THE BIG CIRCUS

THE BIG CIRCUS (1959). Produced by Irwin Allen. Directed by Joseph M. Newman. 

Circus owner Hank Whirling (Victor Mature) has just split off from his former partner and is determined to make a go of it on his own. Randy Sherman (Red Buttons) is assigned by the bank that loaned him money to keep him on the financial straight and narrow and also hired a public relations woman named Helen (Rhonda Fleming). For reasons that are never quite explained, Hank objects to having a woman doing publicity for him, and the two come to figurative blows almost immediately. A bigger problem is that an unknown person working with Hank's former partner is committing dangerous acts of sabotage. A variety of problems seem to be working against the circus' success as the bank keeps threatening to foreclose ... 

Red Buttons and Victor Mature

Producer Irwin Allen later became famous for his disaster flicks but The Big Circus is no disaster. The film is well-paced and quite entertaining, with some very satisfying performances. Red Buttons and Gilbert Roland as a first-class high-wire aerialist, come off best, along with Kathryn Grant, saucy and sexy, as Hank's sister. Mature saunters through the movie with his usual aplomb and Fleming is also appealing as his very feminine combatant. Vincent Price is adept if under-utilized as the ringmaster, and David Nelson [The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker], although he has little to do until the climax, plays a role very different from his part on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Peter Lorre is as lovable as ever as a clown in greasepaint. Although the process work isn't always great, the best and most suspenseful scene has to do with Roland's thrilling walk on a cable across the entire length of Niagara Falls! 

Verdict: This is superior to Jumbo and The Greatest Show on Earth. ***. 

HOME BEFORE DARK

Jean Simmons

HOME BEFORE DARK (1958). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

Charlotte Bronn (Jean Simmons of Dominique) returns home after a year in a mental institution due to a nervous breakdown. Married to the cold fish Professor Arnold Bronn (Dan O'Herlihy), Charlotte had imagined that her husband was really in love with her stepsister, Joan (Rhonda Fleming of The Nude Bomb), and allowed her alleged delusions to get the better of her. When the Bronns got married Arnold moved into Charlotte's house, and the couple lived with Joan and Charlotte's stepmother, Inez (Mabel Albertson). Bad idea!

Simmons with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. 

Trying to adjust to her new state of freedom, Charlotte finds her husband as cold as ever, and she is somewhat drawn to their boarder, Jacob Diamond (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), a Jew who was championed  by Arnold against anti-Semitic colleagues until it no longer suited his purposes. Jacob has feelings for Charlotte, as does her old boyfriend, Hamilton  (Stephen Dunne). Their attentions, however, do not prevent additional feelings of paranoia for Charlotte over a possible relationship between Arnold and Joan. Although Home Before Dark is not a thriller, it does work up some suspense over whether or not there is anything between husband and stepsister-in-law before the final revelations.

Rhonda Fleming, Dan O'Herlihy, Mabel Albertson

Home Before Dark is decidedly overlong at nearly two and a half hours. One could argue that there's really not enough plot for such a lengthy motion picture, but despite some tedious moments the picture manages to be absorbing, in no small part to a superb performance by Jean Simmons. There is a particularly good scene worth waiting for in which Charlotte shows up in a Boston restaurant trying to look like a grotesque imitation of her stepsister. Dan O'Herlihy is fine in the thankless role of a seemingly passionless husband; Dunne scores as the cast-off boyfriend from years ago; Fleming and Albertson are memorable as Charlotte's other family members; and even Zimbalist is okay as Jacob, although it's a wonder why this rather sexless and bland actor was constantly cast as a romantic figure in movie after movie. In smaller roles one can find Joan Weldon [Them], Eleanor Audley, and Lucy's mother Kathryn Card in the peppery role of the housekeeper Mattie. Oddly, the score for the film consists of snippets from various previous films by a variety of composers. Photographed by Joseph F. Biroc.

Verdict: Love-starved wives are always entertaining in these kind of movies, but this is on a somewhat higher level than a soap opera. ***.

SLIGHTLY SCARLET

Rhonda Fleming and John Payne

SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956). Director: Allan Dawn.

