Fifty Years Ago Today

Fifty Years Ago Today was Saturday, July 26, 1975…Pyotr Klimuk and Vitaly Sevastyanov return to Earth, having set a new Soviet space endurance record of 63 days (62 days 23 hours 20 minutes 8 seconds) and the mark for the most people in space simultaneously (seven) was tied during the mission. …The Hustle, by Van McCoy and celebrating the most popular new dance in America, became the #1 song in the United States...Born: Liz Truss (Mary Elizabeth Truss), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from September 6 to October 24, 2022 after being elected leader of the Conservative Party; in Oxford.  Ms. Truss’s short term in office is apparently only referenced in the UK these days as either a joke or as a supreme example of failure.

Van McCoy - The Hustle (Official Music Video) [HD]

There was absolutely no debate, no question about the big movie of the day. Summer of ‘75 was the summer of JAWS. It was a sensation along the lines of, and perhaps more so than GONE WITH THE WIND, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and THE GODFATHER. It was, as everyone in the world has already noted, “The First Summer Blockbuster.” But that’s not the movie I saw this day. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t see the Spielberg masterpiece for another month. 

At such a remove (it’s been half a century, after all), I can’t confidently explain why I delayed so long in seeing such a big movie. But I’ve got a pretty good idea, I think. 

First, just like THE EXORCIST, there were all those news stories and images of people waiting in long, long lines. I was pretty sure that, like THE EXORCIST, the movie could wait till I could see it in a more comfortable, less crowded atmosphere.

Also, just like THE EXORCIST and THE GODFATHER, I was loath to jump on the popular bandwagon. If everybody else was het up about something, that was something I was likely to ignore, or, at least, delay. 

So that’s why this entry is not about JAWS. Maybe next month. 

Personally, I can’t be sure exactly what I was up to at the time. Sometime during the heat of summer, ‘75, I spent a couple of weeks rehearsing and performing a production of GYPSY. A friend of mine was directing it and found the actor playing “Herbie” to be insufficient. So he asked me to step in.

Buuuut…by this time I had joined Actors Equity, and this GYPSY was a non-Equity production, so I wasn’t supposed to do it.  But the theater arranged with Equity for me to perform on a Guest Artist contract. The problem was that the theater group had no money. I mean NO money. So I agreed, gladly, to accept pay for the job, then, semi-secretly--donate the bucks back to the theater so they could pay for rent, costumes, electricity…everything and anything. If anyone in the Equity offices reads this (doubtful), that’s okay. I figure the statute of limitations has dissolved that ancient sin.

So I played Herbie in that production, which was no better than okay. My performance, likewise. But I don’t know the dates of the gig, so who knows?  Maybe I was in the midst of performances at this time. Or maybe I wasn’t.

I at least know I didn’t have a performance this night because I was off to the Preston Drive-in, way out in distant, unexplored areas of Louisville. Not sure why I trekked all the way out yonder, when the movie was also playing at my drive-in, The Lakewood. Of course, at this time I was living in Louisville itself rather than, as usual, across the river in Jeffersonville. So, in actuality, the driving distance between The Lakewood and The Preston may not have been so much.

The movie, for which I was hopeful, but of which I was mostly ignorant was…

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE

Another question with no answer-- why had I not already seen PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE by this time? It had been around earlier. In this engagement, PHANTOM served as a second feature in support of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (which I had already seen). I don’t know. You’d think that I would have jumped on a bigtime Brian De Palma horror musical as soon as it showed up. But I didn’t and I don’t know why.

I do know that I absolutely loved the movie that night. Adored it. Still do.

I loved the music, the design, the performances. A totally immersive movie love. 

I became an instantaneous fan of Gerrit Graham. Let me make it plain-I freakin’ loved this movie.

I’ve watched it many times in the last 50 years, but I’m always ready to watch it again and, here, on this 50th anniversary of my first look at it, that’s what I’m a-gonna do.

Roll ‘em!

This movie references and pays homage to and, if you prefer, steals from a lot of sources, including of course PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, but also FAUST,  FRANKENSTEIN, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, PSYCHO, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, even Orson Welles’s TOUCH OF EVIL.

