The Horse's Head

Today, The Horse’s Head turns nine years old, and I’d like to mark the occasion by honoring a TV show that has been a major influence on this blog since the very beginning. “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (aka “MST3K”) is my go-to comfort show, and it has come up on this blog with some regularity over the years. So it only seemed natural to salute “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and point out some surprising connections the show has to the National Film Registry.

For starters, a quick summary of “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. Created by stand-up comedian Joel Hodgson, the original run of “MST3K” ran from 1988 to 1999, first locally on KTMA in Saint Paul, Minnesota, then nationally on the Comedy Channel (which begat Comedy Central), and finally on the Sci-Fi Channel. A revival series ran from 2017 to 2022, first on Netflix, then on the show’s own streaming service Gizmoplex. Despite all these changes, the basic premise was always the same: A person trapped on a space station orbiting Earth is forced to watch terrible movies as part of an evil experiment. To retaliate, the person (initially Hodgson himself, later Mike Nelson) and their robot pals Tom Servo and Crow provide snarky commentary throughout the movie, riffing on the films’ poor production qualities while silhouettes of them sitting in a theater appear on the bottom of the screen. In short, “Mystery Science Theater” is the greatest TV show concept for any film lover, turning even the worst dreck into a “so-bad-it’s-good” viewing experience.

Throughout its runs, over 200 movies and shorts were riffed on “MST3K”, and although none of them have made the NFR (so far), many of them have a connection or two with the Registry. Most of these connections come through shared cast and crew, especially the handful of B movies on the NFR. For example, Roger Corman directed NFR entry “House of Usher”, but also at least five MST3K films, including “The Undead”, and “Teenage Caveman”. Several “MST3K” episodes feature a prolific film legend on their way up (John Williams composed the score for “Daddy-O”, Clint Eastwood played a bit part in “Revenge of the Creature”) or more likely on their way down. (John Carradine in “The Unearthly”, Basil Rathbone in “The Magic Sword”, half the cast of “Angels’ Revenge”). The list of shared personnel goes on and on (heck, both lists feature Lassie!), but my favorite of all “MST3K”/NFR connections comes from a boom operator on “Unforgiven” who also worked for the sound team on “The Final Sacrifice”: the wonderfully named Kelly Zombor.

While no NFR movie was ever featured on “MST3K”, there are some honorable mentions, most of them courtesy of various specials made by the “MST3K” team throughout their run. Clips from “Pulp Fiction”, “Forrest Gump”, “The Lion King”, “Hoop Dreams”, and “The Shawshank Redemption” made appearances during the “MST3K Little Gold Statue Preview Special”, “L.A. Confidential” and “Titanic” were featured on the “Academy of Robots’ Choice Awards Special”, and “Saving Private Ryan” was briefly mocked on the “2^nd Annual Summer Blockbuster Review”. There are also several NFR titles that have received commentaries from Rifftrax, a follow-up to “MST3K” from former head writer/star Michael J. Nelson. As of this writing, over 20 NFR titles have a Rifftrax commentary, from “Casablanca” to “Star Wars” to “The Dark Knight”. Special mention to the Rifftrax of “Titanic”, which features a rare reprise of an “MST3K” riff: “I’m going to sink this bitch.”

But the National Film Preservation Board hasn’t completely ignored the cheesy movies of “MST3K”: there are a number of “MST3K” films and shorts that are on the Library of Congress’ official list of movies not yet on the Registry. In chronological order, they are:

• A Case of Spring Fever (1940) (short)
• Hired! (1940) (short)
• The Chicken of Tomorrow (1948) (short)
• A Date with Your Family (1950) (short)
• The Home Economics Story (1951) (short)
• Rocketship X-M (1951)
• Radar Men from the Moon (1952) (serial)
• Robot Monster (1953)
• Bride of the Monster (1955)
• This Island Earth (1955)
• Beginning of the End (1957)
• I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
• Mr. B. Natural (1957) (short)
• The Undead (1957)
• War of the Colossal Beast (1958)
• The Phantom Planet (1961)
• The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962)
• Eegah (1962)
• The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1963)
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
• Teenage Strangler (1964)
• Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
• Marooned (1969) (aired on “MST3K” under the name “Space Travelers”)
• The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
• Mac and Me (1988)

By my count that’s 25 movies, the same number of movies added to the NFR every year. Coincidence? Yes! How or why any of these made the LoC’s list I have no idea, and while I have my doubts that any of them will ever make the NFR cut, if I had to pick one, hmmm….I dunno, “This Island Earth”? It’s in “E.T.” so that must count for something. I’ll say this, though: if the NFR ever wanted to add one of these movies to the list purely by virtue of its awfulness, “Manos” would make it in a heartbeat.

So thank you, “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, for getting me through some tough times and making me laugh so much over the years. And thanks for reminding all of us that you can learn as much from the bad movies as you can from the quote-unquote “classics”. As for me, Year Ten of The Horse’s Head has officially begun!

Happy Viewing and Keep Circulating the Tapes,
Tony

There’s not much I can say about “Leave Her to Heaven” without spoiling some of the film’s key moments. Consider yourself warned.

The Plot: Novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) meets socialite Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train in New Mexico, and a brief flirtation begins. It turns out they are both staying with the same mutual friend, attorney Glen Robie (Ray Collins), which gives Richard a chance to meet Ellen’s family, including her adopted sister Ruth (Jeanne Crain). After a few days together, Ellen announces that she is marrying Richard, a surprise to everyone, including Richard, but especially to Ellen’s now ex-fiancé Russell Quinton (Vincent Price). Ellen and Richard’s marriage quickly takes a turn for the worse, with Ellen becoming increasingly possessive of Richard, and jealous of the time he spends with his kid brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) and her sister. And if you think you know where this dark psychological drama is going, no you don’t.

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film for being “the magnificent exception” to the rules of film noir. The work of Tierney and cinematographer Leon Shamroy is celebrated as well.

But Does It Really?: I saw “Leave Her to Heaven” for the first time about 15 years ago, and it has stayed with me as one of the great underrated Classic Hollywood movies of the ‘40s. “Leave Her to Heaven” stands out because it seems to break all the rules of classic filmmaking. It has all the hallmarks of film noir, but it’s in color and in broad daylight. It stars one of the most glamorous movie stars of the era, yet her character is unredeemable with complex, unspoken motivations. “Leave Her to Heaven” continues to shock and surprise 80 years later, and is definitely worth a watch, to say nothing of its deserving spot on the Registry.

Everybody Gets One: Cornel Wilde started his career as a professional fencer, but when Laurence Olivier hired him as a fencing instructor for his Broadway production of “Romeo and Juliet”, Olivier cast Wilde as Tybalt, and the performance got him film offers in Hollywood. The same year Wilde starred in “Heaven”, he was loaned out to Columbia to play Frédéric Chopin in “A Song to Remember”, which earned him an Oscar nomination. “Heaven” is also the sole credited NFR appearance for fellow Fox contract player Jeannie Crain (she appears in the chorus of “The Gang’s All Here”). After “Heaven”, Crain received an Oscar nomination for Elia Kazan’s “Pinky” for playing…a light-skinned Black woman!? Oh no…

Title Track: Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! It’s from “Hamlet”. Act I, Scene V, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father telling Hamlet not to blame his mother for his murder. “Leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” Finally, my theater degree’s paying off!

Seriously, Oscars?: One of the biggest hits of 1945, “Leave Her to Heaven” received four Oscar nominations, winning one for Leon Shamroy’s cinematography. Gene Tierney received the only Oscar nomination of her career, losing Best Actress to Joan Crawford for “Mildred Pierce”.

• As far as I can tell, the movie is pretty faithful to the book. Weirdly enough, despite the fame and availability of the movie, the novel “Leave Her to Heaven” has been out of print for years.
• California’s Bass Lake near Yosemite doubles for this movie’s Deer Lake, Maine. Here, Glen Robie recounts the events of the film via flashback, making Deer Lake one of filmdom’s most scenic framing devices.
• Cornel Wilde and Gene Tierney have some wonderful chemistry together, especially in their first scene on the train. Tierney in particular threads her character’s needle very well. You know something is different with Ellen, but it’s intriguing, mysterious; it makes you want to learn more about her. You can’t fault Richard at this point for wanting to spend more time with her.

