Tomorrow is Vincent Price Day. For our friends in Europe, it already is. And while this has previously been Silent Horror Film Night, well, you can’t argue with Mr. Price. So we are putting today’s theme on hold in order to bring you a pair of Price films we haven’t shown you before. (Follow the link to find all our previous Vincent Price goodness.)
First up, we have Tower of London from 1962. The original version from 1939 starred Basil Rathbone in the role Price has here–Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Also in that cast was Boris Karloff and Price himself as The Duke of Clarence in one of his first screen roles. And yes, that is Paul Frees providing the narration.
After that, we go back in time to The Mad Magician from 1954. Price is Gallico, a stage magician who gets screwed over and decides that a great next trick will be payback. Also in the film is Eva Gabor as Gallico’s wife. The film was also originally in 3-D (not here, though). Wikipedia says–and we assume they’re correct (as one does with Wikipedia)–that it was the first 3-D movie to be shown on television. Which, children, back in 1987 meant that we were holding red and blue colored plastic up to our eyes. We didn’t have crazy flickering glasses that needed batteries. And get off my lawn!
Where was I? Ah yes, enjoy. And Happy Vincent Price Day.
Tower of London is available as a double-feature on DVD from Amazon alongside The Haunted Palace. The best place to get the original is from The Boris Karloff Collection, where it’s alongside four other films. That’s available from Amazon, too.
The Mad Magician, sadly enough, does not appear to be in print on DVD.
Related posts:
32 Days of Halloween II, Day 30: Undead Trailer Double Feature
32 Days of Halloween Part VIII, Movie Night No. 15: The Ghost Train (1941)
32 Days of Halloween VI, Movie Night No. 28: House of Usher (1960)
32 Days of Halloween II, Day 27: A Gaggle of Mummies
32 Days of Halloween Part VIII: Coffee Takes Manhattan — Begins HERE
32 Days of Halloween VI, Day 25: Zaat!