’70s TV

All posts tagged ’70s TV

Va-Va-Villainess: Alison Arngrim

Published May 26, 2024 by biggayhorrorfan

This took me decades to realize, but it’s so crystal clear now that I am almost embarrassed about my obliviousness. Some aging, glitter flecked homosexual had to have come up with the costume design for Little House on the Prairie‘s drag queen inspiring, all time champion baddie Nellie Oleson. This 19th Century troublemaker looks exactly like the twin to Bette Davis’ iconic Jane in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Sealing the deal, portrayer Alison Arngrim intuitively followed the flavor trail of those tresses and dresses, creating an indelible, much beloved (or is that hated?) character.

This perfect combination gave Arngrim’s rich and spoiled Nellie a nearly 7 year-run as the self-admiring tormentor of House‘s enduring heroine Laura (Melissa Gilbert). Her professional commitment even imbued a number of follow-up credits. Variations on Nellie’s saucy naughtiness can be found in Arngrim’s lingerie clad hooker on an episode of Fantasy Island and as a champagne swilling operetta actress in I Married Wyatt Earp, a 1983 television film. 

Of course, none of those enjoyable gigs hit the delirious brilliance of a manipulative (yet helpless) Nellie bouncing down a hill in a wheelchair, another visually reverential reference to Jane, in one of House‘s most famous episodes.

So, over the past 2 decades. Arngrim has smartly embraced her bewigged past – writing a book and performing a one woman show, nationwide, about her most famous creation entitled Confessions of a Prairie Bitch. With pitch perfect humor and startling insight, she weighs in on how Nellie’s nastiness has ultimately not only enhanced viewers’ lives, but her own, as well. A recent pitstop in Chicago even included a reenactment of her most famous exchange with Gilbert:

For information on further showings of Confessions and any other project announcements, be sure to follow Arngrim at https://www.instagram.com/alisonarngrim/ and/or https://www.facebook.com/AlisonArngrimFanPage,

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Ship of Ghouls

Published May 13, 2024 by biggayhorrorfan

Time is strange, right? I know decades have flown by, yet it seems like it was just yesterday that I was watching the shows of my youth. This was a golden age for appearances by faded filmdom greats. Performers like June Allyson, Van Johnson and Joan Fontaine were my regular living room guests then. Now, these folks are long gone, never to do the overpriced photo op treatment at some local nostalgia festival. 

Yet they seem so near – a mere streaming service or DVD away.

I was especially reminded of this duality while watching Ship of Ghouls, the 1978 Halloween The Love Boat episode, centering around a famed illusionist referred to as The Great Alonso (the legendary Vincent Price). This segment of the show also featured the misty charms of three celluloid goddesses, Joan Blondell, as Alonzo’s devoted companion, and Iris Adrian and Bibi Osterwald, as his overly ardent fans.

Of course, Blondell’s loyalty is put to the test as Alonso begins to ignore her in deference to his newfound coterie of fawning females. Naturally, by the final credits, time and the show’s wise and ever present Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLoed) bring the estranged lovebirds back together again.

Otherwise, there is much to enjoy decoratively and costume-wise — dig Ted Lange’s Frankenstein’s Monster and that All-Star Pumpkin band – with this seasonal offering.

Interestingly, while Price is the horror giant here, his femme counterparts also have some macabre credits flitting, bat-like, among their filmographies. Blondell, by far the best known of the three, had major roles in Death at Love House and The Dead Don’t Die, well-regarded ’70s television films. Adrian, known for playing comedically inclined moll types in the ’40s, logged appearances in such classic capers as Horror Island, Bluebeard and (crime mystery) Lady of Burlesque. Osterwald, meanwhile, did latter day duty via guest appearances on such shows as Werewolf and Tales from the Crypt.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan