THE SEX SYMBOL

Connie Stevens phones her shrink

THE SEX SYMBOL (1974 telefilm). ABC Movie of the Week. Director: David Lowell Rich. NOTE: This is the expanded European version with nudity. 

Movie star Kelly Williams (Connie Stevens) has just been let go from her latest picture -- gossip maven Agatha Murphy (Shelley Winters) cackles on TV that she is through in Hollywood -- and reviews her life, marriages, and love affairs with an unseen psychiatrist. Kelly has a dalliance with Senator O'Neal (Don Murray), and marries former football star Butch Wischnewski (William Smith) and artist Calvin Bernard (James Olson). Will her pills and alcohol lifestyle eventually be Williams' undoing?

Stevens

Connie Stevens, best-known as the petulant, cloying "Cricket Blake" in Hawaiian Eye, was clearly trying to change her squeaky-clean image with this TV movie, and even bares her breasts in a couple of scenes that were added to the theatrical European version. (It's a bet ABC didn't show these!) The Sex Symbol is obviously based on the life of Marilyn Monroe -- the men in Williams' life are stand-ins for JFK, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller -- but Stevens' has none of that special quality that so distinguished "the adorable one." One can't imagine "Kelley Williams" ever having the kind of career or impact that Monroe had. In fact there are times that Stevens comes off as if Philip, the social director at the Hawaiian Village Hotel on Hawaiian Eye, decided to put on the Marilyn Monroe Story for the hotel's theater and put Cricket in the part! 

James Olson

Stevens gives it the ol' college try and is not terrible, just not that impressive. Shelley Winters seems to be having fun as the gossip maven but does little to make the woman more than a complete caricature. James Olson comes off the best and gives a more than solid performance, and the scenes between him and "Kelly" are psychologically astute. Smith and Murray are fine, but it's weird to see Murray, as he co-starred with the real Monroe in one of her best films, Bus Stop. A notable performance is given by, of all people, director-producer William Castle, who proves quite adept as an actor, playing a sleazy producer. Nehemiah Persoff is another sleazy character, and Milton Selzer and Jack Carter are Kelly's agents. Madlyn Rhue plays Kelly's friend and companion.  

Stevens with William Castle

The Sex Symbol has its entertaining moments, but the scenes of Kelly's long, boozy meltdowns eventually become boring. Although Marilyn Monroe's life story played out in the fifties and sixties, The Sex Symbol seems strictly of the seventies when it was made. Stevens followed this up with a raunchy film called Scorchy, then did numerous TV guest-spots and more made-for-TV movies. Although the real Monroe only joked about putting her breasts in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, Kelly Williams actually does it.

Verdict: Stick with the real thing. **1/4.

SHANKS

Marvel Marceau and Marcel Marceau

SHANKS (1974). Directed by William Castle. Subtitle: William Castle Presents a Grimm Fairy Tale.

Deafmute Malcolm Shanks (Marcel Marceau) makes puppets and lives with his shrewish stepsister (Tsilla Chelton) and her husband Mr. Barton (Philippe Clay) in their home, where they berate and abuse him on a regular basis. One day Malcolm goes to work for the elderly Professor Walker (also Marceau) who shows him how he uses special technology, like magic, to reanimate the corpses of frogs and roosters. When the professor dies, Malcolm decides to reanimate him, but there is just a walking physical shell, no mind. Later on Malcolm turns his deceased sister and brother-in-law into "living" corpses to do his bidding, a situation that both fascinates and repels the young Celia (Cindy Eilbacher). Into the professor's mansion, where Malcolm has taken up residence, come a group of hard core and thuggish bikers who try to take the "living dead" technology away from Malcolm.

