Bonus Episode: A Crypt Tribute To Elliot Silverstein

Our good friend – and a guest on this podcast – ELLIOT SILVERSTEIN – just passed away. He was 96 and had an extraordinary run. He was a terrific director with features like CAT BALLOU, A MAN CALLED HORSE and THE CAR to his name. Also, Elliot directed lots of TV including TALES FROM THE CRYPT. That’s when Gil and I first met Elliot.

In total, Elliot directed 4 episodes of Crypt including “The Reluctant Vampire“, one of Crypt’s most beloved episodes. It stars our other friend Malcolm McDowell.

Perhaps Elliot’s biggest accomplishment though happened off screen. Elliot led the Director’s Guild of America and created the whole concept of “a director’s cut” of a movie. He fought hard for creative rights – and to see those rights fairly compensated.

On the labor front, Elliot Silverstein was a WARRIOR!

We originally published our interview with Elliot back in March 2023. While every other interview has been held remotely via zoom, Elliot was a little too far behind the tech curve to handle setting it up himself. And the staff at Elliot’s retirement home (a euphemism) were less than useless. So, since he was in LA for a few weeks, Gil visited Elliot and oversaw hooking Elliot up to the internet and our podcast.

Having learned to direct during TV’s first Golden Age, Elliot taught himself to see the whole show or movie in his head before he ever calls “Action!”. It made working with him on Crypt a fascinating – and very educational – experience.

We cover a lot of territory in this one. A lot of fascinating characters make appearances: If Elliot’s anything, he’s a kind of Don Quixote tilting at corporate and studio windmills. The word that best defines Elliot at the end of the day: integrity.