Girls, Join Us Tonight At Eight, As "Svengoolie" Presents An Unusual Film, With An Intriguing History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                                                                 

                                  I suppose I became aware of this story in the late 60's.  At a pharmacy book kiosk, I saw a paperback, entitled "Ratman's Notebooks."  The cover had a dark background, and in the center was a chair, with a young man seated, having the face of a rat.  I should have bought it then and there, but I was only a kid, and had no money.  And I was not about to shoplift.

                                 Several years later, in 1971, I saw trailers for a film called "Willard."  As soon as I saw the rats, I wondered if this was a film version of "Ratman's Notebooks," and it was.

                                Did you know, darlings, this was Gilbert's last published work?  This made him famous, in the way that "The Bad Seed" made William March famous--it was the final work of author William March, and playwright/adaptor Maxwell Anderson.

                                  "Ratman's Notebooks" is a better title and should have been stuck with.  The image of a rat faced man should have been used in the film.  Looked at microscopically, the film is simply "Psycho," with rats.  The nameless character in the novel (which also the film should have included) is a lonely, emotionally disturbed misfit who lives and cares for his ailing, clinging mother. Rats invade the crumbling structure of the house, and they become his only friends....and instruments of vengeance.

                                    What benefited the film most was casting Bruce Davison in the lead role.  Though he had appeared with Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, and Catherine Burns in the acclaimed 1969 film, "Last Summer," "Willard" was the film that put him on the map.  Though some things Willard does are despicable, Davison's downtrodden, abused character gives him a sympathy and likability that audiences can latch onto...until the end.

                                       Credit must also go to Ernest Borgnine, for his strong performance as abusive boss Al Martin, who stole the business from Willard's father; the young man should have inherited the company.  Anyone who has seen this film always talks about the scene where Willard confronts Martin at the office, with his rats and then turns them loose on him.  It is every disgruntled employee's fantasy.

                                         The rest of the cast--Sondra Locke and Elsa Lanchester--are choice, and the film does honor the Gilbert work.  Did you know he was a gay Irish writer?  And this was his so-called masterpiece.

                                           I urge you to tune in to "Willard" this evening.  Though boasting a few flaws, it is a definitive adaptation of the Gilbert novel.

                                           Contrast this with the 2003 remake, thirty-two years later.  Crispin Glover, in the title role is neither likable or sympathetic, looking more like a character out of a Charles Addams or Edward Gorey cartoon, and the rats, save for the two Glover actually handles are all computer generated, and look it.  The mother-son dynamics are camped up, rather than played for macabre pathos, and, in this version, Willard survives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Are you kidding?  Whose idea was this?  And who is going to stand for it?  Interesting and telling that the '71 original is being trotted out, but the 2003 version is largely, and deservedly, forgotten.

                                             Sometime soon, I hope to read the original "Ratman's Notebooks" again.

                                            But don't miss "Willard," darlings!  It is loads of fun!

                                            And my New York readers should not be scared of the rats. After all, we walk among them all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!