Sunday, November 19th, 1974

I wrote another letter to 16 Magazine as well as my pen pals letters.

Terry, myself and Dwight went to see THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK as planned. The flick is 3 hours long! It's almost sure to be in my Top 5 this year. The film really started me thinking about how crazy some people really are.

So many politicians. Some police. The people in general! If only we could stop it but no...I'm starting to wonder if there's any hope at all for the human race.

NOTES: THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK was the third of 4 increasingly pretentious films starring the intense Tom Laughlin (and most of his family) as a half-Indian "guardian" for a reservation school, preaching peace while using violence to fight prejudice and injustice. It was overlong, underacted and preachy but it really was the best of the films with parts being quite well done. Laughlin grew more and more eccentric over time. His next Billy Jack picture was an odd comedy-drama remake of MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON with Billy Jack in the Jimmy Stewart role. It would have its world premiere in Cincinnati! He'e been threatening to make another one ever since. 

Saturday, November 16th, 1974

I had a marvelous dream last night. When it was over this morning I felt like I had actually lived it!

Someone tried to siphon the gas out of Dad's car today! Well, we discovered it today. If he's smart he won't put it back in that crazy garage.

A shocking revelation. Linda Blair does actually smoke! Ahhhh, disillusionment.

Saw part of Patty Duke's movie BILLIE. Always liked it.

At 4:30, Terry, his Mom and I went to see THE STREET FIGHTER. We saw it all right but I think I'd like a regular X-rated (sex) movie much better. This thing had some of the most ridiculous, senseless and impossible violence I've ever seen on-screen. Those were the "X-rated" fight scenes. The ending stopped with the revelation of a sequel which I declare now I WON'T see. In fact I think I'm swearing off kung-fu movies. I'm really into beauty more than violence these days. And a message. That's what I'm expecting from THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK tomorrow.

The new Bruce Lee flick is called THE GREEN HORNET and it's rated PG. Bruce never indulged in senseless ruthlessness. He always had purpose and style.

Got the rest of the new books including the 3rd annual RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER.

I passed up the serial DON DAREDEVIL RIDES AGAIN in favor of WHERE EAGLES DARE with Eastwood and Burton.

Our telephone finally got fixed today.

NOTES: This just in--in the latest tie-in to 2012, I have a new DVD of WHERE EAGLES DARE sitting behind me on a table right here. Still haven't seen DON DAREDEVIL RIDES AGAIN (although I bet I could find it easy enough on the Web). It stars TV's Festus, Ken Curtis, as an ersatz Zorro.

Rudolph was an annual comic book that came out in the fifties. DC had recently revived it in its oversized tabloid format and this was the 3rd year it had been released. Much fun with Sheldon Mayer art!

THE STREET FIGHTER starred Sonny Chiba, previously the star of kids sci-fi flicks in the sixties and later a cult favorite lionized by Quentin Tarentino. There WAS a sequel. I didn't see it.

Friday, November 15th, 1974

Doug was back today. He's been off sick.

Phone's still out (since yesterday).

More Apes tonight. Then I watched Dean roast Kojak. Earlier I got to see "Tomorrow is Yesterday," one of my favorite STAR TREK episodes.

I've decided to see THE STREET FIGHTER if Terry can get us in. It's not actually rated X. It seems to  be rated U.

The comic store up by Twin Fair is going out of business.

I did some checking of Erlanger on a topographic map provided by Jay. Neat!

NOTES: Dean Martin's career during this period had settled into a weekly "roast" format where he hosted an often mega-famous roster of celebs who made merciless insulting fun of each other and the "Man of the Hour." In retrospect, it was kind of weird but there was a perverse delight in seeing such legendary stars on a regular basis. About the only old-timer who never showed up--for obvious reasons I suppose--is Jerry Lewis.

Thursday, November 14th, 1974

A good day at school mostly. Most people were crazy about my poster. Coming home, I planned to catch the Eastern but due to complications I ended up about freezing as I walked back to catch the Rosedale I could've caught just outside school. Boy!

We almost didn't get into the movie because the girl in hot pants said we couldn't be admitted because we should be in school. We explained it, though, and I guess she believed it because we got in. GOLD wasn't as good as Roger's other "gold" film but it wasn't bad.

Terry says we'll see that X-rated kung-fu flick this weekend. His mother's agreed to take us. In 2 weeks, Bruce Lee in KATO! That's all we know but whatever it is we aren't gonna miss THAT! Nuh-uh!

Picked up some new books and mags while we were over there.

And another thing. We were blessed with the first (tho small) snow of the season.

Watched CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES again on TV. They also showed a 15 minute featurette that took the apes from the first movie to the TV series.

NOTES: Wish I could remember what that poster/collage was.

To catch the Eastern, I had to walk 5 blocks as opposed to the 1 and a half to catch the Rosedale. Missing the Eastern, I had to walk 3 more to get to another Rosedale stop.

I don't recall much about GOLD at this point beyond the saturation TV advertising at the time. I see now it was based on a book by Wilbur Smith who would still be a big seller all through my bookstore years. GOLD was directed by Peter Hunt whose first film remains a favorite even now, 1776!

The "X-rated kung-fu flick" was Sonny Chiba's STREETFIGHTER and KATO turned out to be a few episodes of THE GREEN HORNET from 1967 badly edited together for big screen release. 

Wednesday, November 13th, 1974

The buses are back! That didn't take long. It seemed actually as if I was dreaming when I awoke to a conversation about it.

It was very cold today and snow was actually expected. Even more snow is expected tomorrow when we get off early and I expect to see GOLD with Roger Moore.

I started writing THY SAVAGE GRAVE, the new Arkon story. I don't know. I may scrap the beginning and begin again. I like the idea, though.

Tried to avoid IT but failed. Too bad.

Some really heavy winds this evening!

NOTES: Whilst all of this was going on, the number one song in the US was Bachman-Turner Overdrive's stuttering rocker "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet." The group grew out of The Guess Who. I liked these guys but they weren't favorites. In recent years, former Guess Who members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings have reunited and do this number in concert.

Tuesday, November 12th, 1974

I actually managed to get on base a couple of times in Kickball, today.

Finally got the French mag at school so I now have 5 new pics of Linda! He had a French language comic with ASTERIX, too!

Since I had to catch the cab home again, I actually beat Dad home for a change. Riding cabs seemed almost routine today.

Watched BANDOLERO again and "Shore Leave" on STAR TREK.

Picked up some cool old movie ads from newspapers (64-66) thrown out at SS tonight!

Finally finished my collage poster.

NOTES: I didn't realize it at the time but this was the last day I'd need the cabs to get too and from school as the buses were back by morning. 

Kickball, as you may know, is baseball without a bat, using a basketball or other large ball. Like volleyball, I was sometimes unexpectedly good at it. 

I often wondered why they suddenly had decade old newspapers thrown away at the office but they sure were cool. (And yes, I still have them.)

BANDOLERO was an okay western flick with a big name cast headed by Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Raquel Welch. I had obviously seen it a couple of times by this point but remember nothing about it now.

ASTERIX was a French comics character I had read about and even seen a few books in English featuring him at Kidd's Book Store. In time the strip would become an absolute favorite of mine in spite of the fact that every attempt to make it successful in the US failed miserably. Internationally, the albums remain constantly in print and sell extremely well. In recent years there have even been a number of big-budget French live-action adaptations...never translated into English, of course. Most recently in the news, aging ASTERIX artist/co-creator Alberto Uderzo passed the torch to new creators who will now carry on the traditions!

Monday, November 11th, 1974

Well, I did it. Took a cab up to Doug's and then walked with him. Looks like I'll be doing it for  while, too. After school, I went to his house and called another.Got home just about the same time I always do. I was real nervous at first. A lot of people didn't even show up today!

Cincinnati buses are still running at least. I found out which bus goes to the Valley Cinema. I may go this weekend. Maybe not.

I practically finished my poster. It's good but I don't know that it's exactly what he wanted. Now to figure out how to get it there. It's not due 'til Wednesday.

Terry says he's got about 39 pics of Barbi to sell me. He says some are nudes so I don't think I'll be mentioning the sale to Mom and dad of it goes through.

The size of the daily PEANUTS strip was reduced today to conserve paper! Boy! I may have to stop collecting it! Sure messes it up!

I watched PETE 'N' TILLIE on the telly. Eh.

NOTES: Cabs were much cheaper in those days and around here the only way you could get one was to call one so until the strike was over, that's what I did.

PETE 'N' TILLIE was an acclaimed 1972 comedy drama starring two of my favorite performers, Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett. I found it to be the worst kind of boring soap opera dramady. In fact, I consider Carol to be one of the funniest people ever and yet can't recall ever enjoying her in a feature film.   

And so it begins--the shrinking of the comic strips. I looked at a newspaper in a waiting rooma  couple of weeks back for the first time in over a year. I literally could not read the text in the word balloons! Pointless.

Sunday, November 10th, 1974

Terry sold his 1941 Christmas comic to Comic Corner for 39 bucks! He only paid 15 for it! I may go with him next week with some to sell myself.

I watched HELP again.

Mom bought me the new McCartney record as well as The Hudson Brothers' first single!

We also got a thing to help us take out trash. It was a bit hard to put together but I did it.

Got part of my school collage together today.

IT. Sorry.

NOTES: The Beatles' HELP isn't a great movie like A HARD DAY'S NIGHT but it is fun and just incredibly nostalgic for me. Great snow scenes.

Seems like the "new thing" was a cart that you could put two or three trash cans on and pull it along rather than us having to carry each individual (and often very heavy) metal can around the building through our yard. Seems like there were about a dozen cans in all that had to go out weekly. 

The Hudson Brothers record was a lovely thing entitled, "So You Are a Star." Listening to it now, I hear a combination of Badfinger, Bee Gees and Beatles. The brothers were more successful as TV comics than as record sellers, though. And in the end, they're sadly still a trivia question. 

Saturday, November 9th, 1974

I ventured my first visit to The Studio this afternoon to see two marx Brothers movies. Almost bought a Marx Brothers book on the way home, too. While I was at Kidd's, I saw several people from that STAR TREK thing but I never spoke.

On my way back, I saw Sait from my Spanish class at the terminal. Seems he's a movie lover and book reader, too.

I've almost decided to dedicate my next scrapbook to Barbi Benton if Terry comes through with those pics he promised.

Saw THE CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE and gorgeous Helen Reddy on with Carol Burnett tonight.

Mom got me two pieces of poster paper and I worked on a collage for myself.

Picked up a new PEANUTS book at King Kwik this morning.

Just heard the buses are wanting to go on strike tonight at midnight! Boy! If they do, that'll be an even bigger headache for me this next week!

NOTES: The Studio was a pair of small cinemas in Cincinnati's PLAYBOY Club building. Over the next few years, it would become one of my favorites. Around this time, there were no less than nine downtown Cincinnati movie screens (and one more in downtown Covington). Within a decade, most would close. By now, all of them are long gone. So sad.

Actually, there were two more screens, even! The one straggling adult cinema lasted into the early eighties by clipping all the actual sex scenes out of its movies! The other was an actual grindhouse in the Over the Rhine section of town. They didn't advertise in the newspapers and rarely showed anything you'd ever heard of. Sometimes they were missing reels even and the prints were unwatchable. But incredibly they stayed open long after many others closed. When that area was rehabbed over the past few decades, it would have been nice if they had rehabbed the theater but no. 

In yet another odd parallel between 1974 and 2012, Sait and I recently reconnected on Facebook. He now lives directly across the street from where I was living in 1974! I told him about this post. Hi, Sait!

I was very dependent on buses at this time. I had many of the routes and schedules memorized. I could still get to school without them but it was a 25 block walk. I could still get to Cincinnati but it was a walk across a long bridge. My feet really didn't want them to go on strike that night!

Friday, November 8th, 1974

I think we get off early next Thursday. If so, I may go see THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK. GOLD opens this week, too. Both will be together at the Gold Circle Cinemas, opening Wednesday by GCC.

Watched PLANET OF THE APES tonight. There's a drawing of Roddy as Galen on the wall in English class! CONQUEST is on TV next week. (So is DOCTOR NO!) Just watched it again last week but I may catch it yet again next week!

For about an hour tonight I totally flipped out over my numero uno flick of last year, ENTER THE DRAGON. TA DA!!

NOTES: Hmm...I don't recall the Gold Circle Cinemas at all. Don't think I ended up ever going there. Wonder what "GCC" means? Seems like it should be Gold Circle Cinemas but in context that doesn't make sense. Oh, well. Gold Circle itself was a department store that we never shopped at. I mean never. In fact, the only time I recall going there was midnight Christmas shopping with a girl in 1980, still 6 years away here. Gold Circle went out of business or changed its name sometime in the eighties I believe.

Thursday, November 7th, 1974

I went over the river after school and picked up a few new mags including CREEPY with Corben's color adaptation of THE RAVEN.

