CAT GIRL (1957)

Leonora has been summoned by her uncle Edmund, whom she has always disliked, to his country estate to discuss her inheritance. She was asked to come alone but brings her husband Richard and two friends, Allan and Cathy. Leonora also reunites with Brian, a psychiatrist whom Leonora knew in the past. Edmond and his housekeeper Anna are not happy to see the others, and more tensions develop: Allan is a drunkard and Richard is fooling around with Cathy. Edmund tells Leonora that she is "inheriting" a family curse: upon her uncle’s death, she will become possessed by a leopard which wanders about the grounds. The specifics of the curse are unclear; there is a leopard which Edmund keeps caged up, and she apparently doesn't so much become a leopard as much as control it, or maybe even inhabit it now and again. The distraught Leonora runs off into the woods as Edmund releases the leopard so it can kill him so Leonora can become the "cat girl" of the title. If you’ve seen the Val Lewton 1942 classic, CAT PEOPLE, you have some idea of the (fairly mild) mayhem that will be unleashed. As in the earlier film, suspense is built up by keeping the matter of the curse ambiguous: is she really a cat girl or is it all in her head? Brian, the psychiatrist, winds up playing an important role, but the writing is weak and things remain mostly muddled by the end, though the conclusion is superficially satisfying, I guess. Barbara Shelley (pictured) is fine in the lead; she became something of a British scream queen in the 60s, not to be confused with the sexier Barbara Steele. The rest of the cast is low energy with no real standouts. The atmosphere is nicely bleak, and there are a couple of visual callbacks to the earlier Lewton movie. Like that film, the studio stepped in here to hype the supernatural explanation a bit over the strictly psychological. Ultimately, fairly ho-hum but watchable. [YouTube]

THE MONSTER OF THE OPERA (1964)

It's October; the first movie in my Chiller Theater month begins with a woman in a nightgown being chased up and down stone stairs through an old theater by a vampire who attacks her with a pitchfork. Then she wakes up from this nightmare. She is Giulia, a member of a dance troupe. The director, Sandro, has moved the troupe into their new home, an abandoned theater, dilapidated and cobwebby. Sandro is warned by Achille, the cantankerous caretaker, that the theater is cursed by the presence of an ancient vampire who was behind the disappearance of actresses in the theater over the years. Suddenly, a group of glow-in-the-dark skeletons pop up out in the audience, but surprise, they're actually the male members of the troupe dressed up to spook Sandro and the girls. No one is terribly concerned with the caretaker's warnings and soon they're rehearsing Sandro's dance version of Cyrano de Bergerac and cleaning up the theater at the same time. Though the building is locked up, a mysterious man shows up, claiming to be a devotee of the theater, but we soon learn that he is actually Stefano, the vampire, and that Achille is his servant. He is attracted to Giulia because she looks like, or perhaps actually is, the reincarnation of the Countess Laura with whom Stefano was carrying on an affair many years ago. Eventually she ordered her servant to bury Stefano alive; he prayed to Satan and somehow cane out of this situation as a vampire. The servant, of course, was Achille who has also become immortal and must serve his master even against his will. As the plot unfolds, not only is Giulia threatened but the entire troupe is. No one can leave the theater because of invisible force fields, and we discover there is a door to another dimension which contains several of Stefano's skimpily clad past vampire brides, chained to a wall. Achille warns the troupe that in order to fend off possible attacks from Stefano, they must keep moving or dancing, which they proceed to do like dervishes. But Giulia, like a character from Dark Shadows, winds up trapped in the torture chamber dimension and may never escape.

Most critics who write about this Italian film directed by Renato Polselli reference his earlier movie The Vampire and the Ballerina which I tracked down after I saw this and which I'll review soon. This film has one setting, the theater, and plays out more or less in real time. Its Gothic feel and theatrical setting do conjure up The Phantom of the Opera, though the occasional humor, the occasional queer touches (a lesbian and at least one fey gay boy), and the modern dancing bring Phantom up to date. The choreography is actually good and quite sexy. Marco Mariani (above left) is very good as Sandro, an enthusiastic Bob Fosse type who leaps around like a dancer even when he's not rehearsing, and he gets as much if not more screen time as Barbara Hawards, playing Giulia. There is a big cast of supporting players, most not developed as characters, and all are good at being enthusiastic and light-hearted for much of the running time. A moment that looks like it will turn into a lesbian love scene becomes a giggly three way kiss. The scene with the men in skeleton leotards is great fun. The plot doesn't need to be attended to too closely, as the primary attractions here are the atmosphere, the vigorous camera work, and the goofy troupe of actors. Stefano's fangs are excellent. A nice discovery, and available in a very good print. A skeleton boy and troupe girl are pictured at right. [Blu-ray]

SURRENDER—HELL! (1959)

Lieutenant Donald Blackburn is stationed in the Philippines at the outbreak of World War II. American forces on Bataan are ordered to surrender, leading to the infamous Bataan Death March during which thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war died. But Blackburn refuses to surrender, joining several natives as they take to the jungles. A native woman named Delia is especially helpful, tending to Blackburn as he recovers from malaria. He soon falls in with a group of guerillas in high mountain country led by a woman named Pilar, and he more or less adopts an orphan boy named Bruno. After Corregidor in Manila Bay falls to the Japanese, Blackburn conscripts his guerilla fighters into the United States Army, paying them with IOUs that will be honored by the Army after the war. Not all natives are willing to defy the Japanese occupiers by joining up, and eventually Blackburn resorts to signing up a couple of headhunting tribes to fight. Despite some casualties and resistance against them by some locals, the group, which he dubs the 11th Infantry, is successful in fighting the occupiers, most notably by destroying a strategically important bridge. Blackburn and Pilar fall in love, though as they bring to a close their freeing of Northern Luzon, Pilar is captured and eventually dies in Blackburn's arms. In the end, Blackburn's troops are honored by the Army and Blackburn turns over his command to a local officer. This is based on a true story, and Blackburn himself is credited as a technical advisor, but the B-movie budget and behind-the-camera talent are both lacking, and a narrative that has potential ends up rather boring. The handsome Keith Andes (pictured) is fine as Blackburn and he's on screen for almost the entire movie, but there is more telling than showing here; I assume the low budget led to the use of ever-present narration by Andes. There are a couple of action scenes, but mostly narration and conversation carry the movie forward. Susan Cabot (THE WASP WOMAN) as Delia is second billed behind Andes, but vanishes from the film fairly quickly, replaced by Filipino actress Paralumen as Pilar who is fine. It was apparently filmed on location but it mostly looks like sound stages and California locations. Stock footage is used fairly well. Generally, a bland war movie for fans of Keith Andes only. [YouTube]

NEXT TIME I MARRY (1938)

A well-off woman (Lucille Ball) drives slowly past a roadside crew of ditch diggers asking each one if he is married. The first one who says he isn't, though he is very attached to his Great Dane dog Mike, is James Ellison. Ball offers him $500 to marry her immediately, and when he says that's not enough money, she offers a thousand. He says all he needs is $793, so they strike a deal. A justice of the peace marries them; he kisses her, then she slaps him, pays him, and leaves. We find out she’s a heiress about to come into some big money with the stipulation that she's married to a "plain American" man. The problem is that her fiancé (Lee Bowman) is French, so her plan was to marry some poor schmoe to qualify for the money, then head to Reno for a divorce and marry Bowman who, though handsome and charming, is probably a fortune hunter. When the press finds out what's going on, they dub Ellison a Cinderella man which he resents. Ball wants to get to Reno first to file for the divorce, but Ellison traps her in his ride-behind trailer so they will wind up in the city together. At a gas station stop, she ducks out and hitchhikes, but when two men try to assault her, she is saved by Ellison and his dog. Ball and Ellison warm to each other until the press claims he has a wife in Chicago, and Ball discovers a ledger page with the name Caroline, to whom the $793 she paid him will go. Eventually, Bowman catches up with them and Ball travels with him. It turns out that Caroline is the name of a boat that Ellison is making final payments on, and the Chicago wife is not his wife after all. What will happen in Reno? 

This little-known B-movie is one of Lucille Ball's first starring roles after a string of comedic supporting parts at RKO. It's a charming semi-screwball comedy which sort of falls apart in the last fifteen minutes. The screenwriters didn't seem sure what to do once they got to Reno and they threw some creaky plot mechanics in. But enough of the movie works to be a pleasant watch. Ball is very good; it's almost like she's road testing her Lucy Ricardo persona. Ellison, a favorite B-lead of mine, is almost as good as the plain American who falls for Ball but also resents her tricks. Bowman rounds out the main cast quite nicely. With a little tweak of his performance, he could have taken Ellison's role, though the reverse might not work—I'm not sure Ellison could come off as deviously as Bowman does. Director Garson Kanin, better known as a writer (the play Born Yesterday, and some Tracy/Hepburn movies co-written with his wife Ruth Gordon), keeps the pace snappy until the end. In small roles are familiar faces like Mantan Moreland, Dick Elliott, and Cy Kendall. Generally, a nice surprise find. Pictured are Ball and Ellison. [TCM]

MESSALINA VENUS EMPRESS (1960)

Yesterday I reviewed one Italian version of the life of Roman empress Messalina; this version, made nine years later in color and widescreen, is much closer to the peplum genre. The tone is frivolous at times, more liberties are taken with the historical record, and there is more sex and violence. Yet it is the lesser movie of the two. This begins with Valeria Messalina, as a candidate to be a vestal virgin, and Praetorian guard soldier Lucius Maximus meeting cute (or sexy-cute) in the gardens of Vesta. They sex it up in the woods and he leaves for a two year assignment in Armenia. Meanwhile after the murder of Caligula, Caio Silio approaches Messalina to become the wife of the new emperor Claudius as a way to appease the aristocrats who oppose him. A nobleman instrumental to the plot tries to have sex with Messalina on her wedding night, but she kills him. Later, young Marcello is dispatched by her enemies to kill her, but she seduces him, kills him, and has his head sent to the plotters. Years later, Lucius returns and when he sees her, not knowing that she is the empress, she immediately strips for him and they have sex (again). He's a bit disoriented later when he is introduced to her as Messalina. Her reputation among the people is high, but he finds out that she is behind a plot to evacuate a group of poor people (and, it develops, mostly Christians) and is torn between his conscience and his lustful urges. Believe it or not, his conscience eventually wins. This certainly has its moments, including a free-for-all bar fight (marred by some phony looking fisticuffs), some sexy dancing, and a finale capped by an impressive shot of a slaughter scene. I'm assuming that most of the characters are fictional; aside from Messalina and Claudius, the only other character from the earlier film is the gay Narcissus. Here, our hero gets a happy ending, riding off into the sunset with his Christian teenage groupie Sylvia. British actress Belinda Lee is good as Messalina—sadly, she was killed in a car accident just a year later. Spiros Focas (Lucius) is fine. Ida Galli makes for a perky Sylvia (she'd be at home in a 60s beach movie) and Giuliano Gemma (pictured) is a handsome twinkish Marcello. The print I saw was in fine shape visually but had poor subtitles, no better than those you'd find on YouTube. It didn't get a theatrical release in the States but was shown on television in the 1960s as Messalina. I may have had my fill of Messalina movies, though there are others, including one that pits her against a son of Hercules which I may have to dig up. [Amazon Prime]

THE AFFAIRS OF MESSALINA (1951)

