Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster

[Mysterious Benefactor]

No doubt, Bob Rooney would be cursing out the approaching snow storm, in that it would severely cut down on weekend business at the Blue Whale.

I'm sure he would be cursing! 

Finally, I hope the Eagle Hill Cemetery Caretaker still has enough sense to stay indoors and NOT venture out in the cemetery during the white out. 

That man has no sense when it comes to prowling the cememtery! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

MeTV was showing "Thriller,"

Yeah, I recorded all the eps back then and enjoyed all of them. However, I wasn't scared by any of them. It takes a lot to get me scared by a show/movie. I have to be alone in the house in the dark in the middle of the night/early morning for there to be any chance...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

One thing I found out about Boris Karloff is that he lived in Cadogan Square in London as did the late, great Sir Christopher Lee. Isn’t it ironic that two such great horror film icons actually lived in the same section of London where Barnabas would tell nosy people where he hailed from in England? I wonder if Mr. Karloff or Sir Christopher ever ran into Barnabas’ cousin, Niall Bradford? 

Oh yeah, apparently Cadogan Square is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in London, with flats going for several million pounds each. I suppose only Sir Richard Brandon, Elon Musk and Burke Devlin can afford to live there. 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

For a while MeTV was showing "Thriller," so I must have seen them all at least 3 times.  They stopped it and more recently have been doing Hitchcock, but quite likely could bring it back.  If they do, I'll post it.  I remember the one you're referring to.  It was good, but overall I wasn't wild about it - liked a lot of the others more.

Another “Thriller” episode I enjoyed was “The Grim Reaper,” starring Natalie Schaffer, the beloved “Lovie” Howell of “Gilligan’s Island,” and William Shatner before his role as the unfailingly self-effacing Captain James T. Kirk on the classic sci-fi tv series, “Star Trek.”

The plot involves a woman, who buys a painting of the Grim Reaper, holding his famous scythe. William
Shatner, as the lady’s nephew, tries to warn her about the painting’s evil past, with many of the painting’s former owners having met violent deaths. This program first aired in 1961, “only” 61-years-ago! 

[Josette]

Yes, Bob, that was a good one - interesting twists in how it developed and certainly the ending!

[Bob_the_Bartender]

And, Josette, how about William Shatner’s last scene in that “Thriller” episode, where we see Bill Shatner backing up in that locked room with that look of absolute terror on his face and we hear the sound of that scythe being whipped back and forth through the air? 

You know, I’m surprised that the late, great Dan Curtis did not “borrow” that Grim Reaper idea for DS. I mean, I thought it was great when DC and the DS writers had Vicky buying that 18th century portrait of a beautiful blond woman and the trouble that painting caused at Collinwood, especially for Barnabas and Roger.

Well, it might have been cool to have seen Phillip and Megan Todd, acquiring that infamous Grim Reaper portrait at an estate sale or at a local flea market and then displaying it prominently in their Collinsport antique shop for sale. Heck, in addition to Jeb Hawkes, “sliming” people to death (Paul Stoddard, Sheriff Davenport and Inspector Guthrie), we could have also seen the Grim Reaper “slicing and dicing” numerous Collinsport residents , much to the Collinsport Police Department’s great consternation and embarrassment.

By the way, we never found out why longtime Collinsport sheriff George Patterson was no longer the top lawman in town. Was he voted out of office or did he just take early retirement and head south to either Myrtle Beach or Key West? And, after Sheriff Davenport was “slimed” (just like Bill Murray in “Ghostbusters”), who replaced him? Did the Collinsport council members conduct a nationwide search for a new police chief, like possibly, Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, NC or Steve McGarrett, head of the elite Hawaii 5-0 squad of The Aloha State?

The only Collinsport police chief we ever saw after Sheriff Davenport, was that unnamed sheriff in 1995, and he sounded like the Collinsport town fathers had recruited him from possibly either Birmingham, Alabama or Macon, Georgia. Oh well, like whatever happened to Adam and Tony Peterson, we’ll never know what
happened with the head of Collinsport’s men and women in green (jackets) and tan (pants).   

[Josette]

Bob, you always have such original takes on things and suggestions for the show!  I never would have thought of any of those.  And, I never particularly realized about the sheriff.  I guess I just kind of took him for granted when he was there and didn't think about him otherwise!!

[Uncle Roger]

One of the oddest credits in Karloff's long career is his guest shot on The Girl From UNCLE in an episode entitled The Mother Muffin Affair. What's so odd about it? Karloff plays Agnes Tewksbury, alias Mother Muffin. The part was originally intended for Dame Judith Anderson (!) but a character description of the character stating that Mother Muffin looked like Boris Karloff in drag led the producers to offer the part to Boris. Boris relished the challenge and had a pretty good sense of humor about it, though when he first saw himself in the Mother Muffin makeup and wardrobe said he looked like a two dollar whore.
The plot, such as it is, has the villainous Mother Muffin trying to capture the plucky April Dancer so that she can become the Lady Macbeth figure in Muffin's wax museum. It's all played very straight. Well, as straight as The Girl From UNCLE ever got. And the episode's notoriety transcends the series itself.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I was a big fan of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. back in the day when it first went into syndication (to this day I watch everything Stefanie Powers does) and still remember that ep well. Boris was a real hoot! 

Of course, my biggest thrill when it comes to that show is when Grayson Hall guest starred, particularly because DS was still on when I saw her ep in syndication - in fact, the show aired in the late afternoon on the same station as DS...

[Uncle Roger]

I met Stefanie at Chiller Theater a few years ago and we spoke at some length about The Girl From UNCLE, especially the episode where the villain of the week tried to dispose of April  and Stan Freberg by putting them into a giant pop up toaster. She also mentioned that she had maintained a friendship with Tallulah Bankhead, who spent most of Die Die My Darling trying to kill her. But Tallulah would never call her Stefanie. She would always call her Patricia, the name of her character in the movie. I asked if that bothered her. She said it did at first but she realized that it was a lot easier all the way around to let Tallulah do what she wanted to do.