PICTURE THIS: Poster artwork from The Black Cat (1934)

Click for a larger view. The Black Cat (c) 1934 Universal Pictures Company

A favourite film poster of mine, and a good example of where horror film advertising was at in the 1930's. A genuine original example sold for a whopping $286,800 in 2007. I wonder how much the artist (probably under contract at Universal) got paid for painting it? It's an incredibly striking work, befitting one of Universal's less celebrated, but certainly best chillers from their golden age. Released in the UK originally as The House Of Doom. Fortunately, its original title has now been reinstated.

TV: Boris Karloff... This Is Your Life! (1957)

I've been somewhat short of time to review anything today, so I've decided to take this opportunity to showcase something rather special for classic movie buffs.

In 1957, Boris Karloff was the guest of honour on the US version of This Is Your Life, hosted by the show's creator Ralph Edwards. Of particular interest in this show...

13:10 - Jack Pierce, the creator of the classic Frankenstein make-up makes an appearance, and talks about his time working with Karloff.

19:00 - We hear how Karloff helped a community theatre project in Anchorage, Alaska to build their own theatre.

From every account I've read, Boris was a genuinely nice bloke. This show is a good illustration.

With many thanks to YouTube user hermankatnip for sharing this fantastic piece of archive.