Cannon Group released The Swap on 7 May 1979. It’s a fascinating exploitation film for reasons we will get to later.

I first discovered this film in 1990 in a video store. It said that it starred Robert De Niro. Well, it didn’t. It looked like De Niro had starred in some home movies when he was in college, the producers of The Swap got the rights to it and built it around this footage.

I was mostly correct. And I admire that. But the footage was actually from a regularly released feature film from 1969.

Sam’s Song

That film was Sam’s Song. It’s an art film. It tries to be very French New Wave. And it does come off a lot like Truffaut’s Jules and Jim.

It tells the story of Sam, a young documentary film editor. He goes with his rich friends to their Long Island second home. There he becomes accustomed to the ways of the rich and gets dumped by a pretty girl.

The problem is that Sam just isn’t that interesting. The script clearly thinks that Erica (Jennifer Warren) is the central character. Instead, the film flirts with its four principal characters who mostly don’t act in ways I recognize from real life.

This is generally my problem with the French New Wave. Even films I really enjoy — like Alphaville and Weekend — still suffer from too much intellectual nonsense. Taken straight, as in Sam’s Song, well, let’s just say I’m not the target audience.

What’s been really funny to me has been reading reviews. Over and over people claim that the only decent actor in this film is De Niro. From my perspective, he’s the weakest of the principals (maybe the second weakest). It’s funny to watch people spout conventional wisdom as though it were their actual opinion.

As I’ve said many times: Robert De Niro is the most overrated actor I know of. He’s really good but people talk about him as though he’s some kind of phenomenon. I even heard John Frankenheimer talk about him like that. Give me a break! He’s a professional actor who has had the good luck to work in some of the best film productions of his day.

The Swap

The Swap is about Vito who gets out of prison to figure out why his brother was murdered and to get vengeance for it. All the footage from Sam’s Song is used as flashbacks as people tell the story of what happened.

It makes for a delightfully strange film. The old footage is carefully shot and relatively complex in its editing. The new stuff is all shot with a minimum of set-ups — usually making its professional cast seem much worse than they are.

The style of the dialog is totally different as well. The new material goes with very cheeky Raymond Chandler style. Of course, most people hate this film. And that’s fair enough: it’s not a Robert De Niro film. And frankly, this would be a better film if it didn’t even use the material from Sam’s Song.

But with it, it’s a bizarre gem.

Other 7 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Val Lewton (1904-1951): Producer of Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie.
• Ishirô Honda (1911-1993): Director known for Godzilla, Rodan, and so many more Toho productions.
• Darren McGavin (1922-2006): Actor best know for the title role in Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
• Albert Band (1924-2002): Producer and father and father of Richard and Charles Band.
• Ruggero Deodato (1939-2022): Director of Cannibal Holocaust and more.
• Traci Lords (1968-): Actor in Excision and Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre.
• Carrie Henn (1976-): Newt in Aliens.

Films:

• The Black Cat (1934): The first film to feature Karloff and Lugosi; the latter seeks revenge from the former.
• Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970): The fifth of the Hammer Dracula films; I consider it the worst.
• Gamera: Super Monster (1980): Space turtle.
• The Mummy (1999): Treasure hunters face a supernatural force.
• Van Helsing (2004): The standard Dracula story as an action film.

The Swap (1979) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Universal Pictures released Bride of Frankenstein on 6 May 1935. They also previewed it in select locations in April. And they released it in limited theaters on 20 April. It also premiered in Canada on 3 May.

I have a very special memory of this film. When I was eight-years-old, I watched it on television with my older brother and sister. And it frightened me so much that I vomited.

It’s shocking to me now because it’s the sweetest film. The one scene that most stands out to me is when the Monster and Bride sit together and he pats her hand. Then he sees her reaction, and he’s heartbroken.

“She hate me. Like others.”

