G-G-Ghost!! 1960s British Pathe Ghost Clips

This month's featured British Pathe clip is actually three newsreels in one and all suitably spooky for Halloween. Titled "G-G-Ghost!", British Pathe assembled these spirited shorts dating from the 1950s and 1960s into one entertaining video. The first is from 1953's "Ghost Hunters" and features the Sussex ghost hunters examining an old country house and why three caretakers were frightened away it. If this sparks your interest, check out BBC's 1975 documentary "Ghost Hunters" to learn more about these Sussex fellows. 

The second newsreel is "Dig that Ghost" and features the haunted Chequers Inn in Amersham. This 18th-century inn once housed three men who were burned at the stake the following day for being Protestant. Finally, the last is 1957's "Pathe Probes that Ghost" where the ghost of half a man named George appears to the owner of the Pilgrim's Cottage in Wilbarston. He was supposedly disturbed by the digging up of tombstones in a nearby graveyard and is looking for a new resting place. 

Ready to watch "G-G-Ghost!"? Simply click on this link.  

Other similarly themed British Pathe shorts: 

English Witch Cave (1962) - 0:47 sec 

The Ghost Town of Lucknow (1967) - 1:08 sec 

A Halloween Crossword Puzzle

 Since Halloween is fast approaching, here is a special horror/mystery movie themed puzzle for any of you trivia-loving readers. Solve the clues going across and then the grayed squares will reveal the answer to the clue at the bottom of the page. Try not to look up any of these clues online... after all, the fun of a good puzzle is trying to puzzle it out yourself! 

Answers will be revealed on Halloween. 

You can right-click and save on the image here to print it as a jpeg, or click here to view and print the PDF. Enjoy! 

Tales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins Told by Vincent Price

In the 1970s, Vincent Price was not only busy continuing his film work in Hollywood but he also returned to his old haunting ground - the radio studio. His best radio work was done on The Price of Fear, a BBC horror anthology serial, that aired late nights in 1973. 

However, one year prior to that he recorded an album of eerie tales for the Caedmon label (TC-1393) of literary LPs. "Tales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins" gathers a compelling selection of short stories: Iroquois legends, Sioux folktales, Scottish witch-reels, and even an essay snippet on becoming a werewolf, all narrated by the inimitable silky voice of Price. There’s a delightful almost conversational intimacy in Price’s tone in this album, as though he’s leaning in close, whispering one more ghost story before turning off the light.

The album sold enough copies to justify a follow-up and, in 1973, Price returned to record "A Coven of Witches' Tales" (TC-1338) which featured stories even more intriguing than the first album....but the third recording (or should I say "thrice"?) was the best - "A Graveyard of Ghost Tales" (TC-1429) released in 1974. Werewolves are eerie, witches are scary, but ghosts are terrifying, so be warned that this is not a bedtime album to listen to! 

All of the albums featured fabulous and imaginative illustrations by book illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon. 

Enjoy these LPs online because they are popular among collectors and can fetch anywhere from $100-$400 each. 

Ready to be enchanted by old legends and eerie ghost stories? Click here to listen to "Tales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins Told by Vincent Price" and here to listen to "A Coven of Witches Tales" and here to be spooked with a "A Graveyard of Ghost Tales".

Roku and Tubi Picks for October

With Halloween coming up, most of the Roku apps have a bevy of frightful films on their roster for the month of October, some of which we will highlight below. But even if scary movies aren't your cup of tea, there are a delightful array of mysteries, sci-fi films and television series available this month.... plus, a couple of great comedies. So, check them out! 

Also of note: If you click on the Roku Live TV Guide you will find a huge list of channels to browse. The "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" channel not only plays episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents throughout the day, but also shows two Hitchcock classics each evening, one at 8pm EST and another around 10pm EST. 

One of the other channels through Roku's Live TV Guide listing is the "Universal Monsters" channel which plays 1930s-1980s Universal horror films throughout the day and then -for the month of October- airs back-to-back episodes of The Munsters starting from 6pm EST. Our family has been enjoying these each evening...followed by the Hitchcock film showing at 8pm.

