Poini Outi, Thai Diamonds Can Provide Him Wit-h An Obvious Advantage° Castle Of Horrors The man behind Percepto, Coward's Corner and Illusion-O. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR The Diamond Tennis Bracelet. So versatile, you can wear it on the court or on the town. We will be happy to show him our wide variety. Fine Jewelers Est. 1919 ,Vince 1919 30400 Telegraph Rd. Suite 134, Bingham Farms • 642-5575 PEN OSCAR BRAUN'S LINCOLN TOWERS SUITE 111 968 5858 SALE 15075 W. Lincoln (101 MILE) Mon. thru Fri. 10 4 - /2 One Block East of Greenfield - CLOSED SATURDAY PARKER WATERMAN • CROSS • LAMY K-45 KITCHEN-AID MIXERS MONT EiLANC NOW ONLY $166.88 FOUNTAIN PENS 40% OFF MO EL PANASONIC BREAD MAKERS $185" $235.00 #144 NOW $139.95 Cuisinart BRAUN TOOTHBRUSH ON SALE SEIKO WATCHES 40-50% OFF PLAQUE REMOVER FOOD PROCESSORS NORELCO $3788 s69.00 INTERPLAK $3988 TRIPLE HEAD SHAVERS SONY - RCA TV'S L11 (/) LU CC LU LU 929.95 SONICARE TOOTHBRUSH $89.77 1=•=1•=5A. I Heating and Air Conditioning Ask about our Preventive Maintenance Program 810-335-4555 34 24 HOUR EMERGENCY. ERVICE W■ 1[11151111151.111MIWIMUTIMOWIMILYMASIMAIIIIMILII Q: Wow! Am I excited! I just fled, the Tingler could be killed heard that the wonderfully talent- only when a person screams. "In the film, the Tingler ed William Castle — certainly a gi- breaks loose in a movie theater ant among film directors — was and kills the projectionist," Mr. Jewish. Tell me it's so, Tell Me Waters writes. "In real theaters Why. where the film was playing, the A: This is your lucky day, my screen would go white at this friend, because William Castle, point and a voice would an- born in 1914 in New York, was nounce, 'Attention! The Tingler is loose in this theater. Please indeed Jewish. His original name was scream for your life.' " Mr. Waters was especially Schloss (German for "castle"), and he gained fame (or notori- delighted with Mr. Castles's ety) as a master of low-budget "Percepto," and he went to see horror films during the 1950s. The Tingler every day just to Who could forget the won- enjoy it. "As I sat there experi- derful Tingler, for example, encing the miracle of Percepto," when movie goers actually were he writes, "I realized that there shocked (via an electrical could be such a thing as Art in charge, called the "Percepto," rigged to the bottom of their chairs) during scary scenes? ("Preposter- ous but certainly orig- inal" is the way critic Leonard Maltin de- scribes this gem.) Or how about the utterly unforgettable Macabre, where Cas- tle had audiences in- sured by Lloyd's of London, lest they drop dead from fright. (Hearses were parked conspicuously outside movie theaters.) In the tradition of another genius, Ed Wood Jr., Castle filmed Macabre in nine days and at a William Castle: Now that was art. cost of $90,000. Other Castle creations in- the cinema." There were prob- cluded the "Coward's Corner" lems. In one city, the projec- where wimps, too fearful to see tionist decided to test the scary scenes, were forced to sit, electric buzzer on a group of old- and "Illusion-O," a 3-D "ghost er women watching The Nun's viewer" for his brilliant 13 Story. "I'm sure Audrey Hep- burn never got such a vocal re- Ghosts. And while, tragically, many action before or after this have forgotten Mr. Castle, it's `electrifying' scene." Mr. Castle died May 31, good to know that his genius continues to inspire some of the 1977, of a heart attack. leading film makers of today. John Waters, whose works Q: I was in Israel recently and I include Pink Flamingos, Poly- ester and Serial Mom, says in think I must have seen 200 differ- Crackpot that Castle was his ent newspapers: in Hebrew, in Eng- idol. lish, in Russian. That got me "Without a doubt, the great- thinking about exactlywhat the first est showman of our time was William Castle," he says. "His Hebrew-language paper published films made me want to make daily in Israel was — can Tell Me films. I'm even jealous of his Why help out? work. In fact, I wish I were A: The first Hebrew daily William Castle." Mr. Waters published in Eretz Yisrael was regards The Tingler Mr. Cas- Ha-Zevi, started by Eliezer tle's "masterpiece." The story of Ben-Yehuda and his son, a curious entity that lives in the Ithamar. spinal column and comes to life Ben-Yehuda was the man only when someone was terri- largely responsible for bringing Hebrew to Israel. He arrived in Palestine in 1881, when he joined the staff of the paper Havazzelet. But Ben-Yehuda found the Hebrew there archaic, and so he began to develop the language for modern usage. In an effort to create a spoken Hebrew for all Jews (one language, he believed, would serve to unite the disparate elements of the Jewish community), Ben-Yehuda be- gan compiling a modern He- brew dictionary and left Havazzelet to start his own pa- per, Ha-Zevi. Ha-Zevi was originally a weekly, then appeared sever- al times a week, and finally in 1908 became a daily. And while Ben-Yehuda and his son knew nothing of the National Enquirer, it didn't take them long to figure out what sold well. Unlike the stodgy, erudite publications usually found in Eretz Yisrael, Ha-Zevi had sensational head- lines — and terribly sentimen- tal pieces that brought readers to tears. Neither Havazzelet nor Ha- Zevi are around today, but a Hebrew daily started more than 75 years ago still is. Founded in 1919, Haaretz from the start attracted leading He- brew writers and journalists (Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was a reg- ular contributor). Today, it is probably Israel's most respect- ed newspaper. Q: Why is it that the scholar Moses Maimonides is also known as the Rambam? A: "Rambam" is an acronym for Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon. Born in 1135 to Joseph Mai- mon, a leading scholar in Cordoba, Spain, Moses Mai- monides was one of the great- est rabbinic authorities of all times. The author of the Mish- neh Torah (a systematic com- pilation of Jewish law, completed in 1180) and the Guide to the Perplexed (1190), he also was renowned as a court physician in Egypt. Maimonides died in about 1204. His tomb — a white, curved structure covered with tzedakah boxes — is in Tiberias, Israel. ❑ Send questions to "Tell Me Why" c/o The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034 or send fax to 354-6069. N