June Lyons (Rhonda Fleeming), who is secretary and more to mayoral candidate Frank Jansen (Kent Taylor), brings her sister, Dorothy (Arlene Dahl) home after the latter gets out of prison. Both women get involved with Ben Grace (John Payne), who is the brains behind a criminal outfit run by Solly Caspar (Ted de Corsia), who has had to take it on the lam. Now Ben tries to take over and get all his ducks in a row, including Jansen, the police chief, and the two attractive ladies -- although things get a bit dicey when Solly suddenly returns from Mexico ...

Such devoted sisters? Dahl and Fleming

Slightly Scarlet is entertaining enough but it has a script that goes all over the place, and Allan Dwan's direction is not strong enough to make up for it. What we're left with is some vivid emoting from Payne, going through his bad guy (but not that bad) film noir phase, a solid Fleming, a vivacious and sluttish Dahl making the most of her scenes, and de Corsia also making an impression as the decidedly nasty and nearly psychopathic Solly. Although Payne does a good job in playing Ben, the screenplay never seems to get a true handle on the guy, so there doesn't really seem to be anyone to root for in this mess. Kent Taylor has a few scenes as the man who becomes mayor but he isn't developed enough to be much of a factor. June seems overly devoted to her sister, a trampy shoplifter and worse who doesn't even seem to care when Solly makes it clear that he's going to murder June.

Payne and Dahl at that beach house

Other players include Ellen Corby as June's very pleasant housekeeper, Roy Gordon [War of the Colossal Beast] as a crusader against Solly who meets a horrible fate, George Wallace [Radar Men from the Moon] as a sullen member of Solly's gang, and Myron Healey [Hot Rod] as another colleague who tries to ventilate Ben to his regret. Solly owns a beach house that can best be described as "fabulous." This is based on as novel by James M. Cain. An RKO-Radio production, it was filmed in "Superscope."

Verdict: Not as much fun as the plot might suggest, but fun enough if you're in an undemanding mood. **1/2. 

THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE

Gene Barry and Rhonda Fleming

THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE (1953). Director: Lewis R. Foster.

Mrs. Edmonds (Agnes Moorehead) brings her four daughters from Seattle to the Klondike to meet up with her husband, a reformer who is trying to clean up the town during the gold rush. Unfortunately, when they arrive they discover that the man has been murdered. The chief suspect is saloon owner Johnny Kisco (Gene Barry of Burke's Law), who does what he can for the ladies, including giving one daughter, Patricia (Teresa Brewer) a job as an entertainer in his club. Her sister Katherine (Rhonda Fleming of The Killer is Loose) falls for Johnny and vice versa, but she can't deal with the rumors about his part in her father's death. Patricia winds up on the outs with the rest of her family as Katherine, taking over her late father's newspaper, does her best to run Johnny out of town.

Teresa Brewer

With a storyline like that you wouldn't think that Those Redheads from Seattle would be a musical, but it is; unfortunately it was produced by Paramount and not MGM. The songs are by a variety of composers and lyricists, some of whom went on to better things. But the big problem is that you would think the movie would have employed some famous musical stars, but neither of the two leads really do any singing (Barry later wound up starring on Broadway in La cage aux folles, but he was no great shakes as a singer). Teresa Brewer can sing, more or less, but the less said about her overbearing style the better -- as actress she is more palatable, but this was her only movie. There's only one halfway memorable song anyway, "I Guess It Was You All the Time," very well sung by Guy Mitchell, who plays Johnny's buddy, Joe. This was Mitchell's first movie. Essentially a vocalist, he had only a few credits on TV and in pictures.

Moorehead with Fleming, Brewer and one Bell Sister

Barry and Fleming make a pretty good team, even if they barely talk to one another throughout most of the movie. Moorehead is as terrific as ever as the somewhat feisty widow. The other two daughters in the film are played by "The Bell Sisters," about which little is known -- this was their only movie. The last few minutes of the film are taken up with a shoot out between Johnny and the real murderer as he tries to bring him in to clear his name, an abrupt shift in tone that doesn't bring nearly enough excitement to the proceedings. On a whole, the movie is pleasant enough, but aside from some of the performances there's little to distinguish it from numerous mediocre musicals. NOTE: This was originally released in 3D, probably the first musical to do so. Not that it helped that much.

Verdict: If we must have western-melodrama-musicals, this one will do until something better comes along. **1/2. 

THE CROWDED SKY

THE CROWDED SKY (1960). Director: Joseph Pevney.

