BLOOD THIRST (1971)
Article #769 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-23-2003
Posting Date: 9-20-2003
Directed by Newt Arnold
Featuring Robert Winston, Yvonne Nielsen, Judy Dennis

A detective from New York is called in to investigate bizarre murders in the Philippines.

This US/Philippine co-production is a strange one, and a bit of an anomaly; it was apparently made in the mid sixties, but wasn’t released until 1971. It’s in black and white and runs about seventy-three minutes. I’m not quite sure what to make of it; it seems like an odd cross between the horror and spy genres, with the detective (who has the thickest lisp this side of Boris Karloff) tossing off comic one-liners (some of them not half bad), and talking to himself endlessly when not romancing women and interacting with an odd assortment of undercover cops. Nonetheless, the horror element is very real indeed, if somewhat confusing, and it involves a monster with a lumpy face and an Aztec cult. It’s all pretty cheap, and the plot stalls on occasion, but actually the thing had an intriguing little charm about it that helped pull me through. Nothing great, but a little better than you might expect, given its obscurity and somewhat bad reputation.

BLITHE SPIRIT (1945)
Article #768 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-22-2003
Posting Date: 9-19-2003
Directed by David Lean
Featuring Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond

A married couple invites a medium over to hold a seance, and she accidentally conjures forth the ghost of the husband’s first wife.

This is the ghost story as cynical romantic comedy. It’s also a fairly classic production, directed by David Lean and based fairly faithfully on the play by Noel Coward (I had a copy of the play handy and couldn’t help but notice that much of the dialogue is word-for-word). Margaret Rutherford steals the movie as the medium; she is dotty, hilarious and a joy to watch every moment she’s on the screen. The story definitely takes some interesting turns, especially towards the end, but quite frankly, this is one of those movies that has to catch me at the right moment for it to really engross me, and it wasn’t really the right moment this time out; I’m not particularly partial to British comedies of manners. Nonetheless, it has its fair share of atmosphere. Despite its sophistication, it still couldn’t help but to sneak in a few common ghost jokes, including a sequence where a cop sees a car being driven by no one, and a moment where someone who can’t see the ghost walks right through her.

THE BISHOP’S WIFE (1947)
Article #767 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-21-2003
Posting Date: 9-18-2003
Directed by Henry Koster
Featuring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven

A bishop’s obsession with building a cathedral ends up causing problems in his marriage, and an angel shows up to help.

Angels are not very high on my prioritized list of fantastical creatures I like to see in movies; they rank just below fairies and just above Care Bears. However, if there must be movies about angels, than I couldn’t ask for more than that the angel be played by Cary Grant, and that’s just what this movie provides. Movies like this have the potential to be sickeningly sweet, but the movie accomplishes two things very well; it makes the conflicts real, resonant and touching, and it treats the magic with the lightest and deftest of touches, much of this due to Grant’s performance, which is gentle, warm, effortlessly comic (he can elicit laughs with simple facial expressions without once resorting to mugging) and never heavy-handed. Amazingly, the movie was originally cast with the roles of Grant and David Niven reversed, which seems unthinkable watching this movie now. Loretta Young is truly lovely here, and all the performances shine, including smaller roles by Gladys Cooper, Monty Woolley, and James Gleason (whose specialty seems to be coming up with priceless reactions to fantastical events and strange characters).

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1944)
Article #766 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-20-2003
Posting Date: 9-17-2003
Directed by Edward A. Blatt
Featuring Paul Henreid, John Garfield, Sydney Greenstreet

Several people find themselves aboard an ocean liner with no crew, and heading for an unknown destination.

This was a remake of the 1930 movie OUTWARD BOUND, and it runs a solid thirty minutes longer than that one. Part of the reason was the updating of the story to take place in London during the blitz, and the addition of an extra character to the mix (a serviceman), which gave it more relevance for its time period. Though these changes do further deepen the themes of the original, it still doesn’t quite account for the extra length, and the first half of the movie moves a little slower than is strictly necessary. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between this one and the original, I think I would opt for this one, largely due to the presence of two of my favorite actors; Sydney Greenstreet is memorable as the Examiner, and Edmund Gwenn is great as Scrubby the Steward. The second half of the movie is just as powerful as that of the original movie; it is immensely moving, thoughtful, and fascinating to watch the ultimate fate of each character. The story remains one of the most engaging explorations of a possible afterlife that I have ever seen.