In 1910, Thomas Edison produced what is thought to be the first ever film version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein! Clocking in at 12 minutes and 41 seconds, this film was directed by J. Searle Dawley and stars Charles Ogle as the monster.
Admittedly, the surviving prints of this 107 year-old movie are not in the greatest condition. But I still think it’s effectively surreal and, in its way, quite creepy. While it always takes a while for modern audiences to get used to the more theatrical acting styles of the silent films, Charles Ogle still makes for a very memorable monster. I especially enjoy the tinted scenes where the monster comes to life. In the video below, it start around the 2:18 mark and it’s truly a scene that I love!
Way back in 1984, the Coen Brothers were trying to raise the $75,000 that they would need to produce and direct their first film, Blood Simple. Sam Raimi, with whom the Coen Brothers had worked on Evil Dead, suggested that they put together a fake trailer to draw the interest of investors.
The Coens and their cinematographer, Barry Sonnenfeld (who would later go on to have his own directorial career), took Raimi’s advice and put together a trailer that, to be honest, has more in common with Evil Dead than with Blood Simple. Then again, that was a smart move on their part. Evil Dead made a lot of money.
Bruce Campbell appears in the trailer, playing the role that was later played by Dan Hedaya in the actual film. (It’s hard to imagine Campbell playing that role, just because Hedaya gave such a perfect performance as Julian Marty. That said, I could very well see Campbell in the role played by John Getz.)
Here is the fake Blood Simple Trailer, featuring Bruce Campbell! (Admittedly, because of the way the trailer is shot, you don’t actually see Bruce’s face. But you’ll recognize the hair immediately.)
And, for the sake of comparison, here’s the trailer for the actual film:
Everyone knows that Sean Connery made his debut of James Bond in 1962’s Dr. No but what they may not know is that Sean Connery was not the first actor to play James Bond. James Bond made his first appearance 8 years earlier when an American television show called Climax! presented a 48-minute adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale.
In this version of Casino Royale, James Bond was known as Jimmy Bond and he was about as American as you can get. (Felix Leiter, meanwhile, was now English and named Clarence Leiter). Jimmy Bond was played by Barry Nelson, an actor who is probably best known for playing the blandly friendly hotel manager in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Casino Royale’s villain, Le Chiffre, was played by none other than Peter Lorre.
This version of Casino Royale was initially meant to serve as a pilot for a weekly television series but, perhaps fortunately, the Climax version of Casino Royale didn’t get much attention when it was originally aired. According to Sinclair McKay’s authoritative Bond book, The Man With The Golden Touch, this version of Casino Royale was forgotten about until a copy of it was discovered in the 1980s. By that time, of course, everyone knew that James Bond was English and that Felix Leiter was American.
Thanks to YouTube, I’ve seen the Climax! Casino Royale and it’s definitely a curiosity. If Dr. No hadn’t launched the James Bond film franchise, there would be little reason to watch this version of Casino Royale. It moves a bit slowly, is way too stagey, and it reveals that, contrary to what we’ve all heard, live television was not always the greatest thing on the planet. Not surprisingly, this adaptation contains none of the brutality or the moral ambiguity that makes Fleming’s novel such a fun read. American television audiences would not see Jimmy Bond strapped naked to a chair and an American television show would never end with the hero saying, “The bitch is dead.” The best you can say about this version of Casino Royale is that Peter Lorre makes for a good villain (in fact, of the three versions of Casino Royale, the television version is the only one to feature an effective Le Chiffre) and Barry Nelson would have made a good Felix Leiter.
That said, I still find the television version of Casino Royale to be fascinating from a historical point of view. This is the type of show that you watch for curiosity value. This is the type of show that you watch so that you can think about how different things could have been.
So, presented for your viewing pleasure, here’s the original version of Casino Royale:
Webb appeared in a handful of films but he’s probably best remembered for developing, directing, and starring in America’s first cop show, Dragnet. As Sgt. Joe Friday, Webb dealt with crimes both big and small. In the late 60s, he dealt with hippies and other anti-American forces. A few years ago, I binged the 60s version of Dragnet and I have to admit I got totally addicted to it. It was somehow both effective and totally camp at the same time. That takes skill!
Webb is the narrator of today’s Blast From The Past. 1961’s A Force In Readiness is a 30-minute short film about the Marines. Seen today, it seems like a lengthy commercial but, when it was first released, the director was awarded a special Oscar “for his outstanding patriotic service in the conception, writing and production of the Marine Corps film, A Force in Readiness, which has brought honor to the Academy and the motion picture industry.”
Webb provides the narration in his trademark style. If the Greatest Generation could all speak in one voice, that voice would probably sound a lot like Jack Webb’s.
Our regularly scheduled review of Degrassi High will not be posted tonight so that we can bring you this special presentation.
My Retro Television Reviews will return on Monday but for now, check out this 1990 program called Testing Dirty! In this short film, Christopher Daniel Barnes (best known for playing Greg Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie) is a high school athlete who tests positive for drugs despite not using them. As he tries to clear his name, the adults in his community debate whether or not random drug tests are actually fighting or helping the problem. That’s an important topic but, for the most part, this film is best-known for a cameo appearance by Adam Sandler as a drug dealer.
And now, without further ado …. it’s time for Testing Dirty!
Our regular review of Homicide will not be posted today so that we may bring you this special presentation….
My retro television review will return tomorrow. For now, check out 1966’s The Human Voice. In this 55-minute stage adaptation, Ingrid Bergman plays a woman having a phone conversation with her lover of five years on the night before he’s meant to marry another. Written by Jean Cocteau, this monologue was also filmed by Pedro Almodovar in 2020, with Tilda Swinton giving a performance that cannot hope to compare to Bergman’s.
And now, without further ado, here is The Human Voice!
Our regular review of Check It Out! will not be posted tonight so that we might bring you this special program….
My retro television reviews will return next week. For now, we present you with The Gymnast, a short film from 1980 about a teenage girl named Jenny who wants to be the best gymnast in the world but who is going to have to learn some important lessons about hard work and humility beforehand. I could relate to this film because I was the same way about dancing when I was a teen. Of course, I never learned any lessons about hard work or humility and I’m all the better for it.
That said, this isn’t a bad little film. Zina Bethune gives a good performance as the hard-pushing coach and there’s plenty of gymnastic action as well. I’m going to guess this was probably made to appeal to teens who would presumably have found a bunch of new heroes watching the 1980 Summer Olympics. Jimmy Carter, however, had other plans.
Now, without any further ado, here is …. The Gymnast!
Our regularly scheduled review of Welcome Back Kotter will not be posted this week so that we may bring you this special presentation….
From 1982 and filmed for HBO, it’s a stage production of Barefoot In The Park! I’ve always loved the Robert Redford/Jane Fonda film version but I also enjoy this recording of one of the play’s periodic Broadway revivals. Richard Thomas and Bess Armstrong play the newlyweds and they really bring Neil Simon’s dialogue to life.
Without further ado, here is Barefoot In The Park!
Our regularly scheduled review of Friday the 13th: The Series will not be posted tonight so that we might bring you this special presentation….
My retro television reviews will return next week. For tonight, check out 1984’s Contact For Life, an earnest and actually pretty well-acted short film about teenagers and drunk and driving. Yes, that is William Zabka in the thumbnail below. I imagine that Zabka is the main reason most people would watch this film today. He plays a slightly nicer version of Johnny Lawrence in this film. Be careful about getting too attached to him.
The film also features a hockey practice where everyone apparently practices getting hurt by deliberately falling on the ice and then slamming against a wall. Ouch! That game will never make sense to me. (Sorry, Leonard.)
Our regularly scheduled review of St. Elsewhere will not be posted today so that we may bring you this special presentation….
My retro television reviews will return next week but for now, check out this 1984 production of You Can’t Take It With You, starring the great Jason Robards. Back in 1938, this play served as the basis of a perfectly charming Frank Capra film. (It also won best picture of the year.) This filmed version of the play’s Broadway revival is just as charming.
And now, without further ado, here is You Can’t Take It With You….
