Movie Character Update X
Mr. Ballard, from “Mrs. Miniver” (1942): Mr. Ballard was the kind of old Englishman that made the British feel good about themselves in wartime. Humble, quiet, considerate, and dedicated to service, with a sense of humor and a surprising devotion to the Church, he worked his many years for the British railroad, taking tickets and maintaining the station at Belham, a village outside London. He had two great secrets in his life: his love of roses, and his unrequited love for a much younger married woman.
He combined the two into a prize-winning rose, the "Mrs. Miniver" which took the Beldon cup, the first time in several decades that this prize was awarded to anyone besides Lady Beldon. Kay Miniver accepted the naming of the rose with equanimity, and continued to treat the man sweetly, although she must have suspected how deeply his feelings ran. For his part, Mr. Ballard was always a gentleman.
Mr. Ballard's death tragically followed shortly after his victory in the flower show, when he was struck down by a German bomb in an air raid.
Mr. Brown, from “The Big Combo” (1955): Mr. Brown was a ruthless man, one who held the power of life and death in a city run by money. Little is known about his background or early life, save that he started out as a prison guard, but found that the power he held over the inmates was poor compensation for the poor social status he held on the outside. His wife, Alicia, apparently was particularly critical of his lack of success and ambition, driving him to start using his prison contacts to make an entree into the world of organized crime.
Here, his natural drives began to take over (he later said that he was driven by "hate"), and he was quickly promoted within the Grazzi crime syndicate over the heads of loyal members with seniority. They held their resentment in check only because Brown demonstrated just how dangerous he could be when threatened. He quit his legitimate work and became part owner of the Bolemac corporation, which Grazzi used as a cover for his shady dealings.
Grazzi and Brown took a cruise, with their wives, to Portugal, a cruise from which Alicia and Grazzi never returned. For years it was believed that Grazzi had fled prosecution by a zealous DA through retirement to Sicily and whispered that Brown had killed the shrewish Alicia, but the truth was more complicated. The dedicated cop Leonard Diamond discovered that Alicia was hiding under a false name in an asylum while Brown faked letters from Sicily to cover for Grazzi's death.
Brown now took up with an innocent young pianist, Susan Lowell, a girl from a socially respectable family, as if to prove his ability to buy and own anything he chose. If not for the "righteous man," Leonard Diamond, and his unrelenting investigation of Brown and the syndicate, Brown might well have lived to an advanced age on his ill-gotten wealth. As it is, he cracked, killed several people in a clumsy attempt to cover his tracks, and was finally arrested, broken, as he attempted to flee the country from a fog-covered airfield.
Fuad Ramses, from “Blood Feast” (1963): Fuad Ramses was a fanatical devotee of the Egytian goddess Ishtar (only her devotees are aware that she was actually an Egyptian goddess, not Babylonian as contemporary archaeology insists). He was wise in her ways, and determined to bring about a new reign of the pharoahs (from which he was descended) through the ritual known as the "blood feast." He murdered young women and retained select body parts for use in a cannibalistic orgy that he intended to culminate with the murder of the debutante Suzette Fremont. As he was catering the young lady's birthday party, he knew that he would have the opportunity to perform the sacrifice, and that under the influence of the goddess, all the party guests would eagerly partake of the riposte. Then he would be crowned King of the Land of Khem, and all would bow down. Or something.
At any rate, things did not work out according to Ramses' plan. The clever if not brilliant police detective assigned to the case, Pete Thornton (also Ms. Fremont's rather over-age boyfriend) slowly put the pieces together (no pun intended) and tracked the killer to the Fremont's kitchen, where he was able to prevent the horrid slaughter of at least one young girl (having shown up too late to prevent several other murders) and chased Ramses with the intention of bringing him to justice. Ramses cheated the hangman, however, by slipping into a garbage truck to hide, where he was horrifically mangled by the automatic compressor.
Audrey Webster, from “Tales from the Darkside,” Episode “Black Widows” (1986) : Audrey Webster grew up believing that she was a normal young girl, and would become a normal woman. Her mother, a widow, raised her in a series of trailer homes across the United States, moving frequently from one state to another. The older she got, the more she seemed to enjoy sitting in the sunniest part of the house, knitting and watching television, and entertaining the occasional "caller" who came by to see her. Audrey felt that her mother's behavior was eccentric, and perhaps a bit unhealthy, but did her best to keep her mother happy. Audrey had never known her father, who died before she was born. From the time Audrey was old enough to work, she was the sole support for both women.
Meanwhile, Audrey met and fell in love with Robert, a handsome and pleasant young man. Audrey was surprised that her mother disapproved, saying Robert was "too skinny," and that she should find someone with "more meat on his bones." Nevertheless, Audrey agreed when Robert proposed, and her mother, perhaps tempted by the satellite dish Robert promised to buy them, or perhaps simply understanding her daughter's true feelings, reluctantly gave her approval.
On the wedding night, Audrey got a serious surprise, and finally learned the true nature of the women in her family. As Robert began to make love to her, she suddenly found that she was sucking him dry of all his blood - that she was "eating and eating and just couldn't stop." Now Audrey understood what happened to all of the callers that her mother received, and why they had to cross state lines so often. She and her mother were Black Widows in human form, and so would be the daughter that Robert gave her...
Dr. Anton Phibes, from “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971): Dr. Anton Phibes was one of the great acoustical and musical geniuses. He attained PhD's in both theology and music, and later demonstrated a remarkable skill in prosthetics, cybernetics, and other areas. He was revered by music lovers at the turn of the century as one of the truly great living organists.
Sadly, however, his brilliant musical career was interrupted by a tragic auto accident in the early teens. His young wife, Victoria, died in the crash, and many believed Phibes to be dead as well, although he was really only terribly mangled and burned, and lost the use of his vocal cords. He was able to correct this disability through the invention of a phonographic speaking-device, and able to go about in public wearing a mask resembling his former visage. He also built himself a "clockwork orchestra" - simple androids that kept him company in his isolation from human society. It is unclear whether his beautiful mute assistant, Vulnavia, was also an android.
Phibes dedicated himself to revenge against the surgical team he blamed for his wife's death. Using the Ten Plagues of Egypt as a model, he slaughtered eight of the team using bizarre and brilliant methodology. Then he would return to his hidden palatial estate and ritually burn an image of the victim wearing a medallion inscribed with the Hebrew symbol for the plague. For the ninth plague, the "death of the firstborn," he attempted to kill the son of the leader of the team, Dr. Vesalius, with acid, but Vesalius was able to free his son and the acid fell on Vulnavia, instead. Phibes himself succumbed to the tenth plague, darkness, as he disappeared for three long years into a hidden sarcophagus.
At this time he awoke, and went in search of papyrus scrolls that could lead him to the "River of Life," which he believed would restore his dead wife. He restored Vulnavia's looks and tracked the thieves who had stolen the papyrus, killing them one at a time with his usual brilliant thoroughness. Although he did locate the river he sought, it is uncertain whether it really provided the life-restoring magic he believed. Phibes was never seen again.
Dr. Norberg, from “The Frozen Dead” (1966): Doctor Rupert Norberg was born in Wuppertal, in Westphalia, Germany, in 1903. His father worked for the Bayer concern as a research chemist, and young Rupert also dreamed of being a scientist. However, his studies led him to become of physician rather than a chemist, because of his interest in the concept of Cryogenics, or the freezing of living people in suspended animation for long periods.
After obtaining his degree, however, the depressed state of the German economy limited Dr. Norberg's research opportunities and he was forced to start a small private practice to make ends meet. He joined the Party and the SS originally in order to gain access to their research facilities on his off-days, but was not noted as a particularly enthusiastic party member.
When the war began, he volunteered to serve on the Eastern Front as a medic. This was shortly after his marriage, and he and his wife were to be separated until nearly the end of the war, when she was killed during an Allied bombing raid. The couple had one child, Jean, born only a few weeks before the death of her mother. Dr. Norberg served with distinction and saved many lives, all the while studying the effects of the bitter cold on the nervous systems of the troops. After his tour of duty, he accepted assignment to work at Buchenwald as camp physician, having arranged with the SS to further his research into Cryogenics.
By the end of the War, with the help of his research on human subjects, Dr. Norberg had perfected a means of slowing the human metabolism for long periods, and had successfully revived animal subjects frozen for many months. Suddenly, an urgent request came for all of his results to be sent to the Fuehrerbunker and for him to freeze twelve soldiers, including his own brother, for revivification after the War's end. Dr. Norberg obeyed.
He was supported in continuing his work by the covert Nazi organization ODESSA (Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen) which needed him to perfect a means of reviving the subjects. He was able to live in comfortable exile in England under a false name, and his daughter's education was funded by ODESSA as well. In 1965, he began some experimental revivifications, but without being able to bring the men's brain back to full activity. He began more intense work on the nervous system, learning to animate cadavers' arms with electric current, and keeping the head of a recently deceased subject conscious for many hours.
At this time, he learned the true reason of ODESSA's enthusiasm for his work. Several of the highest ranking party members had been frozen in the Bunker by his technique, and the Nazi Underground felt that the turbulent 1960s were an excellent time to bring them back to lead the nation away from democracy. The fact that they would all be despised by their countrymen and tried and executed as war criminals seems not to have occurred to ODESSA's leadership. The added pressure from his superiors did not help, however, and Norberg made several critical mistakes which led to his own death and the destruction of his lab and all his notes. Presumably the frozen dead Nazis remain in their icy grave.
Johnny, from “Robot Monster” (1953): Johnny is a young boy who dreams of spaceships, robots, and monsters. He hates to play house with his sister, instead dragging her off on his Spaceman-Spiff-reminiscent adventures, blasting everything he meets with his toy raygun, and wearing his space helmet at all times.
One day, while on a picnic, Johnny's world is destroyed by the Ro-Man, a being from the planet Ro-Man, a cyborg who resembles a large earth primate with a high-tech space helmet. Johnny and his family (which oddly now includes people he met for the first time that day), hide out in a ruined building in Bronson canyon, and attempt to plot ways of fighting a monster which has already exterminated the rest of humanity. Johnny really isn't much help, particularly when he gives vital secrets to the enemy during an unauthorized parley.
Johnny does get more than his share of thrilling dinosaur fights, volcanic eruptions, and destroyed cities, before being woken from his nap with a bump on his head.
Adam Sorg, from “Color Me Blood Red” (1965): Compared to most painters, Adam Sorg is a lucky man. He earns enough from his work to pay for his own living, support his whiny, live-in girlfriend/secretary/promoter, Gigi, and afford a fancy beach house and expensive if useless water toys. Nevertheless, he is unhappy. Why? Because critics, most especially a local know-it-all called Gregorovich, find nothing to compliment in his commercialized style. He is, quite simply considered a hack, only appropriate for adorning the walls of tasteless suburbanites.
In his search for an authentic voice, Adam Sorg stumbles across the unlikeliest of paint ingredients, a lovely red shade that brings the canvass to life. Unfortunately, his own body doesn't contain enough of it, so he has to borrow some here and there. Soon, his paintings are the hit of the art world, in spite of their grotesque realism. Meanwhile, young women begin disappearing in the area of his beach house, and he takes to soliciting the teenagers that mess up his backyard for "models."
Has Adam Sorg found the key to immortality, or will he, when exposed to daylight, burn and shrivel up into a cinder?
Jack Forrest, from “Maniac Cop” (1988): Jack Forrest is a decent, hardworking cop who's had a lot of tough breaks. First, his relationship with his wife went sour. She couldn't handle the strain of being married to a man whose job was to risk his life, and she suffered from depression and other problems as well. When Jack suggested therapy, she complied only reluctantly, and ultimately dropped out. Jack couldn't find a solution, felt her slipping away, and then made the mistake of getting involved with a police woman instead of breaking up with her.
His wife turned out to be the first person to suspect him when a series of murders by a man dressed as a police officer broke out, because of the odd hours he was keeping to be with his mistress. When she followed him and discovered the liaison, she was herself killed by the Maniac Cop. This led others, including high-ups in the department, to begin investigating Officer Forrest.
After more incriminating circumstances, Jack was arrested, and soon freed by the Maniac Cop (Matt Cordell), who now realized he could place all the blame for his crimes of vengeance on the young officer. Jack ultimately tracked down and killed (he thought) Cordell, clearing his name in the process.
But this was not to be the end of the story, as Matt Cordell returned again to stalk Jack and his lover Theresa Mallory for their interference in his mission. Cordell now seemed invulnerable to most weapons, and time was running out for Jack and Theresa...
.
He combined the two into a prize-winning rose, the "Mrs. Miniver" which took the Beldon cup, the first time in several decades that this prize was awarded to anyone besides Lady Beldon. Kay Miniver accepted the naming of the rose with equanimity, and continued to treat the man sweetly, although she must have suspected how deeply his feelings ran. For his part, Mr. Ballard was always a gentleman.
Mr. Ballard's death tragically followed shortly after his victory in the flower show, when he was struck down by a German bomb in an air raid.
Mr. Brown, from “The Big Combo” (1955): Mr. Brown was a ruthless man, one who held the power of life and death in a city run by money. Little is known about his background or early life, save that he started out as a prison guard, but found that the power he held over the inmates was poor compensation for the poor social status he held on the outside. His wife, Alicia, apparently was particularly critical of his lack of success and ambition, driving him to start using his prison contacts to make an entree into the world of organized crime.
Here, his natural drives began to take over (he later said that he was driven by "hate"), and he was quickly promoted within the Grazzi crime syndicate over the heads of loyal members with seniority. They held their resentment in check only because Brown demonstrated just how dangerous he could be when threatened. He quit his legitimate work and became part owner of the Bolemac corporation, which Grazzi used as a cover for his shady dealings.
Grazzi and Brown took a cruise, with their wives, to Portugal, a cruise from which Alicia and Grazzi never returned. For years it was believed that Grazzi had fled prosecution by a zealous DA through retirement to Sicily and whispered that Brown had killed the shrewish Alicia, but the truth was more complicated. The dedicated cop Leonard Diamond discovered that Alicia was hiding under a false name in an asylum while Brown faked letters from Sicily to cover for Grazzi's death.
Brown now took up with an innocent young pianist, Susan Lowell, a girl from a socially respectable family, as if to prove his ability to buy and own anything he chose. If not for the "righteous man," Leonard Diamond, and his unrelenting investigation of Brown and the syndicate, Brown might well have lived to an advanced age on his ill-gotten wealth. As it is, he cracked, killed several people in a clumsy attempt to cover his tracks, and was finally arrested, broken, as he attempted to flee the country from a fog-covered airfield.
Fuad Ramses, from “Blood Feast” (1963): Fuad Ramses was a fanatical devotee of the Egytian goddess Ishtar (only her devotees are aware that she was actually an Egyptian goddess, not Babylonian as contemporary archaeology insists). He was wise in her ways, and determined to bring about a new reign of the pharoahs (from which he was descended) through the ritual known as the "blood feast." He murdered young women and retained select body parts for use in a cannibalistic orgy that he intended to culminate with the murder of the debutante Suzette Fremont. As he was catering the young lady's birthday party, he knew that he would have the opportunity to perform the sacrifice, and that under the influence of the goddess, all the party guests would eagerly partake of the riposte. Then he would be crowned King of the Land of Khem, and all would bow down. Or something.
At any rate, things did not work out according to Ramses' plan. The clever if not brilliant police detective assigned to the case, Pete Thornton (also Ms. Fremont's rather over-age boyfriend) slowly put the pieces together (no pun intended) and tracked the killer to the Fremont's kitchen, where he was able to prevent the horrid slaughter of at least one young girl (having shown up too late to prevent several other murders) and chased Ramses with the intention of bringing him to justice. Ramses cheated the hangman, however, by slipping into a garbage truck to hide, where he was horrifically mangled by the automatic compressor.
Audrey Webster, from “Tales from the Darkside,” Episode “Black Widows” (1986) : Audrey Webster grew up believing that she was a normal young girl, and would become a normal woman. Her mother, a widow, raised her in a series of trailer homes across the United States, moving frequently from one state to another. The older she got, the more she seemed to enjoy sitting in the sunniest part of the house, knitting and watching television, and entertaining the occasional "caller" who came by to see her. Audrey felt that her mother's behavior was eccentric, and perhaps a bit unhealthy, but did her best to keep her mother happy. Audrey had never known her father, who died before she was born. From the time Audrey was old enough to work, she was the sole support for both women.
