Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy upcoming big broadcast of a cult classic mammoth sci-fi creature masterpiece production.
“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Killer Shrews” (1959)
“All that was left after.. ‘The Killer Shrews’!” Original 1959 Gordon McLendon tinted publicity photo/lobby card for “The Killer Shrews” with James Best, Ingrid Goude, Gordon McLendon and Baruch Lumet.
The legendary & iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth sci-fi/creature feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “The Killer Shrews” (1959), this Sat., May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
“The Killer Shrews” (1959) was directed by veteran visual effects/matte artist-turned second-unit director Ray Kellogg.
Throughout his film & TV career, Kellogg worked on numerous classic mammoth feature film & TV masterpiece productions for major studio Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios). He worked as part of the visual effects team for Robert Wise’s classic mammoth critically-acclaimed sci-fi masterpiece production of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951) with Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Locke Martin, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, young Billy Gray (later of TV’s “Father Knows Best” fame) and Frances Bavier (later of TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show” fame). Kellogg also worked on special photographic effects for Richard Brooks’ classic mammoth 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 CinemaScope widescreen romantic comedy masterpiece with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and Rory Calhoun, “How To Marry a Millionaire” (1953), Billy Wilder‘s classic mammoth romantic comedy masterpiece production of “The Seven-Year Itch” (1955) with Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes and Carolyn Jones (of 1953’s “House of Wax” fame and TV’s “The Addams Family” fame), Robert D. Webb‘s classic mammoth drama masterpiece production of “Love Me Tender” (1956) with the legendary Elvis Presley (which helped introduce his classic mammoth 1956 RCA-Victor song recording masterpiece of the same name), Debra Paget and Richard Egan and Frank Tashlin‘s classic mammoth rock musical-comedy masterpiece production of “The Girl Can’t Help It” (1956) with the legendary Little Richard, Jayne Mansfield, the legendary Fats Domino, the legendary Julie London (who was married to Jack Webb of “Dragnet” fame), the legendary singing group The Platters, the legendary Eddie Cochran, legendary composer Ray Anthony, Ewell, the legendary Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps and Edmond O’Brien.
He also worked as a second unit director for Joseph L. Mankiewicz‘s classic mammoth spectacle masterpiece production of the dramatization of the reign of Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra IV, “Cleopatra” (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Martin Landau (later of TV’s “Mission: Impossible: and “Space: 1999” fame) Roddy McDowall, Hume Cronyn, Carroll O’Connor (later of TV’s “All in the Family” fame and TV’s “In the Heat of the Night” fame) and Michael Gwynn (of Hammer Horror fame, 1960’s “Village of the Damned” fame and the 1975 BBC TV pilot episode of John Cleese’s “Fawlty Towers” fame)- the production of “Cleopatra” took several years to film due in part to multiple production conflicts and a lengthy production schedule- the production nearly sank Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) into bankruptcy until studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck regained control of Twentieth Century Fox that same year (originally a merged company of Zanuck’s Twentieth Century Pictures and the financially-plagued Fox Film Corporation back in 1935) and for Leslie H. Martinson’s classic mammoth feature film live-action adventure masterpiece adaptation production of the DC Comics superhero series based off the classic mammoth Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios)/ABC TV 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, titled “Panic In Year Zero” (1962) with Milland, Jean Hagen and singer Frankie Avalon (in one of his pre-“Beach Party” feature films during his film career at Arkoff and Nicholson’s American-International).
“After receiving latest Chicago ‘Pulse’ Ratings Report!” Original 1963 advertising leaflet for Gordon McLendon’s group of radio stations, this is one for WYNR/Chicago, known today as WGRB.
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”* monikers, according to IMDB and a 1980 Broadcasting (Broadcasting and Cable) retrospective article on the life and career of Gordon McLendon. He founded his group of radio stations under the “Liberty Broadcasting System” moniker, or LBS**- which later turned into the McLendon group of stations and described play-by-play re-tellings of certain football and baseball games under the on-air alias persona of “The Old Scotchman;” according to the Soceity for American Baseball Research retrospective on McLendon.
He was noted as one of the many pioneers of the top-40 music format on most of his radio stations with the addition/introduction of station jingles by local Dallas-based singing groups and several pioneering jingle production companies. He also specialized in pioneering all-news and easy-listening music formats on his line of radio stations. He even dubbed one of his music formats in March 1960 on one of his radio stations as the “McLendon Sound of the Sixties,” according to Broadcasting (Broadcasting & Cable).
A visual aircheck glimpse of KLIF Radio in Dallas during the final year of Gordon McLendon‘s ownership of the station in 1971, featuring disc jockey Mike Selden; filmed by Public TV station KERA (via the KERA archives from the G. William Jones Film & Video archive housed at Southern Methodist University). Note Selden’s RCA 77-DX microphone setup, the Gates/Harris radio broadcast mixing console, cart machines and the close-up of the 45 r.p.m. single on the turntable in the snippet- it should be noted that the wrong record footage is featured when the source recording of the legendary John Lennon & the legendary Plastic Ono Band‘s classic mammoth 1971 Apple Records masterpiece recording of “Imagine” is featured in the aircheck- the incorrect record that was shown was the legendary Neil Diamond‘s classic mammoth 1966/70 Bang Records masterpiece recording of “Solitary Man.” Surprised that the footage of the Apple Records label/single of Lennon’s “Imagine” wasn’t filmed in the KLIF Radio broadcast studio booth when “Imagine” was playing on the airlanes. -C.H.
Some of the radio stations that McLendon owned throughout the years included Dallas’ KLIF, Chicago’s WYNR/WNUS, today’s WGRB;, Los Angeles’ KOST and Louisville’s WAKY. It was also noted alongside his pioneering radio station formats on the stations that he owned throughout his years in broadcasting, McLendon was also responsible for his radio stations’ pioneering promotional tie-ins and contest giveaways, including “money balloons” and $50,000 “treasure hunt” giveaways to local listeners within his stations’ target market. McLendon also owned numerous movie theaters and drive-in theaters in his entertainment career; 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.”
It was also noted that Kellogg’s “The Killer Shrews” was filmed on location at McLendon’s Cielo Ranch in Lake Dallas, Texas; according to additional details from IMDB, additional details from Cornell R. Miller’s Sept. 2019 article for D (Dallas) Magazine, “The Time a Radio Legend brought a Taste of Hollywood to Town” and Ronald Garay’s 1992 retrospective book on McLendon’s life and career, “Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio,” The broadcast veteran mogul invited the entire cast and the entire production crew to come to his ranch for his interest into motion picture productions and managed to keep everyone in his productions happy throughout the entire filming schedule of his own productions. McLendon’s original intention for filming his own feature film productions at his Lake Dallas, Texas Ranch complex was done as a cost-saving method instead of allocating funds to film at another ranch within the immediate Dallas/Ft. Worth region and/or traveling to one of the major studio “movie ranch” locations/studio lots within Los Angeles/Burbank/Hollywood, California.
The trio of Kellogg, Curtis and McLendon produced another production together on the McLendon Cielo Ranch, titled “My Dog, Buddy” (1959). Their latter production was released theatrically for coast-to-coast distribution through major Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures, according to Clive Hirschorn’s retrospective book on the history of and the most memorable films of Columbia Pictures; “The Columbia Story;” It was also noted that McLendon was also one of the largest shareholders of Columbia Pictures at one point, according to additional details from the 1980 Broadcasting (Broadcasting and Cable) article on McLendon.
This will mark Sven’s second big coast-to-coast broadcast of the cult classic mammoth Kellogg-McLendon sci-fi creature masterpiece production of “The Killer Shrews” (1959) on Me-TV. He previously showcased “The Killer Shrews” (1959) as a Me-TV coast-to-coast big broadcast premiere back in August 2022.
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), Ken Curtis (as Jerry Farrell), Ingrid Goude (as Ann Craigis), 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).
Silver Screen Reflections 