Munster, Go Home! (Universal Pictures) (1966)

Page 6 America’s Funniest Family In 1st Film, ‘Munster, Go Home’ (Review) America’s funniest family has moved from television to the theatre screen — and in Technicolor — to the happy delight of the first day audience which viewed Universal’s “Munster, Go Home,”’ at the.._._......-._.. PHORtTC... 5c... This first fulllength motion picture, based on the successful TV series, presents the characters, antics and all the accoutrements to make a full and thoroughly enjoyable comedy. The proven television cast of Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis and Butch Patrick has been supplemented with stalwart comedy performances by TerryThomas and Hermione Gingold. For this theatrical feature, teenage favorite, pert Debbie Watson, the star of the “Karen” and “Tammy” television shows, makes her movie debut playing the niece. The tongue-in-cheek, seriocomic portrayals are carefully managed by director Earl Bellamy who masterfully times the whole business so that not a single laugh producing situation (most of them of the belly-laugh type) is overlooked. Bellamy is no stranger to feature length comedies. In ‘Munster, .Go Home,” he once again proves he knows his craft well. Not lost in the movie version are the spectral and other by now well-known humor provoking ingredients of the TV show. Included are the Munster house at 43 Mockingbird Lane, Grandpa’s dungeon laboratory, the Munster Koach and the Dragula automobile, and Herman’s job with the undertaker. To these have been added a complete new set of contrivances including a Baronial Mansion with bats in the belfry, sliding panels and a dungeon prison as well as a road race which manages to get mixed up with a fox hunt. All these items succeed in their aim of producing guffaws. Produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher—the same gentlemen who handled all of the television segments—from a script by them and George Tibbles, the story follows the adventures of the Munster family when Herman receives word of his inheritance of a Baronial estate and decides to claim it. Benny Kline’s Technicolor camera for the first time shows many of the familiar Munster oddities in color including the green complexions of the main characters. Butch Normal 12-Year-Old (Advance) Butch Patrick is as normal as any other 12-year-old boy. The reason for that statement is that the young co-star of Universal’s new full-length Technicolor com Theatre, has a green complexion, fanged teeth, a window-peak haircut and pointed ears in his role as the son of the family. But that’s only for his screen portrayal and he isn’t really like that. In all respects when he is not portraying Eddie Munster, he is normal except for one—he’s an absolutely phenomenal baseball player. And he gets this ability from his off-screen dad, Ken Hunt, who once played ball with the Washington Senators. The feature-length version of the television show seen for several years on CBS-TV, co-stars Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Butch, Debbie Watson, Terry-Thomas and Hermione Gingold. HERMAN MUNSTER — The head of the family in Universal’s feature-length Technicolor comedy, “Munster, Go Home,” based on “The Munsters’”’ television series, is Fred Gwynne, a kindly, quite tall, green complexioned gentle man. (Still No. 1984-1) LILY MUNSTER — Yvonne De Carlo plays the glamorous wife of Herman Munster in Universal’s zany Technicolor comedy, ‘“Munster, Home.” Her long hair, streaked with white, outlines her green-complexioned face and helps accent her flowing, spectral gowns. (Siill No. 1984-2) GRANDPA — In the character he portrays in Universal’s hilarious comedy in Technicolor, “Munster, Go, Home,” Al Lewis is several hundred years young. (Still No. 1984-3) Need Hours For Makeup (Current) The quartette of stars who play the “normal” members of the Munster family in Universal’s hilarious feature Technicolor comedy, ‘‘Munster, Go Home,” now at the............0......... Theatre, required more hours daily in the makeup rooms than any 20 other actors combined. The four are Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis and Butch Patrick. Gwynne required the longest treatment for his role as Herman, one and one-half hours. Gwynne Discusses Acting (Current) Fred Gwynne, who plays Herman Munster in Universal’s feature length comedy in Technicolor, ‘“Munsters, Go Home,” now at {OO = oy RE NOS RR ney ae Theatre, claims that an actor can very easily be dishonest with himself. Gwynne, who spends much of his free time painting and sculpting, uses an analogy between painters and actors to prove his point. “When a painter stands before his easel and starts his painting, the canvas is blank,” he points out. “Whether the finished product is good depends