Comic Book Plus Forum
All And Everything => Watcha ... ? => Topic started by: profh0011 on May 15, 2022, 09:07:20 PM
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I gotta start a new thread for all the "misc." mysteries I'm watching. Helps me keep things more organized.
PHILO VANCE RETURNS
PHUN-- but NOT Philo!
They could have called this "THE SINGER MURDER CASE" (it's got 6 letters, after all). A playboy makes out a will where all his exes get an equal share when he's gone. Next thing, one of them's murdered, HE's murdered, and then more bodies begin to pile up.
PRC often made Monogram look good by comparison, but this one WAS fun to watch. Director William Beaudine allegedly made around 500 films between features & TV, including a pile of "LASSIE" episodes at the end of his career, not to forget, "BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA", which is a lot better than you'd think. It may have been "just a job" to him, but, he DID know what he was doing.
Philo Vance (the rather obscure William Wright who died not long after this was made) is a friend of the playboy, and his grandmother suggests calling him in. He's soon assisted by Ukraine actor Leon Belasco, playing a Russian talent manager with a side-talent for picking locks. Belasco STEALS the movie, particularly in the scene where he's interrogating a suspect by pretending to be a rep for a cosmetics company, and winds up kissing fan-dancer "Choo Choo Divine" to demonstrate kiss-proof lipstick. He must have been a great kisser, she winds up REALLY going for him! I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Can't fault a film for being really funny.
Philo is suspected and harrassed by DUMB cop Eddie Dunn, whose long resume of playing cops includes at least 5 "FALCON" movies (no wonder he looked familiar).
There's only one real problem with this film. That's NOT "Philo Vance"! Not even close. He's not a member of New York "society", he doesn't have a penthouse or a butler, there's no D. A. Markham, no Det. Hennessey, no Sgt. Heath, no Dr. Doremus. WHAT on Earth was PRC thinking? Their version of "Vance" has EVEN LESS in common with the character he's supposed to be, than Ralph Meeker's character in "KISS ME DEADLY" had with "Mike Hammer".
There's also something very peculiar about these 3 PRC films. According to the IMDB, they were filmed in one order, but released to theatres in a different order. And, in the "OnesMedia" boxset, they're in yet a 3rd order. Does it matter what order you watch them in? I guess I'll find out.
Just now I re-watched my decades-old videotape, recorded in the middle of the night off some local Philly station. It was a terrible print, made worse by being a copy (to edit out commercials). But get this: I clocked these with my stop-watch. The DVD-R print (not bad shape) was 1:02:56. The local channel broadcast was 0:48:35. They cut almost 14-1/2 minutes out, including a LOT of important scenes, making it impossible to follow the mystery. No wonder this film didn't impress me first time around.
On top of that, they had a different title slapped on, the inappropriate "INFAMOUS CRIMES". What???
Thanks goodness for the OnesMedia box set. I'm hoping to go after the next one as soon as I'm done with Philo Vance. I just looked over their website again and saw a few MORE items I hadn't noticed before, which I'm definitely putting on my wanted list!
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Co-incidentally,
I am currently reading Ace Atkins adaptation of Robert B Parker's style in new Spencer Novels.
I've never seen a writer 'get' another writer's style as well as Atkins gets Parker.
What's this got to do with anything?
Parker is known for being flippant. At one point In 'Bye Bye Baby' he is asked to identify himself 'Who are you?'
and he says, 'Philo Vance'.
Ah, Serendipity!
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For decades, all I had were 3 Vance films on one videotape, one taped off the air, the other 2, copy-edited to remove commercials (which means the quality drops). Each of these with a very-different actor in the lead. So for decades, I wasn't impressed.
Then I watched the early William Powells on Youtube. WOW. Even one step removed from silents, even bad prints... WOW.
I think one thing that cracked me up was the mind-boggling "coincidence" ("seredipity"?) of watching not 1, 2 or 3 but 4 different stories in one week-- by "dumb luck"-- that all had the SAME method of murder in them. A Campion, a Sherlock Holmes, a Philo Vance, and a TV episode of Charlie Chan. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
I checked, the Campion & Vance novels were written very close to each other, both involved a house of people who all hated each other. One could have borrowed from the other (it happens al the time in fiction, music, etc.). But the murder method... had to have been borrowed, in all 3 of the later cases, from the SAME Sherlock Holmes story... "The Problem Of Thor Bridge". The trick was each author finding a different context to use it in. (This is called "creativity"! :) )
So then I started on this "1930s" movie marathon, which would give me a chance to watch almost every movie I had from that era in the order of release date. The only films I was skipping were sci-fi (a previous marathon), Holmes, Moto & Chan (just watched all those).
It was when I dug out "The Kennel Murder Case"-- Powell's 4th and the 1st from Warner Bros.-- that I realized what a JAW-DROPPINGLY good murder mystery it was, for the year it was filmed!!! Michael Curtiz pulled an "Orson Welles", by employing every possible visual trick at his disposal to take a very TALK TALK TALKY story and make it VISUAL as all get-out. It's apparently considered one of the best murder mystery films of the whole of the 1930s.
So then I went looking... and found this OnesMedia outfit who had-- and I dind't find this out 'til I got it in the mail-- 13 Vance films all in one set, plus a free William Powell comedy as a bonus. And now I'm working my way thru it one film per week.
The tragedy is... it was all downhill for Vance after that.
Paramount did 4-- 3 with Powell, one with Warren William. All 4, right now are only available in TERRIBLE prints. The earliest MGM-- the one with Basil Rathbone-- the print is STUNNING!!! Damn. Somebody needs to look into restoring those Paramounts. 3 of them are among the best (all William Powell). The 4th one... well, that's an almost-unwatchable disaster. Somebody got the idea to do a film starring GRACIE ALLEN-- without George Burns-- and make Philo Vance the sidekick. AUGH! (I tried! I gave it every chance. Even Vance got angry as hell at Gracie's on-screen stupidity.)
There's a number of Vance appearance I haven't seen... and the guy at OnesMedia told me he hasn't been able to track them down.
PARAMOUNT ON PARADE (1930). Anthology film with "Murder Will Out". Features Powell as Vance, Eugene Pallette as Sgt. Heath, Clive Brook as Sherlock Holmes, and Warner Oland as Fu Manchu. Fu MURDERS both Vance & Holmes. No, really!
EL CUERPO DEL DELITO (1930 / Paramount) -- Ramon Pereda stars in the Spanish language version of "The Benson Murder Case".
THE SCARAB MURDER CASE (1936 / British & Dominions Film Corporation) -- Wilfred Hyde-White as Vance in the only UK Vance film ever made. "LOST"!
NIGHT OF MYSTERY (1937 / Paramount) -- Grant Richards as Vance in this remake of "The Greene Murder Case". Known to be held in some collection, but NOT in circulation.
SUN VALLEY SERENADE (1941 / 20th Century-Fox) -- intended as "The Sonja Henie Murder Case", Wright wrote the novel as "The Winter Murder Case", but Fox decided to REMOVE both Vance and the murder and just make it a musical-comedy. NO, REALLY!!! I'm not sure if this is available on disc or anything, but it is posted on Youtube, and I have it bookmarked.
LA STRANA MORTE DEL SIGNOR BENSON (1974 / Italy / TV) -- Giorgio Albertazzi as Vance in the 3rd version of "The Benson Murder Case". Only available on disc WITHOUT English subtitles.
LA CANARINA ASSASSINATA (1974 / Italy / TV) -- Giorgio Albertazzi as Vance in the 2nd version of "The Canary Murder Case". Only available on disc WITHOUT English subtitles.
LA FINE DEI GREENE (1974 / Italy / TV) -- Giorgio Albertazzi as Vance in the 3rd version of "The Greene Murder Case". Only available on disc WITHOUT English subtitles.
I find it interesting that this Italian company decided to do the first 3 Vance novels IN ORDER (unlike Paramount back when). At least one of these is on Youtube, GREAT-looking print, but, no subtitles, and I don't-a speaka no EYE-TALIAN! ;D
VYVRADEN RODINY GREENU (2002 / Czech Republic / TV) -- Jiri Dvoak as Vance in the 4th version of "The Greene Murder Case". Not currently available on DVD! (I asked a seller in the Czech Republic!!)
Honestly, there is BUSINESS to be made for some enterprising company who would take on creating versions of these 4 films with English subtitles.
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I've been watching some great new Brit/ Irish/New Zealand mysteries.
My favorite is a new Jane Seymour series, "Harry Wild" -such a different role for her, but it's great! Also a second season of "My Life is Murder" with former "Xena" star Lucy Lawless. And "Signora Volpe", shot in Italy, with Emilia Fox (Did her name inspire the title?) Similar to an earlier Acorn series, "Madame Blanc", but still a lot of fun.
A new season of "Endeavor" starting soon on Masterpiece and I do believe another season of "Granchester" to follow. Lotsa good stuff! Cheers, Bowers
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I'm watching a really intense CRIME drama, "NEVER LET GO" (1960), about the effects crime has on regular people. Richard Todd plays a salesman whose entire life it thrown into turmoil because some creep STEALS HIS CAR. And it turns out, the guy works for a gang that has a repair shop where they alter the cars for resale. I might not have been too interested, except for the extraordinary number of people behind and in front of the camera I was familar with!
Peter Sellers plays the smooth-talking but VISCIOUS scumbag who's in charge; Nigel Stock works in the repair shop; singer-turned-actor Adam Faith is the biker scum who STOLE the car for Sellers; Mervyn Johns is the poor old schmuck who had the misfortune to witness the theft; John Le Mesurier & Cyril Shaps have bit parts; and Noel Willman is the police inspector who keeps trying to tell Todd to stay out of it and let HIM do his job. It's amazing I ran across this only 2 weeks after seeing Willman as the main villain in "KISS OF THE VAMPIRE"!
The director is one of my favorites, John Guillerman, who also supplied the story. Julian Wintle is one of the producers. And JOHN BARRY (who worked with Faith at the time) did the music.
A little over a half-hour in, I wanted to see Sellers' character DEAD!!! Can't wait to see how this plays out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITVbGJ0Unn8
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"LAURA" (1955)
Just saw this TV adaptation. Of course, it can't hold a candle to the Otto Preminger film... but, it has 3 of my favorite actors in it-- George Sanders, Robert Stack, and Dana Wynter! Which makes it essential viewing for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xQBJQtNYFE
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"THE VERDICT" (1946)
I ran across 10 minutes of this movie by accident at the very end of an old videotape I had with 3 other movies on it. I was so fascinated, I had to look it up online. It's Don Siegel's 1ST feature film as director, and it's crammed to the gills with terrific actors I know, several from the Fox SHERLOCK HOLMES series. An innocent man is executed, the judge who sent him to his death is forced to resign, and then a "locked door" murder occurs involving a relative of the earlier victim.
Outstanding is Peter Lorre as an artist with a sardonic sense of humor...
"I've always had a repressed desire to witness a grave being opened... especially at NIGHT!"
https://archive.org/details/1946-the-verdict-el-veredicto-don-siegel-vose
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(copying this post over to this thread)
I was just thumbing thru several pages looking for this...
A recent discussion about The Lone Wolf made me want to check out the source material.
Today I got the OnesMedia box set of 15 LONE WOLF films. The first is the 10th LW film made, THE LONE WOLF RETURNS (1935), with Melvyn Douglas (who I just saw the other month in THE OLD DARK HOUSE). Several IMDB reviews said this was the best LW film ever made, and, to my shock, I have to agree. It's a mystery why NOBODY involved in this film came back for subsequent installments, with the notable exception of Thurston Hall as Inspector Crane... although, in ALL the later episodes, he's more of an IDIOT (just like the cop in the BOSTOM BLACKIE films from the same studio) who makes the identical mistake in movie after movie.
This was apparently the 2nd adaptation of the 5th novel (from 1923), but it seems to have some story elements in common with the 1st novel from 1914. In both, he falls in love with a woman and decides to reform, but runs afoul of a rival gang who want to FORCE him to join their gang, OR ELSE, and they wind up framing him for their crimes. So he has to clear himself and turn the real baddies over to the cops, then intends to get married at the end.
The question I have is, WHY didn't he get married after either story? And why didn't the later films follow the developments in this one?
Watching this film also made it EVEN MORE clear to me that this, and the 1914 story, were obviously the real inspirations for the 1998 film THE SAINT, where they just changed all the character names.
It's also a shame Roy William Neill never did another LW film, though he did go on to do 11 SHERLOCK HOLMES films in a row with Basil Rathbone for Universal, before suddenly dying at age 59.
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The question I have is, WHY didn't he get married after either story?
I've read only the first two Lone Wolf books. Lanyard does get married at the end of the first novel. The second opens during World War I and we learn that Lanyard's wife died under unpleasant circumstances.
I'm sure the decisions to kill off Mrs Lanyard in the books and not to follow through with marriage in the films were both motivated by the same reasoning. The writers wanted to keep the hero's options open. It's an old dilemma for series characters. These days audiences enjoy story arcs in which series characters change substantially over time. For most of the 20th century the common wisdom was that series audiences wanted different stories in each episode but wanted the hero to remain exactly the same.
If you marry off the Lone Wolf what do you do with the missus? Either she teams up with him in a Nick-and-Nora partnership or she stays at home minding the baby waiting to be kidnapped. In either case the Lone Wolf is no longer alone. What's more, being unmarried frees the hero for casual romances with femmes fatales without cheating on his wife.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: "The Sort-Of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair"
The ANDROID Affair ******* (of 10)
I've heard so many bad things about season 3, that I'm so far surprised that the first 2 stories in a row have been pretty good.
I had a feeling they might have recruited a new writer on the show, as a few odd things happened. For one, after countless bizarre circumstances, Waverly & Kuryakan both think Solo's had a nervous breakdown because he insists he was attacked by an indestructible woman. For another, while it often seemed every Thrush agent on the planet from early in season 1 knew Solo was an UNCLE agent, he goes undercover as a banker using his REAL name, and not one Thrush agent knows who he is! Did the writer of this story ever watch the show? (Maybe NOT!)
Quite a few familiar faces include Barry Atwater (who was an equally-evil baddie on a "VOYAGE" episode), Jeannine Riley (one of the original daughters on "PETTICOAT JUNCTION"), Woodrow Parfrey (always playing himself, this time as a dotty scientist who thinks Thrush is actually out to help the world, not conquer it), and Fritz Feld (actually playing it "straight"-- well, for HIM-- for about 2/3rds of the story (before finally giving in to silliness). William Lanteau as the UNCLE scientist must have thought he was on season 2 of "BATMAN", there was no call for his over-acting to be so awful. And in one scene, even Atwater's Thrush boss went on an insane, obsessive tirade. It takes a lot to make Woodrow Parfrey and Fritz Feld seem "serious" BY COMPARISON.
My favorite part, was when Solo suddenly convinced Thrush agent Margo (Pamela Curran) that he KNEW their operation was run by Thrush, that he had "ambitions" and didn't want to be a "white collar worker" for the rest of his life. He was SO good at this, SO convincing, it really surprised me that (to my knowledge), he'd never done this before in the previous 2 seasons!
Then the prolonged climactic chase & fight scene felt more like something from "THE MONKEES" without a rock song playing. Was somebody trying to be stupid here? (Yeah, I think so.) My jaw dropped when HARLAN ELLISON's name came up in the end credits. REALLY?? Boy. I knew he could do comedy... in fact, I wish he'd done MORE comedy. But this episode was just inconsistent in style, and might have been better if they'd picked one tone (serious or funny) and STUCK with it. Even so, I still think it was better than half of season 2.
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THE LONE WOLF IN PARIS
(Columbia / 1938)
Michael Lanyard & his valet Jenkins decide to check into a fancy hotel in Paris, and the hotel managers have a fit when they find out a notorious jewel thief wanted in several countries is in their establishment. He produces letters from several police chiefs verifying he's been reformed for the last 5 years, but this does little to alleviate their suspicions. Within minutes, a robbery appears to take place, but nothing is stolen. He soon finds himself involved with the princess of a tiny European country, who's trying to prevent 3 very-corrupt "Royals" from over-throwing their government! "WHY are you doing this?" "I have a love for adventure, and a desire to help beautiful woman in trouble."
This leads him to systematically steal back 3 "crown jewels" which were already stolen, and try to get them (and the princess) back home before the coronation of her young brother is to take place. One thing leads to another, lots of intrigue, danger, and a bit of romance thrown in. DAMN-- this is the kind of movie Simon Templar / The Saint should have had in the 30s, if that character hadn't been saddled with such a CHEAP studio as RKO.
Inexplicably, Melvyn Douglas & Raymond Walburn, who were both so perfect as Lanyard and his valet Jenkins (who deeply wishes they were still pulling heists) were replaced by Francis Lederer & Olaf Hytten. Both are EXCELLENT in their roles, though Lederer's continental accent seems strangely out of place (the way Paul Lukas was, playing Philo Vance). I've seen Olaf Hytten in a growing number of films, but this must be the biggest part I've ever seen him play. Also of note are Frances Drake as the beautiful Princess who finds herself falling for a man she never wanted help from, Walter Kingsford as a classy yet slimy villain, and Maurice Cass as an apoplectic hotel manager (he would play a similar role in one of the later entries). I had the feeling Fritz Feld would have been a good fit in that role.
As with what went on with Philo Vance, I cannot fathom what went on with Columbia Pictures. They did 3 Lone Wolf films in a row with different casts, which feel like they were operating in different continuities, despite all being from the same strudio. It's like what happened when the James Bond films went from George Lazenby to Sean Connery to Roger Moore in the space of 3 films.
Also, while the print of THE LONE WOLF RETURNS that OnesMedia has only has slight damage and hissy sound, THE LONE WOLF IN PARIS is in terrible shape. (They actually included 2 copies in their box set, the 2nd one is better, but has Spanish subtitles.) I enjoyed it IMMENSELY despite this. These are 2 of the BEST and most ENTERTAINING films in the entire series, and I feel somebody really needs to get on the ball and do proper restorations.
