Tommorow is Hallowe'en, so naturally my mind is on horror movies today. Of course, the thought of horror movies brings to mind the classic monster movies released by Universal in the Thirties and Forties. Most film historians and films buffs agree that Universal's release of Dracula in 1931 marked the beginning of a Golden Age for horror films; however, there is no such agreement as to when this Golden Age ended. Some believe that the Golden Age ended in 1948 with the release of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Others believe that it ended in 1936 with the release of Dracula's Daughter. By this time horror movies had been banned in Britain and as a result the possible box office that the American studios could see from any horror movie was drastically reduced. For this reason, Universal ceased production of horror movies for three years. I have always fallen into the latter category as to when the Golden Age of horror movies ended, feeling that the release of Dracula's Daughter marked its end. For me the horror movies of the 1940s constitute a second Golden Age of horror films.
As I said earlier, in 1936 Universal stopped making horror movies due to the ban on such films in Britain. Most other American studios followed suit, so that virtually no horror movies came out for three years. In 1937 the studio re-released both Dracula and Frankenstein. Both films did an incredible amount of box office, enough for Universal to rethink their position on horror movies. It was then that they decided to produce a second sequel to Frankenstein. Son of Frankenstein was released in 1939 and was a smash hit at the box office. Its success started a new cycle of horror movies that would last into the late Forties. Son of Frankenstein marked the final time that Boris Karloff would play the Monster, who, oddly enough, was speechless after his speaking role in Bride of Frankenstein. Son of Frankenstein concerned Wolf Frankenstein, the son of Henry, who returns home to claim his inheritance. He soon finds himself persuaded by corrupt former blacksmith Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi) to revive the Monster, who wants to use him for his own purposes. Although not as good as Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein was still a top notch production and a very fine film.
With the success of Son of Frankenstein, Universal was back in the business of making horror movies. With 1940, they returned to the subject of mummies. Contrary to popular belief, The Mummy's Hand was not a sequel to 1932's The Mummy. In fact, the mummy of The Mummy's Hand, Kharis, was not even related to the mummy of The Mummy, Imhotep. Of course, the plots of the two movies are similar. In both an Egyptian tomb is disturbed and in both the mummy who resided in that tomb wreaks his vengeance. The Mummy's Hand was so successful that Kharis appeared in three sequels: The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mummy's Ghost (1944) and The Mummy's Curse (1944). Oddly enough, despite the success of the Kharis movies, he never encountered the other Universal monsters in the crossovers Universal did in the mid to late Forties.
Nineteen forty one saw the release of a movie that would establish the third of Universal's iconic movie monsters. The Wolf Man starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawerence Talbot, the son of a Welsh lord who has the misfortune of being bitten by a werewolf and thus becoming one himself. Like Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man was a top notch production, with a creative script by writing legend Curt Siodmak. It also involved far more special effects than any previous Universal horror movie, the transformation scenes marking a turning point in the history of FX. The Wolf Man was incredibly successful, cementing Universal's status as a maker of monster movies and establishing Lon Chaney Jr. as a horror movie star. Indeed, the Wolf Man is the only Universal monster played by only one actor--Lon Chaney Jr.
Bela Lugosi returned as Ygor in the fourth sequal to Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein, released in 1942. This time around it was Lon Chaney Jr. who played the Monster. The plot concerned yet another Frankenstein, Wolf's brother, Ludwig Frankestein, whose field of expertise was brain transplants. Needless to say, Ludwig has a unique solution to the Monster's supposed murderous streak. Ghost of Frankenstein is generally considered the weakest of the Frankenstein sequels, although it was still a top notch production and still displayed some of the originality of the earlier Universal horror films.
Nineteen forty three perhaps marked the height of the Universal horror film in the Second Golden Age of horror. It was that year that the studio released no less than three of their most classic horror movies. The first of these was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man marks a turning point in the history of Universal horror films, as it is the first time that two of Universal's classic monsters would meet. In Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Lawrence Talbot seeks out Dr. Frankenstein to find a cure for his lycanthropy. As it turns out, he fails to find a Dr. Frankenstein, although he meets his daughter, not to mention the Monster. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was a well written and well directed, upscale production that matches Son of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man for quality. It is remembered as a classic to this day.
The second classic Universal horror film released in 1943 was a remake of the silent classic Phantom of the Opera. In this version Claude Rains (of Invisible Man fame) plays the Phantom, Erik, who becomes obsessed with opera star Christine. Phantom of the Opera had top notch production values, although it does fall short in quality when compared to the original Phantom of the Opera and other Universal horror classics. The largest complaint with the film has always been that it focused too much on opera and not enough on horror. Still, the 1943 version of Phantom of the Opera is enjoyable in its own right and holds up well today.
The third and final major horror movie Universal released in 1943 was the second sequel to Dracula. Son of Dracula is a strange film in which the legendary count (this time played by Lon Chaney Jr.) journeys to the American South under an assumed name (Alucard). The movie benefits from a good script (the screenplay by Eric Taylor, based on a story by Curt Siodmak) and good direction (it was directed by Robert Siodmak, Curt Siodmak's brother). Son of Dracula also benefits from great use of atmosphere; indeed, it is one of the creepier films Universal released in the Forties. Unfortunately, Son of Dracula would be the last upscale horror film that Universal would release in the Second Golden Age of horror. Following Son of Dracula, it almost seemed as if Universal was content to rest on their previous laurels.
Of course, just as Universal was not the only studio making horror movies in the First Golden Age of horror, so too was this the case in the Second Golden Age of horror. Perhaps the most notable of horror movies made by studios other than Universal in this era was a series of films which Val Lewton produced for RKO's B movie unit. Although made on shoestring budgets, Lewton's films are generally considered among the very best horror movies ever made. The Val Lewton horror movies were made with subtlety in mind. Partially because his budgets would permit little else, Lewton depended largely on atmosphere in his films. Rather than outright showing monsters or whatever other things might go bump in the night, Lewton's films depended on the mere suggestion of horror. Much of Lewton's success was due to his ability to spot new talent. Among the young directors he worked with were Mark Robson and former film editor Robert Wise.
Lewton's films stand apart from many other horror films of the time in being very literate, not to mention very original. One need look no further than Lewton's first horror movie for RKO, Cat People, for the innovation that marked most of his films. Released in 1942, Cat People deals with the time honoured idea of people transforming into dangerous animals, but does so in a way that is starkly original. A Serbian born fashion artist believes that she is descended from the Cat People and that any emotional arousal will result in her transformation into a panther. Lewton's originality can also be seen in I Walked with a Zombie released in 1943. It was one of the earliest films to deal in voodoo and zombies ever released. And like all of Lewton's horror movies, it dealt more in suggestion than images of the walking dead. Also released in 1943 was The Seventh Victim, one of the earliest films to deal with Satanists (called Palladists in the film to avoid offending religious sensibilities) as a source of horror.
Most notable among Lewton's films are those he made with Boris Karloff. At first Lewton was not looking forward to working with Karloff, associating the actor with the Univesal monster movies which he detested. After meeting the actor, however, he learned he had found a kindred spirit. The two made three horror movies together, the first of which was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, released in 1945. Not only did Karloff play John Gray, the cabman who obtains bodies (through exhumation and more sinister means), but Bela Lugosi played Joseph, the evil servant who turns to blackmail. The second Lewton/Karloff outing was Isle of the Dead, in which several people are stranded on a Greek island quarantined by the plague, and which may be stalked by a vampire-like demon called a vorvolaka. Lewton and Karloff's third collaboration was also the last horror movie Lewton ever produced. Bedlam, released in 1946, featured Karloff as the sinister figure who runs the notorious British asylum. With the success of his horror films, Lewton graduated from B movies to more upscale films.
Universal and RKO were not the only studios making horror films in the Forties. The Poverty Row studios, such as Monogram and PRC, made many throughout the era. And the major studios followed Universal's lead in jumping on the horror bandwaggon. In 1939 Paramount released one of the all time classic horror movies, Dr. Cyclops. Dr. Cyclops featured Albert Dekker as Dr. Thorkel (the doctor of the title), who has learned how to shrink both humans and animals. Dr. Cyclops was an upscale production and, in fact, it was the first horror movie released in Technicolor. Nineteeen forty saw the release of Before I Hang from Columbia (a studio that always bordered on Poverty Row and the majors). The film featured Karloff as Dr. John Garth, a man who conquered death. It was the first of a four film contract Karloff had with Columbia, which was never completed. In 1941 MGM released another version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this time starring Spencer Tracy as the doctor and his alter ego. Unlike previous versions of the tale, the 1941 version did not depend heavily upon makeup to denote the difference between Jekyll and Hyde, but rather upon Spencer Tracy's acting talent. Also in 1941, Warner Brothers released The Hidden Hand, another film dealing with a spooky old house. In 1942 Twentieth Century Fox released Dr. Renault's Secret, featuring George Zucco in the title role (Zucco virtually made a career of playing mad doctors). In this film Renault has broken the evolutionary barrier and figured out how to turn apes into men. There were many other horror movies released than these, many of the B variety, from 1939 to about 1948.
Indeed, by 1944 it became apparent that Universal had mined the genre much too deeply. The days of upscale horror movies with quality production were over at Universal. Instead, the studio sought to repeat the success of Frakenstein Meets the Wolf Man by featuring its iconic monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolf Man) all in one film. The first of these was House of Frankenstein, released in 1944. House of Frankenstein featured Boris Karloff as scientist Gustav Niemann, who has been trying to revive the dead just as Frankenstein had, and Lon Chaney Jr. once more as the Wolf Man. While both Lawrence Talbot and his furry alter ego get a good deal of screen time in this film, it seems the other monsters did not fare so well. Dracula, played by John Carradine, appears only in the first half of the film, while the Frankenstein Mosnter (played by Glenn Strange) spends most of his time strapped to a table. Despite this, House of Frankenstein is an enjoyable film, particularly for Karloff's peformance as the mad Dr. Niemann and Chaney's performance as the tormented Talbot.
The success of House of Frankenstein led to a second "monster mash" movie, House of Dracula, released in 1945. The film features both Lawrence Talbot and Count Dracula seeking out the kindly Dr. Edelmann for a cure to their conditions (althogh Dracula does seem to have another agenda entirely on his mind...). Like House of Frankenstein, Dracula is gone midway through the movie. Unlike House of Frankenstein, the Monster has even less of a role in House of Dracula. Like House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula is an enjoyable film, although both pale when compared to Universal's earlier work--particularly the classics of the Thirties.
With House of Dracula, Universal appears to have exhausted the monster movie formula. There would be no House of the Wolf Man. In fact, the only thing left was for Universal to feature their classic monsters in a comedy. Throughout the Forties, the two biggest money makers at the studio had been their classic movie monsters and the comedy team of Abbot and Costello. It was perhaps inevitable that all of them should meet. And, indeed, they did, in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein released in 1948. The movie features the hapless duo as freight handlers who have the rotten luck of delivering the remains of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster to a house of horrors. Not surprisingly, Dracula is revived and soon plotting to revive the Monster, too. Only Lawrence Talbot, Bud, and Lou stand in Dracula's way. The genius of Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein is that the monsters themselves are never played for laughs. The comedy comes not from the monsters, but from Bud and Lou's reaction to them. Lon Chaney still plays Talbot as a tormented soul and Bela Lugosi once more plays the role that made him famous. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a unique combination of frights and laughs, and quite possibly one of the greatest comedy films of all time.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein marked the last time that Universal's monsters would appear in a major motion picture. It therefore marks the end of the Second Golden Age of horror movies in my mind. The Fifties would see new monsters, from the intellectual "carrot" of RKO's The Thing to Universal's Creature from the Black Lagoon. Universal would re-release the classic horror films Dracula and Frankenstein in 1954. Following the successful TV debut of the RKO classic King Kong on March 5, 1956, Universal decided to release their pre-1948 horror movies to television in 1957. For the first time such classics as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man could be seen on local stations across the United States. This inspired an absolute craze for the classic movie monsters, resulting in tons of merchandise, from posters to Aurora model kits. Since that time the classic Universal films and other movies from the First and Second Golden Ages of horror have been inspiring new fans. It is safe to say they will do so well into the future.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
"This....is a Thriller!"
Sunday is Halloween and my mind is turning to the horror genre. Growing up I remember a horror anthology series called Thriller. I was not yet born when the series first debuted on September 13, 1960. In fact, I was not even born when the series last aired on NBC on April 30, 1962. For much of that two year run, Thriller brought tales of unspeakable horror to the small screen, including adaptations of some classic stories from horror literature. This was perhaps fitting, as the series was hosted by famous movie ghoul, Boris Karloff. Fortunately, as I was not yet born during its original run, Thriller had a healthy syndication run. I remember KRCG reran it in the Seventies. I watched it as often as I could. It was possibly the most frightening TV show I had ever seen, short of a few episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Though it is best known as a horror anthology series, Thriller did not start out that way. Thriller was created by TV legend Hubbell Robinson (former programming chief of CBS). As originally conceived by Robinson, Thriller would be "the Studio One of mystery, a quailty anthology drawing on the whole rich field of suspense literature." The series would be on par with Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Robinson assured NBC that Thriller would be his own personal project. Robinson had been programming chief at CBS during the so called Golden Age of Television. During that time he had watched over the development of many of that network's greatest series, including I Love Lucy and Sergeant Bilko. Robinson championed such classic anthology series as Studio One and Playhouse 90. He had also been executive producer for Playhourse 90. Robinson then had a good deal of clout in the televison community and NBC added Thriller to their fall 1960-1961 lineup without requiring a pilot episode.
Unfortunately, problems regarding the series developed almost immediately. Nineteen sixty was the year of the second longest Writer's Guild strike of all time. For the duration of the strike, no television writer could write, re-write, or even so much as edit any script of any TV series. To do so would result in sanctions from the Guild. Needless to say, this made things extremely difficult for televison shows, particularly those going into production for the first time. A more serious problem was a disagrement between executive producer Robinson, line producer Fletcher Markle, and associate producer/story editor James P. Cavanaugh as to what constituted a good "thriller." The three men disagreed as to whether horror and black comedy could be included under the heading of "thriller," whether graphic violence was necessary within a thriller, and nearly everything else about the show.
Between the writers' strike and inner turmoil in the production staff, Thriller debuted to almost universally hostile reviews and low ratings. As the series progressed, neither the quality of the stories nor the reviews nor the ratings showed any significant improvement. Its sponsor was not happy, hence neither was NBC. Robinson blamed the low quality of the initial episodes on the writer's strike. From another producer this might be an acceptable explanation, but, from Hubbell Robinson, NBC did not buy it. NBC conducted its own investigation and discovered the ugly truth: Robinson, Markle, and Cavanaugh simply could not agree on anything
After eight episodes, NBC handed Robinson an ultimatum: either Thriller would be brought up to the level of quality they had expected of the show or it would face cancellation. Robinson decided that the series' problem was the fact that its focus was simply too broad. Its focus was then narrowed from the whole field of mystery to two specific subgenres: the horror/mystery tale with supernatural elements and the fast paced crime story. Markle was fired and two new producers were hired. William Frye would produce the horror episodes, while Maxwell Stone would produce the crime episodes. Peter Rugolo, who provided Thriller with loud, jazzy musical scores, was replaced by Morton Stevens and Jerry Goldsmith, who provided the series with more appropriately chilling music. Finally, Boris Karloff, the master of horror himself, was brought in as the show's host.
Robinson's solution initially made for an uneven series. Though the episodes were now of a fairly high quality, the show itself was divided between two very distinct genres. One week the viewer might tune in to see an exciting tale of murder and drug smuggling, while the next week he might tune in to see a terrifying tale of the undead and ghostly possession. As the first season of Thriller progressed, however, the show began to take shape as a definite horror anthology. Tales of terror outnumbered the tales of crime, and even the crime stories took on a more of an air of Hitchcockian suspense or psychological horror.
In some respects it was logical that Thriller would evolve into a horror anthology. This would further set it apart from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to which it is still compared. At the same time, television had yet to fully mine the horror genre. Thriller first ventured into the horror genre with its fourth aired episode, the first one produced by William Frye, "The Purple Room." This episode dealt with an heir (played by Rip Torn) who must first spend a night in a house said to be haunted before he can inherit the property. It was with the series' 12th episode that Thriller took shape as the horror anthology which most fans remember it as. "The Cheaters" was based on a story by Robert Bloch, originally published in Weird Tales back in 1947. The episode centred upon a mysterious pair of glasses which allowed the wearer to see through the facades of anyone to the truth about that person. Unfortunately, it does so at a terrible cost to the wearer. "The Purple Room" was pivotal in the development of Thriller in that it was the first of many to be based on a classic horror story and it was the first in which Boris Karloff utters the immortal words, "This....is a Thriller!" That phrase would become the tagline for the series.
"The Cheaters" was among the best episodes of the first season of Thriller. "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" was based on the classic Robert Bloch story from a 1943 issue of Weird Tales, in which a man (John Williams) discovers that Jack the Ripper is alive and well in the United States and continuing to commit murders. Robert Bloch himself adapted "The Devil's Ticket," based on his own story which first appeared in Weird Tales in 1944. In "The Devil's Ticket" a starving artist (MacDonald Carey) pawns his soul to Satan for three months of fame and fortune. Perhaps the most terrifying episode of the series' entire run as John Kneubuhl's adaptation of "Pigeons from Hell," based on the story by Robert E. Howard which first appeared in Weird Tales in 1938. In "Pigeons from Hell" two brothers, stranded by car trouble, find themselves facing the undead presences of a particular sadistic plantation family's servants. Over all, the first season of Thriller saw some of the best horror tales ever aired. To this day many of the episodes remain unmatched in their power to evoke terror.
For its second season Thriller shifted almost entirely to a horror format. Only the final episode, "The Specialists," an unsold pilot about an international ring of jewel thieves, contained absolutely no elements of terror. Among the best episodes of this season was Robert Bloch's adaptation of his own "Waxworks," first published in Weird Tales in 1939, in which figures in a travelling wax museum modelled after famous killers are brought to life. In another one of Bloch's adaptation of his own stories, "The Weird Tailor,"a man has a tailor make a special suit that will resurrect his dead son.
Karloff himself appeared in a few of the second season episodes. Among these was an adaptation of Poe's "The Premature Burial." Karloff played a woman's lover who buries her cataleptic husband alive. Karloff also appeared in "The Last of the Sommervilles," in which he plots with his cousin to kill their wealthy aunt. In "The Incredible Dr. Markesan," based on an August Derleth/Mark Schorer story first published in Weird Tales in 1934, Karloff plays a doctor who has figured out a way to cheat death.
Not every episode of Thriller was an exercise in chills. The show also dealt in black comedy. An example of this is "The Remarkable Mrs. Hawks" in which a lady hog farmer (Jo Van Fleet) in a small American community turns out to be the legendary Circe!
By the end of its second season, Thriller was a cult favourite with horror fans and had redeemed itself with television critics. Unfortunately, this would not guarantee that it would see a third season. . At the time NBC was also home to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Unlike the hour long Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents had only been a half hour in length. With the 1962-1963 season, Hitchcock and his production staff decided to expand his series to one hour and rename it The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. It seems possible that Thriller was cancelled to make room for more Hitchcock. Perhaps confirming this theory is a report from Thriller associate producer Doug Benton who had heard that Hitchcock thought that in making Thriller Hubbell Robinson had tread on his turf. From what Benton had heard, Hitchcock thought that Thriller was doing the same sort of material he covered in his own show. The fact that both shows aired on NBC and that both were made at Revue at least makes it possible that Hitchcock expanded his show to an hour in an effort to compete with Thriller.
Regardless, Thriller went onto a very successful syndication run, airing on local stations for literally years. To this day it is perhaps better remembered than horror series with longer runs. The reason is not just its famous host, Boris Karloff, but the fact that despite an awkward start it went onto become a quality anthology series. While Robinson had wanted to do the Studio One of mystery, he ultimately produced the Studio One of horror. It was one of the few shows to adapt classic tales of horror from pulp magazines, often by a master of horror himself (Robert Bloch). The show also benefited from several talented directors, among them John Newland, John Brahm, and Ida Lupino. Finally, as both host and actor, Boris Karloff lent the series both an atmosphere of terror and an air of prestige.
To this day I have fond memories of Thriller. A few of the episodes are out on video and I have thought of buying them at times (unfortunately, I don't think "Pigeons from Hell" is one of them). I am hoping that at some point they will release the entire series on DVD with several extras (the original network promos, a documentary on the series, et. al.). Given its continued popularity, it seems possible that some day they will.
Though it is best known as a horror anthology series, Thriller did not start out that way. Thriller was created by TV legend Hubbell Robinson (former programming chief of CBS). As originally conceived by Robinson, Thriller would be "the Studio One of mystery, a quailty anthology drawing on the whole rich field of suspense literature." The series would be on par with Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Robinson assured NBC that Thriller would be his own personal project. Robinson had been programming chief at CBS during the so called Golden Age of Television. During that time he had watched over the development of many of that network's greatest series, including I Love Lucy and Sergeant Bilko. Robinson championed such classic anthology series as Studio One and Playhouse 90. He had also been executive producer for Playhourse 90. Robinson then had a good deal of clout in the televison community and NBC added Thriller to their fall 1960-1961 lineup without requiring a pilot episode.
Unfortunately, problems regarding the series developed almost immediately. Nineteen sixty was the year of the second longest Writer's Guild strike of all time. For the duration of the strike, no television writer could write, re-write, or even so much as edit any script of any TV series. To do so would result in sanctions from the Guild. Needless to say, this made things extremely difficult for televison shows, particularly those going into production for the first time. A more serious problem was a disagrement between executive producer Robinson, line producer Fletcher Markle, and associate producer/story editor James P. Cavanaugh as to what constituted a good "thriller." The three men disagreed as to whether horror and black comedy could be included under the heading of "thriller," whether graphic violence was necessary within a thriller, and nearly everything else about the show.
Between the writers' strike and inner turmoil in the production staff, Thriller debuted to almost universally hostile reviews and low ratings. As the series progressed, neither the quality of the stories nor the reviews nor the ratings showed any significant improvement. Its sponsor was not happy, hence neither was NBC. Robinson blamed the low quality of the initial episodes on the writer's strike. From another producer this might be an acceptable explanation, but, from Hubbell Robinson, NBC did not buy it. NBC conducted its own investigation and discovered the ugly truth: Robinson, Markle, and Cavanaugh simply could not agree on anything
After eight episodes, NBC handed Robinson an ultimatum: either Thriller would be brought up to the level of quality they had expected of the show or it would face cancellation. Robinson decided that the series' problem was the fact that its focus was simply too broad. Its focus was then narrowed from the whole field of mystery to two specific subgenres: the horror/mystery tale with supernatural elements and the fast paced crime story. Markle was fired and two new producers were hired. William Frye would produce the horror episodes, while Maxwell Stone would produce the crime episodes. Peter Rugolo, who provided Thriller with loud, jazzy musical scores, was replaced by Morton Stevens and Jerry Goldsmith, who provided the series with more appropriately chilling music. Finally, Boris Karloff, the master of horror himself, was brought in as the show's host.
Robinson's solution initially made for an uneven series. Though the episodes were now of a fairly high quality, the show itself was divided between two very distinct genres. One week the viewer might tune in to see an exciting tale of murder and drug smuggling, while the next week he might tune in to see a terrifying tale of the undead and ghostly possession. As the first season of Thriller progressed, however, the show began to take shape as a definite horror anthology. Tales of terror outnumbered the tales of crime, and even the crime stories took on a more of an air of Hitchcockian suspense or psychological horror.
In some respects it was logical that Thriller would evolve into a horror anthology. This would further set it apart from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to which it is still compared. At the same time, television had yet to fully mine the horror genre. Thriller first ventured into the horror genre with its fourth aired episode, the first one produced by William Frye, "The Purple Room." This episode dealt with an heir (played by Rip Torn) who must first spend a night in a house said to be haunted before he can inherit the property. It was with the series' 12th episode that Thriller took shape as the horror anthology which most fans remember it as. "The Cheaters" was based on a story by Robert Bloch, originally published in Weird Tales back in 1947. The episode centred upon a mysterious pair of glasses which allowed the wearer to see through the facades of anyone to the truth about that person. Unfortunately, it does so at a terrible cost to the wearer. "The Purple Room" was pivotal in the development of Thriller in that it was the first of many to be based on a classic horror story and it was the first in which Boris Karloff utters the immortal words, "This....is a Thriller!" That phrase would become the tagline for the series.
"The Cheaters" was among the best episodes of the first season of Thriller. "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" was based on the classic Robert Bloch story from a 1943 issue of Weird Tales, in which a man (John Williams) discovers that Jack the Ripper is alive and well in the United States and continuing to commit murders. Robert Bloch himself adapted "The Devil's Ticket," based on his own story which first appeared in Weird Tales in 1944. In "The Devil's Ticket" a starving artist (MacDonald Carey) pawns his soul to Satan for three months of fame and fortune. Perhaps the most terrifying episode of the series' entire run as John Kneubuhl's adaptation of "Pigeons from Hell," based on the story by Robert E. Howard which first appeared in Weird Tales in 1938. In "Pigeons from Hell" two brothers, stranded by car trouble, find themselves facing the undead presences of a particular sadistic plantation family's servants. Over all, the first season of Thriller saw some of the best horror tales ever aired. To this day many of the episodes remain unmatched in their power to evoke terror.
