Brief Soapbox Moment: Movies have always been, for me, a source of entertainment, of enlightenment, cultural expansion, and at certain times, a great comfort and solace. The right movie under the proper conditions can remind us that the complicated and confusing and tragic things in life can be overcome through a combination of honesty, bravery, ingenuity, good luck, and the occasional smart hustle. In light of recent events, I hope that the movies I write about here – even the ridiculous ones – will provide you with some comfort and solace in difficult moments to come, and I am grateful to Elise, Bob, and the rest of the Los Angeles Beat family for providing me a space to talk about them for so many years.
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“The Classic Ghosts: 1970s Gothic Television” (1973, Kino Lorber) Quintet of feature-length supernatural stories broadcast as part of ABC’s now largely forgotten late-night showcase “Wide World of Mystery.” Filmed live and on two-inch videotape, the films offer an impressive roster in front of the camera – Susan Sarandon in “The Haunting of Rosalind,” David McCallum in “The Screaming Skull,” and Gwen Verdon in “The Deadly Visitor” – while direction is handled by TV vets Gloria Monty (“General Hospital”) and “Dark Shadows” helmers Lela Swift and Henry Kaplan. Most of the stories transcend the limitations of television with solid pacing and suspense and impressive production values, and if not particularly terrifying, they do deliver the satisfying unease that an effective ghost story should produce. All of the films were remastered by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, whose work is described in interviews with heads Mark Quigley and Maya Montanez Smukler; TV historian Amanda Reyes is also on hand for perspective.