Finally, the plot about a hero trying to stop the overthrow of a country, I feel, was one more element that made its way into the 1998 Val Kilmer film THE SAINT, which had nothing whatsoever to do with Leslie Charteris, but instead, seemed like a heavily-disguised love letter to Louis Joseph Vance's character. (What the heck was going on there?)
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here is a print of THE LONE WOLF IN PARIS - with french subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3v4Bap33bk
and here is
THE LONE WOLF IN MEXICO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwk99IDjWyc
Gerald Mohr as Lanyard, but still Eric Blore as Jamison.
Haven't looked at them in detail, but both prints look decent.
Perhaps, like Connery did with Bond, Warren Williams didn't want to play the part any longer for some reason, and they experimented with other twosomes. But the scriptwriting seems to be consistent.
I have Passport to Suez, but in two parts, but a good print.
Cheers!
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From, THE LONE WOLF IN MEXICO
"Jamison."
'Yes Sir?'
'Do I really look gullible?'
'well ..... no sir, why... you're typically American!'
Laughter from both.
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My understanding is Warren William DIED after his 9th Lone Wolf film.
2-1/2 years later, Gerald Mohr came in to do the next 3, and also played the character on radio for awhile.
A year-and-a-half later, Ron Randell did one more. NOT very inspired.
I love Gerald Mohr! He's my favorite PHILIP MARLOWE (on the radio). He's the voice I hear when I read Reed Richards in FANTASTIC FOUR comics. And he was in one of my all-time favorite 2nd-season LOST IN SPACE episodes, "A Visit To Hades". Like Warren William, he passed away too young as well. I think he passed away just about the time LIS ended it's 3rd season of summer reruns. I've read that the very last rerun CBS did was of his episode.
The OnesMedia box set has ALL the films from 1935-1949.
They're also selling the complete TV series with Louis Hayward in it-- about half of which was FILMED IN COLOR. That oughta be interesting.
I found it a bit amusing, and also rather refreshing, that before THE LONE WOLF IN PARIS, they had a "warning" to the audience that the quality of the print wasn't up to snuff. They also pointed out that on the last disc in the set, they had a better print (which I haven't seen yet) with Spanish subtitles. The outfit makes a point of constantly searching for better prints, posts any upgrades they find on their site, and customers who already have the box set can contact them for a FREE upgrade if and when they find any! That is so cool.
Truthfully, I thought the print of THE LONE WOLF IN PARIS wasn't half was bad as the "uncut" print they had of PHILO VANCE'S SECRET MISSION.
That one's very bizarre. Of the 3 PRC films, it's apparently the 1st shot, but last to be released. And the OnesMedia box set contains 3 different copies of it. The first is pretty watchable, but is MISSING 9-1/2 minutes. The second is in HORRIBLE shape, but is apparently UNCUT. The 3rd is a version someone way way back cut to ribbons to include as a part of a TV anthology, allegedly as a "TV pilot"-- and it's missing a HALF HOUR. I haven't see the quality (or lack therof) yet.
It strikes me that with a video-editing program, I might be able to splice together a BETTER print than they currently have. I may do that one of these days!
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My understanding is Warren William DIED after his 9th Lone Wolf film.
2-1/2 years later, Gerald Mohr came in to do the next 3, and also played the character on radio for awhile.
A year-and-a-half later, Ron Randell did one more. NOT very inspired.
This list on IMDB lists 24 Lone Wolf movies.
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls052077692/
Bert Lytell played the part 5 times, I presume they were all silent movies.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0529313/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Made his screen debut in 1917 in "The Lone Wolf" when John Barrymore withdrew to play "Raffles" for another studio. Lytell went on to make four sequels as Michael Lanyard in the coming years as well as other gentleman crooks, Boston Blackie and Jimmy Valentine.
Good as Gerald Mohr is, the films work well because of the chemistry beteen Mohr and Eric Blore as Jamison.
Warren William died in 1948. Passport to Suez, his last Lone Wolf, was completed in 1943.
The Lone Wolf series seemed to run its course when the more traditional mystery tales disappeared with the times in favor of plots featuring war espionage, but that was all right because Warren was ready for a rest. He wasn't feeling well.
Warren's biographer John Stangeland does a strong job in charting the actor's sinking health, beginning with a mention of minor but chronic physical symptoms that included fatigue and lower back pain.in early 1944 (195). Warren?s health continued to worsen over the following years, and the rumors kept the major film studios from showing any interest in him. Warren's next couple of films were low budget Poverty Row affairs
Later in 1946 Warren tried his hand at a new medium and was very effective playing probate lawyer John Francis O'Connell on the Strange Wills radio program. Warren followed this with his final film role, a supporting part in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947), a screen adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's classic novel Bel Ami. Another radio series attempt later in 1947, United States Postal Inspector, showed potential, but didn't make it past a single audition recording. That may have been for the best, as Warren likely wouldn't have been able to work much longer anyway. Biographer Stangeland notes that Warren's health continued to erode throughout the year and despite a host of nagging symptoms doctors remained unable to diagnose his specific malady.
He was further weakened when Virus X swept through Los Angeles that year and infected him. Finally, near the end of the year Warren's doctor was able to make a clear diagnosis, but the news was not good. Warren was affected with multiple myeloma, the cancer that would take his life on September 24, 1948 at age 53.
Great site for info and images.
https://warrenwilliam.com/biography/
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Thanks for all the sad info. Well, I knew health was a problem.
Out of curiosity, I just looked up Ron Randell. So far, the LEAST-impressive "Michael Lanyard". Turns out, before that he did 2 of the later "Bulldog Drummond"s. I'm hoping to get ahold of THAT series as well. There's so many, OnesMedia had to do 2 box sets!
Of the few things I've seen him in, my favorite remains THE OUTER LIMITS episode, "The Duplicate Man". I just watched it again online about a year ago, and it continues to impress me, even though many OL fans totally dismiss it. It covers some of the same themes later seen in BLADE RUNNER, a movie that always reminded me of a big-budget feature-length OL episode. Only I like the OL version better!
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TARZAN AND THE GREEN GODDESS (1935 / 1938)
The Lost City of Guatemala ***** (of 10)
Crazy to think that in the 1930s, 3 different production companies were all making TARZAN films at the same time! MGM (with loads of money & Johnny Weismuller), Sol Lesser (budget knock-off of same), and Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of the character. Burroughs' 12-chapter serial, "THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN" (presumably a follow-up to an earlier silent serial) featured by far the single MOST-AUTHENTIC Tarzan ever seen on film, until producer Sy Weintraub came along in the late 50s.
It also featured Herman Brix, who was, until Jock Mahoney and Ron Ely, the most authentic-LOOKING Tarzan ever seen on film. Brix had been cast for MGM's 1st film, but had to be replaced because of a broken shoulder. If not for that accident, there might NEVER have been an "illiterate" Tarzan plaguing movies for decades. Had Brix been in "TARZAN THE APE MAN" in 1932, I feel certain that film would have been EVEN BETTER than it was, since MGM felt compelled to "dumb down" the hero due to Weismuller's thick accent.
Many serials were recut to produce "feature" versions; this one's unusual in that the 1st film only covered chapters 1-2, while this sequel covers chapters 3-12!! That should "explain" why this "runaround" seems so choppy. I've seen the complete serial, it definitely holds together far better.
4 groups are after a mysterious stone known as "The Green Goddess", which contains hidden jewels, and, an ancient formula for a powerful explosive that could endanger the world if it fell into the wrong hands. We have the Maitland expedition, accompanied by our intelligent, cultured, and physically-imposing "ape man"; Raglan, the obligatory bad guy; Ula Holt, a very capable government agent; and the near-mindless savage brutal HORDES inhabiting the "lost city" who will stop at nothing to get their stolen idol back.
When I called this a "runaround", I wasn't kidding. It's my experience that stories like this almost always work better when watched ONE chapter at a time, spaced a day (or a week) apart.
Burroughs' film, shot ON LOCATION under horrific conditions in Guatemala, looks fabulous, but tragically, is missing the gloss and slickness and professionalism of MGM (the biggest studio in hollywood at the time), or even the mid-level quality of Sol Lesser's independant films (Lesser wound up taking over the "official" series when MGM bowed out after the first 6 Weismullers). As a result, this can be a chore to plow through... but, if you're a fan of the REAL Tarzan as I am, it's worth the extra effort.
I found numerous bits to laugh at for various reasons. These included Tarzan, tied up as a prisoner, using his voice to imitate various wild animals, causing the local bad guy henchmen to run off in terror. I also loved when Brix, looking more like the character in the Russ Manning newspaper strips than anyone else I've ever seen, would DIVE into action against a whole group of assailants; it would usually require at least 6 opponents to take him down! And then there's the scene where comic-relief "George" foolishly toys with a large turtle, only to be assaulted by about a DOZEN of them in retaliation. That'll learn 'im! (Well, in his case, maybe not... heh.)
Most absurd line in the film (maybe): "You will PRODUCE the Goddess, or you will DIE." I felt like somebody should have replied, "Well, that's going to be awful difficult if we're PRISONERS, wouldn't you say?"
