Following the box-office success of The House on Haunted Hill (1958), Columbia Pictures offered to set up producer William Castle with his own unit at the studio. This meant that Castle would have an office, a full-time staff, and the authority to put the technicians and crew members of his choice under contract to work on a slate of films. The first film Castle produced under this new arrangement was The Tingler (1959).

Screenwriter Robb White told interviewer Tom Weaver (in Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes) that "the makeup guy that we had on House on Haunted Hill, Jack Dusick, had made a rubber worm. He showed me this worm one day, a horrible looking thing, about a foot long. In those days we didn't have the violent makeup and special effects they have today, but this worm, it haunted you - it scared you! I began thinking about that, and I told Bill, 'Let's find out where fear comes from and we'll use this worm!' It was a lot of fun writing the script, but I didn't like the movie."

Co-star Darryl Hickman later said, "my fiancé at the time was Pamela Lincoln, and she got the job, and then I got a call from Bill (Castle). And he said, 'Don't you want to be in the picture?' and I said, 'Not especially,' and he said, 'Oh yes you do! You want to be there because it would be good publicity and your intended is part of the movie and you could help her.'" Unfortunately Hickman's height was 5'10" to Price's 6'4" frame, so Hickman had to wear lifts in his scenes alongside the taller actor.

White also told Weaver about the origin of the LSD scene in the film: "I wanted something different from the typical shot or pill that you see in movie 'trips.' Aldous Huxley told me about a doctor at U.C.L.A. who was running an experiment on lysergic acid [LSD]. So I went up there to see this man, Dr. Cohen, and he gave me some of it. He took me into a nice little room with a cot and a radio and he got something out of his refrigerator and gave me a shot. It was all legal then. I watched the grain in the wood writhing around and listened to the music. It was very pleasant, although I didn't ever want to do it again." White claims that he related his experience to Vincent Price so that the actor might give a convincing performance. "I went back and told Vincent about it, what the real reaction would be - I just wondered if it wasn't something that Vincent could be dramatic about without falling around and all that stuff. He said, 'Forget it.' And when he took the shot in the movie, he jumped around and did the same god-damned thing he always did."

The negative cost of The Tingler was $400,000. The Percepto gimmick cost an additional $250,000 to implement. Some sources claim that theater seats were rigged with small electrical charges, but that is not the case. Castle bought war surplus motorized vibration devices that were designed to be installed in aircraft wings for de-icing. Rigged under a theater seat, they gave a mild "tingle." The motors were sent to the bigger theaters on the circuit, and were installed on one out of every ten seats or so. An article appeared in weekly Variety on August 5, 1959 titled "Goosepimple Saga with Seats to Suit." It explained that it took about four hours to equip the average theater with the devices, which was done "under the supervision of Milton Rice and D. Hollaway."

The vibration devices were not the only gimmick that Castle employed for The Tingler. Also for the larger engagements, Castle had theater managers employ phony nurses in the lobby, and at a crucial point in the story, the film would actually be stopped, the house lights would come up, and the nurses would take away a woman in the theater that had fainted. The fainter would also be a plant, of course. Once the person had been taken out, the film would resume and Vincent Price's voice would be heard to say: "Ladies and gentlemen, there is no cause for alarm. A young lady has fainted. She is being attended to by a doctor and is quite alright. So please remain seated. The movie will begin again right away. I repeat - there is no cause for alarm." Special speakers were installed so that this announcement came from the back of the theater. During the Percepto sequence later in the film, Price's frantic announcement to the audience to "Scream for your lives!" was also cued to come from the rear of the auditorium.

Castle tells a story in his book (that was also verified by screenwriter Robb White) concerning a prank that occurred in a theater wired early for the Percepto gimmick: "A week before The Tingler opened in Boston, The Nun's Story, starring Audrey Hepburn, was playing. During a matinee filled with women, the bored projectionist decided to test the 'Tingler' equipment. He pushed the switch during a scene where Hepburn and the nuns were praying. The proper Bostonian ladies got the shock of their lives."

SOURCES:
Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Off America by William Castle
Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography by Victoria Price
Interview with Robb White in Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes by Tom Weaver
Interview with William Castle in Kings of the Bs: Working Within the Hollywood System Edited by Todd McCarthy and Charles Flynn
Scream for Your Lives! William Castle and 'The Tingler' (1999) - 16min. documentary on DVD of The Tingler
Original Columbia Pictures pressbook for The Tingler

by John M. Miller