My love affair with T in a Circle shows no sign of fading! My latest addittion to the T fleet is a corker and in super condition , the beautiful CABIN CRUISER. The box art is typically T-remendous especially the side panel depicting the boat moored up for a party! Very St. tropez! The model number on the box is 371A, a tantalising nod towards a 371 or 371B, which would be similar to the simple variation found in the twin 'Luxury Yachts'. The model number or maker's mark do not appear on the toy itself. Now, to find 371B!
I do like the romantic party scene on the box!
ReplyDeleteYes Philosophic Toad, I like the party scene too...and note the more than adequate curtains in case there is any risqué behaviour inside after all those sophisticated cocktails!
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of The Saint for some reason!
I know what you mean about the Saint Ed. Funnily enough, my mate was rummaging in his loft yesterday and found a stack of singles including the theme to The Persuaders by Barry Gray! That was one cool show, Moore and Curtis in their classic sportsters whizzing round alpine roads from hotel to hotel! What a life!
ReplyDeleteHe also found some large children's magazines from the 60's called Understanding Science. I don't remember it at all.
ReplyDeleteI loved "The Persuaders" too Woodsy, Friday night , 9 o'clock I think when the series first aired.
ReplyDeleteI just loved the opening credits where it showed Curtis and his street upbringing and Moore with his upper crust background.
I remember my sister and I would sit watching it wondering if we would then be allowed to stay up and watch the horror film that would be on later...usually a Hammer Film, but they also used to screen other greats in those far off happy day like "The Creature From The Black Lagoon".
That series of horrors they showed way back then might have been screened under the heading of "Appointment With Fear" but that might have been a bit later i.e. mid 70s.
Ah yes, The Persuaders. One of the best opening credits of any series, ever, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see some pages from Understanding Science if that's possible, please, Woodsy.
I hadn't realised it until you mentioned it, eviled, but that scene is evocative of The Saint! Perhaps that's why it appealed to me so much ^_^
ReplyDeleteThat's my kinda life-style. Piloted by speedboat to a party!
I shall ask my mate if I can borrow his Understanding Science Toad.
ReplyDeleteEvilEd, I'm a monster nut! Monsters and space go together like salt and pepper. In fact my first (now defunct) blog was The Towering Peaks of Monsterdom! I loved 'Appointment with Fear' too. I can see the words appearing on the screen! Basically it was a bundle of films shown under the banner of Appointment with Fear. A bit like 'Midnight Movies' or when Channel 4 do a run of horror flicks and call it Fear on Four or something. It's amazing if you google Appointment....loads of fellow monsterheads remember it as well but we all thought it was a series! Me too until I thought long and hard, but the films were great. Another fabulously creepy 70's TV series was THRILLER by Brian Clemens. The theme music makes my skin crawl today. I recently saw two old BBC Christmas Ghost stories called Whistle and I'll come to You and A Warning to the Curious. Talk about creepy! Amazingly simple effects but drenched in gothic atmosphere. My other big hobby is collecting Big Box VHS monster and horror videos from the 1980's. I've got stacks but they're getting harder to find at boot sales, where most of mine are from over the last 10 years. Ah, happy days.
ReplyDelete"The Towering Peaks of Monsterdom!" Now there's a name to conjure with Woodsy! Wish I had been around when that was up!
ReplyDeleteNow the Christmas Ghost stories you mention, they were a real treat back then. I have most of them on video (very bad recordings unfortunately) but they inculded a series of M.R. James stories of which "Whistle and I'll come to You" and "A Warning to the Curious" are prime examples...there were other James stories in this series also which I am sure you know. They did a new one a few years back "The View From The Hill" which wasn't bad either.
When it comes to ghost stories, M.R.James is the Daddy.
I saw a great docu on these BBC ghost stories and monster/sci fi progs just before Christmas and it had segments on Quatermass and the likes.
