SHERLOCK HOLMES TV SHOW

Ronald Howard as a handsome Sherlock Holmes

SHERLOCK HOLMES (1954 British television series.)

Sherlock Holmes is a credible British TV series that lasted for one interesting season. The well-cast star playing the famous sleuth was Ronald Howard [Black Orchid], the son of Leslie Howard, who made a much handsomer Holmes than usual. Howard Marion-Crawford [The Face of Fu Manchu] was Watson, and Archie Duncan was Inspector Lestrade. Some of the earlier episodes were a bit sitcom-like at times, with way too much humor, but the performances were always good. Rarely did the characters ever show much compassion for the assorted victims. Among the better episodes: "Blind Man's Bluff," which presents a series of revenge murders with a powerful motive; "Split Ticket," in which three people sharing one sweepstakes ticket leads to trouble; "Laughing Mummy," in which odd developments surround a mummy case from which issues giggling; "The Perfect Husband," in which a man, perfectly played by Michael Gough, boldly tells his wife that he intends to murder her as he did the seven wives before her (with a suitably macabre denouement). Other interesting episodes include "Mother Hubbard," "The Red-Headed League" (from a classic Doyle story); and "Shoeless Engineer." The all-time worst episode was probably the silly "Texas Cowgirl," in which the extremely irritating title character finds a dead man in her hotel room. Guest-stars on the series include Natalie Schafer, Dawn Addams, and Tony Wright. Steve Previn directed most of the episodes, and the show has an excellent theme by composer Paul Durand.

Verdict: Entertaining, well-acted, if not essential viewing. **1/2.

DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing

DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965). Director: Freddie Francis.

In this horror anthology from Amicus, the fortune teller Dr. Shreck (Peter Cushing) entertains fellow travelers on a train by using his cards to tell their futures, none of which look especially bright. All of the tales that follow employ very familiar concepts. Architect Jim Dawson (Neil McCallum) goes to work at the old house and discovers a werewolf with other, bloody plans for him. Inspector Hopkins (Bernard Lee) investigates when a very strange and intelligent plant begins killing people. A musician (Roy Castle) incurs the wrath of a voodoo god when he uses a West Indian chant from a religious ritual for one of his songs. Art critic Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee) is so humiliated by painter Eric Landor (Michael Gough) when the former praises a painting actually done by a chimp, that he runs Landor over -- and the latter's disembodied hand begins following him everywhere. Dr. Carroll (Donald Sutherland) discovers the surprising identity of a vampire who is on the loose. The only really memorable segment in this is the one with the severed hand, and that's primarily because of the performances of Lee and Gough, who make marvelous antagonists. Peter Cushing and others in the cast are all quite good, including Jennifer Jayne [They Came from Beyond Space], who loses herself in the characterization of Carroll's French wife, Nicole; Sutherland [The Split] is also excellent. That same year there appeared a much better "killer plant" story on TV's The Avengers, "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green."

Verdict: Not much originality in this, but it's entertaining and well-acted. **1/2.

BLANCHE FURY

Stewart Granger and Valerie Hobson

BLANCHE FURY (1948). Director: Marc Allegret.

Because of her parents' deaths, Blanche Fuller (Valerie Hobson), is forced to work as a domestic, but then she hears from her formerly estranged Uncle Simon (Walter Fitzgerald) that he wants her to come to his estate and be governess to his widower-son's little girl, Lavinia (Suzanne Gibbs). Blanche finds herself in grand surroundings, and meets two men: Lawrence (Michael Gough), who is Simon's son and Lavinia's father; and bitter Philip (Stewart Granger), who is the illegitimate son of a Fury, has no claim on the estate, and runs it for the others. Our heroine is rechristened Blanche Fury at her uncle's direction. As Philip tries to find proof of a possible marriage between his father and mother, which would change everything, he finds himself falling in love with Blanche and vice versa. A marriage takes place, but perhaps one that isn't based on love ... Blanche Fury has interesting characters and situations, fine cinematography by Guy Green, and a good score by Clifton Parker, but it suffers from the fact that its two lead actors are only so so. Philip is basically an intense Heathcliff-type character, but aside from a couple of moments, Granger [Footsteps in the Fog] plays him so laid-back as to be laughable. Hobson [Werewolf of London] is better, but it's still not a great performance. Fitzgerald, Gough [Konga], and the assorted character actors do nicely, however.

Verdict: It holds the attention but never quite convinces, although it has an uncompromising ending. **1/2 out of 4.

THE AVENGERS Season 4

Emma Peel as queen of the Hellfire Club

THE AVENGERS (season four/1966).

The Avengers began life in 1961 as a man named John Steed (Patrick Macnee, who lasted through all seven seasons) helps "avenge" the murder of Dr. David Keel's (Ian Hendry) wife; the two men then went on to have several more adventures. Keel was replaced by Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) for seasons 2 and 3, the episodes for which appeared to be on tape and rather low-tech in nature. With the 4th season, The Avengers was on film, became a very slick show, and best of all starred Diana Rigg [No Turn Unstoned] as the jumpsuit and leather-clad Mrs. Peel, who retained her femininity while apparently excelling in every form of combat known to man -- or, rather, woman. This was the first season in which the British series was shown in the U.S. on the high-rated ABC network. The show tried to maintain a balance between quirky, tongue-in-cheek humor and stories that had genuine suspense and excitement. Often the show would go over the line and descend into camp ["The Girl from Auntie" being a prime example, and as bad as the lowest camp episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.). On the other hand, many of the episodes were quite smart and entertaining: "Death at Bargain Prices" features a bomb inside a department store; athletes are hypnotized into committing crimes in "The Master Minds;" a murder-for-hire outfit masquerades as a dating service in "The Murder Market" (with Patrick Cargill of Inspector Clouseau and Suzanne Lloyd);"A Touch of Brimstone" features Emma caparisoned as a black queen in the Hellfire Club; and a bunch of pseudo-feminist slayers take orders from a marionette in "How to Succeed ... at Murder." We mustn't forget the "Man-eater of Surrey Green" with its monster plant. Other memorable episodes include "The Gravediggers"  with Paul Massie; "The Cybernauts" with Michael Gough; "The Hour that Never Was;" "Two's a Crowd;" "The House that Jack Built" with its weird, twisting domicile; "The Danger Makers;" and "A Sense of History." The show was generally very well directed and edited with many exciting fight scenes, and Mrs. Peel took on female opponents more than once, especially in "Murder Market" (two gals go after Emma at the same time) and "How to Succeed at ... Murder."

Verdict: Peel and Steed make a lively and sophisticated duo. ***.

RICHARD III

Laurence Olivier as Richard the Third

RICHARD III (1955 ) Producer/director: Laurence Olivier.

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse."

"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York."

Desiring the throne of England, Richard III (Laurence Olivier) schemes and plots to do away with any one who might impede his progress or limit his chances of ascending. His victims include his brother, George (John Gielgud); his little nephews, the princes; his associate, the Duke of Buckingham (Ralph Richardson), who balks a bit at the idea of murdering little boys; and others. Richard covets and seduces The Lady Anne (Claire Bloom), the widow of a man he killed on the battlefield, and suggests that the widow of the king has cast spells against him. He lies, manipulates, and agitates behind the scenes. He is a royal monster. Richard III, based on Shakespeare's masterpiece and preserving most of its text, is itself a masterpiece, a stirring drama that excels in performance, music (Sir William Wharton), direction (Olivier) and photography (Otto Heller). Gielgud and Richardson are superb, Bloom is radiant and excellent, and there are notable performances from Cedric Hardwicke as King Edward; Mary Kerridge as Queen Elizabeth; Laurence Naismith as The Lord Stanley; Michael Gough [Black Zoo] as the murderer Dighton; Alec Clunes as Hastings; Andrew Cruickshank [The Stranglers of Bombay] as Brakenbury; and others. The only problem with this wonderful movie is, oddly, Laurence Olivier [Carrie] in the title role. He plays Richard like a malevolent pixie, humorous and above it all, finding everything funny, an interpretation that isn't necessarily wrong, as such, but doesn't work for everybody. In love with the language and his own voice, he tends to rush through many lines, making them musical but obscuring their meaning, to the detriment of his character. Some will find him flamboyant; others hammy. Still, Olivier is by no means bad -- his performance, whatever its flaws, doesn't detract from the film's brilliance -- and he is so obviously having a ball that it's hard not to settle back and simply enjoy him as this nasty creature, Richard. His death scene is extremely well-played, as is the death of George in the tower; oddly the death of the princes was handled more powerfully in the 1939 Tower of London. Richard has also been played on film by Vincent Price. who was rather good, and Basil Rathbone, in the aforementioned Tower of London. Al Pacino also played the role in a few scenes in Looking for Richard and was also creditable. Modern-day adaptations of the play have to dumb it down for the audience by setting it in fascist fantasy lands or other more contemporary milieus.

