Month: March 2021

O zlate rybce (1951)

O zlate rybce (1951)
Article 5523 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-18-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
Featuring the voice of Jan Wenrich
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Fable

A poor fisherman catches a golden fish; the latter grants the former three wishes if he is released. The fisherman does so, but the three wishes unleash a greedy streak in the fisherman’s wife.

Before I started watching this one, I had to double check whether I’d already covered it, as I do recall having seen a puppet-animated version of this story before. It must have been a different version, but I’m glad I was already familiar with the story; unlike some other Trnka shorts, this one is full of narration in Czech without English subtitles. It is also not stop-motion puppet animated (Trnka’s usual approach); in fact, I don’t think it’s animated at all, as it consists of a series of expressive but static drawings. Which is not to say that it isn’t a good retelling of the story; it is, though the ending seems slightly different from the previous version I’d seen. All in all, it’s not bad, but I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed because I was expecting something a bit more elaborate; as it is, it’s not one of Trnka’s more striking shorts.

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Il caso Valdemar (1936)

Il caso Valdemar (1936)
Article 5522 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-5-2017
Directed by Gianni Hoepli and Ubaldo Magnaghi
Featuring Lav Kemanarovic, Gino Eprisi, Carlo Bissi
Country: Italy
What it is: Poe adaptation short.

A man on the verge of death is kept alive by being put in a hypnotic trance for several months. But what will happen when he’s taken out of the trance?

The copy I saw of this short was in Italian, but the Poe story is familiar enough that I was able to follow it anyway. It’s a very stylish little short, with bizarre camera angles and interesting visuals. It’s also a pretty grotesque short for its time; those familiar with the story (Poe’s THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR) knows how it ends, and the special effects for this moment do not disappoint. This one is satisfying and memorable.

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Certuv mlyn (1949)

Certuv mlyn (1949)
aka The Devil’s Mill
Article 5521 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-25-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
No cast
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Animated fairy tale

A beggar wanders the countryside, trying to entertain the animals with his out-of-tune music box, but he only drives them away. One little boy takes pity on him and offers him a crust of bread, which the hungry wanderer nevertheless gives away to another beggar who magically disappears. When a storm breaks out, the wanderer takes refuge in an old mill, which is inexplicably full of amenities. However, the mill is the abode of a devil…

Here’s another gem from the oeuvre of Jiri Trnka. One of the joys of Trnka is that he eschewed dialogue in favor of visual story-telling, thus rendering them enjoyable in any language. As usual, there is a great deal of wit to the story, and Trnka’s ability to instill his puppet stop-motion animation with a real cinematic sense; they don’t feel like animated puppet movies. I’m really enjoying my forays into his work.

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War of the Worlds (1952)

War of the Worlds (1952)
Article 5520 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-16-2017
Directed by L.F. Broom
Cast unknown
Country: UK
What it is: Amateur Wells Adaptation

Martians arrive on Earth and terrorize a British town.

This being an amateur film, I’m not surprised there isn’t a listing for it on IMDB. And, this being an amateur film, I find myself cutting it quite a bit of slack and accepting certain things of which I’d be more critical if it had been a professional production. Yet, on certain levels, I’m not sure I really need to make these extra allowances; the movie is more coherent, better acted, and more exciting than some professional productions I’ve seen. The fact that it is an amateur film does add a generous dollop of charm to the proceedings; for example, I couldn’t help but notice that the movie advances its plot through narration and its music is a stock classical music piece (I think it might be Holst’s Mars – The Bringer of War from The Planets), yet both touches add to the excitement and effectiveness. Even the primitive stop-motion effects and make-up add to the flavor, and the sincere acting is a big plus. In the end, I love and applaud this little amateur film.

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Legenda o sv. Prokopu (1947)

Legenda o sv. Prokopu (1947)
Article 5519 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-10-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
No cast
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Puppet animation

Upon taking refuge in a house during a summer storm, the patriarch of a clan of farmers tells the story of the legend of St. Procopius.

I’m not familiar with the legend in question, but the basic story seems to involve the devil’s attempt to tempt St. Procopius. When the devil’s plan is thwarted, he attempts to get revenge by luring St. Procopius’s companion (a deer) out into the world and into the clutches of a hunter. There is no dialogue or narration to this short, though there are lyrics being sung during sections of it. There’s no listing for this short on IMDB as such; however, it was originally included in a feature film about the seasons called SPALICEK, or THE CZECH YEAR; this short was the section on summer. Even though this is one of his early works, I’m still blown away by the cinematic quality of Trnka’s craft; I’m especially impressed by the way each of his puppet creations has so much character that they all seem like individuals. At it’s best, animation can be a very magical form, and Trnka was one of animation’s great magicians.

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Fifty Million Years Ago (1925)

Fifty Million Years Ago (1925)
Article 5518 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-7-2017
Director unknown
No cast
Country: USA
What it is: Short animated science documentary

A summary is made of the history of earth before the rise of man.

This is more science fact than science fiction, but fans of the fantastic may find it interesting anyway because of the inclusion of stop-motion footage of dinosaurs. However, it is best to keep one’s expectations in check here; the stop-motion footage is very low on what we would call “action”, and many of the dinosaurs do little more than move their head and neck. Granted, with a running time of eight minutes and with footage dedicated to other subjects (such as the creation of the planet), there really isn’t time for much more. And there is a certain fun ambiance to this short to compensate. Still, this one is largely for stop-motion dinosaur completists.

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Petrol (1957)

Petrol (1957)
Article 5517 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-3-2017
Directed by Enrico Cocozza
Featuring Jack Smith and Eddie Cairns
Country: Scotland
What it is: Very short horror movie

A man whose car has broke down has an encounter with a psycho.

This short little experimental runs just under two minutes, and was added to my suggestion list as an example of one of those obscure little movies that has fallen through the cracks. It’s probably only marginally horror due to the fact that it’s so succinct it doesn’t provide us any motivation for why the killer does what he does. Still, one does have to admire the efficiency of telling a miniature little cinematic story without sound. It makes for an enticing little curiosity.

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Sweeney Todd (1928)

Sweeney Todd (1928)
Article 5516 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-28-2017
Directed by Walter West
Featuring Moore Marriott, Iris Darbyshire, Judd Green
Country: UK
What it is: Time for a shave and a snack

A barber and an innkeeper who specializes in meat pies join forces to kill rich men for their money.

From what I gather, this silent version of the Todd story was a fairly low-budget affair, and the print I saw was not in the best of condition; furthermore, there may be some footage missing. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining version of the story, and is arguably better than the more-well-known Tod Slaughter version. It has a few curious touches to add to the mix. It has a framing story in which a husband returns home and gets caught up in reading the story about Sweeney Todd in the paper, and begins dreaming he himself is Todd. It also takes a definite turn into clear fantastic territory when a ghost shows up near the climax of the movie. The movie doesn’t make the cannibalism angle explicit, mostly using subtlety and suggestion to imply it. It may be the most enjoyable version of the story I’ve seen, though I should point out that I’ve never seen the famous musical version.

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The Secret of Death Valley (1906)

The Secret of Death Valley (1906)
Article 5515 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-22-2017
Director unknown
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: The first weird western?

Several men set out on an expedition to prospect for gold. When one of them hits a big stake, another man kills him off as well as the others so he can have the gold for himself. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t pay for his crime…

Here’s another title that ended up on my “ones that got away” list that has finally revealed itself. I’m glad it did; it’s in the running as possibly the earliest example of the “weird western” subgenre. The fantastic content in this case involves the wife of one the murdered men having a vision of his murder; though this is a bit on the marginal side, it is a plot point of sorts, and, for that matter, the fantastic content of many weird westerns is pretty marginal as well. Despite being only about eight and a half minutes long, the short is pretty slow to get started; gold isn’t discovered until nearly half way through the short. Still, fans of weird westerns might want to check this one out.

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Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)

Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)
Article 5514 by Dave Sindelar
Date:10-18-2017
Directed by Rick Morales
Featuring the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward, William Shatner
Country: USA
What it is: Animated super-hero shenanigans

Batman discovers that some recent criminal plans by King Tut and Bookworm were actually plotted by Two-Face, who seems to have returned even though Harvey Dent appears to have been cured.

This is the second in an animated series that is modeled off of the sixties TV-series and features the voices of Adam West and Bert Ward; West’s recent death means that this was one of his last projects. Like the first, it successfully taps into the feel of the series, and there are a few fun references to the original series, including the touch that the characters played by both Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether end up in the Catwoman outfit. Shatner plays Two-Face, and does a fine job while avoiding the acting quirks for which he has gained a certain notoriety. Two-Face never appeared in the original series, though I gather that a treatment for one was written by Harlan Ellison and there were plans to get Clint Eastwood to appear in the role; according to IMDB, this animated movie is not based on that script. I’m not sure whether they’ll continue the series without Adam West, as I suspect that was one of the selling points of the series.

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