Saturday, June 24, 2017
Dracula's Daughter the latest Scripts From the Crypt offering
Review by Doug Gibson
The latest BearManorMedia Scripts From the Crypt offering, "Dracula's Daughter" (buy it here) continues the high quality of the cult films books' series. Penned mostly by Gary D Rhodes, it satisfies a constant of our genre fans: it breaks new ground. New nuggets, big and small, of scholarship are unearthed. And, as with all the books, you have Tom Weaver's observations and opinions. Love them or hate them, they are unique and the product of an original mind. There's also an introduction and essay on the music of the film from contributors David Colton and Michael Lee.
The best reading comes from Rhodes' exhaustive treatment of the film's creation. Early on, he discusses the role of women in vampire lore, using Theda Bara and other vamps to explain that vampire once meant a woman who sucked the heart and soul out of their doomed male lovers. This is relevant because later we learn that early treatments for the film included a female vampire who was sexually aggressive and delighted in the torture, degradation and dissipation of her male captives. (I am assuming blog readers have seen "Dracula's Daughter." If not, do so now.) Gloria Holden's sympathetic yet resolute Countess emerged as a result of the watering down of the plot's actions.
As Rhodes' notes, "Dracula's Daughter," a 1936 release, emerged as the moralistic production code was gaining strength. Scripts and treatments for the film endured rough seas with the censors. John Balderston, Kurt Neumann, and RC Sherriff all had their hands on the typewriter. Eventually Garrett Fort's subdued, more sanitized script became the film. Milton Carruth, who edited "Dracula," also impacted "Dracula's Daughter" with his editing, Rhodes notes.
Some of the early treatments would have been interestingly daring. The Countess as a man hunter, entering the film after already killing a lover/slave. She nearly physically, spiritually and mentally destroys the hero before succumbing. Screenwriters assured the Laemmle overlords, soon to lose the studio, that a woman conducting such sexual sadism on men would pass code approval. Witness what Balderston wrote in his treatment: "The use of a female vampire instead of a male gives us the chance to play up SEX and CRUELTY legitimately."
At one time James Whale was slated to direct. He might have been able to convey such a film in a subtle manner to fool the censors. Lambert Hillyer, a talented, workmanlike, solid director who eventually got the role, lacked the Whale magic to do that had he even tried.
We learn that Bela Lugosi was once considered to be in the film. He was even paid $4,000. However, a reading of the fascinating screenplay excerpt, from Sherriff, of a prologue that would have featured Lugosi creating his daughter, is so bizarre and sexually depraved that I think it would have trouble getting made even in the pre-code era. Lugosi, and a bunch of sadistic companions terrorize the peasantry, kidnapping women, and with exaggerated faux grotesque courtesy, torturing and murdering them. "Dracula's Daughter" is made a vampire by the Count.
But that is not the "Dracula's Daughter" that we watch today. It's a fine film with a haunting performance by Gloria Holden. Otto Kruger and Marguerite Churchill are a better hero couple than David Manners and Helen Chandler. Kruger and Churchill actually have romantic chemistry. Irving Pichel is very creepy as Holden's mortal companion, and presumably her lover. His quiet rage at watching Holden prefer Kruger to him as an immortal companion is suitably sinister. Nan Gray (Grey) is great as a poor girl, perhaps streetwalker, who eventually dies, we assume due to the Countess' unquenchable thirst. And Edward Van Sloan is back as Van Helsing, inexplicably called Von Helsing in the sequel.
Yes, Dracula's Daughter is an above-average film. The book informs us that it received generally good reviews and appears to have done well at the box office. But as Weaver rather shrewdly notes, one can watch "Dracula's Daughter" and not be convinced that the title character is really a vampire. We know she is only because that is the script's design. But this is a bloodless film. As Weaver points out, she is killed by an arrow shot through her heart; anyone would die of that.
"Dracula's Daughter," as much as I enjoy it, is neutered by the production code. It's respected within the genre, but never will it be placed anywhere near the pedestal that say, "Bride of Frankenstein" has. "Dracula's Daughter" is not a film that takes risks or tries to pierce our deepest obsessions or fears as James Whale does. It's a worthy entry at a time when Universal was still making at least A-minus budgeted horror flicks. Perhaps its finest moment is that it takes the action back to Transylvania in the final reel, something that "Dracula," still a better film, did not do.
