“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” (1974), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of one of the many definitive classic mammoth monster/comedy masterpieces.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” (1974)

1977 TV trailers for the theatrical re-issue of Mel Brooks‘ classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) monster-comedy masterpiece, “Young Frankenstein” (1974) with Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Gene Hackman, Kenneth Mars and Peter Boyle.

Sourced from the FT Depot archive of preserved film trailers/theatre policy trailers.

Dec.1974 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) trade leaflet for Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein,” as featured in Boxoffice.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth monster/comedy feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Young Frankenstein” (1974) on the airlanes of Me-TV at a special time: Sat., Nov. 7/at a special time, 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central.

The classic mammoth 1974 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) monster-comedy masterpiece was directed by legendary veteran director-producer-writer-actor-comedian Mel Brooks.  Brooks began his comedy career writing for the classic mammoth pioneering groundbreaking NBC-TV comedy masterpiece series with future playwright Neil Simon, Lucille Kallen, Danny Simon and Mel Tolkin; “Your Show of Shows” (1950-54) with Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris.

Brooks later reunited with Carl Reiner for their famous “2,000 Year Old Man” comedy sketch, which began at various parties before the two recorded their classic mammoth Capitol Records comedy album masterpiece, “2,000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks” in 1960 along with four more follow-up albums from 1961-97. Brooks also co-created with Buck Henry the original classic mammoth spy TV comedy series spoof masterpiece, “Get Smart” (1965-70) with Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt.

Brooks’ first feature film that he directed was his classic mammoth comedy farce masterpiece for theatrical release via Joseph E. Levine‘s Embassy Pictures, “The Producers” (1967) with Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars, Christopher Hewett (later of TV’s “Mr. Belvedere” fame), Estelle Winwood, Andréas Voutsinas, Renée Taylor, Frank Campanella, Lee Meredith, Barney Martin, Bill Macy (later of TV’s “Maude” fame) and William Hickey.  Brooks later adapted his classic mammoth 1967 comedy farce masterpiece into a successful Tony Award-winning Broadway stage musical with co-writer Thomas Meehan in 2001, “The Producers” with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Brooks’ Broadway stage musical adaptation was also adapted for Brooks’ modern classic mammoth feature film musical-comedy masterpiece, “The Producers” (2004, co-produced with Brooks with Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios) with Lane and Broderick reprising their Broadway roles, along with the additions of Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Michael McKean (of TV’s “Laverne & Shirley” fame and of “Spinal Tap” fame), Andrea Martin (of “SCTV” fame) and Gary Beach.

The same year that Brooks directed “Young Frankenstein,” Brooks had another major classic mammoth comedy feature film success; his classic mammoth Warner Bros. western-comedy spoof masterpiece production of “Blazing Saddles” (1974) with Cleavon Little, Wilder, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Alex Karras, Slim Pickens, John Hillerman, Brooks, a cameo by Count Basie and his orchestra, Jack Starrett, Dom DeLuise, Robyn Hilton and Don Megowan.

Two years after his successes with both “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein,” Brooks directed and appeared in his classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) comedy farce masterpiece/homage to silent movies and the film/entertainment industry, “Silent Movie” (1976) with Feldman, DeLuise, Caesar, Harold Gould, Ron Carey (of TV’s “Barney Miller” fame), Bernadette Peters, Carol Arthur, Dunn, Fritz Feld, Chuck McCann, Charlie Callas, Henny Youngman, Rudy De Luca, future feature film director Barry Levinson (who co-wrote the screenplay with Brooks), Howard Hesseman (later of TV’s “WKRP in Cincinnati” fame), Jack Riley (of TV’s “The Bob Newhart Show” fame) and guest cameos by Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft (Bancroft was married in real life to Mel Brooks from 1964 until her death in 2005), Marcel Marceau and Paul Newman.

Brooks also directed co-produced and appeared in his classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) suspense-comedy farce spoof masterpiece inspired by the legendary and iconic Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic mammoth suspense masterpieces, “High Anxiety” (1977) with Kahn, Leachman, Korman, Morris, Carey, Dick Van Patten, Riley, Callas, and DeLuca.

Two years later, Brooks portrayed the role of villainous Professor Max Krassman in Jim Henson and James Frawley‘s classic mammoth Muppet movie masterpiece, “The Muppet Movie” (1979, originally released through Henson/the Muppets’ then-production partner Lew Grade‘s ITC Entertainment and their Associated Film Distributors moniker).

He also directed, co-produced and appeared in his classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) historical comedy farce masterpiece, “History of the World: Part I” (1981) with DeLuise, Kahn, Leachman, Caesar, Korman, Gregory Hines, Pamela Stephenson, Shecky Greene, DeLuca, Carey, Hillerman, Feld, Levinson, Jackie Mason, Phil Leeds, Jack Carter, Spike Milligan (of “The Goon Show” fame), Andrew Sachs (of “Fawlty Towers” fame), Nigel Hawthorne (of BBC-TV’s “Yes, Minister” and “Yes, Prime Minister” comedy series fame), Bea Arthur (of TV’s “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” fame), an uncredited vocal cameo by Carl Reiner and narration by Orson Welles.

He also directed, co-produced and appeared in his classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) sci-fi comedy farce masterpiece homage, “Spaceballs” (1987) with John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Van Patten, the vocal stylings of Joan Rivers, Lorene Yarnell Jansson, Michael Winslow, George Wyner, John Hurt, Jm. J. Bullock, Ronny Graham, Leslie Bevis, Stephen Tobolowsky, Rhonda Shear, Tom Dreesen, Riley, Tim Russ, Ed Gale, Felix Silla, Arturo Gil, Tony Cox, the vocal stylings of Dom DeLuise, the uncredited vocal stylings of Phil Hartman, Tress MacNeille, Rob Paulsen and archived uncredited vocal stylings of Sheb Wooley. Brooks has recently announced that a “Spaceballs” sequel is in the works for 2027.

Brooks later directed and appeared in his modern classic mammoth MGM comedy masterpiece feature, “Life Stinks” (1991) with Lesley Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambor, Morris, Stuart Pankin, Billy Barty and James Van Patten.

He also directed and appeared in his modern classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) adventure-comedy masterpiece adaptation of Robin Hood, “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993) with Cary Elwes, Amy Yasbeck (later of TV’s “Wings” fame), Richard Lewis, Isaac Hayes, Sir Patrick Stewart (of the Royal Shakespeare Company and of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame), Dom DeLuise and Tracey Ullman.

21 years after the original theatrical release of “Young Frankenstein,” Brooks directed, appeared in and co-produced another classic/modern classic mammoth monster-horror-comedy masterpiece farce, titled “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” (1995, co-produced by Rob Reiner‘s Castle Rock Productions) with Leslie Nielsen, Steven Weber (also of TV’s “Wings” fame), Amy Yasbeck, Lysette Anthony, Harvey Korman and a brief cameo by Anne Bancroft.

Brooks’ classic mammoth 1974 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) monster/comedy feature masterpiece production of “Young Frankenstein” was co-produced by veteran producer Michael Gruskoff‘s Gruskoff/Venture Films under Brooks’ Crossbow Productions and Jouer Limited. Brooks later renamed his Crossbow Productions firm as Brooksfilms.

This will mark Sven’s second big broadcast of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” (1974) on the airlanes of Me-TV. He had previously showcased Brooks’ classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) monster/comedy masterpiece as a big broadcast premiere back in Oct. 2025.

Who was in Mel Brooks’ classic mammoth monster-comedy masterpiece production of “Young Frankenstein” (1974)?

The players who appeared in Mel Brooks’ classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) monster-comedy masterpiece production of “Young Frankenstein” (1974) were Gene Wilder (as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”), Peter Boyle (as Frankenstein/Fronk-en-steen’s Monster), Madeline Kahn (as Elizabeth), Marty Feldman (as Igor, pronounced “Eye-gore”), Teri Garr (as Inga), Gene Hackman (as the Hermit), Kenneth Mars (as Inspector Kemp), Richard Haydn (as Herr Falkstein), Liam Dunn (as Mr. Hilltop), Danny Goldman (as a Medical Student), Anne Beesley (as Helga), Lidia Kristen (as Helga’s Mother), Michael Fox (as Helga’s Father), Oscar Beregi Jr. (as the sadistic jailor), Arthur Malet (as a village elder), Monte Landis and Rusty Blitz (as gravediggers), Rolfe Sedan (as a train conductor) and cameo vocalizations by Mel Brooks (for those who haven’t seen “Young Frankenstein” before, the author/writer of “Silver Screen Reflections” will not divulge what Brooks’ vocalizations were in his classic mammoth 1974 Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios monster/comedy masterpiece; you will have to hear for yourself! -C.H.).

“Svengoolie” presents his big latenight Halloween premiere of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza on Me-TV this Sat.

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of a cult classic mammoth made-for-TV horror masterpiece on Halloween night and to conclude this year’s Halloween BOOnanaza festival.

“Svengoolie” presents his big latenight Halloween premiere of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza

Mid-1980s International Video Entertainment (IVE), under the U.S.A. Home Entertainment monkier/Lorimar VHS cover art for “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973).

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth horror/supernatural feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973) as part of the finale of Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza festival for this year/Halloween Latenight, Oct. 31 on the airlanes of Me-TV at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central after Sven’s encore showcase of Victor Fleming’s classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) fantasy masterpiece adaptation of Frank L. Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) starting at a special time at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central.

