Goodbye Childhood

by Kimberly Lindbergs | June 25, 2009

Categories | News, Rants & Raves, Television

Top: Farrah Fawcett Doll (Mego), The Jackson 5 Toon (Rankin/Bass)
Bottom: David Carradine Kung Fu Lunchbox and little me in the ’70s

Lately it feels like whatever remains of my childhood is slowly being flushed down the pop culture toilet. I couldn’t find the words for David Carradine’s death because I was deeply saddened by the news and everyone else in the world seemed to have something to say about it. As I’ve mentioned before, Kung Fu (1972-1975) was one of my favorite television shows when I was a kid, as was Charlie’s Angels (1976-1981) and the Rankin and Bass Jackson 5ive (1971-1973) cartoon. I saw some of these shows in reruns, but that didn’t lessen the impact they had on me. Like a lot of little preteen girls who grew up in the ’70s, I fondly remember that one of my first crushes was on a very young and incredibly cute Michael Jackson and for years I wanted to be a private detective thanks to the influence of Charlie’s Angels.

When I think about being a kid in the ’70s my memories are filled with Kung Fu lunchboxes, Charlie’s Angels’ dolls and Jackson Five records (or The Jacksons as they were called at the time) that my mom ordered from the Columbia Records mail-order club. David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were truly iconic figures of the ’70s (as well as the ’80s in Michael’s case) and thousands of writers will be eulogizing Michael Jackson for years to come. Whatever I have to say today really means nothing in the big scheme of things, but if you grew up with these people on your television, on your lunchboxes and in your toybox, they sort of take on an almost mythological status through the years that’s hard to explain. And yet, here I am trying to explain how their deaths make me feel, but frankly I can’t. It sort of feels like the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus all died within weeks of one another. This feeling isn’t helped by the fact that I recently experienced another death in my own family. June has been a cruel month.

I realize that the ’70s officially came to an end 30 years ago, but today it feels like they’re finally and forever over. At least for the little girl in me who still owns her original Farrah Fawcett doll.

. . . Earlier this year: Bob Wilkins 1932-2009

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We Are Controlling Transmission

by Kimberly Lindbergs | April 7, 2009

Categories | News, Rants & Raves, Television, Featured

“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure.”
- Opening narration from The Outer Limits (1963-1965)

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn’t have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007.

The fabulous Kuba Komet TV manufactured in Germany from 1959-1962

As much as I enjoy my new television with its giant screen and crisp digital picture, there’s no getting around the fact that the thing looks incredibly generic and lifeless. Much like modern car and home designs, modern televisions have become standardized to such an extent that they all seem to resemble one another. This can be frustrating to someone like myself who enjoys good design and wants their television to compliment the room it’s placed in.

Buying, restoring and modifying vintage televisions can be a pricey and time consuming endeavor, but thankfully there are other options if you want to own a stylish TV set with a retro look. Some modern manufacturers are creating sleek new televisions based on vintage designs that also feature modern technology. If you’re thinking about buying a new television this year, Cinebeats recommends giving the following options some consideration if you can afford them.

Predicta Televisions

Predicta Televisions from Telstar Electronics
The Philco company originally began producing these stylish televisions sets in the late ’50s. Unfortunately they weren’t very reliable and Philco found themselves bankrupt and out of business in 1960. Their TVs disappeared from stores in 1962. 40 years later Telstar Electronics revived the atomic look of Predicta televisions, but enhanced them with modern technology. The current color Predicta Televisions look as good as the original models, but they offer potential buyers a sharper color picture and they’re HD compatible. To see all of the current Predicta designs available visit the official Telstar site: Official Predicta Television Site

HANNspree Televsions

HANNspree Televsions
HANNspree is a new US company that launched in 2003 and they’re interested in making modern television designs that reflect their buyer’s individual style and personality. They currently offer a wide range of television designs and many of them have a retro look. The images above are just a small sampling of the televisions that HANNspree is selling, but you can see more designs at their website: HANNspree.

Keracolor Televisions

Keracolor Televisions
In 1968 a British designer by the name of Arthur Bracegirdle created the first perfectly spherical TV known as a Keracolor television. This space age design was well received and briefly distributed in the UK by Decca. Now some innovative Manchester residents have brought the design back to life and are manufacturing a new version of the Keracolor televsion featuring modern technology. According to their home grown website the TVs are being sold to US and UK residents. The site appears to be a little outdated, but it’s well worth a look if you’re in the market for a new TV: The Keracolor Sphere

Brionvega Televisions

Brionvega Televisions
Brionvega has been manufacturing TV sets in Italy since 1945. They’ve recently modernized some of their classic designs and created new televisions with a vintage look. Unfortunately they’re only selling their televisions in Europe at the moment, but hopefully US residents will be able to purchase them soon. You can contact Brionvega and request more information about their products at their official website: Brionvega - Design TV

Sony Bravia M Televisions

Sony Bravia M Televisions
Most of the televisions that Sony produces look the same and are impossible to tell apart, but last year Sony released their colorful Bravia M series. These new modern looking 19″ LCD HDTVs are a nice option for anyone who wants a modern television with a little style, but hopefully in the future they’ll produce larger models of the TV with the same colorful look. You can find more information about Sony’s Bravia M series at their official site: Sony Style.

