BRING ON THE DINOSAURS!

The Valley of Gwangi

BRING ON THE DINOSAURS!

This week we've got a round-up of movies featuring those delightfully dangerous dinosaurs, beginning with One Million B.C.; going on to Valley of the Dragons, which consisted primarily of stock footage from One Million B.C.; then examining that film's remake with Raquel Welch as a cave woman (!) and its sequel When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth; then an entire Planet of Dinosaurs; Ray Harryhausen's excellent Valley of Gwangi; and finally the much more recent Jurassic World.

And for those who like their dinosaurs in books as well as in the movies, check out the novelMonster World, as well as the non-fiction study Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies, which covers many of these flicks in more detail.

ONE MILLION B.C.

ONE MILLION B.C. (1940). Director: Hal Roach; Hal Roach, Jr.

A young couple take refuge in a cave, where they are told the ancient story of two lovers, Tumak (Victor Mature) and Loana (Carole Landis). The two come from different tribes -- the Rock people and the Shell people --  with Tumak's people being the more bestial of the two. Tumak is literally thrown out of their cavern by his own father, then makes his way alone until he encounters Loana. In addition to dealing with assorted human passions and jealousies, there are also a variety of carnivorous monsters to deal with. When an especially large and voracious dinosaur corners a group of Loana's people in their cavern, members of both tribes team up to banish the beast. One Million B.C. ignores the fact that human beings and dinosaurs did not ever co-exist, but tells a lively story anyhow, and there are plenty of monsters. The T-Rex -- actually someone wearing a T Rex outfit -- is laughable, but there are also the giant armadillo, a big gator in a fight with a huge lizard, and the humongous creature that shows up at the finale. The optical work is good for the most part, with an exciting earthquake (featuring a great shot showing a lava stream engulfing a woman as she tries to cross in front of it), and there's a very good score by Werner R. Heymann. The aforementioned lava stream shot, the battling giants, and the creature at the cave all turned up in numerous subsequent movies as stock footage. Mature [Kiss of Death] and Landis [Out of the Blue] give good performances, and Lon Chaney Jr. is effective as Akhoba. Remade by Ray Harryhausen in the seventies. Hal Roach also directed The Devil's Brother with Laurel and Hardy.

Verdict: Stone age lovers versus monsters! ***.

VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS

VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS (1961). Director: Edward Bernds.

In 1881 Algeria two men, Hector Servadac (Cesare Danova) and Michael Denning (Sean McClory) are about to fight a duel over a woman when the earth shakes in a great cataclysm that they manage to survive. After a time they realize that a comet grazed the earth, as it has time and again in the past, and taken a bit of the planet into space with it, along with a chunk from the prehistoric past. When Servadac and Denning realize what has happened to them, they don't seem all that upset, a problem with both the screenplay and the acting. Most of the movie consists of stock footage of One Million B.C. with Danova [Honeymoon with a Stranger] and Clory [Them] cleverly inserted  into the action. Again we have two warring tribes, two women (Joan Staley, Danielle De Metz), and the big lizard cornering some natives in a big cavern in a hill and gulping down and chewing one of the luckless warriors. Three clips from Rodan are also used to fill in for pterodactyls, as well as what appears to be a prop spider from Bernds' World Without End. Joan Staley is a Ruta Lee lookalike. The premise of the film is good, taken from Jules Verne's novel "Hector Servadac" aka "Career of a Comet," although that did not include prehistoric monsters.

Verdict: The producers wrote the book on "How to Make One Movie Out of Another." **.

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

Tumak (John Richardson) kills an allosaurus

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

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

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

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

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI

Gwangi goes to church

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969). Director: James O'Connolly.

T.J. (Gila Golan) runs a circus in turn of the century Mexico with her older friend, Champ (Richard Carlson). Back into their lives comes T.J.'s old boyfriend, Tuck (James Franciscus), who ran out on T.J. some time before. T.J. has a new act, a cute little horse (or prehistoric eohippus) who was found in the desert. But this attraction is nothing compared to the animals inside a hidden valley where the tiny horse came from. There are pterodactyls, a belligerent triceratops, and most of all, Gwangi, a fearsome combo of allosaurus and T Rex that chomps on one luckless fellow (Gustavo Rojo) and is ready for more before a rock slide helps Tuck and the others capture him. This is another in a long line of movies (stretching from before King Kong to Jurassic World and beyond) in which a dangerous creature is put on display and breaks out of confinement, causing havoc. The chief selling point of this is some absolutely amazing stop-motion effects work by Ray Harryhausen, clearly working on all cylinders. Gwangi is a wonderful creation, angry, confused, hungry, snapping and tearing at anything in its way. The sequence when the cowboys attempt to lasso the monster is superb, seamless -- I mean, who needs CSI? Another stunning sequence has the monster entering a huge Cathedral and stalking Tuck and the others while its heavy footsteps reverberate all through the building. There is the infrequent use of unconvincing props of assorted creatures, but generally the FX work is fluid and exacting. The story is based on a script put together by stop-motion specialist Willis O'Brien (King Kong), and it is serviceable. Carlson [Riders to the Stars] and Franciscus [Great White] are fine, as is Laurence Naismith as a paleontologist. Gila Golan appears to be dubbed, along with little Curtis Arden as the orphan boy, Lope. As for the film's romance between Tuck and T.J., one can only imagine the real melodrama will come afterward considering what happens to the circus.

The DVD for the movie has a featurette in which several CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) specialists are highly complimentary of Harryhausen's influential work on this film, of which they certainly should be.

Verdict: Lively Gwangi, and some superb stop-motion effects, make this a winner. ***1/2.

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH (1970). Writer/director: Val Guest.