entirely upon him.” It’s different with an actor in motion pictures and in most forms of entertainment. “The end result rarely is a one-man effort. In a motion picture, for instance,” he says, “more than one hundred highly-skilled craftsmen have been involved in bringing any single scene to the screen. Since each one takes pride in his work and does it as well as he is able, it should be good. “But if it isn’t— and here is where actors sometimes kid themselves—he can easily feel that one of the many others is at fault.” The number involved, also, tends to make him less critical. “When I look at myself on the screen and am disappointed in my performance,” Gwynne concludes, “I try to remember that painter and search myself first for the reason something went wrong. If I clear myself, then and only then, do I feel justified in transferring blame.” In ‘Munster, Go Home,” the other co-stars are Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, Debbie Watson, Hermione Gingold and Terry-Thomas. ARTIST’S CONCEPT — The basic story theme of Universal’s hilarious comedy in Technicolor, “Munster, Go Home,” is portrayed in this composite which shows all the stars: Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, Debbie Watson, Terry Thomas and Hermione Gingold. Deglamorize Yvonne Daily (Advance) For the entire production schedule, Yvonne DeCarlo, an actress whose name is synonymous with glamor, spent an hour every morning getting herself de-glamorized. Why? Because her role as Lily Munster in Universal’s new Technicolor feature comedy, ‘‘Munster, Go Home,” coming.................------to the: 22s See eee Theatre called for the beauftiul star to have a green complexion and huge, blackshadowed eyes. How does an actress really feel about hiding her beauty under all that green makeup? Miss DeCarlo maintains that she would have to be ‘very, very vain” to be bothered by it. “T took the role because I loved its tongue-in-cheek comic possibilities. I’ve always wanted to do comedy and the makeup adds tremendously to the comic potential of Lily,” she explained. ‘Besides, I really don’t think the makeup is at all ugly. The eye makeup especially is not grotesque, it’s more like the exaggerated eye makeup used by ballerinas.”’ The only person the makeup really seemed to hurt is the makeup man who has attended Miss DeCarlo since she debuted as a bright new star in “Salome” at Universal years ago. “Every time I put her makeup on, I winced a little,”’ he admitted. ROAD RACE — Fred Gwynne, in his Dragula, is leading the cross-country race when Al Lewis on the tractor, and Yvonne De Carlo, on a horse, try to catch him in “Munster, Go Home,’ Universal’s feature-length Technicolor comedy based on “The Munsters’’ television series. (Still No. 1984-7) (Still No. 1984-6) ‘Munster’ Star Baseball Fan (Advance) Even though as Grandpa Munster soon to be seen at the.............. Theatre in Universal’s hilarious comedy in Technicolor, ‘‘Munster, Go Home,” he plays a character several hundred years old, Al Lewis is an avid baseball fan and supporter of the modern world champions Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s because Lewis, who didn’t enter the acting profession until he had tried a wide variety of jobs, fondly remembers the team from the days when they were the “Brooklyn Bums.” “T used to sell hot dogs at Ebbett’s Field in Brooklyn,” he explains. He was born and educated in Brooklyn and until he turned to acting in 1949, he had a variety of occupations, including that of hot dog vendor. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn. Lewis got into acting by chance. At the suggestion of a friend, he joined the Paul Mann Actor’s Workshop in New York. There, with classmates Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Pat Benio and others, he developed a dramatic as well as comic style. Soon, he was able to test his abilities on a number of live dramatic stage and television shows produced in New York. When he was cast for a brief appearance in the television series, “Car 54, Where Are You,” the viewer response was so great he was retained as a regular through the whole series. He followed this with his portrayal of his current role in the CBS Television series, “The Munsters.” In the feature-length comedy, co-starred are Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Lewis, Butch Patrick, Debbie Watson, TerryThomas and Hermione Gingold. Guard Munster Cars (Advance) Special guards were required to guard two automobiles from being stripped clean by souvenir hunters, while doing location filming for Universal’s hilarious Technicolor feature comedy, ‘“‘Munster, Go Home,” Bh ts A ee Theatre. The two cars, both wild looking creations, were the fabulous Munster Koach, and the Dragula, worth more than $30,000.