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Sole Survivor (1970)

SOLE SURVIVOR (1970)
TV-Movie
Article 2650 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-8-2008
Posting Date: 11-14-2008
Directed by Paul Stanley
Featuring Vince Edwards, Richard Basehart, William Shatner
Country: USA

The wreckage of a military plane lost for seventeen years is found in the Libyan desert. The military investigates the wreckage, with the sole survivor of the plane’s last crew on site; he was rescued seven hundred miles away in the Mediterranean and is now a general. He claims that he bailed out with the rest of the crew, but, in truth, he deserted the plane against orders. However, the plane is haunted by the unseen ghosts of the former crew members who intend to prove to the investigators what really happened.

Though I’m not fond of TV-Movies in general, I’m always glad to find one with an interesting premise, an excellent script, and strong acting, and this has all three. There are a number of memorable scenes; my two favorites include the opening sequence in which the ghosts gather to play baseball, and the scene where an investigator approaches the ghosts who are standing in formation and saluting, looks toward them, lifts his hand and… adjusts his hat. The movie makes excellent use of the desert location, and Vince Edwards, Richard Basehart and William Shatner all give excellent performances. Oddly enough, it’s based on a true story. The ending is very memorable.

 

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The Intruder (1977)

THE INTRUDER (1977)
aka LES PASSAGERS
Article 2112 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-27-2006
Posting Date: 5-25-2007
Directed by Serge Leroy
Featuring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mireille Darc, Bernard Fresson

A man driving to Paris with his stepson finds himself being tailed by a psychopathic killer in a black van.

Before my commentary on this movie, let me begin by quoting verbatim the quotes on the back of the VHS copy of this movie that I obtained.

“…a very good suspense thriller…creditable acting, and tight direction all help to make this film a cut above most…” – Geoffrey Marks, Austin Citizen

“…a film of considerable – if not really maximum – suspense.” – Ellen Pfeifer, Boston Herald American

Now, these comments are by no means uncomplimentary. The problem is that the quotes on the back of the box for a copy of a movie are usually the ones that offer the highest praise and promise the most fun and excitement for the viewer. Both of these are rather blase – “creditable” acting isn’t “great” acting, and why would you choose a movie that offers “considerable” suspense over one that offers “maximum” suspense? These quotes almost encourage you to check out some of the other product for something better, and that’s not really the best way to sell a movie. Even cutting out the “if not really maximum” part of the quote would improve things.

As for the movie itself, I think it lives up to those quotes. It’s a decent enough movie, but it could have been a lot better. I think its main problem is that it fumbles its mystery elements. I get the impression that we’re supposed to be as puzzled by the motivations of the stranger in the van as the man and his stepson are, but I found the identity of the van driver and his reasons for pursuing the car were obvious. It would have been far better to keep the van driver out of the story until the very end, so we would puzzle over how he managed to keep on his prey’s trail the whole time. This is one of the reasons the movie never attains “maximum” suspense. Outside of that, I like the appearance of Adolfo Celi as a police inspector, and I don’t care much for the kid (who is one of those precocious sorts that get rather annoying on occasion). Still, it does strike me as a not-as-effective clone of DUEL.

 

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The Gypsy Moon (1956)

THE GYPSY MOON (1956)
aka Rocky’s Odyssey
Article 1890 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-18-2006
Posting Date: 10-15-2006
Directed by Hollingsworth Morse
Featuring Richard Crane, Scotty Beckett, Sally Mansfield

Rocky Jones encounter a pair of wandering moons which share the same atmosphere, Posita and Negata. He is taken prisoner on Posita, where an attempt is made by the ruler to force him to destroy the moon of Negata, which is inhabited by siren-like creatures.

For the second day in a row we are being mooned by Rocky Jones. Actually, it’s possible to watch five of these Rocky Jones movies with moon in the title; besides this one and THE FORBIDDEN MOON , we also have THE MAGNETIC MOON, BEYOND THE MOON and CRASH OF MOONS . Fans of the latter story may find this one interesting, as it introduces the moon of Posita and the character of Bovaro, played by John Banner of “Hogan’s Heroes” fame. This is one of the strangest of the Rocky Jones series; it is consciously modeled off of Homer’s “The Odyssey” (though, in truth, the Trojan horse story which comes into play at one point does not appear in that work). The sequence on Negata is particularly surreal, and once again I admire the special effects work that went into this series; it wasn’t necessarily convincing, but it was interesting to look at. It’s also one of the more exciting episodes, though it is also quite confusing at times. Oddly enough, this is the first movie I’ve covered that does not have a listing on IMDB, and I thought it would turn out to be that this was one of those Rocky Jones episodes that wasn’t converted to movie form. Having seen it, though, I can say otherwise; the original Rocky Jones episodes for this one were titled “Rocky’s Odyssey”.

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The Vengeance of She (1968)

THE VENGEANCE OF SHE (1968)
Article 1851 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-9-2006
Posting Date: 9-6-2006
Directed by Cliff Owen
Featuring John Richardson, Olga Schoberova, Edward Judd

A woman finds himself being called to the lost city of Kuma. She is under the power of a high-priest who is using her resemblance to Ayesha to trick the leader Killikrates into giving him immortal life.

