LIFE AT THE TOP

Laurence Harvey and Jean Simmons

LIFE AT THE TOP (1965). Director: Ted Kotcheff.

"You say you want a better life, but when you do step up a peg or two you hate yourself for it."

"He was smart enough to knock up the boss's daughter in days gone by, and that, mate, is real social security."

In this sequel to Room at the Top, some years have passed since Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey) married the boss's daughter, Susan (now played by Jean Simmons). He works for his father-in-law, Abe Brown's (Donald Wolfit) firm, and is finishing up a report that he feels will be important to the company. Abe wants Joe to run for the council, but Joe's more liberal attitudes toward the working poor are at odds with the attitudes of his father-in-law. When Susan enters into an adulterous relationship with one of Joe's best friends, Joe finds himself increasingly drawn to TV commentator Norah Hauxley (Honor Blackman of Goldfinger). But will he find that he can achieve new success so quickly on his own, or did everything simply come too easily due to his connections? Life at the Top is not the masterpiece of the original film, but the performances are uniformly excellent, with Harvey, Simmons, and Wolfit [Blood of the Vampire] in splendid form. Michael Craig is fine as Joe's insouciant friend, Mark, although Margaret Johnstone [The Psychopath] as his wife, Sybil, seems a little unreal. An interesting early scene has Joe inviting the paper boy into the house for a warm cup of tea while he and his own son, Harry (Paul A, Martin), look at each other warily due to the class differences.

Verdict: Absorbing drama with differing points of view and outstanding performances. ***.

BURN, WITCH, BURN

Janet Blair indulges in witchcraft as Peter Wyngarde sleeps

BURN, WITCH, BURN (aka Night of the Eagle/1962). Director: Sidney Hayers.

Professor of sociology Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is disturbed to discover that his wife, Tansy (Janet Blair) is using fetishes and other talismans of witchcraft to increase his good fortune and protect him from his enemies at university. This goes against everything the rational man believes in (or doesn't), so Norman destroys all of Tansy's little items, and things go from bad to much, much worse ... Fritz Leiber's novel "Conjure Wife" was first filmed in 1944 as Weird Woman; this version is also very creditable. The two leads are quite effective and there is also solid support from Margaret Johnston (The Psychopath) as Flora, a sinister background figure. One of the best sequences has to do with a huge stone eagle that comes to life and pursues Norman through passages and corridors at the college.The story was filmed a third time as the comedic Witch's Brew. The versatile Blair was Red Skelton's leading lady in The Fuller Brush Man while Wyngarde was Peter Quint in The Innocents and did a lot of television work as well. Hayers also directed the British chiller Circus of Horrors.

Verdict: Zesty supernatural item. ***.