Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Vincent Price

David Frankham’s Hollywood Tales

When you’ve lived for the better part of a century and spent over half your life in the entertainment industry, you get to know a few people. And David Frankham remembers every one of them.

Roy and I are honored to have hosted the veteran actor for his return to Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner on Friday, Frankham’s 98th birthday, when once again he lit up the internet with a treasure trove of memories and his extraordinary ebullience.

In addition to revisiting his experiences on “Star Trek” and “The Outer Limits,” Frankham, who also costarred in the feature films “Return of the Fly,” “Master of the World,” “Tales of Terror,” and “One Hundred and One Dalmations,” shared anecdotes about Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, Basil Rathbone, Walt Disney, Rosemary Clooney, Alec Guinness, Miriam Hopkins, Gladys Cooper, Henry Hull, and many others.

Frankham was joined by filmmaker Ben Wickey, who was visiting him at his home in Santa Fe, NM. Wickey was on the team of animators responsible for the Academy Award-nominated feature film, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (2021). A big fan of the Vincent Price gothics produced by American International Pictures in the 1960s, Wickey coaxed Frankham into employing his voice talent in a stop-motion adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of the Seven Gables” (2018). Not coincidentally, there are plenty of A.I.P. tributes in the film, which also sports a bit of an Edward Gorey/Rankin-Bass vibe. It’s an awful lot of fun. If you have 27 minutes to spare, here it is:

Frankham’s close friend, Jonathan David Dixon, was also on hand. Dixon voices the role of Mr. Holgrave in the film and provided its pitch-perfect score.

Finally, not to spoil it for anyone, but toward the end of the show, there was a surprise visit from Mimi Gibson, who costarred with Frankham in “One Hundred and One Dalmations.”

Frankham’s appearances are always priceless (or, given the source, perhaps Price-full), so do check out the show at the link.

And if you just can’t get enough, you’ll find another one archived here:

Of course, there’s plenty more in his memoir, “Which One Was David?”

Our next livestream will take place on Friday evening at 7:00 EST, when Roy and I will return, our pallid selves, to discuss another classic movie yet to be determined. Keep watching this space. And thank you, David Frankham!

February 18, 2024
David Frankham Celebrates 98th Birthday on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

On the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, Roy and I will welcome back actor David Frankham, who has graciously agreed to join us on the occasion of his 98th birthday.

On previous visits, Frankham regaled us with colorful anecdotes about Vincent Price, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, Barbara Stanwyck, Ernie Kovacs, his guest appearances on “Star Trek” and “The Outer Limits,” and more. His recall is enviable and his joie de vivre, even as he draws nigh to his centenary, is palpable.

As a bonus, we’ll also be joined by filmmaker Ben Wickey, who was on the team of animators responsible for the Academy Award-nominated feature, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (2021). Wickey directed Frankham and employs his voice talent in a stop-motion adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of the Seven Gables” (2018).

Not coincidentally, there are some Vincent Price tributes in the film. Price, with whom Frankham co-starred in “The Master of the World” (1961) and “Tales of Terror” (1962), appeared in an earlier adaptation of the Hawthorne classic with George Sanders.

The scenes are imaginatively executed and the production design is morbidly fun. If you enjoy the stop-motion films of Tim Burton or the Brothers Quay, you’ll definitely get a kick out of this. I think you’ll agree, it’s 30 minutes well-spent.

Also returning will be Jonathan David Dixon, who voices the role of Mr. Holgrave in the film and who provided its pitch-perfect score.

Bring your questions to the comments section, or simply enjoy the conversation. There with be plenty of gab about the Seven Gables and more, when we welcome David Frankham. Join us as we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

One of Frankham’s past appearances archived here:

If you like it, there’s plenty more in his memoir, “Which One Was David?”

https://www.amazon.com/Which-One-Was-David-Frankham/dp/1593932189

BOTTOM CENTER: Frankham and Wickey at work on “The House of the Seven Gables”

February 15, 2024
Antheil Talk Prep Food & Vincent Price

How much food can you eat right before talking about George Antheil? That was the challenge I faced this afternoon, while setting up for my talk about Trenton’s greatest musical son. Thank you so much to the Rotary Club of Trenton, New Jersey for inviting of me. I’ve written a lot about the composer, both here and in actual print, and played more than my share of his music on the radio. I’d never been to a Rotary Club meeting before, and it was pure Americana. With a lot of food!

