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| Compare Here and Below If You Can Stand It ... |
'Tis Another Spook Season --- Part One
Here’s Where We Spot AI From a Mile Away --- To collect
lobby cards, you often make do. Pinholes, scuff marks, even paint dabs
can be fixed. Fading cannot. Cards sat often in the sun, displayed
outdoors to damaging rays. It didn’t take long for Old Sol to do his harm. I
got this group scene from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and tried to kid myself
it was OK, self-deception collectors often engage, but no, it was bleached and
no denying. Still I’ve kept it because a pristine specimen would cost upward of
five hundred, Holmes and Rathbone always a lure, plus being early Fox offering.
For fun’s sake, I turned AI loose on the image and got result shown here. Such
modern, no ... miracle, treatment looks better than that $500 original would,
sharper anyway, except who'd pay $500 for such chromo? We want the
real thing, faded even, if that’s all there is. |
| To Think Folks Took Such a Gallery for Granted Back Then ... |
Bridal Bouquets --- For every screen fiend there’d be an eventual
Bride(s), gateway to sex and procreating a Son of said fiend. Healthy progress in
its way, whatever the unholy results. Barbara Payton as Bride of the Gorilla suggested possibilities undreamt of to then, she being Barbara Payton, and
what was a gorilla for her other than slight step down from Tom Neal? We’d all
give much to have been at the Capitol when Lon Chaney made his live-on-stage
appearance. What did he do or talk about? Was it enough to merely s tand there
and let us stare at him? Would have been for me, Lon after all the Wolf Man, Mummy, Count Alucard, classics still rotating
heavy in the early fifties when Bride of the Gorilla made its rounds. Producer
Jack Broder was the man who kept such favorites in circulation thanks to
his “Realart” deal with Universal which dated back to the late forties. I’d
like knowing what Chaney was paid for showing up at the Capitol. Somebody
please tell us too where this Capitol was located. Small town or large? I’ll
bet small, but probably within driving distance of Chaney home and hearth.
And Multiple Brides for Dracula --- He came, saw, seduced many a lass by 1960
when Hammer, if not distributing Universal, realized that sex was an only way
to profitably sell a Dracula movie, the vampire king becoming long-in-the-teeth
otherwise (Francis Lederer for UA’s “Return” … who cared?). Hammer had David
Peel, older than he looked, but a champ conqueror of manifold maids, several to make up guest lists at Hammer reunions into a next century. This Memphis Screamiere
at the Malco was historic. Management had wanted to preem The Mummy a previous year, but Universal said no, be patient, your time will come, which it did in 1960 for blockbuster Brides event. There is experiencing Brides
of Dracula at home, a sharpest Blu-Ray, seeing it even at a theatre back in the
day, but nothing would approach this one-of-a-kind extravaganza, evoked
if not replicated by Greenbriar on 4/14/2007 and between covers of Showmen, Sell It Hot. Of all places on heaven or earth to have been at a particular
juncture of time, this would stand tall.
UPDATE (10/19/2026, 8:40 am): Ever-welcome Scott MacGillivray finds another Lon Chaney appearance on behalf of Bride of the Gorilla, "in Detroit, at the Capitol Theatre (a 24-hour grind house) and the Gratiot Drive-In, on October 10 and 11, 1951." Thanks as Always, Scott.
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| I Like the Above AI-Enhanced Gorilla Perhaps More Than the One in the Movie |
More Halloween Horrors to come next week at Greenbriar.
Another round of thanks to Lou Lumenick for supplying a rare ad from Lon Jr.'s 10/19/51 appearance at the New York Theatre, "across Times Square" from the fabled Rialto, celebrated often at Greenbriar:
UPDATE (10/22/2013 --- Noon): Just came across a neat trade ad for a topic Greenbriar visited back in 2018, The Big Drive, all about Great War ravages with unexpurgated combat footage. Also freshened up the theatre fronts and marquees shown. Go see!
27 Comments:
Still remember the thrill of the restored Rathbone-Bruce series arriving on DVD. Some time after a few passes through the whole dozen, viewing an unrestored clip stirred powerful memories of sitting up for the PD titles on local public television. A minute or two was enough.
Back in my newspaper marketing days, we'd produce the cards that decorated coin racks. If not changed for too long a time they'd fade, with one or two colors vanishing entirely while the others remained. I thought of coming up with a message that would change as the color faded, but the managers were already annoyed when cards stayed out that long.
Wondering if Ida Lupino (incredibly pretty in "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", by the way) knew that "Bride of the Gorilla" tied her name to a curse. By then a director, she may have seen mention in the trades at least.
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A Halloween oddity I drag out every few years is "Mad Monster Party" (1967), a feature by Rankin Bass, producers of all those Christmas specials. Boris Karloff voices a stop-motion caricatures of himself, presiding over comedy versions of the classic monsters (designed by MAD's Jack Davis). Deliberately scare-free, the comedy recalls Archie's "Mad House" comic books or a mild MAD article. Still, it's colorful and dopey in a good way.
I can more than stand that restored lobby card. It is gorgeous. When I first came to Toronto a friend showed me faded pictures from an important moment of their life. I borrowed them and had them restored. From that moment on with that person I could do no wrong.
I took a look at the Criterion Eclipse DVD of JUNGLE BOOK on my big scree. The Blu-ray player automatically upgrades DVDs to Blu-ray quality. The color looks great to me. Perhaps the reason Disney did the story his was is because Korda did the Kipling version perfectly. Of the two it is the Korda version I prefer.
I have been using AI for a while to restore or recreate movie-related things or music score covers that are always available in terrible shape. I get good results, and I actually engage in fights with the AI itself: I want authenticity. I refuse to accept the frequent artificial results that are easy to get. In many cases, the original elements are in horrible condition, and I want them to look as real and honest as possible. Most of my sources for movie images were public libraries from Spain and Brazil that had elements in microfilm or digitally scanned. Unfortunately, these libraries have been down already for a long time, so I either had to try to improve the things I rescued in the past or rely on the microfilmed elements recovered by others. In many cases, these images are available nowhere else. As I finished writing, tonight I was trying to improve a bad-quality-looking music score of another tango. It took me a very long time until the AI gave me a good version of the cover and the back cover. But since the results of the music score itself were terrible, I had to fix it myself until I got something acceptable. I have been doing this music score recovery activity for 30 years, going against the establishment and the music industry, not making any money from this, and not wanting it either, but rather being in obscurity. AI does not help me at all with doing music transcription, and I don't consider myself a musician. It can be very hard and frustrating, only compensated by the end results. Some know that I rescue movie images, but I am more emotionally attached to tango.
The update evidences an obvious bit of AI. There's not a simian in Bride Of The Gorilla that looks like the one pictured on that poster. Same goes for the visage of Tom Neal. If he really looked that handsome, he might have gotten away with murder.
Avoided "Mad Monster Party" in 1967 (not that the Liberty ever played it), thinking it too flippant for Karloff's valuable time. That's how (too) serious I took my genre pursuit in those days.
I've lately taken AI to task for creative liberties and had them re-do flawed images. Takes time, but results are worth the effort, at least to my inexpert eyes.
I found the gorilla and Tom Neal monkeyshines sort of endearing. Where dealing with muddy microfilm source materials, all bets as to accuracy are off. Such improved sharpness, let alone with color, cover a multitude of sins.
Dan Mercer remembers STAR WARS from 1977:
I was home that summer of 1977, graduated from law school and taking a break from preparing for the state bar exam by going to see "Star Wars" with my sister. We liked it a lot that first time, not so much when we went back to see it again. She fell asleep and I found myself thinking about how much better it would have been if an Errol Flynn type had played the Han Solo part. The showing was at the nearby Sameric Theater in Pennsauken, New Jersey, and so far as I recall, there were no names billed on the marquee or in the theater's advertising. We had gone because it had already gained a reputation for being a new kind of science fiction film, one depicting strange worlds that were not so much shiny and futuristic as grimy and lived-in. There other things, too, such as a romantic and exciting musical score, recognizable heroes and villains, action sequences delivered with panache, and great detail and clarity in its depictions of those worlds. As you note, though, some theaters apparently still felt the need to highlight who was appearing in it, and understandably, they would have chosen Peter Cushing and Alec Guiness, the only recognizable names in the cast. Possibly Cushing was ranked over Guiness because he had an established line in the weird, while Guiness had made his reputation in films that appealed to general audiences. As for the showing at the Sameric, my sister and I joined it early in the run, which began on May 25th. It would stay there for 30 weeks, playing continuously through December. This suggests what a phenomenon "Star Wars" was or why there is still a related franchise, however adulterated the films being made for it have become.
Nothing that gets actor paid and keeps their name alive is a waste of their valuable time. It helps keep their time valuable.
I saw STAR WARS in 1977 at a theater on Hampden Avenue near Englewood, Colorado. I woudn't have gone myself but my girfriend insisted. It was the first film I ever saw in 70mm and surround sound. That surely added to the experience. I wasn't a science fiction fan but one thing that endeared me to this film. It was when Harrison Ford's spaceship wouldn't start. I had never seen that likely event happening in previous science fiction films. I have never been able to finish any of the subsequent STAR WARS films.
My circumstance was similar. It was a "first date" setting and STAR WARS was handy. Doubt if I would have seen it otherwise.
LON CHANEY JR. appeared IN PERSON at the CAPITOL THEATRE in SALISBURY, NC during WW2. I'll look up the date and report back.
