Crashing Las Vegas (1956)

CRASHING LAS VEGAS (1956)
Article 1842 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-31-2006
Posting Date: 8-28-2006
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
Featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mary Castle

When Sach is shocked by electricity, he develops the ability to predict winning numbers on roulette wheels. Slip uses this ability to win a trip to Las Vegas, where Sach then begins to make a fortune gambling. However, some shady types believe he has a secret method for winning, and they plan to find out what it is…

A quick glimpse of the above plot description should clue you in that this is another one of those movies that follows the formula I talked about in BLUES BUSTERS . It’s a pretty amusing one, as well; I especially liked the game show sequence (in which a vagrant wins two prizes that he can’t possibly use) and the dream prison sequence (where the warden has to figure out how to electrocute four Bowery Boys when he has only three electric chairs). There are other plot elements that are quite amusing, but still things just don’t seem as they should be. One of the first things I noticed was the absence of Louie Dumbrowsky and his malt shop, and the other is that Leo Gorcey seems rather distant and unfocused here. Both of these things are the result of the same situation; Bernard Gorcey (Leo’s father and the actor who played Louie) had died of complications from an automobile accident, and Leo was overcome with grief. Maltin’s guide claims that Leo Gorcey appears inebriated in some scenes, and that’s quite possible; all I know is that Leo’s mind was obviously elsewhere during the making of this movie, and afterwards, he would depart the series, leaving Huntz Hall as the star. Knowing this adds a sad touch to the proceedings, and it becomes rather difficult to laugh at times.

I’d just like to take a minute here and dedicate this review to Leo and his dad Bernard, as thanks for the many hours of joy they brought me through their movies.

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Blues Busters (1950)

BLUES BUSTERS (1950)
Article 1841 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-30-2006
Posting Date: 8-27-2006
Directed by William Beaudine
Featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Adele Jergens

When Sach develops a beautiful singing voice after a tonsillectomy, Slip decides to make a profit from it (and pay off the hospital bills) by opening a nightclub with Sach as the main attraction.

Seeing this one so soon after NO HOLDS BARRED really brings home to me how often the Bowery Boys films relied on a formula for their stories. The formula was simple; because of some strange circumstance, Sach either develops an amazing ability or an amazing invention of some sort. Slip, always looking for a money-making scheme, tries to use the ability / invention to make a bundle. Complications arise, usually involving a rival manager whose fortunes fall as those of the Boys rise, and who attempts to undermine the boys’ scheme by sending a woman to pry secrets out of Sach or Slip. Hilarity ensues. This, with slight variations, captures many of the Bowery Boys storylines. Both this movie and NO HOLDS BARRED follow this formula fairly closely.

This one predates NO HOLDS BARRED by two years, and it captures them while Billy Benedict and Gabriel Dell were still part of the team. Still, by this time, it had clearly become the Leo and Huntz show; though Billy was given an early gag, he’s mostly stuck on the sidelines with Buddy Gorman and David Gorcey. Gabriel Dell plays a non-comic character and is really given nothing to do. This would be Dell’s last outing with the boys, while Benedict would would hold on about one more year before departing as well.

Despite the reliance on formula, this one didn’t really work as well for me. The problem was that it takes itself just a little too seriously at times. Unless you’ve seen a lot of these, you might not notice, but I do think it’s trying for a bit of pathos on occasion, and it doesn’t quite work. The fantastic content is fairly slim as well; the concept of a throat operation changing someone’s voice popped up in MR. DODDS TAKES THE AIR , and I thought it was pretty slim as fantastic content there as well. Leo’s malaprops are a bit sparse here, but Huntz is still keeping the mugging under control at this point. Not bad, but this one isn’t one of my favorites of theirs.

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Bat Men of Africa (1966)

BAT MEN OF AFRICA (1966)
Feature Version of the Serial DARKEST AFRICA
Article 1840 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-29-2006
Posting Date: 8-26-2006
Directed by B. Reeves Eason and Joseph Kane
Featuring Clyde Beatty, Manuel King, Elaine Shepard

Animal trainer Clyde Beatty meets a jungle boy on a trip to Africa, and agrees to rescue his sister from a lost city inhabited by flying bat men.

Yes, it’s another feature version of a serial here. This time it’s from the first Republic serial, DARKEST AFRICA, and for all practical purposes, it captures the strengths of the serial as well as its weaknesses. In particular, the repetition of footage is more pronounced here, as is some of the repetitiveness of the plot; basically, the story has our heroes trying to rescue the sister, getting caught and imprisoned, escaping, and then trying to rescue the sister, etc. There’s a couple of jewel thieves in the mix, a friendly gorilla, and an embarrassing comic relief character (who is fortunately used even less than he was in the serial). Still, the special effects are pretty good for their time, and this version is entertaining enough for the patient viewer.

