Bantam Street

PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954) Written by Harold Medford and...

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:46:20 -0700

PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)

Written by Harold Medford and James R. Webb Directed by Roy Del Ruth

A series of gruesome murders in Paris’ sleazy Rue Morgue has police baffled. What with the conflicting reports of witnesses (“The killer spoke German.” “The killer spoke Italian.” “The killer was short.” “He was tall.”) and the savage violence of the murders, Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin) is happy to arrest young university teacher Pierre Dupin (Steve Forrest) though evidence against him is entirely circumstantial. This adaptation of the classic Poe story opens with great speed and energy and continues this way for most of its first third, with killings - still surprisingly gory for a major studio movie of the mid-Fifties - and music hall entertainment (Paul Richards’ knife-throwing act is a highlight), then quiets down for most of its remaining screen time. Its a shame that Richards disappears after his arrest and release as a prime suspect, because he is a lot more interesting and engaging a character than Forrest’s earnestly dull blond professor. Karl Malden as Professor Marais takes center stage once Forrest is behind bars, and though his performance is nuanced and psychologically rich, he is missing the edge that Vincent Price (for example) would have brought to the proceedings. He is ably supported in his villainous obsessions by eye-patched sailor Anthony Caruso. While Patricia Medina does what she can with her role as the object of Malden’s obsession and looks beautiful as usual, the part is seriously underwritten. The best scenes remain those that depict the nightlife of Rue Morgue and the murders themselves, which are staged with vigor and edited to dynamic effect. In addition to those already mentioned, in supporting roles are Allyn McLerie as Richards’ assistant, Merv Griffin as a student, and the always welcome Erin O’Brian-Moore, Paul Brinnegar, Virginia Brissac, Henry Corden, Henry Kulky, Frank Lackteen, George J. Lewis and Charles Gemora as Sultan the Gorilla - the last seven of whom are uncredited in the cast list. (TCM’s print looks good but could stand a restoration.)

— Robert Deveau

STEAM WARS NEWS Happy to announce I’m partnering with...

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:51:34 -0700

STEAM WARS NEWS

Happy to announce I’m partnering with entrepreneurs/producers Jeremy Frommer and Rick Schwartz of Jerrick Ventures to produce, basically, all things STEAM WARS: action figures, graphic novels, trading cards, games, and more.… To kick things off we’ve created three trading cards, one to be given away, signed by me, at each of the next three Wizard World/Comic Cons (Philadelphia, New York and Chicago) with a different one in each city. If you’re in the Philly area at the end of this month (5/30—6/2, see link below), please say hi to me, get your free card signed (plus anything else) and—what the heck—say hi again. PS: still moving forward with LS3, please bear with us. This has been a hand-typed announcement.

http://www.wizardworld.com/home-pa.html

LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL (1973)Written...

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:58:00 -0700

LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL (1973)
Written by Richard Blackburn and Robert Fern Directed by Richard Blackburn

Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith) is a ward of the church in a small southern town in the Thirties. Her father Alvin (William Whitton) is a gangster who is abducted by the mysterious Lemora (Lesley Gilb). When Lila receives a letter from Lemora informing her of her father’s whereabouts, she undertakes a perilous journey to see him in the town of Asteroth. This is exactly the kind of movie that makes wading through the vast sea of cinematic mediocrity worthwhile. Though low budget and with acting that is mostly on an amateurish level, the film is intelligently written and shot and is bursting with ideas and unique perspectives. Lila’s journey and what happens to her once she arrives at Lemora’s home can be viewed as straight-forward horror film, a fairy tale for adults or even a metaphor for puberty, and it works satisfyingly on all those levels as well as others I’ve probably not thought of. The over emphatic amateurishness of most of the acting works in the film’s favor, making it’s events all the more strange and unreal, and placing in sharp relief the naturalness of Cheryl Smith (later known as Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith and, unfortunately, a heroin addict who died before her 50th birthday). Lesley Gilb as Lemora has a riveting presence, resembling a Photoshop collage of Barbara Steele, Karen Black and Martine Beswicke, and is as odd and otherworldly as the film that bears her character’s name. The print shown by TCM is very dark, losing detail in the abundance of night-for-night shots; Synapse has released the film on DVD mastered from a 35mm print, so TCM’s is probably an old 16mm reduction print. At any rate, there are scenes that are better for their visual vagueness, including several in which a child’s whimpers are heard but we can’t quite make out what is happening. If you think you’ve seen it all and are open to the unusual, I can’t recommend LEMORA more highly.

— Robert Deveau

HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (1970)Written by Santiago Moncada...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:16:30 -0700

HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (1970)
Written by Santiago Moncada Directed by Mario Bava

John Harrington (Stephen Forsythe), a Paris-based designer of high fashion bridal gowns, is tormented by fragmented memories of the murder of his mother. Each time he murders a new bride, he recovers another piece of his memory. For a 1970’s European movie about a serial killer, HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON is remarkably restrained, with little gore and no nudity. The script by Moncada, a respected Spanish author of psychological thrillers, is much better than most co-productions of this kind (although a number of plot holes exist because of last minute re-writes, which I’ll go into later), and Bava’s direction, aided by his own cinematography, is stylish and subtly humorous. Forsythe was an experienced and talented Canadian actor who is quite believable as the trendy fashion designer with a secret life, while Laura Betti, with her round face and large eyes, is perfect as his wife, a sympathetic harridan who torments him because he is not the man she thought she was marrying. It was the sudden availability of the award-winning Betti that caused the quick re-writes; her presence added respectability to the project (she had worked with Fellini, Pasolini and De Sica, and would later work with Bertolucci and the Taviani Bros), and she adds a physical eccentricity that compliments Forsythe’s restraint. Though not Bava’s best film, it is a good thriller with some wonderful set pieces and creative photography, expressing as much through its imagery and editing as through its dialog or actions. It’s Italian title, Il rosso segno della follia (THE RED SIGN OF MADNESS), makes more sense than it’s U.S. title, if only because the killer uses a cleaver, not a hatchet, and the color red figures prominently. While it is available on a number of PD sources, Redemption’s DVD is from a beautiful 35mm print, which not only does justice to Bava’s cinematography but also has occasional slight noise on its soundtrack that makes it feel like you’re watching a film, not a digital image.