January 24, 1944 was the SALISBURY, NC appearance - LON CHANEY JR. and ANN SAVAGE - CAPITOL THEATRE. Both appeared to head up a WW2 WAR BOND SALE.
Mike Mazzone supplies data re the Lon Chaney publicity arrangement for "Bride of the Gorilla":
According to Chaney biographer Don Smith, Chaney agreed to do a ten day publicity tour for the film which eventually ballooned to 4 1/2 months as evidenced by his many theater appearances
Did AI remove Barbara Payton's clothes in that first 'Bride of the Gorilla' poster?
Good catch, MikeD. So far as I know, the one-sheet capture was not subjected to AI, at least not by me, but who knows, some mischief maker might have tampered with it before Greenbriar came along.
Either way, this IS a provocative image, and not one I would have expected to see in front of theatres during 1951.
Dan Mercer shares more of his insights from around the net (Part One):
Cinematheque Francaise showing of Films Featuring Mary Pickford and Others
Watching such films is to immerse oneself in another time, when the sea would stretch out, vast fields would stir with the wind, rising banks and hillocks would provide backdrops to clear streams, and the sun would dapple forest glades. Such things exist today, but the films express the sensibility of the people who made them for that of their audience. This, too, is a part of that time, seemingly lost to ours, save when we open our eyes and hearts to these remnants of it.
3 Stooges and Buster Keaton
The 3 Stooges didn’t only steal from the best, but certainly they stole from Keaton. See "Three Little Beers" for their crib from "Seven Chances."
Harold Lloyd in “The Sad Sea Waves”
The initial version of the "Glass" character, a clean-cut young man in sporty dress and the lavalliere tie associated with artists and bohemians, mirrored in a fluid social status and a willingness to cut corners when necessary. So, he was not yet the bourgeoise go getter that he would become but was already a character more recognizably human than "Lonesome Luke" and with much more room for growth.
Scenes from “Grand Hotel,” “It Happened One Night,” “Random Harvest,” and others
Moments in our lives tend to pass unremembered and without meaning, as though our hearts were closed to them. Only when the heart is open to love and truth can one remember, but only when an experience is meaningful can it find placement there. These scenes are memorable because they transcend such moments for being meaningful. For that little while, we better understand what is lovely and true and bring them back with us as souvenirs of lives lived.
Jobyna Ralston and Harold Lloyd
It was Jobyna's sweetness and loving heart that made Lloyd's "Glasses" character loveable.
The Quatermass Xperiment
A scientific experiment into realms unknown, save for shadows now given tangible form. The fate of Victor Carroon is as poignant and haunting as that of the Monster in “Frankenstein,” and for the same reason. A man with his own divine grace is being overwhelmed by forces that are evil and beyond his control.
“The Phantom of the Opera” (1925)
The ending taken from the novel may have been poignant, but the one used in the film is superb. The mob converges on the Phantom, who seems helpless before them. Suddenly, he turns on them with one hand upraised, as though holding some infernal device. Terrified, they cower and back away. Then, having demonstrated his mastery one last time, he shows them his empty hands and, with a laugh, welcomes his doom.
Part Two from Dan Mercer:
“The Mummy” (1932)
There is a similarity between "Dracula" and "The Mummy," in that both deal with the "undead." The essential difference, however, is that vampires live only for the sake of the kill, while Imhotep lived for the sake of love. He sought to reunite with his beloved from aeons before, hence there is a tragic aspect to the ending of "The Mummy" that is not present in "Dracula," in that he will be separated from his love forever. Or at least until the next sequel.
Release of “My Lady’s Lips” (1925) and “Paris Green” (1920) by the National Film Preservation Foundation with new musical scores
I shall want to see them, not because they may be forgotten classics, but because, at the very least, they provide a context for other silent films, in their use of image and editing to create narratives, and with the emotional depth found in the melding of image and music.
Anna Pavlova
As she suggests, humanity is a garden bed seeded with love and truth. The flowers rising from this earth offer blossoms beautiful and rich in scent and color, but only if they are nurtured. Thus, the garden of one's life must be tended to, if that germ of beauty is to find expression. And thus, our acts must be shadowed by repentance, ever choosing love and truth over hatred and evil, that our lives might be redeemed and beauty revealed, as the Gardener would wish.
Picture of Gloria Swanson and Edward Burns lighting up in “The Hummingbird” (1924)
Health concerns aside, actors lost a useful prop when they gave up smoking. Lighting up, the exhalation, tapping the cigarette and much other business allowed contemplation of the moment or the past, some suggestion of the personality or the context, and many other variations. About all they have now are their noses, hence the inevitable pauses as such are rubbed or picked.
