LEGACY OF BLOOD / Studio West Film Distributors - 1971

I'll end the week with this little horror flick with a pile of stars, The story goes like this.. In order to qualify to inherit the family fortune, four heirs must spend the night in the family estate. But, you know, someone starts killing them off one by one.

I've got a little sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our Turkish Gremlin, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a taste of... LEGACY OF BLOOD!

Here's Jeff Morrow as alcoholic Gregory Dean and his wife Leslie played by Brooke Mills as they await the others to show up for the reading of the will. Of course, Jeff is a Dungeon Hero for his work in films like THIS ISLAND EARTH, THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US, KRONOS and THE GIANT CLAW.

Then, there's John Russell as Frank Mantee, a handsome, well dressed guy with a neckerchief. John is best known as Marshal Dan Troop in LAWMAN and was also in FIREBALL JUNGLE.

John Smith plays Dr. Carl Isenburg. We remember him from ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN, his last work was for PROJECT U.F.O. in 1978.

Here's Faith Domergue as Veronica Dean, boy, did I ever have a huge crush on her! Faith was in these many movies... VENDETTA, CULT OF THE COBRA, THIS ISLAND EARTH, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, THE ATOMIC MAN, VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET and THE HOUSE OF SEVEN CORPSES.

Well, time to go to the cemetery and bury Christopher Dean whose estate is in the will. He's played by John Carradine, someone we don't even need to list his films as there are way to many, a real Dungeon God!

Hey! Nice tie!!..

Rodolfo Acosta is the sheriff, he gets an ax in the head for his effort.

After the murder, everyone's a little weirded out about the news.

Then, Gregory and Leslie's sleep is interrupted by their death. Wonder what they're dreaming about now?

Guess who drops in on the fun?! The old codger isn't dead at all, he's just playing games.

That's right, Frank is a card carrying Nazi enthusiast surrounded with his memorabilia.

Bet the doc wishes he would have brought his stethoscope along with him!

At one point everyone believes that the doctor may be the killer so they tie him to a chair and lock him in a closet. When they hear him screaming, they go to the closet to find that he has spilled his oatmeal with raisins all over his head. He was having trouble eating it because his hands were tied.

Christopher shows his face at the end but gets it good by the real killers...

Ha-ha, the servants have had it with this nutty family and get the inheritance in the end... Eegah!! is back tomorrow to share more cool junk!

A TRIBUTE TO CARL HEINZ JAFFÉ - Part One - The Spy and Thriller Years

Tonight we've got an extra special treat for you, a tribute to the late, great Carl Jaffé, and it's all brought to you courtesy of his Grandson Michael!

Carl Jaffé had 88 title credits to his name that spanned five decades! He was born in Hamburg Germany in 1902, and he left this world at the age of 72 in 1974, but he left us a lot to remember him, and this is just a small sample of his legacy!

 First up, From 1939, we have "The Saint In London," and here are some of Michael's own words on the subject!
OK, here we go with a trip into the past.......hands up who knows The Saint? (yes yes we all know it's very clever to cut down your opponent with the flick of an eyebrow or two, but I'm talking about further back than good old Roger Moore's escapades)... let's visit a time when the threat of dodgy foreign types was never greater than... the late 1930's... in London... "The Saint in London!" Sadly no, CJ wasn't in the lead role, that of course, as you sharp eyed and well read fans will know, was honourably delivered by that seamlessly suave and awfully decent chappy, Mr. George Saunders... but in THIS episode, he needs some help from a certain foreign Embassy, and who could possibly be there to step up to the plate in a time of need?

 Thank you Grandfather for playing the role of "Stengler" - from my personal private collection, here are 2 scans from original film bromide PR prints probably never before seen... until now!

The quite reasonably handsome gentlemen seated at the desk, and 2nd from left respectively, is Carl Jaffé!  (Note please the authentic film codes in the bottom LHS...)

 Next up we travel to 1948, and a little ground breaker entitled "The Blind Goddess! "Carl Jaffé is only on screen for about 2 minutes at the start, doing a dastardly deed that sets up the whole essence of the film's story, murder/theft/espionage/blackmail - what more do you want?

 Now, in the scene where CJ does the deed, he is looking right to left across the screen, BUT, in the film you never actually see him holding the weapon. However, here we have the ORIGINAL film PR still of that dark moment...

... which is then used in almost every piece of PR material.....

 

  

  ..............including the Press Book where it is translated R-L as a dramatic page leader!!

 

 And finally (well for now anyway), from 1962  is "The Password Is Courage!"

  

Here is CJ shaking hands with Mr. Dirk Bogarde in the opening scene from the dramatized account of a true story... "The Password Is Courage!"

Carl Jaffé played numerous military roles in many films, usually as the Nazi enemy, and it's  ironic really as his Jewish ancestry forced him to emigrate to London in 1936 after evading the Gestapo (according to his first hand account in his pending Autobiography...) - but all THAT is another story...

 The photo above was obtained from Jay Parrino's The Mint in the USA!  Thank you Jay!

Well, that's a wrap for tonight! I'll leave you with these two photos of Carl taken by the LADY society London photographer Vivienne (Mellish) as verified by the National Portrait Gallery in London!

Thank-You Michael!!

