R.I.P. Ben Chapman (1928-2008)

Hoo-boy... it was already a dreary day and now this....
Hollywood actor Ben Chapman --one of the last men to play a classic Universal monster (and a super-nice guy to boot) passed away in Hawaii early this morning.

From the Creature from the Black Lagoon Yahoo Group:

Ben Chapman passed away this morning at 12:15 AM Hawaii time. He was
admitted to the hospital two days ago and died peacefully in his
hospital bed. He had a living will and they turned off his life
support yesterday about noon Hawaii time. They will be having a
memorial service at a Catholic Church located near the beach and he
will be cremated. He turned 79 last October.



My sincere hope is that he died peacefully and with no pain or suffering.

My best thoughts are for the Gill-man who carried a fallen female and entered into movie monster stardom!
Our Gill Man (on land) will be forever remembered, not just as the body of the imposing Creature, but for his priceless recollections, his detailed memories and willingness to share this will Monster Kids the world over.

A gentle giant and a heck of a nice guy.


Personally I have to include these shots I took as well: The whole Creature gang photo-op for the fans at CreatureFest 2003 in Wakulla Springs. (left to right) Ben Chapman, Julia Adams, Ginger Stanley and Ricou Browning --together again at this event for the first time in 50 years.


And here's Ben with and signing my own Creature Mask for posterity.
Thanks again Ben... and rest in peace.

Incoming: El Superbeasto!

This Spring will see the long awaited release of The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, a 2-d (!) animated theatrical production written and conceived by Rob Zombie. As 2-d animated feature films grow fewer and farther between I'm pulling for it to be enjoyable --or at least be watchable and turn a solid profit. Different from Rob's own "house" style (as displayed in a Beavis' peyote trip in Beavis and Butthead Do America) the overall look of the film is more like Ralph Bakshi meets Ren and Stimpy, thanks in large part to the talents of Spumco alumnus Director Doug "Spongebob" Lawrence, Co-Director Carey Yost, and Chris Riccardi.

The film centers on a Santo-type, lout of a Mexi-wrestler and his epic battle with Dr. Satan (voiced by the always-great Paul Giamatti). Though a version Dr. Satan appears in House of 1000 Corpses, this guy looks totally different. Tom Kenny of Spongebob fame and Brian Posehn lend their vocal talents as well. This week Rob Zombie posted some new pics from the movie on his Myspace page. Here's some choice selects. Enjoy!


Yow! Zombie Nazis! Shades of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards (1977) ...













No denying it's got a nice look... and like Rob's previous films you can bet it's R-rated for violence and what-not. Personally I just really hope it's not as full of the detracting "mean for mean's sake" spirit that has hobbled his 3 previous films -- and escalated with each new script. (I liked House of 1000 Corpses...but hated the Halloween remake.) But I guess we'll all find out once it's released...

For "full disclosure", check out Rob's My Space page at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=28735418

R. I. P. Vampira (1921-2008)

Thursday was my forty-sixth birthday. It would also be officially recorded as the day that Maila Nurmi, who became synonymous with her character, Vampira, passed away in her sleep at the age of 86.

She was born Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi on December 21, 1921, in Petsamo, Finland - now Pechenga, Russia. Her uncle was an Olympic champion in track running, Paavo Nurmi. Maila's family moved to the United States when Maila was only two years old. The young beauty was already dreaming of being a Hollywood star and at the tender age of 17, she took a trip to Los Angeles to seek her fortune. Of course, glory doesn't come easily and Maila became an exotic dancer and photo model to survive.

At some point in 1954, Maila disguised herself as Morticia Addams (Charles Addams ghoulish character from New Yorker Magazine who would eventually become popular on TV and films) for a masked ball. As simply as that, Vampira was born. Maila's appearance appealed to Hunt Stromberg Jr., program director for KABC Channel 7, who was looking for somebody to spice up his night time programming. In a very short time, Maila officially became Vampira to host a show presenting horror movies each Saturday night at 11 PM.In the 1950s she created the character of Vampira, popular for both films and as a television host. Her character was to set the standard for an entire legion of horror hostesses, actresses, and even cartoon characters to follow. From what I have heard she was always kind and gracious with her fans (though some of her co-stars are of a different opinion).

