Sybil Bruncheon's "History On This Day... On OTHER WORLDS!"... January 26, ^23<>Rf6…

…on the Planet Camberterry in the Covalian System…

President Gambardten Hihhn had major turn-over among members of his cabinet and committees in the first two years of his first term. And it made him sad. After all, they were all his close friends at one time or another. So he decided to keep them with him... always. Right there in his throne room… and on the payroll too! And that's what happened on this day on other worlds...

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Sybil Bruncheon's Tales From Other Worlds... or... Are They?...

"Pathetic Earth creatures! We have come a great distance from another world. Our own planet was not enough for our delights. We have eaten our pets, burned our forests, gouged our mountains, and soiled our oceans. It was great fun, but now we want to do the same to yours. Offer us your abundant plenty, and we will allow you to protect one of your puny offspring from our kitchens during our feast time. One youngling only! In honor of our own beloved Spawn, who we hatched from his larva-sack and crowned as our pupa-prince. Note his oh-so-delicate fore-pincers; small and very sophisticated, and how he waves them about when he harangues his hive-ettes. Worship him and obey his whims lest you incur his righteous wrath. Build huge hive-walls to protect him from brown-things... and tremble in awe of his mighty cranium-pod covered in orange bug-silk! Bzzzzzzzz!!!!!!"

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Sybil Bruncheon's Strange Tales That Stun & Stupefy... The Buick!

Miss Sally Ann Pretherton had saved up all her money for the first new car she had ever bought. No more "hand-me-downs" from the Used-Car lots for her. She was tired of the smirking, the "accidental brush-ups", and the not-so-subtle innuendoes of the oily car-lot salesman who tried to hide their wedding rings as they quoted her prices they claimed were a "special deal just for her, cause she were so pretty"!

She had asked her Dad what she should buy, and he said the new 1958 Buick Special was the car for her! And she adored the fact that "Special" was the name of the model because that's just how she felt as her dad drove it off the lot with her in the front seat and her best friend Carla in the backseat! She looked out the window at the swinging strings of lights and the yards of plastic bunting and ribbons tossing in the wind on that sunny February day! Was there anything as magical as a new car, twinkling in the bright sunlight and with that new car smell, racing down the open rode with the whole world lying ahead of you.

And then after about a mile or so, her father, normally so steady and solid let out a shrieking laugh at the top of his lungs and a maniacal look in his glowing green eyes! He punched the accelerator to the floor, and the new Buick surged to its full power and screeched down the highway! Faster! Faster! Faster than Sally Ann had ever gone or imagined... and then Carla joined in in the howling laughter!... Sally Ann desperately clutched the dashboard and turned, begging, to her father but he had become some sort of fiend, a horrible drooling fiend with grey claws where hands should be, raking where his hair had been and twisting the steering wheel this way and that. Suddenly, Sally Ann felt the gleaming new Buick shudder and lift, yes, LIFT off the ground, off the highway and veer sharply to the left over the vanishing ground below! Now her whimpered pleas to her dad also turned to shrieks, but shrieks of terror and madness to be met in turn by the diabolical cackling of her inhuman companions!... and it was then or shortly afterwards that the Buick crashed head-on!… into the moon.

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Sybil Bruncheon's "Factual Flights of Fashion & Fabulousness... 1954"...

With the rise of the New Look after the deprivations of World War II, fashion and fashion photography took on an equally "new" power in the newly mega-wealthy United States. Both photographers and their models became icons in both the publishing and entertainment worlds, and their power as arbiters of taste, style, and elegance was irrefutable. The first super-star of the magazine cover was Dovima, formerly Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba of Queens, NY. Constructing a stage name for herself out of the first two letters of her Christening names, she soon earned the then unheard of sum of $60 an hour modeling, making her the "dollar-a-minute-model" when other girls were lucky to make $20 a day. But, as with all fame and fame-phenomenon, copiers and "knock-offs" began showing up on the runways and in the fashion magazines as well.

