CAMILLE (1921)

CAMILLE (1921). Director: Ray C. Smallwood.

This silent version of Dumas' famous story of The Lady of the Camellias is a highly creditable silent film. When we first see Marguerite Gautier as performed by (Alla) Nazimova, she looks like a drag queen having a bad hair day. However, once you get used to her bizarre appearance, Nazimova gives a very good performance. Rudolph Valentino is also quite good as her lover Armand, although he has much less to do than his co-star. Zeffie Tilbury is Prudence and William Orlamond is Armand's father. The sets are theatrical and impressionistic. Not as good as the Garbo version, but quite interesting and well-done. A big difference between the two is that the lovers are not reunited in the silent version. This was shown with an excellent new score by Peter Vantine.

Verdict: Rudy and Alla in a fine romance. ***.

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (1934). Director: William K. Howard.

It's love at first sight when aspiring composer Victor Florescu (Ramon Novarro) meets American composer Shirley Sheridan (Jeanette MacDonald) in Brussels -- although she at first doesn't feel the same. When her career begins to take off, producer Jules Daudet (Frank Morgan), who loves Shirley himself, convinces Victor to leave her before she abandons her dreams out of love for him. Novarro, with charm to spare, has one of his best roles and he and the able MacDonald have chemistry together. Vivienne Segal also scores as the sexy Odette, who plans to make a comeback in Victor's operetta. (Segal starred in Pal Joey on Broadway and mostly appeared on the stage.) This is fluff, but it's well turned out and features some wonderful songs by Jerome Kern, including "The Night Was Made for Love."

Verdict: If you like musicals and operettas, dig in! ***.

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1944). Director: Lew Landers.

Columbia studios made this Universal-style horror film but couldn't use the name Dracula, so Bela Lugosi plays not the infamous Count, but Dr. Armand Tesla, who wrote about vampires in the 17th century and then became one himself. His antagonist is not Van Helsing, but Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort), whom he particularly hates because she helped to kill him once. (An interesting aspect, that reminds one of Dracula's Daughter, is that Lady Ainsley is nearly threatened with prosecution for her part in Tesla's impalement.) Tesla is assisted by Andreas (Matt Willis), a mentally-enslaved manservant who is also a rather talkative wolf man. Taking on the identity of Dr. Hugo Bruckner, Tesla sets his sights on Nicki (Nina Foch), a young lady who is engaged to Ainsley's son John (Roland Varno). Lots of fog and atmosphere can't quite disguise the fact that the script is weak, and Inescort gives a surprisingly cold and perfunctory performance under her perfectly modulated speech. The Return of the Vampire is entertaining but old-fashioned, far below the creative level of Son of Dracula made two years earlier. There are some good scenes, however, and the film is fun. Bela is effective as Tesla even if his gestures are a touch hammy.

Verdict: Not all it could have been. **1/2.

GIRLS IN CHAINS

GIRLS IN CHAINS (1943). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

When Helen Martin (Arline Judge, who sports one of the most hilarious hairdos ever seen!) is ostracized because her sister's husband, Johnny Moon (Allen Byron AKA Addison Randall), is a notorious hoodlum, she winds up trying to help the young women at a girls' correction facility. Unfortunately most of the nasty staff members are in Moon's pocket. You might think that this might lead to some amusing complications, but this bad movie from PRC is simply earnest and dull. Judge is okay, but Robin Raymond has more spice as bad girl Rita. A young Barbara Pepper gives a zesty performance as another inmate. One aged actor plays an obnoxious drunk so well that each appearance is enough to make you cringe.

Verdict: Perhaps well-intentioned, but still junk. *.

CORNY CASANOVAS

CORNY CASANOVAS (1952). Director: Jules White.

This VHS contains three Three Stooges (Shemp, Larry, Moe) shorts, although none of them are exactly in the "classic" category. Corny Casanovas has the three fellows engaged to the same gold digger, which they don't realize until they run into each other at her apartment. A Missed Fortune (1951) has Shemp winning a $50,000 radio prize and moving in with his pals to the ritzy Costa Plente Hotel. There they encounter no less than three gold diggers. In He Cooked His Goose (1952), the best of the three shorts, Larry goes after the other guys' girls and tries to set the two against each other.

