Movies
Happy 110th Birthday Vincent Price! A Look Back at VINCENTENNIAL Ten Years Later
Thursday, May 27th would be Vincent Price’s 110th Birthday! Price was born here in St. Louis on this date in 1911 and is the most iconic movie star to hail from our city. Price, who died October 25th 1993, was also a gourmand, author, stage actor, speaker, world-class art collector, raconteur, and all-around Renaissance man. Vincent Price was simply one of the most remarkable people of the 20th Century. Ten years ago we had the opportunity to celebrate his 100th birthday and St. Louis was the place to do it. VINCENTENNIAL, The Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration, an event that lasted through much of the Spring of 2011. The following year VINCENTENNIAL won two coveted Rondo Awards, one for “Best Fan Event” and a second for myself as “Monster Kid of the Year” for directing the event. The Rondo Awards are prestigious Fan Awards given out annually for the year’s best horror-related stuff–movies, magazines, articles, toys, etc.
The purpose of this article is to provide some background and take a look at Vincentennial Ten Years alter the eventl. As regular readers of WAMG know, I hosted the monthly film festival Super-8 Movie Madness at a local nightclub called The Way Out Club where I showed a dozen or so of the old condensed versions of movies on super-8 sound film. Sometimes I have theme nights. In July of 2010 I did a Charles Bronson night where I showed several condensed films starring the rugged actor and decorated the club with Bronson movie memorabilia. A close friend of mine, Maggie Sherrill, suggested I do a similar Vincent Price night the following spring and call it Vincentennial to tie in with his 100th birthday. I thought it was a great idea and began planning Vincentennial, a one-night party at The Way Out Club. But the scope of the event grew in my head and I decided a full-blown film festival in conjunction with an exhibit would be more appropriate than a one-night film show. Everyone in St. Louis I ran the idea by thought it was a good one. Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price got involved in Vincentennial as I had contacted her very early in the process. She said she had thought St. Louis would be the perfect place to honor her father with an event like Vincentennial. She had even contacted the St. Louis Art Museum before I contacted her to see if they were interested in hosting something, but that venue was under renovation and she didn’t know where to turn. The other guest of honor that we thought was important to have was Roger Corman, who of course directed all the great Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe films in the 1960’s. I thought it was a long shot getting Corman to come, especially since we didn’t formally extend the invitation until November, but it turns out Corman’s wife Julie was from St. Louis and he agreed to attend if we flew her in as well. Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog magazine and author of the book Mario Bava All the Colors of the Dark, accepted our invitation to conduct two Corman interviews on the stage of the Hi-Pointe Theater. I knew that Tim had written a screenplay about Corman and the making of his 1968 film THE TRIP. I was surprised that Tim had never met Roger Corman.
The heart of Vincentennial was The Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Festival in St. Louis which ran 10 days and featured screenings of 20 Vincent Price movies. The fest started at the Missouri History Museum with a screening of THE FLY preceded by Michael Jackson’s Thriller complete with a Vincent Price look-a-like contest, dancers, and The Fly in attendance. The film fest then moved to the palatial Hi-Pointe Theater, an old-school style movie palace just a couple of blocks from where Vincent Price grew up.
May 21st, we screened a 35mm print of TOMB OF LIGEIA (1965) at the spacious Hi-Pointe Theater preceded by an on-stage interview with Corman moderated by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog magazine. This discussion centered on Corman’s collaborations and friendship with Vincent Price. On Sunday May 22nd, we brought Corman back for a second interview, this time discussing his overall career as a director and producer of over 500 films. Corman spoke candidly about his start in show biz and the rigors of ultra-low budget filmmaking. He also shared amazing anecdotes about dropping LSD to research the filming of THE TRIP (Lucas has written a screenplay about this specific chapter in Corman’s life), and working with cult stars like Susan Cabot, Dick Miller, and Charles Bronson. Corman brought his career up to date with stories about his latest work producing an incredibly successful string of movies for the Sc-Fi channel with titles like SHARKTOPUS and DINOSHARK (and announced his newest title PIRAHNACONDA). Lucas asked great questions and Corman was gracious, candid, and forthcoming. This was followed by a 35mm screening of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.
