A Connecticut Yankee (1931)

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE (1931)
Article #911 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-12-2003
Posting Date: 2-9-2004
Directed by David Butler
Featuring Will Rogers, William Farnum, Frank Albertson

A radio repairman finds himself in the times of King Arthur, and uses his knowledge of history and science to rise to power.

This Mark Twain novel was well-adapted to the persona of Will Rogers, whose talent seemed to be the ability to make satirical jabs that were cute, folksy, charming and palatable to an audience that really didn’t have a taste for satire, and when you think about it, that’s no small accomplishment. Most of the gags are of two sorts; Will Rogers’ observations on the events around him or the various anachronistic devices he creates to help King Arthur. On top of the general fantasy nature of the story, the movie actually has touches of horror and science fiction as well; the story really begins in a spooky house on a stormy night, and an inventor has created a machine that is able to hear sounds from the past; for a while, I found myself wondering if the machine would come into play in sending Rogers back to the Dark Ages (thus making it an early cinematic time machine), but it doesn’t pan out that way. Overall, it’s a very entertaining rendition of the story.

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The Gamma People (1956)

THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956)
Article #910 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-11-2003
Posting Date: 2-8-2004
Directed by John Gilling
Featuring Paul Douglas, Eva Bartok, Leslie Phillips

Two reporters get stranded in a small European country that is under the yolk of a scientist performing experiments with human intelligence.

If this movie had been incompetently directed and acted, it would probably have a reputation as an amazingly bad movie; as it is, it is one of the strangest science fiction movies of the fifties and totally unlike anything else I’ve seen. The basic story is a straightforward mad scientist variation with horror overtones, but most of the movie seems to have been plotted, written and acted as if it is a mythical-kingdom high comedy; certainly, the staggering amount of coincidence in the plot (especially the circumstances by which the two reporters end up stranded in the country) certainly owes more to comedy than to science fiction or horror. Nevertheless, the SF/Horror aspects are played straight and seem to come from a totally different movie; in fact, the movie quite often jumps back and forth between the two approaches so abruptly that one is often at a loss to know to react to the proceedings. Nonetheless, many individual moments work very well indeed, in both the comedy and horror aspects, though there are times when it is painfully obvious that the dubbing for the outdoor scenes was handled indoors. Paul Douglas and Leslie Phillips are quite good in their respective roles. All in all, this is one of the most baffling oddities of fifties science fiction.

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Castle in the Desert (1942)

CASTLE IN THE DESERT (1942)
Article #909 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-10-2003
Posting Date: 2-7-2004
Directed by Harry Lachman
Featuring Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, Richard Derr

Charlie Chan receives a letter from a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia, who thinks she is being framed for murder.

I’ve covered several of the Charlie Chan movies so far, but this is the first one I’ve seen to feature Sidney Toler rather than Warner Oland. I’ve generally heard that Sidney Toler was nowhere near as popular in the role as Oland, and I have to admit that I prefer Oland as well; his performances as Chan always seemed unassuming and thoughtful, whereas Toler just seems to be uninvolved. Nevertheless, this is a fairly entertaining entry in the series, with some very funny lines on occasion, and Henry Daniell is present as one of the suspects. The fantastic elements are very slight; there are murders by crossbow, and a torture chamber is present in the castle, but other than scaring Victor Sen Yung in a couple of scenes, it really doesn’t play into the plot at all. Therefore, I have to consign this one to the realms of marginalia.

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The Lodger (1932)

THE LODGER (1932)
(a.k.a. THE PHANTOM FIEND)
Article #908 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-9-2003
Posting Date: 2-6-2004
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Featuring Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, W.E. Bascomb

A new tenant in a boarding house is suspected of being a Jack-the-Ripper-like murderer.

It’s a little difficult for me to evaluate this remake of the Alfred Hitchcock silent classic, as I find myself hampered by the fact that my copy of the movie has such loud incidental noise that it somewhat interferes with my being able to hear through the British accents of the cast. However, since it is a remake and it basically follows the same story as the original, I really wasn’t at risk of getting lost. It’s not bad, overall, but Elvey isn’t Hitchcock, and the ending here simply doesn’t hold a candle to that of the superior silent version. As a result, the worst problem with the movie is simply that it feels unnecesary; if you’ve seen the Hitchcock version, you can probably safely skip this one, even if you find a copy with better sound than mine.

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Spies (1928)

SPIES (1928)
(a.k.a. SPIONE)
Article #907 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-8-2003
Posting Date: 2-5-2004
Directed by Fritz Lang
Featuring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Lien Deyers

A spy organization attempts to prevent a treaty with Japan, and secret agents attempt to thwart them.

I can tell the spies are supposed to be Russian because Rudolf Klein-Rogge spends most of the movie made up to look just like Lenin, and I doubt that this is more than just coincidence. At any rate, this is a pretty entertaining movie, and like all of Lang’s silent movies, it’s worth catching, though I do prefer either of his Mabuse films, METROPOLIS or M. There are some definite surreal touches here, particularly in a cafe that has a combination dance floor / boxing ring (this was in the days before mosh pits, remember). However, those looking for the touches of fantastic cinema will find little of interest here, other than a typical spy-movie style gadget or two. And despite the fact that the last part of the movie prominently features one of the scariest creatures known to man (a clown), I can’t really call it a horror movie by any means. Nevertheless, it’s exciting enough and has a truly bizarre ending.

