THIS MAN MUST DIE

Jean Yanne and Michel Duchaussoy

THIS MAN MUST DIE (aka Que la bete meure/1969). Director: Claude Chabrol.  

When his little boy is run down in the street and killed by a driver who doesn't stop, Charles Thenier (Michel Duchaussoy), determines to find out who was behind the wheel so that he can kill him. Eventually Charles' trail leads to an actress, Helene Lanson (Caroline Cellier), who was in the car when the tragedy occurred. Charles begins a romance with Helene in order to get closer to the driver, her brother-in-law, Paul (Jean Yanne). Charles is afraid that Paul might turn out to be someone likable, which would make his job more difficult, but Paul turns out to be fairly odious, someone who is vile to both his wife and son, Philippe (Marc di Napoli). Now the question is: can Charles bring himself to commit murder?

Michel Duchaussoy

This Man Must Die is another memorable and well-acted Chabrol film, perhaps more of a character study than a thriller. For a time the second half of the film -- once Charles uncovers the identity of the driver -- is less interesting than the first half, but then some intriguing events bring the picture back into focus. It is interesting that Charles is not entirely virtuous and Paul is not a complete monster. The film has a moving conclusion, and the use of the music of Brahms on the soundtrack is a decided asset. 

Verdict: Notable Chabrol drama. ***.  

MARLOWE (1969)

Sharon Farrell and James Garner

MARLOWE (1969). Director: Paul Bogart. 

Philip Marlowe (James Garner of The Children's Hour) is hired by mousy Orfamay Quest (Sharon Farrell of It's Alive) to find her brother, but during his search the P.I. uncovers a blackmail plot involving squeaky queen sitcom star Mavis Wald (Gayle Hunnicutt of Dallas), who is having an affair with a racketeer named Steelgrave (H. M. Wynant). Little does he know that both cases are connected. Marlowe stumbles over a couple of corpses of men who have been killed with an icepick, and does his best to get along with Lt. French (Carroll O'Connor) and Sgt. Beifus (Kenneth Tobey). Two other characters Marlowe has to deal with are sexy stripper Delores Gonzales (Rita Moreno) and the karate-chopping enforcer Winslow Wong (Bruce Lee). 

Garner with Hunnicutt

Marlowe is an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's 1940's novel "The Little Sister," and this film almost manages to make a little more sense of its convoluted plot, but not quite. The movie updates the story to the sixties when it was filmed, so one has to look at Garner -- who is not bad -- as an alternate modern version of Philip Marlowe, but hardly the real deal. The best performances in this are actually from a truly excellent Sharon Farrell, O'Connor (who gets one speech taken from the novel), Tobey, and Moreno, who does a very sexy dance late in the proceedings. William Daniels and Jackie Coogan also have good roles and run with them. Hunnicutt is adequate in a smaller and less showy role than Garner or Farrell, although she gets billed after Garner. She and Farrell have a brief "cat fight."

Paging Rockford

Bruce Lee features in two sequences. The first is a funny one in which Lee breaks up Marlowe's office, upsetting the apparently straight hairdresser, Chuck (Christopher Cary), who is friendly with Marlowe, takes his messages, and teaches his trade to women in the office next door. The second is a really stupid sequence in which Lee -- discombobulated after Marlowe suggests he's gay -- hurls himself at his opponent and goes right over a railing several stories high. (As others have noted, any fight between Lee and Garner would actually not have ended well for Garner.)

Garner never appeared again as Marlowe, but he fled to television and starred as a private eye in The Rockford Files for several years beginning in 1974. 

Verdict: This is a modestly entertaining, somewhat confusing private eye flick made twenty years too late. **1/2. 

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. ***. 

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S TOPAZ

Ill-fated lovers: Karin Dor and Frederick Stafford

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S TOPAZ (aka Topaz/1969). Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the novel by Leon Uris. UNCUT version. 

On the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a haughty defecting Russian Intelligence officer, Colonel Boris Kusenov (Per-Axle Arosenius), escapes from Denmark with the help of the Americans, including Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) of the state department. Nordstorm is good friends with a French agent living in Washington named Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), and asks him for his help. First he has to get certain papers from a Cuban officer, Rico Parra (John Vernon of Point Blank), who absolutely loathes Americans. Then Devereaux travels to Cuba, as he does frequently, to see if he can find out exactly what the Russians are up to there. Finally he learns of an organization, code named "Topaz," which consists of highly-placed treasonous French officials who are secretly working with Moscow. Devereaux can't tell his bosses what he has learned about activities in Cuba until he finds and excises this traitorous element. 

Frederick Stafford as Devereaux

If Topaz had been directed by anyone besides Alfred Hitchcock, it would be an acclaimed film. But because the direction is not "showy" as in some Hitchcock films, and there are no outstanding cinematic sequences one can point to -- although there are several good scenes -- Topaz has been unfairly dismissed as a Hitch stinker. Actually it has a very interesting plot and good characters, although you might wish some of them were better-developed. One which is better developed is Andre Devereaux, who seems to have a happy marriage with one-time resistance fighter Nicole (Dany Robin of Follow the Boys) but also has a mistress, Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor), in Cuba. Widow of a revolutionary hero, her appeal to Devereaux is obvious -- she is still a "resistance fighter," secretly working against communist influences in Cuba at great risk to herself and her associates. 

Roscoe Lee Browne and John Vernon

Topaz has several acts. The first suspenseful section deals with the defector and his family getting away in Denmark and nearly paying the final price when Russian agents with guns pursue them. The second act takes place in New York, especially in a Harlem hotel, where Devereaux's associate Philippe (Roscoe Lee Browne) makes a deal with Rico Parra's secretary, Luis Uribe (Donald Randolph of The Mad Magician), for some papers that detail Russian missile activities in Cuba -- a lot of suspense is worked up over getting those papers out of a certain briefcase and the street chase that follows (which ultimately leads to problems for Devereaux and far worse problems for Juanita). The third act occurs in Cuba. The final section takes place in France, when Devereaux must somehow explains things to his superiors without indirectly giving important information away to the communists. Although Hitchcock filmed three endings, all of which can be seen on the DVD, he went with a quiet if satisfying conclusion at an airport. Perhaps he should have chosen the ending in which Devereaux and his friend, a man known as "Columbine" who runs Topaz, have a duel. (Apparently this was the original ending but preview audiences hated it.) 

Carlos Rivas and John Vernon

Topaz features some interesting casting. John Forsythe is solid as Nordstorm, although we never get to learn that much about him. Czech actor Frederick Stafford played a secret agent in a couple of French films previously and seemed perfect for Devereaux, which he is. German actress Karin Dor -- whose best-known film was You Only Live Twice as a Bond villainess who goes to the piranhas -- is given one of her best roles as Juanita, and you wish there was more of her. Phillipe Noirot manages to make his unsympathetic character of Henri Jarre strangely appealing and Per-Axle Arosenius is terrific as the rather obnoxious Russian defector who may be figuratively bloodied but is definitely unbowed. John Vernon had a long career, mostly on TV, but his performance as Rico Parra is only adequate. As his bodyguard Hernandez, Carlos Rivas [The Black Scorpion] makes a striking figure with a thatch of red hair and a beard to match. Ann Doran [It, the Terror from Beyond Space] appears briefly as a woman who ministers to the defector and his family when they first arrive at the safe house. There are also good turns from Michel Subor as Devereaux' son-in-law Francois, and John Roper, Lewis Charles and Anna Navarro as ill-fated associates of Juanita's, among others. Roscoe Lee Browne and Donald Randolph make the most of their scenes in the hotel and elsewhere. 

John Forsythe

Topaz is well-shot by Jack Hildyard [Summertime] but Maurice Jarre's score is problematic. I love the exciting opening theme, but just wish the rest of the score had been as dynamic. There are some good moments, but the music mostly lacks the dramatic intensity that might have turned Topaz into a whole new picture; I truly believe it's one of the reasons the film wasn't a critical success. Hitchcock's longest  film, it also could have used some trimming and tightening, especially in the final section. (Apparently this was done for the original theatrical version.) The screenplay is by Samuel Taylor, who wrote Vertigo. 

Verdict: The Master of Suspense tells the story more simply, perhaps, but still manages to do a better job than most contemporary directors. Some terrific scenes in this! ***. 

THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN

Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr

THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN  (1969). Director: Joseph McGrath.

Wealthy Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers) has no son and heir, so he picks up a tramp he calls Youngman (Ringo Starr) and adopts him. Grand and son enjoy seeing how much people will do for money, and it turns out to be quite a lot. The last third of the film takes place on the title ocean liner, where there are riotous -- but, unfortunately, not very funny -- proceedings on board. The climax has Guy putting cash in a pool of literal crap and watching men dive for the loot while Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" plays over the action. Meant to tackle sacred cows of the period, The Magic Christian is merely awful and tedious, although there are times when you just can't turn your eyes away. The picture has the distinction of being the one Peter Sellers movie in which he clowns around but just isn't funny, and Starr, while adequate, is just along for the ride. There's a lot of homo-eroticism in the picture -- such as two dancing gay bodybuilders, and two boxers who begin making out instead of punching one another (for such a "daring" movie it's strange the way the camera cuts away before they actually kiss) -- and, alas, Leonard Frey of The Boys in the Band is forced to play a character named Laurence Faggot (pronounced Fag- go). What's meant to be shocking and sarcastic is just silly and asinine. Wilfrid Hyde-White [The Browning Version] is fine as the captain of the Magic Christian; Laurence Harvey [Life at the Top] seems to be having fun doing what might be called a Shakespearean striptease; Raquel Welch wields a mean whip in a galley scene; and Patrick Cargill and John Cleese are somewhat amusing as discombobulated employees of Sotheby's. Christopher Lee even shows up wearing his Dracula teeth and threatening to put the bite on a lady passenger. But the best cameo hands-down goes to Yul Brynner [Westworld], who is frankly astonishing as a somewhat odd-looking songstress warbling Noel Coward's "Mad About the Boy" in a cocktail lounge. Otherwise, this is a criminal waste of time! The whole film looks as if everyone involved was completely stoned all during filming.

Verdict: One of the worst movies ever made -- aside from a "fabulous" Brynner. *.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?

Ruth Gordon and Geraldine Page

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE? (1969). Director: Lee H. Katzin. 

Newly widowed Claire Marrabel (Geraldine Page) discovers that her husband left her with virtually no assets and a lot of debts, so what's a poor woman to do? She kills her housekeepers (we learn this even before the opening credits) at her Arizona dwelling and takes their assets for herself. But she has a formidable adversary in her new companion and potential victim, Alice (Ruth Gordon), who is there, unbeknownst to her employer, to find out what happened to a friend of hers who disappeared. With adept and amusing performances from the two leads, as well as a lively physical fight between the two, it's a shame that they are wasted in a movie as mediocre as Aunt Alice? The film was produced by Robert Aldrich, co-produced by his company, and was filmed at the Aldrich studios, but the role Aldrich most needed to play was as director, as Lee H. Katzin fails to imbue the film with much tension or suspense. The climax occurs nearly fifteen minutes before the comparatively flat wind-up. A dull sub-plot concerning a burgeoning relationship between duller characters played by Robert Fuller [The Brain from Planet Arous] and Rosemary Forsyth only pads out the running time. Anyone expecting another What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?  or Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte will be sorely disappointed.

Verdict: Even "aging actresses" deserve better than this. **.

ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER/ PERVERSION STORY

Jean Sorel

ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER (aka Una sull'altra/Perversion Story/1969). Writer/director: Lucio Fulci.

Dr. George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel) runs a clinic, and is looking after his ill and neurotic wife, Susan (Marisa Mell). After her death, George and his mistress, Jane (Elsa Martinelli), arrive at a nightclub to see a performer named Monica (also Marisa Mell), who could be the twin of the late Susan. George and Jane. through various subterfuges, try to find out if Monica and the supposedly deceased Susan are indeed one and the same. But the police are certain that Susan is really dead -- and that George murdered her. One On Top of the Other is a twisty, far-fetched suspense tale that has an interesting idea (the type of thing that British screenwriter Jimmy Sangster might have come up with) but mediocre execution. The movie features interesting performers but it needs a different musical score and much more tightness in both the direction and editing. Still, there is some tension at the very end. Handsome Sorel [A View from the Bridge] is a good actor who deserved much better assignments than this. Alberto de Mendoza also gives a good performance as George's brother, Henry. John  Ireland [Raw Deal] shows up now and then as a San Francisco police inspector, and a (deliberately) haggard-looking Faith Domergue is cast -- and appears even more briefly -- as George's grieving sister-in-law. Domergue and Ireland both appeared in The House of Seven Corpses five years later, in which Domerque was allowed to look much more attractive than in this.

Verdict: The plot and Sorel keep this going. **1/2.

KOMMISSAR X: ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS

Tony Kendall and Brad Harris

KOMMISSAR X: ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS (aka Three Golden Serpents/Drei goldene Schlangen/1969). Director: Roberto Mauri.

Those adventuresome daredevils, private eye Joe Walker (Tony Kendall) and Captain Tom Rowland (Brad Harris), are back in another "Kommissar X" adventure set in Thailand. ("Kommissar X" is a nickname for Walker.) Tourist Maud Leighton (Loni Heuser) contacts the two men when her daughter, Phyllis (Hansi Linder) is kidnapped in Bangkok. Phyllis has been taken to an island where captive women are held to be sex slaves for wealthy perverts. Armand Landru (Walter Brandi), is a French agent who is actually in the employ of  Madame Kim Soo (Vilaiwan Vantanapanich, a supposedly benevolent woman who has numerous charitable interests and is apparently above reproach. Petra (Rotraut de Neve) is assigned to watch over the ladies, but makes a break for it and tries to get help. There is also an ice princess, Kathin (Monica Pardo), who makes poisons for Landru and paralyzes Joe at one point, placing a cobra near his bed. The cultists employed by Madame Kim Soo all have tattoos of three snakes (hence the alternate title Three Golden Serpents), and her handsome associate Frank (Carlos de Castro) has a mean way with a knife. Island of Lost Girls boasts some colorful locations and has a fast pace. The basic plot actually deserves a better movie. Everyone in the movie is dubbed, including the two lead actors. An Italian-West German release.

Verdict: Average, modestly entertaining Kommissar X feature. **1/2.

THE GIRL FROM RIO (1969)

Shirley Eaton as Sumuru  or Sumitra or Sumanda

THE GIRL FROM RIO (aka Rio 70/aka Die sieben Manner der Sumuru/1969). Director: Jess Franco.

In this pseudo-Eurospy movie and sort-of sequel to The Million Eyes of Sumuru, the arch-villainess who wants women to take over the world has created her own country of Femina. Sumuru (Shirley Eaton) kidnaps people and does other nefarious deeds to raise money for her all-female nation. A private eye named Jeff Sutton (Richard Wyler) has been hired to find his client's daughter, Ulla (Marta Reves), and cooks up a scheme to carry a suitcase allegedly filled with ten million dollars, figuring Sumuru is sure to nibble at the bait and take him to where Ulla is imprisoned. A weird character named Masius (George Sanders) has also heard about the money and orders his hit man, Carl (Herbert Fleischmann). to get it, meaning Jeff not only has to get Ulla out of Sumuru's jail but dodge attacks from Carl and his cronies. "Sumuru" first appeared in several novels by Sax Rohmer, the creator of Fu Manchu, but for some reason she is called "Sumanda" in this even as the closing credits list her name as "Sumitra." By any name, The Girl from Rio is an atrocious film, whose only purpose is to combine a trip to Rio for Carnivale with a tax loss. Eaton does her best, Sanders is as professional (and as wasted) as ever, and Wyler [The Strange Door] is also a capable enough actor, but the movie can best be described as a glorified home movie with terrible cinematography and typically poor Jess Franco direction. Sumuru keeps her prisoners in glass cells, half-naked, and entranced by a hypnotic mist. One scene has Jeff "tortured" by having several women crawling all over him and kissing him. The shame of this is that Rohmer's character was an interesting one, with fascinating aspects, but she's been reduced to a cartoon. The novels definitely had a homoerotic edge to them, although Sumuru was clearly interested in men, but in this movie the only sex she has is with another woman. The title tune is pleasant, although it reminds one of "The Girl from Ipanema." Most of the money for this film seems to have been spent on costumes for Eaton and the ladies. The script is by schlockmeister Harry Alan Towers, who also produced the film. Jess Franco's The Awful Dr. Orloff was not as awful as this. Rohmer's character later appeared in the 2003 film Sumuru.

Verdict: Interminable! *.

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969). Director: Terence Fisher.

Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) is up to his old tricks, blackmailing Karl (Simon Ward of The Chosen), a staffer at an asylum, and his girlfriend, Anna (Veronica Carlson of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave), who owns a boarding house, into helping him in his endeavors. The object of his experimentation is his former associate in brain transference, Dr. Brandt (George Pravda), who is now insane, and whom Karl and the Baron help escape from confinement. Seeking Brandt's knowledge, Frankenstein transplants the doctor's brain into the body of Professor Richter (Freddie Jones) -- and it gets even more complicated after that! Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed has a weak, somewhat slow final quarter, but for most of its length it's quite absorbing and entertaining. Cushing [Cash on Demand] is as wonderful as ever, and the supporting roles, including Thorley Walters, as the foppish but astute Inspector Frisch, and Maxine Audley as Brandt's confused and tormented wife, are well-cast. The scene in which Frankenstein and Karl break Brandt out of the asylum is very suspenseful; there's an excellent prologue showing why the baron must hastily exit his latest HQ; and a good sequence when Brandt -- in another man's body -- goes to see his horrified wife. There's a lot of fussing about with skulls, brains and saws!

Verdict: Fun Franky flick. ***.

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI

Gwangi goes to church

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969). Director: James O'Connolly.

T.J. (Gila Golan) runs a circus in turn of the century Mexico with her older friend, Champ (Richard Carlson). Back into their lives comes T.J.'s old boyfriend, Tuck (James Franciscus), who ran out on T.J. some time before. T.J. has a new act, a cute little horse (or prehistoric eohippus) who was found in the desert. But this attraction is nothing compared to the animals inside a hidden valley where the tiny horse came from. There are pterodactyls, a belligerent triceratops, and most of all, Gwangi, a fearsome combo of allosaurus and T Rex that chomps on one luckless fellow (Gustavo Rojo) and is ready for more before a rock slide helps Tuck and the others capture him. This is another in a long line of movies (stretching from before King Kong to Jurassic World and beyond) in which a dangerous creature is put on display and breaks out of confinement, causing havoc. The chief selling point of this is some absolutely amazing stop-motion effects work by Ray Harryhausen, clearly working on all cylinders. Gwangi is a wonderful creation, angry, confused, hungry, snapping and tearing at anything in its way. The sequence when the cowboys attempt to lasso the monster is superb, seamless -- I mean, who needs CSI? Another stunning sequence has the monster entering a huge Cathedral and stalking Tuck and the others while its heavy footsteps reverberate all through the building. There is the infrequent use of unconvincing props of assorted creatures, but generally the FX work is fluid and exacting. The story is based on a script put together by stop-motion specialist Willis O'Brien (King Kong), and it is serviceable. Carlson [Riders to the Stars] and Franciscus [Great White] are fine, as is Laurence Naismith as a paleontologist. Gila Golan appears to be dubbed, along with little Curtis Arden as the orphan boy, Lope. As for the film's romance between Tuck and T.J., one can only imagine the real melodrama will come afterward considering what happens to the circus.

The DVD for the movie has a featurette in which several CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) specialists are highly complimentary of Harryhausen's influential work on this film, of which they certainly should be.

Verdict: Lively Gwangi, and some superb stop-motion effects, make this a winner. ***1/2.

THREE INTO TWO WON'T GO

Rod Steiger: lover boy?

THREE INTO TWO WON'T GO (1969). Director: Peter Hall.

43-year-old serial cheater Steve Howard (Rod Steiger) works in sales and goes off on frequent business trips. On one of these he picks up 19-year-old Ella (Judy Geeson of Berserk), a free-living, promiscuous, borderline hooker, installs her in a nearby hotel, and sleeps with her. Steve wants to keep seeing Ella -- no wonder! -- but then she shows up at his house when he's away and becomes friends with his wife, Frances (Claire Bloom). Frances buys Ella's story, takes pity on her, and invites her to stay in the guestroom. Then Ella announces to all that she is pregnant -- with Steve's child! Three Into Two Won't Go is halfway between a trashy exploitation picture and a serious marital drama and doesn't quite work as either, although the acting by all three leads helps put it over. Bloom [The Chapman Report] and Steiger [The Sergeant] were a real-life married couple at the time of filming although they were divorced this very year (after ten years), which may be why they don't quite come off as a realistic match in the picture. Or maybe it was Steiger's unappealing semi-nude scenes! Peggy Ashcroft certainly scores as France's mother, Belle, whom Frances brings home from a retirement village. One gets the feeling that the more interesting parts of the story happened after the end of the picture, and a lot is left unsaid.

Verdict: Several excellent performances help create a fairly interesting and not bad picture. ***.

HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER

Eric Braeden and Rossano Brazzi

HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER (1969 telefilm). Director: John Peyser.

Sandra (Janet Leigh of Night of the Lepus) has just traveled to Spain with her new husband, Ernesto (Joseph Lenzi), where they move into a huge castle that he owns. Unfortunately, the next morning Sandra discovers that her husband has disappeared. Worse, when he finally shows up again, it's a completely different man (Cesare Danova), who insists he was the man that Sandra married, confounding both her and a sympathetic police captain (Rossano Brazzi of Summertime). Ah, but Ernesto has a lawyer, Frederico (Eric Braeden of The Young and the Restless) and a sister, Carla (Barbara Steele of Black Sunday), and when they arrive they'll settle the matter once and for all -- or will they only make matters more confusing? Honeymoon with a Stranger is an intriguing suspense film with a couple of good twists and good acting from all, with Leigh, Braeden, and especially a striking Steele especially notable. As she adds class to this production as she did to many others, one can only muse on the criminal under-utilization of Steele in cinema. The direction of this just covers the action, but the script and performers keep you entertained.

Verdict: A not bad Honeymoon. ***.

