William Castle

“The biggest solar storm in more than 6 years is affecting earthlings this week, causing fears of radiation exposure for ISS astronauts and creating epically beautiful Northern Lights display for the residents the United Kingdom.”

I think it is quite sweet you all think this is a result of a solar storm…

“Earth is currently weathering the largest solar storm recorded in more than eight years, thanks to a giant wave of charged particles from the sun that slammed into the planet’s magnetic field Tuesday morning.

In the early hours on Monday, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an extreme ultraviolet flash from a solar flare, which was followed by a giant coronal mass ejection, or CME—a cloud of superheated gas and charged particles hurled off the sun.

The cloud headed toward Earth at a speed of about three million miles (4.8 million kilometers) an hour, reaching the planet a mere 35 hours after it had been unleashed.”

And you all think this is NOT at all related to ectoplasmic happenings?  Spiritual energy of, let’s say, me!

Yes indeed stay relaxed watch the glorious Northern Lights if you happen to be in the United Kingdom….No need for alarm.

Do you think this is what H.G. Wells would say or what William Castle would do?

No sir!

Try, “Run for your lives!  It’s here! It may look beautiful but strange beings are about to inhabit YOUR earth.”

Oh I wish it was the 1950′s again…if only for its innocence.  We could have certainly had some fun with all of you.

WC

I sat in the darkened theatre on Thanksgiving Day.  I was not alone. Others were there, sitting in the darkness, bags of popcorn in their laps, waiting for their turkey dinner later in the day.

I was there.  All of me.  I was present as HUGO played on the big screen.

I sat through a myriad of trailers.  All of the films were in 3D.  It seems like studios all think that 3D will bring butts into the theatres.  But, as a watched trailer after trailer, even “Titanic” re-mastered in 3D, I realized that 3D has the potential to make the audience to feel removed from the story they are watching.

Come on Hollywood, find some other way to fill your theatres.  Try Emerg-o or Percept-o.  A Punishment Poll can be great fun.  Even a Coward’s Corner.  With all the tools at your disposal can’t someone come up with a way to make a movie going experience an experience?

Yes HUGO was in 3D but that did not bother me in the least.  I was floored, bowled over, left breathless in the dark on Thanksgiving Day.

What a masterpiece of storytelling.

I cried.  Truly I did.  Tears as real as a heart filled with love.

The story of HUGO is a story for dreamers.

“Do you know where dreams come from? Just look around.  They are made right here!”

Méliès Studio

Georges  Méliès became a toy salesman after all his films were melted down to heels for shoes.

The films of the father of special effects were all but lost.  He was a dreamer.  So was I.

But because of fans of his work, film historians, some of the films of Méliès  were recovered and his art lives on.

I died thinking I was terribly unsuccessful.  But I have come to know that I am still remember.

I am no Georges Méliès.  But, like him I am a dreamer.  To feel appreciated is priceless.

So, I sat in the theatre and cried.

Scorsese loves movies.  He is a film historian.  He is a dreamer.  He told a story that uplifted me and broke my heart, and then left me feeling completely in his debt for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

I have so much to be Thankful for.  Most of all, for all of you.

Thank You!

WC

www.whatdidtheysee.com

Click here for this website…How I love your new toys. What fun I can have.
The mysterious site invites users to take a look inside Eel Marsh House and discover the answer to “What did they see?” Visitors have only a partially obscured view, just enough to see through the doorway and into this young girl’s room. By using motion recognition with the computer’s webcam, visitors to the site can shift their perspective within the room by simply moving right & left in front of their own computer to see what lurks behind the door and in the shadows.

Pretty cool, eh? Give the site a look by clicking the link above. Meanwhile, THE WOMAN IN BLACK comes out on FEBRUARY 3, 2012.

And the trailer is great. Creepy. Just up my alley.

Produced by Talisman Films in association with Hammer Films! Gotta love Hammer Films. Made a few movies with them myself. But this looks creepy.

The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.

What is her true intent? I love a good thriller! Always have, always will. I won’t keep a little thing like death keep me from enjoying my passions.

WC

Some say the ghost of Thelma Todd still enjoys the Malibu sunshine. At least that’s what the owners of a building on the Pacific Coast Highway have claimed for years. A production company now occupies the space once known as the “Roadside Rest Café.”

Every Friday evening for as long as I can remember, I used to drive by this building on my way to my house in Malibu.  I would look up at its decaying structure and wonder about the death of Thelma Todd.

You see, on the morning of Monday, December 16, 1935, Thelma Todd was found dead in her car inside the garage of her lover and business partner, Roland West. The house was just above Todd’s restaurant, The Roadside Rest Café. Her death was determined to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Police investigations revealed that she had spent the last night of her life at the Trocadero, at a party hosted by Stanley Lupino. At the restaurant, she had had a brief but unpleasant exchange with her ex-husband, Pat DeCicco. However, her friends stated that she was in good spirits, and were aware of nothing unusual in her life that could suggest a reason for committing suicide.

The detectives of the LAPD concluded at first that Todd’s death was accidental, the result of her either warming up the car to drive it or using the heater to keep herself warm. Other evidence, however, pointed to foul play. The Grand Jury ruled her death as suicide. Since her body was cremated, a second, more thorough autopsy could not be carried out. It was believed that she was the target of extortion, but refused to pay. It is also possible that she was locked in the garage by her assailant after she started the car. Blood from a wound was found on her face and dress, leading some to believe that she was knocked unconscious and placed in the car so that she would succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Todd’s death certificate states her cause of death as accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. She was cremated; after her mother’s death, her remains were placed in her mother’s casket and buried in Bellevue Cemetery in her home town of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Complicating matters, there was an apparent murder two years later involving Todd’s ex-husband Pat DiCicco and another movie actor as the victim.

Thelma Tood was found in her car because she was late to work. She was supposed to be at the Roach Studios, where she was starring with Laurel and Hardy in THE BOHEMIAN GIRL.

It is one of the great mysteries of Hollywood that always made me wonder…In any event, Thelma Todd was only 30 years old. And she had so much life in her.

Does she still haunt this Malibu structure or is she somewhere else.  I have been told she has been seen in different places in Hollywood.  Perhaps I will see her one day and we can have a little chat at one of her favorite Hollywood Haunts.  That would be nice.  Her death has always confused me.

But today, in the news is a story about another Hollywood death that has always baffled me.

Thirty years after Natalie Wood’s died, the LA Police are re-opening the case. I was dead when Natalie drowned, but in life I had lived only a few houses away from her on a street called Canon Drive in the flats of Beverly Hills.  She lived in such a pretty house, with lovely flower pots, and pretty little shutters.

Her death has been another great mystery.

As it came to pass, it was decided that the woman with the big brown eyes hit her head on the dingy that was attached to their boat anchored near Catalina Island.

Her husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken were on the boat with her.

The captain of the boat is now coming forth with a new book and a new story.

Why do these leading ladies have to die so young and so tragically?

Natalie Wood and Thelma Todd you deserve peace.

WC

I will be at the famous Musso and Frank’s tonight.  Have you heard of this famous Hollywood Haunt?

Tonight, I will be here to keep on eye on a dear friend of my daughters.  Yes, I heard he will be there.  I met Jon Richmond years ago.  He was just a young man, an adolescent really but I could see a twinkle in that young man’s eye.  He had a love for life, a quick wit, and an even quicker intellect.

He quickly became friends with my daughters.  I am not entirely sure how I felt about that but I held my breath and hoped for the best.

But when Mr. Richmond came to my home in Beverly Hills one Thursday afternoon I knew he had something on his mind.

“Can I take Terry to see “The Rocky Horror Show?”

“Of course not,” I said adamantly. “No way in hell.”  I knew the subject matter was provocative and as a stage play quite risqué.  What was this young man thinking?

But Mr. Richmond did the darndest thing.  He talked me into letting my daughter go with him.  I don’t know how he did it, but I’m sure it was because my gut told me I could trust this 17-year-old boy.
And I’m glad I did.  My daughter and Jon have had a long friendship.  He stepped in to walk her down the aisle when she got married.  I was already dead.

He always put a smile on my young daughter’s face, was able to reassure her that their was indeed a sunny side to life, and has stayed loyal through the years.

Tonight he dines at Musso and Frank’s and I for one can’t wait to see him.

According to the www.latimemachines.com, “the back room of Musso and Frank’s is where great writers and other famous creative people like F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Saroyan, William Faulkner , Raymond Chandler (who is rumored to have written some of “The Big Sleep” here), John O’hara, Christopher Isherwood, Erskine Caldwell, Lilian Hellman, Horace McCoy, Lowell Thomas, Robert Benchley, Thomas Wolfe, Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Jo Pagano, Dorothy Parker, Dashiell Hammett, Elliott Paul,  John Fante and Budd Schulberg hung out. Even the great composer Igor Stravinsky was known to visit.

Charlie Chaplin’s favorite table was the first one on the left when walking in the old room from Hollywood Boulevard. Charlie Chaplin’s favorite dishes were broiled lamb kidney and also boiled lamb with caper sauce. Raymond Burr’s long time table is in the back of the “new room” closest to the bar.

Steve McQueen favorite spot was the counter seat coming in from Hollywood Blvd. against the wall (bartender Ruben Rueda had to throw him out a few times for getting rowdy – but they remained friends).

Rudolph Valentino was also a client and he loved – what else – the spaghetti (which may have been an exotic dish back then).  Other clients included the illusive Greta Garbo (who liked to hide from reporters here and dined on spaghetti and “near beer” during prohibition. She was also once spotted here with a Swedish prince.), Gary Cooper who loved their tenderloin beefsteaks, Ginger Rodgers who favored Rum cake for dessert, Cesar Romero, Jackie Coogan (who boasted that he had been eating at Musso and Frank’s for over 50 years), John Cameron Swayze (who loved the flannel cakes) Carrie Snodgress (obviously not a Hollywood name!), Henry Armenta, Dorthy Comingore, Ben Gazzara (who liked smoked salmon, with onions and capers), Vincent Kartheiser (one of my favorite actors), Richard Thomas, Danny Trejo, Elliot Paul, Bruce Herschensohn (who ordered a grilled cheese sandwich),William Hollier, Percy Kilbride, Quentin Tarrantino, Raymond Burr, Elliott Gould, Gloria Swanson, Charles “Hank” Bukowski, Ian McKellen, Mickey Dolenz, Orson Welles, Philip Scheuer, Mack Sennet, Mel Gibson, Drew Barrymore,  John Barrymore, Stanley Ring, Joel McCrea, George Hamilton (who liked the Chiffonade Salad), Horace McCoy, Buck Henry, Cheyenne and Christian Brando, Nicolas Cage, Richard Collins, William Shatner, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Jack Nickolson, Marty Feldman (who celebrated his 43rd birthday at Musso’s), Jonathon Winters, Cecil B. DeMille, Bebe Daniels, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Florey, Frances Dee, Jon Hamm (another one of my favorite actors), Ed Lauter (who met his wife here! A Musso’s romance), Johnny Weissmuller, Jesse Lasky, Madonna, Sean Penn, Paul Douglas, Carol Howard,  Jack Smith, John Voight,  Barbara La Marr, Mary Pickford, Rich Little, Myrna Loy, Sandra Shaw, Bette Davis, Johnny Depp and John Beal (who liked smoked tongue and creamed spinach).”

And of course, there are those dearly departed guests mentioned above who still frequent Musso and Frank’s.  I am in good company.

In 1999, a famous psychic claimed he saw the spirits of Errol Flynn, Orson Welles, Charles Laughton, Carole Lombard, Peter Lorre, Raymond Burr and Tiny Tim while visiting Musso’s!

If only there would be a psychic tonight.

I wonder if Jon will be able to feel my presence.

After dinner, I will step across the street to Larry Edmund’s bookstore–a book store specializing in film!  What a perfect evening.  I hear my daughter might be there to sign copies of my autobiorgraphy and House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay.

But for whatever tricks fate plays I am not able to see or feel her presence.  I can only hope see feels mine.

WC