William Castle Signed 3X5 Index Card Horror Film Legend Tingler Mr. Sardonicus

Unsold See similar items $459.83 Buy It Now, $33.72 Shipping, 30-Day Returns, eBay Money Back Guarantee
Seller: zipshereminors ✉️ (10,583) 100%, Location: Beverly Hills, California, US, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 352595320222 WILLIAM CASTLE SIGNED 3X5 INDEX CARD HORROR FILM LEGEND TINGLER MR. SARDONICUS . This week, we are adding awesome signed 3 X 5 Index Cards to our offerings. All are in person and obtained in the Los Angeles area in the 1970's. Here is an exceedingly rare and sought after autograph from Actor Producer Writer Director William Castle. He is a true legend in the Horror Film world and his autograph is never offered or seen in any form. The only ones we have ever seen were forgeries. Get the real deal here and now! Read his history underneath to see why the minimum bid is a small fraction of true retail. Imagine matting this with a piece from one of his bigger movies! $2500.00 plus item. Winner pays $6.00 shipping and handling, we do combine shipping on multiple lots to save you money.

William Castle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other people named William Castle, see  William Castle (disambiguation) .
William Castle
BornWilliam Schloss, Jr. April 24, 1914 New York City ,  New York , U.S.
DiedMay 31, 1977  (aged 63) Los Angeles ,  California , U.S.
Cause of deathHeart attack
OccupationDirector, producer, screenwriter, actor
Spouse(s) Ellen Falck (1948–1977; his death; 2 children)

William Castle   (April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.

Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attention of  Columbia Pictures   for his talent for promotion, and was hired. He learned the trade of filmmaking and became a director, acquiring a reputation for the ability to churn out competent  B-movies   quickly and on budget. He eventually struck out on his own, producing and directing  thrillers   which, despite their low budgets, were effectively promoted with  gimmicks , a trademark for which he is best known. He was also the producer for  Rosemary's Baby .

Contents    [hide ] 
  • 1 Personal life
  • 2 Career
    • 2.1 Getting started
    • 2.2 Columbia Pictures and other studios
    • 2.3 On his own: the gimmicks
    • 2.4 Rosemary's Baby
  • 3 Death
  • 4 Legacy
  • 5 Filmography
    • 5.1 As director
    • 5.2 As producer
    • 5.3 As writer
    • 5.4 As actor
  • 6 Notes
  • 7 References
  • 8 External links

Personal life [ edit ]

Castle was born  William Schloss, Jr.   in New York City, the son of Saidie (Snellenberg) and William Schloss.[1]   His family was  Jewish . ("Schloss" is German for "castle", and Castle later translated his surname into English as his pseudonym.) His mother died when he was nine. When his father followed a year later, he was left an orphan at the age of 11. He then lived with his older sister.

Castle married Ellen Falck, with whom he had two children.[2]

Career [ edit ]

Getting started [ edit ]

At 13, he went to see the play  Dracula , starring  Bela Lugosi , and was entranced.[3]   He watched performance after performance, eventually managing to meet Lugosi himself. He wrote in his autobiography  Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America , "I knew then what I wanted to do with my life – I wanted to scare the pants off audiences."[4] :14  Lugosi recommended him for the position of assistant stage manager for the road company tour of the play.[4] :14  The 15-year-old dropped out of high school to take the job. He spent his teenage years working on Broadway in jobs ranging from set building to acting. This proved good training for the future filmmaker.

He obtained  Orson Welles ' telephone number and persuaded Welles to lease him the Stony Creek Theatre in Connecticut. (Welles was leaving to begin filming  Citizen Kane .) He hired German actress Ellen Schwanneke; upon learning that, under then-current theater guild regulations, German-born actors could only appear in plays originally performed in Germany, Castle claimed he had hired her for the non-existent play  Das ist nicht für Kinder   (Not for Children ); Castle spent the following weekend writing the play and having it translated into German. When Nazi Germany sent Schwanneke an invitation to a Munich performance, Castle seized the opportunity for an outrageous publicity stunt.[3]   He released to the newspapers what he claimed was a telegram he had sent turning down the request, portraying his star as "the girl who said no to Hitler". To add to the sensationalism, he secretly vandalized the theatre and painted  swastikas   on the exterior.[5]   It worked. The resulting publicity ensured the success of the play (which he had written in 48 hours[5] ).

Columbia Pictures and other studios [ edit ]

He left for Hollywood at 23, to work for  Harry Cohn   at  Columbia Pictures . In the 2007 documentary  Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , his daughter states he had a dynamic, outgoing personality that attracted others. He was one of the few people Cohn liked. He learned the film business, and graduated to directing inexpensive  B-movies , the first being the appropriately named  The Chance of a Lifetime , released in 1943. He directed four movies in  The Whistler   series. Castle gained a reputation for being able to make films under budget and quickly. In addition, he worked as an associate producer on Orson Welles' film noir  The Lady from Shanghai   (1947), doing much second unit location work.

On his own: the gimmicks [ edit ]

Ambitions unsatisfied, Castle began to make films independently. The inspiration of the 1955 French psychological thriller  Les Diaboliques   set the genre he would choose. He financed his first movie,  Macabre   (1958), by mortgaging his house. He came up with the idea to give every customer a certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from  Lloyd's of London   in case they should die of fright during the film. He stationed nurses in the lobbies with hearses parked outside the theaters.[6] :15–16  Macabre   was a hit.

Other films (and gimmicks) followed:

  • House on Haunted Hill   (1959), filmed in "Emergo". A skeleton with red lighted eye sockets attached to wire floated over the audience in the final moments of some showings of the film to parallel the action on screen when a skeleton rises from a vat of acid and pursues the villainous wife ofVincent Price 's character.[6] :16  Once word spread about the skeleton, kids enjoyed trying to knock it down with candy boxes, soda cups, or any other objects at hand.
  • The Tingler   (1959), filmed in "Percepto". The title character is a creature that attaches itself to the human spinal cord. It is activated by fright, and can only be destroyed by screaming. Castle purchased military surplus air-plane wing de-icers (consisting of vibrating motors) and had a crew travel from theatre to theatre attaching them to the underside of some of the seats (in that era, a movie did not necessarily open on the same night nationwide). In the finale, one of the creatures supposedly gets loose in the movie theatre itself. The buzzers were activated as the film's star,  Vincent Price , warned the audience to "scream – scream for your lives!"[6] :17  Some sources incorrectly state the seats were wired to give electrical jolts. Filmmaker and Castle fan  John Waters   recounted in  Spine Tingler!   how, as a youngster, he would search for a seat that had been wired in order to enjoy the full effect.
  • 13 Ghosts   (1960), filmed in "Illusion-O". Each patron received a handheld ghost viewer/remover. During certain segments of the film, a person could see the ghosts by looking through the red cellophane, or hide them by looking through the blue.[6] :18  Without the viewer, the ghosts were somewhat visible. The DVD release included red/blue glasses (not 3D glasses, as sometimes reported) to replicate the effect.
  • Homicidal   (1961). There was a "fright break" with a timer overlaid on the film's climax, as the heroine approaches a house harboring a sadistic killer. The audience had 45 seconds to leave and get a full refund if they were too frightened to see the remainder of the film. In an early showing, wily patrons simply sat through the movie a second time and left at the break to get their money back; to prevent this in future, Castle had different color tickets printed for each showing.[6] :18–19  About 1% of patrons still demanded refunds. John Waters described Castle's response:

"William Castle simply went nuts. He came up with 'Coward's Corner,' a yellow cardboard booth, manned by a bewildered theater employee in the lobby. When the Fright Break was announced, and you found that you couldn't take it anymore, you had to leave your seat and, in front of the entire audience, follow yellow footsteps up the aisle, bathed in a yellow light. Before you reached Coward's Corner, you crossed yellow lines with the stenciled message: 'Cowards Keep Walking.' You passed a nurse (in a yellow uniform?...I wonder), who would offer a blood-pressure test. All the while a recording was blaring, "'Watch the chicken! Watch him shiver in Coward's Corner'!" As the audience howled, you had to go through one final indignity – at Coward's Corner you were forced to sign a yellow card stating, 'I am a bona fide coward.'"[6] :19

In a trailer for the film, Castle explained the use of the Coward's Certificate and admonished the viewer to not reveal the ending to friends "or they will kill you. If they don't, I will."[7]

  • Mr. Sardonicus   (1961). The audience could vote on the villain's fate in a "punishment poll" during the climax – Castle appeared on screen to explain two options. Each member of the audience was given a card with a glow-in-the-dark thumb they could hold up or down to decide if Mr. Sardonicus would be cured or died. Supposedly no audience ever chose mercy, so the alternate ending was never screened.[6] :20  Though Castle claimed in his autobiography that the merciful version was shot and shown occasionally, many suspect otherwise. In the  drive-in   version, drivers were asked to flash their car headlights to choose.
  • Zotz!   (1962). Each patron was given a "Magic" (gold colored, plastic, glow-in-the-dark) coin.[4] :178
  • 13 Frightened Girls   (1963). Castle launched a publicized worldwide casting hunt for the prettiest girls from 13 different countries.[6] :20  He filmed slightly different versions, highlighting each girl for the release in her country.
  • Strait-Jacket   (1964). Advised by his financial backers to eliminate gimmicks, Castle hired  Joan Crawford   to star and sent her on a promotional tour to select theatres. At the last minute, Castle had cardboard axes printed that were handed out to patrons.[6] :20
  • I Saw What You Did   (1965). Another Joan Crawford vehicle, this film was initially promoted using giant plastic telephones, but after a rash of prank phone calls and complaints, the  Bell Telephone Company   monopoly refused Castle permission to use them or mention telephones. So he turned the back rows of theatres into "Shock Sections". Seat belts were installed to keep patrons from being jolted from their chairs in fright.[6] :21
  • Bug   (1975). Castle advertised a million-dollar life insurance policy for the film's star, "Hercules" the cockroach.[4] :255

