Hammer and Beyond

Boris Karloff on Radio

2009-11-27T16:43:00.008Z

This blog post is part of the Boris Karloff Blogathon.

The moment I discovered the Internet all those years ago, I also discovered the beauty of Old Time Radio (OTR).

In this day and age of constant entertainment it is hard to fathom just how much of an input radio drama had on the lives of millions during the golden age of OTR between the 1930s and 60s. During that time radio effectively took the place of TV in most people's homes and radio drama represented a variety of common genres such as mystery, horror, superheroes, western, Science Fiction, soap opera and much more.

Similar to the way early TV programs were quickly discarded or taped over by the corporations, radio shows were equally got rid off quickly in order to free up shelf spaces in the archives. In actual fact if it wasn't for the efforts of early OTR enthusiasts a lot of the programs would no longer be around. In the early days collecting OTR often required searching in trash dumps for any reels that may have been disposed off.

Over the years and with advances in technology OTR collecting became more accessible to the masses, though it still only constitutes a niche hobby of a small, but highly enthusiastic group of fans. Shows were first of all swapped through reel-to-reel, then tapes and CDs finally in MP3 format, first of all through CD or DVD trades and now as direct downloads through the Internet.

The beauty of OTR is that the classic shows up until Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar are not so much out of copyright, but never appear to be copyrighted in the first place which makes trading a guilt free and perfectly legal affair.

The sound quality of the shows available can vary, but for the most part is decent enough to guarantee perfect enjoyment. OTRs are also available for sale, though most enthusiasts look down upon this and it is perfectly feasible to quickly amass a large collection that will give you pleasure for years to come without ever spending a single penny.

Classic radio dramas not only promise great entertainment value, but are also essential for any fan of classic cinema. If you're into any of the classic Hollywood actors you just need to become a fan of OTR to truly appreciate the scope of those actors' talents as practically everyone of these artists was at some stage involved with recording radio shows. Some recorded very little: Bela Lugosi e.g. was very much compromised by his strong accent that prevented him from making a real impact on radio. Some recorded a lot: The likes of Orson Welles or Vincent Price e.g. have such a broad recording history that it nearly warrants an entire tome just dedicated to that aspect of their acting careers. But whether an actor recorded a little or a lot, the chances that your favourite classic thespian recorded a least a certain amount are very high.

So how does Boris Karloff fit into this?

Just a cursory glance at the listing on the official Karloff site reveals that he was one of the more prolific radio actors. His mellifluous voice was ideal for radio shows and his OTR output was tremendous. There's hardly a month in his career in which he did not record radio shows and in actual fact there was many a period when he was involved in several shows per month. This is a gigantic output especially considering that at the same time he was also busy shooting hundreds of movies and TV shows.

But the sheer numbers of radio shows is not the only thing to hit you when you start looking at Karloff, the radio performer. More important is the sheer range and versatility of these performances. Sure, true to form there are indeed a wide range of macabre performances that come with the territory, but he also appeared in comedy shows often spoofing his own image. And if you were always annoyed that he didn't star in Frank Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace, rejoice as you can listen to him reprising his stage role as Jonathan Brewster in a couple of radio dramas.

Together with his colleague John Carradine he also appeared in Information Please, a celebrity radio quiz show in which he was able to demonstrate a wide range of knowledge that would put most current celebs to shame.

He also was the host of a long running series of factual programs based on stories published in the Readers' Digest.

So if I have managed to wet your appetite a little bit, then what are you waiting for? Luckily for us a large number of his radio shows are available freely on the Internet as MP3s. Though there are already at least two good Karloffian OTR lists around (the one on the official site as well as one on the Radio Gold Index I have decided to run my own here. It is a conglomerate of the other two lists as some of the titles were not listed on both. Also none of the two lists features links to available shows online. Those lists do, however, provide a wealth of extra info about the individual shows well worth checking out.

So my goal with this list is to provide an extensive overview of Karloff's radio work as well as info on where to listen to those shows. A list like this will by its very nature probably remain forever incomplete. From the 12 (or 13) episodes of Creeps by Night that Karloff was involved in, the titles of only seven are still known and of those only two still appear to be available in any shape or form.

I would like to have this list as a constant work in progress and want to keep it as updated as much possible, I would welcome any additional info available, both regarding new episode names or dates as well as links to online availability not mentioned yet.

This list does not cover Karloff's appearances on audio records, some of which can also be found online. The IMDB has provided a short cursory overview into this aspect of Karloff's career.

For those of you not averse to spending on OTR, the OTRcat has 69 Boris Karloff shows available on CD for just $5. Some of them do not appear to be easily available online otherwise.

Boris Karloff Radio Check List:

Unknown Title (January 3, 1932) Format: Variety; Network: CBS.

Hollywood on Parade [aka: Hollywood on the Air] (October 7, 1933)

Hollywood on Parade [aka: Hollywood on the Air] (January 27, 1934)

The Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour: "Death Takes a Holiday" (October 11, 1934)

Hollywood on the Air (May 1935)

Shell Chateau (August 31, 1935)

Unknown Title (December 30, 1935)

The Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour (February 6, 1936)

The Royal GeIatin Hour (September 3, 1936)

Camel Caravan (December 8, 1936)

The Chase and Sanborn Hour (January 30, 1938)

Baker’s Broadcast [aka: Seein’ Stars in Hollywood] (March 13, 1938)

Lights Out: “The Dream” aka “Darrell Hall’s Thoughts” (March 23, 1938) = “The Dream”

Lights Out: “Valse Triste” (March 30, 1938)

Lights Out: “Cat Wife” (April 6, 1938)

Unknown Title (April 11, 1938)

Lights Out: “Three Matches” (April 13, 1938)

Lights Out: “Night on the Mountain” (April 20, 1938)

Royal Gelatin Hour aka The Royal Desserts Hour aka The Rudy Vallee Hour (May 5, 1938)

The Eddie Cantor Show (January 16, 1939)

Royal Gelatin Hour ( April 6 1939)

Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knnowledge ( September 25, 1940)

Everyman’s Theater: “Cat Wife” (October 18, 1940)

Information Please (January 24, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Man of Steel” (March 16, 1941)

Hollywood News Girl (March 22, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Man Who Hated Death” (March 23, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death in the Zoo” (April 6, 1941)

The Voice of Broadway (April 19, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Fog” (April 20, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: "Imperfect Crime” (May 11, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Fall of the House of Usher” (June 1, 1941)

Bundles for Britain (June 14, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Green-Eyed Bat” (June 22, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Man Who Painted Death” (June 29, 1941)

United Press Is On the Air (July 11, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death Is a Murderer” (July 13, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (August 3, 1941)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Terror on Bailey Street” (October 26, 1941)

Time to Smile (December 17, 1941)

Keep ’em Rolling (February 8, 1942)

Information Please (February 20, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Fall of the House of Usher” (April 5, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Blackstone” (April 19, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Study for Murder” (May 3, 1942)
[No direct link found, but available by email upon request]

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: "The Cone” (May 24, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death Wears My Face” (May 31, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Strange Bequest” (April 7, 1942)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Grey Wolf’ (April 21, 1941)

The Theatre Guild on the Air: “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1943)

Information Please (May 17, 1943)

Blue Ribbon Town (July 24, 1943)

The Charlie McCarthy Show (January 30, 1944)

Creeps By Night (February 15-June 20, 1944) [series]
“The Voice of Death” (February 15, 1944)
“The Man With the Devil’s Hands” (February 22, 1944)
“Dark Destiny” (March 14, 1944)
“A String of Pearls” (March 28, 1944)
“Those Who Walk in Darkness” (April 25, 1944)
“The Final Reckoning” (May 2, 1944)
“The Hunt” (May 9, 1944)

Blue Ribbon Town (June 3, 1944)

Duffy’s Tavern (January 12, 1945)

Suspense: “Drury’s Bones” (January 25, 1945)

The Fred Allen Show (October 14, 1945)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Corridor of Doom” (October 23, 1945)

Hildegarde’s Radio Room aka The Raleigh Room (October 23, 1945)

The Charlie McCarthy Program (October 28, 1945)

Report to the Nation: “Back for Christmas” (November 3, 1945)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Wailing Wall” (November 6, 1945)

Theatre Guild on the Air: “The Emperor Jones” and “Where the Cross is Made” (November 11, 1945)

The Fred Allen Show: Renting a Room (November 18, 1945)

Textron Theater: “Angel Street” (December 8, 1945)

Exploring the Unknown: “The Baffled Genie” (December 23, 1945)

The Radio Hall of Fame (December 23, 1945)

Information Please (December 24, 1945)

Request Performance (February 3, 1946)

That’s Life (November 8, 1946)

The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre: “Arsenic and Old Lace” (November 25, 1946)

Show Stoppers (1946)

The Jack Benny Show (January 19, 1947)

Lights Out (July 16-August 6, 1947) [series]
“Death Robbery” (July 16, 1947)
“The Undead” (July 23, 1947)
“The Ring” (July 30, 1947)

Philco Radio Time (aka The Bing Crosby Show) (October 29, 1947)

The Jimmy Durante Show (December 10, 1947)

Suspense: “Wet Saturday” (December 19, 1947)

The Kraft Music Hall (December 25, 1947)

Unconquered (1947)

Guest Star: The Babysitter (September 12, 1948)

The NBC University Theater of the Air: “The History of Mr. Polly” (October 17, 1948)

The Sealtest Variety Theater (aka The Dorothy Lamour Show) (October 28, 1948)

Great Scenes from Great Plays: “On Borrowed Time” (October 29, 1948)

Truth or Consequences (October 30, 1948)

Theater USA (February 3, 1949)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Birdsong for a Murderer” (February 14, 1949)

Spike Jones Spotlight Review (April 9, 1949)

Theatre Guild on the Air (May 29, 1949)

The Sealtest Variety Theater (aka The Dorothy Lamour Show) (June 23, 1949)

Starring Boris Karloff (September 21-December 14, 1949)
“Five Golden Guineas” (September 21)
“The Mask” (September 28)
“Mungahara” (October 5)
“Mad Illusion” (October 12)
“Perchance to Dream,” (October 19)
“The Devil Takes a Bride” (October 26)
“The Moving Finger” (November 2)
“The Twisted Path” (November 9)
“False Face” (November 16)
“Cranky Bill” (November 23)
“Three O’Clock” (November 30)
“The Shop at Sly Corner” (December 7)
“The Night Reveals” (December 14)

The Bill Stern Colgate Sports Newsreel (January 13, 1950)

The Bill Stern Colgate Sports Newsreel (July 21, 1950)

Boris Karloff's Treasure Chest (September 17-December 17, 1950) [series]
“Casey at the Bat” (October 1, 1950)
“Johnny Appleseed” (November 26, 1950)
“Boris Karloff’s Christmas Treasure Chest” (December 24, 1950)

The Theater Guild on the Air: “David Copperfield” (December 24, 1950)

Stars on Parade: “The Big Man” (May 4, 1951)

Duffy’s Tavern (October 1951)

Phillip Morris Playhouse on Broadway: “Journey into Nowhere” (February 10, 1952)

The MGM Musical Comedy Theatre. (February 20, 1952)

The Theatre Guild on the Air: “Oliver Twist” (February 24, 1952)

The Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Show (April 18, 1952)
[No direct link found, but available by email upon request]

The Theatre Guild on the Air: “The Sea Wolf” (April 27, 1952)

Phillip Morris Playhouse on Broadway: “Outward Bound” (June 1, 1952)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Birdsong for a Murderer” (June 22, 1952)

Best Plays: “Arsenic and Old Lace” (July 6, 1952)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death for Sale” (July 13, 1952)

MGM Musical Comedy Theater of the Air: “Yolanda and the Thief’ (November 26, 1952)

Phillip Morris Playhouse on Broadway: “Man Against Town” (December 10, 1952)

U.S. Steel Hour: “Great Expectations” (April 5, 1953)

Phillip Morris Playhouse on Broadway: “Dead Past” (April 15, 1953)

Heritage: “Plagues” (April 23, 1953)

Phillip Morris Playhouse on Broadway: “The Shop at Sly Corner” (June 17, 1953)

Recollections At Thirty. (September 26, 1956)

Tales from the Reader’s Digest aka The Boris Karloff Program
These are short 3-minute shows in which Karloff presents info from the pages of the Reader's Digest. Over the course of that show he recorded so many of these that a complete overview would require a blog post in its own right. A complete list can be obtained by scanning the Radio Gold Index. The following six samples are the ones that still appear to be available.
"Special Message to Station Owners" (December 1957)
"Chung Ling Soo" (December 16, 1957)
"Shakespeare's Hometown (December 17, 1957)
"Story of Wood" (December 18, 1957)
"Dr. Harvey Cushing" (December 19, 1957)
"The White House" (December 20, 1957)

Easy as ABC: “0 Is for Old Wives Tales” (April 27, 1958)

Peter Cushing Tribute

2009-11-22T21:38:00.002Z

Quite a cool Peter Cushing Tribute from YouTube.

Where Eagles Dare (1968)

2009-11-02T15:28:00.004Z

I remember watching Where Eagles Dare for the first time about 20 years or so ago. Loved it to bits, but never rewatched it for whatever reason. Of course in the meantime I've been reading so much from Ingrid Pitt about her memories of the filming and her apparently gigantic contribution to the making of it. Trouble is that I could never actually remember seeing her in it.

Now Cinema Retro has published a fantastic special edition of their magazine focusing entirely on this movie on more than 80 richly illustrated pages. So when I finally held a copy of it in my hands, I just knew I was running out of excuses for not seeing this film a second time and popped it into the player again.

And what can I say? It still is one of the best WW2 adventure movies ever. Given that I hadn't seen it in more than two decades I was surprised how much of it I actually remembered, surely a sign how well the images had made an impression on me then. A near perfect film if ever there was one. Glad I watched it again and glad I have the Cinema Retro edition as a special memento.

But what about Ingrid Pitt?

Dammit, her role was so minute! No wonder she appears last on the cast list and no wonder I couldn't remember her. Did she even have a dozen lines in the film? Call me highly amused as to how much she managed to milk her tiny appearance in it over the last couple of years.

What also had me amazed was a contemporary Making Of documentary in which she has more to say than in the entire movie. (Probably because the main stars were busy actually filming.) The announcer's voice introduced her as being German which I put down as just another careless bit of research that we come across so frequently with this kind of promotional material. I was, however, genuinely agog when Ingrid Pitt herself introduced the plethora of different nationalities involved in the production and subsequently spoke of herself as being German!

She was born in Poland and suffered badly under the German occupation, so why would she all of a sudden introduce herself as German as opposed to being Polish? Surely from a production point of view it would have made no difference. It's utterly head scratching.

I definitely would like to know more about the director, Brian Hutton. The article on him in the Special Edition gave fascinating glimpses into this mysterious personality who at the height of a promising directing career decided to vanish into the sunset never to be seen or heard from again. It appears that he may have gotten into real estate, but attempts to contact him proved fruitless. Noone seems to know his whereabouts.

There are of course numerous cases of Hammer starlets gone missing, but this is the first time I am aware of a prestigious film director doing a vanishing act. After all, once a successful director you'd probably have a much vaster industry network than you would if you were a B-movie starlet, so it is intriguing to see how well he ended up staging this disappearance act. Gotta admire a man who lives according to his own rules and leaves when he is getting bored/disillusioned with it all.

Anyway, glad I finally managed to rewatch this production. I'll make sure I won't wait another 20 years to see it again.

Boris Karloff Blogathon

2009-10-12T09:31:00.004+01:00

Frankensteinia, the Frankenstein Blog, has decided to roll out a Boris Karloff Blogathon in the week of November 23 - 29 in honour of Karloff's 122nd birthday on November 23. A good number of cult movie blogs have already decided to join and it sure sounds like a fun idea, so I'll contribute as well.

Not sure yet what I'll be writing about. I know I will NOT be writing about any Karloff movie that I have already seen, but may take this opportunity to film some gaps in my Karloff filmography. Alternatively I am also tempted to write something about his contributions to Old Time Radio. Karloff appeared in a vast variety of radio shows and this is an area that has never really been properly explored in articles about the man.

Let's see what I'll come up with in the next six weeks. And hopefully some more bloggers will join this celebration of the life and career of one of horror's most iconic personalities.

The Reptile

2009-10-07T13:13:00.003+01:00

Following my announcement of Little Shoppe of Horror's upcoming 23rd issue I had a little Twitter discussion about The Reptile with my good buddy David Rattigan (webmaster of the Dictionary of Hammer Horror) which made me think of writing this little blog post.

I have recently – and quite timely from the looks of it – rewatched the second of Hammer's Cornish horrors after a previous one-off viewing way more than 20 years ago.

The first time round I remember not being too impressed with it, however, this time round I did start to appreciate the Cornish atmosphere as well as the original monster that Hammer created for this movie.

The film does, however, have a number of weird inconsistencies that IMHO stops it from being the masterpiece that a lot of Hammer fans seem to think it is and that reak of lazy storywriting. Mind you, I am generally not the type who obsessively looks for bloopers. If hard pressed ANY film will have some dodgy developments that could be questioned, but life's too short to worry about whether the third extra in the 9th row really carries the correct insignia in a WW2 movie, so when something strikes me as odd it usually means that it is big enough for me to carry an impact.

(I hate to highlight the obvious, but beware of spoilers from now on!)

And one of the biggest question marks I have with regards to The Reptile is over the fact that Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) manages to escape relatively unharmed from a bite that kills all others in the movie within seconds. He, on the other hand, finds the time to run out of the house, through the forests, into his home and then save his skin by immunising the initial wound. How does he last that long and why hasn't the venom infiltrated his entire body at that stage? None of that is explained and given that in all other circumstances the victims don't even seem to make it past a few steps before collapsing this is an area that really expects the viewer to utterly and completely suspend all disbelief.

