ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

Tumak (John Richardson) kills an allosaurus

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966). Director: Don Chaffey.

In this color remake of One Million B.C., which uses the same story more or less, Tumak (John Richardson) is thrown out of his prehistoric rock tribe and wanders around until he encounters Loana (Raquel Welch) and her tribe, the shell people. The shell people are a kinder, gentler tribe who could teach the rock people a thing or two, which they try to do with Tumak when they all go fishing with spears. The first "dinosaur" we encounter is a positively gargantuan real-life lizard who tries to make a snack out of Tumak, and then there's a giant stop-motion turtle that fails to impress. But FX wizard Ray Harryhausen really gets into his stuff with an attack on the shell people's camp by a hungry allosaurus, a marvelous sequence, as well as a battle between a T-rex (or ceratosaurus, which it resembles) and a triceratops, not to mention the pterodactyl that snatches Welch off of the beach and tries to feed her to the flying monster's young'uns. Despite the big improvement in special effects work since the 1940 version, this is not as compelling as the original, with Harryhausen's stop-motion effects work being virtually the only point of interest. Martine Beswick [From Russia with Love] has a lively "cat fight" with Welch. Mario Nascimbene's "epic" if sleepy score doesn't really do that much for the movie. Photographed by Wilkie Cooper. As the lovers, Richardson [She] and Welch [Fantastic Voyage] do what they can. A Hammer-7 Arts production.

NOTE: On the imdb.com page for this movie it is listed as a "goof" that a ceratosaurus fights a triceratops when these creatures lived in different eras of the prehistoric world. Considering this movie illogically puts human beings and dinosaurs in the same time period -- not to mention Raquel Welch as a cavewoman -- that hardly seems like a legitimate complaint!

Verdict: Some lively monsters in a disappointing remake. **1/2.

THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER

Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews) spots some Lilliputians

THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER (1960). Director: Jack Sher.

Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews) wants to marry his feisty fiancee, Elizabeth (June Thorburn), but is making hardly any money. He decides to seek his fortune at sea, but when he argues with stowaway Elizabeth, he winds up falling overboard. First Gulliver winds up in the land of Lilliput, where he is a giant among little people who argue about which end of an egg to break open. The Lilliputians want Gulliver to kill everyone in the rival nation of Blefusco because they break open their eggs at the wrong end. Later Gulliver winds up in the land of Brobdingnab, where he discovers that he is like a Lilliputian among giants. His fiancee has also washed ashore, and the two are kept as pets by the royal family, who prove as dumb, stubborn and superstitious as the Lilliputians, albeit much bigger. Although this is primarily a family feature, it does get across some of the points in Jonathan Swift's satiric novel about the hypocrisies and idiocies of politics and shallow human nature, and the evils of ignorance, and there's some suggestive dialogue as well relating to horny Gulliver as he impatiently waits to be married by the giant king. Ray Harryhausen has provided a wide variety of effects in addition to his usual stop-motion, and they are excellent. The animated creatures include a squirrel and a gator that tries to make a snack out of Gulliver. Mathews is perfect as Gulliver, and he has a good supporting cast, especially Charles Lloyd Pack as outsized sorcerer Makovan, and Waveney Lee as his evil daughter, Shrike [she also had a small role in Konga and Pack has a long list of credits]. June Thorburn was also in tom thumb. The film was photographed by Wilkie Cooper and features an excellent score from Bernard Herrmann; both men worked on Mysterious Island and other Harryhausen features.

Verdict: Superior fantasy film with fine effects work and spirited performances. ***1/2

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961)

The shipwrecked soldiers vs bad-tempered giant crab

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961). Director: Cy Endfield.

Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, which was inspired by Robinson Crusoe, was first filmed as a silent in 1929, turned into one of the worst movie serials ever in 1951, and finally became a worthwhile motion picture vehicle ten years later. During the siege of Richmond in 1865, several union soldiers, a war correspondent, a freed slave, Neb, (along with one rebel soldier) escape from prison in a balloon and wind up on an isolated island miles from anywhere. The film makes two major additions to Verne's story: two shipwrecked women appear on the island; and there are also giant monsters for FX stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen to play around with. [Harryhausen claimed the story would not be entertaining without them, but this is nonsense -- actually without the monsters Harryhausen would have had little to do.] Originally the monsters were supposed to be prehistoric creatures, but it was decided to make them products of growth experiments conducted by Captain Nemo (Herbert Lom), who has taken refuge in his submarine Nautilus in an underground grotto. British actor Michael Craig may seem an odd choice to play Union soldier Captain Harding, but he does a convincing American accent and is quite good and authoritative, although he seems completely different from the star of Doctor in Love, which he did the previous year. Gary Merrill gives one of his best performances as the reporter Spilitt, and Michael Callan is also notable in his turn as the boyish and frightened but ultimately courageous young Herbert. Joan Greenwood gives her usual affected performance as Lady Fairchild [she thickly stretches out her words to a comical degree], and Beth Rogan is at least decorative as her niece. Percy Herbert and Dan Jackson as the reb and Neb round out the cast and are fine.

But the two greatest contributions are made by composer Bernard Herrmann and Ray Harryhausen. Herrmann's score is excellent, beginning with the rousing opening theme and including the quirkier music for the attack by the giant. funny-looking bird. You might quibble with the quality of some of the process shots, but Harryhausen's animation is excellent. In addition to the big bird, we've got that wonderful giant crab, huge, buzzing bees, and -- perhaps best of all -- that baleful squid who attacks the men in the climax after fixing them with its giant, evil eye. Wilkie Cooper's cinematography employs highly attractive lighting schemes. Director Endfield [Sands of the Kalahari] keeps things moving at a good pace. The underwater sequences are very well-done and we're even treated to shots of the sunken city of Atlantis.

I've always wondered why this film isn't as well-known or well-received [although it was quite successful] as Disney's adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. For my money Mysterious Island is a much better picture, and the squid in the former can't compare to Harryhausen's impressive, slithering creation.

Verdict: Exciting and colorful with wonderful effects. ***1/2.

STAGE FRIGHT

STAGE FRIGHT (1950). Director: Alfred Hitchcock.

A cute little boy scout walks up to a stage where a glamorous singer is performing and holds out a doll that has a big bloodstain on its white dress -- the singer gasps and looks at the doll in horror. I'd be willing to bet that it was this scene that prompted Hitchcock to film Stage Fright, which is one of his lesser-loved movies but has its moments. Aspiring actress Eve (Jane Wyman) hides out the man she loves, Jonathan (Richard Todd), in her father's house after he tells her that he helped the woman he loves, actress Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich), cover up the supposedly accidental death of her husband. Hoping to ferret out the truth, Eve replaces Charlotte's personal maid and dresser even as she romances and falls for the police inspector on the case, Wilfred Smith (Michael Wilding). If you're expecting an edge-of-your-seat Hitchcock thriller, look elsewhere - Stage Fright is more along the lines of a romantic comedy, and it has some very funny dialogue by Whitfield Cook (screenwriter) and Alma Reville (adaptor), among others. The picture is entertaining without quite coming to a full boil, although it does have many interesting segments, the aforementioned boy scout scene chief among them. The performances are also top-notch, not just the four leads but Alastair Sim as Eve's father, Kay Walsh as Charlotte's nasty regular dresser, Joyce Grenfell as the toothy comical gal at the shooting gallery, and Sybil Thorndike as Eve's mother. Pat Hitchcock does her customary good turn as a friend of Eve's, and Hitch himself shows up forty minutes into the movie as a quizzical man who passes by Eve on the sidewalk. Crisply photographed by Wilkie Cooper. One big dramatic flaw in the film is that by the time the revelations come Eve's feelings for the hunted man have done a big about-face.

Verdict: Not one of Hitchcock's thrilling masterpieces but certainly not without interest. ***.