THE WILLIAM CASTLE BLOGATHON
“I think he was a wonderful director. He followed his dreams, and after all he was right.”–Marcel Marceau
On July 29th 1959 American Producer/Director & Screenwriter William Castle premiered (click on link to read my past post) The Tingler in the US to theater goers. The audience had the underside of their seats rigged with electric buzzers which were activated at the moment Vincent Price cautions them “Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. But scream! Scream for your lives! The stunt was named ‘Percepto’ and once the projectionist got his cue to let the current rip, people in the audience got a mild jolt to their tuchus and their money’s worth of chills and thrills!
The urbane Vincent Price plays Dr. Warren Chapin a man driven by a curiosity to find out the source of the mysteriously evil force that creates the SENSATION of fear. He discovers an organism called… The Tingler which manifests itself at the base of the spine when one is experiencing abject fear. The Tingler can only be subdued by the act of screaming.
In his memoirs Step Right Up! I’m Gonna Scare the Pants Off America he talks about the people who got their gluteus maximus’ buzzed with a small electric shock. Castle went as far as to hire fake “screamers and fainters” that he planted in the audience who would then be carted away on a gurney by “nurses” who were situated out in the lobby ready to put them in an ambulance parked outside the theater. This gimmick definitely outshines the last publicity scheme for his first chiller film touted with fanfare in which he offered a certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd’s of London in case they should die of fright during his picture Macabre (1958) a film he felt inspired to make after seeing the success of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Diabolique (1955)
Growing up in the 60s and 70s my childhood was filled with the sort of wonderful attractiveness William Castle’s shenanigans fostered in my yearning imagination. His films wouldn’t really be considered frightening by anyone’s standards today, but if you were a kid watching television on a rainy Saturday afternoon way back when, and suddenly you were thrust into a world where wearing whacky goggles would allow you to see wild ghosts wreaking havoc in an old eerie mansion in 13 Ghosts, or a disembodied hand rising up from a bath of brilliant red blood in an otherwise black and white landscape in The Tingler, or that moment when Nora Manning sees Mrs.Slydes the blind housekeeper who glides past her, a crone like harbinger of death, or those jaunty little party favors in the shape of coffins containing guns for the guests in House on Haunted Hill, with the added sensational musical scores and atmospherics you’d know the thrill and nostalgic glow that washes over you because William Castle made himself a presence quite like Hitchcock who was invested in bringing us into their world of fear and getting us excited about it!
Castle’s films have left an indelible mark on so many of us, not to mention the incredible movie stars and character actors who inhabited his memorable films, like Vincent Price, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Shelley Winters, Sid Caesar, Ann Baxter, Robert Ryan, Richard Conte, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson, Rhonda Fleming Robert Taylor, Guy Rolfe, Janette Scott, William Prince, Judith Evelyn, Audrey Dalton, Margaret Hamilton, Tom Poston and Elisha Cook Jr. and so many more…
Keep in mind, he produced my favorite film of all time, which I’ve been planning to do a major feature on down the road. The transcendent mind blowing tribute to paranoia and motherhood, Rosemary’s Baby 1968, thank god he decided to let Polanski direct, but still he was the man behind the masterpiece.
And Castle didn’t just do scary campy joyrides, if you look at his filmography you’ll see an array of film noir & mysteries like Hollywood Story (1951),The Fat Man (1951) Undertow (1949) series’ like The Crime Doctor & The Whistler, adventures like Serpent of the Nile (1953), with Rhonda Fleming. Westerns, television series and screwball comedies too like The Busy Body (1967) starring Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan and Ann Baxter , so if you’re a scaredy cat no worries there’s plenty to cover for everybody!
William Castle is one of THE most recognizable showman of film camp, purveyor of cheap chills, the maestro of gimmickry! In a time when the censors were becoming more lax and psycho-sexual themes were infiltrating the cinematic frontier, the trumpets were hailing Castle to step right up and create his own uniquely tacky ballyhoo! Sometimes kitschy, at times quite jolting and paralyzing, so many of us were marvelously effected by the collective tawdry Schadenfreude.
And so I got to thinking– geez it’ll be the 54th anniversary of that Spine-Tingling fun house ride of B-Movie schlockery and what better way to tribute the P.T. Barnum of Classic B-Movie fanfare than to co-host a blogathon with the witty and well versed Terri McSorley of Goregirl’s Dungeon.
Castle opens up The Tingler with this fabulous warning to the audience:
I was going to wait and announce the blogathon officially on May 31st which will be the anniversary of Castle’s death in 1977, but we all seem so excited about this, I thought I better get on it and post the details and start the Tingler climbing up our proverbial collective spines! And what a great bunch contributing too!
In honor of The Tingler’s 54th anniversary
The William Castle Blogathon runs from July 29th through August 2nd, 2013 and is Co-hosted by Joey (MonsterGirl) of The Last Drive In and Terri of Goregirl’s Dungeon.
The list of films and contributors are below: We’ll narrow down the dates each person will publish their post a little further down the road. I don’t want to be too restrictive about films being covered twice as everyone has their own unique perspective. There’s still a bunch of films not chosen yet so please consider widening the scope of our celebration by tackling a lesser known film of Bills! All are welcome, if you’re interesting in joining the ride, please contact me!
