The Silver Screen Oasis

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (reference from previous post). Great trick work by the late Ray Harryhausen. Every falling brick and piece of masonry suspended by it's own wire and animated by stop-motion photography! Ray made some colour test footage in about 1952 for a projected animated version of WAR OF THE WORLDS. The project fell through, but the footage still exists. It can be seen on Youtube--and it's very interesting.

Thanks for the heads-up on that Harryhausen footage, Joe. Gonna check that out. God, the man was a master; I'd NEVER have the patience to do what he accomplished. That's why I really dislike CGI (like what was used on that awful most recent KING KONG remake). I appreciative craftsmanship, and Ray excelled at that. I mean, would you rather watch computer-generated KING KONG or the Ymir in 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, especially knowing how painstaking that stopmotion process was?

To me, no contest.

Ray was a fine draftsman. He carefully story-boarded every project (his graphical style was influenced by Doré). That's a time honoured method--the way the old masters would work. I remember him saying, during an interview, the reason he preferred to work alone was simply the fact that he was the best person to know just where he was up to in the action. JURASSIC PARK?--it isn't even in the same street as Ray's work!

Yet sadly I'd wager that most of today's contemporary audiences would disagree with that assessment, likely thinking Ray's work is primitive in comparison to CGI-created monsters and fantasy figures.

Ray Harryhausen ... Long Lived the King!

Nice Erik. Yes: The Master.

The Master indeed. Thanks, Eric, for posting the poster. It's a beauty, and it includes my personal favorite of his work: the fighting skeletons in the lower left.

That declaration really upset Richard Matheson. His ending was about the power of Man to overcome seemingly overwhelming obstacles, with no real hint of a higher power.

That's very interesting, Chio. I've only recentlly read the book, yet I neglected to focus on that significant difference.

I will not be home to watch THE UNINVITED tonight. This is a fine, mature suspense drama, well worth a Saturday night viewing. It's reminiscent of Hitchcock's REBECCA, but I like it better!

I can't believe that Svengoolie had the good taste to choose The Uninvited (1944) for his showcase. Not sure if I am eager to see it interrupted with his shtick, but things are looking up if he's including this classic on his show. He must have had a budget upgrade. Or a few seconds of good taste.

FYI: The Uninvited (1944) is also being aired on TCM on Thursday, Oct. 23rd at 10pm (ET) as part of the network's ghost series this month. Unless things have gone badly awry, the TCM broadcast should be shtick-free.

Who knows? TCM might ask Svengoolie to guest host for Halloween!

Thanks Western Guy and Lucky for your comments here ...

RedRiver wrote:Who knows? TCM might ask Svengoolie to guest host for Halloween!

That's would be a hoot if they did! ...

RedRiver wrote:Who knows? TCM might ask Svengoolie to guest host for Halloween!

Good idea. That way he would have to keep the lame joking confined to the beginning and end of movies. Btw, I recorded this broadcast and discovered that they cut the movie to enable more commercials to be inserted--Sven seemed apologetic about this, but it might have been pretty sad if this was the first time someone saw the movie.

Next week, The Wolfman returns....

I'm not sure what to make of this. I gather our friend Mr. Goolie will play host to a long line of scary shows on ME TV Halloween night. In checking the listings, I see merely episodes of the regularly scheduled shows. Nothing out of the ordinary. Will Svengoolie introduce them? Spice up the breaks with his usual shenanigans? I don't know. But I'll turn it on long enough to find out!