Here’s Tim Lucas’ interview with Roger Corman May 22 2011
Just before the second interview, Roger Corman was presented with a lifetime achievement award with a plaque created by local artist Tom Huck.
We also brought in several Vincent Price scholars to introduce the other films. Highlights of the Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Fest included:
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) was be presented in a stunning 35mm print preceded by Tim Burton’s 6-minute stop-motion animation short VINCENT with an introduction and post-film discussion by Richard Squires, creator of the Web site the Vincent Price Exhibit.
A William Castle Double Feature in ‘Emergo’ and ‘Percepto’ HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) was presented in it’s original gimmick ‘Emergo’ followed by THE TINGLER (1959) also presented in it’s original gimmick ‘Percepto’ with introductions and post-film discussions by Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein who helped recreate these gimmicks.
THEATRE OF BLOOD (1972) was presented in a 35mm print with an introduction and post-film discussion by Richard Squires,
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1962) at The Hi-Pointe, a double feature of THE RAVEN (1963) and THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) held at LEE AUDITORIUM At the Missouri History Museum.
A Double feature of LAURA (1944) and DRAGONWYCK (1948) with introductions and a post-film discussion of LAURA by Washington U. film & media professor Gaylyn Studlar, David May Distinguished Professor in the Humanities and director of the Film & Media Studies program.
A Double feature of CHAMPAGNE FOR CEASAR (1950 – presented in 35mm) and BARON OF ARIZONA (1950) With introductions and a post-film discussion of CHAMPAGNE FOR CEASAR by Washington U. film & media lecturer Hunter Vaughan
THE WHALES OF AUGUST (1987) followed by VINCENT PRICE, THE SINISTER IMAGE, a 62-minute interview by journalist David Del Valle with an introduction by David Del Valle and an on-stage post-film interview with Victoria Price, author of “Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography”. conducted by Mr. Del Valle, seated in a way similar to the interview from 24 years earlier. Victoria really opened up about her father, the rest of her family and what it was like growing up as Vincent Price’s daughter.
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968). This was the British cut of the film better known in the U.S. as THE CONQUEROR WORM and presented in a 35mm print with an introduction and a post-film discussion by Washington U. film & media professor William Paul.
An outdoor screening in Forest Park of EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990) was preceded by Tim Burton’s VINCENT and Michael Jackson’s THRILLER on a giant inflatable screen.
Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in South St. Louis). This was a 100 minute show comprised of 5 Vincent Price movies condensed to 9 minutes each (CONQUEROR WORM, WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP, THE RAVEN, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, and MASTER OF THE WORLD), a 17-minute cut of THE MAD MAGICIAN in 3-D (we’ve got plenty of 3D glasses), 7 trailers from Vincent Price movies, and Tim Burton’s 6-minute short VINCENT. All of these are on Super-8 film with magnetic soundtrack and will be projected on a big screen. The at midnight May 27th (Price’s Birthday proper), we showed a 16mm print of DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS
On Vincent Price’s 100th birthday, May 27th, his daughter Victoria Price gave an amazing 2-hour plus multimedia lecture entitled The Vincent Price Legacy: Reflections From a Daughter at the Missouri History Museum. After local actor John Contini recited Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, the audience was treated to a mesmerizing one-woman show performed by the charismatic Ms Price who held the standing-room-only audience spellbound as she brought her father back to life through reminiscing, photos and film clips. She even got her half-brother Vincent Barrett Price involved. ‘Barrett’ is famously known for his reticence when it comes to speaking about his famous legacy but he sat down for this occasion and let his sister film several minutes of fascinating testimonial. Here’s ten minutes of Victoria’s speech:
For most who attended several of the Vincentennial events, Victoria’s presentation was the highlight.
Victoria Price’s presentation at the Missouri History Museum and her half-brother Vincent Barrett Price
When Victoria Price was in town, we took her to her father’s high school, St. Louis Country Day School (now known as MICDS) where Cliff Saxton, the school’s archivist, showed her clippings and photos of her father in his youth that she had never seen. She toured the school’s Vincent Price Theater and was forced to sit in a hallway of lockers at the school during a tornado alert (she claims to have found this “very exciting”). The private school got the money ball rolling in terms of fundraising for Vincentennial and became the presenting sponsor of the event. Victoria also attended Robert Taylor’s gallery talk at The Sheldon while she was in town. Read Cliff Saxton’s article about Vincent Price’s school days HERE
Victoria Price with Cliff Saxton at her father’s High School and during a tornado alarm there.
