I thought I was the only one, too!
To be sure, I always enjoyed "Bewitched," "The Monkees," "The Flying Nun," the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, "The Partridge Family," and many other Screen Gems shows when I was a kid (in 1964, when the "S from Hell" made its debut, I was only 2 years old, but I too was turned off by its use during the late 60's and early 70's).
Whenever the closing credits of said shows began to roll, I too made a beeline out of the room; that combination of creepy music and graphics didn't bode very well with me, either! (I also dreaded as a kid whenever my folks watched NET - the predecessor of PBS - and their ID used a synthesizer arrangement composed and also performed by the notorious Eric Siday. Because of that, I *never* wanted to watch "Sesame Street" or "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" when they were first popular, either!)
I especially thought the "torture" scene was rather funny (I *won't* give that part away to anyone who hasn't seen this short). I could especially identify with that because I remember one of my cousins did something similar when I was 6; once she asked me why I left the room after "Bewitched" was over and then she recreated "the S from Hell" with her fingers while she sang that piece - I think everybody could hear me scream all the way to the Eastern Seaboard!
There were two other things the director forgot to mention in the film:
(1) In between the Columbia Torch Lady and the "S from Hell" Screen Gems logos, there was the "Dancing Sticks" Screen Gems logo of 1963. In that one, many sticks bounced up and down into place while multicolored spotlights flashed behind the sticks; Frank DeVol composed and performed the jazzy music accompanying the logo (now I thought *that* Screen Gems logo was *cool;* it always reminded me of some construction barricade lights and some fencing surrounding said construction on a neighborhood street in Warren, Michigan when I was a little kid. The flashing spotlights always made me think of the blinking lights on those barricades at night);
and (2) in May 1974, Screen Gems officially became Columbia Pictures Television, and for its first two years CPT used what many called the "CPT Pretzel" logo - the C, P, and T all merged into a pretzel-like symbol to the tune (mercifully shortened) of - you guessed it - Eric Siday's "S from Hell" music! (In 1976, however, to the delight of many, CPT began using the "sunburst" logo their parent company adopted, with some better synthesizer music written and performed by Suzanne Cianni. Many, myself included, enjoyed this logo.)
In any event, I'm glad I happened upon this short on the web; it took an old childhood phobia and turned it into something we can all chuckle at now. The ending with the little girl, I thought, was also a riot, but I promise I *won't* give that away, either - you have to see it to believe it!
Too bad this short wasn't nominated for an Academy Award - perhaps Columbia could have released it theatrically?
In any event, I *highly* recommend "The S from Hell" to anybody who, as a little kid in the 60's, could identify with this phobia and can get a good, hearty laugh out of it now!
Peace!
reply
share