The ever-dependable Gary Teetzel forwards yet another scoop from the world of archaic fantasy — A Pulpfest article on a legendary never-shown TV pilot for a Fu Manchu show, starring John Carradine and Cedrick Hardwicke, directed by William Cameron Menzies. The article by William Patrick begins mysteriously enough, stating that the show wasn’t broadcast, that no stills ever surfaced from … it’s the kind of thing that existed only as a rumor. (Yes, this is a picture of Boris Karloff!)

← Gary also saw this photo of a Bangkok theater display for George Pal’s When Worlds Collide on Facebook, so I’m passing it on … sorry, I don’t know who found the photo or originally posted it, but someone in Thailand must have been a BIG sci-fi fan.

If you open it in a new window, you’ll see the photo much bigger .. and you can see a normal large poster for the movie on the left side of the building. That mock-up rocket is many times larger than anything used to make the movie!

What’s happening with reviews? I’m quite a ways through Criterion’s War and Peace and can happily say it’s magnificent — far better than anything I’ve seen. Charlie Largent is hammering (Universaling?) out a full rundown on the Universal Horror Collection Volume 1 (Irene Ware from The Raven pictured). I’ve got The Silent Partner coming up next, and beaucoup discs from KL Studio Classics, Cohen Collection, Olive Films, Criterion, and others. I’ve got some heavy day-job action going at the moment so I’m grateful for the help of CineSavant’s unofficial staff (victims?) … see you Tuesday!

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson