Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Madness of George Zucco




For years I've been a fan of George Zucco's work in horror films of the 1930s and 40s but it was just recently that I noticed the oddest thing. Because I watched THE MAD GHOUL and THE MUMMY'S HAND within a week of each other (and I've watched each film half a dozen times) I spotted Zucco's right hand and became curious. It looks as though he had arthritis or some other ailment that kept his ring and pinky fingers from extending completely. A quick question on Facebook and a friend reported that he thought his hand was the result of a WWI injury. All this thinking and web hunting about Zucco had me wondering if there was a biography of the actor and from what I can learn the only real book on his life is called 'Hollywood's Maddest Doctors: Lionel Atwill, Colin Clive, George Zucco'. Looks like I've got to add another to my ever growing list of books to acquire and read.

For a fun dose of Poverty Row Horror with Mr. Zucco at center stage here is THE FLYING SERPENT (1946). Under an hour in length and as crazy as a jail cell full of clowns it's well worth seeing!

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