Without a doubt, her striking features, deadpan humor and faux-blasé attitude contributed to make her a fast popular success. Introduced with a music cue (heard twice in The Shining), Vampira came down a fog enshrouded hallway at the start of each show, screaming unexpectedly into the camera and saying: "Screaming relaxes me so." Before commercial breaks, she took the habit of reciting weird poetry or even give out Charles Addams-esque cocktail recipes. She lit and smoked her long cigarettes with her three-inch nails on camera too, which of course would be a huge no-no today.

Her unusual figure was no doubt a large part of her success, as Vampira claimed to be gifted with the following measurements: 38-17-36! (Yoiks!)

It didn't take long before publications like Time or Newsweek gave her some written space.
One of the first first magazines to take notice was Life. Here from their June 14th 1954 issue is that original article in it's entirety:

Fame came fast and furiously, and before long Marlon Brando, Mae West and even James Dean became fans -- Dean even debuting an intimate relationship with Maila. (Orson Welles and she spent some "quality time" together as well.) Oddly, all this attention would be cut short. Dean's premature and tragic death would seriously shake up Maila, not counting ABC trying to stop her in her attempts to pursue different career projects, as their intent was to completely own rights to the Vampira character. Consequently --and somewhat incredibly-- the show would soon be canceled after only one season. It ran less than one year, from April 30 1954 to April 2 1955 but in those 11 months she left an indelible mark on Television and Horror history. Not long after cancellation, Maila was attacked in a beauty parlor by an enraged woman who burned her hair and scalp, causing her to have to totally shave her head . Other unfortunate burns would follow, as Maila later tried to save her cat from a home fire.

Vampira ressurrected with the help of Edward D. Wood Jr., who was shooting his ultimate classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space. Maila was hired to work a single day on the movie (for a paltry $200 bucks!), playing a ghoul who came back to life via an alien light-ray. Her undead ally was the immortal Tor Johnson, who has become quite the Horror icon in his own right --inspiring a Don Post mask from this epic that even showed up in other films (like Mad Max). It would also make the final screen appearance of Bela Lugosi. Sadly, Bela would not live long enough to work with Vampira onscreen... (But we have this photograph, at least!)

However, after she read the script, she found the story so appallingly bad that she agreed to do it only if she didn't have to speak a word of dialog. She didn't (But since she's supposed to be a ghoul... few notice). She starred in a few other forgotten "classics", but none of them have achieved the popularity of Ed Wood's high-camp firebrand, - hilarious and cherished today.

For a time the spotlight eluded her and Maila owned an antique shop called "Vampira's Attic", and created her own lines of clothing and jewelery.

Interest in camp entertainment in the 1970s would see Ed Wood's films in a new light. The book "The Golden Turkey awards" by the Medved Brothers voted Plan Nine From Outer Space "The worst movie of all time". It wasn't long before sellout midnight showings of Plan-Nine (as depicted on Seinfeld) became hip entertainment. All this attention would make Vampira once again popular for a new generation of fans. Musical groups like The Damned and The Misfits wrote about her in songs. As Vampira, Maila even turned up as a singer for a punk band.
Sometime in 1981, a television station contacted Maila for a renewal of the Vampira concept. According to her, many discussions took place over the next few months and she remains convinced that all her ideas were stolen for the Elvira character. She sued for tens of millions.

A Finnish documentary about Maila was shot in 1995, entitled Death, Sex and Taxes. In 1998, she returned to movies for I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, from an old Ed Wood script and starring Billy Zane. Until just recently she was still active on the star-convention circuit.

While it was thought for years no footage of the old Vampira Show was known to exist, at the end of the late 1990s a friend of mine "in the industry" told me about 5 minutes of footage had been found in the KABC archives and was going to be used in a news story about the aging Vampiress. He'd managed to snag a nice copy of the unedited footage tape (on vhs), and graciously shared it with me. Needless to state I felt very privileged. So much so that I "sat on the evidence" for years. I did somewhat enjoy insisting from time-to-time that the footage did exist in the faces of hard-line fans who were ready to put their careers on the line that it didn't, and then-- BAM --producing the hard evidence. (Ahhh...I might as well also note that while I read on a Horror Host site earlier today that the "only existing footage" came from Dave Stevens, my wife reminds me that we gave him a copy from our tape --so he could show it to Maila herself-- in summer 2000.)

That's not the ONLY Vampira footage out there either, I'm happy to report. A few years ago the History Channel (I think) did a multi-part series on the History of Las Vegas. Somewhere around part 3 the focus shifts to Liberace, and sure enough, Vampira can be seen briefly (about 10 seconds worth) on stage dancing with her old Pal.

I'm assuming this footage is probably all available on the "Vampira: The Movie" DVD
( I still haven't seen it) ...if not it should be.

It's intriguing to guess what kind of cultural impact she could have had if her career had been longer and more profitable. As an immortal cult figure, who knows what kind of importance she could've had if she'd truly been given the chance to become the mistress of her own destiny?

Movie credits

1947 If Winter Comes

1958 Too Much, Too Soon

1959 Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Beat Generation, The Big Operator

1960 I Passed for White, Sex Kittens Go to College

1962 The Magic Sword

1986 Population One

1998 I Woke Up Early the Day I Died

The Vampira Show - KABC-TV 1954-55

Featuring Maila Nurmi as "Vampira"

Channel 7, Los Angeles, California
1.	04/30/1954	Dig Me Later Vampira (Preview Show)
		Saturday Night/Sunday Morning at Midnight
2.	05/01/1954	Charge is Murder
3.	05/08/1954	The Face of Marble
4.	05/15/1954	Revenge of the Zombies
5.	05/22/1954	Fog Island
		Saturday Night at 11:00 p.m.
6.	05/29/1954	Corridor of Mirrors
7.	06/05/1954	(Not Listed)*
8.	06/12/1954	Devil Bat’s Daughter
9.	06/19/1954	The Flying Serpent
10.	06/26/1954	The Mask of Dijon
11.	07/03/1954	Strange Mr. Gregory
12.	07/10/1954	The Man With Two Lives
13.	07/17/1954	Corridor of Mirrors
14.	07/24/1954	Fear
15.	07/31/1954	Rogue’s Tavern
16.	08/07/1954	Dangerous Intruder
17.	08/14/1954	Mystery of the 13th Guest
18.	08/21/1954	Midnight Limited
19.	08/28/1954	Bluebeard
20.	09/04/1954	Missing Lady
21.	09/11/1954	Murder By Invitation
22.	09/18/1954	Red Dragon
23.	09/25/1954	Missing Heiress
24.	10/02/1954	Missing Corpse
25.	10/09/1954	Fatal Hour
26.	10/16/1954	Phantom Killer
27.	10/23/1954	The Shadow Returns
28.	10/30/1954	King of the Zombies
29.	11/06/1954	Doomed to Die
30.	11/13/1954	House of Mystery
31.	11/20/1954	My Brother’s Keeper
32.	11/27/1954	Dear Murderer
33.	12/04/1954	Castles of Doom
34.	12/11/1954	The Charge is Murder
35.	12/18/1954	Return of the Ape
36.	12/25/1954	Man With the Gray Glove
37.	01/01/1955	Apology for Murder
38.	01/08/1955	Decoy
39.	01/15/1955	Murder is My Business
40.	01/22/1955	Phantom of 42nd Street
41.	01/29/1955	Case of the Guardian Angel
42.	02/05/1955	Lady Chaser
43.	02/12/1955	Killer at Large
44.	02/19/1955	She Shall Have Murder
45.	02/26/1955	The Lady Confesses
		Saturday Night at 10:30 p.m.
46.	03/05/1955	Larceny in Her Heart
47.	03/12/1955	Glass Alibi
48.	03/19/1955	Detour
49.	03/26/1955	Strangler of the Swamp
50.	04/02/1955	Woman Who Came Back

^*The major L.A. newspapers (The Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles Examiner and The Los Angeles Daily News) list only "Vampira" for this date, as does the L.A. edition of TV Guide. The name of the film shown is not listed. However, the article in the 14 June 1954 issue of Life mentions two films shown on the program: White Zombie and Fog Island. The latter had been shown and listed prior to the article’s publication, so it is likely that White Zombie was shown on this date.


Ironically, when I first googled Vampira's name, this tombstone from Plan Nine came up first.
Rest in peace, Maila. You were the first true Horror-babe. The first cool-ghoul. The first Living-dead girl.

Big thanks and a tip of the cobwebbed hat go out to the Cult Sirens site, The explodingkinetoscope site, The Milwalkee Horror Hosts site and Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski (for his exhaustive research on the episode lists) and the 800 pound Gorilla.

Some Classic Christmas

I've collected so many images the past few years that I guess a post of pix from Xmases past was inevitable. A prime opportunity to start things off with a shot of the always-lovely Miss Bettie Page being positively fetching in festive spirits... (and why not?)

After the end of World War II, Christmas boomed in America and took on heretofore unseen Macy-Parade-Balloon proportions. Decorations themselves became a whole different animal as we reached the middle point of the last century. All new highs in cheerful-insanity and engineering-excess were an integral to the holiday experience...at least the commercial part.


Take this giant fiberglass Santa outside a department store for example... much more detailed and classically surreal than the big inflatable he'd be today.

ahh... and those department store window displays. Not a damn cell phone in sight...


We always went to my Grandmothers in Florida for Christmas, and almost every small town along the way had their own set of main street trappings. I remember this style in particular.

Ad-men reached new heights in abstracting the holiday in the 1940s & 50s... sometimes it was even hard to tell if Santa himself was truly being good or bad. (Wotta Shill, btw.)

Here's a room with an offbeat tree display from 1955 ( I know that smell).

And there was no Amazon or Wallmart... in the 1960s WE had the Sears Wish Book!
( It usually came in the mail around Halloween.)

Where you could order anything you could think of practically!

...The toy sections seemed endless... (and what a great spread this is!)


Yeah... Like I Wish I still had that Bugs Bunny.

And pages and pages of Christmas decor...

Sears, Pennys and all the Catalog stores sold more than a couple of different types of Mangers and accessories...

And all the cheesy crap that I love so much now...

Love the cardboard fireplaces. (Kids in apartments need a Santa snorkel too!)




The door coverings were hot at the end of the '60s. Ehh... not so much now.

Where's all this big-plastic illuminated stuff now? Antique stores? Flea Markets?

There's a couple of these plastic Santas around town that I've noticed... and they're TALL --around 5 feet!

Well, keeping the spirit alive here's our very own front door from last Christmas 2006. (The illuminated Reindeer we bought at sears in 1993 --the last year they sold them... The "Noel pole" I bought at Zayre in 1974 --for 3.99).

And here's the view down our walkway to the front door.

And last, when I went inside I snapped this picture of our own set -- and I didn't fake this, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was actually on Cartoon Network at the time.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FOLKS!
Best wishes to all Arglebargle readers! Stay tuned --much more ahead in 2008!

Inside the Baxter Building

Behold -- The world-famous Baxter Building!

One of the great things about the Fantastic Four comics was all the super-nutty Kirby gizmos and gadgets.
Crazy stuff --like James Bond gear on steroids and acid!
And talk about high maintenance... the team needed enough space for a Fantasti-car, a Pogo Plane, a Fantasti-Copter, a Private Passenger ICBM, an Observatory, an entrance to the negative zone, a computer room, a chemical lab, a photo analysis lab, a projection room, a gymnasium, trophy room and living quarters (just to name a few). Naturally, a Super-team with this much baggage needed an exceptional uh... "secret" base of operations. Where better, than the middle of Manhattan Island in NYC? (...yeah --good luck with that telescope, Stretcho.) Specifically floors 30 through 35 on the top of the Baxter Building.
Within the confines of these 5 floors lay a virtual crime-fightin' and weird experimentin' complex the likes of which the world had never seen before! So large in scope, that it prompted several celebrated cutaway views of of the Building's insides --presumably to help the reader figure out exactly where all the action was taking place.
I'd thought about doing a post like this last summer... but when I picked up issue #1 of Marvel's new Mythos Fantastic Four book last week and saw that the title artist Paolo Rivera had just done an updated cutaway, I knew the time was right.

