Home for the Holidays 1972 Made for TV Movie: "The next time, I will not be the one who wakes up screaming.”

"There's nothing more chilling than a warm family gathering."

A Flashback to the 1970s: ABC Movie of the Week:

Even now, when I hear that iconic theme music from the ABC Movie of the Week, I can’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over me, like a warm hug from a long-lost friend who just walked in wearing bell-bottoms and a tie-dye shirt. It's like my heart does a little happy dance, reminding me of those cozy nights I spent rapt by the TV, ready for whatever wild ride the network had in store.

Growing up in the 70s, I was drawn to its unique vibe; who wouldn't get misty-eyed thinking about the sheer joy of watching a made-for-TV movie? Those were the days when that format was our portal to adventure, and that theme music was the soundtrack to our childhood dreams!

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I often love reflecting on those days – the groovy vibes of the 1970s when the ABC Movie of the Week burst onto the scene, pulling you into its orbit. Launched in 1969 as a bold move to jazz up ABC’s lineup, this anthology series became a cultural phenomenon, delivering a fresh, funky mix of drama, suspense, and heartwarming stories that kept viewers like me glued to their couches.

With its vibrant opening theme and a mosaic of original films, the series kicked off with Seven in Darkness, a gripping tale of survival that set the tone for the creative magic to come. Each week brought a range of unique offerings, from the nail-biting tension of Duel, directed by the visionary Steven Spielberg, to the heartfelt camaraderie of Brian’s Song, which touched us on such a deeply emotional level.

The ABC Movie of the Week was more than just entertainment; it was a cultural touchstone that launched the careers of iconic actors and filmmakers, all while capturing the spirit of an era defined by bold experimentation and social change. With unforgettable stories and a flair for the dramatic, this series left an indelible mark on the fabric of television, making it a true classic of the 70s that still resonates today.

The landscape of 1970s television was rich and varied, featuring everything from soap operas and detective dramas to family sitcoms and supernatural thrillers. This era was characterized by a diverse array of genres, from groundbreaking sitcoms and gripping dramas to whimsical variety shows and thrilling action series. Shows like All in the Family, Mash, Columbo, and The Rockford Files captivated viewers with their clever plots and charismatic actors. They not only reflected the zeitgeist of the era but also influenced future generations of storytelling on screen.

The legendary Aaron Spelling contributed his vision to American television in a big way. He left a legacy as a producer known for creating some of the most unique made for tv movies chillers like Curtis Harrington’s How Awful About Allan 1970 and Satan’s School for Girls 1973 and iconic shows of the 1970s and beyond, including Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty, and Beverly Hills, 90210. With a career spanning over five decades, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most prolific television producer, crafting a staggering 4,300 hours of programming that defined the landscape of American pop culture.

Thanks so much, Gil of Realweegiemidgetreviews, for hosting this wonderful blogathon and giving me a chance once again to feel the groovy sense of nostalgia during my New York summer heatwave with this little chilly holiday tale of family fights and frights!

Continue reading “Home for the Holidays 1972 Made for TV Movie: "The next time, I will not be the one who wakes up screaming.”” →

Around the corner at The Last Drive In

In just a few days, I’ll be publishing my feature article for Nicolas Roeg’s meditation on grief, Don’t Look Now 1973. This is perfect timing to pay tribute to one of the most prolific, beloved actors, Donald Sutherland, who we just lost a few days ago.

Donald Sutherland (NY Times article), whose unforgettably versatile performances in films like Don’t Look Now has left an indelible mark on cinema and the artistry that defined his impressive career. Films that include M*A*S*H 1970, Kelly’s Heroes 1970s, Klute 1971, Casanova 1976, Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978, and Ordinary People 1980.

I am also really, really excited to announce… my upcoming interview with the indomitable Adrienne Barbeau, A Trailblazer of Stage and Screen!

So grab a box of raisinets and get ready for some good ol’ long-winded stuff from your EverLovin’ Joey!

Farewell to the King of the B’s: Cult Auteur Roger Corman dies at 98

"Now that we can create anything you can imagine with CG and technology, I think sometimes the special effects are emphasized over the story. It should still be about effects serving the narrative."

