# Walter Matthau CANNOT replace Vincent Price (lame rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178 "2002-11-17T16:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/21 "2002-11-18T21:44:40Z")
Well, I am grateful for this misunderstanding, as it gave me the opportunity to think of Walter Matthau dressed up like The Mummy, going, “_Again_ with the finger?!” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/22 "2002-11-18T21:49:39Z")
What I want to know next is…what makes you think Walter came first? Although Random House could have released a phonograph record or something with the narration of the story sometime between the publication of the book in 1957 and the first airing of the animated special in 1966, Walter Matthau would have been an obscure choice to narrate at the time. He was only doing parts on the TV playhouses and minor movie roles at the time, and his big starring role in _The Odd Couple_ didn’t come until two years after Karloff voiced the animated Grinch. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/23 "2002-11-18T22:00:29Z")
**mobo85** : [_How the Grinch Stole Christmas!_ (1957)](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0251126) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/24 "2002-11-18T22:03:54Z")
Mobo, imdb lists it in his filography as having been in 1957. The copyright on the back of the box (I happen to own the video) also gives the date as 1957, and 1992, which I find odd. Until last Christmas I had no idea it existed, and I wasn’t born until the late 70’s, so I can’t give any antadotal evidence of it’s existance, so I’ll have to believe the film company that it’s from either 57 or 92. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/25 "2002-11-18T22:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xenophon41 \* > \*\ ***mobo85** : [_How the Grinch Stole Christmas!_ (1957)](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0251126) \*\* So what? The IMDb is user-supported, and someone just probably put the date the book was released as the release date. I still think Matthau would have been a weird choice at the time, seeing as he wasn’t a “big name” at the time-also, what medium would it have been recorded on? A number of Seuss books were released on this format by Random House Home Video sometime in the 1980s. For some reason, Matthau is the only celebrity narrator in the series. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/26 "2002-11-18T22:11:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > **The copyright on the back of the box (I happen to own the video) also gives the date as 1957, and 1992, which I find odd.** 1957 is most likely the copyright for the book itself, which it is based on, and 1992 the copyright for the video version. (Some were released in the 1980s as I mentioned earlier, so this must have come later.) ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/27 "2002-11-19T00:45:04Z")
I can’t be the only one waiting for **mobo85** to call someone “Potsy.” ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/28 "2002-11-19T01:20:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Well, I am grateful for this misunderstanding, as it gave me the opportunity to think of Walter Matthau dressed up like The Mummy, going, “_Again_ with the finger?!” \*\* Me, I’m just imagining Boris Karloff saying “gesundheit” to Marty Balsam at the end of _The Taking of Pelham One, Two Three_. It was Balsam he busted, right? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/29 "2002-11-19T01:47:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stofsky \* > \*\*I can’t be the only one waiting for **mobo85** to call someone “Potsy.” \*\* I’m very sketchy to **King Nifty** , whom I believe you are referring to, and even sketchier still as why you are comparing me to him. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/30 "2002-11-19T17:39:09Z")
Indeed, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” has a copyright date of 1957 (according to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)), and Amazon lists the Walter version as 1957. However, [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com) lists it as 1992, as does [Ifilm.com](http://Ifilm.com) and a few others. So either the film was made in '57 when the book was released, was made after '57 but only the book’s published date was given credit, and/or it was released or re-released in 1992. Working for the university that Theodor Geisel called home, you’d think I’d know these things… Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178/31 "2002-11-19T18:23:52Z")
I’d say **mobo** is right. The 1957 copyright is for the artwork and 1992 for the video itself. [Walter Matthau website](http://www.matthau.com/sys-tmpl/ministries/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-matthau-cannot-replace-vincent-price-lame-rant/137178.md?page=1)