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Tall, Dark and Deadly in Hollywood |
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Tall, Dark and Deadly in Hollywood |
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At the tender age of 13, I was busy convincing my parents that I was old enough to go to the drive-in with my brother and older cousins. Having finally convinced them that all would be cool, I got into the back seat and the five of us went off in the direction of Westfield, MA, there to view a vampire double feature. I thought we were going to see Bela Lugosi or maybe Christopher Lee if I was really lucky. Instead I got a man named Robert Quarry, someone I’d never heard of but by the end of the night he was someone I would never forget. |
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The films were Count Yorga, Vampire (70) and The Return of Count Yorga (71) starring Quarry in the title role. I was used to my vampires being suave, handsome and ruthless. Count Yorga was all that but something else as well: a sexy creature who walked the night right now in Los Angeles, terrorizing attractive young people, nonplussed policemen and orphans no less. And arrogant: Yorga’s sense of entitlement puts the current younger generation to shame. He was fast too! None of this creeping up on you as in vampire films of the past, he came at you full tilt, slavering and hissing and there was no getting away. In short, he scared the hell out of me. |
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I eventually found myself in the cheap end of show business, writing about the films and music that I so loved in my youth and during the course of my own development I had occasion to meet Mr. Quarry. As time passed we found ourselves chatting on the phone more and more often and eventually a friendship developed. One that I treasure more than I can express in words: some writer. Through this friendship it came about that Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) learned Quarry was living in LA and Quarry learned that Darabont is a huge Yorga fan. Frank asked where the original negatives were and I contacted a colleague at MGM to see who handled the archives. I put them in touch and Frank had new prints struck, did a deal with American Cinematheque and on December 5, 2004 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Yorga and its sequel rolled on the big screen to a packed house. Between films there was a Q&A hosted by Darabont and Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs). |
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As Bob walked up to take the mic, the audience began to applaud. It began in the orchestra seats and the excitement brought over 300 people to their feet like a wave crashing to the top of the house and exploding into a standing ovation that seemed unending; a glorious racket that brought a tear to this jaded eye. Bob is looking damned fine for 79 and he kept the audience laughing with his stories about the making of the films. Then a surprise guest was introduced to the delight of the fans. Miss Donna Anders, Bob’s leading lady in the first film was brought to the stage. |
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She had arrived unannounced and was greeted warmly by Bob before the films as we sat in the limo on the side street smoking our non PC cigarettes. Donna’s companion and I sat opposite them in the car and we must have looked like a couple of kids listening as these two characters carried on about show business and all its ups and downs. After the Q&A and intermission, we went back in to see the second film. The bulk of the audience had remained, even though the weather was lousy that night. It was a wonderful evening and my thanks go out to Frank for making it so very special. |
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Those in the audience included Clu Gulager, John Landis, Robert Parigi, Kenneth Hall, Howard Berger, David Allen, Todd Livingston, Ron Garmon, Terese Gehri, Sam Park, Lance Allspaugh, Brad Linaweaver, Dave Friedman and countless others. Many flashbulbs went off that night and there are photos to be seen all over the internet. After the films, Bob and I and our friends Harald and Megan Emmert joined Tim Sullivan and some of his cast members from 2001 Maniacs for dinner at Micelli’s where these young actors had the chance to learn a few things about their craft from this generous veteran performer. I hope they were paying attention!
The limo took us back to Bob’s apartment and we said goodnight. I couldn’t sleep after all that excitement so I turned on The Deathmaster to watch the unofficial part three of the series and let him scare the hell out of me all over again as Khorda. Tall, dark and deadly; that’s my darling Bob. |
