THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN

Michael Fox and Lex Barker

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (1957). Director: Russell Birdwell.

Joseph Stalin (Maurice Manson) has faked his death with a lookalike corpse, changed his face via plastic surgery, and is hiding out in Greece with associate and assassin Igor Smetka (Michael Fox of The Lost Planet) and his nurse Miss Gresenko (Zsa Zsa Gabor). This woman is the twin of Lily Gresenko (also Gabor) -- the two women were separated and one was taken to Moscow some years before. Lily desperately wants to find her sister, and hires callous private eye Steve Anderson (Lex Barker of Tarzan's Savage Fury) for the job until he deems it too impossible to finish. Importuned by Lily to continue, he teams up with an old friend, a one-armed agent named Mischa (Jeffrey Stone of Money, Women, and Guns). Learning that the monster Stalin may be alive, and that Lily's sister may be with him, the hunt is on. But others are aware of this search, and are going to do their best to stop it, by murder and kidnapping if necessary. 

Zsa Zsa gives two mediocre performances

The Girl in a Kremlin is a lurid melodrama that is caught somewhere between being a serious, if far-fetched, spy thriller and a wild, rather absurd Man from UNCLE episode. Zsa Zsa Gabor, never much of an actress although they kept giving her parts, is slightly better as the Stalin associate than she is as the concerned Lily, but that's not saying much. Lex Barker doesn't put himself out too much, playing the role in a flippant style that makes you wonder why his character bothers doing anything. Jeffrey Stone, the model for Disney's Prince Charming, is much better as the attractive and very appealing Mischa. Perennial supporting player Michael Fox has a good role as an assassin who carries a bullet-firing umbrella, and Maurice Manson is effective as Stalin, and even more so in his new identity, which I won't reveal here. 

Jeffrey Stone and Lex Barker

William Schallert also gives a good performance as Stalin's son, Yakov, who somehow survived his death in a German concentration camp after his father sent him to the front and refused a prisoner exchange that would have brought him home! Norbert Schiller (of The Return of Dracula) scores as Brubov, who is told he must kill Steve if he wants to see his wife and boys again, and dresses up as a nun to carry out his assignment. Elena Da Vinci makes a sinister, whip-wielding Olga, Smetka's wife, and Phillipa Fallon sneers competently as her associate, Nina. At one point Steve is whipped by Olga. Meanwhile Zsa Zsa has a cat fight with herself. 

Natalie Daryll gets her head shaved

One cast member you can only feel pity for is Natalie Daryll, who plays Russian prisoner, Dasha. In an early, protracted sequence, she has her locks shorn and head shaved in almost pornographic detail, right down to the use of a straight razor and shaving cream. This whole business is not faked and one can only hope the poor woman was well paid for this disturbing exhibition. This was her first and last movie; and she had only two TV credits afterwards. The whole sequence is rather pointless aside from illustrating Stalin's weird tastes and cruelty. As for the movie, it is strangely compelling and entertaining if impossible to take entirely seriously. DeWitt Bodeen was one of the screenwriters. No composer is credited, but the score, presumably stock music, really helps put the movie over.

Verdict: Here's a strange one! ***.  

BLACKHAWK

Kirk Alyn and Carol Forman

BLACKHAWK (aka Blackhawk, Fearless Champion of Freedom/15 chapter Columbia serial/1952). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred F. Sears.