Rome, 44 A.D. The emperor Claudius is upset at the spendthrift ways of his wife, the empress Messalina. In theory, she is in charge of overseeing public morals, but Claudius doesn't know that, in addition to taking lovers behind his back—her current primary lover is Caius Silvius—she disguises herself at night as a prostitute named Licisca, collects gossip and takes more lovers. Rebel leader Valerius, who knows about her subterfuge, berates her, calling her "the dishonor of Rome." Eventually Claudius feels he has no choice but to sentence Valerius to death, allowing him to commit suicide. Caius struggles between the attractions of Messalina and the pull of the revolutionaries, as Valerius names Caius his successor, and when Messalina tries to bed him while the funeral pyre of Valerius burns, he rebuffs her. Other characters abound, and a scorecard would be helpful to keep track of their loyalties. Mnester, a court advisor; Lucius, Mnester's handsome adopted son who can imitate a finch—I assumed he was Mnester's catamite though we later see him using his finch call as a signal to have sex with Messalina; Narcissus, a rather fey member of the court; Cinzia, a dancing girl who is in danger of being put to death when she fumbles some dance moves during a court dinner (during which it looks like an orgy will break out any minute); Timius, the brave young protector of Cinzia.

At a party/orgy, the oracular witch Ismene, in league with the rebels, foretells the death of Claudius, or as she words it, the husband of Messalina. Claudius is talked into divorcing Messalina and letting her marry Caius so he will be the doomed man, but this is the plan of those who seek Messalina's downfall. Unfortunately, Octavius, one of the senior rebels, thinks that Caius will go through with the marriage and become emperor, betraying the late Valerius. Things head toward a climax during a day of gladiator games when Cinzia (apparently a secret Christian) is magically able to save Timus from being eaten by lions. Later, Timius is spared from being killed by lead gladiator Taurus (apparently a secret rebel). With Claudius having left Rome to oversee a huge delivery of needed wheat at Ostia, Messalina is at the mercy of various men who wish to see her powerless or dead.

At the time it was made, this was the most expensive Italian film ever, and though it's in black & white and is not widescreen, the production is impressive with elaborate sets, great costumes, and good performances. It's sometimes referred to as an early example of the peplum film, but it doesn't feel or look like one. There are swords and sandals but virtually no sweaty bare-chested muscle men, and the script is strong with several plot details threaded together in a literate way. Most of the character names are drawn from history; I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the events but they do follow broadly the same arc presented on Messalina’s Wikipedia page. The two leads, Mexican actress Maria Felix (Messalina) and French actor George Marchal (Caius) are very good; equally impressive are Jean Chevrier (Valerius), Erno Crisa (Timius), Delia Scala (Cinzia), and Memo Benassi (Claudius). Several crowd scenes, especially at the games, are pulled off well. The print I saw had AI generated English subtitles and they certainly seemed complete and accurate. A good example of, if not a peplum, an early historical epic. Pictured at top right are Scala and Crisa; above left, Chevrier. [YouTube]

HIGHWAY 13 (1948)

The Norris Trucking Company has been experiencing a series of accidents which are making headlines, and the latest involves the death of Henrietta Denton, the Norris heiress, when her car plunges off of Highway 13. We meet a number of characters tied to the company. Frank, Henrietta's widower, gets the company to hire George, an old buddy of his, to investigate the accidents. Hank, a Denton driver, is dating Doris, a waitress who works at a truck stop diner called the Clover Cafe, run by her kindly old uncle Pops. George shadows Hank to get to know the drivers and the routes, and soon George suspects that whatever is going on is tied to the Clover Cafe. We know that George thinks that Pops, who does a number of check-ups on the trucks and has a criminal past, is a suspect, but George is sure that Hank is in the clear. A tragic accident (or possibly a planned murder) occurs which puts Hank in the spotlight, and he and Doris have to do some investigating to clear his name. This is a thoroughly average B-crime melodrama with some OK acting and enough characters to muddy the waters as we try to figure out who the villain is. I like Robert Lowery, a beefy character actor perhaps best known for playing Batman in the 1949 serial BATMAN AND ROBIN, and he's fine if a bit dim as Hank. Steve Pendleton gives good sidekick support as George, and Pamela Blake is perky as Doris. There is some folderol about Doris pressuring Hank to get a raise so they can get married, but it's just a plot device to allow him to make contact with Mary, a secretary and potential femme fatale (played by Maris Wrixon). Clem Bevans, who played old men for most of his long career, is Pops, who can be both cranky and amusing; Dan Seymour is a (perhaps shady) insurance investigator; Mary Gordon is Pops' kindly wife; Lyle Talbot has a small role as a detective. The plot twists keep you on your toes, and I must admit that the solution surprised me. Apparently the exteriors were shot alongside an actual California highway (14 rather than 13). Pictured are Lowery and Pendleton. [DVD]