While Captain Dick Barnett (Dana Andrews) and his bitter co-pilot Mike Rule (John Kerr) fly an airliner, a small Navy jet piloted by Dale Heath (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) is heading in the same general direction. Heath notes to his passenger McVey (Troy Donahue) that there are "2000 near-misses each year." As the audience tenses itself for the disaster to come, the movie features flashbacks showing the back stories of several of the characters, including crew and passengers. Rhonda Fleming [While the City Sleeps] is Heath's bored and unfaithful wife; Anne Francis is a stewardess in love with Rule; Barnett has a poor relationship with his son, Dick Jr. (Ken Currie); and so on. The Crowded Sky manages to maintain suspense not just over the plane situation, but also over the various characters' inter-relationships. Some of this is soap opera, but it is generally interesting to watch. Keenan Wynn flirts with a passenger, Jean Willes [Desire Under the Elms], whom he jilted years before and whom he doesn't recognize, while Patsy Kelly is an agent for actor Tom Gilson, both of whom feature in scenes of -- on one occasion -- inappropriate comedy relief. Joe Mantell plays the likable navigator, Louis, whose grotesque death is pretty much forgotten (shockingly) by the other characters. There is evidence that much footage was left on the cutting room floor, as Troy Donahue's role practically amounts to a bit, and another major character's death is also not given any kind of moving post script, making it all seem a rather callous exercise. One suspects there's a much better movie left somewhere, but The Crowded Sky is still quite entertaining. Freida Inescort shows up briefly as a woman who may or may not be Kerr's mother. The acting in this is perfectly okay but nobody really stands out as anything special. Pevney also directed The Strange Door.

Verdict: Stay on the ground. ***.

THE KILLER IS LOOSE

THE KILLER IS LOOSE (1956). Director: Budd Boetticher. 

When Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) goes after Leon Poole (Wendell Corey), who held up a bank, he accidentally shoots the man's wife. When Poole breaks out of jail, he murders everyone in his way as he makes his way to Wagner-- so that he can kill Wagner's wife (Rhonda Fleming). This is a decidedly minor film for all concerned, but it does manage to work up a certain degree of suspense, in large part due to Lionel Newman's taut musical score. Filmed by Lucien Ballard. Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan's Island is more subdued as another cop. Fleming is okay, but the female acting honors go to Virginia Christine as another cop's wife and friend, and Dee J. Thompson as the wife of Poole's old sergeant (John Larch). Some other familiar faces scattered throughout the movie in bit roles. Not always logical. Cotten is solid although this is not one of his more memorable credits. 

Verdict: a respectable if forgettable 73 minutes. **1/2.

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956). Director: Fritz Lang. 

A young man called "the lipstick killer" is stalking women in the city during a shake-up at a newspaper where several men hope to be named the new editor. Dana Andrews is a hot-shot reporter; Ida Lupino is Mildred, a columnist; Vincent Price is the neophyte publisher; Rhonda Fleming is his unloving wife, Dorothy; James Craig is Dorothy's handsome lover; and George Sanders is an executive with his eye on the prize. The interesting cast, a generally fast pace, and a couple of exciting scenes -- such as a chase in the subway -- may keep viewers from initially noticing that this would-be sprawling movie is kind of mediocre. There's a dumb attempt, typical of the period, to blame juvenile delinquency on comic books! 

Verdict: Busy but basically insubstantial. **1/2.

CRY DANGER

CRY DANGER (1951). Director: Robert Parrish. 

Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) has received a pardon after being convicted of bank robbery, but Detective Cobb (Regis Toomey) still thinks Mulloy knows where the money is. Mulloy hooks up with Nancy (Rhonda Fleming), the wife of his supposed partner-in-crime, who is still in prison, as well as a heavy-drinking character named Delong (the effective Richard Erdman), with whom he shares a trailer. Meanwhile operator Louie Castro (William Conrad) has ideas of his own. Jean Porter is fun as the somewhat shifty Darlene LaVonne, who also lives at the trailer park, but Joan Banks nearly steals the picture in her brief but vivid turn as Alice Fletcher, wife of the man who identified Mulloy during his trial. The clipped speech patterns of some of the players almost make this come off like a hard-boiled parody at times. This holds the attention, but little else. 

Verdict: Noir Lite. **.