Actor Lawrence Tobin, who played "Savage" in the fantastic backwoods melodrama SHANTY TRAMP, recently took time off from his busy theatrical schedule to offer THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY an interview chronicling his participation in this magnificent film. The next voice you hear will be...
the SAVAGE from Hell!
KGM.COM: Tell us about Studio M, and how you got your start in theatre.
LT: Studio M started in the late 1950's, in a converted garage in Coral Gables. This beloved little theatre has the honor of hosting the very first production of Tennessee William's "Sweet Bird of Youth". Williams, who lived in nearby Coconut Grove at the time, was still doing rewrites on opening night, banging out pages of new dialogue on an old typewriter set up in a nearby alley!
I had done some theatre work in the Miami area previously, and moved my productions to Studio M in the mid 1960's.
My previous theatrical work was in New York, New Jersey and Boston, and includes producing and directing two off-Broadway plays: Shunned (1960-1) and Purple Canary (1963.)
One of my first productions at Studio M was Edward Albee's "The American Dream". My various productions were well received, and the manager of Studio M asked me to stay on and mount more productions. There was only one problem: getting the tight-fisted operator to come up with budgets for new plays!
Frustrated, I eventually proposed to the manager to run the theatre for him. I took over operations of Studio M in the summer of 1967. I and my loyal company worked like dogs, mounting four pairs of one-act plays, offering two shows a day, seven days a week!
My efforts were duly rewarded: some of the plays produced at this time were amongst the most well-received in the theatre's history.
(KGM.COM: Several people used in K. Gordon Murray's films were recruited from a Studio M production of "The Connection", a play about drug dealers, which was also produced at Julian Beck's famous Living Theatre in New York City. Both Bill Kelly and Bill Read from SAVAGES FROM HELL were in the Studio M production of "The Connection".)
Unfortunately, I eventually came to find out that the rent I had been handing over to the leaseholder was ending up in his pocket! Our near-starving troupe was kicked out, and the space was subsequently turned into a Jaguar dealership!
My company desperately searched for affordable space in the area. We eventually opened a new company, called "The Upstage," housed quaintly on the 2nd floor of the Coconut Grove US Post Office!
And as they say in show biz, the rest is history!
KGM: And since then?
LT: I have held various jobs with the government, and worked on some theatrical productions as well.
KGM: Tell us about your film work.
LT: Well, I have had the distinction of having worked for two legendary Florida filmmakers, K. Gordon Murray and Herschell Gordon Lewis.
I acted as Detective Crane in Lewis' magnum opus, A TASTE OF BLOOD. Good film, but it could have been about 30 minutes shorter. Ironically, A TASTE OF BLOOD also featured other SHANTY TRAMP alumni, including Eleanor Vaill as a secretary, Otto Schlessinger as Von Helsing, and Bill Rogers as the vampire! (KGM: Schlessinger and Valli also worked together in Lewis' extremely obscure THE GIRL, THE BODY AND THE PILL (1967)).
I have nothing but fond memories of working on A TASTE OF BLOOD. If nothing else, the salary I got from Lewis enabled me to open 'The Upstage'!
I also did a good deal of dubbing and voiceover work during this period. My fondest memory was dubbing 36 episodes of the beloved Japanese cartoon series, PRINCE PLANET. I supplied the voice for the lead adult, a professor or something. Another voice actor in the series, Sandy Warshaw, has informed me that there is rumored to be a big PRINCE PLANET reunion in the works. (KGM: Cultfilm fans know also that Murray's chief scribe, Reuben Guberman, was the principal writer on the English-language version of this great anime series. Warshaw also did all of the female voices for the English-language version of 8TH MAN).
Other film work I did includes a very obscure sex comedy, which remains unreleased, originally entitled SPERM WARFARE! The film involved a raid on a nobel laureates' sperm bank! The title was changed to TIGHT GENES, and then STROKE OF GENIUS! My co-stars, believe it or not, were Karen Black and Jackie Mason!
I also acted in a wonderful TV movie, ROAD TO FREEDOM: THE VERNON JOHNS STORY (1994), about the Alabama preacher who did so much for the nascent civil rights movement. I don't know if most people know this, but many TV movies were filmed in both "hot" and "cold" versions, the "cold" version being the one aired on network TV, and the "hot" version, with more racy scenes, was sold theatrically in Europe. This was common practice then.
In the cold version of THE VERNON JOHNS STORY, all my obscene and racist lines were cut. I've never seen the hot one!
KGM: How did you get your role in SHANTY TRAMP?
LT: Well, I was "Savage" of course, the amoral head of the motorcycle gang. I was one of the only ones who rode his own cycle, by the way. I clearly remember the casting call for SHANTY TRAMP. I walked into the the casting office, and Reuben Guberman, the writer, pointed at me and shouted, "That's my 'Savage'!"
KGM: Do you have any information about other members of the cast and crew of SHANTY TRAMP?
LT: Well, good old Reuben Guberman was a prolific writer, if a bit overweight. Otto Schlessinger played Emily's father. I thought he was great in the role. Lee Holland's real name was Eleanor Vaill, and she was recruited from Studio M.
Otto and Ellie subsequently got married (KGM.COM: !!!) and then divorced prior to his death. I don't know where she is but would love to hear from her.
Bill Rogers played the preacher, of course, and I recall him as being the only non-union actor on the project. I still marvel at how he got away with it.
Now, the great Ray Aranha played Daniel, the black martyr of the film. Ray was formerly a teacher, and I believe he was a parole officer for Miami County at the time of the shooting.
Ray was quite successful in the theatrical world. He had two plays on Broadway: "My Sister, My Sister." And "Sons of Fathers & Fathers of Sons". He was in "Fences", with James Earl Jones. When the play went on tour, Ray took over Jones' role. Ray was associated with the Folger Shakespeare Company and the Hartford Stage Company.
Ray was also more recently on Broadway in the shortlived "Parade" (and maybe others).
KGM: Any memories of the shooting and production of SHANTY TRAMP?
LT: The entire first cast, but for myself and Lee Holland, was fired by idiosyncratic director Prieto! Also, although the majority of the film was shot in the tiny Empire Studios in Dania, Florida, some of the exteriors were shot on location at a local bar (KGM: possibly Monroe Station, the same location used in SAVAGES FROM HELL). Sadly, I recall that Ray Aranha was not even allowed into the bar...
As you already mention in your website, SHANTY TRAMP was actually banned in Miami! After the controversial release of SHANTY TRAMP, there was a even a morals trial in Miami, at which Judge Donald Stone berated Ray for his work in this "filthy picture"! Stone not only berated Ray for his work in SHANTY TRAMP, he also caused him to lose his job and effectively drove him out of town!
Boy, those were the days!
Many thanks to Mr. Tobin for sharing his SHANTY TRAMP memories, and some amazing photographs, with THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY!
In addition, Mr. Tobin has started a website tribute to THE UPSTAGE theatre group.