OSS 117 IS UNLEASHED (1963)

Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a secret agent who goes by OSS 117 and who seems closely modeled on James Bond, was featured in several French movies, mostly made in the 1960s. I reviewed two of them some years ago (PANIC IN BANGKOK and MISSION TO TOKYO), liked them, and promised to watch more soon. Five years later, here I am with another one under my belt. It has been determined by Western world leaders that a new kind of atomic submarine which cannot be detected by usual methods is the best chance at world peace, apparently considered a good deterrent since no country could know how close they might be. But someone is experimenting with a MacGuffin device that can detect the subs and a spy named Roos is on the villain's trail in the coastal town of Bonifacio in Corsica. We see him exploring an underwater grotto when he is speared and killed. The people with Roos at the time, a diving instructor named Renotte and his girlfriend Brigitta (who might have also been having an affair with Roos), claim he died in an accident. OSS 117 is sent to investigate. He latches onto Renotte, who escapes to Nice, and Brigitta, who may or may not be a full-scale baddie; sometimes she's a hindrance to OSS 117, sometimes a help. Mayan, the head villain, is testing the MacGuffin in Corsican grottoes, and soon enough, Renotte is killed, people drink poisoned whisky, and various ruses are pulled off to throw people off the track of who's following whom. There are fisticuffs and a well-staged underwater knife fight leading to a climax involving plenty of gunplay. This is the first of the 1960s films, the only one in black & white, and the first of two which stars American actor Kerwin Mathews. (The character is of French descent but grew up in America.) It's well made and fun without getting too jokey—the more obvious Eurospy satires and parodies would come a little later. Mathews is fine, not quite as charming or butch as Sean Connery was as Bond, but light on his feet, able to defend himself, and flirtatious enough with the ladies. In one scene, he kisses a car rental girl who tells him, "You have a gift for the French tongue." The movie looks good, and the underwater photography is particularly well done. Nadia Sanders (Brigitta) and Henri-Jacques Huet (Renotte) are fine, though the main bad guys are fairly colorless. There is a title song about OSS 117 (sadly, not translated in the subtitles) and a solid jazzy score by Michel Magne. Quite low-key enjoyable. I’m sorry it took me so long to get around to this, but I’ll make a point of getting to the last two in the series soon. Pictured above are Huet and Sanders. [DVD]

THE GREAT HOTEL MURDER (1935)

In San Francisco, there's a medical convention going on at the Hotel Mardena. House detective Andy McCabe has a friendly rivalry with mystery writer Roger Blackwood; Blackwood considers himself an expert at solving mysteries but McCabe insists that "anyone can solve a mystery when they write their own answers." The two get a chance to compete when a Dr. Temple is found dead in his room, though it turns out that the dead man is not Temple but Chambers; the two had swapped rooms the night before because Temple's room was where Chambers had spent his honeymoon years ago. Because Chambers' death was from a drug overdose, he is assumed to have committed suicide, but physical evidence suggests that he may not have been alone and that he might have been using binoculars to spy on a hotel room across the street which was occupied by a Mrs. Blake. Then more evidence pops up to show that the dead man wasn't Chambers but a Mr. Blake. Confused yet? I got a little confused trying to write this summary from my movie-watching notes, but while watching, it wasn't too difficult to keep up. As a 70-minute B-mystery, some weakness in the writing is to be expected, and it is a bit talky, but there are some action setpieces involving people getting knocked out and locked in closets, fisticuffs, a car chase, a New Year's Eve party plunged into darkness, and some gunplay before the end, which is a bit abrupt. The acting is solid. Edmund Lowe plays Blackwood as relatively suave and Victor McLaglen plays McCabe as rough-edged, and though the two do have a certain respect for each other, they're not above some dirty tricks to stay ahead in the investigation. Familiar faces in support include C. Henry Gordon, Mary Carlisle, Henry O’Neill and John Wray. It drags a bit and is pretty thoroughly average for a second feature B-movie of the era. Pictured are McLaglen and Lowe. [YouTube]

A TRIP TO MARS (1918)

In Denmark, Avanti Planetaros returns home after a stint in the navy looking for a new direction for his life. Professor Planetaros, his scientist father, has just the thing: believing that space is the ultimate frontier, he asks his son to lead a private expedition to Mars in the Excelsior, a spaceship he's building with his friend Prof. Krafft. Another scientist, Prof. Dubius, expresses mocking disbelief in the project, especially when Avanti starts talking about building "bridges between planets," but two years later, the ship, looking like a cross between a dirigible and a biplane, is ready. Avanti leads a crew of volunteers into outer space. During the six months of the trip, unrest sets in, with the heavy drinking David Dane about ready to mutiny. Meanwhile on Mars, the Martians, seeing the ship approaching, pull it in with a tractor beam. The Martians seem, to our eyes, like proto-hippies: human looking folks who dress in white robes, eat only fruit, communicate through a "language of the heart" (which the Earthlings hear as their own language) and are non-violent—we see a flashback to their violent past which they have overcome. A misunderstanding leads to a grenade being set off, wounding some Martians, but the Earthlings repent, are dressed in the Robes of Innocence, take part in the Dance of Chastity, and sleep in the Forest of Love. (Like I said, hippies, except for the chastity thing.) Avanti falls for the Martian woman Marya; she tells him to sleep under the Tree of Longing and if he dreams of her, then they are meant to be together. He does and they are. Soon, Prof. Krafft wants to return to Earth to be with his love, Corona, Avanti's sister, and Marya agrees to go to Earth with Avanti. The Martian elder, Marya's father, is ready for something that seems like assisted suicide and goes off to the Cave of Death. The Martians send the Earthlings home with platitudes like, "Space is the mother of life," and "Love is the force you call God." Happy endings for all except Dubius who, when he learns that the Excelsior is returning successfully, tries to be reconciled with Prof. Planetaros but is instead struck by lightning and killed just as the spaceship lands.

This Danish silent movie is strange, unique and quite wonderful. It's been called the first space opera movie but a modern audience would not really recognize it as such. With a distinct lack of explicit science, it's more an adventure fantasy along the lines of the John Carter novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs or the stories of A. Merritt or H. Rider Haggard. The movie was thought lost until 2006 and it has been beautifully restored, showing off imaginative visuals and special effects that, for the era, are quite good. One part of the very Earthlike Martian landscape looks like Shangri-La did in the 1937 LOST HORIZON. The acting may put off today's viewers, as it's very much of the overwrought silent type, but for silent movie fans it's just par for the course. No one really stands out as good or bad; Gunnar Tolnas is heroic enough as Avanti (great name) and Fredrick Jacobsen is a bit over the top as the villain Dubius. The pacifist utopia of Mars, presented just a year after the end of WWI as a necessary move from the "curse of [spilled] blood," might have been quite welcome by audiences; indeed, the film was apparently a big hit. The film’s original Danish title, Himmelskibet, translates as Heaven Ship. I liked this movie quite a bit and recommend it, particularly to silent films buffs. [YouTube]