Welcome back, movie lovers to the MONOGRAM WEEK 2008 festivities at inthebalcony.com, your home for classic movies and classy movie lovers. Nothing shrieks "CLASS" so much as a fine motion picture from MONOGRAM!Welcome back, movie lovers to the MONOGRAM WEEK 2008 festivities at inthebalcony.com, your home for classic movies and classy movie lovers. Nothing shrieks "CLASS" so much as a fine motion picture from MONOGRAM!
DAY 7 REPORT
Well, last night was the 58th Annual Monogram Week Grand Banquet and Get Acquainted Dinner Dance, and believe it or not, the party is just breaking up as the sun sets tonight over the grand Ninth Avenue Ballroom, Paintball Emporium and 24-Hour Bowl-a-Rama in downtown Seven Hills, Ohio, the site of this year's gala festivities. In addition to the screening of a pair of Lugosi films as part of the BelaBration 2008 (more on those later), we enjoyed a delicious dinner of cold cuts and semi-fresh fruit supplied by Kroger's, and danced to the peculiar song stylings of Fred "Disco Hands"
Martini and his Fat-Ass Twisters. Of course, the highlight of the evening was the crowning of Ms. Monogram 2008... after considering a dozen talented young starlets in such categories as grace, poise, charm, beauty, and willingness to pick up part of the tab, our panel of judges retired to their chamber where, just prior to passing out from the evening's libations, they selected a winner, who will wear the celebrated Cubic Zirconium Tiara of Ms. Monogram for a year. Immediately following the ceremony, Jennifer Rouse, Ms. Monogram 2008 was whisked via deluxe rented Jetta to her first official duty, cutting the ribbon at the opening of a brand new Payday Loans franchise. To meet the beautiful and talented Ms. Rouse, click on that picture...
DAY 6 REPORT
Bela Blasko was born on October 20, 1882 in the town of Lugos, Hungary from whence he would later get his stage name (he should've taken the name of the country, not the town: the moniker B. Hungary is a good one for an actor). Although legend tells us that Lugosi was a great actor on the stage in his native country, we've never seen any evidence of that and prefer to believe he was pretty much the Hungarian equivalent of "that great Polish actor, Joseph Tura."
Lugosi came to America in 1920 and lived here for 36 years before his death in 1956, and never much learned English, not the world's best career move. Neither was turning down the role of the Monster in Frankenstein after his earlier success as Dracula, which went to a struggling actor named Boris Karloff. (Another tale woven by Hollywood, although here In The Balcony we've always believed it was probably James Whale who gave Bela the boot, and not the other way
'round). In any case, Lugosi's pre-1940 career was just a rehearsal for what we honor him for this week: BelaBration 2008 commemorates not only the great man's 126th birthday year, but the nine films he made for producer Sam Katzman at Monogram in the early 1940s. Tonight, we follow last night's showing of a 1941 East Side Kids movie starring Bela as the boogeyman (as only Bela could play it) to a 1943 East Side Kids movie starring Bela in a minor role that could've assayed by Allen Jenkins. Which pretty much sums up how Bela's career went, come to think of it. And if you think this was bad, well, the next decade would bring the cinematic alliance of Bela Lugosi and Edward D. Wood, Jr., so these were actually gravy days for Bela. Anyway, click the picture for our look at Ghosts on the Loose, and we're gonna go get our tux on for the Annual Monogram Week Grand Banquet and Get Acquainted Dinner Dance. Now, where did we put our brown shoes...
DAY 5 REPORT
Hola, Monogrammarians... The excitement is in the air (along with the wafting fragrance of cold cuts; the deli trucks have begun to arrive with the menu items for the big Monogram Week Grand Banquet and Get-Acquainted Dinner Dance) as the time nears to crown our new Ms. Monogram 2008 and then dance the night away with the peculiar song stylings of our Monogram Grand Banquet and Get-Acquainted Dinner Dance house band, Fred "Disco Hands" Martini and his Fat-Ass Twisters. But first, of course, we've got another outstanding Monogram picture to watch.