Please grab any banners for the blogathon and use them on your site if you’d like!
There’s also no constraints on how long your piece should be. As you know I tend to be really long winded myself. If you have any questions at all, like if you’d prefer your name displayed differently please always feel free to drop me a line at ephemera.jo@gmail.com or leave a comment here:
The Spine-Tinglers Are!
(Lindsey)-The Motion Pictures –Tribute &
(Gwen) Movies Silently– The Crime Doctor & The Whistler
(Dorian) Tales of the Easily Distracted– The Spirit is Willing (1967)
(Vinnie) Tales of the Easily Distracted –Zotz! (1962)
(Stacia) She Blogged By Night –Let’s Kill Uncle (1966)
(David Arrate)- My Kind of Story-Images – Shanks (1974) & Masterson of Kansas (1954) and It’s a Small World (1950)
(Brian Schuck) Films From Beyond The Time Barrier– Strait-Jacket (1964)
(Joey-MonsterGirl!) The Last Drive In –House on Haunted Hill (1959) & Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) & Back Story: What Ever Happened to William Castle’s Baby? (Rosemary’s Baby)
(Kristina)-Speakeasy– The Houston Story (1956)
(Paul)-Lasso the Movies– The Tingler (1959)
Goregirl’s Dungeon – ‘The Women of Castle”, tribute to musical scores &
(Steve Habrat) Anti Film School –Mr Sardonicus (1961)
(Ruth) –Silver Screenings– The Old Dark House (1963)
(Rob Silvera) The Midnight Monster Show– Homicidal (1961) & House on Haunted Hill (1959)
(Aurora) Once Upon a Screen… – The Night Walker (1964)
Classic Movie Hub– The Busy Body (1967)
(Karen) Shadows and Satin– Mysterious Intruder (1946)
The Nitrate Diva– When Strangers Marry (1944)
(Jenna Berry) Classic Movie Night Ghost Story/Circle of Fear
Forgotten Films-Macabre (1958)
(Kristen) Journeys in Classic Film Spine-Tingler: The William Castle Story
(Heather Drain) Mondo Heather– 13 Frightened Girls!(1963) & Bio
(Barry) Cinematic Catharsis –13 Ghosts (1960)
(Misty Layne) Cinema Schminema – Project X (1968)
(Ivan) Thrilling Days of Yesteryear– The Chance of a Lifetime (1943){Boston Blackie} & I Saw What You Did (1965)
(Rich) Wide Screen World – “Top 5 William Castle gimmicks”
(John LarRue) The Droid You’re Looking For- “Visual Feature-(various films)”
(Sam) Wonders in the Dark- Rosemary’s Baby (’68)
(Jeff Kuykendall) Midnight Only– Bug (1975)
(Le) Critica Retro– Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948)
(Toby Roan)- 50 Westerns The Law vs Billy the Kid (1954)
(The Metzinger Sisters) Silver Scenes “Busy Bodies: Promoting Castle’s Camp” & The Films of William Castle!
(Ray) Weird Flix -Slaves of Babylon (1953) & The Saracen Blade (1954)
And a special thanks to David Arrate at My Kind of Story for these banners!
Hey there! It looks fantastic! I will let you know whether I decide on The Crime Doctor or The Whistler. Great participation so far! Thanks for setting this up!
Why don’t you do both. or Crime Doctor has a few in the series, you could cover a little of each… I just love your writing so I’m selfish
Hee hee! Thanks!
Should I put you down for The Whistler and The Crime Doctor? You can always change it, there’s plenty of time…
Sure, I will let you know when I make the big decision ;-)
you got it sista!
Joey, it’s practically gonna be one of the Blogathons to end all Blogathons! :-) We’re all excited for your William Castle Blogathon, and it’s not just because Vinnie and I will be joining the fun with THE SPIRIT IS WILLING and ZOTZ!, not to mention The Crime Doctor, one of my favorites, and ROSEMARY’S BABY, and so much more! :-) Hats off to you and Terrii for this inspired Blogathon!
Aw shucks, if it wasn’t for the fabulous bloggers such as yourself and the incredible circle of writers I wouldn’t have been so inspired to try and tread water in the big ocean of blogathons. You all gave me to courage and push to just dive in and thrash around… Thanks for always give me support. We can’t wait to read everyone’s submission, in particular yours and your hubby’s.
at first I just thought, float the idea balloon out there and see if it flies. Well it truly took off, so YES I think it’s going to be quite a shindig. Now back I must turn my attentions to that sexy beast Robert Ryan for The Dark Pages… You’re a peach my friend- Your Pal Joey
Hey, Joey, I think I need one more thing if I’m going to post one of your fab ads for the William Castle Blogathon: a “static page” where all of us Blogathoners can include links to our posts, like the one Ruth and I did for the Mary Astor Blogathon. If you need help with that, I suggest hubby Vinnie’s help, if only because he’s the one who helped me out with the Mary-thon! :-) Please let us know, beaucoup thanks, my friend!