But everything about the film is a joy. I don’t think that Ernest Thesiger has gotten enough credit as Dr Pretorius. There aren’t many actors who could make you believe they would really have a picnic in a crypt.

He’s especially great up against Colin Clive as Dr Frankenstein, who spends the whole film whining about what he’s doing. The truth is, I’d rather he and Elizabeth had died at the end, and the others had lived. Imagine how great the sequels would have been with Dr Pretorius!

I now consider Bride of Frankenstein to be a feel-good film — something I put on when I’m feeling down. I recommend getting Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection, which includes the first five films. The last three aren’t as good but they are still worth watching — especially for Bela Lugosi in the third and fourth films. (Note that this collection lacks the fifth film, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Consider this a kindness. It is by far the weakest of the set.)

Other 6 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Gaston Leroux (1868-1927): Author of the novel The Phantom of the Opera.
• Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926): Silent film heartthrob.
• Orson Welles (1915-1985): Director of Mr Arkadin, Touch of Evil, and more.
• Anne Parillaud (1960-): The original La Femme Nikita.
• George Clooney (1961-): Actor known for From Dusk To Dawn, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and others.

Films:

• Mandrake, the Magician (1939): Strange superhero film.
• Black Sabbath (1964): Mario Bava horror anthology (US release).
• Jack’s Back (1988): Serial killer film starring James Spader.
• Dead Heat (1988): Zombie cop comedy.
• Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994): Third adventure with The Tall Man.
• Attack of the Flesh Devouring Space Worms From Outer Space (1998): Rural southerners try to withstand an alien attack.
• Zombie Campout (2003): Zombie comedy.
• Satan’s Little Helper (2004): Boy befriends serial killer.
• House of Wax (2005): Slasher set in a town made of wax.
• Housewives From Another World (2010): One of Fred Olan Ray’s horror sex comedies.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935) poster via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

Jack Pierce was born in Greece on 5 May 1889.

Only real obsessives know who Pierce was. But everyone knows his work. He created the makeup for all the iconic Universal horror monsters. The most important is Frankenstein’s monster. At this point, the look of the monster is more important than the novel itself. And modern designs are always reflecting it. (This is also partly due to intellectual property law — at least until 2027!)

Pierce started as an actor in silent films — in addition to doing other stuff on productions. He started doing makeup in the late 1920s. His first notable film was The Monkey Talks, where he created a design that would not look out of place in Planet of the Apes. He also created the incredibly creepy makeup for The Man Who Laughs.

At that time, Lon Chaney Sr was the makeup master at Universal. But he left the studio in 1928. So Universal made Pierce the head of its makeup department. Despite this title, he did most of the important work himself.

Jack Pierce’s first design for the Frankenstein monster was based on the 1920 German film, The Golem: How He Came into the World. That featured a pageboy hairstyle, which is more in keeping with the character’s presentation on stage and in the 1910 silent film version. This seems to have been the design that Bela Lugosi screen-tested with. If so, it is hard to blame the man for passing on the role.

Pierce also created the looks of The Mummy and The Wolf Man. He also popularized the use of the widow”’s peak hairline — something that was still iconic in the 1960s with Eddie Munster.

Universal fired Pierce in 1946 after he had given it two decades of service. No one really knows why. But he went on to work as an independent — mostly in lower budget films. And then he made the move to TV. He spent the last four years of his career as makeup artist on Mister Ed.

Let’s watch one of Jack Pierce’s non-Universal films, which features an incredible widow’s peak, White Zombie.

Other 5 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Charles Lamont (1895-1993): Director of several Abbott & Costello horror-comedies.
• Joseph Stefano (1922-2006): Screenwriter of Psycho.
• Michael Murphy (1938-): Actor in Phase IV and Shocker.
• Lance Henriksen (1940-): Actor in Aliens and Pumpkinhead.
• John Rhys-Davies (1944-): Actor in Raiders of the Lost Ark and sequels.
• Richard E Grant (1957-): Actor in Withnail and I and Warlock.
• Henry Cavill (1983-): Hunk who has starred as Superman.

