Day Sixteen: First let me be honest, I
have a very low tolerance for silent films. They tend to be extremely
stagey, slow moving, and generally boring. But for the audience of
the 20s' these moving pictures were a new and altogether different
experience, whereas today's audience has become spoiled by all the
special effects eye-candy and the rumbling Dolby Digital Surround
Sound that the modern cinema provides. But there are at least three
silent films that hold my attention from beginning to end, and they
are "The Lost World" (because I have a love of all
things dinosaur and have an unhealthy fascination with stop motion
animation), another classic Chaney film "The Hunchback Of
Notre Dame", and today's feature film the 1925 "The
"Phantom Of The Opera".
The movie stars the Man Of A Thousand
Faces Lon Chaney in his most famous role, that of Erik, the phantom
menace who haunts the Paris Opera-house. The film also stars Mary
Philbin as Christine Daae, a young Ingenue in the Paris Opera Company
and the object of the phantom's affections. Also prominently figured
into the plot is Mary Fabian as Carlotta, whom the Phantom wants
Christine to replace as the leading lady Marguerite in the Opera's
current production of Faust. Additional male leading roles Norman
Kerry and Arthur Edmund Carewe provide comic relief as two rivals for
Christine's affection.
By now most know the tale of the
love-stricken phantom so instead of rehashing the story I'll bore you
with a few interesting facts about the film. It was based on a novel
written by Gaston Leroux. The 1925 was in black and white but also
included a sequence filmed in 2-strip Technicolor that must have
really wowed the audience. The film was directed by Rupert Julian but
three other people had a hand in directing the movie but are
uncredited which includes Chaney himself, as well as Ernst Laemmie
and Edward Sedgwick. The film was selected by the Library Of Congress
in 1998 for preservation in the National Film Registry, calling it
"culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
And depending upon which version of the movie you have the running
times vary from 92 minutes to 107 minutes. As this is a silent film
and for acquired tastes only I'll give it a 4 bowls out of 5.
Chaney's effective make-up still holds-up well today - and that
deserves a 5 bowl rating.
Once again I've included a poster I
originally designed for Secret Cinema Saturday Night.
The feature pipe is my Kaywoodie
White Briar Churchwarden. And as for tonight's blend I'm going
with Sutliff Dulce de Leche.
@thebadgerpiper Glad you're enjoying 31 days Of Halloween. If you're not a fan of modern horror today's movie is probably right up your alley. You can't get any farther away from modern horror than a 1925 silent movie. I'll bet most everyone knows the story of The Phantom Of The Opera and have seen pictures of Chaney's make-up design - but I'd be willing to bet that not many have actually sat down and watched the movie because it is a silent film.
I see one mistake in today's post but I'm terrified to correct it. I've written " the 1925 was in black and white but also included a sequence filmed in 2-strip Technicolor" ... it should read ... "the 1925 movie was in black and white ..." I aint fixing it, but just wanted you to know what it should read.
Day Seventeen: The 1995 sci-fi thriller
"Species" had a lot going for it upon it's initial
release. It was a big budget, effects heavy thriller from a major
studio (MGM). It boasted an 'A-List' cast headed by two Academy Award
winning actors in Ben Kingsly and Forest Witaker, Emmy Award winner
Marg Helgenberger, and award winning actors Michael Madson and Alfred
Molina. The film featured a beautifully grotesque creature designed
by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, the creator of the iconic xenomorph in
Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror classic "ALIEN".
And quite possible the hottest female alien in newcomer Natasha
Henstridge as 'Sil' to grace Planet Earth since Mathilda May, the
nude space vampire of Tobe Hooper's 1985 alien invasion flick
"Lifeforce". Yet with all that going for it the
movie ends up playing more like one of those 'B' sci-fi potboiler
produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures. It's not a bad film
by any stretch of the imagination. A passable popcorn movie with
potential ... but fell well short of my - and the general audience
expectations. Even so it spawned an additional three sequels. Each
progressively worse than the other.
S.E.T.I. scientists receive a
transmission from space providing them with not only the DNA
structure of an alien race, but the details on how to splice both
alien and human DNA together to create a human/alien hybrid. Without
considering the ramifications of such an experiment - obviously never
having studied ancient history or the story of the Trojan Horse - the
scientist successfully create a beautiful but deadly female hybrid
with an over-active libido and an obsessive compulsion to mate and
propagate her species. As is the case in movies such as this the
scientist learn too late of her plans to end humanity and replace us
with her own species, so she escapes leaving a trail of broken bodies
in her wake. The remainder of the film follows a group of scientists
and mercenaries sent out to track her down before she can begin the
mating process. And as I mentioned earlier, the movie spawned an
additional three sequels. So it's safe to assume the team didn't
complete their task. I'll give the movie 3 1/2 bowls out of 5. And
for the cool looking creature and the equally sexy alien, I'll add
another half point to make it an even 4 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is my H.S. Studio
Pipe which has a certain H.R. Giger influence in the design. And
the blend I'll be smoking is Captain Black Special Blend
"Midnight Gold".
@motie2 I love that pipe. At first I was afraid it was going to be too short - a nose warmer that would eventually cost me my beard when lightening it. But it turns out it wasn't that short after all. It actually photographed much better on this picture than my first photo shoot.
@motie2 I'm really not sure what you'd call it. I do have a volcano shaped pipe and it's not quite the design. I'm still having trouble figuring out what an Author from a Rhodesian, an Apple, and a few others. I know what a bent pipe is and what's a straight ... but that's about it. Even when I'm looking at a chart it's sometimes had to differentiate. I do have another H.S. Studio in the exact shape and style that really does look like an erupting volcano and I do call it my volcano pipe whether it's the proper terminology or not.
Day Eighteen: When picking out films for the Halloween season I often forget that movies need not be old gloomy gothic tales of terror, spine tingling thrillers, or blood drenched Splatter-fest with chainsaw or butcher knife wielding psychopaths. Halloween is a time for kids as well as we adults who are still kids at heart. So including a few family friendly dark fantasies like Joe Dante's 1984 "Gremlins" as part of your monthly movie marathon can fit the bill just as well. "Gremlins" is a dark fantasy with a twisted sense humor and a lot of heart. And like some of the best of the Disney animated classics the film contains just enough chills and scary elements to keep both the child and parents enthralled without too much concern for nightmare's afterwards. When you leave a scary movie and rather than your kids wanting to spend the night sharing your bed, they instead want a plush reproduction of the main character as a sleeping companion, that's a sure sign you haven't traumatized your kid by taking them to see the movie. "Gremlins" is just that type if movie.
The movie begins as Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) a failed inventor takes a trip to Chinatown to buy his son a unique Christmas present. A young Chinese boy brings Peltzer to his grandfather's out of the way antique store where shop owner Mr. Wing (Key Luke) shows his wares to the disinterested Peltzer. That is until he discovers a cute little caged mogwai singing in a corner of the shop. The grandfather insists the creature is not for sale, yet the young boy knowing the family is in dire need of money takes the mogwai from the shop and sells it to Peltzer without his grandfather's knowledge. But before leaving the boy warns Peltzer that there are three important rules that must be obeyed at all costs: "don't expose the creature to bright light or direct sunlight ... it could kill it, don't let is get wet, and above all ... never feed it after midnight". And as you can imagine all three rules are unintentionally broken after Peltzer presents the mogwai - now called GIZMO - to his son Billy, played by Zach Galligan. Billy is flabbergasted when GIZMO sprouts a horde of duplicate mogwais when he accidentally gets his new pet wet. This new batch, lead by a malevolent Spike sets the wheels in motion for Billy to break the next rule by allowing them to eat after midnight by unplugging the clock. That sets a whole new chain of events into play as the fury little creatures evolve into ugly scaly critters with a penchant for mischief and mayhem. Before long the sleepy little Norman Rockwell-like setting of Kingston Falls is thrown into chaos as the growing horde of Gremlins inflict their brand of comic carnage to the unsuspecting townsfolk. And it's up to Billy, his girlfriend Kate, and little GIZMO to set things right. Also included in the cast are Phoebe Cates as Billy's girlfriend, and a quirky collection of character actors which include Polly Holiday, Dick Miller, Scott Brady, Corey Feldman, Jackie Joseph, Judge Reinhold, and Belinda Balaski. "Gremlins" gets an enthusiastic 5 bowls out of 5 rating.
Today's featured pipe is a vintage Custom-Bilt, much older than myself which I discovered in an antique store last year, and meticulously brought back to life. A great little smoker. And tonight's blend is Sutliff's Molto Dolce.
@ghostsofpompeii -- Another wonderful layout and article. Kudos!
About shapes: Yes, I hear that. I own a Charatan (my only non-Carey other than one Duncan Hill Aerosphere), and I still can't tell if it's a "Yacht" or a "Zulu."
Day Nineteen: "Creature From The Black Lagoon" represents the last of the iconic creatures from Universal's Classic Monsters Collection. The cycle began with "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" in 1931, "The Mummy" 1932, "The Invisible Man" in 1933, and "The Wolf Man" in 1941. Each film proved to be a highly successful blockbuster of the era, spawning a series of sequels. Universal tried expanding their ghouls gallery with "Captive Wild Woman" in 1943 by introducing the ape woman Paula Dupree, but even with two sequels "Jungle Woman" and "Jungle Captive" the lackluster series never generated enough buzz to warrant consideration as part of the Universal Creature Features Legacy. So after 1941's "The Wolf Man" Universal offered nothing new in the way of iconic creatures, relying instead on re-casting their stable of monsters in sequels and 'cage matches' until they sucked the franchise dry of new ideas. In the end Universal concluded the series pairing the monsters with the successful comic duo Bid Abbott and Lou Costello in horror comedies such as "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein", "Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy", "Abbott And Costello Meet The Invisible Man" and "Abbott And Costello Meet "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde".
