In ‘Rampage,’ an odd couple gives monster flick a lot of heart

Mismatched couples make the film world go around. They take a basic plot and make it more interesting, more fun, more dramatic, more heartwarming. More of whatever you need.

The familiar concept comes in all sorts of flavors to satisfy your movie mood: cop buddies, beauty and the beast themes, the two-people-are-meant-for-each-other-even-if-they-don’t-know-it story and the perennial favorite, the odd couple.

Before we get to one of my favorite odd couples in film, it’s a good place to note that these odd or mismatched couples aren’t always human. You’ll find unbreakable bonds between people and animals like Lassie and little Jeff or Timmy, and Tarzan and Cheetah. A step beyond would be the connection between Elliott and E.T., Billy and Gizmo (“Gremlins”) and Owen and his Velociraptor Blue (“Jurassic World,” etc.).

My favorite is the film that boasts about the power of its odd pairing with the fun tagline “Big Meets Bigger.” That would be Davis and George in “Rampage,” a buddy movie that’s also a throwback to great giant monster movies of the past. And it’s the film I chose to write about for “The Mismatched Couples” blogathon hosted by Barry at Cinematic Catharsis and Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews.

“Big” is Davis, played by the 6-4, 260-pound Dwayne Johnson.

“Bigger” is George, an albino western lowland gorilla, who stands about 7 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds, give or take a few.

At least that’s how big George is at the start of the film, when he out charms the charming Johnson, plays tricks on humans and just has fun. But when George accidentally sniffs some fumes from a pathogen which alters his genetic code, the once friendly gorilla will quickly expand into an aggressive 40-foot-tall, 9-ton killing machine.

Big, now you can meet even bigger.

Davis and George are the heart, soul and appeal of “Rampage,” a film based off the video game of the same name that many in the cast and crew played when they were young including Johnson and co-star Joe Manganiello. “I put hundreds and hundreds of quarters in that machine, so I feel like I’m getting that money back,” Manganiello laughed in one of the extras for the home video release.

The bond between Davis and George was forged when Davis rescued baby George from poachers.

The movie plot

For the film adaptation, Dwayne Johnson plays Davis Okoye, a primatologist at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary. Sanctuary is the key word in understanding Davis who prefers to spend his time nurturing and protecting his animals instead of hanging out with people.

Davis helps all the animals but will go to extremes to save his best friend, George, when he becomes infected with a pathogen that has fallen to Earth after an explosion on a space station. We know this from the taut opening scene of a giant rat chasing the last surviving scientist on board, ending with a massive explosion that hurls canisters of the pathogen to Earth where it affects George, a wolf in Wyoming and a crocodile in the Florida Everglades to varying extents. (The trio of gigantic creatures was nicknamed the “Wrecking Crew” in the video game.)

Davis (Dwayne Johnson) becomes protective of George as the gorilla grows rapidly in size and becomes more aggressive in “Rampage.” (Warner Brothers)

Once George is infected, he grows exponentially larger and aggressive, leading Davis to become even more parental and protective. “This is not the George we know,” he says, trying to understand why the usually passive George killed a grizzly at the sanctuary.

Davis tries to soothe the now savage beast, telling him in a soft, controlled voice “I’m gonna figure this out George, I promise.” But he won’t have time with the government as well as Energyne, the research company responsible for the pathogen, on their way for different reasons.

Energyne is run by a brother and his ruthless sister (played deliciously by Malin Ackerman) who sends a violent group of mercenaries (led by Joe Manganiello) to find the canisters and the animals – dead or alive. The U.S. government is led by the cowboy-like figure of Harvey Russell, played with a trademark wink by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in his cowboy boots. (The Davis-Russell dynamic will also grow into another odd couple pairing.)

Helping Davis is Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), a former Energyne employee who was using the gene therapy to find a cure for her brother’s disease before the company had her arrested (meaning she knew too much and was in the way).

A growing George is put into a cage that has no chance of holding him in “Rampage.”

As you can guess, none of them are prepared for how large and violent this trio of creatures will grow and develop.

Lots of heart

Clearly, “Rampage” has all the makings of a “giant creatures destroy the U.S.” movie. Besides George there’s Lizzie, a 200-foot-long crocodile with a spiked club-like tail, and Ralph, a gray wolf that grows to more than 30 feet and evolves to have arm flaps and the ability to glide. With their advanced aggressiveness from the pathogen, they destroy everything in their path.

I love the giant creatures theme and could write on and on about this “Wrecking Crew,” but for now I’m here to focus on those two big, unlikely buddies of Davis and George since they are what set “Rampage” apart from other blow ‘em up blockbusters. The relationship between the two, including their trust and friendship, is what director Brad Peyton said he wanted to focus on.

Even after George has grown to massive proportions with an ugly temper to match, his good buddy Davis (Dwayne Johnson) won’t give up on him in “Rampage.” (Warner Brothers)

“The central pillar of the movie is the relationship between Davis and George … that’s the heart of the movie,” Peyton said in a 2018 interview with ScreenRant, which I recommend reading in full. “So we focus a lot on that dynamic and the heart that came from that … I love doing big blockbuster movies, but if there’s no heart and soul to it, it’s just kind of empty nonsense.”

So yes, while there are huge blockbuster scenes of the three giant creatures wreaking havoc, attacking people and each other, there are moments of friendship, loyalty and family between Davis and George that are full of the heart Peyton strived to have in his film.

Helping to form that dynamic is how well Davis and George communicate through sign language.

In the scene where we first meet the two, Davis is leading three people, including the boastful Connor (Jack Quaid), through the “jungle” (really the sanctuary) when they happen upon two female gorillas with their babies, and an angry young ape named Paavo. Enter a larger and louder gorilla (George) who puts Paavo in his place but freaks out Connor who does exactly what Davis tells him not to: he runs and ends up in a fetal position on the ground.

George thinks it’s funny after he scares one of the young workers in “Rampage.”

It’s a freaky moment until George starts laughing. Yes, the gorilla laughs and we start to understand the relationship between Davis and George, as well as George’s “humanity.”

“New guy, he no laugh, he cry,” Davis says to the chuckling George, using the speech cadence reminiscent of Tarzan talking to Cheetah.

“He’s not gonna kill you – he has a unique sense of humor,” he explains to Connor as illustrated when George reaches out with his massive paw to fist-bump Davis, but instead gives him the finger.

Yep – George laughs and knows profane gestures.

Like any buddy team, they communicate, joke, protect each other and show affection when it matters. Like most odd couples, they are opposites in many ways.

The ginormous George is a goofball. He loves to laugh with his belly jiggling and playing pranks especially on Davis (there’s a fantastic prank late in the film). Davis is more serious. He’s a former Army Special Forces soldier and a member of the anti-poaching unit.

They met when Davis rescued the baby George from poachers while they were slaughtering his mother. Davis ran off with George as the poachers shot at them, but missed.

“I shot back and didn’t,” Davis says, with a steely-eyed gaze that shows the depth of what he’ll do to protect George.

And George will do the same for him.

The police and government are closing in to take George to be “put down” as he’s being helped by his friend Davis (Dwayne Johnson) and a scientist (played by Naomie Harris) in “Rampage.”

The unlikely friendship

Care is taken to show the deep bond between Davis and George early in the film since that’s integral to moving the story along as it propels Davis on a cross-country search for George as the giant creatures are being “called” to Chicago via an Energyne radio signal.

The middle part of the film is that journey following the creatures and it also includes another odd buddy relationship that keeps things together. If you’ve seen the film, you might think I’m referencing Davis and the lovely Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) who is helping him. That’s too obvious. I went another way with the evolving bond between Davis and the cowboy-like government agent Harvey Russell (played by another charming guy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

In “Rampage” Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) and Davis (Dwayne Johnson) must contend with the military and a government agency led by Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the suit). The antagonistic relationship between Davis and Russell will change throughout the film.

While Davis and Harvey fight each other to reach their own goals – Davis to save George, Harvey to save the world – they grow a mutual respect that allows them to work together.

One of my favorite scenes is a somber moment when Harvey shows his respect and admiration for the relationship between Davis and George in telling Davis, “Mr. Okaye, about your friend, I am truly sorry.” (I might have sniffled at that point).

That word “friend” that Harvey uses is key to the film as the script is littered with repeated references of friendship.

“What’s happening to my friend?” a worried Davis asks officials about George. Later, an angry Davis doesn’t hold back when he says “You mess with my friend, you mess with me.”

When director Brad Peyton talked about the heart needed for “Rampage” he nailed it with these two mismatched friends. I do, however, think their bond goes much deeper than friendship and into the realm of father and son.

As Davis says, “He’s not just my friend, he’s family.”

The blogathon

This story was written as part of the “Mismatched Couples” blogathon hosted by Barry at Cinematic Catharsis and Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews. Please check those sites for more great entries on the interesting topic of mismatched and odd couples.

*****

Note on photos: Screenshots and two credited publicity images from “Rampage” were used for this story.

In ‘In Name Only,’ Kay Francis skillfully creates the beast hidden within the beauty

Maida Walker isn’t on any list of great characters in classic movies, but she should be.

She’s played by the great Kay Francis in the 1939 romantic drama “In Name Only,” alongside co-stars Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. Oh, and John Cromwell directs. That’s a pretty impressive list of names by all standards.

But what I always think about first with this film is Maida, a character who had such a chilling effect on me that I stopped watching films starring Kay Francis.

I’ll repeat that: I stopped watching films starring Kay Francis.

Go ahead and laugh. I should have been able to separate the actress from the fictional character, but I couldn’t. Instead, I missed out for several years of seeing Francis in such gems as “Jewel Robbery,” “Trouble in Paradise” and “One Way Passage.” My loss.

* * * * *

I first saw “In Name Only” as a teen for the same reason I’m sure others were drawn to it: Cary Grant and Carole Lombard in a romance. (Swoon!) I knew it involved a love triangle and a loveless marriage and that was fine since it’s a traditional Hollywood story. But Maida was not a traditional wife.

While I fell for Grant and Lombard, I was at once fascinated and appalled by the soullessness of Maida, the wife who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. My strong reaction carried through the screen into life.

Simply put: I hated Kay Francis.

Hate is an awful word, I know, but I don’t have another one to describe how she made me feel. Francis was so believable as Maida Walker, the society woman whose black heart was hiding beneath her gorgeous façade, that I wanted nothing to do with this actress or her movies.

Of course, it wasn’t Francis who was evil, it was the character she so brilliantly portrayed. But I was haunted by Maida and the profound darkness that consumed her as she calmly schemed to get what she wanted out of her marriage – and it wasn’t love.

She was a master manipulator who taught me that evil in movies doesn’t always look like a beast. Sometimes it’s wrapped in a stunning dress, perfect hair and a warm smile.

That’s why I chose Maida Walker as my entry in “Blogathon & the Beast,” the fall blogathon from the Classic Movie Blog Association.

No, she’s not a literal beast, but she’s certainly a monster.

* * * * *

While the plot is relatively simple, Maida is not.

The film opens with what we today call a meet-cute. Alec Walker (played by Grant) meets Julie Eden (Lombard) while he’s on horseback – all dapper in a suit and hat – and she’s “fishing” in a tiny brook and trying to balance on a rock.  It’s such a storybook setting and they are both so pretty and charming that we expect them to immediately fall in love. We are not disappointed.

Julie is a graphic artist who has rented a picturesque cottage for the summer that she learns was formerly owned by Alec. She’s a widow with an adorable 5-year-old daughter Ellen (Peggy Ann Garner).

Alec is one of those down-to-earth rich guys who eschews his family’s wealth and its trappings. He’s married to the beautiful Maida (Francis) but wants nothing to do with her.

One of the few moments of pure happiness for Alec (Cary Grant) and Julie (Carole Lombard) in “In Name Only.”

The connection between Alec and Julie is immediate: a cautious love at first sight. The story, then, is Alec and Julie trying to avoid their feelings, then accepting their feelings and being shunned by friends and family while they hope for a divorce and the chance to build a life together.

But what is Alec’s problem with Maida?

Good question. From the first time we see them together he is callous, uncaring and rude. Not very Cary Grant-like.

Alec’s parents (Charles Coburn and Nella Walker) don’t understand what’s going on. Neither does family friend Dr. Ned Gateson (Jonathan Hale) who is overprotective of Maida. No one is happy with Alec and we can’t help but wonder why.

The clues come early as Alec arrives home to find Maida and his parents waiting, but he refuses to be with them. Alone together, Maida gently tries to change his mind, but that only draws a surprisingly strong reaction from Alec.

And if we’re honest, Maida seems perfectly reasonable and quite sympathetic. She is elegant and lovely, speaks softly and takes the blame in front of others for setting off her husband’s foul moods. She appears to be a perfect wife.

Maida (Kay Francis), looking ever so innocent, calmly pleads with Alec (Cary Grant) to save their marriage.

“Even when we’re alone you can do it … make it look as if I’ve beaten you and make me feel like I want to,” he says.

He goes on to warn her that his parents might “learn the truth about us – you wouldn’t like that.”

Keeping her composure she listens calmly, then strikes.

“They won’t believe you, dear,” she says, wielding the word “dear” like a dagger through Alec’s heart.

It’s evident this woman is not the meek victim she pretends to be with others, but the true depth of her wickedness will take some time to reveal.

Alec leaves to have dinner alone in town where Maida’s best friend Suzanne (Helen Vinson) flirts with him. He’ll have none of that but drives Suzanne home and, of course, they have an accident in front of Julie’s cottage. This is how Julie learns Alec is married and Maida realizes that Alec has feelings for Julie.

Julie won’t be with a married man especially considering her sister’s pain in being left by her own husband. Maida, not so morally responsible, hatches a plan.

Beware the Maida bringing gifts. Maida (Kay Francis) has brought an enormous basket of flowers to poor naive Julie (Carole Lombard) as a token of friendship.

She arrives at the cottage the next day with a grossly oversized bouquet of flowers to “thank” Julie and invite her to a garden party.

And this is where, slowly, a layer here and there begins to be peeled away to show the true Maida.

At the party, a distraught Maida (we know she’s distraught because she repeatedly raises her hand with a delicate handkerchief to her forehead) sweetly lies to the doctor about Alec and Julie. “It’s been going on for weeks. He’s getting so bold,” she tells the doc who runs immediately off to tell Alec’s parents. (Maida fact check: Nope, Alec and Julie just met.)

The naïve Julie arrives, only to be humiliated as she’s looked at as “the other woman.” (Maida fact check: Nope, these two have barely shaken hands.)

And boy can Maida turn on the pity party with Alec’s parents as she takes the blame for his foul moods. “Don’t lie for him anymore,” they tell her.

Maida (Kay Francis) pulls out all the stops as she tells her friend Dr. Ned Gateson (Jonathan Hale) that her husband is cheating on her. It’s not true, but she gets the sympathy she seeks.

This is how the film is played out. Alec pleads with Maida to leave him alone and get a divorce and Julie tries to stay strong with her moral code. Meanwhile, Maida dispassionately connives.

Take the moment when Alec confronts her with a note she wrote to her past love David, who killed himself on the day Alec and Maida married. Instead of showing any remorse or sadness, she is cold-hearted.

“I did love him. I was mad about him. I had a choice – I could take David and love and nothing else. Or I could take you and what went with you,” she tells Alec. “I took you.”

The coldness of those lines is chilling. Screenwiter Richard Sherman, who adapted the screenplay from the novel “Memory of Love” by Betsy Breur, gives Francis plenty of moments like that and she takes full advantage in crafting Maida.

There’s a scene where Alec convinces Maida to get a divorce while vacationing with his parents. He’s gone to see her off on the cruise liner to make sure she will hold up to her end of the bargain. She seems beaten to him, but she’s not.

“I’m selfish in a lot of ways, even my worst enemy couldn’t say I’m stupid. I know when I’m beaten,” she tells him. But by beaten, she means it’s time to ramp up “the Maida.”

As the ship is about to sail, that troublemaker Suzanne shows up and taunts her. (I love how a ship departure was like a little party.)

“Now honestly Maida, you’re not going to let that girl take Alec away from you?”

As Maida, actress Kay Francis pulls off the feat of making her conniving character likable and sympathetic, especially in scenes where her husband Alec (Cary Grant) appears cruel.

Maida slowly walks toward Suzanne with a look we can’t quite make out.

“What do you think,” she asks, a slight off-kilter, half-smile forming as one eyebrow is slightly raised. Maida looks, well, happy. It’s her battle face and she’s ready.

Suzanne’s response is priceless: “Really Maida, you’re marvelous.”

It’s moments like that I find the most disturbing because Maida never shows her hand. She is the monster lurking behind an unsuspecting person who is moments away from a vicious attack. In Maida’s case it’s through deed and action that will leave internal scars on her victims. When Maida is at her calmest, she is at her most dangerous.

It’s difficult for Alec to get support from his parents while Maida acts the loving and dutiful wife. Pictured, from left, are Nella Walker, Kay Francis, Cary Grant and Charles Coburn).

Yet with all that said, the full force of her malice isn’t seen until the end. It’s so powerful that I remember gasping at the same moment a character did on screen when Maida opens her malignant heart to its full depth.

Rewatching “In Name Only” recently made me wonder why I had such an adverse reaction to Francis because I now find her portrayal of Maida brilliant. Yes, you will fall in love with Grant and Lombard as they go through their heartbreaking journey, but Francis stole the film with acting that was powerful in its subtlety. A slight twitch of her mouth or the rise of an eyebrow was all she needed to show us a brief glimpse of the darkness within.

I can see now that my strong reaction to Maida was because I was as naive in my young life on that first viewing as Julie is in the film when she says to Alec, with much sadness, “I didn’t know there were women like this.”

Well there are and we can admire the actresses who have the skills to create these women in a way that makes us detest them so much.

Maida Walker is a monster who destroys lives. Kay Francis is the actress who so vividly brought to her life. I am now happy to celebrate and enjoy both the character and the actress.  

This story is part of Classic Movie Blog Association fall blogathon called “Blogathon and the Beast.” There are many more great stories written by members of the CMBA that explore this theme so please take time to read some.

Not just for Halloween: 31 classic haunted house films

I find it tragic that many people are only interested in horror films at Halloween when these movies are delightful to watch all year.

So every October, I salute classic horror with my annual series of daily posts on X/Twitter under the hashtag #31daysofclassichorror. My hope is that the mention of a film might intrigue someone enough to check it out.

For the first time, I chose a theme this year: haunted house films. It was fun and I was surprised at how many of these films were horror comedies.

I’ve pulled them together here to create a quick look at my #31daysofclassichorror as they appeared daily through October 2023 on X/Twitter via @toniruberto. There are a few spots where I added cast members or a few extra words, otherwise they read as they originally appeared.

I hope you find something new to watch.

A living skeleton is among the terrors in “The Haunted Castle” by George Melies.

