The fine folks at We Belong Dead have a brand-new book out covering all those pesky and nasty animals, insects, and all those other beasties that revolt against us humans in Animals Attacks! now available through their website that you can get to by clicking HERE. Like all of their titles, these are beautiful volumes, filled with amazing images from stills to movie posters and so much more. Not to mention a wide array of talented writers giving us their thoughts on these movies. Yes, for full disclosure, I have 3 essays in this volume myself. But I know I would have been buying this latest volume even if I didn’t. Yes, they are also a bit pricy, especially when you get them shipped over here to the states. But because of their quality, and that you can just order them through Amazon, they are well worth the investment, both to your library, as well as your continued learning about the different films in the genre.
This book covers everything from the fun ’50s era of the big bug films, such as Tarantula (1955) to the major blockbusters like Jaws (1975), to even the modern-day cheesy CGI titles flooding the market. A lot to be covered here, and a lot to learn about, as well as maybe adding a few movies to your “need-to-watch” list.
I’m posting about this now because I just heard about it. But it seems the lovely Mara Corday had passed away back on February 9th, at the age of 95. While she had a relatively short career in movies, making only 46 appearances, in film and TV, mainly because she left the business to concentrate on her marriage and family. But she did appear in three of my favorites from the ’50s, Tarantula (1955), The Black Scorpion (1957), and my all-time favorite, The Giant Claw (1957)! That last title showed that no matter how silly the subject matter might be, Corday always played it straight and gave some wonderful performances. Later in life, after her husband had died, her friend and Tarantula co-star, Clint Eastwood, would cast her in small roles in his films, such as The Gauntlet (1977) and Sudden Impact (1983), that way she could keep her SAG membership (and all its benefits)!
I know she will always be remembered for a lot of fans because of the work she did, especially in the sci-fi/horror titles because those types of films never lose their charm. And one of those reasons is the work that Corday did in them. Gone, but she will definitely never be forgotten.
There are some actors and actresses that only make a handful of genre pictures, but make such a strong impression that we always remember them. Mara Corday is one of them. If she would have kept acting longer, instead of deciding to take care of her growing family, maybe we might have seen her in a few more. But it didn’t sound like her marriage to actor Richard Long was the easiest, so maybe it was better not to compete in the business.
But she did make a few genre pictures within a couple of years that I’ve always remembered her from. The first one was Jack Arnold’s Tarantula (1955), where she met a young actor who she became good friends with. His name was Clint Eastwood. In fact, they remained such good friends, that after her husband died, Eastwood would give her little bit parts in his films, such as The Gauntlet (1977) or Sudden Impact (1983).
She would appear in The Black Scorpion in 1957, with Richard Denning, but it was the other film she made that same year is one that I am most fond of, those she probably isn’t. It is The Giant Claw! Granted, she, along with the rest of the actors, never saw the title terror until it was already out.
Corday even appeared in Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month in Oct. 1958, but this was when they didn’t appear nude. But it is shame that we didn’t see more of her on the big screen, since she was a talented actress.
While we’ve been going to the Monster Bash Conference for the last few years (and loving every minute we’re there, I might add), they are now holding a 2-day movie marathon that is tempting me to make the drive out. Yeah, it might be a 8 hour drive just to see some movies, but it really is much more than that. Last year, they played the whole Universal Frankenstein series. But this year, they are going with something much BIGGER!
Universal Terrors, 1951-1955: Eight Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Films Published by McFarland, 2017. 440 pages. By Tom Weaver, with David Schecter, Robert J. Kiss, and Steve Kronenberg
Anytime I do research on an older classic, if I’m looking for quotes, interviews, or anything type of information, going through the many volumes of books I have from Tom Weaver is one place that I always start. The reason for that is that his books are always so informative, giving a ton of details about the movies and their production, as well as the people that worked on it, from the directors and writers to the actors. Since he’s interviewed so many of these people over the years, the details he’s getting comes first hand. When news of a new book Weaver was working on that covered some of Universal’s films of the ’50s, since I’m a huge fan of that era, I couldn’t wait for it to come out so I could dig into it.