It also had a very interesting segment with Jonathan Miller who directed "Whistle and I'll come to You" where he describes the "simple effects" you mention.
In the scene where ghostly ragged shape is chasing the professor down the beach, Miller said it was actually an old tattered sheet they used tied onto a thin line which was held by two guys just out of shot and as they ran with the line to chase the prof, by happy coincdence the wind would catch the sheet and twirl it into all sorts of great shapes and it even looks like a figure in some of the shots!
They certainly don't make 'em like that anymore!
"Thriller"...yes loved the music too..do you remember "Journey To The Unknown"? I loved the opening credits for that and the music too...I still find myself whistling that to this day! Wish they would repeat it!
Ah, M.R. James. yes. In fact my fave monster flick of all time, Night of the Demon, is based on his Casting The Runes, which I've yet to read! I've never seen the new Christmas Ghost Story - would love too. Missed Crooked House this Xmas just gone as well. I remember another old one called the Ferryman or maybe the Signalman? I saw that TV documentary as well, cool! the clip of the Stone Tapes took me right back and gave me goosepimples allover again! I've just finished re-reading a real gothic ghost story called a Woman in Black by Susan Hill. Think Keanu Reeves might be in a movie of it. Journey to the Unknown doesn't ring any bells but I'll track down the theme on YouTube and let you know! Yipee for monsters!
ReplyDeleteWoodsy, I am a bit of a connoisseur of ghost stories as it happens and "The Signalman" by Dickens was another great Christmas ghost story, starring Denhomm Elliot.
ReplyDeleteThe Ferryman...wow, I have been trying to find someone who remembers that one for bloody years! I am sure Jermemy Brett was in it...will check that later.
"Night Of The Demon"...that's in my top three horror/ghost films of all time...it is a brilliant film! Love the scene at the kids party and the scene in the dark woods when our hero is making his way back from the magicians mansion is really scary!
"The Woman in Black"...I first came across this as a Christmas ghost story too...screened way back on a Christmas Eve I think.
It has never been repeated and CDs of it are hard to get hold of. I have a decent copy if you are interested in making another copy.
I have since seen it at the theatre about 5 times and it really translates to the stage very well...I recommend it to anyone who likes a good spine chiller!
Crooked House wasn't bad...again I have that on tape if interested but I think it will be repeated soon again...they showed it not long ago on BBC 3 or 4..
This is probably going to sound silly, but I just can't watch things like that. I made the mistake of watching one (by M. R. James, I think) that was something to do with a locked, empty room, an evil bishop, and skeletons beneath the floor boards of said room. It was about 8 months before I could get it out of my mind. I have the sort of imagination that finds it difficult to let go of things that frighten it. So there I was, huddled beneath the bedclothes each night, for months.
ReplyDelete**Toad shudders.** Never again!
Sounds like you got it bad Philospohic Toad!
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the film "The Reptile" as a kid (a Hammer Horror I think), that scared the bejesus out of me and I put away my rubber snakes and spiders for quite some time after that...I had a lizard too in those days, quite a big thing, hard plastic and very garish in colours, especially the inside of it's big mouth...was a horrible bright red ...couldn't look at it for weeks.
I used to play "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" with it and my action man!
Hee hee, I had to laugh at that Ed, your action man and reptile games. Reminded me of a show I put on for my folks when I was a kid - basically turned the the bottom space of a wooden chair into a floor spook thearte and top of the bill was the airfix skeleton model, which I had moving round on strings thunderbirds style! Not thought about that in years! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteand Ed, forgot to mention. there's a great book about the making of Night of the Demon, a film beset by spooky mishaps. Have you got it? It's a great read. I can give you the ISBN if you want. My latest excitement is the US DVD of the 60's monster flick, EQUINOX, which launched various SFX careers and even has Forry Akkerman in it! A class DVD with a brilliant booklet about making the film. Borrowing/lending films would be cool. Maybe email me? Cheers, Woodsy
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