HOT ROD GANG

John Ashley

HOT ROD GANG (1958). Director: Lew Landers.

John Abernathy III (John Ashley) lives with his two dotty aunts, Abigail (Helen Spring) and Anastasia (Dorothy Neumann). According to the dictates of a will, John must stick to the straight and narrow in his behavior, so he has to hide his interest in hot rods  -- especially when he splashes mud on an old prune, Dryden Philpott (Lester Dorr) --  and rock and roll. Wearing a false beard, John becomes a singer called "Jackson Dalrymple." Meanwhile John carries on a mild romance with new girl Lois (Jody Fair of Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow), whom he at first mistakes for a square. Bandleader Gene Vincent plays himself. Ashley is nice-looking, professional, and manlier than the usual boys in these movies, but he radiates a kind of negative aura, and it's perhaps understandable why he never amounted to much as an actor (he later turned producer). Russ Bender is on hand as a cop, Dub Taylor is Al, and Claire Du Brey [Everybody's Baby], Marie Dressler's companion, plays Agatha, the peppery maid. There are several songs -- you can  have a full life without hearing any of them.

Verdict: Not much about hot rods in this flick. *1/2.

HUD

Three generations: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Brandon De Wilde

HUD (1963). Director: Martin Ritt.

"You live just for yourself, and that makes you not fit to live with." -- Homer regarding Hud.

Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglas) has been a cattle rancher all of his life, but a crisis develops when he learns that his stock may have hoof and mouth disease and could have to be destroyed. His surviving son, Hud (Paul Newman) is an immoral cad who suggests they sell off the cattle to an unsuspecting buyer. Hud's young nephew, Lon (Brandon De Wilde), looks up to his uncle in a way, but his values are more in line with his grandfather's. Hud has always assumed his father hated him because he blamed him for his brother's death, but it runs deeper than that. As stubborn as his son is irresponsible, Homer is bound to butt heads with Hud. Then there's the housekeeper, Alma (Patricia Neal) -- an underwritten role --  and the sexual tension that exists between her and Hud. All these factors will come to a boil ... Hud is an interesting picture that casts a certain spell, but one suspects it is due less to the story and actors than to the superb cinematography of James Wong Howe, who seems to imbue every shot with added resonance. Hud is also well-directed by Martin Ritt, although he is perhaps less successful in getting his cast to completely cross over that fourth wall that leads to total veracity -- the emoting is technically proficient but all on the surface. This is not to say that the acting is bad -- Newman, Douglas, and Neal all won Oscars (as did Howe and Ritt, the two most deserving) -- but Newman is miscast despite the fact that he manages to work up some effective swagger for an actor who was never that good at swaggering. One has to remember that these aren't the most communicative or openly emotional of people, so there really aren't any dramatic fireworks as such, But the strikingly moody film, a study of a dying way of life and all that it implies, has its own quiet power and is well worth watching. Yvette Vickers [Attack of the Giant Leeches] gets one line as a married woman who dallies with Hud in a coffee shop sequence, and John Ashley [Frankenstein's Daughter] is a cowboy. I have not read the Larry McMurtry novel this is based on, but I have a feeling the film is a rather sanitized version. Amoral characters like Hud are very, very commonplace today in movies and on television. Martin Ritt also worked with Newman and Howe on The Outrage.

Verdict: One imagines that Hud eventually turned into J. R. Ewing. ***1/2.

HIGH SCHOOL CEASAR

HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR (1960). Director: O'Dale Ireland.

Spoiled and neglected rich boy Matt Stevens (John Ashley) steals the election from Kelly Roberts (Lowell Brown) and becomes the new president of the student body. Meanwhile he's selling papers for cash and beating up students who owe him money. He has his eye on new student Wanda (Judy Nugent) even though he promises her to his buddy "Cricket" (Steve Stevens), none of which fools his girlfriend Lita (Daria Massey) nor impresses Wanda, who only has eyes for Bob (Gary Vinson). Matt has bigger problems when he's driven to murder. Ashley swaggers through the movie with more than a little aplomb and the pic holds the attention. The cast is both attractive and competent. Brown was also in The Day Mars Invaded Earth while Ashley starred in the immortal classic Frankenstein's Daughter. Ireland directed two other similar movies and nothing else.

Verdict: Unconvincing if fast-paced teen melodrama. **1/2.

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (1958). Director: Herbert L. Strock.

"An artist must have no fear."

When make up artist Pete Dumond (Robert H. Harris) is let go by the studio because new executives claim horror films aren't making any money, he hypnotizes the actors playing a teenage Frankenstein (Gary Conway of Burke's Law) and werewolf (Gary Clarke of Missile to the Moon and Michael Shayne) into murdering his bosses. Dumond metamorphoses from a kindly professional into a nasty maniac who slaughters anyone who gets in his way. Robert Shayne plays an agent; Morris Ankrum is a cop; Malcolm Atterbury is a security guard; and Thomas Browne Henry plays a director. John Ashley plays himself in a brief musical guest appearance. The last ten minutes, which are in color, feature a lot of Paul Blaisdell creations hanging in Dumond's workshop as examples of his art. In his only starring role in movies, Harris -- a busy television actor of the period --  is excellent, and Paul Brinegar is fine as his cowering assistant Rivero. As you would expect, the make ups are great.

Verdict: Fun primarily because Harris delivers. ***.

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1958). Director: Richard Cunha.

Frankenstein's grandson Oliver Frank (Donald Murphy) has somehow wound up working with the elderly Carter Morton (Felix Locher) on something or other while in the wine cellar he's secretly putting in work on his real project: making another monster. Oliver inexplicably gives Morton's niece Trudy (Sandra Knight) a drug that turns her into a snarling, deformed she-creature that roams the streets in a bathing suit. Later Oliver uses the brain of Sandra's friend Suzie (Sally Todd) to bring his "Frankenstein's daughter" to life -- even if the poor thing looks much more like a man. Stupid, illogical but amusing horror film holds the attention but offers few real thrills. John Ashley plays Trudy's boyfriend and Harold Lloyd Jr. is Suzie's singing beau. Donald Murphy offers a flavorful and good performance as Frankenstein, but the younger players offer amateurish performances. Felix Locher gives a poor performance as well, but John Zaremba and Wolfe Barzell are better as a cop and the "gardener" who assists Frankenstein in his work. In the sixties Sandra Knight was married to Jack Nicholson for six years, and appeared with him in The Terror. She wasn't much of an actress.

Verdict: Unintentionally comical at times and mildly entertaining. **.