Hey Dor- I have one of those brilliant techies at home too, mine’s named Wendy. I love the work you, Vinnie and Ruth did for the Mary Astor Blogathon. I wish I could do great gifs like you guys. I would have had a floating skeleton from House on Haunted Hill. I’ll create a ‘page’ for the blogathon now, and send you the link… thanks for helping me with this… I’m still a little fish treading water in a very large pond. Glurp Glurp
Joey, aren’t we lucky that we both have smart and loving techies around the house to help us make our blogs so smart and snappy, bless their hearts? And don’t you worry about that “large pond” — you’ll get your water wings before you know it! :-D We have faith in you, girl!
awww shucks ma’am ‘aren’t ya kind, aren’t ya kind’ as Malcolm Merriweather would say-yes bless their hearts, it’s been absolute salvation to have such a truly geeky sweetheart in my life- Here’s to you and yours-Joey waitin on those water wings
Joey, this is going to be fantastic. Really looking forward to it!
Thanks kiddoe, I agree… it looks like it’s going to be a Tingler!
Hi! I(‘d like to be part of the blogathon. I’ll watch both The Night Walker and Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven, but I’m thinking about writing about the later, since nobody has chosen this one.
I’m Le from the blog Critica Retro, a Portuguese blog easily translatable by the Google Translator in the sidebar.
Greetings!
Hello Le, it would be lovely to have you join in with us. It promises to be a blast. And you’re blog looks greatI
I think it would be fabulous for you to cover Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven as you said no one has picked that one yet, and it would really widen the scope of the blogathon. Thanks so much for contacting me. Looking forward to your submission. We’ll pick the dates for everyone soon…. cheers Joey
Hello again- Do you have a date you’d like to post your piece on Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven for the Bill Castle Blogathon- Let me know so I can put it on the list- Can’t wait to see you there soon!
Hot Diggity! This sounds fantastic..I was hoping there’d be sometime of really juicy horror themed blogathon going on this summer. Looking forward to reading all the entries ( wouldn’t mind submitting one meself! ). I love that pic you posted of the old hag from House on Haunted Hill. She’s the best!
Why as sure as my name isn’t Boris Karloff you’re in!- Isn’t the old crone a beaut!, I’ll list you shortly. So glad you and your sister are along for the ride… Cheers Joey
Hello. Although you wished that I turned blue over at Once Upon a Screen…don’t forget I am participating in this one. We had a back-n-forth last week and I settled on…..um….OH! THE NIGHT WALKER (1964).
:-D
Aurora
Although I love all shades of blue, I shouldn’t want to see your face turn any hue because of my pussy footing around with your fabulous Dynamic Duo Blogathon in July. I not only remember that you’re doing The Night Walker with Stanny, I’ve chased everyone else away from it like a junk yard dog
Well… without the snarling teeth, perhaps more like a barking toy poodle
:-D You’re the bomb, Joey! Even when you’re evil!
Aurora
Aw, I’m not really evil, I’m quite ‘pleasant and nice’, like Aunt Bee’s kerosene cucumbers!
OOPS! Holding my breath affects my eyesight apparently. I now see I am already listed. JUST TESTING YOU!
I’d love to take “Slaves of Babylon” (1953) and “The Saracen Blade” (1954).
Hey Ray-do you have a date you’d like to post your Slaves of Babylon for the Bill Castle Blogathon- let me know so I can put it on the list-Can’t wait to see you there soon!!! Cheers Joey
I’d like to do Let’s Kill Uncle (1966) – thanks!
Stacia-Are you kidding!!!! I would LOVE to have you along for the ride!!!! Let’s Kill Uncle is yours… can’t wait to see your contribution and thanks so much for stopping by… See you soon-Cheers Joey
I heard about the ‘thon from Ivan at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear and had to participate. Thanks for having me!
Excellent!!! So very happy to have you along kiddoe!!!
Hey Stacia! Can’t wait to see your piece on Let’s Kill Uncle for the Bill Castle Blogathon- Do you have a date I can put you down for?- Let me know and I’ll add it to the list!!! See ya soon-cheers Joey
Joey, I’ve been absent a bit. I would love to do an article about Spine Tingler! The documentary on Castle. Also, I’m friends with William Castle on Facebook. Can I share your blogathon there? His daughter and grandson love to know he is remembered!
Hi Tracy! We’d love to have you along for the ride-Journey’s in Classic Film is actually covering Spine Tingler but I’d love it if you’d contribute in some way to the Castle bash. Here’s a list of what’s being featured.
http://thelastdrivein.com/the-william-castle-blogathon/
I actually tried to contact Terry but haven’t heard back yet. I too felt that she would love to know that so many people are getting together to tribute her dad!-Let me know if you still want to join in, even if it’s doing a different take on his incredible legacy let me know and I’ll list you-Cheers Joey
I can’t wait for this. I love William Castle. Love. Love. Love.
Ahhh Great- It’s going to be so much fun- We all love love love Bill- Cheers Joey
Don’t forget your special glasses for “13 Ghosts.”
Got an extra pair handy just in case I lose the first set of Illision-O’s from fright! See ya there-
Grat post.