Having already played Superman twice, Kirk Alyn  was the perfect choice to play another DC Comics hero (albeit without actual super-powers), Blackhawk, who headed a team of international freedom fighters. The Blackhawk comic, beautifully drawn by Reed Crandell (who gets credit in the serial), and created by Will Eisner (who does not), had been published since the early 1940's. There were some changes made from the comic: the Chinese cook Chop Chop (Weaver Levy) was less caricatured, and Andre (Larry Stewart) was no longer French. Stanislaus, portrayed as a gruff, gray-haired middle-aged man in the comics, has an evil twin in the serial, and is played by Rick Vallin, The villainess is hard-as-nails Laska (Carol Forman), who is given an unflattering hairstyle and is in no way as glamorous as she was in other serials, such as her headliner The Black Widow. She reports to an unseen (but hardly unknown) "Leader," who keeps asking her to give more, more -- including her life -- to the "party." Laska's main henchman is Aller, played by serial regular Marshall Reed [Gunfighters of the Northwest]. When handsome Aller tires to get familiar with Laska -- "nice drivin', baby," he tells her -- she snaps, "The name is Laska!" Blackhawk is full of exciting cliffhangers, even if none of them are resolved in a clever manner -- Blackhawk simply rolls out of the way of several oil drums, or jumps out of a hay wagon that has caught on fire. In other sequences Stan is tied to a pole with a plane's propeller rushing towards him; Blackhawk's car is pushed onto the tracks just as a train arrives; fiery derricks topple like tenpins; a cartoon "flying saucer" hits our hero's plane; and Blackhawk's parachute fails to open so he has to ride piggyback on the shoulders of one of his comrades. Laska and her gang have several headquarters, all of which look exactly the same. Noting this, Blackhawk wonders about it and says, "they must have a reason for that." although it's never determined what it is (the budget was the reason, of course). Michael Fox plays one of Laska's confederates, and William Fawcett [Batman and Robin] is a scientist who has created a destructive ray machine. A lot of the action has to do with the theft and retrieval of "element X." Plenty of exciting fisticuffs in this.

Verdict: Blackhawk is a lot of fun. ***.

KILLER APE

KILLER APE (1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

"Fish that climb trees?"

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) and the natives have noticed that the crocodiles in the region have become strangely lethargic. Could it have something to do with experiments in secret caverns to create a drug that will enslave mankind? Evil scientists and nice natives alike are menaced by a hulking man-ape (Max Palmer) who lives in the area and keeps trying to carry off the feisty native girl, Shari (Carol Thurston), who at first has an antagonistic relationship with Jungle Jim. This film is fairly lively, and director Bennet keeps things moving. Others in the cast include Michael Fox as a medical officer, Nestor Paiva [Mr. Reckless] as the head bad guy, and Ray Corrigan [Undersea Kingdom], who for once is not playing a gorilla (after his start as a serial lead). By this time the chimp Tamba had taken over the Jungle Jim series in much the same way that Cheetah took over Weissmuller's Tarzan series. Tamba's antics are very funny, and at one point she leads a charge of dozens of maddened monkeys! At the end the chimp drives off in a car! Carol Thurston gives a good performance as Shari; she played Weissmuller's girlfriend in Swamp Fire.

Verdict: You can't beat those Man-apes! **1/2.

VOODOO TIGER

VOODOO TIGER (1952). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) comes across a tribe of cannibals who sacrifice people to their tiger god. Phyllis Bruce (Jean Byron of Daddy-O) has come to Africa to study tigers, and meets up with Sgt. Bono (Rick Vallin) and Major Green (Robert Bray of Never Love a Stranger), the latter of whom is attracted to Phyllis and vice versa. Into their midst literally drops a plane load of chorus girls led by Shalimar (Jean Dean), whose act includes a tiger (that is also on the plane), and the ex-Nazi, Professor Schultz (Michael Fox of The Lost Planet). Then there is a gang of crooks who are hoping to find a cache of stolen paintings. But can any of them hope to get away from the hungry cannibals? Voodoo Tiger at least seems a little more involved and eventful than the average Jungle Jim entry, and this one is rather entertaining. Shalimar does a rather good and sexy dance to briefly appease the natives. Tamba the chimp has a lot to do and is wonderful.

Verdict: Fun with Jungle Jim  and Shalimar! **1/2.

NAKED ALIBI

Gloria Grahame and Sterling Hayden

NAKED ALIBI (1954). Director: Jerry Hopper. Produced by Ross Hunter.

