THE LAST DINOSAUR

Steven Keats and Richard Boone

THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977). Directors: Alexander Grasshoff and Tsugunobu Kotani.

"A creature forty feet tall and weighing eight tons with the mind of a pea has just destroyed one of the greatest minds of the century."

 Masten Thrust Jr. (Richard Boone of I Bury the Living) is not only a famous hunter but one of the world's wealthiest men. He has developed a vehicle called the Polar Borer, that uses lasers to drill through the Polar Ice Cap, discovering a hidden world in a prehistoric valley below that is warmed by a volcano. Four men have already died at the teeth of a T-Rex, that appears to be the only one of its kind, although there are other dinosaurs in the valley. Returning to this land with the only survivor of the first expedition, Chuck (Steven Keats), Thrust also brings along Professor Kawamoto (Tetsu Nakamura of The Manster); an expert and silent seven foot tall tracker named Bunta (Luther Rackley); and a perky photographer named Francesca (Joan Van Ark). Although the original plan is only to study the tyrannosaurus, when it proves aggressive and even squashes the poor professor underfoot, Thrust determines to destroy the creature. But then the big beast snatches up the Polar Borer in its teeth and the whole group is stranded in the valley with time running out ...

The rubber T-Rex

The Last Dinosaur has a workable plot line, but it borrows very heavily from the film The Land Unknown, and the Polar Borer (which hardly looks large enough to hold so many people) reminds one of a similar machine in At the Earth's Core. Of course it's just another imitation of The Lost World minus diamonds and "fire gods." A bigger problem is the FX work, which features some crude but effective process shots and a rubber monster brought to life with "suitmation" -- a man in an dinosaur suit. The creature also lets out metallic wails that are borrowed from Godzilla. The shame is that the film does manage to work up some suspense -- as in Land Unknown there's a small window of opportunity to get out of the valley if they can survive the beast's attacks -- and this could have made a very exciting picture had Ray Harryhausen brought the creatures to life. A battle between the T-Rex and a triceratops does not compare favorably to a similar battle in Harryhausen's The Valley of Gwangi.

Bantu takes after T-Rex with a spear -- good luck with that!

The acting in the movie is professional, if uneven, with Richard Boone creating a colorful if contradictory character, and William Overgard's screenplay does do its best to bring some of the people in it to life. There's some decent art direction in the movie, but the score is pretty terrible. This was meant to be a theatrical film, but it was released to television in a somewhat edited version. The film makes much of the fact that the title refers to Boone as much as it does to the tyrannosaurus.

Verdict: Hardly the "last" dinosaur we've ever seen in film. **1/4. 

THE ROBE

The stunning scenic design of The Robe

THE ROBE (1953). Director: Henry Koster.

After angering Caligula (Jay Robinson), tribune Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton), son of a senator (Torin Thatcher), is sent off to Jerusalem with his proud slave, Demetrius (Victor Mature). Marcellus is one of several men ordered to crucify Christ by Pontius Pilate (Richard Boone). Marcellus wins the robe of dead Christ in a game of dice but finds he is unable to wear it, then Demetrius runs off with it. Ordered to get it back by Emperor Tiberius (Ernest Thesiger), so the "bewitched" item can be destroyed, Marcellus encounters a group of devout Christians and begins to see things their way ... The Robe, the first film shot in CinemaScope, is often rather spectacular to look at, thanks to Leon Shamroy's superb cinematography and the splendid scenic design, but it can hardly be called a "great" movie. It's a given that the film's religiosity might seem oppressive to some viewers, but the film begins to lull about halfway through and never quite recovers -- it's when the quite pious Justus (Dean Jagger) shows up, along with the crippled and beatific singer Miriam (Betta St. John). However, the film does boast several good performances, especially Burton as Marcellus, with good (if unexceptional) turns from Jean Simmons as our hero's lady love, Diana; Thatcher as Marcellus' father; Robinson as a screechingly effective Caligula; Thesiger as the elderly emperor; and Michael Rennie as Peter. Three actors worthy of special mention are Victor Mature [Kiss of Death], who is excellent as Demetrius, even if his performance consists mostly of expressive pantomiming; Michael Ansara [Dear Dead Delilah] in a striking turn as Judas; and Jeff Morrow [The Giant Claw] who certainly scores as the centurion, Paulus, and who figures in an exciting sword fight with Marcellus. Jay Novello, Percy Helton and Thomas Browne Henry are also good in bits as a slave trader, wine merchant, and physician, respectively. Alfred Newman's score washes the whole movie in dramatic overtones. Followed by Demetrius and the Gladiators.

Verdict: Certainly well turned out for what it is. **1/2.

LIZZIE

Eleanor Parker and Richard Boone

LIZZIE (1957). Director: Hugo Haas.

Elizabeth (Eleanor Parker of Home for the Holidays) is a timid soul who works in a museum and receives threatening notes from someone named "Lizzie." Then Elizabeth begins hitting the bars at night, wearing sexy clothing and make-up, and affecting a lascivious attitude. A helpful neighbor, Walter (Haas), who is friends with Elizabeth's slatternly Aunt Morgan (Jane Blondell of Advance to the Rear), with whom she lives, suggests she see a psychiatrist named Neal (Richard Boone). Neal is able to determine that Elizabeth has three distinct personalities, but which one will emerge as the dominant one? I'm not certain how Eleanor Parker wound up in this B movie knock-off of The Three Faces of Eve (also released in 1957), but she gives a good performance, and the rest of the cast are all solid. Lizzie equates sexuality with "evil" in some ways, and Parker's least convincing moments are when she turns into a nostril-flaring decadent "Lizzie," eschewing a less subtle way of making each personality distinct. But it works for this movie, which is professionally done but kind of cheap and depressing. Marion Ross and John Reach each make an impression as, respectively, Elizabeth's co-worker and a man she dates as Lizzie. Johnny Mathis also makes an impression playing a pianist/singer in a saloon; he has no dialogue. As an actor, Haas also appeared in Summer Storm and others.

Verdict: Entertaining enough but lurid and unpleasant. **1/2.

VICKI

Crain, Reid, Peters and Showalter in a tense moment

VICKI (1953). Director: Harry Horner.

From the start we learn that a model-actress named Vicki Lynn (Jean Peters) has been murdered, while the rest of the movie explores who might have done the deed and provides flashbacks (supposedly) illuminating the woman and her friends and acquaintances. Among them are her sister, Jill (Jeanne Crain), manager Steve (Elliott Reid), boyfriend Larry (Max Showalter/Casey Adams), ham actor Robin (Alexander D'Arcy), and even a grizzled, homely and obsessed cop named Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) who is relentless in his pursuit of one particular suspect. A nerdy room manager named Harry is a bit overacted by Aaron Spelling, who found much greater success as a television producer years later. This lower case rip-off of Laura features a low-rent cast, superficial characterizations, and an utterly mediocre performance from Boone. The other actors are okay, with Peters, who has been better elsewhere, un-riveting in the central role; four years later she married Howard Hughes and made no more theatrical films. Crain and Peters were also together in Take Care of My Little Girl. Horner also directed The Wild Party.

Verdict: Probably not even Clifton Webb could have saved this from the scrapheap. **.

THE GARMENT JUNGLE

THE GARMENT JUNGLE (1957). Director: Vincent Sherman.

Soon after the terrible death of his partner in a freight elevator "accident" -- a horrifying, well-handled sequence -- Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb) welcomes his son Alan (Kerwin Mathews) into the garment business. Alan is disturbed to learn what a hold the mob has on the business with its protection racket, and how they've been terrorizing union organizers. This is basically a poor man's On the Waterfront, and not at all in the same league as that classic. However, there are several good scenes, and there's an interesting cast. Cobb is as good as ever, and Mathews gives it a good try, but his forte was swashbuckling costume heroes like in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, not realistic drama. Richard Boone is more on the mark as a mob boss, as is Robert Loggia as a union organizer and Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No) as one of the garment workers. Wesley Addy has an unusual role as a vicious associate of Boone's. Gia Scala and Valerie French are effective as the ladies involved with the garment workers.

Verdict: Overbaked melodrama. **.

I BURY THE LIVING

I BURY THE LIVING (1958). Director: Albert Band.

You may not hold out much hope for this low-budget Twilight Zone-like horror film, but stick with it and you may be surprised. Richard Boone stars as the new manager of a cemetery who accidentally sticks black pins ( meaning they’re dead) instead of white pins (alive) into a map of cemetery plots that also lists the names of the owners. The newlywed couple whose pins are black are killed shortly afterward, and Boone is pretty freaked. He deliberately puts in another black pin just to convince himself it’s all a fluke – and this man dies too. Several other people insist that he put in more black pins, trying to convince him to stop being silly and superstitious, and these people also die – supposedly of natural causes. You would think this idea wouldn’t work on anything other than a 22 minute TV show, but the movie manages to hold the attention for almost four times that length and becomes extremely disquieting to boot. Band’s direction is also inventive and admirable. Boone and the other cast members are fine, but a nearly unrecognizable Theodore Bikel (with a fine Scottish accent no less) steals the picture as retiring cemetery employee Andy. Okay, the contrived plot doesn’t really stand up to a lot of scrutiny, to say the least, and the movie has at least three different endings, but it has to be given points for being decidedly different.

Verdict: Definitely worth a look. ***.