How Did "The Raven" Get Past The Censors, In 1935?????????????????

                         This "Svengoolie" screening turned out to be much more than I expected.  Not only did it make references to the titular Poe poem, but there is a homage to "The Pit And The Pendulum", as well as "The Casket Of Amontillado."

                          But the presentation.  Bela Lugosi plays a sicko, Poe obsessed doctor, who harbors BD/.SM fantasies, and when people turn up at his place due to a storm and an accident, they discover his house would surpass any Manhattan BD/SM club of the past several decades.  Oh, I know all about this, darlings; I visited a few of these places in my day, and let me tell you, so many people were lining up to whip and paddle me, and such.  But me?  Thanks, but NO thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Maybe the censors did not realize what they were actually seeing.  Universal really took a chance with this one!

                            But I have to say the film was fascinating.  And Lugosi's sadistic fantasies do him in, at the end!

                              Maybe that got him off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                       But then, "Sventoonie" surprised me with a film I had never even heard of.  This was a 1950 film called "The Great Rupert," who was a squirrel.  That's right!  I am not kidding!  And this was years before Rocky and Bullwinkle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         The whole show was going for a holiday theme, with Trevor and Company doing a convincing spoof of "It's A Wonderful Life."   But this film--oh my God!

                           Released in 1950, it was shot in 1948.  If you saw it, you would know why it spent two years shelved in the can.  It was the first film Terry Moore--yes!!!!!!!!!--was credited as that name, and not Helen Koford, her birth name.  Jimmy Durante is in it too.  But the real star is Rupert, who has no dialogue, and whom David and I argued about.  I maintain Rupert was a puppet--it was the first feature film of animator George Pal, so that points to my theory.  But David maintains it was just a taxidermed squirrel dressed up to act.  Sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is a children's Christmas film, not the story of Norman Bates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                          The story is fairly simple.  Rupert starts out as a performer, with a man, like an organ grinder and his monkey.  The owner abandons Rupert---oh, how sad!!!!!!!--but the resourceful rodent takes refuge in a building owned by a bullying slumlord, and housing the Amendolas, a very poor family, whom Rupert takes pity on.  But when the mean landlord starts stuffing this building's walls with dollar bills, Rupert gets animated, and every Thursday, tosses down dollar bills he finds in the walls, giving the cash to the Amendolas, at the rate of $1500 a week!  Rupert saves the family, gets reunited with his owner, and I think is so cute.  It is a sweet film, but I can see why no one heard of it.

                        But I can attest to one realistic aspect of this film.  When my Aunt Anna died, in 1998, her house was torn down--unthinkable!  When the workers were going through the house they found, hidden in the walls a sum of $100K, which Aunt Anna had stashed.  Best job they ever had, because I am sure they split it between them.  And all, without a squirrel!

                       Wish I had squired money away, like Aunt Anna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!