Lastly, one great mystery to watch this month: Murder, She Said (1961) starring Margaret Rutherford is available for free through the Kanopy app.

Tubi TV 

(Also available for viewing at tubitv.com) 

Nosferatu (1922)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Gunga Din (1938)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Cottage to Let (1941)

Pride of the Yankees (1942)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Notorious (1946)

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Strangers on a Train (1950)

The Third Man (1950)

The Thing (1951)

Room for One More (1952)

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

The Long, Long Trailer (1954)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Them! (1954)

Autumn Leaves (1956)

The Bad Seed (1956)

Curse of the Demon (1957)

Around the World in 80 Days (1958)

Auntie Mame (1958)

South Pacific (1958)

Some Like it Hot (1959)

The Mummy (1959)

Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1961)

The Music Man (1962)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

The Haunting (1963)

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)

TV Series

The Addams Family (on Roku and Pluto)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (on Roku and Peacock)

Doctor Who - Classics

Gilligan's Island

The Munsters

Thriller

Twilight Zone

Tom and Jerry Collection (also available on the MeTV Toons channel)

Rewind Review: The Witch's Tale Radio Series (1931-1938)

"Draw up to the fire and gaze into the embers as I tell you a hearty tale that will boil your blood..."

Old Nancy the witch knew how to tell a good ghost yarn. At over 107 years old ( and aging fast ) she certainly had plenty of years to practice her art of story-telling. Each week, for seven years, she gathered her listeners close to her via radio waves and cackled tales of mystery and horror to send chills running up their spine. 

The old "Witch of Salem", as she was affectionately called, played host of The Witch's Hour, one of New York's most beloved horror programs, between May 21, 1931 and June 13, 1938 on WOR, the Mutual Radio Network. The series was created by Alonzo Deen Cole who not only wrote and directed each episode but also provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat Satan. His wife Marie O'Flynn also took part acting in many of the episodes as the female lead. 

Originally stage-actress Adelaine Fitz-Allen voiced old Nancy but after she passed on at the age of 79 she was replaced by 13-year old Miriam Wolfe....who did just as good a job!

What made The Witch's Hour so engrossing was the clever story lines and the quality of the programs. Each episode was well-acted and utilized convincing sound effects that gave the series its extra dose of creepiness. 

Unfortunately, only about 50 episodes of the program still exist today since many of the original recordings, which were performed live during broadcast, were destroyed by Cole in 1961. All of the surviving episodes could be heard at the Relic Radio website or through Old Time Radio. 

Since today is Halloween and tonight is the witching hour, be sure to tune into some of these programs, and for a sample, here for your listening pleasure are....

FIVE EERIE CLASSICS 

The Haunted Crossroads ( 1933 ) 

An invisible woman has stabbed a policeman in the back at an isolated crossroads. A stabbing like this has happened before, and will soon happen again.

 
Graveyard Mansion ( 1934 ) 

Two brothers inherit a suspicious old house in Louisiana and meet a beautiful woman who's been dead for one hundred years! Are there vampires within the mansion? A ghost perhaps?

The Wonderful Bottle ( 1934 ) 

A couple of young American lads in Argentina meet an old Spaniard who sells them a magic bottle that grants its owners every wish. That bottle was made by the devil and anyone who owns it must get rid of it before he dies or he will burn in hell’s fire forever!

The Devil Mask ( 1935 ) 

A wife is concerned about her husband's disrespect of African ways and so asks a witch doctor to boom on the drums a ceremonial chant to keep the devil away during the trip back to England.

The Priest of Sekhet ( 1936 ) 

A young British archaeologist becomes trapped in an ancient tomb, along with a dead priest from ancient Egypt. After his rescue, the archaeologist undergoes a strange change of character.

This is a Rewind Review post dating from Halloween 2016. 