Chelton, Marceau and Clay

Shanks is William Castle's most original and possibly most interesting picture -- it was also the last film he directed (he also served as executive producer). Using occasional title cards like a silent film and a spirited, quirky score by Alex North [The 13th Letter], the movie proceeds, as it should, like a dream or nightmare. Because of this approach viewers might not look too closely at the rather ghoulish actions of the protagonist, well-acted by Marceau, who is sympathetic despite the fact that he turns corpses into large performing dolls. Marceau only speaks when he plays the professor. The other performances are excellent as well, although the casting of sixteen-year-old Eilbacher, who looks even younger, adds a bit of a creep factor as she sort of becomes the love interest for 51-year-old Marceau and comes to a highly unpleasant fate as well. This reminds me of the kind of films Tim Burton makes, with their weird subject matter and lapses in good taste, and I would not be surprised if that filmmaker was influenced by Castle's work in general and this film in particular. Photographed by Joseph F. Biroc [Forty Guns]. Castle appears as a grocer, and there is an interesting attack-by-rooster. 

Verdict: Although Castle's direction may not be not top-notch, and criticisms of the film are not without merit -- especially the deliberate pacing --  Shanks is still an unusual and worthwhile picture, a fitting end to his directorial career. ***. 

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL -- IN COLOR!

Who's the bigger bitch? Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (colorized/1959). Produced and directed by William Castle.

Annabelle Loring (Carol Ohmart of The Scarlet Hour) has conceived of the idea of holding a party in a supposedly haunted house and having the guests arrive in hearses. Unfortunately, her husband, Frederick (Vincent Price), has his own ideas, and chooses the guests himself, offering all of them $10,000 if they stay locked in the house all night. There's no love lost between Frederick and Annabelle, whom her husband sees as nothing more than an amoral gold-digger. The guests -- test pilot Lance (Richard Long); gambling columnist Ruth (Julie Mitchum); psychiatrist David (Alan Marshal of Lydia); Loring's employee Nora (Carolyn Craig of Giant); and the house's weird owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.)  -- can only wonder what, if anything, the Lorings are up to. Then somebody is found hanging ...

Carolyn Craig and Richard Long

Discovering that House on Haunted Hill had been colorized gave me an excuse to watch this guilty pleasure all over again and despite its lack of logic and its kind of clunkiness, it is a pleasure. Chief among the delights is the interplay between Price and Ohmart, who are wonderful as the combative and sneaky spouses. We mustn't forget the creepy and melodramatic score by Van Alexander which works beautifully with this kind of pseudo-scary and definitely amusing material. A scene late in the picture with a skeleton rising out of a pool of acid in the house's basement  undoubtedly had all the kids in 1959 screaming their heads off with delight. Hokey it may be, but the flick is a lot of fun.

As to the colorization, which is well done, I have to wonder if it really adds anything to the picture. At least the addition of color doesn't strip the film of atmosphere, thank goodness, which it has in abundance despite its often silly but always-macabre tone. Julie Mitchum was the older sister of Robert Mitchum; this was the last of her eight credits.

Verdict: Perfect Halloween viewing. ***. 

FILMS I JUST COULDN'T FINISH ROUND 3

FILMS I JUST COULDN'T FINISH ROUND 3.

These are not reviews, per se, but notes on films that I watched or suffered through until I just gave up on them for one reason or another. Sometimes I skipped to different sections just to get a sense of what was going on or to see if the film became more entertaining. Not all of these pictures are necessarily bad, they just didn't hold my attention. If you see one on the list that you think deserves another look, let me know.

Forbidden Jungle (1950) has a hunter coming to Africa to search for a boy who was lost in a plane crash and is now living, Tarzan-like, in a village with a kindly older man and a native girlfriend. Half of this dull flick was more than enough.

Seeing that it starred Dennis Morgan, Richard Denning and Paula Raymond -- in a western directed by William Castle, no less -- I figured that The Gun That Won the West (1955) would certainly be of some interest. Alas, this tale of the Army and a few civilians versus the Indians never amounts to much. It's all professionally done, just mediocre and dull.

Secret of the Red Orchid (1962) is a dubbed version of a West German Edgar Wallace adaptation about gangsters ordering wealthy people to pay up or die. I started watching this because Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski were in the cast, both of whom are dubbed. Lee plays, of all things, an American FBI agent! The movie was simply too dull to watch for more than half an hour.

Cave of the Living Dead aka Night of the Vampires (1964) is actually a dubbed West German-Yugoslavian import (Der Fluch der grunen Augen) about an Inspector investigating the murders of young women in a small village. There is some atmosphere, but not much suspense because you find out what's happening pretty early on. Not terrible, but not good enough to waste time on the second half.