Olga Schoberova is stunningly beautiful and the sets and scenery are quite lovely. Still, these aspects of the movie add up to little more than eye candy, and given that Schoberova wasn’t much of an actress, that the movie is noticeably short of the star power that helped the original (no Ursula Andress, no Peter Cushing, no Christopher Lee), that the script is largely just a retread of the original with a few details changed and moved around, and that the script is a bore, you really have to be an eye candy fan to make this one fly. Most of the soundtrack is built around a saxophone riff that is actually quite nice until the movie repeats it for the umpty-ninth time. Oddly enough, the movie got a ‘G” rating despite the amount of skin that Schoberova puts on display throughout the movie.

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Psychic Killer (1975)

PSYCHIC KILLER (1975)
Article 1821 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-10-2006
Posting Date: 8-7-2006
Directed by Ray Danton
Featuring Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, Julie Adams

A man who has been unjustly sent to a mental institution for murder discovers the secret of astral projection. When he is released, he uses the power to cause the deaths of those who wronged him.

This movie has an promising premise (murder by astral projection), an interesting cast (which features Jim Hutton, Julie Adams, Neville Brand, Rod Cameron and Whit Bissell), and poses an intriguing question; even if the police know who is guilty of the bizarre and seemingly accidental deaths that have occurred, how can they prove it? The first part of the movie at the mental institution is the best part; unfortunately, once the inmate is released and the deaths begin, the movie takes a nosedive. Its main problem is the way it handles the murders. Though I understand the reasoning behind making each of the victims an unpleasant character so that the viewer is glad to see them offed, this movie makes them so over-the-top in their unpleasantness that the movie turns inadvertently comic during the scary scenes, and since the rest of the movie is taking itself rather seriously, it undermines the movie’s impact. Some of the dialogue is quite bad as well, and the police figure out the culprit far too easily. Ultimately, it’s a failure, but not an uninteresting one.

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The Red Shoes (1948)

THE RED SHOES (1948)
Article #1596 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-28-2005
Posting Date: 12-25-2005
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Featuring Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer

A young ballet dancer and an aspiring music composer fall in love against the wishes of a dictatorial ballet impressario.

The fantastic element in this movie isn’t contained in the above plot description, and in some ways, it’s not part of the main plot. It is present within the central ballet of the film, which is based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about some red dancing shoes which take possession of the wearers and causes them to dance until they drop dead. This ballet sequence is in the middle of the film, and it is brilliant; despite the fact that the movie introduces it as a work being performed on stage, it is a purely cinematic piece, with special effects and transitions which are only possible through the movie medium. It is also a richly fantastic piece, and even touches upon horror at one point as the dancer encounters some grotesque night creatures. This sequence is definitely the high point of the film.

In truth, though, it can’t be said that the ballet has nothing to do with the main picture; rather, it serves as a metaphor for the three characters who make up the romantic/artistic triangle plot that drives the movie. The plot itself is usually the stuff of soap opera and women’s movies, and would hold little interest for me if it weren’t in the hands of the brilliant directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They transform this story into a transcendent and incredibly moving story of a woman who is forced to make an impossible choice between love and art, both of which are demanding (in the form of the two men in her life) total commitment to one at the expense of the other. The climax of the movie is unforgettable and includes a short reprise of the ballet, only with one significant change. The performances are uniformly excellent, with special kudos going to Moira Shearer as the ballerina and Anton Walbrook as the impresario.

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The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)

THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES (1936)
Article #1509 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-2-2005
Posting Date: 9-29-2005
Directed by Lothar Mendes
Featuring Roland Young, Ralph Richardson, Edward Chapman

A cosmic entity grants the ability to work miracles to a random individual on the planet earth.

Producer Alexander Korda had adapted H.G. Wells to the screen with THINGS TO COME, and returned to the author with this movie. Initially, these two movies couldn’t be more different; whereas the events in THINGS TO COME played themselves out in broad strokes on an epic scale, this one seems at first to be light comedy. After all, this massive power has been granted to a slightly befuddled, somewhat meek man named Fotheringay; one need only know that the part is being played by Roland Young to have an idea of what the character is like. However, the light comedy that permeates most of the movie is a bit of a deception; at heart, it’s a long-burning fuse that leads to an explosion that occurs when Fotheringay finally realizes that the power he has been granted is subservient to his will and no one elses, and it is at this point that the guidance he has been seeking from the idealistic but somewhat hypocritical crusader Mr. Maydig (Ernest Thesiger) and the conservative but selfish and brutal Colonel Winstanley (Ralph Richardson) comes to naught. It is at this point that the theme of progress in the movie starts to bear a certain resemblance to the same theme in THINGS TO COME; furthermore, there’s also the theme of the seductiveness of power which strongly recalls the similar theme in another Wells adaptation, THE INVISIBLE MAN. Roland Young is excellent in the title role, as are Thesiger and Richardson as well. The movie also features early performances from George Sanders who, as a mystical creature known as Indifference, is already displaying the arrogance that would be an acting trademark of his, and George Zucco, cast in a very unusual role for him as a manservant. The movie is full of clever touches, and the ending is great. This may be the finest adaptation of Wells to date.

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