The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

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The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Topic Started: Apr 6 2009, 05:41 AM (223 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Apr 6 2009, 05:41 AM Post #1
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Roger Corman's 2 1/2 day wonder, written by Charles Griffith, was intended to be a followup to the comic horror A Bucket of Blood, but star Dick Miller turned down the nebbish role (he ended up playing the guy who eats carnations) which went to Jonathan Haze instead. Good choice. Seymour Krelboin works in Mushnik's Flower Shop on skid row ("Lots Plants Cheap") and nurses a cross between a Venus Fly Trap and something else, and creates a mammoth monstrosity that bellows "Feed me!" and eats humans. Poor Seymour only wants to romance lovely Audrey (Jackie Joseph) but the plant, which he christens "Audrey Jr", gets in the way, when it's not eating the neighbors, including a sadistic dentist who has met his match: a masochist patient named Wilbur Force (Jack Nicholson). More highlights of the film: Mrs. Shiva, who has relatives drop dead seemingly by the hour and so constantly needs fresh funeral arrangements; the detectives on the track of the missing neighbors, Sgt. Joe Fink and Sgt. Frank Stoolie, deadpan, no-nonsense cops in the Dragnet style. Stoolie: "How's your family?" Fink: "Lost one of the kids." Stoolie: "How'd it happen?" Fink: "Playing with matches." Stoolie: "That's too bad." Fink: "Those're the breaks." The greatest pleasure in the film is Mel Welles as Gravis Mushnik, torn between the truth about Seymour's plant and all the money he's suddenly making. Welles - whom I met several years ago and who was a funny, funny man - speaks in something that I can only call sarcastic broken Yiddish and is hilarious. Seymour: "Are you firing me?" Mushnik: "No, I'm making you the PRESIDENT from the UNITED STATES!" Highly entertaining picture; Corman - the cheapie - didn't copyright it so it may well be the most mass-produced film in the history of VHS/DVD ninety-nine cent cheapies.



Frank Hale	Apr 6 2009, 03:40 PM Post #2
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	This was a tremendous favorite in my dorm rooms at college: they saw it as the first and maybe only Jewish horror film (? The Golem). The guys would go on for hours about it. The line they loved was “feed me, Feed Me, FEED ME!” So what’s prompting your comments? Have you found a good print at last, or are you merely waxing nostalgic having seen the remake?



Laughing Gravy	Apr 6 2009, 05:52 PM Post #3
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	What?!? You don't follow along on our FNF website? We saw both the original and the remake last Friday, you silly Mr. Hale you. Kid Gravy had seen them both before, but other than that, I got to introduce two kids and two grownups who had NEVER seen either one to the delights of Mushnik's Skid Row Flower Shop. The younger kid bitched all the way through the musical (I wanted to smack him) but other than that both versions went over very well, particularly the original. Although Steve Martin and Bill Murray (of course) were very popular in the second one.



Frank Hale	Apr 6 2009, 05:56 PM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Mea culpa!



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Apr 6 2009, 06:00 PM Post #5
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,178 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Frank Hale Apr 6 2009, 05:56 PM Mea culpa! Thank you for finally using a Latin term I know!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


shelbyvinje	Apr 16 2009, 06:24 PM Post #6
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 420 Group: Members Member #470 Joined: June 3, 2008	I have the 15 minute alternate version they originally filmed for the Frank Oz remake that got scrapped -- the plants win and take over the world. When they remade the ending, they had Seymour electrocute the plant and all was well (using the same sets from a former musical sequence). Believe it or not, I enjoyed the new version -- the one that was shown in theaters -- better than the original intended darker ending. Someone told me the alternate ending was not allowed to be released on DVD or VHS as a bonus extra for legal reasons, even as an Easter Egg. If someone ever asks if you saw the alternate ending, trust me. It's not as good as the ending we have seen for the past few decades. Oh, the original Corman version was aired over PBS in Philadelphia on Halloween evening decades ago -- second classic horror film I ever saw in my life and the one that got me hooked into watching old horror and sci-fi films.



Sgt Saturn	Apr 17 2009, 09:24 AM Post #7
Charter Member Posts: 5,720 Group: Members Member #11 Joined: September 3, 2005	shelbyvinje Apr 16 2009, 06:24 PM I have the 15 minute alternate version they originally filmed for the Frank Oz remake that got scrapped -- the plants win and take over the world. Ah, the Green Peace version!
	The Ol' Sarge


Laughing Gravy	Apr 17 2009, 12:20 PM Post #8
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	My understanding is that the producer of the film was furious when he discovered that the original ending was included as a bonus on the original DVD release of the film, the release was quickly pulled back, and the film later reissued on DVD sans the sequence. The producer has hopes of doing a Special Edition or theatrical re-release of the film with the original ending. The rare alternate ending DVD is one of the most sought-after eBay prizes when it shows up.



The Batman	Apr 17 2009, 12:44 PM Post #9
Charter Member Posts: 5,570 Group: Members Member #17 Joined: September 4, 2005	Laughing Gravy Apr 17 2009, 12:20 PM The producer has hopes of doing a Special Edition or theatrical re-release of the film with the original ending. Did or will anything come of that?



Laughing Gravy	Apr 17 2009, 04:47 PM Post #10
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Not yet.



The Batman	Apr 17 2009, 07:15 PM Post #11
Charter Member Posts: 5,570 Group: Members Member #17 Joined: September 4, 2005	Are they still planning on doing something with the darker ending, at all? Ever? Edited by The Batman, Apr 17 2009, 08:22 PM.



panzer the great & terrible	Apr 17 2009, 08:06 PM Post #12
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,352 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Bat, did you actually make a post that said nothing but "Huh?" I feel like coming here to read it was a waste of time. Please don't DO that!!!!!
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


The Batman	Apr 17 2009, 08:23 PM Post #13
Charter Member Posts: 5,570 Group: Members Member #17 Joined: September 4, 2005	panzer the great & terrible Apr 17 2009, 08:06 PM Bat, did you actually make a post that said nothing but "Huh?" I feel like coming here to read it was a waste of time. Please don't DO that!!!!! Sorry 'bout that, Mr. P. LG's answer didn't leave much for me to add, but I wanted to acknowledge I had seen his response. I have amended it, just for you.



panzer the great & terrible	Apr 17 2009, 09:15 PM Post #14
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,352 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	I'm flattered.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


JazzGuyy	Apr 18 2009, 03:11 AM Post #15
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 2,179 Group: Members Member #110 Joined: June 1, 2006	The Batman Apr 17 2009, 07:15 PM Are they still planning on doing something with the darker ending, at all? Ever? In the recent WB session over at Home Theater Forum, the guys from Warner said it is being considered for the upcoming (no date announced) Blu-Ray release of the film. For those of you without Blu-Ray, Warner usually releases a DVD at the same time as the Blu-Ray.


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