Succubus (1968) is another horrible film directed by Jess Franco. His fans consider this one of his best, which -- judging from this claptrap -- certainly isn't saying much. The plot, such as it is, has to do with an actress who has violent and sexual fantasies. Due to its advertising campaign, it made a lot of money in the U.S., but I pity anyone who actually had to pay for a ticket. I gave up on this dull, slow, pseudo-artsy and pretentious mess after about twenty minutes.

The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980) is, I believe, the third sequel to The Belles of St. Trinian's -- after Blue Murder at St. Trinian's and Pure Hell of St. Trinian's -- but I could hardly get through a quarter of it despite the fact that it had the same director as the original. There is no Alistair Sim in this, and a much, much less interesting cast.

Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out/1980) features a demented man who works in a toy factory and goes on a rampage. The whole look and pacing of the film got me to stop watching after about half an hour.

The Curse (1987\) is a version of H. P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space with a meteorite in a small town causing mutations. It was directed by actor David Keith. The movie didn't seem entirely worthless but the poor production values and pacing put me off of it pretty quickly. The first adaptation of this story starred Boris Karloff and was entitled Die Monster, Die. It was also poor.

Call Me (1988) stars Patricia Charbonneau as a woman who goes to a bar for a rendezvous with a man she thinks is her boyfriend, and winds up witnessing the murder of a drag queen in a bathroom. Unfortunately, this got less interesting the farther into it I got, which I admit wasn't very far.

The Oxford Murders (2008) is a mystery film about murders involving a professor and author (John Hurt) and a young man (Elijah Wood) who wants to study with him. But then the professor's elderly friend (Anna Massey), with whom Wood is boarding, is found murdered and the professor thinks there will be more killings by an unknown assailant. Sounds good, but who cares? The characters are uninteresting, the story uninvolving, and I couldn't even care who the murderer might turn out to be so I only made it about halfway through this. Hurt and Massey are wasted.

The Colour Out of Space aka Die Farbe (2010) is a German film version of H. P. Lovecraft's excellent novella of the same title, previously filmed as the aforementioned Curse and Die, Monster, Die. The story has been transplanted from New England to Germany, which doesn't work at all, but even worse is the slow pacing and the sparse style which is the complete opposite of the great Lovecraft's florid, Victorian, emotional, atmospheric, and terrifying approach to the material. There is some impressive black and white photography, but I found this so tedious I watched it in spurts. It just wasn't compelling enough to hold the attention.

The Privileged (2013) has a young man and his wife visiting his supervisor and his wife at their home where the former begs to keep his job. An intruder breaks in and gets shot, and the violence escalates as a cover-up begins. This is by no means a terrible movie -- it is well-acted and well-shot -- but it's predictable and minor, and I confess I skipped ahead to the very depressing conclusion.

The Monkey's Paw (2013) is a variation of the famous story that doesn't do nearly enough with the idea and was a bit too slow to hold my attention, despite such talented cast members as Stephen Lang.

There were two spy spoofs that I just couldn't make it through, a 1965 Japanese production entitled Ironfinger and the 1964 American film Spies a Go Go (aka The Nasty Rabbit). I could only make it a quarter of the way through the first one, which seemed as stupid as any American spy spoof, and only a few minutes of the second one, which simply seemed too cheap and moronic to bother with; I skimmed through some of it to my regret.

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963)

Fenella Fielding and Tom Poston

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963). Produced and directed by William Castle. A Hammer Film.

Car salesman Tom Penderel (Tom Poston) is invited to his flat-mate Caspar Fenn's (Peter Bull) family mansion, but when he arrives finds his friend ensconced in a coffin in the parlor. Seems there was an accident ... Tom learns that members of the Fenn family are virtual prisoners in their decaying mansion due to the bizarre terms of a will, which states they must live on the estate and be back by midnight every night or forfeit their share of the interest. While Tom gets to know Caspar's cousins, Cecily (Janette Scott) and the man-hungry Morgana (Fenella Fielding), he discovers that one of the heirs won't stop at murder ... William Castle joined forces with Hammer films for this black comedy remake of the macabre thirties movie (which was in itself a black comedy, as I recall). The Old Dark House is less beloved than other William Castle films (such as House on Haunted Hill), but this time around I found it generally fast-paced and amusing, with a couple of genuinely hilarious murder sequences. Although not a zany comedian along the lines of Bob Hope or Jim Carrey, Poston's more sober portrayal works well as played against the weirdness of the mansion's other inhabitants. Peter Bull [Dr. Strangelove] is fun in a dual role, as are Robert Morley as an uncle, and Joyce Grenfell as an aunt, both of whom are rather peculiar. Mervyn Johns [Never Let Go] and Danny Green [The Ladykillers] also score as two other members of the strange family. As for the ladies, Scott is lovely and adept, and Fielding makes her mark as the predatory Morgana. The picture becomes a little too silly with all this business of one relative building an ark on the property, but The Old Dark House is still entertaining.  Benjamin Frankel's quirky score is a decided plus, and helps add needed suspense to the climax. Poston and Castle also teamed up for the dreadful Zotz the year before.

Verdict: Minor but fun Castle flick. **3/4.

HATCHET (1966)

HATCHET (1966). Director: William Castle.

This was Castle and Joan Crawford's unreleased follow-up to Strait-Jacket. That film made so much money that Castle immediately made plans for Crawford to do a sequel, but Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Crawford's alleged illness got in the way. By the time Crawford got around to doing the film, there was a brand new script and she was a new character named -- ironically -- Mrs. Vorhees (although spelled with one "o.") Jackie Vorhees owns cabins for rent in Maine. Who should show up one day but the man who jilted her years ago and the woman he married. The two are killed in a gruesome sequence, but their bodies disappear. Eventually there are more murders-by-hatchet and Jackie is the prime -- although certainly not the only -- suspect. Gloria Blondell isn't bad as the manager of the cabins, who has some odd secrets of her own. Cameron Mitchell is a horny handyman, and Christine Jorgenson has a great guest appearance as a traveling saleslady. Gregor Tanese is fine as an overly ambitious reporter. The film was never completed, however, because Joan walked off the set, although the ending was shot and a DVD is expected to surface in early 2019.

Verdict: Compelling hatchet job with a zesty Joan. ***.

MYSTERIOUS INTRUDER

MYSTERIOUS INTRUDER (1946). Director: William Castle.

Elderly Edward Stillwell (Paul E. Burns of The Royal Mounted Rides Again) hires private detective Don Gale (Richard Dix) to find a woman, Elora Lund, that he hasn't seen in several years. Gale is a somewhat shady character, and he has a lady friend, Freda (Helen Mowery), pretend to be Elora so he can get the skinny on just why Stillwell is trying to find the dame. Then the real Elora (Pamela Blake of Highway 13) shows up and Dale keeps tripping over corpses. Seems Elora was left some valuable items that may be worth a fortune ... Mysterious Intruder is one of the movies in the Whistler series, and it is narrated by that unseen character from radio, voiced by Otto Forrest. Dix is fine as the hero, and there are good supporting performances from Mowery; Blake; Nina Vale as Dale's secretary, Joan; Charles Lane and Barton MacLane as cops; Regis Toomey as an apartment manager; and especially Kathleen Howard [First Love] in a flavorful turn as a landlady who looks after Gale's clients when he needs a place to park them. Mysterious Intruder has a good and downbeat ending, but it's still a very minor mystery film. This was the fifth entry in the Columbia series.

Verdict: Some days a guy just doesn't get a break. **.  

THE WHISTLER

Richard Dix

THE WHISTLER (1944). Director: William Castle.

