SUPERARGO AGAINST DIABOLICUS (1967)
(a.k.a. SUPERARGO CONTRO DIABOLIKUS)
Article #1261 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-27-2004
Posting Date: 1-24-2005
Directed by Nick Nostro
Featuring Giovanni Cianfriglia, Gerard Tichy, Monica Randall

A masked wrestler turned secret agent investigates the theft of several shipments of radium and mercury.

I went into this one not knowing a thing about the movie other than the title. I was wondering what it was going to be about. Two giant rubber-suited monsters flailing at each other? A shape-shifting car/robot doing battle with a slug from outerspace? A muscular mega-mole taking on a rabid were-squirrel? My question was soon answered; Superargo is a masked wrestler, and this was a Mexican wrestling movie….

Except it didn’t come from Mexico. It’s an Italian-Spanish production. This explains a few things, such as the fact that the movie opens with Superargo torn with guilt at having accidentally killed a man in the ring (this type of self-torment isn’t the sort of thing you expect to happen to Santo). It also explains why our hero doesn’t take on werewolves and other monsters; he goes the James Bond route and becomes a superspy.

This movie has enough unusual touches that I ended up really enjoying it. For one thing, Superargo isn’t just a guy in a wrestling outfit; he has slight but quite distinct superpowers. In one of the most startling scenes in the movie, Superargo is stabbed by his best friend to demonstrate one of them. He’s also more brutal then any Mexican counterparts; where Santo might leave a string of aching, bruised bodies in his wake, Superargo leaves nothing but corpses. There’s an assortment of wildly improbable gadgets that turn out to be precisely what Superargo needs to finish his mission (The oddest? A broach with a transmitter inside. You know that Superargo isn’t going to be wearing this!) And many of the attempts to kill him turn out to be just the methods to which his super-powers make him resistant. I found this one fun, offbeat and unusual. It’s worth checking out.

SO DARK THE NIGHT (1946)
Article #1239 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-5-2004
Posting Date: 1-2-2005
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Featuring Steven Geray, Micheline Cheirel, Eugene Borden

A famous detective from Paris falls in love with a country girl while out on a holiday, but she has a jealous boyfriend. Nonetheless, he becomes engaged to her. Then the girl vanishes the night of the engagement party and later shows up dead.

There are some plot twists that are indelible; once they’ve been used in one story, they ingrain themselves in your memory, and if you should encounter another story using the same twist, you can see it coming a mile away. This explains why it was that at the halfway point of this movie, I knew exactly what the twist was going to be.

Now, if you aren’t familiar with the twist in question, this movie should work for you just fine. But if you are familiar with it…well, in my case, the movie worked just fine anyway. I think that’s because the characters are so charmingly developed and brought to life (by a cast of largely unknown actors), that even when you see the twist coming, you still care about the characters enough to wonder what will happen afterwards. It’s also very nicely directed, with some fascinating visual moments and some creative use of lighting. The fantastic aspects are mild, but I can’t really go into much detail about them for fear that they will give away too much, so I’ll just say that madness plays a role in the proceedings. In some ways, this little b-movie does its job so well, that I really have very few complaints. It’s definitely worth a look.

THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN (1968)
Article #1238 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-4-2004
Posting Date: 1-1-2005
Directed by Michael Anderson
Featuring Anthony Quinn, Laurence Olivier, Oskar Werner

A Russian priest who was imprisoned in Siberia for twenty years is released to the Vatican. He then wins the election to become the next Pope.

First of all, let’s get the fantastic elements out of the way; the movie takes place in the near future where atomic war is brewing as a result of widespread starvation in China; this places the movie into that somewhat marginal category of political science fiction. This serves as a backdrop to what is essentially a drama, but I can understand the necessity of using this type of backdrop; if you’re going to create a fictional story about a personage as important as the Pope, you most likely are going to want to paint the story on a big canvas rather than on a postage stamp.

As to the movie itself, it has some fine moments and some great performances; I’m particularly taken with the work of Anthony Quinn, Oskar Werner and Leo McKern here. It deals with some interesting themes, such as the fact that in some ways being a Pope makes our lead character as much of a prisoner as he was in Siberia. I also like the subplot revolving around Oskar Werner, a terminally ill friar who wants to get his books published before his death, but is turned down by the Vatican committee because of the questionable theological ideas they contain. Unfortunately, the movie also has some major problems; at two hours and forty minutes, it is far too long. It is also too slow, gets bogged down in one totally unnecessary subplot (the one about the philandering reporter), and despite the fact that the movie really tries its best to effectively set up its final moments, when they finally come, I found it impossible to believe. I think it also may have tried too much. At any rate, it has made me a little curious about Morris L. West’s novel, and I’m curious as to whether it fleshes out certain things about which the movie merely hints. Despite its moments, this one is really for the very patient.

SCREAMING MIMI (1958)
Article #1237 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-3-2004
Posting Date: 12-31-2004
Directed by Gerd Oswald
Featuring Anita Ekberg, Philip Carey, Gypsy Rose Lee

A woman who became mentally unhinged after an attack by a psychotic becomes the target of a psychiatrist’s obsessions.

This psychological film noir with horror underpinnings was based on a novel by Fredric Brown. It has a fascinating story to tell, and there are some good performances here, particularly from Harry Townes as the psychiatrist. There’s also some good music from jazz xylophonist Red Yost Norvo, and a good vocal number from Gypsy Rose Lee, who also gives a relaxed, charming performance in the movie. It could have been a real winner, but it falls a bit short, and I suspect that the reason for this is the presence of Anita Ekberg.

In some ways, she was very appropriate for the role; she’s such a stunningly attractive woman it’s easy seeing how men might become obsessed with her.  Furthermore, she does lend to that air of sex that hangs over the movie.  Unfortunately, she’s not much of an actress, and her role requires someone with much greater thespic and musical talents.  Despite the fact that she appears to have had the benefit of a lot of coaching, she never really comes across as a real character.  And though she’s very easy on the eyes during her dance scenes, every time I look at her face, the only emotion I can see is that she’s really trying hard to remember her moves.  It’s movies like this that really could benefit from a thoughtful and careful remake.

SLAVE GIRL (1947)
Article #1218 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-15-2004
Posting Date: 12-12-2004
Directed by Charles Lamont
Featuring George Brent, Yvonne De Carlo, Broderick Crawford

A playboy is sent to Tripoli to ransom several prisoners from Pasha, but the gold is stolen by a scheming slave girl.

The cast certainly catches your attention; George Brent, Yvonne De Carlo, Broderick Crawford, Albert Dekker, Arthur Treacher and Andy Devine are all present. Now with all these luminaries, who do you think gets the biggest credit in the movie? That honor goes to Humpy, the Educated Camel, who also (as God is my witness) narrates this movie. As a comedian, Humpy is just a little less amusing than Scuttlebutt the Duck (remember EVERYTHING’S DUCKY? Unfortunately, I do…), never mind Francis the Talking Mule. Actually, Humpy’s main purpose seems to be to remind the viewers not to take this exotic fantasy too seriously, but when you see Andy Devine fighting people by bumping into them with his big belly, there’s no danger of that happening. Of course it’s silly; what do you expect from a movie directed by the man who gave us Abbott and Costello’s latter horror comedies and the woman who played Lily Munster? The movie also features another uncredited appearance by Noble Johnson.

SHE (1925)
Article #1199 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-26-2004
Posting Date: 11-23-2004
Directed by Leander de Cordova and G. B. Samuelson
Featuring Betty Blythe, Carlyle Blackwell Sr., Mary Odette

Three men take a trip to the wilds of Libya to investigate the report of an ancient culture.

Here’s another take on the H. Rider Haggard novel. It’s far more elaborate than the twenty-minute 1911 version (this one runs almost 100 minutes), but I think it lacks the spectacle of the 1935 version. The main attraction here is obviously Betty Blythe, though not for her acting; actually, I think she lacks the haughty imperiousness that would seem to be necessary for the role. No, it’s her costumes that steal the movie; for the most part, they’re either incredibly skimpy or see-through; in fact, she does her scene bathing in the pillar of fire in the nude. Despite these touches, I think this movie is slow-moving and lacking in spectacle; once they arrive in the Ayesha’s kingdom, we barely see any of her subjects, and the only characters appear to be the three heroes, Ayesha, and the native girl. All in all, I found this one a bit of a bore, and would opt for the 1935 version at this point of time.

THE SEA HOUND (1947)
(Serial)
Article #1186 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-13-2004
Posting Date: 11-10-2004
Directed by W. B. Eason and Mack V. Wright
Featuring Buster Crabbe, Jimmy Lloyd, Pamela Blake

Captain Silver of the Sea Hound tries to help a woman find her father, who disappeared on a distant island while hunting for treasure.

Given the choice between the Columbia serials that emphasize action and those that emphasize plot, I tend to opt for the latter. Fortunately for me, this is one of the latter. It’s nice to see Buster Crabbe again; he really was the most memorable of the serial actors and always gave a matter-of-fact conviction to his performances. In terms of fantastic content, the serial itself is rather marginal; mainly, it involves some of the gadgets that were created by Captain Silver’s oriental crewman named Kukai (pronounced “Cookie”) to help defend the ship, including a bizarre gun that shoots fireballs.

SON OF HERCULES IN THE LAND OF DARKNESS (1963)
(a.k.a. HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE / ERCOLE L’INVINCIBILE)
Article #1184 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-11-2004
Posting Date: 11-8-2004
Directed by Alvaro Mancori and Lewis Mann
Featuring Dan Vadis, Spela Rozin, Carla Calo

A son of Hercules named Argolese must rescue villagers who have been kidnapped by the denizens of an evil underground empire.

This movie appears to have been adapted for television for “The Sons of Hercules” series; it has a part one and part two, breaks for commercials, and it opens and closes with the rousing but hilarious “Sons of Hercules” theme song. Plotwise, it hits every cliche in the book; Argolese fights a lion, a dragon and a bear, pulls up a tree by the roots, catches the eye of an evil queen, falls in love with the daughter of a good king, throws a big rock, bends the bars back, etc.etc. He also has an annoying comic relief sidekick who is clumsy, cowardly and gluttonous, but still manages to help save the day. In some ways, it’s such a quintessential example of this sort of thing that I can’t help but like it. Besides, the ‘Son of Hercules” theme is worth the price of admission by itself.

SPY SMASHER (1942)
(Serial)
Article #1170 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-28-2004
Posting Date: 10-25-2004
Directed by William Witney
Featuring Kane Richmond, Marguerite Chapman, Sam Flint

A espionage fighter known as Spy Smasher pits himself against an enemy agent known as The Mask.

The opening music in this serial is from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony; I figured that any serial that would use this melodramatically pompous theme had better be good enough to live up to it. The surprising thing is that it does. This is even taking into account that the costumes of the hero and the villain are both singularly lame; Spy Smasher wears a flying helmet and goggles, whereas the Mask wears a hanky with two eye holes in it. However, the fight scenes are exquisitely done, it manages to come up with a good variety of cliffhangers, and the fact that the hero is given a twin brother results in some rather entertaining scenarios.

Another thing I noticed was that the first episode seemed rather familiar. At one point, the Firesign Theatre had put out a videodisc called “Hot Shorts”, in which the soundtracks of several serial episodes were redubbed for comic purposes. SPY SMASHER became BUTT BUSTER, a hero who dedicated himself to stamping out smoking. It’s nice to see the original serial for this one after all these years.

SUPER-SLEUTH (1937)
Article #1167 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-25-2004
Posting Date: 10-22-2004
Directed by Benjamin Stoloff
Featuring Jack Oakie, Ann Sothern, Eduardo Ciannelli

A movie star finds himself targeted by a murderer known as the Poison Pen.

This Jack Oakie vehicle seemed awfully familiar, and that’s because it is; I just saw the remake GENIUS AT WORK a couple of months ago. Between the two, I suspect horror fans would opt for GAW; after all, the cast of that one features Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. However, I suspect comedy fans would opt for this earlier version, and I’m afraid I’d have to side with them. For one thing, it spares me from having to watch Lugosi wasted in a nothing role (there is no equivalent role in this version). Furthermore, I don’t think Atwill did appreciably better in the role of the villain than Eduardo Ciannelli does here (in fact, I give the nod to Ciannelli). However, the main reason has to do with the comedy; why should I settle for Brown and Carney when I can have Jack Oakie, Ann Sothern, Willie Best and (especially) the great Edgar Kennedy? Granted, without Lugosi or Atwill, the fantastic elements are that much slighter; the sole horror element here is that the villain keeps a house of horrors, though I will give it an extra point on the gadget meter for the umbrella gun. Nonetheless, I simply think this earlier version is funnier. My favorite line explains why Sherlock Holmes didn’t need a bodyguard.