Month: October 2014

The Body Disappears (1941)

THE BODY DISAPPEARS (1941)
Article #90 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-14-2001
Posting date: 10-28-2001

A scientist concocts a formula that can return life to the dead. When he tries it on a man who he mistakes for a corpse (as a result of a college prank), he discovers that the formula has a side effect of rendering its subject invisible. He tries to find an antidote before the condition becomes permanent.

Not to be confused with THE CORPSE VANISHES, this movie is a mostly lame invisible man comedy with poor special effects. The title has a double meaning, both in the sense that the body is missing from the disecting room from which it is taken and the fact that it has turned invisible. Far and away the best thing about this movie is the presence of Edward Everett Horton as the scientist; I find him genuinely funny even when saddled with unpromising material like this. Also present in the cast are Jane Wyman, Willie Best, David Bruce and Charles Halton in a fun little role as Horton’s next door neighbor who thinks Horton has gone round the bend when he searches his back yard for a missing invisible monkey.

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The Loves of Hercules (1960)

THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960)
(a.k.a. HERCULES VS. THE HYDRA)
Article #89 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-13-2001
Posting date: 10-27-2001

Hercules falls for a queen who is the daughter of a man who he believes may be responsible for the murder of his wife. When the queen’s fiance is then found murdered, she believes Hercules to be the culprit, though he has actually been framed.

A comment that I once heard concerning Sword and Sandal movies is that the chests of the men tend to be bigger than the chests of the women; however, with Jayne Mansfield in two different roles, this one is clearly an exception. This one is a little more coherent than others of its ilk, but it is quite unconvincing and at times laughably silly; it’s hard to keep a straight face during Hercules’ battle with the three-headed Hydra. Another oddity is that the evil queen of the Amazons disposes of her lovers by turning them into hilarious-looking trees (they look like stiff, charred Gumbys). The movie is replete with the usual S&S cliches, and with Mickey Hargitay (as Hercules) wearing a particularly skimpy loincloth, there’s no doubt that this one is as much fun for the girls as it is for the boys.

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The Lost World (1925)

THE LOST WORLD (1925)
Article #88 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-12-2001
Posting date: 10-26-2001

Professor Challenger organizes an expedition to South America in search of a mysterious plateau believed to have prehistoric animals living on it.

In retrospect, this movie feels like a warm-up for KING KONG, as there are very similar plot elements in common between the films. Based on a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (most famous for Sherlock Holmes), this movie is still quite entertaining. The DVD does restore some footage that was missing on my VHS of the movie (which was in bad condition, had a lousy soundtrack, and ran at the wrong projection speed), and I noticed that most of the footage that had been cut had been character-oriented, which is not really all that surprising. Needless to say, the DVD does give a fuller and more satisfying presentation.

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The Leopard Man (1943)

THE LEOPARD MAN (1943)
Article #87 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-11-2001
Posting date: 10-25-2001

When a leopard being used in a publicity stunt breaks loose, a series of deaths occur, seemingly as a result of attacks by the animal. However, the owner of the leopard does not believe the animal is to blame, and when the leopard is later found dead, the truth comes out.

This is often considered one of the weaker Val Lewton efforts, and in some ways, it is. The main characters are some of the most uninteresting people I’ve seen in a Val Lewton film, and their personal problems and conflicts are fairly dull. However, the movie is salvaged by some of the most memorable scare scenes in the entire canon of the producer, and it contains one of the greatest and most chilling scenes in horror movie history; everyone I know of who has seen the movie, if they remember nothing else about it, at least remembers the scene with the blood and the door. I also admire the sharp use of sound in the movie, especially the unnerving clapping of the castanets. This is one movie I enjoy a little more each time I watch it.

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Konga (1961)

KONGA (1961)
Article #86 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-10-2001
Posting date: 10-24-2001

A scientist returns from Africa with a chimpanzee named Konga and some meat-eating plants. He experiments with them and creates a formula that turns the chimp into a gorilla. He uses the gorilla to knock off those in his way. Then his assistant gives the gorilla even more of the formula…

Just as a general rule of thumb, if a movie is about a giant gorilla, and you don’t see Willis O’Brien’s name in the credits, watch out. This isn’t the worst of the giant ape movies (I can think of two others that are worse without straining), but it’s still pretty awful. It’s a little reminiscent of Herman Cohen’s HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, only replacing that movie’s visceral thrills with bad special effects; even Michael Gough doesn’t help much here. The film is loaded with unpleasant characters in unhealthy relationships, and it’s really no fun at all to spend as much time with them as you do in this movie. As for the giant ape, he doesn’t manifest himself until the movie is nearly over; in fact, the trailer for this film is almost entirely made up of footage from the last five minutes. All in all, I thought the movie was witless, and watching it a depressing experience.

It does have one memorable line, though: “Fantastic! There’s a giant gorilla that’s constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets!” Say it out loud to get the full effect.

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King Kong (1933)

KING KONG (1933)
Article #85 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-9-2001
Posting date: 10-23-2001

A movie crew seeks out a strange creature on an uncharted island. There they encounter a giant ape known as Kong.

Though Ray Harryhausen is often cited as the greatest master of stop-motion animation, I have to throw in my vote for Willis O’Brien. To my mind, Harryhausen never quite came up with a character as well-rounded as Kong, who, as well as having all the usual giant-monster qualities you would expect, also has a number of nice little touches, such as his tendency, after a fight with a dinosaur, to double-check that his opponent is really dead, or the way that his expression reveals that he has no idea what is happening to him when he notices his own blood atop the Empire State Building. Willis O’Brien not only knew how to make monsters, he knew how to make them act; I consider Kong to have given the very best performance by a stop-motion being. Credit for the movie must also go to Cooper and Schoedsack, producer/directors of KING KONG; they specialized in far-flung adventure movies, and they augment the proceedings with their sense of what makes adventure movies work. (They also play the pilot and machine-gunner in the plane that downs Kong). Both Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray are memorable in their respective roles.