Saw Steffie on HARRY O and found out that in Linda's next TV film she'll be a teenage alcoholic. She sure knows how to avoid the easy roles!

NOTES: HARRY O was a David Janssen TV series best remembered for Farrah Fawcett's semi-regular role, pre-CHARLIE'S ANGELS.

Linda Blair's next movie turned out to be SARAH T: PORTRAIT OF A TEENAGE ALCOHOLIC, featuring what was arguably her best performance to date. 

Rich Corben is an artist with a unique color art style that incongruously made a splash in the black and white warren comic books. 

Wednesday, November 6th, 1974

Mr. K was absent today. In club period, my class had to go to Study Hall. No teacher at all.

My horoscope said something about not hiding romantic feelings today. Coming home, I missed my bus. Doug's sister sat with me on the second one. I overheard Vernon say something that made me think that's all it meant.

I picked up a lot of stuff for my collage but forgot the poster paper.

Tonight I saw Marvin Hamlisch on a Danny Thomas TV special but had to miss Steffie on PETROCELLI.

NOTES: PETROCELLI was a two season TV series starring Barry Newman, star of such minor cult hits as VANISHING POINT and FEAR IS THE KEY, as a married lawyer. The great character actor Albert Salmi, himself tragically involved in a murder-suicide a few years later, co-starred.

Tuesday, November 5th, 1974

Election Day.

We have to make a poster collage in English and we played dodgeball in Gym. We played Spanish Monopoly and Spanish Scrabble in that class. Well, I ended up sitting them out, naturally. I didn't like 'em anyway. I spent my time trying to teach myself French by reading that Linda Blair article. I hope he goes ahead and gives it to me soon. It's got marvelous pix!

We got our report cards and mine was better than expected. Four A's and 2 B's. Hope I can do that again.

Terry said he saw 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY again and claims to have understood it this time. I doubt it.

I saw only GREEN ACRES, STAR TREK, LUCY and a bit of MERV GRIFFIN. That's all that was on tonight other than the election!

NOTES: My parents didn't vote. I don't know why. As far as I know, they never had! When I turned 18 and was able to register, I jumped at it...and talked them into it, also. I'm proud to say I've never missed voting in an election since! In fact, I've often said I had more respect for someone who votes exactly opposite of the way I vote than for someone who chooses not to vote at all! And yes, I've heard all the arguments. I don't believe a one of them. People fought and died to get us the right to vote and to protect that vote. I figure the very least I can do is VOTE!

Last week in 2012 my son got HIS report card--4 A+'s and 2 A's. I am SO proud!

Terry and I both hated 2001 when we saw it the day it opened back in '68. Probably because we were 9 years old. Still, I made the effort to understand it by reading not just the book but also the behind the scenes book they came out with! Still didn't grok. About every ten years I give it another try. I continue to find it--like most (let me emphasize NOT all!) Kubrick films--to be slow, dull, disjointed and ultimately pointless. What we had really wanted that day in '68 was STAR WARS. We had another decade almost to wait for that!

As far as the games thing, I don't do games well. Never had. I used to love to sit at the kitchen table and play board games with my parents but rarely have had the interest or patience to play with others my own age...even now. I don't do "fun" well at all. :(

Monday, November 4th, 1974

Terry's birthday!

No school for me today.

Two ITs early this morning. I've come to the conclusion that a woman looks better clothed than nude. I don't mind nudity. In fact, I consider the basic human body an art masterpiece! The way it looks! The way it works! It just does something to me! I think that in nice clothes it does something even more, though!

I'm really into "beauty" lately. Thoughts of walking with a nice girl through lovely snow-covered fields with a happy dog. Oh the very thought of it intoxicates me! Just wish that I could write a scene that good. Or better yet, LIVE it! Ecstasy!

Got TBG in the mail and saw one of my new faces, Chris Connelly, on TATTLETALES.

It rained real hard all day.

Today I got the bright idea of writing Linda Blair's biography. Maybe I should follow through on that.

After a long search, I discovered my TALON poster is missing! After a long search, though, I found it!

RHODA was funny tonight. I saw Harry Blackstone, Jr on MERV. Mind-boggling!

NOTES: It was (and is) Terry's birthday. I'll have to call him later today in 2012 and wish him a happy birthday! Today is also my wife's birthday. In 1974, she was turning 13. 

