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The Curse of Frank Black

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Guest Regan MacNeil

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Guest Regan MacNeil

Does anyone know the name of the show that keeps mysteriously coming on the television in The Curse of Frank Black? It's some sort of stop-motion thing and it looks like a laughing devil. It's like the coolest thing I've ever seen (except MM).

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Guest se7en

...I CANNOT THINK OF EXACTLY WHAT THE TITLE IS-(whoops caps)- but it's german and it's VERY old,something like the teens or 1920's. it "supposed" to be one the finast early examples of stop motion animation ever made.

...i've read the title before but i just cannot remember it! :cry:

~se7en :ouro:

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I better try to finally do some Millennium episodes watching next week.

Wouldn't Dixon know this? The stop animation does seem like I've seen it somewhere before (or I have watched the Curse of Frank Black too many times).

Be Seeing You,

David Blackwell

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  • Elders (Admins)

Hi,

I can help with this one...

The animation was from a shot film by Ladislaw Starewicz

(1892-1965) who was also known as Wladyslaw Starewicz and Ladislas Starevich:

LSMSSAT2.JPG

Starewicz INVENTED the 3-d stop motion animated film (puppet film) in 1910 and continued creating them until his death, even after he retired in 1959. His films, although emotionally aimed at children, are what we today would deem "strange" because of the often grotesque characters and situations... keep in mind, what was considered "for children" in the early 1900s is much more intense than what is produced for children today!

The film shown in The Curse Of Frank Black where the devil keeps laughing everytime Frank's TV switches itself on is called The Mascot a/k/a Puppet Love, a/k/a The Devil's Ball made in 1934, lasting a duration of 30 minutes.

Click here for the Demonic Laugh in Quick Time Format: demonic laugh small file 166k

I've paraphrased here from a very informative site Animation of Heaven & Hell which has lots of pages but some are a little hard to find as they contained in the sites pictures...

About The Mascot:

https://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/STARE/stare4.htm

About Ladislaw Starewicz:

https://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/STARE/stare1.htm

Feature on the Satan Doll including movie clips:

https://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/STARE/stare4c.htm

LSMSSAT3.JPG

Satan gives a knife to the thug after whispering in his ear some ideas along the lines of no less than "Kill your Girl Friend (the Ballerina). Check out the video clip of Satan giving the knife to the thug, makes you think of Legion in MillenniuM allright.

The site contains links to buy the The Mascot as part of a 3 episode DVD or VHS Tape from Amazon.

Now looking at the Official Script for the episode "The Curse Of Frank Black" it states:

62. INT. LIVING ROOM - FRANK'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Frank enters, still flipping through the envelopes, he sits back in an easy chair. behind him, the television TURNS ON!

Startled, Frank turns toward the T.V. On it, is an animated stop motion Satan from Ladislaw Starewicz's short film "The Mascott" ("Fetiche Mascotte." 1933) laughs demonically and speaks in Russian.

REVERSE - FRANK

CAMERA PUSHES IN as he tenses. What the hell is going on?

CLOSE- TELEVISION

The devil LAUGHS while summoning spirits to a party.

FRANK

as he eases up out of the chair, tenses and getting a better look, the television turns OFF. He considers for a moment, before senseing something on the chair. he lifts onto one haunch and pulls the TV remote out from beneath the chair.

He looks at is as if "how could I be so jumpy?" he dumps the mail on a table and settles back into the chair to relax. Aiming the remote at the TV he turns it on.

SPORTSCASTER (V.O.)

Turning to scores in the NHL on this Halloween night...

TELEVISION

A graphic fills the RASTER, listing the evening's scores.

SPORTSCASTER (V.O.)

It was Buffalo losing on the road to Carolina, 2 to 6.

Philadelphia added to their road win streakbeating Washington, 8-2. Detroit, behin a Federov hat trick beat Los Angeles 6-2 And Chicago lost down in San jose by the score of 6 to 8.

FRANK

reacts... "those are weird scores." (Becasue of the similarity of numbers, not the outcome.) Suddenly, O.S., STATIC. Frank turns back to the television.

TELEVISION

The animated SATAN continues to call forth the hordes of hell.

FRANK

aims the remote and clicks to change the channel...

TELEVISION

the desired channel should appear in the the upper corner, so WE know Frank is not trying to tun off the set. STATIC APPEARS before the devil animation stubbornly returns.

FRANK

aims the remote and clicks to change the channel...

TELEVISION

STATIC. STATIC. STATIC. Then, once again, the animated SATAN appears and laughs!

FRANK

turns off the set. He pauses. Things are getting a little weired around here. He considers, troubled by something. he leans over the table and picks up the matchbook cover again.

Regards,

Graham.

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Guest se7en

.....ahhh,VERY cool! i would love to get that dvd. in fact i just may next week. if anyplace will have it it'll be the HMV in Montreal. you are dead on about how kid's fare was at times vastly different in content than the last 30-40-years or so. another good example: "GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES". those pretty much scared the crap out of me when my gramps(?) gave me an old copy when i was in either 1st or 2nd grade.

thanks for the info Gra!

se7en

P.S. "Appendix man" was 'bloody' brilliant as was the slightly bizzare "Fun Times For Swingers"! he-he! THX

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