In another impossible world where humans and dinosaurs interact in the same time period, a pretty blond woman, Sanna (Victoria Vetri), finds she is to be sacrificed to the sun. Due to a fluke, she manages to escape, where she encounters handsome Tara (Robin Hawden), who belongs to another tribe. Trouble begins because Tara prefers Sanna to his chosen mate, and in due course he earns the enmity of most of his tribe. In the meantime Sanna runs off, takes shelter during a storm inside an eggshell, and finds herself befriended by a newly-hatched dinosaur even as it gets larger and larger. Reunited, Tara and Sanna wind up on the run from his tribe, until a cataclysm signals the creation of the moon.

Essentially a sequel or remake of Hammer's One Million Years, B.C., this is not really a better movie but it got more attention and better reviews,with some critics charmed by the business with Sanna and her pet dinosaur. When I first saw this in theaters on a double-bill with The Valley of Gwangi, I was confused, because it looked like a Ray Harryhausen movie but as soon as a triceratops thundered out of a cave, I could immediately see that the animation wasn't as good. That's because the animation wasn't done by Harryhausen but by Jim Danforth, who was certainly not untalented but never quite as good as the Master. While the animation of the aforementioned triceratops lacks that certain fluidity that marks the best of Harryhausen's work, there are still some very good sequences in this, including Sanna's "pet," who reminds one a bit of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and some deadly scuttling crabs the size of large dogs who even seem to have a bit of nasty personality. There aren't enough monsters in the movie, so a couple of clips from the 1960 Lost World are thrown in for good measure. Vetri, Hawden and the others manage some very effective pantomiming, and there's some limited language among the cave people. Oddly these savages seem to care for one another at times. Mario Nascimbene's score is better than the one he did for One Million Years, B.C., although his overuse of a sound like sticks hitting one another is annoying.

Victoria Vetri had quite a few credits before this picture under the name "Angela Dorian," including Rosemary's Baby. She appeared in Playboy and sort of reinvented herself as Vetri, winning a lead role in Dinosaurs that did nothing for her career. She later shot her husband and is in jail for involuntary manslaughter until 2020. Robin Hawden was essentially a British TV actor who later turned playwright and novelist. In this picture he had a lean, attractive swimmer's built but might have had an entirely different career if he'd had a few muscles! Val Guest directed The Abominable Snowman and many other movies.

Verdict: You get a little bored waiting for the dinosaurs to show up, but there are some good FX. **1/2.

PLANET OF DINOSAURS

PLANET OF DINOSAURS (1977). Director: James K. Shea.

A spaceship has to make an emergency landing on a planet that is still in the prehistoric era, complete with lots of dinosaurs. (As usual in movies like this, the characters spend virtually no time talking about their loved ones back home that they might never see again.) A conflict breaks out because Captain Norsythe (Louie Lawless) is cautious and concerned with protecting his crews' lives when it comes to dinosaurs, while his chief opponent, Jim (James Whitworth) feels any risk is acceptable to become master of the monsters. (His attitude is actually more negative than the captain's, because he's assuming they will never be rescued.) As they bicker, they run into a brontosaurus, a big spider, and a battle between a stegosaurus and T Rex, then finally work together to kill an allosaurus (pictured) who keeps attacking their camp. The visual effects artists include Jim Danforth and Doug Beswick, and some of the stop-motion work isn't badly done. There is some attempt at characterization in the film, and some more-than-adequate actors, such as Lawless and Pamela Bottaro as Nyla. Harvey Baylor (Harvey Shain) is the obnoxious businessman who hired the space shuttle and is finally killed off in one of the movie's better moments. One crewman, Chuck, (Chuck Pennington) walks around shirtless throughout the entire movie as if he needed to show off his muscles. None of the people who are killed off ever seem to be mourned by anyone. Of the actors, Whitworth and handsome Max (Michael) Thayer as another crewman amassed the most credits.

Verdict: Not terrible space saga with some decent effects work. **1/2.

JURASSIC WORLD

The "Indominus Rex" faces down the cast

JURASSIC WORLD (2015). Director: Colin Trevorrow.

Jurassic Park has been rebuilt and sightseers flock to it in droves. Everything seems safe and secure. But an animal worker named Owen (Chris Pratt) is alarmed to learn that the new star attraction, a creature called "Indominus Rex," may be much more dangerous and intelligent than expected. Naturally, this creature breaks out of confinement, along with all manner of dinosaurs, and the body count begins. As usual, there are young kids involved in the action, the nephews of an administrator named Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard). When a nice assistant who tries to help the boys is tossed around for what seems like hours by hungry pterodactyls and a sea beast, which eventually devours her, it seems incredibly sadistic (and perhaps her boss would have made a better victim) -- worse, neither the kids nor anyone else ever express the slightest remorse about her death; but then the characterization in this is minimal, a problem the actors do little to resolve. The effects are excellent, the Indominus makes quite a villain, the movie is fast-paced and entertaining, but while the dinosaurs may be warm-blooded some of the humans behind it aren't. The third highest grossing movie ever! Chris Pratt is the once-chubby sitcom actor who reinvented himself as a lean, if thick-necked, "hunk." This is not as good as Jurassic Park III.

Verdict: Exciting if dumb creature feature. **1/2.

CAMELOT

Richard Harris as King Arthur

CAMELOT (1967). Director: Joshua Logan.

"Perhaps one day I will see forgiveness in your eyes. But I won't be there. I won't see it." -- a tearful Guenevere

Noble King Arthur (Richard Harris) of Camelot is trying to bring civilization and order to a barbaric society. Despite some opposition, things are going swimmingly until two major factors interfere. One is Arthur's reptile of a son, Modred (David Hemmings of Deep Red), who conspires against his father behind the scenes. The other is the triangle that develops between Arthur,  Queen Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave), and the proud, handsome knight, Lancelot (Franco Nero), which causes tremendous complications. The sad thing about this film adaptation of the hit Broadway Lerner and Loewe musical is that much of it is excellent. In fact, one might think that it's a pity that the movie didn't end at the intermission. The first half, showing the meeting and growing love of Arthur and Guenevere, as well as the creation of the Round Table, and ending with Arthur's sad realization of the feelings between his queen and Lancelot, plays very well for the most part. Things go awry in the second half however, with too many scenes that would have played perfectly well in the theater but don't go over at all on the big screen. Like most of the roadshow musicals of the period, Camelot goes on too long, with unnecessary sequences that add nothing to the movie.

The performances are problematic as well. Harris [Mutiny on the Bounty] has some excellent moments, but seems to be playing Arthur as a kind of "camp" through much of the movie. It is possible he was inspired by Richard Burton's performance in the stage play, but whereas Burton can get away with being "cute," the more serious Harris can not. While Arthur is an admirable character in many ways, one does get annoyed that, despite his internal anguish, he never displays some simple rage over being cuckolded by the two people he cares for the most, making him seem rather weak. One doesn't expect Arthur to chop off their heads as other kings might have done, but some expression of anger might have been appropriate. Vanessa Redgrave [Mary Queen of Scots] is simply lovely and excellent as Guenevere while Franco Nero manages to get by without being much of an actor, at least in this. although he does have one very fine moment. Harris did his own singing, which isn't any better than Burton's, Redgrave's own voice is just passable, and Nero is dubbed.

Whatever its flaws, Camelot boasts a fascinating and moving story -- one man's dream destroyed by others' passions -- and music and lyrics by Lerner and Loewe, including "Camelot" [the orchestrations for the chorus of this song are especially wonderful]; "If Ever I Would Leave You;" and others. And there are some splendidly touching moments, such as Lancelot sobbing over the corpse of Sir Dinadan (Anthony Rogers); Arthur's soliloquy about the love between the queen and Lancelot; and the final good-bye between Arthur and Guenevere, one of the best scenes in the movie.

Lionel Jeffries is his usual bumbling self as Arthur's adviser, Pellinore, and Laurence Naismith is fine as the magician Merlyn. Estelle Winwood shows up briefly as Lady Clarinda, who accompanies Guenevere to Camelot. (The latter wonders "Was there ever a more inconvenient marriage of convenience?") Gary Marsh has a nice turn as the young Tom of Warwick, who gives Arthur hope at the end.

Verdict: Half a good movie. ***.

HARLOW (1965) vs. HARLOW (1965)

Mike Connors and Carroll Baker

HARLOW (1965). Director: Gordon Douglas.
HARLOW (1965). Director: Alex Segal.

"All the best things in life have to be done alone" -- "Marie Dressler" in Harlow II

In 1965 there were two "dueling" biopics about the star Jean Harlow, who died tragically young at 26, but neither of these films give the actress her due. Right off the bat, it seems like unfair competition, as Harlow I is a technicolor, widescreen epic with the highly publicized Carroll Baker [The Carpetbaggers] in the lead. Harlow II stars the perhaps lesser light Carol Lynley [The Shuttered Room], and was essentially a black and white television production (shot in Electrovision) and blown up to theatrical proportions. The chief difference, among many, is that Baker plays the role so that Harlow comes off as fresh and appealing, while Lynley is in "big bitch" mode throughout most of the movie, making one wonder why anyone would want to work with her. Harlow's mother is played in the first film by a marvelous Angela Lansbury, and Ginger Rogers is also quite good as the mother in Harlow II. In both films Harlow has a shiftless Italian stepfather, Marino. Raf Vallone [A View from the Bridge] is excellent as the character in the first film, while Barry Sullivan, despite not being Italian, manages to score in the second film as well. Both movies are rather slanderous (by 1960's standards as well as 1930's) in the character of first/second husband Paul Bern, who appears at least to be impotent and, it is suggested, homosexual. In the first film Peter Lawford barely registers, while a superb Hurd Hatfield [The Picture of Dorian Gray] gives the best performance in either picture as the same character. Bern had a common law wife who is never seen in the first film, and is played quite well by Audrey Totter in the second; she tells Harlow's mother that although she is Bern's mistress, they have never had physical contact. In both pictures Harlow is so dejected/depressed by the Paul Bern business that she turns herself into a "slut." Harlow I is based on a bio by Irving Shulman that was found by subsequent biographers to be heavily fictionalized. Unfortunately, Shulman's version of Harlow and her circle seems to be the unofficial basis for the second film as well.

Carol Lynley as Jean Harlow

In Harlow I Leslie Nielsen as "Richard Manley" is cast in the Howard Hughes role, while Efrem Zimbalist Jr. [A Fever in the Blood]  plays the counterpart to William Powell in the second; Zimbalist actually gives one of his best performances while Nielsen is acceptable. His near-rape of Harlow in his over-opulent bedroom is one of the best scenes in Harlow I, while Harlow II boasts a funny sequence which depicts her screen test with each take ruined because she can't stand to have the dour, disapproving Zimbalist watching her. There is also a very good scene between Rogers and Totter arguing over Paul Bern. The second version has some famous old actors being impersonated, such as Hermione Baddeley doing a not-bad Marie Dressler, and Celia Lovsky much less successful as a supposed Maria Ouspenskaya. There are interesting performances by Red Buttons and Hanna Landy in the first film, and Michael Dante, Lloyd Bochner, and especially John Williams in the second. Martin Balsam plays a studio head in Harlow I and gives one of his rare unconvincing performances.

As for the leading ladies, both give competent if second-rate performances (especially in the case of Baker), with both failing to capture the essence of Harlow -- her voice, her attitude, that surly, sexy, lovable demeanor that made her so famous. The ladies do the best they can, but as both versions say over and over again, there's only one Jean Harlow. [Both movies fail to get across that Harlow was a good actress.] An unintentionally comical scene occurs at the end of Harlow I when the doctor administering to a very ill Harlow exhibits as much compassion to her mother as a sociopathic iceberg. Oddly, the doctor in the second film is similarly cold, if not quite so stone-faced. In Harlow I Baker/Harlow disgustedly smears cold cream all over her image in her mirror, a scene that also occurs in the earlier Queen Bee with Crawford.

Verdict: Two smutty movies that don't have that much to do with the real Harlow. Both versions: **1/2 out of 4.

BLANCHE FURY

Stewart Granger and Valerie Hobson

BLANCHE FURY (1948). Director: Marc Allegret.

Because of her parents' deaths, Blanche Fuller (Valerie Hobson), is forced to work as a domestic, but then she hears from her formerly estranged Uncle Simon (Walter Fitzgerald) that he wants her to come to his estate and be governess to his widower-son's little girl, Lavinia (Suzanne Gibbs). Blanche finds herself in grand surroundings, and meets two men: Lawrence (Michael Gough), who is Simon's son and Lavinia's father; and bitter Philip (Stewart Granger), who is the illegitimate son of a Fury, has no claim on the estate, and runs it for the others. Our heroine is rechristened Blanche Fury at her uncle's direction. As Philip tries to find proof of a possible marriage between his father and mother, which would change everything, he finds himself falling in love with Blanche and vice versa. A marriage takes place, but perhaps one that isn't based on love ... Blanche Fury has interesting characters and situations, fine cinematography by Guy Green, and a good score by Clifton Parker, but it suffers from the fact that its two lead actors are only so so. Philip is basically an intense Heathcliff-type character, but aside from a couple of moments, Granger [Footsteps in the Fog] plays him so laid-back as to be laughable. Hobson [Werewolf of London] is better, but it's still not a great performance. Fitzgerald, Gough [Konga], and the assorted character actors do nicely, however.

Verdict: It holds the attention but never quite convinces, although it has an uncompromising ending. **1/2 out of 4.

THE ASPHYX

Robert Powell and Robert Stephens

THE ASPHYX (1972). Director: Peter Newbrook.

Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens) is a scientist who is interested in capturing pictures of the soul leaving the body after death. He comes upon an odd apparition or creature that seems to appear just before death, realizing this when he sees pictures of his natural son, Clive (Ralph Arliss), and fiancee, Anna (Fiona Walter), just before they die in a boating accident. Heartbroken, Hugo turns to his adopted son, Giles (Robert Powell of Asylum), for help in isolating the creature so that immortality can be achieved by capturing it. Alas, things don't always work out the way you intended, especially when Hugo tries to make his daughter, Christina (Jane Lapotaire), immortal, leading to a horrific climax. The Asphyx boasts an interesting idea, even it if seems influenced by certain E.C. horror comics, and it's also well-acted, especially by Stephens and Lapotaire [Crescendo], with good work from Powell as well. It is also not as predictable as you might imagine. Director Peter Newbrook was also a cinematographer for such films as In the Cool of the Day, but he did not do the photography for this film.

Verdict: Not entirely successful, but different. ***.

HIT PARADE OF 1943 aka CHANGE OF HEART

John Carroll and Susan Hayward

HIT PARADE OF 1943 (aka Change of Heart/1943). Director: Albert S. Rogell.

"Their cover charge reads like my social security number!"

Aspiring songwriter Jill Wright (Susan Hayward of I'll Cry Tomorrow) discovers that her publisher, Rick Farrell (John Carroll) has appropriated her song for himself and retitled it. Considering that said song is a dreadful concoction called "Tohmboombah" one would think Jill would be happy that someone else took credit. Still she is importuned by Rick into writing more songs for him, planning to step forward and take credit when the songs become hits. They are both hopeful with a forgettable romantic ditty entitled "Change of Heart," which became the film's new title in re-release. Hit Parade of 1943 is amiable enough, although it ends with the heroine's self-abnegation when Rick tries to tell the truth about their songs on the radio. [Wanna bet Jill will change her tune when Rick starts cheating on her, as he will?] Hayward is terrific in the film, with very good support from Carroll, as well as Walter Catlett [Fired Wife] as Rick's dyspeptic associate, and Gail Patrick [Up in Mabel's Room] as the wealthy woman Rick uses in his career ambitions. Eve Arden is fun as always as Jill's friend, who doesn't think much of Rick (along with most of the audience.) The lyrics are by Jule Styne of "Funny Girl" fame and the music by Harold Adamson -- too bad this wasn't reversed, although "Who Took Me Home Last Night?" is a cute number and ""Do These Old Eyes Deceive Me?" isn't bad. A very young Dorothy Dandridge sings with Count Basie's orchestra, and you wouldn't recognize her as the sophisticated beauty she later became. As for Hayward, it was clear she had something special right from the start.

Verdict: A standard Republic musical with some good performances. **1/2.

FROZEN ALIVE

FROZEN ALIVE (aka Der Fall X701/1964). Director: Bernard Knowles.

