PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF THE GRINNING GORILLA

Raymond Burr with special guest-star

PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF THE GRINNING GORILLA. Season 8, episode 28. 1965. Director: Jesse Hibbs.  

Now here's a weird one. Della Street (Barbara Hale) buys the diary at auction of a woman -- the secretary of an eccentric millionaire who keeps various kinds of apes in his home -- who died while at sea during a storm. Della wants her boss, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), to somehow get involved, but he winds up giving advice to Josephine Kempton (Lurene Tuttle), a housekeeper who is suing her former employer -- said millionaire -- for slander after he fired her for stealing. Perry is able to find out who actually stole the items in dispute, but has to defend the peppery and difficult Miss Kempton when she's accused of murder. Did she stab somebody with scissors or was it the "grinning gorilla?"

Perry confers with his client, Lurene Tuttle

Jackson Gillis' script for this twisty and entertaining episode has some strange elements, foremost being that Perry and Della occasionally act out of character. I mean, Della has tripped over plenty of dead bodies accompanying Perry, so it seems strange for her to get hysterical when she sees a gorilla far in the distance, or to worry unduly about Perry going into the millionaire's mansion to meet Josephine. Perry seems very impatient with his secretary throughout most of the episode as well. However, Lurene Tuttle of Psycho fame gives an excellent performance in this, and we've also got Gavin MacLeod from the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Victor Buono from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, along with Robert Colbert as a DA and Janos Prohaska as a gorilla. Yes, Perry faces a gorilla-on-the-loose at one point!

Suspects in Grinning Gorilla

There have been better episodes of Perry Mason than Grinning Gorilla, but it is fun and suspenseful and has some clever twists. Perry does not appear in a courtroom at all in this episode, and the whole business is resolved before there even is a trial, something that did not happen too often on the show. Raymond Burr appeared in more than one gorilla-oriented movie, such as Gorilla at Large with Anne Bancroft and Bride of the Gorilla with Barbara Payton, but he was also in such classics as Hitchcock's Rear Window. 

Verdict: Perry has more than one encounter with an adorable chimp! ***

THE FORTUNE COOKIE

THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966). Produced and directed by Billy Wilder.   

When cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) is knocked over by Cleveland Braves player Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) during a football game, his brother-in-law, Whiplash Willie (Walter Matthau), importunes him to pretend his injuries are far worse than they really are for a huge cash payout. At first Harry is appalled by the very suggestion, but when Willie intimates that Harry's ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West), may come back to him out of sympathy, he agrees. Meanwhile a very guilty Boom Boom, who practically becomes Harry's servant, finds his own life spiraling out of control. Yet Harry's essential humanity may put paid to Willie's audacious and avaricious plan.

The Fortune Cookie is an excellent comedy-drama which begins as an amusing dark farce and midway turns a bit more serious. The performances are superb, with Matthau master of all he surveys, Lemmon on target throughout, Ron Rich sympathetic and appealing, and Judi West, introduced in this picture, scoring as Harry's ex, a singer who dreams of a shot at the big time in New York's Persian Room. Cliff Osmond also makes an impression as private eye, Purkey, although Lurene Tuttle overdoes it a bit as Harry's hysterical mother. There are other good character actors in the cast such as Les Tremayne. Although highly exaggerated, the characters come off more or less as real people, although many of the situations are not realistic and are not meant to be. I won't give anything away, but the ending strikes a blow for Civil Rights in a way that is unusual for a sixties movie (although one might wonder how anyone could be certain of Harry's reaction). Handsome and talented, this was the first big role for Rich, but he had only a few credits after this. Similarly, Judi West, who actually had a couple of TV credits before this film, had only a few subsequent credits as well. Joseph LaShelle's cinematography is first-rate.

Verdict: Imperfect at times, but a very entertaining black comedy with outstanding performances. ***1/2.                                                             

THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS

Bobby Van and Debbie Reynolds

THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS (1953). Director: Don Weis.

Dobie Gillis (Bobby Van) has enrolled in college but he doesn't seem to have much on his mind academically. He is much more interested in girls, especially Pansy Hammer (Debbie Reynolds), who is initially resistant. Pansy's parents, especially her grumpy father (Hanley Stafford), rarely approve of her boyfriends and Dobie is no exception. Further complicating the matter is that Dobie's pal and roommate, Charlie (Bob Fosse), goes for Lorna (Barbara Ruick), who only has eyes for Dobie. Then Dobie manages to get into trouble over and over again, and it seems as if he and Pansy are to be separated forever.

