I
s The real movre monster
Actor Rondo Hatton suffered from a disfiguring disease that landed him a brief and troubled career in Hollywood horror flicks. But, as Miles Fielder argues, his disgraceful treatment speaks volumes about the film industry.
ollywood has wooed and wasted countless
lives. btit l‘ew 'l‘insellown tragedies are as
abhorrent as what bel'ell Rondo Hatton. When Ilatton died of a heart attack A related to the giantism disease acromegaly which al'llicted him in his Beverly Hills home in I‘Mo aged just 5|. he'd already been gobbled up and spat out by the movie-making monster. His final film. The Brute .llun l 1946). was unceremoniously ol'l‘loaded to a small independent distribution outl'it by l'niversal Pictures. the studio having had what it wanted from its seven-year contract with Hatton. Ten years alter he arrived in Hollywood. his remains were shipped back to his adopted hometown of Tampa. lilorida. where his parents died. His two wives are also dead. and he never had children. He is survived by no one.
That might be the end ol Hatton‘s sorry story. were it not for the cult following his briel‘ spell as a bit part actor brought him. (ioogle him and you'll lind the results of last month's Third Annual Rondo Hatton ('lassic Horror Awards l‘recognising the best work in classic horror research. creativity and lilm preservation). The Sllth anniversary ol' Hatton's death next liebruary promises something special in fan circles. but the more mainstream minded may be alerted to him by the recent reissue ol the Basil Rathbone
HIM
Sherlock Holmes lilms. ol- which I‘M-1‘s The Pearl of
l)eutli is his most lamous lilm appearance.
Hatton’s is an iconic visage. Aside from his ttissle with Rathbone it‘s unlikely you'll be aware of the 25 or so (often uncredited) screen appearances he made. and yet it's just as likely that you'll recognise his striking lace. with its bi/arrely elongated features. It‘s appeared in 2(l(l().-\l) ‘.ludgc Dredd‘ strips and. care of SliX make—up veteran Rick Baker’s prosthetic homage. in the l‘)‘)l ltlttc‘khllle‘l‘ illit’ It’m'lveteer. In HUH_\'\\'()ULT. screenplays about his loused up life continue to be pitched lel‘t. right and centre — Tim Burton! Where are you'.’
It rachets up the tragedy of Hatton‘s story that in his early me he was everybody"s all—American. In high school he was popular. and a good athlete. After graduating he married and joined the lilorida National Guard to pursue a military career. lighting in the Mexican Border War and World War I. In lirance. however. he was exposed to poison gas and subsequently received a medical discharge.
Back in Florida. Hatton took work as a reporter on the lion/m TI'll’lllIt’. By this time the thus liar invisible genetic disorder he was born with began its terrible work on his lace and body. When he covered the lilming ol' the IUZ‘) war movie Hell Harbour tor the 'Iribune. the film‘s director Henry King cast him in a bit pan and suggested he move to Hollywood to take up a
10 THE LIST Si Me '-1 At"
HATTON HATED THE CRUDE WAY UNIVERSAL EXPLOITED
career in ‘acting'. limbarrassed by his appearance. Hatton politely declined. The years passed and his physical distortions became more acute. His wife left him and living a normal life became increasingly difficult. In l‘)34. he married Mabel Housh. who stayed with him until he died. and a couple of years later took the plunge and moved to Hollywood.
(iood to his word. King cast Hatton. most notably in In Old ('ln'eugo. Over the next few years he played hoods. muggers. pirates. and was ‘out-uglied‘ by (‘harles Laughton in The Hunchback o/‘Notre Danie. Then came The Pearl ofDeut/r. in which Hatton played the Hoxton Creeper. a mute heavy with a back— snapping murderous operandi. The film‘s success led to l’niversal signing him to one of its infamous seven-year contracts. thereal'ter exploiting his appearance in such lilms as The Jungle ('upu'i'e. and House of Horrors. which ol'l'icially introduced ‘Rondo Hatton as the (‘reeper'.
He always considered himself a reporter first and actor second. and hated the crude way Universal exploited him. But the contract was binding and he was forced to play various versions of his (‘reeper persona. When his heart gave out after a second and fatal attack. the contract still had live years to run.
Abhorrent as Hatton's treatment by Universal was. it‘s all the worse because across the studio lot at MGM head honcho Louis B Meyer was continuing with his suppression ol. the l932 l'ilm breaks. The story of love and murder among carnival performers disgusted Meyer. despite director Tod Browning (who grew up working the circtts) employing real life so-called l'reaks and portraying them in a sympathetic manner. Thus. even as MGM suppressed Browning's l'ilm. Universal was busy capitalising upon Hatton‘s freakish nature.
All of which poses the question: who was the real movie monster — Rondo Hatton or the well-groomed studio bosses who exploited him‘.’
MY FAVOURITE SCOTT [81 'l BOOls
WENSW CEOR,:_ i If
As part of our 100 Best Scottish Books campaign, with the winner being announced at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August. we invite public figures to nominate their own personal choices. This issue . . .
KIRSTY WARK
Where to begin? I think it I had to choose one, it would be The House with the Green Shutters by George Douglas Brown. It's about explaining how we got here, who we are; or some of us. anyway. l first read it when l was about 16 at the end of secondary school; it was so bleak and gum but there was a great beauty in the bleakness of it, I thought. It was in the house because we had a huge Scottish literature collection at home.
My number two would be James Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner which seems to me to be the forerunner of magic realism, apart from everything else; us Just fantastic. Obvrously there are things like Kidnapped; historical novels in Scotland are very strong and I'm very keen on those. One of the best short stories ever was the Robert Lows Stevenson one, 'Thrawn Janet'. Of more recent writers, I'd go for Robin Jenkins and Fergus Lamont.
I To vote for your laVOurite Scottish book, text the word ‘VOTE ' and the name of the book to 8 7800.