Tarzan the Tiger (1929)

TARZAN THE TIGER (1929)
(Serial)
Article #1202 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-29-2004
Posting Date: 11-26-2004
Directed by Henry MacRae
Featuring Frank Merrill, Natalie Kingston, Al Ferguson

Tarzan loses his memory while trying to gather jewels from the temple of Opar to pay for his estate, and then finds himself battling for his life against a false friend intent on betraying him.

Now, this is a relief; a silent serial that is not only in good condition, but has an excellent musical soundtrack and fine sound effects to round out the experience. It’s also another one based directly on one of Burrough’s novels, in this case “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar”. Frank Merrill is quite effective as Tarzan; in fact, he even exhibits a few moments of Herculean strength that pushes this one even more into the realms of fantasy. It even has a few effective lyrical moments that you rarely find in serials, especially during the first episode. Once again, we have a whole slew of villains, and they’re as apt to betray each other as to join forces against Tarzan. I would have to say at this point of time that this one is far and away my favorite Tarzan serial, and certainly one of the better serials I’ve seen of any kind. Incidentally, the Weissmuller Tarzans were not the first ones to feature nude swimming from Jane, as Natalie Kingston demonstrates here at one point. One-time Dr. Jekyll Sheldon Lewis is also on hand as a villainous Arab.

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Kwaidan (1964)

KWAIDAN (1964)
(a.k.a. KAIDAN)
Article #1201 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-28-2004
Posting Date: 11-25-2004
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Featuring Rentaro Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe

Four eerie tales of ghosts, spirits and demons are presented.

This movie is beautifully photographed, makes splendid use of sound, and is simply lyrically breathtaking. It is also two hours and forty minutes long, and unfortunately (largely due to the leisurely pacing), it feels it. If I had to sacrifice any story here for the sake of length, it would be the first one (“Black Hair”); though it has a nice ending, it’s the one whose slow build-up makes the passage of time the most noticeable. Much better are the second and fourth stories; the second (“The Woman in the Snow”) is filled with evocative images of the blowing snow and a winter sky with staring eyes, and it has an ending that is powerful and sad. The fourth (“In a Cup of Tea”) was incomplete, but tells an engaging story of a warrior who sees a strange face in his cup of tea and unwisely swallows it; the movie puts together an ending which points the way to what would be the most probable final twist had the story been completed.

Whatever you do, though, you won’t want to skip the third story; it’s the longest of the lot, but it’s also unforgettable. “Hoichi the Earless” deals with a blind musician who is called upon to play the Biwa for what turns out to be a gathering of the dead, and the steps taken by the priests to save the musician’s life makes for a shockingly powerful ending. This sequence also features Takashi Shimura, who should prove to be a familiar face for fans of kaiju and Kurasawa; he played Dr. Yamane in the original GODZILLA as well as the head samurai in THE SEVEN SAMURAI. This segment alone makes the movie essential viewing for any horror / fantasy fan.

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Psychopath (1969)

PSYCHOPATH (1969)
(a.k.a. MISTER ZEHN PROZENT – MIEZUN UND MONETEN)
Article #1200 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-27-2004
Posting Date: 11-24-2004
Directed by Guido Zurli
Featuring George Martin, Ingric Schoeller, Karin Field

A thief whose modus operandi is to rob other thieves during their robbery attempts, and then to return the stolen merchandise to the owners (minus his ten percent) faces off with Scotland Yard while attempting to profit from the theft of a jewel known as the Eye of Allah.

Adventures in moviehunting: According to the source from which I compiled this movie, it’s supposed to be about a psychiatrist who discovers that his girlfriend’s ex-husband is a murderer. Maybe there’s a Klaus Kinski film out there that actually tells such a story, but if there is, it isn’t this one, even if the credits listed in the entry clearly point to this movie. In fact, the movie is badly named; there’s not even a psychopath to be found here, and though the picture on the tape case shows a threatening and glowering face of Klaus Kinski hovering over a bunch of uniformed police and a gun pointed directly at the viewer, in truth, Kinski plays the servant to the main criminal, and merely helps him on occasion. I smell deceptive marketing at work here.

