Scrooged released November 23, 1988

Scrooged is a 1988 comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens’ novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue. The original music score was composed by Danny Elfman.

The cast includes: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bob “Bobcat” Goldthwait, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, David Johansen, John Houseman, John Glover, and Robert Mitchum. It also features cameo appearances by Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, musicians Larry Carlton, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer, actor/singer Robert Goulet, and actors Jamie Farr, Buddy Hackett, Lee Majors, and Pat McCormick as well as the Solid Gold Dancers. Bill Murray’s real-life brothers, Brian, John, and Joel also appear in the film.

The film was marketed with references to the film Ghostbusters which had been a great success four years earlier in 1984. In the USA, the tagline for Scrooged was, “Bill Murray is back among the ghosts, only this time, it’s three against one.” In Brazil, it’s named “Os Fantasmas Contra-Atacam” (The Ghosts Strike Back). In Spain, the film was titled “Los fantasmas atacan al jefe” (The Ghosts Attack the Boss). In Italy, the movie was released as “S.O.S. fantasmi” (“S.O.S. ghosts”).

Amazon Specials!

 

I was a Teenage Frankenstein released November 23, 1957

I Was a Teenage Frankenstein is a film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957. It is the sequel or, rather, follow-up to AIP’s box-office hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf released less than five months earlier. It was filmed in black and white, with the ending in color for a vivid effect.

Tagline:  Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!

American International Pictures released this film to many drive-in theaters on a double bill with Blood of Dracula (1957) with the tag line: “Warning! Can You Take It? Fiendish! Frenzied! Frightening! It Will Haunt You For Days Afterwards!”

Amazon Specials!

Jamie Lee Curtis Birthday November 22

Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress. Although she was initially known as a “scream queen” because of her starring roles in many horror films early in her career such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that covers many genres. Her 1998 book, Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, made the best-seller list in The New York Times. She is married to actor Christopher Guest (Lord Haden-Guest) and, as the wife of a lord, is titled Lady Haden-Guest, but she chooses not to use the title when in the United States. She is currently the spokeswoman for Activia. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post online newspaper.

Trivia:

During the 1980s she was engaged to Hollywood production designer J. Michael Riva, the grandson of screen legend Marlene Dietrich. Her godfather was MCA-Universal CEO Lew Wasserman.

Saw her future husband Christopher Guest in the issue of Rolling Stone magazine with Cyndi Lauper on the cover. Guest appeared in a promotional photo for the film This Is Spinal Tap (1984) in full costume and makeup as a rock star. She fell in love at first sight of the photo and gave her telephone number to his agent.

Adopted two children with Christopher Guest: Annie Guest (b. December 1986) and Thomas (b. March 1996).

Daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

Became formally known as Baroness Haden-Guest of Saling in the County of Essex (or, less formally, Lady Haden-Guest), when her husband, Christopher, inherited the barony in 1996 on the death of his father.

Graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall private school in 1976.

It was on her suggestion that Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) was made.

Her deleted scene from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) is included on the MGM Special Edition DVD, 2001, as the “Alternate Opening”.

Was asked to cameo in Scream 3 (2000), but declined.

Won a 2003 Grammy nomination in the Best Spoken Album for Children category for her recording of the children’s books she has written.

Measurements: 34C-22-32 (wardrobe on Forever Young (1992)) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

When making reservations in exclusive London restaurants at short notice, she gives her name as Lady Haden-Guest, which apparently works better than Jamie Lee Curtis.

She told a German magazine that she will retire from making movies and that Christmas with the Kranks (2004) will be her last work as an actress. (November 2004)

Said in an interview on Good Entertainment, with Michael Medved (2001) (TV) that, ironically, horror films terrify her and she prefers not to watch them.

Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992

Was one of the guests at Sandra Bullock’s and Jesse James’ wedding.

Godmother of Jake Gyllenhaal.

Two of her earliest roles make reference to roles played by her father. She appeared in the television series “Operation Petticoat” (1977), based on the movie that had starred her father, Tony Curtis. While on hiatus from that show, she was cast in Halloween (1978), in which the detective “Sam Loomis” was named after a character from Psycho (1960), which had starred her mother, Janet Leigh. Also, her father imitated Cary Grant’s voice for his role in Some Like It Hot (1959), and worked with Grant himself in Operation Petticoat (1959). Grant’s birth name, Archie Leach, was used as the name for John Cleese’s character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988).

Once said that Dan Aykroyd was the best on-screen kisser she ever worked with.

John Cleese found it amusing that her father, Tony Curtis’s real name was Bernard Schwartz. To tease her about this, during the production of A Fish Called Wanda (1988), he had the call sheets refer to her as “Jamie Lee Schwartz.”.

Around the time True Lies (1994) was released, Jamie appeared in a series of commercials for L’Eggs Pantyhose. The company also took out an insurance policy for her legs.

Amazon Specials!

Westworld released November 21, 1973

Westworld is a 1973 science fiction / thriller film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton and starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin. Set in a high tech amusement park, Peter Martin and John Blane play cowboys in a faux western world with lifelike robots, but when the park’s central computer malfunctions, the vacation turns from harmless fun to potentially fatal, and the friends must figure out how to escape with their lives.

Westworld was the last movie MGM produced before dissolving its releasing company, and was the first theatrical feature directed by Crichton. It was also the first feature film to use digital image processing to pixellate photography to simulate an android point of view. The film was nominated for Hugo, Nebula and Golden Scroll (aka Saturn) awards, and was followed by a sequel film, Futureworld, and a short-lived television series, Beyond Westworld.

Trivia:

• When the Gunslinger robot is splashed in the face with acid, Yul Brynner’s face was coated with an oil-based makeup mixed with ground Alka-Seltzer. A splash of water then produced the fizzing effect.
• The first use of computer digitized images as part of a feature film (not merely monitor graphics) was the Gunslinger’s point of view in Westworld. After the process was finally developed enough to produce satisfactory results, it took a mere eight hours to produce each ten seconds of Gunslinger’s pixellated POV.
• The robot that Yul Brynner portrays is an homage/spoof of his character Chris from The Magnificent Seven (1960) and wears the same costume.
• Michael Crichton became inspired to write this film after a trip to Disneyland, where he saw the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and was impressed by the animatronic characters.
• Director John Carpenter based the “indestructable” nature of his killer Michael Meyers in Halloween (1978) on Yul Brynner’s character in this film.
• Yul Brynner’s character is known as The Gunslinger. Interestingly, the word “gunslinger” was only created in the 1950s and has no connection.

Frankenstein released November 21, 1931

Frankenstein is a 1931 horror film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and very loosely based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley as well as the play adapted from it by Peggy Webling. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features Dwight Frye and Edward van Sloan. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell. The make-up artist was Jack Pierce.

Trivia:

• In one scene, the Monster (Boris Karloff) walks through a forest and comes upon a little girl, Maria, who is throwing flowers into a pond. The monster joins her in the activity but soon runs out of flowers. At a loss for something to throw into the water, he looks at Maria and moves toward her. In all American prints of the movie, the scene ends here. But as originally filmed, the action continues to show the monster grabbing Maria, hurling her into the lake, then departing in confusion when Maria fails to float as the flowers did. This bit was deleted because Karloff – objecting to the director’s interpretation of the scene – felt that the monster should have gently put Maria into the lake. This scene is restored in the videocassette reissue.
• Bela Lugosi was offered the role of the monster, but refused on the grounds that his character would not speak (though he eventually played the role in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)). Lugosi also insisted on creating his own makeup for the Monster, but his design was rejected. According to film historian Richard J. Anobile, Lugosi was originally offered the role of Dr. Frankenstein by original director Robert Florey, but Carl Laemmle insisted that Lugosi play the monster. Test footage of Lugosi in Monster make-up was filmed by Florey on the set of Dracula (1931). Soon after, Florey was replaced by James Whale as director, and Lugosi was replaced by Karloff.
• Those originally considered for the cast included Leslie Howard as Henry Frankenstein and Bette Davis as Elizabeth. Director James Whale insisted on Colin Clive for the role of Henry.
• John Carradine turned down the part of the Monster because he considered himself too highly trained to be reduced to playing monsters.
• After bringing the monster to life, Dr. Frankenstein uttered the famous line, “Now I know what it’s like to BE God!” The movie was originally released with this line of dialogue, but when it was re-released in the late ’30s, censors demanded it be removed on the grounds that it was blasphemy. A loud clap of thunder was substituted on the soundtrack. The dialogue was partially restored on the video release, but since no decent recording of the dialogue could be found, it still appears garbled and indistinct. The censored dialog was partially returned to the soundtrack in the initial “restored version” releases. Further restoration has now completely brought back this line of missing dialog. A clean recording of the missing dialog was reportedly found on a Vitaphone disc (similar to a large phonograph record). Modern audio technology had to be used to insert the dialog back into the film without any detectable change in the audio quality.
• According to the TLC network program “Hunt for Amazing Treasures”, a unique six-sheet poster for the original 1931 release, showing Karloff as The Monster menacing Mae Clarke, is worth at least $600,000 US and is possibly the most valuable movie poster in the world. The only known (original) copy is owned by a private collector.
• Boris Karloff offered to remove his partial bridgework as part of the monster make-up process to create the sunken cheek look.
• Ken Strickfaden, who created all the electrical effects for the movie, also doubled for Boris Karloff during the sequences that showed the million volt sparks playing over his body. The same machines were later used in the comedy Young Frankenstein (1974).
• Child actress Marilyn Harris had done several takes of the drowning scene, none of which turned out quite right. Although wet and tired, she agreed to do one last take of the scene, the one that appears in the finished film, after director James Whale promised her anything she wanted if she would do so. She asked for a dozen hard-boiled eggs, her favorite snack. Whale gave her two dozen. The DVD commentary for the film suggests that Harris wasn’t actually a good swimmer, quoting Harris as saying that she had only a couple of swimming lessons before filming and had never dived under water before.
• John Huston wrote an early version of the warning speech given at the start of the film.
• The method of animating the creature is never discussed in Mary Shelley’s novel. In the book, Frankenstein, narrating, refuses to divulge how he did it so no one can re-create his actions. However, the use of lightning to resurrect the monster has become the accepted methodology and appears in virtually every Frankenstein movie since.
• According to The People’s Almanac, at one point the movie was to have included a line of dialogue giving the Monster the name, Adam. The Almanac indicates that an early print of this film may have indeed been released with just such a scene, but that it was cut when audiences began referring to the Monster by the name Frankenstein.
• John Carradine, who later played Dracula in the Universal horror films, once claimed he was considered for the role of the Monster.
• The Monster in this film does not physically resemble Mary Shelley’s character. It was make-up artist Jack P. Pierce who came up with innovations such as the Monster’s flat head, the bolts through the neck, the droopy eyelids, and the poorly-fitted suit. Any future Frankenstein film that features any of these physical abnormalities is taking its inspiration from Pierce’s make-up work.
• The popular image of Frankenstein’s monster as green-skinned was sourced in this film. Actually, Jack P. Pierce’s monster make-up gave the monster yellow skin, one of the few consistencies from Mary Shelley’s original description of the monster.
• Some of the sets had originally been constructed for Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary (1927) which Universal had produced four years earlier.
• What are commonly called bolts on the neck of the monster are in reality electrodes.
• The film was banned in Kansas upon its original release on the grounds that it exhibited “cruelty and tended to debase morals”.
• A 20-minute test reel, starring Bela Lugosi as the monster and directed by Robert Florey, was filmed on the Dracula (1931) sets. This footage has not been seen since 1931 and is now considered lost. Only a poster, featuring the vague likeness of Bela Lugosi as a 30 feet colossus, remains.
• The set design of the windmill sequence was inspired by a building in Los Angeles that housed a local bakery, Van de Kamp, which displayed a large windmill as its corporate logo.
• Actor Edward Van Sloan, who played Dr. Waldman in the film, appeared in the now-lost test reel with Bela Lugosi as the Monster. In an interview conducted shortly before his death, Van Sloan remembered that Lugosi’s makeup resembled The Golem, with a large broad wig and “a polished clay-like skin.” Unfortunately, no footage of the test or any photographs of Lugosi in this makeup are known to exist.
• The movie’s line “It’s alive! It’s alive!” was voted as the #49 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
• Carl Laemmle Jr. offered James Whale a list of 30+ film adaptations he could direct and Whale picked this one. Whale said he did so because he wanted to get away from the war pictures with which he had so far been associated. Ironically, Whale is now, by far, best-remembered for his four horror films.
• The casting of the monster was the most difficult aspect of the casting process. James Whale happened to spot Boris Karloff in the Universal commissary and passed him a note offering a screen-test, which Karloff jumped at. Karloff later joked that he was offended by being viewing as such an ugly character, since on the day that Whale spotted him, he was wearing his most elegant suit and thought he was looking handsome.
• Edward Van Sloan (Dr Waldman) also makes an uncredited appearance as himself in the film’s prologue, in order to warn audiences of what follows.
• The monster make-up design by Jack P. Pierce is under copyright to Universal through the year 2026, and licensed by Universal Studios Licensing, Inc.
• By the time the ending of the film was changed, allowing Henry Frankenstein to live, Colin Clive was no longer available for additional scenes. For the shot of Henry in long shot in the bedroom behind his father, he was played by another actor; tradition has long held that it was future cowboy star Robert Livingston filling in for him.
• Dr. Frankenstein’s first name is Henry, while his best friend’s name is Victor Moritz. In the novel, the doctor’s name is Victor Frankenstein, while his best friend is Henry Clerval.
• Boris Karloff is considered a late bloomer in Hollywood. Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.
• During production there was some concern that seven-year-old Marilyn Harris, who played Maria, the little girl thrown into the lake by the creature, would be overly frightened by the sight of Boris Karloff in costume and make-up when it came time to shoot the scene. When the cast was assembled to travel to the location, Marilyn ran from her car directly up to Karloff, who was in full make-up and costume, took his hand and asked “May I drive with you?” Delighted, and in typical Karloff fashion, he responded, “Would you, darling?” She then rode to the location with “The Monster.”.