The nudity thing sounds like more rationalizing out of guilt but I don't know. Even now, I think I agree that a well-dressed woman is sexier looking than a naked one. When I did my only nude photography session a couple of years back, as the photographer, I enjoyed it immensely on several levels...but I've taken better pictures of my lovely model before and since and she's been fully clothed. 

Chris Connelly starred on the TV version of PAPER MOON with Jodie Foster. It didn't last long and he mostly did low-budget action films it seems after that before dying at a youngish age. In one of his very last films, he was the villain in the only official sequel to Franco Nero's classic spaghetti western, DJANGO.

A couple of years ago, I again toyed with the idea of contacting Linda Blair about collaborating on an autobiography. I had a great title this time: MY LIFE: IT WOULD MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN.

And once again, in an odd 2012 parallel, someone in a FB group I'm in posted the Talon poster by Jim Steranko I mention here last week in 2012, followed by a great discussion of same.

Sunday, November 3rd, 1974

Got up early, watched some TV and read. Then we went to see CHARIOTS OF THE GODS?  It wasn't as good as it could have been, partly because of the lack of Rod Serling's narration. I had hoped it would have it. An article about Von Daniken in the paper this morning said that they found genetic formulas on cave walls of the mutations that the aliens used to make the cave men what they were. If that's true, that wold really be something!

I got a paper poster ad for the new BILLY JACK movie at the theater and I began my second DEADMAN folder.

Tonight I saw part of THE GENERAL on Channel 48, an old Buster Keaton film!

NOTES: As I mentioned before, I was really into all the ancient astronaut stuff that was prevalent at the time. While I think some of it was stretching the premise, there are parts that still make sense to me today!

This was probably the first time I saw even a portion of THE GENERAL. I knew Keaton from the BEACH PARTY movies and TV appearances he did late in life but was just beginning to discover his classic silent movies. Eventually, Buster Keaton would become one of my all-time favorite film stars and easily my favorite silent comic. 

Saturday, November 2nd, 1974

I got up early to a storm. After it finally subsided, Terry called. We didn't discuss the jail thing at all but I heard his Mom in the background. I didn't bring it up.

We managed to sit through EIGHT full hours of APES movies!! I purposely didn't eat all morning before we left so my stomach didn't even hurt! Afterwards, I was starved so I went to McDonalds but I had to wait 20 minutes to be served! Anyway, the lady did refill my Coke, free. By the time I got home, the day was gone except for a few good TV shows.

NOTES: I remember loving this marathon but squirming after a while and starving before it was over. In 2012, I spoke with Terry yesterday about it and he still remembers it, too. 

Friday, November 1st, 1974

Another Halloween's come and gone with hardly any notice. We has a pep rally again. In the gym this time. It wasn't half as good as the other one we had outside. Some coach was there and made a big speech about school spirit but I never had any anyway. While everyone else was jumping and hollering with the cheerleaders and stuff, I just sat there feeling pretty foolish. I would have felt even more foolish if I had gotten up, too! Oh, well. I lived through it.

Mr. H was absent again. We got the new school paper. We got our grades in Geometry. I may not be getting Spanish this year but I'm A-OK in Geometry.

Got some good stuff about Roddy and about Clint's new movie over at SS tonight.

This morning, I got up really early and read comic books. Read more when I got home and successfully managed to avoid IT.

Saw PLANET OF THE APES for the first time in color tonight since we finally got the TV fixed.

Saw the beginning of THE GRADUATE again, too. The only good part as I like to call it.

NOTES: Never have been a big fan of THE GRADUATE or Mike Nichols as a director. I laugh like crazy at Nichols and May from the late fifties/early sixties. I enjoy Dustin Hoffman's performances in dozens of other films. I think Anne Bancroft was a superb actress and a very funny woman when she wanted to be. And I certainly never complained about the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack. That said, after a well-done opening I still say the rest of the film was a pretentious bore, badly directed and aimless. It's not like I don't "get" sixties style filmmaking. I quite enjoy it in fact. Just...not THE GRADUATE.

Thursday, October 31st, 1974

IT. Bought a new mag. Too bad. Also got a lot of neat comics and mags, too, including the two newest EC reprints from Kidd's. It's about time!

WEBN played the whole Christopher Lee album in honor of Halloween. Not many trick-or-treaters here tonight but we did get a few.

Football in Gym again. Yuccchh!! My shoe string broke during it, too. Had to invent a whole new creative way to tie it.