As competition from television began peeling away audiences from the movie theaters Hollywood was frantic for new ways to enhance the motion picture experience, and the introduction of screen-popping 3-D movies became all the rage. Something new that couldn't be experienced on the TV screen. And Universal jumped on the bandwagon in a big way, unveiling their newest creation - "Creature From The Black Lagoon". The Gill-Man was Universal's first new Classic Monster in over a decade and an immediate hit. Garnering over 1.3 million dollars at the box office. A tidy sum for 1954. The suit itself, designed by Disney animator Millicent Patrick and created by Bud Westmore was made of airtight molded sponge rubber at a cost of $15,000.
The idea behind the movie was conceived by Producer William Alland when he attended a dinner party for Citizen Kane. There he heard the legend of the half-man half-fish that lived in the Amazon. Returning from the party he put together a brief outline coupling the legend with the "Beauty And The Beast", and there it sat for about a decade. In 1952 he passed his bare bones outline on to Maurice Zimm who expanded upon the tale. Harry Essex and Arthur Ross then adapted the idea into a polished screenplay. The movie was directed by Jack Arnold, Universal's go-to director who also directed "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Tarantula", "It Came From Outer Space", "Monster On Campus", "The Space Children" and "Revenge Of The Creature".
The movie stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell, Antonio Moreno, and Nestor Paiva as a team of scientists on an expedition to the Amazon jungle where the fossilized hand of a Devonian Period amphibian is unearthed. This exciting discovery appears to be an uncategorized species linking man and amphibian. Once there they discover this prehistoric Gill-Man still exists, and is none too happy about being disturbed by the team now hell bent on capturing it and bring it to back to civilization. The film builds to an exciting conclusion as modern man and his prehistoric ancestor collide in a battle for survival. "Creature From The Black Lagoon" is a true classic and highly recommended viewing during the season. I give it a perfect 5 bowls out of 5.
The featured pipe matches the color of the title character, my Big Ben Jade 931 Pipe. Since I'll be watching a classic I'll thought I might smoke a classic blend as well - Captain Black Royal.
Day Twenty: The 50s' was a great time for speculative sci-fi movies. These imaginative flights of fancy were well received by an opened-minded audience who still believed anything was possible no matter how absurd the premise. It's not that IQs were much lower than today, it's simply the fact that the movie going public was more receptive to speculative fiction as escapist entertainment, and didn't allow science facts to get in the way of an what usually proved to be an entertaining science-fiction movie. These imaginative low budget movies projected on movie screens in theaters and Drive-Ins across the nation, weaving tales of space exploration and encounters with alien life forms much like our own (usually in short skirts and heels), the near annihilation of Earth by invaders from Mars, and the improbable notion that atomic testing might lead to giant mutant insects, shrinking or growing humans, or awakening dormant prehistoric beasts frozen in ice. And the young market gobbled them up hook, line, and sinker, demanding more. So when "The Mole People" premiered in 1956, boasting a strange new creature from Universal Studios, fans lined-up to see this intriguing pulp adventure of a Lost Underworld civilization populated by a ruling class of albinos called the Sumerians and their mutant human-mole slaves ... "The Mole People".
As the 50s' approached Universal Studios changed it's name to "Universal International". And with that change came a transition from gothic horror to speculative science-fiction, fueling the publics fears and fascination with the atomic bomb and it's effect on nature, the threat of the Red Menace Communism, and credible reports of flying saucers in our skies. The creepy cobwebbed castle ruins of Frankenstein's lab were now replaced by sterile stainless steel laboratories with test tubes, beakers, and an Electron microscope. A string of pulp sci-fi movies followed like "Tarantula", "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", "The Monolith Monsters", "Monster On Campus", "The Land Unknown", "The Deadly Mantis", "The Leech Woman", "Cult Of The Cobra" and of course "The Mole People".
"The Mole People" starred Jon Agar, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, and Cynthia Patrick. It's an entertaining little popcorn flick where the monstrous Mole People are more victim than villain and the most effect weapon against both the Mole People and the ruling class is a flashlight ... or as they refers to it as "The Fire Of Ishtar". For an underground civilization exposure to light is painful, and exposure to the sun ... deadly. So keep a flashlight at your side for safe keeping. I have a soft spot in my heart for Bud Westmore's Mole People design. I remember wanting to buy a Don Post full head mask of "The Mole People" from the back pages of Famous Monsters Of Filmland Magazine back when I was a kid, but my parents were too cheap to cough up the cash. That's possibly why I have as much affection for this somewhat lackluster movie. Were it not for Bud Westmore's Mole People creatures the film would have been a complete bust. But it moves along at a good clip, the acting is solid, and the dialogue is crisp, so I'll give it a 3 bowls out of 5 rating.
