Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tuesday's Overlooked Films and/or Other A/V: more links (Richard Matheson memorial edition)

Thriller episode scripted by Richard Matheson
Below, two days after the passing of Richard Matheson, today's set of reviews and citations of audiovisual works and related matter, with the posts at the links...as always, thanks to all the contributors and to all you readers for your participation. Matheson, who was nearly as active and perhaps at least as influential (and reached wider audiences) in a/v media as with his literary work, gets special attention in several posts below. And, as usual, there are likely to be additions to this list over the course of the day, and if I've missed your, or someone else's, post, please let me know in comments...thanks again...

Amber Frost: Rain Room

Bill Crider: Barefoot in the Park (1967 film)  ...trailer; Gary David Goldberg, RIP

Mamie Van Doren
Brian Arnold: Monty Python's Flying Circus: "Bicycle Repairman"

BV Lawson: Media Murder

Dan Stumpf: Caught

Ed Gorman: Mamie Van Doren; Richard Matheson

Ed Lynskey: favorite comedy films; The Monroes

Elizabeth Foxwell: Macabre (1958 film based on an "Anthony Boucher" novel)

Evan Lewis: The Lone Ranger (1956 film featuring the television cast)

George Kelley: Love is All You Need

How Did This Get Made?: Howard the Duck
Hitchcock silent film The Manxman

Iba Dawson: The Hitchcock 9 (a touring package of silent films); Much Ado About Nothing (2013 film)

Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.: Phil Harris; The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

Jackie Kashian: Voice Actor Kyle Hebert (at A-kon)

Jake Hinkson: Superman: The Movie (1978) after The Man of Steel

James Reasoner: Hunters are for Killing (aka Hard Frame)
Barefoot in the Park

Jerry House: Richard Matheson on Television, particularly Thriller: "The Return of Andrew Bentley"

Juri Nummelin: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

Kate Laity: Scotland and the Birth of Comics

Kliph Nesteroff: Hits a Poppin'

Laura: The Final Edition

Lucy Brown: Star of Midnight (1935 film)

Martin Edwards: Marple: "Greenshaw's Folly"

Marty McKee: GetEven; Wonder Women; Mesa of Lost Women

Mike Tooney: Ironside: "The Monster of Comus Towers"

Mystery Dave: The Alamo (2004)
Django, The Last Killer

Patti Abbott: Nowhere Man

Prashant Trikannad: Horst Buchholz & Maxwell Caulfield

Randy Johnson: Gun Law; Django, The Last Killer (aka L'ultimo killer)

Rick: The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T; pirate movies

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
Rod Lott: Vice Squad; The Curse of Her Flesh

Scott Cupp: Super

Sergio Angelini: The Axeman Cometh; Richard Matheson

Stacia Jones: Sincerely Yours

Stephen Gallagher: Crusoe: writing a fight scene

Television Obscurities/Barry Grauman: The Restless Gun

Todd Mason: early Richard Matheson in a/v: please see below.

Walter Albert: Four Hours to Kill

Richard Matheson, the beginning of his a/v legacy...
Surprisingly, to me at least, it seems little if any of Richard Matheson's early work was adapted for network and syndicated dramatic radio in the 1950s (though I look forward to having it pointed out, if I've overlooked it in my hasty search)...but, as Jerry House's culling of his tv appearances from IMDb notes, he did begin appearing on screens with an episode of the Dumont television series, which went into first-run syndication as the Dumont network collapsed, Studio 57, in 1955 (the filmed anthology series was so-titled because it was sponsored by Heinz, corporately proud of their 57 varieties of pickles). "Young Couples Only" might be most of the reason the series is remembered...Peter Lorre almost compensates for the lack of an effects budget...

Part 2

Now is Tomorrow was an unsold pilot for an anthology series from 1958, after the film adaptation of The Shrinking Man as well as the Studio 57 half-hour, but this is still only the third representation, apparently, of Matheson in the visual dramatic format...I haven't yet had a chance to watch this one...but like "Young Couples Only," it has some familiar faces in its cast:

Part 2
Part 3

And, perhaps along with or just after an episode of the television western Buckskin (the first of several tv western scripts), there was another film, The Beat Generation, rich in Beat jive dialog, which managed to snag Louis Armstrong for its score as well as onscreen appearances...another I've yet to see. (I have a suspicion that of among these links, this one is the most likely to disappear soon...)

6 comments:

  1. Some fantastic links there Todd and the Yotube material all new to me - thanks very much. A great way to remember Mr Matheson,

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  2. Thanks! (and thanks for your fine contributions). I'd hoped to take in the latter two (and see "Young Couples Only" again after about five years), but events aren't allowing for such...

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  3. Nothing from me today, Sweetie Todd. In truth, I fell asleep. That happens to us old codgers occasionally. Apologies galore.

    Been a bit over-tired lately.

    At any rate, I'm working on my Flash Fiction Challenge entry. It's going to dazzle you. HA.

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  4. No apologies necessary, of course! Happens to middle-aged codgers as well...whole weekends can disappear this way...I await dazzlement!

    Sweetie Todd would be the Demon Candy Butcher of Broad Street, or Haddon Avenue...

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  5. Todd, thanks very much for the link to the previous post. That post has got some of the most number of hits. I think it's in the top 5. I'm hoping to read some of Richard Matheson's work (sheepishly) for the first time.

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  6. Not at all, Prashant, and glad if I've sent any traffic your way (interesting what gets the most hits, isn't it?).

    Most of the Matheson I'd recommend starting with would be short fiction (such as "The Distributor")...but A STIR OF ECHOES might nudge the other novels I've read...and HELL HOUSE being the only novel I've read I'd say--Not First, if at all.

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