As a side note, I always think too much is made of the “Beauty and the Beast” connection; outside of their being a beauty (Fay Wray) and a beast (Kong) that is attracted to her, I think it has very little in common with the fairy tale of that name. This is not to say that the movie isn’t rich in a variety of other ways; after all, this is one of those movies that has been discussed (and interpreted) so often by others, that I’m not really confident that I have anything original to say on the matter.

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Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)

JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME (1955)
(a.k.a. CESTA DU PRAVEKU)
Article #84 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-8-2001
Posting date: 10-22-2001

Several boys take a canoe trip into the past and discover many forms of prehistoric life.

This Czech movie (known as CESTA DU PRAVEKU) remains, as of this writing, the only movie I’ve seen from Karel Zeman, though everything I’ve heard about his works makes them sound quite intriguing. It looks as though American footage was added to the production, with the boys visiting the Museum of Natural History in New York (notice how you’re not given a glimpse of the boys faces during this sequence; you can’t get a good look at them until they begin the canoe ride), but I think it ends up working well enough. There’s really not much in the way of a plot; the children just go from one setpiece to another. I find the movie to be a wonderful ride; the special effects aren’t convincing on a realistic level, but they have a charming variety to them and retain a sense of wonder and poetry. And even though some of the situations the children get themselves into are a little silly, it all fits well into the spirit of the movie. This type of magic and wonder is rarely found in movies anymore; I definitely look forward to seeing more of Zeman’s work.

By the way, this movie should not be confused with JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF TIME ; if you see David L. Hewitt’s name in the credits, you’ll know you’ve taken a wrong turn.

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Hercules (1957)

HERCULES (1957)
Article #83 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-7-2001
Posting date: 10-21-2001

Hercules takes part in Jason’s quest for the golden fleece and tries to win the heart of his love, Iole.

The Italian title of this Steve Reeves entry is LA FATICHE DE ERCOLE (The Labors of Hercules), but this movie (which initiated the whole sword and sandal craze) is a lot more interested in the Jason quest than the labors; about halfway through this movie I realized I was watching another version of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, which I had just seen the day earlier. Sword and sandal movies can be a lot of fun, though I often have trouble telling one from another; this one at least has the advantage of at least being based on specific myths, unlike many later entries. Actually, one can have some fun just compiling a list of common sword and sandal cliches. Here’s a starting point for a list of common scenes and plot elements of sword and sandal movies; feel free to add your own.

Our hero bends back the bars of a cage and escapes.
Out hero lifts a heavy object and throws it at someone or something.
Our hero battles some deadly wildlife, such as tigers, lions, bulls, crocodiles, etc.
Our hero is seduced by an evil queen.
Our hero is drugged by the evil queen and loses his memory.
An evil underling engages in court intrigue to gain control of the throne.
Someone makes a long boring speech.
While out riding his horse, our hero encounter a line of refugees walking in the opposite direction, some of which are pulling a cart with big wheels.
Our hero encounters a band of slaves going in the opposite direction.
Our hero only pretends to be drugged by the evil queen.
Our hero is cast into a pit from which he must escape.
A village is destroyed by evil men on horses.
Women in skimpy dresses dance in the court.
Amazons are encountered.
An evil queen kills or otherwise eliminates her ex-lovers (by stuffing them, turning them into trees, etc.)
This sounds like the beginning of a drinking game.

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Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)
Article #82 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-6-2001
Posting date: 10-20-2001

This is a retelling of the Greek legend of Jason and his quest for the golden fleece.

I’ve always preferred Ray Harryhausen’s myth & fantasy movies to his science fiction movies; it always looked like more care was used to make them full-blown movies rather than just vehicles for Harryhausen’s effects. Furthermore, we would usually get several Harryhausen creations rather than just one or two. I’m not sure if this is my favorite Harryhausen movie; both of the first two Sinbad movies are in the running. It is enjoyable throughout, though, and it does contain one of my very favorite sequences in all Harryhausen; the Argonauts’ encounter with the metal giant Talos, a scene I had seen as a child without knowing the name of the movie. I was very happy to rediscover this sequence many years later.

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Isle of the Dead (1945)

ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945)
Article #81 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-5-2001
Posting date: 10-19-2001

A Greek general visits and stays overnight in an inn on an island. When a man is found dead of the plague the next morning, he puts a quarantine on the island and calls in a doctor to help. However, some of the residents do not believe it is the plague, but rather that the death was caused by a Greek vampire known as a vorvolaka.

This Val Lewton film is generally not held up as one of his best, and it was hampered by an uneven production schedule, partially as a result of the hospitilization of Boris Karloff in the middle of the filming, causing production to be held up for several months. The various story elements don’t mesh as well as they could, but there is still much to recommend in this movie; there is a haunting, stark, poetic atmosphere, and the science vs. superstition theme is reminiscent of the one in I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. I think Karloff does a great job in this, and he’s playing a very interesting character; though the Greek general Pherides is by and for the most vocal exponent of science towards the beginning of the movie, he is the one who most totally gives in to superstition as time passes. The movie also features Ellen Drew, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr., and the always unsettling Skelton Knaggs as the first victim of the plague. Certainly not a perfect movie, but worthwhile. Incidentally, this film was base on a painting, Bocklin’s “Isle of the Dead.”

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