Horror movie star Vincent Price and classic rock god Paul McCartney were two very different types of celebrities in the 1960s. However, Paul showed up on the set of one of Price’s movies for personal reasons. The director of the movie had no idea who The Beatles were!
Paul McCartney was on the set of 1 of Vincent Price movie based on an Edgar Allan Poe story
From 1963 to 1968, Paul dated actor Jane Asher. Among horror fans, Asher is most known for her role in the classic The Masque of the Red Death, an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name. In the film. Price plays Prince Prospero, a wealthy Satanist living in a secluded castle while a disease called the Red Death ravages his country. Asher played Francesca, a Christian peasant whom he kidnaps.
The film was directed by B-movie king Roger Corman. In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Corman discussed working with Asher. “One Friday, she brought her boyfriend, a musician, to the set,” he recalled. “I had no idea who he was. That Sunday, I saw a headline in the paper: ‘The Beatles conquer London!’ I realized her boyfriend was Paul McCartney.
“I saw him a few years ago at Vanity Fair‘s Oscars party and said to my wife: ‘He’s never going to remember me,’” he recalled. “But he came over, smiled and said: ‘Masque of the Red Death!’”
Jane Asher discussed what it was like making a horror movie with Vincent Prince
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In The Guardian, Asher said she had warm feelings about her experiences making the movie, even if it was a challenge. “Being an incarnation of Christian goodness wasn’t something that came naturally to me,” she said. “As a confirmed atheist, I was definitely playing against type.
“Roger helped shape my performance with kindness, humor and encouragement — not always the way directors use their power, especially with a 17-year-old,” she added. “Vincent was a funny, kind, fatherly figure to me. What I most picked up from him was the ease, enjoyment and sense of fun with which he approached every day.”
The Beatles-related legacy of Jane Asher,
Corman and Price went on to make one more film inspired by a Poe story: The Tomb of Ligeia. Price also played the title role in Tim Burton’s short film Vincent. In that movie, Price’s character is obsessed with Poe.
According to Den of Geek, Asher’s relationship with Paul inspired more than Oscar party anecdotes. Several Beatles songs were about their occasionally tumultuous love. The most famous is likely “We Can Work It Out,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Other Fab Four tunes about Asher include “And I Love Her,” “All My Loving,” “Here, There, and Everywhere,” “I’m Looking Through You,” and “You Won’t See Me.” She doesn’t get as much attention as Linda McCartney or Yoko Ono, but Asher is essential to The Beatles’ story.
The Masque of the Red Death is a horror on the screen but it was a delight behind the scenes.
