SILVER SCENES IS HOSTING THE UNIVERSAL BLOGATHON! SO I THOUGHT I’D BRING OUT THE UNIVERSAL TELEVISION PRODUCTION OF BORIS KARLOFF’S ANTHOLOGY… LET ME ASSURE YOU, IT’S A THRILLER!!! VISIT SILVER SCENES AND CHECK OUT ALL THE WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!
“I think the title leaves the stories wide open to be based on melodrama not violence or shock. They’ll be stories about people in ordinary surroundings and something happened to them. The whole thing boils down to taste. Anybody can show you a bucket of blood and say-‘This is a bucket of blood’, but not everyone can produce a skilful story”–Boris Karloff (1960)
At the bottom of this feature, you will find links to my older Thriller posts. Some of my favorite episodes- as well as 4 newly covered episodes in brief for the MeTV Summer of Classic TV Blogathon!-Masquerade, Parasite Mansion, Mr.George, and The Purple Room!
From the show’s opening iconic musical score, you know something deliciously sinister is about to occur. The word THRILLERappears against a fractured white web-like graphic title design quite a bit in the style of Saul Bass. The discordant piano and horn stabs of modern jazz already bring you into the inner sanctum of menacing storytelling. 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.”
Thrillerwas filmed on the same network and sound stage as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Producer Writer & Director Douglas Benton claims though not hearing it directly that Hitchcock resented Thriller, as he considered Hubbell Robinson encroaching on his territory.
Benton states, “Actually we weren’t doing the same thing he was, he was doing some very sophisticated ‘twist’ material. Hitchcock was doing the sort of thing that they started out to do on Thriller… We {Frye, Benton et al} came along and improved the ratings considerably and got a tremendous amount of press and Hitchcock didn’t like the competition. I don’t think he ever came out and said ‘get rid of ’em’ but he did allow them to enlarge his show from -a half hour to an hour, and that made it more difficult for us to stay on.” {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
The series was developed by Executive Producer Hubbell Robinson program director and then executive vice president at CBS who was responsible for dramatic shows like Studio One & Playhouse 90 and produced Arsenic and Old Lace (tv movie ’69) with Lillian Gish & Helen Hayes. Boy oh boy would I like to get my hands on a copy of that!
Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes with Bob Crane rehearsing for Arsenic and Old Lace ’69
In 1959 he left CBS to start his own production company, Hubbell Robinson Productions. Robinson had said “Our only formula is to have no formula at all,” endeavoring that each week’s episode would not be like the week before, bringing viewers one-hour feature pictures that were“consciously and deliberately striving for excellence. {…}Each plot will be unique, unusual.” –Robinson {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Also on board were producers William Frye, Fletcher Markle & Maxwell Shane (The Mummy’s Hand ’40, Fear in the Night ’47) who added their vision of a superior mystery & horror anthology for MCA’s Revue Studios which would conform to the trend of anthology series’ featuring a host to introduce each week’s story.
The format had somewhat ambivalent themes, leaving the show’s narrative straddling both genres of crime melodrama and tales of the macabre. But… either of these atmospheres created by some of the best writers, directors, and players delivered a highly intoxicating blend of both, remaining a powerful anthology with uniquedramatic flare.
Karloff loved the title for the show, “It’s an arresting title. And it does not tie you to one type of show. You can have suspense and excitement, without getting into violence {…} There will be none of the horror cliches on this programme {…} we will deal with normal people involved in unusual situations.”
Boris Karloff was very critical of horror for the sake of horror, during Thriller’srun,“We’re in an era of insensate violence. Today it’s shock, so-called horror and revulsion. I think the idea is to excite and terrify rather than entertain. The story is muck for the sake of muck. The over emphasis of violence on screen and tv has reached the point of being utterly absurd… That’s one thing you won’t find on Thriller-violence for the sake of violence, shock for the sake of shock.”{source:Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Not only was there an unmistakable atmosphere to each of Thriller’s episodes, the stories themselves were lensed in a unique way that was very ahead of its time. The actors brought a serious attitude to their characters and the plot development and didn’t treat them as merely short pulp stories as fodder for the tv masses. This was an intelligent show, and the presence of Boris Karloff added a charming and cerebral primacy to the show’s narration. It was like being tucked in by your remarkable grandfather who loved to tell a good spooky tale to you right before bedtime. I’ve said this plenty, I wish Boris Karloff had been my grandfather. Everyone who has ever worked with Karloff had nothing but glowing praise for the great and gentle man. He exuded a quiet grace and was the consummate professional taking every part seriously and extremely generous with his time even as he suffered from his physical limitations. Karloff had been getting on in years and his grand stature was riddled with arthritis causing his legs to bow.
Actress Audrey Dalton said, “Just the perfect gentleman. A terribly British, wonderful wonderful man.” Actor Ed Nelson who was dying to work with Karloff said, “He was a very gentle man” Douglas Benton had said, “Boris Karloff-God, what a lovely man.”
Karloff as Clayton Mace the phony mentalist in The Prediction
While filming The Prediction the scene at the end when he must lie down in the pool of rainy water and die, Karloff asked director John Brahm “Is this the best way for the camera?” who said, “Yes, it is but good lord you don’t have to lie there and have gutter water coursing up your britches like that!” Karloff replied, “Oh yes I do! This is my work. I insist.” {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Every installment of the show offered us a chance to see Karloff as he enters the Thriller stage as a sage Fabulist delivering us the evening’s program with a refined articulation of philosophy and captivating storytelling encapsulated in a compelling little prologue, often infused with its own brand of dark humor.
The Man Who Turned To Stone (1957) was directed by Leslie or László Kardos and produced by Sam Katzman. Screenplay by Raymond Marcus, Bernard Gordon. Cinematographer Benjamin H. Kline, whose work was prominent in low-budget films, westerns, and serials (The Man They Could Not Hang 1939, film noir Detour 1945, Zombies of Mora Tau 1957, The Giant Claw 1957).
The cast: Victor Jory, Ann Doran, Charlotte Austin, William Hudson (Allison Hayes’s louse of a husband in 50 Foot Woman – Sometimes a monster girl just wants to see the giant rubber hand smash through the roadside cafe and grab that cheating lecherous creep of a husband of Allison Hayes and not think of the feminist overtones of a 50 foot woman enraged.)
There’s also Paul Cavanagh, Jean Willes, and Frederick Ledebur. Incidentally, Hudson’s older brother John was also a louse of a husband in another gem,The Screaming Skull (1958), although I recommend the MST3K version too, it’s a hoot!
This is a quirky, outre fun obscure horror film that I simply love. It combines the women in prison thingy with the mad scientist genre. It could even be considered a sci-fi film. It’s very hard to categorize some films because they do cross-pollinate with multiple themes, to me it’s all instant vintage bliss.
The idea of women in captivity isn’t new, and certainly putting them at risk within their confinement creates a very frantic atmosphere. We feel trapped along with them, right? So add to that a really tall man in a black suit who looks like pigeons would love to alight upon his shoulders, and you get The Man Who Turned To Stone – the man who could sit in the park and collect pigeon shit all over himself.
Naughty girls are put away from society, being experimented on for the purpose of extending the secret of eternal life.
The theme of using women in prison is sort of an extension of the confinement of women out in the world who are thought of as captive objects, an archaic tradition of ” a woman’s place is in the home,” an institutionalized sort of domestic restraint for some.
I find it gratifying to be at home, watching horror and noir films, playing with my cats, drinking coffee, then doing a quick vacuuming and setting the crock pot up for 6 hours, chili at 7 p.m. Housewifery is nirvana for me.I am merely making an observation about the implications and allure of the women in prison genre. Also, watching a gratuitous girl fight has its fascinations. Guilty as charged as the conductor of the steel tub in this movie!
In typical girls behind bars flicks, there’s always the tough one who’s been around longer than mud, and the new fish who comes in and transforms the dynamic with her fresh innocence and naivete, eventually helping the other inmates achieve some kind of revelation about life and themselves.
There’s also the stock evil “total institution” figure or figures that hovers over the women, exploiting, abusing, and being, well, horrible authoritarians, tyrannical fascist dirtbags on a power trip.
The women in LaSalle Detention Home for “Girls” have been inextricably dying, in a most mysterious way. These are young girls, and yet they are suffering heart attacks? This has been going on for 2 years. Over the course of those 2 years, the inmates hear disturbing screams in the middle of the night.
The problem is that there aren’t any people who would care about “bad girls” in jail. They’ve lost all their rights, no one cares about such types, and so it’s a perfect environment to perform experiments on these women because they are a)helpless and b)anonymous. Hidden away from watchful, responsible eyes.
And you see the people running the prison aren’t really evil agents of the law, they are actually really, really old evil people who do esoteric science and are using the prison as a cover.
Charlotte Austin plays Carol Adams, the social worker who actually does give a damn about the girls. Carol has integrity and wants to help the girls reform and make sure that their living conditions are more than just adequate.
Tracy, the iconic old-timer inmate of the group, tells Carol about the suspicious string of “heart attacks”that have occurred over the past two years. Carol tries to investigate. This puts Carol in danger because she’s starting to interfere with Dr. Murdock’s (played by naturally stone-faced Victor Jory) experiments. He and his assistants try to deter Carol at every turn. So Murdock, Mrs.Ford ( beloved character actress Ann Doran), and the other scientists start panicking.
No one knows that these people are actually over 200 years old. It’s delicious to see these evil practitioners of eternal life wearing eighteenth-century clothes. Way back in the 1700s, they had uncovered a method of prolonging the life force or actually renewing life by transferring energy from one person to another. It had something to do with electricity, blood transfusions, and large steel bathtubs.
Not unlike Vampirism, but by sucking the life force out of one body and infusing it into themselves. These scientists have been virtually using the girls to literally feed their years. When one of the girls is chosen to re-energize one of the scientists, she dies, and they make it look like a heart attack. These scientist vampires have figured out that women in their childbearing years are the best givers of this life-nurturing force. The jail is full of those.
Thus the reason why Murdock has set up their laboratory in prison for “bad girls” The one problem Murdock and his accomplices face is that if they go too long without sustaining themselves with a new source of energy, their skin becomes as hard as stone, and their hearts pounds so wildly that it’s actually audible, then they die!
This happens to a few of them, and the sound we hear when time runs out is really creepily cool. So is the makeup for the stone skin. Another problem they are faced with is the rocky, ghoulish-looking brute Eric (Frederick Ledebur), a walking, mindless statue who suffered brain damage in their first experiments. It’s curious why they would keep him around for a couple of centuries. Perhaps he made a nice dining room ornament at the annual mad scientist cocktail party, or perhaps he looks great in the garden in his off hours, terrorizing the girl. It’s really Eric that gives The Man Who Turned To Stone its creepitude. The way he hulks around the house would give anyone the heebies, even a “bad girl.”
Eric is also taking longer and longer to respond to the recharging treatments, so they have to up the amount of female sacrifices from the jail pool.
Once one of the girls supposedly commits suicide, Dr Jesse Rogers (Hudson), a psychiatrist with the State Department of Corrections, takes Carol’s pleas seriously and tries to help find out what’s been going on at the prison.
Eventually, Carol and Dr. Rogers uncover the secret. Dr Murdock and the others try to kill Rogers and Carol, but they fail to do so. Eric is out of control and winds up kidnapping one of the inmates from her bed. After several mishaps, the scientists are vanquished of their nefarious and unholy rituals, and their lab is burned to the ground. And the girls can go back to confinement without Eric lurking about.
I’ll be here like a faithful stone statue! Your EverLovin’ -MonsterGirl
