JACK THE RIPPER (1959)

Out of his element: Lee Patterson 

JACK THE RIPPER (1959). Directors: Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman.

London. 1888. Jack the Ripper is stalking the west end, asking women if she is "Mary Clarke," and then bloodily dispatching them a moment later. Scotland Yard's Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne) is on the case, but he welcomes the help of an old friend and American policeman named Sam Lowry (Lee Patterson). Lowry begins romancing Anne Ford (Betty McDowall), the ward of the surgeon Dr. Tranter (John Le Mesurier). Other characters include Dr. Urquhart (Garard Green); Sir David Rogers (Ewen Solon), the governor of the hospital; Louie (Endre Muller), a scarred mute who works at the hospital; Kitty (Barbara Burke), a former prostitute whose fiance killed himself when he learned of her past; and Hazel (Jane Taylor) a dance hall girl who doesn't realize that she's expected to fulfill certain other duties. Jack the Ripper has an excellent script by Jimmy Sangster, and while heavily fictionalized, it emerges as one of the better movies about the Ripper. Lee Patterson as the American cop acts as jauntily as if he just stepped out of an episode of Surfside 6, and is almost completely out of place in the film. The others are more on the mark, with especially nice work from Solon [The Hound of the Baskervilles] and Burke. The movie seems to have cheap TV production values for the most part, with much fog filling up the sound stage, but it nevertheless has atmosphere, as well as a suspenseful finale with an effectively gruesome coda (which briefly goes to color in some prints).

Verdict: Doesn't quite have the polish or production values of a Hammer film, but not bad at all. ***.

THE MONSTER OF LONDON CITY

Hansjorg Felmy

THE MONSTER OF LONDON CITY (aka Das Ungeheuer von London-City/1964). Director: Edwin Zbonek.

Richard Sand (Hansjorg Felmy) is playing the notorious Jack the Ripper in a London theater. Coincidentally, an unknown person is now slaughtering prostitutes in much the way the original Ripper did. Richard is the boyfriend of Ann Morlay (Marianne Koch of Frozen Alive), whose Uncle George (Fritz Tillmann) objects to the relationship. Ann's spiritual brother, Michael (Dietmar Schonherr), is a doctor. The Monster of London City, based on a book by Bryan Edgar Wallace, is one of the least interesting of the Ripper-themed movies, with a low excitement level, not much suspense, and murder sequences that are hardly arresting. The ending also seems rather obvious early on. Another distraction is the presence of a private eye, Teddy, (Peer Schmidt), whose bumbling antics are supposed to be comedy relief but are just irritating. Dubbed West German film.

Verdict: Not much to recommend in this fairly dull picture. **.

JACK'S BACK

JACK'S BACK (1988). Director/writer: Rowdy Herrington.

John Wesford (James Spader) works at a medical clinic in Los Angeles, which is currently besieged by a maniac who is reenacting the murders of Jack the Ripper exactly one hundred years after they originally occurred. Besides John, suspects include the strange shrink Dr. Battera (Robert Picardo), John's obnoxious boss Sidney Tannerson (Rod Loomis), his beefy co-worker Jack Pendler (Rex Ryon), and others. John comes across a murdered hooker named Denise (Danitza Kingsley), sees someone running from the scene, and then the movie does a 180 degree turn, with a new lead character turning up just as you're scratching your head at what's going on ... Spader and the other actors are fine, but Jack's Back substitutes a mid-movie twist for a solid plot, with the killer's motivations and logic unresolved, and the 100 Years Later Jack the Ripper premise pretty much goes nowhere. The BBC series Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns took the same idea years later and really ran with it. Cynthia Gibb plays Spader's co-worker and a potential love interest. This probably looked good on paper but it's sunk by its contrivances.

Verdict: Although there's some suspense of a minor kind, this is a Ripper movie you can live without. **.

A STUDY IN TERROR

A STUDY IN TERROR (1965). Director: James Hill. 

Sherlock Holmes (John Neville) and Watson (Donald Houston) get on the trail of the notorious Jack the Ripper when he begins slicing and dicing prostitutes in London. Among the suspects are a sinister tavern keeper named Max Steiner (Peter Carsten); Dr. Murray, who works with the poor (Anthony Quayle); the handsome Lord Carfax (John Fraser); his missing brother, Michael (John Cairney), and others. While one of the posters for this film [pictured] suggested that it was a camp exercise a la the Batman TV series, it is nothing of the kind and is played straight, although Robert Morley has an amusing appearance as Sherlock's brother, Mycroft. Neville and Houston are quite excellent as Holmes and Watson, and the film has some suspense and atmosphere as well. Georgia Brown does a couple of numbers as a pub singer, and Judi Dench ["M" in the James Bond films] has a supporting role as a woman who works with Dr. Murray. Neville has had a very long career with nearly 100 credits. 

Verdict: The game's afoot again. ***.

HANDS OF THE RIPPER

HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971). Director: Peter Sasdy. 

An irresponsible psychoanalyst and admirer of Freud, Dr, Pritchard (Eric Porter) takes in a young lady, Anna (Angharad Rees), he suspects of murder and hopes to get to the bottom of her condition and cure her. Unfortunately, as he comes to understand, her problem is not so much psychosis but that she's possessed at times by her father -- who was Jack the Ripper! This is a literate, well-made, and well-acted horror story with some spurts of gruesome violence [beware edited TV prints -- this should be watched without commercials.] There's a memorable climax in St. Paul's whispering gallery. The film is generally fast-paced and suspenseful as well. Marjorie Rhodes, who plays the housekeeper, was Emma Hornett in Watch It, Sailor! Rees went on to become a busy actress, mostly in British television. Versatile Porter also starred in The Lost Continent (1968). 

Verdict: One of the best Hammer horror pictures. ***.