For its second season Thriller shifted almost entirely to a horror format. Only the final episode, "The Specialists," an unsold pilot about an international ring of jewel thieves, contained absolutely no elements of terror. Among the best episodes of this season was Robert Bloch's adaptation of his own "Waxworks," first published in Weird Tales in 1939, in which figures in a travelling wax museum modelled after famous killers are brought to life. In another one of Bloch's adaptation of his own stories, "The Weird Tailor,"a man has a tailor make a special suit that will resurrect his dead son.
Karloff himself appeared in a few of the second season episodes. Among these was an adaptation of Poe's "The Premature Burial." Karloff played a woman's lover who buries her cataleptic husband alive. Karloff also appeared in "The Last of the Sommervilles," in which he plots with his cousin to kill their wealthy aunt. In "The Incredible Dr. Markesan," based on an August Derleth/Mark Schorer story first published in Weird Tales in 1934, Karloff plays a doctor who has figured out a way to cheat death.
Not every episode of Thriller was an exercise in chills. The show also dealt in black comedy. An example of this is "The Remarkable Mrs. Hawks" in which a lady hog farmer (Jo Van Fleet) in a small American community turns out to be the legendary Circe!
By the end of its second season, Thriller was a cult favourite with horror fans and had redeemed itself with television critics. Unfortunately, this would not guarantee that it would see a third season. . At the time NBC was also home to Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Unlike the hour long Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents had only been a half hour in length. With the 1962-1963 season, Hitchcock and his production staff decided to expand his series to one hour and rename it The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. It seems possible that Thriller was cancelled to make room for more Hitchcock. Perhaps confirming this theory is a report from Thriller associate producer Doug Benton who had heard that Hitchcock thought that in making Thriller Hubbell Robinson had tread on his turf. From what Benton had heard, Hitchcock thought that Thriller was doing the same sort of material he covered in his own show. The fact that both shows aired on NBC and that both were made at Revue at least makes it possible that Hitchcock expanded his show to an hour in an effort to compete with Thriller.
Regardless, Thriller went onto a very successful syndication run, airing on local stations for literally years. To this day it is perhaps better remembered than horror series with longer runs. The reason is not just its famous host, Boris Karloff, but the fact that despite an awkward start it went onto become a quality anthology series. While Robinson had wanted to do the Studio One of mystery, he ultimately produced the Studio One of horror. It was one of the few shows to adapt classic tales of horror from pulp magazines, often by a master of horror himself (Robert Bloch). The show also benefited from several talented directors, among them John Newland, John Brahm, and Ida Lupino. Finally, as both host and actor, Boris Karloff lent the series both an atmosphere of terror and an air of prestige.
To this day I have fond memories of Thriller. A few of the episodes are out on video and I have thought of buying them at times (unfortunately, I don't think "Pigeons from Hell" is one of them). I am hoping that at some point they will release the entire series on DVD with several extras (the original network promos, a documentary on the series, et. al.). Given its continued popularity, it seems possible that some day they will.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
What is Released on DVD
I have often wondered who determines what movies and TV shows are released on DVD and how they make that determination. The reason I have pondered this for a long time is it seems to me that there is often little rhyme and reason as to what is available on DVD and what is not.
A perfect example is the Judy Garland and Gene Kelly Summer Stock. It is regarded by many as a classic musical and has long been a favourite with fans. As I write this, however, it is still not available on DVD. On the other hand, For Me and My Gal, another teaming of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and the first motion picture in which Gene Kelly starred, is available on DVD. While I don't know of anyone who seriously dislikes For Me and My Gal, most people I know regard Summer Stock as the superior of the two films. So why isn't Summer Stock available on DVD?
Indeed, Summer Stock is hardly the only classic film that is not on DVD. El Cid, the classic Sixties epic with Charlton Heston as the legendary hero, has never been on DVD either. What is worse is that I have never heard of any plans to release it. Given the continuing popularity of the film, I would think it would be an obvious choice for release on DVD too.
Of course, some films are released on DVD only to go out of print. The Beatles film Help! was released on DVD in 1997, but it is no longer being manufactured. There are still new and used copies to be bought, although the prices tend to be steeper than most DVDs. Indeed, the prices for copies of Help! would seem to indicate there is a demand for the movie. Indeed, I would think the fact that it is a Beatles movie and anything Beatles related tends to sell very, very well, would dictate that it would not have gone out of print. And yet, I have heard of no plans to re-release it on DVD.
The question of how it is decided what films are released on DVD becomes even more pointed when I think about just what is available on DVD. Cocktail, the 1988 movie in which Tom Cruise played a bartender, has been on DVD since 2002. Now, in my humble opinion, not only is Cocktail possibly Tom Cruise's worst film, it is also quite possibly one of the worst films of all time. I can name only a few other Hollywood products that are as dreadful as Cocktail, yet it is available on DVD, while Summer Stock and El Cid are not.
I am not only mystified by what films are released on DVD and what films are not, but also by which TV shows are released on DVD and which ones aren't. The Wild Wild West as long been a cult favourite and has had a long and successful syndication run. It continues to be a popular series to this day. Despite this fact, The Wild Wild West is not available on DVD, and I have heard of no plans to release on DVD. This would not be so puzzling, except that the first season of Just Shoot Me is out on DVD. Now Just Shoot Me was a show that critics did not regard highly and it never was a huge hit in the ratings. Its syndication run has not been a huge success. In fact, the only reason I believe it ran five years at all is that NBC kept on Tuesday and Thursday nights where at least some of the audiences for their higher rated sitcoms might just stay tuned. Regardless, its first season can be bought on DVD.
It makes little sense to me that classic movies like Summer Stock and El Cid are not available on DVD and classic shows like The Wild Wild West are not available on DVD, while lesser movies and shows are. I do have to wonder how it is determined what goes on DVD and what doesn't. At least Amazon has it set up to where people can let the powers that be know what they want on DVD. Let us say that someone does a search for Summer Stock on DVD. They would arrive at a page which would inform them that the title is not yet available. On that page would be a link that he or she could click to let Amazon know that they are interested in seeing Summer Stock on DVD. Amazon would then alert the owners of the copyright on Summer Stock that an individual wants Summer Stock on DVD. With any luck, if enough people want Summer Stock on DVD, then those owning the coypright would release it on DVD. While I don't know how effective Amazon can be in persuading companies to release their product on DVD, it at least gives fans an outlet to express their desires.
Anyhow, I do hope that eventually I do see Summer Stock, El Cid, and The Wild Wild West released on DVD. I would certainly buy them. Unfortunately, I don't kow how soon that will be...
A perfect example is the Judy Garland and Gene Kelly Summer Stock. It is regarded by many as a classic musical and has long been a favourite with fans. As I write this, however, it is still not available on DVD. On the other hand, For Me and My Gal, another teaming of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and the first motion picture in which Gene Kelly starred, is available on DVD. While I don't know of anyone who seriously dislikes For Me and My Gal, most people I know regard Summer Stock as the superior of the two films. So why isn't Summer Stock available on DVD?
Indeed, Summer Stock is hardly the only classic film that is not on DVD. El Cid, the classic Sixties epic with Charlton Heston as the legendary hero, has never been on DVD either. What is worse is that I have never heard of any plans to release it. Given the continuing popularity of the film, I would think it would be an obvious choice for release on DVD too.
Of course, some films are released on DVD only to go out of print. The Beatles film Help! was released on DVD in 1997, but it is no longer being manufactured. There are still new and used copies to be bought, although the prices tend to be steeper than most DVDs. Indeed, the prices for copies of Help! would seem to indicate there is a demand for the movie. Indeed, I would think the fact that it is a Beatles movie and anything Beatles related tends to sell very, very well, would dictate that it would not have gone out of print. And yet, I have heard of no plans to re-release it on DVD.
The question of how it is decided what films are released on DVD becomes even more pointed when I think about just what is available on DVD. Cocktail, the 1988 movie in which Tom Cruise played a bartender, has been on DVD since 2002. Now, in my humble opinion, not only is Cocktail possibly Tom Cruise's worst film, it is also quite possibly one of the worst films of all time. I can name only a few other Hollywood products that are as dreadful as Cocktail, yet it is available on DVD, while Summer Stock and El Cid are not.
I am not only mystified by what films are released on DVD and what films are not, but also by which TV shows are released on DVD and which ones aren't. The Wild Wild West as long been a cult favourite and has had a long and successful syndication run. It continues to be a popular series to this day. Despite this fact, The Wild Wild West is not available on DVD, and I have heard of no plans to release on DVD. This would not be so puzzling, except that the first season of Just Shoot Me is out on DVD. Now Just Shoot Me was a show that critics did not regard highly and it never was a huge hit in the ratings. Its syndication run has not been a huge success. In fact, the only reason I believe it ran five years at all is that NBC kept on Tuesday and Thursday nights where at least some of the audiences for their higher rated sitcoms might just stay tuned. Regardless, its first season can be bought on DVD.
