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 3D, 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, Craven Castle, in the scottish highlands.
When Kitty and her aunt (Katherine Emery) follow him, they find he has aged prematurely after being told 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-year- old sir Roger MacTeam — the real master of Craven Castle — who never progressed beyond the embryonic 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 indulge in 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-tooconvincing rubber costume.
Alan Wightman, Newport, Gwent.
QUESTION What’s the world’s wettest city? And the windiest?
WEllinGTon in new Zealand is the world’s windiest city, with an average speed of 16.6 mph and a maximum of 154 mph reached in 1962.
The windiest place on Earth is Commonwealth Bay on George V Coast, Antarctica, where gales reach 200 mph.
Two cities in Colombia vie for the title of the wettest. Quibdo has an average of 288.5 in of rainfall a year, just exceeded by Buenaventura with 289 in.
These totals are exceeded by the village of Mawsynram in india with 467 in. it’s near the town of Cherrapunji, which, from August 1, 1860, to July 31, 1861, recorded a record-breaking 1,041.75 in.
Tim Mickleburgh, Grimsby, Lincs.
QUESTION The recent riots have been described as a modern day Munster Rebellion. What was this?
ThE events at Munster in Germany in 1534 and 1535 were part of a religious and social revolution.
Germany was in spiritual and social turmoil after 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 persons when they have 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 north 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 Munster, 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. hubert 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 Munster promising a ‘new Jerusalem’: ‘For bed and shelter are ready for all Christians. if there will be too many people, we shall use the houses and property of the faithless . . .’
The city was besieged by its expelled bishop, Franz von Waldeck. on Easter sunday 1534, Matthys, who had prophesied God’s judgement 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 put on a pole for all in the city to see and his genitals nailed to the city gate.
Bockleson, who had embraced polygamy by taking 16 wives, was put to death under torture with a red-hot dagger.
Nigel Probert, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.