The feature pipe is something of an orphan, a no name basket pipe made in Italy. I used it mainly as a work pipe but it's a dependable smoker and has provided me with years of smoking enjoyment. Tonight's blend will be a P&C House Blend Russ' Monthly Blend "Kaleidoscope".
@Woodsman Believe it or not it usually takes about 2 hours for me to write this stuff and even then I end up forgetting some tidbit of information I wanted to include in the post. Yet I was still able to watch all three Creature movies in the trilogy as well as 'The Mole People' and believe it or not all four films have main characters who are pipe smokers.
Mr. Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) was a "licensed" Methodist Minister in real life (is that the same as ordained?). He had a Masters Degree in Theology. I thought you would appreciate that.
Day Twenty-One: Director Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 screen adaptation of Robert Lewis Stephenson's 1886 story "The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" holds the distinction of being the only horror film in which the leading actor, Fredric March garnered an Oscar for Best Actor. Horror films are generally shunned by the Academy, with Awards presented on the technical merits as special effects, make-up, sound, or editing, while deserving actors are seldom even nominated. Anthony Hopkins won the Award for "Silence Of The Lambs" but it's considered by most to be a psychological thriller. Mamoulian's shortened the title to "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde". The story tells the tragic tale of a scientist obsession with the duality of man, and the notion that within each of us is both a good and evil. His theory is that evil can be treated much like a virus ... isolated and eradicated once and for all, creating a utopian world and a civil society where evil no longer exists. But all he manages to achieve is the manifestation of pure evil in human form, the maniacal criminal, Edward Hyde. Ground-breaking special effects were created as Jekyll's transformation to Hyde were created in-camera by the use of different colored lens filters which brought out the make-up effects of Wally Westmore. For example the red filter brought out subtle changes in his facial feature, a blue filter would reveal more changes in the make-up design, and the next colored filter would reveal even more detail in the make-up. This dissolve technique was even further enhanced and refined by the time "The Wolf Man" went into production ten years later. The film also starred Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, and Holmes Herbert. "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" is a bona fide classic and worthy of a 5 bowls out of 5 perfect score.
Today's photo shoot is a bit of a cheat in many ways. First, I simply went back into my photo archive and recycled the picture appearing in The Daily Briar Photoshoot spotlighting my Peterson Jekyll & Hyde Pipe ... which will of course be today's featured pipe. Secondly, and most noticeably to horror aficionados is the use of the Peter Cushing prop to represent Doctor Jekyll. Any horror fan worth his salt knows the Cushing prop is Doctor Frankenstein, a role Cushing reprised quite often in the Hammer Studios franchise. And my final deception is that character off in the distance meant to represent Mr. Hyde, the alter ego of Doctor Jekyll, is in fact a figure of Jack The Ripper.
Tonight's blend will be another in the Russ Monthly Blend series - "The Taxman Cometh". Which is quite appropriate since in many eyes the Taxman is the epitome of evil.
Day Twenty-Two: My favorite sequence in Steven Spielberg's 1982 family classic "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" is when the kids dress up E.T. as a ghost and off they go for a night of Trick Or Treating. There is a certain charm about the scene without going over-the-top on the cuteness scale. Once again Spielberg relies on a likable cast of youngsters to connect with the audience in this fanciful but heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog ... I mean a boy and his alien.
While on an expedition to gather samples of plant-life from the planet Earth one of the alien botanists is separated from the group, then finds himself stranded when the crew is forced to unexpectedly whisk off into space to avoid detection, unaware they had left one of their companions behind. E.T. takes shelter in a garden shed where he is discovered by a young lad named Elliot (Henry Thomas). The two species form an unlikely relationship as Elliot and his two siblings, Gerte (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert Mac Naughton), and a ragtag circle of tight-lipped friends do their best to keep the existence of this newfound friend from both his mother (Dee Walace) and the authorities who are hot on the E.T.'s trail. A government group of paramilitary and dark-suited Men in Black-types - headed by Agent Keys (Peter Coyote) are hot of the trail of this extraterrestrial life form. And the kids must do everything they can to protect E.T. from the dissection table. The movie is loaded with moments of mirth and comic sight gags, adventure and narrow escapes, as well as melancholy tear jerking scenes to soften even the most heart-hearted viewer. Sitting just a few seats away from me in the theater was a large brutish fellow who might well have been a linebacker for the Chicago Bears, and during the hospital scene when the audience was lead to believe E.T. had passed away, this mountain of a man was visibly sobbing. I'm certain there wasn't a dry eye in the theater.
E.T. was designed by Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi who was also responsible for the head design of the ALIEN in the first "ALIEN" movie, designed the little aliens from Spielberg's other sci-fi blockbuster "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", the werewolf for the film "Silver Bullet", King Kong effects in the 1976 film "King Kong" as well as "King Kong Lives", the mechanical moving hand in the film "The Hand", and the special effects for Andy Warhol's "Flesh For Frankenstein" and "Blood For Dracula". Spielberg was at the top of his game insuring "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" a perfect 5 bowls out of 5 rating.
The featured pipe is my "too hot to hold" Venturi Pipe, constructed of a manmade material called pyrolytic graphite. The Venturi is a great smoker, but the bowl can get too hot to comfortably hold if you're the type of smoker who puffs like a locomotive. It requires a great degree of controlled breathing and a gentle sipping smoke if you want to keep from scorching your fingers. This evenings blend will be Sutliff's "Maple Street".
Hey Ghost.....do you do the writing in these posts as well? Very nicely written, and of course I have already commented on the staging and the photography. These are very artistically set up, and the colors and the content are extremely well presented. Two thumbs up.....you are a credit to the pipe world.
@pwkarch Yea that is my writing, and I do tend to ramble on a bit. But I've always loved talking about movies, so this was right up my alley. I'm glad you guys seem to enjoy it.
Comments
Day Sixteen: First let me be honest, I have a very low tolerance for silent films. They tend to be extremely stagey, slow moving, and generally boring. But for the audience of the 20s' these moving pictures were a new and altogether different experience, whereas today's audience has become spoiled by all the special effects eye-candy and the rumbling Dolby Digital Surround Sound that the modern cinema provides. But there are at least three silent films that hold my attention from beginning to end, and they are "The Lost World" (because I have a love of all things dinosaur and have an unhealthy fascination with stop motion animation), another classic Chaney film "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame", and today's feature film the 1925 "The "Phantom Of The Opera".
The movie stars the Man Of A Thousand Faces Lon Chaney in his most famous role, that of Erik, the phantom menace who haunts the Paris Opera-house. The film also stars Mary Philbin as Christine Daae, a young Ingenue in the Paris Opera Company and the object of the phantom's affections. Also prominently figured into the plot is Mary Fabian as Carlotta, whom the Phantom wants Christine to replace as the leading lady Marguerite in the Opera's current production of Faust. Additional male leading roles Norman Kerry and Arthur Edmund Carewe provide comic relief as two rivals for Christine's affection.
By now most know the tale of the love-stricken phantom so instead of rehashing the story I'll bore you with a few interesting facts about the film. It was based on a novel written by Gaston Leroux. The 1925 was in black and white but also included a sequence filmed in 2-strip Technicolor that must have really wowed the audience. The film was directed by Rupert Julian but three other people had a hand in directing the movie but are uncredited which includes Chaney himself, as well as Ernst Laemmie and Edward Sedgwick. The film was selected by the Library Of Congress in 1998 for preservation in the National Film Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant." And depending upon which version of the movie you have the running times vary from 92 minutes to 107 minutes. As this is a silent film and for acquired tastes only I'll give it a 4 bowls out of 5. Chaney's effective make-up still holds-up well today - and that deserves a 5 bowl rating.
Once again I've included a poster I originally designed for Secret Cinema Saturday Night.
The feature pipe is my Kaywoodie White Briar Churchwarden. And as for tonight's blend I'm going with Sutliff Dulce de Leche.
Day Seventeen: The 1995 sci-fi thriller "Species" had a lot going for it upon it's initial release. It was a big budget, effects heavy thriller from a major studio (MGM). It boasted an 'A-List' cast headed by two Academy Award winning actors in Ben Kingsly and Forest Witaker, Emmy Award winner Marg Helgenberger, and award winning actors Michael Madson and Alfred Molina. The film featured a beautifully grotesque creature designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, the creator of the iconic xenomorph in Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror classic "ALIEN". And quite possible the hottest female alien in newcomer Natasha Henstridge as 'Sil' to grace Planet Earth since Mathilda May, the nude space vampire of Tobe Hooper's 1985 alien invasion flick "Lifeforce". Yet with all that going for it the movie ends up playing more like one of those 'B' sci-fi potboiler produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. A passable popcorn movie with potential ... but fell well short of my - and the general audience expectations. Even so it spawned an additional three sequels. Each progressively worse than the other.
S.E.T.I. scientists receive a transmission from space providing them with not only the DNA structure of an alien race, but the details on how to splice both alien and human DNA together to create a human/alien hybrid. Without considering the ramifications of such an experiment - obviously never having studied ancient history or the story of the Trojan Horse - the scientist successfully create a beautiful but deadly female hybrid with an over-active libido and an obsessive compulsion to mate and propagate her species. As is the case in movies such as this the scientist learn too late of her plans to end humanity and replace us with her own species, so she escapes leaving a trail of broken bodies in her wake. The remainder of the film follows a group of scientists and mercenaries sent out to track her down before she can begin the mating process. And as I mentioned earlier, the movie spawned an additional three sequels. So it's safe to assume the team didn't complete their task. I'll give the movie 3 1/2 bowls out of 5. And for the cool looking creature and the equally sexy alien, I'll add another half point to make it an even 4 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is my H.S. Studio Pipe which has a certain H.R. Giger influence in the design. And the blend I'll be smoking is Captain Black Special Blend "Midnight Gold".