Other plot points that worried me:

Towards the end when Noel Willman's character decides to kill his daughter he is ready to strike her, but hears a noise from the cages and decides to first of all release the bunny rabbits. Huh? What kind of priorities does this man have?

Then he gets attacked by Marne Maitland, the cunning evil Indian mastermind behind it all, who attempts to prevent the killing. Once Maitland is disposed off Willman turns to Jennifer Daniel, the heroine, who stood uninvolved in the background and openly accuses her of interfering with the initial killing. How did he come up with that conclusion?

And to make matters worse: From then on in he stops everyone else trying to kill the reptile from doing so.

So.... first he wants to kill the daughter, then he wants to release the rabbits, then he fights off the Indian who wants to stop him from the killing, then he accuses the girl of interfering and rather than proceed with his initial plan he now turns a 180 degrees and effectively does what the Indian wanted to do in the first place.

Scratching my head, but I can't make head nor tail of this. Yes, you could argue that Willman's character turned mad, but I prefer method to my madness rather than this hodge podge change of actions.

Mind you, the film without a doubt overall is quite a worthwhile addition to the Hammer canon, but you will have to foresake a lot of logic when viewing this flick. Then again, logical plot development was never a mandatory ingredient for fan adoration. After all one of Hammer's worst plotted movies of all times, Brides of Dracula, regularly features as one of the studio's best movies of all times.

By the way, check out Wrong Side of the Art's fantastic overview of Hammer posters in case you are wondering where I borrowed the poster image from.

Little Shoppe of Horrors #23 available

2009-10-07T09:59:00.003+01:00

Looks like the new issue of "Little Shoppe of Horrors" is available anytime now and can as usual be ordered through Dick Klemensen's website. For those of you, like me, who are not based in the States it may, however, be more convenient to check out Hemlock Books. Based in the UK they have more attractive postage rates that will cut down on the overall price and the delivery time.

The new issue promises to feature an in depth overview over Hammer's Cornish Classics Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile. Just as well so that I recently re-watched the latter for the first time in probably two decades.

Christopher Lee does porn comedy sketch

2009-10-03T12:20:00.003+01:00

Awful but kinda funny at the same time.

Marcus Hearn: Hammer Glamour

2009-09-29T12:11:00.005+01:00

Anyone who has followed this blog for some time knows about my love for Hammer Glamour. Indeed this blog started as a companion piece to a Hammer Glamour website I had started all those years ago as I couldn't find enough info on the ladies of Hammer around. The website has now been moribund for a while and I am primarily focused on “Hammer and Beyond” as a more effective way to communicate with other Hammer Fans, but the glamour aspect of all things Hammer always remained close to my heart.

A few years ago I nearly wetted myself reading about a project Tim Greaves appeared to be involved in about this subject and got very disappointed when nothing came of it. Now Marcus Hearn, one of the most notable Hammer historians, comes on the scene with this lavishly illustrated book that appears to be fully endorsed by the new Hammer company.

Hammer Glamour is an overview over 50 actresses associated with this studio. Another 25 ladies receive a short honorary mention in an appendix.

A dream come true for this fanboy, but have all my expectations been met?

Well, to a degree.

Hammer Glamour is indeed a worthwhile purchase, full of info and photos of the lovely actresses that more often than not often quickly faded back into obscurity once they had their 15 minutes of fame through Hammer.

There are, however, a number of niggles I am having with this book.

To start with I found that a number of – in my opinion – essential Hammer Glamour representatives were notably missing from the list. True, any list selection since time began has always been up for debate, but am I the only one who thinks that the likes of Dana Gillespie, Kirsten Betts, Pippa Steele or Ralph Bates' wife Virgina Wetherell deserve a full entry (or at least a short mention in the book's end chapter)? I would think that either one of those are more bona fide representatives of Hammer Glamour than, say, the like of Stephanie Powers who did indeed get a full entry.

The 50 ladies that are fully, ahem, covered in this tome all either get two or four pages. In terms of text the difference between two or four pages doesn't actually make that much of a difference as this is primarily a book of illustrations - the cover even highlights that the book's raison d'etre are “Classic Images from the Archive of Hammer Films – and what is covered textwise is not necessarily ground breaking.

The actresses suffering the most from this lack of info are the more established ones that actually had a proper career. I'd liked to have read more about life outside of Hammer for quite a number of them. From Ursula Andress' large oeuvre only a small number of titles are even referenced. Caroline Munro's musical career is ignored and Starcrash isn't even mentioned. And it would have been nice to read a bit more about Ingrid Pitt's writing career than just a cursory mention of two of her publications.

The one actress who is hurt the most by this piecemeal approach is Barbara Shelley, “Hammer's most prolific female star”. Even her Hammer entries don't get full coverage with The Gorgon and Shadow of the Cat both only mentioned in passing within one and the same sentence.

Chances are that if you are already somewhat familiar with the careers of the actresses in question, you are not going to learn anything majorly new about them through this book.

So how do the pictures fare?

Well, I can safely say that Hammer Glamour is indeed a feast for the eyes. Even though about half of the pictures published looked at least somewhat familiar to me, I can't remember ever having seen them reproduced that splendidly. The most revealing picture (no pun intended) for me was one with Susan Denberg in leather gear on a very familiar looking motorbike. Only when I read the caption did I realise that this was a publicity photo taken for the title role of Girl on a Motorcyle, a part Denberg ultimately lost due to a drug overdose to Marianne Faithfull!

If this sounds as if I may have emphasised the negative a bit too much: Although this book is not quite the be-all and end-all that I had initially envisioned it to be (admittedly my expectations were huge), I do feel this is a tome that every Hammer and especially Hammer Glamour Fan should own. It's a quick, but magnificently illustrated read and a book that will look stunning on every coffee table.

Even though I was mildly disappointed about some of the issues that I had with this one I can now officially put my own Hammer Glamour site to rest. It will remain online, but I will no longer update anything on it and instead fully focus on this blog.

Looking into my crystal ball I also sense that, should this publication prove a success, that a further follow up to this book may be made available soon focusing on the male talent in front of the camera. And niggles or not, I'd be the first to purchase that one if it ever comes around.

Hammer Horror: A Fan's Guide

2009-09-26T10:43:00.002+01:00

What I was really looking for before I found Kate Bush's video was the "Hammer Horror: A Fan's Guide" playlist below.

Kate Bush - Hammer Horror

2009-09-26T10:32:00.003+01:00

Looked for one thing, found another. And that other is Kate Bush's homage to "Hammer Horror". I had completely forgotten that this song even existed as it's not exactly one of her most popular ones. From what I understand it actually has sweet eff all to do with Hammer Horror proper but I'll be damned if that matters: This lady cheers me up anytime I watch her and listen to her music. They sure don't make them like they used to.

The Gambler and the Lady/Heat Wave

2009-09-08T13:31:00.005+01:00

So I finally found the time to look a bit further into my collection of Hammer Noirs and recently treated myself to a little double feature.

I must admit I always find intriguing how little Noir the Hammer Noirs often are. Case in point: The Gambler and the Lady. Though with a very heavy focus on crime, this is primarily a (melo)drama about a gambler (Dane Clark) from the States who tries to establish a gambling empire in London while secretly harbouring the ambition to be accepted by the ruling classes. His often comical attempts at learning the proper manners, however, just make him a laughing stock amongst the often cash poor, but class rich nobility he is dealing with. When some rival American mobsters come and take over his gambling dens and some of his blue blooded society friends take advantage of his ambition, he soon learns that dog-eat-dog is prevalent at all levels of society just as friendship and loyalty can be earned everywhere.

This film proved to be the first of three pictures Hammer shot with American actor Dane Clark who indeed was the most convincing of all the Hammer Noir stars. The film also features supporting roles by Eric Pohlmann and George Pastell and is a generally entertaining and well made time waster, in other words pretty much on a par with the average Hammer Noir entry.

Heat Wave on the other hand is actually a proper Noir movie and one of the best of Hammer’s sub-genre. Though I generally prefer the American release titles in this case the original UK title The House Across the Lake is a much better choice as there is no sign of an Indian Summer Key Largo style anywhere in sight.

Instead we get to meet Alex Nicol (Mark Kendrick) who narrates his downfall in typical Noir style via the use of Flashbacks. Nicol is a starving writer and self confessed male slut who just can’t resist anyone in a skirt, and who one night unexpectedly gets invited to a party in the mansion across the lake from his own much humbler abode. There he befriends the millionaire owner (Sid James) and his man hungry wife (Hillary Brooke, looking a wee bit past her prime in some of the scenes). No points in guessing what devious plan the wife and her new lover will soon concoct and who will ultimately be dropped like a hot spud once the dirty deed is done.

If the story sounds familiar, then that’s because it truly is the quintessiantal Noir plot of good guy turned bad under the influence of a scheming Blonde. It also bears a remarkable resemblance to Bad Blonde/The Flanagan Boy. Let’s see: Ambitious young man makes friends with a friendly rich old man and against his better judgement starts an affair with his manipulating wife. The two decide to get rid of the husband by killing him on a boat near his mansion. Sounds pretty much carbon copy to me.

Both films also star Sid James, though in Heat Wave he has a much more impressive role as the cuckolded husband. If there’s one thing that watching Hammer Noir taught me it is to see James in a much different light. For all those only familiar with his performances from a myriad of Carry On movies only it will come as a surprise to see the full range of this actor.

Future Chitty Chitty Bang Bang director Ken Hughes adapted and directed this flick based on his own novel “High Wray”. The success of this Hammer Noir ensured that he was subsequently able to move on to bigger and better things.

From a geek perspective the most exciting aspect of this production is how well the Bray Studio buildings and the adjacent Thames River locations were utilised. It is hard to name any other Hammer production that presented the building and garden that clearly without any major refurbishments. The way Down Place looks in this film is pretty much the same way it still looks now. I was giddy with excitement when I could easily identify some of the spots I actually stood on myself when attending the Hammer at Bray functions. Incidentally Heat Wave was one of the very first - if not the first - Hammer production shot in Bray Studios and for that fact alone is clearly a Must See for anyone interested in Hammer Films.

Yet more DVD releases

2009-09-04T15:17:00.001+01:00

Hardly a week seems to go by these days without a new announcement concerning previously rare and sought after Hammer movies finally seeing a proper DVD release.

The Columbia Classics Blog writes that:

“Next year, look for another Icons release when we gear up for the Icons of Suspense, the third in our effort to bring forward the great Hammer films in the Columbia library. The titles in this next set will include such masterpieces as Stop Me Before I Kill, Cash on Demand, Never Take Candy from a Stranger, Maniac, The Snorkel, and the great Joseph Losey-directed These Are the Damned. As with the previous Hammer releases, we are dedicated to providing the longest, most original restored versions of these films possible.”

Stop Me Before I Kill is also known as The Full Treatment and of course Never Take Candy... is better known as Never Take Sweets From A Stranger.

As the saying goes.....

Can. Not. Wait.

Seriously addictive Hammer Trivia Game and a chance to win the new Hammer Glamour book

2009-09-04T14:51:00.002+01:00

Reading up on this article from the official Hammer website I learned about the new Hammer Trivia website. Think you know your Hammer films well? Then demonstrate your knowledge against other online players in four trivia games about Dracula, Vampire Lore, Frankenstein or Monsters.

Once I figured out what to do I managed to occasionally make it to the first rank of a game, but I also managed to seriously screw up some of the rounds as some of the questions really require great memory about details in those Hammer films and all the games have an added time factor.

Each game has 10 different questions. You start with 1000 points in your account and in each round must choose how many of your points you are willing to bet on the right answer. Four possible answers are then revealed and the faster you provide the correct answer the higher your overall points payout will be.

All the games are available for free, but it appears that you can also bet some real money in the hope of making it towards a payout. So if you’re really good with your Hammer knowledge you could even make yourself a few bob.

The Top 5 ranked Hammer Trivia gamers by midnight, Friday September 18 will all receive a complimentary copy of Marcus Hearn’s new Hammer Glamour book.

If that isn’t incentive enough to give these games a try I don’t know what is.

The only downside: Each time a new game loads you need to view a trailer for Beyond the Rave. Oh, the horror of it!

Still around, guys, still around

2009-08-27T14:52:00.002+01:00

Yes, I know, two months without a single blog post. Don’t know where the time has gone. I am not going to become the kind of person I hate most, the apologetic absentee blogger, so suffice it to say that life got in the way and I lost quite a bit of my writing mojo lately. I was never the most prolific writer anyway, but my only output over the last couple of weeks were just a small number of entirely non-Hammer related reviews that can be read here, here and here.

Given my little hiatus, where will this leave my own 999 Challenge?

I am absolutely in awe at the amount of writing that other bloggers have managed to create inspired by the format. Needless to say I am also likewise a bit pissed about how far behind I have been with it at this stage. It’s not as if I hadn’t seen all those films. In actual fact if all I did was to tick off the categories once I view a movie, then I’d have definitely finished some of those already, but of course the idea was to watch those films and then WRITE about it. And that’s where I am lagging behind.

The bizarre thing is that at the start of the year having this format got my mind nicely in focus with regards to future blog posts, however, once I stopped writing for a while it ended up somewhat less liberating. I am the kind of anal guy (I believe the technical term is “German”) who likes to stick to rules once established. So there I was watching some new (for me anyway) Hammer movies and then tracking my backlog of unwritten 999 reviews. In order not to let that backlog move on further, what did I do? Yep, stop watching films in some of those categories which is of course the polar opposite of what I wanted to achieve with the project.

So I guess I better remember that I had started this blog for FUN, to post some of my thoughts, share some of my passions and shoot the breeze with fellow fans. And if I end up not watching films I love just because I feel obliged to also write about them, then something went amiss. In other words I’ll do 999 when I have the time and inclination; I’ll ignore it if I can’t be bothered.

Will I swear that I’ll be back to normal writing mode from now on? Dunno, but I’ll try my best to get back into a regular writing habit especially as there are a number of exciting Hammer releases on the way.

As just about everybody who reads this blog knows, the book I am most looking forward to over the coming weeks is Marcus Hearn’s Hammer Glamour book.

Can. Not. Wait.

I am giddy with excitement over it.

Also check out this Barbara Shelley interview that the Daily Express published the other day prior to the September 25 release of the book.

Other interesting stuff coming our way over the next couple of weeks (courtesy of my buddies on the Yahoo Hammer Group, the Isle of the Dead and the Bloody Hell of Brit Horror):

September 21 will mark the release of three previously rare Hammer pictures: The Damned, The Camp on Blood Island and Yesterday’s Enemy. It appears that these releases are exclusive to UK’s Moviemail service. The Sword of Sherwood Forest has previously also been made available by Sony this year. Looks like there are less and less reasons these days to hang on to the bootlegs anymore and there are very few major Hammer movies still waiting for a proper DVD release.

Region 2 releases for Sony’s The Gorgon, Taste of Fear and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll may also be on the horizon.

And speaking of Sony: October 20 marks the date of the Region 1 release of the new William Castle Collection that includes Hammer’s The Old Dark House together with some of Castle’s other classic and not so classic oeuvres like 13 Frightened Girls, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Strait-Jacket, Mr. Sardonicus, The Tingler and Zotz!

Something that up till now had completely escaped my attention was the fact that one of the recent Forgotten Noir volumes features Hammer Noir Scotland Yard Inspector aka Lady in the Fog with Lois Maxwell and Cesar Romero.

So all in all this is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks for Hammer Fans.

Oh, and check out the UK channel Men & Motors. Each night at 23:00 they are now showing the classic TV series Hammer House of Horror. I had previously only ever watched a single one of those shows all those years ago and recall that it didn’t impress me much. Now that I have started viewing the episodes properly I still can’t say that I am very impressed. Don’t expect a show by show recount here, but overall this is a very pedestrian affair and probably my least favourite entry in Hammer’s filmography, not because it is so bad (it really isn’t), but because it is so very very average.

Long story short: It’s good to be back.

Is The Wake Wood doomed?

2009-06-23T10:32:00.002+01:00

I just caught this item on Robert Simpson’s Unofficial Hammer Site. This is quite interesting, somewhat disconcerting news that – if true – seems to have completely fallen off the radar.

Robert noticed that a) the DVD release of Beyond the Rave seems to now be at least questionable and b) that Hammer’s new production The Wake Wood has apparently been taken off the list of productions for 2009. Read the article to get the full details of this discovery.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about Beyond the Rave. I hated it with a vengeance when I watched it for free, have no intention of ever seeing it again and definitely do not intend to spend any money on it. The only thing I may regret is not seeing Ingrid Pitt’s appearance in the DVD release, but based on the serial this would likely have been an insignificant blink or you’ll miss it moment anyway, so I guess I’ll survive that one easily.

I am much more sorry to hear that The Wake Wood may now have fallen off the schedule. From all I have heard about it this seems to have been a production that was much more in line with Hammer’s previous image and whereas I didn’t care an iota for BTR, The Wake Wood was something I was genuinely looking forward to especially also as this would have been filmed in Ireland.

Not too sure what to do about this. It would be nice to hear from a source directly at Hammer about it. Is it worth starting a concerted effort to rescue that production and try and push Hammer to continue with it?

I’d definitely appreciate comments and suggestions about this situation.

Yet more news!!!

2009-06-15T13:40:00.002+01:00

There's just no end to Hammer related news:

Christopher Lee finally received his Knighthood. I am sure he is ecstatic about that and it sure was well deserved. Not certain though how much he appreciates those Sir Dracula jibes.

Mind you: Lee has also just joined the cast of the new Hammer movies The Resident, so Lee, Hammer and Horror can finally be mentioned in the same breath again.

**********

Start pre-ordering and wait with baited breath until the end of September! Then pre-order again and count the days until the end of the year!

Cause none other than Marcus Hearn and Titan Books have joined forces again to publish the kind of oeuvre I have been salivating about ever since I became a Hammer Fan. (And hey, don't I also have a Hammer Glamour related website that needs updating soon?)

"Hammer Glamour" (the book) will no doubt be a visual feast and chock full of interesting, ahem, titbits. I wouldn't expect anything less from the people who brought us "The Hammer Story".

And to celebrate a new year full of salacious memories we will also be able to purchase a Hammer Glamour calendar at the end of this year.

Now I can die a happy man.

**********

Looks like Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires may soon be remade. You know what? It could just work. I like the original, but it is not one of the all time critically acclaimed classics, so not really heresy.

**********

And last but not least: The Internet Archive now has the rare (non-Hammer) Peter Cushing movie The Risk available for download. Can't wait to watch this.

Two US events that I'd love to frequent

2009-06-15T13:19:00.002+01:00

Is it my imagination or are there more and more events around of interest to the Hammer Fans? I am looking forward to Don's London based Cine Lumiere do next month. If I could (i.e. live in the US) I would also visit the follow two happenings:

DRIVE-IN SUPER MONSTER-RAMA
September 11/12
Riverside Drive-In, Route 66, Vandergrift, PA 15690

The line up is simply electric for anyone interested in Hammer movies and Brit Cult. September 12 is dedicated Hammer Horror Saturday with the following shows: The Vampire Lovers, The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula, The Satanic Rites of Dracula and Vampire Circus.

The previous day is also nothing to be sneezed at with the following shows on offer: The Witchfinder General, Scream and Scream Again, The Crimson Cult and Terror Creatures From the Grave.

Another show of interest for us Hammer Fans is the Vampire-Con, August 14-16, in Hollywood and organised by Harris Publications. Check out more info about them on their official website.

Christopher Lee's Dracula Cape at Auction next Tuesday 16th of June

2009-06-15T12:44:00.006+01:00

Got tons of news over the last week that I only now find the time to update. The most pressing one is with regards to an auction of Christopher Lee's original Dracula cape tomorow! Angels the Costumiers together with Bonhams will auction off that cape tomorrow with a bunch of other fascinating film memorabilia. Below please find the press release with all the details. Here's a link to a recent article about the sale.

CHRISTOPHER LEE’S DRACULA CAPE, JOHN PERTWEE’S DR WHO FROCK COAT
AND PIERCE BROSNAN’S JAMES BOND LEATHER JACKET GO UNDER THE HAMMER

BONHAMS PRESENTS ENTERTAINMENT MEMORABILIA INCLUDING ITEMS FROM
THE ANGELS COLLECTION OF TELEVISION & FILM COSTUMES

A remarkable collection of costumes supplied by Angels the Costumiers to some of the biggest and most iconic international film and television productions are to go under the hammer at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, on Tuesday 16th June 2009 at 11am as part of the Entertainment Memorabilia sale.

With prices ranging from £50 to £30,000, just under 250 lots featuring film and television costumes from the Angels archive will be available to collectors and amateur fans alike at this phenomenal 600-lot auction. Star lots include Christopher Lee’s Black Cape from Dracula (estimate: £20,000 – 30,000); Laurence Olivier’s Military Tunic from The Prince and the Showgirl (estimate: £8,000 – 12,000); John Pertwee’s Frock Coat from Doctor Who (estimate: £7,000 – 10,000); a full length cloak worn by Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia (estimate: £5,000 – 6,000); and James Bond’s Leather Jacket, as worn by Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (estimate: £4,000 – 6,000).

Other items from the Angels archive going under the hammer include costumes from productions including The Fifth Element, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Highlander, Beyond the Sea and several James Bond films.

ANGELS – SUPPLYING COSTUMES FOR A CENTURY AND A HALF

Angels was established in 1840, when actors were expected to purchase their own costumes for auditions and performances. The company founder, Morris Angel, then a trader in second-hand clothing and tailors’ samples, allowed actors to hire, rather than buy, their outfits. He was the first person to make such an innovation, and as a consequence his shop became popular with theatre actors. With the advent of cinema, the Angels family made their second major diversification by supplying costumes to the fledgling movie industry, and Angels the Costumiers has continued to be a major success story within the British and international film industry to the present day.

In 1948 Angels the Costumiers supplied costumes to the first of many films to win Academy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design – Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. The company has followed suit a further 30 times, with international greats such as Gigi, Star Wars, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Titanic, The English Patient, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and this year’s The Duchess.

Today Angels the Costumiers is based in Hendon, North London, and boasts a warehouse containing more than five million costumes on around eight miles of hanging rails. The company also retains a costume hire shop for consumers – Angels Fancy Dress (run by sixth generation, Emma Angel) – at its original 19th Century premises on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West End. Angels Fancy Dress is the UK’s largest business of its kind, and the company’s online presence, www.fancydress.com, is the UK’s most visited fancy dress website. Angels Fancy Dress prides itself on providing fancy dress outfits to the general public and celebrities alike –Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger and a number of young Royals can often be found rubbing shoulders with other Londoners visiting the shop in order to obtain the best and most extraordinary costumes.

Tim Angel, Chairman of Angels, and fifth generation of the family firm, is delighted to be providing to Bonhams a significant proportion of one of the biggest sales of major film costumes and explains his motivation for the sale:

“Following the incredible public response to our first public auction in 2007, and The Angels Big Vintage Clothing Sale held in 2008, we are thrilled to announce the sale of Items From The Angels Collection Of Television & Film Costumes in the biannual Entertainment Memorabilia auction being held at Bonhams’ Knightsbridge salerooms in June. At Angels we take great pride in creating costumes that help immerse an audience in a believable fictional world. Our costumes are famously well researched and tailored to the highest standard, impressing industry insiders and audiences alike with the authenticity and effectiveness of the costumes worn on screen. The down-side to creating costumes that become so famous and strongly associated with particular characters, actors or films is that they can never be used again in future, nor can they be hired out at our fancy dress shop. Over two years have now passed since we held our first auction at Bonhams and our warehouse is once again approaching capacity, so now seemed to be the right time to offer fans and collectors the opportunity to take home a piece of film or television history from the Angels archive.”

Stephanie Connell, Entertainment Memorabilia Specialist at Bonhams, comments:
“Following the huge success of the initial sale of costumes from the Angels archive in 2007, we are delighted to offer at auction, another wonderful selection of costumes from classic BBC productions and iconic international movies. This auction will again give a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire some of the most important pieces of film and television costume ever to appear on the market.”

Below are selected highlights:

CHRISTOPHER LEE AS DRACULA
One of the star lots of the sale is Christopher Lee’s black opera-style cape from his role as the infamous vampire in the 1958 Hammer production of Dracula (estimate: £20,000-30,000). Lee is regarded by many as the definitive Dracula, and this film marked his first appearance as the character. The imposing full length woollen cape is being sold together with a letter signed by Christopher Lee himself, on Angels-headed note paper, confirming the authenticity of the item, as well as a still image of Lee wearing the cape as Dracula (see left). This lot is one that is sure to garner attention from serious memorabilia fans, and would be a valuable asset to any collection. Fans of Lee’s Dracula with a rather smaller budget needn’t be put off however, as there is also a chance to snap up a checked tweed waistcoat worn by the actor in the Dracula Pere Et Fils (1976) in a joint lot with another waistcoat worn by Lee in the 1971 production of Sherlock Holmes (estimate: £100-150).

LAURENCE OLIVIER, OMAR SHARIF AND SIR DONALD WOLFIT
This sale presents an opportunity for fans of Laurence Olivier, one of the greatest thespians of the 20th century, to get their hands on an impressive Military Tunic from The Prince and the Showgirl (estimate: £8,000 – 12,000). This wonderfully detailed early twentieth century style military tunic, supplied by Angels, was worn by Olivier when starring opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1957 film that he also directed and produced.

Also on offer from the Angels archive is a full length cloak worn by Omar Sharif in his Golden Globe award-winning performance as Sherif Ali in 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia (estimate: £5,000 – 6,000), a role for which Sharif was Oscar-nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category. A khaki military-style tunic worn by Sir Donald Wolfit as General Sir Archibald Murray in the same film is also going under the hammer, with an estimate of £1,000-1,500. Lawrence of Arabia is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made – it won 25 awards, including the Oscar and Golden Globe in both the Best Picture and Best Director categories – making these pieces especially desirable to serious movie memorabilia collectors.
JAMES BOND
Any 007 fan worth his or her salt would be wise to mark Tuesday, 16th June in their diaries, as a vast array of items from eight different James Bond titles will be going under the hammer in this impressive sale. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), Octopussy (1983), The Living Daylights (1987), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002) are all represented, and with estimates starting at just £100, there are pieces on offer to suit every budget.

