THE RECKLESS WAY aka THE LURE OF HOLLYWOOD

Marian Nixon and Malcolm McGregor

THE RECKLESS WAY (aka The Lure of Hollywood/1936). Director: Raymond Johnson (Bernard B. Ray).

Helen Rogers (Marian Nixon) is a hotel stenographer who gets a lucky break and becomes the "Million Dollar Legs" gal for a ad campaign for a stockings firm. Due to a misunderstanding, she is named co-respondent in a divorce suit filed by an old battle axe named Mrs. Stoner (Gloria Gordon). Determined not to wind up struggling with bills like her relatives, Helen decides to take advantage of the notoriety and gets herself a movie contract, although this has Don Reynolds (Malcolm McGregor of Lady of the Night), who hired her for the stocking campaign, plotting behind the scenes to ruin her career even as he's proposing marriage. And where does this leave handsome Jim Morgan (Kane Richmond of Tough to Handle), the hotel clerk who's crazy about Marian ... Other characters include Helen's wise-cracking friend, Laura (Inez Courtney), director Von Berg (John Peters), Carl Blatz (William H. Strauss), who runs Apex Studios, and British screenwriter Arthur Delaney Morgan (uncredited), whom Blatz calls in to fashion a new story that Helen can actually act. The Reckless Way is by-the-numbers film-making with a plot that was creaky even in 1936. The actors are all adequate, but you couldn't see any of them becoming major stars, and none of them did. Nixon nicely warbles the tune "I Spoke Out of Turn."

Verdict: Another old movie resuscitated for the DVD market that should have stayed forgotten. *1/2.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

The apes in a contemplative mood

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014). Director: Matt Reeves.

Two factions are in conflict, with hurt and angry feelings on both sides. Some members of each faction want to go to war and wipe out the enemy, while others want to avoid a devastating war at all costs. Some members can't get past the mistreatment of the past, and are full of hate and bitterness .. and fear. And misunderstandings abound ... That basic situation has been the basis of a great many movies, and it's the basis of this sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. A contagion has wiped out many humans, and a pocket of them needs the cooperation of the intelligent, talking apes who were created by a lab experiment, but who mistrust human beings. Can they work together, or will violence break out in spite of the best efforts of ape leader, Caesar (Andy Serkis)? Dawn boasts some excellent FX work (although at times it resembles a video game), and some effective scenic design, but its story is so over-familiar and everything is generally so predictable that all you can do is watch the apes go ape-shit and wait for the whole tedious business to be over. I think undiscriminating teenagers who think there's something profound in the ape-human debate made this a hit. The apes, such as Koba (Toby Kebbell of Wrath of the Titans), are much more interesting than the human characters, and usually out-act them as well. Gary Oldman [Criminal Law] is fine as human leader Dreyfus, but he deserves to be in better movies than this.

Verdict: Enough with the apes! **.

DARK VICTORY

Bette Davis and George Brent

DARK VICTORY (1939). Director: Edmund Goulding.

"You might fold up and I might fold up, but that horse has the breeding."

An outstanding performance by Bette Davis is the cornerstone of this tearjerker that deals with a dying wealthy woman who falls in love with her doctor. Judith Traherne (Davis) has headaches and vision problems, and is afraid to see anyone about it. Finally her family physician (Henry Travers) arranges for her to be examined by Dr. Fred Steele (George Brent), whose initial diagnosis is glioma [this is not a phony Hollywood word but is actually a general term for any tumor in the brain that arises in the supporting tissue]. Steele performs surgery on Judith, but learns that her illness will reoccur and there is nothing to be done to prevent her eventual death. A happy, unknowing Judith goes on planning her life while her doctors and secretary/best friend Ann (Geraldine Fitzgerald) try to keep the truth from her ... Dark Victory is what's known as a "well-mounted soaper" and it is graced by Davis in one of her best performances, a lovely Fitzgerald, and even Brent delivers with perhaps more sensitivity than usual. Ernest Haller's photography is also excellent. But like most soap operas, Dark Victory is terribly contrived at times, and its look at terminal illness is almost offensively stupid -- like most movies that treated the subject at this time, the sick person looks more beautiful the closer they come to dying, which is completely absurd. (Davis does look beautiful in the movie, however.) One of the stupider moments has Steele, without the slightest prelude, telling a terrified patient, Judith, "We have to operate!" just so the scene can be more dramatic. The whole business of Judith looking and feeling absolutely normal until just before her death is also ludicrous, but it means Davis can wear some striking evening wear throughout the movie. Humphrey Bogart isn't bad as the Traherne's horse trainer, and has one very interesting scene when he comes on to Judith in the stable. Ronald Regan makes virtually no impression as one of Judith's friends, but Dorothy Peterson as the nurse Miss Wainwright, and Virginia Brissac as the maid Martha, are more on the mark. "Give Me Time for Tenderness" is warbled -- and very nicely -- by Vera Van in a nightclub scene (although some sources say it was Mary Currier, who may have acted the part and been dubbed). One must assume Dr. Steele is rich because he seems to spend months doing nothing but attending to Judith (or else he gives her a mighty big bill). Dark Victory is very well directed by Edmund Goulding, who guided Davis to do some of her best work in pictures, The Old Maid being a case in point. Goulding also directed Davis and Brent in The Great Lie. This was remade 26 years later as Stolen Hours aka Summer Flight starring Susan Hayward.

Verdict: Yes, a "well-mounted soaper" with a splendid Davis. ***.

STOLEN HOURS aka SUMMER FLIGHT

Susan Hayward

STOLEN HOURS (aka Summer Flight/1963). Director: Daniel Petrie.

In this remake of Dark Victory, Laura Pember (Susan Hayward) is experiencing headaches and vision problems and is scared to see a doctor. In a wholly contrived scene, her friend, racing car driver Mike (Edward Judd), brings Dr. John Carmody (Michael Craig) to see Laura at a party she's throwing for her younger sister, Ellie (Diane Baker). It isn't long before Laura is being operated on [there's less technical information in this than in the original], thinking she's had a full recovery, and falling in love with her rather dreamy doctor. She doesn't know that her condition will reoccur and she'll be dead in a few months ... As in the original, Laura will experience no symptoms until the very end, and can die looking beautiful. At 46, Hayward is slightly too old to play the very youthful Laura, but her performance is generally very good. Judd [Island of Terror] and Baker are suitable support. Michael Craig [Doctor in Love] is required mostly to be handsome and certainly fills the bill. This version ups the tear factor by having Laura bond with a lonely little boy, Peter (quite well acted by Robert Bacon, who had only this one film credit), whose mother is an alcoholic. Laura takes the mother's place at a parent-child celebration, and holds a party for him and his friends. Although it's absurd that Laura would send away her husband and sister when the "moment" approaches -- does she want to drop dead in front of a bunch of unsupervised children? -- the ending is still quite poignant. Mort Lindsey's score is a help as are the beautiful shots of the Cornish coastline [Harry Waxman]. The most interesting scene has Laura objecting when paramedics want to cover the face of a badly injured man at a race track. "Don't cover his face while he's alive," she says. "Let him see as long as he can see." (Of course, the whole notion of paramedics covering a living person's face, no matter how injured or unconscious, is highly improbable anyway.) Petrie also directed Moon of the Wolf and many other movies.

Verdict: Has its moments, but stick with the original. **1/2.

CAMPUS RHYTHM

Reaction to a kiss: Gale Storm and Johnny Downs

CAMPUS RHYTHM (1943). Director: Arthur Dreifuss.

Joan Abbott (Gale Storm) sings on the radio for her sponsor, Crunchy Wunchy cereal, but she'd really rather go off to college. When her guardian, Uncle Willie (Douglas Leavitt), renews her contract without her knowledge, she takes off for Raleigh College by assuming the name of the sponsor's high-spirited secretary, Suzie Smith (Marie Blake). There she encounters the oh-so-serious editor of the campus paper, "Scoop" Davis (Johnny Downs); the dreamy, likable lover boy, Buzz (Robert Lowery); the weird if lovable Harold (Candy Candido); saucy, singing Babs (GeGe Pearson); and the venomous Cynthia (Claudia Drake of The Face of Marble), who's out to get her because she caught the eye of Buzz. In an attempt to find their wayward songstress, the sponsor holds a contest, and the funniest scene has to do with Uncle Willie traveling to Raleigh to find his niece and winding up in the hands of the law. The cast, led by a sparkling-as-ever Storm, is more than capable, and the film is pleasant. Babs sings "Oh, you character!" while Joan warbles "But Not You" to Buzz. GeGe Pearson has a nice voice and a lot of personality to go with her horse face; Candy Candido is the weirdest of novelty singers (and speakers) as his voice can go from falsetto to bass all within the same sentence. Both of them later did a lot of voice-over work for television and movies. John Duncan plays one of the fraternity boys; six years later he would team with Robert Lowery for the serial Batman and Robin, wherein he played the latter. The strange thing about this movie is that there's no fade out clinch between Storm and Downs, although it's intimated that they've gotten together again, but considering Scoop's behavior it's even more likely that they didn't. Downs [The Mad Monster] also starred in a movie called All-American Co-Ed, which is also known as Campus Rhythm, but it is not the same picture.

Verdict: Easy to take. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO

Cute couple: [Victor] Sen Yung and Iris Wong

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO (1939). Director: Norman Foster.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives in "the biggest little city in the world" after a hateful woman named Jeanne Bently (Louise Henry) is murdered in a hotel occupied by ladies awaiting their divorces. Sheriff Fletcher (Slim Summerville) is convinced that the culprit is Mary Whitman (Pauline Moore), whose husband, Curtis (Kane Richmond) ,was dumping her for Jeanne; Curtis knows Charlie and importunes him to intervene. Suspects and others involved in the case include Mrs. Russell (Kay Linaker), who owns the hotel; Dr. Ainsley (Ricardo Cortez of The Big Shakedown), who is the hotel's doctor; Wally Burke (Robert Lowery), who was jilted by Jeanne; Chief of Police King (Charles D. Brown); Vivian Wells (Phyllis Brooks), who despised Jeanne; a talkative cab driver (Eddie Collins); and the victim's ex-husband, Bently (Morgan Conway of Dick Tracy), who is hiding out in a ghost town. Meanwhile number two son Jimmy (Victor Yen Sung) is investigating/screwing up with the help of the dead woman's pretty maid Choy (Iris Wong). Toler, Yung and most of the cast are very adept, Summerville is terrific, and the movie is fun, if not necessarily one of the better Chan mysteries. This was followed by the excellent Charlie Chan at Treasure Island.

Verdict: Chan and company always amuse. **1/2.

BOWFINGER

Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy

BOWFINGER (1999). Director: Frank Oz. Screenplay by Steve Martin.

Robert Bowfinger (Steve Martin of The Pink Panther) is a bottom-of-the-barrel film producer who keeps his actors on a string by promising them that the lead in his next production will be mega-star action hero Kit Ramsay (Eddie Murphy) -- they're sure to get financing. Unfortunately Ramsay has no interest in appearing in his movie, a terrible concoction called "Chubby Rain," so Bowfinger comes up with a scheme of filming him secretly while telling his cast members that Ramsay prefers to work without meeting his fellow actors. Said actors consist of Carol (Christine Baranski), who gets more "grand" with every scene; handsome Slater (Kohl Sudduth), who is cute and clueless; Daisy (Heather Graham), who is ruthlessly ambitious and sleeps with virtually every member of the cast and crew, and winds up with a power lesbian [a la Anne Heche, whom Martin dated and who is said to be the model for Daisy]; Afrim (Adam Alexi-Molle), who also wrote the "Chubby Rain" screenplay; and Jiff (Eddie Murphy), a nerdy lookalike of Ramsay's who turns out to be his brother. Jaime Kennedy plays the jack-of-all-trades who helps in a wide variety of ways. There are some hilarious scenes in this movie, and it's so basically good-natured, loopy and amiable that you want to love it, but Martin has to overdo everything and the movie eventually becomes too silly, stupid and unfunny -- there's simply not enough plot to make a full-length picture. The cast is quite good, with an outstanding Murphy positively stealing the picture as likable Jiff, who in one very funny scene has to run across a highway full of speeding vehicles that he's been told are driven by "stunt men." Perhaps the funniest line is actually in one of the out-takes, when someone mentions Robert De Niro and Carol mutters "such a diva!"

Verdict: Very cute, often very funny, but an hour of this would have been enough. **1/2.

GUN GIRLS

Timothy Farrell and Eleise Cameron

GUN GIRLS (1957). Writer/Director: Robert C. Dertano.

"Do you mean we went to all that trouble for a measly fourteen bucks?"

"Why you low-down tramp!"

Dora (Jacqueline Park) has fallen in with a bad crowd, most notably tough blond, Teddy (Jeanne Ferguson), who buys guns and plans a heist with her. Dora's cute boyfriend, Jimmy (Calvin Booth), who happens to be the younger brother of Dora's parole officer, begs her to stop hanging out with Teddy. Joy (Eve Brent of Fade to Black) is importuned by Teddy to help them rob the warehouse where she works, and they prove the most inept gang of robbers on the planet. Joy is pregnant by low-life Joe (Timothy Farrell) who sells the girls guns and seems to have a different woman every hour, including Trixie (Eleise Cameron), of whom he says, "things like her wash up on the beach every night." Can these girls be saved ...? Most of the "girls" in this haven't seen their teenage years in quite a while and in general the acting is so amateurish that the cast read their lines like they're little kids. Timothy Farrell, who had a similar role in Girl Gang, at least has a brusque appeal, and Jacqueline Park has some good moments during a hospital scene towards the end. Calvin Booth isn't bad but George Graham is perhaps overly earnest as his brother. Harry Keaton is a bit more professional than the others as Luke, an associate of Joe's. One of the funniest scenes out of many features a cat fight between Joy and Trixie. Amazingly the psychological explanation for gang activity actually makes sense.

Verdict: Terrible, yet strangely entertaining. **.

GONE GIRL

Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck

GONE GIRL (2014). Director: David Fincher.

A not terribly concerned Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) goes to the police when his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), disappears. His twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon,) who seems to care for her brother a little too much, doesn't like Amy and remarks that whoever took her will probably want to bring her back. While the police repeatedly question Nick, and Amy's very controlled parents appeal to her kidnapper -- or murderer -- on television, Nancy Grace-type Ellen Abbott (Missi Pyle) stirs the pot regarding Nick's involvement. But what's really going on here ...? Gone Girl -- some might say tastelessly inspired by all the recent cases of men accused of murdering their wives -- does have some interesting aspects and characters which help disguise the fact that it's actually a fairly routine thriller that becomes increasingly implausible as it progresses. To maintain its twists it simply ignores forensics, logic, and indeed reality, and it has an ending that is one of the sheer dumbest that I've ever seen. Affleck is terribly adequate as Nick and nothing more. Pike is a bit better, but the movie is nearly stolen by Neil Patrick Harris in his turn as an ill-fated suitor of Amy's who has his own personal demons. The main plot twist in this is nothing new. There are some decent supporting performances by Tyler Perry as a lawyer, Kim Dickens as a detective, and Carrie Coon as Nick's sister, among others. Gone Girl is entertaining for much of its length but then it pretty much goes to shit.

Verdict: You've got to be kidding me! **.

RICHARD III

Laurence Olivier as Richard the Third

RICHARD III (1955 ) Producer/director: Laurence Olivier.

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse."

"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York."

Desiring the throne of England, Richard III (Laurence Olivier) schemes and plots to do away with any one who might impede his progress or limit his chances of ascending. His victims include his brother, George (John Gielgud); his little nephews, the princes; his associate, the Duke of Buckingham (Ralph Richardson), who balks a bit at the idea of murdering little boys; and others. Richard covets and seduces The Lady Anne (Claire Bloom), the widow of a man he killed on the battlefield, and suggests that the widow of the king has cast spells against him. He lies, manipulates, and agitates behind the scenes. He is a royal monster. Richard III, based on Shakespeare's masterpiece and preserving most of its text, is itself a masterpiece, a stirring drama that excels in performance, music (Sir William Wharton), direction (Olivier) and photography (Otto Heller). Gielgud and Richardson are superb, Bloom is radiant and excellent, and there are notable performances from Cedric Hardwicke as King Edward; Mary Kerridge as Queen Elizabeth; Laurence Naismith as The Lord Stanley; Michael Gough [Black Zoo] as the murderer Dighton; Alec Clunes as Hastings; Andrew Cruickshank [The Stranglers of Bombay] as Brakenbury; and others. The only problem with this wonderful movie is, oddly, Laurence Olivier [Carrie] in the title role. He plays Richard like a malevolent pixie, humorous and above it all, finding everything funny, an interpretation that isn't necessarily wrong, as such, but doesn't work for everybody. In love with the language and his own voice, he tends to rush through many lines, making them musical but obscuring their meaning, to the detriment of his character. Some will find him flamboyant; others hammy. Still, Olivier is by no means bad -- his performance, whatever its flaws, doesn't detract from the film's brilliance -- and he is so obviously having a ball that it's hard not to settle back and simply enjoy him as this nasty creature, Richard. His death scene is extremely well-played, as is the death of George in the tower; oddly the death of the princes was handled more powerfully in the 1939 Tower of London. Richard has also been played on film by Vincent Price. who was rather good, and Basil Rathbone, in the aforementioned Tower of London. Al Pacino also played the role in a few scenes in Looking for Richard and was also creditable. Modern-day adaptations of the play have to dumb it down for the audience by setting it in fascist fantasy lands or other more contemporary milieus.

