, brassy reporter & Frank McHugh is her stern but good hearted editor, Jim. Their animosity belies their love.
In the cast Frank McHugh and Glenda Farrell provide both the comedy and the romance, her as a brassy blonde reporter and he as a quick tempered newspaper editor. They are little more than a plot device to add romance and move the investigation along. In stereotypical roles with what is now dated dialogue, the two make the best of it. Fay Wray does a good job as the slightly more fleshed out heroine, but could have done wonders with more screen time. It is here that she begins her notoriety as a scream queen that will be fully blown in the film for which she is best known, King Kong.
ABOVE: Lionel Atwill & Fay Wray.
We learn from Florence (Glenda Farrell) that eight bodies have been stolen from the morgue in the last 18 months. Meanwhile, we see the workshop of Ivan Igor’s new museum. He is wheelchair bound and shows one of his sculptors his hands that were badly damaged in the fire. He is no longer able to sculpt the beautiful wax figures that he so loved and lost, and he is unable to replace on his own. We see a large casket shaped box brought in and opened by his assistants. It is the body of the woman that was stolen from the morgue that has been made into a wax figure, Joan Gale (Monica Bannister).
Allen Vincent (Ralph Burton), one of Igor’s assistants calls his girl, Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray) and arranges to meet her for lunch, and we see that she shares her rooms with Florence Dempsey. When Charlotte arrives at the wax museum to meet Ralph for lunch with Florence in tow, he explains that he can’t go to lunch because the old man (Igor) is getting the museum ready for the opening that night. Florence rushes into the museum and sees the exhibits. She looks at the Joan of Arc that has been made from the body of Jane Gale (Monica Bannister), and she thinks she recognizes the missing Judge Ramsey in the wax figure of Voltaire, but is caught by Igor, who promptly asks her to leave. Then, though the open door, he sees Charlotte and envisions a wax figure for his museum and asks Ralph to introduce him to her.
He tells her that she resembles one of his works, and then he asks her if she would pose for him. He welcomes her to the opening. The reporter finds the connection between Joan of Ark and Joan Gale. After they leave, one of Igor’s assistants asks if he’ll have the pleasure of Miss Duncan posing for him. When Charlotte shows up at the opening, he welcomes her as his little Marie Antoinette. He decides that the weather had dampened the opening, and he will close early. The reporter breaks in and asks about the Joan of Arc display. Igor explains that he didn’t sculpt it due to his mangled hands and introduces his assistance, Sparrow (Arthur Edmund Carewe). The reporter follows him and gets into Joe Worth’s building and thinks she has stumbled onto another stolen body when a terribly deformed man in a dark hat and long cape comes down the basement stairs. He pushes the oblong box a few feet before he is disturbed by a sound. He then shuts off the lights and goes back up the stairs.
Florence flees the basement and gets the police to search the building. She gives them an unbelievable description of the caped intruder. Then the police open the oblong box to find only excelsior packed bottles of whiskey: her credibility is completely gone. Turns out Joe Worth is a bootlegger. The raid leads to the arrest of Sparrow, who turns out to be a junkie, and the pocket watch of the missing judge is found on him. Now, the reporter has the support of the police.
Meanwhile, Charlotte goes looking for Ralph at the museum and is tricked by Igor into getting herself locked into a room that leads to the sinister waxworks and her screaming begins in earnest before she is saved just in time.
Although dated in parts due to moving from late 1921 to the current time of 1933, the film does have its strong points. Atwill and Wray are exceptional, and another stand out performance is given by Arthur Edmund Carewe as Sparrow the junkie. All things considered, a film worth revisiting. It is a little more difficult to find on DVD than most films from the same period due to copyright issues. There is a Warner’s House of Wax DVD that includes TheMystery of the Wax Museum.
While Mystery of the Wax Museum had color before it was the norm, House of Wax was the first feature film released in the 3D process. The film also solidified Vincent Price’s reputation as one of the great horror thespians.
House of Wax (1953 Warner Brothers)
Directed by Andre De Toth
Screenplay by Crane Wilbur based on the Short Story, The Wax Works by Charles S. Beldon.