Lady in Cement released Nov. 20, 1968

Lady In Cement is a 1968 detective film, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel and Richard Conte. A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, and based on the novel by Marvin H. Albert, Lady In Cement was released on November 20th 1968.

Trivia:

When Tony Rome walks into the room in the massage parlor where Bronski is, Bronski (Dan Blocker) is watching the TV show “Bonanza” (1959) where he starred as Hoss Cartwright.

The scene when Tony Rome gets in the taxi by the air-port, there is an advertisement for fellow “Rat Pack” member, Dean Martin’s restaurant on the side of the cab.

Sinatra says that he knew a girl that used to date bullfighters, a reference to Ava Gardner’s affair with a matador when filming The Barefoot Contessa (1954) in Spain.

As Tony Rome is running from the police on the beach, you hear a band playing the Sinatra song “You Make Me Feel So Young”.

Amazon Specials!

Sleepy Hollow released November 19, 1999

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 period horror film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the Washington Irving story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the film stars Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Sir Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Walken. The story centers on police constable Ichabod Crane sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. The style and themes of the story take inspirations from the late Hammer Film Productions.

Sleepy Hollow had been in development since 1994 and was originally intended to be directed by Kevin Yagher. The film labored into development far enough for Burton, who had unsuccessfully worked on Superman Lives, to direct. The majority of the filming took place in England where the crew built an entire soundstage. Sleepy Hollow would be released with box office success and critical acclaim, grossing roughly $206 million worldwide and scoring a 73 percent approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Trivia:

• The scene where Ichabod Crane crosses the covered bridge and hears the frogs underneath croaking “Ichabod” and “Headless Horseman” is a tribute to Disney’s 1958 animated version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1958) (featured in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)), in which Ichabod Crane, crossing a bridge, hears the frogs croaking the same words. Director Tim Burton, a former Disney animator, has cited the Disney version of the tale as his main inspiration for the look and style of his film. The scene of Ichabod Crane riding the Horseman’s horse backwards is also taken from the earlier film.
• Christopher Walken, who plays the Headless Horseman, played a schoolteacher in The Dead Zone (1983), in the beginning of which he tells his class to read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Johnny Depp

• The town Sleepy Hollow was created from the ground up in three months. At the time of filming, it was the largest set built in England and was put up in record time. The last set that held this record was built for Billy Elliot (2000).
• The Western Wood was built on a sound-stage so everything, the weather, light, could be controlled.
• The Windmill was too large to be constructed on a sound-stage because it was over five stories high. The sails alone weighed over 2 tons.
• The final chase sequence on the coach in the Western Wood took three weeks to film.
• The Horseman’s horse is named Daredevil, the same name of Brom Bones’ (Brom Van Brunt’s) horse in Irving’s original short story; the horse was purchased in Seville, Spain.
• Christopher Walken’s character has no speaking lines, aside from a couple of “HAA”s to his horse and “shhhh.”
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [scarecrows]
• This was originally to be a Kevin Yagher directorial project. Tim Burton later took over the project, with Kevin Yagher remaining on with co-producing credits among others.