Verdict: Who dares say Shakespeare is dull? ****.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington and Sara Haden

A FAMILY AFFAIR (1937). Director: George B. Seitz.

"Holy Jumpin' Jerusalem! A party with girls!" -- Andy Hardy. 

When 20th Century Fox adapted a play and came out with Every Saturday Night  -- which led into the long-running Jones Family series -- MGM also adapted a play the following year and came out with this picture, which also became a long-running series. Spring Byington played the small-town mother, as she did in Every Saturday Night and in all of the other Jones' films, but she was replaced by Fay Holden for subsequent Hardy entries. Lionel Barrymore was the first Judge Hardy but his replacement in all the other films in the series, Lewis Stone, is understandably more associated with the role. Both Byington and Barrymore are very good, although one could argue that the latter seems a bit pooped, weird, and possibly inebriated, but that was often the actor's style. The plot has to do with Judge Hardy putting a temporary restraining order on an aqueduct that might mean great prosperity for Carvel, and earning the enmity of the ingrate townspeople. Daughter Marion (Cecelia Parker) has fallen for a man, Wayne (Eric Linden of No Other Woman), who may lose his job because of the Judge's actions, while her sister Joan (Julie Haydon), who was never seen or mentioned again, is having serious marital problems. Son Andy (Mickey Rooney), who is horrified at the prospect of taking a girl to a party, changes his mind when he gets a load of old playmate Polly Benedict (Margaret Marquis of Escort Girl). Aunt Milly (Sara Haden, who played the role in most but not every Hardy picture) remarks that Joan "feels things too intensely," while the Judge observes that in his day young people were awkward about talking about "the facts of life" -- which elicits a gasp from Mrs. Hardy -- but now it's religion that has them squirming. There's an exciting scene when Marion and Wayne nearly have a disaster when two drunks tow their car to a gas station -- or at least try to -- and they come afoul of a truck whose brakes have failed. The entire cast is wonderful, with especially nice work from Eric Linden, Julie Haydon, and the remarkable Mickey Rooney, who pretty much makes it clear even in this first outing why the series increasingly focused on young Andy. Eric Linden's character of Wayne, who gets engaged to Marion, was never seen again. Marquis is good as Polly if not quite as distinctive as Ann Rutherford, who took over the role.

Verdict: Fun old movie with that irrepressible Mickey. ***.

MEET THE BOYFRIEND

Pretty as a picture: Carol Hughes

MEET THE BOYFRIEND (1937). Director: Ralph Staub.

Radio crooner Tony Page (David Carlyle) is "America's boyfriend," but his manager, J. Ardmore Potts (Andrew Tombes), is horrified at the thought that he might marry aspiring Swedish actress Vilma Vlare (Gwili Andre). Potts wants an insurance firm to pay him a huge sum if Page gets married, so the daughter, June (Carol Hughes), of the firm's owner determines to break up the romance between Tony and Vilma. This all leads to the expected complications along with a kidnapping and certain romantic misadventures, none of which are especially amusing. "David Carlyle," who plays Tony, is actually Robert Paige, who appeared in plenty of these semi-musical movies as well as Flying G-Men, Son of Dracula, and Fired Wife. He has a nice voice. Pert Kelton almost steals the picture as Pott's wife and is the funniest thing in the movie. Hughes [Jungle Raiders] is pretty, charming, and adept -- she also played Dale Arden in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe -- and Paige is fine as well. Cy Kendall is also in the film, as well as Warren Hymer,

Verdict: Ho-hum comedy with songs. **.

HAIRSPRAY (2007)

Mother and daughter: John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky

HAIRSPRAY (2007). Director: Adam Shankman.

"If we get any more white people in here this'll be a suburb."

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) manages to get on Baltimore's Corny Collins dance program where she earns the scorn of Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer), who happens to be station manager. Will Tracy win the coveted Auto Show crown and integrate the Corny Collins show as well? The original Hairspray was turned into a Broadway musical, and this is less of a remake of the film as it is a screen adaptation of the stage work. Instead of classic rock songs we get some generic "Broadway" tunes, although a couple of them ["I Love You, Baltimore"] are catchy, and the black anthem "There's a Dream" is memorable. Still, this version is in virtually every way inferior to the original, lacking charm and with too heavy an approach. Water's Hairspray made its points on integration in a light, satirical way that got it across without pounding you on the head with its "message" but this Hairspray says the same things, however admirable, over and over and over again. It's like a Black Pride movie made mostly by white people; except for Queen Latifah [Mad Money], the stars are all white, too. It also has a sub-text of what you might call Fat Pride, but can't resist more than its quota of fat jokes with Tracy and her mother constantly being offered something to eat. The only performers who make any kind of impression (in the right way) are Michelle Pfeiffer [Grease 2] and Queen Latifah (wearing Ruth Ford's blond wig from the original?). As Tracy's friend Penny, Amanda Bynes is too old and too sophisticated, and the less said about John Travolta [Carrie] in drag as Edna Turnblad the better. Some members of the supporting cast are perfectly okay (James Marsden in his limited screen time as Corny Collins; Zac Efron as Link) but Jerry Stiller again fails to impress, this time in the role of Big Gal clothing shop owner, Mr. Pinky. At least Travolta and Christopher Walken (playing Mr. Turnblad) seem to be having fun with their number "You're Timeless to Me." The movie eventually becomes quite boring, which you can't say about the original.

Verdict: Some things should be left alone. **.

CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU

 [Victor] Sen Yung and Sidney Toler

CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU (1938). Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.

"What a wonderful gift for science your brain would make, Mr. Chan." -- Dr. Cardigan

"I prefer to keep it for myself." -- Charlie Chan

Back home in Honolulu with his very large family, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is awaiting the birth of his first grandchild. His oldest son, Lee, has gone to New York to study art [!] and his love of mystery-solving has been passed on to brother Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung), not to mention little Tommy (Layne Tom Jr). When a murder occurs on a freighter with passengers, these two set off to solve it while Papa is at the hospital; eventually Charlie takes over. Suspects and other characters include secretary Judy Hayes (Phyllis Brooks of The Shanghai Gesture), a witness to the crime; seaman Randolph (John King), who has special feelings for Judy; Carol Wayne (Claire Dodd of Babbitt), who is busy keeping secrets; animal trainer, Hogan (Eddie Collins) who is transporting beasts to the San Francisco Zoo and has a pet lion named Oscar; Dr. Cardigan (George Zucco), who in a weird development keeps a "living brain" in his cabin; Joe Arnold (Richard Lane), a cop who is escorting the prisoner Johnny McCoy (Marc Lawrence); Inspector Rawlins (Paul Harvey), who is Chan's somewhat befuddled boss; and Captain Johnson (Robert Barrat), who only wants everyone to get off of his ship so he can finally set sail with his cargo. Sidney Toler took over the role of Charlie Chan after Warner Oland's death, and he is excellent, if more grandfatherly, which is appropriate as Chan becomes a grandfather in this film [Phlip Ahn plays his son-in-law Wing Foo]. Sen Yung is a memorable addition to the Charlie Chan cast, and has a lot to do in the movie. Charlie Chan films had always had comedy relief, but in this film there is so much humor that it has to be considered a comedy-mystery, and it is very, very funny at times. A notable sequence has Chan testing Cardigan's deafness by throwing a coin on the ground behind him, which Cardigan turns to pick up. "When money talks," says Chan, "few are deaf." Zucco is especially good in this, but the whole cast is on top of things. Cardigan brings up the notion that the retina of the eye retains the image of the last thing the dead person saw a la Four Flies on Grey Velvet, but Chan debunks this theory immediately. ["All I see are reflections of self."] The movie boasts consistently amusing dialogue and has a generous amount of suspense as well.

Verdict: A very auspicious debut for Toler and Sen Yung. ***.

CITY HALL

CITY HALL (1996). Director: Harold Becker.

When a cop and a lowlife kill each other in a shoot-out, a little boy is caught in the crossfire. Deputy Mayor Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack of Shadows and Fog) tries to find out why the lowlife, Tino Zapatti (Larry Romano), was out on the street when he should have been in jail. His uncle Paul (Anthony Franciosa of Wild is the Wind) is a big shot mobster, and friends with Brooklyn politico Frank Anselmo (Danny Aiello), whom he orders to frame the dead cop. Calhoun's investigation uncovers corruption that goes all the way up to a judge (Martin Landau of Mission: Impossible), who just happens to be a good friend of Mayor Pappas (Al Pacino), whom Calhoun idolizes. Now Calhoun has to figure out if the mayor is involved and how he will handle it if he is. City Hall has a workable premise, and the acting is fine, but Harold Becker's direction isn't exactly dynamic, and the movie just fails to grip the way it should. Bridget Fonda plays a lawyer who tries to help the cop's family and is fine, but the movie is practically stolen by Aiello as Anselmo.

Verdict: Tepid when it should sizzle. **1/2.

BLONDE-IN-BONDAGE

Mark Miller and Anita Thallaug

BLONDE-IN-BONDAGE aka Blonde in Bondage and Blondin i fara/1957). Director: Robert Brandt.

Larry Brand (Mark Miller), an American reporter, is sent to Sweden by his editor to do a story on the country's morals. While there he meets one beautiful woman after another, including Laila (Ruth Johansson) and Mona (Anita Thallaug), who sings -- more than once -- a terrible song called "Shock Around the Clock" and does a little strip tease. Mona is an addict who is fed drugs by her dealer boyfriend and manager, Max (Lars Ekborg), who gets nasty when Larry does his best to get Mona away from him and comes afoul of the drug gang. One good scene has Larry thrown unconscious on to a railroad track and nearly fricasseed. There's also a cat fight between two hookers and a chase-climax in a fun house. The Swedish locations are good, the music is terrible, the acting is adequate and then some, and Miller is okay enough as the hero. The actor who makes the most vivid impression is the talented Ekborg as Max. This is a Swedish film but it doesn't appear to be dubbed. Miller is probably best known for the TV sitcom version of Please Don't Eat the Daises. Ultimately this is rather boring despite all the goings-on.

Verdict: Not exactly a gift from Sweden. **.

HAIRSPRAY (1988)

Mother and Daughter: Divine and Ricki Lake

HAIRSPRAY (1988). Writer/director: John Waters.

"She's more beautiful than Elizabeth Taylor!"

