Month: January 2019

Habeas Corpus (1928)

HABEAS CORPUS (1928)
Article 3134 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-26-2009
Posting Date: 3-14-2010
Directed by Leo McCarey and James Parrott
Featuring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Richard Carle
Country: USA
What it is: Classic comedy with macabre overtones

A mad professor hires two panhandlers to procure him a body from the local cemetery.

It’s great to see another Laurel and Hardy short, and this marks the first of their silent shorts I’ve seen. It’s a fun idea to put these two in a Burke-and-Hare scenario; even though some of the humorous content is obvious (Stan is scared), it’s still timed so well it works. Still, despite the visual gags, my favorite moment is a verbal (albeit in title cards) one in which Hardy reassures Laurel about the sanity of the professor. There’s a man disguised as a ghost and a bat to add to the horror content.

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Christmas Carol (1914)

CHRISTMAS CAROL (1914)
Article 3133 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-25-2009
Posting Date: 3-13-2010
Directed by Harold M. Shaw
Featuring Charles Rock, Edna Flugarth, George Bellamy
Country: UK
What it is: Version of the perennial Dickens classic

Scrooge is visited by three spirits who teach him the true meaning of Christmas.

At only about ten minutes, there’s not a whole lot an adaptation like this can do with the source material. However, it does manage to fit a nice little character moment I haven’t seen in the other versions I’ve seen; when Scrooge turns down the gentlemen seeking a contribution to help the poor, Bob Cratchit eagerly manages to cough up a small coin of his own to contribute. It’s moments like these which make me realize how even a small adaptation can have a surprise or two up its sleeve. Still, as usual with versions this short, the story is short-changed; the ghost of Christmas Future, for example, has only time to show Scrooge his own grave, which, if you think about it, really doesn’t prove anything. And for those of you checking the viewing dates of the movies I review, you may be surprised to notice that I actually did manage to watch this one on Christmas Day, which, given my refusal to plan my series around the holidays, marks a happy coincidence.

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In Search of the Castaways (1962)

IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS (1962)
Article 3132 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-24-2009
Posting Date: 3-12-2010
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Featuring Maurice Chevalier, Hayley Mills, George Sanders
Country: USA
What it is: Vernian adventure

When a Frenchman finds a message in a bottle that indicates that a captain is still alive, he, along with the captain’s two children, convinces a British lord to use his yacht to begin a search for the missing man.

Disney returns to the works of Jules Verne for this colorful adventure film, though the fantastic content of the film seems to be much fainter; THE MOTION PICTURE GUIDE describes it as a “fantasy/adventure”, but it’s only marginally a fantasy, and I can’t even point to a specific element that makes it qualify, unless the existence of a giant condor qualifies. It’s also a much more lighthearted effort; it’s even partially a musical, with Maurice Chevalier crooning a couple of songs during the movie. It’s almost impossible to take the movie seriously, especially when the adventures ride down a snow covered mountain in the Andes on a piece of cliff dislodged by an earthquake. In fact, this movie somewhat reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies in terms of the action setpieces. The cast also includes Wilfred Hyde-White as the lord, and features a cameo from Roger Delgado as a sailor held hostage.

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That Riviera Touch (1966)

THAT RIVIERA TOUCH (1966)
Article 3131 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-23-2009
Posting Date: 3-11-2010
Directed by Cliff Owen
Featuring Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Suzanne Lloyd
Country: UK
What it is: Basic comedy team shtick

Two traffic wardens take a vacation in France, but are targeted by jewel thieves who plan to use them to unwittingly smuggle a stolen necklace out of the country.

Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise appear to be a comedy team from England; I don’t know how well known they are outside of their native country, but I’ve not heard of them until now. As a team, they’re okay; they have good chemistry with each other, and show a decent sense of timing. However, there’s really nothing special about them that sets them apart, and the movie itself is pretty routine; I could easily see Abbott and Costello in the same story. As for the fantastic content, it’s on the thin side; the duo end up staying at a rather creepy villa, and though no one says outright that it’s haunted, there’s a running gag with Morecombe constantly finding dead bodies that disappear.

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Steel Dawn (1987)

STEEL DAWN (1987)
Article 3130 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-22-2009
Posting Date: 3-10-2010
Directed by Lance Hool
Featuring Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe
Country: USA
What it is: Post-apocalyptic compendium of action cliches

It’s after the apocalypse. A wandering soldier witnesses the assassination of his old teacher by a hired sword. He hooks up with a farming family who were going to be under his former teacher’s protection, and seeks to save them from the machinations of an evil man intent on controlling all the water in the region.

Patrick Swayze makes a fine action hero, and Anthony Zerbe and Christopher Neame make for good villains, so I don’t really have issues with the acting here. It’s the script that is sleepwalking through the movie. It’s a rehash of THE ROAD WARRIOR, only without the motor vehicles, so we get a lot more walking. What it doesn’t borrow from THE ROAD WARRIOR, it culls from any number of western and action movies, and though the odd moment here or there may show a bit of creativity, the movie is otherwise totally lacking in surprises.

You know, you can just tell when you’re in the eighties…

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Faust (1960)

FAUST (1960)
Article 3129 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-21-2009
Posting Date: 3-9-2010
Directed by Peter Gorski and Gustaf Grundgens
Featuring Will Quadflieg, Gustaf Grundgens, Ella Buchi
Country: West Germany
What it is: Classic sell-your-soul-to-the-devil drama

Faust sells his soul to the devil.

This movie is for all practical reasons a photographed stage play of the first part of Goethe’s classic story of Faust that runs for over two hours long and is in unsubtitled German. If that’s enough for you to throw in the towel before you’ve even gotten wet… well, I can appreciate that; if I weren’t a committed fool to this project, I’d probably do the same. Those who persist will find some incredibly good acting, especially from Gustaf Grundgens, who had been essaying the role of Mephisto for three decades; as always, I maintain that good acting can be spotted even if you don’t understand the language. It also makes some real effort to keep the “photographed stage play” approach from getting too stodgy; changes in camera angles, close-ups, and occasional cinematic special effects enliven the production. As for not understanding the movie, that can be easily solved by grabbing a translation of Goethe’s work and reading it in preparation for the viewing, as I suspect this version is quite faithful to it. I didn’t quite have the time to prepare, and though I’ve read the original play many years ago, I barely remember it and recall it being a difficult read. There’s also a mind-blowing sequence that pops in about fifteen minutes before the movie is over, and it makes some rather creative use of atomic bomb stock footage. It’s quite interesting, albeit intimidating, but I’ll make sure I’m more prepared when I watch a second time.

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Ein Unsichtbarer geht durch die Stadt (1933)

EIN UNSICHTBARER GEHT DURCH DIE STADT (1933)
aka An Invisible Man Goes Through the Town
Article 3128 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-20-2009
Posting Date: 3-8-2010
Directed by Harry Piel
Featuring Harry Piel, Fritz Odemar, Lissy Arna
Country: Germany
What it is: German invisibility drama/comedy

A cabbie discovers that a suitcase left behind by a passenger contains an outfit that turns him invisible. He uses the outfit to make his fortune at the racetrack. However, his outfit is stolen by someone planning on using it to rob banks, and he embarks on a chase of the criminal.

IMDB doesn’t classify this one as a comedy, but, despite the fact that my copy is in unsubtitled German, I do get the feeling that the first part of the movie at least is played for laughs. As is usual when I cover movies not in English, you should take the above plot description with a grain of salt. The special effects aren’t quite up to the level of the Universal’s THE INVISIBLE MAN, but they work well enough. The movie is fairly ordinary, but it does have some good moments; some of the scenes have a nice scary sense of what it might be like to face off with an unseen adversary, and the extended chase leads to an amazing sequence involving an airship. Unfortunately, the action sequence ends with a disappointing thud, so I’m afraid I can’t quite recommend the movie. Harry Piel would go on to direct a couple more science fiction movies with DIE WELTE OHNE MASKE and DER HERR DER WELT.

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Dead Men Tell (1941)

DEAD MEN TELL (1941)
Article 3127 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-19-2009
Posting Date: 3-7-2010
Directed by Harry Lachman
Featuring Sidney Toler, Sheila Ryan, Robert Weldon
Country: USA
What it is: Charlie Chan mystery with some spooky touches

Here’s another entry in the Charlie Chan series, many of which I’ve already covered for this series. As usual, the horror element is slighter than it is in a real horror movie (this is a mystery), but it’s actually strong enough here that I can see why this one qualifies. Part of the story revolves around an ancestral peg-legged hook-handed pirate whose ghost appears to members of his family at the moment of their deaths, and the first appearance of the “ghost” here is genuinely eerie. Sidney Toler is charming as usual as Chan, and some of the other cast members are interesting; George Reeves plays a reporter who is not what he seems, and Milton Parsons plays – no, not an undertaker, but a neurotic man who occasionally can’t control certain desires. There’s a talking parrot here, but fortunately he’s not overused for comic purposes, and even plays a part in the solution of the mystery. All in all, this is an enjoyable entry in the series.

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Pulgarcito (1957)

PULGARCITO (1957)
aka Tom Thumb
Article 3126 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-18-2009
Posting Date: 3-6-2010
Directed by Rene Cardona
Featuring Maria Elena Marques, Jose Elias Morena, Cesareo Quezadas ‘Pulgarcito’
Country: Mexico
What it is: Mexican fairy tale

The diminutive Pulgarcito must save himself and his six normal-sized brothers from an ogre.

After having sat through two rather dry German fairy tale movies, I welcomed the opportunity to catch a Mexican fairy tale movie, even one that hadn’t been dubbed into English. At the very least, you can count on a Mexican children’s movie to have a strong sense of fun and energy, and this one does. Granted, it’s not as fascinatingly bizarre as some other children’s movies I’ve seen from Mexico (LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, for example), but I found this one entertaining enough. One thing that surprised me is that the special effects were actually not too bad; you can pretty much figure out the various camera tricks that were employed to make Pulgarcito seem as small as he is, but the illusion is sustained. Even in a scene where the ogre reaches for Pulgarcito where you can tell that the hand is fake, nonetheless the editing is brisk enough that the camera doesn’t dwell on the effect overmuch, and the hand moves convincingly enough that the illusion is sustained. For me, one of the funniest moments in the movie is when Pulgarcito gets the upper hand on the ogre by teaching the ogre’s wife and children hygiene and manners. The young actor who plays Pulgarcito would reprise the role five years later in LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE MONSTERS.

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The Spirit is Willing (1967)

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING (1967)
Article 3125 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-17-2009
Posting Date: 3-5-2010
Directed by William Castle
Featuring Sid Caesar, Vera Miles, Barry Gordon
Country: USA
What it is : Tepid ghost comedy

A couple moves into a haunted house with their teenage son. The ghosts play havoc with their lives.

Despite my real affection for William Castle and his horror movies, I tend to be less taken with his attempts at comedies. In a sense I find this surprising; the trailers for his movies are some of the most hilarious I’ve seen, and he himself has a wicked sense of humor. But somehow, that humor gets left behind when he directs a comedy. I was not impressed with either THE OLD DARK HOUSE (Castle’s version) or ZOTZ, and both of those are better than this one. It’s too laid back and aimless to be effective, and the mood sometimes gets shrill (such as when everyone is yelling at each other) or glum (when the wife believes that her husband is cheating on her). Furthermore, the movie misses every opportunity to add a few shudders to the mix, largely because the movie is blanketed throughout with a rinky-dink musical score that just screams “COMEDY”. It’s a bit of a shame; the cast is pretty impressive; it’s loaded with a whole slew of familiar faces, and you just wish the movie would give the actors something to do. As it is, I barely smiled, much less laughed, though one sight gag (when we finally spot Felicity at the birthday party) did raise a single chuckle. But one chuckle does not make a comedy, and I found this one fairly interminable.

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