This is the first of several Columbia films (and later a TV series) based on the radio show where a weird, whistling figure narrates mystery stories, as he does in this film. Earl Conrad (Richard Dix) is despondent after the death of his wife, Clair, and arranges to have a hit man murder him. Then Conrad discovers that Clair is still alive, and tries to call off the hit man. Unfortunately the go-between, Vigran (Don Costello),  has been killed by the police, and the hit man (J. Carrol Naish), who has been paid, thinks it is a point of honor to finish his assignment. The basic premise of the film was undoubtedly used in other movies both before and after The Whistler, but it has effective variations, Castle's direction is adroit, and the acting is generally good. Naish is a bit miscast as the hit man, a role that would have been better played by Peter Lorre. Joan Woodbury has a vivid turn as Vigran's angry wife, who blames Conrad for her husband's death, and Trevor Bardette scores as a sinister bum in a men's shelter where Conrad is hiding out. Billy Benedict, Byron Foulger, Cy Kendall, Alan Dinehart, and Gloria Stuart (as Conrad's secretary, who is secretly in love with him) also have roles of varying importance. One puzzling aspect of the film is it is never fully explained how a woman, Claire, who supposedly drowns on a vacation winds up in a Japanese POW camp. Later Whistler films include The Secret of the Whistler and The Return of the Whistler.

Verdict: Interesting low-budget suspense film. ***.

HOLLYWOOD STORY

HOLLYWOOD STORY (1951). Director: William Castle.

Larry O'Brien (Richard Conte) is a producer who becomes fascinated by an old Hollywood mystery, the still-unsolved 1929 murder of silent film director Franklin Farrara. Larry decides to make a film about the murder, and hires an old screenwriter named Vincent St. Clair (Henry Hull of Werewolf of London), who once worked with the victim.  When someone takes a shot at Larry, he realizes the killer is still alive and doesn't want even a chance of the truth coming out. Richard Egan is cast as a police lieutenant, and Jim Backus is Larry's agent, Mitch. An uncredited Paul Cavanaugh [he's not even listed in the cast on imdb.com] plays aging actor Roland Paul, who was always one of the suspects, along with Sam Collyer (Fred Clark). William Farnum, Francis X. Bushman [The Phantom Planet], and Joel McCrea play themselves in cameos. The best performance is given by Julia/Julie Adams, who apparently knows more than she's saying and may have some unknown connection to the crime. This movie is of interest primarily because it was directed by William Castle [Strait-Jacket], but even with that distinction it has still been forgotten. The trouble is that it has very little suspense, a dull mystery, and plays like nothing so much as a TV pilot. However, the cast may hold your attention.

Verdict: One mystery that doesn't need solving. **.

WHEN STRANGERS MARRY/BETRAYAL

Neil Hamilton confers with Robert Mitchum

WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (aka Betrayal/1944), Director: William Castle.

Mildred Baxter (Kim Hunter) marries in haste and then has reason to worry. Her new husband, Paul (Dean Jagger) is [unnecessarily] secretive and she comes to suspect that he may be the notorious silk tie strangler. Fred Grahm (Robert Mitchum), who has always loved Millie, tries to be supportive and also has meetings with Lieutenant Blake (Neil Hamilton), who suggests he knows more than he's saying. When Strangers Marry is a pretty dull alleged suspense film whose twist comes as little surprise. The only lively scene takes place in a black jazz club, supposedly in Harlem. Hunter [The Seventh Victim] is good, Mitchum is very good, Jagger [The Brotherhood of the Bell] is hamstrung by his role, and Hamilton is Hamilton. When Millie moves into her new apartment there's a photo of director William Castle [Macabre] on the mantle.

Verdict: A Monogram cheapie and it shows. *1/2.

BATTLE-AXE: THE MAKING OF "STRAIT-JACKET"

An intense Joan Crawford

BATTLE-AXE: THE MAKING OF "STRAIT-JACKET." (2002). Producer/director: Jeffrey Schwarz.

"We have to remember that we can't expect everyone to be perfect." -- Diane Baker.

This is an entertaining, if brief, look behind the scenes of the William Castle production of Strait-Jacket, starring the inimitable Joan Crawford. The title refers to the weapon of choice in the movie -- which "realistically depicts axe murders" -- and not to Crawford, who is basically handled sympathetically and whose performance in the black and white B shocker is deservedly praised. Joan Blondell was supposed to play the lead but she was injured in an accident. The part of Joan's daughter, played by Diane Baker, was originally essayed by a more voluptuous but apparently less talented and unnamed actress whom Crawford wanted replaced. There are interesting observations from film historian David Del Valle, as well as comments from Baker, who tells -- not unkindly -- that Crawford drank a bit and had the ending changed so that it would focus on her and not Baker [well, she was the star, after all]. Baker says at one point that the makers of horror films, such as William Castle, are actually "lovable," but apparently she didn't feel that way about Alfred Psycho Hitchcock, whom she doesn't exactly depict as lovable in Donald Spoto's book Spellbound by Beauty [Baker appeared in Hitchcock's Marnie]. 