It was the 1950s when extreme body image was desired, and possible through a return to corsets, girdles, and push-up bras... and of course through extreme dieting. A girl would do anything to fit into a Dior, a Charles James, Norman Norell, or Balenciaga. And so the 20" waist became the ideal. And the cat's eye make-up to accentuate the severity of the new 50s femininity that left padded shoulders and Rosie the Riveter buried in the forlorn dust of the 1940s. A few models that tried to unseat Dovima included Larva Larue (formerly Bettina Jonk of Kadens Fork, Delaware), Waspina (formerly Carol Ann Kannuski of Wauseon, Ohio), Mantisine (formerly Margie Medfin of Poot Landing, Utah), and Slithera-Sue Summers (formerly Djanna Fong of Carson City, Nevada). Whether on the cover of Vogue (the supreme victory!) or bouncing around here and there inside an issue of Redbook, Collier's, or Good Housekeeping, these models became the feminine ideal of the streamlined decade!... and the scream-queen stars of some of the best science fiction films from Republic Pictures!

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Sybil's "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN!".... My Career at Hammer Films!

Darlings, have I told you about some of the films I did at Hammer Studios in England with my pals Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley, Hazel Court, and oh so many others! It was after the whole HUAC and Blacklisting scandals in Hollywood, and the unraveling of my wonderful life in film. I had been reduced to regional and dinner theatre, then downhill to carny shows, fortune telling tents, dunk-the-clown-booths, and finally burlesque as Amooze Boosh with cleverly placed buttercream frosting and a croissant. The British were very generous though, and whisked me away to Hammer studios for a number of years there! Here are some publicity stills from a few of my first films there (top row, left to right): CANNIBAL NANNY (1959), BADMINTON ZOMBIE SQUAD (1958), MENS ROOM FOR MONSTERS (1958), (bottom row, left to right) CRACK-POT CHIROPRACTOR (1959), CHILDREN OF THE CREAMED CORN (1960), THE PINEAPPLE THAT ATE PEORIA (1961), and its sequel, THE JELLO MOLD WITH PINEAPPLE CHUNKS AND MINI-MARSHMALLOWS THAT ATE PEORIA AFTER IT REBUILT (1962)…. Ah, good times… good times.

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Sybil Bruncheon's 31 Days of Halloween!!... Scary Screen & Scream Stars!!

Hey, what’s Halloween without our favorite very-scary stars? Check out the Horrifying “Who'z Dats?” right here under the “Who’z Dat? tab… or check out the Halloween tab! They’re all waiting right there for you at the top of the page! Just click away!! BOOOOO!

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Sybil's 31 Days of Halloween: Sybil Bruncheon’s “Hollywood’s Hysterical Histories”

True Story!... Following a stunning career with the handsomest leading men and the most iconic film scripts, Ingrid Bergman was reduced to lurid, low-budget "nudie-monster-movies" after she was shunned by the studios for her out-of-wedlock affair with Roberto Rossellini. She was basically exiled from Hollywood, going from mega-stardom at Paramount, MGM, and Warner Brothers to a forlorn twilight at studios like Jankowinski Movie-Toons, Blatt Sisters Cinema, and The Creepy-Comedy Contract Players. Seen here in happier days with Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant, she could only sneak back in under a sad parade of pseudonyms including Ivana Hoope, Lestrina Gargeaux, and Debbie Flatt, shown here with her "co-star/leading man" in I MARRIED A GARDEN GRUB (1951). She followed it with the musical sequels ANTZ IN HER PANTZ (1952), THE PROFESSOR & HIS PUPAS (1953), and a remake of LAURA with Vincent Price titled LARVA (1954). When asked by reporters as she left the country on the S.S. Stockholm, she was quoted as snarling, "Hollywood! Dessa stinkande jävlarna!"..

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Sybil Bruncheon's MORE THAN THEY SEEM STORIES... “A Visit to A New Place"...

... Zorina had traveled to so many different places and was always excited to meet new people. Finally, she decided to come to the United States. It seemed like it would be an amazing adventure in 1956. But she heard that Americans might be afraid of strangers, especially if they weren't white. She didn't know that that included Martians...

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Sybil Bruncheon's "Hollywood Hysterical Histories"!... Homophobia! Even in a Galaxy Not So Long Ago, or Far Away...

Friends, we all like to think that the folks that make our movies are openminded and progressive, but it's time for all of us to face the reality of Hollywood's hidden homophobia! Case in point; the immensely successful, lucrative, and beloved Star Wars franchise which has now continued into dozens of spin-offs, sequels, and product licensing. Did you know that the new robot-character, BB8, a jolly, rotund re-imagining of the iconic R2D2, was originally a very different and flamboyant addition to the cast? BB8 was created as an openly gay intergalactic hairdresser-florist-wedding-cake-baker-party-planner with multi-directional laser capabilities, and full cosmetic application tools and attachments. BB8 was designed to arrange, host, and accessorize any gala or planetary festival while still disintegrating any wedding-crashers, drunken in-laws, or "bug-people". Sadly, George Lucas felt that the little robot was too flamboyant and... "faggy" during early audience testing. He was replaced by the more streamlined and "reserved" model, although the producers offered that his new orange striping was still "very festive". And his high-pitched voice kept him "child-like"...

