Halloween episodes of television shows have a long history going back to the Fifties. To a large degree this can be traced back to radio, where a lot of the old radio shows also had Halloween episodes. The Jack Benny Programme, The Baby Snooks Show, Father Knows Best, and many other radio programmes did Halloween episodes. Indeed, the most famous Halloween episode of all time may not belong to a television show, but to a radio show instead. The October 30 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast of The Mercury Theatre remains remembered to this day.
Given the popularity of Halloween episodes on radio, it should be little wonder that many television shows would follow suit with their own Halloween episodes. Airing in October or, at the latest, on November 1, these episodes did not always have Halloween as a theme. Some shows simply elected for episodes about haunted houses, ghosts, or other spooky subject matter suitable to the holiday. Regardless, since the Sixties viewers have been able to look forward to special Halloween episodes of their favourite shows every October.
Regularly scheduled network television broadcasts began in the United States in 1946. Given the nature of these early broadcasts, it would be difficult to say with any certainty what the very first Halloween episode of a television show was. Certainly one of the earliest was "Halloween Party", an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet that aired on Halloween in 1952. Ozzie and Harriet Nelson had also done a Halloween episode on their radio show. In "Halloween Party" Ozzie and his friend Thorny (Don DeFore) plan a Halloween party. Being The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, naturally it does not go as planned.
The Honeymooners would spend only one season as its own show, existing for most of its history as a series of sketches on The Jackie Gleason Show. It was on The Jackie Gleason Show that The Honeymoners first dealt with Halloween. "Question Mark" (also known as "Masquerade" and "Halloween Party") aired on the October 25 1952 episode of The Jackie Gleason Show and featured the Kramdens and Nortons dressing up in costume for a Halloween Party. Another Halloween themed Honeymooners sketch would air the following year. On "Halloween Party" Ralph ruins the tuxedo he planned to wear for the bus company's Halloween party, not realising it is not a costume party anyway.
When subject of Halloween comes up, the TV show Lassie is probably not the first television programme to come mind. That having been said, Lassie featured two Halloween themed episodes in the Fifties. "The Witch" aired on October 30 1955. On the show Jeff (played by Tommy Rettig) and Porky (played by Donald Keeler) are convinced that an eccentric old lady is a witch. Halloween plays a role in the Lassie episode "Trapped", which aired on October 26 1958. In the episode Timmy (played by Jon Provost) and Boomer (played by Todd Ferrell) are searching for foxfire to smear on their faces for a Halloween party when they fall through the floor of an old house and become trapped there. Lassie would have one last Halloween episode late in its run. "Wings of the Ghost" aired in syndication around October 28 1971. In the episode Lassie, Ron (played by Robert Burton), and Dale (played by Larry Wilcox) stay in a barn that may be haunted.
Being set in California in the early 19th Century where Halloween was unknown, the TV series Zorro never dealt with the holiday itself, but it had a Halloween episode nonetheless. "The Ghost of the Mission" aired on Halloween in 1957. In the episode Capt. Monastario plots to take over a mission that is rumoured to be haunted. To thwart Monastario's plans, Zorro comes up with his own plan: convincing Monastario's men that the mission actually is haunted by a ghost.
The Phil Silvers Show episode "Bilko's Vampire"aired on October 1 1958, but it given its subject matter and its relative proximity to the holiday, it could be considered a Halloween episode. In the episode Sgt. Ritzik (played by Joe E. Ross) not only becomes addicted to watching old horror movies on television, but eventually becomes convinced that he is a vampire.
While Halloween episodes of TV shows were not particularly common in the Fifties, they would become much, much more prevalent during the Sixties. In fact, during many seasons there might be several different Halloween episodes on various shows. With the 1961-1962 season there would be Halloween episodes of two classic sitcoms. The Donna Reed Show episode "The Monster" aired on October 12 1961. When the family discover tracks belonging to a large animal and keep hearing noises during the night, they become convinced some sort of monster is about. In the Dennis the Menace episode "Haunted House", which aired on October 29 1961, Dennis's father Henry and their neighbour Mr. Wilson buy a house only to learn that it is allegedly haunted.
If there was ever a banner year for Halloween episodes on television, it might well have been 1962. The 1962-1963 season would feature more Halloween episodes of TV shows than many previous seasons combined. What is more, it was not simply sitcoms in 1962 that featured Halloween episodes, but dramas as well. What is more, some of the Halloween episodes airing in 1962 are now regarded as among the very best.
What might have been the earliest Halloween episode to air in the 1962-1963 season was "Haunted House", the October 7 1962 episode of The Andy Griffith Show. The episode begins when Opie (played by Ron Howard) and his friend Arnold (played by Ronnie Dapo) accidentally hit a baseball into a house they think is haunted, they are too scared to retrieve it. Barney (played by Don Knotts) thinks Andy (played by Andy Griffith) should make the boys get the baseball themselves, but is no braver than the boys when it comes to retrieving the ball. As it turns out, while there are some strange goings on in the house, everything is not as it seems.
The My Three Sons episode "The Ghost Next Door", which aired on October 25 1962 , is set on Halloween and even features Chip (played by Stanley Livingston) and his friend Sudsy (played by Ricky Allen) trick-or-treating. Of course, while doing so they notice someone carrying a candle in the house next door. While they are convinced it was a ghost, no one else believes them.
The following night, October 26 1962, there aired one of the Halloween episodes on a drama that season. The Route 66 episode "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" reunited horror stars Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., and Peter Lorre, who play themselves in the episode. The three masters of horror have met to debate whether the old horrors are still scary at a hotel at which Tod (played by Martin Milner) and Buz (played by George Maharis) are working. It would be the last time that Boris Karloff would appear in the classic Frankenstein's monster makeup and the last time Lon Chaney Jr. appeared in the Wolfman makeup.
What was the number one show of the 1962-1963 season was a brand new show, The Beverly Hillbillies. Its very first season it featured a Halloween episode, "Trick or Treat". Granny (played by Irene Ryan) is missing the hills and complaining that none of their neighbours in Beverly Hills come to visit the way they did back home. Jed (played by Buddy Ebsen) suggests to Granny that they visit their neighbours. Of course, it just happens to be Halloween. The episode is historic as it features the first reference to Hooterville, later the setting of fellow sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. Of course, here it must be pointed out that given the number of Scots who settled the hills in the South (and the Scots having brought Halloween to America), chances are good that the Clampetts would be familiar with Halloween. That having been said, as in the episode, they probably would not be familiar with trick-or-treating, which only came about in the 20th Century.
The Beverly Hillbillies would have only one other Halloween episode. "The Ghost of Clampett Castle" was part of a story arc in which the Clampetts inherited an English castle and visited England. In the episode, in an effort to get them to go back to California. Mr. Drysdale (played by Raymond Bailey) makes up a story about the ghost of Lady Clementine, whose husband was murdered in the castle by her own grandmother. "The Ghost of Clampett Castle" aired on October 23 1968.
The final Halloween episode of the 1962-1963 season actually aired on November 1 1962, All Saints' Day. The Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Dodging Domino" begins with a murder on Halloween and trick-or-treating actually plays a pivotal role in the plot.
The TV show that might be all the time champion when it comes to Halloween episodes debuted in the 1964-1965 season. Of course, given Bewitched was about a witch (Samantha, played by Elizabeth Montgomery) who married a mortal (Darrin, played by Dick York), it should perhaps not be surprising that the show would feature several Halloween episodes. Indeed, for a time the show did one Halloween episode a year.
The first of the Halloween episodes of Bewitched was "The Witches Are Out", which aired on October 29 1964. In "The Witches Are Out" Darrin, at his advertising agency, creates a Halloween campaign featuring a witch as an old crone. Samantha and her relatives take offence and accuse Darrin of stereotyping witches. The episode is notable as featuring the first appearance of Aunt Clara (played by Marion Lorne), who would become of the show's most prominent characters. The next year's Halloween episode, "Trick or Treat", would also deal with the stereotyping of witches. Darrin's boss Larry Tate (played by David White) sends Samantha some typical Halloween decorations for their small, Halloween, dinner party. Unfortunately, among them are ones that portray witches as old crones. Samantha's mother, Endora (played by Agnes Moorhead), is angered by this and naturally takes her anger out on Darrin by turning him into a werewolf.
The third Halloween episode of Bewitched, "Twitch or Treat", centred on a disagreement between Endora and Samantha's Uncle Arthur (played by Paul Lynde) that comes to a head at Endora's Halloween party. It was the show's third Halloween episode in as many years. Bewitched would have a Halloween episode the following year as well. In "A Safe and Sane Halloween" Samantha and Darrin's daughter Tabitha (played by Erin Murphy) brings to life a gremlin, a goblin, and Jack O'Lantern from a storybook who then go trick or treating with her. Samantha then has to convince Tabitha to return the characters to the storybook from which they came.
For the first time in its existence Bewitched would not have a Halloween episode during the 1968-1969 season. The show would have one last Halloween episode in the 1969-1970 episode. The episode once more touches upon the stereotyping of witches, with Endora turning Darrin into a stereotypical old crone. It also includes the trick-or-treat for UNICEF fundraising campaign.
Like Bewitched, it should not be surprising that The Addams Family featured Halloween episode given the show centred on a rather macabre family. The first episode, "Halloween with the Addams Family", aired on October 30 1964. In the episode, after their getaway car runs out of gas, two hold-up men take refuge in the Addams Family mansion where the Addamses, quite naturally, are celebrating Halloween. The second episode of The Addams Family, " Halloween - Addams Style", aired on October 29 1965. In the episode a neighbour tells little Wednesday (played by Lisa Loring) that there are no real witches or goblins. This upsets Wednesday, so the rest of the family must convince her that witches and goblins are real.
So far I have discussed sitcoms and dramas, but variety shows and music shows sometimes had Halloween editions as well. One of the more famous examples of this was the October 30 1965 edition of Shindig. It featured horror legend and guest host Boris Karloff performing "The Peppermint Twist" and "Monster Mash", Ted Cassidy as Lurch from The Addams Family performing the novelty song "The Lurch", and various other performers.
In the 1966-1967 season Jackie Gleason revived The Jackie Gleason Show. As a result, The Honeymooners was also revived. It was on October 29 1966 that one last Halloween sketch of The Honeymooners aired. In "The Curse of the Kramdens", Ralph Kramden (played by Jackie Gleason) and Ed Norton (played by Art Carney) have to spend the night in Kramden castle, which is allegedly haunted.
As hard as it might be to believe, the classic science fiction series Star Trek also had a Halloween episode. "Catspaw" was written by horror writer Robert Bloch and aired on October 27 1967. It is notable as the first episode filmed featuring Walter Koenig as Ensign Chekov, although it was held back so as to air around Halloween. Other episodes featuring the character then aired before it. "Catspaw" finds the crew of the Enterprise encountering witches, a medieval castle, and a sorcerer on a planet. Of course, nothing is as it appears to be.
The sitcom Nanny and the Professor had a vaguely supernatural premise, with Juliet Mills playing Nanny, who may or may not have paranormal abilities. In "Nanny and Her Witch's Brew", a classmate's mother becomes convinced Nanny is a witch. The episode aired on November 1 1971. For much of its run Nanny and the Professor aired on Friday nights on ABC alongside The Brady Bunch. The following year The Brady Bunch did its own Halloween episode. In "Fright Night" the Brady boys try scaring the girls with a "ghost". In turn the girls retaliate with their own scare for the boys. "Fright Night" aired on October 27 1972.
For a fairly straight forward sitcom set in the Fifties, it might seem a bit surprising that Happy Days has multiple Halloween episodes. The first, "Haunted", aired on October 29 1974. In the episode Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) dismisses his little sister Joanie's (played by Erin Moran) claims that a house is haunted, but then he sees a ghostly figure in a window. The second Halloween episode of Happy Days aired a few years later, on October 25 1977. "Fonsillectomy" finds Fonzie (played by Henry Winkler) in the hospital for a tonsillectomy and worried about whom his girlfriend might be with at a Halloween party. The last Halloween episode of Happy Days, "Evil Eye", saw Al (played by Al Molinaro) convinced a spell from an old witch with the evil eye has cursed his right arm to do her bidding.
The police officers on the sitcom Barney Miller encountered more than their fair share of unusual characters. In "Werewolf", which aired on October 28 1976, they encountered a man convinced he was a werewolf. As a sitcom it should come as no surprise that Barney Miller would have a Halloween episode. What might come as a surprise is that family period drama The Waltons did. "The Changeling" aired on October 26 1978. In the episode, as Elizabeth (played by Kami Cotler) nears her 13th birthday, strange things begin to happen, such as a vase moving and then falling to break. The Waltons' cousin Corabeth (played by Ronnie Claire Edwards) suggested that Elizabeth might be haunted by a poltergeist.
The sitcom The Jeffersons would part ways with most sitcoms in that it actually did a two part Halloween episode. In part one of "Now You See It, Now You Don't:" it is Halloween and Louise Jefferson (played by Isabel Sanford) witness someone being killed by a man in a rabbit costume. The second part saw Louise confronting the man in the rabbit costume in the Jeffersons' apartment while everyone else was in a bar getting ready for a costume contest. Part One aired on October 21 1979. Part Two aired on October 28 1979.
Most long running shows do a Halloween episode at one point or another. This is no less true of M*A*S*H, which did one in its eleventh an final season. "Trick or Treatment" aired on November 1 1982. The episode sees the 4077th celebrating Halloween with their annual party. Unfortunately the party is interrupted by arriving wounded. While working on the wounded the doctors exchange ghost stories.
The Halloween episodes addressed so far were by no means the only Halloween episodes of shows that aired from the Fifties to the early Eighties. There were yet others, enough that one could probably fill an entire book with them. If anything else, Halloween episodes have perhaps become even more prevalent since the Eighties. While sitcoms have traditionally done at least one Halloween episode during their run, in the past several years shows ranging from ER to NCIS have done multiple Halloween episodes. The tradition of Halloween episodes that began on radio in the early 20 Century seems to show no signs of slowing on television in the early 21st Century. As long as there are TV shows, it seems likely there will be Halloween episodes.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
The 5 Scariest Episodes of The Twilight Zone
5. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" (Season 1, Episode 22): More often than not humanity itself can be the scariest thing around. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" takes us to the street of that name in an unnamed town. After Maple Street loses electricity and machines from cars to lawn mowers cease working, its inhabitants gradually descend into madness, convinced that aliens are going to be invading their neighbourhood. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is frightening not because of any imminent alien invasion, but because of the monsters that Maple Street's residents become themselves. Sadly, it is an episode that is more timely now than when it first aired in 1960.
4. "The Dummy" (Season 3, Episode 33): Let's face it, for many people ventriloquist dummies are very creepy. For every person that has delighted to the antics of Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, there is probably at least one person who thought Charlie was terrifying. Of course, what would make a dummy even more terrifying is if one realised that the dummy has his own mind and his own thoughts, some of which happen to be malevolent. That is the situation ventriloquist Jerry Etherson (Cliff Robertson) finds himself in, as he begins to realise that his dummy Willie has a life all his own. And, sadly for Jerry, Willie has his own plans as well...
3. "It's a Good Life" (Season 3, Episode 8): I am sure that everyone has encountered the sort of children who always have to have their way and will throw a tantrum if they don't get it. Now picture one of these young sociopaths with the ability to make things happen simply with the power of his or her mind. That is the situation the small town of Peaksville finds itself in. Six year old Anthony Fremont (played by Billy Mumy, later of Lost in Space fame) has seemingly unlimited power. He has isolated Peaksville from the rest of the world (or perhaps destroyed the rest of the world...). The town has to raise their own food and supplies of everyday household items, such as soap, are running low. And the inhabitants live in terror of Anthony, who might wish them into the cornfield (we are never explained what the cornfield is...) if they don't comply with his every demand. Not only is the mere concept of Anthony frightening, but the episode also features some of the most frightening imagery in any episode of The Twilight Zone.
2. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (Season 5, Episode 3): Robert Wilson (played by William Shatner) has just been released from a mental asylum, having had a nervous breakdown. Unfortunately for Mr. Wilson, on his airplane flight home he sees a large gremlin on the aircraft's wing. To makes matters worse, every time he tries to alert someone else to the gremlin's presence, from his wife to the plane's crew members, it is nowhere to be seen. What makes "Nightmare on 20,000 Feet" so terrifying isn't the gremlin itself (which looks pretty goofy by today's standards), but the fact that Mr. Wilson knows something is wrong and no one will believe him.
1. "Living Doll" (Season 5, Episode 6): Chatty Cathy, a talking doll made by Mattel, was all the rage with little girls from the late Fifties to the mid-Sixties. While little girls may have loved Chatty Cathy, I rather have to suspect many of their brothers and even fathers found the doll, well, creepy. Now consider if one of these dolls could not only talk, but think as well. And then consider if the thoughts of one of these dolls just happened to be malevolent? That is the central premise of "Living Doll". Erich Streator (played by Telly Savalas) does not particularly like his stepdaughter's new talking doll, Talky Tina. (voiced by the legendary June Foray). And, unfortunately for Mr. Streator, Talky Tina isn't too fond of him either. Not only do I think this is the single most frightening episode of The Twilight Zone, but one of the scariest half hours of American television ever made.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Halloween in the Late Sixties and the Seventies
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| a mid-Sixties Woolworth's ad |
Indeed, among the fondest memories from my childhood are the many Halloweens I celebrated. In those days there weren't a whole lot of Halloween decorations on store shelves, so decorating for the holiday wasn't terribly common. When people did decorate for Halloween, they often made their own decorations--old clothes and straw to make scarecrows, pumpkins carved into jack o' lanterns, and so on. The few Halloween decorations on the market were often made of paper by companies such as Beistle, and were usable only inside. At least in my school, classrooms would be decorated with these decorations shortly before Halloween.
Despite the Sixties and Seventies being the Golden Age of television specials, there weren't a lot of Halloween specials on the air at the time. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the only one I can remember from my childhood. That is not to say that television did not acknowledge the holiday at all. Most TV series in the Sixties and Seventies had special Halloween episodes, from Bewitched to Happy Days. Local television stations, especially independent stations, were guaranteed to show old horror movies shortly before and on Halloween, particularly the old Universal monsters from the Thirties and Forties.The first time I ever saw Dracula (1931) was one Halloween.
To this day, Halloween is not a Federal holiday, so schools are open on Halloween. That having been said, it was hardly a typical school day. At most elementary schools, late in the day everyone would change into their costumes and a Halloween party would be held, complete with candy. For many students it was probably one of the few times that school was actually enjoyable.
Of course, costumes were as big a part of Halloween in the Sixties and Seventies as they are now. That having been said, they were different from what we see on stores shelves now. From the 1930s to the 1990s such companies as Ben Cooper, Collegeville, and Halco manufactured cheap Halloween costumes, many of them based on characters from popular culture. They consisted of a mask and a plastic smock (also called "jumpsuits" by many). The costumes very rarely looked like the characters they were supposed to portray. More often than not, the costumes (particularly those made by Ben Cooper) portrayed a scene with the character on the smock rather than what the character would actually wear. Even when a costume resembled something the character would wear, the name would be printed boldly on the costume (in the case of Batman, it was in the centre of the bat insignia). The masks were made of moulded plastic and held on by a thin, elastic band. They were often hard to see out of and hard to breath out of. The masks were also hot, so that even on a cold day sweat would eventually build up on one's face.
My parents never bought either my brother or I any of these costumes, and we always made our own. In retrospect, even though having a costume by Ben Cooper was something of a status symbol among kids back then, this was probably for the best. Looking back, our home-made costumes often looked better and certainly looked more realistic than those made by Ben Cooper, Collegeville, and Halco.
Of course, the big event on Halloween was trick or treating. Because we lived on a farm, our father always took us from house to house, but that was not the case for children living in town. They went trick or treating on their own, without parental supervision. In those days parents did not worry about their kids being snatched by some stranger or harmed in some other way, and kids generally roamed where they wished all year round. While there were urban legends of poisoned candy and razor blades, needles, et. al. in trick or treat candy, there isn't any real evidence that this ever happened. Certainly it never happened around here.
As kids got older they generally stopped trick or treating. I think the last year I went trick or treating was when I was twelve. That having been said, I was hardly finished with Halloween. In my teens I would attend Halloween parties held by my slightly older friend Al. None of the cheap costumes made by Ben Cooper, Collegeviille, and Halco were in evidence at these parties. Since Al and most of his friends were science fiction, fantasy, and comic books fans, the costumes could be very inventive. I remember going as a Vulcan Starfleet officer from Star Trek one year, a Romulan officer from the same show another year, and a vampire yet another.
Celebrating Halloween remains some of my fondest memories from my childhood. Now one can buy an wide array of Halloween decorations in stores and the costumes one finds in stores are certainly more realistic (just compare Ben Cooper's Darth Vader costume to those made now), but I don't see how today's children could possibly have had as much fun as young Gen Xers did.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Halloween at the Movies: 1918-1978
It is perhaps impossible to determine what the first film to reference Halloween was. That having been said, among the very earliest was the 1918 film The Way of a Man with a Maid. Directed by Donald Crisp and released by Paramount Pictures, the movie starred Bryant Washburn as a bookkeeper, Arthur McArney, trying to live on $21 a week. This is complicated when he falls in love with stenographer Elsa Owenson (played by Wanda Hawley), who has another suitor in the form of the wealthy Sankey (Jay Dwiggins). At one point in the film Arthur spends $200 in order to attend a swank Halloween party with Elsa. Unfortunately Arthur is called into work and Elsa attends the party with his rival Sankey.
Two films in 1934 would include Halloween in their plots. The first of these was As the Earth Turns, released by Warner Bros. and starring Jean Muir and Donald Woods. The film centres on a young couple struggling to make a living on a farm in Maine. Included in the film is a Halloween dance. The second film to mention Halloween released 1934 was, of all things, a Western starring Ken Maynard, Smoking Guns. The plot involves Ken Masters (played by Ken Maynard) trying to clear his father of a crime. Included in the plot is a Halloween dance at which the villain plots to ambush Ken. Depending on when the film was set, it would seem to be a bit anachronistic. Halloween would not be widely celebrated in the United States until the 1880s, and Halloween parties would not become particularly common until the 1890s.
Halloween would play a more significant role in the 1937 movie Boy of the Streets starring Jackie Cooper. The film begins at Halloween in a slum in New York City. Children are dressed in costumes and going down the street on scooters, bicycles, and box cars. Many of them are pulling pranks, such as turning over trash cans. The film seems to emphasise the Celtic roots of Halloween, as an Irish cop references having celebrated it in the Old Country. Here it must be pointed out that trick-or-treating does not play a role in the children's celebration of Halloween. Although the custom was already observed through much of the United States, it had not quite yet been spread to much of the East Coast.
Halloween also played a role in Boy Friend (1939), starring Jane Withers. In Boy Friend a police officer Jimmy Murphy (played by Richard Bond) goes undercover as part of a gang. When one of the friends of his younger sister Sally (played by Miss Withers) is murdered, she and another one of her friends decide to solve the murder themselves. To this end she sneaks into the Golden Parrot Club, owned by mobsters, on Halloween and entertains the customers there, while her friend searches the basement.
Halloween would play a bigger role in the Ealing comedy The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941). The film starred Will Hay as a hapless teacher, William Lamb, who finds himself teaching at a school on the Isle of Skye and living in the haunted Dunbain Castle. During the film William catches the students celebrating "the feast of Halloween", which they describe as an old Scottish custom. Among other things, the students are stealing food and drink (including whiskey) for their party in their dorm. The Ghost of St. Michael's is notable as one of the earliest British films to reference Halloween.
The year 1944 would prove to be a significant one in the history of film with regards to Halloween, as two major releases (both now regarded as classics) dealt with the holiday. The first released of the two films was Arsenic and Old Lace, based on the hit Broadway play of the same name Arsenic and Old Lace was shot in 1941, but not released in 1944 after the play had ended its run. It stars Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster, who visits his two spinster aunts (played by Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) upon the occasion of his engagement. Unfortunately for Mortimer, he soon learns that his aunts have a rather disturbing secret. Fittingly enough for a horror comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace is set entirely at Halloween. In fact, it quite possibly might be the first film to feature trick-or-treating. At one point in the film trick-or-treaters show up at the aunts' door and the aunts give them jack o' lanterns as treats. Of the films made during the Golden Age of Hollywood, perhaps no other movie has as strong a link to Halloween as Arsenic and Old Lace does, to the point that it would perhaps be accurate to say that it is to Halloween what It's a Wonderful Life (1946) or Miracle on 34th Street (1947) are to Christmas.
The second movie to be released in 1944 to deal with Halloween was Meet Me in St. Louis, which was based on Sally Benson's book of the same name, a novel that grew out of her short stories originally published as a series in The New Yorker under the title "5135 Kensington". Meet Me in St. Louis followed the lives of the Smith family in St. Louis during the year leading up to the World's Fair (1903-1904). A rather long segment of Meet Me in St. Louis is set at Halloween in 1903, and is particularly interesting for its portrayal of Halloween customs at the start of the 20th Century. The segment begins with youngest Smith daughters Tootie (played by Margaret O'Brien) and Agnes (Joan Carroll) getting dressed in their costumes for Halloween. Tootie goes to the door of a dread neighbour, Mr. Braukoff (played by Mayo Newhall) and throws flour on him (believe it or not, this was a common Halloween prank at the turn of the 19th Century). Later Tootie and Agnes are nearly killed when they try the rather dangerous prank of placing a dummy on the trolley tracks.
The following year, 1945, saw the release of another film that included Halloween, The Woman Who Came Back. It was one of the very few horror films of the era to acknowledge the holiday. The Woman Who Came Back centred on Lorna Webster (played by Nancy Kelly), who returns to her hometown in New England. Descended from the witch hunter Elijah Webster, she soon becomes convinced that she is possessed by a famous witch from the past. Fittingly enough, Lorna arrives in her hometown on Halloween. Halloween decorations adorn the houses in the town, and children are wearing their Halloween costumes.
While Halloween played fairly significant roles in Arsenic and Old Lace, Meet Me in St. Louis, and The Woman Who Came Back, it played only a minor role in My Blue Heaven (1950). My Blue Heaven centred on Kitty and Jack Moran (played by Betty Grable and Dan Dailey), a married song and dance team who want to adopt a child. As might be expected of a Betty Grable musical, it features several song and dance numbers. Among the numbers is one dedicated to Halloween, complete with a jab at Irving Berlin for having written songs for every single holiday except it.
Despite its title, Halloween would play a major role in the 1960 Hayley Mills movie Summer Magic. Indeed, the movie climaxes with a house warming party held on Halloween. Quite naturally, the party has many of the trappings of the holiday, including jack o' lanterns and corn shocks.
Halloween would also play a role in the film Conrack (1974). Conrack starred Jon Voight as Pat Conroy, a young teacher assigned to Yamacraw Island off the coast of South Carolina. As it turns out Yamacraw Island is extremely isolated. In fact, most of the residents speak a dialect of Gulah. Conroy strives to teach his students about the outside world. To this end he takes his students to Beaufort on the mainland for Halloween, an excursion that would mark their first significant interaction with the outside world. This does not sit well with the school's superintendent, Mr. Skeffington (played by Hume Cronyn), who takes Conroy to task for it.
The year 1976 would prove to be a fruitful one for films referencing Halloween, with no less than three movies released. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) begins at Halloween, which also happens to be the birthday of the main character Rynn Jacobs (played by Jodie Foster). The movie features children in costume trick-or-treating. Rynn, who is from England, knows very little about Halloween and has to have the holiday explained to her.
Prior to the Eighties it was a rare thing for horror movies to be set at Halloween. An exception to this rule was The Clown Murders (1976). In an effort to spoil a businessman's real estate deal, four friends dress up as clowns on Halloween and kidnap his wife. Unfortunately, the four friends find themselves hunted by a killer in a clown costume. While not a very good film, The Clown Murders is significant as one of the earliest films to deal with the now common "evil clown" trope.
Kenny & Company (1976) was a much more innocent film than the thriller The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane or The Clown Murders. It followed several the three days leading up to Halloween in the life of a boy named Kenny (played by Dan McCann). Kenny & Company captures Halloween as it was observed by boys in the Seventies very well. Halloween is a bit in the background in the early part of the film, although Kenny and his friends are making their plans for it. They are getting their costumes ready and determining the best houses to visit. The climax of Kenny & Company takes place on Halloween, with the boys trick-or-treating and Kenny being sent into a scary looking house.
It would be in 1978 that a film would be released that would change things forever. Aside from Arsenic and Old Lace and Meet Me in St. Louis, John Carpenter's Halloween may be the most famous movie to deal with the holiday. As its name suggests, the film takes place almost entirely on Halloween. The film centres on Laurie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), a babysitter who finds herself facing the psychotic killer Michael Meyers. As might be expected Halloween featured some of the trappings of the holiday, including brief sightings of trick-or-treaters and jack o' lanterns.
Halloween would prove to be a smash hit at the box office. It would also have a lasting influence. While it was not the first slasher movie, the success of Halloween would spur a cycle towards slasher films that would last well into the Eighties. And while only only a few horror movies were set at Halloween prior to the release of Halloween, afterwards there would be a whole slough of horror movies set, at least in part, on the holiday. Among these films were The Amityville Horror (1979), The Changeling (1980), Creepshow (1982) Trick or Treat (1986), and Demonic Toys (1992).
In addition to feature films, Halloween would also prove to be a popular theme for theatrical animated shorts. Most series had at least one Halloween entry. "Felix the Cat Switches Witches" (1927) pitted Felix against witches at Halloween. The title of "Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party" (1933) is pretty much self-descriptive. "Trick or Treat" (1952) is considered one of the all time classic Donald Duck shorts, featuring Huey, Duey, and Louie and Disney's version of Witch Hazel. "Broom-Stick Bunny" (1956) pitted Bugs Bunny against Warner Bros.' version of Witch Hazel on Halloween.
With regards to live-action short subject, the classic "Our Gang" short "Bouncing Babies" is set at Halloween and features the gang in costumes. It also featuring Halloween pranks, including one in which the gang changes Wheezer's little brother with a goat.
Halloween celebrations in the United States grew up alongside the cinema. Ultimately motion pictures would chronicle many of the changes to the holiday over the years. Early films centred primarily on Halloween parties. Halloween pranks made their appearance in sound films fairly early. Arsenic and Old Lace marked what might be the first instance of trick-or-treating on film, a custom that would be featured in many movies set at Halloween to come. And while horror movies of the Golden Age were rarely set at Halloween eventually it would become commonplace for horror films to be set on the holiday. The celebration of Halloween in the United States and motion pictures emerged at about the same time, and it seems likely that they will continue to evolve together.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! by Alan Stafford
It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! is a loving look back at the legendary children's show. It is also one that is very detailed. Mr. Stafford covers the entire run of the show, from its debut on September 14 1955 to its final edition on December 21 1984. And there is a good deal for even those familiar with the show to learn from this book. For instance, despite the famous catchphrase of Crackerjack!, "It's Friday, it's five o'clock. . . It's Crackerjack!" (the time sometimes varied), Crackerjack! originally aired on Wednesdays and on a fortnightly schedule at that. What is more, it would be some time before Crackerjack! would air each week on Friday. Similarly there would be some time before many of the show's famous catchphrases would develop. What might surprise many familiar with the original version of Crackerjack! is that there was also an Australian version of the show that ran from 1966 to 1968, to which the author devotes a chapter.
While It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! will certainly interest those grew up with the show, there is much in this book to interest anyone fascinated by the history of British broadcasting or even Anglophonic pop culture in general. Many of the people who worked on Crackerjack! over the years are familiar names even to Americans, Canadians, and Australians. Jack Douglas, later best known for his appearances in many of the Carry On... films, worked on the show in its early days. Ronnie Corbett, who would later gain fame as one half of The Two Ronnies along side Ronnie Baker, was also a regular on Crackerjack! in its early days. Jeremy Lloyd, later known as the co-creator of the classic sitcom Are You Being Served?, was a writer on the show for a time. Downtown Julie Brown, perhaps best known to Americans as a vee-jay on MTV when that channel still showed music videos, worked on the show in the Eighties. Unlike similar American children's shows, Crackerjack! featured many pop acts over the years that would be recognisable to Americans and Canadians, including The Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers, Peter & Gordon, Herman's Hermits, and even The Who.
Alan Stafford clearly did his research and it shows. He interviewed many of the surviving principals from the show, including Michael Aspel, Jillian Comber, Pip Hinton, Syd Little, and many others. He also received help researching Crackerjack! from both the BBC and the British Film Institute. Mr. Stafford combed through many old newspapers and magazines for information on the show. The end result is a book with a good deal of background on a show that was beloved by multiple generations of British children.
Here I must point out that It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! is not a dry, but detailed history of the show by any stretch of the imagination. Alan Stafford writes in a light, easy-to-read style that is filled with humour. The many stories, often quite funny in and of themselves, from those who worked on Crackerjack! are more than worth the price of the book.
While It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! will primarily be of interest to those who grew up with the show in the United Kingdom, it is a delightful book that will be of interest to anyone fascinated by the history of British broadcasting, the history of children's shows around the world, or Anglophonic pop culture in general. No doubt it will bring back many fond memories for those who saw the show when it first aired.
It's Friday, It's Crackerjack! is published by Fantom Publishing and is available at fine booksellers across the United Kingdom
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Stop Complaining About Turner Classic Movies
One can imagine my surprise,then, when I looked at the comments on the Facebook TCM page regarding the 25th Anniversary Contest post and saw a number of people complaining about Turner Classic Movies. Here I must point out that I am accustomed to Twitter, where it seems to me the vast majority of people have only good things to say about TCM. Of course, in some ways this doesn't surprise me. Despite Twitter's reputation, I have always had much more in the way of bad experiences with other users on Facebook. It is why I am not active on many groups on Facebook and why I never post publicly. Regardless, as someone who loves TCM and has watched it from the very beginning, I thought I would address some of the complaints I saw on the post.
The first of these complaints I want to address were from people complaining that they don't want to see fans talking about their favourite films on TCM. Now I realise that everyone has their own tastes when it comes to what they want to see on TCM, but I have always enjoyed seeing other fans talk about their favourite films. Indeed, in April 2015 I had the honour of introducing A Hard Day's Night (1964) with Ben Mankiewicz as a Fan Favourite. I also had several friends who introduced films with Ben as Fan Favourites. I have also enjoyed watching the fan programmers from the various TCM Backlot contests. Many of the fans who have introduced films on TCM over the years actually have more knowledge of specific films than many of the better known experts, and I enjoy hearing how people discovered their favourite films. Here I must point out that I do sympathise with those who don't enjoy seeing fans introduce their favourite films. TCM has aired and probably will in the future air things that I don't particularly enjoy either. Personally, I would be happy if they never show another Barbara Streisand musical again (I love her as a dramatic actress, just not as a singer). That having been said, I really don't mind changing the channel if there is something on TCM I don't enjoy.
The second of these complaints were from people insisting that TCM go back to "the old format". Now maybe I am missing something, but I don't think TCM's format has changed since it debuted in 1994. It is true that for the first several years of its existence TCM had only one host, Robert Osborne. It was in 2003 that Ben Mankiewicz joined as a host. TCM has had guest programmers since 2005. Of course, since then Robert Osborne has died and TCM has added more hosts. Eddie Muller has hosted Noir Alley since 2017. Alicia Malone and Dave Karger were added as hosts earlier this year. Anyway, my point is that the format of TCM really hasn't changed. It is still a classic movie channel on which hosts introduce films. Now I realise that many people miss Robert Osborne. In fact, I can definitely say that the majority of TCM fans miss Robert Osborne. I myself miss seeing him introduce films on TCM terribly. Sadly, Robert died last year. No host on TCM is ever going to be able to replace Robert, let alone match him. While I can understand individuals having their own personal preferences regarding the hosts (personally I love them all), I don't think one can say the format of TCM has changed because Robert Osborne is no longer on the channel or because TCM now has four hosts instead of one.
The third of these complaints is one that has persisted over the years, probably since the day TCM launched in April 1994. Quite simply, there are people who complain that Turner Classic Movies should only show classics. There is a very small faction of TCM fans who honestly want the channel to only show films made before 1960. I have addressed this issue on this blog before. My own thought is that these fans are interpreting the word "classic" much too narrowly. They interpret the word as referring exclusively to a film that comes from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I won't go into many of the reasons that this definition is flawed, but I will point out that it does not fit the common usage of the word "classic". Most people, including many TCM fans, use the term "classic" of any film of a certain age that is regarded as being of high quality, whether it is from the Golden Age of Hollywood or not. In other words, Casablanca (1942) is a classic, but then so is Star Wars (1977).
That the "classic" in Turner Classic Movies was never meant to apply only to films made before 1960 can be borne out by the fact that the channel was never meant to air only films made before 1960. I remember watching both Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) on TCM within the first three years of the channel's existence. This is further borne out by promotional materials regarding TCM before it even launched. An article from The New York Times from April 11 1994 states, "AMC focuses almost exclusively on movies of the 1930's, 40's and 50's. But TCM plans to show films from the 60's, 70's and 80's as well." The TCM Launch Featurette that was included in the channel's Electronic Press Kit also makes reference to plans for TCM to show films from the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties.
Even given TCM was always meant to show films from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the fact is that the vast majority of movies shown on the channel come from the Thirties and Forties. Every month the esteemed Joel Williams issues a breakdown of how many films are being shown from each decade. This is from October 1 on his Twitter feed:
As you can see, the bulk of the movies being shown on TCM this month come from the Thirties and Forties. In fact, there are more films from these two decades than from the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies Eighties, Nineties, Naughts, and Teens combined. Given TCM already shows very little in the way of movies made after 1970, I really don't understand why people complain about it showing a lot of films made after 1970. The simple fact is that they don't.
Now I am not about to say that people don't have a right to complain. I know I have occasionally complained about programming on TCM in the past and I probably will in the future. And I have to say that those complaining are polite for the most part (which I rarely see in comments on Facebook posts on pages). That having been said, when people are complaining on a post announcing a contest that most TCM fans will probably love, it makes me wonder if the complaints are not getting a bit out of hand. Part of the reason I very rarely complain about Turner Classic Movies is that I really think we should be thankful the channel exists at all. American Movie Classics abandoned showing classic movies long ago and now just goes by AMC. getTV also started out showing classic movies before shifting more towards classic television. After nearly 25 years TCM is still showing classic movies and there is no sign that they will ever stop. Honestly, I think we fans would be better off thinking about what we love about TCM than complaining when they do something we really don't like. I know that TCM is certainly grateful towards its fans and it would be nice for those fans to be grateful back.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Scott Wilson Passes On
Scott Wilson was born on March 29 1942 in Thomasville, Georgia. He made an impressive screen debut in 1967 in In the Heat of the Night, playing the murder suspect Harvey Oberst. For the remainder of the Sixties he appeared in such films as In Cold Blood (1967), Castle Keep (1969), and The Gypsy Moths (1969). In the Seventies he appeared in such films as The Grissom Gang (1971), The New Centurions (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), The Passover Plot (1976), and The Ninth Configuration (1980).
In the Eighties Mr. Wilson appeared in such films as The Right Stuff (1983), On the Line (1984), The Aviator (1985), Blue City (1986), Malone (1987), Johnny Handsome (1989), Young Guns II (1990), and The Exorcist III: Legion (1990). He made his television debut in 1986 in an episode of the revival of The Twilight Zone.
In the Nineties Scott Wilson appeared in such films as Femme Fatale (1991), Pure Luck (1991), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Tall Tale (1993), Judge Dredd (1995), The Grass Harp (1995), Dead Man Walking (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Clay Pigeons (1998), and The Way of the Gun (2000). He guest starred on the TV show The X-Files.
In the Naughts he appeared in such films as The Animal (2001), Pearl Harbour (2001), Don't Let Go (2002), Monster (2003), The Last Samurai (2003), Junebug (2005), Saving Shiloh (2006), The Heartbreak Kid (2007), and Radio Free Albemuth (2010). On television he had the recurring role of Sam Braun on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He guest starred on the shows Karen Sisco and Law & Order. In the Teens he played the regular role of Hershel Greene on the TV show The Walking Dead, the recurring role of Dr. Guyot on Bosch, the role of John Lyons on Damien, and Abel Johnson on The OA. He guest starred on the shows Justified, Five, and Enlightened. He appeared in the movies Dorfman (2011) and Hostiles (2017).
Scott Wilson was definitely a versatile actor, as shown by his work in television. On The Walking Dead he played the upright, kind, but stubborn farmer Hershel Greene. On CSI: Crime Scene Investigation he played corrupt casino owner, and father of Catherine Willows, Sam Braun. On film he played everything from murderers to former astronauts to ministers. If his career was so long and Mr. Wilson was so prolific, it was because he was just that talented.
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