Day 1: “Le Manior du Diable/Haunted Castle” (1896)

Let’s start with what is considered the first horror film. In only 3 minutes, visionary director George Méliès set the standard for what we would see on screen for more than 100 years: Bats, demons, vampires and witches throughout the haunted castle.

Day 2: “Fall of the House of Usher” (1960)

Edgar Allan Poe via Vincent Price, Roger Corman and Richardson Matheson. Yes please.

Gloria Stewart and a mysterious hand in “The Old Dark House”

Day 3: “The Old Dark House” (1932)

A dark and stormy night, stranded travelers, a creepy old house and Boris Karloff as a mute servant. Director James Whale makes it feel like fun & games until a hand reaches out from behind the wall. The great cast also includes Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stewart.

Day 4: “House of Darkness” (1948)

Laurence Harvey made his film debut as a pianist haunted by the ghost of someone close to him.

Day 5: “The Bat” (1959)

A mystery writer (a spunky Agnes Moorehead) spends time at a secluded mansion with hidden passageways, dead bodies and someone – or something – with claws skulking the premises. Vincent Price co-stars.

Day 6: “The Innocents” (1961)

Deborah Kerr is the new governess at a Victorian mansion who comes to believe the children are possessed. Creepy, atmospheric Gothic horror film based on “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James.

“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” starring Gene Tierney, left, and Rex Harrison is a ghost story that is gentle and loving.

Day 7 : “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947)

If my house is going to be haunted, let it be by a handsome ghost like Captain Gregg (Rex Harrison) and let me be as lovely and graceful as Gene Tierney. A beautiful and eloquent ghost story about a widow and her little girl who move to a seaside house haunted by its former owner.

The creepy chauffeur (played by Anthony James) leaves a lasting impression in “Burnt Offerings.”

Day 8: “Burnt Offerings” (1976)

A family thinks it’s a good idea to rent a 19th-century mansion for the summer. Unfortunately, they’re not alone in the house. Look out for the creepy chauffeur! Dan Curtis directs Bette Davis, Oliver Reed and Karen Black.

Day 9: “Hillbillys in a Haunted House” (1967)

Familiar tale of stranded travelers and a haunted house – but this time as a musical. Country singers headed to Nashville and get caught up with Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. One word sums it up quite well: Campy.

Day 10: “Ghost Breakers” (1940)

Bob Hope is a radio broadcaster on the run from cops and the mob. Paulette Goddard just inherited her family’s haunted mansion in Cuba. Expect ghosts, zombies, bad guys and Anthony Quinn.

Day 11: “Ghosts of Hanley House” (1968)

A super low budget take on the haunted house challenge. A guy who can’t unload a house where strange things happen, bets a friend to stay overnight and prove to potential buyers that everything is OK. It’s not.

Day 12: “Legend of Hell House” (1973)

Oh look, more researchers spend time in haunted house. But this one was written by Richard Matheson from his book so it’s good. Belasco House is home to the spirits of victims of a sadistic killer. With Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin.

Day 13: “The Shining” (1980)

If a haunted house isn’t enough for you, then check into the haunted Overlook Hotel. Jack Nicholson gives an over-the-top portrayal of a winter caretaker who loses his sanity thanks to hotel “guests.”

Who doesn’t have fears of being sucked into their closet by a malevolent entity as happens in “Poltergeist.”

Day 14: “Poltergeist” (1980)

A family frantically searches for a child trapped “inside the house” by malevolent spirits. This Spielberg-produced film takes on childhood fears with monsters under the bed, in the closet & walls. It’s loosely based on the chilling “Twilight Zone” episode “Little Girl Lost,” written by Richard Matheson about a child who falls into another dimension. He wrote it after he couldn’t find his daughter in his house. Cue the goosebumps.

A family moves into a house with ghosts – and Margaret Hamilton, right, as the housekeeper.

Day 15: “13 Ghosts” (1960)

Let’s start three days of haunted house films by great movie showman William Castle. A house is haunted by ghosts the audience sees by wearing “Illusion-O” glasses. Bonus: Margaret Hamilton is the creepy housekeeper.

Day 16: “The Spirit is Willing” (1967)

A family renting a seaside New England home is pranked by a trio of mischievous and unhappy ghosts in this William Castle comedy. With Sid Caesar, Vera Miles and John Astin.

No one knows what lurks in the rooms and hallways of William Castle’s “House on Haunted Hill.”

Day 17: “House on Haunted Hill” (1959)

William Castle’s best. A suave Vincent Price delightfully spars with his conniving wife (Carol Ohmart) while offering $10,000 to guests who can make it through the night in their mansion.

Castle gave live audiences the experience of “Emergo!” as something would “emerge” in the movie theater. Oh, to have been so lucky to have seen the movie in this way.

Day 18: “Amityville Horror” (1979)

When it comes to haunted houses, this is terrifying – mostly because it’s based on a true story. Yes, I know they played with the facts, but it’s still creepy. James Brolin and Margot Kidder move their family into a new home – but they’re not alone.

Even his reflection scares the hilarious Don Knotts in “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”

Day 19: “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)

Universal horror via Mayberry in this ghostly comedy starring Don Knotts as a typesetter who stays overnight in a haunted house to become a reporter. The laugh-filled film was a big hit.

Day 20: “Two on a Guillotine” (1965)

A woman returns home for her father’s funeral and learns she has to spend seven nights in his gothic mansion to get her inheritance. It’s playful, romantic and unsettling with plenty of jump scares. Connie Stevens can scream! With Disney’s Dean Jones.

Day 21: “Scared Stiff” (1955)

Martin & Lewis flee mobsters but still help a lovely woman (Lizabeth Scott) who has inherited a haunted castle off Cuba. This is the fourth screen adaptation of “The Ghost Breaker,” but with music. (See also Day 10)

Day 22: “House in Marsh Road” (1960)

A wife and her failing author of a husband scam landlords out of rent, until they inherit a country house. Turns out the resident poltergeist takes a shine to the woman and protects her from her nasty hubby. What starts as a little ghost film goes full-on with suspense and poltergeist terror.

Day 23: “The House That Dripped Blood” (1971)

Amicus anthology film has five shorts depicting the tragic fates of inhabitants of a British cottage. With Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt.

Day 24: “The Evil/House of Evil” (1978)

Richard Crenna moves his family into a gloomy mansion terrorized by an ancient evil, hence the title. Doors shut and windows close on their own, pets attack, people scream and die violently.

Day 25: “Canterville Ghost” (1944)

Loose take on Oscar Wilde’s tale of a cowardly man cursed to haunt his castle until a descendant frees him with an act of bravery. Charles Laughton, Robert Young and an adorable Margaret O’Brien.

Ray Milland carries Gail Russell in her flowing nightgown after a ghostly encounter as Ruth Hussey looks on. Tell me you don’t want to get all cozy and watch this in the dark.

Day 26: “The Uninvited” (1944)

Can shadows be poetic? Yes. A composer and his sister buy a seaside house with ghosts connected to a lonely young woman in this supernatural mystery-romance. Gorgeous cinematography, iconic music.

Day 27: “Haunted House of Horror” (1967)

From party on the beach to party in a haunted house. Frankie Avalon is a bored young American in London who takes other bored kids to play in a haunted house. A séance, murder and guilt follow.

Day 28: “Haunted Palace” (1963)

A little Poe, a little Lovecraft, a little Corman. A warlock’s curse follows a family a century later when they inherit his palace where evil lives. Bonus: Vincent Price in dual roles.

Michael Anderson Jr., Kitty Winn, Barbara Stanwyck and Richard Egan are haunted by “The House That Wouldn’t Die.”

Day 29: “The House That Wouldn’t Die” (1970)

Barbara Stanwyck inherits a house in Gettysburg where her niece has terrifying dreams and visions. So let’s have a séance or three and see what happens. An ABC Movie of the Week.

Christopher Lee, John Carradine, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price in “House of Long Shadows.”

Day 30: “House of Long Shadows” (1983)

“What lives in this house? What skulks in these halls?,” the fun film trailer asks. How about four  masters of horror: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine along with, inexplicably, Desi Arnaz Jr.

Julie Harris in the scene that still gives me nightmares from “The Haunting.”

Day 31: “The Haunting” (1963)

Saving the scariest for last. Robert Wise directed one of the most frightening films ever, yet never showed the monster, instead relying on sound, acting and camera work to freak viewers out. The scene where Julie Harris thinks that’s a human with her – except it’s not – has scarred me for life. After the first time I saw it, I slept with the lights on – and still do. Based on Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House.”

READ MORE

If you want to read more, here are other stories I’ve written that mention some of these films. Just click on the name of the film to read the story.

“Amityville Horror”

“The Bat”

“Ghost and Mrs. Muir”

“House on Haunted Hill”

“The House That Dripped Blood”

“Le Manior du Diable/Haunted Castle”

How ‘Murder, She Wrote’ kept the spotlight shining bright on classic films and their stars

Angela Lansbury is sitting across from Mildred Natwick and smiling.

“I’m amazed that you even recognized me. My goodness, you know, it’s been more than 30 years,” she says to Natwick who returns her smile.

There is a real affection between the two actresses that we can feel even though we’re watching them years later and through our television in a scene from “Murder in the Electric Cathedral,” an episode from the second season of “Murder, She Wrote.” While those words were scripted, the women just as easily could have been speaking to each other in real life since they had worked together nearly 30 years earlier in the delightful 1955 musical comedy “The Court Jester.”  

Angela Lansbury and Mildred Natwick, who worked together in the 1955 film “The Court Jester,” have a natural rapport in the episode “Murder in the Electric Cathedral.”

