Saturday, November 26, 2011

LUCKY GHOST - Don Swander, June Hershey, Loreza Flennoy and his Chocolate Drops - "If Anybody Cares" (1942)

Tonight we've got a super Saturday special event for you from 1942 called ""Lucky Ghost." The title was later changed to "Lady Luck!" Blame the ghost union, local 666!!

These two wild cards are left to right F.E. Miller as Jefferson, and Mantan Moreland as Washington! He called himself F.E. because his real name was Flournoy Eakin Miller. You've probably met all kinds of people in your life, but have you ever met someone who ran away from home at the age of 12 to join the circus? That's because they don't make people like Mantan Moreland anymore!

Washington and Jefferson meet up with some high rollers who know everything except how to shoot craps!!

The high rollers not only lose the shirts off their backs but also their car and chauffeur!!!

Next stop, the Country Club, and yes, Mr. Mantan IS checking out that hostess's derriere!!

Jefferson has a signature, but Washington just has an X! Don't worry, he's going to make up for it in the funzoid department!!

Big guy Maceo Bruce Scheffield has the role of Blake, the Boss of the Club! Maceo was a policeman earlier in his career, and also was actually a club owner in Los Angeles, I think he had this role pegged!

As my drill sergeant used to say, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!"

More known as a comedienne, Florence O'Brien almost steals the show, with the backing of Loreza Flennoy and his Chocolate Drops!! The rest of the show is flushed out with the songs "If Anybody Cares," "When You Think of Loving, Think of Me," "Can't Use It Anymore," and "Down In Old Darktown" all written by Don Swander and June Hershey and performed by Lorenza Flennoy and His Chocolate Drops!

Washington better watch out because The Boss is not taking to his best girl giving out so much attention to someone other than his own bad self! The Boss is smokin' hot under the collar to the point that he eats his own stogie!

The Boss has had enough, and throws a haymaker at Washington, only to knock out one of his own guys instead!!

Time to bring in the ghosts, and some of that Thriller-Diller Laff Sensation stuff!

Out in the graveyard, remember this is a ghost story, the natives are getting restless! Florence Field is Mrs. Ezra's Ghost and she's mad as Hell about all the noise and carrying on going on over at the adjacent club!

The rest of the ghosts were fleshed out by Henry Hastings, John Lester Johnson, Edward Thompson, and Lester Christmas!

Here are the two respective reactions by Washington and Jefferson during the big craps scene inside the club! The bank has gone bust, and the whole club ownership is on the line, everything and everybody! Blake tries to slip in some loaded dice, but Washington is shaking so bad, he drops one, grabs another pair, and throws a seven!

The ghosts decide to take some action, the light's start flashing, and here are some of the customer's reactions to seeing Uncle Ezra's ghost finish off a drink!!

I love the part in the sound clip where all the instruments drop out except the drummer! One of the ghosts took over the drum set, and the rest of the Drops disappear one by one as they notice!

Now it's getting scary, Skully on the keys and an animated suit of armor doing the Hullabaloo!

Mantan, Florence, and F.E. want nothing to do with any ghosts! Mantan and F.E. are gone these days, but I'm pretty sure Florence is still around!

Time for one more reaction from F.E. and Mantan! They get so scared they take off running down the road to get as far away from that place as possible and............

.....the ghosts all go back to where they came from because now they can rest again!

Mantan Moreland was a very funny guy. He probably claimed his biggest fame in the continuing role as Birmingham Brown in a later 40's series of Mr. Moto movies, but he was also in films like "Spider Baby," and King Of The Zombies," and if you're like me, and you can't get enough Mantan, then you'll do what I'm doing right now and go over to The Internet Archive where you can watch or download about 10 movies with Mantan in them for FREE, including a totally awesome 1955 movie called "Rhythm and Blues Revue." It's a musical variety show filmed at the Apollo Theatre with a cast that includes Mantan Moreland himself, and Willie Bryant, Freddie Robinson, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Faye Adams, Bill Bailey, Herb Jeffries, Amos Milburn, Sarah Vaughan, Nipsey Russell, Big Joe Turner, Martha Davis, Little Buck, Nat 'King' Cole, Cab Calloway and Ruth Brown!!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

POST #1313 - THE TWONKY / Arch Oboler Productions - 1953

Welcome to Friday Night with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite's offering was shot in 1951 and released in 1953, it played on TV quite a bit when I was a kid.

Since this is our 1313th post, it has to be some kind of weird cosmic joke/coincidence that THE TWONKY holds this esteemed position in numbering! But, that's the way it goes!..

The story's about a nerdy college professor who discovers that his new TV set is animatated, apparently possessed by something from the future, and, intent on regulating his daily life! The original story is credited to Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, published under their joint pseudonym, "Lewis Padgett." Sidney Pink was a producer.

The music is by Jack Meakin. Jack only had 3 composing credits, this, MAGOO'S LODGE BROTHER cartoon and the TV series TELL IT TO GROUCHO. His claim to fame came when some of his stock music was used in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD!

Letz bring in our little Friday Night helper and button pusher, the one and only, Rufus The Gnat!.. Herro Rufus! Rufus is here to start our show, so, push the big red 'GO' button right there in front of the small green 'STOP' button, now, Rufus! Here's our soundclip for... THE TWONKY!

You'll notice that a few stills have the 1995 Svengoolie Chicago TV call sign.

Hans Conried plays college professor, Cary West, his wife is leaving for awhile, he says 'bye' to her in the taxi. Hans was also in THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T and THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD. Us boomers remember his great cartoon voice on ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS and THE BULLWINKLE SHOW!

She's ordered a new TV set for him to watch while she's away. He knows something's going on when it emits a beam that lights his cigarette for him!

Ed Max plays Ed, the TV repairman. The familiar looking guy was last seen in THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN. He's there to collect a bill, but, the professor tells him he's totally out of cash.

In the meantime, the Twonky neatly lays out some money for Ed to gather up!

Cary is so boggled that he calls his friend, Coach Trout, to come over and help him evaluate the uncanny situation.

Unfortunately, the Coach is as dense as atomic fog!

Man, that's just sick!..

I like this shot because it shows an old book cover, that's all.

Here, the Twonky has sex with the vacuum cleaner!.. Doesn't the vacuum kinda look like one of those monsters in ISLAND OF TERROR?

There are so many current politically incorrect elements to this scene in Coach Trout's bedroom that were perfectly normal in the fifties.

Ed comes to take the Twonky away but gets attacked by the antenna!

Then, the Twonky gets rude with a telephone operator!

So, she calls the cops, which does no good.

When Cary's wife figures out that's something's wrong at home, she darts away!

In the meantime, Cary goes out and does what everbloody in the fifties did when a Twonky moved in, get plastered! It's the only way out...

I have to admit, I started paying attention when the lady bill collector shows up! She's played by Gloria Blondell, sister of Joan. Gloria was the voice of Daisy Duck in the late forties.

Anyway, when she gets naked in the bathroom, well, it made me flip a little!

Then this, good stuff for 1953! There's an early fifties Disney cartoon about the modern American family, where, you get to watch the buxom nude teenage daughter's silhouette on the shower curtain while she showers, it's pretty unbelievable by today's standards!

Cary gets a ride with this old biddy who'd rather yak than pay attention to her driving.

Driving on the wrong side of the road will usually result in some kind of ridiculous unnecessary mishap! Actually, some scenes of her driving against traffic are a little unnerving!

The last scene takes place in the hospital after the crash, with Cary in traction. And yes, it's Three Stooges time!!.. woob!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??