Verdict: Interesting featurette on a minor horror classic. ***.

THE DAY OF THE LOCUST

The movie premiere that climaxes Locust

THE DAY OF THE LOCUST (1975). Director: John Schlesinger.

"I could only let a fabulously rich man love me. I could only love a man criminally handsome. Please try to understand."

In Hollywood of the 1930's, artist Tod Hackett (William Atherton) lives in the same complex with aspiring star Faye Greener (Karen Black) and her father, an old-time performer named Harry (Burgess Meredith). Although Tod is very drawn to Faye, she wants a man with money, and winds up sexlessly cohabiting with the somewhat strange but wealthy Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland). There is a nasty-minded midget (Billy Barty) and a bratty Shirley Temple clone (actually played by the male Jackie Earle Haley), as well as two guys who run cockfights out of Homer's garage. After two hours of meandering, the film arrives at a climax at a movie premiere that seems intended to wake the benumbed audience out of their lethargy but is too little, too late. When The Day of the Locust was released, it was overpraised in some quarters because of the admittedly vivid climactic riot and a "daring" scene of a child being stomped to death, which fooled people into thinking this piece of treacle was more adult and "meaningful" than it really was. Time has, unfortunately, not made the movie any better. Karen Black probably gives her all-time worst performance, so irritating is she that she almost sinks the movie right from the first, and Burgess Meredith isn't that much better. Atherton isn't bad at all, but Sutherland gives the best performance as Homer. Barty can do nothing to make his character less of a caricature, but Haley in drag is certainly vivid and memorable. Still, the movie presents unpleasant, and worse, uninteresting characters that you simply don't care about. Natalie Schafer, Nita Talbot, and William Castle [as a director] have small roles, as does Geraldine Page as an evangelist. A scene when a set collapses is well done from a technical standpoint. This was based on a novel by Nathaniel West; I don't know how faithful Waldo Salt's screenplay is to the source material, but it's pretty bad. The absolutely most disgusting scene shows poor Billy Barty kissing a rooster on its bloody beak. Dick Powell Jr., plays his father at the premiere-within-the-movie, which explains why he looks so much like the actor. Although Schlesinger was considered a "serious" director as, say, compared to Robert Aldrich, this movie is in reality little better than Aldrich's atrocious Legend of Lylah Clare! This is almost as bad as Schlesinger's Darling.

Verdict: Just a mess -- and boring to boot! **.

NOT YOUNG, STILL RESTLESS Jeanne Cooper

NOT YOUNG, STILL RESTLESS A Memoir. Jeanne Cooper with Lindsay Harrison. Harper Luxe; 2012.

Jeanne Cooper has appeared in films and many television programs [including Highway Patrol, Thriller, Perry Mason, and a very notable turn on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.] but has become most famous for her very long stint on the popular CBS soap The Young and the Restless as matriarch Katherine Chancellor. Naturally, most of her memoir focuses on the show and her cast-mates [as well as her children and grandchildren], so if you're hoping for anecdotes about Cooper working on Black Zoo with Michael Gough you'll be disappointed. [Similarly, while she mentions her friendship with Barbara Hale -- and Raymond Burr -- of Perry Mason, you won't find any notes about her working on The Houston Story with Hale, Gene Barry and William Castle.] However, there is a lot about her upbringing in a liberal household, her lovers and some co-stars, and a lot about her marriage to her handsome but otherwise unsatisfactory husband. Cooper allows herself a few diva moments, and in some of her write ups about her Y&R co-stars seems to be offering as much a slap as a hug, but why not? Cooper is a very talented actress, and in this book emerges as a likable lady as well. Great title!

Verdict: A good read about an interesting woman. ***.

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI

Welles and Hayworth in the famous funhouse finale

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947). Director: Orson Welles.

