Tag Archives: Humphrey Bogart

ELEVEN MORE BAD MOVIE CLASSICS FOR HALLOWEEN

Return of Dr X

Return of Dr X

My month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with my Bad Movie page where I examine plenty of under the radar movies that are hilariously awful. Previously I ran a list of the top Eleven Neglected Bad Movie Classics for Halloween. That was such a hit here is a list of eleven more neglected bombs. My Bad Movie page features full-length reviews of each of the movies I’m offering a synopsis of here.

THE RETURN OF DR X (1939) – The notorious film in which the legendary Humphrey Bogart played a zombified mad scientist named Dr Xavier who was brought back from the dead by another mad scientist named Dr Flegg. Much of the fun comes from Bogie’s unmistakable disdain for finding himself in the kind of stinker that Bela Lugosi often waded through. Bogie’s Dr X kills Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Halloween Season

BOGIE: A SPECIAL LITTLE GUY BELOVED BY ALL

Photo collection masterfully assembled by another of my sisters - Debbie.

Photo collection masterfully assembled by another of my sisters – Debbie. That’s Rosemary and my nephew Donny with Bogie in the photos.

Earlier this week my sister Rosemary’s dog Bogie left us. I would have posted a few days ago but couldn’t help crying every time I would try to type anything about this.

Aristotle felt that the loyal and affectionate nature of dogs earned them a place in the afterlife. Bogie’s blend of sweetness, intelligence and selfless devotion could convince even the most cynical and skeptical of people that Aristotle was right.

Even neighborhood children just adored Bogie (named for Rosemary’s favorite actor Humphrey Bogart) and often spontaneously hugged him and told him they loved him. Those children would also often gather at windows and stare in at Bogie, excitedly yelling “He’s moving! Oh my God!” when he would do anything at all, even just walk to his water dish for a drink.

Human beings would be lucky to be as loving, gentle, and delightful as Bogie always was. His passing has left a hole in our lives that we feel aching every minute of the day.  

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RICH LITTLE’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979)

https://i0.wp.com/www.vinylvendors.com/Pictures/r/i/richlittle108386.jpgIf you’re into celebrity trivia from the 1970’s and earlier Rich Little’s Christmas Carol will have you laughing from start to finish over all the sly jokes and riffs that abound in this Canadian- made special. For those unfamiliar with Little he was the Frank Caliendo of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, a first- class celebrity impressionist. The Canadian comic’s first venture into using the voices and personas of iconic celebrities as characters in the Charles Dickens classic began in the 1960’s. Part of Rich’s stand-up act was a several minute sendup of A Christmas Carol with John Wayne, Jack Benny and other figures playing roles in the famous story.

In 1979 Little expanded the story into an hour-long television special in which, through the aid of trick photography, costumes and makeup, he impersonated all of the entertainment legends that he worked into the Yuletide epic. Here is a rundown of the celebrities that Rich Little appeared as in this enjoyable Christmas special:

For the central role of Ebenezer Scrooge Little impersonated W.C. Fields, the whiskey- soaked and curmudgeonly comedian whose misanthropic humor made his persona perfect for the role. Little impersonated Hollywood Squares mainstay Paul “The JM J Bullock of his time” Lynde in the role of Bob Cratchit and long-time Tonight Show host Johnny Carson as the cheerful and charming Nephew Fred. Rich did a turn as Laurel and Hardy as the Charity Solicitors to Continue reading

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Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL

ELEVEN MORE NEGLECTED BAD MOVIE CLASSICS FOR HALLOWEEN

Return of Dr X

Return of Dr X

My month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with my Bad Movie page where I examine plenty of under the radar movies that are hilariously awful. Previously I ran a list of the top Eleven Neglected Bad Movie Classics for Halloween. That was such a hit here is a list of eleven more neglected bombs. My Bad Movie page features full-length reviews of each of the movies I’m offering a synopsis of here.

THE RETURN OF DR X (1939) – The notorious film in which the legendary Humphrey Bogart played a zombified mad scientist named Dr Xavier who was brought back from the dead by another mad scientist named Dr Flegg. Much of the fun comes from Bogie’s unmistakable disdain for finding himself in the kind of stinker that Bela Lugosi often waded through. Bogie’s Dr X kills Continue reading

40 Comments

Filed under Bad and weird movies, Halloween Season

CASABLANCA CAPTIONING FUN IS BACK

The latest in this series of captions for iconic moments from the Continue reading

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Filed under humor

HUMPHREY BOGART AS AN UNDEAD MAD SCIENTIST: THE RETURN OF DR X (1939)

Return of Dr XTHE RETURN OF DR X (1939) – Category: Enjoyably campy bad movie elevated by kitsch-value in the casting.    

Yes, it’s the famous “Humphrey Bogart as a zombie mad scientist” movie. The tale goes that Jack Warner inflicted this role on gangster-flick star Bogart as punishment for resisting being cast in too many formulaic crime films. This was, of course, before The Maltese Falcon made Bogie a big-time star and long before actors had the kind of contracts that they have these days.

Bogart plays the titular Dr X, but not the same Dr X that Lionel Atwill played in a movie of that name earlier in the decade. This Dr X is Dr Maurice Xavier, a mad scientist executed in the electric chair for, among other things, bizarre experiments on infants (a pretty ballsy story element in those pre- Auschwitz awareness days).

The “return” mentioned in the title refers to the fact that Bogart’s Dr X has been brought back from the dead by the film’s secondary menace, Dr Flegg (and let’s face it , The Return Of Dr Flegg just doesn’t have the same sinister  appeal).

Flegg can bring people back from the dead but needs Dr X’s help to Continue reading

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CASABLANCA CAPTIONING FUN RETURNS

The fourth in this latest series of Continue reading

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CASABLANCA CAPTIONING FUN 3

Enjoy the third in this Continue reading

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MORE CASABLANCA CAPTIONING FUN

RICK: You SERIOUSLY need to stop calling Sam "boy".

RICK: You SERIOUSLY need to stop calling Sam “boy”.

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CASABLANCA CAPTIONING FUN

FINALLY, ON THE 87TH TAKE, EVERYTHING SEEMED PERFECT ... UNTIL HENRI SUFFERED AN UNFORTUNATE ERUPTION OF FLATULENCE.

FINALLY, ON THE 87TH TAKE, EVERYTHING SEEMED PERFECT … UNTIL HENRI SUFFERED AN UNFORTUNATE ERUPTION OF FLATULENCE.

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Filed under humor