WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER (1922)

Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII, is present at a tournament to see brave soldier Charles Brandon win at jousting against the powerful Duke of Buckingham. Sparks fly between the two, but Mary feels like she is "for sale" with the King attempting to marry her off for diplomatic advantage. At court, an envoy of King Louis XII of France arrives asking for Mary's hand, a match that Henry feels would be to great advantage. Mary, however, seeing a portrait of the aging monarch, throws a fit, yelling, "Would you marry me to this withered wreck of a king?" That night, she sends for Brandon and the two head out for a romantic walk through town, followed by the suspicious Buckingham. They head to an infamous soothsayer who tells her, "You will be Queen of France until you are made happy by a death." On the street, in a brouhaha (planned, I think, by Buckingham) bandits set upon them; Brandon kills one of them and, even though he saved Mary, he is charged with murder. The King excuses him, but in order to get out of the marriage to Louis, Mary and Brandon sneak away from the castle. Eventually, they are tracked down in a tavern where Mary, dressed as a man, has acquitted herself nicely in a brawl. The two are separated and Mary finally agrees to marry Louis as long as Henry promises her that 1) Brandon will have his freedom, and 2) she can have her own pick for a second husband. He agrees, she marries, and sure enough, the soothsayer's prediction comes true.

This silent film was a big deal when it came out; it was the first movie to cost a million dollars to make, had elaborate sets and costumes, and was a big hit. You really have to put yourself in the mindset of a 1920s moviegoer to be impressed with this film, as these kinds of production values quickly became the Hollywood norm. This is not a movie I would pick to introduce a novice to the pleasures of the silent cinema—for one thing, at two hours, it's way too long and drags quite a bit in the last third—but it's enjoyable viewing for film buffs. Its main strength is Marion Davies as Mary; her acting here seems much more natural than that of other stars of the day like Mary Pickford or Lillian Gish. Her light performance carries the film through some rough patches. Lyn Harding is very good as Henry VIII in a sprightly performance that may have inspired Charles Laughton a few years later (THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII). The romantic lead, Forest Stanley as Brandon, is not particularly attractive or charismatic, so the instant sparks don't seem real, but he and Davies (pictured) do work up some chemistry. The title seems like a misnomer, as no one in the cast dresses as, or is referred to as, a knight. An interesting specimen from a bygone day. [TCM]

PLEASURE CRUISE (1933)

A fun, naughty shot sets the tone for this pre-Code comedy: we see a reclining nude figure from the back; a voice says, "Turn around!" and we discover we are seeing a painting being carried into an auction parlor. Playboy and failed novelist Roland Young, fallen on hard times, is forced to liquidate his estate. He plans to release his fiancée, working girl Genevieve Tobin, from her promise, but she insists that the two can make it in her small apartment on her salary. For a time, their marriage works, but a year later, he's becomes a bored househusband and is getting jealous of all the masculine attention he imagines his wife gets in the business world. Fed up with their sniping at each other, Tobin calls for a "marriage vacation," or at least separate vacations.  She books a pleasure cruise to get away, and Young sneaks his way onto the ship as a barber's assistant, hoping to keep an eye on her while keeping out of sight. Of course, complications ensue: flirty Una O'Connor keeps finding Young in her cabin (because it's next to Tobin’s cabin, he spies on her from there) and thinks he's hot for her; when Young sees men hit on Tobin, he starts spreading rumors about the presence of her brutish ex-husband to dissuade them. Eventually, handsome Ralph Forbes hooks up with Tobin and cannot be scared off. During a costume ball, Forbes shows up dressed as Romeo and makes plans some late-night activity with Tobin in her cabin; Young overhears them, so he goes to great lengths to block her cabin door so Forbes can't visit. But Young, splashing on some of Forbes' cologne, does visit his wife's darkened room and makes love to her, with her assuming he is Forbes. Who will get the last laugh here?

This is both amusing and a little edgy, and in its day must have seemed rather smutty, since the implication is that Tobin fully expects Forbes for a midnight visit and, though we don't see any activity, we must assume that she makes love to Young, thinking he is Forbes. But [SPOILER], in the coda of the film, perhaps as a sop to moralistic censor boards, Tobin claims she knew he was on the ship all along. I think the real story is that she didn't know, but figures it out the next morning and plays along to allay her husband's jealousy. At any rate, this was quite enjoyable, mostly due to Young's sly performance, though his character is not especially likeable. Actually, no one is, so it's difficult to root for anyone. But this does not turn into melodrama so it doesn't really matter. The costume ball has an odd scene: someone comes dressed as Ghandi, and I can't tell if the intent is to mock or admire. It's nice to see Una O'Connor (pictured with Young) play something besides a screaming harridan, and Herbert Mundin has some fun as Young's fellow barber. The plot seems to have been pinched from a play by Molnar which was made into a movie with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as THE GUARDSMAN. [TCM]

SATELLITE IN THE SKY (1956)

The British are in the middle of Operation Stardust, the first manned trip past the upper stratosphere. After a series of failed experiments, they think they are finally ready for the real thing. The crew, all of whom have female troubles, consists of Commander Michael Haydon (Kieron Moore), who is being hassled by Kim, a female reporter (Lois Maxwell) who thinks it's more important to fix things on Earth before running off into space; Jimmy, the communications man whose girlfriend has to fill in at a modeling job the night before the shoot instead of spending the night with him; and Lefty, the co-pilot whose wife is tired of being neglected. The point of the mission seems to simply be to show that such a flight can be done, but what the crew doesn't know until the last minute is that they are to release and explode the experimental Tritonium bomb in space, to show the world that with the existence of such a powerful weapon, any future warfare is futile. The bomb’s inventor, Prof. Merrity (Donald Wolfit) accompanies the crew, posing as a meteorologist until the rocket takes off. Also after takeoff, the men discover that the reporter has stowed away on the ship. Eventually they jettison the rocket, but after the countdown to explosion begins, it winds up attaching itself to the ship and they know of no way to get it loose.

Some sci-fi films are criticized for not doing enough with characterization; this one does perhaps too much. For long stretches, it has more soap-opera melodrama than sci-fi adventure or speculation. Still, it musters up some innocent 50s B-movie charm; for example, the idea that a bomb explosion (set off where it will actually cause no material damage) would somehow make the world abhor war, when the actual horrors of Hiroshima couldn't accomplish that. The sets are fine, though some of the special effects are lacking. Kieron Moore (the lighthouse keeper in DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, a scientist in CRACK IN THE WORLD) makes for a generally likable hero. Sadly, the women (especially Thea Gregory as the frustrated wife) mostly come off as annoying harpies. Maxwell went on to fame as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies through 1985. A watchable if not essential film in the 50s SF canon. [DVD]

THE LIGHT THAT FAILED (1939)

A windswept coastline in England, 1865. Young Dick Heldar and his friend Maisie are playing with guns (!) when Maisie accidentally fires toward Dick, resulting in him getting a gunpowder burn near his eye—it's painful but not debilitating. This is to be their last summer together as she's sent off to school, but both vow to grow up and become great artists. Years later, Heldar (Ronald Colman) is a newspaper illustrator and he's in the Sudan with his war correspondent buddy Torpenhow (Walter Huston). While saving Torpenhow's life from a spear attack, he sustains a head wound near the same eye that was injured years ago. After recuperating in Port Said, he is called back to London with news that his war illustrations are going over gung ho with the public. This acclaim goes to his head and he devotes himself to selling popular illustration work rather than the classier paintings he is capable of. At the zoo, he runs into Maisie who has become an artist, though a struggling one. Both Maisie and Torpenhow (who lives across the hall from Heldar) urge him to work toward finer things, but he can't give up the easy money he makes. Maisie leaves for Paris and soon Heldar has taken up with a cheap Cockney bargirl and probably part-time prostitute named Bessie (Ida Lupino); she's actually in love with Torpenhow but Heldar scotches that. As he works on what he assumes will be his masterpiece, a portrait of Bessie as the personification of melancholy, he begins a slow descent into blindness due to his war wound. But the worst is yet to come when Bessie, horrified at the portrait, defaces it; he, now completely blind, still thinks it could be his masterpiece, but his friends know it won't.

Based on a Rudyard Kipling novel—though it reminded me more of Somerset Maugham—this film, which was well thought of in its time, has become a dated period piece, the kind of stuffy, slow-moving movie that I imagine young people who don't watch black & white movies think all classic movies are like. I hold Colman (pictured with Lupino) at fault; I generally find him stiff and sluggish, and when his character is supposed to be stiff and sluggish (as in CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR or THE LATE GEORGE APLEY), he's good.  I think he gives his best performance in LOST HORIZON where his natural stiffness works well playing a man who becomes somewhat heroic despite himself. But here, Colman makes Heldar a drip, someone whom I don't want to watch a movie about. The supporting cast is better, especially Huston and Lupino. I was quite restless through the last half, but the beautifully shot final scene almost made it worth my time. This film doesn’t crop up a lot, but I don’t think that's a loss to film history. [TCM]

ALL I DESIRE (1953)

In the early 1900s, Naomi (Barbara Stanwyck) deserts her husband and three children, leaving their small Midwestern town of Riverdale for the bright lights of Broadway. Ten years later, she's a middle-aged mid-level vaudeville performer who never made the big time, though the folks back home, particularly her teenage daughter Lily, think of her as a distinguished actress. As her current season winds down, Naomi gets a letter from Lily, now a high school senior who has decided to follow in Mom's footsteps. She has the lead role in the school play and she asks Naomi to return to Riverdale to see her and to attend her graduation. Naomi's not sure how she'll be received, but she decides to go. In Riverdale, her husband Henry (Richard Carlson), the school principal, seems to be in a semi-serious relationship with Sara, the drama teacher (Maureen O’Sullivan)—I was never sure if Henry and Naomi were officially divorced or not. Also still in town is Dutch (Lyle Bettger), the outdoorsman with whom Naomi had a much-gossiped-about fling years ago. Arriving without advance notice, Naomi is greeted enthusiastically by Lily but more warily by Henry and the other two children: Ted, who has no memories of her, and the oldest girl Joyce, who still holds quite a grudge against her for leaving. When word gets around that Naomi is in town, the audience for Lily's play is standing room only. Naomi decides to stay for graduation and eventually, Henry begins to thaw towards Naomi, but not Joyce, and when Dutch suddenly enters the picture, violence—emotional and physical—follows.

This is the first collaboration between director Douglas Sirk and producer Ross Hunter at Universal who together went on to make classic melodramas like MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION and ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS. There's not much in this one that makes it stand out from the crowd: it's shot in rather drab black & white, the action is predictable, and the acting is not much better than adequate—even Stanwyck seems to be going through the motions, and she and Carlson (picured above) have little chemistry. Still, it has its moments: its one surprising element is the violent climax between Stanwyck and Bettger, though even that is spoiled by an ending that wraps things up too neatly and too quickly. There are good performances from Lori Nelson as Lily, Billy Gray (Bud on Father Knows Best) as Ted, Richard Long as Lily's boyfriend, and Lotte Stein as the family maid who seems to the only person in town happy to see Naomi again. Interesting as an early example of the Sirk style—apparently he was forced by Ross Hunter to give the film a happy ending which the novel it was based on did not have. [TCM]

MADAME BUTTERFLY (1932)

In 1930s Japan, Cho-Cho San (Sylvia Sidney), whose name means "butterfly," is forced to train as a geisha to help out her struggling family. Her first night on the job at Goro's Tea House, she is admired by the upper class Yamodori who plans to propose marriage, but visting American navy officer Pinkerton (Cary Grant) gets to her first. In Japan, such women are "married" by contract, and automatically divorced if the husband leaves, so Pinkerton basically decides to take her as his wife as long as he's stationed in Japan, despite having a serious girlfriend back home. They have an idyllic life together until Pinkerton is sent back to the States. On his last night, he breaks the news to her, but sings her a love song and promises to return in the spring. Three springs later, Cho-Cho San has a son and still hopes for Pinkerton's return; this spring, he does return, and stops by just long enough to introduce his American wife. She doesn't tell him about their son, but after he leaves, she arranges for her son to live with her family and commits suicide.

I've never seen the famous opera (nor read the original story) this film is based on, but I'm familiar with the plot, and this feels like a Reader's Digest abridgment. Though it's nearly 90 minutes long, and is paced well, nothing much seems to happen. Neither of the main characters is really fleshed out much, which is a particular problem with Pinkerton; he's played by the young Cary Grant and, though he acts in what most would consider a despicable manner toward his Japanese wife, he seems completely clueless about the pain he has caused her. He doesn't come off as mean or hateful, just like a man who has committed a social faux pas that is barely worth pondering. It all feels like a situation comedy but without the comedy—though there is some comic relief in the form of Charles Ruggles as Grant's buddy. Sidney has to struggle with a Hollywood stereotype of an accent—though I did like the throwaway line that she was taught a "high-class Brooklyn accent" by a scholar. Interesting but not essential. [DVD]

THE GHOST BREAKERS (1940)

A huge storm has broken out over Manhattan, causing widespread power outages. Radio commentator Laurence Lawrence (Bob Hope) has just pissed off Frenchy, a local mobster, because of a smart remark he made on his show, so Larry heads over to Frenchy's hotel to apologize, taking a gun loaned to him by his valet Alex (Willie Best) for protection. Staying on the same floor is Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) who is about to sail to Cuba to claim her estate, a supposedly haunted castle on Black Island. A seemingly benign man named Parada (Paul Lukas) tries to talk her out of going, offering to buy the land, but she is warned by a Cuban named Ramon (Anthony Quinn) not to sell. In the hallway, Larry's gun goes off accidentally and at the same moment, someone shoots and kills Ramon—Larry thinks it was his fault so he hides in Mary's streamer trunk to avoid the police. Of course, he hits it off with Mary and winds up accompanying her to Cuba even though he finds out from Alex that the gun he had was not responsible for Ramon's death. In Havana, they meet up with Geoff (Richard Carlson), an old friend of Mary's who counsels her to sell the castle, and the cast is now complete for a night of spooky hijinks on Black Island where they see a zombie, a ghost, huge cobwebs, strange sounds, the apparent resurrection of Ramon, and discover that there may be a treasure hidden somewhere on the estate.

As horror-comedies go, this is one of the best, though modern audiences may find it difficult to get past the demeaning stereotypes embodied in the African-American Willie Best—it must be said that, though his performance feels quite dated, he has very good comic chemistry with Hope. Hope was in his prime in the 40s, though if he's not your cup of tea, avoid this because he’s in practically every scene. The first 15 minutes, set in New York, are actually more fun than the haunted house proceedings in Cuba, partly because it's a very different sequence than you're likely to find in most ghost movies; my favorite line in the movie occurs early on, when, during the storm, Hope quips, "Basil Rathbone must be giving a party." I suspect this was intended by Paramount as an unofficial sequel to Hope & Goddard's earlier spooky film THE CAT AND THE CANARY. Both are fun, though this one has more energy. The movie feels like it just stops rather than ends logically—a few loose threads are left loose, like the island's resident zombie (Noble Johnson) and the apparently real ghost of an ancestor that Hope and Best see in the castle (the castle set, BTW, is very cool). Lukas and Carlson are mostly wasted in parts that feel like they were bigger in an earlier screenplay draft and got cut down. But overall, this is fun, and you could do worse than a double feature of this and CANARY for Halloween viewing. [DVD]

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER (1959)

aka THE GIANT BEHEMOTH

This film, like many 50s SF movies, begins with characters in a state of anxiety over the atomic bomb. In this case, a group of scientists in England (led by American Steve Karnes) have discovered that, in areas of the ocean where nuclear weapons testing has occurred, plankton have become radioactive, which, because of their place in the food chain, means that other marine animals are also taking on radioactivity. Meanwhile on the coast of Cornwall, a fisherman, ready to call it a day, sends his grown daughter Jean back to their home to start dinner while he cleans up. Just as she's out of hearing range, the fisherman looks up and, seeing something huge and awful in the sea, starts screaming. When Dad doesn't show up for dinner, and he's not even been lollygagging at the pub, Jean gets handsome fisherman John to help her look for him. They find him back on the beach, dying, his skin badly burned. With his last words, he says he saw a burning from the sea, then says, “…behemoth!” The next day, hundreds of dead fish wash up on the shore, and John unwisely touches a glowing blob of organic material that burns his hand. When dead fish are reported all along the Cornwall coast, Karnes and Prof. Bickford investigate and discover that at least one dead fish tests as being completely radioactive. At sea, Karnes spots what looks like a giant glowing creature but it disappears quickly. A missing steamship is found beached and torn up on the shore, with all passengers missing, and a small village is destroyed one night, with a huge footprint left in the ground. All the evidence leads Karnes and Bickford to assume the creature they're looking for is a dinosaur, somehow revived or reconstituted, and they get the help of an eccentric paleontologist named Sampson, who realizes that his life-long wish to see a living prehistoric animal may be about to come true. Unfortunately, his first sighting, from a helicopter, is also his last as the behemoth (as good a name as any) swats him out of the air to a watery death. The monster, which is not only huge and powerful but also emits strong waves of deadly radioactivity, lumbers toward London and the Thames. Bad news for ships, Londoners, and London Bridge, unless our heroes can figure out a way to kill the beast that won't also spread radioactivity throughout London.

This plays out a lot like a British version of 1953's THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, another atom bomb-related sea monster movie. They both have the same director (Eugene Lourie) and both have special effects supervised by legends—Ray Harryhausen for FATHOMS, Willis O'Brien, who worked on the granddaddy of giant monster movies, KING KONG, for BEHEMOTH. This movie, with a lower budget, suffers in comparison, but it's still worth a viewing. The early glimpses of the monster are disappointing, but once he gets his ass above the water, he's fairly impressive. The acting from the leads (the American Gene Evans as Karnes and the British Andre Morrell as Bickford) is serviceable, and I rather like the fact that the movie stymies at least one expectation: despite seeming to be setting up Jean and John as a central romantic couple (or Jean as an object of lust for Karnes), they both vanish from the film fairly early on. Jack MacGowran, known for his stage work in the plays of Samuel Beckett, gives a goofy spin to the paleontologist, though like the young couple, he's not around for long. The American title, The Giant Behemoth, is rather silly, like calling it The Huge Gigantic Giant. Fairly fun, on the higher end of atomic era monster movies. [Amazon Streaming]

DESTINATION MOON (1950)

Dr. Cargraves (Warner Anderson) and General Thayer (Tom Powers) watch the test launch of a rocket go awry—it crashes immediately—and they suspect sabotage from forces that don't want their space project to succeed. Two years later, with government funding slashed, Thayer, anticipating a "space race" with other countries, gets a private industrialist named Barnes (John Archer) to spearhead development of a manned, nuclear-powered rocket to the moon. Though anti-space research and anti-nuclear forces are still fighting them, they manage to get the rocket built. The government denies them clearance to test the rocket, so they decide to skip that stage (!) and just launch it, with Thayer, Barnes and Cargraves on board. At the last minute, a comic-relief schmoe from Brooklyn named Joe (Dick Wesson) joins them. The blast-off goes well, but in space, they have to leave the vehicle to fix a part and one of them almost floats away before he is saved by the others. The moon landing is a success, but then they are informed from Earth they will have to jettison thousands of pounds from the ship in order get home. The men dump a bunch of equipment but are still too heavy for takeoff—by about the weight of one man. Will someone have to be sacrificed so the others can get home?

This is usually referred to as the first realistic film about space travel—before this, there were pretty much just the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers fantasies. Most of it won’t seem particularly realistic to 21st century viewers, but it more or less feels right. The trip, the spacewalk, and the return aren't that far off from the reality we've seen reported. There are not bug-eyed monsters, but there's also very little dramatic tension except that derived from wondering if each step of the mission will be carried out safely. I admit I do miss the melodramatics of the earlier sci-fi serials, and some of the later more outlandish space operas, but the mostly calm, near-documentary feel of this one is appealing. The actors are fine, especially Anderson (though Powers is always tainted to me since he was Barbara Stanwyck's nasty husband in DOUBLE INDEMNITY), and the effects, though easy to mock now, work well if you get yourself in the context of the era. It seems strange to raise the possibility of sabotage then do nothing with that plot thread. And, as an added attraction, there’s a cameo by Woody Woodpecker! Pictured from left are Wesson, Archer, Powers and Anderson.[TCM]

DESTINATION INNER SPACE (1966)

The researchers at the Aquasphere, the underwater base of the Institute of Marine Science, are studying marine animal communication, but have called in the Navy to help investigate a strange sighting on their sonar. It's big enough to be a sub or a whale, but doesn't seem to be either one. Commander Scott Brady rubs a few of the scientists the wrong way with his swaggering manner, especially former Navy man Mike Road who knew Brady and blames him making a bad decision that led to the death of a handful of sailors years ago. Also on the ship are doctors Sheree North (with whom Brady awkwardly flirts) and Gary Merrill, and researcher Wende Wagner (who has a thing for Road). The mysterious object turns out to be an alien craft that eventually lands on the ocean floor. Brady, Road and Wagner go into the craft which appears to be empty and bring back to the Aquasphere a large capsule-shaped artifact. It quickly doubles in size, starts sending out ultrasonic waves, and soon a large amphibian creature (bearing a resemblance to the Creature from the Black Lagoon) busts out, wrecking havoc in the lab.

This plays out a little bit like a low-budget underwater version of THE THING or ALIEN but the scary tension of those movies never really develops here. It's very bright and colorful—even the alien practically has a rainbow hide—which I generally like, though it doesn't help the building of a creepy atmosphere. More time goes into the psychodramas of the various relationships on board than into scenes of monster mayhem or suspense, which is par for the course, I guess, but these characters tend to be on the unpleasant side, especially our hero Scott Brady, who comes across as a blowhard and who, as other viewers have noticed, seems a bit uncomfortable when he has to wiggle himself into a tight wet suit. Mike Road, the voice of Race Bannon in the original Johnny Quest animated show, comes off a little better as Brady's antagonist who has to face up to his own past faults—you know early on that either Brady or Road is destined to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Everyone else is fairly bland, though I must say I enjoyed the white t-shirted young men strewn about in background scenes. The effects are B-level (the miniature sets are pathetically obvious and not even charming) though the monster is pretty effective. Generally, a big "meh." Pictured are Road and Brady. [Streaming]

DESTINATION SPACE (1959)

This hour-long oddity was apparently a TV pilot from CBS that didn't get picked up and was unseen until its recent release on DVD. Actually, because the narrative seems to split down the middle, it feels more like the first two episodes of a show that never was. We begin with a lot of narrated exposition about the existence of a space station 500 miles from earth. Jim Benedict, who helped finance the station (hence its nickname BB for Benedict's Billions) is about to launch a rocket ship to orbit the moon, but during the countdown, a meteoroid hits the station and the launch is called off. The Senate, concerned about the amount of money being spent on the project, calls Benedict down to earth for some meetings. At dinner one night with Jane, his girlfriend, and Kim, the wife of Benedict's chief commander Dave Reynolds, Kim has a meltdown, berating Jim for treating her husband like a guinea pig. But later, she admits to Jim that she's in love with him (this feels like it was being set up for a future full series plotline). Jim is sent back to the station with Dr. Easton from the Senate oversight committee, and Easton is suitably impressed with what he sees. But then a second launch is imperiled when a crucial part of the ship ices up, leading to the threat of an atomic explosion. The movie (episode?) is talky with a few short bursts of mild action, but I can see that the situation might have made a good base for a continuing story. The two biggest names in the film, John Agar and Cecil Kellaway, are wasted in small roles. Harry Townes (Jim) is colorless, Charles Aidman (Dave) a little less so. (Pictured is John Clarke as a crew member). It was fun to see Edward C. Platt (the Chief in the 60s spy comedy Get Smart) in a small role. The issue of the usefulness and cost of space missions, brought up by the Senate committee, is fairly prescient. The best of the special effects (maybe the only effects) are borrowed from CONQUEST OF SPACE. Fun viewing as a novelty. [YouTube]