In the sixties chubby teen and "hair hopper" Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) wants to go on the Corny Collins (Shawn Thompson) dance show in Baltimore and strut her stuff, and she winds up not only a favorite of the show but a member of the council. Her mother, Edna (Divine), is thrilled for her daughter, but Tracy earns the enmity of former favorite Amber (Colleen Fitzpatrick/Vitamin C) and her mother, Velma (Deborah Harry of Wiseguy). Tracy is appalled at the show's refusal to admit black teens accept on "Negro Day" and fights for integration even as her friend, Penny (Leslie Ann Powers), falls in love with Seaweed (Clayton Prince), a black youth, infuriating her neurotic mother Prudence (Joann Havrilla). Will Tracy and her friends succeed in bringing integration to the Corny Collins Show and will it be Tracy or Amber who will be crowned Miss Auto Show of 1963? I have to say that I think most of the over-rated John Waters' oeuvre is fairly worthless, but Hairspray is the one film of his that I like (and maybe Polyester). Although the comedy is broad, it gets across the message without beating you on the head with it, and there are times when this is very, very funny. Ricki Lake is outstanding and gets fine support from the one-of-a-kind Divine, who also plays (out of drag) the mean, racist station manager, Arvin Hodgepile. Outfitted with a wild hairdo, Harry is also fun as Velma, although poor Sonny Bono is much less effective. Powers is okay as the forever lollipop-sucking Penny, but Havilla overacts terribly as her mother (which is saying a lot in this movie). Ruth Ford as Seaweed's mother [a black activist in a straight blond wig?] and Mink Stole as Corny's assistant similarly do not impress, but there are nice performances from many of the teens, such as Michael St. Gerard, as Tracy's unexpected love interest, and both Thompson and Fitzpatrick are very good. Oddly Jerry Stiller as Tracy's father also makes little impression. Pia Zadora, of all people, is good in a cameo as a drug-using beatnik. There are some wonderful classic tunes on the soundtrack, as well as the nifty new number "Do the Roach!" as well as some excellent dancing that is well-choreographed and well-edited. One could argue that the scene with the black people dancing in a much, much sexier way than the whites borders on stereotyping, but it's effective in its way. The film has many interesting touches, such as when someone sings a song on the show which is taken up by a poor drunk black on the street outside whose voice is just as good but who presumably never got the breaks. One of my favorite moments is when Edna says her daughter is "all ratted up like a teenage Jezebel" but pronounces it jazzabel. This is far superior to the John Travolta remake.

Verdict: Charming, loopy, played and done with just the right touch. ***.

ROSES ARE RED

New D.A. faces criminal lookalike; Don Castle plays both

ROSES ARE RED (1947). Director: James Tinling.

"I can't place the face but the feet are familiar."

Robert Thorne (Don Castle) has just become the new D.A. of an unspecified city. His photograph, along with some roses, is found near the body of a young woman who has been murdered. [No one ever expresses the slightest sympathy for this woman.] Thorne doesn't know the victim, and doesn't realize the photo is actually of his double, the crooked Don Carney. Thorne is kidnapped by Carney's confederates so the latter can study his movements and impersonate him with the help of corrupt police lieutenant, Wall (Joe Sawyer). Meanwhile Thorne's girlfriend, Martha (Peggy Knudsen of Hilda Crane), comes into contact with Carney's wife, Jill (Patricia Knight of Shockproof), when she tries to trace the photo. When the D.A. finally shows up again, is it Thorne or Carney, and how will Martha know the difference? Roses are Red is a modestly entertaining little low-budget flick with more than adequate performances and an intriguing premise that not enough is done with. Although Thorne is as brave as anyone, Castle makes him look realistically dismayed by and frightened of the situation he finds himself in. But the picture is stolen by Jeff Chandler [Raw Wind in Eden] in a very early role as thug John Jones, alias the Knuckle, displaying the sexy insolence that would eventually turn him into a star. Other familiar faces include Charles McGraw, James Arness, Douglas Fowley, and Charles Lane.

Verdict: Adequate in all departments, but that's about it. **.

MEET BOSTON BLACKIE

MEET BOSTON BLACKIE (1941). Director: Robert Florey.

When Boston Blackie (Chester Morris of The She-Creature) comes to the rescue of a lady, Marilyn Howard (Constance Worth), being bothered by a man on a cruise ship, the man is later found dead in Blackie's cabin. A worse fate befalls the lady herself in the Tunnel of Love, where spies and low lives are operating on the midway and especially around the freak show where a "mechanical" man (James Seay) provides a clue. Fleeing from Inspector Faraday (Richard Lane), Blackie commandeers the car of Cecelia Bradley (Rochelle Hudson of Strait-Jacket), and the two -- along with Blackie's associate, Runt (Charles Wagenheim) -- attempt to get to the bottom of things. Morris makes a swell Blackie, Hudson is perky if undistinguished, and the movie is an inauspicious debut to what would turn out to be a long-running series. Florey directed much better pictures, such as The Beast with Five Fingers.

Verdict: A lot of mostly uninteresting running around. *1/2.

THESE ARE THE DAMNED

THESE ARE THE DAMNED (aka The Damned/1963). Director: Joseph Losey.

"Nothing that's warm can live with you."

It's amusing to contemplate how people who went to see this film because of the poster to the left -- which makes it seem like another Village of the Damned -- must have felt when they had to sit through this tedious non-horror film which was nothing like the advertisement suggested -- too bad! Losey combines a story of children held at a military base because they were born radioactive -- due to their mothers' accidental irradiation -- with a romantic triangle consisting of vacationing American Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey), a much, much younger gal named Joan (Shirley Anne Field), and her gang-member brother, King (Oliver Reed), who seems to have incestuous feelings for her among other problems. Other characters include sculptress Freya Neilson (Viveca Lindfords), who lives near the military base and is friends with Bernard (Alexander Knox), who is in charge of the children. Had Losey stuck to scenes in the base, focusing on the plight of the children, this might have amounted to an interesting picture, but the poor kids show up late in the game, after the audience has had to endure tedious scenes of Carey's unconvincing romance with Field, and Reed's smoldering and childish antics. The movie presents a completely contrived scenario in which the triangle characters and the ice cold children wind up together in a natural cave below the base. What can you say about a movie that begins with British teddy boys marching down the street whistling their own theme song [West Side Story anyone?] and gets progressively worse? The final scenes with the children are somewhat moving, but it's far too late to save the movie. Oliver Reed [The Triple Echo] gives another one of his patented intense "I'm Mean and I'm Weird" performances, and is as tiresome as the movie itself, whereas Lindfors [The Exorcist III] acquits herself nicely in an underwritten role. Some of the children are talented as well and Knox is fine as the unpleasant Bernard. This was obviously meant to be seen as something profound and deeply affecting, but it just doesn't work. Arthur Grant's cinematography is superb, however. The film was severely cut (which couldn't have hurt it that much) upon release, but the DVD I saw has the complete version. Losey also directed Knox in The Sleeping Tiger.