Vincentennial: The Legacy of Vincent Price Exhibit opened at the Sheldon Art Galleries in St. Louis Friday, April 22nd. 2011 Despite tornado alerts and it being Good Friday, there was a turnout of over 250 enthusiastic people on hand for the opening night reception. The free wine, Stella Artois beer, and snacks were appreciated by the crowd who at one point were sent downstairs while the tornado alarms went off. Fortunately, the Vincent Price Exhibit was downstairs as well, and when the beer made it down there, it just became more of a party. I’m pretty sure Vincent Price was behind the wicked weather. The exhibition was underwritten by Mary Strauss and curated by Tom Stockman.
Vincentennial: The Legacy of Vincent Price is a one-of-a-kind exhibit of historical artifacts, movie memorabilia, and collectibles assembled from the collections of several Vincent Price fans from across the country. In honor of the upcoming centennial of his birth, this exhibit is designed to honor the life and career of one of the 20th century’s most remarkable men. Robert Taylor, Rick Squires, Jenni Nolan, and Cortland Hull are Price aficionados spread out across the U.S. who are all loaning items from their collections as well as some St. Louis-based collectors.
Robert brought some one-of-a-kind pieces from Price’s childhood and youth, Rick’s loaned just a fraction of his enormous collection of ephemera and collectibles from all aspects of Price’s career, and Cortland brought (among other things) his life-size figures of Dr. Phibes and Professor Jarrod from HOUSE OF WAX (which is wearing the actual costume Price wore in the film). MICDS (formerly St. Louis Country Day School, Price’s Alma Mater) lent items from their archives as well.
Other highlights in the exhibit include Vincent Price’s baby book, which chronicles his birth and includes his baby mittens, locks of hair, and other items; his high school yearbook; membership cards from his wallet; a sympathy letter he wrote to Evie Karloff on the death of his friend, Boris Karloff; a drawing by Price of the actress Helen Hayes when they were on-stage in London in the 1930s; a postcard to Vincent Price from Ernest Hemingway; theatre programs from his high school days through to his later years when he played Oscar Wilde onstage in the one-man show Diversions and Delights to great acclaim.
And of course there is lots of movie memorabilia. The original one-sheet poster from his 1938 film debut SERVICE DELUXE is displayed as well as other original vintage posters including those for HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, BARON OF ARIZONA, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE TINGLER (There’s an actual Tingler crawling up this poster, so scream for your lives!), HOUSE OF USHER, THE MAD MAGICIAN and many more. Also there will be original lobby cards displayed from LAURA, LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, SONG OF BERNADETTE, TOMB OF LIGEIA, CONQUEROR WORM, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, and more. There are Vincent Price toys, comics, and other collectibles displayed as well as several resin model kits of Price from such films as PIT AND THE PENDULUM, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, THE RAVEN and a new resin kit from THEATER OF BLOOD that is making its world premiere at this exhibit.
Movie memorabilia displayed and Cortland Hull’s life-size figures
Robert Taylor, Sara Waugh, Rick Squires, Jenni Nolan and Cortland Hull are Vincent Price collectors scattered across the country and they all lent items from their collections as did several St. Louis-based memorabilia collectors. Robert and Sara lent one-of-a-kind pieces from Price’s childhood and youth, Rick lent just a fraction of his enormous collection of ephemera and collectibles from all aspects of Price’s career, be sure to link to Rick’s site at http://vincentpriceexhibit.com/), and Cortland brought (among other things) his life-size figures of Dr. Phibes and Professor Jarrod from HOUSE OF WAX, which wore the original outfit that Vincent Price wore in that 1953 film.
Some of the various Vincent Price figures, toys, and model kits
There were displays of movie and theater posters, stills, toys, and resin model kits in the exhibit as well. Rick Squires gave an informative exhibit talk at The Sheldon when he was in town as did Robert Taylor. The folks at The Sheldon estimated that over 10,000 people viewed the exhibit during its 4-month run.
