Yes, but they also mentioned that they're not limiting themselves to that.
Sterling New Silver on the Silver Screen: An Alternate Hollywood and Pop Culture Timeline
- Thread starter Danthefan28
- Start date
William Desmond Taylor, having been partially paralysed following a murder attempt in 1922 was incredibly popular throughout the Hollywood scene, a prolific director and minor actor, he would also head the Motion Picture Association of America, though he was famously lax on what should and shouldn't be allowed on screen, arguing that the studios and filmmakers themselves should decide on that, that they should essentially police themselves, rather than have a government, governing body tell them what to do.
The usually wheelchair bound Taylor would typically be seen accompanied by his wife Mabel.
Charlotte Shelby, the woman who damn near killed William Desmond Taylor on February 1st, 1922, mainly due to rumours that he was in a relationship with her daughter, the young Mary Miles Minter and "Other matters", which would see her sent to prison, of course.
Being sentenced to life in prison, the notorious stage mother would actually pen a biography, though some would call "Sunset Blvd." was her manifesto, either way, she would live long enough to see that book adapted for the big screen, and she would also get the chance to have a private screening of the film, several years before their death in prison.
1950's Sunset Boulevard would choose to focus on Charlotte Shelby's relationship with her daughter, as well as with the Los Angeles district attorney Buron Fitts, whilst also acting as an examination on the image of Hollywood and the perception of celebrity culture.
The usually wheelchair bound Taylor would typically be seen accompanied by his wife Mabel.
Charlotte Shelby, the woman who damn near killed William Desmond Taylor on February 1st, 1922, mainly due to rumours that he was in a relationship with her daughter, the young Mary Miles Minter and "Other matters", which would see her sent to prison, of course.
Being sentenced to life in prison, the notorious stage mother would actually pen a biography, though some would call "Sunset Blvd." was her manifesto, either way, she would live long enough to see that book adapted for the big screen, and she would also get the chance to have a private screening of the film, several years before their death in prison.
1950's Sunset Boulevard would choose to focus on Charlotte Shelby's relationship with her daughter, as well as with the Los Angeles district attorney Buron Fitts, whilst also acting as an examination on the image of Hollywood and the perception of celebrity culture.
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Universal Pictures "Dracula", released in 1931, produced by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character was the first instalments of the Universal Horror Cycle. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and does so to prey upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée... The films script, written by both Louis Bromfield and Garrett Fort borrowed from both 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston and original novel. Changes were made, like both Renfield and Jonathan Harker going to Transylvania to meet the titular Count Dracula, and some scenes were even lifted from 1922's Nosferatu. Following its smash success, the adaptation of Bram Stokers haunting novel would see Universal approaching Bela Lugosi to star as another iconic monster for their lineup... Bela Lugosi would turn down the role of Frankenstein’s Monster, arguing that he didn’t want to play a mindless monster or a killing machine, and that he didn’t want to be underneath all the heavy makeup required to play the monster.
Though funnily enough, he would agree to another proposition raised by William Beaudine, though that was some time after the fact, near the end of Universals horror period...
An early design for 1931's Frankenstein depicted and proudly proclaimed that Bela Lugosi would be portraying the undead monster created by the obsessed scientist named Henry Frankenstein, despite the fact that he had refused the role, and had instead expressed interest in playing the scientist, who would instead be played by Colin Clive, meanwhile the resulting creature is portrayed by Boris Karloff.
The make-up for the monster was provided by Jack Pierce, who did the makeup effects for Dracula, particularly when he was in his older form, though he argued that the final product toned down his work, though he would manage to rectify it in the following years "The Mummy", which also happened to've starred Boris Karloff, whom he was friends. Alongside Clive and Karloff, the film's cast also included Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan, the ladder two were both previously in the movie Dracula.
1932's The Mummy, like Frankenstein before it would spawn many sequels and spin-offs, and helped in the then odd decision of creating what was an early example of a shared universe, though this wouldn't properly come to fruition until Draculas Daughter in 1936, and 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which would feature the two monsters fighting in the climax, however there wouldn't be a real winner.
In the film, Karloff stars as an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep, who is discovered by a team of archaeologists and inadvertently brought back to life by a magic scroll being read aloud, now disguised as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey, Imhotep searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated as a modern girl, played by Zita Johann, who stars alongside Bramwell Fletcher as her brother and David Manners as her love interest, a dashing, rugged American "Soldier of fortune" named "O'Connell".
1936's Dracula's Daughter, directed by James Whale, marked a lot of firsts in the Universal Classic Monster series, such as Bela Lugosi's return as the iconic Dracula, as well as the introduction of Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska, whom is heavily implied throughout the film to be a lesbian, especially during a partially nude scene in the film... The film tells the story of Countess Marya Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula and is herself a vampire, following Dracula's death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his influence and live normally, and thus goes on a quest to uncover and destroy her father once and for all, however as the story goes on, she finds that there's a strange appeal in living forever, as do other antagonist types.
The film also features Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Nan Grey, Irving Pichel as the Countess' assistant, Edward Van Sloan, returning as Van Helsing for one last time, passing the torch to Lionel Atwill, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula, whom only agreed on returning to play the character he made famous for a big sum of money among other things...
Though funnily enough, he would agree to another proposition raised by William Beaudine, though that was some time after the fact, near the end of Universals horror period...
An early design for 1931's Frankenstein depicted and proudly proclaimed that Bela Lugosi would be portraying the undead monster created by the obsessed scientist named Henry Frankenstein, despite the fact that he had refused the role, and had instead expressed interest in playing the scientist, who would instead be played by Colin Clive, meanwhile the resulting creature is portrayed by Boris Karloff.
The make-up for the monster was provided by Jack Pierce, who did the makeup effects for Dracula, particularly when he was in his older form, though he argued that the final product toned down his work, though he would manage to rectify it in the following years "The Mummy", which also happened to've starred Boris Karloff, whom he was friends. Alongside Clive and Karloff, the film's cast also included Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan, the ladder two were both previously in the movie Dracula.
1932's The Mummy, like Frankenstein before it would spawn many sequels and spin-offs, and helped in the then odd decision of creating what was an early example of a shared universe, though this wouldn't properly come to fruition until Draculas Daughter in 1936, and 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which would feature the two monsters fighting in the climax, however there wouldn't be a real winner.
In the film, Karloff stars as an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep, who is discovered by a team of archaeologists and inadvertently brought back to life by a magic scroll being read aloud, now disguised as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey, Imhotep searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated as a modern girl, played by Zita Johann, who stars alongside Bramwell Fletcher as her brother and David Manners as her love interest, a dashing, rugged American "Soldier of fortune" named "O'Connell".
1936's Dracula's Daughter, directed by James Whale, marked a lot of firsts in the Universal Classic Monster series, such as Bela Lugosi's return as the iconic Dracula, as well as the introduction of Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska, whom is heavily implied throughout the film to be a lesbian, especially during a partially nude scene in the film... The film tells the story of Countess Marya Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula and is herself a vampire, following Dracula's death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his influence and live normally, and thus goes on a quest to uncover and destroy her father once and for all, however as the story goes on, she finds that there's a strange appeal in living forever, as do other antagonist types.
The film also features Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Nan Grey, Irving Pichel as the Countess' assistant, Edward Van Sloan, returning as Van Helsing for one last time, passing the torch to Lionel Atwill, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula, whom only agreed on returning to play the character he made famous for a big sum of money among other things...
Well not just that.
Lets say I have an interesting idea for something Orson Welles does in 1954...
THE FIRST UNIVERSAL HORROR CYCLE
1931’s Dracula: Bela Lugosi portrays Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England does so to prey upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée. The film also stars Helen Chandler as Mina, the fiancée of David Manners Jonathan Harker, a colleague of Dwight Frye’s Renfield, whom is brought under the control of Count Dracula, and Edward Van Sloan as Professor Van Helsing.
1931’s Frankenstein: The obsessed mad scientist Henry Frankenstein, played by Colin Clive, who digs up corpses with his assistant in order to assemble a living being from body parts. The resulting creature, often known as Frankenstein's monster, is portrayed by Boris Karloff. The film also features performances from Mae Clark, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan.
