Old Art

Anita Page (unfinished)

Animation

Michael Myers

The Hands of Orlac

The Hands of Orlac (Orlacs Hände) (1924)
A concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From now on the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears. He believes that with the hands of the murderer he has also gained the murderer's predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears. When his father is killed, with whom he was on bad terms, the pianist is suspected of the murder. He only finds peace by clearing up the plot.

There were two direct remakes:
Mad Love (USA 1935) with Peter Lorre, directed by Karl FreundThe Hands of Orlac / Les mains d'Orlac (GB/FRA 1960) with Mel Ferrer and Christopher Lee, directed by Edmond T. Gréville.

Lon Chaney Jr.

Lon Chaney, Jr. (February 10, 1906 – July 12, 1973) was an American character actor, known mainly for his roles in monster movies and as the son of a famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney. Originally credited in films as Creighton Chaney, he was first credited as "Lon Chaney, Jr." in 1935. Chaney had English, French and Irish ancestry.

Death

At the age of 67, Lon Chaney, Jr. died on July 12, 1973 of heart failure in San Clemente, California.
His body was donated for medical research.

Edgar Allan Poe

Death of Edgar Allan Poe
On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker. He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning. Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name "Reynolds" on the night before his death, though it is unclear to whom he was referring. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul. "All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost. Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism. However, the actual cause of death remains a mystery; from as early as 1872, cooping was commonly believed to have been the cause.

Born, January 19, 1809(1809-01-19)
Boston, Massachusetts, USA Died October 7, 1849 (aged 40)

Died, October 7, 1849 (aged 40)

The Art of Steve Fiorilla 2

The wind blows through the crumbling canyons in Fiorillaville. The chill drives the inhabitants inside where they huddle around pot-bellied stoves and tell tales about the glorious long-ago lives of their majestic ancestors. It was a time before the Great Fiorilla Madness that changed the world forever...

Here are images found inside a locked metal box under the floorboards of an abandoned house in Fiorillaville. It was reported that the house dematerialized when the box was taken outside.

Testees

The series follows two friends (Steve Markle and Jeff Kassel) as they work as human test subjects at Testico, a product testing facility. Besides being an obvious play on testes – including the descended double "e" in its logo – the name of the show plays up the vulnerability of test subjects, which is the source of much of the humor in the series.


Peter Cooper (Steve Markle): Peter is somewhat neurotic and awkwardly unsuccessful with women. He seems to dwell on the negative realities in the world, failing to enjoy life in the moment. His negativity is more subtle than aggressive. He’s a good-hearted person. Peter is slightly anti-social. He likes playing video games and DVDs like Girls Gone Wild. Despite his negative traits he’s still likeable and is rarely loud or obnoxious. He’s a bit of a slob and paranoid about the unforeseen effects of the experiments. It’s usually Peter that gets the short end of the stick. Peter has dreams of being rich but doesn’t do anything to get there.

Ron Mitchell (Jeff Kassel): Ron is slightly more normal than Peter. He doesn’t mind being a guinea pig as much as Peter does. He justifies his choice of occupation by deeming it a necessary service to society. He’s generally more composed than his pal and slightly better with women. Most people would admire his loyalty and ethics. Like Peter, he strives for a better life. He’s vaguely more aware of the real world than Peter is but he’s still a complete slacker and a tad naive. In the end he’ll always do what’s right, but it might take him a little time to figure it out.




Episode 6: Herfume
Original Air Date—13 November 2008
Peter and Ron are given a cologne that is supposed to attract women through pheromones. However, it turns out to only work on old, fat, unattractive ones, who are turned into zombie rapists.


Check out other illustrations from the TV series Testees by Jim McDermott and Shawn McManus.

Moe, Larry and Curly

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. They were commonly known by their first names: "Larry, Moe, and Curly", and "Moe, Larry, and Shemp", among other lineups. The act originally featured Moe Howard (born Harry [Moshe] Moses Horwitz in 1897), brother Shemp Howard (born [Shmuel] Samuel Horwitz[1]), and longtime friend Larry Fine (born Louis [Levi] Feinberg). Shemp was later replaced by brother Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester [Yehudah-Leib] Horwitz) October 22, 1903. When Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in 1946, Shemp rejoined the act. After Shemp's death in 1955, he was replaced by bald-headed comedian Joe Besser, after the use of stuntman Joe Palma to record several "Shemp" shorts after his death. Eventually Joe "Curly-Joe" DeRita (born Joseph Wardell) would replace him. After Larry suffered a serious stroke in 1970 he was unable to continue performing. Emil Sitka, a longtime actor in Stooge comedies, was contracted to replace Larry—but no film was ever made with him in the role, although publicity photographs exist of him with his hair combed similarly to Larry's posing with Moe and Curly-Joe. However, Larry's paralyzing stroke in 1970 effectively marked the end of the act. He died in January 1975. Moe died of cancer a few months later.

The Stooges' hallmark was physical slapstick comedy punctuated by quickly-delivered one-liners, within outrageous storylines.




Check out other illustrations from the TV series Testees by Jim McDermott and Shawn McManus.

HEATH LEDGER IS BATMAN'S JOKER FOR THE DARK KNIGHT

Mr. Moto with Peter Lorre

* Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
* Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
* Mr. Moto's Gamble (1937)
* Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
* Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
* Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)
* Danger Island (1939)
* Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)

Frankenstein

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were the popular American-based comedy team of thin, British-born Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and heavy, American-born Oliver Hardy (1892-1957). They became famous during the early half of the 20th century for their work in motion pictures and also appeared on stage.

The two comedians worked together briefly in 1920 on The Lucky Dog. After a period appearing separately in several short films for the Hal Roach studio during the 1920s, they began appearing in movie shorts together in 1926. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team the following year, and soon became Hal Roach's most famous and lucrative stars. Among their most popular and successful films were the features Sons of the Desert (1933), Way Out West (1937), and Block-Heads (1938)[1] and the shorts Big Business (1929), Liberty (1929), and their Academy Award-winning short, The Music Box (1932).[2]

The pair left the Roach studio in 1940, then appeared in eight "B" comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1944. From 1945 to 1950 they did not appear on film and concentrated on their stage show. They made their last film, Atoll K, in France in 1950 and 1951 before retiring from the screen. In total they appeared together in 106 films. They starred in 40 short sound films, 32 short silent films, 23 full length feature films, and in the remaining 11 films made guest or cameo appearances.

Boris Karloff in "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde"

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1953 horror comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, and co-starring Boris Karloff.

Loosely based on the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film follows the story of two American detectives visiting Edwardian London who become involved with the hunt for Dr. Jekyll, who is responsible for a series of murders.

Unlike in other screen versions of 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde', Jekyll is evil in his own right, instead of being a man split between good and evil personae. He has no qualms about transforming into Mr. Hyde to commit murder.

This film version of Mr. Hyde is an inarticulate, hirsute monster reminiscent of The Wolf Man (When Tubby, in monster form, transforms others into similar creatures by biting them, it is quite reminiscent of werewolf legend); since all of the attacks take place in and around Hyde park he is named "The Hyde Park Monster" by the press, so everyone (even Dr. Jekyll) refer to him as simply "Hyde"

Vincent Price A Portrait Of Horror

Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American film actor, remembered for his distinctive voice, his tall 6-foot 4-inch stature and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films done in the latter part of his career.

Lon Chaney...London After Midnight,

London After Midnight (1927) is a silent mystery film with horror overtones. The film stars Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall, and Polly Moran and was directed by Tod Browning. It is also a lost film, quite possibly the most famous and eagerly-sought of all lost films. The last known copy was destroyed in a fire in an MGM film vault in 1965.

Larry David

Charles Laughton

A versatile English stage and screen actor who made his New York theater debut in 1931's "Payment Deferred" and began a successful Hollywood career the following year. The gifted Laughton became one of the most popular actors of the 1930s and 40s, giving some of his greatest performances playing everything from self-indulgent monarchs ("The Private Life of Henry VIII" 1933) to selfless butlers ("Ruggles of Red Gap" 1935) to modest murderers ("The Suspect" 1945) to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939). He sometimes displayed a propensity for eye-rolling ham in the later stages of his career, but it was frequently of a delicious variety, and he was always a compelling performer. Late in life he gave two superb performances in "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957) and "Advise and Consent" (1962). His single directorial effort was 1955's "Night of the Hunter"; it has become a critical and cult favorite thanks to Laughton's intriguing combination of expressionism and realism, a fine script co-written by James Agee and compelling performances by an excellent cast headed by Robert Mitchum as a psychotic preacher and Lillian Gish as a resolute farm woman.

Jim McDermott Illustration of Lon Chaney Jr. "The Wolfman"

The Wolf Man was Lon Chaney Jr.'s second horror movie and his first appearance in the role for which he is best remembered--no doubt because his Larry Talbot, the amiable young man controlled by evil impulses he cannot understand, relies on the actor's own character to generate much the same sort of sympathy as his Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1939), the gentle giant who longs to love but is condemned to kill. The intriguing conception of Larry Talbot as hero / villain is successfully achieved by the fact that Chaney is able to inject individuality into his werewolf--incongruously covered in facial fur with fangs and canine snout yet sporting black shirt and trousers, it seems less an entirely separate entity than an extension of his personality.

The film strengthens the rather weak myth of The Werewolf of London (1935) by replacing the Tibetan flower with a silver-topped cane mounted with the head of a wolf and a five-pointed star, whose implications are cleverly woven through the film. The tragic circle begins when Chaney acquires the cane from the girl he is to fall in love with, Evelyn Ankers, and ends when his own father, Claude Rains, is forced to use it to beat him to death with. At its centre is the atmospheric minatory visit to a gypsy camp in the forest where he is bitten by a werewolf (Bela Lugosi, in a minor role after being slated to play the lead), warned by a fortune-teller, and then finds the pentagram symbol mysteriously imprinted over his heart.

The Wolf Man benefits from a literate script and unusually good cast, but its trump card is the superbly suspenseful atmosphere in which Valentine's camera makes virtuoso use of fog and mist to create an eerie fairytale world out of the quaint little Welsh village, the forbidding baronial hall and the gypsy encampment in a forest clearing. Universal lavished care and money on the film and were rewarded by a box-office success that revived their languishing interest in horror and sparked off their second cycle of movies in the genre.

--PHIL HARDY, ed. from The Encyclopedia of
Horror Films, 1986