"Is this what you people do in the evenings? Sit around toasting marshmallows and calling each other names?"

Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles) is hired by Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) and her husband Arthur (Everett Sloane) to help run their boat, but he winds up smack dab in the middle of a convoluted murder plot -- but who's trying to kill whom? It would be criminal to give away any of the twists and turns for those who may never have seen the film; suffice it to say this is a smooth suspense thriller with flavorful characters and fine performances from a stellar cast; arguably Hayworth as the femme fatale has never been better or better-cast. Glenn Anders is also notable as Bannister's weird business partner and Ted de Corsia scores as the sinister Broome. The fascinating picture leads up to a highly memorable sequence in an amusement park with the exciting climax taking place in a mirror maze. One could argue that Welles isn't quite on Hitchcock's level and some scenes -- such as a courtroom scene -- are perhaps a little too busy, but Lady from Shanghai is nonetheless audacious and compelling. Welles, directing himself, is outstanding in the lead role. You can't look at the plot -- or some of the events -- with close scrutiny [O'Hara not being recognized by a policeman at one point!] -- the movie has its absurd moments -- but it all moves too fast for you to care. Beautifully photographed by Charles Lawton Jr. and some uncredited associates. William Castle was one of the producers of this classic.

Verdict: Film Noir par excellance! ***1/2.

THE NIGHT WALKER

Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor

THE NIGHT WALKER (1964). Director: William Castle.

Irene Trent (Barbara Stanwyck) has an imaginary lover in her dreams, which doesn't sit well with her husband, Howard (Hayden Rourke), who thinks the lover is for real, and complains about it to his lawyer, Barry (Robert Taylor). But pretty soon Irene is having honest to goodness midnight rendezvous with a dark-haired stranger (LLoyd Bochner) but in the morning isn't certain whether or not she dreamed it all. Is there some plot perhaps afoot? Vic Mizzy's music seems to do most of the work, although sometimes it's so overdone it makes the picture seem worse instead of better. Stanwyck --- this is her entry in the "aging actress in a horror film" sweepstakes entered by Joan Crawford for Castle's superior Strait-Jacket the same year -- gets to scream a lot and look perplexed. Unfortunately Robert Bloch's obvious screenplay doesn't actually give her or anyone else a real character to play. Stanwyck and Taylor had once been married in real life, but had been divorced for many years when this picture was made. The acting is okay, but the movie is not even remotely scary.

Verdict: A distinctly minor suspense film that not even the stars can save. **.

ZOTZ

ZOTZ (1962). Producer/director: William Castle. 

A college professor, Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston), discovers that an ancient coin gives him magical powers, such as the ability to "zap" people with his finger, slow down time, and other things according to the screenwriter's wishes. This awful -- and awfully unfunny movie with exactly one laugh [the mouse with the wig on it] -- was scripted by Ray Russell, who wrote the source material for the films Mr. Sardonicus [one of Castle's better films] and Incubus. Jones is a complete idiot who reads a book as he bicycles to work. It doesn't help that he is portrayed by the utterly bland and dull actor Tom Poston. [Poston later wound up as a panelist on game shows, which made better use of his "talents."] The only good thing about the movie is that Cecil Kellaway and Margaret Dumont of Marx Brothers fame have all-too-brief supporting roles. Leading lady Julia Meade is attractive and more than competent, but her appearance in Zotz did her little good. Although it gets some stiff competition from 13 Frightened Girls, Zotz is probably the worst film William Castle ever made. 

Verdict: Atrocious. 1/2* for the presence of Kellaway and Dumont only.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959). Director: William Castle. 

"Would you like to see one of those heads? Well come and see!" 