For those with some serious money to spend, there are two stylish leather jackets worn by Pierce Brosnan in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies (estimates: £4,000-6,000 and £2,000-3,000); a Naval Commander’s battledress jacket worn by Roger Moore in 1977 as Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me (estimate: £3,000-4,000); and even Halle Berry’s wetsuit from 2002’s Die Another Day (estimate: £800-1,200).

FASHIONABLE FINDS
Fashionistas looking for truly unique vintage pieces to add to their collections could find some unexpected treasures in this sale, including costumes and accessories from films such as Beyond the Sea, Eyes Wide Shut and a number of items designed by Jean Paul Gaultier for The Fifth Element. Of particular interest are two elaborate Venetian masks from Stanley Kubrick’s infamous final film, Eyes Wide Shut, each estimated at £200-300; a 1950s style dress worn by Belinda Mayne as Delta from Doctor Who – Delta and the Bannermen (estimate: £200-300); an ornate headdress worn by Christina Ricci in Man Who Cried (estimate: £100-150); and a stunning outfit worn by Kate Bosworth in Beyond the Sea, comprising a full length sequinned cloak in sliver and white, a cream coloured lace evening dress, a floral hair ornament and a pair of gold brocade court shoes (estimate: £400-500).

BRITISH TELEVISION COMEDY
Costumes worn by television’s comedy greats, both past and present, feature heavily in this sale, including a number of items from Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Tim McInnerny in Blackadder (estimates ranging from £50 all the way up to £3,000). Also going under the hammer is a Roman Centurion's costume worn by Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses (estimate: £500-600); two Edwardian style dresses worn by Jennifer Saunders during a French and Saunders Titanic Sketch (estimate: £300-400); a collection of costumes relating to Morecambe and Wise (estimate: £80-120); and two monkey masks from The Mighty Boosh (estimate: £500-600 each).

MILITARY AND HISTORICAL
Fans of military and historical costumes will be spoilt for choice, as excellent costumes covering a wide range of periods and nationalities are on offer, with estimates staring at just £100. Highlights include a British military-style tunic in khaki green wool, worn by Rowan Atkinson in Blackadder Goes Forth (estimate: £800-1,200) and ten stunning Elizabethan-style dresses worn by Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I from Elizabeth R (1971), with estimates ranging from £350 to £800.

Other female costumes in this sale include items worn by: Barbara Murray, Sophie Wilcox, Glenda Jackson, Diana Dors, Dianna Rigg, Miranda Richardson, Susan Sarandon, Anne Bancroft, Kathy Burke, Catherine Zeta Jones, Renée Zellweger, Sienna Miller, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Anna Friel, Victoria Beckham, Andie McDowell, Uma Thurman, Kim Cattrall, Ingrid Bergman and Faye Dunaway.

Male actors whose costumes are featured include: Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant, Heath Ledger, Joseph Fiennes, Johnny Depp, Rupert Everett, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Tim Curry, Ralph Fiennes, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Ben Kingsley, Christian Bale, Kevin Spacey, Sean Bean, David Jason, Robert Carlyle, Robert Duvall, Dick Van Dyke, John Lennon, Alec Guinness, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable and Bruce Willis.

Entertainment Memorabilia
Including Items from the Angels Collection of Television & Film Costumes

Tuesday June 16th 2009, 11am

Bonhams
Montpelier Street
Knightsbridge
London SW7 1HH
020 7468 8340

For further information on the Angels Collection of Television & Film Costumes Auction
Please contact Benjamin Webb / Lynsey Haddow at Deliberate PR
benjamin@deliberate-pr.com / lynsey@deliberate-pr.com
Phone – 020 8732 8867 / 020 8732 8851
Mobile – 07930 408 224 / 07792 072 453

Vincent Price Presents

2009-05-27T14:17:00.003+01:00

I love comics. I really do! But over the last couple of years I have gradually pruned down my regular subscriptions at my local comic store to a bare minimum. Gone are the Daredevils and Captain Americas that have accompanied me for practically all my life. Can’t get too bothered about Batman these days. And even my beloved Spiderman has got the chop after One More Day too many, though I do still hold on to Ultimate Spiderman and felt that the Spidergirl comics should never have been cancelled.

I am really sick of endless relaunches and retcons and am amazed about how little story there is to read these days for an ever more extortionate cover price (especially given the inflated $-to-€ ratio charged in this neck of the woods). Whatever happened to the time when each comic (including the letters pages that are now as rare as a decent script) could keep me entertained for half an hour? These days a visit to the loo often lasts longer than a cover to cover read.

So when I finally come across a comic series that I really could get into, it annoys me endlessly when it is nigh impossible to subscribe to locally.

I recently came across issue #4 of Vincent Price Presents, an older entry in Bluewater Comics' Vincent Price related series.

Judging from this one edition Price in this series acts as the narrator at the beginning and end of a short piece of horror fiction. The Price segments are drawn in a kind of photorealistic style by Joel Robinson, the story proper in a more contemporary comic book style by Giovanni Timpano and featuring a main character who appears reminiscent (though not entirely spitting image) of Price.

This edition features a new take on the old Bluebeard tale, focussing on the initiation rites designed by an older member of the Bluebeard family for his young son. That rite of passage also features a mechanical dog somewhat out of place in the Gothic atmosphere of the tale.

Though I can’t say that the twist had me really stunned (remember: there are always twists in these kinds of comics), I did enjoy reading the comic and definitely would love to read more of them.

Only trouble is that not a lot of comic dealers seem to be carrying those, at least not here in Ireland, so online orders are a Must. The publishers also have an Ebay store that appears to be the most convenient way to purchase some of the past issues.

This is probably a very niche market idea. Let’s face it: Vincent Price’s name may still carry a lot of weight amongst classic horror fans, but who amongst the young comic readers of today really is a classic horror fan? (Then again, *are* there actually still young readers out there? Can’t remember the last time I saw a kid reading a comic.)

Anyone wanting to support this kind of project would probably also be well advised to drop the title of this series next time they visit a comic store. It’s only through this kind of awareness that the shops will actually order new series such as these.

Interview with Shane Briant, Hammer star and author of WORST NIGHTMARES

2009-05-14T11:09:00.005+01:00

Shane Briant’s new novel WORST NIGHTMARES has just been released this week and Shane has kindly agreed to participate in a bit of Q&A for our blog.

Shane has of course featured in four of Hammer’s most interesting 1970s movies (Demons of the Mind, Straight on till Morning, Captain Kronos and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell), and has remained very active on screen, TV and stage. In actual fact if you are based in the UK/Ireland look out for the new Vauxhall ad with him in it.

I am always very curious to learn more about what happened to our favourite Hammer actors once they stopped working for the studio, so ever since I first heard about him being a writer a couple of years ago I wanted to find out more about this lesser known part of his career. Now that I know that one of his past novels features a 10-year old hitman for the Mafia you can bet I’ll be on the lookout for his earlier novels! (Incidentally a plot summary I just discovered demonstrates that the Internet/Murder angle is one that Briant seems to have been fascinated with even before Worst Nightmares.)

Shane is now based in Australia and will soon go on a whirlwind tour of American book stores to promote his new work. So check out your local listings to see if you can even meet up with him in person. (And if you do, don’t forget to take a photo and share it with us!)

Hi Shane, your new novel, Worst Nightmares, has just been released. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What was the inspiration for the plot?

I’ve always been fascinated by the amount of trust, and lack of fear, people have chatting away to the world at large on the Internet. They share their most intimate secrets, their fears and aspirations – even their sexual preferences. They appear to have no thought about any demons that might be lurking in Cyber-Space. There have been many instances of people being tracked down and raped and/or murdered by contacts on the Net, yet because they initially chat on a computer they have no fear. Nor caution. So I came up with the Dream Healer’s website. “Tell me your nightmares and I shall give you peace.” Yeah, right. Eternal peace in the most horrific way – their nightmares amped up 100 times! That was the idea. Then I used that as a secondary plot in a novel about a man that makes one error of judgment and it creates a tragic domino effect that destroys his life.

Tell us a little bit about your own dreams and nightmares?

I have VERY vivid dreams. In them everything is amped up. So a visit to Venice (Italy) is an explosion of colour and activity. As if the real thing wasn’t huge enough. My nightmares used to be about plane crashes. Now they are more like ‘the end of the world’. I can see invaders in huge space ships in the sky and people are running. I know this is it! I always ask myself, ‘Am I dreaming?’ I pinch myself and don’t wake up. Quite often I dream Wendy is fed up with me and says she’s leaving me. This is the worst one!

Given that the plot is very much featuring a menacing Internet presence I thought it was somewhat ironic that the first question you asked me when I started touching base with you was what Twitter was about as you were “just getting started when it comes to the Internet”. Given the novel’s subject matter I’d have thought you were an old Internet pro. Can it really be that you are just getting into it? How was the research like in that regard?

Twitter is odd. As a writer I find it hard to ‘Twit’. Only a few words? And who the heck am I talking to? Who’s actually reading and is interested? Mmmm. But I can easily grasp the magnitude of research on the Net. I no longer have to trawl the bars and brothels of Valetta to know what it’s like in Malta’s ‘Gut’ and what’s being served ‘de jour’. Often quite grizzy. But it’s gloriously vicarious. And getting back in touch with people I haven’t seen for ages. And never missing a good news story – just look it up. I’ve been an Internet devotee since it’s inception really but I find it difficult to wrap my head around Twitter – that’s all!

I believe a sequel to Worst Nightmares is already written. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

OOOOO! I LOVED writing this one. It gave me soooo much pleasure. It was FUN! Sometimes I worry that I am becoming one of my characters. How can one have so much fun writing about such grizzy things? Well, it’s because it’s fiction! And I can let my VERY dark houmor run amok! The sequel takes over where the first book leaves off. It’s an uber-scary ride from Malibu to Paris and back to Los Angeles. So many twists and turns I should have a contest – ‘Tell me what’s going to happen next and win a hundred bucks!’ Difficult to organize that one, but it’d be fun.

Worst Nightmares is being promoted as your debut novel, though I understand that you have previously published five novels in Australia. Were they in a similar style? What can you tell us about them?

The promotion is really to debut my breaking into the HUGE American market. That’s so exciting for me. “If you can make it here…” as the song goes. Back in Australia I’ve had five others published. First (‘The Webber Agenda’) was cold war espionage. Second (‘The Chasen Catalyst’) about drugs and the diplomatic bag. Third (‘Hitkids’) about a ten year old contract killer for the Mafia. Fourth, (‘Bite of the Lotus’) a saga about world wide money-laundering and the American Presidential campaign. The fifth (‘Graphic’) was about crime wars in Sydney.

Looking back at your life starting off as a law student in Dublin, becoming an actor on screen and stage as well as a writer, how would you summarise your career? Did you ever follow a “career plan”? What are your proudest achievements? Is there anything you wish you’d have done differently? Or anything you wanted to do but haven’t done yet?

I’ve been so very lucky. I started working as a pro in Dublin Ireland while still at University. Then I was in a play that was a huge hit at the Dublin Theatre Festival (‘Children of the Wolf’) and transferred to London’s West End. I was nominated for the Critic’s Award for Best Newcomer that year. Then I was contracted to Hammer Films for 4 pictures. Then I got a huge break and was cast as Dorian Gray in the re-make in Hollywood. I don’t regret much. Maybe I should have stuck around in Hollywood after Dorian Gray and made serious money. But I was young and wanted to get back to the B.B.C. and do more serious work. ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ and a theatre production of ‘Equus’ in which I played Dysart (and David Wenham played the boy) are probably my best work. It’s not always the most remembered work that makes one proud. What do I want to do from now on? See Worst Nightmares made into a movie. Then keep writing and become an established thriller writer around the world. Then travel and share any money I make around. I don’t need much and there are a million blind kids in India alone. $50 gives each one sight. (Fred Hollowes Foundation)

You appeared in four Hammer movies: Demons of the Mind, Straight on till Morning, Captain Kronos and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. How did you get involved with Hammer? What are your memories of those productions and the stars you were working with?

The writer of the West End play I was in had just written ‘Straight on till Morning’. Michael Carerras (head of Hammer Films) had just seen ‘Children of the Wolf.’ Michael C wanted me, but Michael Peacok (the writer) didn’t – he wanted someone more ‘famous’. Anyway, I got the role and Carerras thought it a good idea to sign me up for 4 pictures. So I started work at Elstree and had a ball, working with some of the best actors in England. Peter Cushing was a real pro and a lovely gentle man. A perfectionist. Gillian Hills was scrumptuous but never looked in my direction. Shame. Paul Jones was a fun guy. Rita Tushingham was a real sweetheart and we became greats pals. But you know what they say about distance? I haven't spoken to her in 20 years. Maddie Smith was adorable. Nicest person I met at Hammer. As was the lovely Virginia Wetherell, married to my best pal at the time, the late Ralphie Bates.

You probably were born to play Dorian Gray. Did you have a special affinity for The Picture of Dorian Gray, especially since you must have been very familiar with the works of Oscar Wilde from your time in Dublin. (Incidentally, do you regularly return back to Ireland?) What was it like working with Dan Curtis?

The Dorian script was splendid, if at times not the same as Wilde’s book. I had an absolute ball. The director Glenn Jordan (multi-award winner) is still my favourite director. Nigel Davenport was a wickedly marvelous friend to have there. ALL the cast went on to do great things and all, barring me, made millions of dollars. Over the years I’ve been back to Ireland, but not as often as I would have liked. I made a TV Movie of the Week called ‘The Flame is Love’ for CBS. Tim Dalton was the baddie and, for once, I was not brain-damaged. Linda Purl (daughter of Lucille Ball) was the ingenue. Appalling movie, but we had the best fun. Tim took one look at my hotel room when he arrived in Dublin and, thining it was bigger than his, had it moved into his suite. It was the same size, it goes without saying, but he was a much bigger star!

Hawk the Slayer and Lady Chatterley’s Lover are both productions that may also be of interest for readers of this blog. Any comments about those two films?

It was a real blast to play Palance’s son! Dream come true to play the cruel son of the cruelest character around in films? On the first day we broke for lunch and I casually enquired if Jack if he was going to the executive restaurant for lunch. He replied; “Why, do you want me to buy you lunch?” I didn’t know what to say, but thinking he might be lonely I replied: ‘Do you have any friends here at Pinewood?’ He drilled me with another look and replied: “Why….do you want to meet my friends?” At heart, needless to say, he was a softee. I miss the guy. I also once had the privilege of working with Newman. He was the most generous actor I ever worked with. When he died I cried buckets. The only time I felt this way when an actor passed awy. He was the best.

Thank you very much, Shane, for answering all those questions. I definitely wish you all the greatest success with your Worst Nightmares. It’s been an equally fun and disturbing read that managed to keep me up for half the night.

Whooppee! That was my aim!!!!!!!

Demons of the Mind

2009-05-12T14:17:00.005+01:00

Today's the day that Shane Briant's new novel WORST NIGHTMARES is officially going to be released. I have been on a little Briant trip over the last couple of days and amongst others watched Demons of the Mind. My good buddy Ade Salmon at one stage had written a review on one of the discussion groups we frequent and kindly allowed me publish it on my Hammer Glamour pages. Here's what he had to say about this movie:

Demons of the Mind casts a heady brew of incest and murder across an evocitive gothic landscape. Two grown up children, Elizabeth (Gillian Hills) and Emil (Shane Briant), are effectively imprisoned in their mittle euro mansion by their raving father Baron Zorn - played enthusiastically (much slicing of much HAM) - by Robert Hardy. The Creeping Flesh’s escaped madman (Kenneth J Warren) plays his bald pated manservent Karl.

Demons of the Mind is a hard film to truly love - it's meandering storyline demands concentration from the viewer - though it's intention to bring something *new* to the Hammer pot was appreciated. Christopher Wicking's idea of fusing the birth of psychoanalysis within the framework of essentially a psycho costume drama produces variable results. Visually it's a feast - Emil flaunts about like Jim Morrison in acid orange shirt (and bares a vague similarity to Emil from Vampire Circus). The naturalistic forest footage transports you momentarily to the Circus of Nights ambience - but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

60's Popstar Paul Jones (Manfred Mann) makes an appearance as *the hero* - but he's bland at best, whilst Michael Hordern wanders the forest as the comedy relief manic priest. It's all decidedly odd. Patrick Magee's mesmerist psychiatrist Falkberg rounds off the cast - bringing much needed gravitas to the story - his mesmeric twirling *device* reportedly based on real apparatus.

Like any respectable 1970's offering from the house that originally dripped blood - we get some fleeting full frontal nudity from Virginia Wetherall (albeit through a mirror image) and much bloodletting - the suicide of Zorn's wife a throat gushing extreme example - that sets us up nicely for the giant burning cross staking that film culminates on! BLOOD forms the subtext of the film (original title – Blood Will Have Blood) , though its intended lychanthropic storyline got vetoed early on - for the more serious study of a cursed hereditory bloodline associated with madness rather than furry fiends. If the film falls short anywhere it's in the fact it reverts to the Hammer *default* towards the end - where regulation torch wielding villagers chase Zorn through the deep woods - whilst Hordern struggles along with the burning crucifix.

ON THE BUSES 40th anniversary event

2009-05-04T15:15:00.002+01:00

Something of potential interest to Hammer fans:

THE ON THE BUSES 40TH Anniversary event will be held at Elstree Film Studios on Saturday 27th June. As it is the 40th celebration it is hoped the event is going to be a bit special. Also for the first time we will be including a buffet lunch.

