THE MAD GHOUL PRESSBOOK AND GALLERY

Considered by many to be only a minor entry in the classic Universal horror film series is THE MAD GHOUL. Released on 12 November 1943, it was directed by Joseph P. Hogan, which was his last film and the only monster movie he helmed. The Universal casting office trotted out their current B-list of stars to fill the roles: George Zucco, Turhan Bey, Evelyn Ankers, David Bruce, Robert Armstrong and Milburn stone.

The rather bizarre story of a scientist who tinkers with an ancient Mayan life-preserving process to the usual ill-results, was scripted by Paul Gangelin and Brenda Weisberg after a story by Hans Kraly, who all had virtually no experience in the horror genre.

Besides the recognizable cast, the standout of the film was Jack Pierce's makeup work that transformed David Bruce into the titular ghoul/zombie. He fell back on his technique used over a decade before on Boris Karloff for his role as The Mummy, albeit a lighter version. Pierce employed a cotton and collodion application to Bruce's face to give him an "undead" look. Pierce would only work for Universal for 3 more years before he was given the boot by the executive office, who hired Bud Westmore, and would work for them for the next two decades.

Featured here today is an article about THE MAD GHOUL from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #180, a lobby card set and THE MAD GHOUL pressbook.

TURHAN BEY (MARCH 30, 1922 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2012)

From the Huffington Post:
"VIENNA -- Turhan Bey, an actor whose exotic good looks earned him the nickname of "Turkish Delight" in films with Errol Flynn and Katherine Hepburn before he left Hollywood for a quieter life in Vienna, has died. He was 90.

Marita Ruiter, who exhibited Bey's photos in her Luxembourg gallery, told the Austria Press Agency on Tuesday that Bey died in the Austrian capital on Sept. 30 after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease and was cremated on Monday.

While celebrated for supporting roles alongside Flynn, Hepburn, John Wayne, Peter Lorre and other film greats of the 1940s, friends described Bey as a modest, unassuming man who never bragged of his ties with the stars of the era.

"He was a man brimming with humor, with plenty of aplomb and self-irony, and was very popular," Ruiter was quoted as saying. "He wasn't the kind who cared a lot about honors."

Born in Austria as Gilbert Selahettin Schultavey, the son of a Turkish diplomat, Bey assumed his stage name shortly after moving to the United States with his Jewish Czech mother from Vienna to escape the Nazis and being discovered by talent scouts from Warner Bros. studios.

His popular name was "Turkish Delight" – a reference to his suave good looks that made him an ideal partner to exotics like Maria Montez in escapist Technicolor adventure fantasies set in faraway places.

He starred or had major roles alongside the big stars of the era in films such as "A Night in Paradise," "Out of the Blue," and "The Amazing Mr. X" until the popularity of the genre faded in the 1950s.

Moving back to Vienna, he made living as a photographer and occasional stage director, again returning after a brief film and television comeback in the 1990s that earned him an Emmy nomination for his performance as the venerable Turval in the "Babylon 5" space fantasy TV series.

Funeral arrangements were not announced."

NOW PLAYING: THE AMAZING MR. X (1948)