Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955)

TARZAN’S HIDDEN JUNGLE (1955)
Article 3710 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-26-2011
Posting Date: 10-11-2011
Directed by Harold D. Schuster
Featuring Gordon Scott, Vera Miles, Peter van Eyck
Country: USA
What it is: Tarzan movie

A doctor who is friendly with an animal-worshiping native tribe is placed in peril when he befriends two professional hunters who are pretending to be cameramen. The hunters intend to drive the sacred animals to a land across the river so they can hunt them safely away from the tribe. Can Tarzan save the doctor and the animals?

For yesterday’s Tarzan movie, I rather liked that the plot was a bit novel; I can’t say the same about this one, which pits Tarzan once again against evil hunters. Furthermore, this is one of the duller entries in the series; it’s the sort of movie where Tarzan is swimming in the same river with a crocodile and they pass each other peacefully. There’s no treehouse, no Jane, no Boy, and even Cheta’s antics are kept to a minimum. Furthermore, outside of the mild fantasy elements inherent in the Tarzan concept, there’s no fantastic content, and the title of the movie doesn’t really mean anything. There are much better Tarzan movies out there.

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Tarzan Goes to India (1962)

TARZAN GOES TO INDIA (1962)
Article 3709 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-25-2011
Posting Date: 10-10-2011
Directed by John Guillermin
Featuring Jock Mahoney, Jai, Leo Gordon
Country: UK / USA / Switzerland
What it is: Tarzan abroad

The completion of a dam will flood out a valley where a herd of 300 elephants resides. No attempts have been made to evacuate the beasts because they’re being lead by a dangerous rogue elephant. Tarzan arrives in India at a friend’s request, and seeks to save the elephants by killing the rogue and and placing a benevolent elephant in its place. But can he accomplish this before the only exit point from the valley is walled in?

As is often the case with Tarzan movies, the only fantastic content in this one is the marginal fantasy element of Tarzan himself; otherwise, this is straightforward jungle adventure. Its rating of 4.9 on IMDB indicates it is not well liked, but I found this fairly decent; the basic story is fairly original, the India locations give the movie a different flavor from the other Tarzan movies, and though he’s leaner than some of the other people who’ve played the role, I don’t mind Jock Mahoney as Tarzan. The biggest problem I have is that the villains of the piece seem poorly motivated; they act villainously just because they’re villains, though it’s nice that the two of them are different enough (one is redeemable, the other is irredeemable) that they give us a bit of variety. This one is definitely for elephant fans, as there are a lot of them on hand here. On a side note, I do wonder why Tarzan couldn’t afford to take a flight that was willing to actually land at his point of arrival instead of having him dive out of the plane into a body of water, but maybe that’s just Tarzan showing off. There’ll probably be more Tarzan hijinks tomorrow.

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Strangler of the Tower (1966)

STRANGLER OF THE TOWER (1966)
aka Der Wurger vom Tower
Article 3708 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-24-2011
Posting Date: 10-9-2011
Directed by Hans Mehringer
Featuring Ady Berber, Birgit Bergen, Rainer Bertram
Country: West Germany
What it is: Krimi… but not from the usual people

A strangler is on the loose killing people who possess jewels that were cut from an allegedly cursed gem. Is a cult of Kali responsible?

I must have seen enough krimis to be familiar enough with the form now; after a few minutes of this one, I found myself checking the production company to see if it was different from the usual production company (Rialto), and sure enough, it was; it’s from Urania. That may be why I didn’t quite get the same feel from it as I do the other krimis, and, despite the fact that the movie currently has an 8.8 rating on IMDB, I found it fairly weak. It is nice to see the big hulking Ady Berber again as the title character, but, truth to tell, he’s barely in it, and the whole movie has a dry, forced tone to it. Berber’s killer and the Kali cult are the big horror elements here, but as is usual with the form, it’s more of a mystery than a horror movie.

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La loba (1965)

LA LOBA (1965)
aka The She-Wolf
Article 3707 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-23-2011
Posting Date: 10-8-2011
Directed by Rafael Baledon
Featuring Kitty de Hoyos, Joaquin Cordero, Columba Dominguez
Country: Mexico
What it is : Werewolf movie

A female werewolf is on the loose terrorizing the community, and soon one of the victims who survived her attack also becomes a werewolf.

I found a copy of this one on Youtube, and though I’m not sure that it’s complete, it seems to be mostly there. It’s in Spanish without subtitles, but it’s one of those movies in which it doesn’t matter quite as much, as the talk is kept to a minimum. The movie even opens with a ten minute werewolf-on-the-loose sequence where barely a word is spoken. This movie is surprisingly effective; it is full of atmosphere, the attacks are surprisingly savage and bloody, and the makeup is creative. The werewolf makeup isn’t always effective in the close-ups, but it’s unique and creative in the longer shots, and whoever plays the female werewolf in these shot is incredibly athletic and does a fantastic job of capturing the feel of an unpredictable wild animal on the loose. The female werewolf is covered with patches of fur, but is otherwise naked, and the movie does play with this a bit in the transformation sequences. Even though the plot subtleties do get lost in the language, this was one of the more impressive Mexican horror films I’ve seen, and even those who have no patience with movies not translated into English would appreciate the first ten minutes.

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Fraidy Cat (1942)

FRAIDY CAT (1942)
Cartoon Short
Article 3706 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-22-2011
Posting Date: 10-7-2011
Directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
Featuring the voices of William Hanna, Lillian Randolph, Martha Wentworth
Country: USA
What it is: Tom and Jerry Cartoon

Tom gets frightened by a radio show. Jerry decides to use this opportunity to engage in scary gags to frighten him further.

I associate the Tom and Jerry cartoons with a certain manic comic violence that can sometimes be a little hard to take. However, this is one of the earlier cartoons, and is somewhat gentler in spirit. The most memorable gags involve a sheet draped over a vacuum cleaner; the latter item is so powerful that it almost sucks up all of Tom’s nine lives. The radio show was based on a real one at the time called “The Witching Hour”, and features the voice of the real-life narrator of the show in the opening scenes. All in all, this is a fairly amusing cartoon.

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1001 Nights (1968)

1001 NIGHTS (1968)
aka La esclava del paraiso, The Slave of Paradise

Article 3705 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-21-2011
Posting Date: 10-6-2011
Directed by Jose Maria Elorrieta
Featuring Luciana Paluzzi, Jeff Cooper, Raf Vallone
Country: Spain / Italy
What it is: Arabian nights fantasy

The son of a vizier returns home to find a usurper has taken over the throne. He joins a band of rebels to bring down the usurper and clear the name of his father. Fortunately, he has the help of a genie.

By coincidence, I’m currently reading the Burton translations of ‘A Thousand And One Nights’ (though in truth, the work is so long that it was bound to happen that some movies from this genre would pop up during the the time). I’m not far into it, but one thing I’ve observed is that there is a greater variety of storytelling there than you usually find among the many movies that wear the “Arabian Nights” banner. Quite frankly, the genre has become rather tiresome to me on a cinematic level, and this rather dull and listless entry does little to change my feelings on the matter. The movie isn’t so much awful as it is uninspired; it’s slow, often dull, and even the fight scenes seem rather tired. The main attraction will probably be the skimpy costumes of the harem girls and the (female) genie, and that may be enough for some viewers. For me, it was just another forgettable foray into the genre.

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El fantasma de la opereta (1955)

EL FANTASMA DE LA OPERETA (1955)
aka The Phantom of the Operetta
Article 3704 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-20-2011
Posting Date: 10-5-2011
Directed by Enrique Carreras
Featuring Alfredo Barbieri, Amelia Vargas, Tono Andreu
Country: Argentina
What it is: Horror comedy

A phantom (as well as several other monsters) haunt an operetta.

According to the plot description on IMDB, this movie is supposed to be about a serial killer slashing the throats of chorus girls, which makes it sound somewhat bloodier and more horrific than THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. This description seemed odd to me even before I saw the movie; my instincts tell me that, with the movie’s English title being what it is, it would be a comic take on the tale. Having seen the movie now, I can only say that I should trust my instincts; there’s not a single throat slashed, but there are two phantoms, a Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, a mad scientist, and an invisible man in the mix. My copy is also in unsubtitled Spanish, so if there’s any real plot here, I can’t follow it. Under these circumstances, I found the most amusing sequences to be the ones where the various monsters cross the stage during an elaborate dance number, much to the delight and applause of the audience. Otherwise, this looks like a pretty silly movie.

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Il monaco di Monza (1962)

IL MONACO DI MONZA (1962)
aka The Monk of Monza
Article 3703 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-19-2011
Posting Date: 10-4-2011
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Featuring Toto, Nino Taranto, Erminio Macario
Country: Italy
What it is: Italian comedy

A put-upon shoemaker decides to disguise himself as a monk in order to get the charity he needs to feed his twelve children. However, he ends up in the castle of an evil Marquis who is trying to force a woman to marry him.

Be aware that the above plot description may have mistakes in it; I was only able to find an unsubtitled copy of this movie, and though I was able to find a few hints of the plot, the actual storyline is a muddle to me. Still, I more or less enjoyed the movie, but then, I always enjoy seeing Toto in action; as to Italian comedians, I would easily choose him over Franco and Ciccio. Even if I can’t understand what’s going on, his body language and facial expressions are very effective, and though he can do some strange things with his face, he doesn’t rely on mugging. A few of the gags to come through; there’s a prayer sequence that involves several well-known international actresses, and the hilarious final sequence in the movie features the most unlikely group of people riding to the rescue. As for the fantastic content, I got most of the hints from the Walt Lee guide. Apparently, there’s something involving a love potion, but these scenes are vague enough that I’m not sure what the potion is supposed to be, and I would have guessed it was a poison of some sort. As for fantastic elements in the movie, there are scenes involving a torture chamber, and one sequence where a dead man seems to come to life (he’s actually not dead, but certain people think he is). I enjoyed it as much as I could, but without subtitles, it’s impossible for me to give it any real evaluation.

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L’aspirateur (1908)

L’ASPIRATEUR (1908)
aka The Vacuum Cleaner
Article 3702 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-18-2011
Posting Date: 10-3-2011
Directed by Segundo de Chomon
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Trick short

Two ne’er-do-wells abscond with a new-fangled vacuum cleaner and use it to suck up everyone and everything in sight.

Here’s another one I could have covered during my Chomon-o-thon some time back, but back then, I’d been unable to match the English title on my list with the French title of the copy I had. Having just done so, I’m now watching it. I can’t read the opening title card, but I suspect it’s telling me that the movie is incomplete, and given the fact that the two villains never get their comeuppance, that may be the case. Still, the basic story is a pretty common one for the time; give some rascals a new gimmick and watch them wreak havoc with it. There’s some basic stop-motion effects combined with your basic editing tricks to achieve the effects. This one is amusing, if nothing special.

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I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941)
Article 3701 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-17-2011
Posting Date: 10-2-2011
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Featuring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis
Country: USA
What it is: Film noir

When a fashion model is murdered, the prime suspect is a sports promoter who helped lead her to fame. However, the police don’t have the evidence to convict him, although one aggressive policeman who is known never to be wrong is on the case and is convinced of his guilt. Will the promoter be able to clear himself?

One of the interesting things that happens when I add new books to my sources from which I derive my hunt lists is sometimes they will list a movie that all of the others overlook. Still, that’s a double-edged thing; often it’s just another movie that the book misclassified. I found this movie listed in “The A-Z of Horror Films”, but despite the evocative title, this is not a horror movie but a film noir (the title is inaccurate as well; no one wakes up screaming). Though film noir has a few stylistic similarities to horror, rarely do the genres intersect, and the only aspects of this movie that lend it any horror genre credentials are a) the deceptive title, b) the presence of Laird Cregar (who, though not a horror actor, has memorably brushed up against the genre), and c) a plot point in which someone pretends to be a voice from a deceased person. The latter is a momentary touch, although it does play a pivotal role in the denouement of the movie. As for the movie itself, it is a very good film noir, though the central mystery at hand turns out not be who the murderer is, but why a man is being framed for it. Laird Cregar steals the movie as the policeman intent on convicting the promoter, but there are a few other familiar faces on top of the above-named stars, such as Alan Mowbray, Elisha Cook Jr., Charles Lane and Morris Ankrum. It’s pretty entertaining, but, as I said before, it’s not a horror movie.

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