The cult classic mammoth 1973 horror made-for-TV movie masterpiece was directed by veteran director/actor/host John Newland. Newland was best-known for hosting the classic mammoth ABC television network supernatural masterpiece series of “One Step Byeond” from 1959-61. He also hosted a brief series revival of “One Step Beyond,” titled “The Next Step Beyond” (1978-79). Alongside “One Step Beyond/The Next Step Beyond” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” he directed one episode of Gene Roddenberry’s classic mammoth NBC television sci-fi masterpiece series, “Star Trek” (The Original Series; Newland directed the 1967 first-season episode “Errand of Mercy”) featuring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, George Takei and James Doohan; three episodes the brief cult classic mammoth 1972 ABC-TV/Universal Studios supernatural/thriller masterpiece series of “The Sixth Sense” (which was later re-syndicated to local stations by Universal/MCA as a companion to Rod Serling‘s classic mammoth Universal Studios/NBC “Night Gallery” TV series) with Gary Collins, 14episodes of the classic mammoth Columbia Pictures/NBC-TV crime drama masterpiece series “Police Woman” featuring Angie Dickinson from 1974-78 and near the end of his directorial career, three episodes of the classic mammoth action/adventure masterpiece adaptation of “Wonder Woman” featuring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner in 1979 (Parts one and two of “The Phantom Roller Coaster” and “The Man Who Could Not Die”).

Veteran producers Lee Rich, Neil T. Maffeo and Allen S. Epstein under Lee Rich and Merv Adelson’s production company, Lorimar Productions. Alongside various made-for-TV movies, Lorimar developed numerous television series for the three major networks and would later acquire the majority of the Monogram/Allied Artists library after Allied Artists went kaput in 1979. Lorimar later merged their operations with television syndicator Telepictures Corporation to form Lorimar-Telepictures in 1985; Lorimar was later absorbed by the Steve Ross/Warner Communications (formerly Kinney)-era incarnation of Warner Bros.* in 1989.

Alongside Lorimar and the majority of the major studios/production companies that produced feature-length made-for-TV movie productions for the ABC and the network’s competitors for their “Movie of the Week/Movie of the Weekend” umbrellas, ABC also self-produced/self-financed numerous feature-length made-for-TV movie productions themselves for the network’s own “Movie of the Week/Movie of the Weekend” showcases under the “ABC Circle Films” moniker. For ABC’s own self-financed/self-produced made-for-TV movie productions, the network notably produced/financed the two classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” supernatural made-for-TV movie pilot masterpieces with Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland; John Llewellyn Moxey‘s “The Night Stalker” (1972) and Dan Curtis‘ “The Night Strangler” (1973), along with Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror anthology masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black; which inspired the brief classic mammoth ABC/Universal Studios “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” series with McGavin and Oakland from 1974-75.

The screenplay for Newland’s classic mammoth 1973 made-for-TV movie masterpiece of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” was written by veteran producer Nigel McKeand. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” debuted on the ABC television network as part of the “ABC Movie of the Week” on Oct. 10, 1973. For the original ABC television network “Movie of the Weekend” airing of John Newland’s Lorimar production of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973): Newland’s classic mammoth 1973 Lorimar made-for-TV movie masterpiece aired on ABC-owned WLS-TV in Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois and on a regional scale for the home region/home office of “Silver Screen Reflections;” WMAL-TV 7 (which became the now-disgraced WJLA/7 in 1977); WJLA/7 previously carried Me-TV in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area from 2013-17) in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area; WTPA-TV 27 (which became the now-disgraced WHTM-27 in 1980) in the Gettysburg/Hanover/York/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area and then-Westinghouse/Group W-owned ABC affiliate WJZ-TV Channel 13 (which later became affiliated with the now-disgraced network with the “eyemark” after the 1995 Baltimore TV affiliation switch, network-owned since the 1996 Westinghouse/Group W-C*S merger) in the Baltimore, Maryland area.

Who was in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” (1973)?

The players who appeared in Newland’s classic mammoth 1973 Lorimar/ABC made-for-TV supernatural made-for-TV movie masterpiece production of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” were Kim Darby (as Sally Farnham), Jim Hutton (as Alex Farnham), Barbara Anderson (as Joan Kahn), William Demarest (as Mr. Harris), Pedro Armendáriz Jr. (as Francisco Perez), Lesley Woods (as Ethyl), Robert Cleaves (as a Doctor), Sterling Swanson (as a Policeman),
Joel Lawrence (as George Kahn), William Sylvester (as Tom Henderson), Don Mallon (as Bob), Celia Kaye (as Ann), Monika Henreid, Elizabeth St. Clair and Robert Priest (as Party Guests), Ted Swanson (as a bartender) and Felix Silla, Tamara De Treaux and Patty Maloney (as creatures).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026, this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth Universal Studios monster masterpiece with two horror legends.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026

Latter Realart theatrical re-issue trailer for Roy William Neill’s classic mammoth Universal Studios monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (originally produced and released in 1943) with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.

Original 1943 Universal Studios theatrical poster art for “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.”

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth monster feature masterpiece film host will present his big broadcast of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943), this Sat.; Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the airlanes of Me-TV.

The classic mammoth Universal Studios monster masterpiece pairing production of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) was directed by veteran studio director Roy William Neill.  Neill was also known for directing numerous classic mammoth Universal mystery feature film masterpiece adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes” with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, beginning with “Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon” (1942) and concluding with “Dressed to Kill” (1946).  The classic mammoth Universal “Sherlock Holmes” mystery masterpiece production “Dressed to Kill” (1946) was one of Neill’s final feature films, the veteran director died in 1946 shortly after the completion of the 1946 “Sherlock Holmes” feature entry.

The classic mammoth 1943 Universal monster masterpiece production was produced by veteran feature film & TV director-producer George Waggner.  Two years before producing Neill’s classic mammoth 1943 Universal monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” Waggner  directed his classic mammoth Universal monster masterpiece of “The Wolf Man” (1941), with Lon Chaney Jr., Evelyn Ankers, Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William and Patric Knowles.  He also produced Erle C. Kenton’s classic mammoth Universal “Frankenstein” monster masterpiece installment production of “The Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942) with Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill and Janet Ann Gallow. Waggner also worked on numerous episodes of the classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios)/ABC television live-action “Batman” TV series adaptation with Adam West and Burt Ward (Waggner directed episodes from 1966-67).

The screenplay for “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) was written by veteran feature film screenwriter/sci-fi author Curt Siodmak.  Siodmak also worked on screenplays for numerous classic mammoth Universal monster/thriller/sci-fi masterpiece productions throughout his screenwriting career, including “The Invisible Man Returns” (1940), “The Invisible Woman” (1940), “The Wolf Man” (1941), “Invisible Agent” (1942), “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943), “Son of Dracula” (1943), “House of Frankenstein” (1944) and “Curucu, Beast of the Amazon” (1956).  In addition to his numerous Universal feature film screenplays throughout his screenwriting career, Curt Siodmak also worked on the screenplay for Robert Florey’s classic mammoth horror/mystery masterpiece for the original incarnation of Warner Bros., “The Beast with Five Fingers” (1946) with Peter Lorre, Andrea King, Robert Alda, Victor Aller, J. Carrol Naish, Patricia Barry, Pedro de Cordoba and William Edmunds.

This will mark Sven’s ninth big broadcast of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) on the airlanes of Me-TV.  He previously showcased the classic mammoth 1943 Universal “Frankenstein”/”Wolf Man” monster masterpiece back in Nov. 2011*, March 2012*, Feb. 2013, Dec. 2013, Aug. 2014 and March 2016 and April 2022.

In Sven’s home area of Berwyn/Chicago during his days as the “Son of Svengoolie,” he previously showcased Neill’s classic mammoth Universal monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) on WFLD back in Sept. 1979, according to IMDB.

Who was in “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943)?

The players who appeared in Roy William Neill’s classic Universal monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) were Bela Lugosi (as Frankenstein’s monster), Lon Chaney Jr. (as Larry Talbot/the “Wolf Man”), Ilona Massey (as Baroness Elsa Frankenstein), Maria Ouspenskaya (as Maleva), Patric Knowles (as Dr. Frank Mannering),  Dwight Frye (as Rudi),  Lionel Atwill (as the Mayor), Doris Lloyd (in an uncredited role as the nurse of Dr. Mannering), young Martha Vickers (in an uncredited role as as Margareta), Dennis Hoey (as Inspector Owen), Don Barclay (as Franzec), Harry Stubbs (as Guno) and Rex Evans (as Vazec).

“Svengoolie” presents his big premiere of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026; this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of a classic mammoth sci-fi thriller masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big premiere of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026

Original 1956 theatrical release trailer for Don Siegel’s classic mammoth Allied Artists* sci-fi masterpiece adaptation of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” with Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones and Richard Deacon.

“Walter Wanger creates the ‘ultimate’ in science-fiction!” Original 1956 Allied Artists* theatrical poster art for “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

The legendary and iconic Berywn/Chicago-based classic mammoth sci-fi feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) as part of Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026 on the airlanes of Me-TV this Sven Sat. evening, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

The classic mammoth 1956 sci-fi/thriller masterpiece was directed by veteran editor-turned-feature film director Don Siegel. He began his film career for the original incarnation of Warner Bros. in 1940 as a montage editor. Siegel worked on numerous features from the original incarnation of Warners including William Keighley‘s classic mammoth comedy masterpiece adaptation of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman‘s stage play, “George Washington Slept Here” (1942) with Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Hattie McDaniel, Charles Coburn, Percy Kilbride (later of Universal Studios‘ “Ma & Pa Kettle” fame), Franklin Pangborn, Joyce Reynolds and William Tracy; Raoul Walsh‘s classic mammoth biopic drama masterpiece on the life of champion boxer “Gentleman Jim” Corbett, “Gentleman Jim” (1942) with Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, the senior Alan Hale, a pre “I Love Lucy” and a pre-“My Three Sons”/Ernie “Binge the Cringe” William Frawley, Ward Bond, Madeleine LeBeau, Rhys Williams and Monte Blue and Michael Curtiz‘s critically-acclaimed classic mammoth wartime drama masterpiece production of “Casablanca” (1942) with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Dooley Wilson, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Conrad Veidt.

One of his earliest directorial credits was his classic mammoth Holiday short subject masterpiece for the original incarnation of Warners, “Star in the Night” (1945) with J. Carrol Naish, Donald Woods, Rosina Galli, Richard Erdman, Lynn Baggett, John Miles, Anthony Caruso, Irving Bacon, Claire Du Brey, Dick Elliott, Cactus Mack and Virginia Sale. He also directed the classic mammoth Allied Artists film noir drama masterpiece, “Crime in the Streets” (1956) with James Whitmore (of 1954’s “Them!” fame), John Cassavetes, Sal Mineo, Mark Rydell, Virginia Gregg and Malcolm Atterbury; the classic mammoth film noir drama masterpiece adaptation of author Ernest Hemingway‘s novel, “The Gun Runners” (1958, the first feature-length production for pioneering TV syndicator Eliot Hyman’s Seven Arts; released via United Artists) with Audie Murphy, Eddie Albert, Patricia Owens, Everett Sloane, Richard Jaeckel, Paul Birch, Jack Elam and Herb Vigran and the classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) western masterpiece adaptation of Clair Huffaker‘s novel, “Flaming Star” (1960) with Elvis Presley, a pre-“I Dream of Jeannie” Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest, Dolores Del Río, John McIntire, Rodolfo Acosta and Karl Swenson. Siegel also directed two episodes of Rod Serling‘s classic mammoth supernatural TV masterpiece series, “The Twilight Zone” (1963’s “Uncle Simon” and 1964’s “The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross“).

Siegel also directed his Universal Studios adaptation re-make of Hemingway’s other novel, “The Killers” (1964; the earlier classic mammoth 1946 film noir masterpiece adaptation of Hemingway’s novel of the same name was also released/co-produced by Universal) with Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Cassavetes, Clu Gulager, Claude Akins, Norman Fell, singer Nancy Wilson, a pre-political Ronald Reagan in his final feature film appearance, Don Haggerty, Cosmo Sardo, Robert Phillips, Davis Roberts, Kathleen O’Malley and Peter Hobbs. He later collaborated with veteran actor Clint Eastwood and his production company for several of his notable feature film appearances, including “Coogan’s Bluff” (1968) with Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling, Louis Zorich, David Doyle, Don Stroud, Betty Field, Tom Tully and a brief cameo by Siegel; “Two Mules for Sister Sara” (1970) with Shirley MacLaine, Eastwood, Manolo Fábregas, Alberto Morin, Ada Carrasco, Pancho Córdova and Armando Silvestre; “The Beguiled” (1971) with Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, Jo Ann Harris, Mae Mercer, Darleen Carr, Pamelyn Ferdin, Melody Thomas Scott and Buddy Van Horn; “Dirty Harry” (1971) with Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon (later of 1978’s “National Lampoon’s Animal House” fame and of 1988’s “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” fame), Mercer, Andrew Robinson, John Larch, John Mitchum, Lyn Edgington, Ruth Kobart, William Paterson, James Nolan, Max Gail (later of TV’s “Barney Miller” fame),
Debralee Scott (later of TV’s “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman“/”Forever Fernwood” fame and of TV’s “Angie” fame) and a cameo by Siegel and “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979) with Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan (of TV’s “The Prisoner” fame), Roberts Blossom, young Danny Glover, Jack Thibeau, Fred Ward, Paul Benjamin, Larry Hankin, Bruce M. Fischer, Frank Ronzio, Fred Stuthman and Madison Arnold.

Siegel’s classic mammoth 1956 sci-fi masterpiece was adapted from sci-fi author Jack Finney‘s serial for Collier’s Magazine by veteran screenwriters Daniel Mainwaring and Richard Collins.

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) was produced by veteran feature film producers/executives Walter Wanger and Walter Mirisch. Siegel previously worked with Wanger when the director directed his classic mammoth film noir/crime drama masterpiece for Allied Artists*, “Riot in Cell Block 11” (1954) with Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon, Robert Osterloh, veteran voice-over artist Paul Frees in one of his few on-screen appearances, Don Keefer, Alvy Moore, Greer, James Anderson, Carleton Young and William Schallert. Five years before production began on “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” Wanger himself was in major trouble when he shot producer/talent agent Jennings Lang after accusing that Lang was having an affair with actress Joan Bennett in 1951; Wagner was married to Bennett from 1940-65. After Wanger pleaded temporary insanity during his trial hearing, he was placed in jail for four months; according to Stephen Galloway’s 2019 article for The Hollywood Reporter on Wanger’s 1951 incident.

At the time that the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was in production, Walter Mirisch was involved as a production head with Allied Artists*. His involvement with the company dated back to the production/releasing firm’s days as Monogram Pictures* when he produced his first feature production, “Fall Guy” (1947, directed by Reginald LeBorg). A year after the box-office success of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956), Mirisch and his brothers joined the rejuvenated and rival distribution/releasing firm United Artists in a long-term production pact with the distributor under the “Mirisch Corporation” moniker. The Mirischs were responsible for many of UA’s theatrical feature successes at the box office during the late 1950s and 1960s, even stretching into most of United Artists’ Transamerica era.

Who was in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956)?

The players who appeared in Don Siegel’s classic mammoth Allied Artists* sci-fi masterpiece adaptation of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) were Kevin McCarthy (as Dr. Miles J. Bennell), Dana Wynter (as Becky Driscoll), Larry Gates (as Dr. Dan “Danny” Kauffman), King Donovan (as Jack Belicec), Carolyn Jones (as Theodora “Teddy” Belicec), Jean Willes (as Nurse Sally Withers), Virginia Christine (as Wilma Lentz), Tom Fadden (as Ira Lentz), Guy Way (as Police Sgt. Sam Janzek), Everett Glass (as Dr. Ed Pursey), Dabbs Greer (as Mac Lomax), Pat O’Malley (as a baggage handler), young Sam Peckinpah (as Charlie), Whit Bissell (in an uncredited role as Dr. Hill), Richard Deacon (in an uncredited role as Dr. Harvey Bassett), Frank Hagney (in an uncredited role as a townsman) and Robert Osterloh (in an uncredited role as an ambulance transport driver).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Munster, Go Home!” (1966) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026, this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big Halloween BOOnanza 2026 broadcast of a classic mammoth Universal Studios “Munsters” monster/comedy feature masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast showcase of “Munster, Go Home!” (1966) for Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026

A snippet from Earl Bellamy‘s classic mammoth 1966 Universal Studios “Munster” monster/comedy masterpiece production of “Munster, Go Home!” featuring Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Butch Patrick, Al Lewis and Debbie Watson.

“America’s Funniest Family in their first full-length feature!” Original 1966 Universal Studios theatrical poster artwork for “Munster, Go Home!”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based monster film host will present his big broadcast of “Munster, Go Home!” (1966) as part of Sven’s Halloween BOOnanza 2026 festival on the airlanes of Me-TV this Sat., Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The classic mammoth 1966 feature-length Universal “Munsters” monster-comedy masterpiece is one of Sven’s many requested classic mammoth Universal comedy feature film masterpieces and one of many favorites of fellow Super SvenPals/Super Tooners everywhere, alongside Charles Barton‘s classic mammoth Universal monster comedy masterpiece with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Glenn Strange, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Lenore Aubert and Jane Randolph, “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948) and Alan Rafkin‘s classic mammoth Universal ghoul comedy masterpiece with Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond, Dick Sargent, Skip Homeier, Reta Shaw, Philip Ober, Charles Lane, Dick Wilson and Hal Smith, “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966, “Attaboy, Luther!”)! -C.H.

Inspired by Universal/MCA’s classic mammoth monster-comedy TV masterpiece series, “The Munsters;” which aired from 1964-66, the studio’s classic mammoth feature-length “Munsters” monster-comedy masterpiece production was directed by veteran feature film and television director Earl Bellamy. Bellamy directed seven episodes of “The Munsters” throughout the original series run of the classic mammoth Universal/MCA TV monster-comedy masterpiece production.

Universal/MCA’s original plan for “Munster, Go Home!” was that the feature-length “Munsters” production was going to be produced as a made-for-TV movie for one of the three major networks at the time. Universal/MCA specialized in numerous “made-for-TV”/”TV movie of the week” productions at the time for the major networks in addition to feature films and TV series according to David Heeley’s 1996 documentary on the history of Universal Studios, “The Universal Story.” Because of the high expenses that were utilized for the production of episodes of “The Munsters” TV series, Universal/MCA executives determined that in order to offset the production costs of the classic mammoth “Munsters” monster masterpiece TV series, it was decided that “Munster, Go Home!” would be produced as a regular Universal theatrical feature film, according to Lorraine LoBianco’s Dec. 2020 Turner Classic Movies online article on Bellamy’s classic mammoth 1966 Universal “Munsters” monster-comedy masterpiece production of “Munster, Go Home!”

Alongside directing episodes of “The Munsters” and the Universal feature production of “Munster, Go Home!” (1966); Bellamy previously worked as a second unit director for rival studio Columbia Pictures, notably for Nicholas Ray’s classic mammoth Columbia film noir/mystery masterpiece production of “In A Lonely Place” (1950) with Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame and for Fred Zinnemann’s classic mammoth Columbia Pictures award-winning drama masterpiece adaptation of “From Here to Eternity” (1955) with Burt Lancaster, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift and young Ernest Borgnine. During his time at Columbia for the studio’s “Screen Gems” television unit, Bellamy later directed seven episodes of the classic mammoth TV adaptation of “Jungle Jim” with Johnny Weissmuller (adapted from the classic mammoth Columbia feature film adventure masterpiece series of the same name with Weissmuller in the title role) from 1955-56. Bellamy later reunited with Ernest Borgnine at Universal from 1964-65 when he directed six episodes of the classic mammoth MCA-Revue-Universal/ABC-TV comedy masterpiece series with Borgnine, Tim Conway, Joe Flynn and Carl Ballantine; “McHale’s Navy.”

