Technicolor33 Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 It’s on tonight on Svengoolie. MeTV. the ghoul. 1933. Boris Karloff. I haven’t seen it before. Looks like it’s worth checking out. Plot sort of reminds me of The Walking Dead (also starring Karloff). I regret missing Lon Chaney Jr in Son of Dracula last weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameselliot Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 The show manages to find very good prints. Hopefully this will be the case with The Ghoul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 I absolutely love this film.; not so much for the story, but for its look. TCM aired this film a while back and I kept it on the DVR for the longest time. When there wasn't anything particular I wanted to watch, I played this film, with the sound low, sort of as background noise. Some films, I find meditative. Shanghai Express comes to mind- a mesmerizing road film. Night Flight from 1933 is another. I just play these films with the sound low, not really watching them. Strange, though, that a horror film would strike me in this way, but it does. If you've not seen this film before, you need to change that. How many times can one watch Frankenstein and Dracula? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eucalyptus P. Millstone Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 3 hours ago, unwatchable said: . . . If you've not seen this film before, you need to change that . . . Don't tell others what they need to change. For those who can't wait for the Svengoolie broadcast or those who aren't Svengoolie fans (Present!) . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 oooooooh, terrifying 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eucalyptus P. Millstone Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 13 minutes ago, unwatchable said: oooooooh, terrifying 😄 Yes, it is terrifying that Ernest Thesiger was proposing to Boris Karloff -- a married man (but then, so was Thesiger). Oh, that Ernie! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Uh huh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianNH Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Oops! Here I go again. I thought this was going to be about Ron Sweed (alias "The Ghoul") out of Cleveland in the 1970's. Back me up here, Sepiatone! I watched his show on cable in Port Huron, Michigan way back then. But now that I know I was misinformed, I am looking forward to seeing it on Sven tonight. Thanks for the interesting build-up, guys. The Austin Rodeo (on the Cowboy Channel) will have to take a back seat to tis one, I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Yeah, Brian, you need to see it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 I first saw this film in my hometown back in the early 1970s, on a midnight movie double bill, with a William Castle comedy, of all things: The Busy Body, about mobsters looking to dig up a corpse that was wearing a suit stuffed with cash. Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan! Really notable these days only because it was Richard Pryor's first screen appearance. Otherwise, dumb and annoying. Where the theater owner got a print of The Ghoul, I'll never know, because supposedly, this was considered a lost film. The print was horrible, looked like a 16mm dub of a dub, sound so muddy you could barely make it out. About 500 splices in it. The kids in the audience didn't care. It was just a cool thing to do back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eucalyptus P. Millstone Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 "Loosely based on a 1928 novel by Frank King (and subsequent play by King and Leonard J. Hines)," The Ghoul is, IMO, memorable and notable strictly because of Boris Karloff's performance. Perhaps had James Whale been at the helm, it would be better than it is. Any resemblance of the story to The Mummy was, reportedly, purely intentional: "A pulp thriller about a criminal mastermind, known only as The Ghoul, who has plunged London into a crime wave. Basis for the 1933 film of the same name, directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Boris Karloff. The film added mystical elements to the story in order to capitalize on Karloff's previous film, "The Mummy," but rationalized them during the conclusion, in keeping with the non-supernatural source material." -- Royal Books King's novel was also the basis for the 1961 British horror-comedy What A Carve Up! (in The Colonies, No Place Like Homicide) starring Carry On regulars Kenneth Connor and Sid James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameselliot Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 The quality of Sven's copy is rock bottom, almost unwatchable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 9 minutes ago, jameselliot said: The quality of Sven's copy is rock bottom, almost unwatchable. How's the audio track? Any splices? Might be the same print I saw 50 years ago. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 I saw The Ghoul some years ago and freely admit I can't recall any of it now. I just remember my response to the film being "Meh" and thinking I would probably never watch it again. It was definitely a disappointment compared to most of the vehicles Karloff was making at Universal at the time. Definitely a minor effort, I thought at the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Tragic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technicolor33 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 2 hours ago, unwatchable said: I first saw this film in my hometown back in the early 1970s, on a midnight movie double bill, with a William Castle comedy, of all things: The Busy Body, about mobsters looking to dig up a corpse that was wearing a suit stuffed with cash. Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan! Really notable these days only because it was Richard Pryor's first screen appearance. Otherwise, dumb and annoying. Where the theater owner got a print of The Ghoul, I'll never know, because supposedly, this was considered a lost film. The print was horrible, looked like 16mm dub of a dub, sound so muddy you could barely make it out. About 500 splices in it. The kids in the audience didn't care. It was just a cool thing to do back then. Busy Body. Have to hunt that one down. Sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameselliot Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 31 minutes ago, unwatchable said: How's the audio track? Any splices? Might be the same print I saw 50 years ago. 😀 The sound is bad also. I recorded it so I'll play it back and look for splices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 4 minutes ago, Technicolor33 said: Busy Body. Have to hunt that one down. Sounds interesting. It does sound interesting, but then, when you see it, not so much: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameselliot Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 2 hours ago, unwatchable said: I first saw this film in my hometown back in the early 1970s, on a midnight movie double bill, with a William Castle comedy, of all things: The Busy Body, about mobsters looking to dig up a corpse that was wearing a suit stuffed with cash. Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan! Really notable these days only because it was Richard Pryor's first screen appearance. Otherwise, dumb and annoying. Where the theater owner got a print of The Ghoul, I'll never know, because supposedly, this was considered a lost film. The print was horrible, looked like 16mm dub of a dub, sound so muddy you could barely make it out. About 500 splices in it. The kids in the audience didn't care. It was just a cool thing to do back then. Robert Ryan was hilarious and funnier than Sid Caesar. He should have made more comedies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 3 minutes ago, jameselliot said: The sound is bad also. I recorded it so I'll play it back and look for splices. Well, the print TCM aired was quite good. Perhaps they'll show it again before too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technicolor33 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 5 minutes ago, unwatchable said: It does sound interesting, but then, when you see it, not so much: You can find everything on the internet now. 😁 20-23 years ago , NO WAY. Had to hunt for the VHS tape on eBay or hope for a showing on AMC or TCM. thanks for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technicolor33 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 2 minutes ago, Technicolor33 said: You can find everything on the internet now. 😁 20-23 years ago , NO WAY. Had to hunt for the VHS tape on eBay or hope for a showing on AMC or TCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Apparently, TCM has aired it as well, though I didn't see it there: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69960/the-busy-body#overview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allhallowsday Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 The cast is impressive including RALPH RICHARDSON's first screen appearance... and KATHLEEN HARRISON ! The movie is dumb, but I watched it tonight and enjoyed it. Whoever the American actress was was cute but not so good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technicolor33 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 Sven says this print is restored print ! Doesn’t look restored to me. But given its age , it’s acceptable I guess. Audio sounds like a 78 record. Lots of pops and crackling. pretty cool you saw it at the theater back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts