(With the recent passing of acclaimed writer Richard Matheson, Cinema Retro pays tribute by re-publishing this appreciation of Matheson by Matthew R. Bradley.)
After the hundreds of
pages I have written and edited about Richard Matheson, it’s tough to sum up
his significance to film and television in a few sentences, but here goes.Start with the movies that would never have
been made if he hadn’t written the novels or stories—and in many cases the
scripts—first:the Hugo Award-winning The
Incredible Shrinking Man, the Emmy Award-winning Duel (Steven
Spielberg’s feature-length debut), The Legend of Hell House, Trilogy
of Terror (with Karen Black’s Zuni-doll smackdown), the Oscar-nominated Somewhere
in Time, the Oscar-winning What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes,
and a little half-billion-dollar hit called I Am Legend (plus its two
previous incarnations, The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man).
Now add his adaptations of
works by Edgar Allan Poe (House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum, Tales
of Terror, The Raven), Jules Verne (Master of the World),
Fritz Leiber (Burn, Witch, Burn), Dennis Wheatley (The Devil Rides
Out), Bram Stoker (the TV version of Dracula with Jack Palance), and
Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles).Then throw in his other television work, such as the Edgar Award-winning
original Night Stalker (the highest-rated TV-movie of its day), The
Morning After (with an Emmy-nominated Dick Van Dyke as an alcoholic), the
Christopher Award-winning Dreamer of Oz (a biopic of L. Frank Baum), and
many of the best-known Twilight Zone entries (including the
Shatner-vs.-gremlin “Nightmare at 20,000 Feetâ€).Not to mention episodes of shows as diverse
as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Amazing Stories (including John
Lithgow’s Emmy-winning role in “The Dollâ€), Cheyenne, Combat!, The
Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Have Gun—Will Travel, Night Gallery, Star
Trek, Thriller, and Wanted: Dead or Alive.And then…well, you get the picture.Clearly, this is a Cinema Retro kinda
guy.
By now, I probably have
you salivating for a book that will tell you everything about this incredible
body of work, right?Well, you’re going
to have to wait a little longer for that one; I’m still adding the finishing
touches to Richard Matheson on Screen before sending it to the
publisher, McFarland.But to tide you
over in the meantime there’s The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds
of Richard Matheson (Citadel, 2009), which I edited with Stanley Wiater and
Paul Stuve.It was originally published
by (and is still available from) Gauntlet Press as a handsome limited edition
entitled The Richard Matheson Companion.This new version not only is more affordable, for those counting their
pennies in these economic times, but also has been completely revised and
updated, making it more comprehensive than ever.
So, what is this book, you
ask?Well, it’s several things at
once.It’s an appreciation of Matheson’s
astounding career as an author and screenwriter, with essays examining his work
and wide-ranging influence by Harlan Ellison, Dennis Etchison, Ed Gorman,
George Clayton Johnson, Jack Ketchum, Dean Koontz, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian
Lumley, David Morrell, William F. Nolan, F. Paul Wilson, and Gahan Wilson (many
of them published for the first time).While not a biography per se, it offers an intimate look at his
life through Matheson interviews and correspondence; more than a dozen candid
photos; and contributions from artists, book editors, publishers, and producers
he has worked with, plus his wife and four children, three of whom are also
writers.
Last but far from least,
it contains the most comprehensive documentation of Matheson’s oeuvre
ever compiled:published works (fiction
and nonfiction), scripts (produced, unproduced, and published), adaptations
(including novelizations, audiobooks, and graphic novels), profiles, websites,
stage plays, musical compositions, on-camera appearances, audio recordings, soundtracks,
collectibles, awards, and even a section debunking some common Matheson
myths.A special bonus—unique to this
edition—is the previously unpublished guest-of-honor speech he delivered at the
World Fantasy Convention in 1977.
If you have the slightest
interest in Matheson, then you’re probably too busy ordering The Twilight
and Other Zones to read the rest of this (which is fine), but a common
theme should be noted among the two dozen contributors, who include all three
of the book’s editors:that his great
spirit is every bit the equal of his prodigious talent.Having known him for almost twenty years, and
worked with him on various literary projects over more than half of that time,
I have found him to be gracious, generous, and loyal at every turn—qualities
often in short supply in Hollywood.We
hope this book will be an adequate tribute to the man as well as to his work.
(Click here to order from Amazon)(Matthew R. Bradley is a contributing writer to Cinema Retro. Click here for his essay on the Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton)
Spy movie enthusiast Jason Whiton has launched a major new web site dedicated to those great espionage movies and TV series of the 1960s. The site is pretty addictive, as the initial offerings include rare interview footage of Patrick McGoohan, reproductions of pages from Man From U.N.C.L.E. comic books, rare 45 rpm photo sleeves from the James Bond movies, a tribute to Michael Caine's Harry Palmer series and a contest in which you can win an entire collection of Get Smart videos. A very welcome addition to the cyber space universe. Click here to indulge.Â