Frog spawns X-rated horror
QUESTION Does anyone recall a film about a man who was a giant frog and went for midnight swims in a giant maze?
THIS was the 1953 horror film The Maze. Filmed in the then popular 3-D, it stars Richard Carlson as Gerald MacTeam, who breaks off his engagement to Kitty (Veronica Hurst) to travel to his recently deceased uncle’s estate in the Scottish Highlands.
When Kitty and her aunt (Katherine Emery) follow him to Craven Castle, they find he has aged prematurely after being told about a terrible family secret he can’t share with Kitty.
However, she refuses to leave, even after hearing the terrifying sound of a large animal shuffling along the castle’s flagstones at night and witnessing strange goings-on in the castle’s maze.
Aided by evocative black and white cinematography and a menacing Gothic setting, the film evokes a sense of mystery and dread. The bizarre climax reveals the large ‘animal’ is the 200-yearold Sir Roger MacTeam – the real master of Craven Castle – who never progressed beyond the embryonic amphibious stage and so resembles a large frog. This was X-certificate entertainment in the 1950s! At night, Sir Roger’s servants take him to the maze to enjoy his only pleasure – a dip in the pond hidden at its centre.
Up until then, the film manages to keep audiences intrigued, but unfortunately the monster – first fully seen hopping around the maze with its large, rigid mouth flapping about – looks comical, played by a stuntman in a none-too-convincing rubber costume.
Alan Wightman, Newport, Gwent.
QUESTION The recent riots around the world have been described as a modern-day Munster Rebellion. What was this?
THIS has nothing to do with Munster in Ireland. It refers to the events at Münster in Germany in 1534 and 1535 – a religious and social revolution.
Germany was in spiritual and social turmoil owing to Martin Luther’s attack on the authority of the Catholic Church and the assertion of the right of individual belief; the movement against authority in the Peasants’ War against the Princes of Germany; and the popularity of a religious sect known as the Anabaptists.
The name Anabaptist means ‘one who baptises again’.
This referred to the practice of baptising people when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even if they had been christened as babies. They also believed in the imminent Second Coming of Christ to reign on Earth for 1,000 years, property held in common and polygamy. Anabaptism began in Switzerland, but became established in Germany,
Holland, Sweden and Denmark. Its two leaders were Dutch: Jan Matthys, a baker from Haarlem, and Jan Bockelson, a tailor who became known as John of Leiden.
They settled in the German town of Münster where they became powerful figures. They succeeded in establishing their rule, supported by Mayor Herman Tilbeck, Catholic critic Bernhard Rothmann and wealthy wool merchant Bernhard Knipperdolling. Those who accepted a second baptism were promised a happy life with shared property and without authority of law or marital bonds. Those opposing the new ‘Kingdom’ could expect expulsion or death at the hands of ‘the chosen ones’. The Anabaptists’ rule led to terrible outbursts of violence: churches were ransacked, religious objects and saints’ relics smashed, statues toppled and manuscripts destroyed together with paintings of the Westphalian School, now known only by reputation.
Those who would not undergo a new baptism were called the ‘Godless’ and expelled. Resistance was met with violence. Huber Ruscher, a blacksmith who criticised the Anabaptists, was brought before a council where Matthys demanded his death. When some of those present pleaded clemency, Bockelson shouted: ‘To me the power of the Lord is given so that by my hand everyone who opposes the commands of the Lord be struck down!’ He struck Ruscher with his halberd – a type of battleaxe – and the wounded man was led away.
But the ‘righteous anger’ of the Anabaptists was not satisfied.
Matthys killed the unfortunate Ruscher by shooting him in the back in the town square. Incendiary literature streamed from Münster promising a ‘New Jerusalem’.
The city was besieged by Franz von Waldeck, its expelled bishop.
On Easter Sunday 1534, Matthys, who had prophesied God’s judgment would be visited on the wicked on that day, sallied forth with 12 followers, believing he was a second Gideon, a great warrior in the Old Testament. He was killed, his severed head placed on a pole for all in the city to see and his genitals nailed to the city gate. Bockleson, who enthusiastically embraced polygamy by taking 16 wives, was put to death under torture with a red-hot dagger.
Nigel Probert, Porthmadog, Gwynedd.
QUESTION What became of Ray Pilgrim, the ‘anonymous’ singer of the Carry On Screaming theme song?
RAY’S answer was simple: ‘I got a better job.’ When he left school, he joined a bank and, at weekends, sang in a band called The Earthquakers. They won the Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock Trophy and were declared All Britain Rock ’n’ Roll Champions 1958.
Job offers swiftly followed. Ray joined the Oscar Rabin Orchestra and started a weekly BBC radio series. He wrote and recorded songs, but specialised in covers.
In his short career, he performed 800 gigs with the orchestra, made over 200 BBC broadcasts and recorded 150 songs released on 55 labels across 25 countries, amounting to several million sales.
At the same time, he was a student at the London School of Economics, studying by day, singing by night. Summer 1962 was decision time. Ray got his degree and was offered a job by what was then the biggest computer company in the world. He had to choose between music and computers.
Ray made a clean break from the orchestra and broadcasting, but was able to fit in recording sessions for another three years.
The Carry On Screaming theme song came out of the blue. He agreed to do it, provided it was credited as ‘Anon’. It was to be his last professional singing job.
In the early years of his new career, Ray specialised in banking automation. He worked on the first network-based computer system in British banking and helped plan computer networking needs of the future. He continued working in IT into the Nineties.
Name and address supplied.