THIS HALLOWEEN PAUL CASTIGLIA WANTS TO SCARE YOU SILLY!

Veteran writer-editor launches blog to preview upcoming book on classic Hollywood horror-comedies

Transylvania, 6-5000 (October 13, 2009) – Do you like laughs with your gasps? Do you prefer your horror on the hysterical side? For anyone who enjoys the pairings of ghouls and fools, spooks and kooks and madcaps and monsters, prepare to be scared silly!

This Halloween at midnight, veteran writer-editor Paul Castiglia launches a blog to preview his forthcoming book, SCARED SILLY: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD HORROR-COMEDIES. The blog can accessed at http://scaredsillybypaulcastiglia.blogspot.com

It’s been said that comedy and drama are close cousins – what is dramatic for one person may be funny for another. The connection between laughing and being scared might be even closer. Both are a way of releasing emotion, and when laughter follows a scare it relieves tension. In literature, drama and especially in movies, the concept of including a funny sight gag or line of dialogue after a dramatic event in an otherwise serious story came to be known as “comic relief.”

By the 1920s, playwrights flipped the formula by introducing scares into otherwise comical stories in works like “The Cat & the Canary,” “Tbe Bat” and “The Gorilla.” Hollywood was quick to follow suit. The horror-comedy has been a venerable movie staple from the start when silent film comedians including Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd successfully used scares to get laughs.

Horror-comedies were so popular that famous 1930s comedy teams like Laurel & Hardy and The Three Stooges were able to bring the form into the sound era, paving the way for brash 1940s comedy stars like Bob Hope and the ultimate horror-comedy players, Abbott & Costello to perfect the genre.

Castiglia’s blog and book will offer readers a fun overview of horror-comedy films spanning the 1920s through 1966, the year Don Knotts’ “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” was released. “In my mind, ‘The Ghost and Mr. Chicken’ was the last traditional horror-comedy, devoid of PG elements that would pepper later efforts,” said Castiglia.

Also covered will be horror-comedy entries in famous film series including The Little Rascals and The Bowery Boys, and efforts by comedians wildly popular in their day but less well-known now like Wheeler & Woolsey, Hugh Herbert and Olsen & Johnson. Of note to fans of oddball cinema is the inclusion of Brown & Carney, a team pre-fabricated by RKO to compete with Abbott & Costello and Mitchell & Petrillo, the latter aping Jerry Lewis so well that many viewers thought they were watching the real thing! Like Abbott & Costello, both teams share beloved boogeyman Bela Lugosi as a co-star.

The book will include a foreword by noted film and TV character actor, monster-movie-memorabilia collector and spook-show reenactor Daniel Roebuck. Roebuck is no stranger to horror-comedies, having appeared in the critically acclaimed “Bubba Ho-Tep” with Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis as well as the new hit web series from Crackle.com, “Woke Up Dead” with Jon Heder. As alter-ego Dr. Shocker, Roebuck has performed on-stage in an authentic reenactment of midnight spook shows.

SCARED SILLY doesn’t have a publisher yet, but that’s all part of Castiglia’s plan.

“I’m still writing it, so providing readers with new blog entries on a regular basis keeps the project going. In the process, my goal is to build up a large fan base that will embrace the finished book, which will include additional content. Between the fan base and the involvement of Daniel Roebuck, I ultimately hope to interest the right publisher.”

Paul Castiglia has been writing and editing comic books and pop-culture articles for 20 years, most notably overseeing the ARCHIE AMERICANA paperback series of classic Archie Comics reprints. His past forays into horror-comedy include providing a chapter for the book MIDNIGHT MARQUEE ACTOR SERIES: VINCENT PRICE covering Price’s comedic horror films with Peter Lorre, and writing the comic book based on the animated series ARCHIE'S WEIRD MYSTERIES. Castiglia has also edited the upcoming ARCHIE COMICS HAUNTED HOUSE trade paperback collection of spooky Archie Comics stories.