It makes little sense to me that classic movies like Summer Stock and El Cid are not available on DVD and classic shows like The Wild Wild West are not available on DVD, while lesser movies and shows are. I do have to wonder how it is determined what goes on DVD and what doesn't. At least Amazon has it set up to where people can let the powers that be know what they want on DVD. Let us say that someone does a search for Summer Stock on DVD. They would arrive at a page which would inform them that the title is not yet available. On that page would be a link that he or she could click to let Amazon know that they are interested in seeing Summer Stock on DVD. Amazon would then alert the owners of the copyright on Summer Stock that an individual wants Summer Stock on DVD. With any luck, if enough people want Summer Stock on DVD, then those owning the coypright would release it on DVD. While I don't know how effective Amazon can be in persuading companies to release their product on DVD, it at least gives fans an outlet to express their desires.
Anyhow, I do hope that eventually I do see Summer Stock, El Cid, and The Wild Wild West released on DVD. I would certainly buy them. Unfortunately, I don't kow how soon that will be...
Saturday, October 23, 2004
The Golden Age of Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchock's career as a director went back to the Silent Era. He directed his first film all the way back in 1922. And while Hitchcock produced a number of classics throughout the years (The Lady Vanishes, Sabotage, The 39 Steps, and Rebecca among them), I have always thought that he hit his stride in the years from 1951 to 1963. These were the years when, in my humble opinion, Hitchcock made his greatest films.
Hitchcock's best era began in 1951 with the release of Strangers on a Train. The film dealt with the novel premise of two strangers meeting on a train who then discuss exchanging murders--psychotic Bruno would kill tennis pro's Guy's wife (Guy wants to divorce to marry his paramour), while Guy would kill Bruno's overbearing father. The idea is that without any clear motive, both would evade suspicion. Hitchcock's directorial prowess was at its peak, while both Farley Granger (as Guy) and Robert Walker (as Bruno) give excellent performances.
In 1953 Hitchcock's I Confess was released. This was followed in 1954 by another one of Hitchcock's greatest movies, Dial M for Murder. Like Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder has a novel premise. In this case, the movie is almost entirely from the murderer's perspective. Like tennis pro Guy from Strangers on a Train, former tennis pro Tony (Ray Milland) would like to see his wife dead. Unlike Guy, Tony actually intends to go through with it. His wife Margot (Grace Kelly) has been carrying on an affair with mystery writer Mark (Robert Cummings) for some time. And that whole time Tony has been plotting his revenge. Indeed, Tony believes he has concocted the perfect murder. Unfortunately for Tony, he did count on a few tiny details that would undo him... Dial M for Murder tends to be a bit talky and does not totally escape its origins as a stage play. That having been said, however, Hitchcock's direction is again at its peak and the actors' performances are top notch.
It was with Rear Window in 1954 that Alfred Hitchcock really hit his stride. Rear Window deals with a theme that recurs throughout Hitchcock's career--that of an ordinary person caught in extraordinary circumstances. In this case, photographer Jeff Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart), temporarily wheelchair bound with a broken leg, is convinced that he has witnessed a murder from his rear window. Alongside Vertigo, North By Northwest, and Psycho, Rear Window is definitely one of Hitchcock's greatest film. His direction is at its absolute best. Nearly the entire movie takes place in Jeff's apartment, and yet Hitchcock makes incredible use of that location. He lets us look through Jeff's binoculars at the apartments across from his rear view window and lets our eyes roam about the apartment. What is more is that the performances are top notch, from Jimmy Stewart as Jeff to Grace Kelly as his girl friend to Thelma Ritter as Jeffs nurse Stella. Of course, these performance would be nothing without a top notch script. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on a story by Cornell Woolrich, is full of twists and turns and a fine attention to detail.
As great as Rear Window is, it would soon be matched, if not surpassed, by Vertigo, released in 1958. Vertigo begins simply enough, with old college pal Tom Helmore (Gavin Elster) hiring detective Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) to watch his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). Scottie, who is deathly afraid of heights, slowly becomes obssessed with Madeline. From there the plot grows more complex and soon nothing is as it seems. Jimmy Stewart gives a great performance as Scottie, at once trying to come to grips with his past and falling in love with Madeline. Hitchcock makes great use of San Francisco as a backdrop (the worst place in the world for an acrophobe like Scottie). What is more, Hitchcock sustains a atmosphere of suspense throughout the movie. Even the score of Vertigo is excellent.
Nineteen fifty eight and 1959 seem to have been Hitchcock's best years, as 1959 saw the release of another masterpiece, North By Northwest. North By Northwest once more finds an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation. Advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill has the misfortune of being mistaken for a spy. This leads him to a cross country chase where he is pursued by both enemy agents and our own government. North By Northwest is Hitchcock's best spy thriller, with plenty of suspense, plenty of thrills, and even a good deal of action. Indeed, except for the shower scene in Psycho, the scene of Thornhill fleeing from a plane is perhaps the most famous Hitchcock's most famous.
It was the following year, 1960, that saw the release of Psyco. Hitchcock had not ventured into the horror genre since he'd directed The Lodger in 1927, yet he directed Psycho as if he was born to direct horror films. Norman Bates and the Bates Motel have both become a part of pop culture, while the shower scene is one of the most famous scenes from any film. Psycho was considered intense in its day and even now, after the gore drenched spectacles of the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, it still packs a punch. With only a hint of blood and not one point where one actually sees the knife contact Marion Crane's body, Hitchcock created something absolutely terrifying with the shower scene.
In 1963 Hitchcock made another horror film, in this case The Birds. The Birds is a tale of nature gone wild, as huge numbers of birds (everything from gulls to crows) descend on the small town of Bodega Bay and begin attacking people. Beautiful socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hendren), visiting from San Franscisco, finds herself in the middle of this feathery apocalypse. In some respects The Birds is more frightening even than Psycho, with such scenes as school children fleeing swarms of attacking birds.
These are not the only films of note that Hitchcock made between the years of 1951 to 1963. During this era Hitchcock also made the dark comedy The Trouble With Harry and the caper movie To Catch a Thief. It was also during many of these years that Alfred Hitchcock Presents was in production. There are two common misconceptions about this series. One is that Hitchcock was actively involved in the series' production. The other is that he had almost nothing to do with the show beyond his introductions. The truth is somewhere in between. Hitchcock directed 17 episodes of the series (roughly an average of two episodes per season). In fact, Hitchcock directed some of the best remembered episodes, among them "The Case of Mr. Pelham (in which the unfortunate Mr. Pelham finds his life is being taken over by a double)," "Lamb to the Slaughter (in which a housewife kills her husband with a leg of lamb)," and "Arthur (in which a gentelman farmer murders his lady love and disposes of the evidence in a unique way)."
Nineteen sixty four saw the release of Marne. And while in retrospect the movie is better than what critics believed it to be at that time, it still falls short of the films which preceed it. Following Marnie, Hitchcock seems to have lost some of the magic he had possessed from 1951 to 1963. Never again he would make films of the level of quality of Rear Window, Vertigo, or North By Northwest. Regardless, even if Hitchcock had made no classics prior to 1951, he would still be remembered for the remarkable movies he made from 1951 to 1963. The fact that he had made many fine films before this period only proves that he was indeed one of the greatest directors of all time.
Hitchcock's best era began in 1951 with the release of Strangers on a Train. The film dealt with the novel premise of two strangers meeting on a train who then discuss exchanging murders--psychotic Bruno would kill tennis pro's Guy's wife (Guy wants to divorce to marry his paramour), while Guy would kill Bruno's overbearing father. The idea is that without any clear motive, both would evade suspicion. Hitchcock's directorial prowess was at its peak, while both Farley Granger (as Guy) and Robert Walker (as Bruno) give excellent performances.
In 1953 Hitchcock's I Confess was released. This was followed in 1954 by another one of Hitchcock's greatest movies, Dial M for Murder. Like Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder has a novel premise. In this case, the movie is almost entirely from the murderer's perspective. Like tennis pro Guy from Strangers on a Train, former tennis pro Tony (Ray Milland) would like to see his wife dead. Unlike Guy, Tony actually intends to go through with it. His wife Margot (Grace Kelly) has been carrying on an affair with mystery writer Mark (Robert Cummings) for some time. And that whole time Tony has been plotting his revenge. Indeed, Tony believes he has concocted the perfect murder. Unfortunately for Tony, he did count on a few tiny details that would undo him... Dial M for Murder tends to be a bit talky and does not totally escape its origins as a stage play. That having been said, however, Hitchcock's direction is again at its peak and the actors' performances are top notch.
It was with Rear Window in 1954 that Alfred Hitchcock really hit his stride. Rear Window deals with a theme that recurs throughout Hitchcock's career--that of an ordinary person caught in extraordinary circumstances. In this case, photographer Jeff Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart), temporarily wheelchair bound with a broken leg, is convinced that he has witnessed a murder from his rear window. Alongside Vertigo, North By Northwest, and Psycho, Rear Window is definitely one of Hitchcock's greatest film. His direction is at its absolute best. Nearly the entire movie takes place in Jeff's apartment, and yet Hitchcock makes incredible use of that location. He lets us look through Jeff's binoculars at the apartments across from his rear view window and lets our eyes roam about the apartment. What is more is that the performances are top notch, from Jimmy Stewart as Jeff to Grace Kelly as his girl friend to Thelma Ritter as Jeffs nurse Stella. Of course, these performance would be nothing without a top notch script. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on a story by Cornell Woolrich, is full of twists and turns and a fine attention to detail.
As great as Rear Window is, it would soon be matched, if not surpassed, by Vertigo, released in 1958. Vertigo begins simply enough, with old college pal Tom Helmore (Gavin Elster) hiring detective Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) to watch his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). Scottie, who is deathly afraid of heights, slowly becomes obssessed with Madeline. From there the plot grows more complex and soon nothing is as it seems. Jimmy Stewart gives a great performance as Scottie, at once trying to come to grips with his past and falling in love with Madeline. Hitchcock makes great use of San Francisco as a backdrop (the worst place in the world for an acrophobe like Scottie). What is more, Hitchcock sustains a atmosphere of suspense throughout the movie. Even the score of Vertigo is excellent.
Nineteen fifty eight and 1959 seem to have been Hitchcock's best years, as 1959 saw the release of another masterpiece, North By Northwest. North By Northwest once more finds an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation. Advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill has the misfortune of being mistaken for a spy. This leads him to a cross country chase where he is pursued by both enemy agents and our own government. North By Northwest is Hitchcock's best spy thriller, with plenty of suspense, plenty of thrills, and even a good deal of action. Indeed, except for the shower scene in Psycho, the scene of Thornhill fleeing from a plane is perhaps the most famous Hitchcock's most famous.
It was the following year, 1960, that saw the release of Psyco. Hitchcock had not ventured into the horror genre since he'd directed The Lodger in 1927, yet he directed Psycho as if he was born to direct horror films. Norman Bates and the Bates Motel have both become a part of pop culture, while the shower scene is one of the most famous scenes from any film. Psycho was considered intense in its day and even now, after the gore drenched spectacles of the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, it still packs a punch. With only a hint of blood and not one point where one actually sees the knife contact Marion Crane's body, Hitchcock created something absolutely terrifying with the shower scene.
In 1963 Hitchcock made another horror film, in this case The Birds. The Birds is a tale of nature gone wild, as huge numbers of birds (everything from gulls to crows) descend on the small town of Bodega Bay and begin attacking people. Beautiful socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hendren), visiting from San Franscisco, finds herself in the middle of this feathery apocalypse. In some respects The Birds is more frightening even than Psycho, with such scenes as school children fleeing swarms of attacking birds.
These are not the only films of note that Hitchcock made between the years of 1951 to 1963. During this era Hitchcock also made the dark comedy The Trouble With Harry and the caper movie To Catch a Thief. It was also during many of these years that Alfred Hitchcock Presents was in production. There are two common misconceptions about this series. One is that Hitchcock was actively involved in the series' production. The other is that he had almost nothing to do with the show beyond his introductions. The truth is somewhere in between. Hitchcock directed 17 episodes of the series (roughly an average of two episodes per season). In fact, Hitchcock directed some of the best remembered episodes, among them "The Case of Mr. Pelham (in which the unfortunate Mr. Pelham finds his life is being taken over by a double)," "Lamb to the Slaughter (in which a housewife kills her husband with a leg of lamb)," and "Arthur (in which a gentelman farmer murders his lady love and disposes of the evidence in a unique way)."
Nineteen sixty four saw the release of Marne. And while in retrospect the movie is better than what critics believed it to be at that time, it still falls short of the films which preceed it. Following Marnie, Hitchcock seems to have lost some of the magic he had possessed from 1951 to 1963. Never again he would make films of the level of quality of Rear Window, Vertigo, or North By Northwest. Regardless, even if Hitchcock had made no classics prior to 1951, he would still be remembered for the remarkable movies he made from 1951 to 1963. The fact that he had made many fine films before this period only proves that he was indeed one of the greatest directors of all time.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Robert E. Howard
Much of the reason I have always gravitated to fantasy fiction has been the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, although he is not the only author to have influenced my taste for fantasy. As significant as Tolkien was determining my tastes, Robert E. Howard was perhaps just as significant.
I firat encountered the characters of Robert E. Howard in Conan the Barbarian and Kull the Conqueror comic books published Marvel in the Seventies. From the Marvel Comics I moved onto the many short story anthologies featuring the works of Howard (often referred to by his initials--REH). Howard was a markedly different writer from Tolkien. While Tolkien a rich and complex world, Howard's focus was on action. That is not to say that Howard's stories are simple by any stretch of the imagination. He could and did deal with some very complex concepts in his works.
Robert E. Howard was born in Peaster, Texas in 1906, the son of a physician. They moved half way across Texas to Cross Plains in 1919, where REH spent the remainder of his years. Howard started writing as a teenager. He made his first sale in 1924--Weird Tales bought the story "Spear and Fang," detailing the encounter between a Neanderthal and a Cro-Magnon. He worked a number of odd jobs, although eventually he was able to make a living entirely off his writing.
It was in 1928 that the first of his many continuing characters saw publication. Solomon Kane was a 16th century Puritan and master swordsman who often found himself in bizarre adventures. In various short stories, Kane faced the legendary Aztec Feathered Serpent, aided a lost group of Vikings in Greenland against werewolves, fought ghosts in England, and faced many other opponents that combined swashbuckling adventure with supernatural horror. In some respects Kane was Howard's most complex character, not quite a Puritan but no quite a Cavalier either, sworn to destroy evil where he found it.
It was in 1929 that what is possibly Howard's second most famous character made his first appearance. In many ways Kull was a prototype for Conan. Like Conan he was a barbarian. In Kull's case, he was an Atlantean who would go on to sieze the throne of the kingdom of Valusia. While Kull resembles Conan in many respects, even down to his appearance, his adventures tended to be much more fantastic than those of Conan. In various short stories, Kull faced Serpent Men, conspiracies in his court, and his archnemesis Thulsa Doom, the world's most powerful necromancer. I always preferred Kull to Conan, particularly as his adventures had a stronger fantasy element and were often rife with some fairly sophisticated concepts. Indeed, Howard's explanation of how Kull could travel through time to meet Bran Mak Morn, another one of his characters, in the story "Kings of the Night," was very original and fairly complex.
Howard's next major character, Cormac Mac Art first appeared in 1930. Like Solomon Kane, Cormac was one of Howard's heroes who existed in an actual historical setting. Art was Gael in the Dark Ages who often fought alongside or against Saxons and Danes. Unlike many of Howard's other characters, Cormac was not successful. The fact that the stories were straight forward action adventure with little in the way of fantasy made them difficult to sell. Another character in a historical setting, Bran Mak Morn, would make his first appearance in 1932. Bran was a Pictish chieftain who fought the forces of Rome. Like Cormac, Bran was not quite as successful as some of Howard's characters and may well be the least known of his major characters.
Howard's most famous character, Conan the Barbarian, debuted only a month after Bran Mak Morn's first appearance. Conan was a Cimmerian babarian in the Hyborian Age, who had a number of adventures before becoming King of Aquilonia. The first Conan story was actually an unsold King Kull story, rewritten to fit the new character. What set Conan apart from Howard's other characters was that he existed in a much larger world (or at least he saw more of that world). This gave Howard much more flexibility in the sort of stories he could write about his Barbarian. A cross section of the genres of various Conan stories demonstrates this flexibility: pirate stories, oriental adventures, straight forward action adventure, outright fantasy, and even a detective story ("The God in the Bowl"). In fact, Conan was the only one of Howard's characters to whom he devoted an entire novel. It was perhaps because of the flexibility of Howard's Conan stories that he would become Howard's most popular character and one of the most popular characters featured in Weird Tales.
Howard was very prolific. Indeed, in addition to the large number of stories he wrote, Howard was also a prolific writer of letters. He corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, and many others.
Howard spent his entire life in Cross Plains. Despite his success, REH often felt that he was a misfit out of touch with the world. By his own admission, he was subject to dark moods. Perhaps the strongest influence on Howard's life was his mother, to whom he was very close. His mother was ill much of Howard's life and Howard often found himself in the role of her caretaker. Another strong influence on Howard was schoolteacher Novalyne Price. Novalyne was the closest Howard ever came to a romantic relationship in his life. The two shared many interests and at different times even entertained the thought of marriage. Unfortunately, the relationship was often stormy and eventually Novalyne would leave Cross Plains for Louisiana State Univesity. Novalyne was strong willed and independent and refused to accept the Depression Era stereotype of women as mere housewives. She may have even been the inspiration for some of Howard's female warriors (Dark Agnes de la Fere). She does seem to have had an impact on Howard's attitude towards women, as Howard often expresses nearly feminist attitudes in many of his letters.
By 1935, the health of Howard's mother took a severe turn for the worse. She was in and out of hospitals for much of the time. Howard found himself sinking into a deep depression. Howard had entertained thoughts of suicide for years. Prior to his death Howard arranged for his agent to handle his stories following his passing from this world. He also borrowed a handgun from a friend. In June of 1936 Howard's mother went into a coma. Howard bought a cememtary lot for his mother, his father, and himself. It was on June ll, when Howard discovered that his mother would not recover, that Howard got into his Chevy and shot himself in the head. Howard lived for nearly eight hours, never regaining uncosciousness, before passing on.
Robert E. Howard has had an enormous impact on my life. As much as I love Tolkien, in many respects it is Howard that has determined my tastes in fantasy fiction. Many of the authors I favour, from Philip Jose Farmer to Roger Zelazney to Michael Moorcock, show more influence from Robert E. Howard than they do Tolkien. My own writing style also owes more to Howard than Tolkien (although admittedly my strongest influence in style has been Doc Savage scribe Lester Dent). Howard's stories, featuring sword wielding Puritans, brawny barbarians, powerful wizards, and dangerous monsters, have always appealed to me in a way that Tolkien's rich world cannot. I think it safe to say that Howard will continue to be a strong influence on myself and other fantasy fans and writers.
I firat encountered the characters of Robert E. Howard in Conan the Barbarian and Kull the Conqueror comic books published Marvel in the Seventies. From the Marvel Comics I moved onto the many short story anthologies featuring the works of Howard (often referred to by his initials--REH). Howard was a markedly different writer from Tolkien. While Tolkien a rich and complex world, Howard's focus was on action. That is not to say that Howard's stories are simple by any stretch of the imagination. He could and did deal with some very complex concepts in his works.
Robert E. Howard was born in Peaster, Texas in 1906, the son of a physician. They moved half way across Texas to Cross Plains in 1919, where REH spent the remainder of his years. Howard started writing as a teenager. He made his first sale in 1924--Weird Tales bought the story "Spear and Fang," detailing the encounter between a Neanderthal and a Cro-Magnon. He worked a number of odd jobs, although eventually he was able to make a living entirely off his writing.
It was in 1928 that the first of his many continuing characters saw publication. Solomon Kane was a 16th century Puritan and master swordsman who often found himself in bizarre adventures. In various short stories, Kane faced the legendary Aztec Feathered Serpent, aided a lost group of Vikings in Greenland against werewolves, fought ghosts in England, and faced many other opponents that combined swashbuckling adventure with supernatural horror. In some respects Kane was Howard's most complex character, not quite a Puritan but no quite a Cavalier either, sworn to destroy evil where he found it.
It was in 1929 that what is possibly Howard's second most famous character made his first appearance. In many ways Kull was a prototype for Conan. Like Conan he was a barbarian. In Kull's case, he was an Atlantean who would go on to sieze the throne of the kingdom of Valusia. While Kull resembles Conan in many respects, even down to his appearance, his adventures tended to be much more fantastic than those of Conan. In various short stories, Kull faced Serpent Men, conspiracies in his court, and his archnemesis Thulsa Doom, the world's most powerful necromancer. I always preferred Kull to Conan, particularly as his adventures had a stronger fantasy element and were often rife with some fairly sophisticated concepts. Indeed, Howard's explanation of how Kull could travel through time to meet Bran Mak Morn, another one of his characters, in the story "Kings of the Night," was very original and fairly complex.
Howard's next major character, Cormac Mac Art first appeared in 1930. Like Solomon Kane, Cormac was one of Howard's heroes who existed in an actual historical setting. Art was Gael in the Dark Ages who often fought alongside or against Saxons and Danes. Unlike many of Howard's other characters, Cormac was not successful. The fact that the stories were straight forward action adventure with little in the way of fantasy made them difficult to sell. Another character in a historical setting, Bran Mak Morn, would make his first appearance in 1932. Bran was a Pictish chieftain who fought the forces of Rome. Like Cormac, Bran was not quite as successful as some of Howard's characters and may well be the least known of his major characters.
Howard's most famous character, Conan the Barbarian, debuted only a month after Bran Mak Morn's first appearance. Conan was a Cimmerian babarian in the Hyborian Age, who had a number of adventures before becoming King of Aquilonia. The first Conan story was actually an unsold King Kull story, rewritten to fit the new character. What set Conan apart from Howard's other characters was that he existed in a much larger world (or at least he saw more of that world). This gave Howard much more flexibility in the sort of stories he could write about his Barbarian. A cross section of the genres of various Conan stories demonstrates this flexibility: pirate stories, oriental adventures, straight forward action adventure, outright fantasy, and even a detective story ("The God in the Bowl"). In fact, Conan was the only one of Howard's characters to whom he devoted an entire novel. It was perhaps because of the flexibility of Howard's Conan stories that he would become Howard's most popular character and one of the most popular characters featured in Weird Tales.
Howard was very prolific. Indeed, in addition to the large number of stories he wrote, Howard was also a prolific writer of letters. He corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, and many others.
Howard spent his entire life in Cross Plains. Despite his success, REH often felt that he was a misfit out of touch with the world. By his own admission, he was subject to dark moods. Perhaps the strongest influence on Howard's life was his mother, to whom he was very close. His mother was ill much of Howard's life and Howard often found himself in the role of her caretaker. Another strong influence on Howard was schoolteacher Novalyne Price. Novalyne was the closest Howard ever came to a romantic relationship in his life. The two shared many interests and at different times even entertained the thought of marriage. Unfortunately, the relationship was often stormy and eventually Novalyne would leave Cross Plains for Louisiana State Univesity. Novalyne was strong willed and independent and refused to accept the Depression Era stereotype of women as mere housewives. She may have even been the inspiration for some of Howard's female warriors (Dark Agnes de la Fere). She does seem to have had an impact on Howard's attitude towards women, as Howard often expresses nearly feminist attitudes in many of his letters.
By 1935, the health of Howard's mother took a severe turn for the worse. She was in and out of hospitals for much of the time. Howard found himself sinking into a deep depression. Howard had entertained thoughts of suicide for years. Prior to his death Howard arranged for his agent to handle his stories following his passing from this world. He also borrowed a handgun from a friend. In June of 1936 Howard's mother went into a coma. Howard bought a cememtary lot for his mother, his father, and himself. It was on June ll, when Howard discovered that his mother would not recover, that Howard got into his Chevy and shot himself in the head. Howard lived for nearly eight hours, never regaining uncosciousness, before passing on.
Robert E. Howard has had an enormous impact on my life. As much as I love Tolkien, in many respects it is Howard that has determined my tastes in fantasy fiction. Many of the authors I favour, from Philip Jose Farmer to Roger Zelazney to Michael Moorcock, show more influence from Robert E. Howard than they do Tolkien. My own writing style also owes more to Howard than Tolkien (although admittedly my strongest influence in style has been Doc Savage scribe Lester Dent). Howard's stories, featuring sword wielding Puritans, brawny barbarians, powerful wizards, and dangerous monsters, have always appealed to me in a way that Tolkien's rich world cannot. I think it safe to say that Howard will continue to be a strong influence on myself and other fantasy fans and writers.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
A Trio of Anniversaries
This month has seen or will see the celebratoin of the anniversaries of three things that have played a significant role in my life. The first was the 30th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D. Over the weekend around 25,000 fans of the game gathered at gaming shops around the United States to celebrate the anniversary. It was in January of 1974 that Tactical Studies Rules first published Dungeons & Dragons in a three rulebook set. The original game was much simpler than the game with which most players are now familiar. There were only three character classes (fighters, magic users, and clerics) and four different races (humans, dwarves, elves, and halflings). Regardless, the game was a hit. It sold over 1000 copies in ten months. With the publication of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in 1977, the game reached the proportions of a fad. This spurred the creation of yet other role playing games amd a broader role playing fad.
Role playing occupied a good portion of my youth and D&D was the first role playing game I ever played. My brother introduced it to me when he was home from college in 1981. While I would move onto other role playing games from Dungeons and Dragons, I still have fond memories of the hours I spent playing the game. Indeed, it can be argued that much of the current popularity of fantasy fiction can be traced back to that first publication of D&D back in 1974.
Arguably, Dungeons and Dragons would not exist if it were not for the second anniverary of something significant to me being celebrated this month. On October 21, 1954, the Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston published the first edition of Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, here in the United States. The anniversary is being celebrated on October 21 at bookstores across the United States. In addition, Houghton Mifflin is publishing a new, one volume, collector's edition of The Lord of the Rings, complete with two, large, foldout maps.
Lord of the Rings was not an immediate success. It would not be until Ace Books published unauthorised paperback editions of the volumes of the novel in the Sixties that Lord of the Rings would see success in the United States. Long in coming though that success may have been, it was a huge success. It became a bit of fad on college campuses, where students eagerly read the books over and over. Eventually Lord of the Rings would become a part of Anglo-American pop culture, inspiring tons of merchandise and a large number of imitators. To this day Lord of the Rings tops many polls as the greatest novel of the 20th century. Given its success, it is hard to argue that it isn't. Lord of the Rings has produced an inordinate amount of merchandise, two animated feature films, and three major motion pictures. It also brought fantasy fiction to the forefront, giving newfound popularity to the genre and newfound respectability. And, of course, it was a principle inspiration behind Dungeons and Dragons, leading to the whole pheonmenon of role playing games.
I first encountered Lord of the Rings in fifth or sixth grade. The novel spurred my interest in fantasy fiction and was probably a factor in becoming a role player. Indeed, a large part of my interest in philogy, mythology, and folklore may be due to Lord of the Rings. I then owe Tolkien an enormous debt, as his book made me at least part of what I am.
The third thing to have an impact on my life which has an anniversary this month is the series now known as The Wonderful World of Disney. It debuted on ABC on October 27, 1954. It underwent various name changes over the years, changes in time slots, and even changes in networks, but ultimately The Wonderful World of Disney has aired in some form or another for well over four decades. Indeed, in its original network run, it ran uninterrupted for over 25 years.
The Wonderful World of Disney ran for the entire length of my childhood. I remember that my brother and I would watch it every Sunday night. Through the years they would show segments made especially for the series (Davy Crockett, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh) as well as feature films (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), usually shown in two parts. As a child it was one of my favourite series on television. I have many fond memories of the show.
I don't know if Disney and ABC are planning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Wonderful World of Disney, although I would be surprised if they don't. I would rather expect there will be some sort of 50th anniversary special during one of the sweeps months. At any rate, it is a signicant annivesary for television. Beyond the success The Wonderful World of Disney has had over its run, it was also perhaps the first TV show created by a major American movie studio. Given that and the fact that it has aired in some shape or form for literally years, I would think that ABC and Disney would have much reason to celebrate.
Role playing occupied a good portion of my youth and D&D was the first role playing game I ever played. My brother introduced it to me when he was home from college in 1981. While I would move onto other role playing games from Dungeons and Dragons, I still have fond memories of the hours I spent playing the game. Indeed, it can be argued that much of the current popularity of fantasy fiction can be traced back to that first publication of D&D back in 1974.
Arguably, Dungeons and Dragons would not exist if it were not for the second anniverary of something significant to me being celebrated this month. On October 21, 1954, the Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston published the first edition of Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, here in the United States. The anniversary is being celebrated on October 21 at bookstores across the United States. In addition, Houghton Mifflin is publishing a new, one volume, collector's edition of The Lord of the Rings, complete with two, large, foldout maps.
Lord of the Rings was not an immediate success. It would not be until Ace Books published unauthorised paperback editions of the volumes of the novel in the Sixties that Lord of the Rings would see success in the United States. Long in coming though that success may have been, it was a huge success. It became a bit of fad on college campuses, where students eagerly read the books over and over. Eventually Lord of the Rings would become a part of Anglo-American pop culture, inspiring tons of merchandise and a large number of imitators. To this day Lord of the Rings tops many polls as the greatest novel of the 20th century. Given its success, it is hard to argue that it isn't. Lord of the Rings has produced an inordinate amount of merchandise, two animated feature films, and three major motion pictures. It also brought fantasy fiction to the forefront, giving newfound popularity to the genre and newfound respectability. And, of course, it was a principle inspiration behind Dungeons and Dragons, leading to the whole pheonmenon of role playing games.
I first encountered Lord of the Rings in fifth or sixth grade. The novel spurred my interest in fantasy fiction and was probably a factor in becoming a role player. Indeed, a large part of my interest in philogy, mythology, and folklore may be due to Lord of the Rings. I then owe Tolkien an enormous debt, as his book made me at least part of what I am.
The third thing to have an impact on my life which has an anniversary this month is the series now known as The Wonderful World of Disney. It debuted on ABC on October 27, 1954. It underwent various name changes over the years, changes in time slots, and even changes in networks, but ultimately The Wonderful World of Disney has aired in some form or another for well over four decades. Indeed, in its original network run, it ran uninterrupted for over 25 years.
The Wonderful World of Disney ran for the entire length of my childhood. I remember that my brother and I would watch it every Sunday night. Through the years they would show segments made especially for the series (Davy Crockett, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh) as well as feature films (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), usually shown in two parts. As a child it was one of my favourite series on television. I have many fond memories of the show.
I don't know if Disney and ABC are planning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Wonderful World of Disney, although I would be surprised if they don't. I would rather expect there will be some sort of 50th anniversary special during one of the sweeps months. At any rate, it is a signicant annivesary for television. Beyond the success The Wonderful World of Disney has had over its run, it was also perhaps the first TV show created by a major American movie studio. Given that and the fact that it has aired in some shape or form for literally years, I would think that ABC and Disney would have much reason to celebrate.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Decades
The American Heritage Dictionary defines era in its second sense as "A period of time characterized by particular circumstances, events, or personages: the Colonial era of U.S. history; the Reagan era. b. A point that marks the beginning of such a period of time." Of course, one means people have naming various eras is by naming them for decades--that is, the Forties, the Fifties, the Sixties, and so on. It is a very convenient means of applying a label to a particular era. Unfortunately, often times a decade does not precisely match the decade for which it was named.
A perfect example of this is the Fifties. When most Americans think of the Fifties, they think of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, poodle skirts, Ford Thunderbirds, drive in restaurants, jukeboxes, and so on; however, the fact is that this popular image of the Fifties in America really didn't develop until after about 1955 or 1956. The early Fifties would probably best be considered a separate era (perhaps the Korean War era) or, at best, a continuation of the late Forties or Post War Era (the era following World War II).
Another example is the Sixties. I would imagine that when the average American thinks of the Sixties, he or she thinks of The Beatles, miniskirts, the British Invasion, hippies, psychedelia, and so on, but none of this was around before 1964. Prior to 1964 the Sixties were just a continuation of, well, the Fifties.
I suppose that it is just a fact of life that various eras do not always conveniently coincide with human time keeping. Wars do not always begin at the start of a decade and end five years later. Fashions come and go as they please. Musical styles change regardless of whether one decade turns over into another. Irregardless, most people will probably name eras for the decade in which they take place...
A perfect example of this is the Fifties. When most Americans think of the Fifties, they think of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, poodle skirts, Ford Thunderbirds, drive in restaurants, jukeboxes, and so on; however, the fact is that this popular image of the Fifties in America really didn't develop until after about 1955 or 1956. The early Fifties would probably best be considered a separate era (perhaps the Korean War era) or, at best, a continuation of the late Forties or Post War Era (the era following World War II).
Another example is the Sixties. I would imagine that when the average American thinks of the Sixties, he or she thinks of The Beatles, miniskirts, the British Invasion, hippies, psychedelia, and so on, but none of this was around before 1964. Prior to 1964 the Sixties were just a continuation of, well, the Fifties.
I suppose that it is just a fact of life that various eras do not always conveniently coincide with human time keeping. Wars do not always begin at the start of a decade and end five years later. Fashions come and go as they please. Musical styles change regardless of whether one decade turns over into another. Irregardless, most people will probably name eras for the decade in which they take place...
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