The internet hates me: belated TCM post
Our cable service went all screwy two nights ago, so no internets for me. (Plus, fuzzy TV picture. Hooray!) Hopefully fixed by tonight, but no guarantees. Add in no access from work and no desire last night to stop by the local coffeehouse (Jamie's General Bean, where I'm typing right now), and you end up with: LATE POST!!!!
So, you've already missed much of today's random horror movie mishmash at this point (several of which are great, but too late now!), so I'll focus on this evening's Boris Karloff marathon.
8:00 PM Bedlam (1946)
When an actress tries to reform an asylum, its corrupt keeper has her committed. Cast: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House. Dir: Mark Robson. BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC
9:30 PM Invisible Ray, The (1936)
A scientist becomes contaminated resulting in the death of anything he touches. Cast: Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton. Dir: Lambert Hillyer. BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC
11:00 PM Body Snatcher, The (1945)
To continue his medical experiments, a doctor must buy corpses from a grave robber. Cast: Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Bela Lugosi. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-78 mins, TV-PG, CC
12:30 AM Old Dark House, The (1932)
A storm strands travelers in a house full of dangerous eccentrics. Cast: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton. Dir: James Whale. BW-72 mins, TV-G
2:00 AM Die, Monster, Die ! (1965)
On a trip to meet his girlfriend's family, a young man uncovers deadly secrets. Cast: Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson. Dir: Daniel Haller. C-79 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format
3:30 AM Walking Dead, The (1936)
A framed man comes back from the dead to seek revenge. Cast: Boris Karloff, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-65 mins, TV-PG, CC
4:45 AM Isle Of The Dead (1945)
The inhabitants of a Balkans island under quarantine fear that one of their number is a vampire. Cast: Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Helene Thimig. Dir: Mark Robson. BW-72 mins, TV-PG, CC
Bedlam, The Body Snatcher and Isle of the Dead are three of the relatively sophisticated psychological horrors which porducer Val Lewton made for RKo in the 1940's, worth checking out. (The Body Snatcher is by West Side Story director Robert Wise, also known for the original version of The Haunting, which is on today at 6.) The Old Dark House is a non-mystery comedy thriller of the old-dark-house variety (natch.) Boris has a small but pivotal role, but the film is more or less stolen by Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorius from director Whale's later The Bride Of Frankenstein.) Die, Monster, Die is a schlocky mangling of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out Of Space." Its hero, Nick Adams, is most famous for appearing in two Toho science fiction films: Monster Zero and Frankenstein Conquers the World. The Invisible Ray is a minor item fron Universal Pictures, mixing low-budget jungle adventure and a mad revenge plot involving a death ray. The Walking Dead is a decent little Warner Bros. crime oicture in which an innocent man is framed and gets his revenge. The twist: he gets executed first! Nicely done bit of "realistic" supernaturalism.
Quick note: During the month of November, TCM is using the weekday daytime hours to showcase a variety of film series they've got lying around. I won't post the full schedules here just yet (I'm running short of time, but here's the gist of the next 5 days (during which I'll be away on vacation.)
Thursday the 1st, we start at 6 AM with the "Torchy Blaine" series. Starting in 1936 with Smart Blonde, the series mostly stars Glenda Farrell (Mystery of the Wax Museum; replaced in two later movies) as brassy blonde babe reporter Torchy. Barton MacLane (The Walking Dead) is her rival/love interest police detective. Formulaic, sure, but if you want to know what the formula is made of, all the ingredients are here. 8 movies in 9 hours! Made over 3 years! For some reason they've skipped the third movie, Fly Away Baby. Following Torchy is the Topper trilogy, starting at 3PM, a screwball ghost comedy series initially starring Cary Grant (he only hung around for the first one though.) Good fun.
Friday the 2nd, we have the "Rusty" series (starrin Ace the Wonder Dog!) Boy-and-his dog stuff. I think they learn important life lessons from each other. Hmmm.
Following that, at 2:45: the Nancy Drew series, beginning with 1938's Nancy Drew -- Detective. Teen star Bonita Granville (best known for, well, Nancy Drew) stars in 4 films, only one of which is actually based on a book. Harmless, but amusing.
Monday the 5th, we have The Whistler from 1944 (directed by William Castle in his pre-gimmick days). Six unrelated mystery/suspense stories, linked only by their mysterious narrator - The Whistler! Based on a popular radio anthology series.
At 1:30 PM, a series of chepie B-Westerns from Monogram Studios: The Trail Blazers! (aging cowboy stars Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson, as themselves, as US Marshals in the old west. So, yeah, "Marshall Hoot Gibson.") I'll bet there still won't be a ritualized down-the-middle-of-the-street shootout.