Verdict: Interesting premise -- too bad it's a movie you'll probably want to sleep through. **.

WISEGUY Seasons 2, 3, and 4

Jerry Lewis

WISEGUY Season 2, 3 4. 1988 - 1990.

Wiseguy continued to be a good and watchable series throughout its second season. As already noted, the "Dead Dog Records" arc was not included on the official DVD but was the highlight of the second season if not of the show itself. There were other fine story arcs in season 2, however, such as one in which Jerry Lewis and Ron Silver played father and son in the garment industry who were in conflict with a riveting Stanley Tucci as a gangster. For several of these episodes Anthony Dennison filled in for an injured Ken Wahl, and was fine. There was also a shorter arc with an excellent Fred Dalton Thompson as a politician involved with a white supremacy group. Vinnie's priest brother is murdered, and in a truly unlikely development his mother marries an old retired mafioso well-played by George Petrie (who frequently appeared on The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason). One of the best second season episodes was a stand-alone story in which Frank's wife is dying and he and Vinnie try to figure out how to get the money for an operation for her.Wahl continued to exhibit his star charisma and Jonathan Banks was superb as Frank McPike.

Wiseguy  took a real nose dive in its third season, however. It started off well enough with story arcs in which Vinnie takes his stepfather's place at the table of assorted mafioso -- surely a very strange situation -- and has to contend with assorted rivalries and resentments all the while maintaining his cover. Another story arc in which Vinnie goes to Washington D.C., uncovers all sorts of skulduggery, including a plot to ruin the Japanese economy, and winds up arrested, featured fine performances from Ray Stricklyn and especially Norman Lloyd. Wahl exhibited his versatility by playing Vinnie's father in a stand-alone flashback episode, but another single episode in which an old girlfriend turns out to be a cop and thinks Vinnie is a hood, was left dangling. Instead we got the worst story arc in the series' history, in which Vinnie goes to a small town to investigate a man who seems to hold sway over the citizens like an old time European lord. This man, Volcheck, badly played by Steve Ryan, is obsessed with the film Mr. Sardonicus, which is a hell of a lot more watchable than these truly awful episodes of Wiseguy. The unbelievable story also brought back Roger LoCocco (William Russ) in a completely contrived manner, and had Vinnie freaking out and running off in the middle of an assignment, a development which was even more implausible than the rest of the story arc. The season ended up with Eddie Bracken playing a priest and giving a poor performance that matched the general third-rateness of these episodes. We saw more of Jim Byrnes as Lifeguard, who got a girlfriend.

For the fourth and final season, Vinnie -- or rather Ken Wahl -- ran off for good and left the series. Vinnie Terranova was killed off off-screen, but as his body was not found it may have left the door open for a return which never happened. Instead the new hero of the show was Michael Santana (Steven Bauer) a former prosecutor who winds up working with Frank McPike to take down a powerful man (an excellent Maximilian Shell) who thinks of Michael as a son. These episodes weren't terrible, but it just wasn't the same show. In further changes, both Michael and McPike joined the U.S. Attorney's office when the OCB [Organized Crime Bureau] was dissolved. Yet another change occurred in the final episode which featured a dynamic Billy Dee Williams as a tough high school principal who is asked to run for mayor and wants Santana to help in his campaign. How McPike would have fit in with this, no one knows; the series was canceled and the last three episodes, including the one with Williams, were never telecast. The best fourth season episode, in which Michael's friend Hillary (Cecil Hoffman) tries to bring a company that sells defective plane parts to justice, was also never aired. Bauer, Banks and Hoffman gave very good performances, however, and there was also nice work from Michael Learned as Hillary's mother and Fredric Lehne as lawyer Winston Chambers.

Verdict: Season 2: ***1/2. Season 3: **1/2. Season 4: **1/2.

ERAN TRECE/CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON

Ana Maria Custodio and Manuel Arbo

ERAN TRECE/CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON (1931). Director: David Howard.

The American film Charlie Chan Carries On has been lost, unfortunately, but apparently the same plot was used for the Spanish-language version with Manuel Arbo playing Charlie Chan. [A very similar plot was later used for Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise.] When a man on a tour is found murdered in his hotel room, Inspector Duff (Rafael Calvo) of Scotland Yard takes charge. Naturally the other members of the tour come under suspicion, and there are more murders from a rather audacious killer. Things really get serious when someone even takes a shot at Duff in the police station! The movie is half over before Charlie Chan shows up and eventually solves the case. Manuel Arbo makes Chan seem a bit like a nitwit and overdoes the smiling routine. The other Spanish actors are all effective, however -- Calvo and Ana Maria Custodio make the best impression as the cop and the first victim's daughter -- and the story line is a good one.

Verdict: Charlie Chan from an alternate dimension. **1/2.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (2014). Director: Shawn Levy.

Judd Altman (Jason Bateman of Identity Thief) comes home to discover his wife in bed with his boss, then learns that his father has died. He goes home for the funeral and discovers that none of his siblings are very happy, either. Wendy (Tina Fey) is married but still has feelings for the man next door (Timothy Olyphant) whom she nearly married but who became brain-damaged in an accident. Paul (Corey Stoll of House of Cards) can't give his wife, Annie (Kathryn Hahn), a baby, and it's driving her so crazy she comes on to Judd. Family screw-up Phillip (Adam Driver) has a sophisticated older girlfriend, Tracy (Connie Britton of American Horror Story), who loves him but despairs of him ever becoming a true adult. And so on. Then Mom (Jane Fonda) has a big surprise of her own. One character comes out of the closet after decades and no one asks a single question. This Is Where I Leave You is amiable enough, and generally well-acted, with some amusing moments, but it's sitcom stuff. Typical of many modern comedy-dramas it's cutesy and contrived in equal measure. They did movies like this much better in the golden age. None of the actors are really impressive the way they used to be. This is yet another movie in which the family lover boy is the least attractive of the brothers.

