News

The Count Yorga Collection

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1970, 1971 / 1.85: 1 / 190 Min.

Starring Robert Quarry, Michael Murphy, Mariette Hartley

Written by Bob Kelljan, Yvonne Wilder

Directed by Bob Kelljan

An aristocratic bloodsucker from the old country is the main attraction of Bob Kelljan’s Count Yorga, Vampire, but what drives the movie is an actual motor, a 1969 Volkswagen bus with a blood red trim. That amiable vehicle, the stoner’s favorite mode of transportation, is front and center in several pivotal scenes (Yorga even hitches a ride) and comes to symbolize the film’s premise; an old-fashioned vampire at large in The Me Decade. The set-up is ripe for a satire like Joe Dante’s The Howling, but instead of taking the stuffing out of horror movie cliches, Kelljan is dead serious about the undead.

Robert Quarry plays Yorga, a vampire whose standard uniform of cape and tuxedo sets him apart from the...

Sunday’s SAG Awards ceremony will return to its normal two-hour live format on TNT and TBS. One of the highlights each year is the special In Memoriam segment. It’s been a particularly rough year with over 100 deaths of prominent actors and actresses who were likely members of SAG/AFTRA. Show producers typically are able to include approximately 40-50 people in a tribute. The 2021 segment saluted 55 people because they had responsibility for 14 months instead of 12.

Among that group will certainly be previous SAG president Ed Asner, who was also a life achievement award recipient. That honorary award was also presented to Sidney Poitier and Betty White, who both died this past year.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2022: In Memoriam Gallery

Who else might be featured in the 2022 tribute? Look for Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis, Oscar nominees Ned Beatty, Peter Bogdanovich and Dean Stockwell, plus Emmy champs Louie Anderson, Michael Constantine, Charles Grodin,...

Yvonne Wilder, the actor known for her work in “West Side Story,” “Seems Like Old Times” and numerous TV shows, died Nov. 24 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 84.

Wilder played the role of Consuelo in Robert Wise’s landmark 1961 film adaptation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story.” She also appeared in the role of Anita in a West End production of “West Side Story” and in the first international touring production of the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical.

Wilder was remembered by friends for her love of dancing and her fiery sense of humor. “West Side Story” co-star George Chakiris recently hailed her contributions to the stage production and the movie.

“Yvonne Wilder had an extraordinary, unique sense of humor. I did the play in London with Yvonne so I knew her before the movie,” George Chakiris told TCM in May. “But Yvonne’s humor was adopted by all of us.

Chicago – The legend of the 1961 film version of the Broadway sensation “West Side Story” grows as the years go by. Who better to remember that legend 50 years later than three of the stars of that Academy Award winning Best Picture – Rita Moreno (Anita), George Chakiris (Bernardo) and Russ Tamblyn (Riff).

The film version of “West Side Story” had it all. There was controversy – star Natalie Wood (Maria) was neither Puerto Rican nor sang her own songs. There was art – the classic, unforgettable songs of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, plus the athletic and graceful choreography of Jerome Robbins. And finally, there were the awards. Ten Oscars including Best Supporting nods for both Moreno and Chakiris, in addition to the first shared Best Director award for Robbins and co-director Robert Wise.

’West Side Story’ 50th Anniversary Reunion with George Chakiris, Rita Moreno and Russ Tamblyn, April 9th, 2010

Photo Credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.

Just a year after being impaled in the heart and turning to dust, the undead Romanian vampire came back in American International Pictures’ The Return Of Count Yorga, a largely superior sequel to 1970’s Count Yorga, Vampire (see Fango Flashback here). Strangely, no effort is made by the filmmakers (including returning director Bob Kelljan, who co-wrote the follow-up with actress Yvonne Wilder) to explain just how Yorga (Robert Quarry again in his most famous role) actually returns to life; ditto, his ugly valet Brudah (Edward Walsh), who we last saw being stabbed to death in his master’s mansion. In Return, they just show up for this second go-round of cultured vampire shenanigans.