Verdict: Strictly for Three Stooges fanatics, although anything that has Cedric the Trained Clam in it can't be all bad. **.

THE FROZEN GHOST

THE FROZEN GHOST (1945). Director: Harold Young.

Okay Inner Sanctum mystery stars -- who else? -- Lon Chaney (Jr.) as a mentalist who's convinced that he's psychically responsible for a heckler (Arthur Hohl) dropping dead during his act, even though the man was a heavy drinker with a heart condition. To recover, he breaks off his engagement to Evelyn Ankers and retreats to a wax museum owned by Valerie Monet (Tala Birell). There he also encounters Monet's niece Nina (Elena Verdugo) and a sinister assistant played by Martin Kosleck. When Valerie disappears, Inspector Brant (Douglass Dumbrille) investigates while Chaney's friend George (Milburn Stone) tries to lend sensible support. This mystery has some interesting elements to it, even if it doesn't always jell. Chaney's whispering is kept to a minimum, and his performance is adequate. Kosleck pretty much steals the picture. There is no ghost in the movie -- the title refers to suspended animation.

Verdict: Acceptable time waster, nothing more. **1/2.

A TWIST OF LEMON

A TWIST OF LEMMON: A Tribute to My Father. Chris Lemmon.

This certainly isn't a “Daddy Dearest” book although Jack Lemmon's actor-son Chris doesn't gloss over his father's flaws, his egotism, marital problems, and heavy drinking in later years [although these are not examined in any great depth]. The book has a truly lovely foreword, a beautiful tribute to Jack Lemmon, written by Kevin Spacey, as well as more tributes and comments from other friends and co-workers in the back. In between we have Chris Lemmon's amusing and occasionally poignant reflections on his beloved famous father, interspersed with memories of his final moments wasting away from cancer. This is a very nice book, but there are perhaps way too many pages devoted to golf. True, Jack and Chris both enjoyed the game and Chris undoubtedly saw it as a way of bonding with his father, but for many readers all the golf stuff may create a certain tedium. This book might have worked better as a long article in a film publication, but it is easy to take and pleasant. Still, a figure of Jack Lemmon's talent and importance deserves a major biography and career appraisal -- this will have to do until that comes along.

Verdict: Has its moments. **1/2.

A PAPER LIFE

A PAPER LIFE: Tatum O'Neal. Harper Entertainment 2004.

It may seem ludicrous for an actress whose fame rests on one movie made many years ago to be writing an autobiography, but let us not forget that O'Neal won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Paper Moon (1973) – she was the youngest person ever to win the coveted statue. Alas, her life since then has been a few minor movie roles, a bad marriage to “bad boy” [or asshole] tennis player John McEnroe, self-indulgent forays into serious drug abuse and rehab, and battles with one parent she depicts as utterly loathsome and physically abusive (Ryan O'Neal) and another who was a self-involved alcoholic and terrible mother (Joanna Moore). The book isn't just a “Daddy Dearest,” however, as the material is always compelling and it has – unlike Mommie Dearest – the ring of truth. Still, any tome as understandably one-sided as this has to be taken with a grain of salt. Undoubtedly her father would have quite a different take on his and his daughter's behavior. In the self-absorbed way of Hollywood, Tatum does not spend much if any time exploring what may have been going on in the minds of her parents during her early years, and was probably too young to understand it anyway. But if only half of this is true, she did have a pretty poor set of parents who seemed to want to do just about anything but raise a child with love, care and proper guidance. On the other hand, no one would know or care about Tatum were it not for her more famous father, which – according to Tatum-- Ryan never stops reminding her. According to the book, Ryan never forgave Tatum for getting the lion's share of the attention – not to mention the Oscar – for Paper Moon. Any wounds between father and daughter – and Tatum claims that there were many physical as well as emotional scars throughout their relationship – are not likely to be healed by this volume. This is hardly the first time a [minor] movie star/movie star's daughter has accused a parent of being a child abuser. Time may tell if O'Neal's accusations are horribly true or more along the fabricated, exaggerated lines of Mommie Dearest. One thing's for certain: for better or worse Ryan O'Neal won't win any fans from A Paper Life.

Verdict: Minor, but more interesting than you might imagine. **1/2.

THE GREAT ONE

THE GREAT ONE: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason. William A. Henry III. Doubleday; 1992.

Henry has put together an excellent, unsparing, well-researched tome on the comic genius that celebrates his artistry but by no means glosses over the negative sides of his life and character. Gleason could be kind and generous, but he was also an egomaniac without brakes, an absentee, hardly devoted father, a lousy husband, and a braggart who claimed he could compose symphonies when he couldn't even read music. Henry, however, also makes it clear why “The Great One” was so great, and there are lots of interviews with and quotes from people who worked with Gleason, who could inspire as much affection as exasperation. Henry does a fine job of nailing down his subject. [Oddly, Henry seems unaware that many of the scripts for the Honeymooners musicals of the sixties were originally used for some of the sketches in the “lost episodes.” These truly lost one hour musicals, which have never been released on video or DVD, can now be seen on American Life cable, channel 153 in Manhattan, on Saturday and Sunday nights.]

Verdict: A good read and then some. ***1/2.

KATHARINE HEPBURN: THE UNTOLD STORY

KATHARINE HEPBURN: The Untold Story. James Robert Parish. Advocate Books.

This is a highly compelling and frank biography of the late actress which, in addition to her life as a screen star, focuses on her relationships with several women over the years, as well as on her one marriage and her relationships with such men as Howard Hughes and Spencer Tracy. From a combination of facts and intelligent and educated speculation the book posits the fascinating and undoubtedly accurate theory that Hepburn and Tracy, far from being a great romantic love story, were in truth good and loving platonic friends who, in essence, used each other as beards to hide their true sexuality. In the 21st century it is a pleasure to read books that cut through the Hollywood press agent crap and recognize the reality about gays and lesbians in Hollywood. In a compulsory readable fashion, Parish examines the contrary and contradictory nature of the Great Hepburn, as well as the high and low points of her career. Zealously guarding her privacy and personal life for many decades, Hepburn is a tough nut to crack, but Parish manages to do just that.

Verdict: An excellent and very entertaining bio. ***1/2.

THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE:A BIOGRAPHY OF WARREN BEATTY

THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE: A Biography of Warren Beatty. Ellis Amburn. HarperEntertainment; 2002.

An absorbing look at the life of the often contradictory actor and cocksman Warren Beatty, from his New York theater origins to his breakthrough in Splendor in the Grass, to his influential, controversial production of Bonnie and Clyde and the massive undertaking of Reds. Amburn analyzes the often bad choices (especially in film assignments) that Beatty made, as well as the actor's psychological underpinnings and his stabs at the political arena. Taking his cue from Lawrence J., Quirk's The Films of Warren Beatty, he comments on how Beatty used connections with older gay men who admired him to get his start in show business. One problem with this manuscript is that Amburn's detours into the lives and subsequent fates of some of the people who crossed paths or beds with Beatty should have been relegated to footnotes instead of stopping the manuscript dead at several points. Occasionally he offers a puzzling opinion, such as when he offers the staggeringly simplistic statement that Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Streetcar Named Desire and Inges' Picnic are “rather transparent homoerotic fantasies about wayward, usually misogynistic hunks.”[And there are a couple more jaw-dropping moments. At the same time Amburn is right to point out that Bonnie and Clyde, whatever its cinematic merits, is a thoughtless glorification of criminality.] But Amburn does a good job of exposing the sleazy understructure of Hollywood, showing that Beatty would dump one woman only to go after another who had a higher profile or had just won an Oscar. He doesn't neglect the actor's good points, however. His dissection of the Beatty-Annette Bening marriage is also quite good.

Verdict: A lively, fast read with lots of info on the bed-hopping Beatty. ***. 

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY (1936). Director: John Cromwell.

Cedric Erroll (Freddie Bartholomew), a nine-year-old boy in 1880's Brooklyn, discovers that he's actually Lord Fauntleroy and the heir to a fortune. He accompanies his mother to England to meet his grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith), but learns that his mother, whom he calls "Dearest" (Delores Costello Barrymore), is to live in a separate cottage while he lives with the old man (because his grandmother never approved of his mother). C. Aubrey Smith gives a heart-tugging performance as the grumpy old man whose love for his grandson gives him a new lease on life, and amazingly self-assured little Bartholomew is superb. Henry Stephenson, Guy Kibbee and Mickey Rooney, among others, also give superior performances. The sensitive score by Max Steiner is a plus. Charming stuff.

Verdict: Well-made, sentimental audience pleaser.***.

GREAT GUNS

GREAT GUNS (1941). Director: Monty Banks.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy began working for Twentieth Century Fox, but many of their fans feel Fox didn't really know what to do with them. Their early Fox films, such as Great Guns, were seen as imitations of successful Abbott and Costello features. Although the boys are as good as ever in this picture, at times they seem lost in busy surroundings and a not-very-compelling love triangle. When an over-protected young man Daniel (Dick Nelson) is inducted into the Army, Stan and Ollie -- who work for his family -- go with him to look out for him (along with Stan's pet crow). They come afoul of a bad-tempered Sergeant (Edmund MacDonald) who has a yen for a pretty photo shop clerk, Ginger (Sheila Ryan, who would also appear in A-Haunting We Will Go), but she prefers the shyer, less aggressive Daniel. It all ends with the boys getting involved in war games. Some funny moments, but not one of the better Laurel and hardy features. Kane Richmond (Spy Smasher) and Alan Ladd have very small speaking roles as soldiers. Ryan and Nelson make an appealing romantic couple and give nice performances as well.

Verdict: For L&H fanatics only. **.

THE SAINT IN NEW YORK

THE SAINT IN NEW YORK (1938). Director: Ben Holmes.

New York City is having such a horrendous crime wave, that Inspector Fernack (Jonathan Hale) goes in search of Simon Templar, better-known as The Saint, to offer him a commission to take on the mob using methods that could not necessarily be condoned by the police. While this holds the attention for the most part and has a couple of suspenseful scenes, it sort of runs out of gas before the conclusion. Sig Rumann is excellent as Hutch Rellin, one of the gang leaders, but Kay Sutton doesn't make too much of an impression as Fay Edwards, who betrays the "big fellow" who oversees the others out of love for Templar. However, they could not have found a more appropriate Saint than Louis Hayward, who has just the right way with the material, "light" and steely at one and the same time. A host of good character actors bolster the proceedings. Jack Carson and Ben Welden are especially good as two nasty characters who come afoul of The Saint.

Verdict: Has its moments. **1/2.

MATA HARI

MATA HARI (1931). Director: George Fitzmaurice.

A romantic film fashioned from the legend of the famous spy Mata Hari, here enacted by the equally legendary Greta Garbo. Mata is a German spy working in Paris in 1917, taking her orders from Lewis Stone. Her latest assignment is the boyish Russian soldier, Lt. Alexis Rosanoff (Ramon Navarro). Lionel Barrymore is an aging General who is obsessed with Mata and Karen Morley is Carlotta, another, ill-fated German agent. The second half of the film turns into a surprisingly poignant love story with Garbo and Navarro both giving excellent performances. It takes a while to accept both of these actors in their respective roles, but once you do they are very creditable and convincing. This probably has very little to do with the real Mata Hari, but it's a very compelling movie. Lewis Stone is also excellent as the head of the spy ring.

Verdict: One hanky tearjerker at least. ***.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974). Director: Guy Hamilton.

The film throws out the storyline of Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name, but retains the arch villain, master assassin Scaramanga (who gets one million dollars per hit) and also pits him against Bond. The locale is switched from Jamaica to Southeast Asia, and instead of a bunch of mafioso at a planned resort, the supporting cast includes a sinister businessman and his allies at a Kung Fu school. (As a sop to the Kung Fu/martial arts craze of the time, one of Bond’s associates has two schoolgirl nieces who are experts at karate and join in a battle at one point.) The prize everyone wants in this venture is a solar cell that helps power a huge solar battery and laser gun on Scaramanga’s island retreat. As in the novel Scaramanga -- well-played by Christopher Lee -- has three nipples, and his first long-ago murder had to do with a circus elephant. Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland), 007's former secretary in the novel, is a sort of half-assed agent/assistant in the film. Maude Adams appears as Andrea Anders, who is Scaramanga’s lover but wants Bond to free her of him by killing him. Herve Villichaize is fun as Scaramanga’s little assistant Nick Nack, who hopes his boss will die so he can inherit everything he owns. Dressed in costume as a li’l devil, Nick Nack figures in an amusing scene when Bond is attacked by two huge Sumo wrestlers.

007 does not appear in the lengthy prologue (which depicts a gunfight between Scaramanga and an ill-fated hit man played by Marc Lawrence) except as a life-size dummy. The fat cop, J. W. Pepper, who first appeared in Live and Let Die, shows up again and is just as unfunny as before, serving only to slow down the action and irritate the viewer. Roger Moore is okay doing the rough stuff with the ladies and others – he slaps around Maud Adams at one point when she won’t give him information – but not nearly as convincing at it as Sean Connery was. The climactic duel between Bond and Scaramanga in a kind of fun house atmosphere may have influenced John Gardner when he wrote the climax to his novel "Never Send Flowers." The theme song is mediocre – not one of the worst, but hardly top-drawer, either. Pop singer Lulu does an okay job although her vocal peculiarities may not be to everyone’s liking. M has a headquarters inside the derelict Queen Elizabeth ship we see overturned in the harbor.

The Man with the Golden Gun is not a bad film and will hold your attention, but it is lesser Bond, without a single really outstanding sequence that stays in the memory (although there is some suspense worked up over the business with Bond working on the solar device at the end involving the laser beam). The photography is good but not great, and director Guy Hamilton seems to do little more than cover the action. Some beautiful locations, however. It is an improvement over Live and Let Die but not on the level of the Roger Moore 007s that would come later.

Verdict: Has its moments. **1/2.

HANGOVER SQUARE

HANGOVER SQUARE (1945). Director: John Brahm.

George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar in his last film appearance) is a composer in late 19th century London who is distracted from working on his serious music by his infatuation with a pretty singer, Netta (Linda Darnell), who pressures him with kisses to write songs for her. But Bone has a bigger problem -- in that loud sounds send him into a psychotic trance and lead him into violence (which is made clear in the very first scene). Although it is not a mystery in the classic sense, Hangover Square is undeniably a well-crafted suspense film that holds the attention and rarely telegraphs what's coming next. One outstanding sequence has Bone hauling a dead body up to the top of a Guy Fawkes day bonfire (Brahm put a similar sequence in The Mad Magician in 1954 but it was not as effective). The climax of the film features Bone's concerto (actually composed by Bernard Herrmann, whose score for the film is excellent), a striking and unusual work, as "modern" as it is "romantic." Linda Darnell looks great and gives a saucy, fine performance as Netta. Cregar is, frankly, a bit disappointing, lacking the passion -- for both his music and Netta -- that the part requires. George Sanders scores, as usual, as a police psychiatrist. Glenn Langan of The Amazing Colossal Man fame has little to do as Netta's suitor, but does it well. Faye Marlowe is lovely and more than competent as a student of Bone's who loves and fears for him. With a stronger lead performance and some extra touches this might have emerged a masterpiece. Very well photographed by Joseph LaShelle.

Verdict: Fascinating and macabre. ***1/2.

THE BIG STEAL

THE BIG STEAL (1949). Director: Don Siegel.

Duke Halliday (Robert Mitchum) meets up with Joan Graham (Jane Greer) in Mexico where both discover that they are in pursuit of the same man, Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles), who stole money from them. In the meantime Captain Blake (William Bendix) is in pursuit of Halliday. It takes a while to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in a movie that consists of a lot of seemingly aimless running and driving around. It all comes together in the climax, but by then it's a little too late. However, there are some exciting and suspenseful moments in the film, and the acting is good. Mitchum was at his best in roles like this, and The Big Steal offers one of his most credible performances. While Greer is not on his level, she's quite good when she's testily bantering with Mitchum. The ever-reliable Bendix is as good as ever and even Knowles turns in a solid performance. However the picture is almost snatched away by middle-aged Ramon Navarro, who is delightful as Inspector General Ortega. (Don Alvarado plays his lieutenant.) Pascual Garcia Pena of Black Scorpion and The Beast of Hollow Mountain plays a construction worker who helps Greer and Mitchum momentarily get away from Bendix.

Verdict: Distinctly minor but entertaining. **1/2.

STRANGE CONFESSION

STRANGE CONFESSION (1945). Director: John Hoffman.

The fifth "Inner Sanctum" mystery has a good, absorbing storyline about a chemist, Jeff Carter (Lon Chaney Jr.) who is taken advantage of by his venal boss Roger Graham (J. Carroll Naish). Graham sends Jeff down to South America so he can move in on Carter's wife, Mary (Brenda Joyce). Greedy Graham also releases an anti-influenza formula, Zymurgine, to the public before Carter has a chance to perfect it, leading to tragic consequences and a gruesome revenge. Strange Confession holds the attention, but it just isn't horrific enough and doesn't quite work. Naish is excellent as the bad guy, Chaney is mediocre, and Joyce delivers a fairly weak performance as his wife. Milburn Stone and Lloyd Bridges also have small roles and are competent.

Verdict: Okay time passer **.

LOST IN A HAREM

LOST IN A HAREM (1944). Director: Charles Reisner.

Bud and Lou are trapped in a kind of Kismet-like world as they try and help a deposed Prince Ramo (John Conte) get back his throne from his evil uncle Nimativ (Douglass Dumbrille). Marilyn Maxwell is the singer Hazel Moon who has a love/hate thing going with Ramo. Sporadically amusing movie is not one of the better A & C vehicles, although there's a pretty nice dance number by slave girls to the strains of Scheherazade. Somehow Jimmy Dorsey and his band are also stranded in Port Inferno, and Murray Leonard plays a prisoner who does the old vaudeville routine "Slowly I turned ..." (which was later used for an I Love Lucy episode as well). Lou disguises himself as Teema (Lottie Harrison), Nimativ's chubby head wife, at one point.

Verdict: For diehard A & C fans only. **.

BONNIE SCOTLAND

BONNIE SCOTLAND (1935). Director: James W. Horne.

Stan McLaurel stowaways with buddy Oliver to claim an inheritance in Scotland. There they become involved -- or rather they don't become involved -- with a love triangle concerning a cousin (the main heiress), her boyfriend, and another suitor in India. The story abruptly switches from Scotland to Indian when Stan and Ollie inadvertently wind up in the Army. There are two hilarious sequences in the film: the boys frying a fish with a candle and the grill from the bed springs and causing havoc in a boarding house; and the climax in which their bumbling lets loose thousands upon thousands of stinging bees. Laurel and Hardy's performances are as wonderful as ever, but their material isn't up to their level. The script is all over the lot and at times it seems the boys are just along for the ride. They really have nothing to do with the love triangle story, which isn't very interesting. Mary Gordon is fine as a landlady impatient for her money, and frequent collaborator James Finlayson is fun as the sergeant.

Verdict: Disappointing but with a couple of big laughs. **1/2.

THIS ABOVE ALL

THIS ABOVE ALL (1942). Director: Anatole Litvak.