So, here --for the first time I'm aware of-- are ALL cutaways of the Baxter building to date!
...featuring insane amounts of Photoshop restoration on the old versions by yours truly so they can be blown up big and still look great. All cleaned up from my own issues of the original books they appeared in, with the original (minus the yellowing) color schemes. Enjoy!





While the F.F. had already defeated the Mole Man and the Skrulls,
it wasn't until issue #3 that we got to see some Fantasti-car (known these days more commonly as the Flyin' Bathtub) and found out the secrets of the "Fantastic Four's Skyscraper Hide-Out!" This was the first time the Baxter Building and it's contents --at least the top two floors of it were diagrammed.








It wasn't long though--just three issues in fact-- before Jack was at it again. From issue #6, here's a slightly more complete look at the top 5 floors of "the world's greatest office building".







Here's Jack's third and final take (to my knowledge) on the FF's HQ innards...
As it originally appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #3 ( this version was also printed in Black and White in the back inside cover of the 1975 over-sized Fantastic Four Treasury. I ran it too, back up a the top... And though on that printing there's a blurb with an allusion made to the then-current book's team of Len Wein and Rich Buckler doing an updated cutaway soon, I don't recall them actually getting around to it.







A decade and over a hundred issues passed before anyone would attempt a new Baxter bldg pin-up, but after the big Gonzo blowout with Dr. Doom in issue #200, Keith Pollard and Longtime-inker Joe Sinnott were ready to tackle the project. Here's their version from Fantastic Four issue 201, December 1978.






It would be 48 issues before anyone else would tackle the 5 story x-ray. Then, when John Byrne took over the book in 1981, he had Terrax destroy the the top 2 floors of the tower (and f-up the lower ones). The FF had to rebuild all 5 floors of their HQ --and once it was completed it was prime time to address the new changes. (Besides, more than anybody else outside of Stan and Jack, John got the FF and brought back a lot of what made the book fun to begin with --that is, before Shooter ruined it all with the Secret Wars books.) Here, from #249 is that cutaway.








And the latest version...Paolo Rivera's aforementioned new version. Nice to see see Paolo's rife and realistic painterly approach to the material. The rest of the book looks like this too, so if you haven't picked it up you probably oughta.




HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
And a big tip of the hat goes out to Marvel Comics Group, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Keith Pollard, Joltin' Joe Sinnott, John Byrne and Paolo Rivera

Shadows = $$$$!!

Like Halloween, the 1960s was a golden time for comic book ads. The level of ad-shystery had risen to a level beyond the preposterous with the promises of missile-firing Polaris Submarines and live six foot Monsters delivered to your door for a mere dollar. (Okay, the Submarine was 5.98...)
This one really takes the cake though... seems eerily like the basis of an early Leave It To Beaver episode. (click to enlarge --Haw!)


All you need is a flashlight-- or a candle? Room for hundreds? Damn, sister --sign me up!
How are some of these crazy contortions even possible? If you compare the "Nixon" hands to the artist's conception of Tricky Dick's shadow there's a lot of room for interpretation. How many amputated hands make up that "Dinosaur" anyway? (...And who can't do an effin' bird!)
If this is just the ad -- the book must've been really nutty.

Aheh ...anybody got a copy?

Jack Kirby meets Vincent Price?

Growing up I saw The Abombinable Dr. Phibes and it's sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again several times on the CBS Late Movie (probably on Friday Night). In both films Vincent Price plays a "dead" man avenging the surgical team that lost his wife on the operating table. Nine doctors in all (one of them a nurse) are treated to nine of the most innovative, creative, outlandish deaths imaginable.


