Star Trek Turns 60

Note: It's true locally. I imagine it is true in your neck of the woods, too. For 4 days, some theaters are bringing the first four Star Trek movies  back to the big screen in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. They are pairing the movies with a classic TV episode, one each night for four nights, and then on Sept. 8, you can make a day of it. On Sept 4 you will get Star Trek: The Motion Picture paired with "The Changeling". On Sept 5 you will get Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan paired with "Space Seed" (which was the original intro to Khan). On Sept 6 you will get Star Trek III: The Search for Spock paired with "Amok Time". On Sept. 7 you will get Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home paired with "The City on the Edge of Forever" (another time travel outing). And, if you want to make a day of it, you can go see all four in succession on the anniversary date of Sept. 8. (Hope your wallet is full. Here, that one day celebration is going to cost $60... It's $15 for each separately).

 

 

Sept. 8, 1966.

Do you know where you were that night? Myself, I had probably already gone to bed. (I was not even 5 years old yet). But plenty of people who were older probably remember this night. It was when the classic TV series Star Trek made it's first showing on NBC.  

So, what did TV viewers have to choose from that night?

It was difficult to find anything online for that night, and unless I wanted to shell out big money for a vintage copy of the Sept. 3-9, 1966 issue to some E  Bay thousandaire, I have only this to rely on: Star Trek ran in the 8:30-9:30 EST time block on Thursday night. Your options during that time would have been Star Trek on NBC, but if you were not inclined to watch a new show (or even a science fiction show), you had the option of The Tammy Grimes Show and Bewitched on ABC or My Three Sons and The CBS Thursday Night Movies (which was apparently a broadcast of the 1961 Jerry Lewis movie The Ladies' Man). 

 

"What's on TV tonight, dear?"

(Personally, based on this schedule, I would have started out my night and watched Batman and F Troop on ABC, then switched to NBC for Star Trek. I never heard of The Hero, but since I couldn't get into That Girl when it was on reruns in my childhood, and the premise of The Hero intrigues me, I probably would have gone that route, and ended my night with Burt Reynolds' crime drama Hawk. (BTW: Just to enlighten you, since you may be as clueless as I was, apparently The Hero was a sitcom with Richard Mulligan, in which he played an actor who had a day job as a gung-ho western TV show hero, but was a nebbish in real life). 

The legend of Star Trek has been rehashed over the years countless times. I don't need to go into a long drawn out detail of the history. In fact, if you really want to go down that rabbit hole there are plenty of books out there that can do it a lot better than I can. I recommend Star Trek FAQ by Mark Clark (who also did the same thing with Star Trek 2.0 FAQ, for the Next Generation series). for some really fascinating history, including a condensed biography of the show's creator, Gene Roddenbury. 

For the purposes of this blog entry I am only going to focus on facts that are necessary to set up the blog review.

Star Trek had two pilot episodes. The first one, titled "The Cage" had an entirely different crew than the one with which we are all familiar. The only actor that transitioned from that first pilot is Leonard Nimoy as Spock. The captain, the ship's doctor and the rest of the crew were replaced. (Interestingly enough, the one character that the brass wanted replaced, Spock, is the only one that made the cut...) The captain of the Enterprise was played by Jeffrey Hunter. (Side note: Hunter passed away before the first season ended it's broadcast, so obviously there would have been a monkey wrench thrown into the gears if this first casting had been picked up...)

Even though the powers,  that be did not like the first pilot they authorized a second pilot. Roddenbury recast the series with all new crew, although like I said, he retained the Vulcan character. Mostly. As you will see Spock went through a couple of changes from the first incarnation.

A laughing Spock??? The horror!

So, with that in mind, here is an overview of the failed pilot as well as the first broadcast episode of the original series. (Note: The first episode ever broadcast of Star Trek on Sept 8, 1966 was NOT the second pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". That episode did not appear until the third week of it's broadcast run. The first actual episode that was aired was indeed "The Man Trap", and since this post is celebrating the launch of the series, that is the one I am covering. Some day I may double back and blog about that second pilot, just not today).

 

The original (& not all that impressive) title screen

Star Trek "The Cage" (a.k.a. The "Lost" Pilot): 

To begin with, the original pilot aired without the familiar preamble of "Space. The final frontier...". All you got was a few passes by the Enterprise with the title "Star Trek" and then just "starring Jeffrey Hunter". No other cast members were included, not even Nimoy. You did get a guest starring credit for Susan Oliver, but that was it.