“Munster, Go Home!” (1966) was produced by veteran television producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher.  Before “The Munsters” and “Munster, Go Home!” (1966), Connelly and Mosher were also known for their earlier MCA/Revue (Universal) TV family comedy series, “Leave It to Beaver” (1957-63), with Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont. Earl Bellamy also directed four episodes of “Leave It to Beaver” for MCA’s Revue/Universal TV unit from 1960-63. Alongside Connolly and Mosher, the screenplay for “Munster, Go Home!” (1966) was co-written by veteran screenwriter George Tibbles.

This will mark Sven’s tenth big broadcast of the legendary classic mammoth 1966 Universal feature-length “Munster” monster-comedy masterpiece on Me-TV from coast-to-coast. He previously showcased “Munster, Go Home!” (1966) on Me-TV as a big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere back in Feb. 2012* and as regular Sven/Me-TV big broadcasts back in July 2013, May 2014,Nov. 2015, April 2017, July 2018, May 2020, Nov. 2021 and Nov. 2023.

Who was in “Munster, Go Home!” (1966)?

The players who appeared in the 1966 Universal “Munster” monster feature-length comedy masterpiece were Fred Gwynne (as Herman Munster), Yvonne De Carlo (as Lily Munster), Al Lewis (as Grandpa Munster), Butch Patrick (as Eddie Munster), Debbie Watson (as the third Marilyn Munster, after Beverley Owen and Pat Priest in Universal’s “The Munsters” TV series), John Carradine (as Cruikshank), Hermione Gingold (as Lady Effigie Munster), Richard Dawson (as Joey), Terry-Thomas (as Freddie Munster), Bernard Fox (as Squire Lester Moresby), Robert Pine (as Roger Moresby), Arthur Malet (as Alfie) and Jack Dodson (in an uncredited role as a second ship steward).

“Svengoolie” presents his first 2026 “BOOnanza” showcase with his big premiere of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939); this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for the start of his Halloween BOOnanza with a big broadcast premiere of one of the many definitive classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)* fantasy feature film masterpiece adaptations from the studio’s golden age.

“Svengoolie” presents his first 2026 “BOOnanza” showcase starting with his big premiere of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

A moment from Victor Fleming‘s classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)* fantasy masterpiece production of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) with Judy Garland, Jack Haley and Ray Bolger.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s* Technicolor triumph! Original 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)* theatrical poster art for “The Wizard of Oz” with Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth feature film masterpiece host will be kicking off his “Halloween BOOnanza” of 2026 beginning with the classic mammoth MGM* masterpiece adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) this Sven Sat. evening, Oct. 3 on the airlanes of Me-TV at a special time at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central.

The classic mammoth 1939 MGM* fantasy feature film masterpiece adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” was directed by veteran feature film director Victor Fleming. He previously directed the then-controversial classic mammoth MGM* romantic drama masterpiece production of “Red Dust” (1932, Fleming was uncredited for the production) with Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Gene Raymond; the classic mammoth MGM* adventure masterpiece adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s “Treasure Island” (1934) with Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore, Otto Kruger, Nigel Bruce (later of the Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios and Universal Studios classic mammoth feature film mystery masterpiece adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle‘s “Sherlock Holmes” with Basil Rathbone from 1939–46) and Lewis Stone (later of MGM’s* “Andy Hardy” film series fame with Mickey Rooney); the classic mammoth MGM* family drama masterpiece adaptation of Rudyard Kipling‘s novel, “Captains Courageous” (1937) with Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Rooney, Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, John Carradine and future TV travelogue host Bill Burrud.

That same year, Fleming directed another major motion picture that was almost on the same scale as MGM’s* feature film adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” for rival producer David O. Selznick; the feature film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell‘s “Gone with the Wind” (1939, released theatrically by MGM* as part of an agreement with Selznick) with Gable (as part of the distribution arrangement with MGM*, Gable; who was one of MGM’s* leading contractual players was loaned out for Selznick & Fleming’s 1939 production), Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel, a pre-TV “Superman” George Reeves, Evelyn Keyes, Olivia de Havilland, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson (of “The Jack Benny Program” fame), Butterfly McQueen, Leslie Howard, Laura Hope Crews and Ward Bond.

Several of Fleming’s other productions included his classic mammoth MGM* horror/thriller drama masterpiece adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1941) with Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane (of the original incarnation of Warners’ “Torchy Blane” film series fame, of 1941’s “The Maltese Falcon” fame and later of TV’s “I Dream of Jeannie” fame from 1965 until his death in 1969) and C. Aubrey Smith.

Fleming’s final production before his death in 1949 was his classic mammoth biopic drama masterpiece of French heroine Joan d’Arc for veteran producer Walter Wanger, “Joan of Arc” (1948) with Bergman, José Ferrer, Irene Rich, Nestor Paiva (later of Universal’s “Gill-Man”/”Creature from the Black Lagoon” monster trilogy masterpiece series fame), Jimmy Lydon, Selena Royle, Robert Barrat, Leif Erickson, John Ireland, Henry Brandon, Morris Ankrum, Alan Napier (of 1944’s “The Uninvited” fame, later of 1956’s “The Mole People” fame and later of the 1966-68 “Batman” TV series fame), George Zucco and William Conrad (of Radio’s “Gunsmoke” fame, later of “Rocky & Bullwinkle” fame, later of TV’s “Cannon” fame and later of TV’s “Jake and the Fatman” fame). Upon the production’s 1950 general release after Fleming’s death, “Joan of Arc” was issued in an incomplete form until the film was fully restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 1998 with the complete 145 minute edition that had not been seen since the original 1948 premiere.

Veteran director George Cukor served in an uncredited position as a fill-in director for several scenes in “The Wizard of Oz” at MGM, veteran MGM-contracted director King Vidor served in an uncredited position as the director of the Kansas City scenes in the 1939 production, while Richard Thorpe served in an uncredited position as an initial director and Norman Taurog served in an uncredited position as the director of the actors’ test/audition sequences.

The classic mammoth 1939 MGM fantasy masterpiece was produced by veteran director/producer Mervyn LeRoy. Veteran MGM musical producer Arthur Freed served as an associate producer of Fleming and LeRoy’s production.

Adapted from L. Frank Baum‘s 1900 children’s fantasy novel of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz;” which was part of his series of “Oz” novels; the screenplay for Fleming and LeRoy’s classic mammoth 1939 MGM feature masterpiece adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” was adapted as a screenplay by veteran screenwriter Noel Langley; Langley also contributed along with veteran MGM screenwriters Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf.

Who was in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)?

The players who appeared in Fleming’s classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)* fantasy masterpiece adaptation production of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) were Judy Garland (as Dorothy), Frank Morgan (as Prof. Marvel/for those who haven’t seen the classic mammoth 1939 MGM masterpiece adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” the other characters that Morgan appeared in the production will not be revealed, you will have to see for yourself! -C.H.), Ray Bolger (in the dual roles of Hunk/the Scarecrow), Bert Lahr (in the dual roles of Zeke/the Cowardly Lion), Jack Haley (in the dual roles of Hickory/the Tin Woodsman), Terry (as Toto), Billie Burke (as Glinda), Charley Grapewin (as Uncle Henry), Clara Blandick (as Auntie Em), Margaret Hamilton (in the dual roles of Miss Elmira Gulch/the Wicked Witch of the West), Jerry Maren (in an uncredited role as a member of the Lollipop Guild), Betty Ann Cain, Billy Curtis, Daisy Earles Harry Earles and the Singer troupe (as Munchkins) and the vocal stylings of Ken Darby ( of the Ken Darby Singers fame) and veteran animated voice-over artists Pinto Colvig and Billy Bletcher (in uncredited positions for some of the vocalizations and choral dubs for the Munchkins).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) with Don Knotts and Joan Staley, this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of one of the definitive classic mammoth Universal Studios spook comedy masterpieces and one of many Sven favorites.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) with Don Knotts and Joan Staley

Original 1966 TV trailer for the original theatrical release of Alan Rafkin’s classic mammoth Universal Studios feature comedy masterpiece, “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” with Don Knotts and Joan Staley.  Fun Fact: Contains the prototype for the latter “closing” logo for some of Universal/MCA’s theatrical feature film productions/releases with a promo title/slide for Universal Studios Hollywood (Universal City), a variant of the aforementioned Universal closing was later famously featured in John Landis‘ classic mammoth Universal feature comedy masterpiece,  “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978) and Landis’ classic mammoth Universal feature comedy masterpiece, “The Blues Brothers” (1980). -C.H.

“It’s the year’s funniest ‘yolk’!” Original 1966 Universal Studios theatrical poster artwork for “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” with Don Knotts and Joan Staley.  

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth spook comedy feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) on the airlanes of Me-TV this Sven Sat. evening, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

The classic 1966 mammoth Universal spook comedy masterpiece of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” was directed by veteran feature film and television director  ​Alan Rafkin​.  Rafkin directed 27 episodes of Andy Griffith’s classic mammoth TV comedy masterpiece, “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1964-67 and five episodes of the classic mammoth television spin-off comedy masterpiece series of “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” with Jim Nabors in 1965.  

The screenplay for “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” was written by veteran television writers ​Jim Fritzell​ and ​Everett Greenbaum​.  The television writing duo of Fritzell and Greenbaum were both known for the majority of their screenwriting careers for writing numerous episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1961-64 and for writing numerous episodes of the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) television comedy-drama adaptation masterpiece, “M*A*S*H” from 1974-78 (adapted from Robert Altman’s classic mammoth critically acclaimed 1970 Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios comedy-drama feature film masterpiece of the same name, “M*A*S*H”) .