The American International movie was released in May of 1971. Which makes this piece of concept art currently up fpr grabs on eBay all the more curious. Jolly Jack's take on a little character called ...The Sinister Dr. Phibes.



According to the seller (Jack's Grandson Jeremy) this piece conceptual art was drawn up (and inked, too) by Jack during the period when he was considering making the move from Marvel to DC.
Hmmmm... I ain't got my calculator, but wouldn't that make this piece sorta... pre-date the film version by a year or so? Even if it was supposed to be a comic version/tie-in with the first movie, it's still pretty freaking bizarre, I tell ya whut...
...And if the concept piece was somehow the inspiration for the movies --even weirder.
(I wonder if Jack had anything to do with that crazy Kirby-lookin' organ ol' Phibes played in the movies?)



Thanks and a tip of the fedora for this post go out to Jeremy Kirby, John Miller, The estates of Jack Kirby and Vincent Price and American International Pictures.

Ploog-Things

As a kid Mike Ploog was always some of my favorite artists. One of the first Marvel comics I collected was Man-Thing. Aw, bite me. I won't apologize for that. But talk about a book that was all over the map! Steve Gerber cut his teeth on this book, incorporating elements of human interest, Rod Serling and Sword and Sorcery (Hey, Howard the Duck came out of those early stories). But art-wise pretty much anything could happen. Gray Morrow one issue...the next Jim Starlin, then John Buscema, Tom Sutton, etc.
I picked up my first issues from "Grave Dave" Newton (along with most of my Monster Times issues too) then I started buying it off the stands. I came in the end of Mike Ploog's original run on the book. This comic (ish#5) in particular was particularly notorious since it was the very issue that Power Records --in their infinite wisdom-- chose to adapt to as one of their "See and Hear" Marvel comics book-and- record series.
Right. A jolly story about a depressed circus clown that dabbles in the occult and commits suicide by blowing his brains out. Great one for the kiddies, huh? In fact -- It was the first of a two-part story that ends with cliffhanger --a cliffhanger that somebody at Power records chose to re-write with a ... *choke*...happy ending! (blasphemy!)
Here's a recent recreation of the same issue cover art by Mike which I present here to show not only how his style changed and became more refined over the years, but also to help cleanse the Karmic palette of the the great wrong once dealt it.















Mike worked on other Marvel monsters too. like this issue of Werewolf by Night --but that's just an excuse to show this horror babe.















All this early monster work made Mike the natural choice by Director John Carpenter to help envision The Thing in his upcoming remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks Classic. They delivered a film the likes of which had never been seen before. Here's some of his first design work on the movie...



...And some of Mike's excellent storyboard work he did for the film!




Mike also did these great gag drawings that spelled out --in layman's terms some of the intense special effects needed for the "Norris Sequence" in the film.







































Over twelve years later the Thing and it's theories were clearly still on Mike's mind and influencing his illustration work. (Or is it just me?...)


Thanks and a big HAPPY HALLOWEEN for this post go out to Mike Ploog, John Carpenter, Rob Bottin, Universal Pictures, Frederick S. Clarke, Cinefantastique Magazine, and S Q Productions.

Stop-Motion Comic books

Looking at that old Gwangi comic got me thinking... what captures the fire and excitement of Harryhausen's stop-motion like a Dell comic-book adaptation?
Ah, what the hell...they're still cool! (I was just surprised how many other Harryhausen movies that they covered!)









Looks like Gold Key had to jump in on the excitement (for at least one adaptation)

So read 'em and weep...or vice-versa...
Thanks for this post go out to ol' Dell and Gold Key comic mainstays, as well as Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer for being silver screen mavericks and doin' it their way.

The Forbidden Valley?

I was seven in 1969 when this Dell comic came out. I spotted it on the kid-level comics rack at Atkins Drug store on South Cobb Drive and thought from it's cover that it must be the single greatest comic ever published. A herd of cowboys versus GIANT Dinosaurs? --Wow! Once I eyeballed the inside art I equated it more to the best Classics-Illustrated comic I'd ever seen.