Rated GP / 128 minutes
Cast: Vincent Price (Professor Henry Jarrod), Frank Lovejoy (Detective Tom Brennan), Phyllis Kirk (Sue Allen), Carolyn Jones (Cathy Gray), Paul Picerni (Scott Andrews), Roy Roberts (Matthew Burke), Angela Clarke (Mrs. Andrews), Dabbs Greer (Sgt. Jim Shane), Charles Bronson (Igor), Reggie Rymal (Paddleball barker).
The big hype for the 1953 version of House of Wax was that it was shot in 3D. With the growing popularity of television across the country film-makers tried a number of gimmicks to bring in customers to movie houses which were feeling the impact of the new medium.
It worked to some extent and film goers were treated to everything from 3D to vibrating seats (The Tingler 1959 William Castle) to special glasses to see ghosts (The 13 Ghosts 1960 William Castle), and in the 1960 film, Scent of Mystery (Mike Todd Jr.), smell-o-vision.
In House of Wax, a barker is hired for the grand opening of the wax museum and he has a paddle ball that he uses to draw the attention the public into the museum and emphasizes the 3D effect to the film’s audience.
The best known version of Beldon’s story, House of Wax opens with a static shot of a dark rainy street as the titles flash in wonderous SteroVision 3D. As the credits end, the camera pans slowly to a window of the wax museum. Then we are inside the building where there is the distinct shadow of a woman holding a knife and seconds later we see that it is being cast by a wax figure. The pan continues past more displays, but they are not of horrors, but of an historical nature. Finally we come to Jarrod (Vincent Price) working in his studio. The opening is very similar to The Mystery of the Wax Museum.
Vincent Price in House of Wax (1955)
His business partner, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) shows up and he is concerned with the losses that his investment has taken. Jarrod tells him of a possible investor that may be interested in buying him out. When the prospective investor arrives, Jarrod’s partner goes up to his office. He is discouraged when he returns from his office as Jarrod tells him that it will be months before they will have the investor’s contribution, so he shows Jarrod an insurance policy and suggests that they burn down the museum for the cash. As Burke attempts to set the figures on fire, Jarrod intercedes and a fight ensues as the wax figures burn wildly.
The story is simplified and moves more smoothly without the shift in the time period which dates the earlier version. There is not the added drama of the newspaper reporter or the intrigue of Joe Worth being a bootlegger. Although Atwill gave a solid performance in the lead of Mystery of the Wax Museum, Vincent Price’s performance in House of Wax was such that he became one of the brightest of the horror film stars who’s light like a true star, has not diminished and we still see clearly long after his death.
ABOVE: Carolyn Jones & Vincent Price in House of Wax (1953)
Phyllis Kirk is excellent as the heroine and Carolyn Jones delivers a comic triumph as her roommate that usually won’t say no and ends up as Jarrod’s Joan of Arc display in an obvious homage to 1933’s The Mystery of the Wax Museum.
ABOVE: Carolyn Jones, Roy Roberts, & Phyllis Kirk in House of Wax (1953)
2005’s House of Wax takes Charles Beldon’s premise to an extreme. A literal house of wax!
House of Wax (2005 Warner Brothers)
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Screenplay by Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes based on the Story by Charles S. Beldon.
Rated R / 113 minutes
Cast: Elisha Cuthbert (Carly Jones), Chad Michael Murray (Nick), Brian Van Holt (Bo), Paris Hilton (Paige), Jared Padalecki (Wade), Jon Abrahams (Dalton), Robert Ri’chard (Blake), Dragicia Debert (Trudy Sinclair).
The latest version of Charles Belden’s story is much different from its predecessors and has a very dark sense of humor. The best way to begin a review of this version of House of Wax is to acknowledge that it is a bad slasher movie dropped into a gothic horror setting! We have six teens on their way to a big game stop on the way and camp and end up going into a town that is more than a little mysterious to get a replacement fan belt for their car. It appears that everyone in the town is a wax figure.
The producers of this film include Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis, and they went all out and built the entire town. Not just studio sets, but a free standing town. Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis have produced a number of remakes of old horror classics including, The House on Haunted Hill, and 13 Ghosts. Both of which have also been set pieces. The most extreme being the house/ghost containment box in Thir13en Ghosts. None of these films have lived up to the original films. House of Wax is no exception. The production values can’t save the film from the mindless script, but it is funny and in some parts very frightening.
ABOVE: Elisha Cuthbert in House of Wax (2005)
The lead in the film is Elisha Cuthbert best know for The Girl Next Door and the television series 24. Giving a good performance is not a problem for her and she delivers here in what were some grueling scenes to film. Kudos also go to Paris Hilton along with a good sport award for best scream queen death scene ever.
ABOVE: Paris Hilton in House of Wax (2005)
I know that there are those among you that would have me dipped in hot wax for just daring to include the 2005 version in this piece, but the author of Waxworks is credited because the film does use the main idea of the original story. Someone insane is murdering people to create wax figures. That and the title pretty much end the connection.
The 1953 version, House of Wax is the enduring classic and will remain so for many more years. Unless of course, Guillermo Del Toro or Jordan Peele decide to remake it.
The precursors to the science fiction films of the 1950’s continue to influence film-makers today. From 1925 and 1927, The Lost World based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis respectively; one a silent masterpiece that carries the same basic truth as the Hunger Games that is still relevant today! The Lost World still echoes in the Jurassic Park films. With the advent of sound, the genre thrived. In the early thirties, horror films were big box office.
ABOVE: Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) all directed by James Whale.
In 1931 and 1933 and 1935 appeared three of James Whale’s Universal horror classics: Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and his greatest achievement, The Bride of Frankenstein. Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein are based loosely on Mary Shelley’s book about science gone wrong in the first mad scientist story. Of course, playing God is not an acceptable pastime as the good doctor learns as his experiment is chased across the countryside. This tale of hubris was continued in The Bride of Frankenstein as the good doctor is once more lured into the insane pursuit of creating life by the spectacularly mad Dr. Pretorius, stunningly portrayed by Ernest Thesiger. The Invisible Man is driven daft by the potion that gave him his invisibility. Science gone wrong again in this film version of the H.G. Wells novel.
Then in 1936 Flash Gordon hit the screens in a 13 episode serial with Buster Crabbe in tights and the beautiful Jean Rogers as his constant companion, and was an immediate hit. It seems that audiences were ready for some positive science fiction. An heroic space adventurer that fought evil proved a winning formula as well as the pattern for much of the science fiction to come in the 1950’s and beyond.
Jean Rogers & Buster Crabbe in Flash Gordon (1936)
The success not only spawned a second Flash Gordon serial but was followed by a Buck Rogers serial also starring Buster Crabbe. And, in the far far away future it would give rise to a Rebellion against an Empire that would strike back again and again and again.
1940 brought to the screen, Doctor Cyclops which starred Albert Dekker. Audiences were thrilled by the Technicolor and oversized props that made a man seem like a monster. It brings to mind Dr. Pretorius’ little people from The Bride of Frankenstein while taking on an entirely new dark dimension all its own while foreshadowing Richard Matheson’s novel, The Shrinking Man.
It also influenced the 1968 TV show, Land of the Giants that seems to be its direct descendent. Land of the Giants starred Gary Conway, Heather Young, Kurt Kasznar, and Deanna Lund. Guest stars included: John Carradine, Broderick Crawford, Alan Hale Jr., Bruce Dern, Yvonne Craig, Ron Howard, and Sam Elliott just to mention a few. The show ran from 1968 to 1970.
Two more science fiction related serials came out before the end of the decade, Batman in 1943 and in 1949, Superman. Both heroes would show up on the small screen within the next two decades.
In the Superman serial, Superman was played by Kirk Alyn and Lois Lane by Noel Neill, who would reprise the role in the hit television series Adventures of Superman with George Reeves as Superman which ran from 1952 to 1958. The caped crusader would have to wait until 1966 to see himself and Robin the boy wonder in the light of the flickering TV. Batman was played by Adam West and Robin by Burt Ward. Batman ran until 1968 and was absurdly campy but had the most impressive guest star list of the 60’s.
ABOVE: Joan Collins, Vincent Price & Michael Rennie in Batman (1966)
Everyone wanted to be on this hip, tongue in cheek show including: Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Vincent Price, Carolyn Jones, Glynis Johns, Bruce Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Terri Garr, Ida Lupino, Rob Reiner, Michael Fox, Steve Allen, Art Carney, Liberace, Joan Collins, Jill St. John, and Michael Rennie–and speaking of Michael Rennie that brings us to our first classic 50’s science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
PART ONE
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) 20th Century Fox
Directed by Robert Wise.
Screenplay by Edmund H. North based on a story by Harry Bates.
Music by Bernard Herrmann.
CAST: Michael Rennie (Klaatu/John Carpenter), Patricia Neal (Helen Benson), Hugh Marlow (Tome Stevens), Same Jaffe (Professor Jacob Barnhardt), Billy Gray (Bobby Benson), Frances Bavier (Mrs. Barley), Lock Martin (Gort).
Rated G / 92 minutes.
This first of the classic 50’s science fiction films skillfully addresses the two growing fears of Americans of the 1950’s, nuclear war and flying saucers. The idea was relatively simple, but the emotions drawn were extremely complex due to the unanswerable unknowns and the growing paranoia of the time. Director Robert Wise (The Haunting, West Side Story, Star Trek: the Motion Picture) took advantage of the unknowns and brought the entire story down to earth by having the alien viewed through the eyes of a child.
From the eerie opening strains of Bernard Herrmann’s brilliant score (for which he employed the use of two Theremins, an early electronic instrument), and the appearance of the unsettling title, viewers knew that they were in for something special.
Immediately, they find that an object moving at 4,000 miles per hour has entered the earth’s atmosphere. Newsrooms around the world are reporting on the progress of this unidentified flying object as ordinary people watch and wait in growing suspense.
Then come shots of Washington, DC’s well known monuments and the saucer flies over the White house to finally land on a ball field with the Washington Monument in the background. Ball players and spectators flee from the field as the craft slowly hovers down and lands. The symbolism is strong as anticipation grows and the police and the military mobilize.
This straight forward story of an alien arriving on earth to ask for a conference of all of the world’s leaders is a moral tale of the growing pride and foolishness of man’s progress. The government reacts to the craft’s landing with fear and surrounds the ship with a heavily armed infantry. A newsman attempts to calm the population as the suspense mounts two hours after the ship has landed, pointing out that the military has taken every precaution, and as he speaks, something begins to happen. A platform emerges from the ship where there is no door; the ship opens and a space suited alien appears. He advises that he has come in peace and bears no ill will, but as he reaches to remove something from his glittering suit and draws a device that he holds out toward the crowd. The reaction of the soldiers is to draw more weapons. When he activates it and a small antenna ring opens, a shot is fired at the alien that takes him down. Director Robert Wise’s focus on all of the armament trained on the ship points to the heart of the matter.
At this moment, Gort (Lock Martin) appears. Gort is a large, featureless robot. The robot’s visor lifts and a beam is fired toward the military surrounding the ship; the guns and tanks vanish as the laser strike them, but the soldiers are unharmed.
Klaatu is taken to the hospital where he is cared for and meets the secretary to the President of the United States, Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy). He advises that he must explain his mission to all of the heads of state of all the countries of earth at once. The response from the White House is that it is not practical because of the world’s politics. Klaatu assures Mr. Harley that there will be dire consequences for the planet if such a meeting is not arranged. The earth’s development of atomic weapons has made it a danger that the alien’s world cannot ignore.
ABOVE: Michael Rennie (Klaatu), & Frank Conroy (Mr. Harley).
Making no progress with the emissary from the President of the United States, Klaatu escapes the hospital. He finds the rooming house where he makes contact with the planets true representatives in the form of Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). He and Bobby become fast friends, and when his mother wants to go on a date with her boyfriend, Klaatu offers to spend the day with Bobby. He tells her that he’d hoped Bobby could show him around the city.
ABOVE: Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and Bobby Benson (Billy Gray).
