GHP: JAH page 2

Days of Future Passed

The Moody Blues

The Deluxe Edition 2006

1967 in pop music was a year that changed the musical landscape forever. For the second time in their career the Fab Four had opened cultural and musical floodgates that remain open to this day.

The first inkling of change was the promotional films for the Beatles’ double A sided single "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane." Music that was only hinted at on albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver was now developed to its utmost, dripping with mellotrons and backwards guitars, drums, and assorted effects.

Instead of holding our hands, the Beatles wanted to "take you down ‘cause they were going to Strawberry Fields." For some, the Beatles threw an indigestible curve ball with this weird new music and bizarre fashion statements. What’s up with those mustaches, and why are they singing about firemen and a children’s orphanage? Where "no one I think is in my tree" lives. Were these guys on drugs or what? (We all know the answer to that one.)

Sergeant Pepper followed, and by June of 1967 the whole of the younger generation were out of the pot closet and wearing flowers in their hair, and a lot of other things. All of a sudden the face of pop music culture changed, and the world changed with it. The Beatles were standing on a musical Mount Everest, and beneath them was the Summer of Love.

Suddenly groups on both sides of the Atlantic were aping this sound. The BeeGees, a new Australian group produced by Robert Stigwood, was mixing Mellotrons and orchestras on their first English recordings. The Rolling Stones’ ill-fated multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones rode the Mellotron to stratospheric regions on the Stones records, such as "We Love You," "Dandelion," and most notably the cosmic freak-out "2,000 Light Years From Home."

In 1966 the Moody Blues were a floundering British R&B group with a hit single "Go Now," and a lot of miles logged on the road. The departure of guitar and vocalist Denny Laine, and bass player/vocalist Clint Warwick put the Moodies in a precarious position. Soon Justin Hayward and John Lodge were recruited in these respective roles to complete the Moodies’ lineup.

As told by Justin Hayward, he replied to an ad in Melody Maker for a group who was looking for a lead guitarist. Unbeknown to him, Eric Burdon was reforming The Animals. Eric had found his new guitarist and forwarded a whole sack full of mail to The Moodies, and the first letter of inquiry picked out the sack belonged to Justin Hayward according to Ray Thomas. Mike Pinder made the phone call to Justin and the rest is music history. Klaus Voorman, considering the offer to play bass for the Moodies, decided to go with Manfred Mann replacing Jack Bruce. John Lodge was a former band mate and close friend of Ray Thomas. At Ray’s request, John answered the call to join the group.

During this time, keyboard player Mike Pinder was working for Streetly Electronics, which manufactured the mighty Mellotron. In fact, Mr Pinder sold Mellotrons to the Beatles! After the Moodies’ short (Mellotronless) club tour of 1966, Les Bradley of Streetly Electronics called Pinder about a second hand Mellotron that could be had for the astonishingly low price of 300 pounds. Mellotrons ran three thousand pounds in those days (and they ain’t cheap today), but with this bargain twist of fate began the Moody Blues voyage as veteran cosmic rockers.

The first part of this voyage is offered for those who have the ears to hear it, in its most complete form on the Deluxe Edition of Days of Future Passed. It’s hard for this writer to conceive that readers of "The Glass House Presents" have not heard Days of Future Passed. But there is a first time for everything, and if this is your first time then this Deluxe Edition is the way to do it up right. For the experienced listener, this is a joyous reunion with a dear old friend.

While the 1997 Re-master was highly satisfying, this Deluxe Edition sheds a whole new light on the Moodies’ transformation from R&B group to Prog Rock Super-Stars. Presented in 5.1 Surround Sound as well as the standard stereo mix, this double disc set includes nineteen rare tracks that chronicle the radio appearances, the singles, and alternate mixes from this timeless classic.

One standout track is the Moodies’ cover of the Animals’ big hit "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood," sans the Mellotron. This cut shows the band at their musical best, and showcases the band’s chops as the top flight players they were and still are!