"”Roger Corman

For decades, Roger Corman was the Michelangelo of the B-movie, single-handedly painting hundreds of low-budget movies at the neighborhood drive-ins with titles like It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Little Shop of Horrors, X The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Wild Angels and a title that lingers called The Terror which featured a handsome unknown Jack Nicholson. All were created at the fastest pace on the cheapest budget imaginable. And it could be said the trailers (and titles) were just as exhilarating as the features. But beneath the cheese resided a surprising truth: Corman was a godfather of American independent film who played a prominent role in launching the careers of directors such as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Some of his most notable films were his adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe, which featured the hauntingly surreal art design by Daniel Haller and the Baroque magnificence of Vincent Price at the center of it all. About those masterpieces of the macabre to come!

Some of my most beloved memories as a kid growing up in the early 1960s are spending balmy afternoons exploring Corman's world. It's about time I paid tribute to his monumental contribution in the wake of his passing. And you know me… I’ll cover it all.

Read The Hollywood Reporter article here:

This is your EverLovin Joey saying: Keep an eye out here at The Last Drive In"”I'll be planning something special, it won't be cheap, and it won't be quick- not for the King of the B’s!

Enter Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes 1941 – Behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts"¦ and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field.

"I only ever wanted to be an actress, not a star."

Teresa Wright may seem lamblike at first glance, but don't let the soft smile fool you into thinking there isn't something gutsy within that charming glow. She is one of the most engaging actors, and she shows a resolute luster and independence to take on Hollywood with the same veracity she pursued wicked Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt.

Wright was not only endearing, but her acting and personal life lacked ceremony and authenticity. She was discovered by Samuel Goldwyn and gained early recognition for her exceptional performances in her first three films. She became the only actor to receive Oscar nominations for each of them. Wright earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and one for Mrs. Miniver.

Teresa Wright and Greer Garson in William Wyler’s Mrs. Miniver (1942).

It stands to reason that Times drama editor Edwin Schallert described Wright's burgeoning career as "one of the most remarkably brilliant for a young player in Hollywood.""¨Despite being a Hollywood star, she remained true to herself and rejected the pretentiousness that came along with being a star. She achieved Hollywood stardom on her own terms, without selling out for the sake of glamour.

Teresa Wright was resolute in her refusal to pose for photographs while wearing bathing suits and to subject herself to superficial interviews in gossipy fan magazines. At first, Goldwyn told her he was not of "the bathing suit school of Hollywood producers."

Muriel Teresa Wright was born in Harlem, New York City. She discovered a passion for acting while attending the exclusive Rosehaven School in Tenafly, New Jersey, after watching Helen Hayes in "Victoria Regina." While attending high school in Maplewood, N.J., Wright participated in theatrical productions. Although one teacher advised her to pursue typing instead, a public-speaking teacher mentored her and provided her with plays to read. He also arranged for her to spend two summers at the Wharf Theater in Provincetown.

After receiving a scholarship in the two summers preceding her graduation, she began apprenticing at the Wharf Theatre in Massachusetts, appearing in plays such as The Vinegar Tree and Susan and God.
She performed in school plays and graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, in 1938. She then decided to pursue acting professionally and moved to New York.

Wright had to drop her first name when she discovered that another actress named Muriel Wright was already registered with Actors Equity.

In 1938, in her first play, she landed an understudy role in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" on Broadway and then toured in the play.

It was a minor role, but it also served as a chance to understudy the lead ingénue character of Emily, actress Dorothy Maguire; however, when Maguire failed to return, Teresa continued in the same role under Martha Scott. Wright eventually replaced Martha Scott when the actress adapted the role of Emily in the film version.

Following her successful stage performances, Wright made her remarkable Broadway debut as Mary in Life With Father in 1939. This caught the attention of playwright Lillian Hellman, who recommended her to Goldwyn for the screen version of Hellman's The Little Foxes.

Teresa Wright as Alexandra (Zan) Gibbons in Lillian Hellman/William Wyler The Little Foxes (1941).

