#bill neff

[oldschoolfrp]

Brought an AK to a swordfight (Bill Neff cover for Ral Partha's 1986 Fantasy Catalog) -- This picture is still used as the cover for the Chaos Wars rulebook PDFs, with the gun replaced by another crossbow

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

Have you seen I Was a Male War Bride (1949)?

Yes

No

Haven’t even heard of this movie

Voting ended onFeb 15

[lucysskeleton]

“Neff, one of the major players in the ghost show business, actually hired Bela Lugosi for his Madhouse of Mystery show in 1947, but the partnership was short-lived. After Lugosi and Neff parted ways, the star of Dracula briefly tried staging his own ghost show”

From M. Luckhurst and E. Morin’s 2014 book : Theatre of Ghosts: Materiality, Performance and Modernity

[iliketowatchmoviesalot]

02-28-2017 I Was A Male War Bride (1949) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041498/

Director Howard Hawks and classic Hollywood star Cary Grant worked together on five different occasions. Most people will remember 1940’s His Girl Friday or 1938’s Bringing Up Baby, yet I Was A Male War Bride did better than these two, ultimately even being Hawks’ third highest grossing movie, behind 1941’s Sergeant York and 1948’s Red River. It is a screwball-like comedy, most famous for its last scene, with Grant impersonating a female nurse.

Based on I Was An Alien Spouse Of Female Military Personnel Enroute To The United States Under Public Law 271 Of The Congress (a phrase that presents itself as a running gag in the final act of this film), the biography of Henri Rochard, a Belgian who married an American nurse during World War II, does I Was A Male War Bride the story of a French Captain (Grant), who, after a long time of bickering, falls in love with an American Lieutenant (Ann Sheridan). They have been assigned to travel from Heidelberg to Bad Nauheim together, a mission of low importance, and because of a vague history the two share, they are not excited to go. They learn to appreciate each other more than they imagined during the mission.

Just before Grant’s character Rochard reaches Heidelberg the comedy begins. His German driver asks for simple directions but starts a deep and emotional seeming conversation with a compatriot. Grant’s demused face sets the tone for the rest of the film, about a misunderstood man trying to make the most of a situation, while realizing most he can do is just to sit back and hope for the best. Hawks’ film is a funny one, more subtle than roaringly funny, where it’s impossible not to smile at the strong, charming and elegant Grant getting himself in precarious situations.

While the pacing and setting are un-screwball-like, content and wittiness are nothing but. In every movement and in every line there hides a joke and a pun, it adds a sublime layer of feeling and depth to a comedy that would otherwise be run-of-the-mill.

8

[oldschoolfrp]

Santa prefers Ral Partha 25mm miniatures for his D&D games. (Ad in Dragon 92, December 1984) Art department head Bill Neff probably provided all the illustrations of miniatures and of metal caster John Winkler in the sleigh.

[oldschoolfrp]

John Winkler, Ral Partha's chief metal caster, was illustrated in many of the company's catalogs, ads, and newsletters, and Tom Meier sculpted him as a 25mm figure. He is immediately recognizable with his beard and glasses, his Miami University T-shirt, a pair of thick insulated gloves, and often a casting ladle. His caricature was known as "The Great Ral" in reference to his D&D character, the wizard Ral-Partha, from which the company took its name. (Images from various issues of "The Partha Pipeline" newsletter, 1984-86, most/all by RP art department head Bill Neff)

[oldschoolfrp]

Ral Partha miniatures, illustrated by Bill Neff as a decorative border below a page in RP's War Bulletin newsletter supporting the Chaos Wars game, Spring 1990 (Edit: This originally appeared in Ral Partha's 1985 catalog as the contents of pack 10-401 Rune Questers, characters for the Runequest RPG)

[autumnsredglaze]

Bela Lugosi with Spook Show legend Bill Neff.