- Robert Deveau

THE SNOW DEVILS (1967)Written by Renato Rossetti and Ivan...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:18:50 -0700

THE SNOW DEVILS (1967)
Written by Renato Rossetti and Ivan Reiner, from a story by “Audrey” (Aubrey) Wisberg

Directed by “Anthony Dawson” (Antonio Margheriti)

When a remote weather station is destroyed and the Earth’s climate goes haywire, Commander Rod Jackson (“Jack Stewart”/Giocomo Rossi-Stuart) of the United Democracies Space Command (referred to as “Udsco” long before we ever know what that means) is called in to investigate. He is assisted in his trek into the Himalayas by Capt. Frank Pulasky (Goffredo “Freddy” Unger), Lisa Nielson (“Amber Collins”/Ombretta Colli) and Sherpa guide Sharu (Wilbert Bradley - who I’d just seen in SANDOKAN THE GREAT). The final film in Margheriti’s loosely joined Gamma One trilogy (after WAR OF THE PLANETS and WILD WILD PLANET) is mostly earthbound and has a rather relaxed pace, but the wacky costumes and hairdos (Rossi-Stuart’s coif is quite amazing, as is that of the titular characters), the primitive yet effective spfx, the comically absurd race of hirsute blue alien “snow devils” and the final third when the Gamma One takes off for Jupiter’s moon Callisto make it a fun 90 minutes. Alberto Lavagnini’s score is early 60’s guitar-centric and unlike anything he did for sword and sandal epics. Not as wild and wooly a space adventure as the previous two, but fun none the less. (Viewed on Warner Archives widescreen DVD which loses color balance during dissolves but is otherwise nice looking.)

- Robert Deveau

THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962) Written by Ellwood Ullman and...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:46:15 -0700

THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962)

Written by Ellwood Ullman and Norman Maurer Directed by Edward Bernds

Having been thrown out of their boarding house for cooking in their room, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita) answer an ad placed by eccentric Professor Danforth (Emil Sitka), who has invented a flying submarine/tank/helicopter that is coveted by Martians. The “Boys” may have been in their mid-sixties when they made this movie, but they certainly weren’t lacking in energy. They carry this entertaining comedy squarely on their shoulders, making it feel as though it’s just a long short subject. The team behind the camera, having been well experienced with the Stooges and the Bowery Boys, knows how to make crowd pleasing comedy, and the score by Paul Dunlap adds greatly to the breezy proceedings (with a recurring motif that sounds a great deal like Herrmann’s opening strains of VERTIGO). Footage of flying saucers and general destruction are from EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS.Emil Sitka is, of course, the perfect absent-minded professor; I’m pretty sure the voice of Mel Blanc is heard in a Stooges cartoon (where did that come from, I wonder?), while Frankenstein-headed, Dracula-capedMartian spies Ogg and Zogg are played by George N. Neise and Rayford Barnes (who are also seen briefly as human airline pilots). The second of the two Stooges features with a sci-fi theme; while I prefer HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL, IN ORBIT is a whole lot of fun. The opening scenes in the boarding house and at the Professor’s castle were originally shot for a TV pilot, which can be seen in its entirety on YouTube, which is where I watched this feature.

— Robert Deveau

I LIKE YOUR NERVE (1931) Written by Roland Pertwee and Houston...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:13:02 -0700

I LIKE YOUR NERVE (1931)

Written by Roland Pertwee and Houston Branch

Directed by William C. McGann

Rascally rogue Larry O’Brien (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) is thrown out of one South American country because of his unacceptable behavior with their women, only to crash through the border of the next country over. At first sight of Diane (pronounced “Deeann”) Forsthye (Loretta Young), he falls head over heels in love with her, his efforts to win her affections disregarding social conventions and her own desires to such an extent that his behavior borders on the sociopathic. His egocentric single-mindedness becomes heroic, however, when Diane (pronounced “Deeann”) is kidnapped by her embezzling step father (Henry Kolker). This breezy early talkie from First National, barely an hour long, is quite entertaining, with nice location shooting, a sophisticated script, and brisk direction and editing. Fairbanks’ constant grin makes him appear to be insane, at first, until one realizes that he may be copying his father, whose ready smile in the face of adversity looked devil-may-care. One can’t blame Fairbanks for falling for the young Loretta Young, who is stunning. The performances of Kolker and Edmund Breon as Young’s step-father and elderly intended husband, respectively, add greatly to the proceedings, while Charles Middleton appears briefly as a soldier (with no lines) and fifth-billedBoris Karloff plays Kolker’s butler, with a half dozen lines, all of which begin with “Excellency…” TCM’s print is not first generation, with soft focus, splices and scratches, and is reportedly missing an opening scene with a fortune teller.