See you back here on Saturday for the scoop on the Science Fiction films of Mr. Carl Heinz Jaffé!

THE CAT AND THE CANARY / Universal Pictures - 1927

I've set our Way-Out Machine for Hollywood 1927, when things were way simpler. Our silent feature is based on the 1922 play by John Willard, it's all about the relatives of Cyrus West that have to wait 20 years after his death for the inheritance will to be read. This is another OLD DARK HOUSE style tale that was so very popular back then.

The original music was nothing to write home about, so, we're sans a sound clip...

Well, 20 years has passed since crazy old Cyrus West has died and it's time for all the relatives to be summoned to his estate and have the will read.

Of course, everyone arrives at night because it's a lot spookier. This black cat stops traffic!

Okay, here are four of the guys that have arrived for the reading of the will, one is The Cat. Do you know which one of them likes to eat Canaries?! We'll find out the answer at the end.

This is a horror comedy with lots of funny lines ending up on the dialogue cards!

Paul hides under the bed in the girls' room and gets an eyeful as they change into their nightgowns. He gets caught and has to leave the room through the window!

This is an actual dialogue card when one of the women gets really pissed off!

The Cat is loose in the house and looking for a little birdie to play with!

Later, a doctor comes to the house to examine Annabelle, who has been named the inheritor of Cyrus West's estate. He's there to determine if she is sane enough to receive the inheritance. It looks like he's the crazy one, though!

I love this make up job, it's really out there! The Cat is closing in on Annabelle but she doesn't know it quite yet. Paul got in a whirlwind of a tussle with the monster and was knocked out.

Here's The Cat moving in for the kill, closer and closer he comes!..

But, the cops show up and The Cat gets caught in the act! So, if you chose dude number 2 as the murderer, you're right! We will be back Wednesday for more dirt from The Dungeon!..

HOT SATURDAY - "I'm Burning For You" (1934)

 Welcome to the Saturday Night Pre-Code Special down in The Dungeon! Before the "Code To Govern The Making Of Talking, Synchronized and Silent Motion Pictures," was enacted on June 13, 1934, it was anything goes! That's why you can watch silent movies, and wonder in disbelief that there was nudity, when the rest of society was still pretty much draped from head to toe! I don't have time to tell you all the details, but here's a couple of highlights of what had to stop! In the "Crimes Against The Law" category, 01 - "The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation." But what they really wanted to crack down on was partying with alcohol and basically anything that had to do with sex! So you have stuff like "Scenes of passion should not be introduced when not essential to the plot!" So you get the idea, somebody suddenly got a moral stick up their butt, and movie making was changed until 1968 when the code was replaced by the MPAA film rating system! All you comic book fans will know that the same basic thing happened to comic books in 1954 until the early 2000's! Marvel abandoned the comics code completely in 2001!

What a fitting title for this Saturday Night Special!

Just another sleepy little town!

Here's Nancy (The Devil's Holiday) Carroll as the super sweet and pleasant bank worker Miss Ruth Brock!

Here's Cary Grant as the swanky playboy Romer Sheffield!  How cool do you have to be to wear a completely white suit? As cool as Archibald Alexander Leach, Cary Grant's birth name!

 Ruth's sister Annie steals her drawers, so she strips them off her, and takes them back! This is obviously a breach of future rule VI, COSTUME - 2. "Undressing scenes should be avoided, and never used save where essential to the plot."

 DITTO!!

 Not many guys could get away with wearing an ascot like that either, but Cary Grant always gets away with it effortlessly! This scene is an obvious breach of future code rule 4. "The use of liquor in American life, when not required by the plot or for proper characterization, will not be shown!" What a bunch of spoil sports!

Here's about 2 minutes of  "I'm Burning For You" written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow, and sung by this unidentified road house torch singer! I'm sure it commits some kind of sin!

 VII DANCES - "Dances suggesting or representing sexual actions or indecent passion are forbidden!"

Big time cowboy-western actor Randolph Scott plays Bill Fadden, Ruth's old flame from seven years earlier!

Ruth Brock gets wrongfully accused of spending the night at Romer's pad, and the catty rumor mill cranks into high gear!

Ruth is fired from her job for her supposed infidelities so she goes out in the rain to find Bill Fadden who is on a dig up in the mountains! It starts raining like Hell, and before she can find the cave he's dwelling in, she passes out from exhaustion!

 See how they like to twist everything around! Bill innocently undresses Ruth to dry out her clothes and get her warm, but it turns into another evil sexual innuendo!

 She's naked under there, so I'm pretty sure that would violate future rule VI. COSTUME - 1. - "Complete nudity is never permitted.This includes nudity in fact or silhouette, or any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture."

Bill and Ruth were all set to get married until he falls into all the traps of gossip and lies, and he ends up driving Ruth into the arms of Romer Sheffield who doesn't mind at all because he was madly in love with her anyway! 

I got this movie from Amazon! It's included in a nice three DVD set called "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection" that includes a total of 6 movies, and a copy of the whole "Code To Govern The Making Of Talking, Synchronized and Silent Motion Pictures," so you can bet this won't be the last of the Pre-Code thrills around here! If you don't want to own it, but you still want to watch "Hot Saturday," there's a nice version streaming for free right here on YouTube!