There really is a "House On Haunted Hill. It is Ennis House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, and located in Los Aliz, Los Angeles, California. This was used for the exterior shots of the house.
What you don't know is that the place resemebles my former work place. On September 23, 1981, when I walked to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance of The New York Public Library Of Performing Arts, at Lincoln Center, my first thought was, "This looks like the 'House On Haunted Hill.'"
Like the film, that impression held up for 35 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What was clear to me, this time around is that both Carol Ohmart, who played Annabelle Loren, and Carolyn Craig as Nora Manning, were both cast for their remarkable lung power, as both scream quite often throughout the film. How their vocal cords sustained themselves during the shoot is amazing. Maybe they should have tried musical theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Julie Mitchum--Robert's sister, no less!--as Ruth Bridges, gives the classic Fifties repressed spinster lesbian interpretation. A woman with a gambling problem, at that! And can she drink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elisha Cook, Jr., as Watson Pritchard, steals the show, as does Leona Anderson, as Mrs. Slydes, the housekeeper, and a certain head and skeleton.
How long have we had such good, clean fun, darlings????????????
It almost makes me want to spend a night there. Oh, but then I might feel like I was back, at work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 comments:
Well now I’m curious about your workplace!
What was it like on the Inside??
Did your co workers have that same feeling about it?
So many questions...
Victoria,
Only I connected the exterior to
"House On Haunted Hill." The inside
went through so many configurations during
my 35 years, it was almost a completely
different interior, from when I began.
As to coworkers feelings, they ran the
gamut--euphira, ambivalence, low morale!
Carol Omart is the MVP of this film, for sure.
Her line delivery during her cynical repartee with Vincent Price in the setup scenes is peerless:
"Don't let the ghosts and ghouls, frighten you, my faithless love."
"Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you!"
Then that bit with the skeleton and the acid pit, OMG. Priceless.
My Dear,
OMG, Carol Ohmart!
Have you ever seen "Spider Baby?" Do you
have it? Did you give it to us? If not,
could you?
I recall first seeing this in the second
grade, and I rounded up a group of kids,
and we would act out the bedroom scene
every day, on the playground.
"Are you ready?
No!"
ARE you ready?
Yes, DAMN you!"
It was like having permission to say a
verboten word. I can't believe my parents
let this one go on me, as they were very
cautionary, till puberty, when they just threw
up their hands, in exasperation. By the way,
I still miss them.
Film shenanigans aside, this is why the film
remains such a favorite of mine!
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