#marjorie eaton

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[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

The Killing Kind

Of the films he made after NIGHT TIDE (1961), Curtis Harrington’s THE KILLING KIND (1973, Plex) may be the closest in spirit to the experimental shorts he shot in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s not just the dream sequence in which ex-convict John Savage imagines himself in a crib, pampered by the old women living in mother Ann Sothern’s rooming house. It’s also the strange scenes between mother and son, paralleled by the strained relationship of their neighbors, father Peter Brocco and daughter Luana Anders. More absurdist queer psychodrama than horror film, THE KILLING KIND has moments that echo Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams.

In the opening scene, Savage is forced to participate in a gang rape. When the girl (Susan Bernard) turns him in to the police, he spends two years in prison before returning home to mama. He then embarks on a revenge tour, setting his sights on Bernard and his inept lawyer (Ruth Roman), though it’s clear the real source of his problems is Sothern’s particular brand of smother love.

I don’t know how much input Harrington had on Tony Crechales and George Edwards’ script (they later recycled Brocco and Anders’ characters in another film, 1980’s THE ATTIC), but the parent-child scenes are strongly reminiscent of similar elements in Harrington’s experimental shorts. Savage and Sothern sometimes speak at cross-purposes, as if each were delivering a monolog without listening to the other. She infantilizes him with recurring offers of chocolate milk but also sexualizes the relationship, insisting he rub her neck and kiss her on the mouth. And even though Savage spies on new tenant Cindy Williams (who made the film between workdays on THE CONVERSATION), it’s pretty obvious he’s a deeply closeted gay man. When he attempts to masturbate to images of bare breasts, he can’t finish, and his relations to women seem to be based in hatred.

Sothern and Savage have a marvelous rapport on screen. Their scenes demand complete trust, which is obvious throughout. And Sothern, who started studying The Method with Jeff Corey in the 1960s, is totally in command of her instrument. She can switch from bullying to morose to comic in a heartbeat, and it all makes sense. Anders is very effective as the put-upon daughter next door, who switches from flirtatious to abrasive when Savage rebuffs her advances (she’s lucky; he tends to kill the women who come on to him). The wonderful character actress Marjorie Eaton also turns up as one of the tenants. Watching her descend regally in a chair lift is one of the film’s most sublime images.

[moviemosaics]

Night Tide

directed by Curtis Harrington, 1961

[movie-titlecards]

Monstrosity (1963)

My rating: 5/10

Eh... I mean, it's kind of fun in a cheesy nonsense kind of way, but it does run a bit too long, even at just over an hour.

[clemsfilmdiary]

Night Tide (1961, Curtis Harrington)

3/20/23

[mariocki]

Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)

"We all die in good time, Mrs. Harrison. There's a grave waiting for all of us."

"You old hag! You're dead already, you just don't have sense enough to lie down!"

[victusinveritas]

𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬!!!

Remembering 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗷𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗻 on what would have been her 123rd birthday. She was one of two original performers who played the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back but was later replaced for the DVD release. Marjorie is also known for her work in Zombies of Mora Tau, Night Tide, and Mary Poppins.

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2023: 104. Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) - Dir. Edward L. Cahn

[oldsardens]

Marjorie Lee Eaton - Taos Man Seated

[stagbeetleboy]

Fun fact Palpatine was originally portrayed by a woman, making his first ever appearance technically drag.

Unfortunately Marjorie Eaton’s performance was cut in favor of a full scene reshoot featuring Ian McDiarmid.

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Casey Affleck, swamp pop singer Rod Bernard, Sid Bernstein, Joe Besser, Cantinflas, John Cazale, Kid Creole, Del The Funky Homosapien,  Cecil B. DeMille, Leslie Duncan, George Hamilton, Roy Hay, Heintje, Mark Knopfler, Greg Langston (The Next, No Alternative), Ron Mael, Tiny McCloud, Pat Metheny, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Alexei Nikolaevich, Peter Ostroushko, Buck Owens, Marjorie Reynolds, Theodore Scaife, Erwin Alexander Schrödinger, Lakeith Stanfield, Matt Thiessen (Reliant K), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Mladen Vukic, Porter Wagoner, Deborah Walley, Wednesday 13, Jane Wyatt, and recording artist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Derrek Van Eaton. 

Classic rock-philes and deep Beatles fans will recognize him from the brother band Lon & Derrek Van Eaton. Prior to their association with Apple Records (the record label created by The Beatles), they were part of the eccentric New York-based folk rock band Jacob’s Creek. They shared a studio with Simon & Garfunkel and released one album on Columbia in 1969. Two years later, John Lennon and George Harrison “discovered” them as a brother-act duo and signed them to Apple. The Van Eaton’s music blended urban folk and dreamy rock with a blues-gospel undercurrent, which perfectly coincided with the sounds of Badfinger and latter-day Beatles. The Van Eaton’s excellent BROTHER album was co-produced by George with Klaus Voorman. The Van Eatons toured the USA to promote BROTHER. Their 1972 tour brought them to where I was living in Huntingdon PA, where they played Ellis Hall at Juniata College (I stood listening from outside, a lad with no ticket money).  

The BROTHER album launched a long association with George, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and other travelers in the Apple/Beatle legacy that unfolded in the 1970s. Then the Van Eatons became studio session players favored by producer Richard Perry, who hired them for recordings with Art Garfunkel, Martha Reeves, and Carly Simon. Perry also produced the Van Eaton’s 1975 WHO DO YOU OUT DO album. Following that era, the brothers created a non-profit film and music company called Imagine a Better World. 

The Van Eaton brothers since have released sporadic works (duo and solo), notably their acclaimed 1996 cover of “Apple of my Eye” on the COME & GET IT Badfinger tribute album. In 2013 they issued a career-spanning anthology with new recordings with contributions from Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, and Gary Wright, and the Van Eatons are still active in musical and spiritual pursuits. 

Some years ago I met Derrek some years ago at church we were both attending in Pennsylvania (where I picked his brains about that 1972 concert I heard but couldn’t see), and the last time we crossed paths was at a Monkees concert in Denver in 2011. Even in passive meet-ups I can see the creative spark in Derrek’s eyes. Here’s one of my favorite Van Eaton cuts “Sun Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5VSJmb2VI0...Meanwhile, HB DVE and thank you for your years of remarkable creativity and soul.

#derrekvaneaton #lonanderrekvaneaton #brother #applerecords #birthday #georgeharrison #ringostarr #klausvoorman #richardperry #peteham #badfinger

[babadork]

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Night Tide

Ignore the plot and most of the acting. Focus on the images and you’ll have a fascinating good time watching Curtis Harrington’s first feature, NIGHT TIDE (1961/63, Prime, Tubi, Plex, YouTube). The film is a symbolist’s response to the works of Edgar Allan Poe (it ends with a quote from “Annabelle Lee” that includes the title) and CAT PEOPLE (1942), lovingly shot for under $50,000 by Vilis Lapanieks and, reportedly, Floyd Crosby, with glorious black-and-white images of Venice, Malibu and Santa Monica. It’s like a dream, and despite its heterosexual love triangle, it’s on the eve (or is that “Eve?”) of something queer.

Sailor Dennis Hopper is intrigued by a beautiful young woman (Linda Lawson) he meets in a jazz club (where Paul Horn is the flutist). She plays a mermaid in a sideshow attraction on the Santa Monica pier — or is she a mermaid playing a woman? As he’s warned by the merry-go-round operator’s daughter (Luana Anders), she’s rumored to be involved in the deaths of her previous two boyfriends. Lawson’s boss and legal guardian (Gavin Muir) also warns him off, for apparently selfish reasons. The local chiromancer (the marvelous Marjorie Eaton) reads death in his cards. And a mysterious woman (artist and occultist Marjorie Cameron) follows Lawson about and, in a scene right out of CAT PEOPLE, tells her that her sisters are awaiting her return.

