THE PRETENDER

Charles Drake, Albert Dekker, Catherine Craig

THE PRETENDER (1947). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

Kenneth Holden (Albert Dekker) has been steadily "borrowing" funds from a trust set up for his client, Claire Worthington (Catherine Craig). It seems the only way Kenneth can save himself from disaster and criminal prosecution is by marrying Claire. Unfortunately, Kenneth has a rival in Dr. Leonard Koster (Charles Drake), so he decides to hire an unknown hit man to kill him. But when the rather selfish Claire agrees to marry Ken, it occurs to him that now he will be the target of the hired killer. What to do? ... Dekker  [Destination Murder] and Craig [Doomed to Die]  give good lead performances in this, and there are a host of flavorful character actors, such as Charles Middleton as the butler, William. Serial heroine Linda Stirling [The Tiger Woman] appears as Flo. The photography by John Alton is a plus.

Verdict: Fair to middling crime drama. **1/2.

FRIGHT (1956)

FRIGHT (1956). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

A woman, Ann (Nancy Malone), who witnesses the capture of a deranged killer, Morley (Frank Marth), is comforted by a psychiatrist, James (Eric Fleming), with whom she becomes involved. During hypnosis, Ann reveals a second identity, that of Countess Maria Vetra, who was the ill-fated lover of Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria (see Mayerling). Is this a case of reincarnation, or has Ann been influenced by something else? As Maria's personality takes hold of Ann, James searches for the (real or imagined) reincarnation of the crown prince, and focuses on the crazy Morley, leading to a climax that is nearly as dull as the rest of the movie. This very low-budget picture has a completely idiotic script and presents a lead character who is one of the least ethical psychiatrists I've ever seen in a movie. One unintentionally hilarious scene has a reporter imagining that he'll win the Pulitzer prize for writing a story about Ann! Frank Marth and Nancy Malone aren't bad, but star Eric Fleming (Queen of Outer Space) is wooden, and some of the other actors are amateurish. There is absolutely nothing scary or even especially suspenseful about the movie, making it possibly the worst picture helmed by Wilder, who did several other poor ones but came up with a winner with Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons. Nancy Malone starred in the "Stopover in a Quiet Town" episode of The Twilight Zone.

Verdict: Watching paint dry could be more exciting. 1/2*.

CAXAMBU!

CAXAMBU! (1967). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

"Back, Peggy!"

Vince Neff (John Ireland) and his cronies have stolen a bunch of diamonds but need Emil Garrett (Keith Larsen), a diamond cutter from Antwerp, to make them salable. The honest Garrett is appalled by their criminal intentions and tries to take over the plane they're on with the help of his wife, a trained nurse named Peggy (Carol Ohmart). Unfortunately, the result is that they all crash-land in the jungle in an area near Caxambu where headhunters prowl, and where it soon becomes obvious that there is little honor among thieves. The first thing you notice about Caxambu! is that it has a very low budget even for a W. Lee Wilder film. The "sky" in which the plane flies is just a back drop, and when the aircraft crashes it is not a miniature but a literal toy. There are several other unintentionally comical scenes, such as when Peggy gets hysterical when she sees a crocodile that is just minding its own business and Emil needs to club it to death as if it were just about to clamp its jaws on his wife, who is many feet away. But the shame of Caxambu! is that it has a good script, interesting situations, and with a little more effort and directorial finesse this might have really amounted to something. Ireland [Queen Bee] and Larsen are okay, Ohmart [House on Haunted Hill] is excellent (in a role much less sensual than what she usually plays), and Gordon Blackman is rather effective as nasty Simon, who is willing to sacrifice virtually anyone for the diamonds -- the actor never appeared in another film, however. Wilder directed movies of variable entertainment value, but he really socked one out of the ballpark with his excellent Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons.

Verdict: After a bad start this develops into a fairly entertaining movie with a good story. **1/2.

THE BIG BLUFF

John Bromfield

THE BIG BLUFF (1955). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

Valerie Bancroft (Martha Vickers) doesn't know that her doctor (whom I wouldn't trust to diagnose a dog!)  has told her secretary-companion, Marsha (Eve Miller), that she has a weak heart and only a few months to live. While Marsha bonds with Valerie's new doctor, Peter Kirk (Robert Hutton), Valerie is quite taken with a sexy dark-haired fellow named Ricardo De Villa (John Bromfield), who is already involved with an attractive dancer named Fritzie (Rosemarie Stack). Ric romances the very wealthy widow Valerie even as he keeps time with Fritzie and tries to avoid the latter's jealous husband, Don (Eddie Bee). Then he cooks up a scheme to get his hands on all that loot with a smitten Fritzie's help ... The Big Bluff is not a world-beater but it holds the attention and Bromfield and Stack give flavorful performances. Vickers' performance is mediocre, but Miller and Hutton are better. The ending is ironic if unconvincing. Robert Bice is the original doctor who makes the fatal diagnosis. Handsome Bromfield usually starred in movies like this and Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, but he also appeared in The Furies with Barbara Stanwyck and other better-known films in smaller roles. Stack, originally known as Rosemarie Bowe (as she's billed in this picture), married Robert Stack the following year, but she didn't use his last name professionally until the 70's. Vickers was better in Alimony.