Eventually, this will lead Klaatu to Dr. Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe), a renowned scientist, but first he learns more about the potential of earthlings as he visits Arlington cemetery and the grave of Bobby’s father along with other sites of the capitol city. The boy is fascinated by the arrival of the alien. He is thrilled to have this mysterious new guest in the boarding house to share the experience. The excitement is almost too much for him as things begin happening around him with incredible speed. His mundane life is over as thoughts of space men fill his head.
ABOVE: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, & Billy Gray.
He’s in for some adventure and so is his mom, and so much more than either of them bargained for! It is the bond that forms between Bobby and his mother and Klaatu that finally save the planet. The petty squabbles and sociopathic behavior of the world’s governments aside, Klaatu sees hope in the child and his mother. Robert Wise created a film ahead of its time as well as very much of its time, a cautionary tale that has gone unheeded. The film is still unsurpassed, and takes on a new significance when viewed in the wake of the current fall of reason.
MORE ABOUT THE SCORE
For the score that is as much a classic as the film itself, Bernard Herrmann used two Theremins (one bass one treble) along with: harps, pianos, electronic organs, brass, and percussion.
The opening theme from Herrmann’s score was used in the pilot of Irwin Allen’s 1965 TV series Lost in Space as well as in various episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-68).
DIALOGUE HIGHLIGHTS
Bobby: I like you Mr. Carpenter, you’re a real screw ball!
Klaatu (at the Lincoln Monument): Those are great words. He must have been a great man!
Klaatu (At Arlington Cemetery): Well, they have cemeteries, but not like this one. You see, they don’t have any wars.
Bobby Benson: Gee, that’s a good idea.
“Klaatu barada nikto“ is one of the best known commands in science fiction. If you are unfamiliar, you really need to see the film right now.
CONFESSIONS, FACTS, &JUST PLAIN IRONY
Patricia Neal later admitted that she found it hard to keep a straight face when giving her lines. She thought it was just another trashy flying saucer picture, and she didn’t realize she was in a classic in the making.
Danny Elfman was inspired to become a composer by Bernard Herrmann’s score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Although Sam Jaffe was already under contract to play Professor Barnhardt the studio was going to fire him due to the prevalent political witch hunts. Julian Blaustein (producer) convinced Darryl F. Zanuck not to let Jaffe go, but it was the last Hollywood film Jaffe was in until the late 50’s.
Adapted by Harry Fine & Tudor Gates and Michael Style from the Novella by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Screenplay by Tudor Gates
124 minutes.
Ingrid Pitt in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
CAST: Ingrid Pitt (Marcilla/Carmilla/Marcalla Karnstein), Pippa Steel (Laura), Madeline Smith (Emma Morton), Peter Cushing (General von Spielsdorf), George Cole (Roger Morton), Dawn Addams (The Countess), Kate O’Mara (The Governess/Mme. Perrodot), Jon Finch (Baron Joachim von Hartog), Douglas Wilmer (Baron Joachim von Hartog).
Ingrid Pitt & Madeline Smith in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
The Vampire Lovers was a landmark for Hammer Films as it was the first of their horror films to contain nudity. It also featured a female vampire who fancied women (Carmilla). Due to these new directions it was also the first Hammer Film to receive an R rating in the United States (Just an year earlier, Midnight Cowboy received an X rating). As Madeline Smith observed in an interview, the production was part of an “uneasy marriage between Hammer and American International.” AIP was brought in to draw audiences back into the theaters to see Hammer Films. As Madeline Smith put it, they were there, “to hot them up!” She further exclaimed that she didn’t really realize what they were going to do to “Hot” them up! And “hot them up” they did.
Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, and accouterments hotting it up in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
The emphasis on bosoms, already a staple of Hammer Horror, was increased and the nudity of Ingrid Pitt and partial nudity of Madeline Smith took them over the top, if you will pardon the expression. The film was based on the 1872 novella by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla, one of the earliest works of vampire fiction. Bram Stoker’s Dracula would not appear until 1897. Fanu, like Stoker was Irish and may have been an influence on the author of Dracula and Dracula’s Guest.
