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GREAT OLD MOVIES

will be back in the new year!

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Judy Garland and James Mason

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) ignites the interest of movie star Norman Maine (James Mason) when he drunkenly stumbles upon the stage where she is performing a number for a Hollywood "Night of Stars" benefit. Esther is by no means a star, but rather a vocalist with a popular band. Norman is so impressed by Esther that he arranges a screen test for her and is instrumental in her taking over the lead role of a new musical production. Eventually Esther -- rechristened "Vicki Lester" by the studio -- and Norman marry, but as her career hits the heights and she does become a certified star, Norman's heavy drinking and bad behavior pay a toll ... 

The Man That Got Away

I've seen this version of the venerable story more than once in the past few years and my opinion of it waxes and wanes. I have now come to the conclusion that it is a very good and very entertaining classic motion picture, and the best version ever of this bit of Hollywood folklore. In previous years I may have been reacting negatively to the obsessive, near-hysterical reaction among some Garland fans who may have ruined many a screening of the picture. I first saw the film on television decades ago, chopped up by commercial interruptions and missing scenes that had even made the final theatrical cut. Color and cinemascope were lost. Now the film can be seen in its original three hour length in widescreen technicolor and stereophonic sound -- boy what a difference!

Born in a Trunk

There are times when you do get the impression that this is strictly A Judy Garland Extravaganza with the woman taking centerstage in one musical number after another and to hell with the story. But in the final quarter the film does get back to the central romantic relationship between Esther and Norman, and as for all of the musical numbers -- well, A Star is Born is a musical, after all, and the production numbers, featuring a luminescent and ultra-talented Garland at the top of her form, are extremely well-done and give the film its vitality. The long Born in a Trunk sequence is also quite stylish and memorable. 

Norman Maine overhears that he's washed up forever

Garland gives a terrific performance, and those who claim the Oscar was stolen from her may be correct. This time around I didn't find her overly mannered or too neurotic but pretty much on-target in her portrayal. Let's not forget James Mason, who is near-superb as the charming, dissipated Norman, who can be a pretty mean drunk when he wants to be. There is a lot we don't learn about Norman, unfortunately, which might have made him a bit more sympathetic, although when we see Mason as Maine in his bed listening to the studio boss tell Esther how washed up her husband is, you can't help but feel a stab of pity. 

Garland with Charles Bickford

Charles Bickford makes his mark as the studio boss, and he has two wonderful scenes with Mason in the Maine home and at the sanitorium where Norman is hopefully drying out. Bickford also figures in a especially well-written dressing room sequence when Esther tells of how helpless she feels trying to succor Norman and how there are times when she actually hates him due to his failure to control his drinking and all of his broken promises. Jack Carson also scores as the long-suffering publicity man who has had to put up with Norman's drunken antics for too long a time. Tommy Noonan is fine as Esther's friend, the band leader Danny, who gives her a needed pep talk, and there are bits from Irving Bacon as Norman's butler, Percy Helton as a drunk, Arthur Space as a court clerk, Frank Ferguson as a judge, Tristram Coffin as an assistant director, Grady Sutton as a reporter, and Richard Webb as a winner at the Oscar ceremony, and many, many other familiar names who show up only briefly. 

Get That Long Face Lost

In addition to Born in a Trunk, which includes a rendition of Swanee, the other song numbers include It's a New World, What am I here for? and Get That Long Face Lost which features two cute black children. Arguably the best number is The Man That Got Away, superbly delivered by Garland. One might wonder why she smiles during this torchiest of torch songs, but it may reflect a sheer joy in singing, and in this excellent Harold Arlen-Ira Gershwin song. (Arlen and Gershwin did the other numbers, aside from Born in a Trunk and Swanee). I confess that I've always found the number Garland does for Norman in her living room to be a little tiresome, but you can't win 'em all. In any case, Sam Leavitt's cinematography is first-class, as is Cukor's direction. 

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at the Oscar ceremony

Some things you just have to take with a grain of salt. Why would Norman Maine insist that Esther have a screen test when he's never actually seen her act, just sing? Sure her interpretive singing skills are impressive, but that doesn't mean she can act. Still, this is Hollywood. Based on the initial reviews and audience reaction, everyone expected A Star is Born to be a tremendous hit, but the studio cut forty minutes out of it so there could be more showings. I'm not certain if that really would have hurt the box office, but in any case the movie lost money and Garland only made two more pictures. Her big comeback was both a triumph and a failure. 

Verdict: A hell of a lot of work went into this picture and it shows! ***1/2.  

THE CEREMONY

Laurence Harvey

THE CEREMONY (1963). Produced and directed by Laurence Harvey. NOTE: Some plot points are revealed in this review.

In Tangier Sean McKenna (Laurence Harvey of Butterfield 8) is being held in prison and and is being prepped for execution. McKenna participated in a bank robbery in which a guard was killed, although he did not fire the shot and apparently tried to stop it. The warden (John Ireland of No Place to Land) and prosecutor (Ross Martin) want McKenna to tell them where the money is, but he refuses. Meanwhile his brother, Dominic (Robert Walker Jr.),  hatches a plot to spring Sean from prison by replacing Father O'Brien (Jack MacGowran) when he comes to give Sean the last rites. But Sean doesn't realize that he must pay a price for his brother's assistance, a price that concerns Sean's girlfriend, Catherine (Sarah Miles).

Sarah Miles and Laurence Harvey

Produced and directed by and starring Laurence Harvey, The Ceremony is, sadly, a mess. What might have been a thrilling picture -- and it does have a couple of exciting sequences -- has been turned into a pretentious allegory, a painfully obvious anti-capital punishment tract whose one-dimensional characters fail to get a grip on the audience. We learn so little about Sean that it's hard to have any sympathy for a bank robber, and since -- whoever fired the shot -- the guard was killed during the commission of a robbery, it's hard to understand why one of the prison staff is so upset at the thought of his demise -- in a completely ridiculous scene all the members of the firing squad refuse to shoot him (or at least the person they think it is). 

John Ireland and Ross Martin

Harvey gives a decent but not great performance. Poor Ross Martin, generally a fine actor, is forced to play the cliche of the "evil" prosecutor who takes extreme pleasure in someone being executed -- he never even comes off as a real person. John Ireland does what he can with another underwritten role, that of the prison warden. Jack MacGowran is incredibly irritating as the fussy and dithering priest who seems half-senile and who continuously talks to himself while saying nothing remotely interesting. Sarah Miles does her best but is unable to bring Catherine, torn between two brothers, to believable life. Lee Patterson [Spin a Dark Web], who appears briefly as a friend of Sean's and Dominick's who helps the former escape, is relatively unscathed. The sensitive, uncredited young actor who plays the prison guard disturbed at the thought of Sean being executed probably comes off best, although his character is also undeveloped. 

Verdict: Interesting cast in rather dull movie sunk by its own pretensions. **.  

DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (1948)

Denis Goacher and Siobhan McKenna

DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (1948). Director: Lance Comfort. 

Emily (Siobhan McKenna) is a servant girl in a small-town parish in Ireland. When the ladies of the church object to how the men seem drawn to Emmie, they importune the priest to send her away. She winds up on an English farm run by the Tallent family: Julie (Honor Blackman) and her boyfriend Saul (Denis Goacher); Julie's sister, Bess (Anne Crawford of They Were Sisters) and her husband Bob (Barry Morse of Asylum); and their brother, Larry (Grant Tyler), among others. Julie remains friendly with Emily even after Saul makes a pass at her, but Bess simply can't warm up to the young woman. Things take a sinister turn when a man named Dan (Maxwell Reed of Daybreak), whom Emmie met at a fair in Ireland, turns up murdered ... 

Barry Morse and Anne Crawford

An unusual aspect of this unusual suspense film is the casting of Siobhan McKenna as the "femme fatale," Hardly possessed of great beauty -- in some shots she is positively homely -- her performance is so good that you sort of forget how she looks and appreciate the fact that some women can cast a spell over certain men even without possessing enormous pulchritude. If this had been remade for American audiences, it not only would have been more lurid and explicit, but Emily would have been played by a much sexier female. In any case, McKenna's innocent appearance works to the film's advantage.

David Greene and Siobhan McKenna

Daughter of Darkness never spells out exactly how various men are killed, adding to the film's obtuseness. The notion that she only kills men who try and have their way with her is jettisoned when one innocent youth is also found dead. Does Emily entice men and then react negatively when they give in to her enticement? Is she an evil, even sociopathic creature? We learn so little of her background -- and indeed all of the characters could have used more development -- that it's hard to figure out. In any case the film is moody and absorbing, and well-acted by all, making this a worthwhile watch despite its flaws. Others in the cast include David Greene as a man who disappears after meeting with Emily; Liam Redmond as the priest; and George Thorpe as the head of the Tallent family. Adding to the dark atmosphere is a dog, its owner dead, who wanders about howling and growling, and the bit with the church organ playing mysteriously in the middle of the night. Lance Comfort also directed Hatter's Castle. 

Verdict: Strange but compelling. ***.   

A STAR IS BORN: JUDY GARLAND AND THE FILM THAT GOT AWAY

A STAR IS BORN: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away. Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance. Running Press; 2018. 

