![margaret zotz margaret zotz](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/INrTKXr5TVA/hqdefault.jpg)
Always looking for another bandwagon to jump on, Castle had seen the lines around the block for Walt Disney‘s live-action comedy The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and decided to get a piece of that particular box-office action. It’s a matter of debate whether the films he made lived up to that goal, but there’s no denying that the delightful promotional schemes he came with made teenagers in the fifties and sixties step right up in droves, and made him one of the most beloved figures in the history of cinema. These and other outrageous gimmicks are the creations of a filmmaker with the soul of a carnival pitchman whose goal was to scare the pants off America. You remember William Castle, right? Skeletons dangling above the audience, cinema seats wired to buzz, fright-breaks giving cowards a chance to escape, insurance policies guaranteeing viewers against death by fright, etc. Despite the presence of these fine comedy actors, the movie remains extremely unfunny and greatly deviates from Karig’s original novel, becoming little more than a showcase for some clever low-budget special effects. After Karig’s passing in 1956, director William Castle chose to produce a movie version of Zotz! (1962) starring Tom Poston, Jim Backus, Maragret Dumont, Cecil Kellaway and Louis Nye. With his novel, Karig managed to blend a splendid satire of wartime Washington bureaucracy with ethical questions relevant to the advent of nuclear war. He points out that mankind has not changed much in a thousand years – technology may have improved, but humans still have a strong desire to destroy and to kill. Karig wrote himself into the novel as a beleaguered officer working at a naval public information office, where dozens of people parade by his desk daily all trying to obtain appointments to meet the ‘highest authority’ in the government. Because the novel is set during WWII there is a patriotic flavour throughout the story, much of which revolves around Jones’ efforts to see President Franklin Roosevelt with the hope that he can convince the President that the Allies can use his supernatural abilities to help the war effort. Among Karig’s many novels is Zotz! published in 1947, a satire dealing with archeologist and linguist Doctor John Jones who, after deciphering an inscription on an ancient disc, is imbued with deadly powers: To cause pain to kill or to slow down time. Karig was also a novelist, writing several volumes in the Nancy Drew series, the Perry Pierce series and the Doris Force series. United States naval captain Walter Karig was also a prolific author, writing a number of reference books about naval operations during World War Two, as well as scripts for the television series Victory At Sea. Soon, he’s pursued by enemy spies who have learned about the magic coin.” (courtesy IMDB) He translates its inscription, which gives him three powers: to inflict pain, slow down time or kill.
![margaret zotz margaret zotz](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CupbKtOFUiI/T5HqfOhxZfI/AAAAAAAAAGY/w6FLcz0YV6I/s640/110830.1020.jpeg)
“Jonathan Jones, a professor of ancient languages, comes into possession of an ancient coin.