Fade Out – William Girdler

FADE OUT

Episode 7 - William Girdler's THE MANITOU with Special Guest Harper W. Harris

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9 responses to “Fade Out – William Girdler

  1. Wow! Another great episode! This time with one of the the most unexpected subjects imaginable. I definitely had a question mark appear above my head when I saw the name William Girdler. Wha? Who? Then I looked him up, and not only had I seen his last 3 films, I own the on DVD. (Grizzly and Day of the Animals came together in a box set along with Hound of Hell starring Richard Crenna)
    This was truly an enlightening episode. Girdler was not only fully deserving of this podcast, but Shout Factory or Mill Creek or some company needs to figure out a way to bring us a box set of his films! This man’s work obviously deserves to be seen. Unfortunately squiring the rights and cleaning up the films for quality picture and sound would likely cost more than the box set would recoup.
    Manitou is an amazingly “out there” film. I actually encountered the novel before the film, although it’s been over 30 years since I read it.
    While the movie never got a sequel, the novel got at least THREE! I’ve never read them though maybe it’s time to head online and see if I can track them down.
    Thanks again for this episode and this podcast. It really makes me strive to do better with my own podcasting.

  2. Great discussion gents! I wasn’t really aware of Girdler, which is a shame since he came from my neck of the woods. I haven’t actually seen any of his films, despite being aware of Abby, Grizzly and Manitou, but I will definitely be on the lookout for them now!

    Susan Strasberg was the star of Hammer’s “Scream of Fear”, a great “mini-Hitchcock” thriller. Her co-star, Christopher Lee considered it Hammer’s best film! And he oughta know! Strasberg is actually the daughter of Lee Strasberg, who developed the “Strasberg Method” of acting, so it makes you wonder what his daughter thought of some of these rather out-there roles she had to take in her career!

    And I totally agree with Rob about the seance in “The Time of Their Lives”. Cindy has been after me to cover that film for some time!

    Chris

    1. Thanks for listening Chris! I should have mentioned Susan Strasberg’s lineage, I wonder what Lee thought of his daughter, naked, shooting lasers out of her hands.

      And YES! Another vote for “Time of Their Lives”!

      1. Yeah, that had to be a weird Thanksgiving dinner that year at the Strasberg home. 😉

        Oh, and I forgot to mention I know Felix Silla best as Cousin It on The Addams Family and Twikki from Buck Rogers. He had a Mego made of him!

        Chris

  3. I’ve never seen The Manitou, but I seem to remember seeing the VHS box sitting on a shelf in the horror section of the video store my parents co-owned with my aunt and uncle in the mid-80s. However, a quick internet search shows that the first VHS release of the film wasn’t until 1992, so who knows where that memory is coming from. Oh, well.

    From your discussion, The Manitou doesn’t sound like my cup of tea. But, I am fascinated by William Girdler and his story. And, it would have been something to see how his career would have played out had he not suffered an untimely death. Good stuff here, Rob, as always. Thanks for the learning experience.

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