So what is this movie? It’s an Italian super-criminal movie, and a fairly fun one. I’m not sure it really fits the genre; it’s noticeably short on gadgetry, and the only thing I can find that might remotely put it in the realm of science fiction is the alarm system used to guard the Eye of Allah. It’s actually a highly amusing movie; it has a strong sense of humor, an interesting premise (check the above plot description for the criminals modus operandi), and actually name-drops James Bond several times during the proceedings. It’s enjoyable in its own right; why they chose to market it as some sort of psychopath movie is beyond me.

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She (1925)

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.

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Princess Cinderella (1941)

PRINCESS CINDERELLA (1941)
(a.k.a. CENERENTOLA E IL SIGNOR BONAVENTURA)
Article #1198 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-25-2004
Posting Date: 11-22-2004
Directed by Sergio Tofano
Featuring Silvana Jachino, Paolo Stoppa, Mario Pisu

When her evil stepsisters pour wax into her magic slippers so they no longer fit, Cinderella is banished by the King and Queen from the castle where she lives with Prince Charming.

This Italian fairy tale (a sequel to the story of “Cinderella”, though not to any particular cinematic version I know of) was released in 1941, but it didn’t appear in the U.S. untill 1955. This is fairly noticeable; the jokes about the the Atomic Hero Pills is much more likely to have come from that era. It’s a strange little movie, but not without its charms; the gaudy costumes, outrageous makeup (there are lots of fake noses here), and odd concepts makes for a fairly entertaining movie. The weirdest scenes involve a witch (who has a sidecar on her broom) and an ogre (who has to go to the dentist for a new set of false teeth after his original set falls out) who have culinary designs on Cinderella. One interesting detail is that even though the dialogue has been dubbed into English, the songs are left in their original Italian; actually, this ends up working well enough, as the songs are fairly short.

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The Lion Man (1936)

THE LION MAN (1936)
Article #1197 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-24-2004
Posting Date: 11-21-2004
Directed by John P. McCarthy
Featuring Kathleen Burke, Jon Hall, Ted Adams

A boy whose father was killed in an ambush by a double-dealing sheik is rescued by a woman and raised by a man who brings him up with lions. He grows up to defend others who are being victimized by the same sheik.

I was wondering for a bit while watching this as to what was giving this movie that slightly poetic feeling to it; it was then that I realized that all the Arabs were speaking in a somewhat Shakespearean “thee-thou-thy” mode. Once I realized this, though, that slight poetic feeling gave way to a sense of silliness instead, but I will admit that it lends a certain odd dignity to the proceedings. This one was based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and given the title, I thought it was largely going to be a Tarzan variation with a man raised in the desert by lions (whereas Tarzan was raised in the jungle by apes), but that’s not really the case; the boy is raised by a human who associates with lions. Actually, it would be kind of nice to see someone interact with the lions, but the full grown lions never appear in the same scenes as the humans; we do see humans cuddling lion cubs on occasion. The only fantastic aspect to this one is that slight air of fantasy that comes with setting a melodrama in an exotic location, so this one remains thoroughly marginal. Overall, it’s an odd and not quite effective movie; the beginning is strong and it ends all right, but the soap opera subplot that makes up most of the middle of the story largely exists to mark time until the end of the movie. It’s mostly of interest to those who want to try out an adaptation of one of Burrough’s lesser known works.

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The House in the Woods (1959)

THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS (1959)
Article #1196 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-23-2004
Posting Date: 11-20-2004
Directed by Maxwell Munden
Featuring Ronald Howard, Patricia Roc, Michael Gough

A couple wishing to get away from the noise of the city move into a remote cottage which they share with an artist who has recently lost his wife. They begin to suspect that the wife may have been murdered.

Michael Gough, Patricia Roc and Ronald Howard all give fine performances in this movie, and the story itself is quite interesting. However, I found the direction listless and dull, and the pacing less than exciting; it seemingly takes forever before we reach the point where the suspense kicks in, and then the movie finishes up so quickly that I felt rather cheated. Of course, I do feel it necessary to point out that I didn’t watch the movie under the best of conditions; I was suffering from a bad cold, and was a bit tired and sleepy going into it, and there’s a strong chance this may have colored my impressions. It may play much better if viewed in an alert and patient mood. As far as its fantastic content, there’s some slight horror touches to the proceedings, but not enough to make it more than marginally interesting from a genre perspective.

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King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962)

KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1962)
(a.k.a. KINGUKONGU TAI GOJIRA)
Article #1195 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-22-2004
Posting Date: 11-19-2004
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yu Fujiki

A pharmaceutical company captures King Kong on Faro island at the same time that Godzilla breaks loose from an iceberg and returns to Japan.

Ten thoughts on KING KONG VS. GODZILLA

1) Like the original GODZILLA, this movie was heavily reedited for the American market and new footage was added. Unfortunately, the same care was not taken with this one as was taken with the original; most of the new footage consists of unconvincing newscasters sitting around and delivering stories, and the editing ot the Japanese footage is sloppy (they even use a scene of a newspaper photo of submarine fading into a shot of the real submarine in motion twice within a two minute period) and eccentric (repeated anomalous shots of a space satellite). They also replaced most of Akira Ifukube’s score with stock music, including an annoying encore of the shrill CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON music. I have yet to see the Japanese version, but I hope to do so someday.

2) ****SPOILER**** For many years, the legend existed that the Japanese version of the movie ended with Godzilla victorious whereas the American version ended with King Kong victorious. This story is merely a legend. In fact, the ending is somewhat ambiguous; though Kong is the only one we see walking away (or swimming away, as the case may be) from the fight, there is no clear winner designated; Godzilla is merely nowhere to be found.

3) This is probably the most light-hearted of the early Godzilla movies. In fact, the American version is a downright comedy most of the time. The Japanese version was more satirical, but some of the satire still shows through in the American version, particularly in the sequences having to do with the pharmaceutical company trying to get a monster to improve their ratings.

4) I’m amazed at the breadth of special effects in this movie; outside of the standard suitmation, they use puppets, real animals substituting for monsters, and even a bit of stop motion. Not all of it is done well, but I do admire the ambition behind it.

5) The story borrows heavily from the original KING KONG, with Kong once again discovered on an island of natives who worship him. He also gets loose in a big city, kidnaps a girl and scales a building with her. However, the sight of King Kong scaling a building that is no taller than himself is just a little bit ridiculous.

6) For me, the most disappointing thing in the movie is the Kong costume; sure, he’s not going to look as good as the stop-motion animated Kong of the original movie, but here he looks mangy and flea-bitten. I really think the costume could have been a lot better.

7) During the sequence where the submarine is suffering untold damage from the iceberg, we hear the admiral mutter the word “Great!” after hearing a particularly distressing bit of bad news. Feel free to mentally substitute any other one-syllable word that ends in a ‘t’ that you think might be appropriate for a man of the sea to mutter under those circumstances.

8) At the opening of the movie, we hear a news report about an earthquake in Chile. What this has to do with the rest of the movie is beyond me.

9) This may be one of the first of the Japanese monster movies to touch upon the love that children have for giant monsters. At one point, a little boy asks his mother if he can go see Godzilla. Gamera would milk this idea for all it was worth a few years later.

10) This was perhaps the first Godzilla movie I ever saw. To this day, it remains my favorite, even if I don’t consider it to be anywhere near the best of the series. Even now I thoroughly enjoy watching this one. So I’m going to throw in another list of ten items to end this one. Here are my ten favorite moments from the movie.

1) The explorers winning over the natives with a portable radio playing a peppy Japanese tune, followed by plying them with cigarettes. The chief than decides he will let them stay, but absolves himself of all responsibility if King Kong should eat them. Key line: “It’s okay! They’re all smoking!”

2) The UN reporter calls in a noted scientist to discuss Godzilla. The scientist uses a child’s book of dinosaurs as his main visual prop. The scientist also does a comparison of the relative brain power of King Kong and Godzilla. He uses a gorilla’s skull and a marble as his props. This guy is a hoot.

3) I love that the head of the pharmaceutical company throws a fit when Godzilla gets loose not because he fears for his life and property, but because he’s jealous of all the publicity Godzilla is getting.

4) The fight between King Kong and the octopus, though hardly convincing, is definitely a highlight of the picture.

5) I like the scene where we see the construction of a huge pit with which the military hopes to capture Godzilla. Quite frankly, I’ve always thought that was the neatest collection of construction toys I’ve ever seen in one place.

6) A man, upon hearing that King Kong is advancing on Tokyo, replies with conviction “We’d better leave….tonight!” Hey, why rush these things?

7) The native chant is one of the few pieces of music from the original soundtrack to remain on the American version; it’s also the best piece of music on the American version.

8) During the final fight, King Kong hits his head on a rock. You can practically see the birds flying around his head at this point.

9) Also during the fight, King Kong tries to shove a tree down Godzilla’s throat. Talk about making the best use of the landscape…

10)…and finally, the airlift sequence. There’s something about seeing King Kong strung up like a puppet (in a very uncomfortable-looking position, I might add) and carted around by balloons and helicopters that is almost sublimely ridiculous. It’s certainly one of the most memorable images in all of kaiju.

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It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958)
Article #1194 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-21-2004
Posting Date: 11-18-2004
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Featuring Marshall Thompson, Shirly Patterson, Kim Spalding

A rescue mission to the planet Mars picks up the sole survivor of the first expedition, and (unbeknownst to them) a very hungry resident of the planet.

This movie is often cited as the source of Ridley Scott’s ALIEN, though I tend to consider that coincidence; the idea of a monster loose aboard a spaceship isn’t so uniquely unusual that I find it quite plausible that two different writers could come up with the idea independently. ALIEN is obviously the better movie; the acting and character development are a vast improvement, the dialogue is crisper and less labored, and the monster is something far more complex than a man in a rubber suit. Nonetheless, this movie can lay claim to one thing that ALIEN can’t; it remains the sole movie that I have ever seen that actually scared me so badly I couldn’t sleep that night, and that’s no mean feat. Watching it again many years later, I still find it fairly effective; the scene where the first body is discovered stuffed up a duct is memorable, as is the condition of the bodies after It has had its way with them. It has its flaws, I’ll admit; for one thing, I don’t think it’s particularly smart to have storage areas where nothing is tied down, nor would I recommend that crew members shoot off firearms inside the rocket. However, I will never forget the moments when the movie gave me the heebie-jeebies; seeing the monster dragging around one of the dead bodies, watching the man with the broken leg desperately trying to fend the creature off with an acetylene torch, and (for me, this was the clincher) watching the creature pound his way through the hatches that separated the various levels of the ship. Knowing that the monster was capable of doing this was what convinced me that there was literally no place to run. At any rate, if we were all allowed one movie from our childhood to remain free from the more mature criticism of our adult minds, this would be the one I would pick.

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Incubus (1965)

INCUBUS (1965)
Article #1193 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-20-2004
Posting Date: 11-17-2004
Directed by Leslie Stevens
Featuring William Shatner, Milos Milos, Allyson Ames

A succubus tires of luring tainted souls to their deaths, and seeks a real prize for the prince of darkness; a good man. When her target (a man named Marc) proves the stronger of the two, she considers herself “defiled” by his love, and resurrects an incubus to exact revenge.

The idea of shooting a movie in the artificial language of Esperanto seems rather gimmicky at first. However, there’s something quite otherworldly about this allegorical fantasy that makes the decision seem appropriate; it makes the events feel as if they take place in a distant country, and it would feel that way everywhere (unless you happen to get a crowd together that actually speaks Esperanto). I found it quite engaging, poetic and eerie; it feels somewhat like a Bergman movie, though it was shot in the USA. The movie does tend to split people into two camps; those that like it and those that hate it; me, I found it unique and satisfying. Director Leslie Stevens had been the executive producer for “The Outer Limits” before he made this movie, and William Shatner would shortly go on to “Star Trek”.

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