Eleanor Parker

All posts tagged Eleanor Parker

The Glorious Television Terrors of Eleanor Parker!

Published November 22, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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The only time I am ever recognized is when the old crone across the hallway spots me and begins shouting “Thief! Thief of Hearts!” Ah, misrepresentation at its finest!

Similarly (or not), even though she popularized the prison flick (Caged) and the animals-gone-wild-adventure (The Naked Jungle), the elegant Eleanor Parker was never as heralded as such screen gem divas as Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that Parker seems to simply disappear into her roles.

This was especially true, when like Davis and Crawford, Parker let her incandescent talent light up a couple tales of television terror.

home1In 1972’s fun seasonal slasher, Home for the Holidays, Parker lets the fur fly but with a regal calm and controlled measure. But, this pitchfork flying mini-epic, co-starring such glorious femmes as Jessica Walter, Sally Field and Julie Harris, really hits its sticky nadir when Parker reveals the true psychosis lurking behind her concerned Alex Morgan.she-s-dressed-to-kill-

Walter and Parker reunited in the ridiculously fun She’s Dressed to Kill in 1979. As drunken designer Regine Danton, Parker is shaky with former glory. Flighty, manipulative and glowering with shaded magnificence, Parker’s Danton maintains a head thrusting dignity even as her favorite models are creatively murdered at her mountaintop retreat.

These two magnificent portrayals prove, beyond a doubt, that Parker always gave better than she got.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

(Have a Mary, Bloody X-Mas With) Home for the Holidays!

Published December 25, 2012 by biggayhorrorfan

home-for-the-holidays-dvd-1972
Living solo, Big Gay Horror Fan never has to worry about billing. I ALWAYS top line! But, gothic and gruesome 1972 made for television holiday horror Home for the Holidays had five divas battling for glory – (then television star) Sally Field, (the legendary) Julie Harris, (very popular) Jessica Walter, (Oscar nominee/screen legend) Eleanor Parker and (Broadway Baby-the original Sally Bowles, herself) Jill Haworth (whose British origins reveal themselves, slightly, throughout the telefilm).

Therefore, the opening of this grande dame fest is particularily fun. Field and Haworth are Starring, Harris is a Guest Star while Parker is a Special Guest Star and (rounding it up) Walter makes a Special Appearance (By). Whoa! Who doesn’t want to re-visit those contract negotiations?!?home sisters

And while there is definitely some mayhem here – including death by pitchfork and a deep sea bathtub drowning – the main fun of this John Llewellyn Moxey (Horror Hotel AKA The City of the Dead) helmed event is watching our beautifully filmed dames go at it.

Field, Haworth, Parker and Walter are estranged siblings reunited to support their cranky father whom claims his current wife (Harris) is trying to do away with him. Of course, Harris’ character was accused (and found innocent) of her first husband’s murder, so the five have plenty of heavily twisted encounters. Think The Women with a twist of Days of Our Lives and an early 1970’s slasher hybrid. homefortheholidays9

All are in fine velvet form, here, but Walter is truly heartwrenching as an alcoholic socialite type who still can’t forgive her father’s role in her mother’s death, many years previous. Meanwhile, Harris (never looking prettier) walks a fine line between compassion and menace as the (seemingly) shady stepmother.

You can watch Home for the Holidays, in the whole, here:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=home+for+the+holidays+1972&mid=019C87ED016B5D941630019C87ED016B5D941630&view=detail&FORM=VIRE2

So, Mary Bloody X-Mas – and until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan (http://www.facebook.com/#!/BigGayHorrorFan)!