From a rational viewpoint, there’s a lot wrong with the film. The resolution makes little sense, and the acting encompasses the non-existent (the police detective), the near non-existent (Lawson), the garbled (half the time Hopper sounds as if he were talking with his mouth full), the camp (Muir) and the quite good (Anders and Eaton). Viewed as an extension of Harrington’s work with psycho-sexual imagery in his earlier experimental films, however, it’s a compelling piece. It’s all light and shadow and David Raksin’s often unconventional, jazz-tinged score. And there’s a clear gay subtext. Hopper has fixed on a woman whose psychological issues render her sexually unobtainable. The scenes in which he and Muir discuss Lawson read more like seductions than rivalry (at one point, they meet in a bathhouse, and the masseur working on Hopper offers to give Muir “a good pounding”). And in a nightmare, Hopper sees Lawson attacking him as an octopus. That’s eight phallic symbols for the price of one. On that purely psychological level, the film works. It’s little surprise it was hailed as a masterpiece in Europe, where it was adjudged the best American film at the 1961 Venice Film Festival.

[broadcastarchive-umd]

#PBS Set in a large townhouse at 165 Eaton Place in Belgravia in central London, Upstairs, Downstairs depicted the servants below and the family above between the years 1903 and 1930, and showed the slow decline of the British aristocracy. Upstairs, Downstairs was aired as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.

The cast included: (top row) Rachel Gurney and David Langton as Lady Marjorie Bellamy and Richard Bellamy; Simon Williams as James Bellamy; (middle row) Gordon Jackson as Hudson, the butler; Angela Baddeley as Mrs. Bridges, the cook; (bottom row) Pauline Collins, under-house parlor maid; and Jean Marsh as Rose, the head house parlor maid.

[mercurygray]

WHY am I still here? Who knows. More Regency AU.

The only word for it was delight, and Joan did not like it.

"I wish you would stop grinning at me, Lewis. I feel like the world's biggest fool."

They were sitting in the front room of Lewis's Eaton Square townhouse, a handsomely appointed room that left no one to believe that the house, at the present time, had no mistress to attend it. It was widely accepted that Lady Katherine did not care much for town - it might have been kinder to say that she did not care much for her husband, since she often was where he was not. Theirs was not a particularly happy marriage, and rather than suffer the ignominy of divorce they had settled to keep each other at a distance - a fate that Lewis did not want for his friends.

Though his grandfather had been in trade, and had earned his baronetcy rather than inherited it, he had sent his son, and his grandson, to the best schools and to mix among the best people, and after two generations, the stink of commerce had quite dissipated from the Nixon name - unless it was to be brought up in a shouting match between Lewis and Katherine. Still, Sir Lewis enjoyed a wide social circle, dined in all the best houses and was accepted with all the best people, including the Duchess, who also knew a thing or two about being newly minted to the peerage.

"Joan, darling, you're hardly a fool. You were given a chance and you took it - what is the foolishness in that? Military careers have been made on less - and dukedoms granted, too!"

She was not pleased by this reference, oblique but true, to her own title, and rose from her chair to take a turn about the room. "Yes, but what do I know about him, Lewis? I can hardly keep up a pretense for a man I will despise."

Lewis sat back in his chair and watched his friend pace. "You paid a call on him. What do you think you know?"

The Duchess took a deep breath and considered. "He is a captain in the army - a man of very modest means, as he currently lives with his parents and his sister. He seems…of temperate habits, as he was at home to callers when I arrived and did not seem the worse for drink - rather surprising since he counts you as a friend. He did not speak much, which may be a virtue to some - was well dressed, which may be a vice to others.

"Surely that's not all." Lewis leaned across the arm of his chair. "The Joan I know is very direct and stops at nothing to chase out her prey. I'm sure you talked to little birds in other trees - what did they tell you?"

Joan fiddled with the fringe of her purse, knowing him to be right. She had consulted other trees - Marjorie had spoken to maids in other houses, and the butcher, and a half a dozen others who could be relied upon for news. "His record with the army is flawless, save some altercation with his superior officer for which he was cleared, which I should like you to tell me about when we have time. He keeps no mistress, has no debts - indeed as far as men go, he is rather ordinary."

"His superior officer," Lewis said with a scoff, "was a fop and a liar, and stole nearly every good thing in his possession, including several of Captain Winters' accomplishments. Dick was nearly cashiered over the truth regarding one of them - thankfully cooler heads prevailed. Everything he has he has gained on merit alone - no one has bought his way into anything. He is a good rider, an excellent shot, an excellent soldier, a passable dancer and indeed quite funny, when he's in the right company. As men go, you could do far, far worse for your little charade." Lewis glanced at his pocketwatch and then at the clock on the mantle, rising from his seat and making a dash for the window to look out at the street below. "He is also damnably punctual, which means he'll be here any minute, since I told you to come at 9:30 and him at ten."

"Lewis!"

"I should have thought that a virtue," Lewis said with a grin, twitching aside the curtains so Joan did not have to see the Captain striding up the front steps, exactly as predicted.

"It is when it is expected," Joan replied with a frown, pressing down the front of her already immaculate jacket, listening to the bell and the sound of the door.

Lew could only grin wider. And there's another thing, too, Joanie, though I'm not sure I'll tell you. He's just as dedicated as you to the details. Who do you was here last night asking me everything he could learn about you?

Two minutes later the man himself appeared, his hair a bright shock against the calm whites of the front room, bowing to one and all. "Lewis. Your Grace."

"If you two are going to be madly in love I'm afraid you're going have to dispense with Your Grace," Lewis cut in. "Perhaps you should practice here, where no one else can see you blush. I should tell you she's usually Joanie, to her intimate friends."

"I do not quite think you are allowed that, just yet," Joan cut in, her voice higher than usual. "But I may permit Joan, on occasion." She cleared her throat. "Do you prefer Richard, or something shorter?"

"Dick, to my friends. But I've been told that's common."

It was clear from Joan's face that she did indeed hold that opinion. However, she did a masterful job of keeping it to herself. "Dick, then. Although I think 'Captain' lets you… cut quite a dash."

Lewis laughed at that. "Yes, Joanie has rather a tendresse for military men, don't you, Joanie? I'm sure you know what her uncle got his title for, Dickie, no one ever stops talking about it."

It was 'Dickie's' turn to look embarrassed - he ignored the use of the familiar name and cut straight in. "How did it come to you? I…have not quite learned that yet."

"He died without issue," Joan said, somewhat abruptly. "It had been entailed in the female line for his daughters and they -" she cut herself off, clearly trying to master some great emotion. "There was a fire."

There was no need to say more. "I'm so sorry."

She waved him off. "My brother is the elder, and was to inherit my father's estates; it was no great sacrifice to let me go. My uncle and I were very close - he left…quite a space to fill." She took a deep breath and met his eye. "So you see why this is important to me, Captain Winters. It cannot be left to pure chance and the…precariousness of time."

"Naturally."

"I have been giving a deal of thought to this," Joan began, resuming her pacing again, "And it occurs to me we must introduce you a little, first, to be seen in the same rooms as me. We have Lewis for that, and your career has been good. No one will think twice about a captain if he's well mannered and well dressed."

"It will still be something of a scandal, though, with the difference in our station."

She bristled a little at his directness, but did not look angry. "Yes, I daresay it will. We shall have to work through it."

"You shall have to lie like hell, she means," Lewis said with a grim smile, shoving himself out of his seat. "And the first problem to be solved is this ridiculous froideur. Now, neither of you may have been in love, but I have, and the first rule is that of space. You must always think of occupying the other's." He grabbed Joan and moved her nearly into Dick's chest, the two of them suddenly face to face and very close. "When you are near them, they are the universe entire - and when far you want only to be near. The second rule," he added, watching the two of them avoid the other's gaze, "is that love lives in the eyes."

Two pairs of eyes, one brown, one blue, hesitatingly met one another, still mindful that they were daringly close.

"This is your ally, your partner. You are now actors, and the world is your stage. You must trust them, and they must trust you. The parts you are playing are young lovers who are disobeying all the rules together. Now, how did you meet? People will ask."

"In…in London?" It was the least convincing thing she might have said, and in the least convincing way.

"In Brighton," Dick said, sounding more sure. Joan looked up at him in surprise, eyes finally meeting his again. "You were there to review your uncle's regiment, at the annual encampment. We met by accident afterwards when you nearly lost your hat."

"On …on the beach," Joan added, still staring at Dick as though her life depended on it, her gaze softened, somehow, by this imaginary story about an imaginary meeting. "It was terribly windy that day."

"And I thought you were …terribly pretty," Dick supplied, which sounded completely fake to Lew's ears but seemed to land differently on Joan's. "I almost did not want to give back the hat."

"I thought you were…tall." She did not sound so sure as she had before. "And I…I liked your hair. And your smile. I did…did not want you to give the hat back either." A faint blush appeared in her cheek as she said so, and Lew nearly sighed in relief. Oh, well done, you two - there's hope for this yet.

Tea was brought, and paper for note-taking - Joan's walking coat was dispensed with, and the three of them set to making a complete picture of the whirlwind romance that had not been and a plan of attack to guide the rest of the summer. Joan went on her way that afternoon fortified by their scheme and an excellent luncheon, leaving Lewis and Dick to tidy things up a bit.

"Where on earth did you get that story about Brighton?" Lewis asked, helping himself to more wine.

Dick could only smile. "Annie. I asked her what she'd told her friends, since I'd given no story."

Lewis could only smile. "We shall make some great success out of your sister yet."

[docrotten]

THE KILLING KIND (1973) – Episode 193 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“Idiots. That’s what they are. Stupid idiots. Just low-class idiots.” Low-class, maybe, but idiots? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they take in The Killing Kind (1973), a little-known film directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Ann Sothern, Cindy Williams, and John Savage.

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 193 – The Killing Kind (1973)

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A young man is released from prison after serving time for a sexual assault he did not commit, and submits to his impulsive urge to seek revenge against those who wronged him.

  Director: Curtis Harrington

Writers: Tony Crechales, George Edwards

Cinematography by: Mario Tosi

Selected Cast:

Ann Sothern as Thelma Lambert

John Savage as Terry Lambert

Ruth Roman as Rhea Benson

Luana Anders as Louise Elmore

Cindy Williams as Lori Davis

Sue Bernard as Tina Moore

Marjorie Eaton as Mrs. Orland

Peter Brocco as Louise’s Father

Helene Winston as Flo

Have you ever seen, or even heard of, The Killing Kind (1973)? Featuring Ann Sothern, John Savage, and Cindy Williams, this bizarre, overlooked nugget is from director Curtis Harrington. Yup, the mastermind behind films such as Night Tide (1961), Queen of Blood (1966), How Awful About Allan (1970), What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971), Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972), and Ruby (1977), as well as the TV horror “classic” Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978). Oh, boy, this should be interesting. Jeff, Bill, Chad, and Doc share their thoughts on this genuinely strange little film. 

At the time of this writing, The Killing Kind is available to stream from Tubi. The film is also available as a Blu-ray disc from Vinegar Syndrome.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Jeff, will be Shriek of the Mutilated (1974), The Black Saint’s 1974 pick for Top 10 Horror Films of the 1970′s, Part 1. According to The Black Saint, “Everything about Shriek of the Mutilated screams what-the-f***.” He also called it “worse than bad,” so you have been warned. This one should be . . . interesting.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com. 

Check out this episode!