A Beautiful Day In Fall

Got a quick start with just enough time for breakfast and the 2018 Muppet Babies. It's a "Happy Hallowacka" when Fozzie, who's tired of his Swiss Alps costume getting laughs, tries to scare the other Babies. Animal's the one who ends up being really scary when he turns into a ghost to help Fozzie out. Summer tells "The Teeth Chattering Tale of the Haunted Pancakes" to Kermit when he won't try the ghost-shaped pancakes Nanny made. Kermitbod makes the Witch of Trying New Things appear and turn the pancakes into real ghosts, until he finally tries them.

Dashed out to work. Riding as fast as I could, I made it just in time. As it turned out, that was the worst thing that happened all day. We were a little busier than we have been, but that's probably because it's Senior Discount Day. I did have to put away hot dogs at one point and dump recycling in the baler, but I mostly spent the morning sweeping, pushing carts, and enjoying the sunny, warm, blue and gold day.

Went straight home after work and into lunch and Halloween Hall of Fame. Johnathan Winters stars in this 1977 Disney special. He's a security guard on their lot who runs into a jack o'lantern (voice of Winters) hiding in a crystal ball. Seems Jack doesn't think Halloween is very scary these days. Winters directs him to "Pluto's Judgement Day," "Trick or Treat," and most of "The Legend of Sleep Hollow" to prove otherwise.

Watched Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire next. I go further into this truly original British horror snooker (billiards) film at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire

Pulled out the parts for my Little Red Riding Hood costume while the movie ran. I opened the package with my red velvet cape from Wal Mart...to discover part of the hood had somehow separated from the cape. I ended up sewing it back together. Switched most of the plastic bags in the bag I use for the costume pieces with some of the smaller cloth bags I've acquired recently. I've been wanting to order a good pair of strap shoes anyway, so I did that this evening. Pulled the flower-trimmed basket out of the bag with the Easter baskets. 

Started something different after I finished with my costume. I wanted to actually type down at least one of the original fairy tales I came up with in my offline journals. In this one, a princess is promised to a king she's never seen. He's said to be handsome, kind, and a fair ruler...but while the man she meets at the castle is handsome, he's self-centered, uncaring, and elitist. He's not at all like the king she heard about, the one whose picture she finds hanging up in the castle...

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Watched Match Game '79 while I ate. The first episode of the week with Paul Williams, Guich Kotch, and Debralee Scott is currently the only missing show from 1979. We picked up on the second day. Williams gets a little wild when he answers "__ Towels" during the Head-to-Head, while Gene jokes about the lions embroidered on Betty White's shirt. Debralee doesn't have nearly that much luck with "Very __" in the Head-to-Head in the next episode. 

Finished off the night at Flex with The Cat and the Canary as I worked on my review. The Ghost Breakers was far from the first time Bob Hope got involved with horror comedy. Here, he's radio actor Wally Campbell, who is called along with his distant relatives to the spooky home of eccentric millionaire Cyrus Norman. Norman has left his home to his niece Joyce (Paulette Goddard), if she can stay sane for 30 days. If not, a second will states it will go to someone else. Not to mention, a guard claims that an insane murderer who walks like a cat when angry escaped from the asylum and is now prowling around the area. 

No one's happy when they find themselves stranded at the house overnight. Joyce tries to talk with the lawyer Crosby (George Zucco), only for him to vanish. She and Wally find a priceless diamond necklace, but that disappears too when a hand reaches out of a panel and grabs it out from under her pillow. Wally's the only one who believes Joyce when she explains everything...and he and the caretaker Miss Lu (Gale Sondergaard) are the ones who end up saving her when the Cat follows her through the many secret passages in the house.

Probably the best-known of six versions of this oft-adapted play. Hope once again gets to play someone slightly less cowardly than usual, and a little bit smarter, too. Sondergaard also gets to relish a rare non-villainous role. The creaky sets, with their hidden panels and creaky doors, really add to the ghoulish atmosphere. If you enjoyed The Ghost Breakers or are a fan of Hope, you'll want to check this one out.