Though I wound up not actually seeing The Valley of Gwangi movie (a Ray Harryhausen tour-de-force) until a Saturday afternoon in 1979 the dog-eared comic was still around. I guess the idea of cowboys battling dinosaurs in a "forbidden valley" in the old west stayed with me, inspiring more than one epic dream and tall-tale. The sequence where the Wild-West Show-hand wrestles with and breaks the neck of a Pteranadon stood out more than others for some reason. Probably the whole mano-a-mano thing with a prehistoric beastie.

So recently when I was looking for reference on American Indian Thunderbirds for a short film I want to do, I came across these three seemingly civil war-era photographs... and my first thought was (Gypsy whisper) Gwangi!


--and my second was "why haven't I ever seen these before?"


I guess the civil war extended a little further into that ol' forbidden valley than I thought.



Sure, the probability of fakery is 99%, but even still-- what in Holy Hell is this thing?
A rotting Platypus with canvas wings?
Still interesting as to why (and when) these pictures would have been faked to begin with. They're not like pictures of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster or even the Mothman where there's a market for the mania. Plus I've never seen any other "Thunderbird fakes" in books or on the Travel Channel etc. Does that make them any more believable? You decide!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tom Snyder meets the Monsters (1975)

H-B Animator Carl Urbano for Honda (1987)

Not many Hanna-Barbera animators were the subject of a Honda commercial campaign... in fact only Carl Urbano was. The longtime Hollywood animation veteran was in the latter part of his long career by this point but he was still going strong! This spot ran on all three networks during the summer of 1987. Nice just to see pencils in a commercial again too.

Charles Lane Dead at 102

Last Sunday I told my wife that we should write a movie script, get Charles Lane to star in it and call it "The Man Who Plumb Fergot To Die"...And then on Monday he did just that.

Guess I spoke too soon.

Yes, it's true...enigmatic Curmudgeon Charles Lane, one of the only surviving stars of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World passed away July 9th, 2007.

Born Charles Gerstle Levinson January 26 1905, Lane was one of the few people still around who had lived through the devastating 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco. Lane first got the acting bug as a young man at the Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. A young Rabbi there at the time had an interest in the theater, so the Temple had a theater program for young people and Lane played there. Later Lane refined his skills at the Pasadena Playhouse which was widely considered the best training and launching place for actors in what was then Hollywood's Golden age. It was here that he met and married his only wife, a stage actress named Ruth Covell in 1931.

His career spanning more than 60 years is longer than my arm. He appeared in upwards of 500 Television shows and features, including such classics It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't take it with You, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Yep, Capra used him a lot. In fact one of Lane's most cherished possessions, was a letter from the fabled director declaring, "Well, Charlie, you've been my No. 1 crutch."
He specialized in playing no-nonsense authority figures such as doctors, reporters, judges, lawyers, IRS agents, bankers, irate board members, and policemen.

Lane was also an avid golfer who felt like the only downside to his working so much was that it cut into his golf game. He won several trophies for his skills on the green.


Lane is probably best remembered for his TV roles in the 1960s, particularly the scheming scrooge-like railroad agent Homer Bedloe on the Paul Henning comedy Petticoat Junction.
All of the Henning CBS shows (which included the Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres) seemed to exist in their own universe so there were frequent character cross-overs from show to show, so Lane wound up playing Bedloe on The Beverly Hillbillies as well. After Petticoat Junction was canceled Lane wound up playing a second character on The Beverly Hillbillies in the final 1971 season named "Foster Phinney". The end of the decade found Lane playing a judge on the then-controversial ABC sitcom Soap.
He also had a recurring role on every incarnation of Lucille Ball's TV comedies. They had actually been friends since he met her back when she was a chorus girl in the RKO musicals. If she ever needed a bureaucratic foil, be he sourpuss or grouch, there he was. (Even in the maternity waiting room with Desi Arnez playing an unfazed father-to-be --of his 10th kid-- on the episode where little Ricky is born)

Lane continued to work regularly in the '50s and '60s appearing in such features as the only Abbott-less Costello entry The 50 foot Bride of Candy Rock, (pictured above) and