THE TINGLER

White, Robb

Publication Date: 1959

About this Item

Item Description: William Castle Productions, 1959. Final Draft screenplay by Robb White for the 1959 film THE TINGLER starring Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn and Darryl Hickman, distributed by Columbia Pictures. Dated April 21, 1959 with revised pages dated May 1, 1959 and May 12, 1959. 121 leaves, rectos only. 1981 photocopy of original mimeographed sheets, bound in tan and black wrappers by ACCO metal strip with sliders. Page 2 features a box labeled "Sense O'Feel" marked "Top Secret" and indicates the point in the film where William Castle introduces the Percepto gimmick. Pages near fine, yapped wrappers very good. *** This copy of the final shooting script was presented by Robb White in 1981 to a fan, a New York literary agent with whom he hoped to work. Letter of provenance laid in. OCLC locates no copies of this script unless there is a copy in the as yet uncatalogued "Robb White Papers Before 1970" collection at Syracuse University. *** THE TINGLER is the third of five collaborations between screenwriter Robb White and director/producer William Castle, following MACABRE (1958) and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959), and preceding 13 GHOSTS (1960) and HOMICIDAL (1961). As film historian John Wooley pointed out in a 1985 interview with White: "These films are cherished by fans for many reasons, not the least of which is their use of some of the most outrageous gimmicks ever devised. It began with a Lloyd's of London insurance policy, which insured viewers of MACABRE against death by fright while watching the movie. Then came HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, with a skeleton, supposedly emerging out of an on-screen acid bath, floating over the audience. For THE TINGLER, devices were fastened to theater seats that simulated mild electrical shocks; for 13 GHOSTS, a 'ghost viewer' was devised that enabled one to see -- or not see -- the doings of the ghosts on screen. And in HOMICIDAL, viewers were given a fright break in the action so they could decide whether to leave before the really awful stuff started. The film also boasted the gimmick of a lead character of blurred sexuality. It was Castle who got all the exposure, but Robb White wasn't -- and isn't -- exactly a shrinking violet. At the age of 75, he's a humorous and salty raconteur who likes to laugh -- especially, it seems, when recalling his days with William Castle." When asked by Wooley, "When you were doing these films, did you ever expect that they'd be held in high esteem by a lot of film fans?" White replied, "No." "No idea, then, that you were creating films some people think are classics." "No." *** White, a preacher s son, was born in the Philippines in 1909. He was a world traveler, a pilot in WWII, and a prolific writer, leaving his engineering job with DuPont after selling his first story for $100. He is the author of 24 published novels, including the Edgar Award-winning DEATHWATCH. He died as the result of head injuries suffered in an automobile accident in Santa Barbara, California, in 1990. (Manuscript description and details copyright Moments of Being). Seller Inventory # 5556

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE TINGLER

Publication Date: 1959

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Near Fine