Days of Future Passed the Deluxe Edition is not only a joyous rediscovery, but a redefining of our own futures and pasts!

March 2007

DAYNCE OF THE PECKERWOODS

THE BADLANDS OF TEXAS MUSIC

When The Glass House last saw Michael H. Price, he was tooling down the highway with co-author John Wooley in The Big Book of Biker Flicks. Now Mr. Price gives Glass House readers an inside look at Texas Roots music, in an autobiographical style that is not only informative, but highly entertaining. Price has had a split career of musician and journalist since 1966, and was a session man for famed producer (Buddy Holly and many others) Norman Petty.

In Daynce of the Peckerwoods, Price takes the reader on a humor-filled ride through those glory days when as a youth, he rubbed shoulders with such Texas music luminaries as Bob Wills and Big Joe Turner. Coupled with his own experiences and drawn from a quarter century of interviews (from the now defunct Texas Jazz magazine and other periodicals), Price spins tales of Texas nights and the stellar talents who provided the soundtracks of which these rich legends were made.

And what legends they are! Price interviewed and/or played with such musical giants as Billy Briggs, Fred “Papa” Calhoun, Ornette Coleman, The Austin Lounge Lizards, Trudy Coleman, Johnny Reno, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name a few. Add to that an ultra-hip essay on one of the Kings of Comedy, Mantan Moreland, and you have a recipe for knee slap’n, foot stomp’n Texas Badlands reading.

This book is totally unique insofar as it also makes the connection between Texas roots music and the monster craze of the 50s and early 60s. Price’s story of meeting Fats Domino backstage at the Nat Ballroom in Amarillo, Texas while the man himself was deeply immersed in an old Tales of the Crypt Comic Book throws a new light on what might have gone on, on Blueberry Hill!

There’s so much history here that to try and describe it in one review would be impossible. Readers should take note that this book is published by Music Mentor Books in the U.K., and is available on Amazon.com.

If you’re in the mood for some music with your reading, check out Mr. Price’s CDs from these distributors:

Domestic:

Record Town, 3025 University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 79109, (817) 926-1331

Shel-Tone Publishing, P.O. Box 45, Irvington NJ 07111 www.shel-tone.com

European:

CrossCut Records, P.O. Box 106524, 28065 Bremen, Germany www.crosscut.de

And a good ol’ Texas time will be had by all!

Reviewed by Jan Alan Henderson

February 2007

ZACHERLEY

INTERMENT FOR TWO

Ghouleo Records

Order email: gasport2000@hotmail.com

Have you heard of the great amoeba invasion of 1958 in Philadelphia? Probably not! But the presiding ghoul (known then as Roland) was John Zacherley, and he introduced an entire generation of east coasters to the wonderful world of gods and monsters. The Shock Theater package was distributed by Screen Gems and blew the proverbial socks off kids all across the nation. Along with rock and roll, monster movies may have been as much of an influence of that generation’s youth as the Cold War, fast food, and the almighty drive-in movie.

In Pennsylvania, the Shock Theater package was presented by none other than the Cool Ghoul himself. At this same time, Zach cut his first single, “Dinner with Drac,” which became a hit record, spawning appearances on Dick Clark’s original American Bandstand. Albums and singles followed, and Zach took New York City by storm. He had three television shows, let alone the guest appearances.

The Sixties marched in like a wave of incense on a turbulent sea, and Zach was riding high on the New York airwaves as a DJ. He also hosted a popular dance show, Disco Teen, which featured rock band of the day, including The Doors. Zach continued on radio throughout the 70s and 80s, along with more guest spots on most notably Saturday Night Live.

In the 1990s, Zach met up with one Mike Gilks, and a musical partnership was unborn. Gilks, a master guitarist, composer, producer began writing and recording new sides with Transylvania’s favorite son, along with some of Zach’s back catalog; and the two began live performances together. In 1995, the team released the CD entitled Dead Man’s Ball.

