Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 27, 2013 9:29:24 GMT -5
The Curse of Rosemary’s Baby
A young couple move into a stunning Upper West Side apartment, fame-hungry husband befriends kooky elderly neighbors, elderly neighbors turn out to be part of a Satanic cult, husband makes Faustian pact with said satanic cult, pregnant wife goes crazy with paranoia … you know the rest of the story.
Plagued by a number of pre-production issues, the beleaguered producer of Rosemary’s Baby, William Castle, believed the film adaptation of Stepford Wives author Ira Levin’s 1967 bestseller to be cursed from the very beginning.
The actual filming of Rosemary’s Baby, however, was rather uneventful unless you count the various indignities suffered at the hands of Mia Farrow, including getting served divorce papers by husband Frank Sinatra or being forced to eat raw liver on camera by director Roman Polanski – at the time, Farrow was an avid vegetarian.
But things didn't start to get weird until after the film's release when Castle became afflicted with gallstones and composer Kryzystof Komeda died from a brain clot – just like the character Hutch in the film.
William Castle claimed to have received up to 50 abusive letters a day following the release of Rosemary’s Baby June 12, 1968 – exactly one week following the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In his 1976 autobiography, Step Right Up! I’m Gonna Scare the Pants Off America, Castle quoted some of the threats in those letters: "You have unleashed evil on the world" and "Rosemary’s Baby is filth and you will die as a result." But when Castle began suffering excruciating pains in his groin area, one taunt particularly hit home: "Bastard. Believer of Witchcraft. Worshiper at the Shrine of Satanism. My prediction is you will slowly rot during a long and painful illness which you have brought upon yourself."
On October 31, 1968 (Halloween of all days), Castle was preparing to fly to New York to discuss producing Neil Simon’s The Out of Towners when he collapsed. A spinal tap was required to remove a blockage in his urinary tract, but the problem recurred several times over the next few months and legend has it that during one emergency admission, Castle yelled out, "Rosemary, for God’s sake, drop the knife!"
Castle produced only two other films after Rosemary’s Baby, neither of which caused much of a stir: Riot in 1969 and Bug in 1975. Additionally, he executively-produced the TV series Circle of Fear and directed the curious Marcel Marceau vehicle Shanks in 1974. Castle died of a heart attack May 31, 1977, at the age of 63.
Of course, the real tragedy came a year and a half after the film's release, when, on August 9, 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, and four others, were savagely murdered by members of the Manson Family at a Hollywood Hills home once occupied by pop music producer, Terry Melcher, and his girlfriend, Candice Bergen. Not long before Melcher and Bergen moved out and Polanski and Tate moved into the home at 10050 Cielo Drive, Melcher had a falling out with Charles Manson, who, in addition to being a certified lunatic, was also an aspiring musician. Manson wanted Melcher, famed for his work with the Beach Boys and the Byrds, to work with him on a record, but Melcher declined, infuriating Manson. To this day, there is some question as to whether Manson was aware Melcher had moved out of the home when he ordered the killings. Polanski – whose ill-fortune continued several years later when he was charged with statutory rape of a minor – was in London at the time of the murders.
And here’s a string of creepy coincides tied to Rosemary’s Baby: Manson was famously obsessed with the Beatles’ "White Album" and went so far as to blame the record for his psychotic behavior. John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman at The Dakota (pictured above), the iconic Manhattan apartment building where Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse lived in Rosemary’s Baby and where the movie was filmed. And the subject of the Beatles' "White Album" hit, "Dear Prudence," was, in fact, Mia Farrow’s younger sister, Prudence Farrow, whom the band met while on a spiritual retreat in India.
Sources: Matt Hickman, MotherNatureNetwork, September 11, 2013, and Andre Soares, Paranoria, May 22, 2013.