OT: FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY (1973)

[Gothick]

Fans,

After DS went off the air, a major preoccupation in life became finding other stuff to watch that might provide something remotely like the "high" I would get from our show.  One of the most memorable such "highs" came from the two part screening on NBC of Frankenstein: The True Story. Set in 1820, filmed in England with lush production values and a cast that included Leonard Whiting, James Mason, Nicola Paget, the stunningly gorgeous Michael Sarrazin as the Creature, Agnes Moorehead, Margaret Leighton and many other luminaries of stage and screen, I found the broadcast riveting and an experience I never forgot.

An important new study of the production and related aspects of Frankenstein: the True Story was recently published in magazine form.  There's some artwork and comments on display here:

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/65840/LITTLE-SHOPPE-HORRORS-38-Shipping-week-May-29th-FRANKE#.WVXDASMrKqQ

The easiest way to order the magazine is through the official website for the venue, Little Shoppe of Horrors, but that site is still coded in outdated "frames" software and I can't link to the page in the site with the info about this issue.  It's issue 38, published earlier this month (June 2017).

There are some DS connections you may find along the way.  Author Sam Irvin directed Dante's Cove, a glossy occult gay soap opera of circa 2006 that had some elements reminiscent of DS.  In the very long narrative about the Frankenstein film's production history, there's a moment where everyone panics because ABC announces the version that Dan Curtis did of the story for TV in '72.  Sam Irvin quotes a catty comment from someone that this turned out to be the "same tired sets and canned music cues" from DS, so there was a collective heaving of a sigh of relief. (!) Ah, Hollywood...

Not directly related, but the producer of Frankenstein: the True Story was Hollywood stalwart Hunt Stromberg, Jr., a flamboyant, larger-than-life gay man who had been involved with both the Vampira show and the launching of The Munsters in 1964.  There's a huge amount of gossip, history and anecdote crammed into this magazine about the period in which DS came into existence.  Well worth reading.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I saw the magazine when I was in my local Barnes & Noble two weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't have time to read the article then, but now I may buy it tomorrow because tomorrow night I'll be going back to B&N...

[Gothick]

Sam Irvin gives an extraordinary level of detail about the casting--pages on this.  Usually it's just summed up in a few sentences, but what he wrote provides a fascinatingly detailed look into how casting on a higher-budget project worked back in the early 1970s. 

By an odd coincidence, to venture even further into OT territory, yesterday I discovered that Curtis Harrington's autobiography Nice guys don't work in Hollywood was posthumously published four years ago.  Harrington did a number of TV films, including The Cat Creature which again had a DS quality to it for me, particularly Gale Sondergaard's performance as eccentric occult shopkeeper Hester Black.  Sounds like more great summer reading.

G.

[Gothick]

Cool interview with Curtis Harrington.  He talks about all of his films in it. Night Tide, Games, Queen of Blood, Killer Bees, and beyond--the whole hit parade.

http://www.terrortrap.com/interviews/curtisharrington/

Best, G.

[MagnusTrask]

Only recently have I been finding out that others value F:TTS as I do.  I loved it when it was out. but it seemed to come and go without making an impression on anyone else.