Roomies: Bob Fosse and Bobby Van

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is a trifle, but what a charming and entertaining trifle it is, with a great cast of talented performers giving their utmost. Bobby Van [The Navy vs the Night Monsters], while not traditionally handsome, proves an adept leading man with both singing and dancing skills, a pleasant, outgoing personality, and plenty of exuberance and charisma. The same could be said for Bob Fosse, who is both cute (if not on a Tab Hunter level) and appealing, but chose to work primarily behind the scenes as a top choreographer in later years. Debbie Reynolds [Singin' in the Rain] is also cute and perky and while this is mostly Van's show, gives him her best in support. Barbara Ruick, who was in the film version of Carousel as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, scores as the love-sick gal who adores her disinterested Dobie and is given at least one snappy number. 

Reynolds, Van, Freeman

As for the supporting cast, Hans Conreid, as a stuffy professor, reminds one of Mr. Livermore on I Love Lucy. Kathleen Freeman certainly adds to the fun as the comical leader of an all-girl band. Percy Helton shows up as a shop owner, Charles Lane is well-cast as a -- what else? -- grouchy chemistry professor, and there are bits by Alvy Moore,  Almira Sessions, and John Smith. Lurene Tuttle is Debbie's mother, and is fine, but Hanley Stafford as her father is all bluster and no laughs. The songs include "All I Do is Dream of You," "I'm Through with Love;" and "Can't Do Wrong If It's Right," which features some fancy footwork from Van and Fosse. The somewhat episodic film reminds one a bit of a sitcom at times, and indeed it wasn't long before The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was being telecast every week, although with a completely different cast.

Verdict: Lots of fun, good tunes, and fancy footwork. ***. 

UNTAMED YOUTH

Mamie Van Doren, Jeanne Carmen, Lori Nelson

UNTAMED YOUTH (1957). Director: Howard W. Koch.

Two sisters heading for Hollywood -- Penny (Mamie Van Doren of The Girl in Black Stockings) and Jane (Lori Nelson) -- are arrested for vagrancy and sent to a work farm for thirty days by Judge Steele (Lurene Tuttle). The farm is owned by Russ Tropp (John Russell), whose housekeepers are girls who offer certain services in exchange for "special privileges." Tropp orders his latest "housekeeper," Lillibet (Jeanne Carmen) back to the barracks with the other girls, resulting in a catfight. The judge sends her son, Bob (Don Burnett), to work at the farm as a regular employee -- he doesn't know that his mother and Tropp are secretly married. And the judge doesn't know about the deplorable conditions at the farm ...

Cougar? The judge (Tuttle, right) hankers for Russell

Untamed Youth is a hoot. Wayward girls, handsome guys, Mamie Van Doren, John Russell, catfights, a female judge who's a cougar -- all this and the movie is a musical, too! Yes, there are several snappy if unmemorable rock 'n' roll numbers supposedly warbled by Van Doren, who zestily shows off her impressive figure when dancing all over the place. The matronly Tuttle and hunky Russell certainly make a comically mismatched pair, Carmen is vivid as Lillibet, and Burnett [Damon and Pythias] is appealing as the sensitive Bob, who falls for Jane.

Mother and son: Don Burnett and Lurene Tuttle

And then there's Mamie, in a role best suited for her talents. In this she's a good girl, not a slut, and she resists advances by Russell. Her performance is more than adequate and she has an out-sized personality that helped her get a minor foothold in Hollywood B movies. Lurene Tuttle gives the best performance as the middle-aged woman who falls in love not at all wisely but well. Wally Brown makes his mark as the deceptively sympathetic cook, Pinky (even if he feeds the kids dog food!) and Michael Emmet [Attack of the Giant Leeches] shows up as a kindly doctor who treats one ill-fated pregnant girl, Baby (Yvonne Lime of Dragstrip Riot).

With a better script Untamed Youth might have emerged a credible melodrama instead of the somewhat campy exploitation picture it is. But on that level, the movie is fun.

Verdict: Catch Mamie doing "Slimy as a Salamander!" **1/2. 

DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK

Marilyn Monroe

DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952). Director: Roy Ward Baker. Based on the novel "Mischief" by Charlotte Armstrong.

Eddie Forbes (Elisha Cook Jr.) is an elevator operator at Manhattan's McKinley Hotel who wishes he had never let his niece, Nell (Marilyn Monroe), babysit for the young daughter of guests Peter and Ruth Jones (Jim Backus and Lurene Tuttle of The Manitou). For Nell has been disturbed ever since the man she loved died at sea in a plane crash. It doesn't help that she encounters a pilot named Jed Towers (Richard Widmark), whose girlfriend, Lyn (Anne Bancroft of Gorilla At Large) told him to take a hike because she not only feels they have no future but finds him essentially cold. Confusing Jed with the dead man, Nell becomes increasingly unraveled and things look more and more dangerous for her and the little girl (Donna Corcoran) and possibly Jed as well ... Marilyn Monroe is given a pretty tough assignment to play an emotionally disturbed, indeed mentally ill woman in this, and her performance ranges from some quietly effective moments to the occasionally embarrassing one; but all in all she's good and may even manage to wrangle a tear or two from some viewers. Bancroft and Widmark are excellent, and there is also notable work from young Corcoran, as well as Verna Felton (the stern maid on I Love Lucy) and Don Beddoe, as a nosy hotel guest and her husband. Gloria Blondell is a nightclub photographer, Jeanne Cagney plays a telephone operator, and Michael Ross [Attack of the 50 Foot Woman] is the house dick.  The ending to this is rather moving, and none of the major characters are untouched by the experience. This was released by Twentieth Century Fox with big-name leads, but it's essentially a "B" movie with a short running time. 