• My only other experience with Gene Tierney is in her fellow NFR film “Laura”. Both play to her strengths as enigmatic objects of desire, but Ellen is hands down the more interesting character, and Tierney is clearly relishing the role of a lifetime. Prior to my post-viewing research, I assumed Tierney’s career after the 1940s declined as a result of retirement or being overlooked in favor of younger starlets. Turns out neither is true; sadly Tierney’s career started to wane in the 1950s due to a number of personal issues we won’t get into here. Although she stayed out of the limelight during these rough patches, Tierney still got plenty of film and TV offers, and would occasionally return to the screen when she was in better health.

• Boy this movie sure takes its time getting started. You can tell it’s based on a book; a lot of character development and little episodes before we finally get to the meat of things.
• I’m still not used to seeing young Vincent Price in movies. Price was 34 when making “Heaven”, and is not sporting his trademark mustache, which makes him look even younger. As much as his later work in horror movies seeps into his film persona, given how intense Ellen has been acting I’m actually scared for Vincent. 
• Danny is getting his polio treatment in Warm Springs, Georgia. Say hi to FDR while you’re there!
• Despite being a full-fledged adult, I regress into my 12-year-old self anytime a character in a movie is named Dick, especially when other characters say things like “Has Dick been busy lately?” and “Can we show Dick tomorrow?” Stop that, you’re making me giggle!
• It always amuses me in classic movies when the leading lady goes to bed in full hair and makeup while wearing a skintight nightgown. Also, watching Richard and Ellen sleep in separate beds in this movie made me realize that sales for nightstands must have doubled once married couples started sharing beds. 
• My god Ellen’s psychotic. And she’s not being shy about it, I feel like she’s throwing plenty of red flags for everyone to notice. It’s like a gender-swapped “Gaslight”.
• I knew the scene where Ellen takes Danny out swimming in the lake was coming, but damn if it didn’t take my breath away again this time. Ellen is so cold the whole time, patiently waiting for Danny to stop fighting the water and drown. It’s chilling. Also I appreciate the sequence’s lack of a score, it really ramps up the suspense. Take a breather, Alfred Newman. You’ve earned it.

• As I said before, you can’t fault Richard for being drawn to Ellen in the first place, or even for being in denial when her psychosis becomes more obvious. What I can fault Richard for is not dedicating his book to his wife. Rookie mistake, man.
• I really don’t want to spoil the next big evil turn Ellen takes, so I’m just going to say the word “stairs” and if you know you know. I just kept saying “oh my god” over and over again while watching that scene.

• My main question for this movie is “How did the Hays Code permit any of this?” The Code had its qualms with the story, with major notes given to the aforementioned stair scene. Their other major request was to downplay the affair between Richard and Ruth, which actually improves the movie; we never know for sure if there was an affair or if it’s just Ellen’s paranoia. But what I really want to know is how did the Code approve of Ellen committing suicide? We know from “Double Indemnity” that the Hays Code didn’t consider suicide a justifiable form of punishment for the bad guy, so how did they get away with it here? Is it because Ellen confessed to the murders beforehand? I can definitely see “Leave Her to Heaven” being an early crack in the Production Code armor.
• Before she succumbs to her own poison, Ellen has one hell of a deathbed scene. Tierney plays it a little too over the top; maybe the melodrama of it played okay in 1945, but I imagine this scene gets a few unintentional chuckles at modern screenings. 
• Ellen’s final act of evil is framing Ruth for her suicide, turning the film’s last half hour into a courtroom drama with Vincent Price’ Quinton – now the county district attorney – grandstanding at the chance to grill his ex-girlfriend’s sister and husband. Price is clearly having a ball, but can Quinton serve as D.A. in a case pertaining to his ex-girlfriend’s death? Isn’t that a huge conflict of interest? Speaking of attorneys, Glen Robie sucks. Now I’m not one of your fancy city lawyers, but shouldn’t he be shouting “Objection” any time Quinton starts asking leading or prejudicial questions to Ruth and Richard? Shouldn’t he call a doctor to the stand to question Ellen’s mental state? And remember, Robie’s narrating the movie, so this is all his version of the story. “Yes, Quinton kept hounding my clients with question after question. And what did I do, you ask? Jack squat.”
• What a weird ending. Everything gets summed up very quickly by Robie, and we get one final shot of Richard and Ruth at the lake house. I’m not sure how much of this ending is true to the book, but after everything I’ve been through in the last two hours I was left thinking “Wait, that’s it?”

• While “Leave Her to Heaven” isn’t as well remembered as other noir thrillers of the era, it is not without its devoted fans. Among them, Martin Scorsese, which is all the reasoning I need to explain how this movie got on the NFR.

One of the harder NFR entries to track down, “Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!” has finally made its way online. Thanks as always to resident NFR tracker Benjamin Wilson for finding this film.

The Plot: Alejandro Hernández (Efrain Gutiérrez) is a young Chicano in San Antonio, Texas, struggling with what to do with his life. Having recently buried his older brother Ricardo (Richard Garza), who died while fighting in Vietnam, Alejandro begins meditating on what it means to be Chicano in a White man’s world. Low on money, Alejandro resorts to a life of crime, starting with robberies and eventually getting involved in a heroin deal. But that’s just scratching the surface of a film billed as the first Chicano feature ever made.

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up gives some historical context for the film, with a quote from Chon Noriega of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, who salutes the film for being “important as an instance of regional filmmaking, [and] as a bicultural and bilingual narrative”.

But Does It Really?: I had to sit with “Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!” for awhile after my viewing. On the one hand, “Please Don’t” is definitely one of the NFR’s rougher entries in terms of production value, with some pretty raw guerrilla filmmaking through the streets of San Antonio. On the other hand, while there are other films on the NFR covering the Chicano movement of the early ‘70s, this film feels more like a counterargument to those other films. The likes of “I Am Joaquín” and “Chicana” highlight the perseverance and optimism of the movement, but “Please Don’t” takes a more realistic, pessimistic approach, which is an obvious downer, but I found it more compelling to watch. While “Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!” isn’t the most entertaining or polished film on the Registry, it has the unique qualities I’m looking for in a good entry. I support the film’s NFR induction, and I’m equally glad that it has finally shown up online.

Everybody Gets One: Born in San Antonio, Efrain Gutiérrez moved around a lot as a child while his family looked for migrant work throughout the midwest. A move to L.A. saw Gutiérrez enroll at East Los Angeles College, where he first took theater classes. Upon his return to San Antonio, Gutiérrez founded his own theater company and began making films. Gutiérrez was inspired to make “Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!” after he witnessed a friend receive a 10-year prison sentence for drug possession after seeing a White person receive a shorter sentence for the same crime. 

Hello dear readers,

This is typically the point in the year where the Library of Congress announces its 25 newest inductees to the National Film Registry and I take a closer look at which movies I’ll be forcing myself to watch over the next few years. Unfortunately, in keeping with how the rest of 2025 has gone, things are a bit different this year.

It was revealed last week at the annual Associate of Moving Image Archivist conference (AMIA 2025) that the next NFR announcement has been delayed until late January 2026 due to the ongoing impact of the federal government shutdown. While I find this very disappointing, at least it’s a confirmation that there will in fact be an NFR announcement, and we all just have to wait a little longer.

So what does that mean for The Horse’s Head? Last week’s “Purple Rain” post was always meant to be my final regular post of the year, and I’ll be taking my usual time off for the holidays. The Horse’s Head will return in January, but in lieu of the Class of 2025 I’ll be posting some write-ups that are already “in the can” (including one of the NFR’s most elusive titles). Once the Class of 2025/2026 is announced, I’ll start adding these new movies into the rotation. So…business as usual I guess.