Brix later took acting lessons and changed his name to "Bruce Bennett", and appeared in such fun flicks as "DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE". It's kind of a shame he didn't get to appear in a Tarzan film with FAR-better technical elements.
Although the Ron Ely TV series was a direct spin-off of the official film series (under the then-guidance of Sy Weintraub), I view THIS project as the REAL precursor to Ely's series. I hope to upgrade both to DVD eventually.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYWU2MmU5ZjEtMWQwNC00NzZkLThmMmYtMGRjMmM1MTk0NWZmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng@@._V1_.jpg)
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THE LONE WOLF STRIKES
A Complex Game of Chess ******* (of 10)
A banker is swindled by a girlfriend, then murdered when he tries to get a stolen necklace back. His business partner, an old friend of Michael Lanyard, convinces The Lone Wolf to come out of retirement to steal the necklace BACK. Unfortunately, the dead man's daughter not only keeps getting in his way, but her new boyfriend is in league with the thieves!
Inexplicably, Columbia did 4 LONE WOLF films in a row that each feel like they're part of different series. They went thru 3 Mike Lanyards (finally settling on Warren William, who'd previously played Julius Caesar, Sam Spade, Philo Vance AND Perry Mason), and 4 butlers named either Jenkins or Jamison before finally sticking with exagerated comic Eric Blore.
This story goes from light-hearted to outright farce to SERIOUS drama, finally ending with an action-packed climax, and by the end it feels like you've sat thru 2 entire films' worth of story in a little over an hour. Despite the disjointed nature of the series to date, I'd say this was 4 GREAT films in a row.
One thing I was very glad of this time was, the cops didn't come into it at all until the last act, when Lanyard's good friend, who got him into this mess, is found dead, and he realizes there's at least one other person involved who hadn't been suspected yet. Don Beddoe returns for his 2nd film in a row as the untrusting head cop (whose name, for NO damn reason, changed from Inspector Thomas to Inspector Conroy), while the dim-witted assistant Sgt. Devan, played by Tom Dugan in the previous film, is replaced by the INTENSELY-annoying and downright STUPID Inspector Dickens, played by Fred Kelsey. Dickens is one of those patented dumb cops who keeps acting like he's knows what's going on, when he clearly doesn't, which in this case even annoys his supervisor. Dickens is the one really "off" element of this entire film for me, and I was horrified to confirm, he's in MOST of the remaining installments to come with Warren William.
As I said, it was nice the cops were limited to only the final act. Unfortunately, in later films, they tended to be around way too much, and ALWAYS making the exact same mistake, film after film.
A favorite bit is when Lanyard has a reunion with an old friendly rival thief played by Montague Love. I've seen him in numerous things over the years, but the one role that really stood out for me was the evil "Baron Fallon", the man who betrayed "Count Andre Dakkar" (who went on to become "Captain Nemo!!!") in the 1929 MGM sci-fi epic, "THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND".
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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: "The Galatea Affair"
MY FAIR LADY: The Next Generation ******** (of 10)
3 good stories in a row so far in season 3. I wonder when the show falls right off a cliff? THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. started with 2 good stories, then the 3rd one was the single DUMBEST episode in 3 seasons so far. (And that one had Boris Karloff & Bernard Fox in it.)
Robert Vaughn filled in for Noel Harrison in that GIRL story, so in this one, Noel Harrison fills in for Vaughn, as Napoleon is supposedly recovering from a bad case of pneumonia from jumping into a Venice canal.
This story involves UNCLE finding a girl from the Bronx who they want to train to impersonate an English countess. YES, they actually have REX HARRISON's son doing a PARODY of "MY FAIR LADY"-- with Joan Collins filling in for the Julie Andrews role!
Over the course of the story, the real countess takes a liking to Ilya... then, when SHE's impersonating her double, she falls for Mark Slate. But at the end, Napoleon, out of hospital, takes her out to lunch! While filling out their reports, we hear this exchange from Mark & Ilya:
"Didn't waste much time, did he?"
"It's like he was never away."
I found this funny, as Robert Vaughn & Joan Collins played a MARRIED couple on "THE NANNY".
In that, Joan told Fran, "I'd lay off the chocolates if I were you, dear."
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THE LONE WOLF MEETS A LADY (1940)
Counterfeit Gems and Murder! ****** (of 10)
Lanyard & Jamison are heading for a holiday when, as the cop-hating butler flaunts traffic laws, they run across a lady in distress, and are pulled in deeper once the cops suspect HER of theft & murder. Naturally, once they find out she's gone to Lanyard for help, they suspect HE's behind the whole thing. Complicating it, and in a bit of a repeat of the previous film, TWO separate criminal forces are at work, wanting the jewels, for entirely-different reasons.
I felt this was a step down from the quality of the 4 previous films, but only slightly. Once the complications kicked in, it held my attention. On the plus side was the supporting cast, which included Victor Jory (who'd starred as THE SHADOW), Warren Hull (THE GREEN HORNET and THE SPIDER), Bruce Bennett (TARZAN!) and even a cameo by Shemp Howard (Moe & Curly's brother).
I still can't figure the lack of consistency in these Columbia LONE WOLF films. Thurston Hall, who played Lanyard's long-time flower-loving nemesis Inspector Crane in "THE LONE WOLF RETURNS", makes his 2nd appearance here, but has become far more arrogant, obnoxious and stupid than he was earlier. And he's in the next 5 films in the row, for a total of 7. I much preferred him as the Senator in "SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON". At least he wasn't playing an IDIOT in that one. He also played "Diet Smith" in the short-lived DICK TRACY tv series, a perfect fit.
What's weird is, Don Beddoe played Inspector Thomas in "...SPY HUNT", the identical Inspector Conroy in "...STRIKES", and an un-named police coroner in this one (not looking too healthy, either). And, he's also in 3 later films, each as a different character. WTF? Apart from Crane's obsession with flowers, you'd almost think the cops in the 2 previous films were the SAME guy... but it's hard to tell.
Meanwhile, Fred Kelsey makes his 2nd appearance as the absolutely MORONIC Detective Sergeant Wesley Dickens, a cop SO dumb, even his immediate superior suggests he was hoping he'd get shot. Dickens would also return for the next 5 films in a row, also for a total of 7.
One scene that really stood out was then Lanyard hides 2 people in different places in his apartment when the cops arrive. It seemed very much like it could have inspired the scene in Corbin Dallas' apartment in "THE FIFTH ELEMENT", when he had the girl hidden in the shower, the priest in the roll-away bed, and his army ex-boss in the FREEZER! Of course, it was MUCH funnier in there. ("I'll TAKE the mission.")
You know, I really enjoyed these when TCM ran them back in 2007, but I think the one film I've now seen with Melvyn Douglas as Lanyard has spoiled me. I really do wish he'd done the entire series, he was THAT good.
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THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE (1940)
The Miami Kidnapping Case ***** (of 10)
I had to watch this twice in the same weekend to understand most of the plot. 5 men pull a kidnapping, 1 of them gets greedy and is bumped off, but a man who witnessed the killing is framed for it and believed part of the gang. Another witness offers to clear him, but only if the man's girl hands HIM the ransom money! Thru the most accidental of circumstances, Mike Lanyard gets involved when his rare stamp collection (his latest hobby) is stolen. But now the cops are sure HE's the mastermind of the kidnapping & murder!
MORE comedy than usual in this one, which in addition to Crane & the imbecilic Dickens (WHAT on Earth are a pair of New York cops doing in Miami, anyway?), there's local cop Inspector Moon and a crew of what can best be described as Florida's answer to The Keystone Cops!
Among the guest actors are Bruce Bennett as the man sitting in jail accused of the murder (a step up from an irate traffic cop from the previous film), and the recurring face of Don Beddoe, who after playing both a Washington DC cop and a New York City one, is the MAIN villain of this story! In addition, there's Edward Gargan, usually cast as a dumb cop, this time playing a dumb henchman; and Lester Matthews, another member of the gang, some years before playing Sir Denis Nayland Smith in the "FU MANCHU" tv series!
It's kinda sad to see the behavior of a character like Inspector Crane, who bounces back and forth from suspecting Lanyard of worse crimes than he ever did when he was a professional crook, to abruptly thanking him for all his help at the end. Especially when you just know, he's going to do it again in the following 4 films.
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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: "The Super-Colossal Affair"
The LAS VEGAS Affair **** (of 10)
The Mob is concerned that they've lost control of the city they built. So head man J. Carrol Naish (the Irish actor who played every nationality conceivable except Irish in his time) sends his idiot nephew to make things right-- OR ELSE. Said idiot has a "dumb blonde" girlfriend who wants to get into the movies, and when they find a film based on "Sodam And Gomorrah" needs money, the gangster puts up the cash in return for her becoming the new leading lady. (Shades of "Bullets Over Broadway".) Solo & Ilya are briefly mistaken as having been sent by HIS uncle, rather than their U. N. C. L. E. And then in the last act, things go COMPLETELY insane, when it turns out, the climax of the film involves dropping an a-bomb on the city.
I wanna sarcastically "thank" whoever wrote the IMDB sypnopsis for blowing the end of this story. It's a good thing I watched the episode before reading it. Hey, I found it funny and clever! The mobster figured out a way to get revenge and lower property values without losing all that real estate! I'd say on that score, he's smarter than The Pentagon.
Other opinions to the contrary, I did NOT find this to be the "worst" episode so far. There were MULTIPLE 2nd-season episodes way more painful to sit thru than this one, and, frankly, "The Mother Muffin Affair" over on "GIRL" was way worse than any of those-- or this! If I'm laughing hard enough, I can put up with a lot. And I was laughing!
The blame, I suppose, can be laid on Stanford Sherman, a name I know well, from no less than 18 2nd & 3rd-season "BATMAN" episodes. That includes "Hizzoner The Penguin" and "The Penguin's Clean Sweep", 2 of the VERY WORST stories on that show, but, ironically, also "The Zodiac Crimes" and "Pop Goes The Joker", 2 of the very BEST Joker stories!! (Go figure.) Suffice to say, the 1966-67 TV season saw some of the STUPIDEST, most INSANE writing in the entire history of television. How on Earth did both "STAR TREK" and "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE" manage to debut that same season, with some of the very BEST writing ever seen on TV, to this day?
I really liked Carol Wayne. I bet she was pretty sharp off-camera to play such a convincing "dumb blonde" on-camera. And she managed to get out of that locked closet by herself, and find the heroes. So she must have had something going on. And, she was such a sweetie.
No matter how you look at it... this was STILL better than "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER" (1971). Way better!
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FALSE FACES
(Paramount Pictures / 1919)
I just got ahold of the Alpha Video Entertainment DVD-R of this film. As usual, they don't always have the greatest prints, but their package design is beautiful, and in this case, the instrumental score is STUNNING.
3 of the first 9 LONE WOLF films are believed to be "lost", and of the remaining 6, this one-- the 2nd-- was once in that category. There must be drastically-different prints circulating, because I've read that some are tinted, but some must also be cut to ribbons, because the IMDB has it listed as "1 hr. 10 min.". But this disc clocks in at 1:36:39, and as far as I can tell, it's running at a "natural" speed (not sped up or slowed way down).
This is an EPIC! It begins in the middle of WW1, where Michael Lanyard (Henry B. Walthall), long since reformed & retired from being a professional jewel thief, has spent some time under an alias working inside the German Secret Service! He barely makes it through no-man's land to reach a British regiment, who he informs that he's really an American, and asks to speak to their commander-- who, it turns out, was one of his former nemesis with the police!
With his help, Lanyard is booked on a cruise ship headed for America, where unknowingly, he runs across a pair of British agents, and also, Karl Ekstrom (Lon Chaney), another former thief who, at the start of the war, deliberately murdered Lanyard's sister & family. Things get hairy when a German sub sinks the liner on Ekstrom's orders, but it's Lanyard who miraculously is picked up by the sub, where his genuine experience as a German agent comes in handy.
I found it interesting that one of the people on the liner-- who presumably escaped with his life-- was named "Crane"-- Lanyard's #1 American policeman nemesis. But he only has a momentary cameo.
The sub's captain & first mate hate each other, but the mate & Laynard become fast friends (more or less). When the captain receives word that the high command have NO knowedge of Lanyard, he's killed by the mate before he can pass on the info, and the mate, in turn, then has a heart attack from stress and too much drinking. (What kind of luck is that?) Lanyward makes his escape, SINKING the sub off the American coast in the process.
And then the entire last act of the film takes place in New York City, where you have a crazy entanglement between the American, British & German secret services, with Ekstrom POSING as Lanyard for part of it. Laynard has two separate confrontations with his enemy, and in the second one, puts down a gun so he can personally beat the crap out of him. That's when all the other German agents in the building burst into the room, and are tricked into KILLING their own man, as Lanyard makes his escape.
The finale has Lanyard, back at the British HQ, exposing a secretary who was in Ekstrom's pay, AND, finding and returning a tiny cylinder containing important documents (which everyone has been chasing for the entire film). He also discovers the girl who got him into this mess, a British agent, is NOT married, and so romance may be in store...
So many people unknowingly confuse Michael Laynard (The Lone Wolf) with Simon Templar (The Saint). Templar was never a professional thief, but when it comes to bending or breaking the law in the name of justice, he certainly could be looked at as a natural successor, whose career started between the wars. In only his 2nd novel, The Lone Wolf got involved in wartime espionage, something it took The Saint a whole decade to find himself in.
This story was so damned good (in my view), it made me dearly wish someone could find a better print and do an extensive restoration on it. It might also be worth making a new version of, if they followed the original story. (Does anybody do that nowadays?)
I'd also love it if somebody could put out the other 5 films NOT considered lost. And who knows? Maybe the 3 missing ones might turn up again someday. You never know...
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THE GIRL FROM UNCLE: "The Montori Device Affair"
The FASHION WORLD Affair ****** (of 10)
Thrush brainwashes an Italian fashion designer to get at a woman aristocrat whose retired-diplomat husband is in charge of a secret government conference which, if destroyed, will allow Thrush to "take over the world". (Got that?) Meanwhile, they also break into UNCLE's Rome HQ and steal a communications device that would allow them to eavesdrop on all UNCLE channels (the spy agency didn't think this one thru very well, did they?), forcing the good guys to resort to public telephones, until it's recovered. These 2 threads converge when the thief drops it off at the designer's apartment-- at the exact moment he's hosting a party of models-- one of whom's young daughter picks it up, thinking it's just a piece of jewelry. Not so much hiding in plain sight, as lost in plain sight.
This same girl develops a crush on Mark Slate while he's posing as an Italian cop (his accent reminded me a bit of "Paul" from THE PROTECTORS), while April poses as a rep of a company that wants to buy ALL of the designer's output for the year, and he, very unprofessionally, goes wild over her.
Though complex and quirky, this isn't a bad episode, except that the 3 villains all come across as rejects from BATMAN's 2nd season. Ted Cassidy is a bloodthirsty thug (it's hilarious when April walks right into him and then looks up, up, up), while John Carridine is a raving-mad scientist. The only performance I can remember of his more over-the-top than this was in Woody Allen's "EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK)". And then there's the main guest-star, Edward Andrews. For the life of me, I knew I'd seen him, but I had to look over his resume to be reminded, he played Molly Ringwald's grandfather in "SIXTEEN CANDLES"!
Also in the cast were Dee Hartford (who gets my vote for one of the most beautiful and classy ladies to ever work in Hollywood), and Lisa Loring as her SPOILED, BOSSY, BRATTY daughter. It was cute when she took a liking to Mark, but less so when she got angry whenever any other (older) woman looked at him. It got toxic when, the instant Mr. Waverly recognized she was wearing the missing communications device, she ran out of the room screaming, "IT'S MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!" This caused one of the most shocking scenes in the story, when one of the models clobbered Waverly over the head with a stick. You JUST DON'T do that to him, and a moment later, he'd pulled out a gun and was holding an entire room full of people at bay, while sorting out who were really the good guys and the baddies.
Twice in this story, Mark got clobbered, and the 2nd time, I found myself thinking, I can't see Napoleon or Ilya being that over-confident. Meanwhile, in the first few stories, April gave the impression she was new at this and still learning, but, in this one, she was REALLY professional, and I could tell she was genuinely betting better at her job.
I've heard so many awful things about this season, but so far, all I can say is, this was WAY better than what a friend of mine and I referred to as "The Batgirl Show".
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ELLERY QUEEN: DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU (1971)
Ellery Queen And The Serial Killer ***** (of 10)
This is clearly a pilot intended for the NBC MYSTERY MOVIE series, which began 2 months earlier in late 1971. While the first season had 3 shows on Wednesdays, the second season moved those to Sundays and added a 4th, while adding 3 new ones on Wednesdays. (Yes, unless you're a fanatic about them like me, chances are you need a scorecard to keep track.) "But it didn't sell". And watching the first 5 minutes, I could tell you WHY.
Barry Shear, who did a ton of TV (starting out in comedy & variety shows) just had too much "style" and "gimmicks" before and during the opening credits, with still shots, B&W, short clips, and what I personally found was an intensely-annoying animated cartoon thing involving a many-headed snake. I found myself yelling at my computer screen, "When does the STORY start?"
I've been watching every Ellery Queen movie I can find online; some are fun, some are terrific, some are just annoying. Between the various movies in the 1930s & 40s, plus no less than 4 separate TV series in the 1950s, Peter Lawford was actually the 9th actor to play Ellery on-screen! And while they most definitely hit paydirt with #10, just this moment, all I want to say is, Lawford is NO Ralph Bellamy. HE was too old, also, but not this old, NOT this smug, over-confident and aloof, and NOT this... English. Seriously, what was anybody thinking when they decided to change the relationship between Inspector Queen and his SON, and make it a questionable uncle-nephew thing? (I have to assume someone cast Lawford first and then everything else flowed from that.)
Harry Morgan is PERFECT as Inspector Queen. I can easily see him and Charlye Grapewin-- or David Wayne-- as being the SAME character.
Once past the annoying style & casting problems, the rest of the film isn't bad. But-- and I must stress this-- it suffers from a problem MANY of the NBC Mystery Movies did in the 70s-- being too long. When they started, a 90-minute format (with about 75 minutes of film and 15 of commercials) was not unique, but was still unusual. And on repeatedly re-watching the 2nd season of "McCLOUD" (1971-72), I've noted that maybe half of those feel like they were written for a one-hour format-- then, PAINFULLY padded out for the 90-minute slot. Later, when some fool at NBC decided "all" the movies would be in 2-hour slots, you had the same problem amplified, with 75-minute scripts suddenly having to be padded out to 100 minutes. Well, THIS Ellery Queen movie felt REALLY padded out to me! I kept seeing all number of things that could have (should have) easily been CUT, which would have improved the film in the process. (Usually, episodes butchered for syndication murder the flow of the stories-- but this one, it would have helped.)
Among the highlights for me were the cast (E. G. Marshall, Skye Aubrey, Bill Zuckert, Bob Hastings). And then of course there was Stephanie Powers. No surprise, Barry Shear directed her in 7 episodes of "THE GIRL FROM UNCLE", and, one of my all-time favorite episodes of "McCLOUD"-- "Butch Cassidy Rides Again"-- one of the longer ones that DID NOT feel padded out! Funny enough, that one also involved computer analysis. Maybe Shear was really into that?
I recognized Jerry Fielding doing the music, as some of his jazz riffs sounded identical to ones he used in the Dirty Harry movie "THE ENFORCER".
I also recognized the observation platform of The Empire State Building, where that really-suspenseful scene was shot. (I've been up there twice.)
All in all, the Jim Hutton-David Wayne "ELLERY QUEEN" was way better than this, DID go to a series (albeit a regular, one-hour format), and DID deserve to go on a lot longer than it did.
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I also mourned the loss of Jim Hutton's "Ellery Queen". John Hillerman's Simon Brimmer was the perfect foil to Hutton's character. Great writing kept that always kept the plot moving. One of my favorite moments came before the reveal when Hutton would break the fourth wall and ask the viewers if they had solved the mystery, sometimes reviewing the clues with us. Definitely deserved another season. Probably cancelled because it made us use our brains, and that's not good for the advertisers! Cheers, Bowers
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I'm not 100% sure, but I think I did see the Jim Hutton pilot, as it was run during the NBC MYSTERY MOVIE schedule (probably when it had moved to Tuesdays). For whatever reason, the entire 2nd night worth of series all got cancelled at once (all 4 of them), which may be why ELLERY QUEEN became a one-hour weekly.
A similar sort of thing happened-- to a degree-- with QUINCY, M.E., the next-to-last MYSTERY MOVIE series to debut. NBC actually cancelled the whole MYSTERY MOVIE thing after 5 years (McCLOUD's 6th), but then changed their minds! As a result of this, the writing on McCLOUD got kinda dodgy for the first time when it came back for a 7th season, while McMILLAN AND WIFE became McMILLAN because 3/4ths of the regular cast had all moved on to new series at the same time! So while Rock Hudson came back... they revealed that Susan St. James' character had gotten KILLED in a plane crash between seasons, along with her baby. Those B******s!! (The supreme irony was... I felt the writing on that season got better. Decades later, I felt the same way about EIGHT SIMPLE RULES after John Ritter actually died in real life-- to me, the show got better. I know, it's terrible to say that...)
QUINCY started as 6 90-minute movies... but after the first 4, was suddenly YANKED from the MYSTERY MOVIES schedule and moved to Friday nights, where, after the last 2 movies, itb became a one-hour weekly series. Jack Klugman said he wanted to do a doctor show, NOT a detective show, complained, then walked off the show for one week, until they changed the format. Damned thing lasted 7 years, but I never liked it as much after they bowed to his demands to make it more of a "doctor" show and less of a "detective" show. And I grew up watching doctor shows, but I just thought QUINCY got boring halfway thru its 1st season.
After all the other shows were gone, COLUMBO lasted one more year entirely on its own... with each film scheduled whenever the hell NBC felt like putting them on. Which may explain why I never saw any of them until they turned up in syndication, many years later. I never knew when it was on!
The identical thing happened when ABC revived it a decade later. After 2 seasons as part of the ABC MYSTERY MOVIES, COLUMBO continued for around another decade... it's miraculous I only missed one or two of them in all that time. Of course, I was TAPING them by that point, which always gave me more of an incentive to thoroughly check the TV GUIDEs every week. Peter Falk took over as executive producer in the 2nd ABC season, and I thought the show improved TREMENDOUSLY. I'd mostly tolerated COLUMBO all thru the 70s, but in the 90s, it genuinely became one of my favorite series. (Somebody on FB went on at great length to contradict me on this... I always thing it's the height of rudeness when someone is raving about something they love, and someone else feels compelled to CRAP all over it.)
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THEY CALL IT MURDER (1969 / 1971)
The D.A. Draws A Circle **** (of 10)
HOW many District Attorneys would go out in the field to do their own investigating? At least "J. L. McCabe" had Jake Styles.
Earl Stanley Gardner flipped his own PERRY MASON format with his "Doug Selby" series of novels. After 6 years of trying to get it made, this pilot was finally made in late 1969-early 1970... but NBC let it sit on the shelf for almost 2 years before finally airing it. I can see why, though.
Like "IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT", I feel this is a murder mystery that goes on too long with too many twists to keep straight. Also, not enough quirkiness and character humor to make a successful "NBC Mystery Movie".
What a FABULOUS cast, so many actors I know and like from so many things. But a dull mystery done without any style at all, and convoluted beyond all belief. I LOVE murder mysteries, but I had a hard time sitting throught this.
I like Jim Hutton, but he was SO much better as the "quirky" ELLERY QUEEN 4 years later! Near the end, he pulls his car over and says to himself, "So THAT's how it was done!" Almost a precursor to Ellery turning to the audience.
Jessica Walters was a beautiful lady, but really got typecast as "INTENSE". She's less so in this. She also starred in a SHORT-lived NBC Mystery Movie series, "AMY PRENTISS", which I suspect also didn't have enough humor.
2 funny things I noticed watching this. I've always liked Nita Talbot, but until today, I somehow never noticed she somewhat resembled Polish actress Ingrid Pitt (but with a very-different accent).
The other... Lloyd Bochner always made a specialty of "SLIMY". If he only had a moustache in this (which he does quite often), he'd have been a DEAD RINGER for actor Warren William, who played the mid-30s "SHYSTER" version of PERRY MASON. Earl Stanley Gardner hated those films, and after 6 of them (4 with William), the last being in 1938, PERRY was not seen again on film until Raymond Burr's series. But I find it VERY interesting that Gardner wrote the book this movie was based on-- "The D. A. Draws A Circle"-- in 1939-- one year after that last PERRY movie. I wonder if the slimy defense attorney in this film played by Bochner may have been INSPIRED by the SHYSTER version of PERRY played by Warren William? It would almost be Gardner's way of getting back at Warner Brothers for their refusing to let him act as consultant on their PERRY movies.
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An old TV series I liked was "Judd for the Defense".
His motto was "the best defense the law allows". He didn't care how evil or twisted his client might be or if he himself believed the defendent was guilty as sin. He was totally mercenary.
I think the only time he refused a case was when he actually witnessed the murder of a scum bag he had just successfully defended in a double sex murder. He was happy to see his client killed and sympathiezed with the killer but he could not defend someone when he knew for a fact they were guilty, but only because that would jeopardize his objectivity and might result in his losing a case.
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The weirdest Perry Mason fact that I know is that the radio show--which Gardner didn't like and which had little to do with the books--ran for 12 years and was successful enough to be slated to become a daytime TV serial. Gardner didn't like it and pulled his support. The show was rebranded The Edge of Night and ran for three decades! It was one of the first two TV soap operas, the other being As the World Turns.
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Captain Audio:
""Judd for the Defense". His motto was "the best defense the law allows". He didn't care how evil or twisted his client might be or if he himself believed the defendent was guilty as sin. He was totally mercenary."
Oh, that's wild! I've heard of that show, but never seen it.
CrashRyan:
"ran for 12 years and was successful enough to be slated to become a daytime TV serial. Gardner didn't like it and pulled his support. The show was rebranded The Edge of Night and ran for three decades! It was one of the first two TV soap operas, the other being As the World Turns."
MORE wild stuff! I have the feeling there's a lot of strange instances of how some shows got on the air.
I've heard, for example, that AMY PRENTISS began as a backdoor pilot episode of IRONSIDE. Later, JAKE AND THE FATMAN began as a backdoor pilot on MATLOCK.
From what I read yesterday, the DOUG SELBY pilot was something the company doing PERRY MASON was trying to sell for 6 whole years before it finally got filmed. But I guess they couldn't do that as a backdoor pilot, as PERRY had ended before they finally got around to filming it.
DOUG SELBY and JACK AND THE FATMAN were both more-or-less instances of a "defense attorney" show trying to spin off a "prosecuting attorney" show.
I'd seen Warren William in a number of things over the years (including a small part in THE WOLF MAN) but it was THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG (1934) that really first made me a big fan of his. So imagine my confusion when the immediate follow-up, THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE (1935), which I just re-watched yesterday, seemed to present a COMPLETELY-different version of Perry... even though it was the same actor playing him!