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No Holds Barred (1952)

NO HOLDS BARRED (1952)
Article 1839 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-28-2006
Posting Date: 8-25-2006
Directed by William Beaudine
Featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Marjorie Reynolds

Whan Sach develops an abnormally thick skull that makes him impervious to blows to the head, Slip decides to profit off of it by getting Sach to take up wrestling. Unfortunately, Sach’s thick skull is only temporary, and the boys have to adjust to the fact that the part of Sach’ s body that becomes powerful keeps changing.

Yes, it’s the Bowery Boys again, and you know the drill; Slip schemes and shoots out malaprops and Sach mugs and handles slapstick duties. Still, the more I watch them, the more I like them; somehow, they managed to find just the right touch they needed to make silly premises like this one work for the length of a movie, albeit a rather short one. Huntz Hall’s mugging didn’t even bother me much this time, partly because he keeps it well focused and partly because he manages to find other things to do as well; the bit where he disguises himself as a waiter who keeps changing his accent every time he opens his mouth is pretty clever. Leo and Bernard Gorcey are fun as always, and so is Henry Kulky as Sach’s bespectacled trainer; he also appeared in THE 5.000 FINGERS OF DR. T , as one of Dr. Terwilliger’s goons.

All I can say is that it’s really good I like this series; I have a slew of them coming up in the next week or so!

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Haunted Gold (1932)

HAUNTED GOLD (1932)
Article 1838 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-27-2006
Posting Date: 8-24-2006
Directed by Mack V. Wright
Featuring John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Harry Woods

A man returns to a ghost town to lay claim to his share of an abandoned mine. A woman is also there to make the same claim, but they have to contend with a gang that is also after the gold in the mine, as well as a mysterious phantom.

Just as I was getting ready to post this, I discovered that my original review had vanished and I had to knock this one together from scratch. Unfortunately, since it’s been a good five months since I’ve seen the movie, my memory is a bit sketchy. It’s a shame; horror westerns are a bit of a rarity, and one starring John Wayne in his b-movie days is certainly a novelty. I recall that the movie was amusing enough for the most part, though fairly predictable at times. I also recall thinking that the scared black comic-relief character was particularly hard to put up with. The actor, Blue Washington, would appear in 42 movies after this, but, if IMDB is correct, this is the last time he would receive a screen credit. Sadly, that’s all I can remember about this one, but If I get a chance to rewatch it in the near future, I’ll rewrite this one.

ADDENDUM: Having rewatched the movie, I can now add some fresh commentary.

Overall, the movie is a mixed bag. It’s remarkably good at times; at least two of the action sequences (one involving a suspended mine cart and the other a chase scene) are excellent, there’s more horror mood to the horror sequences than I’ve seen in the other horror westerns from the period, and John Wayne’s horse Duke (I wonder if John Wayne’s nickname was derived from this horse) is one of the best animal performers I’ve ever seen. On the downside, as mentioned above, is Blue Washington’s comic stereotype character, and I think he gets more screen time than Wayne does. The plot is also pretty weak, as it largely uses coincidence to wander from set piece to set piece. Still, the high points make it worth a viewing.

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Dick Tracy (1945)

DICK TRACY (1945)
aka Dick Tracy, Detective
Article 1837 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-26-2006
Posting Date: 8-23-2006
Directed by William A. Berke
Featuring Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki

Dick Tracy investigates a series of savage knife murders committed by a man named Splitface.

Though I prefer Ralph Byrd to Morgan Conway in the role of Dick Tracy, this feature version of the comic strip character (the first of series of four) isn’t half bad. It isn’t quite as much fun as DICK TRACY VERSUS CUEBALL , due to the fact that the movie doesn’t seem to be having quite as much fun with the characters, but Mike Mazurki always makes for an effective villain, and the movie also features the cadaverous Milton Parsons as (you guessed it) an undertaker. There is a bit of a sadistic edge to the movie, what with the killer slashing his victims repeatedly with a knife. This detail adds a bit of the horror element to the movie, as does the presence of a spiritualist who is also a master hypnotist. Not great, but it’s watchable enough.

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The Devil With Hitler (1942)

THE DEVIL WITH HITLER (1942)
aka Nazty Nuisance
Article 1836 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-25-2006
Posting Date: 8-22-2006
Directed by Gordon Douglas and Glenn Tryon
Featuring Alan Mowbray, Bobby Watson, George E. Stone

The devil, fearful of losing his job to that upstart Hitler, tries to assuage the fears of his board of directors by tricking Hitler into performing a good deed.

All right, here’s a concept for you – imagine a Three Stooges comedy only substituting the characters of Moe, Curly and Larry with Hitler, Mussolini and a Japanese general. If you can get your mind around that, you’ll be in pretty good shape for taking on this truly strange comedy. The original movie runs only 44 minutes, but mine is significantly longer; this is because another short has been edited into it – its sequel, NAZTY NUISANCE, which features the same trio of actors doing the same kind of schtick. Hitler is played by Bobby Watson, who assayed the character several times in his career, and not always comically. Mussolini is played by Joe Devlin, who also played that same character multiple times; imagine Curly with a Chico Marx accent, and you have an idea of how the character was played. The Japanese General (with the unflattering name of General Suki Yaki) was played by George E. Stone. The basic point of the whole movie is simple; let’s see how many indignities we can heap onto these three personalities in eighty-five minutes.

For what it’s worth, the slice of wartime propaganda gets by with me by dint of sheer chutzpah. During this movie, you will be treated to such visions as –

-Hitler and Mussolini in a pillow fight with an orangutan

-Hitler with his rear end caught on a bucket while a bomb burns inside

-Hitler, Mussolini and General Suki Yaki all taking out life insurance on each other and then trying to kill each other

…and so on, and so on. The devil is played by Alan Mowbray, who gets close to Hitler by becoming his butler, and then tries to get him to perform a good deed by not executing an insurance salesman. You know, in some people’s books, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a good deed, but I don’t think this movie is aiming for strict realism.

Quite frankly, they don’t make them like this anymore.

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Devil Bat’s Daughter (1946)

DEVIL BAT’S DAUGHTER (1946)
Article 1835 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-24-2006
Posting Date: 8-21-2006
Directed by Frank Wisbar
Featuring Rosemary La Planche, John James, Michael Hale

The daughter of Dr. Carruthers believes she has inherited her father’s criminal tendencies. When the woman who takes her in is found murdered, she believes that she was responsible.

PRC put out some very moody and interesting low budget horror movies in their time. They also put out this one, a murder mystery masquerading as a horror movie which also has the further strike against it of having its plot hinge upon the denial of certain events in the original THE DEVIL BAT. This puts the horror fan in a bit of a bind; which story do you embrace? Well, I don’t blame them for going with THE DEVIL BAT and rejecting this movie, which is nowhere near as much fun as the Lugosi vehicle. On its own terms, it has its moments, but when you have a plot that mostly reminds you of SHE-WOLF OF LONDON , you’re not on good ground with fans of horror. In fact, I was initially wondering if this movie was borrowing the plot of that one, but this one beat the Universal film to the theaters by one month. Frank Wisbar’s other horror entry for the year (STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP ) is certainly a worthier choice.

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The Curse of Nostradamus (1961)

THE CURSE OF NOSTRADAMUS (1961)
aka La Maldicion de Nostradamus
Article 1834 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-23-2006
Posting Date: 8-20-2006
Directed by Federico Curiel and Stim Segar
Featuring German Robles, Domingo Soler, Julio Aleman

The son of Nostradamus, who sleeps on the ashes of his father and has become a vampire, vows to force a professor who preaches against all superstition to acknowledge the power of his father and publicly admit to the existence of the supernatural. He plans to demonstrate to the professors his abilities by predicting the deaths of several people, and then forcing the predictions to come true.

With this entry I have finished my coverage of the whole Nostradamus series, though it appears that, having started with BLOOD OF NOSTRADAMUS and ended with this one, I seem to have watched them all mostly in reverse order. I like the basic concept of the series; Nostradamus makes for an interesting vampire, and some of the stories are rather clever. My only wish is that the presentation had been stronger; even taking into account the fact that I’ve only seen the badly dubbed English prints (where Nostradamus’s ugly hunchbacked assistant sounds a little too much like Goofy), I get the feeling that the style would be static and dull in any language. This movie covers about three episodes of what was originally a serial of sorts, and makes a lame attempt at the end to make us believe that the vampire has been killed, but we know better; there were three more movies to come. Still, the way the various victims of Nostradamus meet their fates does make the movie more interesting than it could have been.

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City of Fear (1959)

CITY OF FEAR (1959)
Article 1833 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-22-2006
Posting Date: 8-19-2006
Directed by Irving Lerner
Featuring Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer

An escaped convict flees to Los Angeles with a container of what he believes to be illegal drugs but is actually a radioactive substance in a deadly powder form.

Several sources refer to the radioactive substance by different names, but it sure sounds to me like they’re actually calling it Cobalt 60 in the movie. I also don’t know to what extent the movie is science fiction, but I’m assuming that its inclusion in at least one source means that it at least rubs up against the genre. As for the movie itself, it’s not bad, especially if you consider its budget; it’s well acted, has some interesting scenes, and the story is decent enough. However, I don’t think the movie really succeeds at being a nail-biting suspense thriller; despite the fact that the whole city of Los Angeles is supposed to be in deadly danger from the substance (hence the title), you never really feel that any more than a handful of people are really at risk in the movie. Nonetheless, the movie is rather efficient, and it’s effective enough to make for worthwhile viewing.

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