Ideas to Celebrate
Basil Rathbone's Birthday

from "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini"

The following ideas were inspired by watching Rathbone's performances in various films. Try to guess which films they are from. (answers at bottom of page)

  1. Lip synch, dance and shimmy to the ever popular tune "Geronimo"!from "A Comedy of Terrors"
  2. Chase pesky kids off your property by wielding a sword and reciting Macbeth. "He recited a hymn or something...."
  3. Learn how to hypnotize people. "Valdemar...do you hear me?"
  4. Swing on a chain and kick someone into a boiling sulphur pit.
  5. Slay everyone who stands between you and the throne of England.
  6. Drown someone in a vat of malmsey.
  7. Sail to the island of Tortuga and fight a duel to the death.
  8. Develop photographs in the cellar while listening to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and slowly going mad.
  9. Paint a chessboard on your floor and practice "The Musgrave Ritual."
  10. When you walk into any room, cry out "What place is THIS?"
  11. Let your dog loose on the moors to chase down anyone named Baskerville.
  12. Drink until the room spins!
  13. Dress up as a music hall entertainer and sing "I do like to be beside the seaside."
  14. When one of your party guests has had too much to drink, say, "If you drink any more wine, you giddy ass, I'll break your neck!"
  15. Make a bunch of plaster busts and conceal something valuable in one of them.
  16. Take a cruise to Algiers; play chess and shuffleboard.
  17. Have a dinner party and serve venison, whole chickens (or other meat), oranges, and champagne. Or serve Basil's favorite dish: Yorkshire pudding.
  18. Make sure your trusted friend and companion falls into at least two bogs.
  19. Hire a housekeeper named Mrs. Hudson.
from "Captain Blood" from "Love From a Stranger"

Thanks to Joanna, David, Mary and others for some of these wonderful ideas! If you have more ideas to suggest, e-mail me and I'll add them to this page.

Can't guess what films the ideas are from? Here are the answers: (1) The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, (2) The Comedy of Terrors, (3) Tales of Terror, (4) Son of Frankenstein, (5) Tower of London, (6) Tower of London, (7) Captain Blood, (8) Love From a Stranger, (9) Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, (10) The Comedy of Terrors, (11) The Hound of the Baskervilles, (12) Confession, (13) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, (14) Casanova's Big Night, (15) The Pearl of Death, (16) Pursuit to Algiers, (17) The Adventures of Robin Hood (venison/chickens), The Mark of Zorro (oranges), Rio (champagne). Yorkshire pudding isn't from a film. (18) The Scarlet Claw, (19) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (and other Holmes films)

 


Champagne-drinking in "Rio"

 

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All original content is © Marcia Jessen, 2012