At the height of his popularity, he had a fan club with 250,000 members.[8] [9]

Rosemary's Baby [ edit ]

According to  Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , he mortgaged his home (again) and obtained the movie rights to the  Ira Levin   novel   before it was published, hoping to finally direct a prestigious A movie himself. He made a deal with  Paramount Pictures , which however insisted on hiring director  Roman Polanski .[10]   Castle had to settle for producing the  film . He had a cameo, playing the grey-haired man standing outside the phone booth where Rosemary, played by  Mia Farrow , is attempting to get in touch with the obstetrician.

Castle was unable to build on the film's success. He suffered kidney failure soon after its release.[10]   By the time he recovered, all momentum was lost, and he went back to making B movies. His most significant acting role was also his last—as the director of the doomed "Waterloo" epic in  The Day of the Locust   in 1975.

Death [ edit ]

Castle died on May 31, 1977 in Los Angeles, California, of a heart attack.[11]   He is interred in the  Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery   in  Glendale, California .

Legacy [ edit ]

Among his admirers is filmmaker  John Waters , who wrote, "William Castle was my idol. His films made me want to make films ... William Castle was God."[12]   He is  Robert Zemeckis ' "favorite filmmaker".[13]   Zemeckis co-founded  Dark Castle Entertainment , which was intended to remake Castle's films.

Two of his films were remade by his daughter Terry Ann Castle, who co-produced  House on Haunted Hill   in 1999, and  Thirteen Ghosts   in 2001 (the latter retitled  Thir13en Ghosts ).

Alfred Hitchcock   decided to make  Psycho   after noting the financial success of 1950s B movies by Castle and  Roger Corman .[14]

A documentary focusing on Castle's life,  Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , directed by  Jeffrey Schwarz , premiered at  AFI Fest   2007 in Los Angeles on November 8, 2007.[15]   It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary.

The protagonist in the 1993 film  Matinee , played by  John Goodman , is based on him.[16] [17]

Filmography [ edit ]

As director [ edit ]
  • Coney Island   (1939 documentary short)
  • Black Marketing   (1942 documentary short)
  • Klondike Kate   (1943)
  • The Chance of a Lifetime   (1943)
  • The Whistler   (1944)
  • She's a Soldier Too   (1944)
  • When Strangers Marry   (1944)
  • The Mark of the Whistler   (1944)
  • Voice of the Whistler   (1945)
  • Crime Doctor's Warning   (1945)
  • Just Before Dawn   (1946)
  • Mysterious Intruder   (1946)
  • The Return of Rusty   (1946)
  • Crime Doctor's Man Hunt   (1946)
  • Crime Doctor's Gamble   (1947)
  • Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven   (1948)
  • The Gentleman from Nowhere   (1948)
  • Johnny Stool Pigeon   (1949)
  • Undertow   (1949)
  • It's a Small World   (1950)
  • The Fat Man   (1951)
  • Hollywood Story   (1951)
  • Cave of Outlaws   (1951)
  • Fort Ti   (3-D)   (1953)
  • Serpent of the Nile   (1953)
  • Conquest of Cochise   (1953)
  • Slaves of Babylon   (1953)
  • Masterson of Kansas   (1954)
  • Charge of the Lancers   (1954)
  • The Battle of Rogue River   (1954)
  • The Iron Glove   (1954)
  • Jesse James vs. the Daltons   (3-D)   (1954)
  • Drums of Tahiti   (3-D)   (1954)
  • The Saracen Blade   (1954)[18]
  • The Law vs. Billy the Kid   (1954)
  • The Americano   (1955)
  • New Orleans Uncensored   (1955)
  • The Gun That Won the West   (1955)
  • Duel on the Mississippi   (1955)
  • The Houston Story   (1956)
  • Uranium Boom   (1956)
  • Macabre   (1958)
  • House on Haunted Hill   (1959)
  • The Tingler   (1959)
  • 13 Ghosts   (1960)
  • Homicidal   (1961)
  • Mr. Sardonicus   (1961)
  • Zotz!   (1962)
  • 13 Frightened Girls   (1963)
  • The Old Dark House   (1963)
  • Strait-Jacket   (1964)
  • The Night Walker   (1964)
  • I Saw What You Did   (1965)
  • Let's Kill Uncle   (1966)
  • The Busy Body   (1967)
  • The Spirit Is Willing   (1967)
  • Project X   (1968)
  • Shanks   (1974)