Meanwhile, Audrey met and fell in love with Robert, a handsome and pleasant young man. Audrey was surprised that her mother disapproved, saying Robert was "too skinny," and that she should find someone with "more meat on his bones." Nevertheless, Audrey agreed when Robert proposed, and her mother, perhaps tempted by the satellite dish Robert promised to buy them, or perhaps simply understanding her daughter's true feelings, reluctantly gave her approval.
On the wedding night, Audrey got a serious surprise, and finally learned the true nature of the women in her family. As Robert began to make love to her, she suddenly found that she was sucking him dry of all his blood - that she was "eating and eating and just couldn't stop." Now Audrey understood what happened to all of the callers that her mother received, and why they had to cross state lines so often. She and her mother were Black Widows in human form, and so would be the daughter that Robert gave her...
Dr. Anton Phibes, from “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971): Dr. Anton Phibes was one of the great acoustical and musical geniuses. He attained PhD's in both theology and music, and later demonstrated a remarkable skill in prosthetics, cybernetics, and other areas. He was revered by music lovers at the turn of the century as one of the truly great living organists.
Sadly, however, his brilliant musical career was interrupted by a tragic auto accident in the early teens. His young wife, Victoria, died in the crash, and many believed Phibes to be dead as well, although he was really only terribly mangled and burned, and lost the use of his vocal cords. He was able to correct this disability through the invention of a phonographic speaking-device, and able to go about in public wearing a mask resembling his former visage. He also built himself a "clockwork orchestra" - simple androids that kept him company in his isolation from human society. It is unclear whether his beautiful mute assistant, Vulnavia, was also an android.
Phibes dedicated himself to revenge against the surgical team he blamed for his wife's death. Using the Ten Plagues of Egypt as a model, he slaughtered eight of the team using bizarre and brilliant methodology. Then he would return to his hidden palatial estate and ritually burn an image of the victim wearing a medallion inscribed with the Hebrew symbol for the plague. For the ninth plague, the "death of the firstborn," he attempted to kill the son of the leader of the team, Dr. Vesalius, with acid, but Vesalius was able to free his son and the acid fell on Vulnavia, instead. Phibes himself succumbed to the tenth plague, darkness, as he disappeared for three long years into a hidden sarcophagus.
At this time he awoke, and went in search of papyrus scrolls that could lead him to the "River of Life," which he believed would restore his dead wife. He restored Vulnavia's looks and tracked the thieves who had stolen the papyrus, killing them one at a time with his usual brilliant thoroughness. Although he did locate the river he sought, it is uncertain whether it really provided the life-restoring magic he believed. Phibes was never seen again.
Dr. Norberg, from “The Frozen Dead” (1966): Doctor Rupert Norberg was born in Wuppertal, in Westphalia, Germany, in 1903. His father worked for the Bayer concern as a research chemist, and young Rupert also dreamed of being a scientist. However, his studies led him to become of physician rather than a chemist, because of his interest in the concept of Cryogenics, or the freezing of living people in suspended animation for long periods.
After obtaining his degree, however, the depressed state of the German economy limited Dr. Norberg's research opportunities and he was forced to start a small private practice to make ends meet. He joined the Party and the SS originally in order to gain access to their research facilities on his off-days, but was not noted as a particularly enthusiastic party member.
When the war began, he volunteered to serve on the Eastern Front as a medic. This was shortly after his marriage, and he and his wife were to be separated until nearly the end of the war, when she was killed during an Allied bombing raid. The couple had one child, Jean, born only a few weeks before the death of her mother. Dr. Norberg served with distinction and saved many lives, all the while studying the effects of the bitter cold on the nervous systems of the troops. After his tour of duty, he accepted assignment to work at Buchenwald as camp physician, having arranged with the SS to further his research into Cryogenics.
By the end of the War, with the help of his research on human subjects, Dr. Norberg had perfected a means of slowing the human metabolism for long periods, and had successfully revived animal subjects frozen for many months. Suddenly, an urgent request came for all of his results to be sent to the Fuehrerbunker and for him to freeze twelve soldiers, including his own brother, for revivification after the War's end. Dr. Norberg obeyed.