Dr. Frank Overton (Mark Stevens) is working on a project involving suspended animation via very low temperatures with another scientist named Helen (Marianne Koch). Overton's wife, Joan (Delphi Lawrence), is very jealous of Helen, and suspects her husband is having an affair with her, even as she carries on her own casual fling with her friend, Tony (Joachim Hansen). This leads to rather melodramatic but entertaining complications, including Overton being accused of murder. The highlight of the film is when one of the participants is frozen as an experiment, and there is some trouble bringing him out of the deep freeze -- a very suspenseful sequence. However, one problem with the climax is that Helen's actions, although her motivations are somewhat understandable, are enough to get her forever thrown out of the medical profession  -- she's a nut! The performances in this are very good, especially handsome Stevens [Fate is the Hunter], who gives a very sympathetic performance that makes it clear why the two ladies in his life are so crazy about him.  Knowles also directed Space Flight IC-1 and A Place of One's Own with James Mason. A West German production.

Verdict: Unusual romance/science-fiction melodrama with a very good cast. ***.

WEB OF LIES

Majanda Delfino and Andrew W. Walker

WEB OF LIES (2009 telefilm). Director: Tristan Dubois.

Abby Turner (Majandra Delfino) works for an Internet security firm and has just come up with a state-of-the-art new system. Alas she discovers that this system may have been compromised after her boyfriend, Josh (Andrew W. Walker) is killed and the FBI informs her that he was a cyber-criminal. Afraid they will think she's involved, Abby does her own investigating, hooking up with a female hacker named Spider (the impossibly named Kaniehtiio Horn); dodging agents Wilcox (Michael Mando) and Anderson (Tara Nicodemo); and consulting with her boss, Michael (Ted Whittall). Then she re-discovers a totally unexpected ally from the past that she's not certain she can trust. While Web of Lies stretches credulity at times, it is fast-paced and absorbing for the most part, with good performances from Delfino, Walker, Horn, and the others. Tyler Hall and Jesse Rath are also notable in supporting roles. There aren't enough suspects of the Really Big Bad Guy, but there's still one very surprising twist near the end.

Verdict: Credible suspense telefilm. *** out of 4.

THREE SMART GIRLS

THREE SMART GIRLS (1936). Director: Henry Koster.

Dorothy Craig (Nella Walker) has been divorced from her wealthy husband, Judson (Charles Winninger) for years, when she discovers that he's keeping company with a marriage-minded gal named Donna (Binnie Barnes). Her three daughters, who haven't seen their father in ten years, jet from Switzerland to New York City -- along with nanny-maid Martha (Lucile Watson) -- to break Judson and Donna up and reunite their parents. Three Smart Girls sort of glosses over the fact that there's no excuse for a father not to see his own daughters in a decade, but as he's played by the "lovable" Winninger, it's made more palatable, if not quite excusable. You have to wonder why Judson would have the slightest interest in seeing his wife again let alone remarrying her. The three sisters are Joan (Nan Grey of Dracula's Daughter), who falls for her father's associate, Bill (John King of Charlie Chan in Honolulu); mousy Kay (Barbara Read), who is unaccountably pursued by Lord Michael Stuart (Ray Milland); and Penny (Deanna Durbin), who is the youngest and most high-spirited of the bunch. Universal obviously put the publicity push strictly behind Durbin, giving her several song numbers to showcase her glorious voice, and letting the other two gals sink or swim. Grey had quite a few credits before Three Smart Girls, while this was the first picture for Read, who had a few later credits. Except for a short, this was also Durbin's first movie. Whatever its flaws, Three Smart Girls is amusing, entertaining and well-acted by all, with Barnes especially good as Donna, and Alice Brady [Beauty for Sale] scoring as her mother. Mischa Auer is quite funny as a man hired by the girls to romance Donna. Followed by Three Smart Girls Grow Up.

Verdict: Cute picture with a winning Durbin and others. ***.

DEAR MURDERER

DEAR MURDERER (1947). Director: Arthur Crabtree.

Lee Warren (Eric Portman of Daybreak) discovers that his wife, Vivian (Greta Gynt of The Hooded Terror), has taken a lover, Richard (Dennis Price of She Played with Fire) while he is away for months on business. Warren concocts a clever scheme to do away with his love rival, but there are numerous complications, including the fact that apparently Vivien had already moved on from Richard to new boyfriend, Jimmy (Maxwell Reed, who also appeared with Portman in Daybreak). With one lover dead and another accused of murder, what is Vivien to do? Meanwhile Lee plays cat and mouse with police Inspector Penbury (Jack Warner). Dear Murderer is based on a play, but it is neither stage-bound nor opened up too unrealistically, and the movie has real suspense. The acting is excellent from all, although one can't help but wonder what the picture might have been like had Vivien been played by a perhaps more interesting actress such as Bette Davis or Linda Darnell. Hazel Court is cast as the murdered Richard's sister, Avis, and she is fine. There is a strange moment when Lee is about to confront his wife in the bedroom not long after he returns from his business trip, but the movie cuts away to the next scene at the crucial spot. The picture has a nice score by Ben Frankel and a very satisfying wind-up.

Verdict: Some pleasant company spent with a murderer. ***.

ORSON WELLES'S LAST MOVIE: The Making of "The Other Side of the Wind"

ORSON WELLES'S LAST MOVIE: The Making of The Other Side of the Wind. Josh Karp. St. Martin's Press; 2015.

