Glenn Ford 1916 - 2006

Glenn Ford began his acting career in 1937. After a few bit parts and some leading man roles he emerged a star in 1946 along with Rita Hayworth in the film noir classic, Gilda. As Hayworth's ex-lover in the film, their on-screen chemistry was so popular that they went on to star together in several other films including The Loves of Carmen and Affair in Trinidad. But Ford found his place in dozens of Hollywood westerns including The Desperadoes, The Man from Colorado, Jubal, The Americano, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron. They called him the fastest gun in Hollywood. He could draw his weapon in .04 seconds - faster than John Wayne. In 1958, he was voted Hollywood's number one box office star. Yet in between his time in the saddle, Ford gave some truly stand-out performances in films like Blackboard Jungle, playing a middle-aged high school teacher up against inner city kids opposite a young Sidney Poitier. As a tough cop willing to take on a politically powerful crime syndicate in The Big Heat, Ford worked for legendary director Fritz Lang. Ford only stumbled once or twice on screen, he was miscast as Damon Runyon's gangster in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles. For me, I first encountered Glenn Ford in 1978 as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie . Ford brought a sense of humanity to the small role of Superman's Earth father, and his naturalistic style of acting made his on-screen heart attack one of the most realistic I've ever seen portrayed on film. Ford retired from the screen in 1991 and then suffered a series of strokes that left him in poor health. TCM is planning an all-day tribute to Glenn Ford on Sunday, September 10th. I'm sure the TV monitors in our store would have been playing our own tribute right along with them.

Glenn Ford Movies

Sound the Freak Alarm!

In our store we had all sorts of props lying around. There were old promotional materials, unused video boxes, books, magazines and an assortment of discarded holiday decorations. One such ornament was a pair of plastic rats left-over from Halloween. These rats can be found every year at most holiday specialty stores like Halloween Adventure. The rats had a device inside that made a high-pitched squeak sound when squeezed. At our store the pair of rodents became an unofficial alarm to be sounded whenever a new or resident freak customer entered the store. Our store attracted many freaks in all shapes and sizes. There were the usual time-bandits, we had many of those. Time-bandits in our store usually came in bearing long lists of movies, all of which had never been or never will be available on home video. Then there were the truly freakish customers with actual physical or mental defects. Don't get me wrong, we were tolerant at our store and treated everyone with respect, but some of our freaks were truly unique. There was "Decaying Woman", an elderly lady who was literally decaying before our eyes. Each week she would leave not only old yellowed newspaper articles on the counter, but she would also leave bits of dead skin. Honestly! You had to see it to believe! Technically she was also a time-bandit as well, due to the large amounts of movie reviews (those discarded newspaper articles) she would go through looking for a movie to rent. Then there were the freakish customers who wanted physical contact of some kind. An obese unkempt man once asked me to help pull his pants up after his suspenders had become unattached. That was truly memorable! Elvis fans almost always lead to the sounding of the rat alarm. I have nothing against the "King", but his fans can be peculiar to say the least. Body odor and proud porn customers always justified a hardy squeeze of the rat. (Proud porn customers were those who showed no shame when announcing their adult title selections very loudly.) Luckily, the customers in question never caught on to the sound of a squeal or two emanating from behind the counter. But to us the staff, it was a reassuring way to offer solidarity to each other in times of great peril!

TV Movies, Part I

Bad Ronald aired on October 23rd, 1974 just a week before Halloween. I was eight years old and it scarred the hell out-of-me! It was one of those creepy TV movies from the 1970s that relied on mood, atmosphere and truly great writing to scare viewers without the need for unnecessary gore. Scott Jacoby -a favorite on 1970s TV often playing nerds and underdogs- plays Ronald Wilby, a socially awkward teen who accidentally kills a 12-year old girl who teases Ronald calling him "weird!" Ronald's overbearing mother, played by Kim Hunter convinces Ronald to construct a fake wall over the door to a spare bathroom in their large house and hide inside. A trap door leading to the pantry allows Ronald to escape from time-to-time. Mom Hunter tells the police that Ronald ran away in order to avoid his pending second-degree murder charge. All works well for a short time until his mother dies in the hospital following a gall bladder operation. That's when things start to get creepy. When a family with three young daughters move in, no one ever notices that a strange young man is peering out at them through peepholes in the wall. Ronald spends most of his time in a fantasy world of his own making filled with princesses and goblins that inspire Ronald to illustrate them in giant demonic-looking paintings. His growing obsession with one of the new young residents leads to the film's shocking conclusion. Based on the novel by Sci-fi writer, John Holbrook Vance, Bad Ronald also features a cast including Dabney Coleman and Pippa Scott. It was directed by TV veteran, Buzz Kulik who directed many classic TV films from the 1970s including Brian's Song. Oscar-winning composer Fred Karlin, provides a creepy score to go along with the odd and frightening images. Bad Ronald did enjoy a VHS release in the early 1980s on USA Home Video. We had a copy at our store for years until it was stolen by some creep who managed to rip us off twice with a bad credit card. In fact, he kind of looked a lot like the creepy Ronald portrayed in the film. But I digress. The video has been out-of-print for almost twenty years and a DVD release is still wishful thinking. Bootlegs can be found on ebay, but the quality is bound to be poor. If you're lucky enough to catch this film on late night TV or find an early VHS copy lying around be sure to give it a look. But when it's over don't be surprised if you find yourself checking all the walls in your house for small holes with a pair of eyes peering out back at you.