He was supported in continuing his work by the covert Nazi organization ODESSA (Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen) which needed him to perfect a means of reviving the subjects. He was able to live in comfortable exile in England under a false name, and his daughter's education was funded by ODESSA as well. In 1965, he began some experimental revivifications, but without being able to bring the men's brain back to full activity. He began more intense work on the nervous system, learning to animate cadavers' arms with electric current, and keeping the head of a recently deceased subject conscious for many hours.
At this time, he learned the true reason of ODESSA's enthusiasm for his work. Several of the highest ranking party members had been frozen in the Bunker by his technique, and the Nazi Underground felt that the turbulent 1960s were an excellent time to bring them back to lead the nation away from democracy. The fact that they would all be despised by their countrymen and tried and executed as war criminals seems not to have occurred to ODESSA's leadership. The added pressure from his superiors did not help, however, and Norberg made several critical mistakes which led to his own death and the destruction of his lab and all his notes. Presumably the frozen dead Nazis remain in their icy grave.
Johnny, from “Robot Monster” (1953): Johnny is a young boy who dreams of spaceships, robots, and monsters. He hates to play house with his sister, instead dragging her off on his Spaceman-Spiff-reminiscent adventures, blasting everything he meets with his toy raygun, and wearing his space helmet at all times.
One day, while on a picnic, Johnny's world is destroyed by the Ro-Man, a being from the planet Ro-Man, a cyborg who resembles a large earth primate with a high-tech space helmet. Johnny and his family (which oddly now includes people he met for the first time that day), hide out in a ruined building in Bronson canyon, and attempt to plot ways of fighting a monster which has already exterminated the rest of humanity. Johnny really isn't much help, particularly when he gives vital secrets to the enemy during an unauthorized parley.
Johnny does get more than his share of thrilling dinosaur fights, volcanic eruptions, and destroyed cities, before being woken from his nap with a bump on his head.
Adam Sorg, from “Color Me Blood Red” (1965): Compared to most painters, Adam Sorg is a lucky man. He earns enough from his work to pay for his own living, support his whiny, live-in girlfriend/secretary/promoter, Gigi, and afford a fancy beach house and expensive if useless water toys. Nevertheless, he is unhappy. Why? Because critics, most especially a local know-it-all called Gregorovich, find nothing to compliment in his commercialized style. He is, quite simply considered a hack, only appropriate for adorning the walls of tasteless suburbanites.
In his search for an authentic voice, Adam Sorg stumbles across the unlikeliest of paint ingredients, a lovely red shade that brings the canvass to life. Unfortunately, his own body doesn't contain enough of it, so he has to borrow some here and there. Soon, his paintings are the hit of the art world, in spite of their grotesque realism. Meanwhile, young women begin disappearing in the area of his beach house, and he takes to soliciting the teenagers that mess up his backyard for "models."
Has Adam Sorg found the key to immortality, or will he, when exposed to daylight, burn and shrivel up into a cinder?
Jack Forrest, from “Maniac Cop” (1988): Jack Forrest is a decent, hardworking cop who's had a lot of tough breaks. First, his relationship with his wife went sour. She couldn't handle the strain of being married to a man whose job was to risk his life, and she suffered from depression and other problems as well. When Jack suggested therapy, she complied only reluctantly, and ultimately dropped out. Jack couldn't find a solution, felt her slipping away, and then made the mistake of getting involved with a police woman instead of breaking up with her.
His wife turned out to be the first person to suspect him when a series of murders by a man dressed as a police officer broke out, because of the odd hours he was keeping to be with his mistress. When she followed him and discovered the liaison, she was herself killed by the Maniac Cop. This led others, including high-ups in the department, to begin investigating Officer Forrest.
After more incriminating circumstances, Jack was arrested, and soon freed by the Maniac Cop (Matt Cordell), who now realized he could place all the blame for his crimes of vengeance on the young officer. Jack ultimately tracked down and killed (he thought) Cordell, clearing his name in the process.
But this was not to be the end of the story, as Matt Cordell returned again to stalk Jack and his lover Theresa Mallory for their interference in his mission. Cordell now seemed invulnerable to most weapons, and time was running out for Jack and Theresa...
.