Tampa Film Fan

tampa’s own rondo hatton, the monster without the makeup

I had never heard of Rondo Hatton until my sister-in-law told me about him several years ago. Hatton moved to Tampa in 1912, attended the University of Tampa and returned to Tampa after serving in WWI. While writing a story about a movie being filmed in Tampa for the Tampa Tribune, Hatton was offered a movie role. He and his wife subsequently moved to Hollywood, where he was in more than 25 pictures.

What makes this different from Lana Turner being discovered in Schwab’s Drug Store (as the story goes) is that Hatton was chosen because he suffered from acromegaly, a hormonal disorder that deforms the face and other parts of the body. His best known role was the Creeper.

Hatton died in 1946 and is buried in the American Legion cemetery on Kennedy Boulevard here in Tampa.

The Tampa Tribune recently had an interesting column on Hatton, and the April issue of South Tampa magazine featured him as well. The magazine article mentioned that horror movie actor/art director/production designer Robert A. Burns (The Howling, Reanimator) has a website about Rondo Hatton and one day hopes to make a movie about him.

new film company in tampa

There’s a new film company in town! John Flynn, the former CEO of Stock Exchange, has created Faultline Pictures. They recently filmed Stiletto’s Sting in Big City Tavern in Ybor City. The film features several Floridians, including former radio personality Michelle Wargo, former WWE “Tough Enough” star Hawk Younkins, Kendra Farner and Maria Puma.

florida film commissioner has resigned

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Florida film commissioner Susan Albershardt has resigned.

interview with film producers of prisoner tonight at 6 p.m.

Tonight at 6 p.m., Tampa Bay’s Media Talk will feature an interview with Steve Matzkin and Sam Logan of Fresh Produce Films. They have just completed shooting Prisoner, a psycho-thriller scheduled for release this summer. Tampa Bay’s Media Talk airs live on Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. on WTAN 1340/1350 and WZHR 1400 (the audio stream is at www.tantalk1340.com) and is also available via webcast.

watch the longest yard friday with the tampa bay storm

The Arena Football League team the Tampa Bay Storm will host a screening of the new film The Longest Yard at AMC Veterans Expressway 24 this Friday, May 27 at 7 p.m. The entire team will be at the screening and will sign autographs after the screening. Several Storm players appeared in the football flick remake.

i’m back!

Having spent the last few days out of town for my father’s funeral, I’m anxious to get back to blogging. Thank you for all the condolences that have been expressed.

no posts for a few days

Due to a death in the family, I won’t be blogging for the next few days. Please check back next week. Thanks.

how has star wars affected you?

The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates that businesses will lose $627 million in employee productivity Thursday and Friday due to the new Star Wars movie. Employees will either take a vacation day or call in sick, or be lazier-than-usual at work because of having attended a midnight screening the night before. I think I’m coming down with a cold…sniff…

A University of Florida professor explains how and why the Star Wars films have become a permanent fixture in our culture.

A central Florida man is wearing his $1,200 Storm Trooper costume to tonight’s midnight screening. I bet he won’t be at work tomorrow either.

A disgruntled fan tells George Lucas to go to Hell.

sneak preview and author interview may 21 at regal citrus park stadium 20

On May 21, there will be a sneak preview of the upcoming film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at 55 Regal theaters across the U.S. The Regal Citrus Park Stadium 20 in the Citrus Park Town Center Mall is one of the chosen few.

At 1 p.m. ET, prior to the screening, there will be an interactive interview session with author Ann Brashares that will be simulcast to the participating theaters. Tickets are still available at www.BigScreenClassroom.com. The film opens nationwide on June 1.

an unconventional summer full of conventions

There’s a variety of conventions coming up in Tampa over the summer. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

June 24-26, 2005 (Tampa Convention Center) — Metrocon 3: A weekend-long celebration of the numerous facets of Japanese popular entertainment – from anime (Japanese animation), manga (Japanese comics), J-pop and J-Rock (Japanese pop and rock music, performed by “idols”) to cosplay (costume design and performance) and video games.

July 22-24, 2005 (Crowne Plaza Hotel at Sabal Park) — Earthbound:2005 Convention (TV show Space:1999): The British sci-fi TV series Space:1999 debuted in 1975. This is the 17th and final convention marking the 30th anniversary of this cult TV fave. Guests include Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow) and Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes). Their website states that this convention will benefit three charities (the Diabetes Research Institute, the National Parkinson Foundation and Francis House).

August 5-7, 2005 (Doubletree Hotel at Tampa Airport) — Vulkon Tampa Krypton: A convention for Superman fans. Guests include John Schneider (Johnathan Kent on Smallville), Noel Neill (Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman) and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in Superman).