Daniel Roebuck has spent the last 25 years building an impressive resume chock full of blockbuster films (THE FUGITIVE), kids movies (AGENT CODY BANKS), horror movies (HALLOWEEN 2) and television series (LOST). He has portrayed many people, including famous ones like Jay Leno and Garry Marshall. Although he has fulfilled nearly every dream of his childhood—like appearing in MAD MAGAZINE, becoming a HALLOWEEN MASK and having his mug on a few TRADING CARDS—Roebuck refuses to retire (despite countless threats) and continues to work as one of Hollywood’s busiest character actors! For more information, visit www.danielroebuck.com

Sammy Petrillo, 1934-2009

SAMMY PETRILLO DIED THIS PAST SATURDAY, AUGUST 15th AT THE AGE OF 74.

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN IN JANUARY, 2007 AFTER COMIC BOOK WRITER/EDITOR PAUL CASTIGLIA MET ACTOR/COMEDIAN SAMMY PETRILLO AT A NEW YORK COMIC CONVENTION:

Over the weekend, Sammy Petrillo, the infamous Jerry Lewis impersonator who co-starred with Dean Martin-esque partner Duke Mitchell and famous film fiend Bela Lugosi in "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla" was a guest at the Big Apple Comic Con in NYC.

I was at the con for 2 hours, mostly waiting around for Larry Storch, who never showed up while I was there (but he is supposed to be at a show in March, so I'll try again then). So I kept finding my way back to the "celebrity signings area" to check for Larry Storch, and wound up talking to Sammy Petrillo each time. Here are the highlights of our conversations:

ON BELA LUGOSI: Sammy said Bela was very "grandfatherly" and treated him like what he was - a kid (Sammy was 17 at the time they filmed the movie).

He also said that Bela was the utmost professional, and he never saw him using drugs of any kind. He said when Bela makes the big long speech about evolution and embryonic metamorphosis (which Sammy proceeded to recite a little of for me himself... in Bela's voice!), that Bela did it perfectly and in one take, and everyone on the set applauded afterward.

Sammy also relayed a story about an apartment or annex Bela had built for his son, but I missed the details because there was a lot of surrounding chatter at this point.

ON DIRECTOR WILLIAM BEAUDINE: Sammy asked if I knew what his nickname was, and I said sure, "one-take Beaudine." Sammy said that it wasn't because he was necessarily bad or watching the budget, but that he knew how to set-up stage scenes so well and prep the actors before rolling the cameras that no further takes were necessary.

Sammy also said that "comics loved working with Beaudine" because he would just let the comics go, encouraging ad-libbing. Sammy admitted that they didn't have much of a script on "Brooklyn Gorilla" and most of what you see was ad-libbed. You can see a lot of this ad-libbing in Beaudine's East Side Kids/Bowery Boys films, too.

Speaking of ad-libbing, there is a scene in "Gorilla" where Sammy slaps Bela on the back real hard, and Lugosi looks startled and a bit angry by the slap. I asked Sammy about that, and he said, "I probably ad-libbed that," stating that he was a kid (implying that he hadn't given thought to the fact that it might hurt Lugosi). Of course, the results are on film, because after his initial reaction, Lugosi the pro finishes the scene without missing a beat, so Lugosi probably wrote it off to Petrillo's being an impetuous youth.

ON BEING A NIGHTCLUB COMIC AT AGE 16: Sammy said that kids were allowed in nightclubs as long as they didn't drink. He said that back in those days he was unique because "kid comics" were all but unheard of. In fact, he said most comics were "men," so there weren't even a lot of "young men" comics working the clubs at that point (as opposed to now, where there is a slew of stand-up comics in their '20s). He also said they didn't call it "stand-up comedy" back then... you were just a comic. He said that the men comics were referred to as "funny men," as in "he's a funnyman." He said people would tell him, "You're a funny kid... one day you'll be a 'funnyman!'"