"Every song was attenuated to such a length that I thought I was going mad ... after we had endured montage after montage and repetition after repetition, I found myself wishing that dear enchanting Judy was at the bottom of the sea." -- Noel Coward.

This generously illustrated coffee table tome, co-written by Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, takes an exhaustive look at A Star is Born and especially examines why a film that won much critical acclaim and should have had boffo box office, died on the vine after the studio cut the running time in order to fit in more screenings. This was to be Garland's big comeback film, and while she did do a couple of movies afterward, her days as a major film star were over. The book looks into the previous versions of the story, as well as the Barbra Streisand version (which was a commercial success), and recounts Garland's career and personal life both before, during, and after the making of A Star is Born. Luft is blunt about her father, Sid Luft, and his abilities (or lack thereof) as a producer. The final sections of the book delve into the reconstruction of the film, which is now available on DVD so the reader/viewer can judge for themselves if the film -- and Garland -- are overpraised or not. The section on Garland's gay fans is somewhat unintentionally comical and a bit dated all told. But this is a very good bet for Garland fans! And while I quite understand where Noel Coward was coming from (see quote above) I can't say that I agree. Some of the other individuals involved in the film, such as James Mason, might have come in for a little more praise. 

Verdict: Attractive, well-written volume on a classic motion picture and its tormented star. ***.

CUBAN PETE

Beverly Simmons and Desi Arnaz

CUBAN PETE (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough. 

Society woman Mrs. Lindsay (Jacqueline deWit of The Damned Don't Cry), who fancies that she has a voice, wants to hire Desi Arnaz (playing himself) and his band for her radio show. Desi is caring for his little orphaned niece, Brownie (Beverly Simmons), in Cuba and has no desire to go to New York. Ad man Roberts (Don Porter of Youngblood Hawke) has his associate, Ann (Joan Shawlee), fly to Havana to importune Desi to return with her. With the help of his niece, Ann eventually gets her objective, only to learn that Mrs. Lindsay, who has a terrible voice, intends to sing on the radio with his band! Can Ann convince Desi not to return to Cuba on the first plane, and can they prevent Mrs. Lindsay from ever opening her mouth?

Don Porter and Ann Shawlee

Cuban Pete is strictly a showcase for Desi Arnaz, who is spirited and charming in the film, demonstrating that he had ability and charisma long before I Love Lucy. He does a fine rendition of the title tune (which he also sang on Lucy) and a couple of other numbers. Desi has a girl group called the King Sisters, one of whom, Consuela, sets her cap for Roberts. Brownie has a talking parrot which, in an unfunny sequence, causes foolish havoc in a doctor's office. With its weak script, Cuban Pete did nothing to establish Arnaz as a film star. Shawlee had a wide variety of credits as did Porter; both did much TV work later in their careers. Pianist Ethel Smith, playing herself, does a nifty number on the organ. From Universal Pictures. 

Verdict: A likable energetic Desi is about all that saves this. **1/4. 

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE

Maggie Smith as the airy Miss Brodie

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (1969). Director: Ronald Neame. 

In 1930's Scotland Miss Jean Brodie (Maggie Smith) is a tenured teacher at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Jean is free-spirited, putting her at odds with the relatively new headmistress Miss Mackay (Celia Johnson of Brief Encounter), who keeps reminding her that this is a conservative school. Jean is one of those teachers who is convinced she can leave a lasting impression on her students and always supposedly knows what's best for them, even though she can be naive, dismissive, and rather stupid at times. She does her best to stay out of the clutches of the art teacher, Teddy Lloyd (Smith's real life husband at the time, Robert Stephens), her former lover, who is married and has six children. Jean encourages one of her charges, Mary (Jane Carr of Something for Everyone) to go off to Spain to fight alongside her brother, something which does not end at all well. Jean may have met her match in young Sandy (Pamela Franklin of The Food of the Gods), who replaces her in Teddy's bed and ultimately helps bring about her downfall.

Smith gets a dressing down from Pamela Franklin

The prime joy of Miss Jean Brodie is the performance of Maggie Smith, which netted her a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar. She fully brings to life all of the different, often maddening facets of Brodie's character and engages your full attention from start to finish. She is surrounded by other wonderful actors: Stephens as the utter pig of an art teacher; Gordon Jackson as the more gentlemanly music teacher with whom Jean dallies; Pamela Franklin, who is ferociously good as Sandy and especially excels in her climactic scene when she really tells off her irresponsible teacher, Jean; Celia Johnson as the long-suffering Miss MacKay, who tries various methods to send her nemesis packing; Jane Carr as the stammering, ill-fated Mary; and others. 