THE BRAIN EATERS (1958)

One night in the small town of Riverdale, Illinois, we see a creepy-looking man skulking down the street carrying a glowing glass orb in his hands. Another man bumps into him, the orb breaks sending a flow of viscous liquid into the street, and the creep throttles the bumper. The next day, Glenn, the mayor's son, and his girlfriend Elaine hear an explosion out in the woods and come upon a 50 foot tall metallic cylinder jutting up from the earth, with dead animals strewn about the area. A scientist named Kettering (Ed Nelson) and his assistant Alice are called in by the mayor to investigate, but when Washington hears about this possible UFO finding, they send the skeptical Senator Powers and his assistant Dan to oversee things. The cone has a cyclical interior and appears to be empty but is assumed to be of alien origin. Soon we hear reports that important men in town are being murdered and the mayor himself vanishes. When he returns, we see him at his desk try unsuccessfully to shoot himself. When Our Heroes (all of the above) find the mayor, he starts shooting at people before he is shot to death. Discovered on the back of his neck is a leech-like creature that had attached itself and taken over the mayor's nervous system. It turns out that the parasites are not of extraterrestrial origin, but the cone and its passengers have come from inside the earth, aided by two scientists reported missing years ago who have become hosts for the creatures, and who are looking to make Earth a better place with their groupthink approach to war and peace.

Though apparently based loosely and without attribution on Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, this plays out like a no-budget INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. The acting ranges from almost amateurish (Jack Hill as Senator Powers) to competent (Alan Frost as the mayor's son, Orville Sherman as the mayor) to pretty good (Ed Nelson, best known as Dr. Rossi on the TV show Peyton Place). Same goes for cinematography and direction; mostly, the film is shot unimaginatively, but once in a while, there’s an attention-getting moment, as when the mayor's meltdown is filmed at a crooked angle—like the Batman TV show of the 60s would do in the villain's lair, or the noirish shots of the men with the glass globes (which contain the parasites). Sometimes attention is paid due to something silly; during a scene in which someone is struggling against the influence of the parasite, lushly romantic music plays which makes the moment rather less tense than it should be. There is also a startling moment when a parasite is planted on a woman who then takes a midnight stroll in a diaphanous nightgown. The first 10 minutes or so are so bad, you're sure this will be another Plan 9 from Outer Space, but it does get more watchable, so if you’re a fan of 50s SF, stick with it. Pictured at top are Nelson and Frost. [YouTube]

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY (1934) / DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY (1971)

Duke Lambert is having a weekend house party at his Italian villa. Among those present with Lambert and his wife: Corrado, their handsome son; Grazia, the lovely but somewhat intense young woman he is in love with who is spiritually unsatisfied—she won't marry Corrado until she finds that undefined something that is missing in her life; the elderly Baron Cesarea; and Alda and her American friend Rhoda. After spending the day at a village carnival, they go speeding home through some dangerous mountain passes where they all feel a chill and see a murky shadow fall from above. One of their cars hits a flower vendor but everyone miraculously escapes injury. At the villa, Grazia, alone in the garden, screams and faints, having felt that same cold shadow from the mountain. The Baron says it's just a case of "too much moonlight" and they all head to bed. But Lambert, sensing something strange, stays up, and soon this Shadow appears to him as a black-robed translucent figure. He is Death, who has decided to take mortal form for three days to find out why human beings are so scared of him. He masquerades as Prince Sirki (Fredric March) and intends to spend his time with the Duke and his friends (though the Duke is sworn to secrecy about Sirki's identity), and during this time, there will be no death on Earth. Sure enough, the next morning, all sorts of vegetation is suddenly in bloom even though it's fall, and newspapers report odd news: a man who tried to kill himself by jumping off the Eiffel Tower survives; on a battlefield, guns are misfiring and there are no casualties reported; even race car accidents leave no one dead. Sirki drinks wine, gambles (never losing), and romances Alda who proves incapable of giving in to him. But Grazia finds herself entranced by Sirki; he tries not to press his advantage, but he begins to wonder if he has found a human who could love him, knowing what he is. And if so, would she be willing to join him when his holiday is up?

This misty fantasy with a philosophical bent is nicely shot (with good use of light and shadow) and the villa setting is beautifully appointed. By stressing the visuals, I don't mean to slight any other elements, although the movie can get a bit talky. It opens well and up through the first appearance of Prince Sirki remains compelling. But once he's taken his place in the household, nothing much really happens, outside of an amusing gambling scene. The characters aren't developed very well; even Sirki/Death, who spouts lots of lines of longing, isn't ultimately all that interesting. The whole idea of a young woman being in love with Death (or just "death") is intriguing, but not delved into very far; Grazia's yearning is, right up to the end, amorphous and ambiguous. Having said all that, I still enjoyed the movie for its unusual tone and look. The manifestation of Death before he takes human form is a nice effect: an almost transparent shadow that manages to look pretty scary—it reminded me of how the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is often presented in adaptations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. And as I noted earlier, the sets are fabulous. Fredric March is good as Sirki, though he plays the role with a lighter touch than the part deserves. Evelyn Venable does a nice job suggesting the psychological depths of Grazia that are never plumbed by the action or dialogue. A death-haunted fantasy that manages not to be depressing (or terribly enlightening, either). This a second-opinion review; my first opinion is here. [DVD]

