Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows

[threnody]

Did anyone stay up last night to watch the documentary and his movies on TCM?

I got through Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Leopard Man, The Seventh Victim, The Curse of the Cat People and The Body Snatcher before I passed out. The documentary was pretty impressive, narrated by Martin Scorsese.

They also played Isle Of The Dead, Bedlam, Youth Runs Wild and Mademoiselle Fifi. I'm sad to say that I missed them.

My favorite was The Body Snatcher, including Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Henry Daniell. I was amazed by I Walked with a Zombie as well. The cornfield scene was so creepy! As a bonus, I discovered the amazing Tom Conway, huzzah.

[RCMerchant]

Val Lewton was dam amazing. He took very low budgets...comparable to Monogram Studios...and worked miracles! My favorites...hmmm...
.the BODY SNATCHERS-Most defintly! The ending...well...I won't give it away-is a real jolt!
.Very underated...but shouldn't be...the LEOPARD MAN!!! More people really need to see this one...the blood seeping under the door...ugh...cool...
.BEDLAM-I dunno why...but this isn't as well liked as most. I think Boris is great in this...totally heartless and evil. No 'Misunderstood Doctor gone Mad" here! He's just E-V-I-L!

Oh...Welcome to the board! 

[threnody]

Amazing, indeed. He successfully combines terror and beauty! Sadly I haven't seen Bedlam yet, but I look forward to it.

Thanks! :)

[RCMerchant]

Another little piece of B-movie trivia...(you might already know this) is that in BEDLAM, one of the inmates is painted silver for some kinda play that Boris makes them perform ...anyway,the young man in the silver paint dies on stage...that man is actor Robert Clarke! -in one of his first parts! You may remember him in the ASTOUNDING SHE CREATURE and as the HIDEOUS SUN DEMON! Just more junk to clog your brain...

[CheezeFlixz]

I caught parts of this marathon, the other night I hope that they run it again with all the movies. I'd like to see the complete showing.

[Pilgermann]

God I wish I got TCM.  I have the On Demand stuff, and they have a handful of interesting things on there at any given time, but the channel seems like a great one.

I still haven't seen any Val Lewton produced films, and I've been meaning to pick up the box set.  I also want to check out some Jacques Tourneur stuff like Night of the Demon.

[threnody]

Another little piece of B-movie trivia...(you might already know this) is that in BEDLAM, one of the inmates is painted silver for some kinda play that Boris makes them perform ...anyway,the young man in the silver paint dies on stage...that man is actor Robert Clarke! -in one of his first parts! You may remember him in the ASTOUNDING SHE CREATURE and as the HIDEOUS SUN DEMON! Just more junk to clog your brain...

Thanks for the info! I enjoy this so-called junk, bwaha!

I haven't seen those two films, but I'm going to look into them ASAP.

[peter johnson]

I've said it before here, but it bears repeating:
"Curse of The Cat People" is one of the most beautiful and elegant examples of black-and-white photography in a film ever made, for any budget.  Try to see a good copy of it on a very good screen/setup.  Watch the light and shadow over the sparkling snow & the deep shadows of the stairwell in the crazy woman's house . . . I could go on and on, and have before.  I never get tired of this one.  It's like someone shot it through gossamer in places.  The appearances of the ghost are graceful and eerie at the same time -- and notice how she gradually gets more sequins to reflect the light as the child gives her power.  
People are downright amazed when I show them this one & tell them what to watch for, re. the sweeping shadows over the snow, etc.  It's like being in a hallucination at times, which is what Lewton was going for, no doubt.
peter johnson/denny crane

[CheezeFlixz]

RKO who made many of the Val Lewton film released many truly great low budget films, it really saddens me to think that this once great studio was mismanaged into bankruptcy and the circus that followed regarding it's library. They'll are still 100's of great RKO pictures that have not been released in DVD and set rotting on a shelf somewhere. I don't believe there is any one single owner of the the original library. Val Lewton made some really great films on a shoestring, they just don't have film makers like that anymore, nothing left to the imagination, no mystery, no class and no style compared the the classics of the golden era.