Films:

• Brainstorm (1965): Noir about a bad romance.
• The Evil (1978): A doctor buys a house to start a rehab clinic and unleashes a demon.
• Return of the Boogeyman (1994): A woman has prophetic nightmares.
• Gladiator (2000): A gladiator gets revenge for the murder of his family.
• Final Stab (2001): Fake murder game turns real.
• Cryptz (2002): Rappers go to strip club full of vampires.
• An American Haunting (2005): A 19th-century family is haunted.
• Mission: Impossible III (2006): Another impossible mission.
• The Jack in the Box (2020): Evil jack-in-the-box toy.

Jack Pierce via IMDb under Fair Use.

After countless previews, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures released Marvel’s The Avengers in the United States of 4 May 2012. It was part of a continuing effort to destroy a great democracy.

Movie Cliches

Over years of watching way too many movies, I have a long list of movie cliches that annoy me. These are most definitely not things like people never saying “goodbye” before they hang up the phone. Only a much worse pedant than I would have a problem with that. What I’m talking about are offensive narrative devices — things that would never fly in a novel.

One of these showed up in all its glory in Marvel’s The Avengers. Agent Phil Coulson dies. And everyone is very sad. In fact, Nick Fury uses Coulson’s blood-stained Captain America cards to bind the team together to take on the Chitauri army. They do this in less than an hour. And everyone is happy, apparently having had their memories of Coulson erased. But that should be easy enough to do. After all, Coulson wasn’t a character; he was a plot device.

It reminds me of a line from Laurie Anderson’s song “Big Science,” “I think we should put some mountains here. Otherwise, what are the characters going to fall off of?” Put mountains up so the characters can fall from them or kill a character so the characters can bind themselves together. But at least in the former case, after the characters fall off the mountain, the mountain is still there.

Silly Concept

Marvel’s The Avengers is written (along with Zak Penn) and directed by Joss Whedon. And it is not nearly as bad as it could have been. The half of the film that is played as humor works quite well as entertainment. I suspect that this is due to Penn, who is a funny guy.[1] Overall, the film holds together well enough — especially when you consider what a stupid concept The Avengers is: a Norse god, a billionaire in a high tech suit, a guy from the 1940s with a souped-up body, a ninja spy, an expert archer, and a green monster. Seriously: the parody Mystery Men features a much more coherent team.

The other half of the film is superhero action. These scenes do have the advantage that the characters are, you know, superheroes instead of, say, Sherlock Holmes. But this doesn’t change the fact that they are boring. Iron Man has to fix a turbine, and Captain America has to pull the red lever at just the right time. Otherwise, Iron Man will get cut to pieces. As you might imagine, I was not wondering if Iron Man was going to be cut to pieces. First, his suit protects him from everything. Second: right! Like Captain America — a character so earnest he shits puppies — would ever let anyone down.[2]

The same thing happens at the end of the film when Iron Man is in the other universe. The only question was whether he would make it out in the nick of time or be caught so that he could escape in Iron Man 3. Spoiler: Iron Man 3 was not about Tony Stark’s escape from wherever the hell that place was.

Noble But Useless Military

The film is schizophrenic in this portrayal of the military. This isn’t a surprise: Americans are just the same. They think that the government can’t do anything right at the same time they worship the military as God’s perfection on Earth. So we get all kinds of scenes of dashing men and women in uniform with their shiny high-tech weapons who are unfortunately just not up to the threat they face.

So, the romantic (super) heroes step in to save the day. Joseph Goebbels would have loved this film: it tells people they are free at the same time that it shows them they must yield to their betters: the übermenschen — people like Hitler, Stalin, Stephen Miller. Loki is the villain, not because he wants to enslave the people, but because he likes the idea. What differentiates Loki from Thor is style, not content.