Sammy confessed that he used to steal other comics' jokes and acts (I replied, "Coming from you, that's an understatement," which made his manager laugh heartily). But Sammy went on to say that it backfired a bit, because he'd start telling wife and mother-in-law jokes he'd heard other comics do, until finally someone said to him, "you're 16 - stop with the wife & mother-in-law jokes - it doesn't work!"

ON DVD'S OF "BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA": He kept saying how much he liked the Digiview DVD of his movie, and that he couldn't believe it was only a $1! He was also impressed with the printing on the disc itself (on both Digiview and the Alpha release). He mentioned the Image disc that has the interview with him - "it was $20 when it came out but you can probably get it for less now." He signed the paper insert sleeve of my Alpha DVD but accidentally wrote, "To my Paul," instead of "To my pal, Paul," so he wrote a second autograph on one of the sheets he had there as well.

PAUL CASTIGLIA, AUGUST 17, 2009:

I’ll never forget meeting Sammy – he really was a wonderful fellow, very engaging and open to talking about “the old days” and in a way that was really interesting given that he is more “infamous” than “famous.” Sammy seemed to accept his role as a show business anomaly without a hint of bitterness. In fact, I think he rather enjoyed the irony of it all. Everyone in show business should be as nice as Sammy was to me that weekend. He’ll be missed.

High Noonan

by Nick Santa Maria

OK students, what do Tommy Noonan, George O'Hanlon, Jerry Lester, Joe Besser, Mousie Garner, Frank Mitchell, Vince Barnet, and Doodles Weaver all have in common? Give up? Well, they all had a hand in what has to be one of the worst, and most fascinating "comedies" ever made.

If you haven't seen 1959's The Rookie, do whatever you can to get your maschochistic little hands on it as soon as possible. Directed by George O'Hanlon ("Joe McDoakes" himself), written by O'Hanlon and Noonan, and starring that anemic anachronism of a comedy team, Noonan and Marshall, this military comedy is sure to be a fave rave for all of you Third Bananites. Picture if you will a bumbling page (complete with ill fitting uniform) at a radio station (circa 1945) who gets his draft notice, but not before filling in for the Italian Chef of the airways. Noonan does a routine he previously performed in an earlier Noonan and Marshall appearance (Warner Brothers Starlift in 1951). The routine is about as funny as a colonoscopy done with a plumber's snake. He rants and raves in a bad Italian accent as he prepares a dish made up of every kind of liquor you can imagine. Of course, he gets more and more intoxicated as the routine wears on (...and on, and on) and we find ourselves wishing for Red Skelton to show up and save us with a bottle of Guzzler's Gin.

Now get this.....Noonan is drafted on the day the war ends, but the little schmuck wants to go anyway! Despite protests from his draft board, and complaints from the Pentagon itself, Noonan is granted his right to serve, even though the camp where he is to get basic training is about to close! This means that the entire staff has to forego their own discharges and stay to train Tommy Noonan (This also means that the film company gets to save money on extras dressed in fatigues.)! Some premise, right? Well, the sergeant in charge is none other than that Hollywood Square himself, singing straightman Peter Marshall. Peter is pissed, folks, because he is dying to get back to his girlfriend, starlet Julie Newmar (who has never looked sexier and is worth the price of admission all by her lonesome). Marshall even sings a horrible song about getting back to his baby....complete with vapid "rock and roll" guitars in support. Newmar has an unscrupulous press agent (the aggressively unfunny Jerry Lester) who is trying in the worst way (believe me) to create publicity for his amazonian charge. He decides that he will use the one recruit (who has gained quite a bit of publicity himself) for a contrived romance and marriage. This creates even more conflict between Noonan and Marshall and lots of fun for everyone but the audience.

