VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET

Jerry Lewis

VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET (1960). Director: Norman Taurog.  

Intergalactic visitor Kreton (Jerry Lewis of The Patsy) has a fascination with Earth and attaches himself to a family that consists of businessman Roger Spelding (Fred Clark), wife Rheba (Lee Patrick), and daughter Ellen (Joan Blackman), whose horny boyfriend is Conrad (Earl Holliman of Hot Spell). Apparently Kreton's race has given up sex eons ago so he is fascinated whenever Ellen and Conrad make out. Roger has a neighbor named Mayberry (Gale Gordon), who is convinced the earth is being visited by flying saucers and extraterrestrials, which Roger thinks is utter poppycock until Kreton shows off his abilities. For one thing, whenever Roger or anyone else tries to tell anyone the truth about their visitor, all that comes out of their mouths is "Mary Had a Little lamb." Despite the irritation that Kreton may cause him, Roger appreciates it when he helps him with his boss, Abercrombie (Jerome Cowan). But it isn't long before the authorities take an interest in Kreton ... 

Lee Patrick, Jerry Lewis, and Fred Clark

Visit to a Small Planet is suggested by a play by Gore Vidal, who satirized McCarthyism. All that has been jettisoned to make way for the comedic style of Lewis, which actually fits the basic plot pretty well. Lewis is fine as the lovably dopey Kreton, although he gets competition from Lee Patrick, who is also lovably dopey. Clark, Gordon, Cowan and Holliman are all as professional as ever. Joan Blackman was introduced in this movie although she had already had a few credits; she later did a couple of films with Elvis. Ever-dignified John Williams (of Midnight Lace) is bizarre and perfect casting as Delton, the head of the extraterrestrials, and Ellen Corby is fun as Gordon's wife. Barbara Bostock makes a positive impression as Desdemona, who sings a weird ditty and dances with Lewis in a beatnik coffee shop scene. 

Verdict: Highly imperfect and often silly, but cute and well-acted as well. **3/4. 

BEN-HUR

Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston

BEN-HUR (1959). Director: William Wyler.

In 26 A.D. the Romans have taken over Jerusalem. Jewish Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is reunited with his childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), but earns his enmity when he refuses to help him in the Roman cause. When some tumbling masonry accidentally falls onto a Roman dignitary from a spot where Ben-Hur and his family are watching, Messala has all of them arrested, with Ben-Hur becoming a galley slave, and his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) put in a dungeon and contracting leprosy. After an epic sea battle, Heston becomes adopted by the Roman consul Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins) and becomes known as an expert charioteer. Now Ben-Hur is ready to face his most hated enemy in the arena, leading to the chariot race to end them all. 

Ben-Hur could have been trimmed of an hour without losing any of its entertainment value, and while it has a strong story it survives on the strength of its set-pieces: the galley slave sequence; the sea battle; the crucifixion; and especially the outstanding chariot race which the whole movie leads up to. Heston [Bad for Each Other] is not bad as Ben-Hur, although it could be argued that he doesn't so much become the character as turn Ben-Hur into Charlton Heston. On the other hand, Stephen Boyd [Fantastic Voyage] gives the performance of a lifetime in his ferocious portrait of Messala. (Some, including the late Gore Vidal, have insisted that Messala's anger towards his old friend is caused by a frustrated homosexual attraction as, according to them, there seems no other good reason for his hatred -- as if his Roman pride and ambition, barely-suppressed anti-Semitism, and his unpleasant character couldn't be enough?) Haya Harareet [The Secret Partner] plays Esther, who loves Ben-Hur; she is capable but had few other credits. Ben-Hur is unnecessarily bloated, but it does boast attractive (if sometimes too prettified) settings, excellent matte paintings, generally skillful direction from Wyler, and fine photography by Robert Surtees and others. A scene with some beautiful trained Arabian stallions doesn't advance the story but one can see why it wasn't cut. Yakima Canutt, who co-directed several cliffhanger serials, worked on the chariot sequence (although it may be inaccurate to say that he "directed" it). Oddly enough, Wyler's The Big Country, also starring Charlton Heston, is more entertaining.

Verdict: Misses being a masterpiece, but has many fine moments. ***.

THE LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS

Robert Hooks and Lynn Redgrave

THE LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS (1970). Director: Sidney Lumet.

"Go home with you? -- but I don't even know you." -- Myrtle

Myrtle Kane (Lynn Redgrave), who once belonged to a group called the "Mobile Hot Shots," gets a stranger, Jeb Thornton (James Coburn), to pretend he's engaged to her so they can win some prizes on a local game show. Unfortunately, the host also wants to marry them on the program. Jeb takes Myrtle back to his dilapidated plantation, Waverly, where he lives with his black half-brother, "Chicken" (Robert Hooks). The dying Jeb agreed that Chicken would have the plantation after his death if he helped him work it, and signed a paper to that effect, but now he sends Myrtle out to get back the paper by any means possible. But Chicken knows something that may make all of Jeb's manipulations unnecessary. Loosely based on Tennessee Williams' play "The Seven Descents of Myrtle," it's a wonder why anyone thought Mobile Hot Shots would make a good movie. Everyone is miscast, and Lumet is certainly the wrong director. The movie can't seem to make up its mind if it's a comedy or not -- there are a couple of chuckles, but that's it, and the final revelation is a pip  -- but its biggest failing is that with all that's going on it's still a bore [even a climactic flood doesn't help much]. Redgrave seems to be channeling Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth (although her character is completely different), but she makes one of the the least convincing Williams' heroines ever. Coburn makes some effort but gets nowhere, and Hooks comes off best, but in this movie that's not saying much. Still it's hard to play Williams just right, and mediocre Williams is even harder. Gore Vidal's screenplay at one point seems to hint at homosexual incest, but as it comes out of nowhere and is unconvincing anyway, it was probably just to set up a quick, dumb gag late in the movie. The premise of the picture is intriguing but the development is just dismal. With Hooks playing a character who denies his being black, one would have to say Hot Shots is horribly dated as well. [If one wonders why anyone would want to own a property like Waverly in the first place, all I can say is real estate!]

Verdict: This should just be washed away with the flood. *1/2.