“The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) was produced by veteran MCA-Revue-Universal television and film producer Edward J. Mantagne, who served as producer and executive producer of the studio’s classic mammoth TV comedy masterpiece series, “McHale’s Navy” (1962-66) with Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway (in his pre-Carol Burnett Show days), Joe Flynn and Gavin MacLeod ((in his pre-“Mary Tyler Moore Show” & pre-“The Love Boat” days).

The orchestral source music score for Rafkin’s classic mammoth Universal ghoul comedy masterpiece production of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) was composed by veteran composer Vic Mizzy. Mizzy was known for his numerous TV and feature film source orchestral soundtrack score compositions throughout his career; including the famous title theme song for the classic mammoth 1964-66 Filmways/ABC television live-action sitcom masterpiece adaptation of Charles Addams’ “The Addams Family” (1964-66) with John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Marie Blake/Blossom Rock. 

Mizzy also worked on the original source orchestral soundtrack score recording for William Castle’s classic mammoth Universal macabre thriller masterpiece, “The Night Walker” (1964) with Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor and a pre-“I Dream of Jeannie” Hayden Roarke.

This will mark Sven’s twelfth big broadcast of Rafkin’s classic mammoth 1966 Universal ghoul/spook comedy masterpiece on the airlanes of Me-TV.  He previously showcased of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) back in ​Nov. 2011*​, ​July 2012*​, ​Nov. 2014, ​April 2015​, ​Oct. 2017​, July 2018,  Feb. 2020, May 2021 (as part of Me-TV’s May 2021 “Month of Mayberry” tribute festival in connection to “The Andy Griffith Show”), July 2022, May 2023, Oct. 2024 as part of the Sven’s “Halloween Boo-nanza” showcase paired with Arthur Crabtree and Richard Gordon‘s classic mammoth sci-fi/creature feature masterpiece production of “Fiend Without A Face” (1958) and the big broadcast of the classic mammoth original documentary masterpiece on the life and career of Svengoolie/Rich Koz, “Svengoolie: Uncrypted” (2022) with guest cameos by fellow wonderful friends/Super SvenPals/Super Tooners/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Sarah Rhodes, Nanette Keir and Brian Bernardoni with the classic collection of select Son of Sven/Sven memorabilia items and props via fellow wonderful friends/Super SvenPals/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Dave Fuentes of “Terror From Beyond the Dave” fame and Warner Todd Huston and numerous surprises and back in Oct. 2025.

Who was in “The Ghost and Mister Chicken” (1966)?

The players who appeared in Rafkin’s classic mammoth 1966 Universal feature masterpiec production of “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) were Don Knotts​ (as Luther Heggs), ​Joan Staley​ (as Alma Parker), ​Dick Sargent​ (as George Beckett), Hal Smith​ (in an uncredited role as Calver Weems),  Reta Shaw​ (as Mrs. Halcyon Maxwell), ​Dick Wilson​ (in an uncredited role as the town bandleader/bandmaster), ​Liam Redmond​ (as Kelsey), ​Skip Homeier​ (as Ollie Weaver)  Lurene Tuttle (as Mrs. Natalie Miller), Robert Cornthwaite (as Springer), Philip Ober​ (as Nicholas Simmons), Jesslyn Fax (as Mrs. Hutchinson), James Millhollin (as Mr. Milo Maxwell), Harry Hickox (as police chief Art Fuller),  Nydia Westman (as Mrs. Cobb), Charles Lane (as lawyer Whitlow), George Chandler (as Judge Harley Nast), Sandra Gould (as Loretta Pine), Ellen Corby (as Ms. Neva Tremaine) and Cliff Norton (as Charlie, the bailiff).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Fly” (1958) with Vincent Price and David “Al” Hedison, this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Fly” (1958) with Vincent Price and David “Al” Hedison

A moment from Kurt Neumann‘s classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi masterpiece, “The Fly” (1958) with Patricia Owens and David “Al” Hedison.

“The ‘new age’ of horror comes in on the ‘wings’ of ‘The Fly!’ ‘Fly High’ with ‘The Fly..’ from 20th!” Original 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) exhibitors’ leaflet for “The Fly.”

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth sci-fi/fantasy feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “The Fly” (1958) this Sven Sat. evening on the airlanes of Me-TV, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

The classic mammoth 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi/fantasy feature masterpiece was directed and produced by veteran director/screenwriter Kurt Neumann. 

Neumann previously wrote the screenplay treatment in an uncredited role for Garrett Fort‘s screenplay for Lambert Hillyer’s classic mammoth Universal Studios “Dracula” vampire-monster sequel masterpiece production of “Dracula’s Daughter” (1936) with Gloria Holden, Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Hedda Hopper, Irving Pichel and E.E. Clive.  Two years before he wrote his original story concept for “Dracula’s Daughter,” Neumann previously directed his classic mammoth Universal mystery/horror masterpiece feature production of   “The Secret of the Blue Room” (1933) with Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart (of 1933’s “The Invisible Man” fame and of 1997’s “Titanic” fame), Paul Lukas, Edward Arnold, Onslow Stevens, Muriel Kirkland and William Janney.

Neumann also wrote the original story treatment for Lew Landers’ classic mammoth Columbia Pictures vampire/monster masterpiece, “The Return of the Vampire” (1943) with Bela Lugosi, Nina Foch, Matt Willis, Frieda Inescort, Roland Varno, Ottola Nesmith, Gilbert Emery, William Austin, Leslie Denison and Miles Mander; Neumann’s original story treatment was adapted for Landers’ 1943 Columbia production by veteran screenwriter Griffin Jay with additional dialogue by Randall Faye.

The screenplay for Neumann’s classic mammoth 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece production was written by veteran screenwriter and novelist James Clavell.  Clavell previously co-wrote the screenplay adaptation of Paul Brickhill‘s book  with W.R. Burnett of John Sturges‘ classic mammoth Mirisch/United Artists wartime drama masterpiece adaptation of “The Great Escape” (1963) with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, David McCallum (later of TV’s “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” fame, TV’s “Sapphire and Steel” fame and TV’s “NCIS” fame) and John Leyton; he later directed and wrote the screenplay adaptation for the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Columbia Pictures drama masterpiece production adaptation of E.R. Braithwaite‘s novel, “To Sir, With Love” (1967) with Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall, a pre-“Keeping Up Appearances” Patricia Routledge, a pre-“Ghoulies” and pre-“MacGyver” Michael Des Barres and Lulu (she sang the classic mammoth title masterpiece song of the same name).  Alongside his screenwriting and directorial career, Clavell was best known for his critically acclaimed novel of Shogun, which was adapted into the critically-acclaimed classic mammoth made-for-TV miniseries masterpiece; “Shogun” (1980, directed by Jerry London) with Richard Chamberlain, Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Shimada and John Rhys-Davies.

Clavell’s screenplay for “The Fly” (1958) was adapted from George Langelaan‘s original story concept.

Alongside Kurt Neumann’s producing duties, veteran producer Robert L. Lippert served as executive producer of the 1958 classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi/fantasy feature masterpiece production of “The Fly” (1958).  This was one of the few successful productions for Lippert, as he usually specialized in “B” westerns and low-budget sci-fi feature film productions.  Some of Lippert’s independently-produced low-budget productions were famously riffed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000;” notably Bert I. Gordon’s “King Dinosaur,” “The Lost Continent,” “Rocketship X-M,” “Jungle Goddess,” “Radar Secret Service” and “Last of the Wild Horses.”

Alongside “The Fly,” one of Lippert’s other successful productions was his co-production of Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow‘s classic mammoth zombie sci-fi/horror masterpiece adaptation of Richard Matheson‘s “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) with Vincent Price and Franca Bettoia for Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures.

“The Fly” (1958) was originally planned as a production under Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios)’s “B” picture unit.  According to the American Film Institute (AFI)’s database article on “The Fly” (1958) and veteran film distributor Kit Parker’s extensive series of articles, the production of “The Fly” was going to be released by Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios), but not under the regular Twentieth Century Fox moniker.   

“The Fly” was originally planned as a release under the Regal Pictures, Inc. moniker, which was a “B” production unit headed by Robert L. Lippert.  Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios)’s function was to distribute, market and co-finance Lippert’s Regal productions.  Kurt Neumann previously worked with Robert L. Lippert, notably for the cult low-budget sci-fi production that was famously riffed on MST3K in 1990, “Rocketship X-M” (1950) with Lloyd Bridges of “Sea Hunt” and “Airplane!” fame, Osa Massen, John Emery, Noah Beery Jr., Hugh O’Brian and Morris Ankrum and one year before “The Fly,” the Regal production of “Kronos” (1957) with Jeff Morrow, Barbara Lawrence, John Emery, George O’Hanlon of Warner Bros.’ “Joe McDoakes” short subjects fame and later of TV’s “The Jetsons” fame and Ankrum.

Regal Pictures was set up as a “B” budget feature production unit for “B” features to be tagged along with ordinary Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) CinemaScope widescreen “A” budget motion pictures. Regal was also set up between Lippert and then-Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) head Spyros Skouras due to Lippert facing scrutiny under the Screen Actors Guild when he sold his previous motion pictures for television syndication.

Fearing that the “CinemaScope” name would be used for Lippert/Regal’s “B” productions, Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) insisted that the name be changed to “RegalScope” for Lippert’s widescreen productions, though the Regal productions were filmed using Bausch & Lomb’s CinemaScope widescreen lens and exhibited with Bausch & Lomb CinemaScope projection lens.  The Regal “RegalScope” productions were mostly in black and white with monaural sound. 

Because of Lippert’s conflicts, “The Fly” (1958) was made into a regular Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) “A” budget CinemaScope widescreen production with Kurt Neumann directing, along with cinematography by veteran cinematographer Karl Struss and a stereophonic source orchestral score soundtrack by veteran composer Bernhard Kaun.  According to the original 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) poster art, “The Fly” was processed in “Terror-Color” by Deluxe Laboratories (today’s Deluxe Media), which was once the in-house film processing firm of Fox Film Corporation/Twentieth Century Fox (today’s Twentieth Century Studios).

This will mark Sven’s second big broadcast of “The Fly” (1958) on the airlanes of Me-TV. He previously showcased Neumann’s classic mammoth 1958 Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi/fantasy feature masterpiece as a Sven Halloween “BOO-nanza” big broadcast premiere back in Oct. 2025.

Who was in “The Fly” (1958)?

The players who appeared in Kurt Neumann’s classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece production of “The Fly” (1958) were Vincent Price (as François Delambre), Patricia Owens (as Helene Delambre), David “Al” Hedison (as Andre Delambre, “The Fly”), Kathleen Freeman (as Emma), Betty Lou Gerson (as Nurse Andersone), Herbert Marshall (as Insp. Charas) and Charles Herbert (as Phillipe Delambre).

“Svengoolie” presents his big premiere of “They Came from Beyond Space” (1967), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of a classic mammoth British sci-fi masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big premiere of “They Came from Beyond Space” (1967)

Original 1966/67 Embassy Pictures U.S. theatrical release trailer for Freddie Francis‘ classic mammoth Amicus sci-fi masterpiece production of “They Came from Beyond Space” with Robert Hutton, Jennifer Jayne and Michael Gough.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth sci-fi feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “They Came from Beyond Space” (1967) this Sven Sat. evening Sept. 5 on the airlanes of Me-TV at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

“They Came from Beyond Space” was directed by veteran feature film director Freddie Francis. Throughout his career in the film industry, Francis previously served as the cinematographer for Karel Reisz‘s Woodfall/British Lion romantic drama production of “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” (1961, released theatrically in the United States through New York/New Jersey-based cinema circuit & film & TV distributor Walter Reade-Sterling/Walter Reade Organization’s Continental Film Distributors) with young Albert Finney (later of 1963’s “Tom Jones” fame and 1982’s “Annie” fame), Rachel Roberts, Shirley Anne Field and young Peter Sallis (also of 1961’s “Curse of the Werewolf” fame, later of BBC-TV’s “Last of the Summer Wine” fame and of interest to fellow wonderful friends/Super readers/Super Tooners of “Toon In With Me;” the original vocal stylings of Wallace in Nick Park & Aardman’s critically-acclaimed “Wallace and Gromit” classic mammoth stop-motion masterpiece productions).

Francis later directed his classic mammoth Universal Studios/Hammer Films thriller masterpiece production of “Nightmare” (1964) with David Knight, Moira Redmond, Jennie Linden and Brenda Bruce.

He also directed his classic mammoth Amicus horror/thriller masterpiece production of “The Skull” (1965) with British screen horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

He later directed his classic mammoth Amicus thriller anthology masterpiece adaptation of “Tales from the Crypt” (1972, long before the critically-acclaimed modern classic mammoth 1989-96 HBO premium TV horror anthology masterpiece adaptation series of the same name) with Ralph Richardson, Joan Collins, Martin Boddey, Chloe Franks, Ian Hendry, Robin Phillips, David Markham, Richard Greene, Barbara Murray, Roy Dotrice, Nigel Patrick and Patrick Magee.  The 1972 feature adaptation of “Tales from the Crypt” was co-produced by broadcast station owner Metromedia, eleven years before the broadcast/multimedia giant acquired the original Berwyn/Chicago home TV station of Son of Sven/Sven/Rich Koz, WFLD/32 from the Field family/Field Communications/Field Enterprises in 1983. -C.H.  Ironically, Francis later directed an episode of the HBO “Tales from the Crypt” series adaptation near the conclusion of the HBO series run in 1996, titled “Last Respects” with Emma Samms, Kerry Fox, Julie Cox, Michael Denison and the vocal stylings of the “Cryptkeeper,” John Kassir.

Francis also directed the cult classic mammoth vampire/comedy masterpiece production of “Son of Dracula” (1972/74) with music legends and icons Harry Nilsson, ex-Beatle Ringo Starr (Starr also co-produced the 1972 production), Peter Frampton, Keith Moon, Leon Russell, John Bonham and Klaus Voormann plus  Suzanna Leigh and Dennis Price.

He later served as a cinematographer for David Lynch‘s classic mammoth Universal/Dino DeLaurentiis sci-fi masterpiece adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” (1984) with Kyle McLachlan, Virginia Madsen, José Ferrer, Francesca Annis, Alicia Witt, Dean Stockwell (of 1948’s “The Boy with Green Hair” fame and also of the original 1989-93 Universal/NBC “Quantum Leap” series fame), legendary rock musician/singer Sting and Patrick Stewart (later of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame and associated feature films and spin-off series in connection to Trek: TNG) and for Edward Zwick‘s classic mammoth TriStar critically-acclaimed Civil War drama masterpiece, “Glory” (1989) with Denzel Washington, Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, Cary Elwes, John Finn, RonReaco Lee, Bob Minor, Richard Riehle and Raymond St. Jacques.

Adapted from Joseph Millard‘s sci-fi novel of “The Gods Hate Kansas,” Millard’s novel was adapted into a screenplay by veteran producer/writer Milton Subotsky. “They Came from Beyond Space” was produced by Subtosky and Max Rosenberg‘s production firm, Amicus Productions.  Subtosky and Rosenberg formed Amicus Productions in 1962, according to the British Film Institute.  In the same “house style” of British horror/thriller feature masterpiece productions as rival production company Hammer Films, Amicus usually formed co-production partnerships and alliances with the major Hollywood film studios/film distributors.

Joseph E. Levine and George Jessel, ca. 1962.

“They Came from Beyond Space” (1967) was released by veteran feature film producer/distributor/exhibitor Joseph E. Levine‘s releasing firm, Embassy Pictures; according to the original theatrical release trailer for the 1967 production. Levine established Embassy as a distributor of art-house, international and independently-produced feature film productions. The company was originally established by Levine in Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1940s, according to a 1987 Los Angeles Times obituary on the veteran film producer/distributor/exhibitor.

Joseph E. Levine originally acquired and licensed the North American theatrical releasing rights to the dubbed edition of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature/monster masterpiece from Japan, “Gojira“/“Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56) With Haruo Nakajima, Ryosaku Takasugi, a pre-“Perry Mason” Raymond Burr,  Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kochi, Frank Iwanaga, Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata, Sachio Sakai, Fuyuki Murakami, Ren Yamamoto, Toyoaki Suzuki, Tadashi Okabe, Toranosuke Ogawa, Kenji Sahara, Mikel Conrad and the vocal stylings of James Hong, Sammee Tong and Paul Frees. Levine’s Embassy also specialized in importing several dubbed editions of Italian “sword and sandal” features to the United States, notably the “Hercules” series of features with “Hercules” (1958) and “Hercules Unchained” (1959) with Steve Reeves (both Hercules films were leased by Levine to Embassy’s major rival, Warner Bros. for expanded theatrical distribution).

Three years before “They Came from Outer Space,” Levine’s Embassy also co-produced and released Nicholas Webster‘s cult classic holiday production of “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964) with John Call, Vincent Beck, Bill McCutcheon, Ned Wertimer, young Pia Zadora and the music of Milton Delugg. Levine’s distribution firm also co-produced and released Bert I. Gordon‘s “Village of the Giants” (1965) with Ron “Ronny” Howard, Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, Joy Harmon, Beau Bridges, Tisha Sterling, Johnny Crawford, Toni Basil, Tommy Kirk and The Beau Brummels.

Some of the notable critically-acclaimed classic mammoth Levine/Embassy-produced masterpiece features also include Mike Nichols‘ “The Graduate” (1967) with Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Buck Henry, Norman Fell, Alice Ghostley and the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel along with select jazz orchestrations of Dave Grusin; Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass‘ “Mad Monster Party?” (1967) with the vocal stylings of silver screen horror legend Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Phyllis Diller, Gale Garnett and Ethel Ennis, Mel Brooks‘ “The Producers” (1968) with Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars, Christopher Hewett (later of TV’s “Mr. Belvedere” fame), Estelle Winwood, Andréas Voutsinas, Renée Taylor, Frank Campanella, Lee Meredith, Barney Martin, Bill Macy (later of TV’s “Maude” fame) and William Hickey and Anthony Harvey‘s adaptation of James Goldman‘s “The Lion in Winter” (1968) with Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton and Jane Merrow.

In 1968, Levine sold his production/releasing firm to aviation, broadcasting, financial services and industrial conglomerate Avco Corporation. Rebadged by the conglomerate as Avco Embassy Pictures, Levine stayed on for several more years until departing the company in 1974 (due in part to Avco’s tinkering of Embassy Pictures and the conglomerate’s own financial problems at the time, which caused the firm to pause feature film productions).

Avco re-entered Embassy feature film production financing and distribution beginning in 1978 under the guidance of producer Robert Rheme, notably for the U.S. theatrical release of the animated adaptation of “Watership Down” (1978), John Carpenter‘s “The Fog” (1980) with Adrienne Barbeau of TV’s “Maude” fame, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Tom Atkins and Hal Holbrook; Joe Dante‘s “The Howling” (1981) with Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee of TV’s “The Avengers” fame, Dennis Dugan, Kevin McCarthy of 1957’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” fame, John Carradine and Slim Pickens; Carpenter’s “Escape From New York” (1981) with Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Isaac Hayes, Ernest Borgnine, Barbeau, Atkins, Harry Dean Stanton and Donald Pleasence and the U.S. distribution of Terry Gilliam and ex-Beatle George Harrison‘s “Time Bandits” (1981, produced by Harrison’s Handmade Films) with Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin and Kenny Baker.

Despite the successes during Rheme’s supervision of Avco’s tenure of Embassy (Rheme left Avco for a production position at rival Universal Studios/MCA), the one-time conglomerate sold Embassy Pictures to veteran groundbreaking television producer Norman Lear at the end of 1981.

Lear consolidated Embassy with his Tandem and T.A.T. production/syndication companies along with the in-house P*I*T*S syndication subsidiary into a new Embassy Pictures/Embassy Television. The combined company even expanded into the growing home entertainment market with pioneering home entertainment executive Andre Blay.

Some of the major classic mammoth Embassy masterpiece features during Lear’s ownership of the company included Wes Craven‘s adaptation of “Swamp Thing” (1982) with Barbeau, Louis Jourdan, Dick Durock, Ray Wise and David Hess; Rob Reiner‘s “This is Spinal Tap” (1984) with Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Bruno Kirby, Fran Drescher (later of TV’s “The Nanny” fame), Patrick Macnee, Howard Hesseman (of TV’s “WKRP in Cincinnati” fame), Paul Shaffer (of TV’s “Saturday Night Live” and of TV’s “Late Night/Late Show with David Letterman” fame), Billy Crystal, young Dana Carvey, Fred Willard, Anjelica Huston (the real-life daughter of director/actor/writer John Huston), June Chadwick and Tony Hendra and Richard Attenborough‘s adaptation of “A Chorus Line” (1985) with Michael Douglas, Nicole Fosse, Yamil Borges, Sharon Brown, Cameron English, Gregg Burge and Jan Gan Boyd.

Lear sold his television and feature film production/distribution holdings to soft drink giant Coca-Cola in 1985; owner of Embassy’s then-major rival; Columbia Pictures (Coke acquired Columbia in 1982). Due to anti-trust concerns at the time, Coca-Cola sold off pieces of Embassy. While Columbia Pictures/Coca-Cola kept the Embassy Television/Embassy Telecommunications production/syndication unit and a long-term agreement for the North American TV syndication and cable/pay-cable rights of the majority of the Embassy feature film backlog on behalf of the successor of the Embassy feature film library*, the feature film holdings (including “They Came from Outer Space”) were sold to veteran feature film producer Dino De Laurentiis; who renamed Embassy Pictures as De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) in 1986. Due to De Laurentiis’ numerous financial and box-office troubles for his distribution firm, the firm’s film backlog was sold to France-based Parafrance/Paravision International in 1988; which was then acquired by France’s Canal+/StudioCanal in 1994; which owns all global theatrical distribution/home entertainment licensing rights to the majority of the Embassy Pictures feature film library*.

*Sony (which acquired Columbia Pictures outright in 1989) still owns the North American TV/cable syndication rights to the majority of the Embassy Pictures feature film library on behalf of StudioCanal+, StudioCanal+ manages the worldwide streaming/premium streaming distribution rights to the majority of the Embassy Pictures feature film library. -C.H.

Who was in “They Came from Beyond Space” (1967)?

The players who appeared in Francis’ classic mammoth Amicus/Embassy sci-fi feature masterpiece production of “They Came from Beyond Space” (1967) were Robert Hutton (as Dr. Curtis Temple), Jennifer Jayne (as Lee Mason), Zia Mohyeddin (as Farge), Bernard Kay (as Richard Arden), Michael Gough (as the Master of the Moon), Robin Parkinson (as Maitland), Katy Wild (as a woman of the street), Kenneth Kendall (as a news presenter), Maurice Good (as Stilwell), Paul Bacon (as Dr. Rogers), Paul Bacon and Jack Lambert (as doctors); Frank Forsyth (as Blake), Terence Conoley (in an uncredited role as a Moon Guard), George Hilsdon (in an uncredited role as a guard) and Ernest “Kiwi” Kingston (in an uncredited role as the second gas station attendant).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) featuring Karen Black, this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth made-for-network TV horror feature-length anthology movie masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) featuring Karen Black

Compilation trailer for Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie horror/thriller/supernatural masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black.  Sidebar: This snippet was originally prepared/licensed by ABC for the latter VHS release via Illinois-based pioneering home entertainment distributor MPI Home Video (which would morph into today’s MPI Media Group, MPI had most home entertainment rights to select ABC-produced programs and ABC News programs/specials, MPI currently represents select home entertainment/physical media/streaming & select TV syndication rights to Dan Curtis’ select productions via Dan Curtis’ family/the estate of Dan Curtis).  Viewer discretion is advised.

“Karen Black is Sensational in ‘Trilogy of Terror’!” Original 1975 ABC Television Network newspaper advertising proof for the original “Tuesday Movie of the Week” airing of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” with Karen Black.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth supernatural/horror film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) this Sat., Aug. 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the airlanes of Me-TV.

The classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV thriller anthology feature masterpiece production was directed by veteran television and feature film director-producer Dan Curtis.

Curtis was best-known for producing and directing his own classic mammoth ABC television network gothic horror masterpiece series production of “Dark Shadows” (1966-71)* with Jonathan Frid (in the lead role of vampire Barnabas Collins) and Grayson Hall (in the lead role of Dr. Julia Hoffman, also of 1972’s “Gargoyles” fame).  Curtis also directed two classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gothic horror feature film masterpiece adaptations of his ABC-TV “Dark Shadows” series; “House of Dark Shadows” (1970) with Frid and “Night of Dark Shadows” (1971, produced and released around the same time that the ABC television network cancelled “Dark Shadows”).  20 years after the final ABC broadcast of “Dark Shadows,” Curtis reunited with MGM to produce a newer, short-lived primetime “Dark Shadows” series for rival network NBC in 1991 with Ben Cross in the role of vampire Barnabas Collins in the latter/brief Curtis/MGM/NBC “Dark Shadows” TV series revival.

Curtis was also involved with two classic mammoth ABC “Movie of the Week”/”Kolchak” made-for-TV movie supernatural masterpiece pilots, “The Night Stalker” (1972, produced by Curtis, directed by John Llewellyn Moxey) with  Darren McGavin (of the 1958-59 “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” TV adaptation series fame and later of 1983’s “A Christmas Story” fame), Carol Lynley (of 1972’s “The Poseidon Adventure” fame), Claude Akins (later of TV’s “Movin’ On” fame and TV’s “B.J. and the Bear“/“The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” fame), Larry Linville (of  TV’s “M*A*S*H” fame), Simon Oakland (of Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Psycho” fame, Peter Yates’ “Bullitt” fame and TV’s “Black Sheep Squadron”/”Baa Baa Black Sheep” fame), Ralph Meeker, Charles McGraw, Kent Smith, Elisha Cook Jr., Stanley Adams, Jordan Rhodes and Barry Atwater and “The Night Strangler” (1973, produced and directed by Curtis) with McGavin, Oakland, Jo Ann Pflug (of Robert Altman‘s 1970 “M*A*S*H” feature film fame), Wally Cox (of TV’s “Mister Peepers” fame and of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill’s “Toon In With Me,” of the vocal stylings of TV’s “Underdog“ fame), Margaret Hamilton (of 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” fame, 1940’s “The Invisible Woman” fame, 1960’s “13 Ghosts” fame and in the latter part of her acting career- “Cora” for TV commercials for Maxwell House Coffee ), Al “Grampa” Lewis (of TV’s “The Munsters” fame and of 1966’s “Munster, Go Home!“ fame), Richard Anderson (of 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” fame),veteran horror actor John Carradine, Kate Murtagh (of 1977’s “The Car” fame and on the album cover of Supertramp‘s “Breakfast In America“ fame), Nina Wayne, Virginia Peters, Ivor Francis, Diane Shalet, Anne Randall, Francoise Birnheim and Regina Parton/Ethel Parker.  The two classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpieces later inspired the 1974-75 classic mammoth Universal Studios/ABC “Kolchak” supernatural masterpiece TV series, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” with McGavin and Oakland reprising their roles from the two aforementioned classic mammoth Curtis/ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece productions.  Darren McGavin also served as executive producer on the aforementioned Universal “Kolchak” series.

Curtis also directed his classic mammoth made-for-TV horror/vampire monster masterpiece adaptation that was inspired by Bram Stoker‘s gothic novel,  “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) with Jack Palance, Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown, Fiona Lewis, Penelope Horner, Murray Brown, Virginia Wetherell, Barbara Lindley,  Sarah Douglas,  George Pravda, Hana Maria Pravda, Reg Lye, Fred Stone, Roy Spencer, John Challis, Nigel Gregory, John Pennington, Martyn Read, Gita Denise, Sandra Caron and Eddie Powell; Curtis’ classic mammoth made-for-TV movie adaptation of “Dracula” aired in 1974 on that now-disgraced television network with the “eye” trademark.

Curtis also directed his own classic mammoth made-for-TV thriller movie masterpiece production of “Dead of Night” (1977) that aired on the NBC television network that featured Ed Begley Jr., E.J. André, Ann Doran, Christina Hart, Patrick Macnee, Anjanette Comer, Joan Hackett, Elisha Cook Jr., Horst Buchholz, Lee Montgomery, the vocal stylings of John Dehner, Orin Cannon, Jean Le Bouvier, Dick McGarvin, Karen Hurley, Michael Talbott, Gail Bowman, Lars Green, Joan Lemmo and Jeff Reese. The aforementioned 1977 production was partially inspired by an earlier one-hour pilot teleplay that Curis co-directed with Lela Swift for ABC that never materialized into a series, titled “Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon” (1969) with Cal Bellini, Thayer David, Marj Dusay, Louis Edmonds, Ingrid Helmke and Kerwin Mathews (of 1958’s “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” fame and of 1973’s “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” fame).

Curtis also directed the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece miniseries adaptation of Herman Wouk‘s “The Winds of War” (1983) with Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Ralph Bellamy, John Houseman, Topol (of 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof” fame), Polly Bergen and Peter Graves (of TV’s “Mission: Impossible” fame, 1980’s “Airplane!” fame and host of TV’s “A&E Biography” fame) and a follow-up classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece sequel miniseries adaptation that was co-produced entirely by ABC, Herman Wouk’s “War and Remembrance” (1988-89) with Mitchum, Bellamy, Topol, Bergen, Sami Frey, Robert Hardy, Jane Seymour and William Schallert.

