Domo Arigato
I have a vague memory of my first viewing of “The Wizard of Oz” on TV as a small child, something that would become an annual event. I remember the Tin Man’s first appearance, and my brother and I getting very excited because there was a robot in it! “It’s not a robot, it’s a Tin Man,” my mother said. But tin or steel, a metal man is a robot in my book.
The point is, robots have always been cool, the stuff that fuels geeks to become microbudget filmmakers.
An early Robbie the Robot concept shelters his grandson R2D2 at the Robot Hut.
When I learned that a guy living not an hour from me, in a rural section of Eastern Washington, had the finest collection of movie and TV robots this side of anywhere, I had to see for myself. After a little field work, I tracked down electrical engineer and musician John Rigg and finagled my way into a visit to his “Robot Hut.” Quite an honor. He doesn’t do it for just anyone, or he wouldn’t have time to do anything else. I’d like to say it was my movie credits that opened the door for me, but it probably had more to do with my knowing the daughter of one of his best friends.
So my friend Mitch Tiner and I went to visit. Mitch is a great friend, and he does all the special effects make up and miniatures for my films. Sometimes he acts and does the music, too. He was as excited to see this collection as I was.
From the road, John’s ranch fits right in with those around it. But if you pull in and look at the far side of one outbuilding, you will see a giant robot display on the wall, emblazoned with the legend, Robot Hut.
Robot Hut video produced by Colin Malvaney for The Spokesman Review.
Inside are 4,000 plus robot items. Many of those items are life size, meticulous, hand-built, replicas of some of the most famous robots from movies and television. John built them all from scratch, many times re-building them three, four or five times until they met his exacting standards. The imperfect earlier models were sold off or given away to fans who couldn’t believe their luck!
You enter the building through an “airlock” anteroom, powered by a devise fans will recognize as Krell technology from “Forbidden Planet.”
Krell technology
That is the prelude to a perfect replica of that movie’s Robbie the Robot right inside the door, who speaks to you as neon tubes light up where a mouth should be.
“Welcome to Altair IV, Gentlemen.”
“I am to transport you to the Residence.”
Also in attendance are Gort, Tobor the Great, Maria the “Metropolis” robotrix, Johnny Five, Huey, Dewey and Louie (“Silent Running”) R2D2, C3PO, B-9 (“Lost in Space”), the walking tin can from The Mysterious Doctor Satan, the sentient machines from Venus that attacked in “Target Earth,” and many, many more.
Gort
Tobor the Great
Maria of Metropolis
Johnny Five
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Mitch and B-9. That does not compute. Danger, Danger!
The Mysterious Doctor Satan
Target Earth
And there are some pretty swell non-robotic items thrown in for the sheer fun of it.
Flying saucers from “Lost in Space”, “War of the Worlds” and “Forbidden Planet,” for instance.
The Jupiter 5, from “Lost in Space” TV series.
The C-57D, from “Forbidden Planet.”
And the one and only Time Machine from… “The Time Machine.” (Okay, not the one and only, it’s a copy, but it’s a pretty damn perfect one.) A second Time Machine John built was seen last season in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”
Screw Deloreans. This is stylin’ through time.
The Time Machine
Time Machine console
Rigg has been obsessed with robots his whole life, and possesses a natural gift for mechanics and building things. In 1980 he decided to recapture his youth and find the six toy robots that meant so much to him as a child. Along the way, he started collecting other robots as well, and then it became a sickness that many of us geeks can relate to. In John’s case, it was a glorious disease. These hand-built masterpieces are a testament to the films they are copied from – to their durability and to their ability to inspire the geeks and artists of the future.
A Robbie head variation used for his appearance in the “Uncle Simon” episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
A force field generator post from “Forbidden Planet”
Wider view of Johnny Five from “Short Circuit.”
“Silent Running”
Model of “Forbidden Planet” control room.
Tiny little bot booties on “Target Earth” robots.
Remote control for “Tobor the Great.”
Robotic walking legs topped by “Target Earth” robot body pulls a cart.
Fiberglass mold for Robbie legs.
RON FORD: THE EARLY DAYS by TIM SULLIVAN
Tim Sullivan is a science fiction writer (The Martian Viking, Lords of Creation), raconteur and all-around cool dude. As an actor, he can be seen in a multitude of pictures from the microbudget era, including Twilight of the Dogs, Hollywood Mortuary and Deadly Scavengers.He also wrote some scripts (V-World Matrix,Eyes of the Werewolf) and even directed a little (Vampyre Femmes). I asked him to write something about his work in those days and what he did instead is write this affectionate love-letter that touched my heart. I haven’t seen Tim in better than a decade now, and I often ache for his conversation and company these days.
Tim Sullivan with friend
I’ve known Ron Ford for over a quarter century, maybe closer to thirty years now. We first met while working on a movie called The Laughing Dead at Old Tucson, Arizona. Old Tucson was a full-service-Western-town-outdoor-and-indoor-standing set that had been built in the late thirties for a movie called Arizona with William Holden and Jean Arthur, and added to over the following decades. There was a Spanish Mission, complete inside and out, a town square, as well as the requisite main street with wooden sidewalks and saloon. By the time we shot there, Wild West Shows were staged on the streets and a national high school cheerleader convention once messed up our sound while the girls led cheers for imaginary sports fans.
Old Tucson
It was a great place to work. Unfortunately, Old Tucson burned down some years later, and as far as I know they haven’t rebuilt it. But in those days it was like living in a cowboy fantasy to be there. I’d seen so many Westerns shot on those sets that it was like being at home in some strange way. We had a blast.
Ron and I kept in touch when he and his wife Paula moved to LA, where I was living at the time. Not too long after it became apparent that The Laughing Dead would never find an American distributor (I hear there’s a Thai DVD available, but I haven’t seen it), Ron told me he was planning to make a shot-on-video feature with a guy named Mark Gordon, who would be a producer and shoot the thing as well. He had the equipment and knew how to use it, so we set out to make Alien Force, starring Tyrone Wade, an Australian body builder and all around nice guy, and the beautiful and talented Roxanne Coyne. Somehow Ron got the guy who used to play Robin to Adam West’s Batman (Burt Ward) to play an alien in a wild costume.
Agreeing to hold the boom, I enlisted my friends Marlene Resnick and Lee Boek to be in it. I ended up in three (count ‘em!) three roles myself. The less said about my performances the better.
The main problem, as seasoned actor Michael Wayne (who joined the cast to play the villain) pointed out to me one day, was two directors. For some reason, Mark kept butting in on Ron, even though Ron was well prepared and knew exactly what he wanted to do, was well liked by the cast, and had written the script.
Need I add that Ron started his own production company, Fat Free Features, as soon as possible?
Twilight of the Dogs, written by and starring Tim Sullivan
There he made his magnum opus, Hollywood Mortuary, in which Ron played a Bela Lugosi-like actor named Janos Blasko, and I essayed the role of Pratt Borokoff, lisping away as I’d been doing since first seeing Boris Karloff in the early sixties and trying to imitate his voice for the amusements of my classmates. It’s a film for fans of classic horror, and Randal Malone makes the most of his lead role as a makeup man who becomes an undertaker, Pierce Jackson Dawn. It was inevitable that he’d find the secret of bringing the dead back to life, of course, and he gets to work on Borokoff and Blasko pretty soon, making them do his evil bidding. He wants nothing less than fatal revenge on the studio moguls who ended his movie career.
I call him Janos to this day.
Ron Ford and Tim Sullivan as Janos Blasko and Pratt Borokof in “Hollywood Mortuary”
We had tremendous fun, even though much of Hollywood Mortuary was filmed during one of the worst heat waves I’ve ever suffered through. One thing you can always depend on with a Ron Ford Movie is a family atmosphere, and that was abundant on this shoot. Another thing you can always depend on is that he’ll get the picture made come hell or high water. Ron never quits.
And that’s not all. When I directed my own feature a couple of years later, Ron was there to help in every way he could. Did I mention his generosity and kindness?
Written by Tim Sullivan
Written and directed by Tim Sullivan
If it isn’t obvious by now, let me just add that I’m very happy and proud to call Ron “Janos” Ford my old friend.
* * * *
Thank you, Pratt old thing. I feel the same way. A few editorial things: I am no longer married – not for 8 years now. Old Tucson was indeed rebuilt, and Tim was delightful in all his roles in Alien Force and all the pictures he appeared in. Don’t listen to his modest self-deprecation.
Eric Spudic: Microbudget Entrepreneur
The creative artist in today’s market is obligated to also be an entrepreneur to some degree. The studio system is long-gone, and a handful of media conglomerates control the mainstream content. In order to survive, and artist must cut out his or her own niche, and keep many irons in the fire.
Eric Spudic is that guy. He used his love of exploitation, his dogged determination, and a natural likeable charm to make his own career doing the things he loves.
