I'm sure it helped to be barely seven years old (an impressionable age) in early 1964 when I first saw it. I believe its second episode was shown at the same time as the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on another channel. In fact, IIRC, I
missed the second episode, initially, because the grown-ups wanted to watch the Ed Sullivan Show that night.
Of course, I caught it later in re-runs -- though I don't think Disney ever re-ran it many times (indeed, I don't believe Disney showed it again in its entirety for a very long time), allegedly because it literally scared the p!$$ out of lots of little kids, who started bedwetting again because of it, and Disney got complaints about it.
(Hammer Films came out with their own version of, or take on, the same basic story, under a different title --
Captain Clegg, a.k.a.
Night Creatures -- within a year or so of the Disney version; the funny thing is that in this one case Disney actually sort of out-Hammered Hammer, producing a more eerie and thrilling film. It was certainly a brilliant bit of costume design: so simple yet so effective; you could almost
smell the damp straw and rotting burlap, and the bird-droppings on the shoulders were a nice touch too.)
Seeing this at age seven in 1964 may explain why I never wanted to be a Beatle, or any kind of musician. Instead I wanted to grow up to be something more-or-less like the Other Guy -- the masked night rider with the fiendish laugh.
From a post of mine in a year-old thread on a related topic (the death of actor Patrick McGoohan, who played the dual/split-personality role of Dr. Syn, alias the Scarecrow):
"The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (better known by its video title of Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow) introduced a generation of impressionable youths to the questionable activities and morals of a bootlegger and his highly organized criminal enterprise. There's a lot of talk these days by both the lefties and the righties about how the media glamorizes scofflaws and teaches our obese little brats to flout authority, but they seem to forget that Uncle Walt himself was doing exactly the same blasted thing with anti-law and order propaganda like The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.
It's 1700s Britain and the no account marsh people don't want to pay their taxes so they resort to hijacking various loads of goods and smuggling them here and there for a handsome profit.
The whole operation is organized and run by a dude dressed up like a scarecrow! No one knows who he is except for a few of his closest friends and he brooks no back talk or disloyalty from his minions!
His voice is from the Devil himself, a guttural sound barking orders and laying out complex schemes to foil the king's men, but it's his trademark laugh that instills fear in all those within earshot! Simply put, it's the laugh of a retarded maniac!"
" Let me tell you something pardner. If you hear the Scarecrow's theme song and you aren't ready to put a pillow case over your head, mount up your steed and go riding off into the murky night to help him roll barrels of expensive brandy around, you aren't fit to watch this show! Or even be alive!"
' This movie is two-plus hours of derring-do, close shaves, and double-crosses that never let up! There’s secret passages, hideouts, edge of your seat escape plans, and even two court trials! One trial involves Dr. Syn helpfully pointing out a bit of information that screws up the prosecutor’s case against one of his men. And he does this even though he tells everyone that Scarecrow has threatened him if he speaks out!
Later on, Scarecrow holds a trial against the same guy he just got off and finds him guilty! This Scarecrow guy is operating on some level you and I can’t even comprehend! Frankly, when it was all over, I was sort of feeling sorry for General Pugh. That dude is just a man, not the physical embodiment of the all-knowing cosmic intelligence that the Scarecrow is!
Disney was obviously trying to downplay the whole “booze thief” aspect of things since much of our time is devoted to hiding and rescuing wrongly imprisoned guys.
What about the other victims of wrongdoing though? What about those guys who were expecting their shipment of expensive liquor? Who speaks for them? Where are the movies detailing their plight? Somewhere, some thirsty guy is having to make do with less expensive hooch, all because the Scarecrow cares more about the lazy marsh people than functional alcoholics!'
http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.co ... ecrow.html
" What Disney is superb at, however, is eluding the political contradictions inherent in the story. Dr. Syn is a pastor using his religious position as a shield under which to commit crimes against the state.
He is also a tax rebel, and the viewer is encouraged to view him as a hero as he thwarts the government. The fact that the government he is subverting is also the one that oppressed into birth the United States disguises the enormity of what Dr. Syn is doing. It’s entirely possible, however, that
little kids watching this could grow up to take the idea of rebelling against the government as obligatory, be it from the left or right." -- Vancouver Voice Blog
If I knew where to find an avatar resembling
the Scarecrow (not just a generic scarecrow) online, and knew how to post any avatar at all, I'd use that as mine.
Cross
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