Zotz! (1962)

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Ray Russell (screenplay)
Walter Karig (novel)

Release Date:

July 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Zay It, Zee It and Zoon!

Plot:

Jonathan Jones, a professor of ancient languages, comes into possession of an ancient coin. He translates its inscription...

Plot Keywords:

Coin | Spy | Magic | Professor | Ancient Coin

Cast

Tom Poston	...	Prof. Jonathan Jones
Julia Meade	...	Prof. Virginia Fenster
Jim Backus	...	Prof. Horatio Kellgore
Fred Clark	...	Gen. Bullivar
Cecil Kellaway	...	Dean Joshua Updike
Zeme North	...	Cynthia Jones
Margaret Dumont	...	Persephone Updike
James Millhollin	...	Dr. R.A. Kroner
Carl Don	...	Josh Bates
Mike Mazurki	...	Igor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Aldrich	...	Cop (uncredited)
Phil Arnold	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Patricia Breslin	...	Clip from 'Homicidal' (archive footage) (uncredited)
William Castle	...	Himself, Pre-Title Sequence (uncredited)
Susan Dorn	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Albert Glasser	...	Nikita Khruschev (uncredited)
Jimmy Hawkins	...	Jimmy Kellgore (uncredited)
Elaine Martone	...	Secretary (uncredited)
George Moorman	...	1st Lt. John G. Stefanski (uncredited)
Judee Morton	...	Miss Blakiston (uncredited)
Louis Nye	...	Hugh Fundy (uncredited)
Bart Patton	...	Mr. Crane (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Pentagon Reporter (uncredited)
Hal Taggart	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Michael Westfield	...	Capt. Nestor Byron (uncredited)
Russ Whiteman	...	Maj. Percy Foulger (uncredited)

Directed by
William Castle

Writing credits
Ray Russell		(screenplay)
Walter Karig		(novel)

Produced by
William Castle	....	producer
Dona Holloway	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bernard Green

Cinematography by
Gordon Avil		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edwin H. Bryant		(as Edwin Bryant)

Art Direction by
Robert Peterson

Set Decoration by
James Crowe		(as James M. Crowe)

Makeup Department
Ben Lane	....	makeup supervisor
Joe DiBella	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carter De Haven Jr.	....	assistant director (as Carter DeHaven Jr.)

Sound Department
Charles J. Rice	....	sound supervisor
J.S. Westmoreland	....	sound (as Josh Westmoreland)

Camera and Electrical Department
Emil Oster	....	camera operator

Music Department
Bernard Green	....	conductor

Other crew
Eylla Jacobs	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (William Castle Collection)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [William Castle] [gimmick]Upon its initial theatrical release, "Zotz" plastic coins were given to ticket buyers.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the tennis court, the same group of people walk behind Prof. Jones twice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ernest Goes to Jail (1990)

Not up to usual Castle standards

Director William Castle, upon seeing the end results of this movie of his, seemed to have realized that this movie wasn't up to his previous movies. For one thing, the gimmick that he came up for this movie was to give patrons a copy of the coin seen in the movie. (Whoopie!) *I* certainly thought that this was one of his weakest efforts.

The premise of the movie, while not really original (even when the movie was made), still did have some promise. But there are two main problems that shoot down the movie. The first is that the characters act pretty stupid for most of the movie. Our hero is a college professor, yet the coin-related actions he does suggest he has put little thought into what he has discovered and what he should do with it.

The second problem is related to that first problem, in that most of the movie is devoted to him *not* using the coin to his advantage (which is what most people would do), or being responsible with the coin. You will keep wondering just when some conflict will come into the movie, and he will be forced to struggle, to bring some ACTION into the movie. Eventually (after more than an hour of the running time has passed), our hero is challenged, but he acts (again) so stupidly when someone with even average intelligence would figure out how to use the coin to end the conflict in just a few minutes.

Not even worth two cents.