For this event please contact busesfanclub@aol.com for details how to order your ON THE BUSES tickets. Please note due to interest shown it is expected tickets will sell out fast, book now to avoid disappointment, places are limited. £30.00 per adult £15.00 (ONLY 30 TICKETS LEFT)
10.00am meet at Elstree Studios for tea and coffee
10.30 Walking tour visiting such locations as The Butler House, Turnaround Betty's plus other locations from the movie.
11.15 Tour on a Routemaster bus visiting more locations used in ON THE BUSES movie(some new ones added for 2009)
1 pm Buffet Lunch at Elstree (Cash bar will be open)
2 pm Movie on the large screen
3.30pm Meet the special guests with a question and answer session.
5 pm End

More details can be found at the On the Buses Fanclub site.

Review: Shane Briant's WORST NIGHTMARES

2009-05-03T21:40:00.003+01:00

I am a bit funny when it comes to horror and Science Fiction. I’d rave on how much I love both genres, but as a rule prefer watching a horror movie to reading a horror novel, though on the other hand prefer Science Fiction novels to movies.

There are of course exceptions in both cases. There are Sci Fi movies I truly love (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green) and there are of course horror novels I really dig. I will never forget the day when I first discovered James Herbert’s Rats: Started reading it in the morning and was finished in the early afternoon and just when I snapped the book shut I was so immersed in the imagery that a phone call I received that very moment – remember those very loud, shrill ringing house phones that everyone then had – nearly gave me a heart attack.

I do like Guy N Smith - though that could have more to do with my eternal love for 1960s/70s style pulp fiction paperbacks – but as a general rule of thumb find that I prefer thought provoking Sci Fi in writing to most of the brainless movies that have overtaken the genre since Star Wars first came out and reversely cherish visceral, moody and most importantly visual horror to the one found between the pages of a paperback. Stephen King? Dean Koontz? Yep, tried them, did not dislike them, but can’t say that any of their stuff really had me hooked.

So when I first heard that Hammer star Shane Briant is due to release a new horror novel, Worst Nightmares, I was a bit sceptical. I so wanted to like it just because it was by him. And when I then received an advance copy I truly hoped that this was going to be something I could recommend as I would not want to praise it just because it arrived for free on my doorsteps, but would also hate to slate it as this appears to be a book that is very dear and close to Briant’s heart and obviously means a lot to him.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Worst Nightmares is a keeper.

Even though this is advertised as Shane Briant’s debut novel, it would be more correct to say that this is his first big international publication. He had previously published five other novels in Australia that never really saw a wider release. Even though I have yet to come across any of those, what little I know of them sounds as if they’d be exactly my cup of tea.

Worst Nightmares focuses on Dermot Nolan, a famous, award winning novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. Having already spent his considerable advance, one day he gets confronted by a homeless guy who hands him a diary detailing a range of gruesome murders committed by the “Dream Healer”, a mysterious web host who first encourages people to share their worst nightmares with him online (allegedly in the interest of exorcising their fears) and then arranges to stage just those nightmares for the unfortunate victims. These nightmares include the fear of being a quadriplegic torso, of dying of asphyxiation, seeing your loved ones being killed in front of your own eyes, being attacked by scorpions and much more.

Nolan first of all considers this diary to be a work of fiction written by a deranged lunatic looking for attention, though through his own research gradually begins to suspect that there may indeed have been some truth to it. When it appears that the killer may have come to an untimely end himself, Nolan decides to publish an edited version of the manuscript himself and present it as his latest work of fiction, but soon begins to doubt the wisdom of his ways when the Dream Healer appears to stalk again and Nolan himself draws suspicion upon himself due to the similarities between the fictional deaths he described and the corpses that are gradually being discovered.

Worst Nightmares is written in that breathless style that is prevalent with modern blockbuster fiction these days. At 344 pages containing 72 chapters plus a prologue you’re bound to constantly give it “just one more” chapter before you put it down until you realise you’re as hooked on it as on crack cocaine.

Elements of the plot appear to be slightly autobiographical: Shane Briant is a writer writing about a writer. Nolan’s edited version of the diary is set in Australia, Briant’s adopted home country. His agent’s name is Esther Bloom, surely more than just a small Joycean reference given that Briant had at one stage studied law in Dublin’s Trinity College.

The book plays on at least four different levels: We as the readers are reading a) a work of fiction called Worst Nightmares about b) a novel of the same name based on c) the diary of a serial killer and d) his series of murders.

The book is clever without being pretentious. Based on quite a unique, interesting and truly 21st century idea we get immersed in a very cinematic style of writing that sucks you right in and won’t let you go until you have reached the final page. It is therefore little surprise that Lance Henriksen, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan and Michael Vartan are apparently in talks to star in the film version of Worst Nightmares though I could also envisage that the book would make a great Dexter style TV series.

Whereas the first half of the novel is very much focused on the Dream Healer’s killing spree and Nolan’s research into the missing persons, in the second half the focus changes slightly to a more mystery based hunt for the real killer. If I had one piece of criticism for this book it is that the identity of the true culprit was probably not quite as surprising as it should have been, but then again Worst Nightmares is not meant to be a classic Whodunnit but a terrifying thrill ride and what it may have been lacking in the ultimate reveal it more than makes up in the shocks along the way. In actual fact the final fate of one of the characters is of a morbid ingeniousness that will not easily be forgotten.

The end also sets itself up nicely for a follow-up and I understand that a sequel has already been written.

So did I end up reading Worst Nightmares in one go? No, it took me two attempts as real life came in the way after I first approached it. The second time round, however, I had all the time in the world and - try as hard as I wanted – couldn’t keep it down until I was completely through at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. Needless to say when I finally crawled up to bed I had to answer a couple of uneasy questions from my girlfriend as to what I was doing up so late? Was I watching porn on the net? (As if!)

But all of it was worth it. So go ahead: Pretend that you’re having on online affair with a Dream Healer, but order the book for a truly thrilling ride through your Worst Nightmares.

999 Project Update

2009-04-20T14:50:00.002+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks I watched some films that fall into my 999 category. Been meaning to write up more about those, but can’t seem to find the time. Those productions aren’t all that important from a Hammer point of view anyway, so here are just a few short summaries about them. If any of you feel like discussing those more in depth, fire ahead in the comment section. Would love to chat more about any of these.

Knives of the Avenger

While gradually reading through my copy of hernia breaking, absolutely superb, megalomaniac super film book All the Colors of the Dark by Bava Fan Extraordinaire and Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas (there’s something deliciously decadent about blowing a few days wages on one single book) I am also working my way through the excellent Bava movie box sets that were recently released (plus the cheapo Warriors 50 Movie Pack Collection
that also includes a number of productions Bava was involved in in various capacities).

Knives of the Avenger is Bava’s interpretation of the classic Western Shane, this time set amongst the backdrop of a Viking action movie. Cameron Mitchell is as always highly watchable even though he has to sport some of the most unfashionably dyed piss yellow hair ever. The film is excellently staged, maybe a little bit too talkative at times, but some of the action scenes are quite drastic for a film of that age. One particular “shoot out” with knives instead of guns is particularly involving.

This is a coloured production regardless of the b/w trailer.

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

Excellent very atmospheric giallo. Something is clearly not right when Mimsy Farmer’s character starts losing track of time, has visions of the eponymous lady in black and gets confronted with very lifelike memories of some childhood trauma. Is she really losing the plot or is someone trying to drive her mad? Perfume is beautifully filmed with an amazing score. True, nothing much seems to happen throughout most of the film and the murders (as few as there are) may initially not be quite as harrowing as those of better known gialli, but the film is a beauty to look at and has a shocking conclusion that comes out of nowhere.

Does any of that truly make sense? Probably not. Then again there aren’t a lot of gialli that can claim logic as their strongest point. It often is style over substance, and Perfume sure oozes enough style to keep me happy.

It also features Nike Arrighi (The Devil Rides Out, Countess Dracula) in a small part as a clairvoyant.

Empire of the Ants

For the longest time this H.G. Wells adaptation featuring Joan Collins and scores of overblown ants had escaped me. I heard that this was meant to be one of the worst movies of all times. Maybe I have become jaded, but I found this to be a lot of silly and enjoyable fun. Definitely a film I’d love to revisit again some time.

Oasis of Fear/Dirty Pictures

This is by the wackiest of those four films and possibly the revelation of the year for me so far. A very young Ornella Muti in one of her first films travels around Europe with her boyfriend Ray Lovelock and sells pornography bought in Sweden to finance her vacation (as one does). They soon get the attention of the law and become involved with Irene Papas as a middle aged lady who initially seems to be frightened of them, but soon starts to play her own kind of cat and mouse game with them.

Umberto Lenzi is a director who can be very much hit and miss, though here he is at his most entertainingly best. I challenge you not to keep humming some of the truly outrageous soundtrack tunes for days on end. And you know that times have changed when selling sleazy pornography involved hawking off records (!) with just the sounds of people having sex.

Ah, happy days…..

DVD Trash Roundtable #1

2009-04-09T09:45:00.002+01:00

Took part in the first of DVD Trash's new weekly round tables. If you like to contribute to the next one, just look out for their next announcement.