She gained recognition for her work alongside Bette Davis (who played the cold, calculating mother Regina) and Patricia Collinge who reprised her unparalleled Broadway role as the mercurial Aunt Birdie) in the film.

At that time, she had signed a contract with MGM but refused to do publicity stunts or cheese-cake shots that would turn her into a centerfold:

" The aforementioned Teresa Wright shall not be required to pose for photographs in a bathing suit unless she is in the water. Neither may she be photographed running on the beach with her hair flying in the wind. Nor may she pose in any of the following situations: In shorts, playing with a cocker spaniel; digging in a garden; whipping up a meal; attired in firecrackers and holding skyrockets for the Fourth of July; looking insinuatingly at a turkey for Thanksgiving; wearing a bunny cap with long ears for Easter; twinkling on prop snow in a skiing outfit while a fan blows her scarf; assuming an athletic stance while pretending to hit something with a bow and arrow."

Though she became the unwilling pin-up girl, Teresa Wright became Goldwyn's biggest overall star during the 1940s.

Teresa Wright and Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees (1942) image RKO via Getty Images.

Teresa received Oscar nominations for her roles in Mrs. Miniver (1942), the only movie she made for her studio MGM, and The Pride of the Yankees (1942), winning the Best Supporting Actress trophy for Mrs. Miniver.

In both roles, Teresa Wright gave heartwarming performances as the granddaughter in the sentimental war-era Mrs. Miniver and as baseball icon Lou Gehrig's kindhearted wife in Pride of the Yankees, starring opposite Gary Cooper. Wright, now one of the most appealing newcomers in Hollywood, garnered two Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress nods in the same year. She holds the record for receiving back-to-back Academy Award nominations in her first three film roles, which still stands today.

Teresa Wright received top billing for Shadow of a Doubt, a film that was her personal favorite and earned every bit of that limelight in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller. The film places Wright as serial killer Joseph Cotten's unsuspecting niece, Charlie, at the story’s center. Unsuspecting at first"¦

When Young Charlie (Wright) is over the moon about her favorite Uncle Charlie coming to her sleeping California town for a visit, the whole family celebrates his arrival. Her mother, Emma, Charlie's older sister (Patricia Collings, who appeared with Wright in The Little Foxes and Casanova Brown), can't wait to dote on her baby brother. But soon, it comes to light that Charlie might have left strangled wealthy women in his wake, and in fact, maybe The Merry Widow killer.

Teresa Wright gives a nuanced performance as Charlie Newton, who daringly holds her own in a game of cat and mouse with Joseph Cotten. They are tangled up in danger as she carefully draws out his murderous impulses.

But in the shadows beyond the edges, the family is unaware of the two characters diverge "“ one set on self-preservation with a malignant disgust for fat lazy wives who live off their husbands and the other who seeks out the truth and bends toward humanity. Their same names are where it begins and ends. Wright is a glowing jewel in the blackness of Hitchcock's nightmare.

Continue reading “Enter Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes 1941 – Behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts"¦ and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field.” →

Feature & Interview with Iconic Actress, Dancer, and Photographer, Barbara Parkins

The Raven-haired sylph who: "walks in beauty like the night"¦ Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright; Meet in her aspect and her eyes"¦" "” Lord Byron

Barbara Parkins is an icon of the 1960s, appearing in two of the decade's most popular and legendary film and television productions.

Barbara's exquisite beauty is undeniable, but her captivating performances in Peyton Place and Valley of the Dolls truly secured her legacy in Hollywood history and our collective consciousness. As beloved – Betty Anderson in the television series Peyton Place and as Anne Welles in the notorious adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's sensational novel Valley of the Dolls (1967). These memorable roles continue to resonate with audiences today.

But beyond any of it, the glamour, serious drama, pulp fiction, or even the camp, there is an actress who possesses an otherworldly beauty and a depth of character and quality. Not only has she touched our hearts with her performances as these two classic heroines, but she is also one of those recognizable actresses who project strength, confidence, and poise.

Barbara Parkins will undoubtedly be remembered for her portrayal of Betty Anderson Cord in the iconic 1960s prime-time operatic melodrama Peyton Place, which ran from 1964 to 1969.

Based on Grace Metalious's "˜dirty book,' Peyton Place blew the lid off of the hypocritical conformity of small-town America, capturing the complexities of American morality through high drama, showing the dark underbelly of a quaint community of "˜wholesome' families striving for normalcy amid controversial issues. That everything is not safe, it's not always comfortable, and it is without real struggle. And sometimes, life can be downright ugly. Her novel captures the "complexities of human existence"”the dramas, highs and lows, conflicts, and teenage sexuality"”depicting life’s un-romanticized, unvarnished reality. While the book offended some readers, it intrigued others, and despite being a popular show, critics often deem it shocking yet captivating." (The Baltimore Sun 1999 Laurie Kaplan article THE WOMEN OF PEYTON PLACE)

“Barbara Parkins has caught the public's eye, partly because of her beauty, partly because she is a capable little actress. But mostly because she seems to have an inner fire. She's a volcano in a tight dress.'' (From an article BARBARA PARKINS: MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER – Niagra Falls Gazette March, 1965 by Dick Kleiner)

 

Continue reading “Feature & Interview with Iconic Actress, Dancer, and Photographer, Barbara Parkins” →

Coming soon to The Last Drive In! My interview with Iconic Raven-haired Actress: Barbara Parkins!

You’ll be able to read my in-depth conversation with the undeniable beauty, dancer/accomplished actress & photographer whose fascinating journey took her from Hollywood to aiming her lens as she travels the world.

Next… I’ll explore director Nicolas Roeg’s haunting meditation on grief – in his adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now (1973).

Donald Sutherland in Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973)

And just around the corner, lurking like Mrs. Trafoil is my special project: Deconstructing the Myth of Hag Cinema!

Tallulah Bankhead as Mrs. Trafoil and Stephanie Powers in Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)

This is your EverLovin’ Joey saying: Stay tuned!

TAM LIN 1970 & BABA YAGA 1973 – Ava Gardner & Carroll Baker: THE FAERIE QUEEN"¦ & VALENTINA'S DREAM: Two Hollywood icons in search of mythology. Part 2

Baba Yaga or the Devil Witch the (United Kingdom) titles, or Kiss Me, Kill Me/Black Magic (1973) the (US) titles

“Weird {is} the operative word here. Though framed by a simple story, director Corrado Farina's approach to the film is every bit as avant-garde and surrealist as its source material. The plot had me scratching my head in bewilderment. Compelling visuals kept me watching.'' "” from Brian Lindsey’s Eccentric Cinema review.

☞ SPOILER ALERT:

READ PART 1 Tam Lin HERE

In Slavic/Russian folklore, the Baba Yaga is a strikingly revolting witch who flies around in a giant pestle – and steals and eats children. In the middle of a Russian forest, she lives in a shack built on top of giant chicken legs that can move at will. The folklore Baby Yaga is a sinister, macabre mythological presence, unlike the deviant sensual being that Carroll Baker portrays in Corrado Farina's Euro-horror film. This iteration of Baba Yaga is the seductive sorceress who manages to summon – with simmering antagonism, a world of pain – "˜symbolically' baring her predatory, wanting lips, which desire the heroine – Valentina.

According to the Monthly Film Bulletin review from 1974, critic Geoff Brown noted that he reviewed an 81-minute dubbed version of the film Baba Yaga. Brown stated that “due to 20 minutes of the film being cut and through the English-language dub, “the film had lost some of Farina’s socio-political arguments.” However, Brown also commented that most of these removed elements were reduced to “modish chit-chat” on topics ranging through various ideas.”

In the 70s, while exploring Giallo and Euro-exploitation films, I remember my first shudder and first impression of Baba Yaga. I had the feeling that something odd and erotic had taken place, and for me, it was like waking up from a hazy, surreal dream. Carroll Baker has always captivated me, and in the role of Baba Yaga, I felt she brought a level of Old World Hollywood class to a very provocative horror film.

