THE RETURN OF DRACULA

Francis Lederer as Dracula

THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958). Director: Paul Landres.

When a young artist named Bellac Gordal (Norbert Schiller) begins a journey to America, he is waylaid and murdered by Dracula (Francis Lederer of Terror is a Man) --having just escaped from his pursuers --  who takes his place in modern-day California. Pretending to be a cousin, Dracula enters the household of young Rachel Mayberry (Norma Eberhardt of Live Fast, Die Young), along with her mother and little brother, Mickey (Jimmy Baird). Dracula/Bellac tries to keep to himself, although the others keep pestering him, but he is much more interested in, say, drinking the blood of Rachel's blind friend, Jenny (Virginia Vincent of I Want to Live!). He also sets his sights on Rachel, but her boyfriend, Tim (Ray Stricklyn), may have something to say about that. Meanwhile a policeman from Europe continues his hunt for Dracula in the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if this film was rushed out as an answer to Hammer's Horror of Dracula, released the same year, but the films are miles apart in quality. Lederer was always a kind of oily leading man, even in comedies like Midnight, but in this he seems more charming than menacing, mostly due to his underplaying, as if he were afraid to seem too hammy. The production is widescreen and in black and white, except for a quick color insert showing a stake going into somebody's heart with blood spurting. Only of passing interest, The Return of Dracula has little style or excitement and proved no threat to Hammer's Dracula production. Paul Landres also directed The Vanpire the following year and it was slightly better than this.

Verdict: Stick with Christopher Lee. **.

I WANT TO LIVE!

Sailor Brett Halsey with good-time gal Susan Hayward

I WANT TO LIVE! (1958). Director: Robert Wise.

Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward), a prostitute and petty criminal, falls into bad company and finds herself arrested for the murder of a 61- year-old woman who supposedly kept cash in her house. One of Barbara's alleged confederates (James Philbrook) turns state's evidence and his testimony helps to convict her. Then it's on to death row ...  I Want to Live! was conceived as a heavily fictionalized anti-death penalty film, so it greatly stacks the deck in favor of Graham's innocence (not that the film suggests she should be executed if she were guilty), suppressing certain details and intimating it's only her reputation and background and her once being very nasty to a witness that have sealed her fate. Graham also makes the mistake of trying to bribe a fake witness who turns out to be a cop. Graham supposedly had a sexual affair with a fellow inmate, Rita (Marion Marshall), and while this is played down, it is pretty clear that Rita has a hankering for Barbara, whom she later betrays. As for Hayward, she comes off as much too well-bred to be a completely convincing "B" girl, so she substitutes toughness and crudity and on that level is quite effective, winning an Oscar (as did Robert Wise, whose direction is on the money). Of the supporting cast, there is notable work from Virginia Vincent as Barbara's lovely friend, Peg; Wesley Lau [Perry Mason] as Barbara's husband, Henry, who can't remember if she was home with him that certain night or not; Gage Clarke as the defense attorney, Tibrow; and Peter Breck as Peter Miranda, who claims he will set up an alibi for Barbara if she pays him but turns out to be a cop. Others in the cast include Brett Halsey [Return of the Fly], Lou Krugman, Theodore Bikel, Simon Oakland, and Joe De Santis [A Cold Wind in August].

The murder of Mabel Monahan is never depicted (in the fifties it would have been considered in poor taste anyway) and the woman herself is given short shrift. We never see any relatives she may have had, and the prosecutors are never developed as characters. In the long run it doesn't matter if Graham pistol whipped and suffocated her victim -- just the fact she was there and participated (if we are to believe this is true) makes her guilty in the eyes of the law. Apparently the prosecutors had very good reasons to think Graham was guilty that had nothing to do with her "morals."  The execution scene is very well-handled but it tries to extract pity for Graham without ever doing the same for her alleged victim, who died horribly in a terror that was probably worse than Graham's.

Verdict: Take with a grain of salt, but well-done for what it is. **1/2 out of 4.