Smith with Robert Stephens

Miss Jean Brodie is by no means perfect. A comedy-drama, there are sequences in the girls' school that , unfortunately, remind one of antics in St. Trinian's! There is something a bit artificial and unreal about the film at times. However, what's amazing is that the particular school girls who form Jean's closest circle all look convincingly like children, despite their real ages, who age gracefully (or otherwise) into adulthood -- Franklin's transformation is especially astonishing. Rod McKuen composed a pretty song for the picture, but he should have been convinced not to sing it, as he has no voice. He had a certain run as a sappy poet and composer. 

Verdict: Smith's Academy Award-winning performance makes this film fully engaging whatever its flaws. ***. 

MAN AFRAID

George Nader

MAN AFRAID (1957). Director: Harry Keller.

A man sneaks into a child's bedroom window and runs into the boy's mother, hitting her in the face and temporarily blinding her. When her husband, minister David Collins (George Nader), comes to her rescue he winds up inadvertently killing the intruder. Although not charged with any crime, Collins learns that the dead man's father, Carl Simmons (Eduard Franz), is following his little boy, Michael (Tim Hovey), around town in a threatening manner. Collins' wife, Lisa (Phyllis Thaxter), feels helpless because her eyes are bandaged. As Simmons becomes more and more bold, going so far as to invade Collins' very home, the minister tries to get Lt Marlin (Harold J. Stone) to take some kind of preventative action. But will it all come too late?

Nader with feisty Mabel Albertson

Man Afraid is a solid suspense film with very good performances. Nader has always been under-rated because of his participation in such films as Robot Monster, but he's fine in this, as are Thaxter and little Tim Hovey, an appealing and talented child actor. Reta Shaw offers a little spice as a nurse hired to look after Lisa, and Mabel Albertson certainly makes her mark as Simmons' tippling and fairly obnoxious landlady. Stone also makes the policeman more obnoxious than he needs to be. Tom Nolan is also notable as Michael's friend, "Skunky," who is neglected by his father (Judson Pratt), an aggressive newsman. He tells the sympathetic Collins that his father claims he makes too much noise "but when I'm dead they'll wish I was able to make any kind of noise." Franz is effective in a near-silent role.

Nader with Phyllis Thaxter

Man Afraid is well-photographed in CinemaScope by Russell Metty, and has a very good score by Henry Mancini. Keller's direction is adroit, and the climax is tense and exciting. One odd sequence concerns a boxing match between little boys in an actual arena, a match that Michael participates in! Considering that the "burglar" entered the Collins' house when the couple was home, and immediately snuck into the boy's bedroom, one has to wonder exactly what the man was after, but this aspect goes unexplored. Harry Keller also directed Nader in The Female Animal and The Unguarded Moment. 

Verdict: Absorbing suspense film with good performances and a satisfying conclusion. ***. 

BOND VS. BOND: THE MANY FACES OF 007

BOND VS. BOND: The Many Faces of 007. Paul Simpson. Race Point Publishing; 2015.

This huge coffee table book is divided into several informative sections. First we meet James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, and look into his background and his various 007 novels. Simpson also examines other authors who have written James Bond adventures, including John Gardner and Raymond Benson, as well as writers, such as Jeffery Deaver, who contributed only one novel. Then each actor who played Bond in the major movies -- from Sean Connery of Dr. No to Daniel Craig of Casino Royale -- gets his own chapter, and there is an additional section of other Bond portrayals, such as Barry Nelson on Climax!. There are sidebars on cars, gadgets, villains and "Bond girls." Aside from a comment here and there, the book offers no critical analysis of the books or films, but it does offer a wealth of behind-the-scenes details and is generously illustrated throughout. Major Bond fans will enjoy this enormously. 

Verdict: Beautiful tome on the most famous film series of all and then some! ***. 

THE CANDIDATE (1964)

Ted Knight as the candidate

THE CANDIDATE (1964), Director: Robert Angus. 

Frank Carlton (Ted Knight) is running for the senate but he has some concerns over the morality of his new campaign manager, Buddy Barker (Ernesto Macias using the name Eric Mason), who is a Hugh Hefner-type with many girlfriends. As Buddy makes a former hotel employee, Christine Ashley (Mamie Van Doren), his secretary-assistant and starts a relationship with her, Frank starts falling for Angela (June Wilkinson), a formerly kept woman who finds herself without a "sponsor." An added complication is that one of Buddy's one-night-stands, Mona (Rachel Romen), turns up pregnant and in tears even as Buddy tries to convince Frank that he's making a big mistake with Angela. 

