There was a rather strange movie made in 1971 with Vincent Price called The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It was a murder mystery/horror film that can only be described as "campy" if you don't mind that word. Many of the reviewers on IMDb used it.
Dr. Phibes' wife was in an auto accident and a team of doctors couldn't save her. Dr. Phibes seeks revenge by inflicting the ten plagues of Egypt on them, one by one. The film, from American International Pictures, was made in England so most of the smaller parts are played by Brits. They also injected some British humour into the film, something that I always like. It comes across as being similar to "The Avengers" on TV, and in fact, some of the cast appeared in that show.
Phibes cannot speak, so when he needs to talk, he plugs a cord in his neck and the sound comes out an old acoustic phonograph horn. He plays a pipe organ in his home and directs a mechanical orchestra for entertainment. They are actually quite good, with the voice of Paul Frees as the singer.
Joseph Cotton co-stars, and one of the doctors is played by Terry Thomas. The rest are mainly Brits who spent a lot of time on TV as well as movies. I scanned quickly down the list and saw actors with between 65 and 160 roles to their credit.
John Laurie (1887 - 1980) worked with Alfred Hitchcock in The Shame of Mary Boyle in 1930 and in 1935's The 39 Steps among his 143 roles. Peter Jeffrey (1929 - 1999) has 154 roles in his list, including multiple episodes of "The Avengers" and also "The New Avengers" which was a terrible attempt to recreate something that could not exist without Diana Rigg.
Others include Maurice Kaufmann (1927 - 1997) who had 104 roles. Barbara Keogh (1929 - 2005) who had 115 roles. Hugh Griffith (1912 - 1980) with 91 roles. Again, many of the roles by all of these bit players were on British TV. Several went on to make the sequel with Price, Dr. Phibes Rises Again in 1972.
Start your horror film list now. Halloween is not far away.
Showing posts with label Vincent Price. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vincent Price. Show all posts
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Laura
Last night was a quiet night so I decided to watch Laura from 1944. It is a fairly quiet movie, and as detective mysteries go, it is one of the best. Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney earned their pay for this one. And the supporting roles with Clifton Webb and Vincent Price were perfect as well.
When I looked at the filmography of Clifton Webb, I was surprised to see so few films. He is very well known, so each must have contributed to his reputation. I remember him well from Cheaper by the Dozen in 1950 and Stars and Stripes Forever in 1952. I want to look for Mister Scoutmaster from 1953, simply because I used to be one.
Webb lived from 1889 to 1966 and made only 27 films. Laura was his first sound feature film, and he made one 10-minute sound short film in 1930. Before that he appeared in small roles in five silent films from 1917 to 1925.
Vinney Price appears miscast for his role as a playboy, but his demeanor worked extremely well, I thought. What a mess his life was, always trying to hold on to his appearance of being wealthy, but he was really sponging off others. I can see why the details of his story to the detective were always suspect in the movie. In his mind, the truth could be flexible to meet his needs.
There were at least 37 uncredited players in Laura. My favorite was Bessie, Laura's maid, played by Dorothy Adams (1900 - 1988). She had a great accent for a maid in New York. She played in four episodes of "Dragnet" on TV and she would fit in there very well. Adams was a character actress making a good living in 146 roles, none of them important, from 1931 until 1975. Why do we remember Clifton Webb and not Dorothy Adams?
Lane Chandler (1899 - 1972) was another character actor who made hundreds of films. He was one of the detectives in Laura. You will recognize him as a sheriff or a marshal or a cowboy in a lot of movie and TV roles, including "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Maverick" and "Cheyenne."
What you remember most about Laura is the song, which was written for the movie. I, of course, in my warped way, remember best the version of Laura recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers!
When I looked at the filmography of Clifton Webb, I was surprised to see so few films. He is very well known, so each must have contributed to his reputation. I remember him well from Cheaper by the Dozen in 1950 and Stars and Stripes Forever in 1952. I want to look for Mister Scoutmaster from 1953, simply because I used to be one.
Webb lived from 1889 to 1966 and made only 27 films. Laura was his first sound feature film, and he made one 10-minute sound short film in 1930. Before that he appeared in small roles in five silent films from 1917 to 1925.
Vinney Price appears miscast for his role as a playboy, but his demeanor worked extremely well, I thought. What a mess his life was, always trying to hold on to his appearance of being wealthy, but he was really sponging off others. I can see why the details of his story to the detective were always suspect in the movie. In his mind, the truth could be flexible to meet his needs.
There were at least 37 uncredited players in Laura. My favorite was Bessie, Laura's maid, played by Dorothy Adams (1900 - 1988). She had a great accent for a maid in New York. She played in four episodes of "Dragnet" on TV and she would fit in there very well. Adams was a character actress making a good living in 146 roles, none of them important, from 1931 until 1975. Why do we remember Clifton Webb and not Dorothy Adams?
Lane Chandler (1899 - 1972) was another character actor who made hundreds of films. He was one of the detectives in Laura. You will recognize him as a sheriff or a marshal or a cowboy in a lot of movie and TV roles, including "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Maverick" and "Cheyenne."
What you remember most about Laura is the song, which was written for the movie. I, of course, in my warped way, remember best the version of Laura recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers!
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