http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1128247

 

My three faves:

 

The Haunting

The Curse Of The Cat People

The Body Snatcher

 

He also did a couple of minor musicals called The Sound Of Music and West Side Story.

Sad to see him go. However, he is lucky to live a very fulfilling life and make it to 91. Prayers are with his family.

Sad to see him go.  However, he is lucky to live a very fulfilling life and make it to 91.  Prayers are with his family.

 

Agree 100%. His passing is going to be a celebration of an amazing life, and an influential person. He had important works in all genre's. Amazing to think he worked with both Welles and Val Lewton.

Agree 100%. His passing is going to be a celebration of an amazing life, and an influential person. He had important works in all genre's. Amazing to think he worked with both Welles and Val Lewton. 

Yeah, he would have made an important contribution to cinema had he done nothing other than to edit the greatest folm ever made (Kane). But to have gone on to direct so many important films in so many genres over the next 50 years is pretty astounding.

 

Kid, I'm completely floored that Day the Earth Stood Still didn't make your top 3 Wise flicks. I'd have put it above all those you listed, except possibly Curse of the Cat People.

 

I'm among the few that thought Star Trek the Motion Picture was a quality film. That was directed by Wise as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Did you miss the green on those minor musicals? The Sound of Music is one of the greatest movies ever made. It's so uniquely special in the movie world.

Did you miss the green on those minor musicals?  The Sound of Music is one of the greatest movies ever made.  It's so uniquely special in the movie world.

Yeah, I think megagreen was implied in his tongue-in-cheek statement. And for my money, West Side Story is the more culturally significant of the two.

Yeah, he would have made an important contribution  to cinema had he done nothing other than to edit the greatest folm ever made (Kane).  But to have gone on to direct so many important films in so many genres over the next 50 years is pretty astounding.

 

Kid, I'm completely floored that Day the Earth Stood Still didn't make your top 3 Wise flicks.  I'd have put it above all those you listed, except possibly Curse of the Cat People.

 

I'm among the few that thought Star Trek the Motion Picture was a quality film.  That was directed by Wise as well.

 

I just forgot to put it in there. But honestly, it's a tad plodding at times, and I am more of a Horror kid in many ways. The Haunting is one of my all-time faves, and The Body Snatcher will always be at the top by default, it has Karloff in it and none of the others do, so it beats every single one of his other films without even blinking an eye. Karloff in any film instantly qualifies it as one of the greatest films ever made. Him, Groucho Marx, Buster Keaton, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing, those are my film idols. I will watch any of those people in anything.

 

I also enjoyed Star Trek: The Motion Picture and was enthralled by it in the theater when I was a kid. I never did get the directors version DVD though, and really should.

Did you miss the green on those minor musicals?  The Sound of Music is one of the greatest movies ever made.  It's so uniquely special in the movie world.

 

Yeah, I was hoping the ULTRA-sarcasm would come through. Though I have never been a musical fan...unless it has a guy with a painted mustach, a fake Italian, and a mute redhead in it. Or The Andrews Sisters are working their magic.

OK, it's a tangent but as a Karloff fan Kid, what do you think of the "Wurdelak" from the 1960s Mario Bava thing that came out here as "Black Sabbath"? I LOVED that film as a kid, even though my favorite of the three tales was the one with the dead old lady coming back to life and murdering the maid who stole her jewelery. And that's saying something because I was a vampire nut. I loved Karloff as the returned vampire trying to convince his young son to unlock the door and let him into the house.

 

Both of those pieces were so perfectly moody and atmospheric to me as a kid. The other piece (with the woman being stalked on the telephone with the cut line) never did much for me, but I'd like to see them all again - mayb the original Italian if i can find it.

I love that film, and segment, my only problem is the dubbing of Karloff though. The voice needs to be there.

 

One of my fave Karloff performances is that of the old man in Comedy Of Terrors. The man was brilliant.

He played a killer Grinch too!