I did an IMDB reveiw of CURIOUS BRIDE back in 2009, and it got multiple "dislikes", apparently from people who enjoyed the film. So did I... I just couldn't make any sense of it at all. I actually described it as "the film's cleverness was getting in the way of itself".
Looking at it now, I know EXACTLY what happened: THE THIN MAN (1934). That was apparently one of the biggest box-office successes of 1934, and the result was similar to what happened when the Adam West BATMAN hit #1 in the ratings in its first 4 weeks. "Everybody" decided, "YEAH-- LET'S DO THAT!!!"
So they turned Perry into a COMEDY, had him obsessed with cooking and drinking, and even went so far as to have the resolution of the mystery take place-- NOT in a courtroom-- but at his house, where he held a "cocktail party". I do think Perry had MORE of an idea who the killer really was than retired, married, full-time ALCOHOLIC Nick Charles did. Nick told his wife, "I have NO IDEA!" --he was just hoping for luck exposing the killer.
I know that film is extremely popular, but I've seen it 3 times now. The first 2 times I didn't understand it. The 3rd time, I understood it-- I just didn't LIKE it. Geez. I really wish William Powell had stuck with playing the highly-intelligent PHILO VANCE. Nobody else ever came close to him in that role... and there were a LOT of actors who followed him.
It really flipped me out today when I connected how much the defense attorney played by Lloyd Bochner reminded me of Warren William's Perry-- well, the SERIOUS version of him, anyway, from "THE HOWLING DOG". With all the "connections" I've been picking up on between various stories by various writers, it really would not surprise me if the character Bochner played (created in 1939) wasn't created as a DIRECT response to the nonsense Warner Brothers had pulled in their 6 PERRY MASON movies.
It's fun to figure stuff like this out!
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I just looked up JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE. I see it ran 2 seasons from 1967-69, staring a year after PERRY MASON ended. Carl Betz starred, following 8 years as the husband on THE DONNA REED SHOW! Before that, I saw him on an episode of the Darren McGavin MIKE HAMMER show. (I thought the face looked familiar.)
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THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE (1935)
Perry Mason 2: Too Much Fun? ****** (of 10)
I just watched THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE again, the 2nd Perry Mason film. Once more with Warren William in the lead, but with a different Della, and with Allan Jenkins now playing "Spudsy" Drake instead of a police inspector. Perry now has a virtual army of friends & cronies, all of whom seem to be too happy to be hanging around in his sphere. It's almost like a Doc Savage story, except in this case, "Ham" is the hero! There's also a District Attourney who seems genuinely eager to have Perry brought up on charges of murder, or at the very least, disbarred!
Michael Curtiz, one of the most successful & popular directors in Hollywood history, did this installment, and frankly, it's got SO MUCH style & character & humor-- TOO much, I think, it seems Curtiz is trying to hard too distract the audience, focusing on almost everything EXCEPT the murder mystery. I'm reminded, a bit, of how I heard that when Orson Welles did TOUCH OF EVIL, he wound up taking an "average" crime story and threw his entire repertoire of skills at it in an attempt to turn it into a "work of art". At least in the restored version, I think he succeeded... In the case of ...CURIOUS BRIDE, I've seen this at least 3 times (AND read the book-- the only Earl Stanley Gardner novel I have read to date), and I find it almost impossible to follow the plot of this thing!
From what I remember of the novel, it was much simpler, much more straight-forward, and much easier to follow along with-- much like the 1st film, THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG. That was complex-- but complex in a "murder mystery" sort of way. This thing just seems to be getting in its own way trying to be too clever.
(2-24-2009)
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THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS (1935)
Perry Mason 3: UNFORGIVABLE, but HILARIOUS! ***** (of 10)
Warner Bros.' PERRY MASON series of the 1930s is as schizophrenic as it gets. Across 6 films, they seem to have 6 COMPLETELY-different versions of Perry Mason-- despite one actor, the mezmerizing and manic Warren William, playing him in the first 4!
In HOWLING DOG, he's deadly-serious. In CURIOUS BRIDE, he's having too much fun. But in LUCKY LEGS, he's going way too far into "Nick Charles" territory. When we first see him, a client finds what he believes is a dead body lying on the floor behind Mason's desk. Della finds it's just her boss, passed out from a bender. On his awakening, she says, "Mr. Mason will see you presently." And it goes on like that from there!
Despite this total perversion of the source material, I have to admit, this genuinely IS one of the FUNNIEST mystery-comedies I've ever seen in my life. The pacing and hilarity is fast and non-stop, and I only began to get lost near the end, when to the annoyance of the cops, he spells out the truth of the murder while in the midst of getting a check-up from his equally-crazy doctor.
There were also 5 different Della Streets in these films, and Genevieve Tobin in here, while less pretty than her predecessors, was clearly cast for her comedy talents. She's FUNNY as HELL!
Allen Jenkins makes his 3rd appearance in the series, his 2nd as "Spudsy" Drake, and this time we get to see his disgruntled (and dangerous) wife.
Oddly enough, both Barton MacLane & Olin Howard return from the previous picture, again as cop & doctor, but strangely, MacLane goes from being "Detective Joe Lucas" to "Police Chief Bisonette", while Howard goes from "Coroner Wilber Strong" to "Dr. Croker, the coroner's friend". Since "croak" means to die, I suspect that last name is a JOKE, and Perry's medical examiner friend is really moon-lighting part-time as his physician.
We're now on the series' 3rd District Attorney in 3 films. Henry O'Neill as D. A. Manchester seems less menacing and more reasonable, prefering to let Perry spell out the facts before things ever get to court.
Lyle Talbot is younger than I've ever seen him, and at one point gets punched out by William. When I saw that, I yelled at my TV, "Perry Mason got to punch out Commissioner Gordon!"
PLOT? What's that? Who CARES? Oh, it's there, but I figure every other reviewer has already covered that. Now, I need a refill on my drink.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/TCOT-Lucky-Legs-1935.jpg/1176px-TCOT-Lucky-Legs-1935.jpg)
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THE WESTLAND CASE (1937)
My 2nd-favorite "Pat Chambers", Preston Foster, stars in the first of 3 films where he plays private eye "Bill Crane", a terrific murder mystery where he's trying to save an innocent man who's just 6 days from the electric chair. Featuring a virtual all-star cast of fabulous 1930s character actors! (The print on Youtube is fuzzy as hell AND cut to ribbons... I wonder if anyone has a better print of this on disc?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUWZhohOnGw
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THE PINK PANTHER (1963)
Jet-Setters and Jewel Thieves ******** (of 10)
An international jewel thief who poses as a rich aristrocrat, has set his eyes on his latest target, but runs into trouble when be begins to fall for its owner, an exiled Princess. On top of that, his college drop-out nephew shows up and is instantly attracted to his mistress-- the wife of a clueless French police inspector who's determined to catch him!
Clearly inspired by the style of Hitchcock's "TO CATCH A THIEF", Blake Edwards' 1963 film was intended to start a series in the fashion of Louis Joseph Vance's "LONE WOLF" series that centered on the adventures of reformed jewel thief "Michael Lanyard" (NOT his real name). But thing went awry.
Ava Gardner, cast as the policeman's wife, was replaced very late in the game due to chaos going on in her life. As a result of this, Peter Ustinov, who'd been cast as the detective, dropped out on the advice of his wife! Since learning of this, I find myself REALLY wishing I could have seen THAT version of this movie. I feel certain it would have been more consistent, coherent, and even more stylish.
Instead, we got Capucine (who's never "done it" for me in any films I've seen her in), and Peter Sellers, just at the point where he was over-dosing on weight-loss pills, determined to give himself more "handsome leading man" looks. When Edwards & Sellers met before shooting, they INSTANTLY hit it off, Edwards felt for the first time he had an actor who could bring to life his more outragious ideas, and the story was-- to a degree-- DERAILED and CONFUSED by expanding Sellers' role.
I first saw this on TV in the late 60s, when I was about 10 years old. I was captivated from the first, but admitedly confused. The film begins with no less than 4 seemingly-unrelated scenes, taking place in Rome, Los Angeles, Paris, and Cortina. It was only over the course of the first half-hour or more that these 4 threads slowly come together, and you see how things are inter-connected. I had NEVER seen anything like this; that said, this exact sort of storytelling has become quite common over the decades since, imitated by countless other movies.
It took me ages to realize that the REAL main character of the film was "Sir Charles Litton", played with endless style & sophistication by David Niven. He's a criminal, yet he is also by far the MOST likable character in the film! Once I realized this-- and even moreso since I got a widescreen copy off TCM-- my long admiration for this film increased tenfold.
Well... except for the Peter Sellers parts. Specifically, the TWO bedroom scenes that just go on and on and ON forever. I recently read that Edwards & Sellers both felt that "comedy" should be "painful"-- that scenes should be stretched beyond the point where audiences become very uncomfortable watching. I see what they're getting at, but I totally disagree with that sentiment. If it were up to me, those bedroom scenes would have been CUT drastically, dramatically improving the pacing and structure of the film in the process.
