Almost Halloween

 Well it's almost Halloween and that got me thinking about a few things. The last few years I haven't made any new costumes and this year Kaylee is not even wearing one of the costumes I have in stock. (it's like I have a costume museum). She wants to be Cat Woman this year....or A Cat Woman...I'm not sure which but I'll be sure to take pictures to clarify that. 

So if I'm not making any costumes my attention turned to decorations instead. These days there are many more options and a lot more creativity circulating around decorating for Halloween. Does anyone do ordinary carved pumpkins anymore? I've come across some better pumpkin carving designs this year that I will be trying out. They always make it seem like its a simple thing to do but if you've tried to transfer an outline on to a pumpkin you know it's not all that easy sometimes. I'll take pictures of whatever I come up with in that department too. 

But the real reason for this post is a salute to a very old horror movie that I remember from when I was a kid. I happened upon a photo from The Creature from the Black Lagoon(made in 1954 in black and white) and I became curious about who the actor was inside that terrifying costume. Now you have to understand that this movie is a big deal to me. I was absolutely terrified of it when I saw it as a kid. I don't know how old I was but I know I was young enough to believe what I was seeing on the television could possibly be true. And I grew up swimming in the brook next to our house so the idea of that creature making its way from the lagoon to my brook was always in the back of my head. And considering we did a fair amount of dodging snapping turtles and eels in the brook, for me it wasn't that big a stretch to begin thinking the creature could be under the water too. 

One of the things that surprised me about the movie information I came across is that there was an actor that played the creature on land (Ben Chapman) and a different actor that played the creature in the underwater scenes (Ricou Browning). I focused on Ricou first because I saw his picture posing as the creature but without the head....a first for me. 

Ricou Browning was born in Fort Pierce, Florida in 1930 and he was the only one to ever play the creature underwater. There were 2 more sequels to the movie; Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)...I never saw either of them but judging by the dates they were quick to cash in on the first films popularity. (there is also a 2015 remake in the works starring Scarlett Johansson as the female lead) Ricou played the creature underwater in all three films but they had different actors for the land creature in each movie. He is currently still living and is 85 yrs old. In fact unless I'm mistaken, he is the last actor living from that first movie. He got his career started diving and springboard diving in local water shows. By the time he was in his early 20's he was producing underwater shows at Weeki Wachee Springs and topside water shows at Rainbow Springs and other locations. After the creature movies he went on to become president of Tors' Florida studios; also worked as a director (above and below water), second unit director, writer, underwater photographer;stunt man and stunt coordinator and was the creator of the popular tv show Flipper and much much more. 

Although he played an important role in all three of the creature movies, he was not listed on the credits for any of them.  

Personal Quote from Ricou Browning:

As far as I see it Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) was just another movie and it was just another job. I've done many things since then that I am much more proud of. But I've gotten more reaction out of the Creature thing than anything else. Well, I guess that's life!   

Ben Chapman was the man in the creature suit while on land in the first movie. He was paid $300.00 a week during the filming of the movie.

He was born in Oakland, California, (1925)while his Tahitian parents were on a trip to the United States. He was raised in Tahiti, relocated to the U.S. in 1940 and went to school in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Working as a Tahitian dancer in nightclubs led to his first movie job, a bit in MGM's "Pagan Love Song" (1950); other small film roles followed before Korean War duty temporarily sidetracked his modest screen career. Talent scouts from Universal-International "discovered" Chapman upon his return, and for a year he became a Universal-International stock player--and, at six-foot-five, an ideal choice for the title role in "Creature from the Black Lagoon."

He was fluent in French, Tahitian, and Chinese as well as English. He died of congestive heart failure in 2008 at the age of 83 while living in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is survived by his three children: Benjamin Franklin Chapman III, Grant Chapman, Elyse Maree Raljevich, and by his sister, Moea Baty.

 

I think they were having a little fun with it here....

Tragic Event in 1975

On July 22, 1975 in Boston, a 19-year-old and her 2-year-old goddaughter were trapped in a burning building. A firefighter shielded them from the flames as a fire ladder inched closer.

 The fire escape at the fifth floor collapsed as a turntable ladder was extending to pick up the two at the height of approximately 50 feet (15 meters).

The photograph, which is a part of a series, shows 19-year-old Diana Bryant and her 2-year-old goddaughter Tiare Jones falling from the collapsed fire escape of a burning apartment on Marlborough Street in Boston.

Bryant died from her injuries, but Jones survived the fall, which was believed to be softened by her landing on Bryant’s body. The photo also shows falling potted plants.

 The story as described by the photographer: 

It was 22 July 1975. I was about to leave the offices of the Boston Herald for the day. A call came in about a fire in one of the city’s older sections of Victorian row houses. I rushed to the house and followed one of the engines to the fire. I ran to the back of the building, because on the way there they kept yelling for a ladder truck because there were people trapped in the building on the fire escape.
I ran to the back of the building and when I looked up there was a woman and a child on the fire escape and they were basically leaning at the furthest point from the building because of the heat of the fire behind them. In the meantime, a firefighter called Bob O’Neil had climbed on to the front of the building on the roof and saw the pair on the fire escape. He lowered himself on to the fire escape to rescue them.
I took a position where I could photograph what I thought was an impending routine rescue. The ladder went up to pick them up – they were about 50ft (15m) up. Mr O’Neill had just told Diana Bryant that he was going to step onto the ladder and asked her to hand the baby to him. Mr O’Neil was reaching out for the ladder when suddenly the fire escape gave way. I was shooting pictures as they were falling – then I turned away. It dawned on me what was happening and I didn’t want to see them hit the ground. I can still remember turning around and shaking.
It transpired that I wouldn’t have seen them hit the ground as they fell behind a fence where the bins were. When I did turn around I didn’t see them but I saw the firefighter still clinging onto the ladder with one arm, like a monkey, with all his gear. He hoisted himself back up the fire escape to safety. They say the woman broke the child’s fall. The woman died later that night.