— Robert Deveau

THE PSYCHOPATH (1963) Written by Robert Bloch Directed by...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:32:27 -0700

THE PSYCHOPATH (1963)

Written by Robert Bloch Directed by Freddie Francis

The members of a post WWII Allied commission are being murdered 20 years later, a doll with a sculpted likeness of their faces left beside the bodies. This Amicus suspense thriller starts off well with a scene in which a man is stalked down dark streets by a noisy red car; the murders prove to be the best scenes in the film, with director Francis paying special attention to shadows and sounds. The bulk of the film, though, is made up of talky scenes of stolid Inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) stolidly investigating. I don’t think I’m giving too much away - though you may want to stop reading here if even mild spoilers ruin your day - when I say that the title character is not the murderer. Like his work on THE SKULL, Francis is more interested in what things look and sound like than the story he has to tell, resulting in a few good scenes with long stretches of not very good dialog. Bloch’s script contains some fine ideas that could have stood another draft. The score by Elizabeth Lutyens, as conducted by Phillip Martell, sounds just like a Hammer film. In a tradition begun by Hammer, lead actress Judy Huxtable’s entire performance is post-dubbed; whether by the actress herself or someone else I have no idea. The endangered members of the Allied commission are well played by Alexander Knox, Thorley Walters and Robert Crewdson, who sports a unique black beard and silver head of hair, making his doll a memorable one. Margaret Johnston, playing the wheelchair-bound widow of the man they wrongly condemned, is so far over the top and down the other side she threatens to leap out of this movie and chew the scenery in whatever film was on this one’s original double bill. (Viewed on TCM, whose full screen print of this Techniscope film is seriously comprised, losing valuable visual information on the left and right of the screen.)

— Robert Deveau

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965) Written by Peter Welbeck (Harry...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:04:12 -0800

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965)

Written by Peter Welbeck (Harry Alan Towers) Directed by Don Sharp

Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee), assisted by his devoted daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin), kidnaps Prof. Muller (Walter Rilla) and his daughter Maria (Karin Dor), forcing him to finish his development of an invisible, fast-acting poison gas, lethal enough to destroy entire populations in minutes. The only man standing in his way is Commissioner Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) of Scotland Yard. With an unforgetable opening sequence in which the title character is executed, this first of five Fu films produced and written by Harry Alan Towers is the best, with good production values, a late 20’s/early 30’s period atmosphere, and most importantly, a genuine feeling of pulp adventure. Though an attempt was made to link this film with the Bond series, mostly in its advertising (the fantastic poster is by Mitchell Hooks, who created the ads for the first Bond films), the story is played straight. Lee is perfect as the diabolical Fu; Green, an actor who doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his wide range and reliability as hero (ZULU), villain (DEADLIER THAN THE MALE), or character (Little John, Hercules), is the very image of upright British heroism, while Howard Marion-Crawford doesn’t lay on the Nigel Bruce-ness too thickly as Dr. Petrie. Solid support comes from Joachim Fuchsberger as Prof. Muller’s two-fisted assistant, Chin as Fu’s sadistic daughter (I highly recommend her autobiography, by the way), Harry Brogan as an absent-minded professor, while Dor is given more action scenes than most heroines of the era, even resourcefully causing the final showdown between Fu and Smith. My only quibble - a minor one - is that Smith has lost the first part of his name (he’s Sir Denis Nayland-Smith in the books) and Fu has lost his “Dr.” Don Sharp’s direction is what one expects from this genre veteran, fast and clear, and Christopher Whelan provides an effective score that is more James Bernard than John Barry. The series declined with each succedeeding film, the final one looking cheap and making little sense, but one should be gratefuil that this entertaining example of solid 60’s action/adventure has been buffed up by Warner Archives with a lovely widescreen DVD release.

- Robert Deveau

RHINO! (1964)Written by Art Arthur and Arthur Weiss Directed by...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:47:56 -0800

RHINO! (1964)
Written by Art Arthur and Arthur Weiss Directed by Ivan Tors

Zoologist jim Harmon (Robert Culp) hires poacher Alec Burnett (Harry Guardino) as a guide to assist him in researching the endangered animals of Africa. They are both especially interested in the rare white rhino, although each has very different reasons. This movie can’t decide if it wants to be a travelogue about animals, an Ivan Tors-style family-friendly entertainment (ala FLIPPER or “Daktari”), or a tense safari adventure (like KING SOLOMON’S MINES) so it suffers on all counts. The characters are seriously underwritten, and though Culp, Guardino and Shirley Eaton (as a doctor) do their best, they don’t have a lot to work with. When Guardino’s men steal Culp’s truck loaded with his notes and equipment and Culp tracks them down, the pace finally picks up, but by that time the film has been running for 50 minutes and it’s too late. The final sequence involving the capture of two white rhinos is well filmed, with the two leads obviously interacting with the dangerous wild animals. Gorgeously filmed on location in Zululand, but the movie’s versimilitude can’t rescue it from its poor writing, direction and pacing. (Viewed on TCM, whose print looks fine.)

— Robert Deveau

Gearing up for Kickstarter—have to get all our skulls in a...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:13:56 -0800

Gearing up for Kickstarter—have to get all our skulls in a row! This poster, plus variations, will be another Kickstarter incentive.

THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962) Written by Ellwood Ullman...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:09:51 -0800

THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962)

Written by Ellwood Ullman from a story by Norman Maurer

Directed by Edward Bernds

The Stooges (Larry Fine, Moe Howard, “Curly” Joe DeRita) are druggists working for nasty Mr. Dimsal (George N. Neise) who is infuriated by the damage to his merchandise caused by his next-door neighbor, timid inventor Schuyler Davis (Quinn Redeker) who is in love with Diane (Vicki Trickett) but in danger of losing her because of his cowardice. When “the Boys” (as comedy teams are always called, regardless of their age) decide to help Schuyler fix his time machine, they all end up in ancient Greece, inadvertently causing the victory of Odius (also George Neise) over rightful king Ulysess (John Cliff). I still have three more Stooge features yet to re-watch, but it will be hard for any of them to beat the perfect comedic combinations of this one. When I first saw this as a ten year-old, I was disappointed that the mighty Hercules (Samson Burke) was presented as an oafish bad guy, but as an adult I can appreciate the story arc that this creates, with the newly muscular Schuyler actually performing all of the classic labors historically attributed to Hercules, then defeating Herc in the arena and telling him to live up to the heroic reputation that he’s created in his name. The narrative has a more graceful, less episodic shape than most Stooge features and is topped off with a neat chariot race in which the Boys lambaste villain Odious with pies. The two romantic leads have more personality than most of these types of characters, the comic scenes are plentiful and funny, and the two-headed Cyclops (Marlin and Mike McKeever) is a nice creation. The addition of Emil Sitka (as a shepard), Gene Roth (as a slave merchant), Lewis Charles (as Achilles the Heel) and Hal Smith (as King Thesus of Rhodes) makes this even more fun. Producer Norman Maurer had planned to follow this with the Boys meeting other famous figures, but THE OUTLAWS IS COMING would be as close as he would get to his planned series. I reserve judgement until I’ve re-watched the rest, but this may be The Stooges’ best feature. (Viewed on the Encore Channel in a good looking full screen print.)

— Robert Deveau

Animated Teaser Trailer of Larry Blamire’s STEAM...

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 10:39:58 -0800

Animated Teaser Trailer of Larry Blamire’s STEAM WARS

Animated teaser for Larry Blamire’s epic science fiction adventure STEAM WARS, conveying some of the feel of an eventual live action movie. Animation and sound design by Bill Bryn Russell (worldpoop.com). For more inspiration, please visit the Steam Wars alternate universe at:

STEAM WARS Facebook Group

and

steamwars.com

See you there!

THE BEST MOVIES I SAW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2012 Last year, my...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:46:49 -0800

THE BEST MOVIES I SAW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2012

Last year, my “Ten Best” list for 2011 was comprised of films I saw for the first time that year. There’s no law that says they had to have been made in the year in which I saw them. Neither is there a law that says I have to limit my choice to ten. So, here are the 12 Best Films I Saw For The First Time in 2012, in the order in which I saw them.

LA ROSE DE FER (1973)
Written by Maurice LeMaitre and Jean Rollin Directed by Jean Rollin

Two young lovers become lost in a huge cemetery at night. Plot summary can’t do justice to the strange fascination conjured up by this film. While Rollin has in the past managed to turn found locations into dreamlike lands in service to the supernatural, there is absolutely nothing supernatural in LA ROSE DE FER, but it nevertheless has a definite feeling of “le fantastique.” It is less concerned with story and more with sounds (the tide rushing over pebbles, wind through the trees, a distant dog), visions (the incredible ancient cemetery at night, the face of actress Francoise Pascal, an abandoned train yard in the fog) and the idea of death. Its a visual poem, really, tied to a thin narrative, and its mesmerizing. It only stumbles toward the end when it reaches its logical conclusion but then continues for another ten minutes. If you are in the mood for a truly dreamlike film, this is it.

THE ARTIST (2011)
Written and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a big star of silent films, resists the big change required by the advent of the Talkies, while Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is an extra slowly climbing her way to stardom. This silent film is beautifully made, true to the style and aesthetic of the Silent era, in that its funny and romantic but not afraid to go to some pretty dark places. Dujardin is perfect as the Douglas Fairbanks/Gene Kelly-like star, with Bejo perfectly believable and endearing as the younger Peppy. Valentin’s dog, a Jack Russell named Uggie, steals every scene he’s in and is a perfect companion to the star. One scene in which Valentin hears sound effects for the first time is remarkable. Some reviews have criticized the film’s climactic use of Bernard Herrmann’s music from VERTIGO, but it’s use is apt, and no one today could come up with more yearningly romantic, suspenseful music. THE ARTIST is thoroughly enjoyable and skillfully made, entertaining and old fashioned in the best sense.

THE AVENGERS (2012)

Written by Joss Whedon and Zak Penn Directed by Joss Whedon

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) uses a cosmic cube called the Tesseract to open a portal in space to allow the emergence of an invading army of aliens. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) enlists Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to stop them. Like an issue of Marvel comics come to life, complete with wisecracks, heroes fighting each other, a great villain and action galore. The smartest move Marvel has made was to set up the origin stories of the major characters in their own films, so none of that is recquired here. Ironically, the first movie I ever saw with a senior citizen discount transported me back to age 12. The best comic book movie ever made.

QUILL: THE LIFE OF A GUIDE DOG (2004)

Written by Shoichi Maruyama and Yoshihiro Nakamura, from a novel by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro

Directed by Yoichi Sai

We follow buff lab Quill from his birth, his foster care, training as a seeing eye dog, placement with a resistant blind man (Kaoru Kobayashi) and his family, his retirement from work and death at the age of 12. Though the film has odd shifts of tone, feeling one minute like a kids movie and the next a documentary, its the dog that carries the viewer through the film and makes it a rewarding and extremely moving experience. (Dogs, plural, actually; at least four animals play the title character.) Named for the black patch on his side, Quill is picked as a natural for service because he has a calm and steady disposition, ultimately becoming the perfect guide dog for a man who too proud and fearful to allow an animal to guide him through the world. Though it has many humorous moments, the film doesn’t shy away from the more difficult aspects of the life of a working dog, making for a fully fleshed-out view of its subject. If you love animals in general, dogs in particular, or if, like me, you have a special feeling for the sacrifice and focus of the service dog, keep your tissues handy; you’ll need them.

MENSCHEN AM SONNTAG (PEOPLE ON SUNDAY) 1930

Written by Billy Wilder and Curt Siodmak Directed by Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer

Two couples in pre-WWII Berlin go on a double date picnic to the lake. This classic late silent film predates both neo-realism and cinema verite with its non-professional actors and slice of life naturalism, presented in documentary style. It is bursting with vitality and energy, from the creative talent behind the cameras (which also included producer Seymour Nebenzal, cinematographer Eugen Schufftan and his assistant, Fred Zinnemann) to the bustling people living their lives on the streets of Berlin, PEOPLE ON SUNDAY is so filled with the impetus to get it all on film that it hardly seems to rest. Just one example is the sequence with a street photographer, whose everyday subjects are freeze-framed for posterity. That the vibrant world depicted here would soon slide into disaster lends the four young people at its center a poignancy they probably wouldn’t have had if events had turned out differently. Of the four, the two women are the most affecting; the shy blond Brigitte Borchert (a dead ringer for Scarlett Johannson) and the brunette Christl Ehlers, whose responses to the actions of her two crude male escorts are natural and spontaneous. Despite being a silent film (with an eclectic, mostly effective score by Elena Kaets-Chernin), PEOPLE ON SUNDAY zips along and feels, 82 years later, like it could have been made yesterday.

MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012)

Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola Directed by Wes Anderson

On a small New England island in 1965, Sam Shakulsky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), two twelve year-olds with problems, run away from their scout troop and parents, respectively, and have an adventure that changes their lives and the lives of everyone around them. That bland synopsis can’t begin to describe the humor and suspense of this marvelously entertaining movie. The two young leads have the appropriate blend of thinking they know more than they do, physical awkwardness and childlike innocence, making them immediately sympathetic characters. The adults in their lives all mean well but have been circumscribed or belittled by their experiences, but all of them ultimately do the right thing. The entire cast, from the two kids to Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, and two cameo players, is perfect. Any movie that opens with Bob Balaban as its on-screen narrator has already grabbed me. Rarely do you see a movie whose story could lead you anywhere, and the many twists and turns of MOONRISE KINGDOM are delightful. Though its a very different film with a very different sensibility, and a much more obvious sense of humor, the only other film this reminded me ofwas NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Written by Jonathanand Christopher Nolan Directed by Christopher Nolan

International terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) holds Gotham City in a grip of fear with a nuclear device, bringing Batman (Christian Bale) out of retirement. That’s a pretty bare synopsis for a film that has a lot of things going on and manages to juggle them with greater precision than the previous entry in the blockbuster franchise. Although Bane is nowhere near as fascinating a villain as Heath Ledger’s Joker, the film in which he appears is vastly superior, never feeling as overloaded as 2008’s THE DARK NIGHT and moving much more quickly. Although I enjoy the lighter touch of Marvel’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, IRON MAN and especially THE AVENGERS, the finale of this grim and gritty Nolan/Bale trilogy is satisfying, wrapping up what required completion while leaving the way open for more. The collation of a terrorist with the 99% of Gotham citizens doesn’t bare much scrutiny in a story in which a billionaire rises to the level of civic savior, but I won’t let that stop me from enjoying a good action movie. Hardy, denied the use of his trademark crooked smile and saddled with a post-production voice that is often difficult to understand, is properly menacing as Bane (though his Scots accent often sounds like a Sean Connery impression), with Bale given more to act as both Bruce Wayne and Batman than in the prior film. The large supporting cast is uniformly good, with special thanks to the great Michael Caine as Alfred and Gary Oldham as Commissioner Gordon for portraying their roles’ basic honesty and decency so well. The stand-out performance here is given by Anne Hathaway, who strikes just the right balance with Selena Kyle’s (she’s never called Catwoman) brash insouciance and hidden integrity; plus she looks damn good in that catsuit! One note: if its been a while since you saw BATMAN BEGINS, it may help your viewing pleasure to brush up on who Ra’s Al Ghul is.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012)