Reynold Brown Born Oct. 18th, 1917 – Died Aug. 24th, 1991
You probably have never heard of the name Reynold Brown, which is a tragedy. This man’s work is recognized by millions of film fans, but sadly they don’t even realize who Brown was. In the years before the internet, if there is one job in the movie business that is probably responsible for getting to people to come to the movies, it was the artists creating the movie poster. This was what the future audience was going to look at and decide that they had to come back next week to see that movie, so the image had to jump out at them and draw them in immediately. And one of these guys responsible for that in the ’50s through the ’60s, was Reynold Brown.
Between 1951 and 1970, he created somewhere between 250 and 275 movie posters. And a LOT of them, I guarantee that you’ve seen before. Titles like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula, This Island Earth, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, or even The Deadly Mantis. Each one of these pieces truly is a work of incredible art. Not only just recreating a giant monster on the poster, but creating a story right there in one lookBeing left-handed, at a time when that wasn’t ‘normal’, his grammar school teachers forced him to write “properly” with his right hand. Of course, he still used his left hand to doodle and draw. And that he did. He continued to draw all through high school, even getting a scholarship for an art school, but couldn’t go because of the death of his father. But he still continued to work on his talent, eventually working on a comic strip called Tailspin Tommy. After the advice of one of his heroes, Norman Rockwell, he got a job as an illustrator at North American Aviation, doing technical illustrations for service manuals. He eventually worked as a freelance illustrated for years, eventually getting a teaching job as Art Center College, which he did for 26 years.
In 1951, he did his first movie poster, for the film The World in His Arms. Some of his posters are iconic and ones that we’ve been seeing for years. So Reynold Brown is a name that needs to be remembered for his work in this field, and for creating such incredible works of art, making us want to see those movies over and over again. The sad part is that there were times that Brown, and a lot of other movie poster artists, were not allowed to sign their names on the artwork. That is a real tragedy.
Check out the official website by clicking HERE. There was also a documentary on him made in 1994 called The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters, which is available to watch on YouTube. Below is part one, then you should be able to see the links for the other three parts. It definitely is worth a watch.
At the end of August, at the Skyline Drive-In Theater in Shelbyville, IN (just south of Indianapolis), they are holding their annual festival of classic monster movies being screened over 3 days. We were there for one of them a few years ago and have been trying to get back again for the fun, but just don’t seem to make it. But once again, we’re going to try to make it this year.
Starting on Friday, Aug. 28th, they will be screening Mighty Joe Young (1949), Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Tarantula (1955), and Horror Express (1972). Then on Saturday the 29th, they will be showing the original King Kong (1933), American Werewolf in London (1981), Hammer’s Abominable Snowman (1957), Toho’s War of the Gargantuas (1966), and then Teenage Monster (1958). On Sunday, they will have repeat screenings of Curse of the Werewolf, Island of Lost Souls, and Abominable Snowman. I can’t tell you how excited I am thinking of having the chance to see some of these amazing films on a huge screen, not to mention at a drive-in! How cool is that? I mean seriously….the original King Kong!?!?!
John Agar Born Jan. 21st, 1921 – Died April 7th, 2002
Though he started his film acting career doing westerns, it’s the films he did in the ‘50s that made John Agar so memorable to horror fans. Agar was a staple when it came to battling giant monsters, aliens, and mad scientists. He always gave it his all, even when the script wasn’t the greatest, or even the monster that he was fighting against. He always gave a fun and entertaining performance, even when working with uber-low-budget king Larry Buchanan on a couple of films. He would even make appearances in more modern day films in titles like Clive Barker’s Nightbreed and the Tope Hooper directed episode of John Carpenter’s anthology Body Bags.
Of few of his highlights (and lowlights, depending on your feelings) would be Revenge of the Creature (1955), Tarantula (1955), and The Brain from the Planet Arous (1957), as well as Larry Buchanan’s Zontar: The Thing from Venus and Curse of the Swamp Creature (both 1966).
Universal Terrors, 1951-1955: Eight Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Films
Reynold Brown
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