Why did a major studio like Fox release this piece of garbage? Where they desperate at the time? Did they lose a bet? (I also recently got a hold of another late 50's Fox release, Space Master X-7, directed by Ed Bernds, produced by Norman Maurer, and featuring Moe Howard in a character role!!! Yipes!) The beauty part of the film are the appearances of what I like to refer to as the "desperate comedians". "Desperate Comedians" are those poor souls who'd outlasted the days of real comedy films and waited around for people like Tommy Noonan, or Jerry Lewis to throw them a bone. Frank Mitchell plays a ships' captain and has absolutely nothing comical to do. Mousie Garner is wasted in a bit as a waiter. Doodles Weaver does a very bizarre spoof of Walter Winchell, actually removing Winchell's famous fedora to reveal his head to be shaped that way underneath (It's the best gag in the film). Joe Besser is a sadistic soldier who wants Noonan to be killed so he can be himself can be discharged. At one point the sloppy filmmakers show Besser sitting in his undershirt with the other soldiers as he is smoking a cigarette. Perhaps I'm a purist but "Stinky" does not smoke! He looks like a tough auto mechanic on a break. The image is like seeing Shirley Temple rolling the dice in a crap game. And let us not forget about Jerry Lester. If Harry Ritz and Mickey Rooney had a child it would have been Jerry Lester. Nuff said.

Now to Noonan and Marshall. Apparently, they were a sporadic team in the clubs who would work together, but only when Noonan wasn't doing various film roles. You may have seen him in the Judy Garland version of A Star is Born, or as Marilyn Monroe's nerdy boyfriend in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He wasn't bad, either. But as the "Jerry" half of this Martin and Lewis wannabe team he is merely pathetic and annoying. The team does routines in a fast talking double act kind of way, but the nightclub routines stand out like a sore thumb. The jokes are ancient and the delivery is soulless and a little too polished to be passed off as actual dialog. To see Noonan and Marshall try to incorporate their "routines" into the film makes me marvel at the seamless way Abbott and Costello did the same thing. To make matters worse, as if there weren't enough Noonan and Marshall, they are introduced as two completely different characters (Gulp) later in the film. They portray two stupid, goggle eyed, buck toothed Japanese soldiers who don't know that the war is over. The American Noonan and Marshall meet the Japanese Noonan and Marshall on a deserted island and when you are not wincing at the depiction of the Japanese stereotypes (Even Jerry Lewis would have been embarrassed.) you are wondering how much longer the film is going to go on before some kind of satisfying ending presents itself. (Did I say "satisfying"?)

There are even jokes about having to go to the bathroom while being forced to stand at attention and salute an officer, lots of wiggling and cleavage from Julie Newmar, and even throwing up on the high seas.....but these only come off as precursors to the gags featured in Noonan's two "smut-fests", Promises, Promises, and Two Nuts in Search of a Bolt (both of which also should be seen to be believed.) a few years later.

Noonan and Marshall made one more film together, Fox's Swingin' Along (1961). Barbara Eden is the bombshell in this one, and it was directed by comedy veteran, Charles Barton (My eyes are peeled for this one, folks.). After that the boys went their separate ways. Noonan wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the afore-mentioned adult films and Marshall went on to become the host of The Hollywood Squares, occasionally appearing as a Vegas singer. Noonan passed away of a brain tumor at the age of 46.

Yes, they're gone folks, but the stench of their movie legacy lives on in the nostrils of comedy buffs everywhere. Thanks Pete and Tommy. You really set the bar and managed to make Brown and Carney look like comic geniuses. For that alone you should be in Ripley.

Anthony Balducci's Journal

Do yourself a favor and pay a visit to Anthony Balducci's absolutely excellent new blog. Anthony is responsible for the new Lloyd Hamilton bio due out in April (which, frankly, has the full endorsement of The Third Banana just for existing).

1949 Three Stooges TV Pilot

Courtesy archive.org. One question: what the holy hell is up with Moe's sarcastic mugging in the opening? Utterly bizarre...

Work, Part II

Work, Part I