Pernicious Propaganda

Films like Marvel’s The Avengers are pernicious. People let them wash over their minds. But the themes build up and stick. They tell people that the way to a more perfect society is not through joint action; it is through belief in superheroes who will protect us.

This is exactly what every modern despot has ever told the people he controls. Many have noticed the tendency of the elite in this country to be anti-democratic. Long before we saw widespread voter suppression laws, I heard conservatives grouse that the ignorant should not be allowed to vote. (Not surprisingly, I have heard this from some of the most ignorant people around; better someone who gets news passively than someone who gets news actively from the countless propaganda outlets.) It is only through faith in ourselves as a group that we can bring about a more perfect future.

But Entertaining Propaganda

As entertainment, Marvel’s The Avengers works well enough, and much better than Iron Man 2. Its two-plus hours go by quickly. The 45-minute segment on the floating warship that is mostly comedy is quite good. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner (Hulk) is a nice take on the character — at least until the third act. Robert Downey Jr was as good as could be hoped for in a role that had many good lines. And Samuel L Jackson’s performance was on-brand.

On a film of this size, it’s hard to say who is responsible for its look. But it looks the way Whedon’s projects always look: cyberpunk without the style. Some of the special effects looked good, but I noticed a lot of obvious compositing. Technically speaking, the film was what you would expect for this kind of budget: professional and uninspired.

If you like these kinds of movies and can deal with the thematic problems, have at Marvel’s The Avengers. You’d be better off supporting filmmakers who don’t have $220 million to tell a story you could get from a comic book. But I won’t judge you. I like a lot of films that are equally problematic.

Normally, I provide an embed of the movie I highlight. I can’t. Disney has locked down even the Russian sites. And if this is your thing, you probably already own it. If not, buy it.

Other 4 May Anniversaries

This was not a great date! Otherwise, I would not be talking about a Marvel film. It is what it is!

Filmmakers:

• Richard Jenkins (1947-): Character actor you’ve seen all over including in The Cabin in the Woods.
• Pia Zadora (1954-): Psychotronic fans know her for Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
• Mary Beth McDonough (1961-): Star of Midnight Offerings and Mortuary.
• Emily Perkins (1977-): Star of Ginger Snaps.
• Gracie Gillam (1992-): Actor known for Superhost and The Vampire Diaries.

Films:

• The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959): Hammer’s take on the classic.
• The Shape of Things to Come (1979): Moon colony is attacked.
• Sixteen Candles (1984): Teen comedy by John Hughes.
• Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (1990): Horror-comedy anthology.
• The Mummy Returns (2001): Seven years later, we get a new mummy but roughly the same film.
• And Then They Were Dead… (2004): A mysterious dinner party causes everyone to go crazy.
• Spider-Man 3 (2007): The third of the Raimi Spider-Man films.
• God of Vampires (2010): A hitman is contracted to kill a mobster who is also a vampire.
• Meadowoods (2010): College students plot a murder.

[1] His fake director’s commentary on Incident at Loch Ness is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.

[2] When Thor first shows up and rushes away, Captain America is going to go after him. One of the two female characters warns him not to go because Thor is a god. The Captain says, “There’s only one God, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” Please! Even apart from the special pleading (“Those Norse and their silly myths; why didn’t they believe our myths?”), this is such pandering. And from an atheist writer/director!

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Gramercy Pictures released Barb Wire throughout the United States on 3 May 1996. Other distributors released it at the same time in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

It’s a slightly awkward retelling of Casablanca with the genders switched. And it’s a lot of fun if you don’t get hung up on it.

Gleiberman Hates It!

Speaking of which, enemy of the site Owen Gleiberman wrote a review of Barb Wire for Entertaining Weekly (before he was soiling the pages of Variety). It shouldn’t surprise you that he hated the film. He doesn’t like film. I’m not sure why he chose his profession.