Terry's Mom and Dad were sentenced to one day in jail each for allowing him to miss 122 days of school last year! UNFAIR!! I don't suppose I can expect him to see the movie this weekend now. Oh, well.

Watched Dean Martin roast Bob Hope late tonight.

The new bank at 4th and Madison is getting ready to open.

Looked at the book in Spanish class. Has 4 or 5 great pix of Linda plus 3 from THE EXORCIST.

NOTES: Had forgotten that about Terry's parents. I think what happened wasn't so much that he randomly missed 122 days but he had actually quit school to go to work full-time at McDonalds. Looks like he went a few weeks at the beginning of the school year, then quit. The odd part was that his parents had specifically bought a house directly across the street from a high school so he could easily attend. His Mom still lives there, today! Terry would quickly get a GED long before the rest of his class actually graduated.

Not sure why I was so adamant about it being unfair, though. In retrospect, the sentence seems like nothing more than a judicial slap on the wrist.

Not sure why I bothered to note that new bank opening, either. I never had an account there and I don't think I ever knew anyone who did!

Wednesday, October 30th, 1974

The day before Halloween. I can tell it's nearing. Tonight, right after Mom cleaned the SS door, it was soap-streaked!

I outgrew Halloween just as I did most other holidays several years ago. Too bad.

School Homecoming's this Friday. I'm not sure what it is but I know that even if I was I wouldn't matter anyway. Not at all. Something about a dance and football. I hate both.

Why can't I ever just be normal? I realize that now. I can never have another girlfriend. I'll never dig sports or cars or anything like a normal guy. I'm blessed with a marvelous insanity but it's stolen my life away. Oh, well...I'll live I guess.

President Nixon has been in critical condition ever since last night.

I wrote a neat poem today. I also wrote a composition about my first date with Debbie. I may regret that. I may have revealed TOO much.

I may write a letter to Barbi Benton. She's in town singing this Friday and Saturday and I like her. If it's going to get to her I'll have to do it tomorrow. I haven't decided yet.

IT ruined my day.

NOTES: I think '71 was my last year for Halloween. In 1982 I went to one grown-up Halloween party. I was not impressed. Dressed up a couple f times for work after that but that was it.

Still not sure what all the fuss is about Homecoming. Still don't care either.

I believe Mr. Nixon's condition was due to a heart problem and/or a blood clot. He would recover.

Barbi Benton had been Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, a PLAYBOY model, a Hee Haw "Honey," an actress, a country singer and about the cutest thing you ever saw! I hadn't remembered this about writing to her earlier this year when I came into possession of her current address and seriously considered writing her again in 2012 for an interview. I never got around to it. 

Tuesday, October 29th, 1974

A fast day at school but a bad one in Gym. The end of the school day brought both good and bad news. I realized that if I hadn't failed the Spanish test I no doubt came close. After school, though, I spotted a color pic of Linda on a French magazine cover! Mr. K promised to give it to me! I'm sure glad! I haven't yet seen the inside but above the picture on the cover were the words, "La Exorciste." I think the meaning of those words is obvious.

Mike told me that Arthur, now at Boone County, didn't make the band. Too bad. He was good.

This weekend, I hope to see SIX movies! CHARIOTS OF THE GODS? and all 5 APES movies over at the International '70. That should be fun!

This Thursday at 10:30, WKRQ presents Orson Welles' WAR OF THE WORLDS. I'd sure like to hear that.

I saw THE MARK OF ZORRO and a really good POLICE STORY. I also finished reading THE LIVING SHADOW. It was great!

NOTES: The mag was PARIS MATCH and it really wasn't a good pic of Linda so much as simply one I hadn't seen before. Eventually I did get it.

Arthur was my friend who had moved away after the previous school year. A shame he didn't make Band. Oddly enough he later became a professional musician I believe. 

At this point I knew very little of Orson Welles or WAR OF THE WORLDS. By now in 2012 I've seen 2 movies about it, heard it a zillion times, seen and heard multiple documentaries  on it and read both a behind the scenes book and a murder mystery with the broadcast as a backdrop. 


This version of MARK OF ZORRO was the TV movie starring Frank Langella who would seem to have been perfect casting but was undercut by a badly designed mask and a really stupid looking TV GUIDE ad. Compared to Guy Williams' grinning cavalier (as Disney's Zorro), he looked like a nervous cosplayer.