The East Side Kids meet the Bowery Boys
When Monogram signed up cheapo producer Sam Katzman in 1940 to make a film called East Side Kids, they never could’ve expected that they were in fact initiating a series of motion pictures that would last, all told, for 70 films and nearly 20 years and would be the best-known, best-loved Monogram films ever.
The first incarnation of the series, the East Side Kids, ran for 22 profitable films. By mid-1945, Leo Gorcey was 28, Huntz Hall was 30, and they had obviously outgrown their “Kid” status. Moreover, Gorcey wanted a piece of the successful series’ box office pie. The result was the Bowery Boys series, produced by Gorcey’s agent Jan Grippo (and billed on the screen as “Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys”). The first in the new series, Live Wires, was released in January, 1946, and the series would continue with a new picture every 3 months or so for the next 12 years. As opposed to the mix of urban drama/slapstick seen in the early East Side Kids pictures, the Bowery Boys were straight comedy, and sometimes great comedy. Leo “Slip” Gorcey’s malapropism with the English language was always good for a laugh, Huntz “Sach” Hall made the funniest faces in the business, and Gorcey’s father Bernard, brought in to play café owner Louie Dombrowski, frequently worked himself and the audience into a state of hysteria over the Boys’ latest hair-brained scheme. (Leo’s brother David was on the payroll, too, as Chuck.)
It was Bernard Gorcey’s death in an automobile accident in 1955 that actually brought the series to a close; a grieving,
usually inebriated Leo Gorcey did one more picture without him and then quit. Stanley Clements was brought in for Huntz to play off of, but the chemistry wasn’t there and the series limped through only seven more pictures before being laid to rest at the end of 1957. Sold to television, the Bowery Boys lived on through the next decades as one of the most popular series of films on the tube, and Warner Bros. has promised a complete set of their films for future DVD release.
Tonight, over in the Monogram Movie Emporium, an early East Side Kids adventure co-starring Bela Lugosi is unspooling as part of our massive Monogram BelaBration 2008. Roll the film, Julio! Click the picture to join the fun, folks!
DAY 4 REPORT
After returning from the grave in 1937, Monogram maintained a healthy release schedule. In 1938 alone, the studio produced more than 30 feature films; by 1940, a new Monogram film was on the nation’s screens nearly every week. Boris Karloff was making Mr. Wong mysteries for Monogram, and Jackie Cooper was borrowed from MGM for a trio of hard-hitting juvenile delinquent films. Pressed for cash, Monogram worked hard to establish low-budget series that theatrical exchanges would purchase (and pay for) in advance; during this period, the East Side Kids, Frankie Darro & Mantan Moreland, Tailspin Tommy, and Jackie Moran & Marcia Mae Jones all appeared in continuing series of varying
popularity. Only the East Side Kids would survive the Second World War, although they’d have to grow up to be Bowery Boys to do it. And now, let’s grab some popcorn, soda pop and Jordan almonds and head back to the Mighty Monogram Movie Emporium, where the lights are dimming to show another of the infamous “Monogram 9” spookers as part of our gala BelaBration 2008. Tonight's feature is called The Corpse Vanishes, and like last night's film, George Zucco isn't in it. This time, though, he's not BILLED as being in it. So the legion of faithful George Zucco fans didn't go home disappointed. Ah, but will WE go home disappointed? Let's click that picture and we'll find out!
DAY 3 REPORT
A Little Monogram History: Part Two
Yesterday, we left off our Monogram history at a cliffhanger; in 1935, the studio was absorbed by Consolidated Film Laboratories and became part of Republic Pictures. Ousted Monogram head and founder W. Ray Johnston spent more than a year reforming his studio, though, in partnership with Pathé in England, and set up a robust distribution network and release schedule. By mid-1937, Monogram Pictures was back in business, providing B movies to play around the country and in England.
