PARIS MODEL

Eva Gabor and Tom Conway 

PARIS MODEL (1953). Director: Alfred E.  Green.

Four women who pick out a fancy dress -- a "Paris model" or a cheaper copy of it -- want to wow their men but wind up getting their comeuppance, except in the last instance. Gogo (Eva Gabor) hopes to hook the wealthy Maharajah of Kim-Kepore (Tom Conway) but her billing the dress to another man may cause a problem -- not to mention the appearance of a gorgeous brunette (Laurette Luez). Betty Barnes (Paulette Goddard) is in love with her boss (Leif Erickson), but his wife, Cora (Gloria Christian), may out-do the grasping secretary in the fancy dress sweepstakes. Marion Parmalee (Marilyn Maxwell) pulls out all of the stops with her husband's flirty boss Sullivan (Cecil Kellaway) in the hopes of getting hubby (Robert Bice of Invasion U.S.A.) the new presidency when the boss retires, but she doesn't reckon with Sullivan's formidable wife (Florence Bates). Marta (Barbara Lawrence) hopes that boyfriend Charlie (Robert Hutton) will propose to her for her 21st birthday dinner at Romanoff's and she may get a little help from "prince" Michael Romanoff [Arch of Triumph] himself.

Secretary vs wife: Paulette Goddard and Gloria Christian

I confess I nearly dumped Paris Model in my latest collection of "Films I Just Couldn't Finish" because the first episode with Gabor and Conway is so lame -- aside from a modestly amusing wind-up -- that I couldn't see spending much more time on it. (One can't imagine either of the Gabor sisters being crazy about having their thunder stolen by another woman.) But once I understood the point of the film, that it dealt with the dress and the stymied manipulations of its wearers -- not to mention that the later segments were more entertaining -- I found this quite enjoyable. The performances are generally good (although Eva Gabor is just plain weird, like a dopey showgirl from another dimension), with Kellaway and Bates taking the acting honors. The film comes full circle with a very funny ending when Tom Conway shows up again as the horny Maharajah. Alfred E. Green directed everything from science fiction (the aforementioned Invasion U.S.A.) to old Bette Davis movies [Dangerous] to Copacabana and everything in-between. Tom Conway's brother, George Sanders, was married to both Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, but somehow he never got around to Eva.

Verdict: More fun than you first imagine it will be. ***.

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE

Weissmuller and O'Sullivan

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) are leading an idyllic life above their escarpment in Africa, when along comes Professor Elliott (Reginald Owen of The Letter) and party. Elliott is a scientist looking for the Van-Usi tribe, and he is accompanied by photographer O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald of And Then There Were None), and the guides Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn of Underground). Unfortunately, the latter two prove up to no good as Boy shows them a piece of gold and tells the others that Tarzan knows where there is a rich vein of it. After some melodramatic moments, everyone comes afoul of some natives intent on murder. Tarzan's Secret Treasure is a kind of schizoid movie, beginning with the silly if charming antics of Cheeta and her "friend," Buli, the elephant, as well as the childish if cute scamperings of Boy, but it veers off into something much darker in the second half. The scene when a native is torn in half in Tarzan Escapes is repeated -- one way of getting around the censors as well as of saving money -- and when a second native is similarly killed in new footage, we aren't shown the trunks heading in separate directions, possibly another sop to the censors. There are several shots of natives being chewed on by crocodiles, and the sequence wherein Tarzan battles a giant croc underwater is repeated for a second time. There isn't much that is original in the picture, aside from a little native boy named Tumbo (Cordell Hickman) who has lost his mother and becomes friends with Boy in the film's most charming sequence. Jane was to have been killed off at the end of Tarzan Finds a Son! because she was tiring of the series -- we do see her being speared in the back at the end of that film -- but the public outcry necessitated her return. Although O'Sullivan was never a great beauty per se, she has never looked more attractive than she does in this movie. She gives a very good performance, as do the others in the cast, including little Hickman.

Verdict: Still some life left in the series. **1/2.

TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL

Tom Conway, Monique van Vooren, Raymond Burr

TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL (1953). Director: Kurt Neumann.

Three characters named Vargo (Raymond Burr), Fidel (Tom Conway) and Lyra (Monique van Vooren) -- who I believe is never referred to as a "she-devil" in the film -- conspire to round up a herd of elephants for their ivory. Since they are entering dangerous territory and the beasts may be difficult to handle, the trio decide to get Tarzan's (Lex Barker) help by kidnapping Jane (Joyce Mackenzie). When the villains think Jane has been killed in a fire, a despondent Tarzan barely has the strength to fight back when he is made captive. Tarzan and the She-Devil certainly has an interesting cast: Barker makes a fine Tarzan; Mackenzie [Destination Murder] is more than adequate as his mate; Burr [Pitfall] is very good in a villainous role; and Tom Conway [A Night of Adventure] saunters through with as little energy as possible. A big problem with the film is that while van Vooren is pretty (she somewhat resembles Hedy Lamarr), and is an adequate in her role, she lacks that certain something that would really make her a "she-devil." If only Mari Blanchard or Marie Windsor had been cast in the part! There's a fairly exciting elephant stampede at the end in which the bad guys get a fitting comeuppance. Still, this is not one of the better Tarzan movies. This was Lex Barker's last appearance as Tarzan. All of the natives in the movie are white!

Verdict: Jane never even gives Lyra a whack in the face! **.

PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE

PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE (1951). Director: David Butler.

"Money has always been very mysterious, and on the first of the month, very elusive."

A sister act that is actually comprised of three unrelated ladies is the cornerstone of this kitschy musical comedy. Abby (Lucille Norman) is in love with Vince (Dennis Morgan), but can't put up with his gambling, while Ted (Gene Nelson of So This is Paris) is carrying a torch for Abby, while June (Virginia Gibson) in turn is pining away for Ted. Meanwhile the more practical Carol (Virginia Mayo of Smart Girls Don't Talk) decides the gals should move to Les Vegas and each find themselves a millionaire. By the time "Cuddles" Sakall shows up as the ever-lovable and often cloying honorary uncle, who runs a casino-hotel, you know the movie will be a positive mass of cliches. The cast is at least enthusiastic, there's brilliant Technicolor, and several nice song numbers, such as "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (years before Tiny Tim made it popular again), "With a Song In My Heart," and "Jealousy." Unfortunately there are also some tunes which I believe were written just for the movie -- "A Necessary Evil" and "Mambo Man" -- which are truly wretched, although Gene Nelson does some excellent dancing for this and other numbers. Tom Conway [The Atomic Submarine] gives a fine comic performance as a banker who at first disapproves of his cousin, Ted's, upcoming nuptials. Wallace Ford is strictly irritating as a grubby business associate of Sakall's. Lucille Norman was a professional singer with a gorgeous semi-operatic voice; she made few appearances in films. Virginia Gibson had a longer list of film and TV credits. The big finish takes place at the "Helldorado" festival -- you can miss it.

Verdict: Amiable enough if rather treacly. **1/2.

A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE

Tom Conway

A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE (1944). Director: Gordon Douglas.

NOTE: This review reveals "important" plot points. Lawyer Mark Latham (Tom Conway) has such a busy career and is so diligent with his clients that his wife, Erica (Audrey Long of Desperate), feels neglected. She moves into her own pad and begins seeing a fellow painter named Tony (Louis Borel). Mark goes to Tony's studio, where he discovers a jilted, drunken girlfriend named Julie (Jean Brooks), waiting for Tony with a gun. Attempting to disarm her, Mark winds up accidentally shooting her to death instead. Okay... Does Mark call an ambulance, just in case Julie is still alive? No. He gets his hat and goes home, then winds up being importuned by his wife to defend Tony when he is accused of murdering Julie. Throughout the trial Mark lies to his client, his wife, the police, the D.A. and everyone else -- does the word "disbarment" not mean anything to the man? Through it all Tom Conway shows less emotion or upsetment than if he discovered he's all out of hair dye. A Night of Adventure, based on a play, is meant to be clever but only comes off as increasingly idiotic and illogical, with a "hero" who's supposed to be brilliant and seems only remarkably stupid. At the end Mark flippantly tells Erica how he'll deal with everything without the slightest acknowledgment of the consequences of his actions. Admittedly, you're not supposed to take this frippery seriously, but even so ...! There are no laughs, and the screenplay is too moronic to hold any suspense. And Conway --- although the nominal star of this film he simply heads the cast list under the title and the word "with." He's not even the star of his own movie! It's as if he's being punished for delivering a terrible performance. Conway was George Sanders' brother but was never in his league as an actor, although he did give creditable performances in such films as I Walked with a Zombie. Gordon Douglas' most famous movie is Them.

Verdict: It's because of crap like this that B Movies get a bad rap. *.

LOST HONEYMOON

Franchot Tone and twins

LOST HONEYMOON (1947). Director: Leigh Jason.

British gal Amy Atkins (Ann Richards) learns that her friend Tillie Gray, who married an American serviceman who returned home, has died, leaving behind two adorable children. Amy decides to take the children to the U.S. and pretend to be Tillie, so that she can get their father, John Gray (Franchot Tone) to acknowledge and care for them. Unfortunately, John married Tillie during a spell of amnesia, doesn't remember her or the kids, and worse, is about to marry his bosses daughter, Lois (Frances Rafferty), who isn't crazy that a "wife" has shown up. Lost Honeymoon has the potential to be both moving and amusing, but it has a third-rate "B movie" script and quality, and never rises above its contrivances. Tone and the other actors, including Clarence Kolb as his boss,Tom Conway as his best friend, and Una O'Connor as a friend of Tillie's, are all fine [although Ann Richards is a bit on the bland side] and deserve a better picture. The twins are two of the cutest movie youngsters you'll ever see, and aren't bad actors, either. The best thing about the movie is the admittedly funny closing line. Too bad, as this one had a promising idea. Richards was also in Sorry, Wrong Number, where she made a better impression.

Verdict: Even cute moppets can't save this one. **.

VOODOO WOMAN

VOODOO WOMAN (1957). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

"We're going into the jungle to bring back a secret recipe for borscht -- there's millions in it, ha, ha, ha!"

For reasons that are never quite delineated, Dr. Roland Gerard (Tom Conway) is trying to make a grotesque, super-strong gorilla-like monster (Paul Blaisdell) out of a pretty native girl, Zuranda (Jean Davis) in the jungle; his wife, Susan (Mary Ellen Kay), has come to realize that her husband is seriously disturbed. In the meantime, a cold-blooded woman named Marilyn (Marla English) has enlisted a guide, Ted (Mike Connors) to take her deep into the jungle looking for treasure -- and a fateful meeting with Dr. Gerard. This is an utterly absurd, but highly entertaining horror flick featuring a vivid Marla English, who also starred in Cahn's The She-Creature and the Bel-Air production Three Bad Sisters. This would be a perfect double-bill with Voodoo Island.

Verdict: Lively, fast-paced, and a lot of fun. ***.

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS [aka 101 Dalmatians/1961. Directors: Several. Walt Disney Studios.

This wonderful Walt Disney animated movie is timeless. The dalmatian Pongo (voice of Rod Taylor) arranges for his "pet," the songwriter Roger (Ben Wright) and for himself to find mates: Anita (Lisa Davis) and lady dalmatian Perdito (Cate Bauer). Unfortunately Anita's old school mate Cruella De Vil (Betty Lou Gerson), a witchy, hideous apparition with no love for animals, wants to buy Pongo and Perdito's 15 puppies, and when Roger and Anita refuse, decides to kidnap them -- along with dozens of others. Her goal: several dalmatian fur coats. Tom Conway [brother of George Sanders] does the voices of the collie and of the quizmaster who appears on the funny "What"s My Crime?" TV show parody watched by the puppies. You don't have to be a child to enjoy this movie, which is charming and well-done on all levels. There are even quite a few harrowing and suspenseful sequences. Cruella De Vil remains a fascinating Disney creation, and the image of her tooling about in her out-sized automobile looking for puppies to kill and skin stays with you.

Verdict: A certified Disney masterpiece. ***1/2.

MR. AND MRS. NORTH (1942)

MR. AND MRS. NORTH (1942). Director: Robert B. Sinclair.

"Oh! Bristles from Brussels!"

There's trouble afoot when a body is found in the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. North (Gracie Allen and William Post Jr.) Paul Kelly [Secret Code] is the cop on the case; Virgina Grey, Jerome Cowan, Tom Conway, Rose Hobart, and others are among the suspects, which include the title couple. There's also a "Fowler Brush" salesman (Felix Bressart) who has important information to impart to the police, if they'll only take him seriously. Allen basically plays the usual daffy characterization that she was famous for; Post provides more sensible support. The film is light-hearted and easy to take, but also quite easy to forget.

Verdict: Gracie is always fun. **.

THE SHE-CREATURE

THE SHE-CREATURE (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

AIP certainly collected an unusual group of actors for this weird little movie. Chester Morris (who gives a very good performance) is the mentalist Carlo Lombardi, who claims that he can regress his beautiful assistant Andrea (Marla English of Three Bad Sisters) three hundred years into a past life. For reasons that are never made clear Lombardi also regresses her back even further in a -- as he puts it -- "transmigration of the soul of a living woman into her first life body." Apparently her soul first inhabited a female prehistoric sea creature of some kind (at least it keeps coming out of the sea) that is alternately invisible, transparent, and finally very much solid and homicidal, leaving many battered corpses in the movie's best scenes. Timothy Chappel (Tom Conway), whose wife (Frieda Inescort) is a fan of the occult, teams up with Lombardi to make him a household name and both of them rich even as the murders of the she-creature continue. Cathy Downs, the wife of The Amazing Colossal Man, plays Chappel's daughter Dorothy, who is dating Dr. Erickson (Lance Fuller, who was in This Island Earth), another doubting Thomas. Rounding out the cast, Ron Randell is a police lieutenant, Frank Jenks is a sergeant, Jack Mulhall is a lawyer, and William Hudson (from Colossal Man and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman) is a snickering party guest. Paul Blaisdell both designed and plays the she-creature; her appearance is amusing and scary at the same time. This oddly likable movie has atmosphere and some creepy scenes, even if it doesn't make much sense.

Verdict: For monster/horror/B movie aficionados only. **1/2.

THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE

THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE (1959). Director Spencer G. Bennet. 

Something in the Arctic circle is destroying ships and submarines, so the atomic sub Tiger Shark is sent to investigate. Dick Foran is the captain of the ship, upon which we also find Commander "Reef" Holloway (Arthur Franz) and Dr. Carl Neilson (Brett Halsey), who operates a new "depth explorer" that figures in the action. Reef can't stand Carl, whom he sees as a peacenik whose attitudes caused strain for his father, Reef's friend. The film makes the point that one doesn't have to be militaristic or a war-mongerer to be brave. However, the real point of the film is the underwater flying saucer they dub "cyclops" -- it turns out the spaceship is a living being, in fact -- that contains a huge, one-eyed monstrous alien with telepathic powers and several wriggling tentacles. The sets are sparse, economical, and clever, and the music (possibly Alexander Laszlo) suitably weird and eerie. Joi Lansing plays Reef's sexy date and Tom Conway is a scientist. Jack Mulhall, who plays the Secretary of Defense, was in serials The Clutching Hand and The Three Musketeers. 

Verdict: Cheap and irresistible. **1/2.

RIO RITA

RIO RITA (1942). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

Bud and Lou think they're traveling by automobile trunk to New York but wind up in the Southwest, where they dally with a famous crooner, Ricardo Montera (John Carroll), his old girlfriend (Kathryn Grayson), an undercover agent, Lucette Brunswick(Patricia Dane), and a nest of Nazi spies headed by Tom Conway. Barry Nelson also has a small part. There are a few nice song numbers, a couple of laughs, and amiable performances by all. Some of the humor is a bit risque, especially when Costello -- under the tablecloth -- traverses a table full of old biddies and makes them all go "whooee," as well as a line Lou delivers to Bud about a cow girl: "She didn't get her calves together."

Verdict: Fun of a minor kind, with appealing players. ***.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943). Director: Jacques Tourneur.

