Most basements tend to be crammed with forgotten storage boxes, rickety ping-pong tables and grandma's dingy old couch. However, the stuff inside "Bob's Basement" - the affectionate term used to describe movie memorabilia enthusiast Bob Burns' exhaustive collection of sci-fi and horror cinema artifacts - is significantly cooler than what is found in your average cellar.
It Came From Bob's Basement is a lavishly illustrated tour through Burns' archives, featuring more than 200 photos of items, from Lily Munster's dress and Destination Moon space suits to Ellen Ripley's Alien helmet and the masks of some of Star Wars'cantina players. There are also a few truly creepy images, such as a hairy monster suit created by makeup wizard Rick Baker for An American Werewolf in London and several "life-masks" of Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and others that were once used by studio makeup departments.
Burns and co-writer John Michlig supplement the snazzy pictures with spirited stories about Burns'life and his behind-the-scenes glimpses of Hollywood's special-effects and makeup artistry. In one elightful section, Burns recalls attending the Plan 9 From Outer Space premiere; later, he describes how he helped Baker get a start in the business. Although the book's $24.95 price tag may dissuade casual movie buffs, diehard fans of vintage sci-fi and horror movies will find Bob's Basement to be a treasure trove.
- Annabelle Villanueva, CINESCAPE MAGAZINE, March/April 2001
It Came From Bob's Basement!: Exploring the Science Fiction and Monster Movie Archive of Bob Burns, by Bob Burns with John Michlig, is just cool. A large paperback, the book contains great pictures of cult-classic props and costumes, such as the flying saucers from Plan 9 From Outer Space, bullet-riddled busts from Terminator 2, and Nazi werewolf heads. The accompanying text takes a friendly trek through the cheesy horror and sci-fi movies Burns worked on as a special-effects artist. B-movie junkies will enjoy this book very much.
- Elizabeth Sullivan, via CONTENTVILLE
Every deep-dyed fan of vintage horror and sci-fi movies has heard of -- perhaps visited -- the Ackermansion, home of Forrest J Ackerman and the repository of (what remains of) his collection of movie props, masks, miniatures and other related ephemera. But just a few miles away, comparatively unheralded, there is a collection which makes Uncle Forry's look like a Taco Bell next to Maximís. The curator: Bob Burns. Location: the lower story of his Los Angeles home. How to get in: by invitation only. Until now.
Burns's treasure trove is on full-color display in IT CAME FROM BOBíS BASEMENT (to be published in March), which is not only a pictorial record of his holdings but also a journey through the last 50 years (and more) of SF cinema. In hundreds of never-published photos are depicted the holy grails of fantasy film props and costumes, from King Kong's metal skeleton to serial superhero costumes to Saucer- and Gill Men to the Alien Queen.
Another highlight is the text, packed with the author's irresistible personality. Still just "a big kid" (no other description will do!), the Oklahoma-born Burns describes his childhood relocation to California, his awe at discovering that he had landed in the backyard of the Hollywood dream factories, his first visit to a movie set (THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES, appropriately enough) and his friendships with many of the major players on the past and present fantasy film stage. His own behind-the-scenes movie work, his on-camera career as a movie/TV gorilla (!) -- all this and much more is related in detail and with wonderful humor. (There's also a foreword by mega-Oscar-winner Dennis Muren, of STAR WARS/JURASSIC PARK fame.) Even fans whose tastes run only to the current crop of genre releases will be unable to resist Burns's accounts of what it was like to be a "monster kid" and collector in the dawning days of that hobby.
It's this simple: If you truly love monsters and sci-fi, you will truly love this book.
- Tom Weaver, FANGORIA ONLINE
For hardcore sf/horror movie fans there's nothing cooler than owning a screen-used prop or costume, making Bob Burns possibly the coolest guy on earth.
Among those ranks, Burns needs no introduction, for others, Burns is the god of sf/horror film collectors and his basement is the place where prop geeks hope to go when they die. Collecting since his youth, Burns has amassed a Smithsonian-quality array of rarities including the original animation puppet of King Kong, the silver-headed cane used to dispatch Lon Chaney Jr. in "The Wolf Man," the mean green "Alien" beastie, George Pal's time machine, plus hundreds of costumes, masks, prosthetic heads and limbs, helmets, robots, and space ship models-he's got everything!
Not only a collector, Burns was a make-up man, prop builder, and actor who played "Kogar" and other gorillas in numerous TV shows. The text offers a breezy autobiography with tributes to long-forgotten B-movie insiders, but the main course is the 200+ color and B&W pix of Burns's unique collection. It Came From Bob's Basement will have science fiction and horror film fans drooling like Homer Simpson over a box of Krispy Kremes and is must reading for all those who don't need Halloween to wear joke-shop fangs and home-made lightsabers.
Great fun. Highly recommended
- Michael Rogers, LIBRARY JOURNAL
There comes a time in our lives where we all reflect on the things of our collective pasts. And part of that recollection for me has been the collecting and viewing of a lot of the old Sci-Fi and Horror movies of my early youth. I loved those old films and when they come on TV today, I watch with a nostalgic eye, fondly remembering those early days and the cool things they did. This book is kind of like those old movies. The pictures contained therein and the anecdotes surrounding the largest private collection of Sci-Fi and Horror memorabilia in the world, conjur up the same memories of the movies in which all these wonderful props were used. But beyond merely viewing them in the book, I must say this is a GREAT alternative to seeing them "live". I have been lucky enough to see Bob's Museum and spend time with the Dean of Sci-Fi and Horror prop collecting (as well as probably the MOST knowledgable person on the subject there is), and it was a treat beyond anything I ever could have imagined. Seeing props from the very early days that I can recall (the early 50's) such as the Creature From the Black Lagoon and the Time Machine, and then to walk face-to-face with Rick Baker's American Werewolf, or the head of the Queen Alien from the Aliens films, was almost like being part of all those great films. To reach out and touch these items was like a connection to the past or to those films in which they were used. It WAS incredible and I recommend that if you EVER get the opportunity (by invitation only) you would never be disappointed in what you see.
This book without a doubt has only scratched the surface of the incredible collection that Bob and Kathy Burns have amassed in his 60+ years. I highly recommend that if you are in the least interested, there is not another treatise that will amaze, amuse and inform you like this one will. It is most assuredly only the beginning but it absolutely plucks at the nostalgic cords of any Sci-Fi or Horror fans interest. This is a true "thumbs-up" and has been a labor of love by both Bob Burns and John Michlig - one that I'm glad has been done. I personally can't wait for the next "volume" in what I could only hope would be a series of books detailing the entire collection. There is no doubt it could be encyclopedic in nature - but that's OK. You cannot go wrong.
- William Barto via Amazon.com
Take Me Through Bob's Basement AGAIN, AGAIN, and AGAIN!
It Came from Bob's Basement is non-stop excitement from the floor to the ceiling. A beautifully photographed journal of a science fiction & monster movie prop collection that literally makes your head spin. I found myself poring over the photos and stories from front to back, back to front, middle to front, over and over. I simply couldn't put it down!
Superbly written and beautiful layout & design, I only hope this is the first of MANY installments.
A tasteful, classy tour of the genre!
- Kevin Dobbs via Amazon.com
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Burns gives us a guided tour of his treasures - - and also, along the way, a light-hearted autobiography ... He's a storehouse of movie lore... Grade: "A"
- excerpted from SCI FI: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE SCI-FI CHANNEL, April 2001
"It's funny how the course of your entire life can be shaped by seemingly inconsequential decisions and chance events," writes Bob Burns in his new book. Uh-huh. It's also funny how the course of your entire life can be shaped by devoting your entire life to your raging hard-on for movies. I mean, we're all fans, right? But this guy is obsessed, and has been since growing up right in the heart of Movieland in the '40s.
Still, the biggest problem with this book is that even the biggest movie geeks are not likely to realize they need it, since the most one can figure out from a glance at the cover is that it functions as some kind of combination autobiography and coffee-table book "exploring the science fiction and monster movie archive of Bob Burns." Big deal, you might think, since this just brings it all back to the question du jour: Who the hell is Bob Burns and why should anyone care?
Well, if you're into movies (especially science fiction), it'll all become clear just a few pages into this book. Hooked on Saturday morning serials at an early age, Burns exploited even the most ridiculous connections to the film industry, and as a result has had some of the most bizarre jobs ever: not only did he play Frankenstein and the Mummy at '50s screenings, he hosted a TV show that showcased horror movies, created gore effects for army training films, hung out with the AIP special-effects crew as they worked on most of Roger Corman's sci-fi pictures, served as the face model for the world's first CPR dummy, became the second "gorilla man" actor in Hollywood, and threw some of the most popular and decked-out Halloween parties in Tinseltown. And all the time he collected posters and props and entire costumes whenever he could, building the huge collection that is "Bob's basement."
That collection is nicely displayed throughout, with several pages each devoted to amazing relics from King Kong, Alien, An American Werewotf in London, an more. Meanwhile, Burns' stories about his Hollywood experiences are fantastic -- he'll toss off one about visiting the set of Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space here, and another about playing a werewolf butler for Lucille Ball there. He's the perfect host throughout this book tour of his life, and fellow movie geeks will find Bob's Basement the perfect place to visit.
- Steve Palopoli, TOTAL MOVIE, April, 2001
GASP!!!
"One of my earliest memories of childhood in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is of the day my Grandfather brought me two wooden Superman figures at a hardware store. Today's toy collector would have considered my Grandfather and me pioneers; we noticed that among the crowd of jointed Supermen in the display there were two different versions with distinctly different "S" logos and cape colors, so we decided we'd better get both kinds. Somehow, I was already thinking like a collector."
--Bob Burns
It Came From Bob's Basement -- a colorful, sweet natured tome from Chronicle Books - is a must for any serious fan of science fiction cinema. It archives the accomplishments and accumulations of Mr. Bob Burns, who exists, alongside Forrest J. Ackerman, as one of the Great Movie Memorabilia Collectors Of Our Time. Indeed, the modest subheading of It Came From Bob's Basement, "Exploring The Science Fiction And Monster Movie Archive Of Bob Burns" cannot prepare readers for the Krellian reserves of detail stored between the covers of this affectionate wonder.
A die-hard Invader From Way Back, Burns absorbed the lo-rent nitrate alchemy of the Republic Serials - going so far as to duplicate their essences in glorious 8mm, pressing neighborhood pals into service. A curious fascination with Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman visage (as channeled by the late, great Jack Pierce) directed a youthful Bobby into the nether realms of make-up and special effects. Soon, this young Angeleno had talked himself onto the set of The Purple Monster Strikes! The rest wasn't history, daddy-o. It was The Future. Burns was soon a leading prop man and gorilla suit impresario around Hollywood.
It Came From Bob's Basement is crowded to the ends with hundreds of full-color relics from Burns' wondrous treasure crater. Try on Flash Gordon's tunic! Reflect upon the cold metal gleam of a robot sentry from Gene Autry's utterly unique subterranean western The Phantom Empire. Digest the seven-foot inverted artichoke that menaced Bronson Canyon in It Conquered The World (and was further immortalized by The Mothers Of Invention in their composition 'Cheepnis!')
Were the images not enough, the devastating, hilarious anecdotes are pure joy. His meticulous adjudication of the simian get-uppery of Emil Van Horne, Charlie Gemora and George "The Robot Monster" Barrows is worth its' weight in imported artificial hair. The directorial methods of Roger Corman, whose wallet evidently yelped in pain when opened, are scrutinized. Finally, the late, lamentable Ed Wood appears at a cocktail party, enphalanxed by his infamous entourage, to freak everyone into oblivion.
In today's filmic world, computer generated effects have debased actors into gesturing at empty spaces where, months afterward, pricey, ephemeral shades will be insinuated by means of postproduction. It's rewarding to see good old-fashioned rubber suits; suits with zippers up the backs and pipe cleaners for antennae. It Came From Bob's Basement is a wonderful read and a (blood) feast for the eyes. Hopefully, It will stay above ground for spell before returning to its' indescribable lair.
- Guy Benoit, LUXURIAMUSIC.COM
A full-sized replica of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. A mask used in Alien. The Frankenstein monster's boots from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
An original ape skeleton from King Kong.
Cool ghoul stuff huh!
All a part of a fabulous horror and sci-fi museum's collection huh?
Nope.
It's all just the tip of the iceberg of the incredible treasures that can be found in the basement of Bob Burns.
Bob Burns is the patron saint of motion picture special effects and a widely recognized authority on the history of horror and sci-fi films. For decades, Bob has been collecting props, models, masks, costurnes, sketches and all sorts of film artifacts - in his basement. Now, for the first time, Bob invites you into his inner (or should I say under) sanctum as he gives You a guided tour of his treasures in his new book It Came From Bob's Basement (Chronicle Books, March 2001).
Bob's book provides readers with a rare glimpse into his stash of horror paraphernalia, which may just be the world's largest private collection of one- of-a-kind items. From genre classics like An American Werewolf in London and The Wolf Man , Bob has provided a home for practically every item that has crossed his path.
Perhaps the most treasured item in his collection is an ape skeleton, that, back in its heyday of "flesh and fur", was used to animate the King Kong figure in the classic that starred Fay Wray.
None of the original Kong figures have survived. They have either been recycled for use in other films or been discarded, so this is truly one of the most legendary items that any pop culture or horror collector could ever get his hands on.
In addition to the photos and in-depth descriptions of the countless items, Bob uses his tome to offer insider stories from the films he worked on over the years including cult classics such as It Conquered the World and Invasion of the Saucer Men. You'll also find fascinating stories about the wild and legendary Halloween shows and displays Bob has put on over the years.
If you are a fan of horror and sci-fi films, It Came From Bob's Basement is a must-have book which gives a never before seen look at this incredible amassment of movie memorabilia.
- Del Howison, POP CULTURE COLLECTING, March 2001
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ALIEN RESURRECTION: PROPS TO THE MAN WHO'S GOT THE PROPS
 "I don't know that I'd call myself an obsessive fan," says Bob Burns of his 2,000-piece collection of horror-movie memorabilia. "I prefer to use the term archivist," the 67year-old retired film technician concludes. Said archives are so massive, they've spawned an extra wing in Burns' Santa Monica home, along with with the book It Came From Bob's Basement! Released this month, the book exposes much of Burns' stash to the light of day for the first time in decades, including the pie-pan saucers used in Plan 9 From Outer Space and the puppet that scaled the Empire State Building in 1933's King Kong. "The Smithsonian's been trying to get their hands on that one for years," brags Burns. "No chance." Instead, he lets curio seekers troup through his home by appointment (the titular gadget from 1960's The Time Machine is a favorite of Norwegian tourists, he reports).
Replete with phaser guns, magic capes and the occasional 25-foot animatronic gorilla head (left), Bob's Basement reads like an extraterrestrial love letter to a simpler time, when aliens walked the earth sans CGI card. "People have forgotten what scary is like," says Burns. "In those movies, the props were crude and you never saw the gory details. But that's what made it frightening: you created the story in your mind's eye."
Nevertheless, the collector cops to a soft spot for James Cameron, hence the Terminator 2 dummy (right). But the past remains his gig: Burns hopes the book's proceeds will help him clear the demons out of his closet and into a proper museum. He already has the sales pitch: "We're talking about motion-picture history here," Burns says with great importance. "It's no less artful than a Rembrandt."
- Michael Martin, GEAR magazine, March 2001
HE HUNG OUT WITH B-MOVIE monstermaker Paul Blaisdell. He gave life to the creeping, needle-tipped, alien hand in Roger Corman's Invasion of the Saucermen. He costumed up as The Mummy, Kogar the Gorilla, and the She Creature for kid's shows during the 1960s. He co-starred as Tracy the Gorilla, with Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker, in the original Ghostbusters TV series. He appeared as Major Mars in a Rocketman serial spoof. He contributed to numerous SF and horror movie documentaries. He-hosted his own segment, "Bob's Basement," on the Sci-Fi Channel, displaying his extensive collection of fantastic film memorabilia. He granted extensive interviews to our sister publication, Filmfax, on more than one occasion. Now, teamed-up with Outr6 writer John Michlig, Bob Burns (after much prompting by friends and family) has written a book all about it, appropriately titled It Came from Bob's Basement: Exploring the Science Fiction and Monster Movie Archive of Bob Bums (Chronicle Books, oversized trade paperback, 144 pp. $24.95).
To say that collecting is a way of life for Bob Burns is not totally accurate. To say that "life is a way of collecting" is more to the point. And It Came from Bob's Basement puts that concept into sharp visual perspective, with plenty of humor and personality.
Sporting a close-cropped, angstladen "girl and the monster" cover by legendary Filmfax / Outre artist Harley Brown, It Came from Bob's Basement wastes no time in getting to the heart of its subject matter. From first page to last, rare photographs "exploring the science fiction and monster movie archive of Bob Burns" uniquely illustrate the chapters of Bob's life, from early childhood to the present. Text documenting Bob's thoughts and memories is presented with voyeuristic accuracy by noted pop culture author John Michlig, combining verbs and visuals into a chronomorphing window display of Bob's life that would make even George Pal jealous. And Bob's got George's reconstructed Time Machine to prove it. Honest, he really does, right there in his house, alongside the Chesley Bonestell moonscape diarama for Destination Moon.
Prefaced by Bob's longtime friend Dennis Muren (Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic), It Came from Bob's Basement spans Bob's life from his childhood fascination for movie monsters, to early friendships with now-famous special effects artists like Paul Blaisdell, Rick Baker, and Dennis Muren, to his career in television, his spectacular, neighborhood Halloween shows, and the Burns's (both Bob and his wonderful wife Kathy's) conversion of their Burbank home into a mindboggling science fiction and monster movie prop and memorabillia museum.
Celebrity is an unstable construct at best--especially within the Hollywood community, where it is often dismissed as little more than unearned exaggeration. But then there are those truly unforgettable, unassuming individuals like Bob Burns, who reelevate the term to its true meaning. Read It Came from Bob's Basement and you will understand.
- Mike Stein, OUTRE MAGAZINE, #23
IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT: EXPLORING THE Science Fiction and Monster Movie Archive of Bob Burns (Chronicle Books, 144 pages, $24.95) is the autobiography of a film geek in words and pictures, lots of pictures. Burns, a true Hollywood eccentric, moved to Burbank from Muskogee, Oklahoma, during World War 11 and embarked on his lifelong avocation of collecting memorabilia from horror and fantasy movies. We're not just talking about posters from zero-budget epics like The Day the World Ended and The She Creature but the bulging head from Invasion of the Saucer Men and the grisly rubber creature from It Conquered the World. A film editor by trade, Burns was more at home playing bit parts dressed as a gorilla in movies and TV. Even nonfans of the genre will be charmed by his stories, like the time he wore a werewolf suit in on episode of The Lucy Show.