Mamie Van Doren and Ernesto Macias

The Candidate is an oddball if compelling movie with an interesting cast. Although playing the title character, Ted Knight is really in a supporting part, but acquits himself nicely, especially in a bedroom sequence with Wilkinson. Macias, who was more often billed as Eric Mason, is excellent as Buddy, a man who on occasion tries to do the right thing even if his instincts are telling him to do otherwise. Rachel Romen has several strong scenes as Mona, Wilkinson is good, but Van Doren proves once again that she isn't really much of an actress and just can't get out of sex kitten mode. Steve Karmen, who once had an act with Bobby Darin and wrote a book about him, contributed a fine score with jazzy interludes and romantic and poignant passages. "Buddy Barker" was probably based on Washington D.C.-based pimp Bobby Baker. 

Verdict: Enough good acting and interesting sequences in this to keep you watching. **1/2. 

GOOD NEW MOVIE: A HAUNTING IN VENICE

A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023). Director: Kenneth Branagh.

Tina Fey and Kenneth Branagh

Now living in Venice after WW2, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is importuned by old friend, the writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), to attend a seance in a supposedly haunted palazzo. Ariadne dares Hercule to expose the medium, a woman named Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). The resident of the palazzo is a famous opera soprano, Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), whose grown daughter apparently committed suicide by throwing herself into the canal. Poirot is a bit disoriented by strange sights and sounds, but absolutely does not believe in the supernatural. More than one murder occurs, and Poirot himself is nearly drowned bobbing for apples (although it is highly unlikely that the fastidious and germ-phobic Poirot would ever dunk his noggin in a tub where other people have already done the same). Suspects include Dr.  Ferrier (Jamie Donan); the housekeeper Olga (Camille Cottin); the dead daughter's former fiance Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen); and several others, even Ariadne. Eventually, Poirot will figure out the solution and ferret out the murderer. 

Agatha Christie purists may have a problem with A Haunting in Venice -- which is very loosely based on Hallowe'en Party, (the only real similarity is that a Halloween party does indeed take place) -- but I found the movie quite enjoyable. While Branagh, who does a good job directing the picture, can't compare to David Suchet (or even Peter Ustinov) as Poirot, the movie is handsomely produced, well-photographed, and generally well-acted. Tina Fey is good as the novelist, although she doesn't even attempt a British accent. One cast member I was impressed by was little Jude Hill as the precocious Leopold, son of the good doctor. Michelle Yeoh also scores as the medium, who talks right up to the great Poirot in their absorbing scenes together. I think people who disliked this movie were put off by its old-fashioned tone -- just right for this kind of story -- but I found the mystery to be compelling and the solution quite clever. 

Verdict: So far the best of the Branagh-Poirot movies. ***. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

from Great Old Movies and B Movie Nightmare. 
 

THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST

Charles Gordon, John Abbott, Adele Mara

THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST (1945). Director: Lesley Selander. Colorized.

In the village of Bokunda in Africa, dead bodies are turning up partially drained of blood. The natives believe a vampire is on the loose, something which is scoffed at by Father Gilchrist (Grant Withers of Jungle Jim), as well as Roy Hendrick (Charles Gordon), his girlfriend, Julie (Peggy Stewart), and her father Thomas (Emmett Vogan of Hop Harrigan). On an expedition to a nearby village, tavern owner Webb Fallon (John Abbott of Deception) puts a spell on Roy and reveals that he is four-hundred years old and fond of drinking blood. As more murders occur, Fallon develops an overwhelming "fondess" for Julie, whom he hopes to make one of the Undead to ease his loneliness. Will Roy be able to shrug off the mind control and save his lover? 

John Abbott as the unlikely vampire

The Vampire's Ghost -- there is actually no ghost in the picture -- is a cheap Republic horror film that has some well-staged sequences (a night time attack on gambler Roy Barcroft, for instance) but is overall mediocre. In motion pictures vampires tend to be frightening and/or romantic figures, but the funny-lookin' John Abbott more often played comical or weaselly roles. However, Abbott is a good enough actor to be entirely credible as the sinister Fallon. Republic contract player Charles Gordon, who only made ten pictures, is effective as Roy, who doesn't seem much of a match for Fallon. Peggy Stewart, and Adele Mara as the ill-fated dancer Lisa, are also good. Grant Withers and Roy Barcroft, old standbys in classic serials, go through their paces with panache, especially Barcroft. The conclusion at a jungle temple devoted to a long-gone cult of evil is so drawn out that the film, which is less than an hour long, temporarily seems interminable. Lesley Selander also directed the serial Jungle Raiders. 

Verdict: Worth seeing just once. **1/2. 

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959). Director: Edward Dein. 

