Holiday Sweets: Fred Astaire in THE MAN IN THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT (NBC-TV 1979)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by gary loggins

Eighty year old Fred Astaire takes on nine different roles in THE MAN WITH THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT, his next to last film. Fred is as charming and debonair as ever, and his presence is what carries the saccharine script, with three varied tales of romance, comedy, and drama interwoven and played by a cast of Familiar TV and Movie Faces, kind of like a “very special Christmas episode” of THE LOVE BOAT.

Gary Burghoff (M*A*S*H’s Radar) is a nerdy math teacher in love with his neighbor, a beautiful (are there any other kind?) fashion model (Tara Buckman, THE CANNONBALL RUN). The model secretly digs him too, but the nerd’s too shy to express his feelings, until a chance encounter with a jeweler (Fred) leads him to rent a Santa suit and propose before she makes the mistake of marrying a rich, handsome playboy (again, are there any other kind?)…

View original post 449 more words

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Monster Holiday” by Lon Chaney Jr (Tower Records 1964)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Around the time he was making SPIDER BABY, horror movie icon Lon Chaney Jr. recorded “Monster Holiday”, a cover of Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s yuletide follow up to “The Monster Mash”. Chaney’s certainly no Bing Crosby, but he sounds like he’s having a lot of fun! Backed by LA session musicians The Wrecking Crew, enjoy Lon croaking “Monster Holiday”!:

View original post

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Hooray for Santa Claus!” (Theme from SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS)

Posted on December 22, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

1964’s SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS ranks up there with the all-time greatest films, alongside giants like Ford, Welles, Kubrick, Hitchcock… okay, so that’s not entirely true. The low-budget kiddie movie consistently ranks among the worst films ever made, though I kinda like it myself! And I absolutely LOVE the title theme written by Milton DeLugg, “Hooray for Santa Claus”, though I still can’t figure out why the kid chorus sings it as ‘Santy’, not Santa. Oh well, enjoy this classic slice of Christmas cheese:

View original post

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland (from MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS)

Posted on December 21, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Judy Garland introduced the world to the Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the 1944 film MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, directed by her then-husband Vincente Minnelli. There have been countless cover versions over the decades, but no one does the tune quite like Judy! Bask in the glow of her warm voice and enjoy!:

View original post

And To All A Good Fright: THE MUNSTERS SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS (TV Movie 1996)

Posted on December 20, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

If you grew up in the “Monster Kid” generation like me… well, you’re old! That is, old enough to remember THE MUNSTERS, the silly 60’s sitcom about a family of monsters adjusting to life in suburbia. The show ran two seasons and inspired a feature film, 1966’s MUNSTER, GO HOME!, with Fred Gwynne (Herman, the Frankenstein’s Monster surrogate), Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily, a vampire resembling Carroll Borland in MARK OF THE VAMPIRE), Al Lewis (Grandpa, aka Count Dracula himself!), and Butch Patrick (Eddie, a wolf-boy) reprising their roles. The Munsters returned in a 1981 TV Movie THE MUNSTERS’ REVENGE with Gwynne, DeCarlo, and Lewis, then as a 1988-91 syndicated sitcom THE MUNSTERS TODAY, this time starring John Schuck (Herman), Lee Meriweather (Lily) and Howard Morton (Grandpa).

The fright family have proved durable, and were trotted out yet again for a 1996 holiday TV Movie, THE MUNSTERS SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. I’m usually…

View original post 501 more words

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Santa Claus and His Old Lady” by Cheech & Chong (Ode Records 1971)

Posted on December 20, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Like yesterday’s “Green Chri$tma$”, “Santa Claus and His Old Lady” isn’t technically a ‘Christmas song’. Instead, it’s a far-out piece of comedy as Cheech Marin explains to Tommy Chong all about Santa Claus… and his “magic dust”. From 1971, enjoy America’s favorite stoner duo doing “Santa Claus and His Old Lady”, man!:

View original post

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Green Chri$tma$” by Stan Freberg (Capitol Records 1958)

Posted on December 19, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Satirist Stan Freberg’s fertile comic mind conceived “Green Chri$tma$”, a skewering of the commercialization of Christmas that’s as relevant now as it was 59 years ago. Though not technically a ‘Christmas song’, it’s a hilarious comedy classic that dumps a lump of coal in the wacky world of advertising. Also featuring the voice talents of Daws Butler, Marvin Miller, and Will Wright, enjoy “Green Chri$tma$” (and dig the vintage print ads in the video!):

View original post

Killer Christmas: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (ABC-TV Movie 1972)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Four daughters reunite at the old family homestead during Christmas to visit their estranged, dying father. Sounds like the perfect recipe for one of those sticky-sweet Hallmark movies, right? Wrong, my little elves! HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, originally broadcast as part of ABC-TV’s “Movie of the Week” series (1969-1975) is part proto-slasher, part psycho-biddie shocker, and a whole lot of fun! It plays kind of like a 70’s exploitation film, only with a high-powered cast that includes Sally Field, Eleanor Parker, Julie Harris , and Walter Brennan, a script by Joseph (PSYCHO) Stefano, and direction courtesy of John Llwellyn Moxey (HORROR HOTEL, THE NIGHT STALKER).

Rich old Benjamin Morgan (Brennan) has summoned his daughters home on a dark and stormy Christmas Eve, claiming his second wife Elizabeth (Harris) is slowly poisoning him to death. Elizabeth was once ‘suspected’ of poisoning her first husband (though never proven) and spent some time…

View original post 442 more words

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “The Season’s Upon Us” by Dropkick Murphys (Born & Bred Records 2013)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Boston’s Dropkick Murphys are an Irish punk-rock band whose foot-stompin’, hell-raisin’ concerts are always a rowdy good time! Their 2013 release “Signed and Sealed in Blood” features the holiday tune “The Season’s Upon Us”, celebrating a typical family Christmas, South Shore style. If you’ve never heard them, you’re in for a treat! Enjoy, and Nollaig Shona!:

View original post

12 Days of Random Christmas Songs: “Silver Bells” by Bob Hope & Marilyn Maxwell (from THE LEMON DROP KID)

Posted on December 17, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

The holiday classic “Silver Bells” by songwriters Jay Livingston & Ray Evans has been covered by everyone from Dean Martin to Perry Como, The Supremes to Bob Dylan, Blake Shelton to Sarah McLachlan, but it made it’s debut in the 1951 film THE LEMON DROP KID, starring Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. See how many Familiar Faces you can spot as Bob and Marilyn stroll down the snowy New York street and introduce the world to “Silver Bells”!: