Month: September 2015

The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)

THE CABINET OF CALIGARI (1962)
Article #915 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-16-2003
Posting Date: 2-13-2004
Directed by Roger Kay
Featuring Dan O’Herlihy, Glynis Johns, Constance Ford

When a woman’s car gets a flat tire, she goes to an isolated house to get help, and then finds herself trapped inside with a mysterious doctor.

I’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether this movie was a remake of the classic 1919 Robert Wiene version, and for the most part it is not. It does, however, borrow at least one crucial element from the original, and therein lies the problem. The element that is borrowed is a plot point which is only effective if it comes as a surprise at a crucial moment in the story; however, I figured out that this plot point was coming almost five minutes into the movie, because it seemed to me to be the only logical explanation for the events that were happening. Unfortunately, knowing this plot point ahead of time short-circuits the movie in terms of suspense and horror, and as a result, I found the movie deeply uninvolving, despite the existence of strong Freudian elements and some memorable visual moments. A further problem was the casting of Glynis Johns in the lead role; her voice and facial expresssions were singularly ineffectual in helping her bring this role to life. As a result, the whole movie feels like a game, and one that wasn’t much fun. It actually might have helped, though, if they had retitled the movie and renamed one of the characters so that any connection between this one and the Wiene movie would have vanished; as it is, this movie utterly fails to surprise, and I can only consider it a disappointment.

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Bat Woman (1968)

BAT WOMAN (1968)
(a.k.a. LA MUJER MURCIELAGO)
Article #914 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-15-2003
Posting Date: 2-12-2004
Directed by Rene Cardona
Featuring Maura Monti, Roberto Conedo, Hoctor Godoy

An evil scientist intent on creating a sea monster gets some resistance from a masked hero.

This movie features The Miserable Dr. Eric Williams (reminiscent of THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF, THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK and THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z) who lives on the ship called REPTILICUS (doesn’t that remind you of a weedy Danish monster?) intent on creating a gill man (isn’t that what they called THE CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON?) which he refers to at one point as The Amphibian Man (wasn’t that a Russian science fiction movie?), but whom he renames Pisces. The monster ends up looking like a cross between the marine creatures in WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP and the ones in HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (without the hot dogs) with multifaceted eyes like THE FLY. He’s created the monster by using the pituitary glands of wrestlers (just so you know that the movie is from Mexico). He’s decided he needs to create a mate for his monster (shades of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN), and he sets his eyes on Bat Woman (think of Batman in a bikini after a sex change), who has an assistant named Mario (who doesn’t pick a single mushroom throughout the movie, so I won’t make a Nintendo joke). It’s all pretty awful, but when you consider the extensive underwater photography, you have to admit that this is pretty ambitious for what is in essence a Mexican wrestling film. You know you have a faded print when you see a credit for Eastmancolor and realize for the first time you’re watching a color movie. It’s even subtitled rather than dubbed, but I’m afraid it really doesn’t add to the dignity of the proceedings when they repeatedly spell yacht Y-A-T-C-H and you get to read such priceless lines as ‘You killed them, you bastard fish!’ Still, this is a good movie for putting on when you want to see how many other movies it can remind you of.

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The Green Pastures (1936)

THE GREEN PASTURES (1936)
Article #913 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-14-2003
Posting Date: 2-11-2004
Directed by William Keighley and Marc Connelly
Featuring Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson

Stories from the Bible are played out as envisioned in the imaginations of young black children in Sunday school.

This movie has an all-black cast, and unsurprisingly it occasionally relies on cliches and black stereotypes of the time it was made, so it will no doubt seem offensive to many. However, its virtues are quite strong indeed; for one thing, the gospel music is pretty great. For another thing, it’s one of the few biblical epics out there that doesn’t sink under the weight of it’s own pompous self-importance; the presentation is somewhat mannered, but it not only allows itself to relax on occasion, it also isn’t afraid of using humor when the opportunity arises. It also does something quite daring in allowing the character of ‘De Lawd’ (wonderfully played by Rex Ingram, who also plays other parts throughout) to grow and somewhat develop as a character throughout the proceedings; this gives the movie a compelling story arc rather than letting it feel like just a series of different stories. All in all, I have to admit that I was more entertained and moved by this one than I was by any of the other biblical epics I’ve seen. The movie also benefits from fine special effects, and the fun of seeing Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson as Noah.

One potentially sensitive issue here is whether stories based on the Bible belong in the realm of fantastic cinema; certainly, devout Christians would argue that the events portrayed are true, and such a movie should be considered historical rather than fantastic. For my part, I will simply say that any story in which miracles occur are worthy of being considered in a survey of the fantastic, so I’m including it here.

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That’s the Spirit (1945)

THAT’S THE SPIRIT (1945)
Article #912 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-13-2003
Posting Date: 2-10-2004
Directed by Charles Lamont
Featuring Jack Oakie, Peggy Ryan, June Vincent

The daughter of a stodgy banker marries an entertainer who dies on the day of the birth of their child. The entertainer returns to earth as a spirit twenty years later to save the child from the unhappiness of being dominated by her grandfather.

This is a pretty standard example of the typical Hollywood forces-of-happiness (represented here by spontaneity, dancing, jazz, romance and theatrical musical revues) vs. the forces-of-unhappiness (represented here by inflexible conservative stodginess, repression, depressing renditions of ‘Evening Star’ and withering butlers played by Arthur Treacher) with a wandering spirit as one of the plot contrivances. There are a few good funny lines here and there, some fine special effects (particularly a moment where Oakie as the spirit stands in the middle of the street while cars run through him), one great sequence in which the performance of the aforementioned musical piece is turned into a real party via the use of a magic flute played by Oakie (watching wealthy old dowagers and Arthur Treacher grooving to the music is fairly entertaining), and the movie has some entertaining performances. It’s always fun to see Andy Devine, and the movie also includes a relatively youngish Irene Ryan as the maid dominated by Treacher (though it did make me long for a moment when the maid would chase him out of the house with a shotgun), but Buster Keaton is wasted in a role that isn’t near as funny as it’s supposed to be, and the movie suffers somewhat from a lackluster stodginess of its own. Some of the musical numbers are entertaining but overlong, and despite the good elements, ultimately the movie seems a bit mannered and joyless.

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A Connecticut Yankee (1931)

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE (1931)
Article #911 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-12-2003
Posting Date: 2-9-2004
Directed by David Butler
Featuring Will Rogers, William Farnum, Frank Albertson

A radio repairman finds himself in the times of King Arthur, and uses his knowledge of history and science to rise to power.

This Mark Twain novel was well-adapted to the persona of Will Rogers, whose talent seemed to be the ability to make satirical jabs that were cute, folksy, charming and palatable to an audience that really didn’t have a taste for satire, and when you think about it, that’s no small accomplishment. Most of the gags are of two sorts; Will Rogers’ observations on the events around him or the various anachronistic devices he creates to help King Arthur. On top of the general fantasy nature of the story, the movie actually has touches of horror and science fiction as well; the story really begins in a spooky house on a stormy night, and an inventor has created a machine that is able to hear sounds from the past; for a while, I found myself wondering if the machine would come into play in sending Rogers back to the Dark Ages (thus making it an early cinematic time machine), but it doesn’t pan out that way. Overall, it’s a very entertaining rendition of the story.

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The Gamma People (1956)

THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956)
Article #910 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-11-2003
Posting Date: 2-8-2004
Directed by John Gilling
Featuring Paul Douglas, Eva Bartok, Leslie Phillips

Two reporters get stranded in a small European country that is under the yolk of a scientist performing experiments with human intelligence.

If this movie had been incompetently directed and acted, it would probably have a reputation as an amazingly bad movie; as it is, it is one of the strangest science fiction movies of the fifties and totally unlike anything else I’ve seen. The basic story is a straightforward mad scientist variation with horror overtones, but most of the movie seems to have been plotted, written and acted as if it is a mythical-kingdom high comedy; certainly, the staggering amount of coincidence in the plot (especially the circumstances by which the two reporters end up stranded in the country) certainly owes more to comedy than to science fiction or horror. Nevertheless, the SF/Horror aspects are played straight and seem to come from a totally different movie; in fact, the movie quite often jumps back and forth between the two approaches so abruptly that one is often at a loss to know to react to the proceedings. Nonetheless, many individual moments work very well indeed, in both the comedy and horror aspects, though there are times when it is painfully obvious that the dubbing for the outdoor scenes was handled indoors. Paul Douglas and Leslie Phillips are quite good in their respective roles. All in all, this is one of the most baffling oddities of fifties science fiction.

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Castle in the Desert (1942)

CASTLE IN THE DESERT (1942)
Article #909 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-10-2003
Posting Date: 2-7-2004
Directed by Harry Lachman
Featuring Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, Richard Derr

Charlie Chan receives a letter from a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia, who thinks she is being framed for murder.

I’ve covered several of the Charlie Chan movies so far, but this is the first one I’ve seen to feature Sidney Toler rather than Warner Oland. I’ve generally heard that Sidney Toler was nowhere near as popular in the role as Oland, and I have to admit that I prefer Oland as well; his performances as Chan always seemed unassuming and thoughtful, whereas Toler just seems to be uninvolved. Nevertheless, this is a fairly entertaining entry in the series, with some very funny lines on occasion, and Henry Daniell is present as one of the suspects. The fantastic elements are very slight; there are murders by crossbow, and a torture chamber is present in the castle, but other than scaring Victor Sen Yung in a couple of scenes, it really doesn’t play into the plot at all. Therefore, I have to consign this one to the realms of marginalia.

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The Lodger (1932)

THE LODGER (1932)
(a.k.a. THE PHANTOM FIEND)
Article #908 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-9-2003
Posting Date: 2-6-2004
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Featuring Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, W.E. Bascomb

A new tenant in a boarding house is suspected of being a Jack-the-Ripper-like murderer.

It’s a little difficult for me to evaluate this remake of the Alfred Hitchcock silent classic, as I find myself hampered by the fact that my copy of the movie has such loud incidental noise that it somewhat interferes with my being able to hear through the British accents of the cast. However, since it is a remake and it basically follows the same story as the original, I really wasn’t at risk of getting lost. It’s not bad, overall, but Elvey isn’t Hitchcock, and the ending here simply doesn’t hold a candle to that of the superior silent version. As a result, the worst problem with the movie is simply that it feels unnecesary; if you’ve seen the Hitchcock version, you can probably safely skip this one, even if you find a copy with better sound than mine.

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Spies (1928)

SPIES (1928)
(a.k.a. SPIONE)
Article #907 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-8-2003
Posting Date: 2-5-2004
Directed by Fritz Lang
Featuring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Lien Deyers

A spy organization attempts to prevent a treaty with Japan, and secret agents attempt to thwart them.

I can tell the spies are supposed to be Russian because Rudolf Klein-Rogge spends most of the movie made up to look just like Lenin, and I doubt that this is more than just coincidence. At any rate, this is a pretty entertaining movie, and like all of Lang’s silent movies, it’s worth catching, though I do prefer either of his Mabuse films, METROPOLIS or M. There are some definite surreal touches here, particularly in a cafe that has a combination dance floor / boxing ring (this was in the days before mosh pits, remember). However, those looking for the touches of fantastic cinema will find little of interest here, other than a typical spy-movie style gadget or two. And despite the fact that the last part of the movie prominently features one of the scariest creatures known to man (a clown), I can’t really call it a horror movie by any means. Nevertheless, it’s exciting enough and has a truly bizarre ending.

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The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935)

THE ADVENTURES OF REX AND RINTY (1935)
(Serial)
Article #906 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-7-2003
Posting Date: 2-4-2004
Directed by Forde Beebe and B. Reaves Eason
Featuring Rex, Rin Tin Tin Jr, Kane Richmond

The God-Horse of Sujan is kidnapped and brought to America. It escapes, befriends a dog named Rinty, and is rescued by a polo player intent on returning the Horse to its original owner.

How about that? It’s a serial where I can tell the heroes apart. Granted, it helps that one of them is equine, another is canine, and only one of them is human, but I’m not complaining. In fact, having animals take center stage here has an even greater novelty value than making the Dead End Kids the focus of a serial (a la SEA RAIDERS), and the serial is quite entertaining as long as the focus remains on the animals. Unfortunately, the story gets repetitive after the first three episodes, and the focus shifts more and more to the human heroes and villains from that point onwards. Things do pick up again when the action shifts back to Sujan, but that’s not until late in the action. The fantastic elements are incidental, but they are there; firstly, the mythical island of Sujan itself, and secondly, there appears to be something of a psychic link between the high priest of Sujan and his agent in America, which is the most striking fantastic aspect here, even if it isn’t really used all that effectively.

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