Pike and Vina

 

The episode opens as the crew is discussing a phenomenon, which turns out to be an old-style distress signal from a ship that had disappeared 18 years earlier. Initially Capt. Christopher Pike (Hunter) is of a mind to mark the spot but not investigate, as some time prior to the beginning of the episode the Enterprise had been in a battle and had several dead crew members as well as some injuries, so the plan was to continue on their journey to a space station to get replacement crew members and help for the injured. 

On board the Enterprise

Pike is a somewhat different personality than Kirk. For one thing, early on he is a rather "stick-in-the-mud" type. He broods to the ship's doctor, Dr. Boyce (John Hoyt), over the stress of the job, and is considering resigning and just going home. But his plan is interrupted by the revelation that there are survivors on the planet that that earlier ship crash-landed on years before. So he Pike has to change his plans.

Pike confers with his bartender (errr... doctor)

What he discovers on the planet are the remnants of the scientists, including a young girl, Vina (Susan Oliver), who had been born just after the crash. Except, it turns out that the remnants of the crash are just an illusion created by the residents of the planet, called Talosians. The Talosians have evolved mentally, so that they can use their minds to create things designed to convince the Enterprise that there are things there that aren't really there.

Talosian

 

The ultimate goal of these illusions is to try to entice Pike to stay on and repopulate the barren planet of Talos. To achieve that, the only true survivor of the human crash, Vina, is going to be the female and Pike to be the male participant in this endeavor. The problem is that Pike is not willing to be the male "guinea pig" in this experiment. He is highly resistant to the idea of being a manufacturing plant for slaves for the Talosians.

Pike struggling to cope

 

However, being highly advanced intellectually the Talosians have an ace card up their sleeves. They aren't just going to concede, and they have the ability to basically force Pike to give in to their will. They have manufactured every conceivable inducement, including convincing the human Enterprise officers and crew that their "primitive" weapons are useless. When Pike's second-in-command, Known only as Number 2 (Majel Barrett) and his yeoman (Laurel Goodwin) are captured, they tell Pike that he WILL be their male ingredient in the re-population, but now he can have his choice of three women to be the other counterpart.

 

And what if I choose NOT to "choose"?

But Pike figures out that he has his own ace. The aliens are unfamiliar with the concept of hatred, and Pike realizes that as long as he holds his hatred of the situation at the forefront of his mind he can effectively block the aliens from controlling his mind.  Eventually the aliens will have to concede the gamble and let the Enterprise go, along with Pike and his crew. (You didn't REALLY think the aliens would win, did you?

When Roddenbury presented his conceived pilot, however, it was rejected as being too "cerebral". In other words it was nothing like what Roddenbury had promised; basically a Western in space. Or as he called it in negotiations a "Wagon Train to the stars".  But the powers that be had faith in the original concept, and authorized another pilot. This one, titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before", would convince the producers at the studio that the idea had merit.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before", however, would not actually air until the third episode. What eventually became the starting point for the series was an episode titled "The Man Trap".

Star Trek "The Man Trap" (original air date Sept. 8, 1966):

 

The improved title sequence

Roddenbury recast the entire crew for his series. Gone were Hunter as Pike, to be replaced by William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk. (The reason for Hunter's exit, apparently ,was because he didn't want to be involved anymore, not that he was replaced by a more fitting actor...) Although not in the second pilot, the ship's doctor was replaced by DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy (He doesn't actually show up until the second episode. In this second pilot we had Paul Fix as a Dr. Piper.) The Number 2 character ended up being melded into the Spock character, her pragmatic emotionless character becoming a part of Spock's makeup. (And we would almost never see Spock smile or laugh in this new form. Nimoy as Spock was the sole actor/character that made the transition.

Additionally, the entirely all-male white crew that populated the original would get a more culturally diverse makeup, including a black female, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and an Asian officer, Sulu (George Takei). However, Uhura doesn't actually show up in the second pilot, and, for some reason, Sulu appears to be an aide to the doctor, judging by his uniform. (Did he graduate from life sciences to helmsman between the "Where No man Has Gone Before" episode and the "Man Trap" episode?)

The only missing character to the cast as we all know it was Walter Koenig as Chekhov. He only came on during the second season. (Which, by the way, leads to an interesting "glitch" in the plot to The Wrath of Khan, since the original "Space Seed" episode occurred during the first season, before Chekhov came on board. So one has to ask why Khan says he remembers Chekov in TWOK...)

So, as to why "Man Trap" got the primo spot as the series opener, it was judged that the other episodes in contention for the honor didn't have enough remote location (other planets) scenes, or as in the case of the first episode, too many of the key crewman not on screen. (no Uhura, only a brief view of Sulu and Scotty, and no Dr. McCoy).   

The setup for this first broadcast episode involves Kirk and company doing a routine stop on a planet to deliver supplies and conduct medical exams on Dr. Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife, Nancy (Jeanne Bal). Crater doesn't want to deal with all this rigamarole and just wants the Enterprise to leave a supply of salt tablets and be on their way. 

The SALT talks

 

Prior to landing Kirk has been teasing McCoy because in his earlier life, McCoy and Crater's wife had been romantically involved, until she ended up married to Crater. When they arrive, McCoy is astounded that Nancy hasn't seemed to age one day since they saw each other last.

Young Nancy

 

But something is not quite right... Because Kirk sees Nancy has a still somewhat attractive woman, but definitely showing signs of age. 

Old Nancy

 

And a crewman with them, Darnell (Michael Zaslow) sees her entirely differently than either: as a young attractive blonde (Francine Pyne). 

NOT Nancy

 

Clearly it is not really Nancy, and Crater is hiding something, though he professes to know nothing strange is going on. 

The real Nancy

 

When Darnell disappears (after following Nancy as the blonde for who knows what...) the crew on the planet find his body, dead. (That's what you get for fooling around with another man's wife, you little scrub...) Nancy (in her Nancy "disguise") tells them she tried to stop Darnell from eating a poisonous plant. But back on the ship they scientists determine that although the plant was poisonous it wouldn't have caused the skin mottling that Darnell has suffered.

The potential marriage interloper

 

Ultimately the audience learns that "Nancy" is not really "Nancy" but a creature indigenous to the planet, one that requires salt to survive. It is the last of it's species. It also has the ability (surprise, surprise) to read thoughts and shape change. In this aspect it manages to get itself beamed aboard the Enterprise. Since it can look like anything it wants to look like, it makes it hard to detect which of the crew members may not be who everyone thinks they are.

There are some serious issues that the crew, especially McCoy, has to deal with here. Not only the fact that killing it would mean the extinction of a species, since it is the last of it's kind, but also the fact that the creature is able to play upon McCoy's emotions, since he still has memories and attraction to Nancy and the creature knows it can use that emotion against him.

So, happy 60th birthday, Star Trek. You don't look a day over 59...

Quiggy

 

 

When Dracula Got Hammered (Part II)

 

Note: The first week of September in the United States is recognized National Blood Donation Week. Please donate, if you can. (I promise it won't go to feed Dracula!)

 

Quoted from Dracula FAQ by Bruce Scivally:

"After being lampooned by Abbott and Costello, it seemed the classic monsters were done for good. As the 1950's dawned, American horror movies were no longer being produced by major studios, but by smaller companies like American International Pictures and Lippert, companies that made cheap black-and-white "quickies"  for the entertainment of teenagers at drive-ins. But in England, one company decided to take a chance on reviving the old gothic monsters in lurid, living color."  

                                                                                                      -from Dracula FAQ by Bruce Scivally 

This is part 2 of a series on the Hammer Films Dracula movies from the 1960's and 1970's. Go to When Dracula Got Hammered: Part 1 if you haven't read it yet, or you may be lost...

 

 

 

 

Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966): 

We got back to having Christopher Lee in his customary role as the dental assistant's nightmare in Hammer Films' 1966 entry in the Dracula saga. Having taken a brief hiatus in the second installment (see previous entry), Lee returned with a vengeance. Yep. The bloodsucker was not truly dead, after all... (Surprised?)

Van Helsing must have been on vacation. Or else he was still tracking other minions of Dracula as he had been in The Brides of Dracula, because he is nowhere to be seen in this outing. Instead we get Father Sandor (Andrew Kier) as a vampire hunter. 

 

 

Sandor is an expert on who (and apparently who is not) a vampire. First we have a brief introduction relating the demise of Dracula at the hands of Van Helsing (as seen in Horror of Dracula), with a voiceover telling us the background:

"After a reign of terror spanning more than a century the king of the undead was finally traced to his lair high in the Carpathian Mountains.Though the decades many had sought to destroy him all had failed.Here at last was an adversary armed with sufficient knowledge of the ways of the vampire to bring about the final and absolute destruction. This then was his fate thousands had been enslaved by to obscene cult vampirism now the fountain head himself perished only the memory remained the memory of most evil and terrible creature to have ever set his seal on civilization." 

We come upon a scene where a group of people are attempting to drive a stake through the corpse of a young girl. They are interrupted by Sandor who chastises them as "barbarians", insisting that the girl is not a vampire, telling them that Dracula himself was killed 10 years earlier.  The priest present refuses to perform the burial, but Father Sandor says he will do it instead.