"Orson Welles's Last Movie" pretty much begins with a meant-to-be-funny-but-isn't anecdote in which Welles is confronted by a homophobic Ernest Hemingway and reacts by acting like a "faggot" in front of him, leading to a battle and then the two collapsing into laughter. The anecdote may be apocryphal but it does somewhat figure in this convoluted story of Orson Welles and his attempts to finish -- or not finish -- The Other Side of the Wind. The book almost unfolds like a mystery as the reader wonders why few people have ever seen the completed footage of the film despite the fact that there is quite a lot of it. Disgusted with interference from studios who took final cut away from him for The Magnificent Ambersons and other films, Welles decided to go the independent route, and hired several people to help him who were devoted to the charismatic actor/director and willing to work insanely long hours for a comparative pittance. (Meanwhile Welles continued to live quite well and indulge his enormous appetite.) The plot of The Other Side of the Wind deals with a film director who, much like Welles, is making what he believes will be his final film while his world falls apart around him. Welles reportedly based the lead character on "macho men" like Hemingway and director John Huston, who plays the lead in Welles' movie. The Big Reveal at the end is that the director, who has affairs with most of his leading ladies, is actually more attracted to his leading men, and in love with the latest male star who has, apparently, only been using him. The big butch guy who is secretly gay and kills himself was a stereotype even in the seventies -- even The Sergeant came out earlier -- so Welles may not have been as ahead of his time as he thought he was. How self-revealing Welles was being with his screenplay (which was mostly in his head) is also open to debate. In any case, due to legal entanglements and the fact that the owners of the film won't release the rights (without a huge pay out, one suspects), it is unlikely the general public or film enthusiasts will ever see any of the movie. Those who have seen the footage claim that certain sequences have the same remarkable imagery and camera work of Citizen Kane, but whether it's as good a movie is another question [one suspects it has moments of brilliance but may not have added up to a whole even if it was finished; and the gay angle sounds awkward]. Author Karp isn't a film scholar, but Orson Welles's Last Movie is well-written and well-reported, and is a completely absorbing look at a gifted, difficult artist trying to make a movie outside of the studio system and putting it together like a patchwork quilt.

Verdict: Very good read with interesting details and a "cast" of dozens really pulls you along. ***1/2.

HELL BOUND

HELL BOUND (1957). Director: William J. Hole, Jr.

Jordan (John Russell) is a ruthless criminal who is putting together a gang for a caper: robbing a ship of millions of dollars of drugs. His confederates include: suffering addict Stanley (George Mather), whom Jordan slaps around brutally; obese and diabetic Herbie (Stanley Adams); tough moll Jan (Margo Woode of Somewhere in the Night); and sexy Paula (June Blair), who is not as bad as she seems. Harry Quantro (Frank Fenton) is another nasty associate of Jordan's. As part of her assignment Paula must play nurse to a paramedic, Eddie (Stuart Whitman of Sands of the Kalahari), who doesn't know that he's part of the robbery scheme. When a little boy is killed at an accident scene attended by Eddie and Paula, she is very disturbed by the child's death. Later her resolve to help commit the robbery weakens, but most of the other conspirators have equal problems. Hell Bound is a lively and absorbing crime movie about a bunch of truly inept criminals, and features good locations, some supremely screwed-up characters, and a highly satisfying wind-up. The prologue seems to depict the robbery itself but is only a film made by Jordan to show to his confederates. Whitman and Blair give very good performances, Woode and Mather are fine, and Russell is quite effective as the rough and determined ringleader. Jordan calls himself "Mr. Natas," an obvious reference to his evil nature. One scene that's supposed to take place on a boat looks like it was filmed on a staircase in an office building! William H. Hole Jr. was primarily a television director. Richard Landau also wrote the screenplay for The Quatermass Xperiment.

Verdict: Low-budget, but vivid, exciting, and well-acted. ***.

HELL'S HALF ACRE

HELL'S HALF ACRE (1954). Director: John H. Auer.

Donna Williams (Evelyn Keyes) has always thought that her husband of a short time died during the war. But then she sees a story about a man named Chet Chester (Wendell Corey) who has been arrested for murder in Hawaii and who greatly resembles the dead man. Chester is a deserter, black marketeer, and shady criminal, and when Donna confronts him he insists that he is not her husband. Can Donna get the man she apparently still loves to tell the truth? Meanwhile her poking her nose into Chet's business is bringing her to the attention of assorted nefarious elements. "Hell's Half Acre" refers to a dangerous, crime-infested section of Honolulu where much of the action takes place. While the movie has an intriguing premise, Hell's Half Acre isn't very good. Knowing what she knows about "Chet," it seems incredible that she wouldn't just walk away from the creep, especially when she finds out he was a deserter. The scenes between Donna and Chet don't work because the two actors just walk through their roles, perhaps because even they weren't convinced by the script. Philip Ahn plays a gangster who slaps around Marie Windsor, and Elsa Lanchester [Les Miserables] is a spirited lady cab driver. Keye Luke is the police chief, and Jesse White, annoying and unimpressive as ever, plays another hood who comes to a bad end. Windsor [Swamp Women] probably comes off the best with her typically vital portrayal. John H. Auer also directed The Crime of Dr. Crespi and quite a few melodramas and musicals.

Verdict: Not half as interesting as it sounds. **.

THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY

THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY (1936). Director: Phil Rosen.