And this is as good a time as ever to remind folks that “B movies” were not necessarily “bad” or schlocky, something many of today’s younger fans don’t understand. Theatres often showed double features in those days, an “A” picture with bigger budgets and better-known stars, longer running times, and more established directors, and a “B” picture with up and coming stars (or once-popular players on their way down the ladder), shorter running times, and often formulaic plots. Series pictures, such as the Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes mysteries or East Side Kids films, made good B movies because their fans returned to them every 3 months to catch the latest installments. Here In the Balcony, we aver that the "B" in "B-Movie could well've stood for "Butts in the Seats".
And now, let's return once again to the Mighty Monogram Movie Emporium, where the BelaBration 2008 continues. Tonight, we're screening the Balcony premiere of Return of the Ape Man, a sequel to last night's film, The Ape Man, starring co-starring George Zucco, who isn't in it. And it's not a sequel to The Ape Man, either. Confused? Well, click on the picture and it'll all be cleared up, for the most part…
DAY 2 REPORT
The weather held, and the Monogram Parade was a big hit with the adults and kiddies alike. The float depicting Sea Tiger and Killer Shark eating Charlie Chan and his #2 son was deemed “Best in Show”, while Oliver Twist, imaginatively featuring Chubby Checker demonstrating his famous dance – sadly, these days he uses the aid of a walker – won Honorary Mention. Even with his hip replacement surgery, he can still swivel, more or less. One unintentionally humorous moment came when the police officers for Heroes in Blue and the cowboys in Riders of the West accidentally bumped floats; the mixture of the two seemed to suggest a reunion of the Village People!
Many festivities still to come, including the big Monogram Grand Banquet, catered by the great folks at Kroger’s deli counter, and don’t forget, we’ll be crowning Ms. Monogram 2008!
A Little Monogram History: Part One
Y’know folks, although Monogram was officially born in 1931, it actually got its start many years earlier as Rayart, named for its founder, W. Ray Johnston, and at one point was called Continental Talking Pictures. Most of their early releases were cheap westerns, although the studio tried to do a few “prestige” pictures, including early sound adaptations of Jane Eyre, Black Beauty, and Oliver Twist. Things were tough for the big movie studios during the early days of the Great Depression, let alone the small independent studios, and Monogram found itself heavily in debt to Consolidated Film Laboratories. Consolidated foreclosed on Monogram in 1935 and joined several small studios (Mascot, Majestic, Liberty) together as Republic. Monogram seemed poised to be forever forgotten, but in 1937… well, we’ll save that part of the story for later, because it’s time to duck back into the Mighty Monogram Movie Emporium, where today's installment of the BelaBration 2008 is just beginning... Click on the picture of Lugosi to join us in enjoying The Ape Man!
DAY 1 REPORT
Here in Anytown, USA, the traditional Monogram Week Parade is just about to get underway, and this year’s floats are spectacular. The girls on the Blonde Dynamite float are naturally garnering much of the attention from the gathering male fans, while the ladies are swooning over the handsome, swarthy men of The Marines are Here and Sky Patrol. Look, here is this year's spectacular Bowery Boys float, and it is… oh, no, wait, there’s a black guy on it! Either it's Sen. Barack Obama, looking to pick up some votes from classic movie lovers, or this is the East Side Kids float. In any case, it’s great.
Over at Mantan Moreland Memorial Park, they're inflating the colossal balloons that are such a fan favorite as part of the
parade; here we see the giant red-coated Cop of the Canucks, representing such Monogram classics as Honor of the Mounted, Law of the North, and Mason of the Mounted. Well, folks, this seems like a perfect time to duck into the Mighty Monogram Movie Emporium for our first double-feature of the festivities, two Monogram movie masterpieces starring the legendary BELA LUGOSI... Click the picture!