Sunday24th
Nosferatu Wednesday 27th
Lucky PartnersMildred Pierce
Thursday 28th
Rebecca Hammer Horror Festival on Friday...so excited!
Curse of Frankenstein, The
Revenge of Frankenstein, The
Frankenstein Created Woman
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!
Saturday 30th
Berserk Ghoul, The
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
[And, a special note on William Castle: William Castle was the master of gimmick matinées. In the early 60's Castle (who started as Orson Well's assistant director) made a series of low-budget horror films that he promoted with a new gimmick with each film . . . from glowing skeletons flying above the audience to electrified seats, Castle himself would often appear on screen during previews to his films or before a film would start to encourage patrons to purchase freight insurance or to assure them that nurses were standing by. On the 30th The Old Dark House, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Mr. Sardonicus, and Strait-Jacket all follow one anther. Homicidal was Castle's answer to Psycho, and is not always as silly as it sometimes appears - on occasion it's quite effective. Strait-Jacket was Castle's attempt to set aside the gimmicks and see if he could fill the theater by featuring a legitimate Hollywood star . . . and Joan Crawford does indeed add an aspect of legitimacy and genuine suspense to the film. Then on the 31st (after a mini Roger Corman festival) Castle's The Tingler, staring the always great Vincent Price, airs. When I was 10 and moved to Harrisburg everyone on Park St told me The Tingler was the scariest movie they ever saw - the last 10 minutes or so demonstrate why 10 year old boys in a movie theater would be scared by this movie.]
Sunday 31st
MICKEY: I would encourage all to watch Lucky Partners on Wednesday - this is a (near) screwball romantic comedy that Hollywood did so well in the 30's & 40's. Hollywood (American cinema) was known for Westerns, they liked presenting themselves as making epics, and musicals were their specialty - but what Hollywood did better than anybody, what they refined into art was romantic comedies. One of the reasons Hollywood so excelled at romantic comedies in the 30's & 40's is the stars they had to make romantic comedies with . . . Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Myrna Loy, etc, made those movies some of the best movies ever made.
on Hammer Horror Festival on Friday . . .
In Lucky Partners we have Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers, and there's nobody better. The film opens with strangers passing on the street - Colman passes Rogers saying "Good luck", when she questions his remark Colman responds "I merely wished you good luck" and the story begins to unfold ending in one of Hollywood's classic courtroom conclusions.
I say it's a "near" screwball comedy because it actually flips the scenario of the classic screwball . . . "screwball" doesn't indicate merely a wacky kind of premise or goofy jokes - "screwball" references a very particular type of storyline; these films were made in the Depression era and the common features of a ditsy young heiress who falls for a working class guy and goes through a series of misunderstandings. In Lucky Partners Ginger Rogers is the working class character and Ronald Colman is the character of some (but yet to be discovered) distinction. This is a great example of what Hollywood does best and an example of great stars who are a joy to watch.
Simply one of the best movies ever made, easily in my top ten (Mary's #1!). I count Rebecca to be the movie that all my children fully came to love and look forward to watching old B&W movies with dad through.
Anytime Peter Cushing plays Dr.Frankenstein the film is worth watching, but let me alert you; The Curse of Frankenstein has both Cushing and Christopher Lee and was the first of the Classic Hammer Horror remakes. The Revenge of Frankenstein is very good, with more of a tragic bad guy than a monster. The others, as I say, Cushing as Baron Frankenstein is always worth watching.
and . . . House On Haunted Hill is a fun, late night, scary movie with popcorn and friends - The Haunting is the genuinely creepy, scary, haunted house movie - the final scene on the drive leading to the gate (Eleanor's escape from Hill House) has one of the very few scenes that actually scared me in any movie ever.