1932’s The Mummy: Boris Karloff stars as an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep, who is discovered by a team of archaeologists and is inadvertently brought back to life by a magic scroll being read aloud, disguised as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey, Imhotep searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated as a modern girl, played by Zita Johann, who stars alongside Bramwell Fletcher as her brother and David Manners as her love interest, a dashing, rugged American "Soldier of fortune" one named “O’Connell”.
1933’s The Invisible Man: The film involves a Dr. Jack Griffin, portrayed by Claude Rains, who is covered in bandages and has his eyes obscured by dark glasses, the result of a secret experiment that makes him invisible, as he at first attempts to find a cure to his invisibility. However, the power of not being seen is far too tempting for him, as he’s slowly driven mad, choosing to instead prove his superiority over other people by performing harmless pranks at first before eventually turning t’murder itself.
1935’s Bride of Frankenstein: Taking place immediately after the events of the earlier film, it is rooted in a subplot of the original Mary Shelley novel, its plot follows a chastened Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to abandon his plans to create life, only to be tempted and finally coerced by his old mentor Dr. Pretorius, played by Ernest Thesiger, along with threats from the Monster, whom is revealed to’ve survived the previous film, into creating a mate. The film features Elsa Lanchester as both Mary Shelley and “The Bride” at the end of the film.
1936’s Dracula’s Daughter: The film tells the story of Countess Marya Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula and is herself a vampire, following Dracula's death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his horrid influence and live normally, and thus goes on a quest to uncover and destroy her father once and for all, however as the story goes on, she finds that there's a strange appeal in living forever, as do other, more antagonist types. The film also features Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Nan Grey, Irving Pichel as the Countess' assistant, Edward Van Sloan, returning as Van Helsing for one last time, passing the torch to Lionel Atwill, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula, whom only agreed on returning to play the character he made famous for a big sum of money along with a film role of his choosing.
1939’s Son of Frankenstein: Basil Rathbone stars as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein who with his wife Elsa, played by Josephine Hutchinson, and their son Peter, return to his late father's estate, where Wolf encounters the crazed Ygor, whose neck was broken in an unsuccessful hanging attempt, for the crime of assisting Henry Frankenstein in creating his monster. Among the castle's remains, Frankenstein discovers the remains of the monster and decides to try to save his family name by resurrecting the creature to prove his father was correct…He finds, however, the monster only responds to Ygor's commands, and Ygor is less than forgiving of those who sentenced him to death. The film features Dwight Frye in his third Frankenstein film, this time portraying Ygor, as well as the return of Lionel Atwill, Van Helsing’s successor, a one armed inspector named Krogh. The film would also be one of the last times Boris Karloff would portray their iconic monster.
It also marked the acting debut of Gene Wilder, who portrays the son of son of Frankenstein.
1940’s The Invisible Man Returns: Vincent Price plays Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, the heir to a mining operation, one who is condemned for a murder he did not commit, which leads to him begging Dr. Frank Griffin to inject him with the invisibility serum despite Griffin's warning the serum’ll slowly drive him mad as he searches for revenge on the real murderer. The film had an appearance of Inspector Krogh.
1940’s The Mummy’s Hand: An Egyptian mystic named Andoheb, played by George Zucco, is ordered by his High Priest to guard over the mummy of Kharis, played by Glenn Strange in one of his first “Monster movies”, and would be far from the last Strange was casted in. Meanwhile, Bramwell Fletcher, returning from the first film is financing the expedition of his sister, once again played by Zita Johann in search for the mummy Ananka's sarcophagus, all the while her husband Rick O’Connell, played by David Manners is less than enthusiastic. Their son however is enthusiastic and excited…
1941’s The Wolf Man: Lon Chaney Jr. makes his debut in the official Universal Horror cycle. Larry Talbot, having returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to bury his recently deceased brother and reconcile with his father played by Claude Rains, when suddenly he is attacked by a werewolf, and is thus cursed into becoming one against his will, the effects of which were made by Jack Pierce, and took five to six hours to apply, and an hour to remove. Inspector Krough shows up, and assists Maria Ouspenskaya’s character Maleva, an old gypsy.
1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein: The film's plot follows the previous film, and features the return of Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor, both being chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Dr. Frankenstein, portrayed by Cedric Hardwicke to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can become more powerful, by having his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull, making him invincible. Elsa Lanchester returns as the Bride of Frankenstein, now under the alias of “Marry Sheldon”, the secretary of Dr. Frankenstein, and who revealed to have also have the brain of Pretorius, whom’s voiced by the charismatic Vincent Price.
1942’s Invisible Agent: Vincent Price returns as Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, whom is begrudgingly recruited to join in the war effort to sabotage the plotting of Axis spies in England and the United States, with Peter Lorre and Sir Cedric Hardwicke performing as members of the Axis. Despite it being believed that he was cured of his invisibility, he finds that he still possesses the power, and uses them to combat the Axis in what’s more of a spy film than a horror film. That is until Peter Lorre’s character becomes a vampire, thanks to a returning Irving Pichel… His character of Sandor was believed to have been killed at the end of Dracula’s Daughter, having been attacked and killed by Dracula, however, he was instead made into a vampire.
1942’s The Mummy’s Revenge: Set in Egypt during the Second World War, it follows a team of German soldiers, the leader of which is played by Boris Karloff, who uncovers a tomb, one belonging to the mummy Ananka, from the previous Mummy film, the soldiers accidentally unleashing the ghoul, played by Anne Nagel, also under the heavy makeup of Jack Pierce. In a funny twist, Ananka is revealed to have been the sister of Ankh-esen-amun, the princess from the previous film, whom had an unrequited love for Imhotep, whose reincarnation now walks the earth in the form of Karloff’s character.
1943’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man: Set four years after Larry Talbot's apparent death at the end of The Wolf Man, Talbot is revived when his tomb is disturbed by grave robbers, his search for a way to end his seeming immortality leads to his befriending Frankenstein's monster, who now has a split personality following the brain transplant at the end of the film Ghost of Frankenstein, having both a mind of its own and that of the wild, manic Ygor. The film also stars Ilona Massey as Baroness Elsa Frankenstein, daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh, Maria Ouspenskaya and a cameo appearance at the end by Count Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi as always. The film culminates with a fight between both Frankenstein’s monster and Larry Talbot, one that ends abruptly with a bomb going off, causing a dam to collapse seemingly killing them. But Bela Lugosi’s Dracula appears joking about how “You can’t keep the devil’s brood down”. This was a reference to the working title of what was to be the final instalment of the series.
1944’s House of Horror: The first of the two big “Monster rallies” Universal made, the film is set almost directly after the events of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, showing Dracula and his assistant Daniel, played by J. Carrol Naish recovering the monster and the Wolf Man. Taking them back to Draculas castle in Transylvania, they are met by members of the SS, the leader of which is played by John Carradine, who plots to join forces with them to conquer the world, and works to gather the likes of the reincarnated Imhotep, Princess Ananka, and Dracula’s Daughter to assist in their wicked plot.
Inspector Krogh meanwhile is forced to lead a team consisting of himself, Rick O’Connell, Geoffrey Radcliffe, Maleva and her daughter Ilonka, played by Elena Verdugo, and last but not least “The Bride”, whose split personality Pretorius is voiced by Ernest Thesiger again… Actually, she isn’t the last, as their team also includes Abbott and Costello as comedic relief.
1944’s House of Terror: House of Horror was originally supposed to be the climax, however the original script was allegedly too long, and thus the film was split in two, continuing off from where the previous film left off, with Dracula’s castle destroyed by a Soviet bomb raid. This however leads to the villains venturing into Berlin where the majority of the film takes place, the heroes meanwhile, having lost Maleva to the hands of Dracula but gaining Talbot on their side, are hot on their trail, taking the train which John Carradine’s characters taking. Sandor also joins the cast, helping Countess Marya Zaleska blackmail Elsa Frankenstein, who is also on the train with them, the film itself ends with a climactic battle in a German fortress. Fitting, as for sometime this would be: The end.
The monsters were all dead by the end, save for Radcliffe, along with Marya Zaleska, whom had swapped sides, due to what is all but out right said to be her love for Elsa Frankenstein. It was a fitting ending, with Talbot dying a hero in providing the heroes time to escape the fortress, both Ananka and Imhotep are slain by a spell casted by Ilonka and Maleva’s ghost, Dracula is killed both by the rising sun, and both the monster and the Bride restraining him.
1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon: The film's plot follows a group of scientists who encounter a piscine amphibious humanoid in the waters of the Amazon; the Creature, also known as the Gill-man, who finds itself infatuated by Julie Adams’ Kay Lawrence, was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning underwater, the design of the monster was actually by the Disney animator Milicent Patrick.
1954’s The Hellbound Heart: Based off the novella by Bram Stoker, this would mark the final Universal Horror film to feature Bela Lugosi, with him only agreeing as he got to choose it, as a part of a deal he made with them all the way back in 1936, concerning him being aloud to pick a film to star in, however it took quite sometime to get the film green lit and made… Its plot involves a mystical puzzle box which summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between pain and pleasure. As the synopsis for the book sounds, there were obvious reasons as to why it taken so long. William Beaudine and Kenneth Higgins would eventually propose to him a toned down but an all around, still scary script close to the book.
They had originally wanted Boris Karloff to portray the character of Pinhead, however, he was busy on another project “I wasn’t gonna turn down Orson Welles” he was quoted.
This marked the end of the Universal Horror Cycle… But y'can’t keep the devil’s brood down.
1931’s Dracula: Bela Lugosi portrays Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England does so to prey upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée. The film also stars Helen Chandler as Mina, the fiancée of David Manners Jonathan Harker, a colleague of Dwight Frye’s Renfield, whom is brought under the control of Count Dracula, and Edward Van Sloan as Professor Van Helsing.
1931’s Frankenstein: The obsessed mad scientist Henry Frankenstein, played by Colin Clive, who digs up corpses with his assistant in order to assemble a living being from body parts. The resulting creature, often known as Frankenstein's monster, is portrayed by Boris Karloff. The film also features performances from Mae Clark, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan.
1932’s The Mummy: Boris Karloff stars as an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep, who is discovered by a team of archaeologists and is inadvertently brought back to life by a magic scroll being read aloud, disguised as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey, Imhotep searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated as a modern girl, played by Zita Johann, who stars alongside Bramwell Fletcher as her brother and David Manners as her love interest, a dashing, rugged American "Soldier of fortune" one named “O’Connell”.
1933’s The Invisible Man: The film involves a Dr. Jack Griffin, portrayed by Claude Rains, who is covered in bandages and has his eyes obscured by dark glasses, the result of a secret experiment that makes him invisible, as he at first attempts to find a cure to his invisibility. However, the power of not being seen is far too tempting for him, as he’s slowly driven mad, choosing to instead prove his superiority over other people by performing harmless pranks at first before eventually turning t’murder itself.
1935’s Bride of Frankenstein: Taking place immediately after the events of the earlier film, it is rooted in a subplot of the original Mary Shelley novel, its plot follows a chastened Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to abandon his plans to create life, only to be tempted and finally coerced by his old mentor Dr. Pretorius, played by Ernest Thesiger, along with threats from the Monster, whom is revealed to’ve survived the previous film, into creating a mate. The film features Elsa Lanchester as both Mary Shelley and “The Bride” at the end of the film.
1936’s Dracula’s Daughter: The film tells the story of Countess Marya Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula and is herself a vampire, following Dracula's death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his horrid influence and live normally, and thus goes on a quest to uncover and destroy her father once and for all, however as the story goes on, she finds that there's a strange appeal in living forever, as do other, more antagonist types. The film also features Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Nan Grey, Irving Pichel as the Countess' assistant, Edward Van Sloan, returning as Van Helsing for one last time, passing the torch to Lionel Atwill, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula, whom only agreed on returning to play the character he made famous for a big sum of money along with a film role of his choosing.
1939’s Son of Frankenstein: Basil Rathbone stars as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein who with his wife Elsa, played by Josephine Hutchinson, and their son Peter, return to his late father's estate, where Wolf encounters the crazed Ygor, whose neck was broken in an unsuccessful hanging attempt, for the crime of assisting Henry Frankenstein in creating his monster. Among the castle's remains, Frankenstein discovers the remains of the monster and decides to try to save his family name by resurrecting the creature to prove his father was correct…He finds, however, the monster only responds to Ygor's commands, and Ygor is less than forgiving of those who sentenced him to death. The film features Dwight Frye in his third Frankenstein film, this time portraying Ygor, as well as the return of Lionel Atwill, Van Helsing’s successor, a one armed inspector named Krogh. The film would also be one of the last times Boris Karloff would portray their iconic monster.
It also marked the acting debut of Gene Wilder, who portrays the son of son of Frankenstein.
1940’s The Invisible Man Returns: Vincent Price plays Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, the heir to a mining operation, one who is condemned for a murder he did not commit, which leads to him begging Dr. Frank Griffin to inject him with the invisibility serum despite Griffin's warning the serum’ll slowly drive him mad as he searches for revenge on the real murderer. The film had an appearance of Inspector Krogh.
1940’s The Mummy’s Hand: An Egyptian mystic named Andoheb, played by George Zucco, is ordered by his High Priest to guard over the mummy of Kharis, played by Glenn Strange in one of his first “Monster movies”, and would be far from the last Strange was casted in. Meanwhile, Bramwell Fletcher, returning from the first film is financing the expedition of his sister, once again played by Zita Johann in search for the mummy Ananka's sarcophagus, all the while her husband Rick O’Connell, played by David Manners is less than enthusiastic. Their son however is enthusiastic and excited…
1941’s The Wolf Man: Lon Chaney Jr. makes his debut in the official Universal Horror cycle. Larry Talbot, having returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to bury his recently deceased brother and reconcile with his father played by Claude Rains, when suddenly he is attacked by a werewolf, and is thus cursed into becoming one against his will, the effects of which were made by Jack Pierce, and took five to six hours to apply, and an hour to remove. Inspector Krough shows up, and assists Maria Ouspenskaya’s character Maleva, an old gypsy.
1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein: The film's plot follows the previous film, and features the return of Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor, both being chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Dr. Frankenstein, portrayed by Cedric Hardwicke to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can become more powerful, by having his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull, making him invincible. Elsa Lanchester returns as the Bride of Frankenstein, now under the alias of “Marry Sheldon”, the secretary of Dr. Frankenstein, and who revealed to have also have the brain of Pretorius, whom’s voiced by the charismatic Vincent Price.
1942’s Invisible Agent: Vincent Price returns as Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, whom is begrudgingly recruited to join in the war effort to sabotage the plotting of Axis spies in England and the United States, with Peter Lorre and Sir Cedric Hardwicke performing as members of the Axis. Despite it being believed that he was cured of his invisibility, he finds that he still possesses the power, and uses them to combat the Axis in what’s more of a spy film than a horror film. That is until Peter Lorre’s character becomes a vampire, thanks to a returning Irving Pichel… His character of Sandor was believed to have been killed at the end of Dracula’s Daughter, having been attacked and killed by Dracula, however, he was instead made into a vampire.
1942’s The Mummy’s Revenge: Set in Egypt during the Second World War, it follows a team of German soldiers, the leader of which is played by Boris Karloff, who uncovers a tomb, one belonging to the mummy Ananka, from the previous Mummy film, the soldiers accidentally unleashing the ghoul, played by Anne Nagel, also under the heavy makeup of Jack Pierce. In a funny twist, Ananka is revealed to have been the sister of Ankh-esen-amun, the princess from the previous film, whom had an unrequited love for Imhotep, whose reincarnation now walks the earth in the form of Karloff’s character.
