So far only one of Smith's stories has been adapted for movies or television (although two stories, "The Dark Eidolon" and "The Colossus of Ylourgne" were considered as possible properties by Universal in the mid-1930's), and that was "The Return of the Sorcerer" on the second season of ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY in the early 1970's. This was available on VHS, but now it is on DVD. See the following link:

[www.deepdiscountdvd.com]

Although this is the _first_ season, it does include the Smith story, which starred Vincent Price and Bill Bixby (!) as a bonus. Also included is the Lovecraft spoof "Prof. Peabody's Last Lecture."

I didn't see this mentioned elsewhere on the site, so I thought I'd give y'all a "heads-up." I have the set, and while it is not exceptional, it will do.

There are some excellent Night Gallery episodes on this DVD set, but, in my opinôn, "The Return of the Sorceror" isn't one of them. Aside from the addition of the female character, the adaption is fairly faithful to the letter of the original story. It is, however, completely unfaithful to the spirit of the tale, transmogrifying a serious, gruesome occult horror tale into a campy spoof, replete with laughably outdated hippie jargon.

Anyway, that's just my "head's up", in turn, for those who might not be aware that the comedic "spirit" of Night Gallery producer Jack Laird, which had such a toxic effect on the series as a whole, extends its tentacles into the Ashton Smith adaptation, as well.

From reading what he wrote about the story in his letters, I think that CAS intended "The Return of the Sorcerer" to be a bit over-the-top insofar as its gruesomeness was concerned, so in that regard the NIGHT GALLERY adaptation is understandable: they just picked up on something that was already there. I agree, however, that the intrusion of 1960's "hipness" was regretable.
I wonder, though, if producer Jack Laird did not perhaps have Church of Satan leader (and Smith acquaintance) Anton Svander LaVey in mind when they filmed the story?
Scott

Quote:

From reading what he wrote about the story in his letters, I think that CAS intended "The Return of the Sorcerer" to be a bit over-the-top insofar as its gruesomeness was concerned [...]

I really didn't get the sense from what I read of CAS's comments on the tale in the Selected Letters that he intended it to be "over-the-top" as in "campy"; rather, that he was reaching for a ne plus ultra of gruesomeness. What makes the Night Gallery adaptation so awful is not so much the handling of the "return"; that part really wasn't too badly done, especially given the standards for special effects at the time, and the realities of televison shows' budgets. Rather, for me, it's the campy behavior of the characters and their dialog: Price's over-acting, Billy Bixby, in general ("Look, man, I just happen be good at this Arabic thing, you dig?", or something atrocious to that effect), etc., that really mars the adaptation. We seem to agree that the interjection of '60's hippie jargon, though, was ruinous.

Quote:

I wonder, though, if producer Jack Laird did not perhaps have Church of Satan leader (and Smith acquaintance) Anton Svander LaVey in mind when they filmed the story?

That's an interesting thought. LaVey himself was an embodiment of camp, so, if that were Laird's idea, then he could not have found a fitter model. Speaking of LaVey, I've always been curious as to how well CAS knew him, and whether he ever made private comments about him. LaVey, as I imagine you know, was a notorious liar, and was not above telling whoppers about his past, in particular. For that reason, I wonder whether the meeting commemorated in the photo with CAS and Robert Barbour Johnson was the only time LaVey spoke to CAS. I seem dimly to remember LaVey's saying somewhere that CAS's conversation was "very politically incorrect", which, despite the characterization's being a bit anachronistic, I would imagine to be true!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13 Apr 05 | 05:30PM by Kyberean.

Kyberean Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Quote:From reading what he wrote about the story
> in his letters, I think that CAS intended "The
> Return of the Sorcerer" to be a bit over-the-top
> insofar as its gruesomeness was concerned [...]
>
> I really didn't get the sense from what I read of
> CAS's comments on the tale in the Selected Letters
> that he intended it to be "over-the-top" as in
> "campy"; rather, that he was reaching for a ne
> plus ultra of gruesomeness.

True, but the impression I received from this, as well as some letters we did not include in SLCAS, is that he was more than a little gleeful in his striving for the ne plus ultra or gruesomeness, as you put it.

What makes the Night
> Gallery adaptation so awful is not so much the
> handling of the "return"; that part really wasn't
> too badly done, especially given the standards for
> special effects at the time, and the realities of
> televison shows' budgets. Rather, for me, it's the
> campy behavior of the characters and their dialog:
> Price's over-acting, Billy Bixby, in general
> ("Look, man, I just happen be good at this Arabic
> thing, you dig?", or something atrocious to that
> effect), etc., that really mars the adaptation. We
> seem to agree that the interjection of '60's
> hippie jargon, though, was ruinous.

Hey, I never said it was a _great_ adaptation, but it's all we've got! I thought that Vincent Price was fine in the role, since a bit of ham was in order.

>
Quote:I wonder, though, if producer Jack Laird
> did not perhaps have Church of Satan leader (and
> Smith acquaintance) Anton Svander LaVey in mind
> when they filmed the story?
>
> That's an interesting thought. LaVey himself was
> an embodiment of camp, so, if that were Laird's
> idea, then he could not have found a fitter model.
> Speaking of LaVey, I've always been curious as to
> how well CAS knew him, and whether he ever made
> private comments about him. LaVey, as I imagine
> you know, was a notorious liar, and was not above
> telling whoppers about his past, in particular.
> For that reason, I wonder whether the meeting
> commemorated in the photo with CAS and Robert
> Barbour Johnson was the only time LaVey spoke to
> CAS. I seem dimly to remember LaVey's saying
> somewhere that CAS's conversation was "very
> politically incorrect", which, despite the
> characterization's being a bit anachronistic, I
> would imagine to be true!
>
There is only one letter from LaVey in the CAS papers at Brown, and that is just a brief note saying that he'd stopped by at Pacific Grove and nobody was at home. LaVey and CAS met through George Haas. LaVey was also active in Bay Area sf circles; there's a photo of him with Don Wollheim at Emil Petaja's website.
Where did you learn about LaVey's comments on CAS? I'd like to hear more.
Best,
Scott

Quote:

Hey, I never said it was a _great_ adaptation, but it's all we've got! I thought that Vincent Price was fine in the role, since a bit of ham was in order.

*Chuckles*. Well, I'd have preferred a slice of roast beef, myself, as I really do, rightly or wrongly, take "The Return of the Sorceror" seriously as a horror tale. I wish that Night Gallery had done so, as well, but, as you say, what's done is done. What I really wish is that poor CAS had lived to see some money from this adaptation.

Quote:

Where did you learn about LaVey's comments on CAS? I'd like to hear more.

I'm sorry. I wish that I could remember, but I really have no idea, anymore. I might have read it in one of the "recent" issues (from the past seven years or so; as I recall, they appear very infrequently) of one of the Church of Satan publications, such as The Cloven Hoof or The Black Flame.

If you're really interested, then I would recommend contacting LaVey's "widow", Blanche Barton, for further information. I believe that you can find contact information for her through the Church of Satan Web site. Be aware, though, that Barton is a "True Believer", and is firmly dedicated to promoting the LaVey myth, so anything she says should be considered very carefully. She might be able to point you to the source of the quotation that I am dimly recalling, though.

Re the above cited discussion of Anton La Vey -
Clark met him the one time when the photo was made - his opinion of La Vey is quoted in my memoir in "Sword of Zagan" -
DrFarmer

Keep CAS off the screen, I say. He doesn't need to be "validated" by TV or Hollywood and no-one could do justice to his best stories, though I suppose a big film would be the quickest way to publicize him.

As for "The Return of the Sorcerer": he seems to have written it on auto-pilot and it reads like uninspired early Lovecraft.

Ghoti23 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keep CAS off the screen, I say. He doesn't need to
> be "validated" by TV or Hollywood and no-one could
> do justice to his best stories, though I suppose a
> big film would be the quickest way to publicize
> him.
>
> As for "The Return of the Sorcerer": he seems to
> have written it on auto-pilot and it reads like
> uninspired early Lovecraft.