“Frankenstein” (1931)
There are degrees of monstrousness playing out throughout the film. Henry Frankenstein set it in motion with his conceit and profane purpose in seeking to create a living man, thus usurping God's place and power. The Monster was indeed a monster, with hideous strength but no sense of moral restraint. There is validity to the argument, though, in that he was reacting to the torment he was subjected to. When first seen, his initial gesture was to reach out, not in anger, but towards the sunlight. Fritz was the catalyst for that tragedy that ensued, in that he was embittered by his deformity and station in life and delighted to find someone he could abuse in turn. Thus, he too was a monster, but his actions would have been impotent, were the massive forces of evil not already established. One notes that he was also the one who stole the brain that was used, substituting a "criminal" brain for the "normal" one he was to obtain. To the extent this was relevant, it was perhaps the reaction a person with disturbed thought processes would have to the circumstances of his life. That reaction might have been different, had the circumstances been different. Given that those circumstances were set in place by Frankenstein, however, I would regard him as the true monster of the story.
“Yuex sans visage” (1962)
The horror of science, as here, is that it divorces the material world from the spiritual influx which provides form and meaning to matter. Thus, the would-be savior or his daughter's beauty attends only to its appearance, not the soul from which it comes. He sacrifices others to overlay their faces upon the ruins of her face and does this repeatedly, more like an alchemist than a scientist, as though finding virtue in repetition. Since he never questions his failures, he never understands that true beauty will not be saved by the scalpel, but love. Little wonder, then, that his surgery looks like an abattoir, with its discolored tile and grout.
Eva Marie Saint
In "North by Northwest," she provided a cunning recreation of Hitchcock's "cool blonde," so like Grace Kelly, but with a sly glance or two suggesting a certain mischievousness all her own.
The Stooges didn't directly steal. "Three Little Beers" was scripted by Clyde Bruckman, who worked on "Seven Chances". Bruckman also recycled gags from "The Freshman" and "Movie Crazy" in Stooge films. Harold Lloyd sued and won. The tragic Bruckman, an alcoholic, reportedly reach the point of trying to sell old scripts carelessly updated for a different act.
A lot of old hands -- writers, directors, performers -- would recycle what worked before. Sometimes for themselves, sometimes for others. Abbott and Costello relied on old burlesque routines, from their own or their writers' experience. W.C. Fields carried much of his stage work into films and radio shows. In "Swiss Miss", Laurel and Hardy revive a bit from Stan's silent "Smithy." Keaton adapted film routines into live acts and television. A pratfall gag from "The Butcher Boy" was not only used on multiple TV shows, but worked into a production of "Three Men on a Horse". And anybody who clowned in silents would try to salvage something for their sound work.
Legally, Bruckman was selling material he'd created as a work for hire for Lloyd. Abbott and Costello used chestnuts that they'd imbued with their own characters; while a lot of their brethren knew the routines it appears nobody claimed to originate them.
Before film, vaudeville and music hall performers could sometimes make a career of one act, touring for years to houses that either hadn't seen it at all or welcomed a rerun after several seasons.
Yes, stealing is and was real. One vaudeville monologist gave a copy of his act to an amateur who needed a piece to perform for a club. It went over so well the amateur went pro -- with that exact script. The original creator would find himself playing towns where audiences jeered him as an imitator of the other guy.
Donald, just imagine if Clyde Bruckman had hung on into the sixties, how pursued he would have been by students of classic comedy. Of course, that would not have put food on his table, but appreciation by an emerging and dedicated fan base would have at least been a morale booster.
Would love to see a full restoration of the 1942 "Jungle Book" - - I just cannot watch the poor quality presentations of this film.
Criterion's eclipse version is fine until a Blu-ray version comes along.
It just so happens that I've recently watched two films from 1976, one featuring Peter Cushing - 'At The Earth's Core', and the other Alec Guiness - 'Murder By Death'.
Taken together with the next year's 'Star Wars', these films demonstrate those actors' very impressive acting ranges; they also show what those two were doing just prior to co-starring in that blockbuster - that is to say, co-starring in other and similar popular entertainments.
As a matter of fact, those three films, taken together, encapsulate the mid-1970s state of fantasy films, in their way.
Thanks for the column!
I read a story of Alec Guinness being approached by a kid who wanted his autograph, excitedly telling Mr. Guinness that he had seen "Star Wars" over fifty times, to which Mr. Guinness replied that he would give his autograph on condition that the boy would never watch "Star Wars" again.
THE JUNGLE BOOK disappeared from TV around 1966 due to Disney's remake. It did not reappear until October 1983 on the FSM Holiday Network, quite possibly the first time it was broadcast in Technicolor.
I should have noticed, and certainly should have watched, that 1983 FSM broadcast. For whatever reason, I've no memory of it.
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