In this vaguely entertaining but rather unsatisfying autobio of the late filmmaker, Castle writes of his association with studio boss, Harry Cohn, who gave him his earliest breaks. Castle actually began in the theater, as both actor and stage manager, and he frequently inserts flashbacks to those days in the present-day narrative. After toiling for Columbia doing programmers, he became an associate producer for Orson Welles when the latter directed Lady of Shanghai (according to Castle this was originally a film for The Whistler series!) -- years later he produced Rosemary's Baby, among others -- but didn't really come into his own as a director until he tried to outdo Alfred Hitchcock and the success of Psycho. Because of this Castle got a reputation as a horror specialist, when actually many of his films were not really in that genre. Castle's horror flicks weren't always great -- on occasion they were downright awful -- but he did do some nifty items such as House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal, and Strait-Jacket. Castle became King of the Gimmicks, floating skeletons over audiences' heads, and wiring seats to give some patrons a shock (a really dumb idea). As much as I get a kick out of some of his movies, I didn't find myself especially liking or admiring Castle, who comes off as a self-absorbed and insensitive hustler more than anything else. I also found myself not believing much of what he's written (did Welles and James Agee really admire Castle's terrible When Strangers Marry?) The weirdest sections of the book deal with Castle's assertions that witches were responsible for his gall stones after Rosemary's Baby was released!
Verdict: Castle gets credit for making some fun movies that have stood the test of time, but this bio is hardly the last or most objective word on his career. **1/4.
Castle was a character. Thanks goodness he allowed Roman to direct Rosemary! And Castle is great in that brief menacing scene in the phone booth with Farrow; Polanski was smart to let his producer have that cameo!!
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Caste loved being seen on-screen!
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