Verdict: Who dares say Shakespeare is dull? ****.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962)

Heather Sears and Herbert Lom

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962). Director: Terence Fisher.

The second color remake of the silent classic stars Herbert Lom [Mark of the Devil] as a presumed dead music professor and composer whose work was stolen by a loathsome publisher named d'Arcy (Michael Gough of Black Zoo), and who haunts the Paris opera, kidnapping new singer Christine (Heather Sears of Room at the Top) so he can coach her in her role. The appropriated opera is based on the life of Joan of Arc, but it sounds more like a 20th century work than something from a previous century. An early scene when a corpse suddenly flies across the stage from a rope during a performance makes you think this might be the old story reworked as a nifty Hammer horror film, but aside from some rats and stabs to the eyeball, this version is not much more horrific than the 1943 Phantom of the Opera, and has a less effective chandelier sequence as well. Lom is not as interesting as the disfigured composer as you might expect, Sears is competent but forgettable, and Gough steals the picture with his utterly vicious and slimy portrayal of d'Arcy. Some of the developments of the script give one pause: a producer (Edward de Souza) learns the truth about who actually composed the opera, but does nothing about it, despite d'Arcy's wretched character and his need for comeuppance. In another scene a landlady somehow knows that Lom is still alive even when the police don't. The movie is entertaining, but somehow disjointed.

Verdict: Disappointing thriller with some good moments. **1/2.

BATMAN (1989)

BATMAN (1989). Director: Tim Burton.

"I am the world's first fully-functioning homicidal artist." -- The Joker.

In Gotham City there are rumors of a bat-like creature preying on criminals. A mobster named Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) falls into a vat of chemicals while battling this creature -- Batman (Michael Keaton) -- and turns into the grotesque Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker, who causes numerous deaths by poisoning various cosmetics and household supplies. Batman must then stop his nemesis from not only slaughtering thousands of Gothamites at a celebration, but must rescue his lady love, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) from the Joker at a climax in a cathedral. Batman, whose human dramatics are awkwardly written and played, is more a campy black comedy than anything else, and is a bit slow and dull to boot. The movie is overlong and over-produced, although it gets points for its striking scenic design if little else. Keaton is miscast, and Nicholson walks off with the movie, although his psychotic Joker is never really scary. There are some moments that are dumber than anything in the old Batman serials. The climax, which may or may not have been intended as a homage to Vertigo's bell tower sequence, is stretched out to a tedious degree. Jack Palance and Michael Gough are good as hoodlum Grissom and Alfred the butler, respectively.

Verdict: All too typical of movies that pay more attention to production design and FX than they do to story and character. **.

KONGA

KONGA (1961). Director: John Lemont. 

"If there's one thing I can't abide, it's hysterics!" 

Producer Herman Cohen and star Michael Gough teamed for three British horror films in the sixties: Black Zoo, Horrors of the Black Museum and Konga, all of which are zesty fun. Konga is probably the weakest of the three, but it's still quite entertaining in its zany way. Gough plays Dr. Decker, who returns from an African expedition with weird plants that he's convinced will provide the link between vegetable and human life! He also develops a serum that turns his adorable pet chimp Konga into -- bizarrely -- a gorilla, and then [at the climax] a giant Kong-like monster that struts through downtown London with Decker in his paw. The vivid Gough is great fun as the gleefully sociopathic Decker, and Margo Johns is almost as vivid as his secretary/assistant/lover Margaret. Jess Conrad scores as the jealous boyfriend of a buxom student (an acceptable Claire Gordon) whom Decker takes a shine to. The effects may be cheesy but the climax is effective enough, and the strange plant life Decker puts in his greenhouse with their eternally snapping mouths look creepy. With its comical illogic and all-over-the-map plot line Konga resembles nothing so much as an old-time cliffhanger serial, and was even turned into a comic book by Charlton Publications in the sixties which ran for a couple of years. Gerard Shurmann's excellent score is probably superior to the material. Read more about this film and others like it in Creature Features. 

