I paid 25 cents for this DVD
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escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 27, 2008 07:43 AM)
OBIT I wanted to make certain that you would get the message regarding the CBS TV comedy program "The Big Bang Theory" for Monday April 28, 2008. You had recently made mention of Bob Burns and his collection of props from George Pal's production of "The Time Machine". The machine itself will be utilized on the above program.
By the way, I look forward to the time when I can browse through your web-site.
It looks like it will be a real treat! -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 27, 2008 09:37 PM)
Thanks, escalera-2, you are much too kind!
http://www.woodywelch.com -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 04:05 AM)
I took in a quick look at your web-site and saw you pictured with Bob Burns and the titular "The Time Machine" prop. Pretty slick.
You are quite the artist! I especially liked the "High Flight" composite photograph of the P-40 and the painting of Faith Domergue and the Metaluna Mutant from "This Island Earth".
I'll go back for another look when I have more time to do so. Hey where's that little ole time machine? -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 04:52 AM)
Hey, thanks again for the compliments as to my artistic abilities, escalera-2, I appreciate it.
As to your inquiry, I'm guessing you are referring to the little time machine prop that was used in the film as an example by Rod Taylor to the rest of his "collegues". I believe that was burned up in a fire that ravaged George Pal's home in November of 1961.
Very sad, because that fire destroyed everything save but the few artifacts that happened to be in other people's possesions (I think the Bill Brace matte paintings might've been down at Project Unlimited and that is how Baar got them after the place folded in the late 60's).
Many special effects guys over the years have reconstructed the little time machine and Bob Burns has several of these, the most accurate seemingly the one made by Tom Sherman.
One thing I DO know is that Pal kept all those lovely illustrations by Reynold Brown that were used in the Time Machine posters and lobby cards and all of that art burned up in that infamous conflagration.
Take care!
http://www.woodywelch.com -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 06:29 AM)
Forrest Ackerman is getting on in years. Do you have any idea what he plans for his Famous collection?
Best
Collection
EVER!
I suspect you've made your way up to the Ackermansion. I lived in Los Angeles most of my life but never once thought of going for a visit. "Cancel that Cancer Stick! Only you can prevent Forrest fires!" You gotta smile when you think of his wit. -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 03:24 PM)
Yeah, the last 2 times I saw Forry he was in really bad shape. Thin.frail
I saw him a few years ago at Comic-Con in San Diego (I always used to go down and sell my art in the art show) and Ackerman was in a wheelchair being pushed around. I last saw him at Dark Delicacies bookstore when Harryhausen had the big signing.
Ackerman now lives in a much much smaller abode than the 2 houses he hadthe first house was wall to wall stuff and the second house he got, all his collection was in the basement so that the upper floors looked more like a home.
Most of his artifacts are gone, save for a few specialties like the lifesize Robotrix ( a recreation) from Metropolis and of course his prize possessions which are his extensive library of fantasy and science fiction books dating back for years and years!
Actually, now, Bob Burns has the best collection of MOVIE memorabiliafor instance, Bob now had the head of the Beast with a Million eyes (Paul Blaisdell's first monster) Forry had it before, and left it by a window where it melted a bit (it was a wax "stand-in" positivethe rubber puppet has long since decayed) Forry placed the head in one of his refrigerators so as to keep it from melting further. Bob now has itUNDER GLASS lol, in his museum.
Forry has a handful of "people" that hang around him, like vultures. I'm sure they will get what's left.
Bob Burns has all the Paul Blaisdell stuff, all the Project Unlimited stuff (and that includes all the props and effects from the Pal films) and all the Alien/Aliens stuff, as well as.whew! Too numerous to mention. But while Bob has all those wonderful movie artifacts (including the stop motion skeltons of Kong and Joe Young), Forry had that wonderful library of all those thousands of pulp magazine and paperbacks with their amazing covers.
And of course, if it wasn't for that very first issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland, I probably would have become a boring illustrator painting pictures of cars and stoves.instead of the pretty girls, monsters and dinosaurs that I do!
http://www.woodywelch.com -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 04:16 PM)
Speaking of "The Time Machine" I recall reading an early issue of Starlog telling how the original stuff was consumed in a fire and how someone carefully recreated the oversized prop. He invited George Pal over for an inspection and Pal was delgithed to see it. There was a photo of Pal smiling broadly manipulating the controls as he sat on it. He said he had, for some reason, never sat on the original!
Those are interesting observations concerning Ackerman's museum. I remember photos of him with the False Maria. Didn't Bill Malone make that one for him?
Famous Monsters of Filmland. The first issue that mesmerized me was the one with a terrific painting of Bela Lugosi as Dracula. I used to wonder where Comic Book Guy on "The Simpsons" got his catch-phrase "Worst Episode Ever!"
then one day I remembers that the "Famous Monsters of Filmland Yearbook every year would be tagged "BEST ISSUE EVER!"
I know that Steven Spielberg was abig fan, as was Marvel's Roy Thomas. Now, you're one more. Forry inspired many minds!