- James Greenberg, LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE ,Feb. 2001
Everybody from the old-school daze of genre movies seems to know and love Bob Burns. He`s a great guy, and he`s worked on just about anything and everything, from old AIP flicks like Invasion of the Saucermen, to playing Kogar the Gorilla in various films and TV shows (like Ray Dennis Steckler`s Rat Pfink and Boo-Boo!) to working with and befriending some of the biggest names in fantasy films. Burns is probably most famous, however, for the incredible Halloween parties at his San Fernando Valley home (which was routinely dressed up with actual props from movies like Alien, and for his incredible fantastic-film prop and costume collection, which fills that house with more than 1,000 artifacts from the world of sci-fi and horror movie history. (He and his wife made a 3,000-square-foot addition to their home to accommodate this stuff.) Forrest J Ackerman is the one that news crews always visit when they want a weirdo Hollywood photo-op, but Burns` in-home museum is truly top of the heap.
It Came From Bob`s Basement, co-written with John Michlig, is a fantastic book, full great stories and hundreds of amazing color photographs; it`s truly one of a kind.
- Steve Ryfle, FANDOM.COM
Heads up movie/pop culture freaks(like me!). There's a GREAT new book out called: IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT (Chronicle Books). By Bob Burns and John Michlig.
It has some really really cool stuff-Bob Burns collects old movieprops and production stuff from SF and Fantasy films.
Among his stuff is a cool couple 'a Bonestells from DESTINATION MOON. One is a production painting used to get the $$$ for the production and the other is a gem: a background/matte painting(with lights for stars!) that's 13 feet by 2ft or something. It's a rarely seen work and it's great stuff to see. You can even see the place where the paint is starting to peel away. The section also features a reconstruction of the model w/ gantry of the ship.
The book is a coffee table softcover affair and it has just some awesome stuff inc alot of ALIEN and ALIENS props, and some costumes from old serials and movies. I highly,highly highly recommend this book to warm up your winter blues. You can get it on Amazon.
Bob Eggleton, from the "Spaceart@lists.best.com"
International Association of Astronomical Artists Listserver
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Movie costumes and props used to be expendable, the disposable byproducts of the filmmaking process. Only in recent years have museums, archives, auction houses and commercial enterprises like Planet Hollywood given value (in some cases, bloated value) to these artifacts.
The current bidding frenzy for Titanic souvenirs and Star Trek costumes must cause longtime fans and collectors to shake their heads in wonder...
... Bob Burns' legendary collection is celebrated in a new book, It Came Front Bob's Basement (Chronicle) by Burns and John Michlig. The genial and enthusiastic Burns has worked on both sides of the camera in movies and television, and achieved minor fame for his work inside a gorilla suit. He lives in a modest Burbank, California house with a shed that houses his lifelong passion. Bob was to years old when he acquired his first piece, a hard-rubber ornament in the shape of a wolf that, painted silver, was used by Claude Rains to destroy Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man. That was in the early Forties, when Burns was befriended by the first in a long line of prop makers and special-effects artists. Bob now proudly shows off a pair of clodhoppers that once belonged to Frankenstein's monster, the instantly recognizable tunic worn by Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, and the time machine used in the 1960 George Pal movie of the same name.
Burns has brought some of his goodies to fan conventions over the years, and has opened his door to television crews before, but this book is a widely accessible record of what he's accumulated over the years, not with an auction paddle or a fat checkbook, but with a reputation for giving these pieces the care and respect they deserve.
- Leonard Maltin, PLAYBOY MAGAZINE, June 2001
IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT featured on a CNN segment the week of 1/15/01. Click HERE for the online version.
A great article and interview with Bob Burns at MOUSEPLANET.COM
Bob donned the tights and cape for Don Glut's amateur
SUPERMAN FILMS
.
A nice review and interview with Bob at FANDOM.COM.
AUCTIONWATCH features this informative article about prop collecting by Dennis Price, featuring some of Bob's insights.
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