Christina Ricci

• The dress worn by Katrina Anne Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) in the last shot of the movie has the same pattern as Michael Keaton’s outfit in the climactic scene of Beetle Juice (1988) also directed by Tim Burton.
• Tim Burton and the crew of the movie built the small town Sleepy Hollow complete with rooms, floors, and stairs. The town was dismantled after filming was completed.
• Historically, Ichabod Crane was a very unattractive man. Johnny Depp wanted to add prosthetics to his face to make himself look ugly, but Tim Burton wanted to base the character on Crane’s more unattractive personality traits – his reported squeamishness and eccentricity.
• According to Tim Burton, the opening shots of Peter Van Garrett were shot by Conrad L. Hall, who was a friend of the film’s director of photography, Emmanuel Lubezki.
• Star Johnny Depp adopted Goldeneye, the horse that played Gunpowder, Ichabod Crane’s horse in the film, when he heard it was going to be put down.
• While Tim Burton admired Andrew Kevin Walker’s original script, he hired the famed playwright and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard as script doctor. Stoppard did an uncredited re-write to tone down the violence of Walker’s script.
• Ichabod Crane faints six times in the movie.
• At the start of filming the three-way axe battle with Ray Park, Johnny Depp and Casper Van Dien, Casper Van Dien broke the index finger of his left hand. Although extremely painful, he carried on without telling anyone as he didn’t want his part cut short.
• Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel were, reportedly, real people
• Winona Ryder was offered the role of Katrina Van Tassel, but turned it down.
• A mechanical horse, an updated model of one used in earlier films, was used for studio shots. The mechanical horse was originally developed for riding scenes with Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet (1944).
• Johnny Depp did all of his own stunts for the final scene where he is dragged by the horse – he had bullet-proof clothing underneath his wardrobe.
• This film features three sith lords from the Star Wars prequels, Ray Park (Darth Maul), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku ) and Ian McDiarmid (Darth Sidious).
• During the last scene Ichabod, during his explanation to Katrina and Young Masbeth of how easy New York is to navigate, says, “The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down.” This is a line from the song “New York, New York” which is featured in the movie On the Town (1949).
• Casper Van Dien in real life is related to the Van Tassels (Christina Ricci’s character’s family; she is his love interest in the film).
• Casper Van Dien gained 30 pounds for his role of Brom.
• The production notes on the DVD reveal that Johnny Depp based his characterization on the late Roddy McDowall (Fright Night (1985)), Angela Lansbury (The Mirror Crack’d (1980)) and Basil Rathbone (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) and others).
• Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt and Daniel Day-Lewis were all considered for the role of Ichabod Crane.
• Marlon Brando was sought as The Hessian Horseman.
• Although the headless horsemen in the books and fairy tales is physically not allowed to cross the bridge, as it is known as a safe haven for the characters, in this version he can cross it freely.
• Michael Gough came out of retirement to play Notary Hardenbrook.
• Although Tim Burton claims the windmill scene was a reference to Frankenstein (1931), which he lovingly quoted in Frankenweenie (1984), a stronger link can be made to Will Hay’s Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937) which also featured a windmill but not a headless horseman.
• This was the very last movie produced on laserdisc anywhere in the world.
• During the promotional interviews for the film, Johnny Depp gave Sir Michael Gambon the ‘task’ of mentioning Claudia Schiffer’s knickers in every press interview. According to Gambon, when interviewed on BBC “Top Gear” (1978), he succeeded easily. Mind you, Gambon admitted that he lies in all interviews, so this may not be true after all!
• Johnny Depp reportedly has never seen the film because he didn’t like the way he acted in the film.
• The gown of patterned gray muslin worn by Jessica Oyelowo (Sarah) is the same costume worn by Billie Piper (Fanny Price) during the play rehearsal scene in Mansfield Park (2007) (TV), and by Thandie Newton (Sally Hemings) in Jefferson in Paris (1995). Sally’s gown is made from the fabric selected by Thomas Jefferson and Mrs. Cosway.
• The last live action film of Michael Gough.
• Johnny Depp initially wanted to play the character with a long prosthetic snipe nose, huge ears and elongated fingers, although his suggestions were turned down by Paramount Pictures as they felt the design to be too outrageous.
• The cast and crew often said “The feeling one had walking around Sleepy Hollow’s sets, and in particular the town at Lime Tree, was almost as if you were walking around the inside of [Tim] Burton’s head.”
• In the novel, the Headless Horseman was a man who lost his head from a cannon blast in an unknown battle of the American Revolutionary War.
• This is the first adaption of Sleepy Hallow that doesn’t involve the actor of the headless horseman having to conceal their head in the cloak. Rather, to fit with the technology, the head of the actor is replaced with a blue screen mask and a CGI collar to match the flow of the robe.

Amazon Specials!

Dracula vs. Frankenstein released November 1971

Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1971 horror film directed by Al Adamson.

 Cast
  J. Carrol Naish … Dr. Frankenstein, aka Dr. Duryea
  Lon Chaney … Groton
  Anthony Eisley … Mike Howard
  Regina Carrol … Judith Fontaine
  Greydon Clark … Strange
  Zandor Vorkov … Count Dracula
  Angelo Rossitto … Grazbo
  Anne Morrell … Samantha
  William Bonner … Biker
  Russ Tamblyn … Rico
  Jim Davis … Police Sgt. Martin
  John Bloom … Frankenstein’s Monster
  Shelly Weiss … The Creature
  Forest J Ackerman … Dr. Beaumont

Story: During the day, Doctor Duryea [J Carroll Naish] runs the Creature Emporium [a sideshow in an amusement park near the beach in Venice, California] from his wheelchair but, by night, Duryea is a mad scientist working on some sort of blood serum. For this serum he needs the blood of women who were scared to death, as it is their fear that “energizes the molecular structure of their blood”. To do this, he has his zombie Groton [Lon Chaney Jr] behead girls with an axe and then bring him their bodies. Duryea then rejunvenates them so that he can harvest their blood.

One day Dr Duryea is visited by Count Dracula [Zandor Vorkov] who has found the remains of the original Frankenstein monster. In exchange for some of Duryea’s serum (which will make Dracula invincable), Dracula offers the doctor the use of the Frankenstein monster [John Bloom] in order to get revenge on Duryea’s adversary, Dr Beaumont [Forrest J Ackerman]. Together, they reanimate the monster and he does eventually kill Beaumont.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas showgirl Judith Fontaine [Regina Carrol] is searching for her sister Joanie, who disappeared after joining a group of hippies who hang near the Creature Emporium. Police Sgt Martin [Jim Davis] has been of no help, so Judith goes to the local hippie hangout and shows around a photo of her sister. No one has seen her. When someone slips some LSD into her coffee, Judith winds up on the couch of aging hippie Mike Howard[Anthony Eisley], who offers his help (along with a few kisses). When they learn that Joanie was last seen at the Creature Emporium, they pay a visit to Dr Duryea, but he claims to have never seen Joanie.

Meanwhile, more girls have turned up missing and a few male bodies have been found chopped to bits on the beach. When friend Samantha [Anne Morrell] is carried through a trapdoor under the Creature Emporium, Mike and Judith break in and discover, to their horror, the undead bodies of all the girls, including Joanie [Marie Lease], that the doctor has been using. In the fight that ensues, Dr Duryea is beheaded in his guillotine and Groton is shot by Sgt Martin. Judith is carried off by Dracula. Mike frees Judith but, as they run away, Dracula zaps Mike with his ring of fire, burning him to a crisp. Dracula and the Frankenstein monster carry Judith to an old abandoned church where Dracula ties her to a chair and prepares to make her immortal, but the Frankenstein monster has a sudden change of heart and protects her.

Dracula and the Frankenstein monster duke it out. Their fight carries them outside into the surrounding woods. Dracula bests the Frankenstein monster by pulling off his arms and head. But the sun is rising, and Dracula must get back to his coffin. He makes a dash for the church door but collapses on the stairs and burns up in the morning sun. Judith unties her binds and gets away.

 Trivia
Final film appearances of J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney Jr..           

Originally planned as a sequel to Satan’s Sadists, with Russ Tamblyn and other “bikers” reprising their parts from that film. However, not long after filming began, it was decided to turn it into a horror film instead of a biker picture and much of the footage with Tamblyn and other actors from the first film was cut out. They were unable to cut them completely out of the movie, though, which is why Tamblyn and his biker gang seem to be wandering in and out of the film, with no connection to the story line and with not much to do.

It was originally intended to have Dracula turn Frankenstein’s Monster into a bloodthirsty vampire, so the Monster could better serve the Count’s purpose. The idea was dropped, however, when the fangs kept falling out of actor John Bloom’s mouth, which he couldn’t keep in due to his heavy makeup.

Much of the electrical lab equipment in Duryea’s lab are props originally used in Frankenstein. Ken Strickfaden, who had designed all the electrical gadgetry in that film, supplied the equipment.

In his scene confronting Count Dracula, J. Carrol Naish looks noticeably older than he does elsewhere in the film. This is due to the time that had elapsed between the bulk of his scenes, when it was intended as a different film entirely, and the Dracula/Frankenstein scenes that were grafted on later.

Regina Carrol and victim

At this point in his career, J. Carrol Naish was very ill and frail and could no longer remember dialogue, so he read it off cue cards. However, he had only one real eye, so in his dialogue closeups you can see one eye moving back and forth, reading the lines, while the other eye remains fixed in position.

Amazon Specials!

Martin Scorsese Birthday Nov. 17

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the prevention of the decaying of motion picture film stock.

Scorsese’s body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, and violence. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era, directing landmark films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas; all of which he collaborated on with actor Robert De Niro. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed and earned an MFA in film directing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Trivia:

Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun (1997), which Scorsese directed. [19 December 1996]

Awarded third annual John Huston Award for Artists Rights by the Artists Rights Foundation. [1995]

Presented with a special tribute at the 1976 Telluride Film Festival. It was presented by Michael Powell. [1976]

He is a longtime friend and was once a housemate of The Band’s Robbie Robertson. He directed The Last Waltz (1978), the documentary of their supposedly last gig which Robertson produced. Robertson later produced the soundtrack for Scorsese’s The Color of Money (1986).

Good friends with editor Thelma Schoonmaker & cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Scorsese introduced Thelma to her husband Michael Powell and he often quotes Powell as an influence.

His name is pronounced “Scor-sez-see”.

He directed Michael Jackson’s Bad (1987) (V) music video. The full length video runs 16 minutes and is in both black & white and color. It is usually shortened down to just the color segment for television.

He appears as attached to his pet white Bichon Frise Zoe as he was to his beloved parents – except Zoe is right beside Marty every day in the office.

Daughter Francesca Scorsese born. [16 November 1999]

John Woo dedicated his action film Dip huet seung hung (1989) (“The Killer”) to Scorsese on a commentary he did for the movie’s DVD.

Daughter Domenica Cameron-Scorsese with Julia Cameron.

Taught both Oliver Stone and Spike Lee at NYU.

Was at one point going to make a movie about the life of comedian Richard Pryor.