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... BASIL RATHBONE (June 13, 1892 – July 21, 1967)

         Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???.... while you’re reflecting, I’m inviting into our hallowed hall one of my very favorite people in show biz!!! Here he is folks, Mummy decided to add a special extra helping of WHO'Z DAT Deliciousness to the schedule...BASIL RATHBONE!!! (June 13, 1892 – July 21, 1967)

        For me, this fellow is the gold...NAY!..The PLATINUM standard for Hollywood royalty! (Ironically, he was knighted by George VI, and received even further elevations from Elizabeth II). Equally known for playing both heroic and villainous roles in some of the most iconic movies of the Cinema Golden Age, Basil Rathbone epitomized suave sophistication, brains, craftiness, and class. His face alone was one of the greatest pieces of cinema sculpture, and the camera adored him....you could light those bones a thousand different ways, and all of them were art! On the rare occasion when he would laugh without a villainous glint in his eyes, you could see all sorts of warmth and charm beneath that lacquered perfection, and indeed there are many stories about Rathbone and his wife being famous party givers to crowds of friends and admirers!

         Born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in South Africa, (June 13, 1892), he rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and later went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films. He was twice nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, both for his role of Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" (1936) and for his role of King Louis XI in "If I Were King" (1938), losing out both times to Walter Brennan. His most famous role, however, was eccentrically heroic—that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 and in a radio series done with his great friend Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. His later career included Broadway and television work; he received a Tony Award in 1948 as Best Actor for his performance as the unyielding Dr. Austin Sloper in the original production of THE HEIRESS, which featured Wendy Hiller as his timid, spinster daughter.                

         Rathbone was married twice; first to actress Ethel Marion Foreman in 1914. They had one son, Rodion Rathbone (1915–1996), who had a brief Hollywood career under the name John Rodion. The couple divorced in 1926. In 1924 he was involved in a brief relationship with Eva Le Gallienne. In 1927, he married writer Ouida Bergère; the couple adopted a daughter, Cynthia Rathbone (1939–1969). During Rathbone's Hollywood career, Ouida Rathbone, who was also her husband's business manager, developed a reputation for hosting elaborate expensive parties in their home, with many prominent and influential people on the guest lists. This trend inspired a joke in The Ghost Breakers (1940), a film in which Rathbone does not appear: During a tremendous thunderstorm in New York City, Bob Hope observed that "Basil Rathbone must be throwing a party". Although his later career may have vexed him on some level appearing in two spoofs of his earlier swashbuckling villains: CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT (1954) opposite Bob Hope and THE COURT JESTER (1956) with Danny Kaye, he also appeared in major films, including the Humphrey Bogart comedy WE’RE NO ANGELS (1955) and John Ford’s political drama THE LAST HURRAH (1958).

The 1950s and 60s saw Rathbone performing on radio and television in various Christmas specials, variety shows, and even on game shows where he was very popular for his wit and polish. But he also was reduced to campy horror films and pastiches like THE BLACK SLEEP (1956), THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1964) the only film to feature the "Big Four" of American International Pictures' horror films: Price, Rathbone, Karloff and Peter Lorre, QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966), THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI (1966, with comic Harvey Lembeck joking, "That guy looks like Sherlock Holmes"), HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967, also featuring Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine), and his last film, a low-budget, Mexican horror film called AUTOPSY OF A GHOST (1968).

       Although his later career began to be made up of lower budget monster movies and spoofs of his own distinctive reputation as either a mad scientist or a British detective, Rathbone's immortality as a great invention of the Hollywood imagination will never dim! Basil Rathbone has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for films, at 6549 Hollywood Boulevard; one for radio, at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard; and one for television, at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. British actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell once described Rathbone as "two profiles pasted together", and later stated in the same autobiography, that she thought of him as "a folded umbrella taking elocution lessons." Rathbone died suddenly of a heart attack in New York City in 1967 at age 75. He is interred in a crypt in the Shrine of Memories Mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. For his many fans around the world, he continues to be luminescent, enigmatic, iconic.... a Star!!! 

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