But maybe you need to see things in a relative way. He wrote, “Barb Wire is livelier than the recent futuristic duds Johnny Mnemonic and Tank Girl…” Since I like those two films quite a lot, maybe I should think he admires Barb Wire? Alas: he hates film.

Everyone Hates It!

Of course, Barb Wire was hated by almost all professional critics. And it’s odd because the film is exactly what it means to be. It’s not like it was trying to be The English Patient and somehow came out wrong.

It’s a stylish action film meant to highlight Pamela Anderson’s body. But most reviews I’ve found don’t make the case for it being bad. They just complain that it is.

One exception is Derek Adams at Time Out, who said, “The film’s haphazardly edited, lacks narrative clout, and rambles on to a ludicrously extended conclusion.” Let me respond:

• What does it mean to be “haphazardly edited”? I think what he means to say is that it is competently edited in a style he doesn’t like.
• Does The English Patient have “narrative clout”?
• I assume any film without “narrative clout” necessarily “rambles” so I’ll skip that.
• It’s hard to think much about the length of its third act given what is going on today.

A Psychotronic Winner

I’m not a huge fan of Barb Wire, but it’s a great example of psychotronic film. There’s no missing it. It doesn’t matter how much money you shove at some projects, they are gloriously destined for the drive-in, VHS, and torrent — depending upon the time.

Plus, any film with Udo Kier must be psychotronic!

Other 3 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Mary Astor (1906-1987): Actor best known for The Maltese Falcon.
• Chris Mulkey (1948-): Actor in The Hidden and Ghost in the Machine.
• Ben Elton (1959-): British comedy writer mocked by Steward Lee.
• Amy Steel (1960-): Actor known for Friday the 13th Part 2 and April Fool’s Day.
• Bobby Cannavale (1970-): Actor known for Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

Films:

• Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961): Greek epic from George Pal.
• Terror of the Bloodhunters (1962): Prison break film.
• She Freak (1967): Remake of Freaks with a better ending; produced by David F Friedman.
• A Bay of Blood (1972): Mario Bava Giallo.
• The Craft (1996): Catholic high school girls in trouble… with witchcraft.
• Spider-Man (2002): Sam Raimi does Marvel.

Barb Wire (1996) poster viaWikipedia under Fair Use.

Producers Releasing Corporation released The Phantom of 42nd Street throughout the United States on 2 May 1945.

It is a mystery. And it’s something of noir. And it is a romance. At just under an hour, it has something for everyone without staying past its welcome.

Dave O’Brien plays a theater critic. He gets drawn into an investigation when there is a murder at a play he is reviewing. Soon, the murderer kills two more people and has his sights set on the first victim’s brother. The critic works with his taxi driver friend and the police lieutenant to solve the case.

The Phantom of 42nd Street would have worked great for a pilot for a 1970s TV detective show: a theater critic who solves murders. Sounds a lot like Murder She Wrote! And unlike a lot of older mysteries, this one is reasonably clever. Kay Aldridge plays the romantic lead in her final film role. She was married the year the film came out. And she had been making the equivalent of a million dollars per year for the previous few years. So she didn’t need to work.

O’Brien worked a lot as an actor. But he also wrote a lot. And starting in the late 1950s, he wrote almost exclusively. Frank Jenks played his sidekick. He also worked a lot.

The Phantom of 42nd Street is a perfectly enjoyable film. But I wouldn’t normally highlight it. But today really sucked for anniversaries. And one good thing: the film is in the public domain. So enjoy!

Other 2 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• John Neville (1925-2011): Actor known for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
• Don Marshall (1936-2016): Actor on the TV show Land of the Giants.
• David Suchet (1946-): Actor best known as Poirot but was also in Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal.
• Elizabeth Berridge (1962-): Actor known for Amadeus but here for The Funhouse.
• Ari Lehman (1965-): The first Jason Voorhees.
• Dwayne Johnson (1972-): Actor in Walking Tall, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and more.

