Granny goes seaside this week! (or seasick, either one)
I was sitting on my bed the other night reading my old copy of Film Fantasy Scrapbook when I heard a tapping at my bedroom window. Looking over I saw a ghastly face peering in at me. At first I was startled, but then I realized what, or who, it was. Getting out of bed, I went over and opened the window.
“Reaper,” I said. “What are you doing out here at this late hour?”
“I have another set of spots for you,” he said.
I took the vinyl record from his cold, clammy hands and looked it over.
“Oh, ho, ho,” I said. “This is a good one!”
He smiled and shuffled away into the darkness. I took the record back to bed with me and examined it closely. To think, the spots on this record hadn’t been heard for almost seventy years and here I was holding them in my hand. I could only imagine what the listeners back then thought when they heard the spots, and how they reacted when they saw the film on the big screen with its magnificent special effects. And the title…..who could resist seeing a movie called It Came From Beneath The Sea?
Released in 1955, the Columbia Pictures movie starred Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, and Donald Curtis. But, the real star was the giant radioactive octopus so skillfully brought to life by Ray Harryhausen. Using his unique split-screen “sandwich” technique he was able to create many exciting visuals, incorporating his animated model with live action plates in a most convincing way.
The spots capture the mystery and excitement of the movie and prepare the listener for the wonders they would see on the screen. I hope they grab you as well as they do me.
A wave of the tentacle goes to The Radio Reaper (ZC Note: OMG, there’s two of them now!) for providing this exciting look back at one of the greats of the 1950s. So, beware… and enjoy! Here are seven cool radio spots including 15, 30, and 60 second variations.
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Granny (Gary Fox) at [email protected].