Month: July 2016

Cabin in the Sky (1943)

CABIN IN THE SKY (1943)
Article #1315 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-20-2004
Posting Date: 3-19-2005
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Featuring Ethel Waters, Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson, Lena Horne

When Little Joe is shot after engaging in a crooked dice game, the prayers of his wife save his soul from the devil. However, he has only six months to live, and must reform his life if he hopes to go to heaven.

This all-black musical would make a good companion piece to GREEN PASTURES, another all-black movie about spiritual matters; both movies featured Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson, Oscar Polk, and Rex Ingram. The latter played ‘De Lawd’ in GREEN PASTURES; here he jumps the fence to play a character from the other side, a devil named Lucifer Jr. whose idea men include Louis Armstrong, Willie Best and Mantan Moreland. This was Vincente Minnelli’s first directorial credit, and the music plays a big role here, with Ethel Waters and Lena Horne doing much of the singing; they even perform the same number at one point, ‘Honey in the Honeycomb’. Even Eddie Anderson gets into the singing and dancing, and though he does a fun little job with the latter, I’m not really keen on hearing any more of his warbling. Duke Ellington and his band perform at one point, but the real cameo was a special appearance by the tornado from THE WIZARD OF OZ! Still, if you did pair it up with GREEN PASTURES, I’m afraid it would have to be the second feature; it’s done well enough, but it just doesn’t achieve the same heights of inspiration. As you might expect, there’s some stereotypes floating around as well (particularly with the gambling angle), but the likable performances and music pull it through.

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The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)

THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE (1944)
Article #1314 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-19-2004
Posting Date: 3-18-2005
Directed by Ford Beebe
Featuring Jon Hall, Leon Errol, John Carradine

An escaped lunatic bent on acquiring his rightful share of a fortune finds himself betrayed, but seeks revenge against his enemies when a doctor turns him invisible.

This would be the last of the invisible man series by Universal (other than a couple of encounters with Abbott and Costello). It is not a sequel to any of the other movies as far as I can tell, despite the fact that the main character’s last name is Griffin. It’s likable enough and fun to watch, but it is probably the least of the series. I think its main problem is that it’s a bit muddled. It attempts to recapture that combination of comedy and horrific suspense that was the earmark of the first movie in the series, but whereas that movie balanced the elements in such a way that they played off of and enhanced each other, here we just have suspense scenes giving way to comic scenes giving way to suspense scenes etc…without really building to an organic whole. Still, the cast is colorful enough; I’ve never been a big fan of Jon Hall, but I do enjoy seeing Leon Errol, John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers, Halliwell Hobbes, Skelton Knaggs and Ian Wolfe. On the down side, I think Gale Sondergaard (one of the great character actresses of all time) is wasted here; she isn’t given near enough to do, and practically vanishes from the second half of the movie. It’s not one of Universal’s best, but it’s far from an embarrassment.

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Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938)

BULLDOG DRUMMOND IN AFRICA (1938)
Article #1313 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-18-2004
Posting Date: 3-17-2005
Directed by Louis King
Featuring John Howard, Heather Angel, H.B. Warner

Bulldog Drummond calls off his wedding to rescue Colonel Nielsen, who has been kidnapped by dealers in foreign secrets and taken to Africa.

NOTE: I’ve taken to setting aside a specific section of each of these reviews to highlight the fantastic content of any movie in which the content may not be apparent from the plot description.

Fantastic Content: There’s precious little here. There’s a touch of horror in some scene involving a lion tied to a stake, and there’s a touch of science fiction in the fact that the secret being sought involves the invention of a radiowave destructor. However, the invention not only is not used during the length of the movie, it doesn’t even appear; it is merely talked about. This one is marginal.

Is it just my imagination, or is Bulldog Drummond consistently about to give up his life of adventure to settle down with a woman only to have circumstances fling him back into the world of adventure once again? I know I’ve seen this happen in several of his movies; however, given the sense of humor that pervades these movies, I suspect it’s more of a running joke than a lack of imagination on the part of the writers. At any rate, it’s always fun to revisit Drummond, Tenny, Algy and Colonel Nielsen. I did find this one a little disappointing, though; it didn’t seem quite as witty as the other entries in the series I’ve seen. Nonetheless, it has an exciting ending, and a number of familiar faces in the cast (J. Carrol Naish, Anthony Quinn). Still, the moment that had me most on the edge of my seat is also the funniest moment in the movie, and that’s near the beginning of the movie where I sat with bated breath waiting for someone to explain to me why neither Drummond nor his butler were wearing pants. At least they had an excuse, which is more than Algy had.

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Brigadoon (1954)

BRIGADOON (1954)
Article #1312 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-17-2004
Posting Date: 3-16-2005
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Featuring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse

Two hunters stumble upon the Scottish village of Brigadoon, which only appears on the earth for one day every one hundred years.

There was a time in my life when I hated musicals. Then there was a period of time when I was under the influence of Danny Peary’s “Film Fanatic Guide” (which encourages trying out all genres), and I ended up watching musicals on a more regular basis. I found that practically every genre (with the possible exception of soap operas) has the ability to speak to me, and that includes musicals. Nowadays, even if I can’t really call myself a fan of the form, I don’t hate them and can enjoy them if I wish.

One of the powers of a musical is that it can take a corny concept and, through the use of music and dance, give it depth and resonance. The concept here is that “love can work miracles”; this may make my rational mind snicker, but it does touch a chord in my emotional mind, and the music and dance draws on that part of my psyche. Now I wouldn’t call BRIGADOON a great musical (it gets a little boring at times), but it is a good one. At the very least, it does accomplish the task of making its theme resonant enough so that you find yourself touched and moved at the end of the movie rather than annoyed. You even feel a little sorry for the Van Johnson character, whose materialistic nature makes an appreciation of the magical nature of Brigadoon and the power of love inaccessible to him. Movies like this do have a valuable function; in a world where it is so easy to give in to cynicism, that there are other options if we have the heart to pursue them.

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The Black Camel (1931)

THE BLACK CAMEL (1931)
Article #1311 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-16-2004
Posting Date: 3-15-2005
Directed by Hamilton MacFadden
Featuring Warner Oland, Bela Lugosi, Robert Young

Charlie Chan investigates the murder of an actress in Honolulu.

Fantastic aspects: Slight. They largely consist of the presence of certain actors associated with horror, and a sequence involving a crystal ball.

This may be an important movie historically. Not only does it appear to be the earliest surviving of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan movies, but it may be the first time a horror star was cast as a red herring in a mystery. I base this assumption on the fact that Bela Lugosi was the first horror star (yes, Lon Chaney predated him, but he was never really a “horror star” per se, nor do I think he was ever used as a red herring in a mystery), and this movie gives him a very high credit, indicating that it must have been made after he gained fame in DRACULA. Actually, he’s well used in this movie; he’s given a lot more to do than to give sinister glowers, and DRACULA fans will also be happy to see that Dwight Frye is on hand as well. This one is a lot of fun, with Oland quite hilarious at times. He’s assisted by a rather dim helper named Kashimo rather than his number one son, but we do have a great sequence with Chan at home with his family (which is quite large), and makes a great comment about escaping the frustrations of family life to the calm and peace of solving murders. Hamilton MacFadden (who directed) plays a movie director in the movie, and a young Robert Young (no relation to Old Robert Old) also appears.

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Bird of Paradise (1932)

BIRD OF PARADISE (1932)
Article #1310 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-15-2004
Posting Date: 3-14-2005
Directed by King Vidor
Featuring Dolores del Rio, Joel McCrea, John Halliday

A white man falls in love with a native girl on a south seas island, not knowing that she is the daughter of the chief and fated to be cast in the volcano to appease the gods.

Apparently, this type of story was old hat even at the time this was made. It’s a pretty elaborate production, though; my only wish is that it could have been in color. It’s also pretty racy; this was before the production code, and we have scenes of the native girl swimming naked (I don’t know if it’s Dolores del Rio or a stand-in; you never get a good look at her during this sequence) and another of del Rio wearing a top that consists of nothing more than a couple of leis. You also get a scene of Joel McCrea swimming with a turtle, sliding down a hill on a palm leaf, and teaching English to Dolores del Rio. This being the type of story it is, it’s at least borderline fantasy anyway, but the appearance of a shark and a plot point involving the volcano’s curse give it marginal horror touches as well. A certain Creighton Chaney (you know; Lon’s son) plays one of the sailors, though I can’t say whether he was given any lines of dialogue. The movie would be remade in 1951.

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Beware Spooks! (1939)

BEWARE SPOOKS! (1939)
Article #1309 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-14-2004
Posting Date: 3-13-2005
Directed by Edward Sedgwick
Featuring Joe E. Brown, Mary Carlisle, Clarence Kolb

An incompetent policeman loses his job when he lets a criminal escape, and he vows to catch the criminal to get his job back.

For many years I was most familiar with Joe E. Brown as a supporting player in any number of movies (like SOME LIKE IT HOT, COMEDY OF TERRORS and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM). He was always very enjoyable in these, but for some reason I never caught his starring vehicles. Having seen a couple of them now, I suspect that none of them ever really became comedy classics. Brown himself has good comic timing and a memorable face, and he did make the best of what he was given. However, his comic persona in these was strictly routine (the good-hearted bumbler), and rarely do they seem inspired. They were watchable, but hardly great.

The fantastic content in this one is slight; the last part of the movie has Brown matching wits with a criminal in a carnival spook house. This is also one of the better scenes in the movie, as a fight scene set among the usual fun-house acoutrements (stairs that turn into slides, slippery floors, etc.) does make for an interesting sequence. Other than that, the best scene of the movie is a sequence where Brown finds himself alone in a hotel room with his newly-married bride, and his nervousness results in his accidentally making a shambles of the room. Other than that, this movie is pretty slight and forgettable.

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The Bat (1926)

THE BAT (1926)
Article #1308 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-13-2004
Posting Date: 3-12-2005
Directed by Roland West
Featuring Jack Pickford, Louise Fazenda, Eddie Gribbon

A murderous bank robber known as “The Bat” is loose in a country estate, and the residents believe he may be hiding in a hidden room in the mansion.

THE BAT is one of the cornerstones of the whole “Old Dark House” genre, but oddly enough, I had a little trouble warming up to it. I’d seen its remake THE BAT WHISPERS (with the same director) twice, and though I seemed to like it well enough the first time I saw it, I was very bored the second time. This boredom almost repeated itself on my first viewing of the original here, but I ended up warming up to it as it progressed, and I believe this might be due to the fact that I didn’t find myself struggling with the creakiness of an early talkie. Visually, this is one of the finest looking of the “Old Dark House” movies; the excellent Art Design by William Cameron Menzies is very effective, and even though the miniatures do look like miniatures, they are still evocative and moody. The movie starts out very well indeed, with an audacious robbery-murder; my problems usually start when the action moves to the country estate. Two problems I had with the movie are that I don’t think it does a good job introducing its various characters (it takes longer to sort out who’s who than it should), and that it puts too much emphasis on the comic-relief maid, who spends all of her time either looking scared or accusing people of being “The Bat”. However, the confusing middle section eventually gives way to the more focused final third of the movie, which is quite fun. The soundtrack is marvelously moody, but this in itself is a bit problematic; since the movie is at least partially a comedy, it should have a lightness of touch at times that it doesn’t have.

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The Atomic Kid (1954)

THE ATOMIC KID (1954)
Article #1307 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-12-2004
Posting Date: 3-11-2005
Directed by Leslie H. Martinson
Featuring Mickey Rooney, Robert Strauss, Elaine Davis

A man survives an atomic blast, and he becomes a national secret as scientists try to figure out what saved him from being destroyed.

Mickey Rooney was well into his thirties when this was made, so he’s really stretching it to play someone who could still be called a “kid”, but then Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey were even older at the time, and they were still “boys”, so what do I know? Rooney produced this one himself, and the story (though not the script) came from Blake Edwards, but for all that, it largely feels like one of the weaker efforts from Abbott and Costello; in fact, it’s very easy to see Costello in the Rooney role and Abbott in the Strauss role. At any rate, this is one fairly weak comedy.

Now, given the fact that it is a comedy, you do expect them to play fast and loose with theories of atomic energy. Let’s take a look at the scientific phenomena on display here.

1) You can survive an atomic blast if you’re hiding in a closet with a peanut butter-sardine-banana sandwich. After your survival, you will be able to endorse peanut butter products.

2) Once you survive the blast, your neutrons will speed up. This will make you talk like one of the Goofy Gophers. This wears off after a while.

3) For your own protection, you must wear a geiger counter wristwatch to keep track of your neutrons. If you kiss someone, this will set them off. This will cause fires to spontaneously light up in the fireplace.

4) Another side effect of having survived a nuclear blast is that slot machines will automatically cough up all their winnings to you.

Foreign agents will want to know these secrets, so keep your mouth shut.

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Anatomy of a Psycho (1961)

ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO (1961)
Article #1306 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-11-2004
Posting Date: 3-10-2005
Directed by Boris Petroff
Featuring Ronnie Burns, Pamela Lincoln, Darrell Howe

A troubled teenager seeks revenge on those he holds responsible for the arrest, conviction and execution of his older brother.

I’m not sure what you should expect from a movie with a title that seems to promise the high drama of ANATOMY OF A MURDER crossed with the giddy thrills of PSYCHO, but if this juvenile delinquent revenge story falls somewhat outside the auspices of your expectations, join the club. It’s pretty much REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE territory, except our troubled teenager acts a little loonier than usual, and outside of a few moments of stressed-out madness, the fantastic aspects of this one are nonexistent. On its own terms, it’s a mess; though it picks up during the last third of its running time, you have to sit through the confused, obvious and annoying first two thirds of the movie, and it’s not a fun ride (unless you find catching snatches of music from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE to be a thrilling experience). You won’t know any more about psychos after watching this movie than you did before. Incidentally, Ronnie Burns (who plays Mickey) is the adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen.

On a final note, one character in this movie wins the DS Bag O’ Hammers award (for characters who do monumentally stupid things). It goes to the psycho’s sister’s boyfriend, who takes the time to tell the obviously hostile psycho that 1) it was his (the boyfriend’s) father that provided the testimony that sent the psycho’s brother to the electric chair, and 2) he’s about to marry his (the psycho’s) sister.

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