WOMAN WHO CAME BACK

John Loder, Nancy Kelly and Otto Kruger

WOMAN WHO CAME BACK (1945). Director: Walter Colmes.

Returning to Eben Rock, Massachusetts after an absence of two years, Laura Webster (Nancy Kelly of The Bad Seed) is involved in a bus accident in which a strange old witch-like woman who appeared in the night out of nowhere and boarded the bus disappears. Laura was once ready to marry Dr. Matt Adams (John Loder of Old Acquaintance) and their feelings are rekindled, which disturbs Matt's sister, Ruth (Ruth Ford), who thinks Laura is a little strange. Laura herself thinks she's been possessed by an evil witch who was burned at the stake, and frightening incidents occur which has the whole town up in arms ... Woman Who Came Back has a rather interesting is-she-or-isn't-she? plot which is reminiscent of a classic EC comic story, but while the acting isn't bad, the picture lacks real tension and atmosphere. That's too bad, because the movie has some clever notions in it, as well as an interesting wind-up. Otto Kruger [The Jungle Captive] plays the town priest, and Almira Sessions is fun as the creepy, chattering, highly opinionated housekeeper, Bessie.

Verdict: Watch out for old ladies on buses. **1/2.

HAIRSPRAY (1988)

Mother and Daughter: Divine and Ricki Lake

HAIRSPRAY (1988). Writer/director: John Waters.

"She's more beautiful than Elizabeth Taylor!"

In the sixties chubby teen and "hair hopper" Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) wants to go on the Corny Collins (Shawn Thompson) dance show in Baltimore and strut her stuff, and she winds up not only a favorite of the show but a member of the council. Her mother, Edna (Divine), is thrilled for her daughter, but Tracy earns the enmity of former favorite Amber (Colleen Fitzpatrick/Vitamin C) and her mother, Velma (Deborah Harry of Wiseguy). Tracy is appalled at the show's refusal to admit black teens accept on "Negro Day" and fights for integration even as her friend, Penny (Leslie Ann Powers), falls in love with Seaweed (Clayton Prince), a black youth, infuriating her neurotic mother Prudence (Joann Havrilla). Will Tracy and her friends succeed in bringing integration to the Corny Collins Show and will it be Tracy or Amber who will be crowned Miss Auto Show of 1963? I have to say that I think most of the over-rated John Waters' oeuvre is fairly worthless, but Hairspray is the one film of his that I like (and maybe Polyester). Although the comedy is broad, it gets across the message without beating you on the head with it, and there are times when this is very, very funny. Ricki Lake is outstanding and gets fine support from the one-of-a-kind Divine, who also plays (out of drag) the mean, racist station manager, Arvin Hodgepile. Outfitted with a wild hairdo, Harry is also fun as Velma, although poor Sonny Bono is much less effective. Powers is okay as the forever lollipop-sucking Penny, but Havilla overacts terribly as her mother (which is saying a lot in this movie). Ruth Ford as Seaweed's mother [a black activist in a straight blond wig?] and Mink Stole as Corny's assistant similarly do not impress, but there are nice performances from many of the teens, such as Michael St. Gerard, as Tracy's unexpected love interest, and both Thompson and Fitzpatrick are very good. Oddly Jerry Stiller as Tracy's father also makes little impression. Pia Zadora, of all people, is good in a cameo as a drug-using beatnik. There are some wonderful classic tunes on the soundtrack, as well as the nifty new number "Do the Roach!" as well as some excellent dancing that is well-choreographed and well-edited. One could argue that the scene with the black people dancing in a much, much sexier way than the whites borders on stereotyping, but it's effective in its way. The film has many interesting touches, such as when someone sings a song on the show which is taken up by a poor drunk black on the street outside whose voice is just as good but who presumably never got the breaks. One of my favorite moments is when Edna says her daughter is "all ratted up like a teenage Jezebel" but pronounces it jazzabel. This is far superior to the John Travolta remake.

Verdict: Charming, loopy, played and done with just the right touch. ***.

STRANGE IMPERSONATION

STRANGE IMPERSONATION (1946). Director: Anthony Mann.

Nora Goodrich (Brenda Marshall) has developed a new anesthesia (although if it only lasts for an hour it can hardly be used in most operations), and wants to test it on herself. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that her assistant Arline (Hillary Brooke) has much more sinister plans. Like something out of an EC horror story from the fifties, Nora is a good person whose life becomes embroiled in tragedy due to the nasty actions of another person. [Unfortunately, this film doesn't have a clever or exacting EC payoff; in fact the ending may make you groan.] Marshall, who was married to William Holden for thirty years, gives a good performance, as does Brooke in one of her most unsympathetic roles. William Gargan is fine in an unusual turn as a doctor who's in love with Nora, and Ruth Ford [Lady Gangster] is vivid as a drunk woman who walks into Nora's car and later becomes a nuisance and worse. Strange Impersonation has an interesting plot and some good twists, but it's distinctly minor and not well developed. Mary Treen appears as an overly cheerful nurse and Lyle Talbot is a homicide detective. Mann later directed The Furies with Barbara Stanwyck and many others. Marshall starred as Singapore Woman five years earlier.

Verdict: Fraught with possibilities but too cheap and minor-league. **.