In the old west the Sheriff (Edward Binns of Without Warning!), Dr. Carter (John Hoyt), and Preacher Dan (Eric Fleming) are appalled at the deaths of several young girls whose bodies are drained of blood. When Dr. Carter dies the same way, his son, Timmy (Jimmy Murphy of Wall of Noise), and daughter, Delores (Kathleen Crowley), are convinced that the perpetrator is Buffer (Bruce Gordon of The Scarface Mob), a neighbor who coveted Carter's land. Delores hires a gunslinger named Drake Robey (Michael Pate of Thunder on the Hill) to take care of Buffer, but she is unaware that it is Robey who is one of the Living Dead. Now the vampire and the preacher are in combat for the lady's immortal soul. 

Michael Pate carries Kathleen Crowley

Curse of the Undead is, I believe, the first of the horror-westerns. (Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula came out years later.) The picture has a good story -- although on occasion the script is confusing and inconsistent -- that needs a much stronger directorial hand, but the acting from every single player can not be faulted and is what makes the picture work. Michael Pate may not have possessed Tyrone Power-type looks, but he was still attractive and certainly charismatic in his way, and he gives a very good lead performance in this. He is matched by Kathleen Crowley, whose talent was greater than her TV-B movie origins. Jimmy Murphy also scores as Timmy, and has a particularly good scene when he challenges Buffer to a duel in the local saloon. As for Bruce Gordon, Elliott Ness' nemesis in so many episodes of The Untouchables, he also exhibits his customary charisma while also displaying a more vulnerable side to his character. Eric Fleming makes the most of his role as the preacher. Edward Dein also directed The Leech Woman. 

Verdict: It isn't always easy to be convincing in stories of this type, but all of the actors pull it off. **3/4. 

THE MAD DOCTOR

Basil Rathbone and Ellen Drew

THE MAD DOCTOR (1940). Director: Tim Whelan.

The wife of Dr. Sebastian (Basil Rathbone) dies of pneumonia but her death seems suspicious to her personal physician Dr. Downer (Ralph Morgan). Nevertheless Sebastian and his good right hand Maurice (Martin Kosleck of House of Horrors) settle the will and quickly leave for New York City. In Manhattan Sebastian sets up practice as a prominent psychiatrist and moves in on his latest victim, a wealthy neurotic named Linda (Ellen Drew of The Crooked Way) who has tried to throw herself off of a roof. As the not so good doctor and Maurice cheerily plan what they'll do with the loot once Sebastian marries -- and murders -- Linda, her former boyfriend, reporter Gil Sawyer (John Howard of The Invisible Woman), is checking the background of Sebastian, and crosses paths with the suspicious Dr. Downer. Meanwhile Maurice is not thrilled that Sebastian claims to be truly falling in love with Linda ... 

John Howard and Ellen Drew

The Mad Doctor is more of a suspense-thriller than an out and out horror film, although it is macabre and occasionally chilling. An interesting aspect of the film is the relationship between the two villains, as Maurice seems to be much more than a mere servant. Apparently Sebastian saved Maurice's life at one point and is beholden to him. Maurice sprays cologne on himself with an atomizer, which may have been the film's dated way of suggesting he is queer. In any case, Rathbone offers a superb performance -- no one can display withering contempt as well as Rathbone. The under-rated Kosleck is also excellent. Morgan is quite good as well, but Drew and Howard are simply not in the same league. 

Companions in crime: Rathbone; Kosleck

There are flavorful supporting performances from Barbara Jo Allen (appearing as "Vera Vague") as Linda's sister and Hugh O'Connell as her brother-in-law, although he tries too hard to be inappropriately comical. Billy Benedict and Kitty Kelly are fine in smaller roles and Douglas Kennedy has a bit as a hotel clerk. At one point Linda inexplicably asks to meet a certain person at the 79th Street subway, the only point of which is to apparently set up a chilling subway murder sequence. The picture could have used much more music during certain suspenseful sequences. The screenplay is rather dismissive of the benefits of psychiatry, going to far as to suggest that all shrinks are charlatans. 

Verdict: An outstanding Rathbone performance is the chief joy of this entertaining suspense film. ***. 

LONG WEEKEND

Briony Behets and John Hargreaves

LONG WEEKEND (1978). Director: Colin Eggleston.  

Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) are a couple undergoing serious marital difficulties. Inexplicably, they take off on a camping trip to an isolated spot near the seashore. As the vacation progresses, they have a couple of unpleasant encounters with wildlife, but far worse is the fact that their tempers fray and their relationship completely unravels. But their travails aren't over ... 