In 1971, this material was adapted for a TV-movie with Monte Markham as Death and Yvette Mimieux as the young woman who falls for him. Some interesting things are done with the background. Instead of rich Europeans, Death appears to an American family of public figures (clearly modeled on the Kennedys) who have been through much tragedy. When the adventurous daughter (Mimieux) almost drowns off the shore of family's private island, she is rescued by Markham, a handsome if mysterious stranger. The family invites him to stay for the weekend, and as he grows close to Mimieux, the aging patriarch (Melvyn Douglas), who has survived a couple of strokes, begins to recognize Markham and soon realizes that he is the figure of Death that he has already escaped from twice. He begs Markham to take him instead of Mimieux, who would have drowned off the beach, but Markham, who is eager to know why humans cling to life so fervently, claims he cannot alter destiny. Unfortunately, this version dispenses with the visual style of the original and goes for lots of sunlight; also, the supporting characters are not as interesting here (among them are Myrna Loy as the matriarch and Kerwin Mathews as a Senator). But Markham plays Death not as the powerful and chilly Prince Sirki, but as an intense but likeable loner, and his chemistry with Mimieux makes the movie worth watching. (The black & white photo is of March and Venable; the color photo on the left is Markham and on the right are Markham and Mimieux.) [YouTube]

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1958)

On that August day back in 79 A.D. when Mount Vesuvius exploded and destroyed the town of Pompeii, other strange things happened as well, so we are told by the narrator of this film. In the present day, a team of archeologists at Pompeii discover the petrified body of a man who died during the explosion, along with a jewel box containing a bronze medallion. The body, which seems to have turned to stone, has no facial features and is frozen in what looks like a death agony. But as it's being transported to a museum for study, the thing comes alive and kills the truck driver. The driver's body is found by the side of the road and it's assumed that he simply had an accident until an autopsy finds choking marks around his neck. Our main characters are archeologist Paul (Richard Anderson) and his artist girlfriend Tina (Elaine Edwards). While Paul works on figuring out what this stone man is, Tina is inspired by weird dreams to paint the Faceless Man even before she's seen him. Writing on the medallion is translated to mean the man's name was Quintillus Aurelius, a slave who got in trouble for loving a woman above his station. There is also a warning that whatever stands between he and what belongs to him shall perish. If you've seen a Mummy movie, you know what's coming: people seeing the creature move, people being killed by the slow-moving man, Tina being put under hypnotic regression where it is discovered that she is indeed the reincarnation of Quintillus' former lover. This low-budget horror film is oft-maligned, with some critics making it seem like an Ed Wood movie, but it's far more competent than that. At barely an hour, it goes by quickly, and though it lacks in atmosphere and characterization, the creature itself is impressive, and the mummy movie clichés are fun to tick through. There's a bit too much exposition delivered by a nameless narrator, but I like the name of the location where the climax takes place: the Cove of the Blind Fishermen. No classic, but good enough for October Chiller Theater viewing. [Amazon streaming]

THE MAN IN BLACK (1949)

Henry Clavering is a great exponent of yoga and, knowing he is sickly and perhaps not long for this world, he arranges for a display of his yogic arts at his house, putting himself in a deep trance state. He warns his audience that the slightest disturbance or distraction could be deadly to him, but we already have a good idea that his wife Bertha and stepdaughter Janice might be wishing for his early demise, eager for his money and property. As Henry falls into his trance, a painting on a wall goes crashing to the ground (an occurrence set up by Bertha) and Henry dies. But much to Bertha and Janice's dismay, his will leaves his estate to his young daughter Joan, to be taken care of by Bertha until she reaches 21, unless Joan becomes incompetent in which case Bertha gets it all. Joan shows up to live in the house, and Bertha and Janice begin a gaslighting plot, making Joan think that she's losing her mind so she can soon be declared incompetent. Also in the house: Janice's fiancé Victor who may or may not be in league with Janice, and the crusty old handyman Hodson who may know more about everything than he lets on. Soon there are weird noises in the night, menacing shadows, and another death. Joan seems to be nervously unraveling, especially when she starts insisting that she's had conversations with a character whom we've seen die, and Bertha and Janice's plot is coming to fruition. A final séance will tip the balance one way or the other.

Just who is the man in black, you might ask? Well, he's not really part of the story; he's the spooky narrator who we see briefly at the beginning and end, and he's based on a character who told tales on BBC radio in the 40s, rather like the Whistler in America. So, though the title is misleading, this is definitely a worthy little B-thriller with good acting and clever plotting. The twists near the end may not come as total surprises but nevertheless things wrap up satisfyingly.  There are few big names in the cast; Sid James, who went on to fame as a comic actor in the "Carry On" series, is Henry, and the Man in Black, Valentine Dyall, had a long B-movie career. But the rest of the cast is fine: Hazel Penwarden as Joan, Anthony Forwood as Victor, and especially the two villains—Betty Ann Davies as Bertha and Sheila Burrell as Janice. An early Hammer film which is well worth checking out. Pictured are Forwood and Davies. [YouTube]

STAR PILOT (1966/1977)

aka 2+5: MISSIONE HYDRA

This is one crazy-ass movie. I'm still not sure if I liked it or hated it, and I may never know, but here goes. One night on the island of Sardinia, a peasant exclaims, "Holy cow!" as he witnesses a spaceship land and burrow into the ground, though he doesn't seem to tell anyone else about it. Later, the department of Advanced Geological Studies brings in Prof. Solmi to investigate a strange radioactive area of hollowness in the island's crust.  Solmi, his free-spirited daughter Louisa—who's trying to break into the movies—and his handsome assistant Paolo head off to the island, with Louisa and Paolo flirting obnoxiously. On their first night there, after a mild earthquake in the middle of the night, all three, along with two fairly hunky engineers and a Geiger counter, go down in the earth to the hollowness in which they find a spaceship buried in rock which has been stuck there for two years. In the ship are a female alien named Kaena and two muscular guys named Belsey and Artie, all clad rather sexily (as is the daughter Louisa who I was really hoping would meet an early death, but no such luck). Arriving soon after are two Asian spies (who make a point of identifying themselves as "Oriental, not Chinese") who think the buried artifact is a weapon.

The aliens force the professor to help them leave Earth, and the whole lot of them take off for Kaena's planet Hydra. Louisa gets some kind of kicky mod makeover, wearing a fishnet body stocking with a feather boa strategically wrapped around her. Kaena tells them she will return them to Earth after she gets home, but one of the "Oriental" spies overhears Kaena reporting to on overlord that she has no intention of letting them return. Suddenly, a couple minutes of footage from a movie called DOOMSDAY MACHINE with Casey Kasem communicating with a space station is inserted. And then things get really weird and hard to follow. Suffice to say that there are ape monsters, a spacewalk (without the need for a spacesuit), a crash landing, and two nuclear wars—if I followed it all, and I am by no means sure that I did.

This Italian film (badly dubbed, which is par for the course) was made in 1966 under the MISSIONE HYDRA name, but didn't get an American release until 1977 when it was called STAR PILOT (someone hoping to cash in on the Star Wars boom) and, I assume, the extra footage added, though it helps not a whit in understanding the proceedings. The first half hour plays like an amusing spy spoof until we meet the aliens when it becomes a less amusing space opera, and in its final moments it becomes a rather nihilistic message movie. If you must keep track of the plotlines, you are doomed to frustration, so just relax and chill to the sexy 60s vibes. Both women (Leonoro Ruffo as Kaena, Leontine May as Louisa) wear hotsy-totsy costumes; Belsey and Artie are decked out in form-fitting black outfits—and Belsey is played by Kirk Morris (pictured with May), one of the more handsome Italian musclemen from the sword-and-sandal era; and Paolo (Anthony Freeman), though fully dressed throughout, is quite attractive. The dialogue is atrocious; here's a sample of a dad-daughter heart-to-heart: "Hey, Pop, want some coffee?"; "Yes, dear"; "But it’s getting a bit late, isn’t it?"; "I guess so—never mind." As bad as it all is, I can't deny I had fun watching it, and I admit I'd love to see a clean widescreen version of it someday—the version I saw was full screen and in terrible shape.[YouTube]

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942)

In 1889 Paris, musical star Marie Roget (Maria Montez) has been missing for ten days and pressure is building on the police to crack the case, especially from naval official Beauvais (John Litel), a friend of the family. Gobelin (Lloyd Corrigan), the police chief, calls on Dr. Dupin (Patric Knowles) to help, but when the body of a woman is found, her face mutilated by what look like animal claw marks, they assume they have found Marie. To everyone's surprise, however, Marie comes strolling into her grandmother's house as though nothing was out of the ordinary, and she refuses to tell anyone where she's been. Granny Cecile (Maria Ouspenskaya), who owns a pet leopard that she insists is harmless, hires Dupin to protect Marie's sister Camille, who is set to inherit a fortune the next day. Camille is engaged to navy man Marcel, but we soon discover that Marcel and Marie are in the middle of some seemingly nefarious planning. At a party that night, Marie again vanishes; another mutilated body is found in the river and this time, it is Marie.

Perhaps because it was based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, this movie was included in Universal's Shock Theater package of films sold to local TV stations in the 1950s and 60s, which is why is has a reputation as a horror film. It's really a fairly traditional mystery with some mild horror elements (the mutilated bodies, much nighttime action), so be forewarned. As B-mysteries go, it's enjoyable. There is a nice Holmes/Watson vibe between Dupin and Gobelin that carried me through the movie. I haven't read the original story so I can't comment on the film's faithfulness to Poe—though a reference is made to Dupin having solved the Rue Morgue murders—but the plot gets fairly convoluted and I didn't much care about any of the characters except the detectives, so it didn't feel like much was at stake in the outcome. The rich black and white cinematography is a plus, but not much is done to keep the atmosphere suitably spooky or dangerous. It was retitled PHANTOM OF PARIS for a 50s re-release. A little lightweight but not a waste of an hour. Pictured are Corrigan and Knowles. [DVD] 

BLOOD OF DRACULA’S CASTLE (1969)

While a rather catchy song plays on the car radio ("Next Train Out" by Gil Bernal), Ann drives and drives and drives until her car breaks down. When she goes walking through a small wooded area looking for help, she runs into Mango, a big, stumbling, mute Lurch-like figure who snatches her up and takes her to Falcon Rock Castle, out in the middle of the California desert, the residence of the Count and Countess Townshend, who, though they look on the young side of middle-aged, are actually 200-year-old vampires. Ann is taken to the basement and chained to the wall, joining the other scantily-clad women in chains from whom blood is taken daily to satisfy the Townshends' thirst. But their long routine may be coming to an end: it turns out that the vampires have been renting the castle but the owner has died, leaving the estate to his nephew Glen, a photographer. He and his girlfriend Liz head out to claim the property and break it to the residents that they'll have to move. As Glen and Liz arrive, so does Johnny, a handsome young man of the Townshend's acquaintance who has broken out of jail. He might be a werewolf—he says he goes a little crazy during the full moon—and he's returned to use his charms to bring more young women to the dungeon. There's also a moon-worshiping butler named George, and a full moon sacrifice, but ultimately very little blood.

Z-movie director Al Adamson directed this mess that is nonetheless a fairly painless viewing experience if you know what you're getting into. It is different from the run-of-the-mill vampire movie in ways both good and bad: the vampires are cultured, pleasant people—on the other hand, they're not very spooky or threatening; Johnny has the potential to be an interesting character—but he's not fleshed out very well, as the fact that we never know if he actually has a moon curse on him attests; a castle in the desert sounds kinda cool—but little is made of the setting, apparently a real California ranch. Most of the problems with the film are in the writing and filming; the acting isn’t bad. Despite not being scary, Alex D'Arcy and Paula Raymond are fine as the Townshend-Draculas—she comes off as though she's acting on a soap opera, which in these surroundings is not a bad thing. Robert Dix, son of 30s leading man Richard Dix, is quite good as the ambiguous Johnny, and Gene O'Shane and Barbara Bishop don't embarrass themselves as the romantic couple (pictured above). John Carradine does what he can with the marginal role of the butler. Despite the critical commentary on IMDb, this movie is much more professional than anything that Ed Wood ever did—though the full moon sacrifice is laughable as it's shot in a terrible attempt as day-for-night which looks like 4 in the afternoon. But I really did like the opening song. [Streaming]

THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961)

In the far-off year of 1980, two space pilots from the American moon base find their craft drawn to an unknown planetoid object that had been invisible just moments before. The ship crashes and the object vanishes again. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, so Captain Frank Chapman (Dean Fredericks) is taken off the Mars Project to investigate. On the way, Chapman has to do a spacewalk to fix a part but his air line breaks and when Chapman's co-pilot tries to save him, he winds up floating to his death in space (shades of 2001!). Chapman gets back in the ship only to see that same small planet suddenly appear. He is able to crash land and is thrown from the ship, unconscious. In a scene right out of Gulliver's Travels, a band of tiny inhabitants of the asteroid find him. As he begins to wake, his body inside the spacesuit shrinks to the size of the men (we later discover it's because he breathed in their air). Naked, he is taken to an underground lair, given clothes, and meet some residents of this phantom planet: the old wise sage leader (silent film star Francis X. Bushman), the lovely dark-haired mute girl Zetha, the full-figured blonde Liara, and the cocky native Herron who is immediately jealous of the impact the studly Chapman makes on Liara, his sweetie—the bleach blonde Chapman spends much of the movie strutting around in a half-opened shirt, showing off his moderately hirsute chest.

We get some backstory on their small planet, Raethon. Years ago, their race was technologically advanced but too much free time made them lazy so they have deliberately chosen a more primitive lifestyle (this also explains the low-budget cave surroundings with no need for bigger-budget flashy settings). They refuse to let Chapman go back home because they don't want their existence known. But they face a serious problem: an alien race called the Solarians. They have imprisoned a Solarite (Richard Kiel under too much make-up to recognize him, looking like a sad-eyed dog monster) but soon more of them come determined to free the prisoner and wreck havoc on the Raethonians. Eventually, after Chapman and Herron engage in a duel during which Chapman saves his rival's life, the two get chummy, and Chapman helps his hosts defeat the attacking aliens and they let him go back to Earth.

This is cheap-looking with plot loopholes galore, but it's fun in that 60s sci-fi way. Fredericks doesn't have a wide acting range but he certainly satisfies the demands of this role: to be handsome and manly and have a way with the ladies. Mostly ditto for Anthony Dexter as Herron (pictured top right with Fredericks). Richard Weber plays Chapman's co-pilot who leaves the movie early but makes an impression with an exaggeratedly earnest speech he makes about the beauty of life, delivered to Chapman while Weber (pictured at left) looks as though he's lost in hero-worship or love. It's a moment that is both sweet and laughable. Bushman, almost 80, is just too old and tired to be convincing as a leader of the alien race. The women are there as eye candy; just after a ferocious battle with Solarians, the absence of Zetha, in case we cared, is explained away because she went to bed early. But despite the many unintentionally funny bits (MST3K justifiably mocked this one), there is just enough of a kiddie matinee feel to this that isn't too hard to get through. [YouTube]

THE GREEN SLIME (1968)

First, there’s the raucous rockin' theme song: "You’ll believe it when you find/Something screaming across your mind/Green Slime!!" Once we've calmed down from that, we're told that scientists have discovered an asteroid called Flora which is on a collision course with Earth. Astronaut Robert Horton is chosen to fly up to the space station Gamma III and lead an attempt to land men on the asteroid to plant bombs that will blow the asteroid up before it reaches Earth, which will be in a matter of days. The problem is that Gamma III's commander is Richard Jaeckel, a former friend of Horton's; the two had a falling-out over some situation in which Horton felt Jaeckel was lacking in leadership skills. Oh, yeah, and Jaeckel is now engaged to Horton's former girlfriend Luciana Paluzzi, and she's the doctor on the space station. Things seem a little tense as Jaeckel obviously resents Horton being given command of this mission, but they comport themselves like gentlemen—for a while. While drilling on the asteroid to plant the bombs, the astronauts see pulsating green slime bubble up out of the ground and one guy gets some on his spacesuit. The mission is a success, but the green slime winds up on Gamma III and eventually mutates into a horde of Cyclops-eyed tentacled monsters that start killing off the crew. Will Horton and Jaeckel be able to put aside their festering dislike for each other to concentrate on saving the ship, and possibly the earth? And, since only one of them can wind up with Paluzzi, which one will do the noble self-sacrificing act at the climax of the film?

I'm back to focusing on horror and genre films for October, and since I've been discovering so many sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s on various streaming platforms recently, those films will predominate my blog this month. In 1968, this might have looked like cutting-edge sci-fi, but I doubt it (though check out that great poster art at left!). The interior sets and costumes are fine (not quite A-grade but a notch above B), but many of the exteriors have that cheap Thunderbirds miniature-model look. I can't decide if I find that charming or silly. I guess I find it goofily charming but not conducive to fostering an effective atmosphere for the movie's action. (Despite having an all-Caucasian cast, the movie was made in Japan by a mostly Japanese crew including the director, Kinji Fukasaku, who went on to direct the Japanese sequences in TORA! TORA! TORA!) The last half of the movie is a forerunner of ALIEN as crew members are killed off one by one, but though some of the death effects are good, the proceedings never feel as tense as they should. For me, the acting throws off the screenwriters' intentions: I think we're supposed to see Horton as the rational good guy and Jaeckel as, if not a bad guy, at least the damaged one, but frankly I never warmed up to the cocky but wooden Horton, so I usually found Jaeckel the more sympathetic character. Fans of slightly schlocky 60s SF will eat this up; others may tune out before the end. Pictured above right are Horton, Jaeckel and Paluzzi. [DVD]