Some stills from my high school comedies:
"DON'T COUNT ON DRACULA"
Here's a link to
"A LOVE STORY?"
https://vimeo.com/27465668
A bored rich couple...
...decide to open an outdoor smorgasbord for the city's
homeless in...
"SOMETHING TO APPLY TO MY SORE"
Here's a link:
https://vimeo.com/27469916
And then the post-high school graduation comedy
epic of 1971:
Kevin Hurd as The lovelorn gardener...
...fired for drooling over Sally Allen, the dizzy
daughter and the apple of his eye.
Darrell Pugh is the frustrated cat burglar...
...who decides to disguise himself as a maid to enter
the mansion to steal the jewels! Little does he know, the gardener
has the same idea -- and they are BOTH hired.
During a break, and forgetting he doesn't have his wig
on, the cat burglar shocks a traveling Fullerbrush salesman (myself,
doing an R. Crumb imitation.)
"I wondered what freaked HIM out."
The "maids" serve punch at the house party...
...as well as freshly baked pies...
Chaos ensues...
Here is a link to
"MAID FOR EACH OTHER"
https://vimeo.com/27465129
Then it was many months living and traveling
throughout Mexico, filming everywhere, and eventually
creating a 40 minute documentary which in part was responsible for
my acceptance to the UCLA Motion Picture/Television
Department.
Here is a link to
"LAS TRES CULTURAS DE MEXICO"
https://vimeo.com/26800675
Perhaps my documentary on Mexico helped me
to get accepted to the UCLA Motion Picture/Television Department in
the Fall of 1973.
At UCLA in 1974 I directed "Occupant Of The Room"
and played the innkeeper who makes a horrifying discovery.
Here is a link to "Occupant Of
The Room":
https://vimeo.com/26795621
Also in 1974 I wrote and directed "Somewhere
In Ecuador" which was recorded on black and white videotape
The late Jeffrey Bermond, a talented actor and writer
from England, played the Inspector, who has combed the globe in search
of the elusive master criminal...
...played by the handsome, debonair Dan Reed, who
also starred in "Occupant Of The Room." (Whatever happened
to you, Dan? You had the makings of a great Hollywood leading man!)
The Inspector at last locates the Criminal at an out
of the way cantina in Ecuador, and they engage in a cat-and-mouse
repartee that leads to death!
Here is a link to "Somewhere
In Ecuador":
https://vimeo.com/30042455
But a funny thing happened upon graduating from film
school: I became a professional stage actor. Hence, I began directing
plays myself. One of my favorite shows was Tennessee Williams's "A
PERFECT ANALYSIS GIVEN BY A PARROT" performed in San Diego,
California.
A couple of Tennessee Williams ladies just
waiting for a couple of gentlemen callers....
I appeared briefly at the end as a partygoer. (See below
-- I'm on the left blowing the party favor. If the woman on
the right looks familiar to you, maybe you recall her from
the very end of "THE BLUES BROTHERS" movie. Sue
Strain was an extra in that classic, and wears the exact same
outfit!)