On the beach

Long Weekend, an Australian flick, purports to be a horror film and many viewers apparently even saw it as a "nature gets revenge"-type movie. Well ... Peter gets briefly attacked by an eagle and bitten by a possum -- and at the opening someone on the radio news talks about strange bird behavior -- but if one is hoping for something along the lines of The Birds or even Frogs, look elsewhere. The film is moody and well-directed, setting an eerie and disquieting tone almost from the beginning, but it's all just a tease. It's almost as if the filmmakers decided they could get more people into the theater if they somehow fashioned this into a horror film instead of a marital drama, but it just doesn't work.   

Peter tries to befriend a possum -- bad idea!

What does work are the performances by Behets and Hargreaves, although their characters are not the most pleasant of people; the wife is especially negative. The two actors do a great job dealing with the varied physical and emotional crises they face during the running time. Vincent Monton's cinematography is first-rate, and there's an interesting score by Michael Carlos. While the movie does build up to tragic events, it never really comes to a boil. 

NOTE; Coincidentally a novelization of the film, written by Brett McBean, has just come out from Encyclopocalypse Publications. This might be very interesting! You can find it on Amazon. 

Verdict: Take this as a moody marital drama and it might work for you. **1/4. 

THE HALF-NAKED TRUTH

Lee Tracy and Lupe Velez

THE HALF-NAKED TRUTH (1932). Director: Gregory La Cava.  

Carnival Barker Jimmy Bates (Lee Tracy), dancer Teresita (Lupe Velez) and the portly Achilles (Eugene Pallette) all work for the same struggling outfit. Jimmy is convinced he'd make a better press agent than the one employed by the carnival, and he concocts a scheme for Teresita that backfires, forcing the trio to flee on the first train to New York. There Teresita is rechristened "Princess Exotica" from Turkey and ensconced in a suite at the Ritz. Using his wiles, Jimmy is able to secure Teresita a spot in the latest show put on by producer Merle Farrell (Frank Morgan), but Jimmy decides, using even more outrageous schemes, to make a star out of hotel employee Gladys (Shirley Chambers) when he thinks Teresita and Farrell are pushing him out.  

Lupe

The Half-Naked Truth is a cute, if minor, comedy with excellent performances from the entire cast, which includes Franklin Pangborn as the hotel manager and Asta from The Thin Man in a butcher shop cameo. Velez, who is sassy and spirited, later starred in the Mexican Spitfire series before committing suicide at 36. Her bouncy "Carpenter" number on stage is a highlight of the picture. The film's composer, Max Steiner, appears as the conductor during this sequence. The following year Tracy played another press agent bedeviling Jean Harlow in Bombshell. 

Verdict: Some very amusing stuff in here. **3/4. 

ALL MY YESTERDAYS: EDWARD G. ROBINSON

ALL MY YESTERDAYS: An Autobiography. Edward G. Robinson with Leonard Spigelgass. Hawthorne; 1973.

"For male actors it is possible, though not easy, to slip gradually from leading man into character roles. For me, it just came naturally, since I was never Tab Hunter ..."

In this posthumously published autobiography, the great actor, who became a star with Little Caesar, writes frankly of his life and career and relationships with friends, actors and other co-workers. He gives candid, honest -- but not mean-spirited -- assessments of such co-stars as Bette Davis and Kay Francis, and describes his love of art and how he set out amassing his great collection of masterpieces. He also writes about the brutal days when he was unfairly accused of being a communist. Robinson died before he could complete his recollections, so the book was finished by his collaborator Spigelgass, who provides some interesting footnotes and a compilation of Robinson's opinions on various subjects. He also writes of Robinson's divorce, how he lost most of his great art treasures, and his troubled relationship with his only son.

Verdict: Compelling reading from a great star and superb thespian. ****.

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN

Michael Fox and Lex Barker

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (1957). Director: Russell Birdwell.

Joseph Stalin (Maurice Manson) has faked his death with a lookalike corpse, changed his face via plastic surgery, and is hiding out in Greece with associate and assassin Igor Smetka (Michael Fox of The Lost Planet) and his nurse Miss Gresenko (Zsa Zsa Gabor). This woman is the twin of Lily Gresenko (also Gabor) -- the two women were separated and one was taken to Moscow some years before. Lily desperately wants to find her sister, and hires callous private eye Steve Anderson (Lex Barker of Tarzan's Savage Fury) for the job until he deems it too impossible to finish. Importuned by Lily to continue, he teams up with an old friend, a one-armed agent named Mischa (Jeffrey Stone of Money, Women, and Guns). Learning that the monster Stalin may be alive, and that Lily's sister may be with him, the hunt is on. But others are aware of this search, and are going to do their best to stop it, by murder and kidnapping if necessary. 

Zsa Zsa gives two mediocre performances

The Girl in a Kremlin is a lurid melodrama that is caught somewhere between being a serious, if far-fetched, spy thriller and a wild, rather absurd Man from UNCLE episode. Zsa Zsa Gabor, never much of an actress although they kept giving her parts, is slightly better as the Stalin associate than she is as the concerned Lily, but that's not saying much. Lex Barker doesn't put himself out too much, playing the role in a flippant style that makes you wonder why his character bothers doing anything. Jeffrey Stone, the model for Disney's Prince Charming, is much better as the attractive and very appealing Mischa. Perennial supporting player Michael Fox has a good role as an assassin who carries a bullet-firing umbrella, and Maurice Manson is effective as Stalin, and even more so in his new identity, which I won't reveal here. 

Jeffrey Stone and Lex Barker

William Schallert also gives a good performance as Stalin's son, Yakov, who somehow survived his death in a German concentration camp after his father sent him to the front and refused a prisoner exchange that would have brought him home! Norbert Schiller (of The Return of Dracula) scores as Brubov, who is told he must kill Steve if he wants to see his wife and boys again, and dresses up as a nun to carry out his assignment. Elena Da Vinci makes a sinister, whip-wielding Olga, Smetka's wife, and Phillipa Fallon sneers competently as her associate, Nina. At one point Steve is whipped by Olga. Meanwhile Zsa Zsa has a cat fight with herself. 

Natalie Daryll gets her head shaved

One cast member you can only feel pity for is Natalie Daryll, who plays Russian prisoner, Dasha. In an early, protracted sequence, she has her locks shorn and head shaved in almost pornographic detail, right down to the use of a straight razor and shaving cream. This whole business is not faked and one can only hope the poor woman was well paid for this disturbing exhibition. This was her first and last movie; and she had only two TV credits afterwards. The whole sequence is rather pointless aside from illustrating Stalin's weird tastes and cruelty. As for the movie, it is strangely compelling and entertaining if impossible to take entirely seriously. DeWitt Bodeen was one of the screenwriters. No composer is credited, but the score, presumably stock music, really helps put the movie over.

Verdict: Here's a strange one! ***.  

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (2009). Written, produced, and directed by Aviva Kempner.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is primarily a biography of Gertrude Berg, who played the much-beloved character of Molly Goldberg on the long-running radio/TV series The Goldbergs. (Her neighbor would yell out of her window, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.") But it is also an evocation of a particular time in history, and a look back at the radio, television and motion picture industries as they were during a different era. In addition, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg also covers everything from WW2, the holocaust and anti-Semitism to the often tragic consequences of the blacklist in the fifties and its effect on many careers in show business. Berg, born Tilly Edelstein, became "the first woman to build a media empire." She wrote but originally had not intended to act on the radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, but she was so suited for the lead role that she got it, and continued to play the part when it debuted as the TV series The Goldbergs on 1/10/49. Philip Loeb was excellent as her husband, but due to his liberal and labor causes he was branded a communist and CBS dropped the show when Berg refused to drop Loeb. However, Loeb finally had to leave the series when it became apparent that no other network would air the program as long as he was a part of it (he later committed suicide). 

The Goldbergs continued with first Harold Stone, and then Robert Harris, as Mr. Goldberg, but it lost much of its audience when the family moved from the Bronx to the suburbs. Although focusing on a Jewish family, it was the universal themes on the program that made it a hit with so many. Berg later wound up doing more than one project with, of all people, Sir Cedric Hardwicke! The movie is bolstered by interviews with the late Berg's relations, co-workers, and many people both in and out of the industry who were greatly influenced by her. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is charming, sad, and altogether excellent. NOTE: The DVD release of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg contains many extras, including a few episodes of the series itself. 

Verdict: This is a superb documentary on every possible level. ****

B MOVIE NIGHTMARE -- THE BOOK

Duncan "Dean" Parkin as The Cyclops

B MOVIE NIGHTMARE: B Movies and Genre Films from Monsters to 

Spies.  

William Schoell.

Here it is! My first collection of reviews taken from this blog -- these reviews were originally posted many years ago. 

There are sections on horror films; sci fi films; movies of intrigue and suspense, including film noir; cliffhanger serials; monster movies; B movie series (Crime Doctor, Nancy Drew etc.); TV shows; exploitation films (admittedly the shortest section in the book); spies; and Alfred Hitchcock. Admittedly, Hitch rarely made a "B" movie but the book, like this blog, also covers genre movies from A to Z. The films are listed in chronological order in each section, and there are movie stills as well. Available in the following formats: Kindle, trade paperback, and hardcover. You can buy this book on Amazon. 

NOTE: Dean Parkin not only played the Cyclops, but also was the giant man in War of the Colossal Beast, the sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man.