From the Archives: Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Boris Karloff as the famous "Monster" from the Frankenstein films (in this photo, The Son of Frankenstein). The make-up for all of the early Frankenstein movies was done by Jack Pierce, whom you could read more about in our previous articles here. 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

Hold That Ghost! ( 1941 )

Gas station attendants Chuck (Bud Abbott) and Ferdie (Lou Costello) happen to be present when gangster Moose Matson (William Davidson) is shot by the police during a car chase. His last will and testament leave all that he owns to those who are present at his death, hence the boys inherit Moose's fortune which happens to be a rundown roadhouse in the outskirts of town. While checking out the property they inherited, they get stranded there on a stormy night with an odd conglomerate of travelers from the cab they were sharing. Moose's old cronies believe that Matson hid a fortune in the roadhouse and so they attempt to frighten Chuck and Ferdie and the other guests away from the house so they can search for the loot. 

Hold That Ghost was the fourth of 35 films that the comedy team of Abbott and Costello made during the 1940s and 1950s and it ranks as one of their best. It has all the spooktacular features you would want to see in a haunted house comedy plus the added bonus of a great cast. Scream-queen Evelyn Ankers joins the duo as one of the guests at the roadhouse, as does Richard Carlson and slapschtick sensation Joan Davis. Marc Lawrence, one of the most famous film gangsters of the era, plays Charlie Smith who turns up stiff. Also making appearances are Shemp Howard, Mischa Auer, Bobby Barber (who later played Stinky on The Abbott and Costello Show), and Ted Lewis and the Andrews Sisters. 

Abbott and Costello never needed any help from supporting players to add to their comedic fun, but Hold That Ghost is a real treat because of the presence of Joan Davis. This marvelous comedienne made a number of films as a leading star but her best performances were in films where she had a supporting role. In Hold That Ghost, she plays a fellow passenger who is stranded at the inn. Ferdie (Costello) finds her annoying and it is in the scenes where the two banter that most of the humor is to be found. They also share one of the best comedic dance scenes put on film. Davis should have reteamed with Costello in their second mystery-comedy Who Done It? ( 1942 ) but instead that film featured Mary Wickes.

"You boys ready to leave?" - Joan Davis

"I was ready to leave when he put the key in the front door!" - Lou Costello

From its wonderful animated opening credits to its peppy closing number ("Aurora" sung by the Andrews Sisters ), Hold That Ghost never lets up on the laughs. Many of the routines that Abbott and Costello would perform in this film, such as the moving candle trick, were later reused in future films and television episodes. 

The duo had skyrocketed to stardom after their first picture was released just a year earlier and it is amazing how quickly they had to be able to come up with comedy routines thereafter. Universal Studios had screenwriters penning scripts for them and the boys were busy filming month after month. In 1941 alone, four Abbott and Costello movies were released. 

Hold that Ghost, originally titled Oh, Charlie!, was slated to be released right after Buck Privates but when that film became a blockbuster hit for Universal, the studio decided to put Oh, Charlie! on the shelf to give them time to make another service comedy in the vein of Buck Privates. In the Navy was quickly put into production and released right after completion. Since the Andrews Sisters had appeared in both films, it was decided that they would make a great addition to Hold That Ghost as well, so Abbott and Costello were brought back to the studio to film a new opening and closing that featured the singing threesome. 

In spite of the popularity of both Hold That Ghost and Who Done It?, Abbott and Costello did not return to the mystery/horror genre until 1948 when they made Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which not only brought them back to the top of the box-office charts but launched a series of similarly themed monster comedies....unfortunately, none of which were as good as this gem. 

The Phantom Stage - Universal's Haunted Stage 28

The old story of a phantom haunting a Hollywood sound stage was brought to television in a number of episodes of various series throughout the 1970s-1980s ( most notably in the two-part "The Hollywood Phantom" episode from The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ) but did you know that this plot idea was actually based on a real legend? 

Stage 28 was one of the oldest sound stages built on the Universal Pictures lot in Hollywood. The studio was planning to film the horror classic The Phantom of the Opera ( featuring Lon Chaney ) and needed a stage large enough to house their own creation of the interior of the Paris Opera House. Construction on the 21,000 square foot stage began in July of 1924 and was completed in a few months. Because the set would need to be able to support hundreds of extras, the stage was built with steel girders in concrete...one of the first steel stages of its kind. The beautiful Opera House set was built inside and filming of The Phantom of the Opera began shortly thereafter. A strange occurrence also happened at that time: an electrician fell to his death, presumably while maneuvering around the catwalks at the top of the stage. 

