And the best Black and White movie ever is:

[JKL2000]

Mostly uncensored. Unfortunately, the spider scene was lost forever. It was only showed in pre-release screenings and, apparently, terrified audiences so much that they cut it from the final release. The last hope would be that a pre-release cut is collecting dust in the bowels of an old theater somewhere.

Yep, I do know that. Cowards! What’s confusing me a bit in the docu footage is all the discussion from Peter Jackson and his crew in how THEY did their stop motion animation: was this only for their re-imagining of the spider scene? I thought everything in his Kong was CGI, but this makes it seem like he might have used stop motion for his Kong film.

[ronmac]

was this only for their re-imagining of the spider scene?

That seems plausible.

[ronmac]

So, "The Fearless Vampire Killers" is on TCM tonight. I see reviews all over the place, but have only seen portions of it. I found it to be kinda dumb, but am willing to give it a move serious look, especially when I don't have any baseball to watch tonight, and since the lovely Sharon Tate is in it.

Any fans of that one?

I watched it last night and found it to be entertaining enough. Man was Sharon Tate gorgeous.

[JKL2000]

More TCM Halloween programming!:

200 YEARS OF FRANKENSTEIN - 10/22 & 10/29

This year the world celebrates the birth--and reanimation--of the Frankenstein monster, created by English novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) in her novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.

First published in 1818, the book had been Shelley's contribution to a contest, which also included Percy Shelley (her future husband), Lord Byron and his physician Dr. Polidori (whose attendance led to the writing of Dracula), to see who could create the best horror story. Her tale focused on a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who conducts a bizarre experiment in which he is able to bring a corpse back to life.

Shelley's monster has since become one of most recognizable creatures of English lore - and of theater, movies and television. The first stage adaptation was performed in 1823, and the first Frankenstein film was produced in 1910 by Edison Studios. Boris Karloff put a lasting imprint on the character of the monster in films of the 1930s, released through Universal Pictures.

Among numerous well-known actors who have played one version or another of the Frankenstein monster on film are Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Christopher Lee, Peter Boyle, Randy Quaid and Robert De Niro.

In October, TCM will honor the terror that the monster has unleashed upon several generations, with the TCM premiere of a new documentary, The Frankenstein Myth (2018), along with four classic movies inspired by Shelley's story. A second group of films will focus on a half-dozen other "mad scientist" stories from four decades. Here are the Frankenstein films in our tribute:

Son of Frankenstein (1939) was the third entry in Universal's Frankenstein series and the final one to star Boris Karloff as the monster. In this film, Basil Rathbone plays Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, the son of the original mad doctor. Rowland V. Lee directs a cast that also includes Bela Lugosi as Ygor and Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh. Fans of Mel Brooks' 1974 Young Frankenstein will recognize many influences from the older film, which was a tremendous hit in its day.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) was the first of the Frankenstein movies from Hammer Film Productions and the first of their horror films to be shot in color. Peter Cushing plays Victor Frankenstein to Christopher Lee's monster, under the direction of Terence Fisher. The success of this film established Hammer as a leading producer of horror movies and led to a number of sequels as well as to films from that studio featuring such other classic monsters like Dracula and the Mummy.

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), the fourth entry in Hammer's Frankenstein series, has Cushing and Fisher returning as star and director, although this time the creature is female and played by Susan Denberg. She is a suicide victim resuscitated by Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) and invested with the soul of her lover (Robert Morris), an innocent and vengeful victim of the guillotine.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) was the fifth of seven Hammer Films productions featuring the scientist and his creations. Once again Fisher directs Cushing as Baron, who now wants to transplant the brain of a medical associate who has gone insane (George Pravda) into a healthy body. Freddie Jones costars as the unlucky recipient, and Simon Ward and Veronica Carlson play a young couple embroiled in Frankenstein's scheme.

Our "mad scientist" films include two versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: the 1931 film brought Fredric March a Best Actor Oscar for his dual role; and the 1941 treatment stars Spencer Tracy. Also screening: Island of Lost Souls (1932), starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi; Mad Love (1935), starring Peter Lorre and Colin Clive; The Fly (1958), starring Al Hedison and Vincent Price; and The Frozen Dead (1966), starring Dana Andrews.

