Was the Higgins' movie theater a real theater or a studio set?

At one showing in 1959 The Tingler provided extra shocks!

Brilliant campy fun from William Castle and Vincent Price

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Vincent Price and Carolyn Craig in House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Vincent Price, John Kerr, and Barbara Steele in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

David Hedison and Patricia Owens in The Fly (1958)

Vincent Price in The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Vincent Price and Virginia North in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Vincent Price, Patricia Cutts, and Skeleton in The Tingler (1959)

Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Pamela Lincoln, and Skeleton in The Tingler (1959)

Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Pamela Lincoln in The Tingler (1959)

Vincent Price

Judith Evelyn

Darryl Hickman

Robb White

An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.

William Castle

The Tingler

Here is a true story that classifies as &quot;Tingler Trivia.&quot;  At a major studio-named Cinema palace in San Mateo, California, I saw an original exhibition of &quot;The Tingler&quot; back in 1959 with the theatre-Manager&apos;s nephew, a high school chum.  His uncle related the distribution set-up for the film: army surplus vibration motors were electrically wired under every third seat in the first seven rows of this large theatre in the &quot;orchestra&quot; level, at considerable expense.  At key points in the film the motors were clicked on, providing a &quot;tingling&quot; sensation to a viewer&apos;s rear end, at which point several plain-clothed ushers would scream out horribly! The implied intention was to cause a stampede in the auditorium, front to rear, toward the main lobby candy counters beyond the thrust-open theatre doors.  While we were listening to the story, behind the Manager&apos;s back a curious-looking workman, looking very worried and clutching a small hat, was gesturing for the manager to turn around, which we mentioned.  &quot;Who&apos;s that?&quot; we asked. &quot;Oh, he&apos;s the retired electrician I found&quot; was the reply.  &quot;Excuse me for a moment, boys.&quot;  When the Manager returned, he seemed quite bemused, explaining &quot;This idiot I hired to do the work just informed me, minutes before the film rolls, that he forgot to ground his connections.  It seems the patrons in those seven rows are due for a REAL shock.&quot;  Needless to say, my friend and I sat in row 11 and yes, seeing the film that way, in a packed theatre, was a real hoot!  About 100 people, jolted and non, stormed the lobby at the given moments, several screaming or wondering out loud in pandemonium. When the film went &quot;black screen&quot; for a moment and the jolts shocked the audience, the scene was not to be believed and has, to this very day, never been forgotten.  It was almost as humorous as a showing of &quot;House on Haunted Hill&quot; in the same theatre earlier in the year, but that is a story for another day.

Watch the trailer for the horror film The Tingler, starring Vincent Price. 

The Tingler: Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTMwNjUyNjA3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzY2NzM4NA@@._V1_.jpg

Here is a true story that classifies as "Tingler Trivia."  At a major studio-named Cinema palace in San Mateo, California, I saw an original exhibition of "The Tingler" back in 1959 with the theatre-Manager's nephew, a high school chum.  His uncle related the distribution set-up for the film: army surplus vibration motors were electrically wired under every third seat in the first seven rows of this large theatre in the "orchestra" level, at considerable expense.  At key points in the film the motors were clicked on, providing a "tingling" sensation to a viewer's rear end, at which point several plain-clothed ushers would scream out horribly! The implied intention was to cause a stampede in the auditorium, front to rear, toward the main lobby candy counters beyond the thrust-open theatre doors.  While we were listening to the story, behind the Manager's back a curious-looking workman, looking very worried and clutching a small hat, was gesturing for the manager to turn around, which we mentioned.  "Who's that?" we asked. "Oh, he's the retired electrician I found" was the reply.  "Excuse me for a moment, boys."  When the Manager returned, he seemed quite bemused, explaining "This idiot I hired to do the work just informed me, minutes before the film rolls, that he forgot to ground his connections.  It seems the patrons in those seven rows are due for a REAL shock."  Needless to say, my friend and I sat in row 11 and yes, seeing the film that way, in a packed theatre, was a real hoot!  About 100 people, jolted and non, stormed the lobby at the given moments, several screaming or wondering out loud in pandemonium. When the film went "black screen" for a moment and the jolts shocked the audience, the scene was not to be believed and has, to this very day, never been forgotten.  It was almost as humorous as a showing of "House on Haunted Hill" in the same theatre earlier in the year, but that is a story for another day.

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The Tingler

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