THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED

Paula Raymond and Craig Hill

THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED (1961). Director: Reginald Le Borg.

Flight 60 takes off from LA and is heading for Washington D.C. with several special passengers aboard. Carl Morris (Dayton Lummis of The Music Box Kid) is a physicist who has come up with an idea for a devastating Beta bomb. Marcia Paxton (Paula Raymond of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) is a mathematician and Morris' assistant. Tom Endicott (Crag Hill of Deadly Duo) is a rocket engineer who feels an attraction to Marcia. Inexplicably the flight keeps rising higher and higher into the air despite the best efforts of the crew. Then the engines stop running and the three aforementioned find themselves in a weird, fantastic nightmare -- or the Twilight Zone, if you prefer. The Flight that Disappeared is like a long, third-rate TZ episode complete with heavy-handed message. The first half is intriguing and well done and holds the attention, but then it collapses into illogical, incoherent stupidity below comic book level. The acting is generally professional, with Lummis taking top honors. Harvey Stephens [The Cheat] and Meg Wyllie are vivid as an hysterical, mentally-disturbed passenger and his blind wife. Another messterpiece from the fine folks at Bel-Air.

Verdict: A Rod Serling reject. **.

THE BLACK SLEEP

THE BLACK SLEEP (1956). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

A mad doctor (Basil Rathbone) tries to cure a brain disorder in his unconscious wife by experimenting on unwilling victims who are put under his control via a drug known as the “black sleep.” He even goes so far as to frame another doctor for murder so the latter can assist him in his efforts. Eventually Rathbone's pitiful victims break out of confinement and gain their revenge. Bel-Air productions gathered together a terrific cast of solid veterans – in addition to Rathbone there's Tor Johnson and John Carradine as two of the “patients” and Bela Lugosi in a bit role as a mute servant while Akim Tamiroff nearly steals the picture as a ghoulish, amusing gypsy who brings “patients” to Rathbone – but the low-budget company couldn't provide the production gloss and comparative classiness of the old Universal horror films. The movie isn't terrible, just a bit drab and slow. Rathbone is superb and he and the other actors are all pretty much wasted, providing the film's only real interest. Too bad.

Verdict: Tune in if you must but don't expect much. Great cast, though. **.

THREE BAD SISTERS

THREE BAD SISTERS (1956). Director: Gilbert Kay.

A millionaire goes berserk during a plane trip and causes a crash in which he’s killed. His sister blames the pilot, a handsome lug named Jim (John Bromfield) who becomes involved with the dead man’s three daughters. Lorna (Sara Shane) actually isn’t so bad, although even she doesn’t seem so put out by her father’s demise. Vicki (Marla English) is the sexy youngster who comes afoul of her beautiful older sister Valerie (the truly beauteous Kathleen Hughes), as the two have a really nifty, rather sadistic "cat fight" which leads to tragedy. Brett Halsey appears briefly as one of Vicki’s cast-off boyfriends, and Madge Kennedy is fun as the sisters’ gun-totin’ Aunt Martha, who tries to shoot Jim. A hilarious moment occurs afterward when Lorna says to Jim as they prepare to go back into the mansion where Aunt Martha lives: "If Aunt Martha isn’t cordial, please overlook it." Cordial? In the previous scene she tried to murder the guy (nobody calls the police and has her arrested for this, even though it’s clearly a case of attempted homicide)! Okay, this is a dumb, badly acted, silly movie, but it holds the attention and Gerald Drayson Adams’ script has some interesting facets, such as the business with the sisters daring each other to dive off a cliff at just the right second when the tide comes in and the water is deep enough to survive. From Bel-Air, which was not exactly MGM.

Verdict: Amusing trash. **1/2.