JUNGLE MAN-EATERS

Karin Booth and Richard Wyler

JUNGLE MAN-EATERS (1954). Director: Lee Sholem.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) learns that yet another new diamond field has been discovered, and he and others fear the precious gems could be smuggled out to "flood the diamond markets of the world." Jim also encounters the lady doctor, Bonnie Crandall (Karin Booth of Let's Do It Again), who's a cute trick; and Inspector Jeffrey Bernard (Richard Wyler aka Richard Stapley of The Strange Door), who's handsome -- the two do even more smooching than the romantic couple in the previous Jungle Jim picture, but again Weissmuller gets no action. Mssr. Leroux (Gregory Gaye) is a member of the diamond syndicate who hides his true, more nefarious, purposes. In a weird sequence, Prince Zuwaba (Bernie Hamilton), is told that his wife has given birth to a baby boy, but that the mother died. Everyone congratulates Zuwaba on the child, but no one expresses any condolences over the woman! (Zuwaba seems to get over it pretty fast in any case.) The pretty doctor gets along swimmingly with the Inspector, but generally finds the mischievous chimp Tamba to be too much of a pest; Tamba is typically adorable. There are burned villages, angry natives, and a climactic cliff fight between Jim and Leroux that ends as expected. Hamilton later appeared on the sixties Tarzan TV series, and had many credits, including The Devil at 4 O'clock. There are no actual man-eaters in the movie. Although three films remained in the series, this is the last picture in which Weissmuller is referred to, or actually plays, "Jungle Jim."

Verdict: Standard Jungle Jim adventure with some rather attractive players. **1/2.

COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE

Judd Holdren  and Aline Towne

COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE  (12 episode Republic series/1953). Directors: Harry Keller; Fred C. Brannon; Franklin Adreon.

In the near-future Commando Cody (Judd Holdren of Zombies of the Stratosphere) whose identity "must" be hidden behind a mask "for security reasons," and his team are up against, the Ruler (Gregory Gaye of Dodsworth), an outer space despot who is out to take over the earth, as he has other planets, or destroy it. The Ruler creates weather changes that lead to tidal waves, destroys atomic research stations, employs germ warfare, alternately freezes the earth than causes super-high temperatures via twin suns, then tries to tilt the earth using a magnetic field. In each episode the Commando and his assistants foil the Ruler's plans, taking off to such places as the moon and Mercury when they need to in the Commando's rocketship (he also uses a jet pack to fly). There has always been a debate over whether Commando Cody is a serial or a TV show. Apparently it was originally conceived as a TV series, but for some reason was shown in theaters first as a series of short films (the episodes don't end with cliffhangers as serials usually do, but are more or less self-contained). The series was then shown on television. In any case, Commando Cody is a lot of fun, with adequate acting and more than serviceable special effects. Along with the colorless Aline Towne, William Schallert [The Man from Planet X] and Richard Crane play Cody's associates, Lyle Talbot is cast as an equally colorless earth guy working with the Ruler, and Rick Vallin plays Captain Duron. Gloria Pall is the space babe who answers messages for the Ruler; she is decorative and little else.

Verdict:  You either love this stuff or you just hate it! ***.

COUNTERSPY MEETS SCOTLAND YARD

Ron Randell

COUNTERSPY MEETS SCOTLAND YARD (1950). Director: Seymour Friedman.

In the desert town of Croftenay, a group of American counter-intelligence agents join forces with a visitor from Scotland Yard, Simon Langton (Ron Randell). The agents are headed by David Harding (Howard St. John of Strait-Jacket), who uncovers a nest of spies centering on the office of phony Dr. Gilbert, aka Hugo Borin (Everett Glass). After Chief of Section Don Martin (Harry Lauter) is murdered, Langton takes over his job and meets Martin's secretary-assistant and former fiancee, Karen Michelle (Amanda Blake). The spies are after a gyroscopic control on Professor Schuman's (Gregory Gaye) rocket, and hypnotize Karen to get the information. Langton goes undercover as an elderly patient to get the goods on the spies and get the classified Intel away from them. Australian-born Randell [I Am a Camera], always a good actor, is fine as Langton and affects an English accent in this; his last name is pronounced the same as Tony Randell. Other familiar cast members include Rick Vallin, John Dehner [The Chapman Report], and Fred F. Sears (later a prolific director of The Giant Claw and many others) as agents. June Vincent is quite good as the deceptively friendly nurse, Barbara, who is in cahoots with the doctor.

Verdict: Acceptable time-passer with some good performances and scenes, and versatile Randell is always interesting. **1/2.

KING OF THE CARNIVAL

KING OF THE CARNIVAL (12 chapter Republic serial/1955). Director: Franklin Adreon.

