Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee Interview

This is the last interview with both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who made several Hammer Horror films together. This interview  was made in May of 1994, three  months before Cushing death.

Friday's Fright Film Fact

According to the Guinness Book of Records, The Shining (1980) holds the record for the most takes of a single scene. The scene where Shelley Duvall’s character, Wendy is backing up the staircase swinging the baseball bat was shot 127 times. However Steadicam operator Garrett Brown and assistant editor Gordon Stainforth claim that the scene was only shot about 35-45 times.

Friday's Fright Film

Clint Eastwood made his first screen appearance, in an  uncredited role, as a lab assistant in Revenge of the Creature  (1955). 

Friday's Fright Film Fact

Universal Pictures head Carl Laemmle originally wanted Conrad Veidt, who had appeared in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Waxworks (1924) and The Man Who Laughs (1928) to play the lead role in Dracula (1931) and Paul Leni to direct the film.  Ultimately, Bela Lugosi got the role, and Tod Browning directed.

Return of the Vampire (1944)

This smart stylish film centers around a vampire, Armand Tesla (Dracula in every way but the name) who is brought back from the dead after his tomb is bombed during the London Blitz.  With the help of a talking werewolf Andreas (Matt Willis), Tesla assumes the name of a scientist who has recently escaped from a Nazi concentration camp and seeks revenge upon the family who had destroyed him 23 years earlier in 1918.

The film was directed by Lew Landers, who directed more than 100 films in a variety of genres, including westerns, comedy and horror films most notably The Raven (1935). The film starred Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Miles Mander, Roland Varno and Matt Willis. Griffin Jay and Randall Faye who wrote the screenplay presented it to Universal who turned it down claiming that their Dracula series needed no outside assistance. Jay, who is known for writing the Universal Mummy series of films The Mummy’s Hand (1940), The Mummy's Tomb (1942) and The Mummy's Ghost (1944), presented the script to Columbia.

Columbia bought the script and had originally planned for The Return of the Vampire (1944) to be a sequel to Universal’s Dracula (1931).  When Universal threatened to sue Columbia, the studio changed the names of the characters to avoid any connection with "Dracula". 

Undoubtedly Lugosi was upset when he learned that Universal planned to cast Lon Chaney in the lead role for Son of Dracula (1943). Lon Chaney was Universal’s new horror king and at that time the studio was  anxious to cast him in as many horror vehicles as they could, whether  or not he was suited for the role. Many film historians believe that Universal’s casting decision prompted Columbia to offer the lead for Return of the Vampire (1944) to Lugosi, a role he gladly accepted.

Return of the Vampire (1944) would be the last film that Lugosi would receive top billing from a major Hollywood studio.  This film was the first time since Dracula (1931) that the Lugosi appeared as a real vampire. While making the film Lugosi was also appearing on stage in the play Arsenic and Old Lace. He worked on the film during the day and then would appear on stage at night. Despite the grueling schedule Lugosi is reported to have enjoyed the production immensely.  

  Columbia also held back the release of the film for two months so it would not directly compete with Son of Dracula (1943). The film was finally released on January 1, 1944. It was well received and grossed close to half a million dollars on an investment of $75,000. Return of the Vampire (1944) is noted for being the first film to include a vampire and a werewolf as characters in the storyline. Although not as well-known as Son of Dracula (1943) there are many who consider Return of the Vampire (1944) far superior to Son of Dracula (1943).

Friday's Fright Film Fact

American film producer and director Roger Corman, known for a string of low-budget B movies, once said:

In science-fiction films, the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady.

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man (1933) was a science fiction/horror film based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man, published in 1897.  From the beginning there were problems with the script. Universal had made several unsuccessful attempts to come up with a workable treatment. After several writers had failed to produce a suitable adaptation the studio hired R. C. Sherriff. When he asked the staff at Universal for a copy of the H.G. Wells novel, no one at the studio had a copy, in fact all they had was 14 "treatments" submitted by the previous writers, including one set in Czarist Russia and another one set on Mars. Sherriff purchased a copy of the novel at a used bookstore. After reading the novel he was convinced that it would make an excellent picture as it stood, and wrote a script that (unlike the Universal versions of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) was a much closer adaptation of the original novel.

James Whale who had directed the horror hits Frankenstein (1931) and The Old Dark House (1932) was hired to direct the film. Boris Karloff, Universal’s premier horror star, was the studio’s first choice for the role of the Invisible Man. But Karloff turned down the role because he would not be seen until the very end of the film. 

Claude Rains, was chosen for the role of Dr. Jack Griffin (The Invisible Man). Whale wanted someone with more of an "intellectual" voice. Claude Rains, who had primarily been a stage actor, was chosen by Whale after the director overheard Rains' screen test being played in another room. Whale was impressed that Rains spoke with such clarity and could be easily understood. This would be crucial since his character would be 'invisible' or his face would be covered throughout most the film. The Invisible Man (1933) would be Rains’  first American screen appearance, he had appeared in one other film a British silent movie Build Thy House (1920) The Invisible Man (1931) would also be was his first sound film. Rains would later gain fame for appearing in such films as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Gloria Stuart who had appeared in Whale’s earlier Horror/comedy The Old Dark House (1932) played the role of Flora Cranley, the Invisible Man’s love interest. Stuart has the distinction for being the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar, for her role Rose Dawson Calvert in Titanic (1997) at the age of 87.

The cast also included John Carradine, who would later play Dracula for Universal Studios in two films, as a police informer (uncredited), Dwight Frye who had previously appeared in Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), as a newspaper reporter (uncredited), and Una O’Connor in one of her most memorable roles as the innkeeper’s wife, Jenny Hall. She would later appear in a similar role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Problems in developing a suitable script had held up the project for some time.  In June 1932 the film was called off temporarily.  Production finally began in June 1933 at Universal studios in Los Angeles. The production was interrupted when a fire, started by a smudge pot kicked into some hay, damaged an exterior set. Filming was finally completed in August 1933.

The film is noted for a spectacular special effects which were astonishing in 1933. The invisibility shots were accomplished by using props that were controlled by wires while filming Rains or a stunt double who were completely dressed in black manipulating objects against a solid black velvet background. A stunt double was often used due to the grueling nature of the special-effects costume which required breathing through a rubber tube. All shots of Griffin bandaged were actually Claude Rains himself, his real face is only visible for about 20 seconds in the very last scene of the film.

The Invisible Man (1933) was released on November 13, 1933 and was well received by audiences and film critics alike. The New York Times named The Invisible Man (1933) one of the best films of 1933. H.G. Wells the author of the novel on which the film is based did have some misgivings about the film, he stated that while he liked the film he had one grave fault with it. It had taken his brilliant scientist and changed him into a lunatic, a liberty he could not condone. James Whale justified the script by saying that the film was targeted for a "rationally minded motion picture audience," because "in the minds of rational people only a lunatic would want to make himself invisible anyway.” Despite his reservations about the plot of the film Wells did applaud Una O'Connor’s performance as the shrieking barmaid Mrs. Jenny Hall.

The Invisible Man (1933) kicked off a series of invisibility themed sequels that bore little or no resemblance to the original.  None of which would have the impact or the acceptance of the previous film. The Invisible Man (1933) remains a classic and remembered as one of Universal’s better films produced during the studio’s Golden age of horror.

Friday's Fright Film Fact

Close-up or medium shots of the mummy in, The Mummy's Hand (1940) male up artist Jack P. Pierce's painstaking glued strips of cotton on Tom Tyler's face, to create deep wrinkles. But for the long shots, Tyler wore a time-saving (and much more comfortable) rubber mask.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Atomic monsters and flying saucers had dominated the horror and sci\fi genre during the late 1940’s and early 50’s when Universal decided to get back to the basics with an old fashion creature feature. It was producer William Alland that came up with the new Universal monster.  Alland found the inspiration from a conversation he had at a dinner party while filming Citizen Kane in which he played the reporter Thompson in 1941.  Cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told Alland about the myth of a race of half-fish, half-human creatures that lived in the Amazon River. Alland wrote a treatment entitled "The Sea Monster" in 1951 and in December 1952, Maurice Zimm expanded the treatment. Harry Essex and Arthur Ross wrote a screenplay on the treatments introducing a new monster to the Universal gallery. The result was The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).  