 

At the local pub a couple of married couples are drinking, at least one of them is. Charles Kent (Francis Matthews) is partying like there's no tomorrow, and buying drinks for the entire pub, albeit with the disapproval of his wife, Diana (Suzan Farmer) and sister-in-law, Helen (Barabara Shelly). Charles' brother, Alan (Charles Tingwell) is a bit more accepting of Charles' nature, or at least is resigned to the fact that he is incorrigible. 

 

Enter Father Sandor, whose first response is to disparage the owner from hanging garlic in the inn. He reiterates that 10 years have gone by and Dracula is dead... not just "mostly dead", but really really dead. He meets up with the Kents and discovers that they are on their way to Carlsbad, the former home of Dracula. An amiable sort at the start, if a bit off kilter, Sandor becomes positively adamant that the four should NOT go to Carlsbad, but won't say why.

 

But the vacationers think Sandor doesn't know what he's talking about and head out,regardless of his warnings. But it seems more than just Sandor doesn't want them to go... neither does there driver, who dumps them out of his cart still 2 km from their ultimate destination. Fortunately there is a castle nearby (one that no one seems to want to acknowledge exists, even Sandor). At this point you or I would probably say "Let's just camp over here under this tree..." But not our intrepid (or clueless) vacationers. They go on up to the castle.

 

Or more specifically, are taken there. They find a driverless carriage, and after boarding it with the intention of using it to get to Carlsbad, the horses on their own take the carriage to the castle. Where it seems at every turn they are expected. It's too bad no one listens to Helen, who is very suspicious of the whole situation. They might have avoided what comes next.

 

It turns out that the castle is inhabited by a servant of the former Dracula, Klove (Philip Latham), and he has some air of mystery about him, and a sort of subdued sinister attitude. This is not just a personality thing. He is actually involved in a plan to revive his dead master (who was reduced to dust in the first movie, which we saw replayed in the introduction). 

 

He dispatches Alan and uses his blood to give Dracula newly revived body, and Dracula's first victim, of course, is Helen. See? She was right to be suspicious...

 

Enter Sandor who, along with Charles and Diana, ends up in a struggle with the revived count. (I guess he wasn't entirely convinced by his own insistence that Dracula was entirely out of the picture...) Safety is assured when Sandor takes Charles and Diana to the monastery, because, as a new twist to the legend is added, the vampire cannot cross the threshold of the monastery unless someone invites him. Unfortunately, even in the monastery the vampire has some of his non-vampiric minions, specifically Ludwig (Thorley Walters), who, somewhat like Renfield from the classic novel, is a bit unhinged and lets him  in.

 

Ultimately we get a new twist on another way (besides crucifixes and sunlight) that can defeat the Count; running water. So Dracula is finally defeated... And if you believe that, I have a bridge I'm selling.  

 

This third film was released on a double bill with The Plague of the Zombies. It originally was budget at £100,000 and pulled in almost $2.5 million in ticket sales. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 82% approval rating. Some of the critics pointed out there wasn't much new about the film, although one of them noted that the "Instant Dracula" part (where Klove uses the blood of Alan mixed with the ashes of the Count to create a new body) was fairly interesting.

This would make the third and final Hammer Dracula film that Terence Fisher would direct. Those three films, in my opinion are the best of the lot, as we will see. It turns out that production delays were the real reason we didn't get a return of Cushing as Van Helsing. By the time filming began he was obligated elsewhere. Kier, in his place, is acceptable, although hardly has the chops to be a great replacement. 

The film was made at the same time as Rasputin - The Mad Monk, which also starred Lee in the title role, as well as Shelley, Farmer and Matthews. Despite a rather contrived way to revive the Count, this has some things going for it. This despite the fact that Lee's lines in the film consist of only a few hisses. (I guess the revival process didn't include the vampire's vocal cords...)

 

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968):

You can't keep a bad man down (especially if there is money in the sale of sequels...)

So, if you watched the previous film, you know that Dracula had supposedly once again been dispatched (this time by drowning... or something like that). 

A year after an incident at a local church where a young boy found the body of a woman stashed in the church bell tower, the priest finds no one is willing to come to the church to attend Mass. The superstitious townspeople are afraid of going to church because Dracula's castle stands close by and the shadow of it touches the church. 

 

So a Monsignor (Rupert Davies), with the help of the local priest (Ewan Hooper), journey to the castle to perform an ritual exorcism.

 

Unfortunately the priest gets cold feet the closer he comes to the castle, so the Monsignor has to go on alone. While he is performing his rites on the castle a storm blows in. The priest, who has remained back a ways, is startled and falls, cutting a gash on his head. The blood from his wound drips into the river where Dracula has ended up. And, of course, said blood revives the Count.

 

Dracula is incensed that his castle has been defiled by the priest and has his new slave, the priest, dig up a coffin for him. Meanwhile, back at the village a party is underway, Paul (Barry Andrews), who intends to marry Maria (Veronica Carlson), the niece of the Monsignor, is celebrating with the town for her birthday. A lot of this outing centers on Paul and Maria, with the added third wheel of a girl named Zena (Barbara Ewing). Zena is thrown in almost as an afterthought, however. Zena is not Dracula's primary target.

 

What Dracula wants is revenge against the Monsignor, because he put up a giant cross at the doorway of Dracula's castle and performed his religious rites on the place. But instead of getting revenge on the Monsignor himself, Dracula intends to subvert his niece Maria. Ultimately he stops Dracula in his first attempt, but there is still a need to subdue the monster. And that may be a bit of a problem.

 

Because Paul is an atheist. And his would be partner is the now lapsed priest who has become Dracula's stooge. When push comes to shove, although they stake Dracula, neither has the faith to perform the ritual prayer that would end Dracula's reign of terror.

 

Dracula goes back to Maria and kidnaps her, taking her to his castle, where he wills her to remove the cross and chunk it over the parapet. It lands, conveniently, pointing straight up in the ground. Then, in a final battle with the Count, Paul throws him over the ledge, where the vampire lands (guess where...) And THAT ought to do it, don't you think?

 

 

Then again... maybe not...

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave doesn't measure up to The Brides of Dracula in terms of sheer terror. Most of the time is spent on character development of the subsidiary characters, although at least in this outing Lee as Dracula is granted some dialogue.    

Rotten Tomatoes gives this one an 80% rating, and, as would be expected, the franchise is starting to wear thin per the critics. Variety sums up the overall critical view with "[t]he story's slight, the horror and the bloodcurdling essential to these pix is minimal and even Dracula himself appears bored at being resurrected yet again." 

There were changes, as seem to be typical when dealing with Dracula movies. You will remember from the above movie that it was established that Dracula needed permission to cross the barrier into someone's house, but apparently they dispensed with that for this outing because he enters Maria's room without any preamble. Also is the added need for a prayer to be said over the staked Count. (Why the heck didn't they do that  the first time? It might have been over for Dracula by now...)

The production costs went up slightly for  this time. Much of it may have been to secure the services of Lee, but it had a budget of £175,000. There is no indication of exactly how much profit the film made, but wikipedia notes that it was the highest grossing film of all of Hammer Studio's output. An interesting note: In Dracula FAQ, Bruce Scivally notes that Lee wore a ring in the film that had been given to the actor by the renowned Forrest J. Ackerman.

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave was to have been directed, once again, by Terence Fisher, the director of the previous three films, but he had been in an accident earlier, and was unavailable. The services of Freddie Francis were thus acquired for the work. Francis had a decent career as a workmanlike director for Hammer and Amicus, helming such films as The Evil of Frankenstein and They Came from Beyond Space. 

But many of you will know him better as the Academy Award winning cinematographer, which he won for Sons and Lovers in 1960, and Glory in 1989. He was also a BAFTA nominee for cinematography, getting noms for his cinematography on The Elephant Man (which lost to All That Jazz), The French Lieutenant's Woman (which lost to Tess), Glory (which lost to  The Sheltering Sky) and Cape Fear (which lost to The Last of the Mohicans). Clearly he was a great cinematographer, and even though he did not fill that role here, he still had an eye for what he wanted.

Well, tune in for the next installment tomorrow. And get thee to the bloodmobile.

Quiggy

 

 

Green Holidaze

 

Yes, folks it's yet another Christmas entry (And you say: "Bah! Humbug! It's not even Halloween yet!").

 

OK, I'll concede to the Scrooge-y outcry. You want Halloween, you say? Bet you weren't expecting this...

 

In 1977 the television animation studios at ABC presented the world with what amounts to a prequel to the classic 1966 Christmas tradition of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Titled Halloween is Grinch Night, it was presented to the public on October 28 of that year, and quickly became a Halloween holiday tradition, much in the same way that it's predecessor did as a Christmas tradition.

 

What's that, you say? This never became a Halloween tradition? Hmm... What a shame! Maybe the ill sweet sour winds were blowing in the wrong direction. 

 

OK, I'll be honest. Although I was alive, and in my late teens, when this cartoon hit the airwaves, I don't recall having ever seen it. In fact, until I ran across a DVD collection called Dr. Suess's Holidays on the Loose, I wasn't even aware that it even existed. (Just a note: You never know what you'll find in those garage sales and resale barns. I paid $2 for this, but I would have never even thought to look for it...)