Films:

• The Return of Dr Fu Manchu (1930): The villain gets revenge for what happened to his family.
• Night Key (1937): Karloff is kidnapped by criminals who want to use his invention to steal.
• The Black Cat (1941): Cat lady is murdered by one of her heirs.
• Devil Girl From Mars (1954): Mars needs men! Featuring Hazel Court.
• The Beast Of Yucca Flats (1961): Tor Johnson gets irradiated.
• Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (1991): Two cops chase serial killer in this silly horror comedy.
• X2: X-Men United (2003): The second X-Men film.
• Grave Tales (2004): Poe-inspired horror anthology featuring Joe Estevez.
• Iron Man (2008): Minor Marvel character film that caused everyone to go crazy.

DVD cover of The Phantom of 42nd Street via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Rank Film Distributors released The Curse of the Werewolf to UK audiences on 1 May 1961.

Hammer produced it. And it turned out to be their only werewolf film. I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, great for them! I’m not fond of werewolf films. Even the best of them tend to annoy me. It just isn’t an interesting concept to hang a story on. And most hang exactly the same story! (Dracula has the same problem.)

But on the other hand, Hammer didn’t give the werewolf film enough of a try. As I’ve written before, “They should have tried again with a better writer.” And by “better writer,” I mean anyone who wasn’t the Hammer founder’s son. (I’m mostly kidding. Anthony Hinds wrote a number of excellent scripts including Kiss of the Vampire. But the script of The Curse is a mess.)

I will give Hammer credit. They did try to do something different. Of course, the third act returns to brand as these films almost always do.

It’s a shame that werewolf films are generally so weak. There is one aspect of them that really is interesting. Most monsters want to survive. But werewolves generally want to die. That goes all the way back to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. But as in that disappointing (but hardly bad) film, it is rarely done well. And this is the case here.

But the film is still worth a watch — if for no other reason than to watch Oliver Reed’s intense performance.

Other 1 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Glenn Ford (1916-2006): Actor known especially for noir like Gilda and The Big Heat.
• Dan O’Herlihy (1919-2005): Actor in the 1954 Robinson Crusoe, Fail Safe, and The Last Starfighter.
• Joanna Lumley (1946-): Actor known primarily for Absolutely Fabulous.
• Wes Anderson (1969-): Writer-director of many Wes Anderson-esque films.
• Julie Benz (1972-): Actor in many psychotronic films like Bad Girls from Valley High and George of the Jungle 2.

Films:

• One Frightened Night (1935): Rich man gives away his fortune, and complications ensue.
• Zombies on Broadway (1945): A gangster wants a real zombie for his nightclub.
• The Vengeance of She (1968): Modern woman is taken over by evil ancient ruler.
• Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981): More exciting adventures of Jason.
• Graduation Day (1981): Slasher involving a high school track team.
• Creepshow 2 (1987): Anthology horror.
• The Haunted World of Edward D Wood Jr (1996): Documentary.
• The Monster Man (2001): Two humans survive an alien virus.
• Vampire Survivor (2002): Low-budget vampire film.
• The Skeptic (2009): A skeptic inherits a haunted house.
• Untitled Horror Comedy (2009): Horror filmmakers find themselves in a horror film.
• All About Evil (2010): Clever film about a serial killing movie theater owner.
• The Dead Want Women (2012): A ghost story with a softcore sex scene.

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) poster via IMDb under Fair Use.

RKO Radio Pictures released I Walked With a Zombie on 30 April 1943. RKO premiered it on 8 April in Cleveland. And they showed it on the 21st in New York. But RKO released it nationally on the 30th.

It’s one of those great gothic horror films when Hollywood wasn’t quite sure if they weren’t romances.

It tells the story of Betsy, a nurse who moves to the Caribbean where she is to care for a woman who suffers from a vague spinal injury that makes her sleepwalk through life. But shockingly, it turns out she is really a zombie!