Hopefully, they'll be able to unblock our internet tube today, in which case, well, I'll post when I get back from California. Take care!
So, you've already missed much of today's random horror movie mishmash at this point (several of which are great, but too late now!), so I'll focus on this evening's Boris Karloff marathon.
8:00 PM Bedlam (1946)
When an actress tries to reform an asylum, its corrupt keeper has her committed. Cast: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House. Dir: Mark Robson. BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC
9:30 PM Invisible Ray, The (1936)
A scientist becomes contaminated resulting in the death of anything he touches. Cast: Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton. Dir: Lambert Hillyer. BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC
11:00 PM Body Snatcher, The (1945)
To continue his medical experiments, a doctor must buy corpses from a grave robber. Cast: Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Bela Lugosi. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-78 mins, TV-PG, CC
12:30 AM Old Dark House, The (1932)
A storm strands travelers in a house full of dangerous eccentrics. Cast: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton. Dir: James Whale. BW-72 mins, TV-G
2:00 AM Die, Monster, Die ! (1965)
On a trip to meet his girlfriend's family, a young man uncovers deadly secrets. Cast: Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson. Dir: Daniel Haller. C-79 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format
3:30 AM Walking Dead, The (1936)
A framed man comes back from the dead to seek revenge. Cast: Boris Karloff, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-65 mins, TV-PG, CC
4:45 AM Isle Of The Dead (1945)
The inhabitants of a Balkans island under quarantine fear that one of their number is a vampire. Cast: Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Helene Thimig. Dir: Mark Robson. BW-72 mins, TV-PG, CC
Bedlam, The Body Snatcher and Isle of the Dead are three of the relatively sophisticated psychological horrors which porducer Val Lewton made for RKo in the 1940's, worth checking out. (The Body Snatcher is by West Side Story director Robert Wise, also known for the original version of The Haunting, which is on today at 6.) The Old Dark House is a non-mystery comedy thriller of the old-dark-house variety (natch.) Boris has a small but pivotal role, but the film is more or less stolen by Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorius from director Whale's later The Bride Of Frankenstein.) Die, Monster, Die is a schlocky mangling of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out Of Space." Its hero, Nick Adams, is most famous for appearing in two Toho science fiction films: Monster Zero and Frankenstein Conquers the World. The Invisible Ray is a minor item fron Universal Pictures, mixing low-budget jungle adventure and a mad revenge plot involving a death ray. The Walking Dead is a decent little Warner Bros. crime oicture in which an innocent man is framed and gets his revenge. The twist: he gets executed first! Nicely done bit of "realistic" supernaturalism.
Quick note: During the month of November, TCM is using the weekday daytime hours to showcase a variety of film series they've got lying around. I won't post the full schedules here just yet (I'm running short of time, but here's the gist of the next 5 days (during which I'll be away on vacation.)
Thursday the 1st, we start at 6 AM with the "Torchy Blaine" series. Starting in 1936 with Smart Blonde, the series mostly stars Glenda Farrell (Mystery of the Wax Museum; replaced in two later movies) as brassy blonde babe reporter Torchy. Barton MacLane (The Walking Dead) is her rival/love interest police detective. Formulaic, sure, but if you want to know what the formula is made of, all the ingredients are here. 8 movies in 9 hours! Made over 3 years! For some reason they've skipped the third movie, Fly Away Baby. Following Torchy is the Topper trilogy, starting at 3PM, a screwball ghost comedy series initially starring Cary Grant (he only hung around for the first one though.) Good fun.
Friday the 2nd, we have the "Rusty" series (starrin Ace the Wonder Dog!) Boy-and-his dog stuff. I think they learn important life lessons from each other. Hmmm.
Following that, at 2:45: the Nancy Drew series, beginning with 1938's Nancy Drew -- Detective. Teen star Bonita Granville (best known for, well, Nancy Drew) stars in 4 films, only one of which is actually based on a book. Harmless, but amusing.
Monday the 5th, we have The Whistler from 1944 (directed by William Castle in his pre-gimmick days). Six unrelated mystery/suspense stories, linked only by their mysterious narrator - The Whistler! Based on a popular radio anthology series.
At 1:30 PM, a series of chepie B-Westerns from Monogram Studios: The Trail Blazers! (aging cowboy stars Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson, as themselves, as US Marshals in the old west. So, yeah, "Marshall Hoot Gibson.") I'll bet there still won't be a ritualized down-the-middle-of-the-street shootout.
Hopefully, they'll be able to unblock our internet tube today, in which case, well, I'll post when I get back from California. Take care!