Nan Grey… (Yes Lili in Dracula’s Daughter, don’t come any closer Nan Grey), would like to share a few clips & trailers with you in honor of this upcoming Halloween! from 1930s-1960s… here’s a few rare gems that glow in the darkness!
Tod Browning directs this tale of revenge and weird science. Lionel Barrymore is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. He escapes from Devil’s Island and joins the strange Rafaela Ottiano as Melita together creating a killer force of miniature people!
George Macready is Dr. George Winson whose wife summons a supernatural power while he’s lying on his deathbed, to save him. Suddenly the menacing Lilyan Gregg (Rose Hobart) appears to answer Mrs. Winson’s plea. George recovers but Lilyan has now taken control!
Kurt Neumann directs this tale of science gone wrong, creating a woman from hell!
Dr. Dan Scott (Jack Kelly) and Dr. Richard Bach (Albert Dekker) inject the dying Kyra Zelas (Mari Blanchard) without her consent, (bad bad Men Doing Science!) with a formula which saves her life , yet ultimately turns her into a Monstrous Female who’s both wicked & immortal!
Director Gordon Hessler is at the helm of this British suspense thriller with an eerie tinge of the supernatural! The film has a flavor of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents considering Hessler played a huge part in the television series! A tale of betrayal, murder and vengeance from the grave. But is all what it seems… The film contains an elaborate plot, with many twists and turns along the way. Fate will decide in the end…Wonderful obscure horror/thriller from the 60s!…
Raymond Garth (Gary Merrill) kills his wealthy sickly harping wife Ellen (Georgina Cookson) so he can carry on with her young niece Christine (Rachel Thomas).
Your EverLovin MonsterGirl saying Cheers & Happy Almost Halloween!
I’ve chosen theses particular episodes for various reasons. I’m very fond of the actors portraying these very nuanced roles. The stories directed by some of the best, themselves are quite compelling, and the musical compositions by Lyn Murray just left a poignant hole in my heart afterwards. I hope you get to see at least a few of them. Very special, very fraught with edge of your seat thrills, and some outstanding performances by some of your favorites who deserve to be showcased here! Without any further adieu —Good Evening…!
Carol LynleyRuth RomanAnne FrancisDina MerrillCharity Gracegreat character actor Tim O’Connor in BanacekEileen BaralFranchot ToneGary MerrillGena RowlandsClu GulagerGladys CooperIsobel Elsom in Monseur VerdouxJoan FontaineJoyce van PattenJuanita Moore in Imitation of Life with Lana Turnerthe wonderful Margaret LeightonNancy Kelly is more than just Rhoda’s mother in The Bad SeedRoger PerryR. G. Armstrongcharacter actress Jesslyn Fax
William Downey-“Have all your prayers been answered sister?”
Sister Pamela- “Prayers aren’t business deals Mr. Downey, they can’t be judged by successes or failures.”
Sister Gem tells Sister Pamela “Oh sister… not tears again… you’ve cried a whole river these past weeks.”
Sister Lydia says ” I want you to see what faith and prayer will do.”
Norman Lloyd directs this Henry Slesar story starring the lovely Carol Lynleywho plays Sister Pamela Wiley, a gentle soul who has come to the crossroads of her faith. It is a simplistically beautiful tale about faith and finding ones place on earth.
The Reverend Mother portrayed by the wonderful Isobel Elsombelieves that Sister Pamela’s crisis will go away in time. Sister Pamela is sent on a very special mission to meet the once young hooligan named William Downey from parochial school she’d tried to change for the bette. He has invited sister Lydia to his mansion after thirty years of silence to give her a very special statue of St Francis. It’s a gesture of thank you and a very sacred piece of art. On the way back to the convent the statue is stolen at the train station.
Sister Pamela- “some people retreat to god and not advance toward him, and that’s what i have done.”Isobel Elsom as the commanding Reverend MotherSister Pamela tries on her new clothes, looking in the mirror she sees a pretty young lady and not a sister of the convent anymore. She is struck still.Pamela takes a job as a secretary where Jimmy the no good thief works on the loading docks as part of his parole. Now she’s just one of the girls….
Pamela finds the statue of St Francis at a Pawn shop.
The bronze statue falls into the wrong hands by petty thief (Clu Gulager as schemer Jimmy Bresson) and so Sister Pamela puts herself in harms way in order to set things right!
With Sara Taft as Sister Lydia and Charity Grace as Sister Gem (Jennifer Morrison from Andy Griffith’sAlcohol & Old Lace), Clu Gulager is perfect as the ruthless Jimmy K Bresson and R.G. Armstrong as the imposing William Downey.
Laura- “Would you mind opening a window, this house smells of…” Robbie breaks in-“Death!” Laura-“No, the past, which is even worse!”
The wonderful Partricia Collingeplays an old fashioned lady Naomi Freshwater, who has been befriended by a fire & brimstone preacher spouting scripture in an obsessive way. The enigmatic Peter Falkisthe cab driving preacher Robbie Evans who comes from the coal mines of Pennsylvania, had a vision during a cave in and changed his life. Did he possibly kill his first wife… well you’ll have to wait and see.
Now as a seemingly kind companion to sweet old Naomi, he spends time with her reading bible verses and hoping to gain her trust so he can build his grand temple on the money she’ll leave him in her will. The dear and sheltered Naomi has a bad heart and suffers a fatal heart attack one night when Robbie forces her to dance too rigorously. She collapses on the settee begging for her little pills as Robbie coldly watches her die. The scene is absolutely brutal in it’s heartlessness. Quite a powerful scene for just a one hour anthology show. I myself was left speechless and stunned by it’s ruthlessness. Adding to the grisly atmosphere was the non stop record spinning a bedazzling swing melody while the tortured old women clutches at her chest. I don’t know if it was the lighting or just Falk’s cold-blooded unwavering expression that left me chilled to the bone.
Falk plays the perfect sociopath, with only one nearly over the top performance during a bible thumping sermon under the tent. When the classy worldly niece Laura (Dina Merrill) shows up, Robbie tries to woo her into marriage hoping to hang onto the old Victorian mansion that he feels is owed to him. Laura hires Robbie to clean out the attic and create a big old bonfire to burn the remnants of her life there.
At first Laura believes his ‘Man of God’ act as Naomi did, but Laura is a wild roaming sort who doesn’t wish to be tied down. This brings out the psychopath in Robbie, as he relates in detail how his first wife tried to hold him back, she was a sinner and he had the calling.
I won’t give away the ending, of course, but it’s a real tent stomper of a mystery, with psycho-sexual misogyny, delusional religious fanaticism and menacing mayhem afoot lead by an all star cast of actors. Directed by one of my favorites Joseph Pevneybased on a story by V.S. Pritchett as published in The New Yorker.
The music is done by the great Pete Rugulo and of course the contribution of William Marguliescinematography all come together to create one hell of a grand mystery hour.