Why I Walked With a Zombie Is Great

Actually, the story doesn’t much matter. The film sets a dark mood and the character interactions are excellent. Jacques Tourneur made it shortly after Cat People, and the film has much in common with it.

It is amazing to see how much is done on a limited budget. Almost everything is shot on small, cheap sets. But with a combination of beautiful shots, clever blocking, and effective camera work along with excellent acting, it never seems limited.

I Walked With a Zombie also clocks in just under 70 minutes. I’ve come to believe that this is the perfect length for a feature film. It allows the stories to be told briskly without pointless complications of an over-long second act.

It also allows you to watch two films a night!

Is It Psychotronic?

I love this film. But whenever I see one like this I question whether we ought to consider it psychotronic. It is true that it is low budget, but it is a Hollywood B-picture. Everyone involved in it is a professional. There’s nothing lurid about it. And it most definitely isn’t going after the teen audience.

The one way that it is psychotronic is that it’s old. And almost any film after a certain point becomes relegated to viewing specialists. And I Walked With a Zombie definitely deserves to be discussed here because that’s ultimately what this site is about: trying to get people to watch films that we like.

Other 30 April Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• David Manners (1900-1998): Actor known for notable roles in Universal horror films like Dracula and The Mummy.
• Al Lewis (1923-2006): Best known for The Munsters, he worked in a lot of interesting things; fun fact: Yvonne De Carlo, who played his daughter on the show, was actually 8 months older than he was.
• Cloris Leachman (1926-2021): Actor known for Young Frankenstein, Crazy Mama, and many more.
• Burt Young (1930-2023): Character actor best known for the Rocky Films.
• Johnny Galecki (1975-): Huge TV star who was in Suicide Kings and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
• Kirsten Dunst (1982-): Child actor in Interview With a Vampire and Jumanji.

Films:

• Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943): Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce; directed by Roy William Neill, as usual.
• Vampire Circus (1972): Circus vampires get revenge on a town.
• Zarkorr! The Invader (1996): A young postal worker is called to battle a Godzilla-like monster.
• Idle Hands (1999): Slacker’s hand turns homicidal; with Seth Green.
• Godsend (2004): A couple clones their dead kid with predictably bad results; starring Robert De Niro and Greg Kinnear.
• Man-Thing (2005): Action film based on the Marvel title.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010): Remake of the Wes Craven classic.

I Walked With a Zombie (1943) poster by William Rose via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

Richard Carlson was born on 29 April 1912.

He was an iconic psychotronic actor. But I could easily be writing about him here just as a director. Most of these were westerns. But that is hardly surprising. Westerns were the most popular films in the 1950s. But he first directed a science fiction film, Riders to the Stars. He also made a noir, Appointment with a Shadow.

After that, he went into TV where he directed and wrote a number of TV episodes including the season 8 episode of Mannix, “The Green Man.” But I haven’t seen any of these. So I know him for his acting. Let’s look at that.

Although known primarily for his genre film roles, Carlson was a serious theater actor. After his theater company in Minnesota failed, he worked in theater in Los Angeles and then New York. He starred on Broadway in Three Men on a Horse. As a result, MGM signed him. But he walked away soon to go back to the theater. He did eventually return to movies. And in the early 1940s, he even returned to MGM.

Richard Carlson had a solid career as a supporting actor in studio productions and eventually TV. But things changed in 1953 when he was cast in the independent science fiction film The Magnetic Monster. The success of that film resulted in Carlson starring in two William Alland and Jack Arnold films: It Came from Outer Space and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

By the late 1950s, Carlson had moved almost completely to TV. But he made two important psychotronic films in the 1960s. The first was the Bert I Gordon film Tormented. Then there was the Ray Harryhausen effects film The Valley of Gwangi.

Although Richard Carlson isn’t the star, let’s watch The Valley of Gwangi to celebrate his birthday. It is wonderfully bizarre!