Verdict: Okay if you're not too demanding. **1/2.

WARNER OLAND AS CHARLIE CHAN

Warner Oland in youth

WARNER OLAND AS CHARLIE CHAN.

When 20th Century Fox decided to bring Charlie Chan to the big screen, their choice to play the role was middle-aged Swedish actor Warner Oland [1879 - 1938]. Despite his being Caucasian, Oland was quite effective in the role and appeared in many Chan pictures, some of the earlier ones of which are lost. Below are reviews of several of the films that are still among us: Charlie Chan in Paris; Charlie Chan in Egypt; Charlie Chan in Shanghai; Charlie Chan at the Circus; Charlie Chan at the Race Track; Charlie Chan at the Opera; Charlie Chan on Broadway; Charlie Chan at the Olympics; and Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo. Other Oland-Chan movies that have already been reviewed on this site include: The Black Camel; Charlie Chan in London; and Charlie Chan's Secret. Oland also gave excellent portrayals of the fiendish Fu Manchu in such films as Daughter of the Dragon.  Oland also appeared in The Jazz Singer and a great many other silent movies.

CHARLIE CHAN IN PARIS

CHARLIE CHAN IN PARIS (1935). Director: Lewis Seller.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) comes to Paris to investigate some counterfeit bank bonds when his associate, the Apache dancer Nardi (Dorothy Appleby), is murdered at the end of her act. Then Yvette (Mary Brian of Manhattan Tower), the fiancee of Chan's handsome young friend Victor (Thomas Beck of Every Saturday Night) gets in trouble when she goes to get some compromising letters from a former boyfriend, Henri Latouche (Murray Kinnell), who is also murdered. Chan now has at least two murders to solve, with the help of Inspector Renard (Minor Watson) and his irrepressible son Lee (Keye Luke). A weird old beggar goes around causing mayhem, and there's a scene in the Paris sewers. The cast is good, and Erik Rhodes is especially memorable as the ever-amusing artist Max Corday. The best scene has Corday assuming Chan can't speak English well and asking him if he wants a "little dlinky," after which Chan makes clear that he speaks English quite well, thank you. Kinnell often appeared in Charlie Chan movies in a variety of roles. This was the first appearance of Keye Luke as Lee Chan.

Verdict: Acceptable if minor Charlie Chan mystery. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT

Warner Oland and Rita Cansino (Hayworth)

CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT (1935). Director: Louis/Luis King.

Charlie Chan is investigating the theft and forgery of certain antiquities when he discovers that archaeologist Professor Arnold (George Irving) has been missing for weeks. Then the professor turns up in an unexpected place, setting in motion a series of often clever murders. There's the tomb that has hidden secrets and time-lost chambers that hold their own promise of death. Characters include Arnold's daughter, Carol (Pat Paterson), her sensitive violin-playing brother, Barry (James Eagles of The Story of Temple Drake), the family physician Dr. Anton Racine (Jameson Thomas of The Curtain Falls), Carol's fella Tom Evans (Thomas Beck), and Snowshoes, the whiny if lovable servant (Stepin Fetchit of Show Boat). A young Rita Hayworth, billed here as Rita Cansino, plays a servant girl, and is fine. There are perhaps not enough suspects, and some of the cast members over-act badly, but Charlie Chan in Egypt is fun.

Verdict: Not even dank tombs can stop Charlie. ***.

CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) sings! 

CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI (1935). Director: James Tinling.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) is attending a banquet in his honor when his host, honorable Sir Stanley Woodland (David Torrence) opens a small case and is promptly shot (by some mechanism inside) right in front of his guest of honor. Seems Sir Stanley got on the bad side of an opium smuggling ring, the leader of which is unknown. Suspects and other interested parties include daughter Diane Woodland (Irene Hervey of Play Misty for Me); secretary Philip Nash (Jon Hall of San Diego I Love You appearing as Charles Locher); James Andrews (Russell Hicks), a G-Man from Washington; police commissioner Watkins (Halliwell Hobbes); and of course Lee Chan (Keye Luke), Number One Son. There's invisible writing that hides clues as well as more intrigue at Cafe Versailles. At one point Charlie sings a cute song to an equally cute little girl, but proves not exactly ready for an American Idol audition. James Tinling also directed some of the early Jones Family films such as Back to Nature.

Verdict: Okay Chan entry but not one of the best. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS

George Brasno and Keye Luke

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS (1936). Director: Harry Lachman.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) takes his wife and twelve children to the circus and becomes embroiled in another mystery when one of the co-owners, the unpleasant Joe Kinney (Paul Stanton), is murdered. Suspects include Kinney's partner, Gaines (Francis Ford); the gorilla trainer, Blake (John McGuire of Sea Raiders); aerial artist Marie (Maxine Reiner), who was Kinney's fiancee; Marie's sister, Louise (Shirley Deane); circus worker Tom Holt (J. Carrol Naish) and Nellie Farrell (Drue Leyton), who claims to be the dead man's widow. Surely the killer couldn't be one of the adorable dancing midgets, Tim (George Brasno) and Tiny (Olive Brasno), nor Caesar the gorilla (Charles Gemora), and certainly not Lee Chan's pretty crush Su Toy (Shia Jung)? Keye Luke has a lot to do in this installment and emerges as comic relief, especially in a very funny scene when he and little Tim pretend to be a mother and her baby so they can follow one of the suspects! Shirley Deane appeared in several Jones Family films such as Educating Father as daughter Bonnie. Drue Leyton comes off very different in this than she was in Charlie Chan in London.

Verdict: Highly engaging Charlie Chan adventure. ***.