1943’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man: Set four years after Larry Talbot's apparent death at the end of The Wolf Man, Talbot is revived when his tomb is disturbed by grave robbers, his search for a way to end his seeming immortality leads to his befriending Frankenstein's monster, who now has a split personality following the brain transplant at the end of the film Ghost of Frankenstein, having both a mind of its own and that of the wild, manic Ygor. The film also stars Ilona Massey as Baroness Elsa Frankenstein, daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh, Maria Ouspenskaya and a cameo appearance at the end by Count Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi as always. The film culminates with a fight between both Frankenstein’s monster and Larry Talbot, one that ends abruptly with a bomb going off, causing a dam to collapse seemingly killing them. But Bela Lugosi’s Dracula appears joking about how “You can’t keep the devil’s brood down”. This was a reference to the working title of what was to be the final instalment of the series.
1944’s House of Horror: The first of the two big “Monster rallies” Universal made, the film is set almost directly after the events of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, showing Dracula and his assistant Daniel, played by J. Carrol Naish recovering the monster and the Wolf Man. Taking them back to Draculas castle in Transylvania, they are met by members of the SS, the leader of which is played by John Carradine, who plots to join forces with them to conquer the world, and works to gather the likes of the reincarnated Imhotep, Princess Ananka, and Dracula’s Daughter to assist in their wicked plot.
Inspector Krogh meanwhile is forced to lead a team consisting of himself, Rick O’Connell, Geoffrey Radcliffe, Maleva and her daughter Ilonka, played by Elena Verdugo, and last but not least “The Bride”, whose split personality Pretorius is voiced by Ernest Thesiger again… Actually, she isn’t the last, as their team also includes Abbott and Costello as comedic relief.
1944’s House of Terror: House of Horror was originally supposed to be the climax, however the original script was allegedly too long, and thus the film was split in two, continuing off from where the previous film left off, with Dracula’s castle destroyed by a Soviet bomb raid. This however leads to the villains venturing into Berlin where the majority of the film takes place, the heroes meanwhile, having lost Maleva to the hands of Dracula but gaining Talbot on their side, are hot on their trail, taking the train which John Carradine’s characters taking. Sandor also joins the cast, helping Countess Marya Zaleska blackmail Elsa Frankenstein, who is also on the train with them, the film itself ends with a climactic battle in a German fortress. Fitting, as for sometime this would be: The end.
The monsters were all dead by the end, save for Radcliffe, along with Marya Zaleska, whom had swapped sides, due to what is all but out right said to be her love for Elsa Frankenstein. It was a fitting ending, with Talbot dying a hero in providing the heroes time to escape the fortress, both Ananka and Imhotep are slain by a spell casted by Ilonka and Maleva’s ghost, Dracula is killed both by the rising sun, and both the monster and the Bride restraining him.
1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon: The film's plot follows a group of scientists who encounter a piscine amphibious humanoid in the waters of the Amazon; the Creature, also known as the Gill-man, who finds itself infatuated by Julie Adams’ Kay Lawrence, was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning underwater, the design of the monster was actually by the Disney animator Milicent Patrick.
1954’s The Hellbound Heart: Based off the novella by Bram Stoker, this would mark the final Universal Horror film to feature Bela Lugosi, with him only agreeing as he got to choose it, as a part of a deal he made with them all the way back in 1936, concerning him being aloud to pick a film to star in, however it took quite sometime to get the film green lit and made… Its plot involves a mystical puzzle box which summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between pain and pleasure. As the synopsis for the book sounds, there were obvious reasons as to why it taken so long. William Beaudine and Kenneth Higgins would eventually propose to him a toned down but an all around, still scary script close to the book.
They had originally wanted Boris Karloff to portray the character of Pinhead, however, he was busy on another project “I wasn’t gonna turn down Orson Welles” he was quoted.
This marked the end of the Universal Horror Cycle… But y'can’t keep the devil’s brood down.
Orson Welles, following 1951’s Othello and being mildly disappointed that he couldn’t find the film a distributor in the United States for well over three years, he decided that if he was to make another big splash, he needed to select a far more well known, ambitious property.
“I was thinking back to my younger years, back to my time voicing The Shadow on the radio” Orson said in an interview
“I was feeling a little nostalgic, so I went to a newsstand to buy a copy of Detective Story Magazine, that’s where they were originally introduced, The Shadow”.
However, the stand had ran out of Detective Story Magazines that evening, however, they did have old copies of “Detective Comics”.
Welles would buy inspiration for ten cents.
“…’The Batman’, the original stories, you would think they were for kids, but I was surprised”
Orson said in that exact same interview, where he would reveal to public his newest project.
MORE ON THIS COMING SOON...
“I was thinking back to my younger years, back to my time voicing The Shadow on the radio” Orson said in an interview
“I was feeling a little nostalgic, so I went to a newsstand to buy a copy of Detective Story Magazine, that’s where they were originally introduced, The Shadow”.
However, the stand had ran out of Detective Story Magazines that evening, however, they did have old copies of “Detective Comics”.
Welles would buy inspiration for ten cents.
“…’The Batman’, the original stories, you would think they were for kids, but I was surprised”
Orson said in that exact same interview, where he would reveal to public his newest project.
MORE ON THIS COMING SOON...
In anticipation, here's what Welles would probably look like as Bruce Wayne if you're going for the "Orson Welles as Batman" poster.
This is an image of him from Citizen Kane.
That's what everyone thinks... But I have another person in mind for Orson to play.
Also it may be cheating, but the person who plays Batman in this is a man who does not exist IRL.
Orson Welles stars as Detective Jim Gordon, a seasoned detective in Gotham City, one who finds himself intrigued by the actions of a strange vigilante known as “The Batman”, who targets the criminals and corrupt officials of the concrete jungle of the city both men protect.
As Gordon tries to uncover the mystery behind the identity of The Batman, he finds that they may share a common enemy… The Joker.
Among the many characters speculated to be The Batman throughout the film is a wealthy billionaire by the name of Bruce Wayne, whose parents were tragically murdered in front of him after leaving a cinema late one night.
Bruce Wayne’s portrayed by the then relatively unknown Richard Reznor, who was far better known for starring in westerns and war films, along with the odd serials here and there, they were brought in once it became aware to Welles that his top choice, Gregory Peck, was busy.
1954’s Batman would also feature Universals Boris Karloff as the old, regal yet strangely intimidating Alfred Pennyworth, Hedy Lamarr as the professional thief Selina Kyle, as well as Karl Malden and Raymond Burr as the corrupt mayor of Gotham City, dubbed “The Penguin”.
Having seen them in the 1928 film “The Man Who Laughs”, Orson Welles had Conrad Veidt in mind to play “The Joker” from day one.
Funnily enough, it was The Man Who Laughs, and Conrad Veidts portrayal of the titular man that served as inspiration for the Joker in the first place.
Depending on who you asked.
Orson meanwhile would choose not to ask, believing there were more important things for him to focus on, like making the movie, as he had assigned Herman J. Mankiewicz to worry about that, though funnily enough, it was his ignorance that would go on to do much good.
Both Bill Finger and Bob Kane would be credited for the creation of The Batman, and the two of them would also be granted cameos in the film, Bob Kane portraying a police sketch artist, one who comedically gets the design of Batman wrong after Gordon described them.
Finger meanwhile appeared as a random news reporter during a mayoral press conference.
This would, whether Welles or Mankiewicz knew it or not, convince comic writers and artists to be given more credit for their work, and in some cases more money, such as the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster being given royalties and credit for the character.
The noir thriller was a smash success for Orson Welles and for the character of The Batman, and convinced Warner Bros and other studios to make more films based off of comic books.
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If anyone in the cast ever shows up for a Perry Mason episode...
Random idea, Peter Stults made posters for both Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. The Blade Runner poster was made into a noir mystery with Humphrey Bogart while the 2049 poster was made into a Bruce Lee movie. I'm just imagining, what if somehow those films were still in the same universe? I'm genuinely curious if any can come up with a believable way those two films could end up connected.
Ever seen a poster that's made to look a movie from modern day that was made in a previous era? This timeline envisions if those movies actually were made in this era.
Well no one expected a Blade Runner Sequel at all, plus the sequel being lee would push the asian angle of cyberpunk...ummm
I don't know what it is, just the idea of there being a movie with Bruce Lee and Humphrey Bogart cracks me up.