Verdict: A Big Ape in London! **1/2.

BATMAN AND ROBIN

BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997). Director: Joel Shumacher.

Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) have their hands full with the crazy Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), when he teams up with the equally crazy Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and her silent confederate, Bane (Jeep Swenson). They hope to flash-freeze the entire planet so that the world can start anew, and Ivy's mutant plant-animals can overrun the globe. Alfred's niece Barbara (Alicia Silverstone) becomes Batgirl so she can help the boys overcome the threat. Absurd but colorful Batman feature is too silly, too campy, illogical, and way, way too long, but it has its exciting and amusing moments. The stand-out bit is a thrilling moment near the opening when the boys are aboard Mr. Freeze's runaway rocket; the climax also has its share of exciting stunts and last-second saves. George Clooney isn't bad as an ultra-cool, reign-in-the-emotions Batman, O'Donnell is perky, Silverstone is adequate, and Michael Gough is excellent, as usual. Schwarzenegger walks off with the picture, however. As the fragile Dr. Isley AKA sexy Poison Ivy, the attractively homely Thurman acts as if she's seen one too many Mae West movies and sometimes seems to be in a different movie from everyone else, but she's acceptable as a camp-villainess. The true stars of the picture are those responsible for the special effects (especially Arnold's amazing freeze gun) and for the stunning art direction and scenic design (the observatory building is something to behold). Script-wise, the movie sort of seems thrown together, and despite all the action, it seems three hours long. Former super-model Elle Macpherson makes little impression as Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, Julie Madison. Batman and Robin resembles the comic book from different time periods, with a bit of the TV show and cliffhanger serials thrown in for good measure. Very different from The Dark Knight.

Verdict: Kind of exhausting but fun if you're game. **1/2.

HORROR OF DRACULA

HORROR OF DRACULA (1958). Director: Terence Fisher.

Peter Cushing (the sole name above the title) is Van Helsing and Christopher Lee appears for the first time as Count Dracula in this creditable version of the venerable old story. Jimmy Sangster's screenplay is an intelligent reworking of the basic storyline with an occasional flash of black humor. A big difference between this Hammer version and the Universal version with Lugosi, is that Dracula has hardly any dialogue and is nearly a mute role (Lee only gets a few lines when he first appears to Jonathan Harker -- John Van Eyssen -- in his castle). There are no parlor scenes with Dracula interacting with or talking to any of the other characters -- he is only seen skulking about or preying on them. The movie is fast-paced and occasionally scary and some key scenes, such as the climax and the killing of undead Lucy (Carol Marsh) in the crypt, are well-staged. One minus: Harker arrives at Castle Dracula in bright sunlight, and some of the sets, especially crypts, are over-lit. The cast is uniformly good, however, and Lee makes a ghoulish and powerful -- if not very sinister -- Dracula. Michael Gough is as delightfully intense as ever as Lucy's brother, Arthur, and Melissa Stribling is fine as his wife, Mina. James Bernard's music is a big help as well.

Verdict: Quite good in fact. ***.

THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE

THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE (1967). Director: Freddie Francis.

Dr. Temple (Robert Hutton) is disturbed when colleagues of his, including his lady love, Lee (Jennifer Jayne), begin behaving strangely, violently warning him away from a mysterious project that they're working on. It's pretty clear from the first that their minds have been taken over by extra-terrestrial forces. Another problem is that people are dying of a "scarlet plague" that makes them break out in red blotches and keel over. There are some stylish sets in this, but the pace drags, the story is derivative and dull, and there's a lot of tedious running about to little purpose. If this was trying to come off like another Professor Quatermass adventure it failed miserably. Late in the movie the florid Michael Gough shows up as a character called "The Master of the Moon." This could be the worst movie directed by the prolific Freddie Francis. Jennifer Jayne of the big pursed lips also appeared in The Crawling Eye and Hysteria. Very little entertainment value in this.

Verdict: Definitely miss it if you can. *.