It's a shame that more of you didn't get a chance to attend this series
at the Film Forum in NYC from February 3 - 9. To honor the 75th
anniversary of the film that made Boris Karloff a star, this nonprofit
theater screened fourteen Karloff films. The program was:
Frankenstein, The Mask of Fu Manchu, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy,
The Raven, The Guilty Generation, Graft, The Black Cat, The Old Dark
House, The Body Snatcher, The Lost Patrol, The Criminal Code, The
Haunted Strangler and Targets.
Series advisor, Tom Weaver (author of numerous entertaining and
necessary books) was there as was Greg Mank (Karloff and Lugosi, It's
Alive, Hollywood Cauldron, Women in Horror Films, etc.) Michael Brunas
(co-author, Universal Horrors with his brother, John, and Tom Weaver)
and Universal horror expert, Todd Feiertag. Richard Gordon, producer
of The Haunted Strangler, introduced that film and Peter Bogdanovich
talked about Targets.
The theater was packed which, hopefully, will encourage Film Forum to
consider doing a Lugosi Fest next year. I met Alan Bayersdorfer from
MoPo there who was in town for business. We watched Graft, The Raven
and The Guilty Generation together with Greg Mank and Elizabeth
(another film fan who has a Masters in Film Studies) The audience was
enthusiastic, especially since Graft and The Guilty Generation have
never had public screenings before. They weren't comedies, but these
lines got big laughs:
from Graft - Karloff as Joe Terry (a hitman) - "That dame is dynamite!"
from The Raven - Karloff as Edmund Bateman (a bank robber and murderer)
Lugosi as Dr. Richard Vollin (a surgeon and lover
of
Poe)
Lugosi: "So you put the burning torch into his face! Into his eyes!
Karloff: "Well sometimes you can't help things like that."
The 35mm prints were gorgeous, especially The Old Dark House, from the
Library of Congress. Unfortunately, Targets was in 16mm and was the
edited English version. One of Boris Karloff's best scenes (with Peter
Bogdanovich in the hotel room) was excised. Bogdanovich refused to
stay for it, saying that he would, "rather watch the DVD at home."
Another disappointment, no movie paper from the films was on display in
the showcases except some original Haunted Strangler and publicity
stills. But in spite of not being able to see the one sheet from The
Mummy in all its glory, this was a week that no Boris Karloff or
classic horror fan should have missed.
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