This has just been a small sampling of the current TV options available to anyone who’s seriously interested in retro design. I recommend doing some more hunting online and make sure you compare prices and read consumer reviews before deciding to purchase a new TV.

For more information about the changes coming to television on June 12th please visit the official government sponsored site where you can get a coupon to help purchase a converter box for your current television if needed: TV Converter Box Coupon Program.

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Patrick McGoohan, 1928-2009

by Kimberly Lindbergs | January 14, 2009

Categories | News, Actors, Spies & Secret Agents, Television

Patrick McGoohan, 1967

2009 is gotten off to a rough start. After the death of Bob Wilkins, I caught wind of the news that the talented British actor Patrick McGoohan has passed away at the age of 80. The incredible television series The Prisoner (1967-68) was McGoohan’s own creation and a follow-up to the previous television series he starred in, Danger Man (aka Secret Agent Man, 1964-67). Both shows are available on DVD and they’re well worth watching in their entirety, but The Prisoner is arguably the best television show ever created.

Besides acting, writing and directing for television, McGoohan also appeared in some terrific films. A couple of my favorite Patrick McGoohan performances can be found in All Night Long (1962) where he plays a cool as ice jazz musician in this original take on Shakespeare’s Othello and in Ice Station Zebra (1968) where McGoohan easily out shines the rest of the cast playing a role he perfected on television, a British spy. He was also memorable as Dr. Paul Ruth in Scanners (1981) and as the warden in Escape from Alcatraz (1979).

Style, class, brains, good looks and a wonderful voice that commanded your attention were just a few of the things that made McGoohan stand apart from many of his contemporaries. Unfortunately the qualities that McGoohan possessed seem to be in short supply these days so I’m sad to see him go.

“I am not a number! I am a free man!”
- Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner)

Patrick McGoohan was definitely not just a number. He was a great actor and I wish he had appeared in more films during his lifetime.

Some recommended links:
- David Hudson collects some links to various Patrick McGoohan obits and tributes at IFC Daily
- Tim Lucas on the final escape of The Prisoner.

Hopefully the rest of my January posts will be less dreary. I’ve been mourning my recently deceased cat and busy with work, so I haven’t had much time for blogging about movies lately. I am slowly compiling my Favorite DVDs of 2008 list that I hope to share before the month is over so keep an eye out for that.

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Bob Wilkins 1932-2009

by Kimberly Lindbergs | January 9, 2009

Categories | News, Television, Bob Wilkins

Bob Wilkins interviewing Christopher Lee for Creature Features (1974)

I’m terribly sad to report that my favorite Horror Host Bob Wilkins passed away at the age of 76 on January 7th due to complications from his long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. No other person besides my father has influenced and shaped the way I view movies as much as Bob Wilkins. Bob will be greatly missed by myself and his legion of devoted Bay Area fans.

I wrote a long and deeply personal tribute to Bob two years ago that you can read here.

My well wishes go out to his close friends and family who are mourning his passing. Cheers, Bob!

Recommended Links:
- Bob Wilkins Official Site
- San Francisco Chronicle’s obituary for Bob Wilkins
- August Ragone has posted a great tribute to Bob at his blog The Good, the Bad and the Godzilla

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Inazuman Coming to DVD November 21

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 11, 2008

Categories | News, Television, Science Fiction, Tokusatsu

Top: Inazuman and cover art for the new DVD Collection.
Bottom: A sneak peek into Cinebeats’ secret lair where a few Inazuman figures
and others are on display.

One of my favorite tokusatsu shows is getting the deluxe DVD treatment this month! On November 21st. JN Entertainment will be releasing a special 4-Disc DVD collection featuring all 25 episodes of Inazuman (aka Lightning Man), which have been digitally remastered and subtitled in English. Inazuman originally appeared on Japanese television in October 1973 and ran for six months. The show is based on an original manga series by Shotaro Ishinomori who was responsible for creating many of Japan’s most popular henshin heroes including Kamen Rider, Kikaider and Goranger (the first “sentai” team).