That little nod of recognition is one of the many ways Angela Lansbury’s long career was used to enrich her television series “Murder, She Wrote.” While millions tuned in weekly to be entertained by Cabot Cove’s most famous resident as she solved murders and mysteries, we got the bonus of a long and impressive list of guest stars that reads like a trip through film history.

Many of the stars were brought up through Hollywood’s studio system along with Lansbury or acted with her on Broadway and that’s one reason we see so many familiar faces and big names throughout the 264 episodes and four feature films that comprised “Murder, She Wrote.” (There were nearly 2,000 during the show’s run from 1984 to 1996.)

And that’s what makes “Murder, She Wrote” such a natural for the Classic Movie Blog Association’s spring blogathon, “Big Stars on the Small Screen.”

Here’s a look at some of the big stars who joined Angela Lansbury as a guest on her show, plus other ways “Murder, She Wrote” ingeniously celebrated the Golden Age of Hollywood.

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As the flirtatious real estate agent Eve Simpson, Julie Adams (“Creature from the Black Lagoon”) appeared in 10 episodes of “Murder, She Wrote,” more than other any actress outside of Angela Lansbury.

It started with “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly” (Season 4/Episode 7), one of the show’s most delightful episodes thanks to the actresses who play the gossipy customers in Loretta’s Beauty Shop who all, to their surprise, fell for a charming lothario. Along with Adams are Kathryn Grayson, Gloria DeHaven and Ruth Roman.

The actresses would reunite in “The Sins of Castle Cove” (S5/E17) about a young author who writes a tell-all book with thinly disguised residents of Cabot Cove, and “Town Father” (S6/E11) where Mayor Sam Booth (Richard Paul) is accused of fathering five children! (That gets the town talking.)

Watch Adams in these 10 episodes: “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly” (S4/E7), “Benedict Arnold Slipped Here” (S4/E18), “The Sins of Castle Cove” (S5/E17), “Town Father” (S6/E11) , “A Body to Die For” (S7/E6), “Bite the Big Apple” (S8/E1), “The Witch’s Curse (S8/E12),  “Programmed for Murder” (S8/E18), “Final Curtain” (S9/E11) and “The Big Kill” (S9/E17).

Julie Adams guest starred in 10 episodes of “Murder, She Wrote” as the flirtatious real estate agent Eve Simpson. Here she’s delivering her famous salmon mousse to a hot prospect in the episode, “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly.”

Hurd Hatfield, Lansbury’s co-star in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” was a beloved lifelong friend who introduced her to her husband Peter Shaw. He appeared in three episodes starting with “Death Takes a Curtain Call” (S1/E10) in which Hatfield asks Jessica to help two Soviet dancers defect. (It also co-starred Claude Akins in his recurring role as Ethan and William Conrad.) In “One Good Bid Deserves Another” (S2/E17), Hatfield plays an auctioneer in an episode with Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw plus Edward Mulhare and Karen Black. And in “Night of the Tarantula” (S6/E7), he’s the owner of a neighboring plantation when Jessica visits a friend in Jamaica for his son’s 30^th birthday.

At MGM, Lansbury and June Allyson were in “The Three Musketeers” (1948) and later starred with Van Johnson in the musical crime comedy “Remains to Be Seen” (1953). On the TV series, the trio reunited in “Hit, Run and Homicide” (S1/E8) with Johnson as an inventor whose devices were used in a hit and run murder (as the title suggests). Allyson is his supportive former co-worker he fails to notice until it’s almost too late.

Old MGM friends Angela Lansbury, left, June Allyson and Van Johnson smiled quite a bit in the “Murder, She Wrote” episode “Hit, Run and Homicide.”

Johnson returned for two other episodes: “Menace, Anyone” (S2/E20) and “Hannigan’s Wake” (S7/E4) which also starred Mala Powers, Guy Stockwell and Stephen Young.

An episode with a fun idea – a mystery involving poison pen letters – also had a great cast. “Sticks and Stones” (S2/E10) starred Marsha Hunt, Evelyn Keyes, Betsy Palmer, Joseph Campanella, John Astin and Denny Miller. The story is considered a take on “Miss Marple: the Moving Finger.”

And there are so many more … (I can’t stop myself.)

Look for Cyd Charisse as a former actress, Mel Ferrer as the hotel manager and Mary Wickes as a wealthy guest in “Widow, Weep for Me” (S2/E1) that finds Jessica posing as a rich widow at a Caribbean resort to investigate a friend’s death. This episode also marked the first appearance by Lansbury’s friend and Broadway (“Sweeney Todd”) co-star Len Cariou as Michael Hagarty, the MI6 agent who always gets Jessica embroiled in trouble.

In the episode “The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel,” Angela Lansbury, left, and noir star Jane Greer play former roommates who are reunited when a decades-old murder implicates the late husband of Jessica Fletcher.

Jane Greer and Michael Ansara are in “The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel” (S5/E7) along with Martin Milner, Richard Roundtree and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. plus an uncredited Dale Robertson who didn’t like that the credits were done alphabetically on the series and wanted his name removed. (We still know who you are Mr. “Tales of Wells Fargo.”)

See Dorothy Lamour and former child star Patty McCormack in “No Accounting for Murder” (S3/E19) where Jessica helps nephew Grady who is suspected in the murder of his boss. Eleanor Parker is a leading being tormented before the opening of her new play in “Stage Struck” (S3/E10), an episode that also starred Edward Mulhare and Dan O’Herlihy.

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There are many more names (Diane Baker, Nina Foch, Rod Taylor, Milton Berle, Laraine Day, Tom Ewell, Anne Francis, Farley Granger, Howard Keel, Janet Leigh, etc. ) but let’s take a break and look at other ways the series honored classic films through memories, homages, tributes and yes, more guest stars.

Keep alert during “Murder, She Wrote” for such unique touches as the youthful photograph of actresses Angela Lansbury and Ann Blyth on the table. It’s in “Reflections of the Mind,” which stars Blyth as a woman who thinks she’s being tormented by her dead husband.

It was done in small ways like in the vintage photos used on the set. Watch the opening credits of the suspenseful “Reflections of the Mind” (S2/E6) for the photo of a very young Lansbury and Ann Blyth on a table.

It happened in songs when Lansbury, playing Jessica’s look-alike British cousin Emma, sings numbers she first performed on film: In “Sing a Song of Murder” (S2/E5), the song is “Good-Bye, Little Yellow Bird” from “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1945). For “It Runs in the Family” (S4/E6), the character of Emma sings “How’d You Like to Spoon With Me” from the 1946 movie “Till the Clouds Roll By.”

There are subtle nods to specific movies, too. “Death ‘N Denial” (S11/E13) is a fun reference to the title of Lansbury’s 1978 film ”Death on the Nile.” Her character’s name in that film was Salome Otterbourne; the Egyptologist in the TV episode is Sally Otterburn. Bonus: The episode also stars Turhan Bey from “The Mummy’s Tomb,” “Arabian Nights” “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieve” and “Sudan.”

Mickey Rooney guest starred in the Season 10 episode “Bloodlines” on “Murder, She Wrote.” Angela Lansbury and Rooney starred in the 1944 film “National Velvet.”

“Bloodlines” (S10/E6), set around the world of horses and horse racing, co-stars Mickey Rooney and Tippi Hendren in its tale of murder and fraud. Rooney plays a horse trainer in the episode, as he did in the 1944 film “National Velvet” which also starred Lansbury as the older sister of Velvet (Elizabeth Taylor).

Then there were entire episodes inspired by a classic film.

“Sorry Wrong Number” came through loud and clear in “Crossed Up” (S3/E13). Jessica is stuck in bed with a sore back during a hurricane when a faulty connection “crosses up” the phone line and she overhears a murder plan. Of course, she’s not believed even when a body is found, so she enlists the help of nephew Grady (Michael Horton).

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) approaches the infamous “Psycho” house on the lot at Universal Studios in the “Murder, She Wrote” episode “Incident in Lot 7.”

“Incident in Lot 7” (S8/E13) is all about “Psycho” and it is so much fun, especially for Hitchcock fans. The episode starts with a lively instrumental version of “Hooray for Hollywood” playing over the opening credits. As Jessica’s limo pulls into Universal Studios where they plan to adapt her newest book into a film, the music skillfully morphs into the theme from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (“Funeral March of the Marionette” by Charles Gounod). You know this is going to be great and it is Jessica becomes entangled in a murder that takes place in the original “Psycho” house on the studio lot.

The episode skillfully uses imagery and sound from “Psycho” including the famous Bates Motel sign, the shower curtain, the drain with water swirling around it just as it famously did in the Hitchcock film and those screeching violins!

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) starts to ascend the stairs inside the “Psycho” house, unintentionally re-enacting one of the film’s most famous – and deadly scenes – in the “Murder, She Wrote” episode “Incident in Lot 7.”

We’ll even watch the scene – as Jessica does – of private investigator Arbogast (Martin Balsalm) climbing the stairs inside the house as a door slowly opens at the top of the landing. (Poor Arbogast.) Then the scene plays out again this time with brave Jessica walking up the same stairs while the same door opens. (Run!)

My favorite “Murder, She Wrote” episode inspired by a classic film is the ingenious “The Days Dwindle Down” (S3/E21) which acts as a sequel – yes a sequel – to the 1949 detective film “Strange Bargain” starring Jeffrey Lynn, Martha Scott and Harry Morgan. The film’s tidy end was tweaked so that the story could continue here as Jessica works to clear the name of a man released from jail after 30 years for a murder he swears he didn’t commit.