An Italian/ French co-production, Baba Yaga is a delirious mixture of the supernatural, psychoanalysis, dream interpretation, vivid color schemes, pop art, eroticism, and fetishistic imagery. Baba Yaga, the film, revamps Russian folklore and transports the story into contemporary Milan.

As a stylish arthouse horror film from the 1970s, Baba Yaga explores the borderline between reality and imagination, embracing the sleazy allure of after-dark cinema"”fascinating and perhaps too challenging to define. There are striking elements that establish themselves with a clear sapphic element that already existed in Crepax’s work, creating an eroticized vision seen through the heterosexual ‘male gaze’ and driven by what Laura Mulvey termed "to be looked at-ness" that are kept in Farina’s film.

While I am still drawn to the film as an artifact of this decade's concentrated influence on an unmistakably hybrid genre (Horror, Euro-Exploitation, Giallo), Baba Yaga still manages to weaponize the straight male visual pleasure of actualizing their faulty version of lesbianism and bases the narrative around male sexual fantasies.

Farina and Crepax reveal the inherent bias fueled by a male-centric culture through a lens shaped by a male-centric point of view, which emphasizes the heteronormative expectation of female-female sexual exploitation.

Setting these critical observations aside"¦ The backdrop of Baba Yaga's 1970s fashion and Italian pop culture adds washes of a chic, mod, and bold cinematic experience.

Director Corrado Farina, who had previously envisioned another strange art-horror film, They Have Changed Their Faces (1971), now delivers this strange film with a mesmerizing array of visuals. The film seamlessly transitions from sharp pop design to muted Gothic hues and vents into full-fledged experimental cinema. Farina roams free with unrepentant visual skill frame by frame.

Baba Yaga, adapted from the risqué S&M erotic graphic novel series "˜Valentina' by Guido Crepax, thrives on its invocation and sense of a comic book world. Crepax, who earned his reputation as the world's most seductive cartoonist, stands as one of the eminent figures in the realm of adult comics and garnered greater recognition during the 1960s and 1970s.

Crepax's prominence stems not only from his introduction of erotic themes but also from his innovative approach to storytelling within the medium, incorporating nudity and daring themes.

Continue reading “TAM LIN 1970 & BABA YAGA 1973 – Ava Gardner & Carroll Baker: THE FAERIE QUEEN"¦ & VALENTINA'S DREAM: Two Hollywood icons in search of mythology. Part 2” →

TAM LIN 1970 & BABA YAGA 1973 – Ava Gardner & Carroll Baker: THE FAERIE QUEEN"¦ & VALENTINA'S DREAM: Two Hollywood icons in search of mythology. Part 1

"I shall waste you and waste you and waste you"¦"

The Ballad of Tam Lin, Tam Lin, Games and Toys or The Devil’s Widow 1970

"McDowall builds a broodingly enigmatic sense of menace out of stray allusions and apparitions that hover without ever really being explained or over-exploited: the snatches of [Robert] Burns intimating the presence of diabolic machinations; the girl terrified by her own unspoken Tarot prophecies; the dialogue that rings like blank verse, as though it had been used over and over again. Above all, though, this menace is effective chiefly because it is rhymed with a mounting sense of quiet decorum, as though reality, the world of the ordinary, everyday banality, were suddenly present to Tom for the first time.""¨"” Tom Milne, Monthly Film Bulletin, June 1977

“She Drained Them Of Their Manhood–And Then Of Their Lives! “

That’s the tagline American International Pictures exploited to promote this obscure British fantasy/horror film. Made as a last hurrah at the close of the 1960s, The Ballad of Tam Lin or Tam Lin, emerged from a singular blend of McDowall’s audacious, unwavering, and fearless vision to subvert cinematic tradition and bring on board first-rate talent to see that vision realized.

Back in the day, I was armed with my VCR at the ready to capture those late-night TV excursions into obscure horror. Tam Lin would be one of those hidden gems that still lingers in my mind like a nostalgia hangover.

Dear friends, Ava Gardner and Roddy McDowall on the Tam Lin set.

"The film is a gothic fairytale modernized. When viewed in those terms and in the context of the original folklore – it makes perfect sense." -McDowall.

