Farewell, Michael Sarrazin - much more than a pretty face

I was very sad to hear yesterday that actor Michael Sarrazin passed away, aged 70, after a brief illness. He had a face you don't forget easily. But his good looks and huge eyes were backed by talent. His versatility as an actor meant he could carry all types of movies - romantic, horror, comedy...

After memorable roles such as The Flim-Flam Man, Eye Of The Cat, the young actor ended the 1960s starring in the superb Oscar-winning They Shoot Horses, Don't They? This is his most-acclaimed film. But while he's top-billed opposite Jane Fonda, the story is an ensemble piece with a strong cast playing the many hopeful marathon dancers trying to keep standing long enough to win the prize money. A cruel way to earn a crust in depression-era America, the movie was actually shot in a ballroom where these actual spectacles took place. I was shocked to learn that Dracula-director Tod Browning used to live in Venice Beach and came to watch some of them on the pier. He wanted to film the story when it was published in 1935.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is the best way to remember Sarrazin, but I've always been intrigued by his sci-fi/horror films, a steady vein throughout his career. I've already mentioned Eye Of The Cat - a superb horror/thriller scripted by Joseph Stefano (Psycho) where he plays a character paralysed  by a fear of cats. His performance made me wary of them for years! He also displays a mischievous and wicked sense of humour, as well as effortless sexuality in clinches with Gayle Hunnicutt. Interesting that the brief LA Times obituary mentions that he narrowly lost out on the role of Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy, which would surely have propelled him into bigger projects.

His good looks also extended to regularly being half-naked in many roles, at a time when leading men didn't always look good with their shirts off (sorry, Mr Heston). He was ideal for the doctor's beautiful creation in Frankenstein: The True Story. It was also rare to see the creature look like a perfect human specimen (as in the book) rather than a monster. This was before The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The two-part TV movie caused quite a stir at the time, though I don't think it's aged well, just like this Frankenstein's pet project. This tribute from the Frankensteinia blog likes it a whole lot more.

Horses set Sarrazin up for continual but not stellar success through the 1970s. From light comedy, opposite Barbra Streisand in For Pete's Sake (an attempt to recreate the success of What's Up, Doc?), to weird thriller The Groundstar Conspiracy.

Sarrazin's character is an enigma, almost blown to smithereens in the opening scene. Like Who? and The Man Who Fell To Earth, the story is about proving whether he's a lab assistant, a saboteur or a even an alien... An intriguing curio which I return to because I keep forgetting the solution. There's nothing in it as eye-opening as the premise or the gory paperback cover.

The Gumball Rally was and is one of his most popular films, but again he's getting lost in an ensemble. Following Death Race 2000, there was a road rash of trans-continental race movies, inspired by an actual, illegal event (the only way to win was to break the speed limits). Gumball is far funnier than its 1976 rival Cannonball (also known as Carquake) but was completely overtaken by The Cannonball Run movies (1981, 1984), which needed a truckload of extra star power in order to inject fresh fuel into a treadbare format. A bunch of wacky characters, endless stuntwork, road movies lite.

But while Sarrazin gets lost in the mayhem, he was the main event in The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud, which I still really like. While the central mystery can easily be solved by reading the title, it's quite a hypnotic film, helped hugely by Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack. We sympathise with Peter's plight when he realises that stuff in his dreams actually exists. The plot thickens when he stumbles into a passionate relationship during his quest for the truth. Once again, Sarrazin plays a lost soul searching for his identity.


The eighties saw him depend on TV, including frequent sci-fi roles (The Outer Limits, Deep Space Nine) and it was a long time before I saw him again in anything, in the later Harry Palmer movies Bullet To Beijing and Midnight In Saint Petersburg, opposite Michael Caine. His last movie was a horror, FearDotCom.

I'm so sorry to hear that he's gone now. And sad that some of his more interesting films are so hard to see - The Groundstar Conspiracy is long out of print on DVD. Eye Of The Cat and The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud have never been on DVD.

Farewell Jill Haworth - a favourite scream queen

A visual reminder of Jill Haworth's horror roles...

I've stopped writing tributes because it was turning into a full-time job. I also prefer to write about my favourite movie people while they're still alive, and that's what I was hoping to do for Jill Haworth, having written to her last year with a few questions. For whatever reason there was no reply, but I still held out hope of perhaps seeing her at a convention or a public interview. I wasn't expecting her to pass away this young, at 65, earlier this week.


Many obituaries and tributes have lead with her biggest role in Otto Preminger's Exodus, opposite Sal Mineo. Or that she originated the role of Sally Bowles in the first production of Cabaret. But I was always more excited by her work in the horror genre. While most of these films were low-budget, they were made with a cast who'd take them seriously. No matter how silly the script or the situation, some of these films were awash with great talent.
While my taste for horror films includesthe cheaply-made, I tune out really quickly if the acting is poor. This restricts what I enjoy quite severely - I'm unreasonably demanding low-budget horror with good casts. I'm also more likely to watch an actor in their low-budget roles rather than their biggest movies.

THE OUTER LIMITS
'The Sixth Finger' (1963, TV episode)

After Exodus, Jill's major film roles soon gave way to TV appearances like this. She played opposite David McCallum (The Man From UNCLE, The Invisible Man) in this tale of a scientist meddling with evolution in a Welsh mining town! As Cathy, she witnesses the past and the future of humanity...

IT! (1967)

Returning to England, Jill again found leading roles in movies, albeit in low-budget horrors. But at least she was playing opposite Hollywood star Roddy McDowall. She plays Ellen, who discovers that Arthur, a local museum curator, has unearthed the legendary Golem and knows how to control the indestructible creature. As Arthur falls in love with her, despite the protests of his dead mother (!), she finds herself in an impossible situation - not being able to say no to a man with absolute power...

 More about IT! here.

THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR (1969)
(also called Horror House or The Dark)

Although she gets top billing under Frankie Avalon, this and Tower of Evil are more ensemble pieces. A small crowd of young people lined up for serial killing shenanigans. Only when the crowd thins out a little, that she really gets a chance to shine. Her final moments in the film are some of the most horrifying I've seen, purely down to her performance.

More about The Haunted House of Horror here.

  

TOWER OF EVIL (1972)
(also called Horror on Snape Island or Beyond the Fog)

Another horror film that predates Black Christmas and Halloween with a crowd of youngsters battling a monstrous evil that carries pointy weapons. Again Jill has an amusingly bitchy character, but still evokes sympathy when she gets into trouble. The kind of trouble where you're being chased around an old lighthouse by some thing with an efficient-looking sacrificial blade...

More about the wonderful Tower of Evil here.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1972, TV movie)

Only just passes as horror nowadays, but fascinating for seventies TV. They spill as much blood as they dare, when a pitchfork murderer is stalking around in a yellow raincoat! Plot twists courtesy of Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits), direction by John Llewellyn Moxey (The Night Stalker, City of the Dead). A definite attempt to assemble actresses from horror films. Only young Sally Field is new to the world of slashers, but she sure can scream like a pro! A treat to see Eleanor Parker (Eye of the Cat), Jessica Walter (Play Misty For Me), Julie Harris (The Haunting) all together,with Jill easily holding her own. Some formidable scenes of duress and madness push some of the cast over the top, but that's all part of the fun.

THE MUTATIONS (1974)
(also called The Freakmaker)

This is hard to recommend, because of the variable acting and a queasy use of real-life circus freaks as 'monsters'. But it still draws an audience because of Donald Pleasence as a mad scientist, and future Doctor Who Tom Baker as a mutated killer, plus some ambitious giant killer plants. Jill is knocked down the cast list to merely co-star, no longer the leading lady. Julie Ege takes the starring role, willing to strip down for the part.

So how many horrors qualify you as a scream queen - surely these are enough? And she really could scream...


Jill Haworth's page on IMDB.


Much more about the making of The Haunted House of Horror here on director Michael Armstrong's own website.Finding photos to illustrate Jill's horror roles wasn't easy - but Monster Magazine World has dug up some great publicity photos for these movies.



Farewell, Frank Sidebottom - the death of a clown

Monday evening, I was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Chris Sievey, a man whose face I'd never seen.

To the world he was mainly known as an alter-ego, his true identity as successfully shielded as Batman, for many years. Frank Sidebottom was his comedy creation, first on radio, then stage then TV. The characters he created for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio were as inventive and funny as those Kenny Everett created for London's Capital Radio. But Frank was even more anarchic, never pretending that his sidekick, the demented Little Frank, was anything more than a puppet made of cardboard.

