I had a nice comment this morning from someone I haven't seen around here before, Pat of Roses Rambling. When I went to her journal, I read an entry that I absolutely loved, about her and her family visiting a castle and encountering none other than the wonderful Vincent Price! It's titled Castle on the Coast.
I loved her entry for a couple of reasons. First of all, I thought she did a great job of describing what it felt like to walk around this old building...the silence, the atmosphere, the surprise of encountering this group of men...I felt like I could imagine it perfectly! I love places like that. Old buildings especially, and even more so when there is some history to them. (That's one of the reasons I love New Orleans so much.) Ken laughs at me because my usual comment is, "I bet it's haunted!" Nah, I don't really believe in ghosts (they may exist, but I've never encountered one), but I do believe in the lingering of memories. A psychic imprint? Maybe. I just know that when I'm in places like that, I love to let my imagination loose and think about who lived there, what their lives were like, what they looked like, the clothes they wore, the comedies and tragedies of life that played out there...it's fascinating!
The other reason I loved Pat's entry was that I love Vincent Price, and it reminded me of what a neat guy he was. I read a biography of him a while back, and he had so many diverse interests, and was a basically a modern Renaissance man. His horror movies were only a small part of his life, but oh, what wonderful memories for me! All the Poe movies, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, The Fly...what great stuff! He had such a wonderful, silken yet sinister voice, and that creepy laugh, and just look at him...that LOOK! The look in his eyes, the subtle, evil smile...oh, he was just the best. This is my little tribute to Vincent Price, and thanks Pat, for reminding me.
If I had the experience that Pat had in that castle, well, I think I'd have been in seventh heaven for decades!
Speaking of spooky places and actors, several years ago, Ken and I took a trip to California to visit family and friends. One of the places we stayed at was called the Montecito Inn, in Santa Barbara. It was such a neat place, and was the home of Charlie Chaplin in the '20's. It's been modernized to include the amenities that people expect today, but the actual building retained its Art Deco charm. It was also fairly spooky, as you can see. I love this picture.
3 comments:
I'm quite a fan of the old movies and Vincent Price was one those that was vastly underated, he appeared in many film noir throught the forties and fifties long before the horroe genre took over cinema during the sixties and seventies, and your right he had an amazing speaking voice.
Yasmin
xx
I remember that creepy feeling watching anything with Vincent Price in it. He used to do a Saturday night haunted theatre, where he was dracula and would arise from his coffin. I loved it! I read that entry too, however I don't put it past the place being haunted. I have had some weird experiences that can't be explained. Speaking of which I'm reading a new author.
Joe Hill's book "The Heart Shaped Box"..it's creepy, scary, a little bit of goth, but a great read. I figure you would be looking for more reading material with your time off. (Hugs) Indigo
That IS a spooky pic. I love going to old places and wonder what happened there in the past. I have never seen a Price movie.
HUGS
Post a Comment