Legendary Hollywood Goddess Ava Gardner is the evil “Queen of the Fairies” in Roddy McDowall's wickedly provocative adult fairytale. Initially presented as a horror film, Tam Lin, with its hauntingly beautiful narrative, emerges more as a tragic fable of love and revenge. Or it can be seen as a dark, cautionary adult fairytale with a tangible Brother's Grimmesque tale of beware the wrath of a slighted Queen, or there is terror amidst the remote woods. With the emergence of the counterculture of the 1960s, there was a growing fascination with all things pagan and folk-sy, with the use of symbolism, iconography, and formal tropes. For instance, the use of bridges we see throughout Tam Lin has often represented those liminal spaces between divergent realms.

Among its myriad titles, at the heart of Tam Lin lies Michaela "˜Micky' Cazarete – a worldly Aesthete or  ‘sorceress,’ however you choose to see her… embodied by the luminous Ava Gardner in one of her 44th and final leading roles. As ravishingly beautiful as ever, Gardner plays the succubus-like enchantress always wrapped in stunning, opulent attire and a flickering flame, drawing the wings of any naive lad she captures for her bed.

☞This post contains SPOILER!:

READ PART 2 BABA YAGA: HERE

The story retells the artfulness of a wicked enchantress, a queen of the faeries who enraptures the young with her otherworldly beauty and beguiles and mesmerizes them to drain their vitality. And there is a cruel twist to this Gothic fable. At sunset of the seventh year, she is compelled to sacrifice her favorite male love to replenish her (life force or her desire.) Eternally restless, she is a damned soul; she is a paradox both breathtaking and horrifying, filled with a hunger that can never be satiated.

Psychedelic Folkloristic cinema like Tam Lin represents a cultural paradigm situated at a point in time where things were poised to move away from the psychedelic utopianism and iconoclasm of the 1960s, which began to pivot towards more introspective, darker turns. Similar in an impressionistic aesthetic, Tam Lin evokes for me another moody art piece horror, Queens Of Evil, aka /Le Regine 1970/Il delitto del diavolo.

Above are two images from Queens of Evil (1970).

Both films stylistically point to the florid decadence that was evolving into the weary and hostile era to come. Like Ian McShane, with his piercing and intense blue eyes crowned by dark brows and lashes, the charismatic bad boy with a sculpted physique, Ray Lovelock, is lavished with adoration within an idyllic setting until he is ultimately led as a lamb to the slaughter.

A striking parallel exists between the archetypal narratives of wayward, virile princes ensnared within a pastoral paradise and the insatiable, evil queens and seductive sirens who seek to possess them. This clash of archetypes"”the untamed masculine spirit versus the ruthless feminine intellect"”reflects the deep-seated cultural anxieties and preoccupations surrounding the nature of power, desire, and the fear of women's primacy"”in particular, as with Tam Lin, older women's primacy.

Scene from The Night of the Iguana 1964.

Ava Gardner circa 1960.

I can include another early 70s horror favorite that registers with its mod/post-modern indulgence  – Messiah of Evil 1973. Messiah of Evil began to show signs of a crack in the shimmery good vibes of the 1960s as it dips its toes – heavily –  into the stark contrast of the coming brutal, gritty tone of later 1970s horror films. Tam Lin and Queens of Evil feel akin to the Psychedelic Folkloristic cinema, which captures that brief moment when fashionable trends were turning towards folklore motifs. Films thrive on a strong narrative, and legends are fed by things that are false and things that are true.

Some critics consider it as one of the original folk horror films. Others see it as an improvisation of the post-Rosemary's Baby cycle of genre films.

Above are two scenes from the folk horror film The Wicker Man (1973).

A pioneering work of folk horror, Tam Lin can be considered a proto-folk horror film. Not only does it predate The Wicker Man by four years, but it shares some striking thematic similarities. Both films delve into the darkness of cults, driven by a need to appease deities through ritual sacrifice. An unsettling yet obscured supernatural atmosphere permeates both narratives, further accentuated by their remote, rural settings "“ fertile ground for tales of witchcraft and pagan practices. Notably, both films boast innovative and provocative British soundtracks and share the distinction of being primarily filmed in the evocative landscapes of Scotland.