Here’s something I forgot I had in my own collection. I came across it yesterday in the course of my preparations (having also reread Antheil’s flamboyant autobiography, “Bad Boy of Music”). “Two Odes of John Keats” is just about perfect for October, especially as the spoken part is taken by Vincent Price! Antheil himself is at the keyboard.

Believe it or not, I also drove across the bridge at Washington’s Crossing yesterday while listening to Antheil’s overture “McKonkey’s Ferry” – a piece actually inspired by Washington’s crossing! No doubt, my crossing was infinitely more pleasurable than Washington’s.

October 5, 2023
Dr Goldfoot Bikini Machine Review

Approached in the right frame of mind (half asleep in the air conditioning on a Sunday afternoon), I suppose it’s an agreeable enough diversion from the summer heat. Not that it’s anywhere near as good as “Goliath and the Vampires,” mind you. (Both films achieved their greatest success in Italy.) And I probably wouldn’t recommend it for anyone born in the 21st century. But as a time capsule of another era, “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine” (1965) is a pretty good fit. Roy and I will be slathering on the suntan lotion for a heated discussion of this half-forgotten classic on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.”

American International Pictures took elements from its two most lucrative cash cows – Frankie Avalon “Beach Party” movies and the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe cycle – added a dash of James Bond (without the dash), and whipped them into a frothy drive-in milkshake. At the cost of one million dollars, it was the most expensive A.I.P. film released up to that time. Vincent Price must have been looking for some extra cash to add another Rembrandt to his art collection.

The film was directed by Norman Taurog, very far away from his Academy Award, for “Skippy,” in 1931. By the 1950s and ‘60s, Taurog was churning out Jerry Lewis comedies and Elvis musicals. Art Clokey, of “Gumby” fame, designed the opening credits, and the title song is sung by the Supremes. Watch fast for cameos by “Beach Party” regulars Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck.

What could have made it better? If it were a musical, I guess. In a 1987 interview, Price lamented, “It could have been fun, but they cut all the music out.“

Nevertheless, Mike Myers must have loved it. It’s clearly one of the influences on the Austin Powers series. Yeah, baby!

We’ll be peering over our sunglasses and donning our curly-toed slippers for an examination of “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine,” on next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Shimmy along in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

The Vincent Price art collection… from Sears

The Vincent Price Museum

http://vincentpriceartmuseum.org/

“Vincent Price is an actor, no doubt about that…. But there can be and is doubt about whether he uses acting simply as a means of supporting his expensive habit – the habit of pursuing and collecting art treasures wherever he finds them.”

July 20, 2023
Leona Anderson Horrible Singer Haunted Hill

As an addendum to Roy and my discussion about the Vincent Price classic, “House on Haunted Hill,” on last Friday’s Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, I submit the strange case of Leona Anderson. Anderson, born in 1885, plays the blind hag who glides through the basement of said house. Not a terribly flattering role to be offered, one would think. But it turns out Anderson had quite the batty sense of humor.

Not quite so cringy as Florence Foster Jenkins, Anderson harbored no illusions about the extent of her vocal talent. I mean, come on, the title of her album is “Music to Suffer By.” A favorite guest of Ernie Kovacs, she billed herself as “the world’s most horrible singer.”

Anderson actually began her career in silent movies. Charlie Chaplin was among her costars. If only she had pioneered silent records!

Habanera from “Carmen”

“Limburger Lover”

Her breakout single, “Fish”

With Chaplin in the silent short “In the Park” (1915). I believe that’s her on the park bench with “the count,” beginning around a minute in.

Her last film, “House on Haunted Hill” (1959).

Anderson died in 1973 at the age of 88.

October 19, 2021

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