THE SINS OF MADAME BOVARY /PLAY THE GAME OR LEAVE THE BED

An Emma Bovary with Something Extra

THE SINS OF MADAME BOVARY (AKA Play the Game or Leave the Bed and Die Nackte Bovary/1969). Director: Hans Schott-Schobinger.

In this loose adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," Emma (Edwige Fenech) is married to a country doctor (Gerhard Riedmann) but has affairs with Rudolf Boulanger (Peter Carsten) and young Leon Dupuis (Gianni Dei) while dodging the admiring creditor Adolphe Lheureus (Franco Ressel). Major changes to the story include Boulanger being willing to pay off Emma's debts (which he never does in any other version, pleading poverty), and Emma having sex with Lheureus in exchange for a batch of IOUs. Fenech seems to have been cast for her body, which is undraped as often as possible, while the male cast members seem not to have been cast for their looks; Fenech's acting seems adequate as does the others'. This is an adaptation of a French novel made by a combined German-Italian production company with a French-born star and dubbed into Italian. Fenech's eye make up is way overdone but her fans won't be looking at her eyes.

Verdict: Watch Jennifer Jones in Madame Bovary instead -- or even Beyond the Forest. **.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Season Four

Casting coup: Leonard Nimoy as Paris

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Season Four. 1969.

Martin Landau and Barbara Bain went off in a huff and a puff and were replaced by -- in a casting coup -- Leonard Nimoy and a host of rotating females. Nimoy played master of disguise Paris, and the leading ladies included Lee Meriwether (the most frequent), Anne Francis, Sally Ann Howes, Jessica Walter, Antoinette Bower, and others. This was a solid season with many memorable episodes; among the best were: "Double Circle," in which a fake room is employed in order to get at a secret formula; "The Falcon," in which a royal family is in danger from a would-be usurper, and everything that could possibly go wrong does; and "Chico" in which a dog helps steal a stamp which conceals an important microdot. As for notable guest-stars, Luther Adler is outstanding in "Phantoms," about a purge of young artists; John Willians scores in "Lover's Knot," which features a Mata Hari-type lady spy; Pernell Roberts and Cicely Tyson are great in "Death Squad," in which a vacationing Barney (Greg Morris) is accused of murder; and a mustache-less Torin Thatcher almost steals the show in "Numbers Game," about attempts to get at a Swiss bank account. Nimoy probably does his best work in "Commandante" and "The Choice." Jason Evers and John Vernon make an impression in, respectively, the aforementioned "Double Circle" and "Falcon."

Verdict: No Cinnamon, but still lots of spice. ***.

NIGHT GALLERY (1969)

Joan Crawford in a dramatic moment

NIGHT GALLERY (1969 telefilm). Hosted and scripted by Rod Serling. Directors: Boris Sagal; Steven Spielberg; Barry Shear.

Rod Serling's follow-up to The Twilight Zone was a new fantasy-horror series in which Serling introduced each episode from a gallery of paintings, each painting tied in to one of the night's stories. This telefilm was the pilot for the show, and featured three tales of the bizarre. In the first, "The Cemetery," Roddy McDowall murders his decrepit wealthy uncle (George Macready), then freaks out as he sees the old man apparently breaking out of his grave in stages in a painting that hangs on the wall -- is the corpse coming after him with murder on its mind? The manservant, Portifoy (Ossie Davis), figures in an amusing climax. In the second story, "Eyes," filthy rich Miss Menlo (Joan Crawford), who has been blind since birth, pays a poor fool (Tom Bosley) to give her his eyes for money even as her doctor (Barry Sullivan) tells her she'll only have sight for about eleven hours. The story is deliciously ironic if quite improbable. [This was one of Steven Spielberg's earliest assignments; Crawford thought he was the coffee boy!] The third tale, "The Escape Route," is a highly satisfying tale in which a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley) in South America dreams of finding peace from "persecution" [!] in a pastoral painting hanging in the local museum, but winds up in a much more fitting scenario. Serling has scripted some fine dialogue for the stories, and gotten some top-flight actors to give their all for the all-important pilot. Roddy McDowall and Ossie Davis both deliver the goods in the first segment; Crawford and Sullivan are terrific in the second [with solid support from Bosley]; and Kiley, in an unusual turn for him, is splendid as the Nazi Strobe, with Norma Crane making quite a positive impression as the contemptuous prostitute, Gretchen. Serling is as adept a host as ever and the three directors are on top of things.

Verdict: Easy to see why this went to series. ***.

FELLINI SATYRICON

The pictorial splendor of Satyricon

FELLINI SATYRICON (1969). Director: Federico Fellini. 

"Better to have a dead husband than to lose a living lover."

Petronius' episodic novel "Satryicon," which survives in fragments, is one of the oldest works of literature that still survives in any form. Fellini's film version, which is "freely adapted," is just as episodic and fragmented as the book. The film is full of pictorial splendor and often striking settings and scenic design, making it rather good to look at for the most part, but its lack of a strong narrative structure occasionally makes it exasperating and eventually tedious. The story, such as it is, takes place in ancient Rome and concerns Encolpio (Martin Potter), who tries to wrest his lover, a sixteen-year-old slave boy named Giton (the unprepossessing Max Born), from his, Encolpio's, former lover, Ascilto (Hiram Keller). Unfortunately for Encolpio, when asked to choose between the the two men, the fickle Giton decides upon Ascilto. Giton eventually disappears from the film as the two other men have a variety of bizarre adventures, including attending the garish feast of a pretentious rich man, and becoming slaves of the weird Lica (Alain Cuny). whom Encolpio has to marry before the former is beheaded. In scenes that were not in the novel, Encolpio and Ascilto murder the guards of a hermaphrodite with magical powers, and kidnap her, basically turning into two thugs. Another added Fellini-sequence has Encolpio battling a man made up as a minotaur in a maze beside an arena. Although Encolpio's bout with impotency and attempts to cure it are in the novel, it doesn't seem to occur to him or anyone else that he might regain his potency by bedding a male [after all the only one he is in love with is Giton] instead of the typically grotesque females paraded across the screen by Fellini. It's strange that Fellini made a film with so many homoerotic aspects to it, although most of the characters in it seem bisexual, if not pansexual. Apparently in the novel Encolpio was a former gladiator, so his begging for mercy from the "minotaur" in an almost cowardly fashion -- he says he's just a student and not a fighter -- makes little sense and might even be considered homophobic to a degree. [But the movie seems as confused on that subject as the novel probably was. ] The sudden collapse of a Roman apartment building is an effective sequence, and there are others. The film has sub-titles but because of the international cast it is also dubbed -- and quite badly. Among the many attractive and hideous faces on view, the only recognizable actor is Capucine [The Pink Panther]. 

Verdict: Sometimes this resembles a really bad Russian sci fi flick but if it's more artistic it's not necessarily more successful. **1/2.

THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK

THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK (1969). Director: Robert Altman.

Frances Austin (Sandy Dennis), a well-off spinster, spots an attractive, much younger man (Michael Burns) sitting across from her home on a bench in the pouring rain, feels sorry for him, and asks him inside to get dry and warm -- and not only provides food for him but new clothing and his own bedroom as well. The young man says not a single word, but he's keeping secrets from Frances. As the film proceeds you wonder just how far Frances -- and the young man -- will go in their games with each other. I confess I've never been a great admirer of Altman's, but this is one of his films that I enjoy; while it's certainly not for every taste it's suspenseful and absorbing -- if imperfect. Both Dennis and Burns are excellent, never giving away what their characters might ultimately be up to. [Burns, who was 22 at the time of filming, was baby-faced enough to be convincing as an older teenager. He also appeared in The Mad Room, but most of his credits were on television. Now 64, Burns retired from acting in 1977 to become a college professor.] Also in the cast is Luana Anders from Dementia 13 and The Pit and the Pendulum, who plays a saucy prostitute with her customary vigor. Susanne Benton plays the young man's sister; John Garfield, Jr. plays her boyfriend; and Linda Sorensen is another prostitute -- all are on target. The film is interesting enough as it is that it doesn't really need to head in the lurid, violent direction that it does, but before it sort of loses its grip it's quite entertaining.

Verdict: Flawed but unusual with interesting story and performances. ***.

THE BOYS OF PAUL STREET

THE BOYS OF PAUL STREET (1969). Director: Zoltan Fabri.

This Hungarian film was based on the same novel that was the basis of No Greater Glory. I saw the film in the early 70's and penned the following review back then:

"Rival clubs of young boys in early 20th century Budapest decide to have a war in order to decide who gets to keep a local yard as a playground. The parallel between the children and the juvenile antics of real-life armies, as well as the pointed observations of the futility of the battle, make this more meaningful than most children's films. Unfortunately, the movie is still not as effective nor as moving as it could have been. The child actors need discipline, however Anthony Kemp as the brave, impish poor fool who gets so caught up in hero-worship and loyalty that he makes a pointless sacrifice, is marvelous. And William Burleigh as the club president, may emerge a mature screen personality in the future. Having all the bullies eventually metamorphose into good guys further weakens the impact. Photography and music are fine."

NOTE: Kemp made two more movies and Burleigh only one. However, John Moulder-Brown, who was also in the cast, went on to make many more film appearances and was still acting as of 2007.

Verdict: Some good performances and nice moments. **1/2.

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969). Director: Peter Hunt.

After meeting a beautiful, troubled woman named Tracy (Diana Rigg) and her handsome criminal father Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), Bond uses info he acquires from Draco to track down Ernest Stavros Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is using beautiful women with allergies in another massive extortion plot. Since Blofeld hopes the College of Arms will declare him a count, Bond goes in disguise as someone from the college to Blofeld’s Swiss HQ and tries to figure out what he’s up to. Richard Maibaum’s script is relatively faithful to Ian Fleming’s novel, although there are a few changes. It makes no sense that Draco’s men should seemingly try to kill either Tracy or Bond in the prologue and other sequences. In the novel, the men are simply trying to escort the two of them to Draco and Bond misunderstands.

Although double entendres had been part of the Bond movies (if not the novels) for years, Maibaum’s script seems unnecessarily smarmy at times. A stupid aspect is the way Bond allegedly pretends to be gay when he impersonates Sir Hilary Bray (from the College of Arms), although this comes out more in some dialogue than in Lazenby’s performance – he seems foppish, stuffy, a bit of a "sissy," perhaps, but not stereotypically "gay." (The real Sir Hilary is a bit foppish but not epicene -- and not a gay character. And most gay men are not foppish or effeminate in any case.) In Fleming’s novel Bond simply observes that there’s no reason why a nobleman, whom he’s impersonating, can’t be down-to-earth, and decides to pretty much act like himself. When 007, disguised as Sir Hilary, interacts with the ladies he meets at Blofeld’s in the film he is perfectly charming with them and even flirts with one of them, Ruby. (Ruby writes her room number on his thigh in lipstick and he returns from her room after an assignation with a lipstick kiss on his cheek.) Yet one gal observes "I know what he’s allergic to," and even Ruby – pre-assignation – says "You’re funny – pretending you don’t like girls." Huh? This just doesn’t come off. Americans may think that men with upper class British accents sound effeminate, but why would British girls think the same? When he pretends to be Bray, 007 doesn't sound any more affected than Prince Charles! (Lazenby is dubbed by the actor portraying Bray during these scenes.)

Maibaum adds some good scenes as well as bad ones: Bond kisses Miss Moneypenny on the lips, (if not with great passion) and she’s seen crying at his wedding. When Bond goes to pay another call on Ruby, he finds the formidable Irma Bunt, Blofeld’s assistant, in her bed! In the novel, Bond and Blofeld had never come face to face before, but everyone connected with the film forgot that the two men met in the previous Bond movie You Only Live Twice -- yet Blofeld doesn’t recognize Bond (he figures it out because of a mistake Bond makes – as well as 007's sheer horniness.) While it may be "tame" by today’s standards, the scene when an agent pursuing Bond and Tracy gets chewed up by a snow blower (in the novel he ran into a train) turned a few stomachs in 1969 and (even if it was a bad guy) was considered in bad taste for an escapist film. George Lazenby may not be a great actor, but he isn’t at all bad as Bond. He may in general lack the wry, raised-eyebrow insouciance of Sean Connery, but he can be gruff and athletic when he needs to be, as well as light and charming when required. Considering he practically had to carry the whole film on his shoulders with relatively little experience, he acquits himself quite nicely. Diana Rigg is as lovely and professional as ever as Tracy. Although her part was beefed up a bit from the novel, it is still very much a supporting role at best. Telly Savalas makes a wonderful, smooth, urbane and virile Blofeld, although he doesn’t exude too much personal menace – he won’t kill you with his bare hands but will certainly watch with glee as somebody else does it for him. Gabriele Ferzetti is perfect as Draco.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is ultimately a mediocre Bond outing, unfortunately. Michael Reed's cinematography is second-rate, and director Peter Hunt covers the action without much cinematic elan. The film is better edited (by John Glen, who would himself direct some Bond features and was second unit director for this picture) than directed, as witnessed by the film’s greatest sequence: the battle between Bond and Blofeld as they careen down the icy, slithering bobsled run. This superb, breathlessly paced, and brilliantly executed sequence remains one of the best action scenes in any Bond movie. If only the overlong picture had more scenes like it. There is no opening theme song for the movie, although later in the film Louis Armstrong croaks out a rendition of the pleasant "All the Time in the World" by John Barry (who did the score, as usual) and Hal David. NOTE: To read a review of Ian Fleming's novel, click here. 

Verdict: Great bobsled sequence! **1/2.