IT STARTED IN PARADISE

Martita Hunt and Jane Hylton

IT STARTED IN PARADISE (1952). Director: Compton Bennett. 

In the years leading up to WW2, Martha Watkins (Jane Hylton of The Manster) is frustrated that her employer, fashion designer Mme. Alice (Martita Hunt), thinks her designs are far too modern. Martha takes advantage of the situation after she importunes Alice to go off for a rest cure, and makes major changes to the line and even the studio itself. With the backing of her boyfriend, Arthur (Ian Hunter), Martha rises in the world of fashion, but makes the mistake of falling for a supposedly French bounder named Edouard (Terence Morgan). Meanwhile a younger designer, Alison (Muriel Pavlow of Murder She Said) and her boyfriend, Michael (Brian Worth), may prove formidable competition to Martha. Will ruthless Martha come undone?

Paging RuPaul!

If this film had been made in the United States ten years later it might have starred Susan Hayward at her bitchiest and been a lot of fun, but this comparatively dull British flick never really catches fire. Jane Hylton is a more than competent actress but she lacks that intense and fiery presence that might have made her performance more compelling. The others in the cast are all good enough, and Kay Kendall sparkles a bit as a superficial creature who makes an arrangement with Martha to bring in customers in exchange for clothing. The movie has an absolutely hilarious climax in which Alison shows up Martha with her own showing, featuring designs based on Elizabethan clothing. While these outfits might work for a costume party -- or for some drag queens -- the ordinary 20th century female would hardly be caught dead in most of them! Compton Bennett directed much better pictures, such as Daybreak. Malcolm Arnold's score helps just a bit. 

Verdict: Dig those crazy gowns! **. 

THE MANSTER

Tetsu Nakamura

THE MANSTER (1959). Directors: George P. Breakstone; Kenneth G. Crane.

Dr. Robert Suzuki (Tetsu Nakamura) is a mad scientist who experimented -- with their foolish permission -- on his wife and brother, with hideous results. Now he decides to surreptitiously give a formula to Larry Stanford (Peter Dyneley), a foreign correspondent located near Tokyo. The first thing to change is Larry's attitude, as he cruelly blows off his visiting wife, Linda (Jane Hylton), takes up with Suzuki's sexy assistant Tara (Terri Zimmern), and pretty much turns into a highly disagreeable drunk, much to the consternation of his boss, Ian (Norman Van Hawley). What's worse, one of his hands turns gross and hairy, but in the film's most startling scene, Larry sees an eyeball peeking out of his shoulder! Seems there's another creature growing right inside of Larry's body (shades of The Manitou). This is not a dubbed Japanese film despite the setting and many of the cast members, but an American-Japanese co-production spoken in English (at least in this version). The Manster is also an interesting and atmospheric horror flick with some laughable moments to be sure, but also a fair amount of creepiness and suspense. Dyneley amassed 86 credits and Hylton 75. Nakamura appeared in a number of Japanese horror and monster films, including The H Man. This was the only film credit for both Zimmern and Van Hawley.

Verdict: Watch out for that peeping eyeball! *** out of 4.