After his success with the 3-D film House of Wax (1953), Jack Arnold was hired to direct this film in the same format. The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) was filmed in 3-D and originally projected by the polarized light method. The audience wore viewers with gray polarizing filters. But the 3-D movie fad was fading fast in 1954 and many audiences actually saw the film in 2-D.

The film starred Richard Carlson, known for appearing in a number of science fiction and horror B films of the 1950s; Julia Adams known for her roles in several westerns. Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno and Whit Bissell also starred in the film.

Ben Chapman portrayed the Gill-man on land for the majority of the film which was shot at Universal City. The costume made it impossible for Chapman to sit for the 14 hours of each day that he wore it, and it overheated easily, so he  spent most of his time  in the back lot’s lake and was often hosed down to keep cool. He was not able to see clearly out of the creatures mask and as a result he bumped Julie Adams' head against the wall of a cave knocking her unconscious.

 Ricou Browning played the Gill-Man for the underwater shots, which were filmed by the second unit in Wakulla Springs, Florida. The director reasoned that air would have to travel through the monster's gills and not reveal air bubbles from his mouth or nose. Browning was required to hold his breath for up to 4 minutes at a time for his scenes.

The Creature's costume was inspired by a seventeenth-century woodcuts of two creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishop. Disney animator Millicent Patrick was the actual designer for the Gill-man. The physical appearance was reportedly modeled after an appearance of the Oscar figurine by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

But Patrick’s contribution was deliberately downplayed by Bud Westmore, who was the head of Universal's makeup department at the time and he would take the credit for the Gill-man’s design. Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz (1939) and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit, while Chris Mueller, Jr. sculpted the head.

 The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) premiered in Detroit on February 12 and was then released on a regional basis, opening on various dates. The film is now considered a classic and inspired two sequels: Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also released in 3-D and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2-D.

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Friday's Fright Film Fact

 It was the brutal treatment that Karloff and his fellow actors were subjected by director  Karl Freund while making The Mummy (1932) that prompted him to help create  the Screen Actors Guild. Karloff became a founding member and would remain active in the Guild throughout his career.

Friday's Fright Film Fact

In 1996, Reverend Steve Galindo of Seminole, Oklahoma, created a legally recognized religion with Ed Wood, who was posthumously awarded the Golden Turkey Award for Worst Director of All Time, as its official savior. Originally meant as a joke, the Church of Ed Wood now boasts a congregation over 3,000 followers. Woodites, as the church members are referred to, celebrate Woodmas on October 10, which is Wood’s birthday. A number of parties and concerts are held throughout the world in celebration of Woodmas each year. Wood is known for directing such low budget films as Glen or Glenda 1953), Jail Bait (1954), Bride of the Monster (1956) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957).

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Friday's Fright Film Fact

Son of Dracula (1943) is the first film to show a vampire transforming into a bat. The effect was achieved by special-effects wizard, John P. Fulton who also created the special-effects for The Invisible Man (1933). He would later win an Academy Award in 1957 for his work on The Ten Commandments (1956), mainly for his work on the parting of the Red Sea.

The Vampire Bat (1933)

The Vampire Bat (1933) starred Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, and Dwight Frye and was directed by Frank R. Stayer. The plot revolves around the unexplained deaths of several Klineschloss residents the town fathers suspect vampirism since the victims are dying from blood loss. 

The story of this film’s production is a classic example of the David and Goliath scenario; A tiny production company, Majestic Pictures Inc. competing with the big studios and producing what would become their biggest hit for 1933.

Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill had been in the highly successful film Doctor X (1932) the previous year and had just finished working on Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) for Warner Bros. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) was a large scale production and would have a lengthy post-production process. Majestic Pictures, a poverty row studio, realized the chance to exploit all the advance publicity connected with Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), contracted Wray and Atwill for their own "quickie" horror film and rushed The Vampire Bat (1933) into production.  Majestic also hired Dwight Frye who was known for his roles in the highly successful Universal horror classics Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931).

Majestic Pictures had a much lower overhead than the larger studios, who were struggling to stay afloat during the Great Depression. As a result Majestic Pictures was able to produce a film comparable to the Universal Pictures horror films of the early 1930s at a fraction of the cost.  Majestic leased the “German Village” back lot sets left over from Frankenstein (1931), the interior sets from The Old Dark House (1932) and did some location shooting at Bronson Caves, completing the illusion that this was a film from a much bigger studio.  A stock musical theme by Charles Dunworth, "Stealthy Footsteps", was used to accompany the opening credits. The finished product had the appearance of a film with a much higher budget.

The release of The Vampire Bat (1933) worked well for Majestic, which was able to rush the film into theaters on January 6, 1933, less than a month before Warner's release of Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). The Vampire Bat (1933) has a huge hit for Majestic. Over time the film was forgotten and is overlooked by modern-day audiences, but for the true fan of early horror films The Vampire Bat (1933) iscertainly worth a look.

The failure of the original copyright holder, Majestic to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain. As a public domain film anyone could duplicate and sell a copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

The Mole People (1956)

The Mole People (1956) this sci-fi/horror film, directed by Virgil W. Vogel was the inspiration for The Dickies' song Attack of the Molemen.  The film which features John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont and Alan Napier was shot over a 17 days period with a budget of about $200,000.

At the beginning for the film Dr. Frank Baxter, who at the time was an English professor from the University of Southern California, explains the hollow earth theories of John Symmes and Cyrus Teed and states that the movie is a fictionalized representation of this unorthodox point-of-view. The fictionalized Mesopotamian history presented in the film is based on the Panbabylonism ideology in which a small number of Assyriology and Religious scholars hypothesize that the Hebrew Bible and Judaism are directly derived from Mesopotamian (Babylonian) mythology. Unfortunately his four-minute lecture does little to add any credence to the film’s plot.

The Mole People (1956) had a miniscule budget and Vogel was forced to cut cost anyway he could. He instructed Jack Kevan, the special effects artist for the film, to use newspapers stuffed in the backs of the mole monsters’ shirts to make their humps instead of using the more expensive rubber humps. The effect worked fine until the scene where the monsters’ revoke was shot. After the scene was shot the stage floor was littered with the newspapers that had  fallen out of the monsters shirts during filming. The scene had to be reset and shot.

Despite the budget restraints the studio was able to come up with enough money to reshoot the last scene. In the original ending, Dr. Bentley and Adal both survived and lived happily ever after.  Share this:

Not wanting to imply an interracial relationship between Dr. Bentley and Adal, the studio insisted on a new ending being reshot two weeks after filming had been completed.

 

Plagued with a tiny budget, poor script and a first-time director, The Mole People (1956) was an almost certain flop and is considered to be one of Universals weakest horror films. Despite its’ poor reception and reviews this film has developed somewhat of a cult following thanks in part to its cast of well-known bit players including:

John Agar, a notable actor who appeared in a number of TV shows during from the 1950’s to the 90’s and is also known for starring in Revenge of the Creature (1955) and John Wayne classics such as  Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

Hugh Beaumont, who was best known for his role as Ward Cleaver on the TV series, Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963), was also a licensed to preacher for  the Methodist church.

Alan Napier who is best remembered as Batman’s faithful butler, Alfred Pennyworth in Batman (1966) plays Elinu, the High Priest.

The Mole People (1956) is one of the better “bad” films of the 50’s sci-fi/horror craze. It is certainly worth watching, but don’t try to make any sense out of the plot; this movie is it’s meant to entertain, not educate.