Day Eighteen: When picking out films for the Halloween season I often forget that movies need not be old gloomy gothic tales of terror, spine tingling thrillers, or blood drenched Splatter-fest with chainsaw or butcher knife wielding psychopaths. Halloween is a time for kids as well as we adults who are still kids at heart. So including a few family friendly dark fantasies like Joe Dante's 1984 "Gremlins" as part of your monthly movie marathon can fit the bill just as well. "Gremlins" is a dark fantasy with a twisted sense humor and a lot of heart. And like some of the best of the Disney animated classics the film contains just enough chills and scary elements to keep both the child and parents enthralled without too much concern for nightmare's afterwards. When you leave a scary movie and rather than your kids wanting to spend the night sharing your bed, they instead want a plush reproduction of the main character as a sleeping companion, that's a sure sign you haven't traumatized your kid by taking them to see the movie. "Gremlins" is just that type if movie.
The movie begins as Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) a failed inventor takes a trip to Chinatown to buy his son a unique Christmas present. A young Chinese boy brings Peltzer to his grandfather's out of the way antique store where shop owner Mr. Wing (Key Luke) shows his wares to the disinterested Peltzer. That is until he discovers a cute little caged mogwai singing in a corner of the shop. The grandfather insists the creature is not for sale, yet the young boy knowing the family is in dire need of money takes the mogwai from the shop and sells it to Peltzer without his grandfather's knowledge. But before leaving the boy warns Peltzer that there are three important rules that must be obeyed at all costs: "don't expose the creature to bright light or direct sunlight ... it could kill it, don't let is get wet, and above all ... never feed it after midnight". And as you can imagine all three rules are unintentionally broken after Peltzer presents the mogwai - now called GIZMO - to his son Billy, played by Zach Galligan. Billy is flabbergasted when GIZMO sprouts a horde of duplicate mogwais when he accidentally gets his new pet wet. This new batch, lead by a malevolent Spike sets the wheels in motion for Billy to break the next rule by allowing them to eat after midnight by unplugging the clock. That sets a whole new chain of events into play as the fury little creatures evolve into ugly scaly critters with a penchant for mischief and mayhem. Before long the sleepy little Norman Rockwell-like setting of Kingston Falls is thrown into chaos as the growing horde of Gremlins inflict their brand of comic carnage to the unsuspecting townsfolk. And it's up to Billy, his girlfriend Kate, and little GIZMO to set things right. Also included in the cast are Phoebe Cates as Billy's girlfriend, and a quirky collection of character actors which include Polly Holiday, Dick Miller, Scott Brady, Corey Feldman, Jackie Joseph, Judge Reinhold, and Belinda Balaski. "Gremlins" gets an enthusiastic 5 bowls out of 5 rating.
Today's featured pipe is a vintage Custom-Bilt, much older than myself which I discovered in an antique store last year, and meticulously brought back to life. A great little smoker. And tonight's blend is Sutliff's Molto Dolce.
About shapes: Yes, I hear that. I own a Charatan (my only non-Carey other than one Duncan Hill Aerosphere), and I still can't tell if it's a "Yacht" or a "Zulu."
Day Nineteen: "Creature From The Black Lagoon" represents the last of the iconic creatures from Universal's Classic Monsters Collection. The cycle began with "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" in 1931, "The Mummy" 1932, "The Invisible Man" in 1933, and "The Wolf Man" in 1941. Each film proved to be a highly successful blockbuster of the era, spawning a series of sequels. Universal tried expanding their ghouls gallery with "Captive Wild Woman" in 1943 by introducing the ape woman Paula Dupree, but even with two sequels "Jungle Woman" and "Jungle Captive" the lackluster series never generated enough buzz to warrant consideration as part of the Universal Creature Features Legacy. So after 1941's "The Wolf Man" Universal offered nothing new in the way of iconic creatures, relying instead on re-casting their stable of monsters in sequels and 'cage matches' until they sucked the franchise dry of new ideas. In the end Universal concluded the series pairing the monsters with the successful comic duo Bid Abbott and Lou Costello in horror comedies such as "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein", "Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy", "Abbott And Costello Meet The Invisible Man" and "Abbott And Costello Meet "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde".
As competition from television began peeling away audiences from the movie theaters Hollywood was frantic for new ways to enhance the motion picture experience, and the introduction of screen-popping 3-D movies became all the rage. Something new that couldn't be experienced on the TV screen. And Universal jumped on the bandwagon in a big way, unveiling their newest creation - "Creature From The Black Lagoon". The Gill-Man was Universal's first new Classic Monster in over a decade and an immediate hit. Garnering over 1.3 million dollars at the box office. A tidy sum for 1954. The suit itself, designed by Disney animator Millicent Patrick and created by Bud Westmore was made of airtight molded sponge rubber at a cost of $15,000.
