I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN

Odd duo: Gary Conway and Whit Bissell

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN  (1957). Director: Gene Fowler, Jr.

The descendant of Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell) wants to take up where his ancestor left off, but intends to make sure his creature looks normal and can make his way among men. Well... not quite, as he removes the body of a dead teen from an accident and brings him back to life [see photo] looking in such a way that he can hardly enter polite society. The poor thing [Gary Conway of Burke's Law and Land of the Giants] wants more of a social life, so the two drive to lover's lane and drag off another poor fellow [Gary Conway again] for a face transplant so the monster can have a handsome and normal countenance; in other words he becomes a sexy beast. Prof. Frankenstein is almost comically immoral in this. [Oddly, the British Curse of Frankenstein released the same year by Hammer studios also had a murderous and sociopathic Dr. Frankenstein.] Conway and Bissell give very good performances, as does Phyllis Coates as Frankenstein's clueless fiancee. This came out on a double-bill with I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Conway later appeared in How to Make a Monster in which he played an actor playing a teenage Frankenstein.

Verdict: Very entertaining hokum with an alligator pit to boot. ***.

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (1958). Director: Herbert L. Strock.

"An artist must have no fear."

When make up artist Pete Dumond (Robert H. Harris) is let go by the studio because new executives claim horror films aren't making any money, he hypnotizes the actors playing a teenage Frankenstein (Gary Conway of Burke's Law) and werewolf (Gary Clarke of Missile to the Moon and Michael Shayne) into murdering his bosses. Dumond metamorphoses from a kindly professional into a nasty maniac who slaughters anyone who gets in his way. Robert Shayne plays an agent; Morris Ankrum is a cop; Malcolm Atterbury is a security guard; and Thomas Browne Henry plays a director. John Ashley plays himself in a brief musical guest appearance. The last ten minutes, which are in color, feature a lot of Paul Blaisdell creations hanging in Dumond's workshop as examples of his art. In his only starring role in movies, Harris -- a busy television actor of the period --  is excellent, and Paul Brinegar is fine as his cowering assistant Rivero. As you would expect, the make ups are great.

Verdict: Fun primarily because Harris delivers. ***.

GREAT OLD TV: BURKE'S LAW

BURKE'S LAW (1963 - 1966). Produced by Aaron Spelling.

This show had a really terrific premise. Amos Burke (Gene Barry) was a very wealthy, sophisticated and cultured man who happened to be a police captain in Los Angeles. He drove to crime scenes in a Rolls Royce chauffeured by Henry (Leon Lontoc). His partners were young, likable turk Tim Tilson (Gary Conway) and older veteran Les Hart (Regis Toomey). Naturally the show had a lighter approach than other cop shows, and sometimes was an out and out (and rather silly) comedy. Still, many episodes were intriguing, well-acted, and suspenseful. The show's other gimmick was to cast well-known former movie stars (or hasbeens), as well as familiar character actors, in supporting roles. Carolyn Jones scored as triplets in one episode, and Lizabeth Scott had a couple of notable guest shots as well. One episode cast Basil Rathbone as a flamboyant director and Edward Everett Horton as a Shakespearean actor. Gene Barry played the playboy detective with just the right note of insouciance and sardonicism, and the other regulars were top-notch as well. For the third season the supporting cast was let go and the show's title was changed to Amos Burke, Secret Agent due to the then-popular spy craze on TV (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; I Spy etc.). This, too, was an entertaining program but it only lasted one season. About thirty years after the show premiered, it was revived, again with Barry in the lead, but there were only 27 episodes.

Verdict: Fun whodunit. ***.