Ten years later, we have the follow-up to Dead Man’s Ball, Interment for Two, and boy, was it worth the wait! Kicking off with a “Dead-ication” and the title track, we cruise into Tom Petty’s “Zombie Zoo.” This was featured on Zach’s 1992 Halloween show, and was a hit with the fans. Zach’s version is truly unique, and fort he first time the listener can hear the lyric properly.

“Dear Valentine” is given a country and western treatment with some fine Dobro playing from Mike Gilks, followed by the first of a series of vintage Zacherley radio commercials from the 60s. “Satan’s Country Line Dance” is another country flavored ditty, and has unbelievably whacked out words, enough to send any self-respecting redneck straight to the local cemetery. “Renfield’s Laugh” spotlights Rich Gilks on keyboards, and is the sorry tale of our favorite fly eater, who’s graduated to rats on a stick.

Next up is a remake of “A Wicked Thought” from 1960's Spook Along With Zacherley. This track has some tasty acoustic guitar, and a bitchin’ choir fit for all you zombies. Zach turns up the heat (which is damn hard amidst the headstones) with a cover of “Frankenstein’s Den” which has a 50s rock motif and should please the Do-Wop crowd. “My Darling Clementine” is the basis for “Isobel,” a loving lament for Zach’s long-suffering wife.

Just as you think it is calming down, Zach launches into the raucous “Monster Blues,” which features some burning slide guitar from Michael the Gilks! After a radio ad reprise, “Satan’s Country Line” pops back in with the Hoedown mix.

Fourteen tracks of pure Zacher-fun would be enough to satisfy any self-respecting choul or gal. But seven bonuses consisting of more vintage radio and TV spots (one featuring Zach and the late Steve Allen from 1963 with Chuck McCann providing background hilarity) make this CD well worth it at twice the price!

Zach and company finish this CD off with “Dirty Danube” in which Zach jokes at the head of the track “You just have to sound drunk!” as the band grooves to “Swanee River” and lead a cheer for old Transylvania “U!”

For those who were lucky enough to see Zac on television or hear him on the radio, this CD is a must. For those only now discovering the Cool Ghoul, this is a stellar introduction.

Good night, whatever you are!

Reviewed by

Jan Alan Henderson

September 2006

The Hammer

Horror Series

Brides of Dracula

Curse of the Werewolf

Phantom of the Opera

Paranoiac

Kiss of the Vampire

Nightmare

Night Creatures

The Evil of Frankenstein

Over the years, fans of Universal Pictures’ Golden Years have been treated to a vast reservoir of classic films via the Franchise Collections. Now Universal has unveiled their complete collection of Hammer horror flicks.

A good amount of this package has been released on home video in the past in various formats. The importance of this two-disc, eight-film set is that all the shows are in their original wide-screen versions, and fully restored.

First up is Brides of Dracula, which is taken from a flawless print. Resplendent with glowing Technicolor, this was Hammer’s quasi sequel to Horror of Dracula (which Universal originally distributed in 1958). While not able to enlist the services of Chris Lee to reprise his Dracula, Hammer chose to focus on the exploits of a Dracula disciple who, newly revived, begins a feeding frenzy at the local Transylvanian girls’ school (not to mention giving his mother a vampire hickey!). Heady stuff for 1960!

Brides moves like a Carpathian freight train under the tight direction of the late Terrence Fisher and never bores.

Curse of the Werewolf is a jewel. A torrid tale of ill-fated love, lust, and lycanthrope, taken from famed writer Guy Endore’s novel The Werewolf of Paris, Curse introduces horror fans to Oliver Reed, who would achieve worldwide acclaim in the 70s. This show has some psycho-sexual themes that are daring to say the least, before the ratings game came into play in the United States. It was rated Certificate X in the United Kingdom.