Perverse Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his pretty, unloving wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart) throw a party in a supposedly haunted house where several murders took place. Instead of inviting friends as Annabelle wanted, Loren instead invites several people who are in need of money and agrees to pay them $10,000 apiece if they spend -- and survive -- the night locked in the house. Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook) was the brother of one of the victims and explains how his sister-in-law hacked up his brother and her sister and that the police found many body parts but never found their heads. Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig) has a large family to support, and Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum, sister of Robert Mitchum) has gambling debts. The group is completed with Lance Schroder (Richard Long) and Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshall), not to mention the spooky caretakers, especially Mrs. Slydes (Leona Anderson), who makes a sudden, very creepy if hilarious appearance in a dark basement room [see photo]. The dialogue by screenwriter Robb White is amusing, especially the bitchy banter between Loren and his wife. It's interesting that the house is not some Gothic structure a la Psycho, but a modern bit of architecture that resembles a museum. There are several "impossible" moments in the story, but the whole thing is still a lot of fun, with Price seemingly enjoying himself immensely. Carolyn Craig did a lot of TV work, as did Carol Ohmart. Marshall appeared in a few notable films, but this was the last of Julie Mitchum's seven credits. 

Verdict: Much, much better than the remake. ***.

13 GHOSTS

13 GHOSTS (1960). Director: William Castle. 

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) and his family have serious financial problems, but discover that an uncle has left Cyrus his spooky old house-- and all of its ghosts. This movie has two clever ideas -- that the uncle actually collected ghosts to study, and that he invented a pair of weird goggles through which one can actually see the ghosts. Aside from that 13 Ghosts isn't one of the more memorable William Castle thrillers, although it's fun in its minor way. Rosemary DeCamp is Cyrus' wife and little Charles Herbert is his mischievous son, Buck; Martin Milner plays Ben Rush, the uncle's lawyer, who may have his own agenda -- all give good performances. Margaret Hamilton might seem like a casting coup as the dead uncle's creepy housekeeper and assistant, but her performance is only adequate. Donald Woods is perfect as the put-upon Cyrus, however. 

Verdict: Worth seeing once. **1/2.

STRAIT-JACKET

STRAIT-JACKET (1964). Director: William Castle.

Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) was sent to an asylum for twenty years after taking the axe to her husband and his pretty bed mate when she arrived home a day too soon. Now she's moving in with her brother Bill (Lief Ericson), her sister-in-law Emily (Rochelle Hudson) and her grown daughter Carol (Diane Baker) -- who witnessed the murders -- -- at Bill's farm. First Lucy's psychiatrist disappears, then a sleazy worker (a vivid George Kennedy) gets beheaded (in a suspenseful, well-handled sequence), and Carol is getting more and more worried about Mommy. And what will her handsome boyfriend (John Anthony Hayes) and his rather stuffy parents think? [Howard St. John and Edith Atwater are swell as the parents.] The script with its clever twists and dubious -- if fascinating -- psychology is by Robert Bloch, who wrote the novel "Psycho." Crawford is quite good in the movie, which -- like her -- is quite arresting and entertaining. Diane Baker is simply terrific. Atwater later played Aunt Gertrude in a television version of The Hardy Boys. Like many Castle films it's absurd, simplistic, and yet also a lot of gruesome fun. Some may think the best thing about the film is the gag with the Columbia Pictures logo at the very end of the movie.

Verdict: Christina Crawford's favorite movie. ***.

LET'S KILL UNCLE

LET'S KILL UNCLE (1966). Director: William Castle. 

Young Barnaby Harrison (Pat Cardi) goes to stay with his Uncle Kevin (Nigel Green) after his father is killed, and learns that the man fully intends to kill him -- as he even tells him -- for the five million dollars he inherited. Barnaby and his friend Chrissie (Mary Badham) decide it might be a good idea to kill Uncle Kevin first. What ensues is a game of cat and mouse as the kids try to outwit and murder the adult and vice versa. Unfortunately, the rather light, almost comic, tone of the picture works against the suspense and strips the film of needed tension. Cardi makes an appealing protagonist, Badham is a little creepy, Green is okay in an impossible part but radiates little menace. Robert Pickering and Linda Lawson are, respectively, a sergeant who accompanies Barnaby to his uncle's island home, and Chrissie's pretty Aunt Justine. At one point Barnaby gets into a small plane with his uncle, which makes no sense at all. A ramshackle, abandoned hotel and a shark in a swimming pool also figure in the action. Poor musical score and an incredibly flat ending. Castle directs by the numbers. 

Verdict: Despite an intriguing situation, this is pretty boring. *1/2.