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Thanks! Now I guess I should say something that allays any feelings that it might be another Don Smith book. Don's book was fine, but it was so brief and lacking in 'new' research, and had a few factual problems. For starters, no digging into shooting dates -- and I already spoilered some of my research in noting elsewhere that (for instance) Fireball Jungle was filmed in May 1968, which hasn't been highlighted before. I must try to not spoiler things too much!

I've been taking some particular interest in the stage work and the radio work, and also in finding out more on what he was doing during his last four years (not much, granted). Stage and radio is very difficult to get info on. At the least, we'll have more detail on that than has been put out before -- probably not as much as I'd *like*, but there's always a second edition in five years.

I'm also attempting to see as much of the available filmed output as humanly possible. Some of it might not be obtainable at all. But at the moment I have pushing 90 films here and 20-odd television items, with more on the way. I'll cover all of it. Some begs for less coverage than others. Sometimes Lon has a tiny supporting role and there's not a hell of a lot that can be said. Exact or at the very least approximate production dates on everything.

Also... and I can't say that much here, as some of it's TBD... but the appendices will feature a lot of neat 'bonus' materials. Included in this will be a selection of interviews with Lon, most notably at this point the Carson appearance. I have the transcript and have worked on a new edit of that, but recently I also received the original audio on CD, which is not in the best of shape but perfectly legible on the whole -- we'll have the best-possible presentation of it.

So it'll be a fairly thick book. I'm sure it'll clear 100,000 words comfortably. How long is not an issue I'm thinking about too much at the moment. I'm taking the rest of the year and maybe a month or two besides to get it all done. And I'm doing it for *me*, in other words following my concept of what a great Lon book would be... hopefully, my feeling will match a lot of other people's. I'm very happy with the progress, and also, strangely, for the number of instances where hunches or guesses on my part turned out to be supported by evidence or anecdotes coming to light. Makes me feel my handle on the subject's pretty good. That's a neat feeling.

The cover image comes courtesy of Count G, and a big thanks to him for massive support and encouragement; ditto Tom W, whose info and research is always invaluable; and Ted N, whose pickiness and pedantry is a fine antidote to complacency! And thanks to everyone else who has given help and support so far! You too, Craig!

Right, I'm not going to post loads of major spoilers on here, but inspired by Les's fab avatar, this is a recent piece written -- 1.5 Draft, taking on board some feedback from Kerry and Tom but still not 100% finished and polished, but a good sample of the kind of treatment the more 'significant' film entries will get...

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MAN MADE MONSTER
LC plays "Dynamo" Dan McCormick

[prod details]
Prod date Nov - mid-Dec '40
Prem March 18th '41 (NY) Rel March 28th '41
60 minutes

Dan McCormick, who performs a circus act as the 'Electrical Man', survives a bus crashing into an electric pylon that kills five other people. He arouses the interest of Dr Lawrence, who invites him to participate in a series of tests on his apparent 'immunity' to dangerous voltage. Lawrence's assistant, Dr Rigas, has other ideas: he covertly subjects Dan to increasing doses of current, turning him into an electricity-dependent zombie, the first of a race of 'supermen' Rigas envisages as serving those of higher intelligence. When Lawrence reacts badly upon discovering this experiment, Rigas has Dan kill him. Dan goes to trial, and then the electric chair, which only serves to energise him--he escapes to seek vengeance on the evil scientist...

Lon's first horror film for Universal was something of a 'test'. With the acclaim of his performance in Of Mice and Men coupled with the pull of his family name, the studio was interested from the outset in his potential as a new horror star in the footsteps of his legendary father, not to mention Karloff and Lugosi. The latter two were already becoming elderly, and neither were as physically robust as they'd once been. During the fall of 1940 when Man Made Monster was in pre-production, Chaney was relatively young at 34 in addition to being big and powerful. It seemed he could act too, on the basis of the Steinbeck film, so the title role of Dan McCormick was offered and accepted.

Man Made Monster was also the first film George Waggner directed for the studio. He had been gathering poverty row credits for some time, but this was a definite step up... and for both him and Lon, iconic cinema history was just around the corner. Meanwhile, Waggner had to develop an old, abandoned story/script titled The Electric Man, originally intended for Boris and Bela. He penned the final screenplay himself under the pseudonym of Joseph West. Production began late in November of '40, lasting approximately three weeks under a very tight budget that the completed film conceals very proficiently.

Indeed, special mention should be made of the effects work, which on the whole is excellent--the scene of the bus crashing at the start of the film deploys superb use of miniatures, for instance, and the glowing halo around the exposed parts of the electrically-charged McCormick is eerily effective.

There's a slight echo of Lennie Small in Dan McCormick. He's a big, simple man, full of life and without a single malicious thought. His best friend in the film proves to be the Lawrence family's dog, Corky, with whom he plays with genuine affection. (Lon was a definite dog person and it comes across nicely on screen.) As if the link with Lennie wasn't entirely clear, the script has Dan comment on the disappearance of Pete, one of the lab rabbits, to which Rigas (Lionel Atwill) replies, with typical arrogant detachment: "He worked yesterday."

The lively, earthy personality of Dan is important to making the film work, even if it does draw upon Lon's earlier acclaimed role (albeit nominally)--it makes his transformation into a shambling, miserable wreck at the hands of Rigas all the more pitiful and affecting. As the film moves along he becomes more haggard, his eyes look more sunken and his hair is flecked with gray, even as his demeanor sinks into inexpressive torpor, the life draining away before our eyes... a stark and somewhat disturbing contrast to the robust, jovial figure we're introduced to in the earlier scenes.

In a lot of ways, it makes for pretty depressing viewing. The Universal horror canon had portrayed its share of grotesques and tragic monsters, but even with the Frankenstein Monster, poignant and moving as he was in the hands of Karloff and Whale, there is a sense of this creature only in terms of what he is rather than what he becomes. On the other hand, Man Made Monster gives the viewer a drawn-out depiction of the systematic destruction of a living individual which, in spite of the fantastical aspects of the plot, is a little closer to reality and decidedly more cold, if not sadistic, than previous mad scientist entries. It could well be considered the last Universal horror film of the 'classic' '30s and '40s period that conveys a genuine sense of actual horror--meaning not scares, but concepts that are somewhat unpleasant to consider.

Lionel Atwill was quite capable at portraying nasty types, and his Dr Rigas is, if nothing else, thoroughly odious. He chews the scenery a touch here and there--for instance, when taking great pleasure in his character happily admitting to insanity when accused of such. As 'proper' actors go, Atwill was refreshingly un-fussy about playing this kind of material, even confessing to enjoying it where some of his snobbier peers may have looked down their noses. It's just as well: whatever loftier ambitions he may have fostered were torpedoed by an infamous sex scandal during this period, leaving him to rely on work like this until his somewhat premature death from cancer in 1946, aged 61. It isn't a great performance from him, but it's an effective one--finding Rigas entirely detestable requires no effort, and his ultimate demise is much-anticipated and perfectly satisfying.

At the risk of seeming dismissive, the rest of the cast--able as they are--really don't matter much. Chaney and Atwill provide the meat; everyone else merely facilitates. Except for the dog. That dog turns in a wonderful performance! When he lies upon the deceased Dan's body at the end of the film, it's a real heartbreaker...

If this film really was Lon's audition piece for Universal, although it could be argued that the role of Dan did not present a monumental acting challenge of any kind, certainly he tears into it without restraint. You can't help but take an instant liking to big lug Dan--and all the pathos needed is extracted from Lon's hangdog features over the course of the character's tragic deterioration.

Obviously the film is something of a modern-day Frankenstein variant--the monster is not literally created, but certainly 'made', as per the title. What Lon brings to it is not the equal of Karloff in the first two Frankenstein films, but it is a good alternative. When Lon donned the Monster's makeup in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), he was set up for a critical drubbing, which he continues to receive to some extent to this day... Man Made Monster is his own creation, in a sense, not a copy of someone else's, and whatever faults might be found in the later film aren't apparent here. It's a strong performance--not a world-beating performance, but much better than adequate and pretty much entirely successful.

Universal obviously thought so. On the strength of this, he'd appear in a long list of films for the studio over the next five years--and finally become a legitimate star in the process. As 1941 dawned, he found himself a contract player on a salary of $500 a week. Things were definitely looking up.
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© C Harper, natch!

Thanks. Yeah, it's kind of unfinished anyway. But I've not put anything down at all for a couple of days -- seem to have some kind of virus that's making me a bit achy and sickly. Urgh. I did watch Casanova's Big Night yesterday, though, just not well enough or focused enough to scribble anything on it. Maybe an overdose of Vitamin C will fix me...

Well, I did a cursory write-up of Casanova's Big Night today, so I think my health is improving. I was tempted, for Ted's benefit, to add, 'Of course, his role here as a somewhat dissipated, bearded character is almost prescient, as by 1971...'

I'm joking!

...Or am I?