From the DVD press release:
Riding on the success and popularity of the Toei tokusatsu (live-action) series of the 70’s KIKAIDA, JN Productions and Generation Kikaida will release another action- packed Japanese superhero DVD box set INAZUMAN on November 21, 2008. Inazuman, the Fighter for Freedom, battles mutant monsters of the evil Bamba Empire who are threatening the world.

This exciting box set also contains an array of special features which include interviews with series star, Ban Daisuke and Generation Kikaida fans from Japan and Hawaii, Inazuman Karaoke, interactive Trivia Quiz, Character Profiles, and detailed, behind-the-scenes Factoids. The INAZUMAN Complete Series Box Set will be sold in Honolulu by Shirokiya at Ala Moana Center and through the Generation Kikaida website.

Some of the incredible monsters Inazuman was forced to fight.

The Inazuman DVD collection promises to be one of the most exciting DVD releases of the year! If you enjoy Japanese science fiction and haven’t had the opportunity to see the show before you’re in for a real treat. Inazuman is a lot of fun and it’s colorful costumes, entertaining special effects, great score and pop art sensibility should appeal to fans of Irwin Allen and the original Batman television series as well as anyone who enjoys classic Japanese shows like Ultraman and Kamen Rider.

You can currently pre-order the Inazuman DVD collection from the offical Generation Kikaida Store online. At the moment the 4 disc set is selling for $99 and comes with a limited Inazuman T-shirt. Hopefully single discs will be sold in the future so people can purchase them individually and they should also be available for rent at Netflix and Greencine after November 21st.

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End of the Summer Reading

by Kimberly Lindbergs | August 28, 2008

Categories | News, Books, Television, Science Fiction, John Phillip Law, Nikkatsu

Summer is coming to an end and I thought I’d make mention of a couple of new and upcoming book releases that I’m looking forward to reading.

First up is John Phillip Law: Diabolik Angel written by Carlos Aguilar and his wife Anita Haas. They worked closely with John Phillip Law on the book before his unfortunate death this summer and it promises to be one of the most interesting biographies of the year. Carlos has written many wonderful books that I admire on directors like Sergio Leone and Jess Franco. He was kind enough to send me some information about his latest book as well as a wonderful picture of himself and his wife with John Phllip Law so that I could share it with my readers.

Above: Carlos Aguilar, Anita Haas and John Phillip Law.

Here’s a brief blurb about the book from the back cover that should grab your attention:

“John Phillip Law is one of the most cosmopolitan and charismatic actors of his generation. He is best remembered for his fantasy cult films Barbarella, Danger: Diabolik and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, the European western Death Rides a Horse, and the American classic The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! and Von Richthofen and Brown. But apart from that, his novelesque personal and artistic journey bears a unique intercontinental link between diverse phenomena, both inside and outside cinema: from Hollywood in the 50s to Broadway in the 60s; love affairs with actresses Faye Dunaway, Barbara Parkins, Marisa Mell and Barbara Bouchet; the world of the hippies, with its free love and drugs; the Playboy empire; la dolce vita in Rome, Almeria of the spaghetti westerns and European co-productions of all kinds; Spain’s dictatorship, the beginning of the West’s fascination with martial arts, Asia’s economic awakening and Dracula in the theatre. John Phillip Law has, in one way or another, been part of all these phenomena. This extensive interview, in which he shares his memories with straightforward honesty, is accompanied by an exceptional collection of photos. An extraordinary work about an extraordinary life.”

At the moment John Phillip Law: Diabolik Angel is only available from SciFiworld in Spain but hopefully this bilingual book will get a wider release in the future.

Another interesting upcoming release is Midnight Eye contributor Jasper Sharp’s new book Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. According to the publishers at FAB Press it’s based on extensive interviews with many of the leading figures in the field and offers to take readers on “a wild joy ride deep into the hinterlands of Japanese culture, society and radical politics.”

From the FAB Press website:

“Just how close are the links between the arthouse and the grindhouse in Japan? Read about the ins and outs of Japanese censorship from the wartime onwards, and how topless deep sea diving girls came to woo local audiences in the ’50s. Learn how a TV nature documentary maker ended up helming nude female Tarzan movies, and how ’60s mavericks Kôji Wakamatsu and Masao Adachi met up with John and Yoko at Cannes while on the way to the Golan Heights to make a film about Palestinian revolutionaries. How Deep Throat’s Harry Reems wound up in Tokyo starring in a zany sex comedy about a penis transplant gone awry, and how one of Japan’s most famous literary figures ended up the subject of the country’s first gay porno movie. How one of Nikkatsu’s leading directors went it alone to make a film about powerboat racing and ended up in the bad books of the yakuza, and how the anti-Bush sex farce Horny Home Tutor: Teacher’s Love Juice came to be re-titled as The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai and became one of the most talked-about Japanese films of recent years, playing at over twenty international film festivals.”

Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema is available from Amazon.

Last but not least, is Marcelo Abeal’s new book The Legend of Time Tunnel which is a tribute to Irwin Allen’s terrific television series of the same name. Abeal’s book includes detailed chapters on all the main actors involved with the production such as Robert Colbert, James Darren, Lee Meriwether, Whit Bissell, John Zaremba, Sam Groom and Wesley Laus as well as Irwin Allen himself. The book also boasts a special introduction by Robert Colbert, an episode guide and detailed information about the stunts performed on the show. I briefly wrote about Irwin Allen’s contributions to television last year and I’m happy to see that his television work is getting more attention.

Marcelo Abeal is an Argentinian actor and professional stuntman himself and his book seems to be a limited release. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy please email Bob Frassinetti at: admin@frassinetti.com and tell him I sent you!

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Experience Rod Serling for Free!

by Kimberly Lindbergs | February 29, 2008

Categories | Horror, Television, Science Fiction, Alfred Hitchcock

I’m currently busy writing about some of my favorite Post-1966 Elizabeth Taylor films, but I wanted to share some fantastic news I stumbled across while I was roaming around online.

Two of my favorite television shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s are Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (1959-64) and Night Gallery (1970-73). CBS and NBC recently launched two new sub-sites called CBS Classics and NBC’s Way Back Wednesdays where you can view episodes of these classic horror/science fiction shows free online at anytime. CBS has made many episodes of The Twilight Zone available, as well as episodes of the original Star Trek (1966-69) and Hawaii Five-O (1968-80) and every Wednesday NBC is making an episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery available, along with episodes of other popular shows such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962-65), the original Battlestar Galactica (1978-79) and Emergency (1972-79).

If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery this is a great opportunity to see episodes of these classic television programs. Both shows featured gifted actors often giving some of their best performances and they were written and directed by some of television’s greatest talents, including Rod Serling himself. Many episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery still give me the creeps and they’re guaranteed to give new viewers a nightmare or two. If you’re already familiar with these critically acclaimed shows you can now become reacquainted with them free of charge. For more information please check out the links I’ve posted below:

- The Twilight Zone at CBS - TV Classics
- Rod Serling’s Night Gallery at NBC’s Way Back Wednesdays
- The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation - Official Site

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Battle Sequence 003: Condorman (1975)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | February 2, 2008

Categories | Japanese Cinema, Television, Tokusatsu, Battle Sequences

The third clip in Cinebeats’ ongoing Battle Sequence Series is from Condorman : Symbol of Justice (Seigi no shinboru Kondoruman). Condorman was an entertaining action-packed tokuatsu series created by the great Kôhan Kawauchi (aka Yasunori Kawauchi), which aired on Japanese television in 1975. Kawauchi is responsible for creating the first Japanese superhero television show in 1958 known as Moonlight Mask (Gekko Kamen), which shares some obvious similarities with Condorman. The heroes of Kawauchi’s shows have a similar look and episodes often featured cliffhanger endings. They also both drove their own groovy vehicles. Moonlight Mask had a motorcycle and Condorman had his own special car called the Mach Condor.

Condorman starred a little known Japanese actor by the name of Hitoshi Sato who was a former race car driver. His driving skills gave him the ability to handle driving the Mach Condor on the show. As Condorman, Hitoshi Sato would fight evil monsters who disguised themselves as humans and were out to pollute planet earth’s water and air supply, among other things. Condorman was able to see through the monster’s human disguises with his “Condor Eye” and he used many special powers such as “Condor Thunder” and “Condor Hurricane” to stop them. Besides all the various monsters, Condorman also had to deal with their numerous henchmen who all looked like Nazis wearing Lucha Libre masks.

Just a small sampling of the strange monsters Condorman had to fight.

In some ways the important messages in Condorman that warned viewers about the negative effects of pollution, inflation and other ills made the show ahead of its time. Condorman also featured some spectacular action sequences, as well as colorful costumes and prop designs. The monsters he fought were often very unusual and included a sombrero wearing smog creature, a giant cockroach, a green-haired batgirl and strange robots.

Unfortunately Condorman never really caught on with kids or adults and the show stopped airing after only one season. Some episodes of the series were released on video in Japan and I believe the series was also made available on Laser Disc, but it has never been released on DVD. Information about the series is scarce and the show has never been subtitled, but I think some English dubbed episodes of Condorman aired on Hawaiian television in the late seventies.

The clip below features Condorman battling a robot-like monster called Sadora (aka Sadler), who was played by the Japanese actor and playwright Toshiaki Nishizawa. Sadora has help from his evil henchmen, but fortunately for Condorman, Sadora ends up killing many of his own men in the chaos that follows.

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