This opening narration is great, both in its writing and in Rod Serling's reading of it. But in this Shout Video Blu-ray it was so quiet that I had to turn the volume up to absolute maximum to even barely hear it. Then of course the musical number which follows is too loud, though not deafeningly so. I ended up watching the entire movie at about 80% volume.

I would eagerly buy a Juicy Fruits album.

Immediately after that great opening song, we get George Memmoli delivering a whole load of exposition. But he does it well.

Hey, I have a neat Death Records t-shirt and as soon as I lose 20 pounds I am going to wear that thing.

Hey there's Rainbeaux Smith! And, for the first time ever, she keeps her shirt on.

Ah, there’s a guy I worked with back in ‘82. Can’t remember his name….

The breathing we hear during the subjective camera sequence is interesting as it is not only pre-HALLOWEEN, it's even pre-Darth Vader. And if you would say, “well, that's coincidental,” which I'll admit it could be, I'll also note that other filmmakers definitely paid attention to Brian de Palma in those days. The most glaring example of that is the final shock in CARRIE which became de rigeur in all horror films after that. Did any horror film from 1976 to 1990 not have a final jump scare? It was a regular infection, I tells ya. 

The Phantom’s mask is perfection.

Almost exactly halfway through the movie, “Beef” appears. The magnificent- and I mean that- Gerrit Graham blesses us with a golden turn. He probably should have won an Oscar, and definitely deserved a massive career boost from this, which he sadly didn't get.

“I am a professional. I have been in this business a long time. Now if I don't want to do a show, it's not because I got stage fright. It's because some creature from beyond doesn't want me to do the show.”

The “Somebody Super”/”Life at Last” number is set on a delicious black and white Frankensteinian lab set. Got to love it.

The makeup on the singers in that “Somebody Super” scene is very Kiss-like. The movie was released in ‘74 and, according to Google, the band was formed in ‘73. I suppose it’s possible that one entity may have inspired the other. Somebody call Gene Simmons.

The movie is not just wildly cinematic. It is also at times highly theatrical. A beautiful mix.

In the end credits we learn that the set dresser was Sissy Spacek. Not too surprising, since her husband Jack Fisk was the film’s designer.

Well, what is this? The 15th time I’ve seen PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE? Maybe the 20th? And it’s still great. Hopefully I’ll live long enough to log another dozen viewings or so.

Just for gits and shingles, here’s the Movie Clock for that day 50 Years Ago. What have you seen?

Fifty Years Ago Today

Fifty years ago today was Friday, April 4, 1975 … dunno whatever came of them, but on this day Microsoft (whatever that is) was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen…Pamela Ribon was born. She would become a TV, movie, and video game writer and producer. She has writing credits for such animated fantasies as MOANA, RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET, and SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE. It astounds me that I’ve actually seen two of those…The first military Operation Babylift flight crashed 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 144 of the 305 people on board, including 78 of the 243 children. Two cargo doors blew off of the jet, largest in the world at the time, as it reached 23,000 feet during the evacuation of civilians in the closing days of the Vietnam War…

On the CBS Friday Movie that night was THE OTHER. Oooh, spooky.

And some of the other available TV offerings that night:

Personally, I am confused. Just as in my last entry about VAMPYRES, I saw today’s movie in Louisville, but I was working at the time in Indianapolis. Just to make sure I was right about that, I checked my records and newspapers of the day in both cities and…yeah. I saw the movie in Louisville, but my show was running that day in Indianapolis. Unfortunately I wouldn’t start keeping a daybook till the next year. Too bad. On those pages I would have noted where I was and why. Best I can guess, as with VAMPYRES, is that this day’s performance was cancelled and I went home for the day. Unlikely, yes, but possible. And I got nuthin’ better.

Today--in Louisville!--I saw SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT. 

It was advertised locally as SILENT NIGHT, NIGHT OF TERROR, probably because the movie had stirred up some stink when released, even getting itself banned in some places. I just recently read the book A SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, all about Christmas horror movies, a trend which started with, yes, SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT.

My memories of that first viewing are almost zilch. I recall, I think, a kind of cheap, poorly photographed…something. And that’s it. If, that is, I’m remembering the right movie. I’ve seen SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, and SILENT NIGHT, EVIL NIGHT (better known as BLACK CHRISTMAS), plus a flotilla of sequels. Thus, I’m not entirely, utterly sure which movie this is.

So definitely time to watch it again.

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First frame, there’s Mary Woronov. Now I know for sure which movie this is. I remember her. 

Ah, they’re trying to trip me up. This one has been retitled, rather clumsily, as DEATHHOUSE. Nah, they can’t fool me.

Here’s a scene with some old folks sitting around a table and one of them is John Carradine. I remember this scene.--not what the scene was about, just the set-up and how it looked.

Carradine plays an almost mute character, thereby wasting what was arguably his greatest asset--his voice. He rings a little bell rather than speaking. He does have one brief line, spoken off-camera in a gritty, raspy whisper. And I’d bet $200 that it’s not even Long John’s voice.

Our secondary leading lady is an astonishingly beautiful young woman name of Astrid Heeren. She is MUCH younger than her paramour, played by Patrick O’Neal. But that’s show biz, right?

I will say that with O’Neal, James Patterson, Carradine, Water Abel and Mary Woronov we have a pretty solid cast, with the beautiful lady the cherry on the top.

Though it doesn’t feel like giallo at any moment, the faceless villain, black gloves, roving camera, and first person p.o.v. obviously remind one of giallo.

Somebody has dredged hard into the PSYCHO playbook.

Never occurred to me before, but James Patterson (not the wretched writer, but the decent actor) looks just a whole damn lot like a late friend of mine.

Woronov plays one of the most cautious, sensible characters I ever remember seeing in a horror film.  No way this lady would venture into the basement of a haunted house checking out weird noises.

Hey, Sheriff! Wearing sunglasses while traipsing around in the dark with a flashlight might be counterproductive.

Oh, I see -- a couple of scenes later, the sunglasses are found by others, letting us know the sheriff, he ain’t doin’ so good.

I once read that the most-used line in movie history is “Let’s get out of here.”  Might be, since Woronov says it twice in about 15 seconds.

Hmmm. In addition to the questionable Carradine voice, at least one line each of Woronov and Patterson is obviously post-dubbed and, apparently, by other people. Makes me think there might have been a major attempt to “save it in post.”

Unfortunately, after about an hour of surprisingly decent horror movie, it goes off the rails just a bit in the ending, reaching too much for ‘art’. 

But, decent cast, non-embarrassing script, some clever direction, serviceable photography add up to something better than expected 

What? How was the music, you ask? You’re asking the wrong guy. I don’t notice music and, though I just finished watching it about 10 minutes ago, I couldn’t tell you if there was any music at all.

FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY

Fifty Years Ago Today was Sunday, March 30, 1975…Easter Sunday, but it would have made little to no difference to me. I hadn’t been a churchgoer for the most current half of my life and was too old for Easter baskets and egg hunts. Might have indulged in some chocolate however, because--chocolate… On this holy day, a man named James Rupert in Hamilton, Ohio, killed 11 members of his family… Just yesterday, the 29th, Da Nang, Vietnam had fallen to North Vietnamese forces and everybody knew for sure that that terrible war was in its final stages…Top song in the U.S. was “Lovin’ You” by Minnie Riperton…

loving you minnie riperton

1975 was the year of my career in which I was least-employed as an actor. Early in the year, I had a dinner theater job which ran about 15 weeks, about 3 weeks shorter than projected. Then, deep in the summer, I had a gig which only lasted a couple of weeks and for which, because of some shenanigans in which I took part, I wasn’t paid. Finally, another paying job started the day after Christmas. And that was it for 1975. That was the last year in which I spent more time working for my dad than I did as an actor. Starting in ‘76, I would be much much busier almost all the time.

On this date I was working in that early-in-the-year show (A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM) in Indianapolis.

Somehow, I managed, however, to see today’s movie in a Louisville theater. I don’t remember how that worked. Either I drove home immediately after the day’s performance and went straight to the movies, or else that Sunday performance was cancelled. Either is a viable possibility.

At any rate, I did go to the Penthouse Theater on 4th Street in Louisville to see what was, I think, my first X-rated horror film. The movie was VAMPYRES.

In recent days, particularly on the Classic Horror Film Board, I’ve noticed lots of Monster Kids voicing approval for this movie. I couldn't agree, thinking it much more softcore sex than horror. Oh, sure vampires and blood, but most of all, a couple of gorgeous women who seem to be allergic to clothing.

I’ll readily admit that all-American, straight, 25-year-old me appreciated the sight of these unclothed lovelies, but that didn’t make it a good film.

The main specific memory I have of my initial reaction to this skinflick was that the young blonde “Vampyre” was gorgeous and that the older brunette was…matronly. In my twenties I was evidently somewhat immune to the charms of older women. In my seventies, I expect I’ll view the older brunette as a very attractive and--from my current vantage point --very young beauty.

Let’s see.  Roll ‘em…

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No wasting time here. Right off the bat, even before the credits, we see a brightly lit scene of two stark naked ladies lesbianing to beat the band.

Then the credits, then some not very good acting from an elderly character man.

So far, about 25 minutes in, there’s some too-slow suspense, some overlit mystery, and some blunt softcore sex, just with better actors than in standard softcore fare.

These are daylight-strolling vampires, though, since it is England after all, not exactly sunlight vampires.

The ladies are pleasantly mismatched. One is a dark, fleshy, earth mother sort while the other is fair, slim, almost gamine. If the dark lady couldn’t quite pass as the mother of the blonde, she at least could be her considerably older sister.

They have a curious response to daylight. A curious, varying response, it seems. They seem to stroll easily enough during the day, but then when the sun rises on a new day, there’s a sudden urgency on their part to get away.

No fangs for these bloodsuckers, though one of them does manage a neck bite anyway.

So that was that. That was VAMPYRES. I wasn’t exactly right. It’s not just softcore schlock. It’s just almost just softcore schlock. There is an attempt at some horror film stuff, but it’s pretty meek, if occasionally bloody. 

In final analysis, the selling points of this film are the two naked ladies. Apart from that, this is a little muddled and it simply ain’t much.

FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY

Fifty Years Ago Today was Saturday, May 4, 1974… no one was saying “May the Fourth Be With You” today because STAR WARS, introducing “the force,” was still three years in the future… An all-female Japanese team reached the top of the Himalayan mountain Manaslu in Nepal, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000 m (26,000 ft) peak…. Cannonade, ridden by jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., won the 1974 Kentucky Derby, the 100th running of the event, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky….

I was living in Louisville at the time, with my girlfriend. We decided that, at least once in our lives, we should experience the Kentucky Derby in person. Unfortunately, we picked this year. The 100th running. The same year that EVERYONE else decided to go.

Seating at the Derby comes in two forms:  the rich folk sit in the stands, like human beings. The lesser peons crowd into the infield, the grassy area within the track itself. Being decidedly lesser, that’s where we were. 

Normally, the crowd in the infield is estimated at about 100,000 people. That’s a lot already, but this year--being the 100th running after all-- the infield crowd was about 250,000. Of which, the girlfriend and I constituted about .000008 percent. Was it crowded in there? Need you ask?

It took us a long time just stumbling around to find a free spot to roost. And “free spot” doesn’t really cover it. We were able to place our picnic blanket on the ground, but had to sit on it squeezed together, with our knees drawn up to our chins. But that’s all right because I spent very little time there. Almost immediately we decided that I’d better hustle off and find us some hot dogs and beer. So off I went. It was much, much later when I returned. Thankfully, I’d been smart enough to make a careful judgment of just where we were in that mass. Still, I wandered a bit.