Verdict: Sad story of a grieving, neurotic woman disguised as a competent little thriller. ***. 

NIAGARA

NIAGARA (1953). Director: Henry Hathaway.

"For a dress like [Monroe's], you better start making plans at about 13." -- Polly.

A young couple on their honeymoon, Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray (Max Showalter aka Casey Adams), become entwined with another couple staying at the same cabins near the falls. George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) is unaware that his wife, Rose (Marilyn Monroe), has taken a darkly handsome lover, Ted (Richard Allan), and that Rose wants this younger man to murder George. However, the best laid plans ... The actions of some of the characters in this are pretty dumb, but the movie is not boring. Monroe [Love Happy] looks sensational, although she's given better performances elsewhere. Cotten [September Affair] and Peters are fine, but Showalter's golly-gee-whiz attitude quickly grows tiresome, and he's not very good. The picture has an exciting, if somewhat abrupt, climax on the falls. Don Wilson and Lurene Tuttle are fine as Ray's associate and his wife. Very good use of Niagara locations. Peters and Showalter were both in Vicki.

Verdict: Monroe sizzles sexily while those waters keep rushing! ***.

PERRY MASON SEASON 8

Raymond Burr

PERRY MASON Season 8. 1965.

Perry (Raymond Burr) and the gang are back for another season of this highly popular courtroom drama -- one of the best seasons in the series' long history. Phyllis Hill and Robert Brown give outstanding performances in "The Case of the Sleepy Slayer," a clever story in which a woman must live with her hated uncle. "Wooden Nickles" with Will Kuluva features skulduggery over a valuable confederate coin. "Ruinous Road" examines the hoopla over tearing a house down to build a needed thoroughfare. Joyce Meadows [Brain from Planet Arous] and Gary Crosby appear in "Frustrated Folksinger," about a show biz dilettante accused of murdering an exploitative agent. "Thermal Thief," in which a woman tries to honor her late husband despite complications, features fine performances from Joyce Van Patten and Barry Sullivan [Queen Bee]. Jeanne Bal scores as a viciously scheming woman in "Tell Tale Tap." Minerva Urecal [Who's Guilty?] shows up in "Lover's Gamble" about a doctor with romantic issues. "Murderous Mermaid" has an Esther Williams-type dealing with a show biz hopeful and a strange publicity plot. In "Careless Kitten," in which there is no trial or even a courtroom sequence, Perry investigates whether or not a man missing for ten years is still alive, and confronts suspects in a living room; Percy Helton and an excellent Louise Latham [Marnie] are in the cast. In the season's most bizarre moment, Perry faces down a big ape in "Grinning Gorilla" with Victor Buono [Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte] and Lurene Tuttle [The Manitou]. And there were many other memorable episodes.

Verdict: Still one of the most enjoyable and well-acted programs ever made. ***1/2.

THE MANITOU

Michael Ansara and Tony Curtis confront the Unknown

THE MANITOU (1978). Director: William Girdler.

Fake San Francisco spiritualist Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis) learns that an old girlfriend of his, Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg), has a little bit of a problem. She has a tumor growing on her back, it's getting larger, and it appears to be a fetus! Erskine discovers that the fetus is the reborn spirit of a nasty Indian medicine man, and enlists the aid of a modern-day equivalent, John Singing Rock (Michael Ansara), to fight the medicine man and the evil gods it conjures. Their only allies are the spirits -- or "manitous" -- of the objects around them. Before long the hospital has become a battle zone as they fight for Karen Tandy's soul amidst corpses turned inside out, frozen, decapitated nurses, and other signs of murder and mayhem. The movie, based on a novel by Graham Masterton, has an interesting cast: Besides the aforementioned actors we've got Ann Sothern (a medium), Stella Stevens, Burgess Meredith (anthropologist Dr, Snow), Lurene Tuttle (a client of Erskine's who takes a tumble) and even Jeanette Nolan. Jon Cedar, who associate-produced and worked on the screenplay, plays Dr. Hughes. Curtis' pants are almost as tight as the ones worn by Robert Conrad in The Wild, Wild West! There are a lot of interesting elements to this movie, and it holds the attention, but somehow it doesn't completely jell. Cedar was also in Girdler's Day of the Animals.

Verdict: Not without interest, but somehow less than the sum of its parts. **1/2.