With Cortland Hull just after we had set up his figures for the exhibit
Vincent Price Presents at Star Clipper, was an art exhibit that began April 29th at the gallery at Star Clipper Comics, St. Louis’ premiere comic shop that was located at 6392 Delmar Blvd. in the Loop area of St. Louis. TThis exhibit will featured paintings and illustrations of Vincent Price to tie in to Vincentennial,
The showcase artist for the exhibit is Joel Robinson, who created the vivid covers for the first eight issues of Bluewater Comics’ Vincent Price Presents series as well as the Vincentennial logo. Shana Bilbrey, popular genre artist and regular contributor to Little Shop of Horrors and other publications will display her take on Price as well as many St. Louis-based artists including Sherry Nillissen, Richard Bernal, Aaron Anderson, Ron Lizorty, Jimmy Valentine, Paul Daly, Max Iver, Jeff Weigel, Russ Rosener, Barry Brosch, Fred Meyer, and We Are Movie Geek’s own Jim Batts,.
The Magic Smoking Monkey Theater Group, an off-shoot of St. Louis Shakespeare, cleverly turned THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES into a hilarious Monty Pythonesque stage play that ran 8 performances to large crowds at the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. St. Louis Shakespeare’s Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre had based their new play on the 1971 Vincent Price horror favorite. The parody was directed by Artistic Director Donna Northcott and features Richard Lewis as DR. PHIBES, Luke Lindberg as DR. VESALIUS, and Ben Ritchie as DET. INSPECTOR TROUT, with Nicole Angeli, Casey Boland, Jaysen Cryer, Ruman Kazi, Scott McMaster, Sarah Porter, and Jason Puff.
The Vincentennial garnered tons of high-profile publicity in the St. Louis media. I personally did about a dozen radio interviews and about a half-dozen local TV shows. The local arts paper The Riverfront Times gave Vincentennial a huge cover story (the on-line version of their article can be found HERE) and the city’s major daily The St. Louis Post Dispatch did several articles including the cover of their arts calendar section.
Examples of the high-profile publicity in the St. Louis media that Vincentennial received
I teamed up with Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian and published a 40-page all-Vincent Price issue of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat to tie into the Vincentennial. This paper comprised all new articles including:
– a cover story on the Vincent Price/Michael Jackson Thriller rap by Steve DeBellis complete with an original illustration by artist Jeff Weigel
– an article about Vincent Price’s High School days by Cliff Saxton, archivist at MICDS (Price’s alma mater) with info not seen in any Price biographies
– a testimonial by his THE FLY co-star David Hedison
– an article on Vincent Price’s top ten best films by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
– a map of Vincent Price St. Louis landmarks
– my interview with TOMB OF LIGEIA star Elizabeth Shepherd
– a look at Vincent Price’s fondness for the St. Louis Cardinals by Dick Pointer
– an article about Vincent Price’s family tree by Steve DeBellis
– an article by Irene Leland about her mother Dorothy who was engaged to Vincent Price in the 1930’s
– a reassessment of DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS by Dana Jung
– an article about Vincent Price’s cooking career by Rick Squires
– an article about Vincent Price’s TV work by Rob Levy
– a 4-page comic-strip biography of Vincent Price by We Are Movie Geek’s own Jim Batts – and much more
Jim Batt’s comic-strip biography of Vincent Price
Vincentennial was a huge success. Over 3500 people attended the The Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Festival and people came from all over the country (and the world) to see the exhibits and join in the celebration. Everyone in St. Louis loves Vincent Price and we’re all proud that this is his home town. Everyone seemed to remember seeing him at the Muny or speaking somewhere here. It was great talking to people about the event because everyone was so positive and wanted to talk or refer me to someone else who wanted to get involved. No one expressed disinterest. Vincent Price is the most iconic movie star to hail from St. Louis. He was also a gourmet chef, author, stage actor, speaker, world-class art collector, raconteur, and all-around Renaissance man. We had only one opportunity to celebrate his 100th birthday and it was important to the people of St. Louis that it was done right. Vincent Price (unlike Tennessee Williams, another St. Louisan whose 100th B-Day was two months earlier) loved St. Louis and was proud of his roots here. He gave much to our city and Vincentennial was a way to honor the good will his memory generated.
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