Written by Jane Goldman, from the novel by Susan Hill Directed by James Watkins

Lawyer Arthur Kipps (Danile Radcliffe), devastated by the death in childbirth of his wife four years ago, is given one last chance by his firm to make good. They send him to isolated Eel Marsh House to organize the papers of the late Mrs. Drablow, where he finds the house not as vacant as it should be. If you are lucky enough to have seen the 1989 Granada Television version of this story, you may think you don’t need to see this new version produced by the revitalized Hammer Films, but you would be mistaken. Taking the original premise of the story as its starting point, the script expands on it quite logically, building a new story that works on both a supernatural and a metaphorical level. This version has plenty of classically presented scares and though not quite in the same league as THE INNOCENTS or THE HAUNTING, it is very much in that vein and is a good, creepy, scary and meaningful film. Though not a huge budget production it never looks cheap, and its use of beautifully desolate locations and dark interior hallways lends it a strong, classy atmosphere. Daniel Radcliffe is very good as the sad Arthur Kipps, a melancholy character who could have stepped out of a Poe story except for one key facet of his personality: his love for his young son, which is a key factor in what makes the film resonate deeply with its narrative involving dead children. Ciaran Hinds and Janet McTeer lend strong support as a couple who have never moved beyond the death of their young son; McTeer creating a woman who is by turns sad, funny and frightening. The title character is never quite as chilling as the one in the tele-version, but this film overall is more deeply affecting than the video original and a welcome return to the big screen for Hammer Films.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1949)
Written by Dorothy Catt and Kenneth Thompson Photographed and Directed by Ivan Barnett

Jonathan (Irving Steen) arrives at the house of his old friend Lord Roderick Usher (Kat Tendeter), who is afraid that his sister, Lady Madeline Usher (Gwen Watford) will soon die of a congenital family illness. His physician, Dr. Cordwall (Vernon Charles) informs Roderick of an ancient family curse - a curse he knows how to lift. This independent film had limited distribution in its native England and none in the U.S., has been left out of genre histories and forgotten for decades. Without seeing either of the two other films directed by Barnett, it is impossible to tell how much of the elliptical, fragmented narrative of USHER is deliberate, but the visual evidence of this film’s debt to Dreyer’s VAMPYRE is obvious - the death and internment of Madeline borrowing distinctive imagery from the similar sequence in Dreyer’s classic - so one may assume that its disjointed dreamlike storyline is also on purpose. From its surprising opening in which a man gets out of a taxi introducing its framing device of Poe’s story being read aloud in a mens’ club to its expansion of that story involving a family curse, from its amateurish acting in all roles but for that of Lady Madeline to its two most striking assets - its cinematography and its locations - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is, if not exactly a lost masterpiece, at the very least an equal to other Poe adaptations and a minor gem of the genre. Carrying the distinctive opening credit “Photographed and Directed by Ivan Barnett”, the viewer is led to expect something that is visually distinctive, and though some shots appear hurriedly framed and flatly lit, the majority of the cinematography is strong and creative, with its imposing mansion and cramped yet echoing interiors, lending a visual coherence to the film that its narrative never attempts. The most engaging aspect of the film is, frankly, its departure from Poe and I won’t go into spoilers here; hopefully TCM will air it again sometime and you can discover for yourself that once you think you know precisely where the movie is headed after its opening fidelity to its inspiration, the surprising and, for its era, shocking revelations of the Usher family history will surprise you. As I mentioned, the acting is amateurish - none of the cast ever made another film - except for Gwen Watford, who went on to a long career after her debut as Madeline (unfortunately costumed for most of the movie in a gown that pooches out in the middle, making her look dumpy), a fragile, haunted woman who, when she finally opens her mouth to speak, obviously knows her craft. Kay Tendeter looks perfect as Lord Roderick (the noble titles are the film’s invention), but spoils the illusion each time he speaks. Irving Steen as Jonathan makes little impression, so his disappearance from the movie’s middle third barely registers. Vernon Charles as Dr. Cordwall is over-emphatic in his delivery, but that is oddly appropriate for his ambiguous character. Finally, the strangest and strongest performance belongs to Lucy Pavey; exactly who she plays and how she plays it, I leave for you to find when TCM hopfully re-airs this little gem.

IL DEMONIO (1963)
Written by Brunello Rondi, Ugo Guerra and Luciano Martino Directed by Brunello Rondi

Puri (Daliah Lavi) is hopelessly in love with Antonio (Frank Wolff) who is about to marry another woman. In an act of desperation, Puri puts a curse on Anto and forsakes her religion for the devil. I had never heard of this film until Tim Lucas’ interview with Lavi in a recent issue of Video Watchdog, in which she says its her favorite of her movies. Its easy to see why, as the tormented, pitiable Puri is its central character, rarely off-screen and richly embodied by the beautiful Israeli actress. Unlike any other Italian “horror” film of its era, it is primarily concerned with superstition rather than the supernatural (although two impressive scenes are quietly creepy and ambiguously supernatural, one involving a young boy Puri encounters by a river and another that anticipates THE EXORCIST by ten years), and is shot in a natural location (rocky farmland and an ancient village) in daylight for most of its running time. Except for the two leads the film is populated entirely by genuine peasants, and could be set in the middle ages except for a few recognizably 60s head scarves. Its rich depiction of the power of peasant religion and superstition is remarkable, and the film is as informative as it is entertaining. Rondi wrote or co-wrote many of Fellini’s film, including 8 1/2. An intelligent, well directed and written story of desperate love and the strength of superstition, its a minor gem of a movie and deserves to be better known and more widely seen.

SIMON OF THE DESERT (1965)
Written and Directed by Luis Bunuel

Simon (Claudio Brook) is a Syrian martyr who has spent six years standing on a column in the desert. When a wealthy man builds him a taller column, he ascends it and spends another year up there, drinking little water and eating only lettuce. The Devil (Sylvia Pinal) can’t stand his piety and does her best to tempt him. Originally planned as a feature, funding ran out halfway through production and rather than abandoning his footage, Bunuel came up with a startling ending that still packs a punch. Simon the saint is a judgmental figure, dismissing a young cleric as being “too clean” to be truly pious and ignoring his doting mother, yet performing genuine miracles, restoring the amputated hands of an ungrateful man. Brook and Pinal, who had both acted for Bunuel before, are perfect as the Saint and Satan, and the cinematography of Gabriel Figueroa is stunning. Genuinely odd and quite entertaining, the film may not have been as satisfying had it continued for another 45 minutes. Francisco Reiguera (Orson Welles’ Don Quixote) appears as one of the monks.

