PYGMY ISLAND (1950)
(a.k.a. JUNGLE JIM IN PYGMY ISLAND)
Article #1593 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-25-2005
Posting Date: 12-22-2005
Directed by William A. Berke
Featuring Johnny Weissmuller, Ann Savage, David Bruce

Jungle Jim tries to help an expedition from the United States acquire the secret of an extra-strong and resilient rope that can’t be burned. The rope is the secret of a tribe of white pygmies, and foreign agents are also after the secret. There seems to be a tribe of bush devils on the loose as well.

I really liked this Jungle Jim movie at first. The story is different than the usual jungle movie storylines, the pygmies are fun if unconvincing, and there’s one hell of an elephant stampede sequence to liven things up. This held my interest for the first half of the movie, but it began to flag somewhat in the second half when the story ran out of steam, and we end up with endless scenes of people skulking through the bush. It starts to repeat itself as well; it was very entertaining to see the pygmies swinging through the jungle on vines Tarzan-style, but they repeat the footage too much before the movie is over. Still, the fight with the gorilla is still a highlight, and it was interesting to see Ann Savage (the femme fatale in DETOUR) as well. And they should have hired a proofreader for one of the newspaper headlines. Remember, “I” before “E” except after “C”; I “beleive” that’s the rule.

THE POSSESSED (1965)
(a.k.a. LA DONNA DEL LAGO/THE LADY OF THE LAKE)
Article #1584 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-16-2005
Posting Date: 12-13-2005
Directed by Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini
Featuring Virna Lisi, Peter Baldwin, Philippe Leroy

A visitor arrives in a small Italian town in search of a woman. He finds the inhabitants acting strange.

The above plot description is vague because I myself am vague about what happens in the movie. The plot descriptions on IMDB and in the John Stanley book say they’re acting like zombies, but I certainly didn’t see anything that resembled either the voodoo or the Romero variety of zombie, though a few people seem distant. There’s a lady involved, of course, and there’s a lake, a deal of love-making, a mysterious house, and lots of talk. Unfortunately, the key to it all is hidden in that talk, and since my copy of the movie is in unsubtitled Italian, the key remains currently out of my reach. It uses sound effectively at times, has some genuinely moody moments, and does seem to be off the beaten path somewhat. But until I see a print I can understand, I have little to say.

For those of you following this series in the hope that I’ll have more to say about these movies than I sometimes do, I apologize. The fact of the matter is that the project is a bit on the expensive side, and it’s also time-consuming. As nice as it might be to hold off on reviewing these until I can find a copy in English, I would then have to watch a whole second movie to keep up with the series, plus take the trouble to actively hunt out new sources. If this project were my livelihood or my sole hobby, I might do so, but such is not the case. Maybe someday I’ll return to movies like this and be better able to describe them, but until that time, this rather vague coverage will have to do.

PLANET OUTLAWS (1953)
Article #1583 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-15-2005
Posting Date: 12-12-2005
Directed by Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind and Harry Revier
Featuring Buster Crabbe, Jackie Moran, Anthony Warde

Buck Rogers does battle with Killer Kane.

This movie opens and closes with a commentator talking about flying saucers, aliens from other planets, and the need to use our scientific knowledge to help us defeat extraterrestrial invaders. To illustrate his point, we are then subjected to a sixty-minute edit of the BUCK ROGERS serial. Unfortunately, I think the message gets gummed up in the process. Despite the fact that BUCK ROGERS does include humans at odds with aliens, the context of the serial (where the aliens are helping good-guy revolutionaries do battle with the evil-regime status quo) is utterly different from the context of the commentary (where bad-guy aliens are trying to destroy our good-guy status quo). Now, I’m tempted to fault the movie for failing to effectively deliver its message, but in truth, I never believed for one moment that this movie was made -er- edited with the intent to deliver any such message. Rather, I think the message was slapped on to try to add some sort of trendy touch to footage taken from a fourteen-year old serial. Sure, it’s lame, but I don’t honestly think they ever thought anyone was going to pay attention anyway.

As for this attempt to make a feature out of a serial, I’ll say it’s better than DESTINATION SATURN but not much. It’s biggest advantage is that it’s shorter and less intent on getting all the action in, making it easier to watch. Still, it is like trying to read a Cliff’s Notes version of the serial but skipping every other paragraph in the process, and it’s hard to follow. Still, this one is somewhat less painful than this form usually is.

PIRATES OF PRAH (1956)
(a.k.a. MANHUNT IN SPACE)
Article #1581 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-13-2005
Posting Date: 12-10-2005
Directed by Hollingsworth Morse
Featuring Richard Crane, Sally Mansfield, Robert Lyden

Rocky Jones is sent out to investigate reports of space pirates when Vena is kidnapped by them.

Originally, I thought that covering this one would serve as a benchmark for me by being the first movie I covered that wasn’t listed in IMDB; PIRATES OF PRAH is not listed there. Granted, I expected that the reason for this was that these particular episodes of “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger” hadn’t been edited into movie form, thereby disqualifying itself somewhat from being covered. This might have served as an issue of debate had I been correct; however, as it is, I found alarm bells going off in my head during the first ten minutes of this group of episodes; I knew I had seen it before, and after a little research, I discovered that PIRATES OF PRAH had indeed been edited into a feature, only under the title MANHUNT IN SPACE, which is listed in IMDB. Since some of my sources list both titles as distinct entries in the Rocky Jones series, you can understand my confusion.

As for the movie itself, it’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect from the series. It’s three episodes of the series, each of which has a distinct storyline while at the same time telling a story arc that lasts all three episodes, thereby making them work both as individual episodes as well as a movie. Granted, it helps if you take breaks between the episodes; otherwise, the deliberate pace (tolerable in episode-size chunks but exhausting over the course of the whole movie) will get to you. It’s primitive and juvenile, but with a certain degree of imagination and creativity. The acting is variable but watchable, it’s silly but earnest, and it all somehow exudes a certain charm if you take into account its early television origins. If you’re a Rocky Jones fan, you’ll like it. If not, you won’t. Simple as that.

PANDA AND THE MAGIC SERPENT (1958)
(a.k.a. HAKUJA DEN)
Article #1580 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-12-2005
Posting Date: 12-9-2005
Directed by Kazuhiko Okabe, Taiji Yabushita, Robert Tafur
Featuring the voices of Marvin Miller, Mariko Miyagi, Hisaya Morishige

When a young man falls in love with a beautiful maiden who is actually a magic serpent, a wizard, believing she is evil, tries to break up the relationship.

According to IMDB, this is the first color, feature-length anime film, though I would have to say that the character style is certainly a far cry from what we think of as anime today. Watching these types of movies can be an interesting experience; one senses a big cultural difference while at the same time seeing the universalities of certain stories. Though this movie looks nothing like what you’d expect from Disney, the story itself embraces a fairly common theme about the non-smoothness of the true course of love. Some of the plot points are very familiar; when the enchantress decides to give up her powers and her immortality for the sake of the one she leaves, I found myself hearkening back to similar scenes from SUPERMAN II and one of the Steve Reeves Hercules movies. Actually, the bizarre dubbing is the most jarring aspect of the movie; it’s hard to believe that the panda would have such a deep voice, and having a voice translate the Japanese lyrics of some of the songs after they have been sung is rather unusual. My favorite sequence is the battle of the wizards, and my favorite character is the enchantress’ perpetually smiling handmaiden. And then of course, there’s the giant catfish – er – dragonfish – who pops up at the end. Despite the headache-inducing dubbing, I must admit that I liked it; I’m just not sure how much yet.

THE PERILS OF PAULINE (1934)
(Serial)
Article #1526 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-19-2005
Posting Date: 10-16-2005
Directed by Ray Taylor
Featuring Evalyn Knapp, Craig Reynolds, James Durkin

A noted scientist with a beautiful daughter is searching Indochina for a sacred disc that has the formula to a powerful poison gas engraved on it.

The original THE PERILS OF PAULINE was one of the earliest serials, and the title itself conjures up visions of lovely lasses tied to railroad tracks by dastardly villains. The opening credits of this 1934 serial with the same title conjure up that vision; the first thing we see is a train bearing down on and then passing over us. Now, if only this serial had actually attempted to recreate that sense of fun melodrama, it might have been a success; as it is, it underplays to a fault, takes itself too seriously, and fails to add anything really novel or interesting to the form. Its one concession to fun is disastrous; the comic relief character of Willie Dodge (played by Sonny Ray, who would spend the rest of his movie career in uncredited small roles) is one of the most painful examples of the form I’ve ever seen. I became thoroughly annoyed with his blatant mugging, tiresome shrieking, and incessant cowardly whining. In this context, it’s no surprise that the first episode is far and away the best one here; not only does it make wonderful use of stock footage, but you’re not hampered by the awareness that you’re going to have to put up with more of Willie Dodge. All in all, the most disappointing serial I’ve seen in a long time.

PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)
Article #1396 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-9-2005
Posting Date: 6-8-2005
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Featuring Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina

A student is the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders that take place in apartments in the Rue Morgue in Paris.

I didn’t go into this adaptation of the classic Poe story with high expectations; the title made me suspect that it was going to be one of those adaptations where the original story was going to be thrown out in its entirety. Actually, they use quite a bit of the original Poe story (though once again the character of Dupin has been highly compromised), and I feel they do a better job of working it into the story than the 1932 version with Bela Lugosi does. Despite certain similarities, I don’t see this as a remake of the earlier movie; if anything, I see it as an attempt to repeat the success of last year’s HOUSE OF WAX. Like that movie, this one is in color and was shot in 3D, and I’m willing to bet that the story was chosen because of its period Parisian setting, so they could borrow that as well (I guess they really wanted more Can-Can dancing). There’s a bit too much screaming in this one, but I like Karl Malden’s performance as Marais, and I always like to see Charles Gemora in action; apparently, the latter suffered a heart attack during the filming of this one and was replaced by a stunt double in certain scenes. This is also one of the bloodiest Hollywood movies I’ve seen up to this point of time; it even approaches the level that would be common in the Hammer films to come in a few years.

One question: Do the French really have this dance where the male partners violently throw their female partners to the floor? I’ve seen it pop up a couple of times already. Sometimes I wonder…

THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES (1945)
(Serial)
Article #1333 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-7-2004
Posting Date: 4-6-2005
Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Fred C. Brannon
Featuring Dennis Moore, Linda Stirling, Roy Barcroft

A man from Mars crashes on Earth with the intention of stealing our scientific secrets in order to launch an invasion of our planet.

I’ll admit I’m a happy camper with this one, but that may well be due to the fact that for once I’m watching a serial where the science fiction elements are prominent rather than hovering around the edges. The Purple Monster has a neat trick; he has a gas that can kill humans and allow him to take over their bodies. This concept is introduced in the first episode, but if you miss it, don’t worry; they repeat the footage of having him possess the body of Dr. Craven or of having him leave Dr. Craven’s body in every episode. I’m pretty sure it’s the same footage as well; why does he always stand by the same door when he’s taking his gas? At any rate, it allows the Purple Monster to be both a spy (in the doctor’s form) and to take part in the fist fights that occur regularly (in his purple monster form). Roy Barcroft does a fine job in the title role; he even seems comfortable in that silly costume. Naturally, with such an interesting villain, Serial Rule #1 ( Interesting Hero = Dull Villain; Interesting Villain = Dull Hero) applies, and Dennis Moore does little more than fight and dress snazzily. Linda Stirling plays the female interest, but I thought she was more interesting in PERILS OF THE DARKEST JUNGLE, though I’ll have to admit that the costume may be responsible for that. Despite a certain amount of repetitiveness, this is a good one, with lots of science fiction gadgetry, some excellent cliffhangers, particularly one where the hero is trapped in an alcove with a pay phone between a wall of spikes and a moving wall forcing him into them; his solution to his dilemma is truly memorable.

THE PSYCHO LOVER (1970)
(a.k.a. THE LOVING TOUCH)
Article #1257 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-23-2004
Posting Date: 1-20-2005
Directed by Robert Vincent O’Neill
Featuring Lawrence Montaigne, Jo Anne Meredith, Frank Cuva

A psychiatrist with marital problems takes on a psychotic who commits murder against women, but thinks he’s only dreaming the murders.

Here’s the set-up. The psycho has a hatred of women (brought on, of course, by his relationship with his mother), and must kill them when the voice inside his head tells him to. The psychiatrist is in love with his mistress, but his bitter hard-drinking wife (now there’s an original character) refuses to give him a divorce. Now, given that the psychiatrist wants to get rid of his wife, and has a woman-killing psycho for a patient, what kind of plan do you think he’s going to concoct? And given what you know about cinematic irony, what do you think is actually going to happen? Answer these two questions correctly (I figured out the first one twenty minutes into the movie and the second one at the halfway point), and you have your movie. Whether you would wish to see the movie once you’ve figured these things out largely depends on your taste for sleazy rape scenes and interminable romantic interlude scenes (the latter to romantic soft-rock songs). It also depends on whether you consider the brainwashing sequence to be clever or stupid; sadly, I lean towards the latter. As for the story itself, it moves at snail speed. This one is for fans of sleazy exploitation.

PRIVILEGE (1967)
Article #1256 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-22-2004
Posting Date: 1-19-2005
Directed by Peter Watkins
Featuring Paul Jones, Jean Shrimpton, Mark London

In the near future, a pop star is being manipulated by the government in an attempt to control the potentially violent youth of the nation.

This is only the second movie I’ve seen by Peter Watkins; the other one is PUNISHMENT PARK. Though I liked the pseudo-documentary style there, I thought that movie was painfully predictable; I knew exactly how it was going to end five minutes into the movie. This one is much richer; it’s more unpredictable, and it’s satirical jabs seem sharper and more effective. It’s also anchored by a great performance by Paul Jones, who was the lead vocalist for Manfred Mann. The movie isn’t subtle, but it is thought-provoking, and even slightly humorous at times. It is somewhat dated, but I do think that some of its messages are still relevant, especially those involving political use of mass media and the way fan worship can have a soul-sucking effect on a celebrity. The scene near the end of the movie where the singer receives an award is great.