The restoration of Curse is striking. For years, the television prints were red, chopped to pieces, and pathetic. Here we have the show as it was seen by moviegoers in 1961.

The 1962 remake of The Phantom of the Opera features a strangely restrained performance by star Herbert Lom. While an uneven script is the main problem for true Phantom fans, this show isn’t as bad as the critics described it in its day. In fact, this picture got a bad rap when released. Basically it is a remake of the 1943 Phantom starring Claude Rains, with twists and pacing which is most unlike Hammer’s previous output. The story is front to back. Like the ‘43 version, we only get a glimpse of the Phantom at the end of the show, with the Rains makeup being the more impressive. The musical score is also weak, and lacks the melodic element of the second remake.

The strength is in Michael Gough’s performance as the sadistic opera owner, which there is far too little of.

Paranoiac is an Oliver Reed tour de force! He drinks, he rants, and he raves in this sucker. Framed with a cool Englishness that only Hammer could produce, Oliver walks away with the picture. An essay of the typical English family with a few quirks and a soon-to-be-rich son who has a dark secret, the pacing here is tight and the film is suspenseful right up to the unthinkable wind-up.

Kiss of the Vampire has special memories for this reviewer. I remember a cold and rainy April Saturday afternoon at the Hollywood Theater in 1964, seeing this on the bottom of a bill with The Brass Bottle. The opening of Kiss burnt an indelible hole in my 13-year-old brain. This film reeks with atmosphere and gothic images, and is a favorite with hard-core Hammer fans.

Kiss takes some liberties with the vampire legend, insofar as these vampires can eat and drink wine, and move about on overcast days. But this does not detract from the overall impact of the film. This was also one of the Hammer pictures to have heavy sexual overtones. Their later shows were more blatant. Brides of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera were edited into more PG versions in 1967 for television. Kiss of the Vampire was re-titled Kiss of Evil with scenes shot at Universal Studios, after its theatrical release in the U.S. four years earlier. Three new characters are used to mask the sexual content of Kiss of Evil. They were played by Carl Esmond, Virginia Gregg, and Sheilah Wells, and involved an entirely different subplot.

Nightmare, like Paranoiac, is in black and white, and is another example of English family life. Only this time, instead of having an organic loony in the family, the family has to deal with a posttraumatic relative who has dreams of her mother murdering her father. It’s left up to a guardian and a friend to sort this one out—and they can’t.

Are these dreams or reality? You’ll only find out in the last reel of Nightmare.

Night Creatures (Captain Clegg in the U.K.) Is a seldom seen Hammer, that is until now. I remember seeing this at the New View Theater on Hollywood Boulevard on a quadruple bill with Brides of Dracula, Evil of Frankenstein, and the even rarer Blood of the Vampire in 1967.

Hammer dabbled with pirate pictures throughout its existence, and this is one of their top drawer pirate shows—only these pirates have abandoned their Jolly Roger in favor of smuggling imported brandies and fine wines. And speaking of spirits, these landlubbers ride around their English marshes dressed as luminous phantoms, scaring the crap out of interlopers.

Peter Cushing gives one of his best performances as the pirate captain turned priest. Oliver Reed is on hand as a restrained romantic, and Michael Ripper plays Cushing’s assistant in an entirely off-track role for Ripper.

“Why can’t they leave me alone?” is Peter Cushing’s credo in The Evil of Frankenstein. Evil is not so much a sequel as it is a continuance. Taking no plot threads from Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), through flashbacks it creates a new story, with a new monster (styled vaguely after the Karloff creature) and has more than a little in common with Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman and House of Frankenstein, insofar as in part of the movie the monster is a Franken-popsicle. Cushing’s Baron is excellent as usual, and the production values are first flight, but the story and pacing could use a little help.

This eight-film set is sure to please the Hammer hounds out there, and is a wonderful way to introduce novices to the World of Hammer. These DVDs will run the average family no more than thirty bucks (and you get to keep them). Thirty bucks gets maybe three movie tickets (sans parking and snacks) so this collection is money well spent.

Reviewed by

Jan Alan Henderson

August 2006

THE BIG BOOK OF BIKER FLICKS

By John Wooley and Michael H. Price

Get your motor running, and get out to the bookstore ‘cause The Big Book of Biker Flicks awaits you.

Focusing on 40 of the best biker films from the 50s to the mid-70s, this could very well become the bible of cycle cinema. This large formatted trade paperback by John Wooley and Michael H. Price features some of the most thoughtful essays ever compiled on the subject, and the graphics are to die for! Culled from press books and some tasty black and white photos, the design burns a lasting impression in the minds of motorcycle enthusiasts.

Whether you saw your first biker epic on television or in the theater, if you’re hooked, this is the Holy Grail of info on these films. Charting the genesis of the genre beginning with the legendary Brando’s signature role I The Wild One, the authors take us on a memorable journey through the beer, the blood, the guts, and enough sprocket grease to drown the open road.

With reminiscences of such luminaries as Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Sam Sherman, Samuel Z. Arkoff, William Smith, and Hell’s Angel icon Sonny Barger (who informs us that these films weren’t in any way accurate), Wooley and Price paint a picture of these exploitation drive-in goodies that brings back the memories of these shows for those lucky enough to have seen them on their first run.

Now, this reviewer thought he had seen the majority of these films, but a careful review of the Table of Contents revealed how many of these films the writer had not seen. Written in an entertaining, informative style, this is a sure-to-please volume by the authors who have kept the Forgotten Horrors franchise alive.

For those who have begun to discover these flicks, this is a terrific guide to the 21 year history of these shows. For the hard core fan, this book is a must.

More than highly recommended.

Reviewed by

Jan Alan Henderson

July 2006

Hey, Glass Housers!

Here is the latest blurb from Jan’s Angle.

What you see on the screen before you is the cover of the new FilmFax Magazine, a digital painting done by publisher/editor Mike Stein, which shows his talents as a graphic artist as well as the editor/publisher of one of the foremost film magazines on the market. I’m proud to announce that the interview I did with the lovely and eternally young Ann Robinson for her participation in the classic version of George Pal’s War of the Worlds, and the new Stephen Spielberg War of the Worlds has made the cover, and will be on the news stands shortly.

Also in this issue is an interview I did with Star Trek’s own free spirit, Mary Linda Rapelye, and with Diane Fauntelle who portrayed Queen Yara in the Rocky Jones, Space Ranger series.

As part of FilmFax’s 20-year celebration there is a 50% discount on all back issues, and with a one-year subscription, you get the Ann Robinson issue free.

Knowing Carl and Leslie is such a treat. One example is a CD they passed along to me by a good friend of theirs Brad Wilson, guitarist/vocalist extraordinaire. Any of you out there in the reading audience who enjoy stellar picking will want to make sure they catch this guy live or get hold of one of these CDs. He has a site on Glass House, so this shouldn’t be too difficult for any of you with an interest in great rock and roll music. His guitar playing and promotional materials has been compared to Stevie Ray Vaughn, but these old ears detect a little Hendrix in it. Like I say, the CD is great, and catch this guy live in concert if you can. He’s also been on the soundtracks of John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars and Vampires.

Anyway, that’s all the Angle this Jan has left for the time being. Enjoy the ‘zine and the sounds!

Behind the Crimson Cape

OOPS - WE’RE NOT SUPERHUMAN!

June 27, 2005; 6:04 p.m.

Received a phone call from publisher Mike Bifulco, regarding the fact that the books will be delivered to us tomorrow, June 28^th. We thank all of you who have made inquiries in advance for your interest, patience, and participation.

There are a couple of things we’d like to make you aware of before you receive Behind the Crimson Cape, the Cinema of George Reeves. The chapter order for 1943, to say the least has a problem. The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith is at the front of this section, when in actual fact it was released the same day, September 9, 1943, as So Proudly We Hail (the film that should have vaulted George to superstardom).

