Month: July 2016

You’re Telling Me (1934)

YOU’RE TELLING ME (1934)
Article #1325 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-30-2004
Posting Date: 3-29-2005
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Featuring W.C. Fields, Joan Marsh, Buster Crabbe

An inventor attempts to help his daughter to marry the rich kid in town by selling his new invention; a puncture-proof tire.

I’ve always been a little disappointed by this W. C. Fields comedy. It’s one of those where he places his character in a thoroughly domestic situation, which is actually a very interesting thing to do from a character perspective. The persona of W. C. Fields as a somewhat misanthropic low-life is challenged when he plays a married man; he mainly wants to drink with his friends and to tinker with his inventions, but he’s compromised by having to squelch his own personality so that he can get along with his wife and to help his daughter (who he truly loves) to win the man of her dreams. It’s a fairly sophisticated type of character comedy, and even though he never plays for sympathy, you care for him. Nevertheless, I find this one a little short on laughs (unlike IT’S A GIFT), and I think this is due to the fact that he’s not given enough annoying characters to contend with. There are moments, though; the movie builds up to the classic scene of him trying to tee off at a golf course only to have all sorts of obstacles get in his way (including an incompetent caddy), and certain other moments also work beautifully. There’s a scene of him rolling his tire down the street with a stick that is both funny (he’s a grown man) and touching (there’s a part of him that’s still quite childlike). For me, the biggest laugh revolves around a bottle of roach exterminator, and the most surreal moment deals with his attempt to placate his wife by buying her a pet; namely, the biggest bird in the pet store.

Oh, and the fantastic aspect of the movie is the puncture-proof tire, which is even able to resist bullets.

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Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959)
Article #1324 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-29-2004
Posting Date: 3-28-2005
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift

An aging widow promises to contribute a large amount of money to an asylum (to build a new building for neurosurgery) if the doctor agrees to give a lobotomy to her committed niece. However, the doctor isn’t quite sure that the niece is crazy, and he investigates.

The book which listed this movie as belonging to the realm of fantastic cinema was very vague about the reasons for its inclusion, so I went into this one expecting it to be marginal. However, the opening scenes of this one involve a doctor giving a lobotomy to a female patient at an asylum, and though this doesn’t automatically turn it into a horror movie, it puts us very definitely in the same ballpark. In fact, the movie seems drenched in horror at times; the theme of madness runs throughout the story, the imagery inside the Venable mansion is quite nightmarish (especially the primitive jungle that passes for a back yard, and the presence of a statue of a truly ghastly skeletal figure), there is a scene where an old woman appears as a moving skeleton, and the revelations around the death of Sebastian (which mark the climax of the movie and which I will not reveal here) will be more familiar to a horror fan than to fans of drama.

In some ways, I’m not entirely surprised. The movie was based on a Tennessee Williams play, and Williams’ symbolic southern Gothic style isn’t really all that far from horror; even the title one of his plays (THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA) sounds like that of a horror movie. Still, it is a drama, and a fairly talky one at that, but it’s one of those where the talk is rich and fascinating. Both Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor give fantastic performances, and Montgomery Clift also does well, though his part is far less flashy. As far as this series goes, it’s rather nice to see all three of these performers, as I don’t believe I’ve covered a movie yet for this series that features any of them. It will also probably be my last time for either Clift or Hepburn, though Taylor pops up in a few other genre productions. All in all, it’s a fascinating and harrowing drama, but it does help if you are familiar enough with the works of Tennessee Williams to know what to expect.

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The Curse of the Aztec Mummy (1957)

THE CURSE OF THE AZTEC MUMMY (1957)
(a.k.a. LA MALDICION DE LA MOMIA AZTECA)
Article #1323 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-28-2004
Posting Date: 3-27-2005
Directed by Rafael Portillo
Featuring Luis Aceves Castaneda, Crox Alvarado, Rosa Arenas

The evil Dr. Krupp escapes from the police and plots to once again get hold of the Aztec necklace and breastplate, despite warnings that this will arouse the wrath of the Aztec Mummy.

It feels a little silly to be comparing this movie with its immediate sequel, THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY; as both movies are largely cut from the same cloth, it’s like comparing one Pringle’s potato chip to another. Nevertheless, I think this movie is markedly better than its sequel. I can actually sit through this one straight without my interest flagging, whereas ROBOT is tough going in that department. I think one of the things this movie does right is that it doesn’t start out with twenty minutes of footage from the previous movies of the series; it does manage to fit in five minutes in the middle of the movie, but that’s still an improvement. It also adds a new character to the mix, a masked crime fighter known as the Angel, though there is a reason this character doesn’t appear in the sequel as such, but I won’t give that away. Finally, I think the big difference between the two movies is that this one actually has enough plot to fill the whole movie, where ROBOT does not. Consequently, things rarely grind to a halt as they constantly do in the latter movie; in fact, the only padding in the movie is that five minutes of footage it took from THE AZTEC MUMMY (we don’t really need to see the sacrifice sequence). This movie also gives us a lot more of Dr. Krupp, whose evil dialogue is pretty amusing. Now if only I could see the first movie of the series, which is inexplicably unavailable except in the bastardized Jerry Warren version THE ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY, which is not an adequate substitute.

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Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS (1937)
Article #1322 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-27-2004
Posting Date: 3-26-2005
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Featuring Warner Oland, Katherine DeMille, Pauline Moore

Charlie Chan’s investigation of the theft of a robot pilot device (that allows planes to be guided by remote control) takes him to Berlin during the Olympic games.

Yes, it’s that old science fiction mainstay, the radio controlled airplane, that serves as the fantastic content of this entry in the Charlie Chan series. It’s also one of the best of the series, with plot developments that never stop coming, a fast moving story, and even a certain amount of emotional resonance when Chan’s son is kidnapped. The movie is also full of familiar faces; Katherine DeMille appeared with Boris Karloff in THE BLACK ROOM, Allan Lane became a well-known western star and eventually provided the voice for Mr. Ed, C. Henry Gordon appeared in several Charlie Chan adventures, and has a distinctive moustache, and Minerva Urecal has a memorable cameo as a matron of a girl’s dormitory. John Carradine was also to have been on hand, but his scenes were deleted. The movie also makes excellent use of Olympic stock footage; it is very well incorporated into the action.

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Black Moon (1934)

BLACK MOON (1934)
Article #1321 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-26-2004
Posting Date: 3-25-2005
Directed by Roy William Neill
Featuring Jack Holt, Fay Wray, Dorothy Burgess

A white woman returns to her island home, where many years ago she was indoctrinated into the ways of voodoo. Her returns sparks off a new wave of voodoo ritual and human sacrifices.

There’s no way to easily describe this strange, almost forgotten horror movie from the thirties, but I would rate it as the best voodoo movie made between WHITE ZOMBIE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, and there isn’t even a single zombie in the movie. I’d even place it ahead of WHITE ZOMBIE; for me, that movie never quite captures the sense of oppressive dread that permeates this movie. In fact, it may be the the most Lewtonesque movie I’ve seen that was made before the advent of Val Lewton; it’s dark, unsettling, and things never quite happen the way you anticipate they will. Even the performance of the comic relief character (‘Lunch’ McClaren played by Clarence Muse) is so muted that I’m not even sure that the character can be called comic relief at all; he doesn’t seem to be playing for laughs (his fear, for example, is portrayed seriously rather than comically), and his performance actually lends to the atmosphere of the proceedings. The movie is a little uneven; for example, the Fay Wray character seems to exist more for the sake of convenience than for anything else. But the brooding atmosphere has a way of sticking with you, and you won’t soon forget the ending. This one is worth seeking out.

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Bait (1954)

BAIT (1954)
Article #1320 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-25-2004
Posting Date: 3-24-2005
Directed by Hugo Haas
Featuring Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, John Agar

A prospector goes into partnership with a young man to locate a lost gold mine. When the mine is found, his greed prompts him to hatch a scheme to get rid of the unwanted partner.

Fantastic content: the story is initially narrated by the Devil in the form of Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

The first encounter I ever had cinematically with Hugo Haas was with the fascinating BILA NEMOC (SKELETON ON HORSEBACK). I was quite surprised by the quality of this movie, since my initial knowledge of the man and his work was from “The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film”, which mentions him in connection with a series of low-budget (and quite bad) noirish potboilers he made during the fifties. My expectations were quite low for this one. Having now watched it, I can attest that it’s no classic, but it’s hardly an embarrassment; in fact, I quite liked some of it. In particular, I like Haas’ performance; I found him quite interesting as a man neither as mad or as stupid as he appears to be. I also felt John Agar did a good job with a somewhat more difficult role than he was usually given. I’m less taken with Cleo Moore, who was attractive, but really doesn’t show much in the way of real acting talent. I also like some of the visual tricks used by Haas; in particular, a scene where Agar and Moore talk, their bodies lit but their faces in darkness, caught my attention. Still, the best scene easily is the introduction, in which Sir Cedric Hardwicke (“quite a good actor”) climbs a flight of stairs, signs a bunch of autographs, and introduces himself as the devil.

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A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)

A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO (1942)
Article #1319 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-24-2004
Posting Date: 3-23-2005
Directed by Alfred L. Werker
Featuring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Dante the Magician

Stan and Ollie agree to transport a coffin to Dayton; unfortunately, the people they are dealing with are really crooks trying to get hold of an inheritance. The coffin then becomes confused with a stage prop for Dante the Magician.

Fantastic content: A touch of horror with the coffin plot, and some comic mayhem involving a tiny Stan.

I enjoy Laurel and Hardy so much that even in their weakest efforts, they still manage to get a laugh or two out of me. However, if that’s all they get, then you’re definitely dealing with one of their weakest movies. One of the big problems here is the over-elaborate plot involving five gangsters, a stage-hand with a past, his prospective bride, and a police inspector, and a lawyer who isn’t really a lawyer. The movie wastes so much time setting up an elaborate set of double-crosses (that just marginally involve Stan and Ollie), that it leaves your head swimming. Furthermore, Dante is another distraction, and once again I find myself a little annoyed with the fact that when stage magicians appear in a movie, all too often their illusions are tampered with using obvious cinematic special effects, as is the case here. Laurel and Hardy were at their best when the plots were simple and they were just left to ply their trade. The biggest laugh in the movie is Stan’s one-word response to being told “Pleased to meet you.”, which is simplicity itself. Still, it is a little fun to see Elisha Cook Jr. as one of the crooks.

Credits note: According to the credits, the waiter is played by Willie Best. There is a waiter, but he sure looks a lot more like Mantan Moreland to me. As for Willie Best, I didn’t see him in the movie at all; however, this may be due to the fact that my print of the movie is short about five minutes and came from a TV broadcast, hence the possibility that his scene (which I’m willingly to bet dealt with racial stereotypes) may have been excised for the TV print.

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Neutron Battles the Karate Assassins (1965)

NEUTRON BATTLES THE KARATE ASSASSINS (1965)
(a.k.a. NEUTRON CONTRA LOS ASESINOS DEL KARATE)
Article #1318 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-23-2004
Posting Date: 3-22-2005
Directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna
Featuring Wolf Ruvinskis, Ariadna Welter, Chucho Salinas

Neutron helps the police track down a group of assassins that use karate to dispatch with their victims.

Fantastic content: One of my sources implies that the assassins may not be quite human, but I’m unable to confirm this for the reasons described below.

This is another entry in the Mexican Neutron series. Neutron is a masked crimefighter who (amazingly enough) does not engage in wrestling on the side, so there are no wrestling scenes. I don’t think this one ever made it to the U.S. in dubbed form, so I had to settle for an unsubtitled print in Spanish. In short, my commentary will be inevitably crippled by the fact that I can’t quite figure out the details of what’s going on, hence my hedging on the fantastic content above.

It does look pretty good, though; I’m always amazed at just how much better the acting seems when you watch them undubbed. Even the comic relief character seems funnier; I believe his name is Chucho Salinas, as I recognized him from the Wrestling Women series as the short boyfriend. It also gave me an opportunity to hear the real, sonorous voice of German Robles (he played the title role in the Mexican movie THE VAMPIRE). But, as usual when I watch movies in this fashion, I spend a lot of time wondering what people are talking about. That’s the price of doing a comprehensive survey of the genres.

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The Spider’s Web (1938)

THE SPIDER’S WEB (1938)
(Serial)
Article #1317 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-22-2004
Posting Date: 3-21-2005
Directed by James W. Horne and Ray Taylor
Featuring Warren Hull, Iris Meredith, Richard Fiske

Richard Wentworth uses his secret identity of The Spider to do battle with an archfiend known as the Octopus who is bent on industrial sabotage.

Fantastic content: Other than some hints that imply that the Octopus may not be entirely human, the main piece of fantastic content is that the bad guys end up developing one of those big ray guns that can kill the engines of airplanes. I would be exaggerating if I said that every serial has one of these, but not by much.

For one fleeting episode I thought this serial was going to be something special; it looked as if it was going to have both an interesting hero and an interesting villain. The hero is a master of disguise whose most famous persona is that of the Spider, a vigilante crimefighter who is distrusted by the police, since they believe he is responsible for the very crimes he is preventing (if our hero displayed the slightest degree of angst over this dilemma, we’d have an early version of Peter Parker here). The Octopus also starts out promising; he is seemingly crippled (he hobbles to his seat behind the desk) and apparently has a third hand with which he can shoot people unexpectedly. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out quite as well as I hoped. The hero remains fairly interesting, but he really only uses one other disguise extensively (that of a petty thief named Blinky McQuade), and though that’s a fun character, I think they could have come up with a lot of other disguises as well.

The Octopus becomes very boring however; his trick with the third hand (which you should be able to figure out long before the serial is over) is the only trick he really has, and once he’s behind that desk, he spends the whole movie there just barking orders. I really would have liked him to take part in the action more; unfortunately, the serial decides to go the route of making the villain someone who we encounter in his real identity elsewhere in the story. If he became more active, he’d probably give himself away; unfortunately, since we really don’t care which of the secondary characters he really is (not a one of them has any personality to speak of), this would be a small loss.

The serial also has an irritating way of segueing into each episode; a narrator goes into an elaborate and confusing summary of the whole basic plot of the serial while the events that lead up to the cliffhanger pass by on the screen. The trouble is that the narration and the events don’t have anything to do with each other, so we don’t know whether to watch the action or listen to the narrator.

In summary, the serial largely works on the strength of Warren Hull and the Spider character. At the time I write this, it is sitting with an 8.9 rating on IMDB which seems to indicate that it’s well loved. Myself, I’m afraid I found it a bit of disappointment overall.

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Million Dollar Legs (1932)

MILLION DOLLAR LEGS (1932)
Article #1316 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-21-2004
Posting Date: 3-20-2005
Directed by Edward F. Cline
Featuring Jack Oakie, W.C. Fields, Andy Clyde

The president of Klopstokia tries to fill the empty treasury by competing in the Olympics.

Fantastic content: The country of Klopstokia is fictional, and some of the athletes have powers that are superhuman.

Nowadays when they talk about making wild, outrageous comedies, they usually just mean they’re loading it up with lots of sex and violence. Back in the thirties, this is the type of movie that would pass for wild and outrageous, and I for one prefer the high-energy conceptual weirdness of this early movie. Klopstokia is a country inhabited by goats and nuts, the strongest man gets to be president (in this case it’s W.C. Fields), all the men are named George and all the women are named Angela, and I’ll give you one guess as to where the major-domo is told that he should seek out the privy counselor. Along with Jack Oakie and W. C. Fields, we have Hugh Herbert as the Secretary of State, Billy Gilbert as the sneezing Secretary of the Interior, Dickie Moore as a little boy who shoots arrows (only some of which are poisonous), Ben Turpin as a mysterious spy keeping his eyes open, and if you keep your eyes open, you’ll spot Bruce Bennett and Syd Saylor. Is there a plot? I’m not sure. But I’ll take it hands down over almost any comedy released nowadays. Don’t confuse this with the Betty Grable of the movie the same name. And unless the title refers to the legs of the super-fast major-domo, I have no idea what it means.

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