As producer [ edit ]
  • The Lady From Shanghai   (1947, associate producer)
  • Macabre   (1958)
  • House on Haunted Hill   (1959)
  • The Tingler   (1959)
  • 13 Ghosts   (1960)
  • Homicidal   (1961)
  • Mr. Sardonicus   (1961)
  • Zotz!   (1962)
  • 13 Frightened Girls   (1963)
  • The Old Dark House   (1963)
  • Strait-Jacket   (1964)
  • The Night Walker   (1964)
  • I Saw What You Did   (1965)
  • Let's Kill Uncle   (1966)
  • The Busy Body   (1967)
  • The Spirit Is Willing   (1967)
  • Project X   (1968)
  • Rosemary's Baby   (1968)
  • Riot   (1969)
  • Shanks   (1974)
  • Bug   (1975)

As writer [ edit ]
  • North to the Klondike   (1942, story)
  • Dillinger   (1945, uncredited)
  • Voice of the Whistler   (1945)
  • The Lady From Shanghai   (1947, uncredited)
  • It's a Small World   (1950)
  • The Plot Thickens   (1963 TV movie)
  • Bug   (1975)

As actor [ edit ]
  • When Love Is Young   (1937, uncredited)
  • It Could Happen to You!   (1937, uncredited)
  • The Man Who Cried Wolf   (1937, uncredited)
  • The Lady in Question   (1940, uncredited)
  • He Stayed for Breakfast   (1944, uncredited)
  • When Strangers Marry   (1944, uncredited)
  • It's a Small World   (1950, uncredited)
  • The Tingler   (1959, uncredited)
  • A Christmas Festival   (1959 TV movie, uncredited)
  • Let's Kill Uncle   (1966, uncredited)
  • The Spirit Is Willing   (1967, uncredited)
  • Rosemary's Baby   (1968, uncredited)
  • The Sex Symbol   (1974 TV movie)
  • Shanks   (1974)
  • Shampoo   (1975)
  • Bug   (1975, uncredited)
  • The Day of the Locust   (1975)

WILLIAM CASTLE Highest Rated:       100%   Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story (2007) Lowest Rated:       29%   Bug (1975) Birthday:     Apr 24, 1914 Birthplace:     Not Available New York-born William Castle was known to some as one of the movies' great schlockmeisters, but his films are also among the most beloved "B"-pictures of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and he did produce one unabashed classic, Rosemary's Baby. Starting out as an actor on stage, he got to Hollywood in the late 1930s and became a director in 1943. He made numerous low budget pictures, most notably as part of the Whistler and Crime Doctor series, but it was as an independent producer during the late 1950s that Castle made his mark. Recognizing the growing enthusiasm for shock thrillers and horror films, he devised various exploitation campaigns to go with his films--thus, a good haunted-house chiller like The House On Haunted Hill was marketed around a new process called "Emergo," which consisted of a luminous skeleton swung out over the audience during scenes involving a disembodied skeleton's appearance on screen. Other pictures, such as The Tingler, gave selected members of the audience mild electric shocks through their seats during appropriately tense sequences. Even without these "effects," however, these films were good, solid competent pictures that hold up well on television. Castle soon began infusing his own personality into the marketing of his movies, appearing in opening wrap-around scenes and trailers, a kind of poor man's Alfred Hitchcock. Homicidal, Castle's near-parody of Hitchcock's Psycho, was one of his strangest films, and bears watching on that basis alone. Later on, as his string of exploitation titles ran out, Castle left the director's chair and produced his best, and best-known movie, Rosemary's Baby, directed by Roman Polanski. He died in 1977, soon after publishing his autobiography, Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Right Off America. In 1993, Universal released Matinee, a Joe Dante-directed comedy built around a producer/director (John Goodman) loosely based on William Castle.

PicClick Insights - William Castle Signed 3X5 Index Card Horror Film Legend Tingler Mr. Sardonicus PicClick Exclusive

  •  Popularity - 0 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 20 days for sale on eBay. 0 sold, 1 available.
  •  Best Price -
  •  Seller - 10,583+ items sold. 0% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.

People Also Loved PicClick Exclusive