Eric Spudic today
“I got my first VCR at age 13,” Spudic said. “I headed to Walmart and picked up ARMED RESPONSE and CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS. Just was fascinated by anything with violence or explosions. I then began taping films on HBO, stuff like Cirio Santiago’s FIELD OF FIRE, and even a 90s slasher called HAPPY HELL NIGHT. I really love just about any genre except for romance and musicals, My favorites are 80’s sex comedies, zombie movies, and WWII/Vietnam war films. My taste ranges from REVENGE OF THE NERDS and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD to COMMANDO and PLATOON. I was totally blown away by anything with guns or make-up fx. Still am!”
The films Spudic came to love all contained a level of violence. But that vicarious violence ironically became a safe haven from the harsher aspects of real life.
“I was bullied tremendously during school, so I preferred the safe confines of my bedroom,” Spudic said.
Appalled by the complacency of those around him, Spudic decided to go for it.
“I got to a point where I was sick of seeing people doing the same thing over and over. Partying, bowling, drinking, listening to music. I was like, ‘Don’t you guys want to do anything with your lives?’”
He started writing movies and contacting people in the industry.
“I wrote a letter to {prolific exploitation director] Dave DeCoteau at Full Moon in ’99 and he said to call. We spoke and became friends immediately. He knew so much about film, and I had a bazillion questions for him. I would pester him with weekly calls to pick his brain. He put me in a picture called MICRO MINI KIDS.”
Spudic built a body of work before making the move to LA, where he felt he needed to be to take it to the next level.
Spudic in TERROR TOONS 1.5
“I’d already built up about 50 feature film credits before making the move,” Spudic said.”Films [I wrote]such as CREEPIES and AQUANOIDS had done very well. I had also acted in DEAD CLOWNS and SAVAGE HARVEST 2, but they weren’t released until well after moving to Hollyweird. My career was picking up steam and I figured it was time to jump up in budgets. I sold one of my vehicles to finance the move there. A one-bedroom apartment at the time (2004) was $750. It had shot up to $900 by the time I moved in 2011. Now, they’re going for $1,100.”
Once in La, Spudic reconnected with David Decoteau and met some new friends..
“David had a movie night, where I met legends such as Tim Murphy, Ron Ford, and Ted Newsom! I do miss the late, great Tim Murphy dearly, and wish I’d touched base with him more once I moved to Los Angeles. He and I used to email a lot, talking about movies and women.”
Archivist, artist and one of my favorite human beings that ever breathed, Tim Murphy passed away in 2009 from an unidentified infection.
Eric has become a triple threat. I asked which he liked most, writing, acting, or directing.
“Acting first, writing second, and directing third. I’ve also produced about a dozen features, but really don’t enjoy that aspect. Too many headaches! To put on a costume and become another person is always a magical experience. The thing I enjoy about screenwriting is mostly being left alone to simply write. To throw myself into that world.”
As Gomer, the banjo-playing redneck in BIKINI ROUNDUP
Eric shared a couple stories from the bloody movie makin’ trenches.
“One story that stands out is watching Cindy Williams get knocked over by a cow on the set of THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL, a film shot in 2005 that never came out. It was scary at the time, but hilarious to look back on.
“SAVAGE HARVEST 2 was perhaps the longest, most grueling shoot of my career. There came a moment when Emily Haack chainsaws off my character’s arm and blood shoots up into my face. The blood got into my eyes and turned my contacts pink. I had to leave them out and ended up driving home 80 miles half-blind”
Shooting DINO WOLF
And a tale of microbudget guerilla filmmaking at its finest:
“For KILLERS BY NATURE, I needed a cop car for one scene and we couldn’t afford to rent one. So I called up the local police department and asked if we could use theirs for five minutes. They agreed.
And moving up the budget chain:
“PLAYING FOR KEEPS was a fun shoot, too. I was doing a scene with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Gerard Butler, all of us driving higher end cars. By take 7 or so, Catherine almost slammed right into Gerry’s car. We’d had the timing down by then, but I think everybody was tired and almost caused a crash right there. I could go on, but should save the rest for my autobiography when I’m an old fart!”
Although he has left LA behind, Spudic has not given up his movie dreams or pursuits.
“These days I’m living in Louisiana, taking advantage of the 30 percent tax credit. I produced two more films, including a PUPPET MASTER, also doing some stuntwork, and finally joined SAG. I was also hired to write a sequel to one of my favorite films from the 80s. Can’t wait to announce it once it gets made. I also spend my time running my mail-order company, Spudic’s Movie Empire. Who needs some movies?”
