KEVIN McCORRY, HOST: I’m Kevin McCorry and this is ‘Jukebox Journey.’
[MUSIC MONTAGE: “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies, “Candy” by Mandy Moore, “The Candyman” by Sammy Davis Jr., “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” by Harry McLintock”]
KM: We’re unstuck in time, jumping through decades and genres, meditating on a theme.
This week: Halloween movie costumes through history
You know you’ve made it when you’ve made Halloween. You can count box office, you can count awards, but a character that inspires a costume that goes mainstream: that’s the zeitgeist.
[CLIP: Bela Lugosi as Dracula in “Dracula”]
KM: In 1931, the film “Dracula” starring Bela Lugosi put the ‘vampire’ on the map for trick-or-treaters. with music by Franz Schubert.
[MUSIC: “Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, ‘Unfinished’” by Franz Schubert]
KM: Cut to the 1950s: age of the classic western.
[CLIP: John Wayne as Ethan Edwards in “The Searchers”]
KM: Scored by the likes of Max Steiner, with cowboy costumes a favorite of the decade.
[MUSIC: “The Searchers (Ride Away)” by Max Steiner]
KM: Every once in a while a film creates a character whose image transcends the legacy of the film itself.
[CLIP: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”]
KM: Such is the case with Audrey Hepburn’s portrayal of Holly Golightly in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Black dress, gloves, tiara, pearls and cigarette holder: $80 bucks online.
Being a college dorm poster mainstay for decades: priceless —as is Henry Mancini’s Oscar-winning original song.
[MUSIC: “Moon River” by Henri Mancini, as sung by Audrey Hepburn]
KM: Speaking of sex symbols … and candy.
[MUSIC: “Pure Imagination” as sung by Gene Wilder]
KM: The ‘70s gave us a range of still-classic Halloween looks. From a purple-coated Gene Wilder crooning as chocolatier Willy Wonka:
[MUSIC SWELL]
KM: To a white-suited John Travolta finger pointing and thrusting to the Bee Gees in Saturday Night Fever.
[MUSIC: “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees]
KM: By the 1980s, the popcorn was flowing with ready-to-be trademarked, lunchboxed and costumed characters.
From the actually frightening:
[MUSIC: “Freddy’s Coming for You” by Steve Jablonsky from “Nightmare on Elm Street”]
KM: To the comically weird:
[CLIP: Wynona Ryder and Michael Keaton in “Beetlejuice”]
[MUSIC: “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” by Harry Belafonte]
KM: To the sardonically cool:
[CLIP: Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudon and Bill Murray as characters in “Ghostbusters”]
KM: Some call the sequel: “Ghostbusters II.” I call it the movie where they use science to figure out that Jackie Wilson is key to beating an evil pink slime that’s somehow connected to a 16th century dude in a painting who comes to life and steals a baby.
[MUSIC: “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” by Jackie Wilson]
KM: By the late 90s, you were sure to see a steady stream up the block of flamboyant outfits, bad teeth and a catch phrase that people just couldn’t help themselves from saying, repeatedly.
[CLIP: Mike Meyers as Austin Powers in “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”]
[MUSIC: “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones]
KM: Mike Meyers plucked this 1962 Quincy Jones instrumental as his theme song.
[MUSIC SWELL]
KM: By the 2010s, with the advent of the on-demand everything era, a cottage industry rose up to lament the loss of the monoculture.
Counterpoint, exhibit A:
[MUSIC: “Let it Go” from “Frozen”]
KM: “Frozen” so dominated the trick or treat landscape for so long, that we’re only now seeing the wave recede.
Why? Has a replacement arrived? Well, if you didn’t see this coming, lucky you.
And if you did see this coming because you’ve heard it a million times in the past two months,.just go with it. You’re already numb.
[MUSIC: “Golden” by HunterX]
KM: It’s the giant hit from the movie “KPop Demon Hunters.”
So when you see the demon hunting girls tonight with long braided purple hair, they’re just the latest in a long tradition of cinema fantasy becoming our shared reality.
And with the neighborhood a-glow with kids beaming with pride in their chosen disguises, what could be more precious?
[MUSIC SWELL]
I’m Kevin McCorry and this has been a Jukebox Journey on WHYY.
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