Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be interested in his upcoming coast-to-coast big broadcast premiere of a cult classic mammoth sci-fi creature masterpiece production.
“Svengoolie” presents his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “The Killer Shrews” (1959)
Original 1959 theatrical release trailer for the Ray Kellogg–Ken Curtis–Gordon McLendon production of “The Killer Shrews.”
The legendary & iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic sci-fi/creature feature masterpiece host will present his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “The Killer Shrews” (1959), this Sat., Aug. 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The cult classic mammoth 1957 sci-fi/creature feature film masterpiece production was directed by veteran visual effects/matte artist-turned second-unit director Ray Kellogg. Throughout his motion picture career, Kellogg worked for rival major studio Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios). He worked as part of the visual effects team for Robert Wise’s classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox sci-fi masterpiece production of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951) with Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, young Billy Gray, and a pre-“Andy Griffith Show” Frances Bavier. Kellogg also worked on special photographic effects for Richard Brooks’ classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox film noir-drama masterpiece with Humphrey Bogart, Kim Hunter, Ethel Barrymore and Jim Backus, “Deadline U.S.A.” (1952), for Jean Negulesco’s classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox CinemaScope romantic comedy masterpiece with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and Rory Calhoun, “How To Marry a Millionaire” (1953) and second unit director for Leslie H. Martinson’s classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox feature film live-action adventure masterpiece adaptation of the DC Comics superhero series based off the classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox/ABC television live-action masterpiece adaptation of “Batman” (1966) with Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier, Lee Meriwether, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Neil Hamilton and Stafford Repp.
The screenplay for Kellogg’s production of “The Killer Shrews” (1959) was written by veteran film and TV screenwriter Jay Simms. Simms also co-wrote the screenplay with John Morton for Ray Milland’s classic mammoth sci-fi/thriller/horror masterpiece production for Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures, “Panic In Year Zero” (1962) with Milland, Jean Hagen and Frankie Avalon (in one of his pre-“Beach Party” American-International feature film appearances).
“The Killer Shrews” (1959) was produced by veteran singer-turned-actor Ken Curtis. Born under the name of Curtis Wayne Gates and before going into acting and producing, Ken Curtis was a vocalist with numerous legendary and iconic groups, including Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, Shep Fields and His New Music, the Sons of the Pioneers and the Pied Pipers on numerous classic mammoth RCA-Victor masterpiece recordings with the four groups (on both RCA-Victor and RCA-Bluebird imprints), according to Discogs. Curtis was best-known for his role of Deputy Festus on the long-running classic mammoth CBS television western masterpiece adaptation series, “Gunsmoke” (Curtis appeared on the series from 1959 in numerous guest appearances, his “Festus” debut began in the 1962 episode “Us Haggens,” Curtis’ “Festus” character made regular appearances from 1964 until the conclusion of the series in 1975) with James Arness, Amanda Blake and Milburn Stone.
Kellogg and Curtis’ cult classic mammoth 1959 sci-fi/horror/thriller masterpiece production of “The Killer Shrews” was also produced by veteran Texas-based radio broadcaster/radio station owner Gordon McLendon, through the monikers of his “McLendon-Radio Pictures” and “Hollywood Pictures Corporation”* enterprises, according to IMDB and a 1980 Broadcasting (Broadcasting and Cable) profile article on McLendon. McLendon was noted as one of the pioneers of the top-40 music format on most of his radio stations and also dabbled in all-news and easy-listening music formats. Some of the radio stations that he owned throughout the years included Dallas’ KLIF, Chicago’s WNUS (today’s WGRB), Los Angeles’ KOST and Louisville’s WAKY. McLendon also owned various movie theaters and drive-in theaters; according to Cornell R. Miller’s Sept. 2019 retrospective article on McLendon’s foray into motion pictures for Dallas (D) Magazine, titled “The Time a Radio Legend Brought a Taste of Hollywood to Town.”
In Sven’s home area of Berwyn/Chicago, Svengoolie previously showcased the cult classic mammoth 1959 Kellogg-Curtis-McLendon sci-fi/creature masterpiece production of “The Killer Shrews” on his hometown TV station, Berwyn/Chicago’s WCIU-TV 26 back in 1996, according to IMDB and fellow Super SvenPal WolfmanSlick’s YouTube channel.
Who was in the Kellogg-Curtis-McLendon production of “The Killer Shrews” (1959)?
The players who appeared in the cult classic mammoth Kellogg-Curtis-McLendon sci-fi/creature masterpiece production of “The Killer Shrews” (1959) were James Best (as Thorne Sherman), Ingrid Goude (as Ann Craigis), Ken Curtis (as Jerry Farrell), Judge Henry Dupree (as “Rook” Griswold), a cameo by Gordon McLendon (as Dr. Radford Baines), Baruch Lumet (as Dr. Marlowe Craigis) and Alfredo de Soto (credited under the name of Alfred deSoto, as Mario).