LINCOLN (2012)
Written by Tony Kushner Directed by Steven Spielberg

In what would prove to be the final months of his presidency and his life, Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) plays every card in his political deck to get the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed.
I must say that I’ve haven’t much liked a Spielberg film since SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993). Though CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002) had its moments and INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) was at least better than INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984), I found SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) to be nothing more than an inflated episode of “Combat” and MUNICH (2005) a confusing mess. When you add the fact that the director wields so much power that no one dares so “no” to him with his penchant for sentimentality, sanctimoniousness and beating his audience over the head with his message, I went into LINCOLN not expecting to enjoy it. I happily state that LINCOLN is the most enthralling period piece I have seen in a very long time, without a misstep anywhere in its two and a half-hours running time. I felt as though I were a privileged observer into the inner workings of a complicated man and his equally complex times, with the multiple ramifications of the pluses and minuses of ending the war vs ending slavery spelled out clearly and in fine detail. Kushner’s witty dialogue is allowed to carry the movie forward, with the director supporting it every step of the way, aided by a subdued score from John Williams, fine non-flashy cinematography from Janusz Kaminski, and a perfect, extremely large supporting cast. The most amazing thing about this film is that I felt like I was watching Abraham Lincoln, not an actor playing Lincoln. Day-Lewis’ famous immersion technique here works wonders, as this brilliant actor completely avoids the pitfalls that other great actors (Henry Fonda, Walter Huston) have fallen into when playing this iconic man; they played the “idea” of Lincoln, Day-Lewis seems to channel the man in flesh and bone. In a film with many other fine performances (Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones at the top of the list), I don’t have the words to say how stunning Day-Lewis is in this film. The trailers do the movie no justice at all; its the best movie about a president - ever - and the best movie of the year.

— Robert Deveau

IL DEMONIO (1963)Written by Brunello Rondi, Ugo Guerra and...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:43:16 -0800

IL DEMONIO (1963)
Written by Brunello Rondi, Ugo Guerra and Luciano Martino

Directed by Brunello Rondi

Puri (Daliah Lavi) is hopelessly in love with Antonio (Frank Wolff) who is about to marry another woman. In an act of desperation, Puri puts a curse on Anto and forsakes her religion for the devil. I had never heard of this film until Tim Lucas’ interview with Lavi in a recent issue of Video Watchdog, in which she says its her favorite of her movies. Its easy to see why, as the tormented, pitiable Puri is its central character, rarely off-screen and richly embodied by the beautiful Israeli actress. Unlike any other Italian “horror” film of its era, it is primarily concerned with superstition rather than the supernatural (although two impressive scenes are quietly creepy and ambiguously supernatural, one involving a young boy Puri encounters by a river and another that anticipates THE EXORCIST by ten years), and is shot in a natural location (rocky farmland and an ancient village) in daylight for most of its running time. Except for the two leads the film is populated entirely by genuine peasants, and could be set in the middle ages except for a few recognizably 60s head scarves. Its rich depiction of the power of peasant religion and superstition is remarkable, and the film is as informative as it is entertaining. Rondi wrote or co-wrote many of Fellini’s film, including 8 1/2. An intelligent, well directed and written story of desperate love and the strength of superstition, its a minor gem of a movie and deserves to be better known and more widely seen. (IL DEMONIO was available for viewing in its entirety on YouTube, in a good looking widescreen, subtitled print, but evidently has now been removed. There are brief scenes still available, however.)

— Robert Deveau

Photo

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:53:39 -0800

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1964)Written by Henry Slesar and John...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:02:00 -0800

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1964)
Written by Henry Slesar and John Kneubuhl Directed by William Conrad

Cassie Duquesne (Connie Stevens) returns to L.A. after a twenty year absence to attend the funeral of her magician father The Great Duquesne (Cesar Romero). Her estranged father left her his entire estate and $30,000, providing she spends midnight to dawn for a week in his huge mansion. Reporter Val (Dean Jones) weasels his way into her good graces to get the inside scoop, but finds himself falling for the vulnerable young woman. The final film in Conrad’s Warner Bros trilogy of blondes in peril (with MY BLOOD RUNS COLD and BRAINSTORM) is a solid suspense thriller that, much like the others, could have been an episode of “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” (all the more appropriate here as Henry Slesar wrote many scripts for the Hitchcock TV series) but does a better job of “padding” what might have been a taut one-hour. The film’s scenes in the vast old mansion at night are effectively creepy in a William Castle-like way. Max Steiner provides a spooky score (occasionally using the familiar echoing “tunnel-like” noise heard on “Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek”, but also providing an over-used ”comical” motif for a magician’s rabbit who has the run of the mansion - there must have been bunny turds all over that place!). Connie Stevens is appealing and quite good as the young heroine (and, in the pre-credits sequence, her own mother), Dean Jones a serviceable male lead, but the real work is put in by the older cast members: Parley Baer and Virginia Gregg as the magician’s manager and devoted house keeper, Connie Gilchrist as an amusingly irascible maid, and Romero doing subtle work in a role tailor made for Vincent Price, but for its limited size. Also appearing are John Hoyt, Richard Kiel, Billy Curtis and the director himself in a cameo. (Viewed on Warner Archive’s letterboxed DVD which looks terrific.)

— Robert Deveau

GOOD MORNING, MR. FREEMAN November 19 is the birthday of one of...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:49:49 -0800

GOOD MORNING, MR. FREEMAN

November 19 is the birthday of one of my favorite character actors, Alan Baxter (1908—1976). Several years ago I had the pleasure of chatting with the great Norman Lloyd and among other things we discussed SABOTEUR, in which he’s so memorable as the title character Frank Fry. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he also felt the film grossly underrated (Hitchcock was unduly hard on it), and he also praised Alan Baxter as Mr. Freeman.

SABOTEUR is not only my favorite Hitchcock film, it’s my favorite film. And Mr. Freeman is probably my favorite movie psycho. Baxter started playing cold-eyed “baby-faced” psychopathic killers in MARY BURNS, FUGITIVE (1935) for Paramount. He just about steals the picture with subtle chilling menace. He was still playing this type much later (most notably as “Little Boy” in Robert Wise’s excellent THE SET-UP in ‘49). Later he was a TV character staple, alternately playing villains and authority figures, with nice work as the haunted, distraught colonel in the OUTER LIMITS episode O.B.I.T.

But his bad guy in SABOTEUR is something very different. I think the scene where he and good guy Robert Cummings are waiting in a car at Boulder Dam has the most startling, outrageous, moment in the film when Mr. Freeman, seemingly out of nowhere, starts talking about himself:

“When I was a child I had long golden curls. People used to stop on the street and admire me…”

Robert Cummings simply stares—and so do we—as Freeman describes his (and his wife’s) raising of their kids, his “idiosyncrasy” of growing their hair long, and the compulsion of the youngest (whom he wished had been a girl) to destroy his toys. It’s an unforgettable scene, marvelously outre.

Mr. Freeman is the crème de la crème of a remarkably colorful and subversive collection of American Nazis, including grumpy ghost town geezer Clem Bevans (“You boys with the desk jobs”) and amusingly perturbed socialite Alma Kruger (“It’s rather nauseating, and quite out of place”). This eccentricity trickles down to the minor villains; one darning socks, giving the captive heroine change from a soda, two thugs singing “Tonight We Love” slightly off-key as they drive. Banality of evil indeed.

I’ve always felt SABOTEUR was a more surreal film than, say, SPELLBOUND (despite the obvious contribution of Salvador Dali), perhaps because the imagery is not safely couched in nightmare, but really happening. Alan Baxter’s strange Mr. Freeman—with the shiniest pair of glasses ever on film—adds considerably to this dreamlike quality, and his quiet and measured performance sells it beautifully.

— Larry Blamire

IT’S A FRAME-UP! The legendary vaudeville team of Biffle...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:38:22 -0800

IT’S A FRAME-UP!

The legendary vaudeville team of Biffle and Shooster made 16 two-reel comedy shorts between 1934 and 1938; this was their final one. The boys get jobs in an art gallery on the very same day that a priceless painting is delivered. You can pretty much imagine how this will play out.

Those titans of tomfoolery, Nick Santa Maria and Will Ryan, star as Biffle and Shooster, joined by such “Lost Skeleton” vets as Daniel Roebuck, Andrew Parks, Fay Masterson, and The Woman Of A Thousand Headpieces, Alison Martin. Plus a surprise guest star! (No, not me.)

Shot in glorious B&W and 1.33:1, IT’S A FRAME-UP! will be an authentic-as-possible recreation of the glory days of Hollywood comedy teams, replete with snappy dialogue, grievous puns, plenty of slapstick, familiar-seeming character actors and even impressions—plus a plot twist or two or three. Yes, boys and girls, they CAN make ‘em like they used to…and we’re just the idiots to do it!

You can help make it happen: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1479434141/its-a-frame-up

— Mike Schlesinger, producer of THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN, DARK AND STORMY NIGHT and GODZILLA 2000.

BEAST WISHES: THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF BOB & KATHY BURNS...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:49:35 -0800

BEAST WISHES:

THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF BOB & KATHY BURNS (2012)

Produced & Directed by Trish Geiger & Frank Dietz

Bob Burns and his wife Kathy are collectors of movie memorabilia who also happen to be universally acknowledged as two of the nicest people around. Bob’s collection began as a child when he lived down the street from Republic Pictures and includes, among many other one-of-a-kind articles, the original metal armature of King Kong, Tom Tyler’s Captain Marvel costume from the Republic serial, and ROBOT MONSTER’s helmet. Bob created his own gorilla suit and had a career as a “gorilla man”, most notably appearing in the TV series “The Ghost Busters”, effortlessly upstaging co-stars Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch and making his final appearance before retiring the suit in DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. He assisted friend Paul Blaisdell in the creation of monsters for AIP and with editing and publishing Fantastic Monsters magazine. For many years he thrilled his Los Angeles neighbors with professionally produced backyard live Halloween shows. This documentary, created by Bantam Street’s Trish Geiger and Frank Dietz, includes interview footage with such Burns fans as Rick Baker, John Landis, and Joe Dante, a wealth of photos and video clips, and is as entertaining and delightful as the couple who are its subjects. (Viewed on a DVD bought at a screening of the film in Oakland, CA. You can get your own DVD here: http://www.beastwishes.com/Home_Page.html)

— Robert Deveau