NO DOWN PAYMENT

Patricia Owens and Jeffrey Hunter

NO DOWN PAYMENT (1957). Director: Martin Ritt. Colorized. 

David and Jean Martin (Jeffrey Hunter of Brainstorm and Patricia Owens of The Fly) move into a lovely post-war housing community called Sunrise Hill. Their neighbors include Jerry and Isabelle Flagg (Tony Randall and Sheree North); Troy and Leola Boone (Cameron Mitchell of Garden of Evil and Joanne Woodward); and Herman and Betty Kreitzer (Pat Hingle and Barbara Rush). The last couple seem to have the most stable and successful lives and marriage. Jerry cheats on Isabelle and puts on a bluff as a supposedly successful car salesman. Troy hopes to become the chief of police but is brutal to his wife when he is upset. Both men drink too  much. When Troy doesn't get the job he wants, he takes out his anger in horrible fashion on poor Jean Martin, who fears what her husband's retaliation might be ... 

Cameron Mitchell and Joanne Woodward

No Down Payment is an absorbing drama which looks at a variety of situations and marriages and does so with a degree of sensitivity and intelligence -- as well as some fine acting. Although she's playing in her over-familiar "poor dumb Southern waif" mode, Woodward gives one of the best performances, along with the always-underrated Mitchell. Tony Randall is a bit miscast as the sleazy lover boy and doesn't quite pull it off. Sheree North successfully subdues the "sex kitten" aspect of her persona. Robert H. Harris is given a couple of good scenes as Randall's boss. There's a very interesting sub-plot with Kreitzer's store employee, the Japanese-American Iko (Aki Aleong), hoping his boss will help him get a house in Sunrise Hill. At the time he appeared in this film, Hunter had been divorced from co-star Barbara Rush for two years. 

Verdict: Notable fifties drama with a fine cast. ***. 

HATCHET (1966)

HATCHET (1966). Director: William Castle.

This was Castle and Joan Crawford's unreleased follow-up to Strait-Jacket. That film made so much money that Castle immediately made plans for Crawford to do a sequel, but Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Crawford's alleged illness got in the way. By the time Crawford got around to doing the film, there was a brand new script and she was a new character named -- ironically -- Mrs. Vorhees (although spelled with one "o.") Jackie Vorhees owns cabins for rent in Maine. Who should show up one day but the man who jilted her years ago and the woman he married. The two are killed in a gruesome sequence, but their bodies disappear. Eventually there are more murders-by-hatchet and Jackie is the prime -- although certainly not the only -- suspect. Gloria Blondell isn't bad as the manager of the cabins, who has some odd secrets of her own. Cameron Mitchell is a horny handyman, and Christine Jorgenson has a great guest appearance as a traveling saleslady. Gregor Tanese is fine as an overly ambitious reporter. The film was never completed, however, because Joan walked off the set, although the ending was shot and a DVD is expected to surface in early 2019.

Verdict: Compelling hatchet job with a zesty Joan. ***.

GARDEN OF EVIL

Gary Cooper contemplates eternity

GARDEN OF EVIL (1954). Director: Henry Hathaway.

"Age before beauty." -- Richard Widmark to Gary Cooper.

Down in Mexico, a desperate woman, Leah Fuller (Susan Hayward), importunes a group of strangers to take a long trip through Apache country to rescue her husband, John (Hugh Marlowe), who is trapped in a mine. The strangers consist of Hooker (Gary Cooper), Fiske (Richard Widmark), Luke (Cameron Mitchell), and Vincente (Victor Manuel Mendoza). As they effect this rescue, the restless Apaches are keeping watch ... That's the slight storyline to this mediocre picture that does boast some stunning CinemaScope photography (Krasner and Stahl), beautiful location settings, and a score by Bernard Herrmann that is much, much better than the movie deserves. As for the acting, Cooper is listless, Mendoza is fine, Marlowe [Elmer Gantry] is relatively terrible, Hayward is just okay, Widmark [The Tunnel of Love] has a bit more vitality, and Mitchell [Man-eater of Hydra] comes off best as the deceptively friendly Luke. In its attitude towards Native Americans, this is not a progressive western, but then in this pretentious and weak screenplay all of the characters are paper thin. Rita Moreno shows up very briefly as a saloon singer.

Verdict: Great to look at and listen to, but that's it! **.

FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM

Vincent Price

FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (aka The Offspring/1987). Director: Jeff Burr.

After Beth Chandler (Susan Tyrrell) witnesses the execution of murderess Katherine White (Martine Beswick of Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde), she visits White's father, Julian (Vincent Price), who tells her that his daughter was affected by the evil influence of the town of Oldfield. To illustrate his point, he relates several stories from varying time periods. Stanley Burnside (Clu Gulager) has a weird relationship with the sister (Miriam Byrd-Nethery) he lives with, but is developing a passion for a co-worker that leads to disaster. Jesse Hardwick (Terry Kiser), on the run from gangsters, runs into a very old man named Felder Evans (Harry Caesar), who has a life-sustaining potion that Jesse tries to kill for him, but Evans gets terrible revenge upon him. Steven Arden (Ron Brooks) is afraid to love Amarrillis (Didi Lanier) because he's scared of the "Snakewoman" (Rosalind Cash) who runs the carnival where he is employed as a glass eater. This voodoo priestess has terrible powers that keep everyone in thrall to her. Finally, during the very final days of the Civil War, Sgt. Gallen (Cameron Mitchell) and his fellow soldiers come afoul of a group of children who answer to a creepy "magistrate" who does not have the soldiers' best interests at heart. From this situation emerges the new and creepy Oldfield. From a Whisper to a Scream has EC Comics-style plots and features some good performances, especially from Price, Cameron [Pier 5 Havana], and Gulager in a well-done character turn.

Verdict: Absorbing if imperfect horror anthology with a more subdued Price in good form. **1/2.

PIER 5 HAVANA

Allison Hayes

PIER 5 HAVANA (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) comes to Havana -- right after Castro has taken over -- to look for his missing friend, Hank Miller (Logan Field). Hank is married to an ex-girlfriend of Steve's named Monica (Allison Hayes), who is now keeping company with a character named Fernando Ricardo (Eduardo Noriega of The Beast of Hollow Mountain). Steve's trail leads to Schluss (Otti Waldis of Unknown World), whose warehouse is inexplicably stocking guns. Steve contacts Lt. Garcia (Michael Granger of Creature with the Atom Brain), but he has nothing to pin on Schluss. Then Garcia tells Steve they have found Hank Miller's body -- or have they? Steve discovers that there's a plot afoot to put Batista back in power, and to bomb Havana. The performances are all solid in this cheap melodrama, which is more like an expanded television episode than a movie. Vincent Padula, Rick Vallin, and Ken Terrell all have small roles.

Verdict: It's always fun to see the 50 Foot Woman herself, Allison Hayes. **.

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (1955)  Director: Charles Vidor.

"You'll never be sorry." -- Ruth

"What do you mean? I'm sorry already." -- Martin

The more or less true story of twenties singer Ruth Etting (Doris Day) and her difficult relationship to her manager and eventual husband, Martin Snyder (James Cagney). Love Me or Leave Me presents a story that was probably old even in its day and continues up until Sonny and Cher and beyond: the ambitious gal who falls in with a man who can help her and who thinks that she owes him her success and wants to control her. Cagney [Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye] is simply excellent in his highly unpleasant portrait of Snyder, although on more than one occasion he manages the significant feat of making the man sympathetic. Day [Pillow Talk] is right on top of things with Cagney  and is also excellent, never overdoing things as other actresses might have done. The biggest surprise comes from Cameron Mitchell [light years from The Toolbox Murders] who is also outstanding as Johnny, the pianist who falls in love with Ruth and vice versa. Day was a talented singer, but she isn't quite a torch singer, and while she has a couple of good numbers -- such as "I'll Never Stop Loving You" and "Look Around" -- you can hear the difference between Day in the movie and Etting's recording of "Ten Cents a Dance." Despite some sentimental hogwash at the end, this is a very good biography.

Verdict: Day and Cagney in top form. ***.

LES MISERABLES (1952)

LES MISERABLES (1952). Director: Lewis Milestone.

Victor Hugo's famous novel had already been filmed with Fredric March and Charles Laughton in 1935 when this remake appeared 17 years later. In this version Michael Rennie stars as Jean Valjean, convicted of stealing a loaf of bread, and later coming afoul of policeman Javert (Robert Newton). This version shows us much more of how ex-convict Valjean transformed himself into the eminently respectable Mssr. Madeleine, but it completely cuts out the innkeepers, as well as the business with Javert getting suspicious when he sees Madeleine lift a carriage off of a man, The chase sequence from the first picture has also been eliminated. What this version substitutes is much more of a romance between Marius (Cameron Mitchell) and Cosette (Debra Paget), and unfortunately it's dull; it also intimates that Valjean might be in love with Cosette. The scene in the sewers has been expanded and is rather well-done. Rennie is just as perfunctory in the opening courtroom scenes as March was, but in general he's competent if unexciting. Edmund Gwenn and Sylvia Sidney both make positive impressions as, respectively, Bishop Courbet and Fantine; Elsa Lanchester and James Robertson Justice are also in the cast and are fine. As Javert, Newton is much more low-key than Laughton was, and about one fifth as memorable. Well-directed by Milestone, and with a memorable theme by Alex North.

Verdict: Interesting, but a cut below the 1935 version. **1/2.

MANEATER OF HYDRA AKA ISLAND OF THE DOOMED

MANEATER OF HYDRA (aka Island of the Doomed/1967). Director: Ernst Ritter von Theumer. Written by Mel Welles.

"Everyone has his own way of enjoying himself -- the baron and his plants that eat mice ..."

Baron von Weser (Cameron Mitchell) hosts a party of tourists that include Cora Robinson (Kai Fischer), a manhunter with an older husband (Ralph von Nackhoff); David Moss (George Martin), a handsome architect, and his girlfriend Beth (Elisa Montes); and Myrtle (Matilde Munoz Sampedro),, an annoying old woman who is always snapping pictures. As an actor Mel Welles was in the original Little Shop of Horrors -- as a writer, well let's just say he's not as good as he is as an actor. The "vampire tree" of the ads doesn't actually show up until the film's final moments, and by then most of the audience will have fallen asleep. Not as much fun if just as awful as From Hell It Came and Navy vs. the Night Monsters. Mitchell was also in Blood and Black Lace and many others.

Verdict: Quite tedious. **.

GORILLA AT LARGE

GORILLA AT LARGE (1954) Director: Harmon Jones.

When people start getting murdered at a carnival, the police wonder if the culprit is the star attraction, Goliath the gorilla, or someone in an ape suit. Suspects for the latter include the owner Cy Miller (Raymond Burr); his wife, Laverne (Anne Bancroft), who is a trapeze artist who works with Goliath; Joey Matthews (Cameron Mitchell), who has a crush on Laverne; Kovaks (Peter Whitney), Laverne's ex-husband; and a few others. The cops on the case include Lee J. Cobb (The Exorcist), Lee Marvin (Raintree County), and Warren Stevens (Phone Call from a Stranger). [Clearly this is one low-budget movie that has a very interesting cast.] This is a modestly entertaining, generally well-acted thriller that holds the attention if nothing else. Director Hrmon Jones did mostly television work, including a few episodes of Perry Mason. NOTE: Midnite [sic] Movies' remastered DVD looks great in high definition.

Verdict: Fun, even if most of the cast went on to much better things. **1/2.

THE VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD

THE VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD (1955). Director: Philip Dunne.

"I was only eight when [my father] died but I would have killed him if I could." -- Garvin.

"The past is a thief, it doesn't give us anything but only robs us of the future." -- Dinah.

Lawyer Anson "Sonny" Page (Richard Egan) returns to his home town in the south to investigate a lawsuit filed against a publishing house he represents by the wife (Marjorie Rambeau) of a famous author, Garvin Wales (Sidney Blackmer). While he attempts to discover the truth behind the lawsuit -- which charges a late friend and associate of Wale's with virtual embezzlement -- he meets up with his old flame Dinah (Dana Wynter), and finds himself falling in love with her again -- and vice versa -- despite the fact that both are married. The film concentrates much more on the love story than did the Hamilton Basso novel upon which it was based, but also manages to touch upon racial inequality and class distinctions as well, albeit in a way that may seem dated and limited due to the time period. On the plus side, the film is very romantic, with lush photography of real and very beautiful Southern locations, and a very nice score by Elmer Bernstein. Cameron Mitchell is cast and plays well as Dinah's husband; Egan is quite good as Page; and Dana Wynter -- lovelier than ever -- gives perhaps her finest performance as Dinah. The title refers to an old-fashioned, genteel, oh-so-proper Southern way of life and thinking. There are interesting situations and developments along the way, although most of the melodramatic moments concerning the love triangle seem to have been cooked up by the screenwriter. Beautiful to look at, The View from Pompey's Head might be a good bet for a wide screen digitally-remastered DVD release.

Verdict: Despite its flaws, this is rather sumptuous and Wynter is in her summer. ***.

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964). Director: Mario Bava. [NOTE: End credit says that the English version was produced, written and directed by Lou Moss. The Italian title is Sei donne per l'assassino.]

An especially brutal murderer is slaying the beautiful models of the Christiane Fashion House in Rome. The establishment is owned by Contessa Como (Eva Bartok), a widow who is keeping company with one Max Morlan (Cameron Mitchell). Inspector Silvester (Thomas Reiner) locks up all the male suspects but the murders continue. This entertaining, well-made and suspenseful film was highly influential on the many Italian horror thrillers by Dario Argento and others that came afterward (while it itself was influenced by Hitchcock's Psycho, especially in regard to a intense focus on and depiction of murder.) There are illogical moments -- why does one frightened woman drag a corpse into her house and even leave the door wide open? -- and a disregard for forensics, but the movie works on a visceral level and is generally well-acted. Bartok and Mary Arden as model/victim Peggy come off best. Thomas Reiner is the Great Stone Face as the cop assigned to the case. Not badly dubbed (Paul Frees did some of the dubbing, apparently for more than one character.) Credit may have been given to someone else for supposedly directing this "English" version, but any way you slice it the film is pure Bava. Carlo Rustichelli's score is a plus, both the eerie incidental music and the lazy, sensual jazz theme that opens the movie and plays on occasion throughout. Some of the atmospherically-lit sequences were considered quite sadistic in their day and still pack a punch. Bava also directed Twitch of the Death Nerve [AKA Bay of Blood].

Verdict: A creepy treat for those who love multiple murders in movies. ***.