Other 29 April Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Michelle Pfeiffer (1958-): Actor in many films including Scarface, The Witches of Eastwick, and Batman Returns.
• Uma Thurman (1970-): Actor most notable for the Kill Bill films.
• Tyler Labine (1978-): Actor known for many things but especially Tucker & Dale vs Evil.
• Alex Vincent (1981-): Actor known for the Child’s Play films.

Films:

• Ghost Chasers (1951): Bowery Boys with a ghost.
• Mothra vs Godzilla (1964): The title gives it away, right?
• Night of the Devils (1972): Everyone thinks dad might be a vampire.
• The Hand That Feeds the Dead (1974): Klaus Kinski stars as a man kidnapping women to fix his burned wife.
• The Beyond (1981): Lucio Fulci classic supernatural horror.
• Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983): Demonic circus comes to town; Ray Bradbury wrote it based on his novel.
• The Hunger (1983): Sexy vampire film.
• Critters 2: The Main Course (1988): Space aliens are hungry.
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005): Watchable film version of the novel.
• Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010): Supernatural PI fights monsters.

Richard Carlson via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

Carl Laemmle Jr was born on 28 April 1908.

He was the son of the founder of Universal Studios. And his father made him head of production for the studio at the age of 20. I think that was a great decision. He brought new ideas into the industry. People blame him for almost bankrupting the studio. But that is unfair.

Universal got into financial difficulties for a few reasons. The biggest was the Great Depression. Combined with this, Universal did not own theater chains like MGM and Paramount. They were at a distinct disadvantage because of this. Of course, the Supreme Court would later find this constituted an illegal monopoly. Had that ruling come earlier, the Laemmles probably would have survived.

Regardless, I think of Carl Laemmle Jr as the Father of Universal Horror. This is not to take anything away from all the great people who made the films. But without him, Universal would not have made the films. And no other studios were interested in making horror films. They saw them as risky, at best. And even after the successes of Dracula and Frankenstein, the other studios didn’t try very hard to compete.

Everything fell apart in 1936. To get Laemmle Jr’s Show Boat funded, Laemmle Sr took out a loan from Standard Capital Corporation with the studio as collateral. The film was successful with critics and the public. But it wasn’t enough to offset the film’s bloated budget (roughly $30 million today). So the bank threw out the father and son. I can’t say this was a mistake. Universal went on to make a number of excellent horror films after that. Of particular note is Son of Frankenstein in 1939.

But again, without Carl Laemmle Jr, we wouldn’t have any of these films. And he produced the Holy Trinity of Universal Horror: Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy. We really should build a statue for the man!

Let’s watch Dracula.

Other 28 April Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954): Actor in Mark of the Vampire and The Devil-Doll.
• Pierre Boileau (1906-1989): Novelist (with Thomas Narcejac) of novels made into films like Les Diaboliques and Vertigo.
• Carolyn Jones (1930-1983): The original Morticia in The Addams Family.
• Ann-Margret (1941-): Actor in Magic and The Cheap Detective.
• Terry Pratchett (1948-2015): Writer of the Discworld novels and more.
• Marcia Strassman (1948-2014): Actor known for Welcome Back, Kotter, Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, and other titles with commas.
• Bruno Kirby (1949-2006): Actor in The Freshman and Donnie Brasco.
• Christopher Young (1958-): Composer for Hellraiser and The Grudge.

Films:

• Seven Footprints To Satan (1929): Crime comedy released as silent and sound.
• House of Horror (1929): Comedy mystery.
• Five Fingers of Death (1972): Assassins try to rig a martial arts competition.
• Bloody Birthday (1981): Three children turn homicidal.
• Village of the Damned (1995): John Carpenter’s remake of this classic.
• Frequency (2000): Son talks to his father from the past on a radio but ends up changing time.
• The Terminators (2009): Humans fight cyborgs for control of their planet.

Carl Laemmle Jr via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.