The idea behind the movie was conceived by Producer William Alland when he attended a dinner party for Citizen Kane. There he heard the legend of the half-man half-fish that lived in the Amazon. Returning from the party he put together a brief outline coupling the legend with the "Beauty And The Beast", and there it sat for about a decade. In 1952 he passed his bare bones outline on to Maurice Zimm who expanded upon the tale. Harry Essex and Arthur Ross then adapted the idea into a polished screenplay. The movie was directed by Jack Arnold, Universal's go-to director who also directed "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Tarantula", "It Came From Outer Space", "Monster On Campus", "The Space Children" and "Revenge Of The Creature".
The movie stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell, Antonio Moreno, and Nestor Paiva as a team of scientists on an expedition to the Amazon jungle where the fossilized hand of a Devonian Period amphibian is unearthed. This exciting discovery appears to be an uncategorized species linking man and amphibian. Once there they discover this prehistoric Gill-Man still exists, and is none too happy about being disturbed by the team now hell bent on capturing it and bring it to back to civilization. The film builds to an exciting conclusion as modern man and his prehistoric ancestor collide in a battle for survival. "Creature From The Black Lagoon" is a true classic and highly recommended viewing during the season. I give it a perfect 5 bowls out of 5.
The featured pipe matches the color of the title character, my Big Ben Jade 931 Pipe. Since I'll be watching a classic I'll thought I might smoke a classic blend as well - Captain Black Royal.
Day Twenty: The 50s' was a great time for speculative sci-fi movies. These imaginative flights of fancy were well received by an opened-minded audience who still believed anything was possible no matter how absurd the premise. It's not that IQs were much lower than today, it's simply the fact that the movie going public was more receptive to speculative fiction as escapist entertainment, and didn't allow science facts to get in the way of an what usually proved to be an entertaining science-fiction movie. These imaginative low budget movies projected on movie screens in theaters and Drive-Ins across the nation, weaving tales of space exploration and encounters with alien life forms much like our own (usually in short skirts and heels), the near annihilation of Earth by invaders from Mars, and the improbable notion that atomic testing might lead to giant mutant insects, shrinking or growing humans, or awakening dormant prehistoric beasts frozen in ice. And the young market gobbled them up hook, line, and sinker, demanding more. So when "The Mole People" premiered in 1956, boasting a strange new creature from Universal Studios, fans lined-up to see this intriguing pulp adventure of a Lost Underworld civilization populated by a ruling class of albinos called the Sumerians and their mutant human-mole slaves ... "The Mole People".
As the 50s' approached Universal Studios changed it's name to "Universal International". And with that change came a transition from gothic horror to speculative science-fiction, fueling the publics fears and fascination with the atomic bomb and it's effect on nature, the threat of the Red Menace Communism, and credible reports of flying saucers in our skies. The creepy cobwebbed castle ruins of Frankenstein's lab were now replaced by sterile stainless steel laboratories with test tubes, beakers, and an Electron microscope. A string of pulp sci-fi movies followed like "Tarantula", "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", "The Monolith Monsters", "Monster On Campus", "The Land Unknown", "The Deadly Mantis", "The Leech Woman", "Cult Of The Cobra" and of course "The Mole People".
"The Mole People" starred Jon Agar, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, and Cynthia Patrick. It's an entertaining little popcorn flick where the monstrous Mole People are more victim than villain and the most effect weapon against both the Mole People and the ruling class is a flashlight ... or as they refers to it as "The Fire Of Ishtar". For an underground civilization exposure to light is painful, and exposure to the sun ... deadly. So keep a flashlight at your side for safe keeping. I have a soft spot in my heart for Bud Westmore's Mole People design. I remember wanting to buy a Don Post full head mask of "The Mole People" from the back pages of Famous Monsters Of Filmland Magazine back when I was a kid, but my parents were too cheap to cough up the cash. That's possibly why I have as much affection for this somewhat lackluster movie. Were it not for Bud Westmore's Mole People creatures the film would have been a complete bust. But it moves along at a good clip, the acting is solid, and the dialogue is crisp, so I'll give it a 3 bowls out of 5 rating.
The feature pipe is something of an orphan, a no name basket pipe made in Italy. I used it mainly as a work pipe but it's a dependable smoker and has provided me with years of smoking enjoyment. Tonight's blend will be a P&C House Blend Russ' Monthly Blend "Kaleidoscope".
Mr. Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) was a "licensed" Methodist Minister in real life (is that the same as ordained?). He had a Masters Degree in Theology. I thought you would appreciate that.
Day Twenty-One: Director Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 screen adaptation of Robert Lewis Stephenson's 1886 story "The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" holds the distinction of being the only horror film in which the leading actor, Fredric March garnered an Oscar for Best Actor. Horror films are generally shunned by the Academy, with Awards presented on the technical merits as special effects, make-up, sound, or editing, while deserving actors are seldom even nominated. Anthony Hopkins won the Award for "Silence Of The Lambs" but it's considered by most to be a psychological thriller. Mamoulian's shortened the title to "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde". The story tells the tragic tale of a scientist obsession with the duality of man, and the notion that within each of us is both a good and evil. His theory is that evil can be treated much like a virus ... isolated and eradicated once and for all, creating a utopian world and a civil society where evil no longer exists. But all he manages to achieve is the manifestation of pure evil in human form, the maniacal criminal, Edward Hyde. Ground-breaking special effects were created as Jekyll's transformation to Hyde were created in-camera by the use of different colored lens filters which brought out the make-up effects of Wally Westmore. For example the red filter brought out subtle changes in his facial feature, a blue filter would reveal more changes in the make-up design, and the next colored filter would reveal even more detail in the make-up. This dissolve technique was even further enhanced and refined by the time "The Wolf Man" went into production ten years later. The film also starred Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, and Holmes Herbert. "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" is a bona fide classic and worthy of a 5 bowls out of 5 perfect score.
Today's photo shoot is a bit of a cheat in many ways. First, I simply went back into my photo archive and recycled the picture appearing in The Daily Briar Photoshoot spotlighting my Peterson Jekyll & Hyde Pipe ... which will of course be today's featured pipe. Secondly, and most noticeably to horror aficionados is the use of the Peter Cushing prop to represent Doctor Jekyll. Any horror fan worth his salt knows the Cushing prop is Doctor Frankenstein, a role Cushing reprised quite often in the Hammer Studios franchise. And my final deception is that character off in the distance meant to represent Mr. Hyde, the alter ego of Doctor Jekyll, is in fact a figure of Jack The Ripper.
Tonight's blend will be another in the Russ Monthly Blend series - "The Taxman Cometh". Which is quite appropriate since in many eyes the Taxman is the epitome of evil.
Day Twenty-Two: My favorite sequence in Steven Spielberg's 1982 family classic "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" is when the kids dress up E.T. as a ghost and off they go for a night of Trick Or Treating. There is a certain charm about the scene without going over-the-top on the cuteness scale. Once again Spielberg relies on a likable cast of youngsters to connect with the audience in this fanciful but heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog ... I mean a boy and his alien.
While on an expedition to gather samples of plant-life from the planet Earth one of the alien botanists is separated from the group, then finds himself stranded when the crew is forced to unexpectedly whisk off into space to avoid detection, unaware they had left one of their companions behind. E.T. takes shelter in a garden shed where he is discovered by a young lad named Elliot (Henry Thomas). The two species form an unlikely relationship as Elliot and his two siblings, Gerte (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert Mac Naughton), and a ragtag circle of tight-lipped friends do their best to keep the existence of this newfound friend from both his mother (Dee Walace) and the authorities who are hot on the E.T.'s trail. A government group of paramilitary and dark-suited Men in Black-types - headed by Agent Keys (Peter Coyote) are hot of the trail of this extraterrestrial life form. And the kids must do everything they can to protect E.T. from the dissection table. The movie is loaded with moments of mirth and comic sight gags, adventure and narrow escapes, as well as melancholy tear jerking scenes to soften even the most heart-hearted viewer. Sitting just a few seats away from me in the theater was a large brutish fellow who might well have been a linebacker for the Chicago Bears, and during the hospital scene when the audience was lead to believe E.T. had passed away, this mountain of a man was visibly sobbing. I'm certain there wasn't a dry eye in the theater.
E.T. was designed by Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi who was also responsible for the head design of the ALIEN in the first "ALIEN" movie, designed the little aliens from Spielberg's other sci-fi blockbuster "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", the werewolf for the film "Silver Bullet", King Kong effects in the 1976 film "King Kong" as well as "King Kong Lives", the mechanical moving hand in the film "The Hand", and the special effects for Andy Warhol's "Flesh For Frankenstein" and "Blood For Dracula". Spielberg was at the top of his game insuring "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" a perfect 5 bowls out of 5 rating.
The featured pipe is my "too hot to hold" Venturi Pipe, constructed of a manmade material called pyrolytic graphite. The Venturi is a great smoker, but the bowl can get too hot to comfortably hold if you're the type of smoker who puffs like a locomotive. It requires a great degree of controlled breathing and a gentle sipping smoke if you want to keep from scorching your fingers. This evenings blend will be Sutliff's "Maple Street".
Hey Ghost.....do you do the writing in these posts as well? Very nicely written, and of course I have already commented on the staging and the photography. These are very artistically set up, and the colors and the content are extremely well presented. Two thumbs up.....you are a credit to the pipe world.