Jeffrey Lynn and Martha Scott reprised their roles from the 1949 film “Strange Bargain,” left, in the well-done “Murder, She Wrote” episode “The Days Dwindle Down” that acted as a sequel to the film.

Here’s the most excellent part: the episode reunites actors Lynn, Scott and Morgan and uses clips from the original movie. And it keeps on giving with appearances by Gloria Stuart, June Havoc and Richard Beymer.

I previously wrote at length about this episode in the 7^th annual “Favourite TV Episode” blogathon hosted by Terence Towles Canote from his blog, “A Shroud of Thoughts,” so I won’t duplicate that article, but I can’t help but share tidbits from this clever episode with other classic movie fans.

[Read my original story: When “Murder She Wrote” brilliantly became a sequel to a 1949 film]

It was the idea of Executive Producer Peter Fisher who was exploring new ways to tell a story and thought about building an episode around a classic movie that would also star some of the original cast. That last part would be difficult given the passage of years.

Martha Scott, center, and Jeffrey Lynn reprise their roles from the 1949 film “Strange Bargain” for the “Murder, She Wrote” episode “The Days Dwindle Down” with Angela Lansbury. Note the vintage photo of Lynn in the background.

“If only I could find an old movie where everyone was still around, then we could solve the case 30 years later,” he said in an interview in the Los Angeles Times.

After a year of searching, he found “Strange Bargain” and the episode, respectfully written by William Gerson, is fantastic. It even uses film clips from the original movie to augment the story. You can enjoy the “Murder, She Wrote” episode without seeing the film, but if you can watch both I highly recommend it.

And, if after reading all of these wonderful names and ideas, you decide you only have time to watch one episode, I would suggest “The Days Dwindle Down” because of its reverence for classic Hollywood and its stars.

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You can find links to all of the wonderful entries in the Classic Movie Blog Association’s spring blogathon by clicking on this link to read more about “Big Stars on the Small Screen.”

Take a wild ride with ‘Just Imagine,’ a futuristic pre-Code, sci-fi musical with Martians and dancers

If you’re a classic movie fan who has never seen “Just Imagine,” I’m confident you could never have imagined anything like this 1930 film.

It’s a pre-Code sci-fi musical comedy with Busby Berkley-like dance numbers, vaudevillian humor, a trip to Mars and a man brought back to life after 50 years.

Of course, you’re curious – how can you not be? I was too, and that’s why it’s my choice for the Futurethon blogathon hosted by Barry from Cinematic Catharsis and Gill from Realweegiemidgetreviews.

You’ll find stories by many talented writers about movies set in the future on the two host websites, so please check them out.

Set in 1980, personal little airplanes have replaced cars, pills have replaced food and people have numbers instead of names. Oh, and Mars is inhabited by twins – a good and bad version of each Martian.

Are those the good Martian twins or the bad Martian twins with our heroes RT (Artie, played by Frank Albertson), left, Single-O (El Brendel) and Jay (John Garrick) in “Just Imagine.”

Imagining a future

It was only minutes into “Just Imagine” that it was clear the film was going to be as wild and strange and perhaps even as inventive as it sounds. Time to suspend your disbelief and let your imagination fly.

The title is the set up for the film: A narrator asks viewers to “just imagine” various scenarios and if you can’t imagine what he’s saying, you’ll be helped by intertitles that spell it out.

“Just Imagine what a difference 50 years can make!,” the narrator exclaims. Take a look at New York in 1880. It’s so quiet you can even hear the rustle of a bustle.”

Keep imagining.

One of the intertitles used to emphasize the narrator’s words.

“Just Imagine! The people in 1880 thought they were the last word in speed! Take a look at the same spot today,” the narrator continues as the setting changes to a busy Fifth Avenue filled with 1930s-era cars and people scurrying about.

We’re not done. Now imagine New York in 1980 where “everyone has a number instead of a name, and the government tells you whom you should marry!” And they aren’t kidding.

This 1980, as imagined by filmmakers in the 1930s, is a doozy. It’s a world of shiny 250-story skyscrapers, the sky is filled with small planes flying in orderly lanes, a new Prohibition is in effect, a spotlight turns on in your home when the doorbell rings and newborns are cheerfully ordered from vending machines.

And as the narrator warned us, the government decides your love life and name. However, the number-names are shorted to letters alone that mostly sound like a name. For example, our two main characters are LN-18, said as Ellen, and J-23 is shortened to Jay.

John Garrick sits on the wing of Maureen O’Sullivan’s plane as they talk about their future against an impressive city backdrop in “Just Imagine.” A larger image of this photo is at the top of the story.

We meet Ellen (played by lovely young Maureen O’Sullivan) and Jay (played by John Garrick) as they pull their planes together and hover in the air for a moment of privacy. (They’re in a zone which only allows hovering for 3 minutes, so a traffic copy yells at them to move along.)

Watch in disbelief – or awe depending on your point of view – as Jay steps out of his tiny cockpit, walks on the wing of his plane and jumps over to Ellen’s aircraft and sits next to her. He’s got news that the government tribunal will decide the next day whether they can marry or if Ellen will be forced to wed accomplished businessman MT-3 (Kenneth Thomson). Sure enough, Jay’s lack of achievement causes the tribunal to match Ellen with MT (pronounce it “Empty,” which is a fitting name for the dull suitor).

Though they have four months to appeal, our two young lovers are bereft. Jay is a pilot who has reached his job ceiling and fears he can never match MT’s accomplishments. (If only someone needed a pilot for a trip to Mars! Whoops – spoiler alert.)

So Jay does what people do in musicals– he sings. It’s the first of many songs that slow down the film and you may wonder, as I did, why there are so many songs anyhow. Here’s the answer.

The names above the title for “Just Imagine” are Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, a trio of well-known songwriters who had huge success in 1929 with the musical “Sunny Side Up.” They were then brought in to write the screenplay for what has been considered a musical version of the great 1927 film “Metropolis” (just look at the skylines and you’ll see the connection).

Our musical trio may not have been great as screenwriters, but as songwriters they were important enough to not only have a 1956 biopic made about them, but it was with an A-List team of director Michael Curtiz and actors Ernest Borgnine, Gordon MacRae and Dan Dailey for the film “The Best Things in Life are Free,” the title of one of their most famous songs.

This is a good time to mention that while the film looks ahead to 1980, it is stuck in the ‘30s – if not earlier – as characters bemoan in song and words the modern world’s loss of innocence. “I like a girl like my grandmother used to be. That why I like Ellen, she’s an old-fashioned girl. I should have lived back in 1930,” Jay says and sings.

Jay is sharing this with his best friend RT-42 (Artie is played by Frank Albertson) who is also dating Ellen’s best friend and nurse D-6 (or Dee as played by Marjorie White, who gives the film much-needed comic relief).

Actor El Brendel in the dark suit is laughed at by doctors who have revived him 50 years after he was struck by lightning in “Just Imagine.”

To cheer Jay up, Artie takes him to watch an experiment where a doctor works to revive a man who was killed by lightning 50 years earlier on a golf course. (I can’t explain this strange turn in the story.) This Frankenstein-like experiment is a success as the dead man awakens to finish his swing and yell “Four!” The doctors cheer and then leave as if bringing someone to life is something they do every day.

Our golfer Peterson (played by vaudeville star El Brendel, who gets top billing and is known for speaking with a strange Swedish accent) is upset. They just can’t leave him there – can they?

Oh yes, they can. “I’m through with you,” the doctor says. “To me you were just an experiment. If you’re unhappy, I’ll kill you again,” to which all the other doctors laugh.

Bystanders Jay and Artie take pity on him. They explain he needs a new name which becomes Single-O and they help him get used to his modern surroundings. First up is lunch. The cafe is a wall-sized mural with buttons. Put in a coin, push a button and out comes a pill that tastes like clam chowder, roast beef, beets, asparagus, pie ala mode and coffee.

Restaurants in 1980 were imagined to look like a mural on the wall that acted as a vending machine to take your money and distribute a meal in pill form in “Just Imagine.”

 “The roast beef was a little bit tough,” Single-O says after taking the pill.

Now, remember Jay yearning for a good old-fashioned girl from 1930? A similar refrain comes from Single-O who just wants the good old days back.

“Back in 1930 a meal was a meal. You could see the thick steak with a jus running down … I don’t know boys, give me the good old days,” Single-O laments.

He’s given another pill that substitutes for alcohol, and it brings about more memories.

“A big stein of beer with the foam on the top … there was something to drinking then. I don’t know boys, give me the good old days.”

Happy parents are thrilled with the baby they received from a vending machine in “Just Imagine.”

That’s when a couple at a nearby vending machine decides it’s time for a baby and viola! Here it comes down the chute, all cute and cuddly and a few months old.

But wait, there’s more: We still have to get Mars and that is truly crazy town.

Scientist Z-4 (Hobart Bosworth) needs a pilot to take his new plane to Mars and wants Jay who resists until he realizes this would be his big accomplishment that would allow him to marry Ellen. The round-trip journey takes just under four months and will get him back to Earth in time for the tribunal meeting that will decide his fate with Ellen.

The spaceship to Mars in “Just Imagine” will disappear in a puff of smoke to start its mission.

This miraculous space ship is Z-4’s works through the “absurdly simple” science of his greatest invention: the gravity neutralizer, the only thing that makes the trip possible. “With the speed of the earth’s motion and the rocket attachment, the plane will have sufficient momentum to make the journey.”

Though Jay is warned about the dangers, he takes on the challenge and is joined by his best friend (“We’ve gone through everything together, there’s no reason we should stop now,” says Artie) and stowaway Single-O.

This big moment is anti-climatic as the tiny rocket takes off in a large puff of smoke that covers everything. On the trip, the trio of men do not need extra oxygen, special equipment or a place to sit as all the action takes place in one spot where they stand around a lot.

Our pilot (John Garrick) meets the queen Martian (Joyzelle Joyner) who dresses in a gorgeous fish-like two-piece outfit.

Once on Mars, we see that Martians wear scanty two-piece outfits (even the men who look like a cross between a gladiator and Fred Flintstone), they speak in grunts and other sounds, and use silly broad gestures with their arms and faces. And don’t forget about the twin factor which we’ll first witness during a large dance number with Martians dressed as apes.

Will our hapless trio be able to figure out the good Martian twin from the evil one? Can they ever get back to their spaceship and in time for Jay to make the meeting with the tribunal? Or will poor Ellen get stuck marrying the lame MT guy? Just imagine the possibilities.

Background on the film

In this futuristic film, we never fully leave 1930 behind and that’s OK. The set design is bit minimalistic at times, but is inspired by art deco and the styles of 1930. The cityscape is a nod to “Metropolis” and was built as a giant miniature over five months by more than 200 people in a former Army balloon hangar at a cost of $168,000. The film received an Oscar nomination for best art direction by Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras.

If this laboratory from “Just Imagine” looks familiar, it’s because pieces were also used in “Frankenstein.”

If you feel a familiar twinge watching “Just Imagine,” that’s because sets and scenes like the dancing girls on Mars, a large Martian idol with moveable parts, the planes/spaceship and futuristic sets were reused in “Flash Gordon” and “Buck Rogers,” among other films.

Then there’s the laboratory scene where the doctor is reviving the dead golfer. It gives off strong “Frankenstein” vibes because it’s the first on-screen appearance for some of the equipment created by set designer and electrical effects expert Kenneth Strickfaden that was later used in multiple films including “Frankenstein” (1931).

This lobby card from “Just Imagine” is a great look at the pre-Code nurses uniforms as imagined for the 1980s with giant slits and cute panties. Pictured are four of the main actors: Marjorie White, left, El Brendel, John Garrick and Frank Albertson.

The wardrobe is also reminiscent of 1930 as many of the gowns are in the gorgeous, figure-hugging style of the time, but there are a few interesting things to note. In 1980, men’s suits don’t have lapels. Plus, one side wraps across the body and is buttoned low on the hip and waist (you can see this in the lobby card above).

The nurse uniform has long slits that bare the leg up to the panties (pre-Code alert!). My favorite fashion is the “stay out” dress: Multiple pieces of a demure black dress with a white Peter Pan collar are unzipped and turned inside out to create a low-cut slinky white party outfit. Even the hat is transformed into a small purse.

Predictions

So how did the film do with predicting the future circa 1980 (and even beyond)?

“Just Imagine” was right in predicting that people in the future would use air hand dryers (note the tiny circular opening on the wall).

It did predict the air hand dryer and it’s much quieter than the industrial strength ones we use today. In the film, it’s a small circle on a wall above a sink that is activated with a foot pedal that will also fold up the sink and cleverly hide it behind a door when you’re done. That’s a pretty cool move.

People can talk to each via a large video screen in their homes that’s like a supersized Facetime.

Yet even though we’re close to 50 years beyond the 1980 future setting of the film, we still haven’t hit some of its grandest moments and ideas – and that’s not necessarily bad.

We still drive cars, though now they’re starting to drive themselves. We haven’t had a manned trip to Mars and when we do, I’m sure the astronauts will need oxygen in some way. I’m happy that we still eat full meals instead of a taking a pill (that would be awful). And we still have babies the traditional way instead of ordering through a vending machine. Call me old-fashioned, but the only thing I want from a vending machine is candy.

Cast extras

The most recognizable face and name – by far – is Maureen O’Sullivan who is only 19 in this movie. Two years later, she would start her decade-long film appearances as Jane in the “Tarzan” movies, beginning with “Tarzan the Ape Man.”

Frank Albertson is notable for roles in “Alice Adams” (1935) and “Room Service” (1938). He later guest starred in television westerns. In “Psycho,” he was the rancher whose $40,000 is later stolen by Janet Leigh’s character and was the mayor in the 1963 musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Why the scary ‘Little Girl Lost’ from ‘The Twilight Zone’ remains a favorite TV episode

“Favorite” is a word that’s often accompanied by a smile because it’s something that makes you happy.

As in, what’s your favorite ice cream?

Your favorite band?

Favorite movie?

We smile so much about our favorites that “smile” should be part of the definition, as in:

fa·vor·ite: Something that makes us smile.

Yet my choice for the 9^th annual “Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon,” hosted by Shroud of Thoughts, is a TV episode that I love but doesn’t quite make me smile – at least in the happy, traditional sense of the word.

“Little Girl Lost,” the 91st episode of “The Twilight Zone,” has fascinated and terrified from the first time I saw it. Even rewatching it recently, the episode still freaked me out. (I guarantee you that “freak you out” is not part of the definition of “favorite.”) But the episode also makes me think and remains a favorite.

“Little Girl Lost” premiered on March 16, 1962 as the final episode (#26) of Season 3. I’m not sure how old I was when I first saw it, but I wasn’t older than 10, and could have been closer in age to Tina, the little girl lost of the episode’s title who was only 6.

Sure, that’s too young for “someone” (“me”) with an overactive imagination to watch a story where a little girl goes missing after she accidentally steps into another dimension. And yes, you read that right. In “Little Girl Lost,” sweet little Tina falls out of her bed, rolls underneath it and right into the fourth dimension. How do we know? The physicist who conveniently lives next door tells us so. And it’s all so believable.

Mac the dog tries to lead little Tina out of the fourth dimension in “Little Girl Lost.”

Here’s the episode’s plot, starting with Rod Serling’s original intro.

Missing: one frightened little girl. Name: Bettina Miller. Description: six years of age, average height and build, light brown hair, quite pretty. Last seen being tucked in bed by her mother a few hours ago. Last heard: ‘ay, there’s the rub,’ as Hamlet put it. For Bettina Miller can be heard quite clearly, despite the rather curious fact that she can’t be seen at all. Present location? Let’s say for the moment… in the Twilight Zone.

The episode opens with Chris and Ruth Miller waking to cries of “mommy” from their daughter, Tina (played by Tracy Stafford). They aren’t alarmed – yet. In fact Chris the dad  (Robert Sampson) takes the time to slowly put on his slippers despite the growing cries of his daughter.

Even when he can’t find Tina in the bedroom, it still takes him a few minutes before he starts to worry.

“What’d ya fall out of his bed?” he asks with a nervous laugh as he peers underneath the bed and gropes around the carpet for his daughter. Then he moves to the closet with similar results – she’s just not there.

Parents (Sarah Marshall and Robert Sampson) can’t find their daughter under the bed despite hearing her cries in “Little Girl Lost.”

Ruth the mom (played by Sarah Marshall) panics right away and makes a fuss as cute little dog Mack is barking up a storm outside and trying to get in. He senses the trouble but the adults aren’t paying attention. When Mack is finally let in the house, he runs fearlessly into the portal after Tina. (As physicist neighbor Bill will say later, “Animals are sharper about these things than humans.”)

Physicist neighbor Bill (played by Charles Aidman with a solid mix of composure and smarts) has been called over by a desperate Chris to help. Bill calmly explores the house and quickly deduces what has happened: Tina has fallen through an opening to another dimension.

Bill (Charles Aidman, right) calculates the location of a portal to another dimension where he thinks a child has fallen through as her parents (Sarah Marshall and Robert Sampson) look on.

“I’m no expert in this,” he tells the parents before going on about junctures between dimensions and gap openings that all sounds plausible to the untrained ear of say, a 10-year-old girl watching this at home who will soon develop her own phobia of falling into another dimension. (Hey, it could happen.)

Things get intense during the short 25-minute episode. Tina’s voice goes in and out and they fear she’ll be lost forever. Mack the dog’s barking indicates he hasn’t found Tina. And desperate dad gets way too close to the invisible portal in the wall and falls halfway into the strange world while screaming for Tina to find him.

Bill the neighbor physicist is clearly getting more agitated with every passing second and that ramps up the tension. Only later do we learn what was setting him off and without spoiling too much, let’s say that we are not dealing with a stable entrance to another dimension. Just thinking about it now is “freaking me out” (there’s that phrase again).

The fourth dimension is all strange angles, lights and fog in “Little Girl Lost” as dad (Robert Sampson) tries to grab his daughter and dog who are out of reach – and out of time.

By the end of the episode, when we should be feeling relief, the questions left unanswered also leave us unsettled.

Here is Rod Serling’s Outro for the episode: The other half where? The fourth dimension? The fifth? Perhaps. They never found the answer. Despite a battery of research physicists equipped with every device known to man, electronic and otherwise, no result was ever achieved, except perhaps a little more respect for and uncertainty about the mechanisms of the Twilight Zone.

Oh, Rod Serling didn’t need to tell me – as a kid or adult – to respect the possibility that other dimensions existed. I respected the idea so much that I read books with true stories of people from around the world who survived brushes with portals to another world. There were plenty of stories and yes, I believed them ALL!!!.

Neighbor Bill (Charles Aidman) reaches through a portal to another dimension as Ruth and Chris (Sarah Marshall and Robert Sampson) look on in terror in “Little Girl Lost.”