But we had our yummies as the day’s races proceeded. We couldn’t see a thing from where we were. Horse racing was only an unlikely rumor. Too many heads and bodies between us and the track. 

Pretty soon I figured if we wanted to get a bet down on the Derby, we’d better do it soon because it was going to take a while to get to the betting booth (thankfully this did not require crossing the track and entering the grandstands because temporary booths had been erected in the infield). 

So off I went, and, yeah, it took quite a while. But eventually I reached the booth and … stood in a humongously long line. Ultimately, decades later, the bets were placed and I headed back to our blanket, arriving there just before Derby time. By craning the neck and jumping up and down, I got a millisecond glimpse of a horse’s head zipping along. I’ve always believed that I saw Cannonade, the eventual Derby champ, but I can’t swear to it.

Immediately after the Derby, the infield emptied almost as if by magic. By the time the next, and last, race of the day was run, we had a clear uninterrupted view. Of a race nobody gave a fig about. 

Hey, but we were at the 100th Derby, so…ya hoo. And, no, I didn’t bet on the winner.

Today’s movie, courtesy of cable TV, came from Channel 4, Indianapolis-Bloomington. This station, along with Cincinnati’s Channel 19, were the clear winners of Best Monster Movie Provider, cable TV division.  Channel 4 was the home of long-long-running horror host Sammy Terry, but he held sway generally on Friday nights. For this Saturday we were flying solo with….

THE FROZEN DEAD

Yessir, a Nazi zombie movie. Probably the first of breed. And didn’t it spawn such a lovely lineage??

Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting Dana Andrews, shining star of the silver screen, hero of  LAURA and THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES in his newest, greatest  screen sensation--THE FROZEN DEAD!! 

Well, I mean…Joseph Cotten went from CITIZEN KANE to LADY FRANKENSTEIN. Henry Fonda from YOUNG MR. LINCOLN to TENTACLES. John Carradine went from GRAPES OF WRATH to..well, you pick ‘em.

I did meet Dana Andrews once…but that’s a story for another day. Eat your heart out, peasants..

Honestly, I have zero--as in ZERO--memory of watching this movie that night. It was on Channel 4, I definitely would have tuned in, and I did enter it on my glorious list of monster-movies-seen. So, yeah, I watched it. And, no, I don’t remember it. So this is either going to stir long-frozen memories, or, more likely, it’s going to seem like a true first-time watch. Ooooh, exciting. Let’s find out.

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Dana’s scientific wonder is called “Instant Freeze”.  Hmm, I sense commercial possibilities…

A question more likely for a refrigerator commercial than for a horror film: “What of your recent defrosting successes.”...

Dana’s assistant, Karl, is a master of laboratory busy work. Nothing needs to be done, but there’s just so much to do! …

Aside from the unavoidable frozen Nazis idea, some of the science sounds almost credible…

How does Anna Palk (who dat?) rate top billing with Dana Andrews?  Did they think she was about to blossom into another Julie Christie? Was she somebody’s girlfriend? I dunno. I mean she’s not a bad actress and she’s quite pretty but still…

Gee, do ladies really wear push-up bras to bed? How cinematically thoughtful of them…

The movie actually gets off to a moderately interesting start, but about 25 minutes in it assumes a snail’s pace and never really recovers…

The detached arms hanging on the wall are less an homage to Cocteau’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST than an insult to that classic wonder…By the way, I once played an arm sticking out from a wall. Well, I guess my arm played the arm, but… Another story for another day…

Between this and BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE, we now have proof positive that all living, severed heads have telepathic powers. W.H. Donovan didn't even need a whole head…

The American doctor is a surprisingly willing accomplice. And really terrible at keeping a secret. And not much of an actor. And he looks less like a romantic lead than Eb from GREEN ACRES…

I’ll grant you, though, that the pale blue head in a box is genuinely kind of creepy…

For your horror film bingo card:  living head

  Nazi zombies

  Evil lab assistant named Karl

Overall, it’s not a good movie (SURPRISE!!), but it’s also better than expected. Certainly better than it has any earthly right to be. And that IS a surprise. Still--not good.