eBook Science Fiction Confidential: Interviews With Monster Stars Filmmakers download

Featured in this Tom Weaver collection of 23 interviews are John D.F. (Somewhere in Time) Black...Eve (Tarzan's Fight for Life) Brent...Anthony (The Beast of Yucca Flats) Cardoza...Audrey (Mr. Sardonicus) Dalton...Phoebe (Wild, Wild West) Dorin ... Russ (The Blob) Doughton...Elaine DuPont...Robert Ellenstein....Alex (The She Creature) Gordon...Richard (Mother Riley Meets the Vampire) Gordon...Tod (Captain Neptune) Griffin...David (The Fly) Hedison...Kathleen Hughes...Suzanne (The Devil Bat) Kaaren...Denny (Tarzan the Ape Man) Miller...Dan (Failsafe, Robocop) O'Herlihy...Kate Phillips...Kasey Rogers...Jacqueline Scott...Warren (Forbidden Planet) Stevens...Lyn (Spacemaster X-7) Thomas...and Darlene (Beyond the Time Barrier) Tompkins.

Another great collection of insightful interviews by Weaver on the movemakers and the behind-the-scenes activities of low-budget Hollywood.

Warren Stevens talks about filming Forbidden Planet with an invisible monster, who only became visible in post-production after which he got to see what attacked the spaceship in the theaters along with everyone else.

Russ Doughton tells about how his religious filmmaking group put together The Blob, developing the creature itself, bringing in Steve McQueen, and turning out what became a minor 50's scifi classic.

Richard Gordon tells how Bela Lugosi signed to make Mother Riley Meets the Vampire after he got stranded in England by the producers of an underfunded stage production of Dracula.

Denny Miller tells how Tarzan' The Ape Man used extensively stock footage for a movie shot on the MGM lot which even calls perhaps the worst Tarzan movie of all time.

Phoebe Dorin discusses her friend, Michael Dunn and how their nightclub singing act led them to co-starring as Dr. Miguelito Lovelace and Antoinette on The Wild Wild West, complete with a song duet when they appeared together.

Some excellent material about low-budget filmmaking from the moviemakers themselves...from having to jump into scummy studio ponds while being filmed to actors pranks on the set. Weaver's book are always worthwhile reading.

Tom Weaver has made an art form of these books. His interviews with the stars, writers, and directors of the Hollywood B-movies, both horror and sci-fi, are always characterized by his great love of the films and the people in them. They are also filled with Weaver's great knowledge of these movies so that his questions elicit more interesting responses -- humor, for instance, is a constant element in the interviews.

Weaver comes up with his questions, knows what he wants to get at, and then sits back and lets his subject tell us what it was like to fight cardboard space ships and rubber monsters, all of it, it would seem, for very little money.

Like his previous books, SCIENCE FICTION CONFIDENTIAL is a funny and fascinating look at making movies on a shoestring budget for a public that wasn't quite as spoiled or as fussy as we are now.

Hot on the heels of the acclaimed I Was A Monster Movie Maker, genre film interviewer Tom Weaver returns with another volume of collected interviews. Science Fiction Confidential presents 23 interviews with various genre personalities. Two names readers should recognize instantly: Alex Gordon and David (Al) Hedison; other names may initially leave readers scratching their heads in non-recognition: Tod Griffin (She Demons), Russ Doughten (producer of The Blob), Robert Ellenstein (a live television production of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame), Lyn Thomas (Space Master X-7), among many others. All but one of the interviews have appeared in abridged versions elsewhere; here they are printed in their entirety. (And the Preface to the book is not to be missed!)

Among the many treats to be found: Richard Gordon relates how he got Bela Lugosi into the film Mother Riley Meets The Vampire; John D.F. Black discusses his writing the screenplay for The Unearthly and tells a hilarious (and infamous) story involving John Carradine and John Barrymore; John Alvin talks of working with Peter Lorre in The Beast With Five Fingers, and relates an ironic and sad anecdote involving Christopher Reeve; Anthony Cardoza, producer of The Beast Of Yucca Flats, discusses not only the movie, but much about the late Tor Johnson; David Hedison talks at length about The Fly and The Lost World, and has surprisingly little to say about Vincent Price (but there’s a reason!); and much more.

The highlight of the book for me, however, is an interview with actress Phoebe Dorin. Here, Dorin spends little time talking about herself. Instead, she spends most of the interview recounting her long relationship (both professional and as friends) with the late actor, Michael Dunn.
Readers will remember Dunn best from his recurring role as Dr. Miguelito Loveless on The Wild, Wild West television series. Dunn, a victim of a bone disease that caused his shortness (he was often incorrectly labeled a dwarf) and early death, becomes a larger-than-life figure in the hands of Dorin. Many fans may not know that Dunn was an actor on Broadway (and received a Tony nomination), had an incredibly accomplished singing voice, and was a nightclub performer, teaming with Dorin for a song-and-comedy act that became both very popular and acclaimed.

It is refreshing and welcome to finally read something about Dunn that does more than concentrate on just The Wild, Wild West portion of his career (although it IS discussed here), or that focuses almost exclusively on his size. Learning the many things we do about Dorin and Dunn’s relationship, and Dunn in particular, is both fascinating and heartbreaking. Michael Dunn had a bigger heart and was a “bigger” person than most people of normal stature, and this sentiment comes through beautifully thanks to Dorin. Rarely has an interview moved me as this one did.

The only downside to the book is my usual complaint with books from McFarland: the price. While Science Fiction Confidential is certainly well worth the price, it almost certainly is going to be out of the price range of many of the monster fans the book is intended for. Which is a shame. Monster fans shouldn’t have to wait for such an enjoyable book to arrive in a more affordable paperback version. Another winner from the genre’s best, Tom Weaver.

I found this in a library, and have only read the first chapter, but I'm hooked. It's a fascinating collection of information on our favorite sci-fi movies and the people around them. Anyone who's into old movies should have this book. Interviews with the personalities, wonderful nuggets of information about the movies, full flimographies - a perfect reference book.