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Gorgo
Oct 30, 2007 0:17:08 GMT
Post by Calenture on Oct 30, 2007 0:17:08 GMT
Monarch, 1960 Based on an original story by Eugene Lourie, screenplay by John Loring and David Hyatt This book must have lain around in warehouses for about 6 years in order to get me into trouble at 11 years old when I remember reading it during an arithmetic lesson at my second school. Gorgo was an anomaly for the censor. It wasn't particularly frightening, but its soundtrack was deafening, causing complaints as far away as the ticket office. For that reason, it was rated X. Carson Bingham is mentioned in Paperback Dungeon's article Barbarians on Wheels by Carl Alessi, who cites Bingham as also the author of Run Tough, Run Hard and Gang Girls. Gorgo has information on the author: "'Carson Bingham' is a pseudonym used by Bruce Cassiday, who has been a radio script writer and a newsreel caption writer and is presently (1960) editor of a large national men's magazine.' Franklin Marsh wrote: I remember the still of Gorgo in Denis Gifford's A Pictorial History Of Horror Movies and cracking up at the X Certificate. However, you only had to be 16 to see an X before 1970. In John Trevelyan's What The Censor Saw he mentions a certain British Dinosaur film (though not by name) and claims they had to give it an X Cert as certain scenes would be terrifying for very small children. I suddenly remembered where I found that remark about the reason for Gorgo's X certificate, Franklin. It's a quote by John Trevelyan in an interview Gwynne Comber had with him, printed in Supernatural Horror Filming magazine (1969), in an article Will The Censor Award This?. "Ah, Gorgo!" exclaimed Mr Trevelyan. "A very interesting case. I'm glad you reminded me of that one. The trouble with Gorgo was the soundtrack. You'll recall the mother monster coming up the Thames and destroying half London. The last reel was so loud that - and this was the only time it's happened - the people in the offices below us complained about the noise coming from the viewing theatre!"The article also reveals that Hammer's Dracula was John Trevelyan's favourite horror picture. He mentions the much-cut Curse of the Werewolf. And somewhere I think he said that when film studios sent advance black and white photos, they sometimes looked a lot scarier than the final color film. Good article. Wonder if I could OCR scan the whole thing?
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Gorgo
Nov 10, 2008 15:19:54 GMT
Post by sadako on Nov 10, 2008 15:19:54 GMT
What a great cover. The film is a favourite film of mine, guilty pleasure or otherwise. The intense colour and destruction of London landmarks, such as Tower Bridge, make this a must see.
Britain's very own Godzilla.
Nostalgia-wise, it's cool to see Piccadilly Circus and Battersea Funfair as they appeared in the sixties.
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