“Silver Screen Reflections” salutes “Svengoolie” on his 40th anniversary on TV (a brief post)

The author of “Silver Screen Reflections” celebrates the 40th anniversary of legendary Chicago/Berwyn-based monster/horror/sci-fi film host, Svengoolie (Mr. Rich Koz) and fellow super SvenPals everywhere!

The opening to (Son of) Svengoolie (portrayed by Rich Koz)’s June 1979 debut broadcast on WFLD-TV.  Note how the coffin still has the drawing of the senior Sven (portrayed by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970-73).

June 16, 1979: The “Son of Svengoolie” (portrayed by Koz) made his big broadcast debut on the Chicago/Berwyn airlanes of WFLD-TV 32, according to Sven’s official site. The opening introduction to (son of) Sven’s first show was narrated by radio disc jockey and television personality Jerry G. Bishop (Bishop portrayed the senior “Svengoolie” on WFLD’s “Screaming Yellow Theater” horror film showcase from 1970-73).

Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon and Svengoolie (portrayed by Rich Koz) performing their hit song, “Svengoolie Stomp” (ca. 2016)!

Since Me-TV (sister station to Sven’s hometown station in Berwyn/Chicago since 1995, WCIU) came to the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area in early 2013 (as part of the network’s coast-to-coast expansion), I have been watching Sven’s classic evening horror/monster/creature/sci-fi/thriller film showcase (of classic Universal (and Universal’s pre-1948 Paramount) monster/horror/sci-fi/thriller features, along with recent additions of classic Columbia/Embassy and Warner Bros./Warner-owned monster/thriller/sci-fi/creature features, including several independently-produced features)!  And since the creation of “Silver Screen Reflections” with my weekly Sven film article posts and joining the Twitter airlanes in Sept. 2015, I have connected with many fellow super Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast by live-tweeting during Sven’s Sat. classic film showcase on Me-TV!  A wonderful crowd of fellow classic horror/creature/monster/thriller/sci-fi film aficionados!

Happy 40th anniversary to the Emmy-award and Rondo-award winning Svengoolie and to Sven’s alter-ego, Mr. Rich Koz (along with Doug Graves/Doug Scharf, Kerwyn & Zalman T. Tombstone)!  Here’s to many more years of classic horror/sci-fi/monster/creature features on the big broadcast airlanes from coast-to-coast on Me-TV!  Keep up the excellent work, Sven! Kudos and three cheers to Sven, Sven’s production team and to all fellow super Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast! -C.H.

A glimpse of my Hood College graduation/official Sven T-shirt photo appearance on Svengoolie (portrayed by Rich Koz) & Kerwyn’s “mail call” from July 2017!

 

Questions/Comments about “Svengoolie” and/or his 40th anniversary in television?  Drop a line in the comments section!

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“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast premiere of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast premiere of a cult classic sci-fi thriller feature.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast premiere of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958)

Original 1958 Allied Artists theatrical trailer for “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.”

Original 1958 Allied Artists poster art for “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,” designed by Reynold Brown.

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi film host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958), this Sat., June 15 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.  According to Svengoolie’s official Twitter page, his upcoming big broadcast premiere of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” will be shown on the eve of Sven’s 40^th anniversary in the television broadcast airlanes!

“Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958) was directed by veteran film director Nathan H. Juran, who was credited under the name of Nathan Hertz in the film (Hertz was Juran’s middle name).  Juran’s other features include “20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957, Ray Harryhausen’s “Dynamation” stop-motion creature sequences), “The Deadly Mantis” (1957),  “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1959, with Harryhausen’s “Dynamation” creature scenes)  and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” (1973).

Juran (Hertz)’s 1958 feature was produced by cinema exhibitor-distributor-producer Bernard Woolner.  The screenplay was written by Mark Hanna, who wrote the screenplay for Bert I. Gordon’s sci-fi thriller for James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff’s American-International Pictures; “The Amazing Colossal Man” (1957).

“Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” was released theatrically from coast-to-coast by Allied Artists Pictures (the former Monogram Pictures), according to IMDB.

 

Who was in “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958)?

The players who appeared in “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958) were Allison Hayes (as Nancy Fowler Archer), William Hudson (as Harry Archer), Yvette Vickers (as Honey Parker), Roy Gordon (as Dr. Isaac Cushing), Eileen Stevens (as a nurse, Stevens was credited under the name of Eileene Stevens in the film), Ken Terrell (as Jess Stout), George Douglas (as Sheriff Dubbitt), Otto Waldis (as Dr. Heinrich Von Loeb), Frank Chase (as deputy Charlie), Dale Tate (as a TV commentator) and Michael Ross (in the dual roles of bartender Tony and the space giant).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Car” (1977), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast will be excited about his upcoming showcase of a classic cult Universal Studios action-thriller feature.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Car” (1977)

Original 1977 Universal Studios poster art for “The Car.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based thriller film host will present his big broadcast of “The Car” (1977), this Sat.; June 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

“The Car” (1977) was directed by veteran film and television director Elliot Silverstein (Silverstein also worked on 1965’s “Cat Ballou” and 1970’s “A Man Called Horse;” he also directed four episodes of the HBO television adaptation of EC Comics’ “Tales from the Crypt” from 1991-94).  The screenplay treatment for “The Car” was written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shyrack (Butler and Shyrack’s screenplay was originally under the title of “Wheels” and was changed to “The Car” after Universal executives bought the screen rights to Butler and Shyrack’s treatment since competing film distribution outfit United Artists had the feature film rights to Arthur Hailey’s “Wheels”), according to the American Film Institute.

This will mark Sven’s fourth big broadcast of “The Car” (1977) on Me-TV.  He had previously shown Silverstein’s Universal action-thriller back in Dec. 2011*, April 2016 and July 2017.

Who was in Elliot Silverstein’s 1977 Universal action thriller?

The players who appeared in “The Car” (1977) were James Brolin (as Wade Parent), Kathleen Lloyd (as Lauren), Kim Richards (as Lynn Marie), John Marley (as Everett), R.G. Armstrong (as Amos), Eddie Little Sky (as Denson), Elizabeth Thompson (as Margie), Ronny Cox (as Luke), Kyle Richards (as Debbie), Doris Dowling (as Bertha), Robert Phillips (as Metcalf), Kate Murtagh (as Ms. MacDonald), Henry O’Brien (as Chas)**, John Rubenstein (as John Morris), Lee McLaughlin (as Marvin Fats) and Roy Jenson (as Ray Mott).

RiffTrax Live: “Star Raiders” to be shown in select theaters from coast-to-coast on June 6 (with a pre-recorded encore on June 11)

Fellow “RiffTrax” aficionados and “Mystery Science Theater 3000” MSTies will be interested in a live coast-to-coast movie-riffing event of a cult sci-fi film.

It’s time for “RiffTrax Live: Star Raiders”

Artwork for “RiffTrax Live: Star Raiders” (RiffTrax/Fathom Events)

RiffTrax, in association with Fathom Events will present “RiffTrax Live: Star Raiders” in select theaters with a live theatrical broadcast from coast-to-coast on Thurs., June 6 at 7:30 p.m. (local time) with an encore pre-recorded screening on Tue., June 11 at 7:30 p.m. (local time, according to Fathom Events’ official site).

Featuring “Mystery Science Theater 3000”/MST3K alums Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett; the “RiffTrax Live: Star Raiders” showcase will be broadcast live to participating cinema venues from coast-to-coast.

The RiffTrax crew will be riffing the cult scMovii-fi feature, “Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine” (2017); featuring Casper Van Dien (of “Starship Troopers” fame), Cynthia Rothrock, James Lew, Brit Laree, Sara N. Salazar, Sarah Sansoni, Mark Steven Grove and Adam Lipsius.

According to Fandango, the upcoming RiffTrax rendition of “Star Raiders” will coincide with the 10^th anniversary of the RiffTrax crew’s live coast-to-coast theatrical comedic riffs of cult/classic feature films and short subjects.

“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast premiere of “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals will be excited about his upcoming big broadcast premiere of a cult horror-western classic with one of cinema’s horror icons.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast premiere of “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966)

Original 1966 Embassy Pictures theatrical trailer for “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.”

Original 1966 Embassy Pictures poster artwork for “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based horror film host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966), this Sat., June 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

“Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966) was directed by William Beaudine; who had a long directorial career spanning from 1915-76 (according to IMDB).

In the latter part of his career, he worked on low-budget productions.  Beaudine specialized in multiple film genres, earning him the nickname of “one-shot;” according to the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s article on Beaudine.

Beaudine’s 1966 horror-western production was written by Carl K. Hittleman and was produced by Carroll Case; under the “Circle Productions” moniker.  “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966) was released theatrically by Joseph E. Levine and his art-house/independent distribution firm, Embassy Pictures; according to IMDB.

That same year, Beaudine also worked on another Circle-Embassy horror/western, “Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter” (1966).

Who was in “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966)?

The players who appeared in the 1966 William Beaudine-Circle-Embassy horror/western production were John Carradine (as Count Dracula), Chuck Courtney (as William “Billy the Kid” Bonney); Virginia Christine (as Eva Oster), Walter Janovitz (as Franz Oster), Hannie Landman (as Lisa Oster), Harry Carey Jr.* (as Ben Dooley) Melinda Casey (as Elizabeth “Betty” Bentley, Casey was billed as Melinda Plowman in the film), George Cisar (as Joe Flake), Bing Russell (as Dan “Red” Thorpe), Olive Carey (as Dr. Henrietta Hull), Roy Barcroft (as Sheriff Griffin), Richard Reeves (as saloonkeeper Pete), Marjorie Bennett (as Mary Ann Bentley), William Forrest (as “the real” James Underhill), Lennie Geer (as Yancy), Charlita (as Indian maiden Nana), Max Kleven (as Sandy Newman), William Challee (as station agent Tom) and Jack Williams (as Duffy).

Memorial Day

1944 exhibitors’ advertisement for the American Seating Company for their developments in theatrical seating and the company’s manufacturing of seats for the United States Armed Forces during World War II.

Gettysburg’s Majestic Theater presents “2019 Summer Classic Movies” series, Wed. evenings from June 5-Aug. 28

Fellow classic/cult/modern film aficionados in the region will be jumping for joy for the return of a vintage film showcase in Gettysburg.

Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater presents: “2019 Summer Classic Film Series”

The famous Gettysburg Majestic Theater marquee (ca. June 2018, taken after the theater’s classic film showcase of the 1942 classic, “Casablanca“).

Gettysburg College’s famous Gettysburg Majestic Theater (at the Jennifer and David LeVan Performing Arts Center) will be presenting the return of their “Summer Classic Film Series” for summer 2019.  The Majestic Theater will be showcasing a blend of classic, cult and critically-acclaimed feature films on Wed. evenings at 7:30 p.m. (local time) from June 5-Aug. 28.  Each film in the theater’s “2019 Summer Classic Film Series” will be presented with a special on-stage introduction by area film aficionado and founding executive director of Gettysburg College’s Majestic Theater, Jeffrey W. Gabel.  An audience raffle prize giveaway will also occur before the show.

There’s something for everyone in the Majestic’s “2019 Summer Classic Film Series” festival.