|
In addition to Beast with a Million Eyes
(1955) and From Hell It Came (1957) Paul Blaisdell's film credits include: |
You never know what might be lurking in your attic or cellar or garage...and if you're lucky, like Anthony Gulino, you just might find some...
Or, How the artwork in my boss'
garage took me on a journey into the world of horror memorabilia collecting.
"Nothing," was Joseph's response, "Nothing in my garage is of any value to anyone. Most of it isn't even of value to me." I refused to take his word for it. I made him take me out there for a peek through the dusty boxes and cluttered shelves that held the items he'd been storing for years. He was partially correct, there was an abundance of useless stuff back there. A notable exception, however, was the Marilyn Monroe nude picture record album, which I dusted off and sold for $41.00 two weeks later. Such is the magic of eBay. It is my contention that everyone, including yourself, has something in their garage (attack, basement, storage space, etc.) that holds no value for its owner, but tremendous valuable to someone else. The trick is to find that something and put it in front of that someone (or preferably multiple someones). When my boss' father died earlier this year I explained my theory to him. While most people are content to let what they consider useless articles sit on their shelves in out of the way places, Glenn was faced with a need to clear out spaces that hadn't been touched, quite literally, in decades. Inevitably Glenn started bringing all manner of strange articles to work for me to consider. There was the portrait of a Seagull in flight, signed and numbered by the artist, Bonnie Jay. There was a bag off all sorts of strange comic books from the 70's and 80's, including "The Huntress," among others. He even brought a collection of gently used dinner place mats with comics characters from Disney, Hanna-Barbara and DC. Most of these items I excused as worthless junk. Then he brought in something that really caught my eye. I assumed it, too, was worthless junk, but I admired it nonetheless.
On three worn illustration boards stood the figure of a menacing beast that looked like a tree had come to life, and was none too happy about it. One of them was clearly signed with the name Paul Blaisdell. From the condition of the boards it was clear that the illustrations had been around awhile. The edges were yellowing, there was tape residue all over the outer borders and the rear of the boards was dirty. Sheets of plastic protected the interior section of the boards, where the illustrations were done. Miraculously, the illustrations, themselves, were in terrific shape! The colors were vibrant and the detail was clear. I knew that even if this artwork were not worth much money they would be nice to have on the wall as a unique and intriguing display. I mentioned this to Glenn and he remarked that if we couldn't sell them that he'd give me one and keep the other two. I should have stopped at that point, but was too interested in where the artwork came from to not research it.
Internet research revealed that the artwork bore a striking resemblance to the tree creature from the 1957 b-movie classic From Hell It Came. The picture's story involved a South Seas island prince who was killed when he was stabbed with (what else?) a radioactive knife. After being buried vertically he sprouts back to life as a menacing tree creature called Tabonga and begins pitching young ladies into beds of quicksand.
The Milner brothers produced the movie with Dan Milner Directing and Jack Milner writing (with Richard Bernstein). Former professional wrestler Chester Hayes, who studied with Tor Johnson and George Wagner, played Tabonga. The one-line review published in a major periodical at the time went something like "...and back it should go!" I was, at first, confounded in my inability to officially connect the person Paul Blaisdell with the movie From Hell It Came. His name appears nowhere in the official credits for the film and various reports of his involvement conflicted. The artwork was too similar to have been a coincidence. I put a cry out the Usenet and a couple of horror lists such as Classic Horror, Darktales and Horror Collectors. A response from the "Evil Twin" (Barry Woolridge) suggested I talk to Eric at the Hollywood Book and Poster Company and possibly get in touch with Bob Burns in Hollywood. In a separate conversation with a friend of mine that enjoys the horror genre, he also suggested I find Bob Burns. I was able to contact Eric at HBAPC and he, separately from the others, also mentioned Bob Burns. I was beginning to think that Burns might be the key to my getting the complete story of this intriguing artwork. So began more research.
I didn't need to travel beyond The Official Bob Burns Web Site to discover Burns' connection to the industry or to Paul Blaisdell. His career in show business spans 50 years and begins with an apprenticeship to Blaisdell in the mid-fifties. Through their work together they became good friends and partners. Still not knowing whether this artwork had value I arranged with Eric to show the artwork to Burns. Meeting him at the Fangoria show in Pasadena, CA, I asked him for any information he could offer about the artwork. It turned out that he could offer an abundance of information. In fact, he remembered when they were created.
As Burns tells the story, the Milner brothers commissioned Blaisdell to design the creature for their movie. Busy on a few other projects, Blaisdell agreed to produce designs but not actually build the creature. He created the illustrations and also demonstrated how realistic-looking synthetic bark could be sculpted using foam rubber and latex. The brothers liked the designs and used them as the basis for the tree suit worn by Hayes in the movie. They neglected, however, to pay Blaisdell or even return the illustrations. This was one of the many injustices that would be born by Paul Blaisdell in his short but prolific career.
Blaisdell's show business career began with him producing science fiction and fantasy illustrations in such publications as Spaceways, Other Worlds, The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction and Famous Funnies. It was through this work that he met Forrest J. Ackerman who eventually became his agent. In 1955 Roger Corman was working on a low budget film for the American Releasing Corporation, called The Beast with a Million Eyes. This movie was unique in that it did not contain a single appearance of the title character. This would not be obvious from the films advertising which prominently featured a multi-eyed beast on posters and other promotional material. What the film did contain was a brief scene with a two-eyed monster that was supposed to be a slave of the great seeing one. When Corman could not hire a reputable monster maker for the scant $200 he budgeted to create the monster he turned to Ackerman. Remembering conversations in which Blaisdell described some of the model making he did as a child, Ackerman suggested he give it a try. Blaisdell doubled the price to $400 to cover labor and materials. Corman relented to the 'exorbitant' cost and a Hollywood monster maker was born.
During the latter half of the 1950's Blaisdell would work on more than 15 films in a third as many years. He designed, built and starred as monsters and created props. Blaisdell took great pride in the creations he made for these movies. He said of his She-Creature, "She could do anything...She could eat, she could sleep, she could drink...She could borrow a cigarette from you, inhale it and blow smoke out of her nose. And in spite of how clumsy her claws appear to be, she could pick a handkerchief out of your pocket. These were the things I built into her to make her more lifelike." Blaisdell worked hard to make his monsters detailed, flexible, and active.
Unfortunately much of the work Blaisdell did to incorporate quality into his monsters was in vein. The slave creature in Beast With A Million Eyes was obscured by a rotating spiral and floating eyeball superimposed on the film in post production. The script for It Conquered The World called for the monster to be a stationary beast which sent minions out to do its bidding while it remained in the safety of its dank cave. When Corman decided to have the Venusian move out of the cave to attack humans it looked fake and was lit improperly. One of the details built into the She-Creature suit were sharp horns that protruded from the creature's belly and could be opened and closed using his stomach muscles. Blaisdell termed them "lunch hooks" and they were designed to ensnare and disembowel a foe. The director decided not to use them. There are numerous instances of details that were built into Blaisdell creations that were never used or used improperly due to excruciating filming deadlines and other production problems. Blaisdell was also having problems abiding union rules on sets that became more stringent with each passing year. It was okay for him to make creatures but he ran into trouble when he operated them or starred as them. The biggest problem Blaisdell faced was the lack of growth in his income due to tight film budgets. He fought to receive a fair wage for his creative work. Occasionally he was paid nothing at all, suffering such injustices as being stiffed by the Milner brothers. As he said, "Of course, it wasn't only Corman; everyone was trying to find cheaper ways of doing things. AIP (American International Pictures) had made a lot of promises over the years, and I think they forgot most of what they said almost as soon as they said it." The final straw came when Blaisdell demanded a higher salary for a particular film and was turned down. The producers replaced him with a recent college graduate who would work for credit only. Blaisdell became very disillusioned with the film business and eventually quit altogether. The result is a brief, albeit prolific, career in the industry. After a failed attempt to publish a fantasy and sci-fi magazine with his friend, Bob Burns, Blaisdell settled into a life of carpentry at his Topanga Canyon home with his wife, Jackie. He became relatively reclusive and was out of the industry for many years before his premature death from cancer in 1983 at age 55.
No one knows what path the Tabonga artwork traveled between the time it was received by the Milner brothers in 1957 and later unearthed in Glenn's Dad's garage in 1999. What was becoming certain, judging the responses to the artwork, by Bob Burns, his friends in the industry and others who knew the name Paul Blaisdell, this artwork would likely fetch a fare price if sold. I decided to suggest to Glenn that we finish our research, create a supporting web site and set up an eBay auction.
One of Bob's friends, actor Dan Roebuck (The Fugitive, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Halloween: The Happy Haunting of America) pulled me aside at the Fangoria show and explained to me just how important Blaisdell was to Burns. The two were very close in the early days and Burns credits his friend as his mentor who gave him his start in the in the industry. Dan subtly suggested that I make sure Burns got at least one of the pieces regardless of what we decided to do with the lot. He also suggested that Burns might be willing to help with the authentication of the pieces. After all, there was no one more qualified than he to determine the origin of the artwork or its authenticity. After all I had learned about the history, I liked the idea of making sure that at least one piece went to the Bob Burns. Some years ago Burns' house became the unofficial "Bob Burns Movie Memorabilia Museum". He has an unbelievable array of movie artifacts from all aspects of fantasy and science fiction pictures. His collection includes the Queen Alien from Aliens, the original "time machine" from the movie of the same name, the original armature from the 1933 King Kong and many, many other wondrous things. Of course he also has his share of Blaisdell memorabilia including, the monster head and gloves from Invasion of the Saucer Men and the alien mask from It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Burns' collection is the subject of a new book to be published next year titled Bob's Basement.
The only obstacle I faced was to get Glenn's permission. That became easy when I explained that two pieces of artwork with certificates of authenticity were probably worth more than three without. Burns went along with idea as well. He seemed very pleased to be getting one of the pieces free and clear. He also enthusiastically offered his assistance with authenticating the other two. After getting to know Burns a little better and discovering his gracious and giving nature, I believe he would have helped whether we donated a piece or not. It made me feel very good about making sure he got his. With the certificates created, signed and notarized, the supporting web page implemented, some advertising material sent out to garner interest and the artwork placed on display at Creature Features in Burbank, CA, it was time to run the auction. We started the bidding at a mere $25. eBay allows auctioneers to set a thing called the reserve. This is the price at which the seller will commit to selling the item. If an auction does not meet the reserve then the neither the seller or the high bidder are required to complete the transaction. Even though it was clear that the artwork had value there was no real way to determine what the value might be. There was nothing else like it in existence. Glenn decided to set the reserve at $300. At less than that price, he said, he'd rather have them on the wall. The auction was set to run for 10 days. The reserve was met the second day it was on the block. Then the bidding crawled slowly up to about $400 over the first 9 days. On the last day things exploded and there was fierce bidding in the last minutes of the auction. With the expiration set to for July 5 at 12:00:38, the final bid was placed at 12:00:14, with a mere 24 seconds remaining. When the dust cleared the high bid came in at just above $900! You can see the auction page with results here. Glenn was ecstatic. We had turned some mystery artwork he found and which his brother, a Disneyana artwork dealer, had deemed "worthless", into damn near a thousand dollars. As it turns out, there was triumph on the other side of the auction as well. The buyer represented a consortium of Bob Burns' friends who had gotten together to make sure that the other two pieces wound up with the one already handed over to Burns. All three are now proudly displayed together at Burns' museum.
And so, I pose to you the question: What is in your garage (attack, basement, storage space, etc.)? There may be a bunch of worthless junk. There may be some valuable items. There may very well be quite an adventure. Go find out. Now. Go. And let me know what you come up with. (The information in this article came from the stories shared with me by Bob Burns, the excellent book Paul Blaisdell Monster Maker by Randy Palmer (1997 Mcfarland), the Internet Movie Database and The Astounding B Monster Archive. I would be glad to have you correspond with me here.) Thanks, Anthony! This really motivated old Renfield to clean out his garage...but the only nude picture record album he found was Phyllis Diller singing "Satisfaction!" Cheers! |