Tam Lin anticipates Blood on Satan's Claw, released in 1971, and yes, once again, like  The Wicker Man in 1973, showcasing its creeping pastoral horrors. The film's ’60s art-house decadence and its aesthetic serve as many of the films that could be perfectly placed inside a time capsule from the merging decades of the late ’60s & 1970s. A film movement that draws inspiration from the rich period of European art cinema. Tam Lin’s dreamy and, at times, barely lucid tone frames this moody lyrical love story set in the bucolic countryside of Scotland until it moves into a horror-filled, phantasmagorical manifestation of the original poem the story is based on. Midway, the film shows a visual shift of spiritual flight, transformation, and salvation from supernatural retribution.

Continue reading “TAM LIN 1970 & BABA YAGA 1973 – Ava Gardner & Carroll Baker: THE FAERIE QUEEN"¦ & VALENTINA'S DREAM: Two Hollywood icons in search of mythology. Part 1” →

Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 2

This is the second of two features about Beverly Washburn. You can read Part One here.

THE INTERVIEW:

1. Your first part in a film was for the 1950 film noir classic The Killer that Stalked New York starring Evelyn Keyes. You were supposed to be the first victim, a little girl who gets smallpox from Keyes who is on the run spreading the plague. And it was a speaking part. The script said, "˜'There sits little Walda Kowalski with her great big brown eyes and brown hair'' but you had blonde hair and blue eyes. You immediately thought that you wouldn't get the part. But Western star Jock Mahoney lied to the producers of the film at Columbia Studios after he saw you in the lobby while auditioning for the part of Walda. Mahoney met you 3 months earlier at one of your sister Audrey's shows. He was very taken with you, so he raved to the producer that you had done all this work even though you had no credits. And you got the part!

Essentially it was Mahoney's misdirection that helped your career! "¨"¨Does it ever make you laugh that it took a harmless lie, a few speaking lines, and tragically dying from smallpox in a Columbia Studios production to give you the leverage you needed to move forward in your acting career? Can you tell us about that experience?

Getting my first big break was perhaps a little unusual particularly since it was based on a little lie!
I had met Jock Mahoney a few months prior to the audition for the role in “The Killer That Stalked New York” which was to be filmed at Columbia Studios. At 6 years old, I had an agent who had sent me on countless auditions, none of which I ever got due to the fact that I had no experience other than having worked as a model of children’s clothes.

The role of little Walda Kowalski was listed in the script as a little girl with big brown eyes and brown hair. Now that description wasn’t pertinent to the actual role, however when a writer writes in a character, he or she typically envisions what they might look like. Well, right off the bat, it seemed apparent that I wasn’t what they were looking for because I had blue eyes and blonde hair.  As I was sitting in the lobby among many little brown-eyed and brown-haired other hopefuls and my not having any experience, it seemed that this would just be another letdown and another rejection for me. As I waited to go in, something marvelous happened. Jock Mahoney happened to walk through the lobby!  He remembered me as we had met at the Veteran’s Hospital in Long Beach California where he had been the guest of honor and where my sister was performing her act for the Veterans.  He asked my mother what I was doing there and when she told him I was reading for the part of Walda, he said “I’ll be right back.” What we found out later was that he went into the office of the Casting director and told them that I was perfect for the role, that I had done this and I had done that,  when the reality was, I hadn’t done a thing other than model!  He was under contract at the time and had some clout,  so they took his word for it. So as the story goes, he lied, they believed him and I got the part!

I do laugh sometimes thinking about how that all came about. I think about him from time to time and realize how blessed I was to have it unfold the way it did because after I had that one speaking role, it was then that I was able to continue on."¨ It’s such a “catch-22 ” situation because they don’t want to hire you if you don’t have experience, but how do you get the experience if they don’t hire you? I of course will forever be grateful to him for allowing me that one break, albeit he had to tell a little white lie in order for them to give me the role!

Continue reading “Beverly Washburn: Reel Tears – Real Laughter! Part 2” →