Well, it certainly impressed you and that's a pretty neat turn. -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 08:13 PM)
Bob Burns knew George Pal ever since he(Bob) visited the set of Destination Moon as a young fellow. The actual big Time Machine was kept at MGM until, in the 70's, it was part of the big backlot auction at Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Burns scraped together $1000.00 but was overbid and the machine went to somebody for four grand.
It was later sold to a traveling show for about $9000.00 and in '75, someone informed Bob that it was in an antique shop.in very bad condition. No chair, the sled rotting, etc.
Bob managed to buy the heap and with the help of Dennis Muren, Tom Sherman, D.C. Fontana, and Mike Minor, rebuilt it to its former glory.
Bob always used to do these great Halloween shows on his property and when the Time Machine prop was finished he designed a Time Machine Show. They asked George Pal to come and see the show. He did, and they asked him to sit in it for a picture. Pal smilingly informed everybody that he had NEVER sat in the seat of the Machine before. LOL. I guess he was too busy producing and directing the picture!
In Bob's own printed words from one of his books, IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT.
"Today, one of my favorite photos is the one we took that night of George Pal seated in his brainchild, pulling the lever and smiling a huge smile!"
Yes, I believe Bill Malone DID make the robotrix for Forry.
I know that David Allen and Tom Sherman with Jim Danforth and Dennis Muren were working on the script and special effects designs for a project called RAIDERS OF THE STONE RING (this has now become THE PRIMEVALS and is only about 2/3 finished) Forry used to print the progress of these guys in his magazine. The film of course was never made but Spielberg made, years later, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK..I guess Steve knew a catchy title when he read it.
LOL
-WW
http://www.woodywelch.com -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 29, 2008 04:25 AM)
OBIT would you ever submit this stuff to the IMDb under Trivia for the 1960 version of "The Time Machine"? It is good stuff and will be lost in this thread. The 2002 re-make brought out new interest and new fans for the George Pal production and this information would be a real benefit to them and other fans who come along.
Thanks for that and the other. I will dig around for a copy of Bob Burn's book. That sounds like fun, too. -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 29, 2008 05:21 AM)
Well as far as trivia about the Time Machine, that comes directly from the pages of Bob's books.He first put out IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT and then a bit later, MONSTER KID MEMORIES, which is more in depth. So anybody could submit the anecdotes that had the books as reference. I don't know if Bob is selling them through his website, but that's a start.
Both books I would highly reccomend.they are full of lots of pictures and Bob writes in a wonderful "Gee-Whiz, Gosh, Golly" style that is evocative of all of us when we were discovering things about movies for the first time.
http://www.woodywelch.com -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 29, 2008 05:57 AM)
Frederick Clarke's "Cinefantastique" used to call it "The Sense of Wonder".
Maybe that is why we are drawn to these old titles and enjoying hearing and telling about those moments.
Whatever the source, the information is still good. I hope you might submit it for fans of this and other movies that Mr. Burns writes about. It's not like he made it up himself, he was, of course, just recording history.
I'll see about his web-site and what he may offer there.
Thanks, again. -
hobnob53 — 17 years ago(April 29, 2008 02:21 PM)
obit,
The photo of George Pal at the controls of the Time Machine is I assume the one that has famously graced things such as the DVD (and earlier VHS) cover, and if I recall it's in the film as well, of THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL? I loved that documentary, especially the much-expanded DVD version. DESTINATION MOON is among my top three favorite films of any kind, and the huge amount of footage, including the kinescope of the extensive live TV interview done on-set in late 1949, is terrific.
Sorry to intrude, you and escalera have had a great exchnage going here.
Although I'm sure you're sadly right that "the vultures" will move in and strip Forry's collection once he's gone, at least he assembled it, took care of it, and the objects will (we hope) continue to be preserved somewhere, even if not by Bob Burns. You and I have discussed this, and you're lucky to have known him and visited the place before the great clearing-out.
hob -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 29, 2008 11:18 PM)
hobnob, you never intrude.
Never ever!
LOL
Currently I'm going through all the crazy nickle and dime stuff I loved as a kid.Colonel Bleep, Space Explorers, Diver Dan.andAND (God Bless Youtube!!) I have seen, for the first timeafter forty years, FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT!!!
I have this mental image of Mighty Mouse surfing out of the sky on a tube of IPANA toothpaste.so many images, so little time.lol
http://www.woodywelch.com -
hobnob53 — 17 years ago(May 01, 2008 02:25 PM)
FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT???!!! Daughter, bride, son, these I know. Cat?? Do provide the breathless details.
Somewhere or other I recently had a conversation concerning Diver Dan was it with you, escalera? One loses track, especially on a thread with 64 posts and counting, all mixed up in time and spacemuch like the plot of TEENAGERS.
Lest we forget, we forget.
Ipana! Indeed. And how about Stripe? Even Billy Wilder referenced that in ONE, TWO, THREE. -
obit1 — 17 years ago(May 01, 2008 11:48 PM)
Frankenstein's Cat was one of the earliest Mighty Mouse cartoons!!!!
The bucolic countryside was a paradise until a baby bird was blown by a harsh wind all the way to Frankenstein's castle where it narrowly escaped the clutches of
FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT!
Chasing the baby bird out of the castle, the feline Frankenstein monster lays waste to the country side (compared to the mice and birds, he's ENORMOUS!) Until.
Mighty Mouse comes in and kicks his butt!!!!!
Frankenstein's cat walked upright, had mechanical arms and legs, a squared off head, a body like a metal cyclinder , and an organic cat-like face. Intead of meowing, it moaned and groaned and growled like the monster Frankenstein made for the movies and when attacked by the birds, it swatted at them like Kong batting the biplanes.
I'm sure they still have it on youtube.
It was my all time favorite Mighty Mouse cartoon..
.obviously.
lol
p.s. I think there is something in England called Frankenstein's Cat but that has nothing to do with this great cartoon from over a half a century ago!
http://www.woodywelch.com -
hobnob53 — 17 years ago(May 04, 2008 05:46 PM)
I am filled with pride and humility at the degree to which we three (obit, escalera et moi) have, on this single thread, raised the cultural threshold of America, if not indeed the entire planet, through our posts.
I think I shall call it The Second Enlightenment.
Or was that what Derek was planning when he crashed the invading lobster fleet?
Oh, darn. Another unannounced spoiler. -
hobnob53 — 17 years ago(April 21, 2008 06:23 PM)
GILA is another p.d. opus also released by Image as part of the so-called Wade Williams Collection, and once again it's by far the best version available great print, andwidescreen! Gulp! Lets you see the entire lizard! (Sullivan had I think three songs, all lousy, ranging from malt-shoppe rock 'n' roll to early hootenany praise-the-Lord stuff. Pardon me while I step outside to be eaten by the gila.)
At least BATTLE OF THE WORLDS had a four-time Oscar nominee to embarrass, and to elevate its public standing. But: "Academy-Award-winner Tom Graeff"? Nah.
Actually, Bill Warren, the author of that book I wrote about earlier ("Keep Watching the Skies"), gives TEENAGERS a fairly decent review, stating among other things that Graeff showed some talent in framing his scenes, camera movement and blocking his actors, and like you escalera he also admired the design of the spaceship. He hardly rates it a good movie but said that, as a teenager himself he howled with resentment at this movie when he saw it in 1959, but that seeing it again two decades later he reversed his derisive opinion about it and saw some things of meritenough to wonder why Graeff never made anything else. Interesting. -
escalera-2 — 17 years ago(April 21, 2008 07:27 PM)
Funny I was thinking of "The Killer Shrews" when I read the reference to "The Giant Gila Monster". I guess I saw them both about the same time.
Now, I haven't seen "Teenagers" in a while, was it a lobster or a crawfish playing the part of the Gargon?
"Teenagers" was well shot and well edited for the most part. I liked the music, too. -
hobnob53 — 17 years ago(April 21, 2008 08:50 PM)
I think it was a lobster, some gourmands insist it was a crayfish (which is the same as a crawfish). Either way, only its dark, unmatted shadow was seen. Ultra-cheap! Although, at that, it was better than the alien invasion fleet, NOTHING of which was ever seen (though Betty and company gave us that breathless, thrilling play-by-play of all the action transpiring that the camera couldn't turn around and show us!).
Yes, I guess on a technical level much of TFOS was a bit above average for a movie that probably cost 25 cents to produce. Too bad the script, story and acting were so awful. But then, it wouldn't be so awfully fun. -
obit1 — 17 years ago(April 21, 2008 09:32 PM)
I believeI am just saying.i seem to remember that Giant Crawfish/Crawdads etc. menaced the players in PANTHER GIRL OF THE CONGO. (I could google this, but then hobnob would lose all respect for me)
It seemed that the big thing in the "trap" in the beginning of Teenagers from Outer Space was a nice lobsterI suppose the one that was matted into the shot at the end there next to the pole was too, but I haven't seen the film in 12 years.
And hey!
While we're talking about movies cheaply made that have actors relating the action in dialogue (saving the time and money to actually show things) never let us forget that the CATWOMEN OF THE MOON ending where a breathless Sonny Tufts (or one of them) runs in and poses in front of a bad painted backdrop and says"The Catwomen are all dead!"
It takes BALLS to do this even in the early fifties.
I guess the antithesis of this would be THE CREEPING TERROR, where every action is narrated. We see Bob (or whomever) sit down on the couch and begin to talk to a girl. There is no sound but the narrator saying."Bob sat down on the couch, and began to tell Tina the events of the day.saying that.."
You get the idea.supposedly a great deal of the soundtrack was lost or stolen or somebody wiped their fanny with it while defecating in a bushI dunno.
As the kids say."it's.SURREAL!"
http://www.woodywelch.com