The Skelton In The Celluloid Closet

 Gilbert Gottfried appeared on the mighty Svengoolie a couple of times before his passing. During one of his visits, Sven asked Gilbert if he had a favorite Universal Monster, to which Gilbert replied, "Yes, Skelton Knaggs." It probably flew right over the heads of 90% of the viewing audience, but I knew that that little quip was dropped specifically for folks like myself.

Skelton Knaggs as Finn The Mute in The Ghost Ship, 1943; directed by
Mark Robson and produced by Val Lewton.

I watch a lot of movies. And while I watch a lot of all kinds of different films, I have a certain affinity for older American genre films from the 1930s through the mid-1960s. While not always the case, these pictures are by and large B-pictures, made quick and cheap to pad out double bills or to be distributed with other similar films made by the same studio to be sold as packages to drive-ins and movie houses. These pictures not only helped studios make money to help bankroll bigger productions (in the case of studios like Universal), but gave competent actors who perhaps struggled to find a way into the very cliquish Hollywood studio system, a place to actually find work. 

In turn these pictures allowed a number of quirky so-called character actors to rise to a certain prominence by regularly appearing in them and building a cult following. It was good for the actors and the studios, because it assured the former the likelihood of steady work, and the latter could put a Lionel Atwill or a George Zucco or a Tod Slaughter in a low budget horror or murder-mystery, and bank on the notion that name recognition alone would draw some people to the theater, regardless of how bad the thing turned out to be.

Skelton Knaggs (R) as X-ray in the film Dick Tracy Meets
Gruesome (1947). Pictured with Boris Karloff (L) and Ralph Byrd (C).

Sadly, not everyone who toiled in bit parts as creeps, killers or the second cowboy from the right, was able to find that kind of footing in the industry. One of those largely forgotten background faces belongs to one of my personal favorite supporting stars–Skelton Knaggs. 

Knaggs as Rudolph in Dick Tracy Vs Cueball (1946).

I'm not sure when I first saw Skelton Knaggs on the screen, I imagine it had to be in Universal's House Of Dracula (1945), because I was religiously devoted to the Universal Monster pictures as a kid, and endlessly watched and re-watched them whenever they appeared on AMC in the 1980s and '90s. At that time all eyes were on the titular creatures, so I doubt the nebbish, soft-voiced little villager named Steinmuhl really even registered when the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's Monster were romping around. I think the first time I really took note was in college, when I was on a Val Lewton kick. A number of his productions were being released on DVD as double features in the early 2000s, and the campus library had a number of them in stock. I knew who Lewton was at that point, had seen Cat People and The Body Snatcher, because both ran semi-regularly on AMC's Saturday afternoon creature feature programming in the early 1990s, but when I sat down with the 1943 feature The Ghost Ship, I had no idea what I was in for. What I found was a steadfast fixation with an odd performance by an actor that, as far as I knew at the time, appeared out of the fog for this film, and folded back into it when he was done, never to be seen again. And I was well entrenched in the Sinister Cinema and Something Weird video catalogs at this point!

Who the heck was this pockmarked little gnome of a man with a sinister leer and an oddly cool voice that fell somewhere between Peter Lorre and Sterling Holloway?

Knaggs as Steinmuhl in House Of Dracula (1945).

For context, this was around 2005; the Internet was definitely a household tool at this point, but still in relatively nascent stages compared to what it is today. IMDb was woefully incomplete, and movie chat groups seemed to be more abuzz over the announced potential for a Wolfgang Peterson Batman/Superman movie than minutia about long forgotten character actors from the golden age of Hollywood. Fortunately time and persistence occasionally pay off in the form of enlightenment, even in the case of this somewhat trivial matter.

Skelton Barnaby Knaggs was born on June 27, 1911 in Hillsborough, Sheffield, England. Apparently his family emigrated to the Canada in 1923, then on to the States in 1927, settling in New York. Skelton returned to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, apparently some time in the 1930s, because he starts to appear in bit parts in British films in 1936, starting with an uncredited role in the thriller Everything Is Thunder. He continues to pop up in small parts, including with the previously mentioned Lionell Atwill (The High Command, 1938), in British features until 1939's Torture Ship, Knagg's first American film work. Between studying at RADA and taking mostly uncredited parts in movies, Knaggs appeared on stage, television, and allegedly on radio dramas. Skelton appeared in a comedy titled "Climbing" at the Embassy Theatre in Camden in January of 1937. There is a blurb in the October 15, 1937 issue of the British publication The Radio Times (p. 18), which lists Skelton as appearing in a television program called "The Happy Journey To Trenton And Camden" (below).

There is also note in the May 7th, 1937 issue of the The Wireless Radio World publication, that boasts Skelton Knaggs as one of a handful of new talent tapped for work on upcoming BBC radio dramas (below). I could not find any evidence of any existing radio programs that Skelton was featured in, but if anyone out there knows of any, please let me know. I'd love to hear them.

Based on the obituaries for both Skelton's father Harry, and brother Harry Cecil, we know the Knaggs family relocated to the Los Angeles area in 1940, perhaps fueled by Skelton going to Hollywood and getting work there. It appears he was still somewhat active on the stage between film gigs, as he appeared in the Henry Miller Theater's production of "Heart Of A City" in 1942, and James Whale's production of "Hand In Glove" in 1944 (both in New York City). Sadly, his luck in the American film scene didn't garner much better status than his British work, as nearly all of the roles he would get over the next decade and a half, ending with his death in 1955, were uncredited bit parts, usually as a cab driver, random villager or pub extra. 

The aforementioned The Ghost Ship is a standout performance, nuanced and empathetic. Shamefully, despite being the narrator of the film, the proverbial Greek Chorus that not only gives insight into what is happening between the lines of the script, but expounds on his own musings which, as a mute, he isn't able to voice aloud. Yeah, the movie is narrated by an internal monologue provided by a guy who cannot speak! That's bonkers! But it works! And he's not even credited on the poster! Even worse, a lawsuit over the screenplay effectively got the film pulled from theaters directly after it was released, and kept it out of the public eye for half a century, so audiences weren't really able to see Knagg's potential break out performance.

“There the sense of being constrained, of being unimportant—of having to strum up a hyperbole of gargoylish effects all in an instant that some- how still comport with the idea of ‘soul,’ of having to lay down intimations of depth across the flat signatures of sudden triviality—makes it Knagg’s most poignant and socially meaningful moment as a screen actor.” - Alexander Nemerov review of The Ghost Ship

 Had there been no lawsuit, would Skelton Knaggs now be a household name? Would a heavily stylized caricature of Skelton Knaggs pop up in those Hollywood-lampooning Merry Melodies shorts? Probably not on the latter, because The Ghost Ship's ill fated release wasn't until two years after "Hollywood Steps Out" premiered in 1941. Even though the film was shelved, studios and directors had to have seen it, or known about Knaggs's performance. How the hell did that not get him more offers or at least some clout in Hollywood?

Knaggs featured in the playbill for James Whale's 
"Hand In Glove" 1944.

Write up of Knaggs in playbill for "Hand In Glove".

Playbill credit for "Heart Of A City," 1942.

Bio for Knaggs in playbill for "Heart Of A City" 1942.

Skelton Knaggs returned to England one time, as far as I can tell, during his Hollywood years. In 1949 he returned to the UK to marry his wife Thelma, before bringing her back to California. Knaggs died from cirrhosis of the liver on April 30, 1955; he was only 43 years old. He was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. While we have the documented birth and death dates, and obviously the existing footage of his film work, Skelton Knaggs remains very much a mystery. What was the impetus behind the alcoholism that ultimately took his life? What was he actually like as a person, outside of the creeps and cowards he predominantly played in the blink-and-miss bit parts in low budget horror and crime pictures?

Perhaps we'll never know. I was unable to find any anecdotal information about the actor at all. I did find this nicely produced video biography which incorporates a lot more info on his family than I did with this post. When an actor is gone, their existing work becomes their legacy. In that regard, I highly recommend checking out The Ghost Ship (click link to be directed to streaming movie), the two Dick Tracy films Dick Tracy Vs. Cueball and  Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome. Despite not making the poster or credited with a leading role, Skelton is front and center for the whole picture, and even winds up being the hero of the film. While the Dick Tracy adaptations are quick, short matinee fluff, they give him some great slimy characters to work with.

Even Knaggs's grave marker is small and unassuming.