One of the better-known horror films produced by Val Lewton, this is typically tasteful, moody and interesting, if it never quite jells. Although Lewton is said to have appropriated the plot of Jane Eyre for the movie -- and there are plot similarities -- this is really nothing like Jane Eyre (the first film version with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles, with a score by Bernard Herrmann, is far superior to this, for one thing). Frances Dee comes to Haiti to care for Jessica Holland, who acts as if she's been lobotomized but supposedly suffers from the disastrous effects of a fever. Dee learns that there is bad blood between her husband Paul (Tom Conway) and his half brother Wesley (James Ellison) because Jessica and Wesley had been planning on running away together. Conway is supposed to be such a fine man -- and Jessica a viper -- but we never really get to learn her side of things, and Paul -- although Conway's performance is good -- never seems like that nice a fellow. Dee is fine, but James Ellison is a little too lightweight to convincingly get across Wesley's torment over the sad fate of the woman he illicitly loved. Edith Barrett (one of the wives of Vincent Price) nearly steals the picture as Wesley and Paul's mother. There is some very interesting dialogue in Curt Siodmak's screenplay, such as when Conway tells Dee that most of the inhabitants of St. Sebastian were brought over in slave ships and had miserable lives. Which is why they "weep when a child is born and make merry at a funeral." The atmospheric photography is by J. Roy Hunt. Of the African-American cast members, Theresa Harris as the maid, Alma, and calypso singer Sir Lancelot, make the best impression, while Darby Jones certainly has a memorably eerie look as the purported "zombie" Carrefour. There is much to admire in I Walked with a Zombie, but if you're not tuned into its charms, you're liable to think it's much ado about nothing.

Verdict: Okay, but give Jane Eyre a try, too. **1/2.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943). Director: Mark Robson. 

Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter, who was introduced in this film), searches for her missing older sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) in New York with the help of various friends and associates, and learns that she has gotten involved with a bunch of devil worshipers. This is easily one of producer Val Lewton's best films -- although it is not for every taste -- and he and director Robson make the most of a low budget. Nicholas Musuraca contributed the crisp black and white cinematography. Although there are some moments in the film that stretch the credulity -- the satanists carting off a corpse manage to wind up on the exact same subway car as Mary --there are also sequences that are creepy and very well done, such as a murder in a abandoned office, and a chase through Greenwich Village. The screenplay (by DeWitt Bodeen and Charles O'Neal) has several interesting characters, intriguing aspects, and excellent dialogue. Tom Conway plays a psychiatrist, Louis Judd; Hugh Beaumont (Ward of Leave it to Beaver, who is better than expected) is Jacqueline's husband, Gregory; Erford Gage is the sensitive poet Jason (Gage was to live only two more years, killed in the Philippines in '45); and Lou Lubin is the ill-fated private eye Irving August. [One of the supporting actors is the son of the great opera star Feodor Chaliapin.] The surprising thing about The Seventh Victim isn't that it casts a strange spell, but that it's unexpectedly moving. Isabel Jewell has a powerful moment reacting to Jacqueline's possible death in such a way that it's clear she's in love with her, and the ending -- with a terminally ill woman (Elizabeth Russell) going out for one last fling as Jacqueline makes a fateful final decision -- if contrived, still packs a quiet wallop. 

Verdict: Imperfect, certainly, but there's more here than meets the eye. ***.

GEORGE SANDERS: AN EXHAUSTED LIFE

GEORGE SANDERS: An Exhausted Life. Richard VanDerBeets. Madison Books; 1990.

An excellent, thorough look at the fascinating life of the fascinating man and actor George Sanders, his four marriages (each of which is a story in itself), his affairs, his attitude toward acting and toward life in general, his films, friends, and troubled final years. Sanders got bored early on with the kind of treacle that Hollywood gave him, and after awhile, took just about any film assignment strictly for the money. He was an excellent actor (an asset to most films) who probably would have done well to take on more challenging work, but had a fear of performing live and appeared to have no interest in being a Shakespearean actor a la Olivier. He didn't die out of boredom, but for more specific reasons which are detailed in the biography. The book is bolstered by major interviews with family members and ex-wife Zsa Zsa Gabor, who remained good friends with Sanders even after their ill-advised marriage was over. You'll also learn about Sander's rather cynical (or realistic) attempts to get his brother Tom Conway started in pictures in London; Conway eventually made it to Hollywood where – with his brother's help -- he achieved much less success than Sanders. The book is peppered by Sander's sardonic comments, quotes, and interviews. A very entertaining and informative read.

Verdict: A fine biography of a fine actor.***1/2.