Lawyer James Blake (Henry Wilcoxon) goes fishing in a small town and runs into a young lady named Charlotte (Betty Furness of Magnificent Obsession). Charlotte is one of many who are trying to reopen the Springvale Cannery, so the townspeople can have jobs. Blake, who had never had much feeling for the common people or for labor, is ashamed of his feelings and returns home determined to do something about it. He cooks up a ridiculous scheme which amounts to him faking his own death, changing his name, and running back to Charlotte and Springvale. Poor Franklin D. Roosevelt got the blame for this terrible picture because he asked writers if they could come up with a way that a man could disappear yet retain his personal fortune. The result appeared in Liberty magazine, which Blake actually consults before he disappears. Meanwhile his wife, Ilka (Evelyn Brent) is accidentally killed and Blake is blamed for her murder. At one point we see him conveniently acquiring a corpse from a man in a basement for money (it does not appear to be a morgue or a hospital) so he can use it as his own dead body, but this aspect (not to mention its sheer criminality) is completely glossed over. The President's Mystery is so overwhelmingly preposterous, improbable, and stupid that it's sheer libel to blame this mess on FDR! The first half of the picture has some interest, but then it simply falls apart, a lousy mystery posing as a "message film." Sidney Blackmer is fine, as usual, as George Sartos, who is out to stop the cannery from reopening, and Wilcoxon is okay even if his British accent keeps coming and going. At one point Charlotte asks Blake if he's around fifty -- which is what he looks -- and he tells her that he's barely forty. In actuality, Wilcoxon  [Cleopatra] was only thirty-one (according to official bios) but looks considerably older even without the mustache he wears earlier in the picture. The prolific Phil Rosen directed a number of Charlie Chan features, of which The Scarlet Clue is one of the best. Wilcoxon was married to that "big-faced" gal Joan Woodbury for 31 years but the marriage ended in divorce.

Verdict: There are so many holes in this it's like a Swiss cheese! *.

A KISS AND A PROMISE

Mick Rossi

A KISS AND A PROMISE (aka Sex Killer/2012). Director: Phillip Guzman.

David Beck (Mick Rossi) and his wife, Samantha (Natasha Gregson Wagner), run a bed and breakfast in a small town. Their sole regular tenant is Charlie Matthews (Sean Power), who is David's lover. But David's big secret isn't his bisexual behavior, but the fact that he gets off on strangling girls and women, something we learn fairly early in the picture. A Kiss and a Promise is more of a three-character study than a suspense thriller, and if it works at all it's because of the excellent performances by all three leads. The movie is, one imagines, very loosely based on a true story (if at all), which might be why the script doesn't quite hold together. Samantha doesn't quite seem comfortable with the fact that her husband also sleeps with his boyfriend (who hopes to sell a book but winds up being paid for sex instead) under the same roof, but one has to wonder why she puts up with it at all, considering she owns the business. The back stories of the characters are completely unexplored, which means that it's only the acting that makes them dimensional; it would have been nice to know more about Charlie, for instance. Patrick Bergin and Robert Miano are police detectives, and the other supporting parts are also well played. While this may not have been the intention, the movie has the dubious distinction of presenting a really fucked up "gay couple." Guzman fails to imbue the movie with any sustained tension.  The "truth" of this story is suspect on many levels, but the biggest factor is a certain letter that, according to notes at the end of the movie, "was never seen again." Since no one actually got to see the letter but a dead man and a cop who improbably disposes of it, how would anyone, including the filmmakers, even know it existed? Wagner is the daughter of Natalie Wood.

Verdict: Flawed if compelling, but you might wonder what the point is, if any. **1/2.

BUTTERFLY

Pia Zadora and Orson Welles -- in the same movie!

BUTTERFLY (1982). Director: Matt Cimber.

In 1937 at the Arizona-Nevada border Kady Tyler (Pia Zadora) comes to live with the father she never knew, a man named Jess (Stacy Keach), who is the caretaker for an abandoned silver mine. Despite their biological connection, Kady and Jess are drawn to one another, something which bothers Jess but doesn't seem to bother the much too free-spirited Kady. Kady's dying mother, Belle (Lois Nettleton), comes calling, along with the man Belle ran off with, Moke Blue (James Franciscus). Then there's Wash Gillespie (Edward Albert), the son of the owner of the mine, and the father of Kady's baby and her fiance. How far will Jess go to get Kady for himself -- and is she really his daughter? Butterfly certainly holds the attention with its intriguing if bizarre situations, as well as some very good acting. Keach takes top honors, with Nettleton a close second, and Franciscus [Youngblood Hawke] also scores in some emotional scenes inside the mine. Pia Zadora [Hairspray] is not bad at all, although one couldn't necessarily call her a great actress -- her pouty looks and attitude fit the part. Orson Welles, of all people, shows up as a judge at two separate trials involving Kady and Jess, and is very effective and amusing. Edward Albert [Galaxy of Terror] is fine as Kady's boyfriend, and in one brief scene June Lockhart and Ed McMahon [!] play his parents -- McMahon is no actor. Stuart Whitman, however, makes his mark as a preacher. This forgotten movie is based on a novel by James M. Cain.

Verdict: Twisted, but interesting, love story. ***.

AS YOUNG AS WE ARE

AS YOUNG AS WE ARE (1958). Director: Bernard Girard.

Kim Hutchins (Pippa Scott) gets a teaching position in a small town and becomes friends and roomies with another teacher, Joyce (Majel Barrett). One afternoon a handsome trucker named Hank (Robert Harland) stops to fix their car, and Kim accepts a date with him. She believes Hank is around her own age, but to her horror Hank shows up in her classroom! Kim wants to cut if off with him before the whole town starts talking, but it may not be as simple as it seems ... As Young As We Are is an interesting picture, and its bolstered by the acting, with Scott [Mr. Lucky], Barrett and Harland all taking top bows. Ellen Corby and Ross Elliott are also in the cast -- as a landlady and Kim's old boyfriend, respectively -- and Ty Hardin [Berserk] makes his mark as another student who is as hunky as he is rude and unruly. This was Robert Harland's first picture, and it's a surprise that this good-looking, sensitive and sexy actor didn't have a much bigger career, although he did much television work in the years after this picture's release; he gives an excellent performance in this as well. The pleasant theme song is sung well by Andy Russell [Copacabana].

Verdict: A nice, well-acted movie from Paramount. ***.

BEWARE OF PITY

Albert Lieven and Lilli Palmer

BEWARE OF PITY (1946). Director: Maurice Elvey.

When Lt. Anton Marek (Albert Lieven) visits the home of the Baron Kekesfalva (Ernest Thesiger), he encounters the man's daughter, whom he at first doesn't realize is in a wheelchair. When he learns that the daughter, Edith (Lilli Palmer), doesn't get out much due to her affliction, he begins paying calls on her, and the two become friends. Unfortunately, Edith's feelings for Anton become intensely romantic, and she pins her hopes for a full recovery on his alleged love for her and on an operation whose efficacy might just be mythical. Beware of Pity is based on a story by Stefan Zweig, who also wrote Letter From an Unknown Woman, but in this dark romance the man is the protagonist instead of the woman. Beware of Pity is a compelling tragedy which features some fine performances, especially from sensitive Lieven, a German actor who is essentially unknown today but appeared in many British and German films. Thesiger is fine as the concerned father; Gladys Cooper scores as a doctor's blind wife, who urges Anton to marry a woman he doesn't love out of compassion; and Cedric Hardwicke [The Winslow Boy] is also excellent as the doctor. Lilli Palmer [The House That Screamed], on the other hand, is unconvincing as Edith, and this greatly weakens the picture as a whole. An interesting aspect of the film is that when the final tragedy finally occurs, one isn't certain if Marek is heartbroken or relieved.

Verdict: Interesting psychological anti-romance with a fine lead performer from Lieven. ***.

ROADSHOW: The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s

ROADSHOW: The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s. Matthew Kennedy. Oxford University Press; 2014.

If you've reached a certain age you may remember going with your parents to see big, splashy, over-produced versions of Broadway musicals such as The Sound of Music, which I saw at the Rivoli in New York when I was a kid. You may not remember that many of these films were released as "roadshows" -- you got tickets and reserved seats in advance -- and while most of these roadshows were musicals, a few were not. They were long, often had intermissions, and, of course, higher ticket prices. [The last roadshow I remember seeing was, of all things, Last Tango in Paris.] In any case, with wit, solid research, and large doses of amiability, Matthew Kennedy traces the birth and death of the roadshow musical in this marvelously entertaining and very well-written volume. Once upon a time Julie Andrews [Darling Lili] was seen as the greatest thing since sliced bread, but that was before she appeared in Star! and others and soon her "mega-star" days were over. Then we have all the musical adaptations -- Paint Your Wagon, Camelot, Goodbye Mr. Chips -- in which most of the lead performers could not sing.  When producers ran out of Broadway shows to adapt (Funny Girl, Hello Dolly) they made musicals out of films that originally had no music in them  (the aforementioned Mr. Chips) or adapted films, such as Dr. Dolittle and The Happiest Millionaire, from other medium. And we mustn't forget the hilarious "feud" between Barbra Streisand [A Star is Born] and Carol Channing [The First Traveling Saleslady] when the former got the coveted part in Hello Dolly which Channing felt should have been hers. Roadshow dissects what went wrong with most of these over-bloated pictures, whose musical values were often lost behind inappropriate actors and overblown budgets, as well as producers and directors who often had no idea what they were doing, such as Joshua Logan of Paint Your Wagon. Broadway adaptations of the previous decade may have been more effective (Carousel, The King and I etc.), but  in the sixties for every Sound of Music there were half a dozen or more critical and financial mega-turkeys.

Verdict: Compulsorily readable! ****.

THE SECRET PLACE

THE SECRET PLACE (1957). Director: Clive Donner.

Gerry Carter (Ronald Lewis) is the head of a gang planning a diamond heist. Knowing that a little boy, Freddie (Michael Brooke), has a crush on Gerry's girlfriend, Molly (Belinda Lee), he asks her to importune Freddie to "borrow" his father's cop uniform. This all leads to numerous complications. The best thing about The Secret Place is the robbery itself, which is quite suspenseful and well-handled. Unfortunately, the bulk of the movie is turned over to a lot of running around after the boy through "secret places." The performances are good, with the very talented little Brooke taking top honors, although Lewis is sharp, as usual, and Michael Gwynn [Never Take Candy from a Stranger] scores as Steve, an associate of Gerry's. Belinda Lee [Blackout] is not bad as Molly, and neither is David McCallum [The Man from U.N.C.L.E.] as her rather weird brother. But this falls apart because the second half drags so much and has little suspense.

Verdict: One half of a good crime thriller. **1/2.

STRANGE AWAKENING aka FEMALE FIENDS

STRANGE AWAKENING (aka Female Fiends/1958). Director: Montgomery Tully.

"When she was in college she was voted the girl most likely to exceed."

Peter Chance (Lex Barker of Tarzan's Savage Fury) kisses his wife, Iris (Monica Grey) goodbye, drives off, gets in an accident, and winds up waylaid by strangers who take him to their mansion and insist he is really the son of a wealthy man who just died. Having amnesia, Peter isn't certain what to believe, but he meets the ladies in "his" life: His mother, Mrs. Friend (Nora Swinburne); his sister, Marny (Lisa Gastoni); and his wife, Selena (Carole Mathews of The Monster and the Ape). Then there's the attractive maid, Isabella (Malou Pantera), and Dr. Rene Norman (Peter Dyneley of The Manster), the family physician who seems to know a lot more about what's going on than he's saying. Since we know from the first that Peter is not the man everyone is telling him he is, the only suspense is from figuring out the purpose of the deception, which of course has to do with wills, inheritances, and lots of money. As it draws to its not entirely predictable conclusion, there is a little more tension, and the film is well-acted by everyone. This is based on "Puzzle for Fiends" by the prolific Patrick Quentin (Hugh Wheeler). Montgomery Tully also directed Paid to Kill.

Verdict: Hardly classic film noir, but entertaining. **1/2.