That all being said, this is my last update to the blog for 2025, so I will take this time to thank all of you for making this hands-down the most successful year in The Horse’s Head’s nine year history. I still think of this blog as something I write just to entertain myself, so seeing other people discover and share my work is an honor I don’t take for granted. Very special thanks to the Knights of the NFR: finders of obscure films and authors of the never-ending email thread. Always a pleasure seeing that new message in my inbox.

One more thing before I go: As some of you may know, the National Film Preservation Act (the laws that make the NFR happen) is currently set to expire at the end of FY26. While it has always been renewed in years past, I don’t need to remind you that we are living in very different times. I’m choosing to stay optimistic, but as a precaution please consider reaching out to your local member of Congress to make sure they help continue this nearly 40 year tradition of honoring significant American films. I know it’s not the most important item on anyone’s list, but whenever art of any kind is celebrated, everyone wins. Fingers crossed we’ll be gathered here this time next year to talk about the Class of 2026, with many more to come.

The Plot: The Kid (Prince) performs with his funk rock band The Revolution nightly at the First Avenue club in Minneapolis. One night, he meets aspiring performer Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero) and after some initial resistance, the two begin a romantic relationship. Apollonia is also being wooed by Morris Day (Morris Day), the lead singer of rival group The Time who wants Apollonia for a girl group that can take over The Revolution’s house band slot at First Avenue. As working relationships within The Revolution become strained, Prince struggles to come up with a new song while simultaneously dealing with his new relationship and the escalating fights between his parents (Clarence Williams III & Olga Karlatos). And if none of that interests you, there’s still plenty of prime Prince music to hold your attention.

Why It Matters: The NFR gives “Purple Rain” its proper historical context, calling it the film that “secured [Prince’s] place as a movie star and entertainment legend.”

But Does It Really?: Sometimes I have to remind myself that the NFR’s criteria is films that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. Nowhere does it say that these films need to be good; such is the case with “Purple Rain”. As a narrative feature it’s a mess, impeded by Prince’s stilted acting and some increasingly problematic story beats. But “Purple Rain” didn’t make the NFR based on its strength as a film, but rather as representation of Prince: one of the most prolific, influential artists of this or any time. If you’re a Prince fan, “Purple Rain” is a perfect ‘80s time-capsule, and while the film itself is far from essential, Prince’s sheer star-power makes “Purple Rain” an undeniably iconic moment in pop culture.

Everybody Gets One: Easily the least mid-western person to ever come out of Minnesota, Prince Rogers Nelson was named after his father John L. Nelson’s stage name from his jazz pianist days – Prince Rogers. Prince started writing music and playing guitar in his childhood, and by 19 his demo recordings landed him a contract with Warner Bros. Records. By the early ‘80s, Prince (with his band The Revolution) had scored such hits as “I Wanna Be Your Lover”, “1999”, and “Little Red Corvette”, and made it known to his management that he wouldn’t renew his contract unless he could star in a movie. Prince wrote the initial treatment himself before handing it off to screenwriter William Blinn, whose screenplay was originally titled “Dreams”.

Title Track: “Purple Rain” was conceived as a country song Prince would co-write with Stevie Nicks. When Nicks backed out, Prince collaborators Wendy & Lisa gave it a more rock ballad feel, and the rest is history. As for the title, Prince’s description is a continuation of his religious influence, with a blue sky turning red ahead of Judgement Day, creating purple rain.

Seriously, Oscars?: Although none of the individual songs in “Purple Rain” received an Oscar nomination, Prince won an Oscar in the category of Original Song Score. Side note: The Song Score category technically still exists, now known as Best Musical, and is only presented when enough original musicals are released in a calendar year for the Academy’s music branch to “activate” the category. 1984 was the last year this award was handed out, and given the dearth of original movie musicals in the last 40 years, “Purple Rain” is most likely the category’s final recipient. 

• While there are many biographical elements in “Purple Rain”, I can’t find anything suggesting that Prince’s home life was as horrendous as depicted here. Shoutout to Clarence Williams III for proving there’s life after “Mod Squad”.
• And then Apollonia proves her devotion to the Kid but stripping down and cleansing herself in Lake Minnetonka. Maybe I’ve been too hasty condemning this movie…
• Prince’s cold working relationship with band members Wendy & Lisa is not too far from real life, with Prince more-or-less firing the two when he dissolved The Revolution in 1986. Although Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman are no longer romantically involved with each other, they continue to collaborate on their music to this day.

• If you haven’t picked up on it yet, this movie has some serious issues with women: Spousal abuse, verbal harassment, plus the scene where Morris’ assistant Jerome throws a woman in a dumpster! Many critics have complained about this film’s misogynistic streak since its release, with a recent article for Far Out Magazine suggesting the film should be removed from the NFR! While this point is well taken, I’m here to tell you: If you removed every movie on the NFR with this much mistreatment of women, there’d only be about three movies left. I’m not saying that any of this is acceptable, but it is an unfortunate part of our cultural heritage and a reminder that we can and must do better. 
• Random thing I found in my research: Replicas of that weird cone puppet Prince talks to/for were sold exclusively during the “Purple Rain” tour in 1984-1985, with one recently selling on eBay for $4000!
• This is what it looks like when montages cry. Turns out this film’s random mid-movie montage is carrying on a long-standing film tradition: montages made up of scenes cut from the movie. Prince wrote “When Doves Cry” to cover the montage, which explains the song’s vague movie-related lyrics (“Maybe I’m just like my father”). Astonishingly, “When Doves Cry” was the breakout single of the “Purple Rain” album upon its release.

• “Darling Nikki” is easily the dirtiest song in the movie, and had an unintentional impact on our culture. In 1985, future second lady Tipper Gore heard her 11 year old daughter Karenna listening to this song, and long story short, records now have the “Parental Advisory” sticker for explicit content.

• Apollonia’s solo number “Sex Shooter” is definitely the film’s low-point, but it’s an appropriate time to point out that “Purple Rain” is one of two NFR movies to receive a Razzie nomination (the other is “The Shining”). Apollonia Kotero was nominated for Worst New Star, and “Sex Shooter” was up for Worst Song. While it lost both categories, I won’t disagree with these nominations.
• Prince clearly has a penchant for capes; both he and Apollonia wear them at different points in the movie.  Is it any wonder he did the songs for “Batman”?
• Yes, the performance of “Purple Rain” is iconic, but at this point in my viewing I was ready for it to all be over. Prince follows up “Purple Rain” with two encores, some sort of phallic guitar hose, the mandated freeze-frame ending all good ‘80s movies have, and credits that feature the entire album on shuffle.

• There’s no way I can cover all of Prince’s post-“Purple Rain” career in a brief paragraph. Suffice it to say he continued being an untouchable rock icon until his unexpected death in 2016, leaving behind a legacy of music and more unfinished projects than Orson Welles. The NFR induction of “Purple Rain” is just one of countless posthumous honors Prince has received.
• Although Albert Magnoli only directed a handful of movies in his career, his work on “Purple Rain” kept him in Prince’s orbit through the rest of the ‘80s; directing some of his music videos, ghost-directing his concert film “Sign o’ the Times”, and even serving as his manager for a few months in 1989!

• Tangentially related, but worth a mention: During a contractual dispute with Warner Bros. in the early 1990s, Prince refused to perform under his stage name, opting instead for the unpronounceable “Love Symbol” and being referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince”. Late-night comedians had a field day with that one.
• While “Purple Rain” still gets referenced throughout pop culture, I would argue it’s the album and not necessarily the movie that’s getting the nod. The legacy of “Purple Rain” was summed up best by Agent Mulder in a 1997 episode of “The X-Files”: “Great album. Deeply flawed movie, though.”

Listen to This: The “Purple Rain” album made the National Recording Registry in 2011, with the NRR calling it “provocative and controversial”. Guest essayist Eddie Santiago provides a thorough write-up on the production and impact of “Purple Rain”.