There is a typo problem in 1949's The Mutineers. We identify Adele Jergens throughout the chapter in both text and captions as Adele Jerkins. This is, of course, incorrect, and we wish to apologize to Ms. Jergens if she is reading this.

The final thing we wish to make you aware of is that when ordering from Bifulco Books, checks should not be made out to Bifulco Books but instead to Michael or Mike Bifulco.

No doubt there may be other errors that readers will pick up. The authors and publisher and their extended families spent many hours culling this volume for typos and technical mistakes. While it would be easy to blame our respective computers, in the end we must accept the blame ourselves.

We thank you for your indulgence, and hope you enjoy Behind the Crimson Cape, the Cinema of George Reeves as much as we enjoyed writing it and producing it for you.

The authors and the publisher

OOPS, Too

July 10, 2005; 8:00 p.m.

How to be an Author and make yourself look more foolish than nature intended:

Well, here we are again, folks, back in the corrections zone instead of the Torrid Zone. But things happen, and here are a few more corrections from Behind The Crimson Cape all Reeves enthusiasts should take note of.

1. On page 47, a still that is captioned George and Frank Wilcox is incorrect. The gentleman who is identified as Frank Wilcox is not, and we are checking into his identity as of this writing.

2. On page 78, from Throwing a Party, the lady in the still on the far right is serial queen Kay Aldrich.

3. On page 79, Elsa Maxwell, who is noted second from the left, is joined by Richard Greene of Robin Hood television fame, and once again Kay Aldrich.

4. Page 329, third photo, bottom, with Toni Mannix left, George center, and the unidentified friend who is actress Angela Greene.

5. On page 226, the chapter on Bugles in the Afternoon, we are missing the cast credits, although the production credits are listed. The cast credits are as follows:

Bugles in the Afternoon

Ray Milland - Kern Shafter

Helena Carter - Josephine Russell

Hugh Marlowe - Capt. Edward Garnett

Forrest Tucker - Donavan

Barton MacLane - Capt. Myles Moylan

George Reeves - Lt. Smith

James Millican - Sgt. Hines

Gertrude Michael - May

Stuart Randall - Bannack Bill

William ‘Bill" Phillips - Tinney

Uncredited: Mary Adams, Hugh Beaumont, Virginia Brissac, John Doucette, Charles Evans, Harry Lauter, Nelson Leigh, Ray Montgomery, Bud Osborne, John Pickard, Dick Rich, Lucille Shamburger, Bob Steele, John War Eagle, Sheb Wooley (who had the popular hit Purple People Eater in the 1950's)

We are sure you readers out there may find more facts that might be inaccurate. We will try to keep you posted as to the corrections as they are reported to us.

Enjoy!

Jan Alan Henderson

OOPS Three

July 11, 2005: 9:18 pm

Some Things Fall Through the Cracks Like Elephants, but the Weasels Stole the Cheese.

On page 11, in the first paragraph of the chapter of On Dress Parade, we state that On Dress Parade was the seventh film in Warner Brother’s highly successful Dead End Kid series. This is incorrect. The first film Dead End, was produced by the Samuel Goldwyn Studios. The scuttlebutt has been that the kids were so disruptive, Sam Goldwyn sold them to Jack Warner because they were such a pain.

Page 322, bottom, we state that George Reeves lifts Ed Hinton off the ground in a gag photo from The Phantom Ring. In Cereal to Serial, he is identified as Arthur Weissman, George’s manager. In reality, it is actor Henry Rowland.

Mourning the passing of another Superman guest player...Leon Askin

One of the last things I remember doing in proofing the galleys of Behind the Crimson Cape, the Cinema of George Reeves, is calling the Margaret Herrick Library for the Study of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences information line to check on the life or death status of character player Leon Askin, who guested in Superman in Exile (which was the subject of my search for the 1954 Fox feature) and the color show King for a Day.