Police Chief Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden of Crime of Passion) is convinced that baker and family man, Al Willis (Gene Barry of The Girls of Pleasure Island), is responsible for the deaths of several police officers. When he confronts him in his bakery, someone takes a photo of Conroy about to hit Willis and the chief loses his job. That doesn't stop Conroy from following Willis to Mexico on one of his "business trips," where he discovers he has a girlfriend, a singer named Marianna (Gloria Grahame of The Big Heat), who doesn't know that her lover boy is married. If the two of them team up, can they find proof that Willis is a killer? Hayden is just right for the role of the cop; he doesn't get across any character nuances, but the script doesn't do much to make him more dimensional anyway. Gene Barry offers one of his most memorable portrayals as Willis, who is smooth and lovable one minute, and raw and sociopathic the next -- in this Barry is quite different than he is as Amos Burke. Grahame offers another credible and sympathetic portrait of a good girl who's fallen for the wrong guy, yet again. Naked Alibi is a fairly standard crime thriller but it does have some suspenseful moments. One incredible sequence early in the picture has Hayden letting Willis simply walk out of the police station after he's assaulted one of his officers! Yeah -- that would really happen. Chuck Connors, Billy Chapin, and Michael Fox have small roles.

Verdict: Acceptable borderline film noir. **1/2.

THE LOST PLANET

Michael Fox vs. Judd Holdren in Lost Planet

THE LOST PLANET (15 chapter Columbia serial/1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

"What has he to offer a great scientist like me?"

Reporter Rex Barrow (Judd Holdren) and his photographer friend, Tim (Ted Thorpe), stumble into the mountain hide-out of the megalomaniac Dr. Grood (Michael Fox of Riders to the Stars), who is forcing Professor Dorn (Forrest Taylor of The Iron Claw) to enslave the inhabitants of another planet, Ergro, in order to take over Earth. Grood is assisted by the groveling Jarva (Jack George), who is like something out of the Three Stooges, on earth, and by portly Reckov (Gene Roth), on the alien world, while Dorn's daughter, Ella (Vivian Mason), travels to Ergro with the others. Grood is able to mind-control anyone he chooses, and has other weapons as well, and employs spaceships that take everyone from Earth to Ergro in a very fast and highly unscientific manner. There's also a cosmo jet, and a cartoon flying saucer. Late in the serial some earth men of rather ill repute try to take over Grood's operation, briefly join with him, and then switch sides again. Holdren is perfectly bland and adequate, and Fox is rather good as Grood, yet somehow he doesn't make the kind of memorable serial villain that, say, Charles Middleton does as Ming in Flash Gordon. Holdren and Roth were also in Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere and the former starred in Zombies of the Stratosphere as well.

Verdict: Acceptable, silly sci fi serial. **.

RIDERS TO THE STARS

RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954). Director: Richard Carlson.

"Gordon's d-d-disintegrated!"

We're a far cry from Queen of Outer Space with this picture. A scientific team which includes Dr. Stanton (Herbert Marshall) and Dr. Flynn (Martha Hyer) assembles a group of bachelors for physical and psychological tests. Turns out they are looking for men who can fly a spaceship in order to see if man can survive in space; their assignment will be to catch a meteor in flight. James Best of Killer Shrews is one of the candidates, and Michael Fox (not to be confused with Michael J. Fox), who appeared in everything from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to The Bold and the Beautiful, is the psychiatrist. Three men played by Richard Carlson (who also directed), pretty-boy William Lundigan, and busy actor Robert Karnes are chosen for the mission. For the most part Riders to the Stars is dry but reasonably interesting, although even such a "serious" sci fi flick is not above some exploitation elements. After one spaceship disintegrates, Carlson sees the corpse of the pilot floating by, only a skeleton (inexplicably) inside the space suit; an early "shock" scene to be sure. Carlson is very good, and the rest of the cast, Hyer included, are more than efficient.

Verdict: A somewhat interesting curiosity. **1/2.