[ronmac]

Not the best Frankenstein lineup, but "Son of Frankenstein" has Lugosi in probably his best non-Dracula role. That's also the movie that introduced Ygor as the assistant, with the original being Fritz.

They got the date of the Fredric March J&H wrong. It's 1932.

That documentary should be pretty great.

[Jerjo]

The best Ygor was Marty Feldman.

[JKL2000]

They got the date of the Fredric March J&H wrong. It's 1932.

Ok, I wouldn't have even wondered about this if you hadn't brought it up, but since you did I looked it up, and Wikipedia says it premiered in NYC on Dec 31, 1931, but then had a wider US release on Jan 2, 1932. Maybe that earlier NYC premiere had to do with Oscar consideration?

[ronmac]

Ok, I wouldn't have even wondered about this if you hadn't brought it up, but since you did I looked it up, and Wikipedia says it premiered in NYC on Dec 31, 1931, but then had a wider US release on Jan 2, 1932. Maybe that earlier NYC premiere had to do with Oscar consideration?

Interesting. Of course, I had to look it up.

The 1933 Oscar Awards, in which March won Best Actor, honored movies released from August 1, 1931 - July 31, 1932.

Of the movies listed above, that's the best of the lot that I've seen, IMO.

[ronmac]

REMINDER! Karloff movies tonight on TCM:

8:00 PM Old Dark House, The (1932)

9:30 PM Walking Dead, The (1936)

10:45 PM Isle of the Dead (1945)

[JKL2000]

The 1933 Oscar Awards, in which March won Best Actor, honored movies released from August 1, 1931 - July 31, 1932.

Well that's just crazy!

[ronmac]

More TCM Halloween programming!:

200 YEARS OF FRANKENSTEIN - 10/22 & 10/29

This year the world celebrates the birth--and reanimation--of the Frankenstein monster, created by English novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) in her novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.

First published in 1818, the book had been Shelley's contribution to a contest, which also included Percy Shelley (her future husband), Lord Byron and his physician Dr. Polidori (whose attendance led to the writing of Dracula), to see who could create the best horror story. Her tale focused on a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who conducts a bizarre experiment in which he is able to bring a corpse back to life.

Shelley's monster has since become one of most recognizable creatures of English lore - and of theater, movies and television. The first stage adaptation was performed in 1823, and the first Frankenstein film was produced in 1910 by Edison Studios. Boris Karloff put a lasting imprint on the character of the monster in films of the 1930s, released through Universal Pictures.

Among numerous well-known actors who have played one version or another of the Frankenstein monster on film are Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Christopher Lee, Peter Boyle, Randy Quaid and Robert De Niro.

In October, TCM will honor the terror that the monster has unleashed upon several generations, with the TCM premiere of a new documentary, The Frankenstein Myth (2018), along with four classic movies inspired by Shelley's story. A second group of films will focus on a half-dozen other "mad scientist" stories from four decades. Here are the Frankenstein films in our tribute:

Son of Frankenstein (1939) was the third entry in Universal's Frankenstein series and the final one to star Boris Karloff as the monster. In this film, Basil Rathbone plays Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, the son of the original mad doctor. Rowland V. Lee directs a cast that also includes Bela Lugosi as Ygor and Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh. Fans of Mel Brooks' 1974 Young Frankenstein will recognize many influences from the older film, which was a tremendous hit in its day.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) was the first of the Frankenstein movies from Hammer Film Productions and the first of their horror films to be shot in color. Peter Cushing plays Victor Frankenstein to Christopher Lee's monster, under the direction of Terence Fisher. The success of this film established Hammer as a leading producer of horror movies and led to a number of sequels as well as to films from that studio featuring such other classic monsters like Dracula and the Mummy.

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), the fourth entry in Hammer's Frankenstein series, has Cushing and Fisher returning as star and director, although this time the creature is female and played by Susan Denberg. She is a suicide victim resuscitated by Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) and invested with the soul of her lover (Robert Morris), an innocent and vengeful victim of the guillotine.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) was the fifth of seven Hammer Films productions featuring the scientist and his creations. Once again Fisher directs Cushing as Baron, who now wants to transplant the brain of a medical associate who has gone insane (George Pravda) into a healthy body. Freddie Jones costars as the unlucky recipient, and Simon Ward and Veronica Carlson play a young couple embroiled in Frankenstein's scheme.

Our "mad scientist" films include two versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: the 1931 film brought Fredric March a Best Actor Oscar for his dual role; and the 1941 treatment stars Spencer Tracy. Also screening: Island of Lost Souls (1932), starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi; Mad Love (1935), starring Peter Lorre and Colin Clive; The Fly (1958), starring Al Hedison and Vincent Price; and The Frozen Dead (1966), starring Dana Andrews.

Tonight

[JKL2000]

^ Thanks for the reminder! It looks like the title of the docu is different from what that TCM email said. It's "The Strange Life of Dr. Frankenstein," not "The Frankenstein Myth."

[ronmac]

^ Thanks for the reminder! It looks like the title of the docu is different from what that TCM email said. It's "The Strange Life of Dr. Frankenstein," not "The Frankenstein Myth."

Yeah, I don't know where that title came from.

The documentary was very good.

I'm trying to figure out where some of the early silent footage came from. I need to do some research.

[JKL2000]

Yeah, I don't know where that title came from.

The documentary was very good.

I'm trying to figure out where some of the early silent footage came from. I need to do some research.

I mentioned somewhere my dad had some cool, old horror movie books which I got when he passed away. I remember a photo that always caught my attention, from a silent version of Frankenstein where the monster looked like a woman for some reason. I guess because it had curly hair! I'll watch the docu and see if this is it or looks familiar.

[nycsteve]

Yeah, I don't know where that title came from.

The documentary was very good.

I'm trying to figure out where some of the early silent footage came from. I need to do some research.

I caught some of this. Were not some of the silent footage supposed to be Mary Shelly? She wrote the book in the early 1800's? If so , I don't think movies were invented yet so its got to be recreations . There were other definitely staged clips for sure.

[ronmac]

I mentioned somewhere my dad had some cool, old horror movie books which I got when he passed away. I remember a photo that always caught my attention, from a silent version of Frankenstein where the monster looked like a woman for some reason. I guess because it had curly hair! I'll watch the docu and see if this is it or looks familiar.

That would have been Edison's 1910 version.

I caught some of this. Were not some of the silent footage supposed to be Mary Shelly? She wrote the book in the early 1800's? If so , I don't think movies were invented yet so its got to be recreations . There were other definitely staged clips for sure.

Correct. Some of it was dramatized. But there was what appeared to be old silent footage of another version. I could certainly be mistaken. It might have also been dramatized and made to look old.

[ronmac]

^^ Apparently, any of the other silent versions of Frankenstein have been lost forever, aside from some movie stills and promotional material available. So, I was definitely mistaken.

[ronmac]

The Great Dictator is on TCM today at 5:45.

Lugosi movies on tomorrow night.

[JKL2000]

That would have been Edison's 1910 version.

You're right - cool, I'd never seen this footage!

Here's the photo from the book - as I said, it always caught my eye and looked pretty freaky:

[Hal...]

Speaking of Frankenstein, here's the original Frankenstein castle in Germany. According to Wikipedia, however, "some local researchers doubt any connection between Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Castle."

[ronmac]

You're right - cool, I'd never seen this footage!

Here's the photo from the book - as I said, it always caught my eye and looked pretty freaky:

Yep, that photo shows up all the time when that movie is referenced.

[JKL2000]

Yep, that photo shows up all the time when that movie is referenced.

I always thought it looked like Phyllis Diller.

[Staun]

When was the last time you guys saw Andy Warhol's Dracula and Frankenstein? Been sometime for me but I thought they may have been a little over the top. The effects were not that great if I recall but they did come out in the 70's.

[Staun]

I always thought it looked like Phyllis Diller.

Well, if he had the same laugh, that would be scary.

[JKL2000]

When was the last time you guys saw Andy Warhol's Dracula and Frankenstein? Been sometime for me but I thought they may have been a little over the top. The effects were not that great if I recall but they did come out in the 70's.

I saw them both in 3D at the Thalia, an arthouse in NYC, back in the late 70s, or maybe 1980.

Yeah, over the top is correct!