He was an altar boy at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was used in his early films I Call First (1967) and Mean Streets (1973). Old St. Patrick’s is also where the baptism scene in The Godfather (1972) took place.

Was at one point slated to direct Clockers (1995), but for reasons that are not entirely clear, handed the directing chores to his onetime NYU student Spike Lee, while staying on as producer. He was also at one point going to direct Little Shop of Horrors (1986) for David Geffen, with Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. He was ultimately uninvolved, but claims that he wanted to shoot the movie in 3-D. It no doubt would have been a loving homage to Roger Corman, for whom he directed Boxcar Bertha (1972).

He took a cameo in his film Taxi Driver (1976) (as a man about to kill his wife) only because the actor who was supposed to play the role was sick on the day the scene was to be shot. Says he is generally uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Has a dog named Silas.

Is the subject of the song “Martin Scorsese” by alternative band King Missile.

Father of actress Cathy Scorsese from his first marriage.

Is of Italian-Sicilian descent.

Has asthma.

Of the three films he’s been trying to make since the mid-1970s, he has done two: The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002). The third film, a biopic of Dean Martin called “Dino”, has been on hiatus at Warner Brothers since the late 1990s. Scorsese has a very specific all A-list cast in mind, probably why it has yet to be produced. He wants Tom Hanks to star as Martin, Jim Carrey to play Jerry Lewis, John Travolta to play Frank Sinatra, Hugh Grant to play Peter Lawford, and Adam Sandler to play Joey Bishop.

Was voted the 4th greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the only living person in the top 5 and the only working film director in the top 10 (Ingmar Bergman being retired as a filmmaker).

Appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000) as a shrill version of himself who comes to regret his decision to cast Larry David as a violent gangster in a movie after David repeatedly ruins the suit he needs to wear as the character.

Several characters in his films refer to the legendary (noir) actor John Garfield, star of the original The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), which is also mentioned.

He was one of three major directors to have been offered the opportunity to direct Schindler’s List (1993) by producer Steven Spielberg, the other two being Roman Polanski and Billy Wilder. Scorsese thought a Jewish filmmaker should direct it; Polanski wasn’t yet ready to deal with the painful subject (having lost his mother in the Holocaust); and Wilder (who was retired and who lost his mother and grandmother in the Holocaust) finally told Spielberg that he should do it himself.

Because so many of his actors win or are nominated for awards, actors are dying to work with him. The film With Friends Like These… (1998) pokes fun at this very real desire.

Both The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002) were personal passions of his that he had wanted to make since the 1970s. When he first starting considering them, Robert De Niro was in his mind to play the lead characters in both (Jesus Christ in “Temptation” and Bill Cutting in “Gangs”). De Niro ultimately turned down the part in “Temptation” and it was decided he was too old to play Cutting by the time that “Gangs” finally went into production.

He has famously collaborated with Robert De Niro in 8 films. Scorsese has said that his creative collaboration with De Niro is very deep and that they can often understand each other without even talking. Their collaboration has had many dry spells (including recently), but Scorsese says he shows almost every script he writes or considers directing to De Niro to see what the actor’s thoughts on them are even when De Niro ultimately has no involvement the film.

Appeared in an “American Express” ad where he goes to pick up photos of his nephew’s birthday party at a drug store, and then proceeds to nervously pick through what’s wrong with each picture while trying to get the clueless photo-lab clerk’s opinion on them. He proceeds to buy more film with an American Express card and calls the people on the pictures saying they need to reshoot. Scorsese says this funny ad is probably the closest he’s come to accurately “playing” himself.

Apart from his legendary work as a filmmaker, he has been a vocal supporter of film preservation for almost three decades. His efforts to create a strong public awareness for the work of film archives include The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation which he started together with other filmmakers. The Film Foundation regularly partners with the American film archives on the restoration of “lost” or endangered films. With this background he has agreed to serve as Honorary President of the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna.

Personally spurns the notion of the “director’s cut” feeling that once a film has been completed, it should not be further altered in any way.

He lost three best director – and best picture – Oscars to leading-man actors turned directors: Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, and Clint Eastwood (Raging Bull (1980) lost to Redford’s Ordinary People (1980); Goodfellas (1990) to Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990); The Aviator (2004) to Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004)). On the only two occasions when he was Oscar-nominated as Best Director in years ending in zero, he was beaten by actors making their directorial debuts (Redford and Costner).

In 1975, he accepted the Oscar for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” on behalf of Ellen Burstyn, who wasn’t present at the awards ceremony. She won for her performance in Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.

Has mentioned that he thought Robert De Niro’s best performance under his direction was as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy (1982).

Ranked #3 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Greatest directors ever!” [2005]

His favorite films include: Citizen Kane (1941), The Red Shoes (1948) and Il gattopardo (1963) (“The Leopard”).

Was friend, protégé, and employee of actor-director John Cassavetes.