Verdict: Like an extended TV mystery but it's fun. **1/2.

THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY

Robert Hutton and Julia Arnall with the head of Nostradamus

THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY (1957). Directors: W. Lee Wilder; Charles Saunders.

When wealthy businessman Karl Brussard (George Coulouris) discovers he has a brain tumor he somehow gets the idea that if he can have the brain of Nostradamus transplanted into his head, he will take over the famous man's mind with sheer will power -- or something like that. Robert Hutton is the doctor, Merrick, who gets involved in this ridiculous experiment, Michael Golden is Nostradamus, Nadja Regin is Brussard's sexy girlfriend Odette, and Sheldon Lawrence [Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons] is the equally sexy Dr. Lew Waldenhouse, who has a fling with Odette. Julia Arnall plays Jean, Merrick's assistant. Kim Parker from Fiend Without a Face has a small role as a maid. This is watchable but absurd, and not nearly as much fun as it sounds. Coulouris appeared in everything from Citizen Kane to Womeneater, not to mention the aforementioned Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons, The Verdict (1946), and many others. This movie is not to be confused with other living head films such as The Thing that Couldn't Die or The Brain that Wouldn't Die.Wilder also directed Phantom from Space, Killers from Space and Manfish with Lon Chaney Jr. Far and away his best film was Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons.

Verdict: Anyone with half a brain will probably not want to see this. **.

PHANTOM FROM SPACE

PHANTOM FROM SPACE (1953). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

A man in a helmet with no head attacks two men and kills them, but primarily because they saw him as a menace and alarmed him. The authorities then enter the picture and try to track down the creature. It seems this "phantom" is an invisible alien who is trying to communicate with earthlings and not having much luck -- or vice versa. A police lieutenant named Bowers (Harry Landers) is one of those trying to get to the bottom of the mystery represented by the phantom. The movie is well-intentioned but rather dull. Director Lee Wilder was the brother of the much better-known and more celebrated Billy Wilder. Most of Lee Wilder's directorial effects were cheapie creepies like this film and the more entertaining Killers from Space but he did nail one out of the ballpark with the excellent Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons starring George Sanders.  Harry Landers, who looks a lot like Ed Kemmer, did mostly televisions work, and was uncredited as the man with Miss Lonelyhearts in Hitchcock's Rear Window. There are no other name or even near-name actors in Phantom. Nice closing music by William Lava.

Verdict: You can miss it and still have a full life. **.

KILLERS FROM SPACE

KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954). Director: W. Lee Wilder. 

"Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha! So -- you have discovered our menagerie!" 

Dr. Doug Martin (Peter Graves), who is working on nuclear fission experiments, crashes in the desert, is presumed dead, and comes back to the base an amnesiac. Then he recalls seeing strange men with ping pong eyes who experimented on him and showed him caverns full of monsters. Is he nuts -- or is Earth really on the verge of an alien invasion? John Merrick is the lead alien from dying planet Astron-Delta, and Barbara Bestar is Martin's wife, Ellen. The cavern scene, where Martin comes across giant-sized bugs and lizards which the aliens plan to unleash to consume Earth's populace, is both creepy and amusing. Pretty cheap and uninventive sci fi, but it is fun enough in its limited way. Director Wilder was the brother of the better-known Billy Wilder. To read more about this film see Creature Features. 

Verdict: Watch out for that yucky "menagerie." **1/2.

MANFISH

MANFISH (1956). Director: W. Lee Wilder.

Brannigan (John Bromfield), the captain of the turtle boat Manfish, has a decidedly uneasy alliance with "the professor" (Victor Jory), who can lead him to a chest of treasure collected by the pirate Lafitte. Swede (Lon Chaney Jr. in what really amounts to a supporting role) is the mate who seems to love the Manfish even more than the Captain does. Tessa Prendagast is the sexy native girl Alita, and Barbara Nichols was "introduced" in the film as Mimi, the singing sometime girlfriend of the captain's. Manfish isn't terrible or terribly boring, it just throws together different elements -- treasure hunts, jealousy, babes and pirates -- that never really jell. Supposedly based on two Edgar Allan Poe stories, the movie has absolutely nothing to do with Poe. Jory gives probably his strangest ever performance. Bromfield and the gals are vital enough, and Chaney is typically mediocre. Bromfield was also in Revenge of the Creature, Three Bad Sisters, and The Furies.

Verdict: Only for the curious. **.