Example 6,357: Why variety shows were TV magic

Of all the Golden Age movie comedians, I think Red Skelton is probably my least favorite. However, he did have a weekly TV variety show in the Fifties, and sometimes the bizarro magic that occurred frequently on such programs took place. For example, when he decided he wanted to do Art Carney's Ed Norton character in a sketch — it was a natural fit, of course, forcing him to play "down" for once (Skelton famously was noted for laughing at his own jokes, something Stan Laurel had said was a definite no-no in sketch comedy). In any case, who to get to play Ralph and Alice Kramden? Well, why not (it just must have been a Halloween episode) Peter Lorre and Vampira in full attire? Why not indeed?



Thanks for M. Faust for passing this piece of obsurantia on. It's a doozy.

Happy Halloween! (The favorite holiday)

Now that I no longer go trick-or-treating, I still do celebrate Halloween in my own way. It usually includes revisiting the work of the same gents I revered as a young monster movie fan. Herewith, just a brief tribute to the folks who mean “Halloween” to me.

Although I have a high regard for all periods of Karloff’s career, I came to know him as the “kindly monster” in his senior days in the late 1960s. Here is a TV appearance that references his aging horror-star persona, the infamous Route 66 that featured his last time out sporting Jack Pierce’s Frankenstein makeup. He costars with two other horror icons, Lon Chaney Jr. and Peter Lorre:



Karloff worked with Vincent Price on a few occasions, including The Tower of London and Corman’s farcical The Raven. Last night I rewatched the one and only VP as a torturer extreme (with quite a nice outfit) in The Witchfinder General, which can be found in its entirety here (near-entirety, as for some reason the closing freeze-frame and the final credits are omitted — the rest is there). Here is the trailer:



Price also worked with Alice Cooper, my adolescent monster-hero. Here he is doing his immortal “I Love the Dead” (a favorite of Johnny Rotten!) in the concert film Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper:



And a final holiday message from the immortal East Coast TV horror host John Zacherle (still swingin’ at 92). He says it best: