So Far, So...

Priceless Vincent

Hi Hello & Welcome to this week’s look at the movies and movie people that matter to me.

Now let me declare straight away that the Horror genre is my least favourite in Film. Dear god there’s enough actual horror in the world, enough to shock & scare the crap out of one that seeking out more in the form of entertainment has always struck me as somewhat fucked up and then some. Having said that, for me there’s a sub-genre within the genre that I’m definitely groovy with and I guess it’s the ‘old school’ horror stuff that I can get down with, and one of the key players in this was of course the wonderful VINCENT PRICE.

So, with Halloween nearly upon us I thought I’d take a very quick spin this week through the life and career of VINCENT PRICE as well as two films at opposite ends of his career which I have big soft spots for, namely DRAGONWYCK (1946) and THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973).

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was born on May 27th 1911 in St.Louis, Missouri. Now anyone else born around this time had one thing looming - one dreadful thing - the Great Depression. Most other young men born the year Vincent was would have the world fall apart in their 18th year on this planet. Vincent however was a lucky boy. His Father was President of the National Candy Company and his Grandfather had invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder"which absolutely secured the family’s fortune. Vincent’s stock even dated back to his Grandmother being the first child born in colonial Massachusetts on the Mayflower while it was docked in Provincetown Harbour. So whilst most 22yr old Americans were dealing with the catastrophe of the Great Depression, our Vincent was graduating from Yale and soon after setting sail for London, where he spent a year studying fine art at The Courtauld Institute of Art before finding the Theatre more attractive a proposition and making his stage debut in London in 1934. The next year he joined Orson Welles’ hot & happening Mercury Theatre and the legit switch from fine art to fine theatre was complete. Vincent would never look back.

After his spell working with the pre-Citizen Kane Wisconsin Wunderkind, off to Hollywood went Vincent (with a Universal contract tucked under his arm) and soon he was picking up some nice cameos and decent sized parts in pictures such as The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The House of the Seven Gables (1940), Hudson's Bay (1941) and The Song of Bernadette (1943). It was however the multi-Academy Award nominated classic, LAURA (1944), which really set in place Price’s reputation in Hollywood, and which eventually led to the first of our two films this week - DRAGONWYCK (1946).

This isn’t everyone’s cup of but I always enjoy the hell out this big old slice of Hollywood gothic romance. Adapted from Anya Seton’s novel about the feudal system passed down through generations of old-Dutch families on the Hudson River, it marks the directorial debut of one Joseph L. Mankiewicz (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, All About Eve, Cleopatra, and Sleuth) and although top billing went to Gene Tierney, Vincent was proud and prominent on the poster and outside the movie houses. As ever I’ll not bore you with the plot here, directing you instead to the original Trailer below and the film itself, but if I say it’s a bit Edgar Allen Poe, a bit Alexis de Tocqueville, a bit Rebecca (1940) and a lot ‘tinsel town’ that should give you a flavour that might just attract you to give Vincent & Co. in this one a whirl. Talking of Vincent, he’s terrific in it. Commanding and charismatic, seductive and handsome, and eventually delightfully off his trolley, he’s in fine fine form in the film.

VINCENT PRICE made a lot of Movies - 112 to be exact - and many of these were arguably better than Dragonwyck, but we all have our favourites for whatever reasons and it’s for his performance in this that I give it the nod and recommend it to you.

Now with a gap of 27yrs between Dragonwyck and the second of our two movies this week I’m skating over a lot of our boy’s movies - including some belters such as House Of Wax (1953), House On Haunted Hill (1959), House Of Usher (1960), The Raven (1963), The Comedy Of Terrors (1963), but, it’s in 1973 we land with our second and final VINCENT PRICE movie this week - THEATRE OF BLOOD.

Price plays the unforgettably named Edward Lionheart, a Shakespearean actor who plots revenge on a committee of critics who routinely dismiss his work, murdering each of them according to a violent scene in one of the Bard’s plays. That’s the top and bottom of the plot really, but fuck me what a gloriously camp and bloody hoot this movie is.

The blend of realism combined with pulp outrageousness was a specialty of British filmmakers in the 60’s and 70’s, and with Theatre of Blood Price is allowed to become an unexpected ringmaster of a kind of kitchen-sink Grand Guignol, and like his character Lionheart at the glorious end of the film Price finds an unexpectedly ideal context for his multifaceted artistry. I’ll say no more than that on the plot only adding that Price is supported by a truly fabulous Cast including Diana Ring, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern, Robert Morley, his wife Coral Browne, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Lowe, Milo O’Shea, Eric Sykes - the list of British talent just goes on and on.

It’s 104 minutes of goofy, disturbing, witty, ludicrous and wondrous joy - and if some days going forward feel a little too bollocks for your liking - including this Halloween weekend - break out this festival of fun and you’re likely to have your spirits lifted and your chuckle muscles worked a tad.

Finally and in the spirit of this bizarre and bizarrely increasingly important ‘holiday’, here’s Vincent with what turned out to be his only ‘live’ performance of his ‘Thriller’ rap for Michael Jackson’s monster (pun intended) hit. It was rather lovely I thought that at the ripe old age of 71 the spotlight once again shone on Vincent - and some spotlight as Jackson’s album became - and still is - the biggest selling album of all time - and so here’s our lad (aged 76) in 1987 nailing his iconic ‘Rap’ with that iconic voice of his.

So, that’s it for this week. Happy Halloween and all that crap, look after yourselves and each other, and as ever Good Night And Good Luck.

Michael