It was a crisp morning after all the rain that had come through Los Angeles, as I held the line while the library worker checked on Askin's status. It turned out that as of that date, Mr. Askin was still alive and well, and 97 years old. After being imparted with this tidbit of information, I wrote in the text that Mr. Askin would be 98 years old in September of 2005.

Unfortunately, this was not to be. In the Los Angeles obituaries from Sunday, June 5, 2005, it was announced from the Associated Press Vienna Office that Leon Askin had died at the age of 97. It was reported that the city officials of Vienna, where he was hospitalized at the time of his death, would reveal neither the cause nor the date of his death. It was noted that he was most popularly known for his participation in the television comedy Hogan's Heroes as General Albert Burkhalter, who continuously was busting Colonel Klink's chops, threatening him with abolishment to the Russian front because of his incompetence. The article also states that Askin took up residence in Vienna in 1994, and was born Leo Aschkenasy in Vienna on September 18, 1907.

Once again, we mourn the passing of another Superman guest player. How can we ever forget our introduction to him as Ferdinand the press agent, whose hyper pitch lines don't affect Jimmy Olson in light of recent news that Superman has been contaminated in the classic 1953 episode Superman in Exile.

Leon Askin was another member of The Adventures of Superman family, and will be sorely missed.

A Silly Red Cape? written in conjunction with his new book

(with Steve Randisi)

Behind the Crimson Cape: The Cinema of George Reeves.

A SILLY RED CAPE?

By Jan Alan Henderson

Television used to be the great attraction in all our homes. Families would gather around primitive cathode ray tubes for their nightly entertainment, the way their parents did with radio a generation before.

Right in the middle of your living room you could ride the range with all your favorite cowboy heroes - Roy Rogers, Dale Evan, Gene Autry, Sky King, and Hopalong Cassidy to name a few. Space, the Final Frontier was looming in on your screen, as you rocketed to stratospheric adventures with Rocky Jones, Space Ranger; Captain Video; Rod Brown, Rocket Ranger; Space Patrol; Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe; and of course the immortal Star Trek.

If that wasn’t enough, you could laugh your head off with the antics of Milton Berle, Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel, My Little Margie, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, the Beaver, and a host of funnymen now gone to the never, never.

There was news, weather and sports, but it was presented in a much gentler fashion, not like today’s field goal in-your-face sales pitches.

Yep, TV sure ain’t what it used to be. You practically need a computer and a large insurance policy to turn the dang thing out.

Between high speed chases, wars on far off continents, crazed child killers, and fingers in fast food chili, we’ve made quite a mess of things. If we ever needed Superman, we need him now. But that’s fantasy, and in this world of harsh realities we pine for what childhoods we had around the television set - especially watching The Adventures of Superman. For half an hour we forgot our troubles and concerned ourselves with the exploits of Krypton’s favorite son in the person of George Reeves.

Now, for most of you reading this, it could be assumed that you are familiar with George Reeves life, and know that he had a promising movie career that flirted with stardom from time to time, before he put on the now-famous red cape.

Well, that’s what this book will address. We are presenting a critical overview of George’s film work, with many rare photographs and ad materials to illustrate what a versatile actor George was. That is, after all, what he wanted to be remembered for.

Behind the Crimson Cape, the Cinema of George Reeves also features fun facts about Reeves’ coworkers in films, as well as a photo gallery which is a treasure trove of unreleased Reeves.

This hard back cinema reference book is available now on a Pre-Order basis. With its glossy paper dust jacket and noir extra-ordinaire art work from renowned artist Larry Byrd, this three hundred fifty-two page tome will surely be on every Reeves fan’s want list. We expect to be shipping by July 1^st.

We hope this will be a book George would have liked.

For more ordering info, contact Michael Bifulco at mjbbooks5@comcast.net