Lest anyone think I am ungrateful, let me reiterate my deep appreciation for writers such as Rhodes and Weaver, and others, as well as thanks to BearManor Media for publishing these types of books. They are manna for me and I'm sure so many others. So much minutiae to eagerly wade through -- we love it! We learn, for example, the salaries of the stars. Holden, incredibly, only received $1,450 for a performance that is almost iconic. Kruger did a great job, but really, $9,583.30 is out of whack compared to Holden. Churchill received $1,250, Van Sloan $2,400, Pichel, who really earns it, $2,950, and unbelievably, Nan Gray (Grey), who probably is second-most remembered due to the much-debated lesbian overtones to her scene with Holden, received a paltry $200!
The entire script as shot is in the book, and as I have mentioned, the many treatments are included. There's a section on contemporary reviews the movie received; there's a fascinating press book. As mentioned, the whole back story of the film is captured, including even a "Junior" Laemmle-inspired treatment for the end. There's dozens of photos, and a tender heart-wrenching letter from Holden late in life to film fan David Del Valle, in which she stoically talks about the tragic death of her son, We even get a treatment for an adaptation of "Carmilla," another female vampire tale. This one wasn't filmed
I could spend many more paragraphs detailing what's in these pages. But just go buy the book. It's a gem. I can't wait for the next one, which is slated to be about two unrealized films from "Dracula" director Tod Browning.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
The Ape Man -- Lugosi elevates Poverty Row again
This is a screwball horror film, but a lot more entertaining than most viewers will expect. It's sheer pulp horror that doesn't take itself too seriously. The plot of The Ape Man involves a scientist (Lugosi) who for unexplained reasons accidentally turns himself into an ape man. Not trusting his sanity, he frequently locks himself up with an ill-tempered ape (Van Horn in a campy performance). Lugosi's ape man needs human spinal fluid to have even a chance to regain his former appearance and posture. This involves murder and when a colleague (Hall) refuses to help, Lugosi literally goes ape, and commits several murders. He's encouraged by his creepy sister (Urecal) a noted spiritualist who records the groans of ghosts. Lugosi's nemesis are a reporter/photographer duo who soon become wise to all the creepy occurrences.
The film is slightly marred by a truly goofy character who acts as a red herring, cutting into scenes for no reason and offering cryptic comments and warnings. At the end, he reveals himself to be the author of the tale. As The End is flashed on the screen, he remarks "Screwy, isn't it?"
The Ape Man plays occasionally on UEN's (Utah Educational Network) Sci Fi Friday and has a podcast to go along with it. There are many versions of the film. It is free to watch on the Web. Hopefully, Turner Classic Movies will air a pristine print of the film soon. Watch it below
Saturday, June 10, 2017
The Charley Chase Scrapbook details a bittersweet life with laughter
Review by Doug Gibson
A while back I reviewed "... The Harry Langdon Scrapbook," a fascinating visual treat of the comic's life and career. It was a treat from small publishing house Walker and Anthony and it prompted me to want to read and review another vintage comic scrapbook subject, Charley Chase. It's "The Charley Chase Scrapbook."
Chase, with an iconic face, worked very had to build his career as Charles Parrott, comic actor. Once living in poverty, he moved himself into prominence as a vaudevillian and early silent comedy actor. He gained initial acting stature, starting as an extra, with movie man Al Christie, and moved to Keystone and Mack Sennett, mostly as a director and writer. Pay disputes prompted him to freelance a while, again directing more often. He worked, among others, with Fox-Films and Bulls-Eye, mostly behind the camera, often directing Billy West, a Chaplin imitator who was popular.
During these years he married a dancer and English teacher named BeBe Eltinge, and two girls were added over a few years, Polly, who later acted with her father, and June, many of whom's recollections were gathered and eventually used in the Scrapbook. Charley's marriage with BeBe was a strong union that remained until his death.
Chase eventually gained stardom with Hal Roach studios. About that time he took the "Chase" last name, selecting it out of a phone book. His younger brother, James Parrott, who acted as Paul Parrott, came to Hal Roach a little before Charley and was a director, writer and briefly an actor. By 1926, Chase's career was rolling; but James', due to poor health, was slowly receding The rise of Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang comedy teams would eventually eclipse Charley Chase's stature at Roach's studio.
Concern over his brother, and a problem with alcoholism, would plague Chase the rest of his life. In the early days of sound, a medium he was well equipped for with a great singing voice, a bad ulcer nearly killed Chase. He rebounded with Roach studios working consistently for the first several years of the 1930s.
In my opinion, and many may disagree, Chase was at his best in the sound era. He was a very talented silent comedian, among the Top 10, but his voice and mannerisms work well with sound, and are well suited to talkies. In the Laurel and Hardy feature, "Sons of the Desert," Chase is superb as a pushy but likable prankster with the boys at a lodge convention. And although he did his best work overall with Roach studios, The Heckler, a Columbia comedy short he made late in life, captures Chase's talent so well as he plays an abrasive, jokester fan at a tennis match. He's great with an outraged Vernon Dent.
Eventually, Chase left Hal Roach studios. A note from Chase in The Scrapbook shows that he took his disappointing departure with humor and grace. Chase stayed busy, soon signing with Columbia's comedy shorts department, and doing what he was best at, acting, directing and writing. One of his better-known directed shorts is "Violent is the Word For Curly," from 1938.
Concern over the health of his deteriorating brother, James, wore Chase down in the 1930s. Before drug addiction literally destroyed his career, James directed the classic Laurel and Hardy short "The Music Box" and some Chase's films as well. But drug abuse demolished James' career, and eventually cost him his life in May 1939.
According to the Scrapbook, Chase blamed himself for his brother's death, and continued to drink heavily. Although he had a loving family and a still-strong career with Columbia, the excess drinking contributed to the heart attack that killed Charley Chase 13 months later, on June 20, 1940. He died in his home.
The Scrapbook is designed much like the Langdon one, with stills, posters, writings, drawings, family photos, handwritten entries, newspaper interviews, drawings, articles, and other communications providing a montage of his life. These scrapbooks provide readers glimpses into the personalities of the subjects. You witness Chase's drive and love of his craft. In this case, the picture is worth at least hundreds of words.
Many of the Scrapbook items are from Chase's personal collections, preserved by his grandson Charley Preshaw. The pictures of Chase, late in life, holding grandson Preshaw as an infant, provide a warm, human look at the comedy legend.
Chase rubbed acting shoulders with the best of his era. The book serves as a history of his era, a glimpse into a time capsule that fits on a coffee table. "The Charley Chase Scrapbook" is not inexpensive. It's a small press labor of love. It's a must for Chase fans, or fans of Hal Roach's vintage comedy. I recommend it for early film comedy fans as a fitting inclusion in your genre bookcase.
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Talking about A Werewolf Remembers with Frank Dello Stritto
UPDATE: YOU CAN NOW PURCHASE A WEREWOLF REMEMBERS AT CULT MOVIES PRESS. Here is the link.
Frank J. Dello Stritto has written some great books, essays and articles on classic horror films. I place him with Gary Rhodes and Arthur Lennig as the finest scholars chronicling the career of Bela Lugosi. Like his peers, Dello Stritto has written essays on many genre subjects, including King Kong, Svengali, The Phantom of the Opera, etc.
He's published a book of essays, "A Quaint and Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore," full of genre articles, many of which were published in Cult Movies Magazine. He, along with the best Bela Lugosi blogger Andi Brooks, broke new research ground with "Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain," that detailed Lugosi's last major Dracula tour as well as provide strong overviews of his British films. The first edition was superb; a longer second edition even better.
Several years ago Frank published a memoir, "I Saw What I Saw When I Saw It" that recalled his life as a child, a Monster Boomer, becoming familiar with the films children loved in the "shock theater" TV days. As interesting is his account of how these films, particularly "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," extended their influence into adulthood, prompting him to search for films of that era he missed, leading him into fandom, and eventually scholarship.
Frank's latest book has just been released. It's "A Werewolf Remembers: The Testament of Lawrence Stewart Talbot." It's a fascinating pseudo non-fiction "documentary" account of the "Wolf Man's life," and how it interacts with much of the monster genre of almost two generations of films. "A Werewolf Remembers" also contains the the "journal" of Talbot, detailing the many journeys of his existence. Frank introduced the book at the recent Monster Bash.
This is a work only a scholar could weave together. I plan to review it in a few weeks. I was fortunate enough to help proof a draft of the book six months ago. I'm happy to announce its publication on our blog and interview the author. This is a lengthy interview, but it's well worth your time and will whet your appetite for "A Werewolf Remembers."
Readers will be able to purchase "A Werewolf Remembers" very soon (we'll let you know when). It will be at Amazon, as well as the Cult Movies Press website where his other books are available.
In the meantime, enjoy this interview with Frank Dello Stritto, about "A Werewolf Remembers."
-- Doug Gibson
---
Why was Lawrence Talbot the primary individual to focus on? Is it his ubiquity in the films and his relationship to so many aspects of the genre?
DELLO STRITTO: Talbot certainly gets around. He is always
searching, and thus crosses paths with a lot of people. In my book, he meets
everyone seen in his movies, and he meets a lot more.
When I began the book, I did not plan that
Lawrence’s tale would span so many of the horror and monster movies of the
1930s and 1940s, but that’s what happened. When I needed a character to advance
the plot, or an adventure for him to have, I found them ready and waiting for
me in movies, whether Lawrence appeared in them or not. In his movies, the only
werewolf that Lawrence meets is Bela the Gypsy, who infects him. In my book, he
encounters many characters from The
Undying Monster, Return of the
Vampire, Werewolf of London, The Mad Monster, The Cat People, and so on. He even meets Carl Denham. Lawrence is a
real wanderer, and having so many characters cross his path was not hard.
I hope readers will enjoy the challenge of
identifying the movies from where I plucked each character. Some are easy to spot,
some are really hard.
Lawrence befriends the real-life writer Jack
London. I could not resist bringing him into Talbot’s tale. The real London
took the name of his stepfather. His birth father was (probably) an astrologer
named William Chaney. With London’s tie to Talbot (played in his five films by
Lon Chaney), and his apparent fixation on wolves (Call of the Wild, White Fang,
The Sea Wolf), I had to bring him in.
In my book, Talbot meets a few other real-life figures as well.
I can’t say that I was looking for excuses to
bring other movie monsters into Talbot’s story, but when the chance arose, I
jumped on it.
Talbot’s travels are not why he is the center of
the story. Lawrence is a character whose story begs to be told. We know
something about him from his movies, and my book fills in the gaps. From the
films, we know that he is the son of a Welsh aristocrat, and that he left home
at age 13. We know that young Lawrence went to America where he did a lot of
jobs working with his hands. He worked at Mount Wilson Observatory in Southern
California. At age 31, he is summoned home. His older brother has died, and
Lawrence is now heir to the Talbot estate. The first part of my book fleshes
out the life of young Lawrence.
The theme of his life, before and after becoming
a werewolf, is resolving his issues with his father. The doctors from whom he
seeks help are surrogates for his father. But their real goal is to revive
Frankenstein’s Monster, just as Sir John Talbot would bring back his older son
if he could.
What kind of research was necessary, in both studies of the films and the first half of the 20th century, to create both parts of the book, the diary and the historical narration?
DELLO STRITTO: I had to stay consistent with Talbot’s story as
told in his five movies. When he meets a character from the real world, like
Jack London, or from other movies, like Carl Denham, the narrative has to be
consistent with their lives as well. So, I watched the movies a lot, and
studied up on the real world figures to be sure that I got their stories
straight. And from that I got a lot of ideas for the plot.
The big challenge is that I had to place those
stories on a timeline consistent with the real world. Talbot’s last film
appearance, in Abbott & Costello Meet
Frankenstein, was in 1948. So, I anchored his last (known) day on Earth as
February 25, 1948, and worked backed from there. That involved both World Wars,
the Great Depression, and basically all of early 20th Century
history. Sir John Talbot was an astronomer, and I involved him to the hunt to
prove Einstein’s Relativity Theory. The Talbots live in Wales, so I read up on
Welsh history. In The Wolf Man Sir
John mentions a distant ancestor, “Red Talbot,” and so I made him the founder
of the Talbot line. That was important, because in my book, Lawrence’s family
history weighs heavily on him.
As I developed the narrative, I always knew what
the Moon was doing. Fortunately, the dates of the Full Moons going back
centuries are easy to find online. Also, lunar eclipses figure in Talbot’s
tale, and their dates are also pretty easy to find. In my book, when the Moon
is full, or when an eclipse occurs, it occurred in real life.
Of course, some things in the movies are really
hard to reconcile with reality. In Abbott
& Costello Meet Frankenstein, Talbot takes an airplane from
London—after Full Moon sets—and arrives in La Mirada, Florida before the Moon
rises again. Not easy to do now, and all but impossible in 1948. I managed to
explain that in my book, but I can’t blame any readers who say “I don’t think
so.”
I'm intrigued by your explanation for the immortality of Talbot, the Frankenstein Monster, and Dracula. It helps to explain the many deaths and resurrections of these characters. Explain your reasons for making Dracula the supreme evil and the monster a more sympathetic character?
DELLO STRITTO: The Universal monsters—The Wolf Man,
Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, and—though he’s not in my book, The Mummy—are
immortals. Thanks to super science or the supernatural, they are not bound by
the same laws of life and death that we are. But they do go to apparent “deaths”
for long periods until they return to “life.” For my book, I had to have Talbot
go somewhere—which he calls “The Deep Darkness”—and I got a bit creative with
that. I hope readers will be intrigued by those segments of the story when
Talbot is supposedly “dead.”
It is Talbot who makes Dracula the supreme evil.
One of the unexplained elements of Talbot’s tale as told in the movies is his
drive to hunt down and destroy Dracula in Abbott
& Costello Meet Frankenstein. In my book, I give Talbot a personal motive
for hunting Dracula, and the vampire became more and more evil as the story
developed. Another unexplained feature of Talbot’s movies is his return to
lycanthropy after being cured at the end of House
of Dracula. My story ties those loose ends together, but still leaves some
mysteries for the reader to ponder.
I don’t think that I made The Monster more
sympathetic than he is in the films. Dracula and The Wolf Man hunt for victims,
but The Monster rarely acts for any other reason than self-defense. He is a
tragic figure, an outcast, a victim of mad doctors who create and revive him
with no regard for The Monster himself. Before he meets Talbot, he can be a
murderer, particularly in Ghost of
Frankenstein, but with Talbot he is quite a sympathetic figure.
Besides
Universal, of course, other studios' efforts are included. I particularly enjoy
The
Cat People references and think it's great
that even The Alligator People are
included. What was the research process of tying so many films together? Did
you need a solid outline to write this book?
DELLO STRITTO: I needed an outline for the first part of
Talbot’s life, before the movies pick up his tale with The Wolf Man. And I needed an outline for the gap between the end
of House of Dracula and the beginning
of Abbott & Costello Meet
Frankenstein. The outline between those two segments really came from the
plots of The Wolf Man movies, because I had to stay consistent with them.
Once assembled, think of the outline as a
Christmas tree, and then you start hanging the ornaments. That’s the fun part. Talbot
passes through New York City, on the way home to Wales (which is the start of The Wolf Man). So, I have him meet some
characters from The Cat People (which
takes place in New York). Later, Talbot
searches for a doctor to cure his lycanthropy. In the movies, he goes straight
to Dr. Frankenstein (who dies before Talbot reaches him), but I had him go to a
few others first: Lady Jane Ainsley (from Return
of the Vampire) and Dr. Yogami (from Werewolf
of London).
When I bring in those characters, I have to
create lives for them outside of their movies. Since the actress who played
Lady Jane (Frieda Inescort) also played the doctor in The Alligator People (which also stars Lon Chaney), I brought some
of that movie into my story. I do that throughout the book with a lot of
characters and movies.
Personally, who were some of the characters you enjoyed fleshing out beyond their activities in the actual films?
DELLO STRITTO: Almost every character had to be fleshed out
quite a bit, particularly Lawrence’s father, Sir John. But the character who
almost wrote himself was Vollaz Yogami. I gave him that first name, or maybe he
gave it to me. Once I brought in Dr. Yogami, the writing took on a life of its
own. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. It was as if I were not
writing, but taking dictation. I am not a fast writer, but the chapters with
Yogami wrote themselves very quickly.
As a Monster Boomer, do you have satisfaction in creating a narrative that brings the films together and works to solve so many continuity problems?
DELLO STRITTO: Definitely. When I first watched the movies as a
child, any inconsistencies in the plots—and there are plenty—nagged at me. So
did any plot disconnects between movies, and there are a lot of those, too. Of
course, as I developed the plot for my book in detail, I uncovered more (like
Talbot’s flight from London to La Mirada). A lot of these had to do with the
timeline. Keeping the story consistent with the movies, and with a chronology
that made sense was a challenge.
One of the inconsistencies is geography. The
Frankenstein and Wolf Man movies confuse the villages of Frankenstein, Vasaria
and Visaria. I resolved that, I think.
As a kid, I was always trying to resolve the
discrepancies within the movies and between the movies, and it was fun to do it
again in my book.
Do you think the book provides more than just a tale of Lawrence Talbot and his many interconnected experiences? Is there an intention to comment on any issue beyond the monster genre?
DELLO STRITTO: At face value, the book is, I hope, an exciting
tale and a homage to the horror and monster movies of the 1930s and 1940s. The
book’s dedication is “To Second Sons Everywhere, And Their Older Brothers.”
Talbot’s relationship with his father, and his older brother is at the core of
Talbot’s story, and at the core of my book. I expanded on it when I could, and
I tried not to hammer the reader with it. If the book is any more than the tale
it tells, it is how our closest blood relations, dead or alive, are never far
from us. In the book, those relations are all male because in Talbot’s movies
they are all male. I bring plenty of female characters into the story, including
Talbot’s mother, but the basic tale is fathers, sons and brothers.
How will the book be publicized? Do you have another one in mind?
DELLO STRITTO: A Werewolf
Remembers is my fourth book. Whenever I finish one, I always think: that’s
it, I have no more to say. That’s how I feel now, and have no plans to do
another book. Time will tell. Whether or not I write another one may depend on
another mode of writing. My first book (Vampire
Over London – Bela Lugosi in Britain) is non-fiction history. My second one
(A Quaint & Curious Volume of
Forgotten Lore – The Mythology & History of Classic Horror Films) is
analysis and criticism. My third one (I
Saw What I Saw When I Saw It – Growing Up in the 1950s & 1960s with
Television Reruns and Old Movies) is a memoir. And A Werewolf Remembers – The Testament of Lawrence Stewart Talbot is
fiction.
I did not set out to write on the same topic in
different ways, but that’s what happened. I suppose a new mode is what I need
to get the creativity. But I really don’t know—we will see.
Publicizing the book: well, I will go to movie
conferences where the likely readers congregate. I will be getting my website (cultmoviespress.com) overhauled soon. I
will have to become more active and savvy in social media to get the word out.
Honestly, I am not looking forward to that.
W hat's an issue I
missed, something that you'd like readers to know about your book?
DELLO STRITTO: I would like to make the premise of the book
clear.
Lawrence Talbot was last seen on Feburary 25,
1948 when he went off to confront Count Dracula. A few weeks later a steamer
trunk arrived at the apartment house where he had rented a room. The landlord
put it in storage room, and there it stayed for 30 years.
That landlord was my Uncle Joe. When he died,
the trunk passed to me, and in it I found Lawrence Talbot’s journals. I read
them, and thought them the fantasies of a delusional man. Yet, the deeper I
looked into his story, the more it squared with any facts that I could uncover.
So, the book is both Lawrence Talbot’s story,
and my investigations into his claims. It is a journey for me as well as for
him.
--
ONE MORE THING: Enjoy this recent chat with Frank at Plan9Crunch that deals with Bela Lugosi's "Poverty Row" films.
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