Prudence Cathaway (Joan Fontaine) appalls her snooty uppercrust British family by enlisting in the WAF during WW 2. She meets and falls in love with a bitter, disillusioned soldier, Clive Briggs (Tyrone Power), who has come to feel he's only fighting to preserve the unfair and hypocritical class structure -- although Prudence argues that the Germans must be defeated (oddly the term Nazi is never used. The film probably started production before the U.S. entered the war). Briggs has decided that he's going to be a deserter no matter what the consequences. This Above All (to thine own self be true) has some uncompromising attitudes in its depiction of Briggs, but the first half is superior to the second half. Once Prudence learns Briggs' secret, the picture veers a bit from romance into soap opera and becomes jingoistic. The business with Briggs encountering an unctuous priest who sets him straight is tiresome. However the performances are good and Alfred Newman's sensitive musical score embellishes every sequence. Fontaine is lovely in the film, although some may feel that she's borderline cloying at times. Power's performance is not so much great as rigorously earnest. Gladys Cooper is snippy and exact as Prudence's disapproving Aunt, and Nigel Bruce is excellent -- and nearly unrecognizable -- in the character part of an inn owner that is quite different from his Watson in the Sherlock Holmes movies. Certain scenes, such as a bar scene with melancholy songs, are imbued with the brave, sad, hopeless atmosphere of London during the Blitz, and an Air Raid sequence is chilling and well-done.

Verdict: Compelling if imperfect romance. ***.

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1958). Director: Richard Cunha.

Frankenstein's grandson Oliver Frank (Donald Murphy) has somehow wound up working with the elderly Carter Morton (Felix Locher) on something or other while in the wine cellar he's secretly putting in work on his real project: making another monster. Oliver inexplicably gives Morton's niece Trudy (Sandra Knight) a drug that turns her into a snarling, deformed she-creature that roams the streets in a bathing suit. Later Oliver uses the brain of Sandra's friend Suzie (Sally Todd) to bring his "Frankenstein's daughter" to life -- even if the poor thing looks much more like a man. Stupid, illogical but amusing horror film holds the attention but offers few real thrills. John Ashley plays Trudy's boyfriend and Harold Lloyd Jr. is Suzie's singing beau. Donald Murphy offers a flavorful and good performance as Frankenstein, but the younger players offer amateurish performances. Felix Locher gives a poor performance as well, but John Zaremba and Wolfe Barzell are better as a cop and the "gardener" who assists Frankenstein in his work. In the sixties Sandra Knight was married to Jack Nicholson for six years, and appeared with him in The Terror. She wasn't much of an actress.

Verdict: Unintentionally comical at times and mildly entertaining. **.

ILLEGAL

ILLEGAL (1955). Director: Lewis Allen.

When District Attorney Victor Scott (Edward G. Robinson) discovers that he's sent an innocent man to the electric chair, he resigns, drinks, and winds up in a downward spiral that leads to him working with hoodlum Frank Garland (Albert Dekker). There comes a conflict of interest when he defends a former associate and close friend, Ellen Miles (Nina Foch), who is accused of murder and whose defense is tied in with Garland's activities. Hugh Marlowe has one of his more interesting roles as Foch's husband, and Jayne Mansfield, chest out-thrust, plays one of Garland's girlfriends (her performance is mediocre at best). DeForest Kelley of Star Trek fame plays the innocent man who goes to the chair, and Ellen Corby scores as Scott's no-nonsense secretary. Illegal is a snappy if pat movie with a great performance by Robinson -- his drunk scenes are masterful. Jan Merlin makes a striking and sinister gunsel and hit man, Andy Garth, and Nina Foch does a nice job as well.

Verdict: Minor but entertaining. **1/2.

WEIRD WOMAN

WEIRD WOMAN (1944). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Undoubtedly the best "Inner Sanctum" feature, this is the first film version of Frtiz Leiber's novel "Conjure Wife." Lon Chaney Jr. is a college professor who marries Paula (Anne Gwynne), much to the consternation of gal pal Ilona (Evelyn Ankers, in one of her best roles). When Chaney has one bit of good fortune after another, he discovers his wife is using witchcraft to ward off his enemies' influences. A disgusted Chaney destroys all of Paula's magic talismans -- and boy does his luck begin to change for the worse. This study of small town college jealousies and romantic rivalries with a supernatural twist is compelling and creepy, with good performances and a suspenseful climax. Chaney isn't bad (although his whispered utterances are as annoying as ever and he's not very credible as a romantic figure), and in addition to the above-named performances there is solid work from Elisabeth Risdon as the blunt Dean of Women, Ralph Morgan as a professor, Elizabeth Russell as his ambitious wife, Lois Collier as an amorous student, and Phil Brown as her jealous boyfriend. This was remade as Burn, Witch, Burn and again as a comic version, Witches' Brew.