Whether or not the lesbian behavior was implied in Fanu’s text is beside the point, in the Hammer Film version it is the basis of the tale. It powers the sexuality that drives Carmilla throughout the narrative. Ignoring some of the traditional vampire mythology such as fear of daylight, Carmilla’s behavior is not what is typical for the vampire film as established by Stoker and later by Hollywood.
Douglas Wilmer & Peter Cushing in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Another change is that the woman are in the foreground and the usual lead actors are reduced to much less screen time. Peter Cushing’s character of General Von Spielsdorf is little more than a supporting player as is Jon Finch’s Baron Joachim von Hartog, and Douglas Wilmer as Baron Joachim von Hartog. They give wonderfully professional support in this film where the roles are effectively reversed placing the women at center stage.
Madeline Smith & Ingrid Pitt in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
The two actresses more than delivered. Ingrid Pitt is wonderfully evil as Carmilla, and Madeline Smith’s innocence and tragic trust of the demon was astonishingly well performed. The Vampire Lovers did come near the end of Hammer’s reign as the studio of Gothic Horror, but it was a fitting finale and a sincerely wicked effort.
Ingrid Pitt (1937-2010)
Ingrid Pitt in Countess Dracula (1971)
Ingrid Pitt was featured in two subsequent Hammer features, Countess Dracula, and The House That Dripped Blood. Both films were released in 1971. Prior to making the Hammer films, she had appeared in Where Eagles Dare (1968) with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton.
Ingrid Pitt, Richard Burton, & Mary Ure in Where Eagles Dare (1968)
She appeared with Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man (1973).An exceptionally well done horror film with a screenplay by Anthony Schaffer that has become a British cult classic. She went on to a long career in film and television including most notably: Doctor Who (1972 & 1984), and Smiley’s People (Mini-Series 1982).
Ingrid Pitt in The Wicker Man (1974)
Ingrid Pitts’ last film was an animated short. It focuses on her time in and escape from a Nazi concentration camp when she was eight years old. Her story is told in the acclaimed film short, Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest (2011). This 6 minute animated short was written and narrated by Ingrid Pitt and Directed by Devin Sean Michaels. Animated by (then 10 year old) Perry S. Chen with characters designed by academy award winner, Bill Plympton.
Madeline Smith (1949)
Madeline Smith’s first Hammer appearance was a small part in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) where she was billed as Maddy Smith. In the same year, The Vampire Lovers was released insuring that her name would be forever associated with Hammer horror. Her career would be a long and varied one as she appeared in both television and theatrical films. From British comedy shows like The Two Ronnies and Doctor at Large (both 1971) to films like Theater of Blood with Vincent Price and Live and Let Die (both released in 1973) and The Bawdy Adventurers of Tom Jones (1976). She also appeared in the last of the Hammer Frankenstein series, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974). Peter Cushing was in his usual fine form, but the make-up that turned David Prowse (best know for his silent performance in Star Wars) into the Monster From Hell was not the films crowning glory nor was the script. All in all making one wish that The Vampire Lovers had been the Hammer horror swan song.
Left and Center: Live and Let Die. Right: The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones.
Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, & Madeline Smith in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell
Shane Briant & Madeline Smith in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell
The casting of Anthony Perkins was perhaps the most important decision that Alfred Hitchcock made while in pre-production on what would become his greatest and most notorious achievement. Perkin’s nuanced performance as Norman and Janet Leigh’s restrained portrayal of Marion Crane are among the finest performances either have given. The peculiar fact that Hitchcock said in an interview with François Truffaut, “People will say (of Psycho), ‘It was a terrible film to make. The subject was horrible, the people were small, there were no characters in it.’ I know all of this.” (Hitchcock by François Truffaut) cautions us not to take what the director says in interviews at face value. He was emphasizing his focus on technique. On shooting and editing, but before all of that came the careful preparation of the script and the casting.
