Boris Karloff’s Thriller 1960s television series

Even from the series opening iconic musical score, you know something deliciously sinister is about to occur. The word THRILLER appears against a fractured white web like graphic title design quite a bit in the style of Saul Bass. The discordant piano and horn stabbed modern jazz theme already bring you into the inner sanctum of menacing story telling. As Boris would often say as a precursory welcome,”Let me assure you ladies and gentlemen, as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a thriller“

Boris Karloff’s THRILLER was an anthology series that ran from 1960-1962. It included 60 minute B&W episodes, 67 in all, that were expected to compete with The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The series was developed by Executive Producer Hubbell Robinson and producers William Frye, Fletcher Markle and Maxwell Shane.The format was somewhat plagued by two conflicting and ambivalent themes, leaving the series narrative straddling both crime melodrama and tales of the macabre genres.

Many of the stories were based on writings taken from Weird Tales and scripted by that magazine’s contributors such as Robert Bloch (author of the novel Psycho) who wrote one of my favorite episodes The Cheaters.Other contributing writers were,Richard Matheson,Barre Lyndon and August Derleth.

The show had an incredible line up of serious dramatic actors.Leslie Nielsen,Mary Astor, Rip Torn, Patricia Barry, Richard Anderson, Richard Chamberlain, Martin Gabel, Cloris Leachman, Fay Bainter, Victor Buono, Audrey Dalton, Alan Caillou, Elisha Cook, Jr., Robert Lansing, Mary Tyler Moore, Beverly Garland,Warren Oates, Werner Klemperer,Harry Townes, Jack Weston, Paul Newlan, Ed Nelson, Mildred Dunnock,William Shatner, Elizabeth Allen, Guy Stockwell,Susan Oliver, Nehemiah Persoff,Torin Thatcher,Marlo Thomas,Robert Vaughn,John Ireland,Pippa Scott, Jeanette Nolan,Guy Rolfe,Hazel Court,Lloyd Bochner,Brandon DeWilde,Sidney Blackmer,George Macready,Tom Poston, Elizabeth Montgomery, John Carradine,Edward Andrews,Estelle Windwood, Bruce Dern, Jo Van Fleet,Jane Greer,Richard Long,Ursula Andress, Reta Shaw, Dick York, Howard McNear,Richard Carlson, amongst the many other wonderful character actors of that time

And many notable directors as well,Robert Florey, French Screenwriter who was responsible for contributing to The Outer Limits and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone as well as assistant director on the Murders In The Rue Morgue and the 1946 film The Beast With 5 Fingers yet another take of the Orlac saga. John Brahm had directed the 1944 version of The Lodger and Hangover Square. In fact a lot of the overall tone of the series combined elements of Film Noir as well as classical horror. The shadowy gray toned cinematography created so much of the atmospherics for some of the most memorable episodes in the series. Pigeons From Hell is yet another story adapted from Weird Tales Magazine. This episode was directed by John Newland of One Step Beyond, the television series consisting of half hour episodes that were purported to be based on true paranormal events. Some other notable directors who contributed their work to the series was Ida Lupino (film noir maven), Ray Milland (one of my favorite actors) Arthur Hiller and Lazlo Benedak.

Thriller’s musical compositions seemed to be sculpted perfectly for each particular episode and underscored the haunting and poignant quality of each story in such an evocative way that it always felt like part of the narrative. Jerry Goldsmithand Morton Stevens wrote some of the most beautiful melodies I’ve ever heard. I was inspired by the episode God Grante That She Lye Stille, to name a song on Fools and Orphans after it, because the theme reminded me so much of my own struggles to exorcise the spirit of a woman who inhabited my heart and soul to the point of torment. I actually played around with a sound bite from the episode to lead into the piece. I wanted to use a few moments of Henry Daniell, who in addition to his marvelous face, had a wonderfully theatrical voice speaking the words as the 17th century reincarnation of his ancestor Vicar Weatherford, who condemned the witch Elsbeth Clewer be damned to hell’s fire as she burned at the stake, his invocation ” God Grant That She Lye Still” After trying this out in the beginning of the song I decided that it sounded too affected and contrived and dropped the idea of using it as a lead in to the song.

There are 14 episodes in particular that I’ll give a brief synopsis to. And I’ll write about 6 others in particular more extensively. I believe that Thriller was so ahead of it’s time in terms of story content, dialogue, set and art design , cinematography and acting. Together the confluence of all these elements contributed to a series that often pushed the boundaries of what you would expect from a 1960′s television series.It’s moody often compelling and haunting quality, I feel have not been duplicated on any other anthology series, or perhaps not even in the majority of feature films of that era~ Somehow Thriller seemed to encapsulate it’s own Gothic methodology. The sets had a uniquely eerie landscape and their own vitally uncanny, bizarre and shadowy environment, in the way that Val Lewton seemed to create his cycle of supernaturally themed shadow plays for RKO. The show still evokes chills and a Gestalt response in me even after having watched these episodes hundreds of times over. photo : of Robert Florey with Boris as Doktor Markesan

Also notable is Jack Barron’s make-up on the series, including Doktor Markesan’s~

Season One – Release dates

• The Twisted Image -Sept 13 1960

• Child’s Play -Sep 20 1961

• Worse Than Murder- Sep. 27 1960

• Mark of The Hand Oct 4 1960
• Rose’s Last Summer-Oct 11 1960
• The Guilty Men- Oct 18 1960
• The Purple Room Oct 25 1960
• The Watcher Nov 1 1960
• Girl With A Secret Nov 15 1960
• The Prediction Nov 22 1960
• The Fatal Impulse – Nov 29 1960
• The Big Blackout- Dec 6 1960
• Knock Three-One-Two -Dec 13 1960
• Man In The Middle -Dec 20 1960
• The Cheaters – Dec 27 1960
• The Hungry Glass – Jan 3 1960
• The Poisoner – Jan 10 1961
• Man In a Cage- Jan 17 1961
• Choose A Victim -Jan 24 1961
• Hay Fork and Bill-Hook- Feb 7 1961
• The Merriweather File- Feb 14 1961
• Fingers of Fear – Feb 21 1961
• Well Of Doom – Feb 28 1961
• The Ordeal of Dr Cordell -March 7 1961
• Trio For Terror- March 14 1961
• Papa Benjamin – March 21 1961
• A Late Date – Apr 4 1961
• Yours truly Jack the Ripper – Apr 11 1961
• The Devil’s Ticket – Apr 18 1961
• Parasite Mansion -Apr 25 1961
• A Good Imagination – May 2 1961
• Mr George – May 9 1961
• The Terror In Teakwood – May 18 1961
• The Prisoner in The Mirror -May 23 1961
• Dark Legacy – May 30 1961
• Pigeons from Hell – June 6 1961
• The Grim Reaper June 13 1961

Season Two

• What Beckoning Ghost - Sep 18 1961
• Guillotine – Sep 26 1961
• The Premature Burial – Oct 2 1961
• The Weird Tailor – Oct 16 1961
• God Grante That She Lye Stille – Oct 23 1961
• Masquerade – Oct 30 1961
• The Last of The Sommervilles – Nov 6 1961
• Letter To a Lover – Nov 13 1961
• A Third for Pinochle – Nov 20 1961
• The Closed Cabinet – Nov 27 1961
• Dialogues with Death -Dec 4 1961
• The Return of Andrew Bentley – Dec 11 1961
• The Remarkable Mrs Hawk – Dec 18 1961
• Portrait without a Face Dec 25 1961
• An Attractive Family – Jan 1 1962
• Waxworks – Jan 8 1962
• La Strega – Jan 15 1962
• The Storm – Jan 22 1962
• A Wig for Miss Devore – Jan 29 1962
• The Hollow Watcher -Feb 12 1962
• Cousin Tundifer – Feb 19 1962
• The Incredible Doktor Markesan -Feb 26 1962
• Flowers of Evil -Mar 5 1962
• Til Death Do Us Part – Mar 12 1962
• The Bride Who Died Twice – Mar 19 1962
• Kill My Love -Mar 26 1962
• Man Of Mystery – Apr 2 1962
• The Innocent Bystanders – Apr 9 1962
• The Lethal Ladies- Apr 16 1962
• The Specialists – Apr 30 1962