Price was also quite the Renaissance man: an art connoisseur, gourmet cook (my library owns a cookbook co-authored by Price and his wife) and best movie ghoul ever, IMO. I also loved him as host of PBS Mystery series, although Diana Rigg did turn out to be a classy and worthy successor to the old master. [spider omitted here]I also have a vague recollection of seeing Price in a one man show portraying Oscar Wilde. [more editorial snipping -- trying to save bandwidth (?)]And do you all recall the bug "zapper" commercial that Price starred in with his wife? Very amusing!
I had the great fortune of seeing Frid here in Baltimore in 1986, (while on tour with Arsenic & Old Lace), at the Enoch Pratt Library doing readings of EAP. I had mentioned in an earlier post that my fathers construction company rennovated the crypt at Westminster Hall, (poes burial place) back in the eigties. While Poe's actual burial place is unknown, (the marker at Westminster Hall is a memorial only, he is buried elsewhere on the property), it was a fascinating project. The fact that DS borrowed from Poe's work was one of the things that attracted me to the show. Does anyone know if The Pit & The Pendulum movie with Vincent Price & Barbra Steele is available on Home Video or DVD? I tried to get it a couple of years ago and found that it was out of print. A friend of mine had it on Laser Disc, but that was an earlier release which hasnt been available for at least seven years.
for NODS fans, the Corman/Price film THE HAUNTED PALACE is a must. The title is POE's but the story is an unfaithful version of LOVECRAFT'S CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD. You'll experience a profound sense of Deja vu as Price is possessed by the spirit of a nefarious ancestor who's portrait hangs in the hall, spends his time in a closed off tower room (doing alchemy this time), and tries to molest his wife in bed. A different story overall but way to much incident for the similarities to be a coincidence. Also Poe's 'Amontillado' story is present via Charles Collins gruesome death. TOMB OF LIGEIA the film, (LIGEIA the story) from Poe is a primary inspiration for the Alexis/Angelique parallel time story as well.