So stumbling into another dimension remains on my list of ridiculous phobias I gained from watching TV or film. Also on that “realistic” list: being mauled to death by a bear or tiger, suffocating in quicksand and burned alive by lava.

Here’s another creepy fact about “Little Girl Lost.” It was written by the great Richard Matheson after an incident where he couldn’t find his own daughter in her bedroom. Here is how Matheson shared the story in author Marc Scott Zicree’s indispensable “Twilight Zone Companion.”

“That was based on an occurrence that happened to our daughter. She didn’t go into the fourth dimension, but she cried one night and I went to where she was and couldn’t find her anywhere. I couldn’t find her on the bed, I couldn’t find her on the ground. She had fallen off and rolled all the way under the bed against the wall. At first, even when I felt under the bed, I couldn’t reach her. It was bizarre and that’s where I got the idea.”

To keep authenticity for his story, Matheson even named the TV characters after his real wife and daughter. (I wonder what they thought after watching it!). He wrote the original short story in 1953 and it appears in his collection “The Shores of Space” (1957).

‘Little Girl Lost’ and ‘Poltergeist’

Another reason why “Little Girl Lost” is one of my favorites is its influence on one of my favorite films, “Poltergeist” (1982) – and yes, “Poltergeist” does freak me out, too. If you’ve seen both you would have noticed the similarities that are worth a story on their own. But here’s the ToniNotes version of the “Poltergeist” plot.

After a few odd events in their new home in a fancy subdivision, parents wake to the sounds of their children screaming during a thunderstorm. Their son has been pulled outside by a tree limb that has crashed into the house. They rescue him, but can’t find their little girl. Then they hear her calling from somewhere “inside” the house. The rest of the film is their search for their own little girl lost, while battling malevolent spirits.

So we have a little girl, trapped somewhere “inside” of her house, crying for her parents who can’t see her. You’ll notice some similar shots (overhead views of the family looking upward toward the child’s cries) and you’ll hear lines that could have been copied and pasted from “Little Girl Lost.” For example the name of the dog Mac is replaced with the word “light” as in repeated references of “Go with Mac, baby” becomes “Go into the light baby” in “Poltergeist.”

Does this mean I think a monster is going to come out of my closet and steal me? Can a hole open to another dimension? Of course it can. Just watch “Little Girl Lost” and you’ll believe.

The blogathon

The 9^th annual “Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon” is hosted by Terence Towles Canote on his blog Shroud of Thoughts. You’ll find links here to more posts where people write about their favorite TV episodes.

In a previous “Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon,” I wrote about an ingenious episode of “Murder, She Wrote” that acted as a sequel to the 1949 detective film, “Strange Bargain.” This is a favorite episode that truly does make me smile. Here is the link to that story.

Celebrating Kim Novak by meeting Polly the Pistol

Kim Novak will forever be Madge to me, a young woman yearning for love in “Picnic.” The film was my introduction to the actress and I’ve never stopped watching it, forever mesmerized by the romance and drama of this slice of American life in the 1950s. (And that dance with William Holden doesn’t hurt.)

There are many Kim Novak essentials: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” of course, with her vulnerability on full display as Madeleine and Judy. “Middle of the Night” and the profound loneliness in the May-December romance with Fredric March. And her delightful role as a witch who casts a love spell on Jimmy Stewart in the whimsical “Bell Book and Candle.”

The recent celebration of her 90^th birthday – she was born Feb. 13, 1933 – is a reminder that her wonderful acting career of nearly 40 years has many more roles for us to explore and that’s what I did.

Let me introduce you to Polly the Pistol from the 1964 comedy “Kiss Me, Stupid.” I enjoyed watching Novak as Polly so much – she looks, acts and sounds so different than Novak’s other characters – that it’s my entry in “The Kim Novak Blogathon, a 90^th Birthday Celebration” hosted by The Classic Movie Muse.

You’ll find the work of many talented bloggers who are writing about Kim Novak during this blogathon, held from Feb. 25-27, through this link. Here is my entry.

“Kiss Me, Stupid”

Comedy is not a genre that comes to mind with Novak, though she did a few including “The Notorious Landlady” and “Phffft.” Still she does very well in “Kiss Me, Stupid” and, in fact, may be the best thing about this sexual farce.

A 2021 review from RogerEbert.com agreed: “Novak is game, and aside from [Dean] Martin, the best player in the picture,” it reads.

That’s saying a lot considering the film’s pedigree: It’s written and directed by Billy Wilder, songs are by George and Ira Gershwin plus it stars Dean Martin, Ray Walston and Felicia Farr.

But all of that talent didn’t stop the film from falling well short of expectations; the cast changes before and during filming didn’t help (more on that later).

“Kiss Me, Stupid” is about two unlikely small-town songwriters who see a chance to woo a Dean Martin-like character (played by Dean Martin) to sing their song. It sounds innocent enough except for a prostitute (our lovable Polly), an almost pathological jealousy and double adultery. That overt sexualism in the script by Wilder and his frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, was shredded by critics. in his 1964 New York Times review, A.H. Weiler called it “pitifully unfunny” and “short on laughs and performances and long on vulgarity.” And that wasn’t the worst of it.

The sexual hijinks throughout “Kiss Me, Stupid,” including womanizing charmer Dino (played by Dean Martin) and prostitute Polly (Kim Novak), were deemed too vulgar by some at the time.

It became the first Hollywood film in eight years to be condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency which demanded anything that hinted at marital infidelity be cut.

Yes, the movie is sexy and Novak’s performance as Polly the Pistol is a big reason. (Just watch her swing her hips, then glance back over her shoulder.) Plus there’s plenty of innuendo, double-entendres (the setting is Climax, Nevada for starters) and bawdy humor that was found so offensive although often it borders on being juvenile or just falls flat.

The film opens with our charismatic entertainer “Dino” playing his final show at The Sands in Vegas (where Martin was performing in real life at the time). On his way to L.A., a detour takes him through the small town of Climax where he is recognized by auto mechanic and aspiring songwriter Barney (Cliff Osmond) and his songwriting partner Orville J. Spooner (Ray Walston), a piano teacher.

They see Dino as their ticket to the big time if he’ll listen to their song. When he insists on leaving town immediately, Barney rigs his car to break down and then convinces him to stay overnight at Orville’s where the plan is to play him the song.

But first an important note about Orville. Orville is needlessly jealous about his loving wife Zelda (played by Felicia Farr), a jealousy that is creepy even when played for laughs. He’s always checking up on her, grilling the milk man about a note she left (it was for milk and eggs) and calling the dentist to see if she really had an appointment. Every male is a threat – even his very young piano student.

Songwriting partners Orville (Ray Walston, left) and Barney (Ken Osmond) hire a prostitute (Kim Novak) to woo a popular entertainer to sing their song in the sex farce, “Kiss Me, Stupid.”

Why does this matter? Dino loves women. He loves them so much that if he goes for even one night without “being” with one, he tells Orville, he’ll wake with a headache. There’s no way Orville will let him near Zelda now and that’s where the film dives into absurdity.

Polly the prostitute is hired for $25 to be Orville’s wife for a night, the main objective is to woo Dino with whatever is needed to get him to hear Barney and Orville’s song. To get his real wife out of the house, Orville sets up the lamest fake fight ever and Zelda runs home to mommy. (“You trust me? That’s a lousy thing to say about your husband,” he snipes.)

What could go wrong?

Everything, especially when Polly arrives. You’ll get a kick out of her her in a barely there crop/bikini top and fake jewel in her navel (she works at the Belly Button Club). Her hair is mussed, her makeup dark around the eyes. Polly has a cold and stuffy nose that accentuate the huskiness of her voice and accent.

She’s game for this silly plan even if she’s taken aback when Orville asks her to wear his wife’s dress  (that’s not the only nod to “Vertigo”). “What are you, some type of weirdie?” Polly asks.

Orville (Ray Walston) helps Polly get out of her “working clothes” and into one of his wife’s demure dresses in “Kiss Me, Stupid.”

As expected, Dino is instantly attracted to Polly and doesn’t hide it. She comically rolls her eyes at him and politely keeps him at bay when he gets out of hand. While Dino’s star power quickly fades as he’s seen for the charming cad he is, a tenderness grows between Polly and the neurotic Orville.

Polly falls easily into playing Orville’s “wife,” then it becomes obvious she’s not acting anymore. She is truly excited – like a real wife would be – when Dino agrees to use one of Orville’s songs. When Orville sings something he wrote for Zelda, Polly’s emotions overtake her face. In a lovely and unexpected moment, she sits with her head on his shoulder as he plays the piano. (Novak is wonderful in these scenes.) The two look content, each losing the anxiousness they had earlier. If this were another type of movie, these two would find happiness together.

Even the charismatic Dino (Dean Martin), left, is no match for the growing tenderness between a songwriter (Ray Walston) and prostitute (Kim Novak).

But this is a sex farce so things turn upside down and chaos ensues. Dino and Zelda, the forlorn wife, somehow end up in Polly’s trailer behind The Belly Button. Polly and Zelda will meet, too.

You know where it’s going, and this “double adultery” is what got the morality police up in arms.

Wilder co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond based off the play “L’ora della fantasia” (“The Dazzling Hour”) by Anna Bonacci (also the basis for the 1952 Gina Lollobrigida Italian film “Moglie per una notte” (“Wife for a Night”).

It was originally written for Marilyn Monroe who died before it was made; then Jayne Mansfield dropped out because of a pregnancy. Finally, Novak was cast as Polly. Jack Lemmon was originally offered the role of Orville J. Spooner. But Lemmon, married to Felicia Farr who played Orville’s wife, had prior commitments. Filming started with Peter Sellers who then suffered a series of heart attacks (something that would plague him throughout his life) and Ray Walston took on the role.

You may wonder what the film would have been like if Lemmon or Sellers played Orville. But you won’t wonder about Kim Novak as Polly the Pistol – she’s that good.

Now that I’ve been introduced to Polly, I can’t wait to meet more of Kim Novak’s cast of characters.

More to read

The blogathon: Click on these links to read more in the “The Kim Novak Blogathon, a 90^th Birthday Celebration” hosted by The Classic Movie Muse, held from Feb. 25-27, 2023.

A love of “Picnic”: I previously wrote about my obsession with watching “Picnic” starring Kim Novak in the story The Joys of Watching “Picnic” for the umpteenth time for the “Umpteenth” blogathon hosted by Cineamaven in 2022.

When ‘The Bat’ flies, murder is in the air

Murder is deadly, but it can be entertaining, too.

That describes “The Bat,” a 1959 film written and directed by Crane Wilbur that’s a charming diversion with the bonus of a noteworthy – albeit almost forgotten – legacy in movies, books and theater. Still you may not know the film even though it stars Vincent Price.

That’s right – we’ve got a film named “The Bat” with Vincent Price, but it’s not about a blood-sucking vampire nor is it a horror movie. It’s a murder mystery thriller with a dash of humor and a “spinster” female writer/sleuth who works to solve a murder. If you’re thinking that sounds like Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher, you’re right: the movie’s 1907 source material, “The Circular Staircase” by Mary Roberts Rinehart, is credited with inspiring that genre. More on that later.

As her maid sleeps behind her, Cornelia Van Gorder (played by Agnes Moorehead) calls the police from inside her locked bedroom when she realizes they’re not in the house alone in “The Bat.” (Courtesy The Film Detective)

The plot: A mystery writer rents a summer home in a town where a mysterious killer known as The Bat has returned. There’s also a bank robbery and several murders that may or may not be committed by the same killer or even related in any way. Multiple suspects will keep you guessing about whodunit as it did to me the first time I saw the film only a few years ago and fell for this old-fashioned yarn.

That’s why “The Bat” is my pick for the Classic Movie Blog Association’s fall blogathon called “Movies are Murder.”

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Vincent Price is his reliable self in a film that showcases Agnes Moorehead in her first feature film starring role. (Though her previous work was noteworthy, even “The Magnificent Ambersons” was considered a supporting role, hence her Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.) Moorehead is wonderful as mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder (love that name) who has rented a country mansion called The Oaks from bank president John Fleming. She’s there to write and has brought along her trusty long-time maid Lizzie (Lenita Lane) plus a few other servants from her city home.

It’s perfect timing for a mystery writer to arrive. The town is on edge with the return of a faceless killer who has been nicknamed The Bat for ripping out the throats of his female victims. He’s also being blamed for rabid bats that are on the loose.

While at the bank, Cornelia and Lizzie learn that $1 million in securities have been stolen, but no one can reach bank president Fleming who is on a remote fishing trip with Dr. Malcolm Wells (Price).

Cut to the cabin and meet Fleming and Wells. This is an economic film that doesn’t waste time so the mystery of who robbed the bank is shared within the first 7 minutes, quickly followed by a murder.

This scene is our first look at Price as Wells. He’s wearing a flannel shirt with a towel tied around his waist as an apron and washing dishes with hot water from a tea kettle – it’s a sight to behold. But Fleming casually drops a bombshell: He ripped off the bank and he’s got a plan. Fleming will give the good doctor half a million if he helps him fake his death. Wells scoffs, there are threats and suddenly a forest fire is ablaze around them. Before they can escape the cabin, we learn Wells is just as devious as Fleming when he literally takes his shot at all the money.

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In praise of Roger Corman’s glorious ‘Sharktopus’

They had me at “Sharktopus.”

It wasn’t going to matter if the film was good or bad or laughable. With a name like that, I was in. All in.

After years of horror movies that were shrouded in the mystery of bland titles like “It,” “They” or “Them,” here was a film with a bold commitment to itself that was as clear as its name: “Sharktopus.”

The title was screaming that this was going to be a movie devoted entirely to jumping the shark with its outlandish idea of a creature that was part shark, part octopus.

To learn that the 2010 film was produced by the great Roger Corman only added to the anticipation and ultimate enjoyment. Like the movie’s title, you know what you are getting with Corman. There will be B-movie special effects, a basic plot with crazy ideas, babes in bikinis, blood and a lot of fun.

I am obsessed with “Sharktopus” and that’s why I chose it as my film to feature as part of Corman-Verse, the Roger Corman celebratory blogathon hosted by Cinematic Catharsis and Realweegiemidget Reviews.

Yes, “Sharktopus” is a stretch. Even Corman – the man behind the films “She Gods of Shark Reef,” “Attack of the Crab Monsters,” “The Wasp Woman” (twice) and “Carnosaur” – thought it was ridiculous.

So when he was initially approached to make “Sharktopus,” he turned it down. To understand why, let’s go back to the start of his partnership with the network that was then known as Sci-Fi Channel. (In 2009, it rebranded under its current name Syfy – same pronunciation, different spelling.)

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From 2004 to 2015, Corman produced a series of films for the network that all had self-explanatory titles starting with “Dinocroc” about a – well, you already guessed.

After the success of “Dinocroc,” Corman understandably wanted to produce a sequel simply called “Dinocroc 2.” But at that point, sequels weren’t working for Sci-Fi and the network said no. (Things have since changed with the network, hence movies like “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.”)

Undeterred, Corman made “Dinocroc 2” on his own under the title “Supergator” (2007). Sci-Fi quickly realized the error of its ways and Corman produced the sequels “Dinoshark” and “Dinocroc vs. Supergator,” both made in 2010, for the network.

He was then offered “Sharktopus,” but declined. He had his standards and was “not enthusiastic about that title,” as he shared later in multiple interviews to promote “Sharktopus.”

Now you’re probably asking the same question I did after learning this information: Why would Corman make films named “Dinocroc” and “Dinoshark,” but draw the line at “Sharktopus”?

Let Corman explain.

Roger Corman hesitated to make “Sharktopus,” but eventually produced it and appeared in a cameo on the beach.

“My theory is, you can go up to a certain level of insanity, and the audience is with you,” Corman told writer Clark Collis in a 2010 interview for Entertainment Weekly. “And ‘Dinocroc’ and ‘Dinoshark’ are within that level. But in my opinion, ‘Sharktopus’ goes beyond that feeling, and the audience turns and says, ‘Who wants to see this?’ ”

Well, I wanted to see it – and clearly so did plenty of others judging by the popularity of “Sharktopus” and its sequels.

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The joys of watching ‘Picnic’ for the umpteenth time

We all have that movie that gets us every time.

The one we can’t stop watching no matter how many times we’ve seen it.

The one we own on DVD or have in a streaming queue, but don’t think twice about watching it when it pops up on TV.

It’s so irresistible that we don’t even know how many times we’ve watched it. Ten times? Twenty? No, we’ll have to go with “umpteen” times. And the best part is that during every one of those umpteen times, we still laugh or cry or fall in love all over again. It’s something to be celebrated and that’s what we’re doing with the aptly titled “The Umpteenth Blogathon” hosted by Theresa Brown of “CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch.”

Like many of you, I have a few films that fit into this category. I melt at the music and romance of “Laura” and “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.” I revel in the ghostly poetry of “The Uninvited.” Even with my fear of spiders, I’m there for “Tarantula.” I watch each of those films every chance I get and yes, I own copies of them, too.

But there is one film above all that has the biggest pull on me – one with a train horn that might as well be a dog whistle since I come, sit and stay for another viewing of “Picnic.”

OK, that’s not why I keep watching “Picnic” of course – that would be for the sheer beauty of William Holden and Kim Novak (and to watch that romantic dance again and again). But I still remember that sound from the first time I saw the film as a kid.

The train at the opening of “Picnic” brings a handsome stranger and the promise of adventure.

It was time for the Sunday afternoon TV movie, a weekly ritual I watched whether I knew the “old” movie it was showing or not. I didn’t know anything about “Picnic,” but it had my attention as soon as the iconic Columbia Pictures logo appeared with the unexpected sound of the train whistle.

It signaled that we were going on a journey and as a kid living in a city neighborhood, trains brought romanticized thoughts of travel to faraway places. Then William Holden jumped out of a freight car and, despite his dirty face and bare feet, I was a goner.

By the end of “Picnic,” I had fallen in love with the film’s romance and nostalgia. (As well as Holden and Novak.) I yearned for that bygone era of 1955 Kansas that I had never experienced with its porch swings, picket fences and a community picnic where people wore their Sunday best. It was a place where there was a “prettiest girl in town” (that would be Madge, played by Novak) and the arrival of a handsome stranger was news.

And I learned that a dance could be truly life changing.

The romantic dance between Hal (William Holden) and Madge (Kim Novak) is an iconic moment in film history.

Shot in Technicolor and Cinemascope, it’s gorgeous to look at. And the score by George Duning – especially the main “Picnic” theme – is swoon worthy. (I’m hearing it in my head right now and I’m sighing.)

What I didn’t understand at the time – but have appreciated in the umpteen viewings since – is that the slice of heaven in small-town Kansas was filled with as much longing, broken hearts and disappointment as anywhere else. With each viewing, I am drawn deeper into the characters, who all live lives of quiet desperation.

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