Years later, rumors began to circulate that the ghost of a "phantom" running along the catwalks was seen. Others reported the lights flickering on and off suddenly and doors opening and shutting. 

The set to the Opera House remained at Stage 28 long after the film was completed. The studio thought that it may come in use in a future production...and indeed it did. Its most famous reappearances were in Todd Browning's Dracula ( as The Royal Albert Hall ), the 1943 color remake of The Phantom of the Opera starring Claude Rains, and the theatre sequences in Charade ( 1963 ). 

Even with the Opera House set still in place, there was plenty of space in Stage 28 to construct other sets and this stage was one of the most used at Universal Studios. The special effects department from The Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935 ) used this stage to film the destruction of Frankenstein's laboratory, Abbott and Costello's Here Come the Co-Eds ( 1945 ) was filmed within its doors, and the interiors of the Bates Motel in Psycho ( 1960 ) was also filmed inside Stage 28. 

In 2014, Universal Studios demolished the stage to make room for expanding their theme park but not before carefully dismantling The Phantom's famous Opera House set and putting it in storage. Perhaps one day, it will reappear in another film or be put on display for film fans to see. 

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game - Halloween Edition

Screenshot #1

It's Halloween and in honor of this bewitching day of the year we have a special edition of The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game. There is not one, but FIVE screenshots that you can have the fun of identifying! Each one of these screenshots comes from an American or British made production from the 1920s-1970s. Name the film and you win a prize! Some are easier than usual and others may be a bit tricky, but to reward you for your keen eye we have some treats.....a few special Halloween themed posters and photos. First, try your hand at identifying these images: 

Screenshot #2

Screenshot #3

Screenshot #4

Screenshot #5

THE PRIZES

Prizes are awarded on a first guess basis. The first person to identify any of the screenshots above gets their choice of one of these five prizes.

1. The Mummy ( 1932 ) - 12x18" reproduction poster

2. The Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935 ) - 8x10" Glossy Photo

3. The Munsters decal/sticker

4. House on Haunted Hill ( 1959 ) - 11x17" reproduction poster

5. Vincent Price and Kermit the Frog - 5x7" Glossy Photo

Happy Guessing and Happy Halloween! 

Basil Gogos and the Monster Art of Universal Horror Films

Basil Gogos was a fabulous illustrator who is best known for his movie monster portraits which graced the covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines during the 1960s and 1970s. He combined his passion for art with his love of movie monsters to create these colorful and highly detailed oil portraits of such iconic creatures as Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, and the Wolf Man. 

Gogos was a Greek who came to America at the age of 16 to study art. He worked with the noted illustrator Frank J. Reilly and began his professional career of painting book and magazine covers when he received his first assignment to paint the cover to the western novel "Pursuit" in 1959. 

Throughout the 1960s, Gogos kept busy working as a commercial illustrator. The majority of his paintings were created for men's pulp adventure magazines and the monster magazines being issued by Warren Publishing ( Eerie, Creepy, Famous Monsters of Filmland ). During the 1970s, he took time off as a commercial illustrator to pursue his own personal fine art but still worked part-time at United Artists as a photo retouch artist in the ad department. His monster art found a new audience in the 1990s and Gogos returned to that genre to create more paintings that paid tribute to the great monsters of filmdom. 

Today, his paintings can be found in museums across the world and in two fantastic coffee table books, Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos by Kerry Gammill and The Monster Art of Basil Gogos by Linda Touby.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, we thought we would share some images of Gogos' best works. Let's begin with Dr. Frankenstein's monster....

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

THE MUMMY

DRACULA

THE WOLFMAN

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

OTHER MONSTERS OF FILM AND TV

THE USPS STAMP SERIES

In the 1990s, Basil Gogos had submitted these designs to the USPS for a Universal Monster series of stamps, but unfortunately, they were not chosen. They would have made fantastic stamps!