The screenplay of Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV horror/supernatural/thriller anthology masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” was written by veteran screenwriter William F. Nolan and was based off of several original story ideas by veteran screenwriter Richard Matheson.  Nolan previously co-authored George Clayton Johnson‘s classic mammoth futuristic sci-fi thriller novel masterpiece that was later adapated by Michael Anderson for the classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) futuristic sci-fi/thriller masterpiece production with Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), Peter Ustinov and Richard Jordan; “Logan’s Run” (1976).

Matheson previously wrote the original story for Jack Arnold’sclassic mammoth Universal Studios sci-fi/fantasy/visual effects masterpiece, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957) with Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, Raymond Bailey, William Schallert, Frank J. Scannell, Helene Marshall, Diana Darrin, Lock Martin and Orangey the Cat.  Matheson later wrote the screenplay for the classic mammoth Roger Corman/American-International thriller masterpiece adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe‘s “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) with the legendary Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone, Patrick Westwood, Lynette Bernay, Larry Turner, Mary Menzies, Charles Victor and Randee Lynne Jensen.  Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg‘s classic mammoth Universal Studios action-adventure-thriller masterpiece production of “Duel” (1971, originally produced as a Universal/ABC-TV made-for-TV movie masterpiece production and one of Spielberg’s earliest productions) with Dennis Weaver,  Jacqueline Scott, Lucille Benson, Eddie Firestone,  Lou Frizzell, Shirley O’ Hara, Gene Dynarski and Amy Douglass. Matheson also wrote the teleplay for John Llewellyn Moxey and Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece pilot, “The Night Stalker” (1972) and two of the teleplay installments in Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV supernatural/thriller anthology masterpiece feature, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975).

“Trilogy of Terror” (1975) originally aired on the ABC television network on March 4, 1975 as part of the network’s “Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”Movie of the Week” series of feature-length productions produced and/or financed by ABC, according to IMDB and an original 1975 ABC print advertisement for the network presentation of “Trilogy of Terror.”   The alphabet network began their “Movie of the Week” series in 1969

The animated/scanimation-filmed “ABC Movie of the Week” opening/closing graphics and bumpers contained a signature piece of music that was composed by legendary composer Burt Bacharach, which was an instrumental version of one of his original songs, “Nikki.”  An orchestral album cut version of Bacharach’s “Nikki” composition was released on the composer’s self-titled album via the legendary Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss‘ recorded music firm, A&M Records in 1971; according to Discogs.

According to additional details from IMDB, Curtis and Moxey’s classic mammoth 1972 made-for-TV supernatural feature masterpiece production was co-produced under one of the in-house production subsidiaries of the ABC television network “ABC Circle Films” (which later became “ABC Productions,” which then morphed into “ABC Studios“/”ABC Signature“).  Alongside “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), the two original classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie pilot masterpieces, the network’s self-produced made-for-TV movies, miniseries, “afterschool specials” and original productions that were produced under ABC’s “ABC Circle Films” moniker, one of the other well-known ABC-TV original productions that was produced under the network’s “ABC Circle Films” imprint was the network’s classic mammoth romantic detective series, “Moonlighting” (1985-89) with Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis and the famous opening title song track performed by Al Jarreau.  ABC merged with radio & TV broadcast group Capital Cities Communications in 1985 to form Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.  Capital Cities/ABC was later acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1996, the ABC Circle Films/ABC Productions/ABC Video Enterprises holdings would be immediately placed under Disney’s in-house TV production/syndication unit (then-known as Buena Vista Television, currently trading under the Disney Platform Distribution moniker).

After The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of then-rival film & TV studio Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation from controversial tabloid newspaper/media baron Rupert Murdoch in 2017 (Disney renamed Twentieth Century Fox as Twentieth Century Studios and the TV production/syndication unit was renamed Twentieth Television, which was already an existing name for the TV syndication unit of Twentieth Century Fox), Disney consolidated ABC’s entertainment production subsidiaries under the Twentieth Television moniker (for example, Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC-TV latenight show is now co-produced under the Disney-owned Twentieth Television moniker after being previously co-produced under Disney’s “Touchstone” moniker and the ABC Studios/ABC Signature monikers).

Alongside feature-length productions that were produced by the network’s in-house production unit, ABC also contracted with veteran producer Aaron Spelling‘s production company, veteran producer and documentarian David L. Wolper‘s production outfit (Wolper later sold his production company to Warner Bros. in 1976 and formed a longtime production alliance with Warners), Universal Studios/MCA and Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems (Columbia’s TV unit was later rebadged by the studio as Columbia Pictures Television in 1974) to produce made-for-TV movies for the network’s “Movie of the Week” showcases, according to Michael McKenna’s retrospective book on ABC’s slate of made-for-TV movies, “The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen” and the Film Score Monthly forum.  Speaking of the “ABC Movie of the Week,” other classic mammoth made-for-TV features that have been showcased on Svengoolie’s Me-TV big broadcasts include young Steven Spielberg‘s classic mammoth Universal/ABC made-for-TV action thriller masterpiece production of “Duel” (1971) with Dennis Weaver; which marked one of the earliest classic mammoth major masterpiece productions for the young veteran director and Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror-anthology masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975).

For the original March 4, 1975 ABC television network airing of “Trilogy of Terror:”Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV 1975 horror/thriller masterpiece aired on ABC-owned WLS-TV in Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois and on a regional scale for the home region of “Silver Screen Reflections;” the original 1975 ABC showing of Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” aired on WMAL-TV 7 (which became the now-disgraced and infamous WJLA-7 in 1977 ; WJLA/7 previously carried Me-TV in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area from 2013-17) in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area; ,WTPA-TV 27 (which became WHTM-27 in 1980) in the Gettysburg/Hanover/York/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area and WJZ-TV Channel 13 (which later became affiliated with the now-disgraced & infamous network with the “eye” logo after the 1995 Baltimore TV affiliation switch, C*S-owned since the 1996 Westinghouse/Group W-C*S merger ) in the Baltimore, Maryland area. -C.H.

According to the March 4, 1975 issue of The Gettysburg Times, ABC programmed Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) for the “Tuesday Movie of the Week” showcase in-between an episode of “Happy Days” (titled “Fonzie Joins the Band”) and an episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (titled “Dark Corridors”).  During the original March 4, 1975 prime-time big broadcast airing of the “ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”Trilogy of Terror,” the alphabet network & Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror-thriller masterpiece production was shown opposite an episode of “M*A*S*H” (titled “Payday”) and the First Annual “People’s Choice Awards” over on C*S nd the Columbia Pictures made-for-TV movie production of “The Last Survivors” (1975) over on NBC.

During the original March 4, 1975 ABC big broadcast network TV premiere of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror,” it was reported that several ABC-affiliated stations from coast-to-coast did not clear Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror anthology movie masterpiece production for prime-time.

According to a March 17, 1975 issue of Broadcasting (Broadcasting and Cable), several ABC affiliates were concerned and felt that ABC’s airing of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) would scare off viewers in prime-time; yet ABC placed a viewer discretion disclaimer in the original network promos/commercials for Curtis’ 1975 production; according to a latter commercial for a syndicated airing of “Trilogy of Terror” that was unearthed on YouTube.

Several ABC affiliates decided to delay Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) by airing it in the Latenight timeslot in place of ABC’s then-Latenight programming lineup, “Wide World of Entertainment” in New Orleans, Louisiana (WVUE, which was affiliated with ABC until 1995); Miami, Florida (now-former ABC affiliate WPLG; though WPLG would later air a syndicated airing of “Trilogy of Terror” In 1981); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (WITI, which was affiliated with ABC until 1977) and Fresno, California (KJEO/KGPE, which was affiliated with ABC until 1985; when the network moved to KFSN as a result of the Capital Cities/ABC merger since KFSN was owned by Capital Cities prior to the station group’s merger with ABC).

The only ABC-affiliated station that declined to show the original 1975 network airing of Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) in any timeslot was Duluth, Minnesota’s ABC affiliate (and future Me-TV affiliate) WDIO-TV.

This will mark Sven’s fifth big broadcast of Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV anthology movie masterpiece production on the airlanes of Me-TV.  He previously showcased “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) as a big broadcast premiere back in Sept. 2022 for the start of the 2022 “Svengoolie’s Halloween Boo-nanza” festival along with the original Sept. 2022 premiere of the classic mammoth Me-TV documentary masterpiece on Svengoolie/Rich Koz, “Svengoolie: Uncrypted” (2022) featuring fellow Super SvenPals/Super Tooners/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Sarah Rhodes, Nanette Keir, Brian Bernardoni plus the Sven collections of fellow wonderful friends/Super SvenPals/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Dave Fuentes of “Terror from Beyond the Dave” fame and Warner Todd Huston!  “Trilogy of Terror” then aired as regular Sven/Me-TV big broadcasts back in Sept. 2023, Oct. 2023 and in April 2024.

Who was in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975)

The players who appeared in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror/thriller masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) were Karen Black  (in the dual roles of Julie, Millicent, Therese and Amelia); Robert Burton (as Chad Foster), John Karlen (as Thomas Ammen), George Gaynes (as Dr. Chester Ramsey), Jim Storm (as Eddie Nells), Kathryn Reynolds (as Anne Richards), Orin Cannon (as a motel clerk), Gregory Harrison (as Arthur Moore), Tracy Curtis (as Tracy) and the vocal stylings of Walker Edmiston (for those who have not seen “Trilogy of Terror,” the writer/author of “Silver Screen Reflections” will not reveal what character Edmiston voiced in Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror-thriller masterpiece). -C.H.