When asked where audiences would find the next Martin Scorsese, he said to look to Wes Anderson, the young director of Rushmore (1998).

Has directed, as of 2008, 6 biopics: Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997) and The Aviator (2004).

He received a Degree ad honorem in “Cinema, TV and Multimedia Production” from the University of Bologna on 26 November 2005.

Served as mentor to Georgia Lee and invited her to apprentice for Gangs of New York (2002) in Europe.

The 1912 American Mutoscope & Biograph Company short The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) heavily influenced Scorsese in the making of his own gangster films Goodfellas (1990), and Gangs of New York (2002). The film was picked by Scorcese for his 2005 tribute at Beaubourg, centre d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou (1977) in Paris, France. Biograph is the oldest movie company in America and in existence today, headed by producer/director Thomas R. Bond II.

Scorsese and Taxi Driver (1976) are, among others, named as inspiration for the Massive Attack debut “Blue Lines”.

He signed a four-year, first-look deal to develop projects with studio executives of Paramount. [November 2006]

The Departed (2006) is the highest-grossing movie of his 40-year career ($132,373,442 (USA)).

The Aviator (2004) was his first movie to gross over $100 million in the U.S.

He has worked with big names of music business: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, ‘Michael Jackson (I)’ and David Bowie.

Directed 17 different actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis , Cate Blanchett, Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn, Sharon Stone, Diane Ladd,Cathy Moriarty, Juliette Lewis, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Newman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Alan Alda and Mark Wahlberg. (Burstyn, De Niro, Newman, Pesci and Blanchett won Oscars for their roles in one of Scorsese’s movies).

When he won his Best Director Oscar for The Departed (2006), he received the award from legendary directors, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg. The four were part of the “New Hollywood” movement of the 1970s and combined have 9 Academy Awards and 38 Nominations.

As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell’s The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) from a store that only had one copy of the reels. When it wasn’t available the owner told him, “that Romero kid has it,” referring to George A. Romero who was also a big fan of the film. Today, both directors cite the film as a major influence.

Says he was happy with the fact that it took so long for him to win Best Director, because if he had won it earlier, it would have affected his directing and films.

Recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients that year were Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, and Brian Wilson.

Says the only thing he regrets in his career is that he was only able to make The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) on a small budget although he imagined it to be a grand version.

Was originally going to direct The Honeymoon Killers (1969), but was replaced after a week of shooting.

Served as a guest critic on “Siskel & Ebert & the Movies” (1986) following the death of ‘Gene Siskel’. The episode was “The Best Films of the 90s” in which Roger Ebert cited Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) as one of the best films of the 90s (#3). Scorsese’s full list of his favorite films of the 1990s: 10.) Tie: Malcolm X (1992) and Heat (1995), 9.) Fargo (1996), 8.) Crash (1996), 7.) Bottle Rocket (1994), 6.) Breaking the Waves (1996), 5.) Bad Lieutenant (1992), 4.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 3.) Duo sang (1994) (“A Borrowed Life”), 2.) The Thin Red Line (1998), 1.) Dao ma zei (1986) (“Horse Thief”).

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Resides in New York City. His production offices are located on W. 57th Street in Manhattan.

Attended Cardinal Hayes high school in the Bronx as a young man. Fellow alumni included George Carlin, George Dzundza, Regis Philbin and Jamal Mashburn.

Is a fan of the British Hammer Films series.

A huge fan of Fawlty Towers (1975). He describes the episode “The Germans” as “so tasteless, its hilarious.”.

In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 7 of Scorsese’s films are listed: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006).

Haig Manoogian was Scorsese’s mentor at NYU. He eventually produced Scorsese’s first film (I Call First (1967)) and when he died in 1980, Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull (1980) to Manoogian.

Roger Ebert is a great admirer of Scorsese’s work. 14 of Scorsese’s films were given four stars by Ebert (Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shine a Light (2008)), seven of his films are in Ebert’s Great Movies list (“Mean Streets”, “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “After Hours”, “The Last Temptation Of Christ”, “Goodfellas”, and “The Age of Innocence”), and Ebert has written an entire book of his reviews, interviews and essays on Scorsese’s work simply titled “Scorsese By Ebert”.

As of November 10th 2009, five of his films are on the IMDb’s Top 250 Films list: Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Departed (2006), and Casino (1995).

Amazon Specials!

 

Daughters of Satan released Nov. 17, 1972

Daughters of Satan is a 1972 horror movie starring Tom Selleck, Barra Grant, Tani Guthrie and Paraluman.  Directed by Hollingsworth Morse.

Plot:  James Robertson buys a painting depicting witches being burned at the stake, one of whom bears an uncanny resemblance to his wife…

Tagline:  A secret cult of lust-craved witches torturing with fire and desire!

Amazon Specials!