Bert King (Harry Lauter) is a former paratrooper who is now a high-wire trapeze artist with a circus run by Jess Carter (Robert Shayne), who is also the ringmaster. His former army buddy and fellow paratrooper Art Kerr (Rick Vallin), now an agent with the Department of the Treasury, has tracked down a gang of counterfeiters to the circus and environs. Art sort of deputizes both Bert and his partner, June (Fran Bennett), to help with the investigation and spy on suspicious characters within the circus. The HQ of the gang is in a water-tight compartment on what appears to be a sunken ship, with gang members entering through a water lock. Although he is not the big boss -- there is little attempt to disguise his identity -- a foreign agent named Zorn (Gregory Gaye) is the one who manufacturers the counterfeit bills, with which he hopes to flood Europe. There are some decent cliffhangers involving high-wire performers dangling over a circle of lions, and a bit with a rushing train, as well as a good mid-chapter sequence with a gasoline fire on a water tank. Much of the serial was cobbled together from stock footage, but it still manages to be entertaining -- Adreon's direction is snappy and fast-paced -- although it does become a little tedious towards the end. Lauter and Shayne are fine, although Fran Bennett, mostly a TV actress, has a somewhat flat delivery. Robert Clarke, Stuart Whitman, and Tom Steele have smaller roles. This was the last Republic serial ever made.

Verdict: Handsome Harry handles the hoodlums! **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA

"Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff"

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA (1936). Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.

"The opera is going on tonight even if Frankenstein walks in!"

The San Marco Opera company is beset with major problems when prima donna Lilli Rochelle (Margaret Irving) receives death threats from an unknown person. The chief suspect is baritone Gravelle (Boris Karloff), who has just escaped from an asylum, but it is also true that Lilli is carrying on with baritone Enrico Barelli (Gregory Gaye) and this hardly sits well with Lilli's husband, nor Barelli's wife, Anita (Nedda Harrigan). Then there's young Kitty (Charlotte Henry) and her boyfriend, Phil (Thomas Beck) who desperately need to see Lilli but won't say why. Then the murders occur and a fiend stalks the opera house ... The words above the title read "Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff" which is not quite what happens, but close, and both give excellent performances. Keye Luke is on hand and sharp as ever as Number One Son, and William Demarest plays the rather racist and insulting cop, Kelly. The opera "Carnival" was not a real opera but a pastiche put together by Oscar Levant [The Cobweb]; it resembles Italian verismo. There is a moving wind-up, and Karloff's dubbed [uncredited] singing voice is wonderful. One of the best and most entertaining Chan films, even if some things have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Verdict: Not surprising that that genius Chan is an opera fan. ***.

THE MAGIC CARPET

THE MAGIC CARPET (1951). Director: Lew Landers.

Caliph Ali (Gregory Gaye) is a malevolent ruler and a phony. The real caliph, Abdullah (John Agar), infiltrates Ali's camp by posing as a doctor and curing Ali's hiccups. He also takes on the identity of "The Scarlet Falcon." And we mustn't forget the flying carpet that Abdullah uses now and then just so this mediocre Arabian nights fantasy can have some special effects. The only fun moments in the movie are provided by Lucille Ball as Ali's sister, Princess Narah. "I've been wracked with pain since my accident," she tells the doctor in the inimitable Lucy style. Raymond Burr plays a colleague of Ali's who's hopelessly in love with Lucy. Lucy's encounters with Patricia Medina, who loves Abdullah (whom Lucy merely lusts for) never erupt into out and out cat fights, although Lucy does give Medina a pretty fair slap at one point. Agar is adequate.

Verdict: Watch 7th Voyage of Sinbad instead. *1/2.

FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS

FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS (1950). 12 chapter Republic serial. Director: Fred C. Brannon.

Just as in the earlier Purple Monster Strikes, James Craven plays a scientist -- this time a Dr. Bryant -- who encounters a man from Mars who wants to take over the Earth. In Purple Monster Craven's mind and body were taken over by the title martian, but in this one Bryant is just a skunk who's willing to betray the Earth for, presumably, some power. The Martian, Mota (Gregory Gaye), flies about in a "semi-disc" and has some human thugs in his employ. The hero is Kent Fowler (Walter Reed) and the nominal heroine is pretty Lois Collier, who appears to be able to act (and shoot a gun) but isn't given much to do. Tom Steele and Ken Terrell have smaller roles. There are some good cliffhanger situations, such as one involving a fight and an explosion on a railroad trestle, and another concerning some rocket fuel that catches fire.

Okay, but Purple Monster was better. **1/2.

DODSWORTH

DODSWORTH (1936). Director: William Wyler.

"Love has to stop somewhere short of suicide."

Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston) has retired and his younger wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) wants to spend her remaining days with him on the continent, where she wants to forget she has grown children and live a gay social whirl. Dodsworth is a simpler, less exciting soul and only wants to return to Zenith, the small town they come from. "You're rushing at old age," Fran tells him "and I'm not ready for that yet!" Before long Fran is being courted by and falling for younger men while Sam meets a sympathetic woman named Edith (Mary Astor). The interesting thing about the movie is that you find yourself switching allegiances mid-stream, at first rooting for the lively, fun-loving (if pretentious and snooty) Fran to shake the starch out of Sam, but then recognizing that Fran's life-loving vivacity has its dark and selfish side. Huston and Astor are fine, but Chatterton nearly steals the picture as Fran, and there are also excellent performances from Maria Ouspenskaya (as the mother of one of Fran's suitors), David Niven, Paul Lukas, and Gregory Gaye. "Have you considered how little happiness there can be for the old wife of a young husband?" Ouspenskaya asks a horrified Chatterton. John Payne also has a small role. Screenplay by Sidney Howard from the novel by Sinclair Lewis.

Verdict: A bit contrived at times but otherwise excellent. ***1/2.