Unlike Lovecraft, Smith was enthusiastic about having one of his stories filmed. He voiced the opinion that "The Dark Eidolon" would have made a fine film, and I tend to agree. If done correctly, I believe that Smith's extremely visual prose style could be adapted quite faithfully to the screen. It would require a director and screenwriter with some integrity, but these are not in as short supply as we might think in our more cynical moments.
What I would like to see is for independent and student film makers devote some time to CAS, just as they are doing to HPL. Some of these, as screened at the HPL Film Festival in Portland, are quite good. Others aren't, but are still interesting (and sometimes comical, for instance this horrible "Dreams in the Witch House" which had Brown Jenkin played by a ferret!). I think that stories such as "Genius Loci" could be done quite well. For that matter, I can see "The Double Shadow" as such a film, but for a small budget it might require forsaking the Atlantean setting and going for a more strictly Gothic. Some stock footage from Roger Corman AIP films of a castle overlooking the crashing waves could be used.
Scott

Kyberean Wrote:
[snippage]
>
> If you're really interested, then I would
> recommend contacting LaVey's "widow", Blanche
> Barton, for further information. I believe that
> you can find contact information for her through
> the Church of Satan Web site. Be aware, though,
> that Barton is a "True Believer", and is firmly
> dedicated to promoting the LaVey myth, so anything
> she says should be considered very carefully. She
> might be able to point you to the source of the
> quotation that I am dimly recalling, though.

I think that I'll pass. I deal with psych cases at work, I don't need them on my spare time.

Scott

Scott:

Quote:

I think that I'll pass. I deal with psych cases at work, I don't need them on my spare time.

Just trying to help. I corresponded briefly with Blanche Barton some years ago, and I found her to be actually quite personable and intelligent--the farthest thing from a "psych case" that I can imagine. She's just not an especially reliable witness so far as her late mentor/paramour is concerned; that is all.

Calonlan:

Quote:

Re the above cited discussion of Anton La Vey - Clark met him the one time when the photo was made - his opinion of La Vey is quoted in my memoir in "Sword of Zagan"

Thanks for this information. I've been putting off getting a copy of Zagan because I don't have a great deal of interest in CAS's fiction juvenalia, but I realize that your memoir is worth the price of the volume, and so I am going to have to order it soon. You don't mention CAS's opinion of LaVey, but I would imagine that someone of CAS's perspicacity recognized LaVey for the arriviste and Munchausen-in-embryo that he was.






Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 15 Apr 05 | 05:33PM by Kyberean.

Quote:

Unlike Lovecraft, Smith was enthusiastic about having one of his stories filmed. He voiced the opinion that "The Dark Eidolon" would have made a fine film, and I tend to agree. If done correctly, I believe that Smith's extremely visual prose style could be adapted quite faithfully to the screen. It would require a director and screenwriter with some integrity, but these are not in as short supply as we might think in our more cynical moments.

I disagree with him. He has a highly visual style, but "The Dark Eidolon" as a story has different images for every reader and for individual readers at different times and in different moods. That wouldn't be true for a film: you can't create your own images from a film, because they've already been created for you. Films can't represent consciousness either, except indirectly through dialog and actions or facial expressions:

Quote:

Zotulla felt the blood pause and thicken about his heart, as if congealing into ice. And Obexah, peering beneath lowered lids, was abashed and frightened by the visible horror that invested this man and hung upon him even as royalty upon a king. But amid her fear, she found room to wonder what manner of man he was in his intercourse with women.

In a film, Zotulla and Obexah would look frightened, but we wouldn't know what Zotulla's blood felt like or what Obexah was wondering. I'd like to see a director inspired by Smith, but not one trying to re-create one of his stories.

Come to think of it, "The Dark Eidolon" is a highly aural story too and music wouldn't have a film's shortcomings:

Quote:

Obexah, dying on the altar, saw Namirrha battling with his image, and the spectacle moved her to mad laughter like the pealing of bells of ruined crystal. And above her laughter, and above the cursings of Namirrha, there came anon like the rumbling of a swift-driven storm the thunder made by the macrocosmic stallions of Thamogorgos, returning gulfward through Xylac over Ummaos, to trample down the one house that they had spared aforetime.