 

 

 

 

The DVD also includes another Grinch cartoon that I never heard of, this one brought out in 1982. It's called The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. But in the case of that one, I have an excuse for not even noticing it. It first aired in May of 1982. At that time I was in college and wouldn't have been caught dead watching a kiddie cartoon show.  Besides, at that time I had a job throwing a newspaper route, and was probably asleep so I could be prepared for my job at midnight.

 

Of course, nowadays I wouldn't be so dismissive of children's fare. Possibly because at my age I am looking back at a long life, and regretting that period of my life when I didn't have a childlike innocence and missed out on some fairly good stuff in retrospect. Just for instance: In my 20's, an animated film would have been the LAST choice I would make in picking my weekly theater experience. But just look at what I missed out on during that period: The Black Cauldron, Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, The Never-Ending Story, The Secret of N.I.M.H., every Muppet movie until  The Muppet Christmas Carol (and I only went to that one because the Dickens story is one of my favorite stories). All of those I have since watched and found entertaining.

 

Dr. Suess had been around for decades prior to the first television cartoon adaptation of his work, the now famous How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but with the exception of a few Private Snafu animated shorts released in theaters during WWII, his work was hardly every translated to film. But after the Grinch a succession of Suess inspired cartoons were made for TV, including Horton Hears a Who, The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax. And you are probably already aware of the full length movies released in theaters in recent years that include the Jim Carrey version of the Grinch story and the Mike Myers version of the Cat in the Hat. (I'm still waiting for a film version of "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins", BTW, if anyone in Hollywood is checking out this blog...) 

 

Firstly, just to appease the Grinchier crowd who might be objecting to an early Christmas entry...

 

 

 

Halloween is Grinch Night (1977):

 

 

 

 

Things look pleasant in Whoville, But Josiah (Hal Smith; "Otis" from The Andy Griffith Show) smells a "sweet sour wind" in the air. He gets his wife, Mariah (Irene Tedrow; Mrs. Elkins on Dennis the Menace) to double check, and sure enough, the wind has that sweet sour smell.  That means the local Grunker's Pond will be disturbed, awakening the gree-grumps, who will begin to howl. That will make the hakken-krakks star to yowl.

 

 

 

That can only mean one thing. The villainous Grinch (Hans Conried), who lives on the nearby Mount Crumpit will be lurking about, because it is now Grinch night. The Whos in Whoville scurry inside and lock the doors and windows, and they won't go outside... not even for $1.50... The whole town keeps an ear to the radio for the coming on the Grinch, as posted by Sgt, MacPherson (Jack DeLeon; who was memorable as one of the first openly gay characters on TV, Marty in Barney Miller ), who acts a weather broadcaster, only in this case, the watchful eye of the ill wind of the Grinch.

 

 

 

The Grinch, on the other hand, is ecstatic because it's his night to howl. He loads up his wagon, puts his poor dog Max on the reigns, and begins his descent on Whoville where he plans to have a big party in the Whoville town hall.  He will be the guest attendee.  Really, he will be the ONLY attendee...

 

 

 

Poor Max bemoans the lost childhood he had and his fate at being a slave to the Grinch, but he really has no choice.   As the Grinch begins his ascent to Whoville, Euchariah (Gary Shapiro), the young son of Josiah and Mariah, suddenly realizes he needs to go to the "euphemism" (Really. That's what they call it. Cover your eyes, ye easily shocked readers, because it means he needs to go to the...  outhouse...)

 

 

 

The wind, however, is really strong, and despite his struggle to get there he is blown off course, and ends up om Mount Crumpit, the home of the Grinch.  Euchariah runs into the Grinch and bravely stands up to him, but the Grinch is dismissive of such a small foe. He gives Euchariah the discount store scare and figures that is that.

 

 

 

But Euchariah decides that the only way to save the town from the Grinch is by his own work.  He stands up to the Grinch and basically dares the Grinch to do his best at scaring him.  The Grinch, who is not one to back down from a challenge, proceeds to throw everything he can at young Euchariah. 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for the Grinch, young Euchariah is determined, and despite all the spooks and monsters the Grinch throws at him, he bravely endures. And just long enough, too, because the sweet sour wind of Grinch night dies down, which is basically the death knell on the Grinch's activities for the night. He turns his cart around to make the trek back up the mountain, promising he will be even worse on the next Grinch Night. But his dog, Max, deserts him and becomes the dog of his new master, Euchariah.

 

Hans Conried had to fill in for Boris Karloff as the voice of the Grinch, since Karloff had passed away by the time this prequel was made. He does a passable job of it, but it's not quite the sinister twang that the legendary icon put on the original. But hey, nobody lives forever. It was bound to happen. Fortunately the fantastic deep bass singer, Thurl Ravenscroft, was still around to do the musical parts of the Grinch story.  

 

Just one note here, story-wise: This is supposed to be taking place before the events of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Yet in that later story the Grinch has Max back in his lair. Did the dog decide that life in Whoville was too sedate and return to the Grinch? Or maybe sometime in between the Grinch managed to rope in another dog...  

 

Halloween is Grinch Night won the 1978 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program, beating out, among others, The Fat Albert Christmas Special. 

 

OK, you Ebenezers... happy now? 

 

What? Still not ready for cheer and eggnog? OK. I'll play along for now. The second feature on this DVD is:

 

 

 

 

The Grinch Grinches The Cat in the Hat (1982):

 

 

 

This piece (probably) comes after the transformation of the Grinch into a happy carefree figure he became at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, because the sun rises and the Grinch (Bob Holt) is smiling and laughing. Even Max is a little wary, but apparently the afterglow of the events in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (see below) he is a new character.

 

The first thing that comes into play in this piece by the way is the fact that the narrator is none other than Mason Adams. (Adams may not have been a dynamic actor on screen (IMDb only credits him with 77 appearances), but as a voice actor, for me, it's always a treat to hear him. He did narration and voice over credits throughout his career.)  

 

But' in the Grinch's lair, his reflection in the mirror is not so ready and willing to accept this transformation. The mirror image reminds the Grinch of his venomous nature and makes him repeat the "Grinch Oath". With the Grinch apparently saved from a life of charity and goodwill, he leaves the house to find something dastardly to do to prove his Grinch-i-ness.

 

 

 

On the other side of town, the Cat in the Hat (also voiced by Mason Adams) has decided it's such a nice day he is going on a picnic. Unfortunately for him however, he fails to pull his car completely off the road. And the Grinch comes along and hits it.  Of course, the Grinch blames the Cat in the Hat and has a few choice words for him. But the Cat in the Hat, if anything, is accommodating and apologizes.

 

 

But the Grinch isn't going to let it go with just some wimpy apology. Can you say "road rage"? Eventually the Cat in the Hat arrives safely at his own home, but that's not the end of it. In a series of illustrations as to how letting it go and getting over it is the right way of reacting and an endless series of attempts to get revenge is the wrong way, the Grinch errs of the wrong side several times.

 

One way is he has developed a device which distorts sound within a radius, and pointing it at the Cat in the Hat and his surroundings causes confusion. In essence, whenever anyone or anything makes any kind of noise within it's radius, it comes out as gobbledygook. But it doesn't stop there. Because the Cat in the Hat is not turning into the raging antagonist that the Grinch seems to expect.

 

So the Grinch amps it up. He has a device he calls a "darkhouse". It's like a lighthouse, except in reverse.  It casts a shadow of darkness wherever it is pointed. 

 

 

 

This still isn't getting the results so the Grinch casts a pink glow which causes, among other things, to make food look really unappetizing.

 

The Cat in the Hat has an imaginary thought bubble psychiatric session with the Grinch, trying to figure out what makes him tick and why he's so mean-spirited. 

 

 

 

And during this imaginary session a thread of hope comes out. The Grinch really loves his mother, which eventually leads to the denouement. as patrons at the restaurant where the Cat in the Hat was dining when the Grinch used his pink ray all band together to go to the Grinch's house and serenade him with a song about Mom.

 

 

 

The Grinch becomes teary-eyed and sentimental once again. And when the mirror refection tries to entice him back to his Grinch side, Max points the noise disrupting ray at it and it starts spouting gobbledygook.

 

This production was also awarded a Primetime Emmy award, beating out not just one, but two each, of Charlie Brown and the Smurfs cartoon specials. 

 

OK. Now can I do my Christmas theme?  

 

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas  (1966):

 

 

 

This is the one cartoon that I will make a point to watch every year. I was a wee lad, not even yet 5 when I first saw it. I probably watched it every year until I was well into my 20's, after which it was only if the broadcast was convenient for my work schedule, since I often had a night time job. But somewhere in my late 30's I was able to jump back on board with making it an annual tradition.

 

"Fa-who for-aze! Da-who dor-aze!  Welcome Christmas bring your light!

Fa-who for-aze! Da-who dor-aze!  Welcome in the cold, dark night!

Welcome Christmas, fa-who ra-mooze!  Welcome Christmas, da-who da-mooze!

Welcome Christmas, while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand!

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff, like bingle balls and whofoo fluff!

Trim up the tree with goowho gums, and bizelbix and wums!

Trim every blessed window, and trim every blessed door!

Hang up who boo hoo bricks, then run out and get some more!

Hang pantookas on the ceiling. pile panfoolas on the floor!

Trim every blessed needle on the blessed Christmas tree!

Christmas comes tomorrow! Trim you! Trim me!

Trim up the tree with fuzzle fuzz and blipper bloos and wuzzle wuzz!

Trim up your uncle and your aunt with yards of who faunt flant!!!"

 

 

 

The Whos down in Whoville absolutely love Christmas. What joy! What fun! Singing an dancing and Christmas fun! And then there's the toys! All the kids get to enjoy their new found toys and make such noise!

 

Noise! Noise! Noise! That's the one thing that the Grinch, who lives just north of Whoville hates the most. (And just out of curiosity, what is it about the "north" that causes such animosity in these tales. It seems to me that every villainous sort of character in these tales happens to live in the north part of the region...)

 

 

 

Anyway, the Grinch hates all the goody good Whos down in Whoville and their overbearing happiness and good cheer. And most annoying is the Christmas season, when that "good nature attitude" comes out in waves of cheer and good will. But what can he do, it's just going to happen, and that's a part of life.

 

But maybe  not this year.  Maybe, just maybe, the Grinch can pull off a feat of such transcending evil that the Whos will transform from their happy-go-lucky selves into wailing and bemoaning spirits, and that would please the Grinch to no end. 

 

 

 

So what is his plan? He will dress up as Santa Claus and sneak into town while all the Whos in Whoville are asleep and steal every present, every tree, every decoration, and even all the Christmas dinner and just sit back and watch the fun as the Whos discover that there won't be a Christmas in Whoville this year after all.

 

 

 

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch, you really are a heel!
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel! 

Mr. Grinch!
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch, your heart's an empty hole!
Your brain is full of spiders, you've got garlic in your soul! 

Mr. Grinch!
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch, you have termites in your smile!
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile! 

Mr. Grinch!
Given the choice between the two of you, I'd take the seasick crocodile!

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch, you're a nasty wasty skunk!
Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk!

Mr. Grinch.
The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote: "Stink! Stank! Stunk!"

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch, you're the king of sinful sots!
Your heart's a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots!

Mr. Grinch.
Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable... mangled up in tangled up knots!

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch, with a nauseous super "naus!"
You're a crooked dirty jockey, and you drive a crooked hoss! 

Mr. Grinch!
You're a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich, with arsenic sauce!"

 

Note: I really don't understand why the Grinch had to dress up as Santa if he expected to be able to get in and out of Whoville undetected. Of course, as we will see, that Santa outfit did come in handy after all. For, while he is busy trying to stuff a Christmas tree up the chimney, a little who, Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two, wakes up and catches him in the act, and he has to pretend he is Santa and that he is taking the tree back to his workshop to fix a glitch with the Christmas lights on it.

 

 

 

Once the Grinch succeeds in his nefarious plan he heads back to his cave on Mount Crumpit and deliciously anticipates the cries and wails of the lost season down in Whoville. But to his amazement the Whos come out singing and generally expressing joy. Without presents. Without decorations. Without even the Christmas feast. And the Grinch realizes that the Christmas spirit comes from somewhere else, not the things that can be had by the physical realm, but from somewhere deep in the heart. And the Grinch himself has a change of heart, and returns the gifts, and becomes the leader of all the good will that Whoville has to offer.

 

 

 

Outside of Boris Karloff as the narrator and the voice of the Grinch, no one received any credit for their role. Specifically, the classic "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was actually sung by Thurl Ravenscroft, who's big claim to fame at the time was as the voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials. ("They're GREEEAT!") Also missing was the credit for the one vocal that was NOT Karloff, that of Cindy Lou Who, who was actually voiced by June Foray.

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the only one of these three that was not in the running for an Emmy for children's program the following awards year. Just to clarify, a 1966 filming of the Jack in the Beanstalk was the winner, beating out, among others, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. But in retrospect, in later years it has been awarded it's own heritage in standing. In 2004 a list by TV Guide named it #1 out of the 10 Best Holiday Specials.  (A Charlie Brown Christmas came in second.)

 

Rejoice, ye Ebenezers. It will be after Halloween before the next Christmas themed entry comes your way. Still before Thanksgiving, true, but you gotta take your pleasures where you can find them... (And since today is Halloween, theoretically the next one could be tomorrow...)

 

Quiggy