Hello!

Today we’ve got a new podcast from Dick Dinman, who reached into his archive of celebrity recordings to revive a discussion of King Solomon’s Mines with star Stewart Granger. The 1950s adventure tale is from The Warner Archive and co-stars Deborah Kerr.

I’ll be curious to see King Solomon’s Mines myself, as old TV prints weren’t all that attractive. As a little kid the show was sold to me as great filmmaking — I somehow got the idea that it was 3 hours long, an impression that must have been the result of sitting through endless TV commercial interruptions.

And we’re finding out that the new (?) Film Masters disc label has another ’50s shock title in the works, building on from last month’s announcement of a double bill of Giant Gila Monster & The Killer Shrews. I’ll have to ask for some clarification on that title, as I haven’t seen the announcement renewed.

Reported as due out on October 24th is a Blu-ray the first feature by Monte Hellman for Gene & Roger Corman’s Filmgroup company, Beast from Haunted Cave. It’s the runaway production filmed in South Dakota from the Charles Griffith screenplay. We’ve always liked it, especially with Hellman’s direction.

On the same special edition disc as an extra is the other Corman picture filmed simultaneously, Ski Troop Attack, noted as the one where Corman himself plays a German soldier. As always, we hope for the best with these ‘newly restored’ discs ‘from 35mm archival materials’ — and we’re usually pleasantly surprised. C. Courtney Joyner and Tom Weaver are associated with the extras.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson