CineSavant Column
Hello!
Faithful contributor “B” sent along some nifty Li’l Abner cartoon strips the other day, and among them was this Al Capp panel talking about a fearsome creature called The Bald Iggle. The satirical fuzzball makes you tell the truth, and … well, this fake warning bulletin says it all. In the cartoon story, the Iggle makes Li’l Abner betray his own brother, among other inconveniences. Abner and Daisy Mae try to save The Bald Iggle, on account of ‘tellin’ the truth is All-American! . . . but the FBI eventually comes to exterminate it just the same.
This cartoon bulletin got my attention because it’s from the middle 1950s, and Capp name-checks two monster movies of the time. I reckon Capp altered the second title, so as to not have two ‘creatures’ in a row.
At the Classic Horror Film Board, the generous contributor Gary L. Prange has performed a service for fans of Robot Monster, the 3-D classic expected on Blu-ray in the coming months.
Prange points out the artwork displayed behind Robot Monster’s Main Titles and Intermission card — a screen filled with Sci-fi and Horror magazine covers from the early 1950s. We’re told that they’re arrayed at different levels of depth, and look sensational in 3-D. As a public service for readers of the Film Board, Prange has uploaded terrific scans of the magazine covers depicted in full color. There are ten of them; it looks to me like he got them all.
(You’ll have to scroll down a bit at that link to get to Gary’s post — it begins with the graphic seen just above.)
Here they are, Doctor Wertham, do your worst!
I received this image a few days ago, from Italy … Scott MacQueen was presenting at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna for a Criterion restoration, and also introducing a screening of the new restoration of Invaders from Mars. The photo zooms in for better viewing, or it can be opened in a new window.
I like the door poster adapted from Italian art — I wonder if it’s from the original release. Are door posters like this common? It seems a good gimmick.
The Blu-ray is expected early this fall; CineSavant is in line for an early review screener. Thanks to Mr. MacQueen for the snapshot.
And finally Gary Teezel found this on YouTube. It was posted by Kevin Johansen in 2016, but with no explanation as to its origin: an alternate version of the Casino Royale ’67 title song, with an unidentified singer going for an Elvis sound: “Unknown version of Have No Fear Bond Is Here.”
The YouTube comments offer much speculation as to who the singer is, but no agreed-upon answer. The record label is visible at the end, but gives no information either. For comparison, here is the version of the song sung by Mike Redway, who performs it in the film. This cue wasn’t on the film’s Burt Bacharach soundtrack album, but was released as a single. Note that there are additional lyrics at the beginning, not heard in the film either.
Too many links? Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson