Movie ruminations and my favorite first-time watches of 2023

One of my earliest movie memories — and, yes, I know that Memory can be a Trickster, shuffling real or imagined things all around the brain's chronology for all sorts of reasons — is watching a reel from 1935's The Bride of Frankenstein projected onto the wall of my grandmother's living room at her house in Rose Valley, circa 1974. Fittingly, she also had those Ancient Greek comedy and tragedy masks (Thalia and Melpomene) on the walls of that room. As a preschooler, I found them fascinating and a little scary. That's what I remember, anyway: The projected moving image of a screaming Elsa Lanchester flickering against the wall, partially illuminating those eyeless, mouthless masks.

What a ways we've come in watching movies in the comfort of our homes in the past half-century. Now we can watch Barbie or Oppenheimer at home on our 55-inch high-definition televisions, just months after they were in movie theaters. (And how long will movie theaters last?) 

I didn't watch Barbie or Oppenheimer in 2023. In fact, I didn't watch nearly as many movies, old or new, as I was hoping to last year. My final count for the year was around 70. I could blame the cats, but there's never just one reason. 

Still, I was fortunate to see a lot of great stuff! And, as I did for 2022, I've compiled a list of my 20 favorite "first-time watches" of 2023:

• Black Cat Mansion (1958, Nobuo Nakagawa)
• Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974, Brian Clemens)
• Dead of Night (1945,  Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer)
• Deep Red (1975, Dario Argento)
• The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (1965, Zbyněk Brynych)
• Game Night (2018, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein) 
• Ghostwatch (1992, Lesley Manning)
• The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001, Takashi Miike) 
• The Innocents (1961, Jack Clayton)
• Lonesome (1928, Paul Fejös)
• Marjoe (1972, Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan)
• Midareru [English: Yearning] (1964, Mikio Naruse)
• No One Will Save You (2023, Brian Duffield)
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019, Quentin Tarantino)
• Prey (2022, Dan Trachtenberg)
• The Seventh Seal (1957, Ingmar Bergman)
• Synecdoche, New York (2008, Charlie Kaufman)
• Tabi no Omosa [English: Journey Into Solitude] (1972, Kōichi Saitō)
• Where Chimneys Are Seen (1953, Heinosuke Gosho)
• The Wind (1928, Victor Sjöström)

As it was in 2022, it's an eclectic list. Japanese films take up a quarter of the slots. There are some flat-out cinema classics that I didn't get to until I was 52. Better late than never! 

There are a lot of horror films here. Ashar and I watch a lot of horror films, and I'm glad some of them made it into my Top 20. Others had no shot (Sorry, Scary Movie 4. Actually, I'm not sorry. I'd like that 90 minutes back.). Other stuff was just perfectly fun, like Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973), Spooks Run Wild (1941), Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) and even the baffling Uncle Was a Vampire (1959), in which Christopher Lee's sense of having fun was contagious enough for all of us. 

Here are Ashar's thoughts on horror films from an Oct. 31, 2023, post he made on Instagram:

"Halloween is my fav time of year. I love the atmosphere of Halloween where things get spooky and you can see people who go all out into decorating their houses and you can go to haunted attractions and watch scary movies.

"Personally I tend to celebrate Halloween all year every year. I will watch horror movies even when it isn’t Halloween because I’m a big horror fan. I truly enjoy horror movies. I love the feeling of uneasiness and dread and anxiety and the way they can get your heart racing and just keep you on edge. Something about that is really unsettling but at the same time appealing. It’s hard to explain but if you are a horror fan you probably understand.

"Horror as a topic is vast but it’s really interesting to think about. It’s interesting to try and understand or learn about what makes horror so great and see how it has involved over the years. It raises interesting questions and points you may not have thought about before. It can make you feel uneasy and make you check every dark corner in your house at night because you just have this feeling that something could be watching you.

"This Halloween I just decided to watch a ton of horror movies and I kicked that off with watching The Amityville Horror (2005) starring @vancityreynolds last night into this morning and let me tell you that movie is really good and Ryan is an incredible actor. He does a fantastic job playing George Lutz.

"I didn’t really have a costume planned this year but I realised that I could dress up as Ryan’s portrayal of George Lutz like he is in the first picture. It’s not exactly the same but it’s my take on it and I honestly couldn’t be happier since I got to incorporate my hero into my fav time of year.

"Stay Spooky and have a Happy Halloween"

My movie goals for 2024 are to watch more movies; watch horror movies with Ashar (and also introduce him to great stuff from other genres); get to more of the classics I've never seen; chill out with some Shaw Brothers flicks; make it through more of the Varda and Bergman sets; rewatch my favorite Ozus; find some super-bizarre stuff; finally catch Barbie and Oppenheimer (but especially The Holdovers); have a Vincent Price marathon; watch more old documentaries and .... well, I could just keep going and going. Happy film-watching in 2024!

Lillian Gish in The Wind.

From the readers: Sasquatches, Yetis, Star Trek and more

Happy New Year! Papergreat has made it to 2024! It's a good day for a roundup of reader comments from the fourth quarter of 2023. Thanks for all of your feedback!

Examining "The Abominable Snowman" from all sides in 1977: Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes: "As a kid, I devoured any books on Bigfoot/ASM. I'd check them out from our library and order them from Scholastic. I somehow missed this book. The book whose cover traumatized me was Strange Abominable Snowmen by Warren Smith (pictured at right)." 

I wasn't familiar with that Warren Smith book. In fact, I wasn't familiar with Warren Smith at all, which is kind of bonkers. His list of books is quite the amazing rabbit hole of cryptozoology and the paranormal titles from the heyday of the 1960s and 1970s. Just some of his titles: Strange Women of the Occult, Strange Powers of the Mind, Strange Hexes, Myth and Mystery of Atlantis, The Hidden Secrets of the Hollow Earth, Secrets of the Loch Ness Monster, UFO Trek and Let's Face Facts About Flying Saucers. I'll be keeping an eye out for some of these!

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris: Unfortunately, I had to shut down commenting on this post, because some commenters were getting nasty toward each other and some were being disrespectful of Phyllis' memory. That's not in the spirit of this blog at all. Most of the old comments are still up. One of the final (anonymous) comments was: "You have no right to surmise what her life was like. Unfortunately, the authorities gave her a label and they didn’t even really know anything about her. ... She may have been a nice person and was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

New edition of Ruth Manning-Sanders' "A Book of Witches":  Anonymous asks: "Does it have all of the great original illustrations? I've seen reviews of some of the other reprints of Ruth Manning-Sanders that have omitted the illustrations, and the illustrations are so amazing!"

Yes indeed! The 2020 reprint edition of A Book of Witches by MAB Media features the original Robin Jacques illustrations. Follow MAB Media on Facebook for more info on upcoming reprints.

Unfortunate apparel of 1980: The official Star Trek duty jacket: EJD1984 writes: "I had the T-shirt!! Have spent years trying to find a picture of it to prove I'm not going senile. I believe I picked it up at a 1980 Star Trek convention when I was 15 years old. Thank You SO MUCH for posting this!" 

The elementary school in the City Behind the Fence: Carolyn writes: "I went to Cedar Hill for a brief time in 1972 when we lived in Oak Ridge. We were only there for three months, but I have such great memories of that place!"

The Lost Corners of Paul Crockett: Those who have been following this post and the tale surrounding the Manson Family may be interested in a new video link that was shared in the comments. 

Someone asked "Any links to these comments that Paul Watkins allegedly made about Paul Crockett?" In response, Anonymous posted a link to a YouTube video titled "Paul Watkins Manson Family Self Recorded Conversation 1988 to a Fan."  

Update on an amazing house in Coudersport, Pennsylvania: Anonymous writes: "When I worked for Farm Credit, one of our branches was in Coudersport. I can't believe I didn't spot this."

Take a ride with Edwards Motor Transit Co.: Butch Joyner writes: "My dad drove for Edwards for over 40 years. It was a family business, we were all close. I remember vividly Bill, Bob and Wes. I have some lasting stories of this 4-year-old boy and my dealings with Wes. Hope this finds you well, Wesley! To the good times!" 

Postcard for Haag's Hotel in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania:  Anonymous writes: "In 2007 I took my daughter to Roadside America, which she totally enjoyed. We then had lunch at Haags Hotel, which was very historical and we both enjoyed. Sad to hear it closed."

Indeed, neither the hotel nor Roadside America is in business anymore. Very sad.

Receipt and more tucked away inside 1967 sci-fi paperback: Anonymous writes: "Ross Music was at Eastland and Northland malls and closed both stores in the mid-1980s, as the owner was retiring. I worked at the Eastland location and have very fond memories of the owner Irving, and Melissa Press Downey, the manager, and my co-worker Jimmy Grindstaff."

Coupons from the E.H. Koester Bakery Co.: This early Papergreat post drew a lot of great comments and memories a decade ago. A new one from Anonymous: "My father's first job was at E.H. Koester Bakery Co. I have his pay stubs from 1949."

Board for Parker Brothers' 1936 version of the game Finance: Anonymous asks: "What is the value of this game?" 

Looking through eBay, there are many listings for pieces and/or replacement boards for Finance. All of those are relatively inexpensive. As far as the complete (or near-complete) game, I see some listings for 1950s editions of the game that are as low $25 to $30 (price plus shipping). Some near-complete versions of the 1936 edition (including the box) are as low as $34. So it's definitely attainable for collectors.

"I'm Going to Build a Supermarket One of These Days"

I love this little children's book!

• Title: I'm Going to Build a Supermarket One of These Days
• Authors: Helen Baten and Barbara von Molnar, adapted by Bill Martin Jr. (1916-2004).
• Illustrator: William Papas (1927-2000). Credited in the book solely as "Papas." He was previously mentioned in this 2016 post about Damian and the Dragon.
• Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
• Year: 1970
• Pages: 32
• Format: Hardcover
• Plot: The short book is basically a Dr. Seuss-like fantasy about what a grocery store would be like if it were run by children. Papas' pictures are a delight. The store would be called "Land of Milk & Honey." Everything would be free, and only children would be permitted inside. (There's an illustration in which adults are protesting outside, one with a sign stating "We Want Equal Rights.") The fantasy supermarket is filled with roller-skaters, elephants, kangaroos and a merry-go-round. There are impromptu baseball games and all sorts of treats, like cotton candy, ice cream and coconut cakes. Kids who don't want to shop can watch movies underneath the checkout counters. (Why checkout counters are needed when everything is free is not explained.) 
• Reviews: There's almost nothing online about this book from a half-century ago, so I'm glad this post is serving in a small way to preserve it. There is one nice review on Goodreads, in which Sharla states, "This is one of my all-time favorite books from when I was young." She further notes that there were two audio cassette versions, one that was a straight readthrough and one that's a musical sing-a-long version! 

Here are some more of Papas' wonderful illustrations...

 

Postcrossings to close out 2023

December was a busy month for sending and receiving Postcrossing cards and cards from some of my pen pals. Pictured are some of the jolly postcards that came to our mailbox. I got cards this month from France, Germany, China, Scotland, India, the Netherlands, Poland, Bangladesh, Slovakia, Czechia and elsewhere. 

One sender wrote of enjoying their first snow of the season. Another spread the message that we should be kind. A high school student shared that he's a movie lover and recently saw Christopher Nolan's The Prestige.

Also nice have been the email messages acknowledging receipt of Postcrossing postcards I've send around the globe. Here are a handful for the holidays:

Anne from Finland wrote: "We have some 30 cm of snow here and it's so beautiful outside. So it's going to be a white Christmas here as usual. I hope you'll get the rain you need there soon."

Sylvia from Ireland wrote: "Thank you Chris for your postcard with your nice message. We are sharing lots of hobbies — I also like collecting books — especially vintage ones; and old movies — Gone with the Wind, White Christmas are my favourites, and I have to say I did see all movies with John Wayne (my husband has all of his movies, so I had no choice); and folklore — especially Polish, as I'm originally from that country (just finished a beautiful chain for a Christmas tree made out of straw and crepe paper, from book published in 1920s). I'm reading books every morning before my kids wakes up. And I, actually my whole family, are animal lovers. We do have 2 cute dogs and nearly 16 years old cat lady. And I'm always on the go."

Marit from Norway wrote: "Thank you for your nice postcard. I am not a big fan of winter, especially when it snows a lot, then gets mild with rain, and then get cold again with ice as a result."

Simone from Germany wrote: "Thank you for your lovely card. It put a smile on my face. Now all the lovely snow is gone and it looks like a green and mild Christmas time for the rest of December. Now I am enjoying a hot tea and Postcrossing. I wish you a wonderful advent and Christmas time."

Linda from the Netherlands wrote: "Thank you so much for this cute postcard, I love it! And I get your love for cats. It so happens that my boyfriend (who's name is Chris) has a cat as well and I love snuggling with her and getting that unconditional love. Like you said, it is so wholesome in this world and how it is at the moment. I will check your blog out!"

Naomi from Japan wrote: "Thank you for sending me such a romantic postcard from the Arizona desert! I was surprised that you know so many old Japanese movies and actresses! I'm also a fan of Ozu. And his birthplace is very close to my house. It is now a very small museum and occasionally shows his films for free. By the way, my favorite American directors are Hitchcock and Nolan."

Hulya from Germany wrote: "Thank you so much for your beautiful card with the cats. My favourite films of Daniel Day-Lewis are My Beautiful Laundrette and Eversmile, New Jersey. I wish you beautiful Christmas days."

Merry Christmas postcard sent to Muskegon in 1916

We're still in the midst of the 12 days of Christmas, so here's a Merry Christmas postcard that was sent to Miss N. Bosch in Muskegon, Michigan, in December 1916, a month in which more awful things (including avalanches) were happening amid World War I, author Shirley Jackson entered the world and Grigori Rasputin exited it in grisly fashion.

I love the snowman on this Azo real photo postcard, though it doesn't look at all like it's actually made of snow. I suspect it was set up in a photo studio, and folks would come in and pose with it, then leave with their personalized RPPC to send to friends and family. On the back, Jane B. writes only "Merry Xmas & Happy New Year."

I used a Google image search to try to find the same snowman. No luck, but I did find a similar RPPCs here, here and here.

Snowmen have been around since at least the Middle Ages. According to Wikipedia, the tallest one ever built was 122 feet! Genesis has a 1978 song about a snowman titled "Snowbound," but there's debate over whether it's about an actual snowman, or a poor guy who has died of hypothermia. Here are part of the lyrics:

Hey there's a Snowman

Hey, hey what a Snowman

Pray for the Snowman

Ooh, ooh what a Snowman

They say a snow year's a good year

Filled with the love of all who lie so deep

1909 Christmas postcard mailed from Auburn, New York

Have you mailed your Christmas cards yet? This vintage "Happy be your Christmas" postcard from 114 years ago was postmarked at 3:30 p.m. on December 22, 1909, in Auburn, New York, and mailed about 22 miles northeast to Syracuse, New York. I wonder if it arrived by Christmas Eve.

The recipient was Mr. Clinton L. Borst. The postcard is from his mother. It states:

My Dear Son,

I was so glad to get your letter today for I had been thinking of them all day — sorry, very sorry. I am fealing [sic] good now. I was [nauseous] last week. I do miss Miss Howl some and I miss you two. Are you going out to Euclid Christmas day. Hope you will have a good time. 

Mother

If I am correct in my genealogy websurfing, Clinton Borst lived from 1879 to 1947 and thus was 30 when he received this postcard. 

"Mother" is Catherine Malissa (Sitterly) Borst (1848-1938). It's pretty neat to have a postcard that is handwritten by a woman who was born the same year that the California gold rush began.

The April 7, 1919, edition of The Auburn Citizen noted that Clinton L. Borst of Auburn and Marvin E. Borst of Canastota, who did business as Borst Bros., in the town of Throop, filed a bankruptcy petition.

A 1975 introduction to horror cinema

Here's Smoky with 1975's Movie Monsters by Thomas G. Aylesworth. This is a battered (aka "much read") copy in a school library binding. Although someone removed all of the circulation cards and tried to obscure its provenance with a thick black marker, I can tell you that this copy was in the Brandywine Heights Elementary School library in Topton, Pennsylvania. 

This was a right proper book for an elementary school library in the 1970s, when monster-loving kids wore turtlenecks and corduroy trousers and inhabited a world with the hue of Polaroid photos and the haze of cigarette smoke. Aylesworth's book covers King Kong, Godzilla, Frankenstein's creature, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Fly, Dracula, The Bride of Frankenstein ("the greatest monster sequel," it states), Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and Dr. Moreau's creatures (Charles Laughton version). 

There's also a section on the greatest copycat monsters, which basically calls the Hammer creatures of Christopher Lee and Oliver Reed nothing more than "interesting copies." And there's a short section on the greatest monster actors of all time, which cites only Lon Chaney Sr., Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price. The list could have been a bit lengthier and more expansive — Fay Wray? Elsa Lanchester? Barbara Steele? Agnes Moorehead? I know the idea of Scream Queens was still a few years away in 1975, but it would have been nice for Aylesworth to honor some horror actress pioneers.

Still, this book served as an solid gateway to horror cinema for a lot of kids nearly a half-century ago. In a 2009 review on Amazon, Rodney writes: "This was quite possibly the first book I purchased on my own as a kid. It set the stage for a life long love of monsters and horror movies."

And in a 2018 review on Goodreads, Timothy writes: "I had any of Aylesworth's books I could get my hands on ... when I was a kid. Read them over and over. It's 40 years later, and I am still an obsessed Monster Movies fan. I wish I could have met the man as an adult and told him how much joy I got from reading these little books, over and over and over."

Indeed, Aylesworth (1927-1995) wrote a lot of books for kids who were curious about monsters, ghosts, spooks and the paranormal. Even by 1975, he had quite the impressive bibliography, as seen here on the "Other books by..." page at the front of Movie Monsters. 

His papers from 1968 through 1983 are held at the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. That website's biographical note states that when Aylesworth began writing nonfiction for children, he focused topics of science and the environment: "He enjoyed tremendous success with This Vital Air, This Vital Water (1968), a book on environmental pollution that was translated into seven languages. After hosting a houseguest with an interest in astrology and witchcraft, Aylesworth began writing juvenile books on the occult. Servants of the Devil (1971), a book on witches, was well received and followed by similar titles on vampires, werewolves, mythological beasts, and paranormal phenomena. He also served as ghostwriter for young readers' autobiographies of several celebrities and co-wrote a series of seventeen travel books with his wife, Virginia."

Update on an amazing house in Coudersport, Pennsylvania

From the Facebook page www.facebook.com/fwknoxvilla, posted November 23, 2023.

During a fun trip that Joan and I made to northern Pennsylvania in May 2013, I snapped a photo of a dilapidated house in Coudersport, Potter County. I added some filters and posted it here as a quickie snapshot of a "creepy old house." Later, I made it available as a postcard on Redbubble.

But it's no longer creepy!

Thanks to a post by On the Road in Pennsylvania that showed up in Facebook feed in early November, I learned that this house is undergoing an amazing renovation. 

The restoration is being documented on Facebook, Instagram and a blog so that everyone can follow along. I'm so glad I found out about this! Without that out-of-the-blue Facebook post, I probably wouldn't have known any of this. Now I want to help spread the word in my small way.

It turns out that there is a good bit known about this house. Located at 4 North Main Street in Coudersport, it's an Italianate house built in 1880 by Franklin W. Knox, a prominent lawyer and businessman. It was also formerly the Old Hickory Tavern.

According to the blog, "Construction began in 1878 and was completed in May of 1880, only a few weeks before a fire swept through the town." Knox had seen a similar house in Pittsburgh and wanted one for himself in Coudersport, built with locally sourced "maple, cherry, black birch, pine, oak, hemlock, chestnut and butternut." The estimated costed was $10,000, which would be a little north of $310,000 today (though I suspect using so much valuable wood would send the price far higher).

The house was electrified around 1905. After a couple of transfers of ownership, it became Coudersport's second Old Hickory Tavern around 1928. After a string of additional ownership changes over the decades, it was purchased by those who are currently renovating it in 2016.

Writing on the blog in 2021, co-owner Holly Mauser states, "I’m thankful for that, that so many people can see the beauty in an old house. They saw that beauty years ago when it was really not looking it’s best. I’m thankful that they saw potential like we did. I hope more people keep seeing the potential in these amazing buildings wherever they live." (The full post is quite wonderful.)

If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend checking out all that's been documented on Facebook and Instagram about this epic renovation. I think we're all looking forward to the day when its 1880 beauty is restored as fully as reasonably possible. Coudersport is already a great place to visit, and the restoration of the old Knox house is just one more reason to take that road trip.