SCARED TO DEATH in Poverty Row Forum

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SCARED TO DEATH

Author	Comment
MYST0		#41	[-]
Jan 2 12 5:01 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just did my annual view of SCARED TO DEATH. I don't know why, but the film never ceases to entertain me. Was there anything ever written about the making of the film? Seems like no one knows anything about how it came about. Is there any info on Golden Gate Productions? Going by the AFI entry, STD seems to be the last film produced by them.
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Elisabeth		#42	[-]
Jan 15 12 12:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just finished my annual viewing of SCARED TO DEATH as well. Mine is a 2002 DVD put out by "Miracle Pictures: A Division of PMC Corp." The sound was average, with the usual Poverty Row tinniness. The picture, though was spectacular. So clear that I wonder if it was struck from a private print in somebody's vault. Here comes a question for Tom Weaver: Was this film, or parts of it, shot in experimental 3-D? There were two brief bits that had that 3-D "shimmer" to them: One was when the 'corpse' of the maid falls through the front door, directly at the camera. The other is a close up of Molly Lamont's hysteria at the end. Again, she's looking straight at the camera. There's no 'shimmer' anywhere else that I could see. Again, Tom would know. "E" Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
Crow T Robot		#43	[-]
Jan 15 12 1:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hmmm...Miracle Pictures. If it's a good picture, it's a miracle!
Elisabeth		#44	[-]
Jan 15 12 2:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I didn't know what to expect, because I've seen copies of stuff so bad that they look like they've been pieced together with ELMER's glue. True, the colour was wonky....but I was expecting it. It was rather like a cut rate version of the 2 strip colour they used in Atwill's DR. X. I watch it primarily for George Zucco and Bela Lugosi, so I had fun....., and This time, i didn't fall asleep. (g) "E" Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
Wich2		#45	[-]
Jan 15 12 9:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	E, any fringy oddness in the image was likely a fault of wonkiness of the Cinecolor elements (and for the record, 3-D was far past experimental at that stage.) Best, -C
bela lugosi		#46	[-]
Jan 15 12 11:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Glad you had fun watching this one, Elisabeth! If you are into Bela and Zucco, it's a fun film!
ArmandV101	"Tickled To Death"	#47	[-]
Jan 30 12 11:14 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Back in the 1980s, I was a member of the Laurel & Hardy group "Sons of the Desert." The L.A. group, "Way Out West" tent, held a banquet at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City. In attendance were such luminaries as Hal Roach, Sr., Hank Worden and others. I found myself fortunate to be seated next to Joyce Compton, who was a co-star of Scared To Death. When we were seated, I looked at her name tag and said, "Joyce Compton! I remember you in Scared To Death!" She was so thrilled (or "tickled to death") that I remembered her in the movie. We had a nice chat about Bela. Good times! Armand's Rancho del Cielo
Lady Tottington		#48	[-]
Jan 30 12 12:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	ArmandV101 wrote: Back in the 1980s, I was a member of the Laurel & Hardy group "Sons of the Desert." The L.A. group, "Way Out West" tent, held a banquet at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City. In attendance were such luminaries as Hal Roach, Sr., Hank Worden and others. I found myself fortunate to be seated next to Joyce Compton, who was a co-star of Scared To Death. When we were seated, I looked at her name tag and said, "Joyce Compton! I remember you in Scared To Death!" She was so thrilled (or "tickled to death") that I remembered her in the movie. We had a nice chat about Bela. Good times! Stop being a tease!!!!! What did she say about Bela---or, for that matter, about the rest of the cast?
ArmandV101		#49	[-]
Jan 30 12 1:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Lady Tottington wrote: ArmandV101 wrote: Back in the 1980s, I was a member of the Laurel & Hardy group "Sons of the Desert." The L.A. group, "Way Out West" tent, held a banquet at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City. In attendance were such luminaries as Hal Roach, Sr., Hank Worden and others. I found myself fortunate to be seated next to Joyce Compton, who was a co-star of Scared To Death. When we were seated, I looked at her name tag and said, "Joyce Compton! I remember you in Scared To Death!" She was so thrilled (or "tickled to death") that I remembered her in the movie. We had a nice chat about Bela. Good times! Stop being a tease!!!!! What did she say about Bela---or, for that matter, about the rest of the cast? I really don't remember details except for what I posted (keep in mind that the banquet was about 30 years ago), except she enjoyed working with Bela and that he was a real pro and always prepared. We didn't discuss the other cast members. Looking back, I wish I had taken notes. Who knew back then that there'd be an Internet and the CHFB? I did manage to get her to sign my banquet program. I still have it. Armand's Rancho del Cielo
Lady Tottington		#50	[-]
Jan 30 12 2:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow! All I can say is that you were very lucky to meet her and to have a chance to chat in such a relaxed situation---and that she was willing to do so. The only person that I ever met who had met Lugosi (kind of, she lived 2 doors away) thought anyone who wanted to know about him was nutty.
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TomWeaver999		#51	[-]
Jan 30 12 7:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gary Rhodes has an article about SCARED TO DEATH in the MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT-after-next and I'm sure every crumb of info about the making of the movie that exists will be in there. I don't know anything about 3-D touches, I'm afraid. I tracked down the actor who plays the he-she at the end of the movie -- he lived on 57th Street in NYC, practically next door to Richard Gordon's apartment house -- but hesitated to call him because I knew he had to be close to 100. Finally I passed this hot potato info to Gary, who found out the guy had died a year or two earlier. The actor's name, by the way, was Lee Bennett, but his real last name was Crespinel, and his father invented the Cinecolor process that SCARED TO DEATH was in; that's probably WHY Bennett was in it. Bennett was also in a bunch of Cinecolor Eddie Dean Westerns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinecolor
MYST0		#52	[-]
Feb 2 12 12:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Can't wait to read that article. I wonder if it will be part of his new book? I guess I can stop cursing you in private, Tom, for ending POVERTY ROW HORRORS in 1946 and not including SCARED TO DEATH from 1947. I wonder if being born in 1947 had something to do with my love for this film. Maybe my mother saw it before I was born and the spirit of STD somehow invaded my unborn self and...NAH!
pulp novelties		#53	[-]
Feb 3 12 11:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	SCARED TO DEATH is definitely one I laugh at instead of with. It's such an unbridled mess with no timing or direction. Someone here described it as having a "dinner theater" quality, that pretty-much nails it. I first saw it as rental in the 80's while I was still in college, and some of it's surreal, stilted dialog quickly became catch-phrases between my best friend and I. I distinctly remember catching each other off-guard and blurting out "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies" wherever it fit . I find Nat Pendleton's dopey detective very annoying for some reason.
Wich2		#54	[-]
Feb 3 12 12:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He's pushing too hard, because he knows the script blows.
pulp novelties		#55	[-]
Feb 3 12 2:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wich2 wrote: He's pushing too hard, because he knows the script blows. I can see that. The dimwitted bruiser has never been my favorite comic-relief in general. It's easier to swallow these Hollywood conventions ten-twenty years prior, but by the late-forties they were so played that they just seem hollow and derivative. Last Edited By: pulp novelties Feb 3 12 2:47 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rick		#56	[-]
Feb 3 12 2:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	pulp novelties wrote: SCARED TO DEATH is definitely one I laugh at instead of with. It's such an unbridled mess with no timing or direction. Someone here described it as having a "dinner theater" quality, that pretty-much nails it. Hey now! Dinner theatre work paid my bills for a lotta years. And I never did a dinner theatre show as cruddy as SCARED TO DEATH. ...well, there was a "comedy" in '79...
pulp novelties		#57	[-]
Feb 3 12 3:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: pulp novelties wrote: SCARED TO DEATH is definitely one I laugh at instead of with. It's such an unbridled mess with no timing or direction. Someone here described it as having a "dinner theater" quality, that pretty-much nails it. Hey now! Dinner theatre work paid my bills for a lotta years. And I never did a dinner theatre show as cruddy as SCARED TO DEATH. ...well, there was a "comedy" in '79... I think it speaks to the weird informality of it all. Lets say community theater then, it's as close as you can get to a high school drama with adults. I know dinner theater is the bread-and-butter of many a professional actor, I mean it no harm. One of the things I never did get about SCARED TO DEATH is why in the hell was this z-grade drawing-room mystery shot in color in 1947? Was someone fulfilling a contractual obligation, or were they pushing color as a 3-D, Cinerama style marketing gimmick all on it's own? I certainly makes no particular good use of color.
TomWeaver999		#58	[-]
Feb 3 12 5:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<< the spirit of STD somehow invaded my unborn self << I think they have lotions for that now. http://www.avert.org/std.htm
bela lugosi		#59	[-]
Feb 3 12 6:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	One thing I was amazed at was how youthful Nat Pendleton looked in this film. I agree it's kind of a mess, but I love the cast and even though it's zany, I enjoy it.
pulp novelties		#60	[-]
Feb 3 12 6:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	bela lugosi wrote: One thing I was amazed at was how youthful Nat Pendleton looked in this film. I agree it's kind of a mess, but I love the cast and even though it's zany, I enjoy it. Hmm? I'd have never taken him for a man of fifty. He still annoys me though, the rest of it I'm good with.
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