B-MOVIE HOSTESS PENNY DREADFUL (1962-1964)

PENNY DREADFUL – Rose Marie Earp starred as Penny Dreadful on KMBC in Kansas City, MO. In the 1960s, KMBC aired two Movie Host shows on Saturdays. Chiller was broadcast at 10:30pm and Son of Chiller at 6:00pm. Son of Chiller was hosted by Penny Dreadful from the tower room of her creepy castle. Chiller was hosted by Gregory Grave, whom I’ll cover at another time.

Rose Marie Earp is the earliest Movie Hostess I’ve found using the name Penny Dreadful, but there have been others since her 1960s run. Though Penny aka the Dreadful One did schtick typical of regular horror hosts her costume looked more like the outfit worn by the female alien in the bad movie Devil-Girl from Mars (1954).

Penny Dreadful would welcome viewers from the window of her tower room to discuss the evening’s film. That was after opening tracking shots along a path leading to her foreboding castle atop a hill.

Later in the show Penny would do her comedic Host Segments, which eventually featured supporting family members like Pretty Dreadful and Awful Dreadful. The names of the actresses in the roles have not come down to us. 

Like many other Movie Host shows from the 1960s and earlier there is contradictory information on the internet regarding the exact starting date for Son of Chiller. Sorting through all the available info, the program started in 1962 but specific information about what movies Penny Dreadful showed on what dates is first verifiable beginning with September 21st, 1963. Schlock classic Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956) was aired. 

On December 12th, 1964 Penny’s run on the show came to a close with the film Missile to the Moon (1958). Some sources claim the movie was instead Rocket to the Moon, but that flick did not come out until 1967. In any event, beginning with January 2nd, 1965 the station moved Chiller and Gregory Grave from 10:30 pm to the 6:00 pm slot formerly filled by Son of Chiller.  

Rose Marie Earp does not seem to have left on the best terms with KMBC. No details about a clash between her and the station are known but the only public statement from KMBC came in a rather terse answer to a fan question in the newspaper. (see right)

Another possible indication of tension between Penny Dreadful and the station came in the 1980s when Kansas City’s new Movie Hostess Crematia Mortem (1982-1990) invited Ms. Earp to make a guest appearance on her show but she declined.

Among the other Golden Turkeys presented by the Dreadful One: 

GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER (1959) – This was the very first sequel to Godzilla aka Gigantis in this flick. It was also released as Godzilla Raids Again. The Big G fights a fellow enormous creature called Angurus. Aired Oct 19th, 1963.

FLIGHT OF THE LOST BALLOON (1961) – An Egyptian mystic and a handful of ballooning Brits vie for the lost Treasure of Cleopatra in the late 1800s. Aired Jan 25th, 1964. 

THE LOST MISSILE (1958) – The world is terrorized by a missile from an alien race which circles the Earth in apparent preparation to destroy it. Aired Feb 1st.

QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958) – American astronauts travel to Venus and discover it is inhabited by nothing but women who are ruled by an evil queen (Zsa Zsa Gabor). Aired Feb 15th.

ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (1957) – Zombies from a sunken ship attack everyone who tries recovering the onboard treasure. Aired Mar 28th. 

WAR OF THE SATELLITES (1958) – A humanoid alien capable of dividing himself into two identical figures works to sabotage Earth’s space programs. Aired Apr 4th.

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