Verdict: Quite good little B movie. ***.

BLONDE BAIT

BLONDE BAIT (1956). Directors: Elmo Williams; Herbert Glazer.

British women's prison drama Women Without Men with added American-shot scenes filmed with star Beverly Michaels and new players Richard Travis and Jim Davis (both of whom were former leading men of Bette Davis, Travis in The Man Who Came to Dinner and Davis in Winter Meeting). Michaels is a vivid performer with an overbite and a statuesque body. Wrongly imprisoned, she has to break out to keep a New Years' Eve date with the man she loves, and she goes to much trouble and effort to get there, with interesting results. In the new sequences the break-out is engineered by authorities who want to trap Michael's lover, a criminal played by Jim Davis. Good performances help put this one over, but the original was probably better and more ironic.

Verdict: Not bad time waster. **1/2.

EASY LIVING (1937)

EASY LIVING (1937). Director: Mitchell Leisen.

Shop girl Mary Smith (Jean Arthur) is on her way to work and minding her own business when a sable coat drops out of the sky and lands on her head. Before long everyone is convinced that she is the mistress of J. B. Ball (Edward Arnold), the married millionaire who threw the coat off the roof because his wife's spending was out of control. Hotelier Louis Louis (Luis Alberni) invites her to stay in his magnificent Imperial Suite (with five reception rooms and an incredible shower-bath) for $7 a week (all she can afford) but when she finds nothing in the refrigerator she heads for the automat. There she meets Ball's son John (Ray Milland), who's trying to earn his own way in the world, but instead causes a riot when he tries to get Mary a free meat pie. While this isn't necessarily a laugh-a-minute comedy, it has some very amusing sequences (such as the automat riot), interesting characters, and a cute situation. Good performances, especially from Alberni and the incomparable Franklin Pangborn as a shop owner. Esther Dale is also great as Arnold's no-nonsense secretary, who doesn't take any guff from him.

Verdict: Minor-league but fun. **1/2.

SUPERMAN III

SUPERMAN 3. (1983). Director: Richard Lester.

In this entertaining if very silly movie the Superman series has basically been refashioned into a comedy showcase for the undeniable talents of comedian Richard Pryor. In this he plays August Gorman, who after a term of unemployment finds his niche working with computers for a company owned by Webster (Robert Vaughn) and his sister Vera (Annie Ross). (Webster also has a "psychic nutritionist" named Lorelei who acts like a bimbo but turns out to be more intelligent – relatively – than anyone supposes.) After Gorman manages to cleverly steal a large amount of money from Webster’s company, Webster has him use his "talents" to control the weather and then to try and destroy Superman himself. ("I ask you to kill Superman and you can’t do that One Simple Thing!" rants Webster.) Lois Lane has little to do in the film – appearing only at the beginning and end – with Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole) taking center stage in scenes taking place in Smallville. An imperfect recreation of Kryptonite turns Superman "evil" and sexier (he even sleeps with Lorelei, it is suggested) until he has a big battle with himself in an auto junk yard. At one point Superman uses his breath to freeze an entire lake and melt it on top of a nuclear plant that’s on fire. (It’s a question why he doesn’t use his freeze breath to lower the temperature in the reactor room.) The climax has Superman tackling a huge super-computer built to Pryor’s specifications. Christopher Reeve and O’Toole are fine in the film with Pryor getting most of the running time and running with it in fine fashion.. Vaughn is quite hilarious as Webster, and Ross nearly steals the picture as Vera. The effects are first-rate and while there are dumb moments, this is basically good-natured, likable nonsense, if little for the intellect.

Verdict: Fun if you're game. ***.