Janet Leigh & John Gavin in Psycho (1960)
Hitchcock always took special care in script preparation and casting, both very important steps in creating any film but even more so with one that defies description. It is a horror story in no uncertain terms, but it is also a love story gone terribly wrong. With very short brush strokes, Hitchcock and screenwriter Joseph Stefano create the characters of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin). There is no doubt that they are fully formed characters. Given the short amount of time that we get to know them, they’re three dimensional in our minds. Marion’s desperation is palpable, and we find ourselves cheering her on as she takes off with the loot.
The same can be said of Norman Bates as his character is revealed (if somewhat misleadingly due to its nature) through both his words and his actions. He has advised Marion that the hotel has “...twelve cabins, twelve vacancies…” yet when he goes to reach for a room key his hand hovers hesitatingly over room 2 and 3 and then slowly moves to pick room 1’s key from the board.
Norman’s hospitality to Marion is borne out of loneliness. His offer of a meal up at the house is derailed by the ravings of the woman that Marion saw in silhouette in the window of the house up the hill. We see Marion’s response to the old woman’s insinuating tirade. The voice is as much a shock as it is disturbing in what it conveys.
“No! I tell you no! I won’t have you bringing strange young girls in for supper. By candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap, erotic fashion of young men with cheap, erotic minds.”
We can’t help think of Marion’s conversation in the hotel room with Sam:
MARION: “…Sam, this is the last time…We can see each other. We can even have dinner. But respectably. At my house. With my mother’s picture over the mantle and my sister helping to broil a big steak for three.”
SAM: “And after the steak? Do we send sister to the movies and turn Mama’s picture to the wall?”
The later scene echoes the conversation that Sam turns lurid with his suggestions for being alone with Marion. In the scene with Sam we see Marion’s sandwich untouched and it hammers home the sadness of the tryst. Norman comes down from the house with a tray of milk, bread, and butter which is his pathetic attempt at being hospitable. They have a conversation during which Marion is moved to change her mind about what she is doing. When she suggests that Norman leave his mother he goes into a controlled rage. Marion tries to convince him, and though he comes back to his senses and admits that he has even thought about it, he remains unresolved:
MARION: “…She’s hurting you…
NORMAN: “…She needs me…She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven’t you?
MARION: “Sometimes just one time can be enough…I have a long drive tomorrow, all the way back to Phoenix.”
NORMAN: “Really?”
MARION: “I stepped into a private trap back there I’d like to go back and try to pull myself out of it before it’s too late for me too.”
Marion goes back to her room and Norman checks the register and sees that although she told him her name is Crane while in the parlor with him, she signed it as Samuels. Then he goes back into the parlor and removes a picture from the wall exposing a hole, and through the hole we see Marion preparing to shower.
Anthony Perkins in Psycho (1960)
We no longer wonder why Norman hesitated on giving Marion the key to room #1. His odd behavior is beginning to add up, but to what?
Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)
After this, Norman goes back up to the house. He stops at the stairs and it appears that he thinking about something–probably to go up and tell his mother that he is leaving? He thinks better of it and goes into the kitchen. Sitting down at the table, he fidgets with the lid of a sugar bowl.
Then we are back in the hotel room with Marion. She is also sitting as she tries to figure out how much of the money she has spent so she knows what she has left. It is clear that she intends to go back and return the money and face the consequences. She tears up the paper that she has been doing the figures on, and she flushes the scraps down the toilet. Then she closes the door of the bathroom, gets in the shower, and turns it on.
The suddenness of the act is horrifying even after multiple viewings. It is also what makes the film so memorable. That, and the incredible performances by both Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
The old woman runs out of the bath. We see the house and hear Norman’s horrified reaction to his mother returning spattered with blood. He bursts from the house and down to the hotel room where he is visibly repulsed, and yet he proceeds to clean up. We quickly realize that he is going to cover up for his mother. The methodical way that he does this gives us the idea that this may not be the first time his mother has gone a little ‘mad.’ After he clears the room of any trace of Marion (even taking the newspaper wrapped forty thousand dollars and throwing it into the truck), he pushes her car into a swamp behind the hotel and stands watching it sink. His nervousness brings our sympathy. What a horrid trap he was born into! When the process stalls and the car appears not to be sinking, we find ourselves hoping it does and that he is not caught. We have shifted our identification from Marion to Norman.