Their adventures in space, football, pop music (Little Frank released records as well) and Sherwood Forest were little more than sound effects and library music, with Chris and a few friends ("Lard!") doing the voices, but they were as evocative as any radio play, and side-splittingly funny.

Having fronted bands before, notably The Freshies ('I Can't Get Bouncing Babies by The Teardrop Explodes'), it was easy for Chris to take Frank on stage to sing his songs, play his banjo or cheap synthesizer, and argue with Little Frank. The best joke was that Sidebottom's skills at ventriloquism were completely hidden by his mask. The huge proportion of Frank's head was due to the character originally being a schoolboy, broadcasting Timperley Radio from his mum's garden shed.

Frank's crap puppetry was all part of the fun. But if he invented a new character, the audience expected to see them up on stage too. Even Breville Toaster Puppet could make a grand entrance, riding in an Action Man jeep.

Frank's escalating popularity seemed to peak when he hit National Children's TV, like as a regular part of Saturday Morning's TX, presented by Tony Slattery. I thought this was the start of the big time for Frank, but no.

He continued touring, (supporting John Cooper Clarke earlier this year) but his music is only represented as a couple of belated compilation CDs, of his best songs and unforgettable medleys (A Tribute to Queen). Apparently, he had fans in the US and I'm pleased to hear his appeal travelled so far. Now that he's gone, I expect to fill in the gaps of just what he got upto through the years.

My fondest memory isn't of seeing Frank in concert, but when he recreating the madness of his radio sketches in one of his Christmas Pantomimes at a packed Timperley Labour Club. Effortlessly funny, he could create a whole evening's entertainment out of cardboard. If anything went wrong, he could improvise his way out, or simply blame Little Frank.

I was hoping one day to see an interview with the man behind the mask, and see Chris actually doing 'that voice', finally linking up the man to the character. But perhaps it's better this way.

Sadder news came later in the week, in that Chris was flat broke at the end. But his many fans are making sure he'll get a fitting send-off. Here's a fuller career obituary from The Independent. A picture gallery from The Guardian. Frank's blog is brimfull of all his recent works and remains online.

One of my favourite records was this medley of Frank's favourite sci-fi shows, bashed together into a medley.

There's still plenty of Frank Sidebottom on YouTube - clips of his TV shows, pop videos, live performances and even an animated visualisation of Frank's world, entirely made of cardboard.

Chris, Frank, I thank you.

Charlton Heston - goodbye to THE OMEGA MAN

It had to happen eventually, but I was hoping to write this tribute before Charlton Heston passed away.

Before Star Wars came along, he was my sci-fi hero of the seventies. While he'd made a name headlining the hugest of Hollywood epics (Ben Hur, El Cid, The Ten Commandments), I was far more interested in his futuristic/apocalyptic films, all still re-running in cinemas. Towards the end of his A-list career, he bravely entered the genre that was rarely taken seriously. But with Heston starring, it helped persuade audiences to take a new look at sci-fi.

His gravitas helped make Planet of the Apes (1968) a hit with critics and audiences. Rod Serling's brilliant script illuminated the parallels between a fantasy world of intelligent animals, and the problems of real-life America, as well as providing a compelling futuristic adventure. Heston returned to reprise his role as Taylor in the gritty sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, which is just as good.


He then hit a sci-fi groove, first starring in The Omega Man (1971), an adaption of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, that's heavily influential on the current Will Smith version. Though if you want better villains, more action and a better ending, you should see Charlton Heston as Robert Neville.

There's also Soylent Green (1973), a reminder that ecological disasters have been on people's minds for decades. Heston plays a detective trying to solve a murder in a massively overpopulated city, stricken with a permanent heatwave. The depiction of metropolitan food riots and voluntary euthanasia are not easily forgotten, as is the ghastly secret of Soylent Green itself.

Heston then went all 'disaster movie' in Earthquake, Airport '75 and Two Minute Warning. Despite chaos, danger, and the dam about to break, with Charlton Heston running around, you knew things were going to be all right.

Seeing these all on the big screen, cemented him in my mind's eye as a cornerstone of essential seventies cinema.

Come back, Chuck...

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