HOLD BACK TOMORROW

John Agar and Cleo Moore

HOLD BACK TOMORROW (1955). Written, produced and directed by Hugo Haas. 

In an unspecified foreign country, a former hooker, Dora (Cleo Moore), is saved from drowning herself on the very eve that a prisoner named Joe Cardos (John Agar) -- who murdered three people -- is to be executed. Joe wants company for his final request, and since Dora needs money -- or hopes that Joe will strangle her -- she agrees to entertain him in his cell. Joe proves to be grumpy and hostile, and Dora is not certain she even wants to bother trying to make friends with him. But somehow these two dysfunctional individuals manage to form an unlikely romantic attachment to one another (sexual, maybe) ...

Even on Death Row Agar looks great!

Let me make it clear that I can hardly call the utterly-contrived Hold Back Tomorrow a good movie, but it also isn't worthless. Although I can't quite say that Agar is outstanding, he probably gives his best performance in this movie and gets his character across quite well. In her career Moore has rarely risen above mediocrity -- it's almost comical when she says "I haven't eaten for days" but is completely unable to get this across in her acting -- but she is also much better in this film than in others, possibly because her co-star was giving it his all. Agar also looks handsomer than usual.

Beautiful when wet: Cleo Moore

Haas' screenplay is a bit nutty and naive but it does have some good dialogue going for it. Although two of the people Joe strangled may have been rotters, there is virtually no mention of the innocent guard he shot during a robbery (the crime that first got him incarcerated) as this might have made him even less sympathetic. Of course Haas could have created more sympathy for Joe if he'd had him expressing some remorse for the dead man and his family. Joe blames everyone else for his misdeeds, and dopey Dora -- not the brightest bulb in the chandelier by any means, although she's certainly smarter and nicer than Joe -- goes right along with it, swallowing every word. 

Moore and Agar look to the heavens

I won't give away the ending except to say that I find it unlikely that Joe and Dora would ever have really made it as a couple. Whatever their struggles or problems early in life, one can tell that neither have the wherewithal to make much of anything work for them. One of the most amusing aspects of the flick is that Frank DeKova, of all people, plays the prison priest! Harry Guardino has an early role as a cop. The title tune for the picture is rather pleasant. Haas also teamed Moore and Agar up for his earlier film Bait, which is even worse than this! 

Verdict: Certainly an interesting idea and a truly odd romance, but the movie is half-baked and not really credible despite some decent performances. I didn't find it remotely moving. At least it is not an anti-capital punishment polemic. **.  

THE NEW PERRY MASON

Monte Markham as Perry Mason

THE NEW PERRY MASON. 1973 TV series.

Monte Markham had the unenviable task of stepping into the inestimable shoes of Raymond Burr when he took on the role of Erle Stanley Gardner's famous criminal lawyer in The New Perry Mason. Markham didn't try to do the role exactly as Burr did, which is wise, and he isn't bad, but he lacks authority, something you could never say about Burr. The other casting choices are interesting, with Dane Clark [Whiplash] as Lt. Tragg, Albert Stratton as Paul Drake, and Harry Guardino [Jigsaw] as Hamilton Berger, although Sharon Acker [Happy Birthday to Me] makes virtually no impression as Della Street. Most of the episodes are fairly mediocre, but some of the better ones include: "Jailed Justice," in which a judge is accused of poisoning his hated son-in-law; "Tortured Titan," in which a woman allegedly murders the man who put her wealthy brother in an institution; "Murdered Murderer," in which the inventor of a new type of camera is accused of murder even as the contract killer who did the deed is himself murdered [with good performances from Paul Burke and Sharon Farrell]; and the best episode, "Telltale Trunk," in which a greedy, back-stabbing businessman winds up dead in a trunk after his victims plan a playful revenge [with a notable Richard Anderson and Keenan Wynn].

Verdict: Has its moments, some good guest performances, but stick with Burr.

JIGSAW

JIGSAW (1968). Director: James Goldstone.

Only three years after the film Mirage came out, a remake was made for television. Like Mirage, Jigsaw was based on Howard Fast's novel "Fallen Angel" as well as Peter Stone's screenplay for Mirage. However, screenwriter Ranald MacDougall [Queen Bee] fashioned a story that contained some elements from the earlier book and movie but was basically an entirely different story. NBC found the telefilm too violent -- or mediocre -- and decided not to run it, so Universal studios released it in theaters. Although the stars were Bradford Dillman and Harry Guardino, they were basically ignored [and they both gave excellent performances, too] in the advertising in favor of freakish Michael J, Pollard, who had only a bit part really [and two short scenes] but had been nominated for an Academy Award for his turn in Bonnie and Clyde. Such is show business! The poster also made it seem as if the movie were some sort of expose of the sixties Timothy Leary-type drug scene a la The Trip, which it definitely was not.

In Jigsaw Jonathan Fields (Dillman) temporarily loses his memory after ingesting sugar cubes laced with acid [LSD]. He remembers seeing the dead body of a woman in the bathtub of somebody's apartment, and this body later turns up in his own place. He goes to private investigator Arthur Belding (Guardino), who has his girlfriend Sarah (Diana Hyland) aid them in their investigation. Fields also has a girlfriend of sorts played by Hope Lange. The private detective is really the lead character in this and there's no death plunge until the very end. Unlike Mirage, Jigsaw gives away its secrets much too early and has a much more conventional murder/cover-up plot despite the psychedelic facade. The acting is fine, however, both by the aforementioned actors as well as by Pat Hingle as an associate of Fields' and Victor Jory [The Shadow serial] as his boss. 

Verdict: Not bad, holds the attention, but nothing special either despite solid performances. **1/2.