The Passion of Ray Dennis Steckler - Part 1

In the last few years, Severin Films has redefined the perimeters of cult-themed Blu-ray box sets with such monolithic releases as Kier-La Janisse's weighty ALL HAUNTS BE OURS Folk Horror compendium, two separate volumes of THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE, the impressively thorough and indispensable THE DUNGEON OF ANDY MILLIGAN, THE COMPLETE LENZI/BAKER GIALLO COLLECTION and - to bring things back full circle - a recent HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN set containing four rare titles covered in Janisse's recently revised mastertome of the same name. These megablocks of infotainment may be pricey, but - packed as they are with commentaries, location tours, interviews and other archival catnip - they can't be accused of under-delivering; each one sucks you in like a carnival barker inviting you behind a curtain that cloaks a black hole. You come out the other end, eventually, an enriched individual.

Everyone's viewpoint differs, so I won't name names, but you don't necessarily get this level of experience with every box set that comes along - at least I don't. Not every performer or filmmaker lends themselves to such detailed examination, but I find the work Severin is doing to be not only well-packaged and pitched equally to all sides of fandom but tastefully curated, as well. They know what's good (or at least interesting) and they know their audience.

Severin's latest mega-set is THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS OF RAY DENNIS STECKLER, a 10-disc, 20-film set laden with alternate cuts, deleted scenes, interviews, trailers and audio commentaries in its detailed coverage of a 46 year career. The set starts out quite innocently with movies like WILD GUITAR, his trash-classic THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES, THE LEMON GROVE KIDS, and RAT FINK A BOO BOO (not a typo, at least not mine), then steers through his sex-and-violence phase of the 1970s and '80s (including some graphic examples with titles like NAZI BROTHEL and COUNT AL-CUM), and ends up in a final port including more personal late works such as SUMMER FUN, ONE MORE TIME, and the 257-minute autobiographic epic READING, PA.

Born in January 1938 in Reading, PA, Steckler got his first breaks in 1961-62, working as an assistant cinematographer or full-fledged cinematographer on such films as THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER, WILD ONES ON WHEELS and EEGAH!. Steckler also played a supporting role in EEGAH! and impressed Arch Hall Sr. and Jr. with his resourceful know-how on both sides of the camera. Perhaps most importantly, he proved himself especially savvy in his ability to stage and sell a song visually, which allowed Arch Jr. to perform his song "Vickie" without looking too foolish. In fact, it went over so well, it got reprised in the Halls' next Fairway-International production.

This was WILD GUITAR (1962, 89:24), the earliest film included in this set and Steckler's directorial debut. Telling much the same "Star is Born" story as THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT (1955) or JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957), this is a redundant but nevertheless inventive poke at the evils of the music industry in which Bud Eagle (Hall Jr.), a starry-eyed kid from the sticks, arrives in Los Angeles carrying just a suitcase and guitar. The opening deluge of local scenery feels genuinely, sweetly star-struck and also somewhat in love with the city's working class (epitomized here by Marie Denn as waitress Marge). Standing on the sidewalk outside Dino's Lodge (then a famous spot thanks to weekly exposure on TV's 77 SUNSET STRIP), Bud can't resist combing his outrageous pompadour à la Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. 

With no more than 15 cents in his pocket, Bud has a meet-cute with professional dancer Vickie Wills (Nancy Czar) and tags along to her afternoon gig at a TV studio. When another musical guest bails out at the last minute,  Bud seizes the opportunity to perform and proves such a hit that he's immediately signed to a Faustian contract with Fairway Records mogul Mike McCauley (Arch Hall Sr, acting as "William Watters" and delivering dialogue he'd written as "Nicholas Merriwether"). Arch Sr.'s willingness to use his own company's name for that of a fictionally criminal racket is akin to American International Pictures' depiction of themselves as a bunch of corporate assholes in 1958's HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER. Steckler (as  "Cash Flagg") plays the role of Stake - McCauley's slick, hyper-tanned, gun-toting toady - with Henry Silva-like nonchalance. The budget is so low that the offices of Fairway Records is basically a storage closet at the TV station, decorated with 8x10s of Mitch Miller and a display of 45s on the King, Sun and Challenge record labels.

McCauley ("Call me Mike") presents Bud with a new guitar, a pile of nice suits and a wood-paneled playpen of his own, but he's cut off from all contact with the outside world, made to keep writing new songs and just do as he's told. Before you can blink an eye, Mike's PR machine drives the world Bud Eagle crazy, to the point where all the teenagers are wearing eagle (or hawk or turkey or chicken) feathers in their hair as they twist and watusi. He even hires a pack of cynical teenagers from all over the country to head his fan clubs. One night a drunk shows up at Bud's sanctum - Don Proctor (Robert Crumb - no, not that one), the has-been hit singer who preceded him in this circle of Fairway hell - who tells him what's really going on, leaving Bud to decide which path he wants to take. Surprisingly, in a manner that feels especially true to Steckler's personal laws of dramatics, Bud decides to give the villain a chance to redeem himself and - though the film's dramatis personae includes many a criminal type - we don't doubt for a minute that he eventually will. Along the way, Steckler finds time to introduce a pack of Bowery Boys-like hoods who make a miserable attempt at kidnapping Bud (once again, all is forgiven) and he skillfully delineates a sweet up-and-down romance between Bud and Vickie whose high point is a magical date in an after-hours ice-skating rink. (He may be zany but he's also got an eye for poetic moments.) Nancy Czar is far from my idea of a female lead, but this is a movie that honors and celebrates the modestly talented people who will never know the Big Time. What matters here is that she dances her little heart out and the cinematography heralds her as a goddess. 

     

Though WILD GUITAR was technically a work-for-hire, it's a tribute to the sheer force of Steckler's personality that the film comes across as a trailer for the faces, characters, musical numbers, meta self-references, and inside jokes that would turn up in his later pictures. It also helps that Steckler was working with cameraman Joseph V. Mascelli (author of THE FIVE C'S OF CINEMATOGRAPHY) and two talented Hungarian emigrés, Vilmos Zsigmond and Laslo Kovacs, who would soon revolutionize the art of cinematography; they functioned as a literal three-man camera crew during the difficult-to-stage musical sequences, three cameras  simultaneously filming, which allowed for all sorts of cutaways and sophisticated detailing rarely if ever seen in films of this station. It's no WITCHFINDER GENERAL, but it's not bad for a kid still looking forward to his 25th birthday.

Severin's presentation of the film was sourced from Nicholas Winding Refn and is a 4K restoration of its 35mm camera negative. As you can see from these frame grabs, it looks swell.

The extras on this one include a 35m interview with Arch Hall Jr., who comes across as surprisingly eloquent and knowledgeable; the Ray Dennis Steckler episode of British TV's THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW; and a lengthy "interview" with the man himself circa 2004, in which he rambles in a chain of vignettes separated by black-outs. This  bonus might have benefited from some tightening up, but this package is not about giving us less.  

Severin Films' Steckler box set is available here on their website at significant savings.

Next up: THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!? (1964).

    

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