THE CHARMER

Nigel Havers and Rosemary Leach

THE CHARMER (1987 PBS mini series). Director: Alan Gibson.

"It's a very hard world if one is without money."

I believe this excellent mini-series was first presented on Masterpiece Theatre in the U.S. It is based on Patrick Hamilton's novel Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse, but takes certain liberties with the story, which may be why the name was changed to the more provocative The Charmer. In pre-WW2 London (the later chapters take place after war has broken out) Ralph Gorse (Nigel Havers), an attractive, likable mountebank, hopes to live like a gentleman even though he unfortunately wasn't born to the class. He befriends, romances, and steals from a variety of women, gaining the enmity of Donald Stimpson (Bernard Hepton), a stolid, small-town stick-in-the-mud who had always hoped to marry one of Ralph's victims, Joan Plumleigh-Bruce (Rosemary Leach). All the while Ralph is pursuing the unconventional upper-class Clarice Mannors (Fiona Fullerton), whom he initially assumes is a hooker when she was really just looking for her brother in a whorehouse (but sleeps with Ralph there anyway). 

Bernard Hepton with Havers

Later Ralph marries a sweet young thing named Pamela (Abigail McKern), and begins an affair with a war widow named Alison (Judy Parfitt). But the stalwart Stimpson is still on his trail. I have not read the novel in quite some time, but if I remember correctly neither Stimpson nor especially Plumleigh-Bruce had as much to do in the second half of the book as they do in the latter chapters of this mini-series, although it's understandable why they were included. This is an absolutely fascinating, darkly humorous (although never "comic") portrait of a borderline sociopath and the people whose lives he crosses (some to their regret; some not) with a psychologically penetrating script by Allan Prior and some superb acting, especially from Havers, Hepton and Leach. The others already named are also top-notch, as are Gillian Raine and George Baker as Pamela's heart-broken parents. This has been released on DVD and is certainly worth tracking down.

Verdict: Nearly six hours well-spent. ****.

THE WOMAN IN QUESTION

Dirk Bogarde and Susan Shaw

THE WOMAN IN QUESTION (aka Five Angles on Murder/1950). Director: Anthony Asquith.

Agnes Huston (Jean Kent), a woman who has a fortune-telling act as "Madame Astra," is found strangled in her home. Supt. Lodge (Duncan Macrae) and Inspector Butler (Joe Linnane) interview assorted suspects and seem to get very different impressions of the woman. A neighbor, Mrs. Finch (Hermione Baddeley), sees her as a warm and classy lady, while her sister, Catherine (Susan Shaw of Pool of London) sees her as a crude and hateful antagonist. Then there's Bob Baker (Dirk Bogarde of I Could Go On Singing), who wants to do a mind-reading act with Agnes but winds up engaged to Catherine. The kindly Albert Pollard (Charles Victor) does lots of favors for Agnes and becomes smitten with her, and the sailor Michael Murray (John McCallum) has a hankering for her as well. The Woman in Question is an absorbing mystery-drama that features excellent performances from the entire cast, with a special nod to Jean Kent, who also appeared to good advantage in The Browning Version the following year. The film illustrates the fact that every person we know or meet forms a different impression of us depending on their own personality, circumstances, and a variety of other factors. The killer may not come as a big surprise, but the film is still quite watchable. With his good looks and acting skill, Bogarde was clearly destined for major stardom and was already on his way. McCallum was not well-known to American audiences.

Verdict: Noteworthy British mystery with top-notch performances. ***.

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES

A zombie on the attack!

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966). Director: John Gilling.

This Hammer horror movie has the distinction of presenting pasty-faced zombies two years before the more infamous Night of the Living Dead, but it hasn't much else going for it. People are mysteriously dying -- and then being seen alive -- in a small Cornish village, and the local doctor, Thompson (Brook Williams), can't figure out why. Sir James Forbes (Andre Morrell of The Giant Behemoth) arrives to help investigate the matter with his daughter, Sylvia (Diane Clare). Do all these living dead men and women have something to do with activity at a supposedly abandoned mine at the edge of the village? Jacqueline Pearce plays Tompson's wife, but the best performances are from the ever-excellent Morrell and John Carson as Squire Hamilton. The movie has no real style or tension and doesn't hold the interest. Maybe if Terence Fisher had directed it?

Verdict: It's all a rather dreary mish mash.**.

DO YOU KNOW THIS MOVIE? # 3

A reader in the UK is trying to find the name of a movie he saw years ago. The plot certainly sounds familiar to me but I just can't remember the title. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Here's what my correspondent had to say:

"Back in the late fifties / sixties there was an old B&W film that was broadcast several times on UK TV. I was was very young at the time but I still get flashbacks to the film and have been trying to track details, so that I can watch it and exorcise this ghost. I can't remember the title or any of the actors; all I can remember was the plot and the atmospheric scenes - to my young mind it was an amazing movie and I yearn, more and more each year, to find it and watch it...

The movie was about a man who regularly travelled via a train and he found a strange old news-seller selling papers by the entrance to the train station - it was very foggy at the time - they had a discussion and he bought a paper. When he looked at the paper later he found it was showing tomorrows news - at first he thought they must have the wrong date and he read about a terrible disaster. The next day the incident happened just as it was written in the paper. He tried to find the news-seller again but it wasn't foggy and he couldn't find him. Then a few days later it was foggy again and he found the news-seller - he bought another paper and again it predicted the future, this went on a few times and he tried to prevent things from happening - I think this resulted in the news-seller telling the man that he couldn't change the future - it was already written. After that discussion the news-seller didn't appear again. I don't think the news-seller was visible to other commuters and he was only available to the traveller when this strange, very dense, fog appeared. I wish I could remember more, but I'm hoping that you'll be able to help me track this movie after all these years."

Does this ring a bell with anyone? My thanks in advance. 

 

UPDATE: Two readers have identified the film as It Happened Tomorrow; at least we're all pretty sure that is the correct film. Thank you! Amazingly, I had already reviewed this film on the blog, just couldn't remember the details or the name of it, LOL!

THE VULTURE

THE VULTURE (1967). Writer/producer/director: Lawrence Huntington.

A woman (Annette Carrell) sees a grave opening from below and then a huge bird-like monster with a human head and hands emerges. Everyone thinks she must be crazy except for Dr. Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) of the Atomic Energy Commission. Lutens, who is married to the niece, Trudy (Diane Clare), of two men named Stroud who live in the area (Broderick Crawford, Gordon Sterne), is immediately convinced -- without a shred of evidence -- not only that the creature is real but that it is the product of "nuclear transmutation." In other words an unknown person, seeking treasure, used energy to change places with the skeleton in the grave, but was unaware there was a vulture buried in there as well, so the result is a half-man/half-bird mutation [a la The Fly]. Surely there would have been easier ways to get treasure out of a grave! Anyway, this monster sets out to destroy its enemies one by one. Okay, the plot is patently absurd even for a low-budget British horror movie, but the movie is still fun and works up some suspense and creepiness. Crawford, as gruff as ever, is fine, Hutton is okay, but the picture is stolen by wily old Akim Tamiroff as Professor Koniglich. This was the last film  for Huntington, who died the following year. Hutton was also in The Man Without a Body.

Verdict: Utterly illogical but amusing. ***.

THE RULING CLASS

Peter O'Toole

THE RULING CLASS (1972). Director: Peter Medak.

When the Earl of Gurnsey (Harry Smith) dies in a grotesque, kinky accident involving a tutu and a hanging, his son Jack (Peter O'Toole) becomes the new Earl. The problem is that Jack has been institutionalized for years and is convinced that he is Jesus and/or God. In spite [or because] of this, his Uncle Charles (William Mervyn) decides to marry him off to Charles' mistress, Grace (Carolyn Seymour) so that they can re-commit him once he's delivered an heir. But Jack, whose persona is definitely becoming darker, has different plans in mind. Coral Browne is Charles' wife, Claire, and the great Alistair Sim (Belles of St. Trinian's) is cast as the befuddled Bishop, "Bertie." The entire cast is splendid, including Michael Bryant as Jack's psychiatrist; Nigel Green [Let's Kill Uncle] as another nutcase; James Villiers as Jack's cousin, Dinsdale; and especially Arthur Lowe, who [along with Sim] nearly steals the picture as the family butler, who has inherited money from the late earl and feels free to tell everybody what he really thinks of them even as he waits on them. The first half of this zany movie, which roasts British class distinctions, religion, conservative values and the like, is very, very funny, with madcap musical numbers, such as "Varsity Drag," interspersed to complete the fun and lunacy. Alas, there's too much of a good thing, the movie goes on way too long, blunting its satiric points, and before long you're just wishing it were over. O'Toole is excellent, but his obnoxious, screeching Jack gives you a headache after a while. Some moments are painfully obvious, such as when Jack addresses the House of Lords and they are depicted in quick cuts as skeletons awash in cobwebs. This was filmed in  Harlaxton Manor, a huge, impressive [but rather ugly] house in Lincolnshire. which is now actually the British campus for the University of Evansville in Indiana.

Verdict: A little too surreal and self-indulgent for its own good. **1/2.

GREAT OLD EPISODE: MAN-EATER OF SURREY GREEN / THE AVENGERS

The man-eating plant attacks Steed and companions

"MAN-EATER OF SURREY GREEN". THE AVENGERS. 1965.

The Avengers British TV series [not to be confused with the American super-heroes of the same name]  arrived on U.S. shores with the 1965 season, the first one in which Diana Rigg joined the cast [joining Patrick Macnee as Steed] as the delectable, leather-and-jumpsuit clad Mrs. Peel. In this amusing and creepy episode, a weird plant turns out to have a human-type brain, and is also able to emit mind-control rays that have scientists and others toiling for it. In addition, the creature is a flesh-eater, and one of the essential nutrients it needs is inside human beings. Its tendrils can whip around a person in seconds and pull them away for a tasty snack. Not only do our intrepid duo have to deal with this botanical nightmare -- which threatens to grow to gargantuan size, with its tendrils digging in and popping up everywhere throughout the earth [and it is also capable of sprouting seeds] -- but Steed has to contend with a plant-hypnotized Emma Peel giving him karate chops as he tries to stop her from spilling the only reserves they have of a herbicide that might kill the awful creature.This is utterly absurd, but highly entertaining.

Verdict: Suspenseful, funny, and action-packed, with a great monster. ***.

THE WRONG BOX

Peter Sellers as Dr. Pratt

THE WRONG BOX (1966). Director: Bryan Forbes.

"My father was a missionary. He was eaten by his bible class." 

In this highly amusing black comedy, two elderly brothers are all that remain of a bunch of boys who were involved with a financial "tontine:" the surviving member of the group will receive all the money and the interest accrued. The film begins with a scene of these young boys, who seem to have no idea of what it's all about, gathered in a room with their guardians and being told about the tontine. Next follows a sequence showing how these now-grown boys meet their often untimely demises in generally comic and unusual ways. The main story follows the misadventures of Masterman Finsbury (John Mills), who has been in bed dying for decades, and his hated brother Joseph (Sir Ralph Richardson) -- a "boring pedantic old poop" -- as Masterman tries to murder Joseph [in a very funny sequence] and their assorted relatives conspire against each other or wonder what the hell is going on. Michael Caine is Masterman's nephew, and Dudley Moore and Peter Cook are the nephews of Joseph, with Nanette Newman playing Joseph's adopted daughter, who adores Caine and vice versa. There's a mix up with a dead body on a train and a corpse in a box, and while after a bit you may not quite follow everything going on, there are plenty of laughs in both the dialogue and performances. While his part is relatively small, Peter Sellers almost steals the picture in his hilarious, brilliant turn as drunken felonious old quack Dr. Pratt. The entire cast is marvelous, including Wilfrid Lawson, who died that year at sixty-six, as the butler Peacock. [Lawson plays a much older character and is very convincing]. The climax goes on too long, but this is a clever and very funny movie with a top-notch cast. Mills so loses himself in his character that you might not realize that it's him. And Sellers! Sublime!

Verdict: All this and Sellers, too! ***.

AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS

AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS (1973). Director: Roy Ward Baker.

Charles Fengriffen (Ian Ogilvy) brings his bride Catherine (Stephanie Beacham) to his ancestral home and discovers that rumors of a curse upon the family are quite true. Catherine keeps seeing a severed hand roaming about and encounters a sinister woodsman in a hovel nearby who seems to know more than he's telling. It all goes back to a terrible act performed many years before, but now servants and friends of the Fengriffens are paying the price, not to mention poor Catherine. The performances help put over this so-so horror film, with Beacham in top form, getting fine support from Ogilvy, Peter Cushing as the shrink Dr. Pope, Patrick Magee as the family physician, and Geoffrey Whitehead as Silas, the Woodsman and his ill-fated ancestor. Herbert Lom also appears and is as striking as usual as Charles' ancestor, Henry, whose evil actions began the curse.

Verdict: You may not scream through this but it holds the attention. **1/2.

THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL

Paul Massie in Edward Hyde mode

THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (1960). Director: Terence Fisher.

"That's what your kind of woman wants from a man -- complete and utter freedom from shame!"

In this excellent variation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Dr. Jekyll (Paul Massie) in 1874 London, seeking to isolate man's evil nature, takes a formula that transforms him into a man who is younger and handsomer [and sans beard] instead of the usual ugly Mr. Hyde. This, of course, only makes him more dangerous. Wolf Mankowitz' screenplay adds a love triangle consisting of Jekyll, his wife Kitty (Dawn Addams), and his friend and her lover Paul (Christopher Lee); this turns into a quadrangle when handsome Hyde enters the picture and tries to romance his own, unsuspecting wife. This very classy horror film is possibly the best film put out by Hammer studios and boasts one of Terence Fisher's very best directorial jobs. Massie is simply superb as the two sides of the hero, with excellent support from pretty Addams and the highly-striking Chris Lee. Fine romantic score by David Heneker and Monty Norman.One wishes the characterizations were a bit more finely-tuned but the actors make them come alive in spite of it. The under-rated Fisher also directed a very good version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and many other movies.

Verdict: Absorbing -- and done with fine acting and great flair. ***1/2.

SATELLITE IN THE SKY

SATELLITE IN THE SKY (1956). Director: Paul Dickson.

An aircraft that can fly higher than ever before, dubbed the "Stardust," is sent on a test flight, and along with it comes a bomb that is also to be tested -- that is, exploded in space. There is some disagreement as to the wisdom of doing this, but things really get out of hand when it is discovered that the bomb, which was supposed to be jettisoned from the ship, is clinging to it magnetically instead. The crew realizes that if they return to Earth without dislodging the bomb, it will explode on the surface and kill thousands of civilians. The players in this tense situation include Commander Mike Hayden (Kieron Moore), Professor Merrity (Donald Wolfit), and reporter Kim Hamilton (Lois Maxwell, Miss Moneypenny of the Bond films), who is a stowaway on the ship. Bryan Forbes plays one of the technicians. There is some attempt at drama in the earlier sections of the film -- Kim thinks space exploration is a waste of time, to Hayden's consternation, and one of the scientists has a neglected wife -- but the movie only really comes alive with the business with the bomb.

Verdict: Acceptable, minor science fiction sans monsters. **1/2.

THE SEVENTH VEIL

THE SEVENTH VEIL (1945). Director: Compton Bennett.

Francesca (Ann Todd) is a deeply troubled and suicidal concert pianist whose guardian, her older cousin Nicolas (James Mason), a lame woman-hater, dominates her life and has kept her apart from the man she loves, a musician named Peter (Hugh McDermott). Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom), a psychiatrist, treats Francesca and tries to determine what earlier events led her to want to take her own life. The performances in this are excellent, and there's a good use of classical music [and Ben Frankel contributed a memorable theme], although some may feel the "happy" ending is a little suspect. Todd and Mason became involved in real life. Beethoven's "Pathetique" figures in an important sequence.

Verdict: Twisted romance. ***.

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958). Director: Robert Day. 

James Rankin (Boris Karloff), a writer, is fascinated by the case of the presumably long-dead Haymarket strangler. Rankin is convinced that the wrong man was hung for the crimes, and that the real killer disappeared after his surrogate's death. Rankin eventually becomes possessed by the spirit of the true killer and begins a murder spree of his own -- but there's a clever final twist on top of that. The great Karloff is at the top of his form in this very entertaining and well-made horror-mystery, which is completely absorbing and has many effective sequences. Anthony Dawson is Superintendent Burke and Tim Turner is Rankin's handsome young assistant; Elizabeth Allan and Diane Aubrey are the women in Rankin's life.

Verdict: Highly watchable chiller with an exemplary Karloff. ***.

THEY WERE SISTERS

THEY WERE SISTERS (1945). Director: Arthur Crabtree

"The truth is I could never help being a bore."

British drama/soap opera about three sisters, the romantic choices they make, and the way their lives turn out meanders along but builds up steam as it nears a powerful conclusion. Vera (Anne Crawford) is not really in love with her placid husband, so she has an affair with another man. Lucy (Phyllis Calvert) loses a child. The main and most interesting story has to do with Charlotte (Dulcie Gray) , who makes the mistake of marrying the neurotic Geoffrey (James Mason). Geoffrey is such a bitch that at one point he wants to kill his little son's dog! Mason and Gray give an absorbing two-character portrait of a cowered wife dealing with a sadistic husband leading to tragedy and a satisfying conclusion.

Verdict: No Hollywood gloss, but rather compelling just the same. ***.

A PLACE OF ONE'S OWN

A PLACE OF ONE'S OWN (1945). Director: Bernard Knowles.

"There are other worlds."

James Mason often wound up in strange movies and in weird roles, and while the character he plays isn't especially weird, it's a wonder why he bothered to take the part. On the other hand, Mason is a fine actor and is generally up to any challenge, such as, in this case, playing a much older man. Henry Smedhurst (Mason) and his wife move into a house (an all too obvious model) that is supposed to be haunted. A pretty young woman, Annette (Margaret Lockwood), comes to live with them as the wife's companion, but soon she seems to fall under the spell of another woman who either committed suicide, or was murdered, in the house. Is she going loco or do spirits that can influence the living really exist? It all builds up -- if that's the word for such a dull picture -- to a real shaggy dog (or shaggy ghost) ending that may have some viewers groaning. Dulcie Gray, an Una O'Connor sound-alike, perks up the film as Sarah the maid, and Ernest Thesiger of Bride of Frankenstein makes a welcome, if all too brief, entrance late in the picture. Mason is quite good, but he was much more fun in Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Verdict: Watch House on Haunted Hill instead. **.

WOMANEATER

WOMANEATER (1958). Director: Charles Saunders. NOTE: U.S. title was The Woman Eater. 

"What are these worthless lives compared to what I'm giving to the world?" 

Dr. Moran (George Coulouris, light years from Citizen Kane) travels to the amazon in search of a formula that can revive the dead, and somehow manages to come back with a full-grown native man, Tanga (Jimmy Vaughn), and a big limbed plant that likes to snack on full-grown females. Moran is of the opinion that after the creature snacks on a woman, he can use the sap for his formula to bring back the dead. Sally Norton (Vera Day) is a pretty ex-carnival worker who finds new employment at the doctor's, much to his housekeeper, Margaret's (Joyce Gregg), displeasure. Moran, who considers himself a genius, supposedly falls in love with Sally, who seems to have the brains of a mouse. Tanga practically writhes in orgasm each time the plant-monster feeds. The tree is covered with hair or fur and has many wriggling arms or trunks. This movie should be fun, and it's watchable, but somehow it lacks that certain sensationalistic aura that might have made it memorable, and the "feeding" scenes aren't very well done. The performances are good for the most part and there's an undeniable amusement value to the film. Jimmy Vaughn is quite vivid as Tanga but he never made another movie. 

Verdict: A good double-bill with the equally mediocre From Hell It Came. **.

THE FULL MONTY

THE FULL MONTY (1997) Director: Peter Cattaneo.

It's easy to see why this likable movie with some semi-serious undertones became a big hit. Admittedly, it gets off to an inauspicious debut, introducing us to a couple of losers in a small British town, one of whom has a small boy he's in danger of losing contact with. To make extra money – and having noticed how big a sell-out the Chippendale's male strippers were at the local club -- he comes up with the idea of taking a bunch of ordinary fellows in this impoverished working class hamlet and putting on their own strip-tease act, going the Chippendale's boys one better by doing “the full monty” -- showing what they got in full. The picture borders on losing all credibility – don't these guys realize that the Chippendale's dancers with their muscular bodies and handsome faces are fantasy objects for women who want to see something different from their husbands' pot bellies? – but somehow their struggle to pull together an unlikely dance troupe and overcome their individual insecurities begins to interest and take hold of the viewer. In its own way the film deals with the fact that this generation, like no other before, has turned men into full-fledged “sex objects,” that ordinary men now have to compare themselves with these “hunks” the way women have had to deal with airbrushed playboy bunnies and Kewpie doll images for decades. And it isn't that unrealistic that the women in town would be good sports and show up to root for these fellows in their oddball moment of “triumph.” No, this isn't a “great” movie nor is it a true classic, but it is unusual and quite entertaining. Very well-acted by a terrific ensemble cast.

Verdict: Fun and different. ***.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO (1966). Director: David Lane. This is a feature-length version of a British TV show about a father and several sons who form a group called International Rescue. There is also a female associate named Lady Penelope who participates in some adventures along with her major domo, Parker. Zero-X, a new flight craft, is sabotaged and destroyed on its first mission, and the Tracy boys are called in. The movie has very little plot and consists mostly of dull scenes of various aircraft docking, lifting off, etc. etc. -- a lot of padding which along with the dramatic music doesn't disguise the fact that this has a lousy script. The actors are puppets with moving lips and other limited motions. You get awfully sick of hearing Parker call Penelope "Milady." The miniatures and other effects are well done, but this needs a more interesting story line.

Verdict: Even Attack of the Puppet People was more fun. *.

WATCH IT, SAILOR!

WATCH IT, SAILOR! (1961). Director: Wolf Rilla.

A sailor named Albert (John Meillon) is late for his own wedding, but a bigger problem occurs when he gets a message from the Navy saying he can't marry for certain legal reasons. Everyone jumps to conclusions and thinks there's another woman out there with a claim of some kind. Although Dennis Price is top-billed -- he plays the Lt. Commander who follows up the message with a visit -- the real star is Marjorie Rhodes, who plays Emma Hornet (and well-named she is), the take charge and take no prisoners mother of the bride-to-be. Cyril Smith and Irene Handl are also excellent as Emma's husband and sweet if vague sister-in-law, Edie. Liz Fraser and Graham Stark are fine as a neighbor and Albert's Navy buddy. Watch It, Sailor is an amusing, good-natured romp with wonderful comic actors bringing it all to vivid life.

Verdict: Watch It Indeed! ***.

TORTURE GARDEN

TORTURE GARDEN (1967). Director: Freddie Francis. Screenplay by Robert Bloch. 

Several people go backstage at a sideshow exhibit and are given glimpses of their possible futures by Dr. Diabolo (Burgess Meredith.) The first man has his mind taken over by a cat after he murders his wealthy uncle; a blindly ambitious young actress discovers the secret of a handsome, seemingly ageless actor to her regret; a jealous piano -- no, that's not a misprint -- apparently possessed by the spirit of his dead mother torments a woman who's fallen for a famous classical pianist; and -- in the best of the four stories -- Jack Palance and Peter Cushing -- both of whom are terrific -- trade off as collectors of rare and expensive Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia. But Cushing tells Palance that he has the ultimate Poe collector's item in his basement ... With the exception of this final tale most of Robert Bloch's stories are fairly lame, but the film is entertaining in spite of it. 

Verdict: You have to see that piano go on the attack to believe it! **1/2.