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The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935)

THE ADVENTURES OF REX AND RINTY (1935)
(Serial)
Article #906 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-7-2003
Posting Date: 2-4-2004
Directed by Forde Beebe and B. Reaves Eason
Featuring Rex, Rin Tin Tin Jr, Kane Richmond

The God-Horse of Sujan is kidnapped and brought to America. It escapes, befriends a dog named Rinty, and is rescued by a polo player intent on returning the Horse to its original owner.

How about that? It’s a serial where I can tell the heroes apart. Granted, it helps that one of them is equine, another is canine, and only one of them is human, but I’m not complaining. In fact, having animals take center stage here has an even greater novelty value than making the Dead End Kids the focus of a serial (a la SEA RAIDERS), and the serial is quite entertaining as long as the focus remains on the animals. Unfortunately, the story gets repetitive after the first three episodes, and the focus shifts more and more to the human heroes and villains from that point onwards. Things do pick up again when the action shifts back to Sujan, but that’s not until late in the action. The fantastic elements are incidental, but they are there; firstly, the mythical island of Sujan itself, and secondly, there appears to be something of a psychic link between the high priest of Sujan and his agent in America, which is the most striking fantastic aspect here, even if it isn’t really used all that effectively.

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Forever, Darling (1956)

FOREVER, DARLING (1956)
Article #905 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-6-2003
Posting Date: 2-3-2004
Directed by Alexander Hall
Featuring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, James Mason

A guardian angel comes to the rescue of a couple whose marriage has hit a rough spot.

On top of the TV show which brought them fame, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made a couple of movies together as a team; this one and THE LONG LONG TRAILER. This is the lesser known of the two, and it’s a fairly minor piece of fluff. Actually, Desi gets the funniest moments in an earlier scene where he comes home and roundly insults Lucy’s dinner guests, one of which is Natalie Schafer who is best known as Mrs. Howell from “Gilligan’s Island”. After that, most of the gags are the type of slapstick gags you might expect on the TV series, except that the movie’s leisurely pace keeps them from building up any real sense of comic frenzy. I do like the fact that James Mason plays the guardian angel, and that he looks like James Mason because that’s what Lucy imagines her guardian angel would look like (Desi’s would look like Ava Gardner). Science fiction fans should also keep an eye out for John Emery (from ROCKETSHIP X-M) as a psychiatrist, and John Hoyt (ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE) as Desi’s boss at the insecticide factory.

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Fog Island (1945)

FOG ISLAND (1945)
Article #904 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-5-2003
Posting Date: 2-2-2004
Directed by Terry Morse
Featuring George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, Veda Ann Borg

An industrialist framed for embezzlement invites a group of people to his house on an isolated island to wreak vengeance.

This isn’t the only movie to feature both Zucco and Atwill, but of the others, THREE COMRADES doesn’t appear to be a horror movie in any respect (I haven’t seen it, though), and HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN never featured them in the same scene; in this one, they share the screen several times. It’s another poverty row horror from PRC, and as usual, it doesn’t look quite as cheap as it probably was, at least partially due to the nice sets in use throughout. The story has some nice points, particularly when the guests receive an assortment of curious party favors that are supposed to lead them to a treasure, but things get a little confusing at times and certain characters seem extraneous. Otherwise, it’s a fitfully amusing revenge movie with horror overtones.

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The Face at the Window (1939)

THE FACE AT THE WINDOW (1939)
Article #903 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-4-2003
Posting Date: 2-1-2004
Directed by John King
Featuring Tod Slaughter, Marjorie Taylor, John Warwick

A bank clerk is being framed for a series of ghastly murders caused by a villain called “The Wolf” involving a horrible face appearing at the window.

Tod Slaughter’s over-the-top melodramas aren’t really horror movies for the most part, but they are lurid enough to get at least marginal consideration in the genre. This is one in which the horror elements are much more overt, particularly that of the truly hideous face at the window. Slaughter chews the scenery a little less than usual in this one, partially because his character is a little more refined than his usual roles, but fans needn’t worry; he still gets plenty of opportunities to be not only evil, but ludicrously evil. Ultimately, I would have to say that of the Slaughter movies I’ve seen, this one is probably my current favorite.

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The Embalmer (1966)

THE EMBALMER (1966)
(a.k.a. IL MOSTRO DI VENEZIA)
Article #902 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-3-2003
Posting Date: 1-31-2004
Directed by Dino Tavella
Featuring Maureen Brown, Elmo Caruso, Jean Mart

A murderer in Venice is killing and embalming women for his collection, but the only one who believes in his existence is a journalist.

This movie has some good ideas; the movie takes place in Venice, and the murderer’s lair is in an old monastary in the catacombs of Venice; he leaves through an underwater entrance in scuba gear, and drags the womens’ bodies underwater to his lair, thus leaving no trace. He also is dressed as a monk with a skeleton mask, which allows him on occasion to pose as one of the many corpses of monks lying around the area. However, the pacing on this one is incredibly lethargic, the dubbing is bad, the comic relief duo is more annoying than funny, and the fight choreography towards the end is quite bad. It also has a somewhat downbeat ending that will either impress you (if you’re impressed by that sort of thing) or annoy you (because it was unnecessary). At any rate, I emerged from this one knowing why Dino Tavella’s name is not as well known as Mario Bava’s.

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