My favorite location in the film takes up the middle HALF, Cortina. It was also used in my favorite Roger Moore film, "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY". Both films together might make an unusual but fitting double-feature!
Another interesting double-bill might be this and "DEATH ON THE NILE" (1978), where Niven finally did get to team up with Peter Ustinov, as a far-more intelligent Belgian detective.
Henry Mancini does what might be argued the BEST score of his life here. In addition to the main title (used as Sir Charles' theme song whenever he goes into action as "The Phantom"), there's the romantic theme, "Meglio Stasera". It's played over much of the film, can be heard as a choral vocal during the party scene near the end, but most outstandingly, is performed as a stand-alone "music video" in the middle of film by singer & dancer Fran Jeffries. For many years, I mistook her character for that of the Princess! Only when I learned my error did I begin to notice her small bits elsewhere in the film, where she get NO dialogue at all. But when she's onscreen-- MY GOD!!! Her performance of "Meglio Stasera"-- which stop the film DEAD for 3 minutes-- appears to be there for no other reason than to replace where an intermission might have been in earlier years. Crazy enough-- it's my FAVORITE part of the film. I get emotional every time I see it, or even think about it. And, as some have pointed out, astounding to think it was done in ONE shot with no edits. (I wonder how many times they had to rehearse to get it so completely PERFECT?)
When I learned there was a sequel to this, "A SHOT IN THE DARK", I caught that on TV, and wound up enjoying that even more... most likely because it was more consistent, and didn't have its apparent hero (the police inspector) being cheated on by his wife for the entire story, and then going to jail for a crime he didn't commit at the end. But "THE PINK PANTHER" has grown on me on its own terms. It's a flawed classic, but a classic all the same.
I'm pretty sure Sir Charles failed to get the jewel by the end because of the Production Code, which was still in force in 1963. It would take 20 years before he finally DID get away with it! I'm glad he did, eventually.
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LE DERNIER DES SIX (1941)
Six Dead Men -- Version 3 ****** (of 10)
Just watched this for the 2nd time. A really fun, stylish mystery, with what appears a bigger budget than usually given US or UK crime films. Commissioner Wens steals the movie. With his sense of humor he'd have been a perfect fit on the NBC Mystery Movies.
Crazy but true: this was the 3rd film version of Steeman's "Six Dead Men", after "A STUDY IN SCARLET" (1933 / US) and "THE RIVERSIDE MURDER" (1935 / UK), a fact someone at the IMDB seems determined to ignore (I've tried adding the info TWICE). It's fun comparing the films, this one seems the most complex. (You didn't even see the underground tunnel in the UK film.)
I find myself wondering if the climax, where the killer sinks into quicksand, was in the novel-- and am trying to remember which version of Doyle's "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES" first showed that onscreen.
Several reviewers have claimed this (or 1933's "A STUDY IN SCARLET") swiped from Christie's "TEN LITTLE INDIANS"-- but that book wasn't written until 1939, while Steeman's was in 1931! I'm not surprised, I've already seen multiple instances where Christie was swiping from Doyle... and Doyle more than once swiped from Poe! It goes like that.
I'm looking forward to trackng down any later Steeman-based films I can find.
Multiple sites list the film at 90 minutes; strangely, the "Rare Films And More" DVD-R clocks in at 1:21:39. I thought the movie seemed to running a bit FAST... tsk!
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THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU (1929)
The Murderous Dr. Fu Manchu ****** (of 10)
Just saw this today for the first time, courtesy of Kino Lorber's brand-new 2K master on Blu-Ray. Not quite what I expected-- LOTS of fun!
Apparently, like a number of much-later films involving classic characters (Conan, The Shadow, The Saint), someone in Hollywood decided to tack on an "origin" story that was never in the books. In this case, they have Fu begin as a humanitarian before his family is killed by army crossfire. At that point, he becomes a diabolical serial killer bent on revenge "to the 3rd generation". (Imagine if Michael Myers had a brain-- and tended to never shut up, explaining his plans at length, like a Bond villain!)
The image on the new Blu-Ray, while still damaged in spots, is mostly pretty sharp & stunning. Apparently, the film has NEVER looked this good in my lifetime. I wish someone had put in more effort with the sound, which is wildly inconsistent. The 2nd half of the story seems more like a filmed stage play than a movie, but a LOT more fun to watch than, say, the 1931 "DRACULA".
One long sequence takes place at an old mansion perched on top of a very dangerous-looking cliff, while the climax is entirely in a pair of rooms in Fu's hideout in Limehouse. At one moment, Fu points out the similarity to a classic "melodrama", which only emphasizes the sheer ridiculousness of the cat-and-mouse game situation. But I had a big smile on my face the whole time, so, I guess, no real complaints!
It cracked me up to see 2 "Batman" actors in this-- "Alfred" from 1943 and "Gordon" from 1966. Made me think the '66 TV show could have really used an Asian super-villain in its roster!
I've noticed of late that quite a few early Paramount films are only available in TERRIBLE prints, which has led me to believe the studio really doesn't give a damn about their oldies. I've recently seen 4 "Philo Vance" films that were made by Paramount, and all of them were in dreadful shape. As 3 of those I rate as extremely-good early talkie murder mysteries, I find myself wishing someone like Kino Lorber would make the effort to restore THOSE films as well. Silents and early sound films are their own special kind of art form, and I find one really can't appreciate them to their fullest unless you're watching a REALLY CLEAN print. This one isn't perfect, but I suppose for now, it'll do!
(https://images.blu-ray.com/news/upload/13744_tn.jpg)
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THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS (1936)
Perry Mason 4: Married, Sober, Sick & Suspected ***** (of 10)
After the disgraceful silliness of THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS, Warren William's Perry Mason seems back on firm ground in a film that takes itself much more serious without forgetting to include healthy doses of character humor. What sets this one apart from the others is Perry & Della getting MARRIED (a development completely forgotten in the follow-up that starred Ricardo Cortez) and Perry being the #1 murder suspect, having been to see the victim moments before he was bumped-- a situation he has all too often had to get his clients out of-- including the woman's husband in this case. She had threatened both Perry and her husband with a gun, and would only NOT be a suspect to anyone watching this because it would just be "too obvious"!!
Of WW's 3 Dellas, my favorite, Claire Dodd returns after having been absent from the previous installment. All 3 Dellas in the first 4 pictures have something to recommend them, I just happen to think Dodd is the most attractive (though Genevieve Tobin's was without a doubt the FUNNIEST). Sadly, Allan Jenkins, who played in cop in ...THE HOWLING DOG and "Spudsy" Drake in eps. 2 & 3, is replaced here by Eddie Acuff, who just doesn't seem to "work". Very oddly, Olin Howard returns as Coroner Wilber Strong from ...THE CURIOUS BRIDE, after having played a different doctor in the previous film! (Did anyone at Warner Brothers care about "continuity" in this series??)
The standard routine of set-up, murder, investigation and courtroom expose so far is limited to ...THE HOWLING DOG. In WW's other 3 films, he solves the murders at a dinner party, in his office during a medical check-up, and at the hang-out of the killer before moving on to the street in front of a hotel. The only time we see the inside of a courtroom in this film is when Perry & Della get hitched-- and when she tries to have it annulled. CRAZY!!
The other point of interest for me was actress Carol Hughes (my favorite "Dale Arden" from 1940's FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE) who is almost completely unrecognizable in here due to bright blonde hair and a southern accent.
I love Warren William's Perry Mason-- I DO! And I wish he'd done a lot more of these. But I also wish he'd done more like the 1st one, where at least, despite the huge differences, I could actually recognize the format and the character of the "real" Perry Mason, instead of this rambling comedic chaos WB kept foisting on audiences!
(3-1-2009)
addendum:
I wrote the above review in 2009. Recently, re-watching ...THE LUCKY LEGS, I realized Olin Howard WAS playing the same character, but Perry was making a joke at his friend's expense when he called him "Dr. Croaker the coroner's friend". Wilber Strong has very little screen time in the 4th film, and in one scene, actually winds up responsible for the cops finding where Perry's hiding from them. Oops!
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THE CASE OF THE BLACK CAT (1936)
Perry Mason 5: Straight, Slick, Serious & Impenetrable ***** (of 10)
I really loved Warren Williams' 1st Perry Mason film, THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG. As with most viewers my introduction to Perry was Raymond Burr, but despite WW's very different look and behavior, I felt I was still watching the "real" Perry. Not so in the follow-ups, where outrageous comedy all but pushed the murder mysteries to the back.
What a shock it must have been when WB did THE CASE OF THE BLACK CAT with Ricardo Cortez. This film seems designed to be the "anti-WW" Perry Mason movie. Cortez' Perry plays it straight, as does Della; for the first time Paul Drake is actually called "Paul" instead of "Spudsy", and we finally get to see D.A. Hamilton Burger! While much thinner than Burr, Cortez has a vaguely similar look and attitude, and the general format familiar to anyone who's watched the TV series is recognizably present, including the courtroom scenes at the end where Perry solves everything.
It's a very well-made film, but if I have any problems with it it's this: Perry doesn't seem to stand out much, and Della, Paul & Burger do so even less. Also, the mystery is SO complex, after watching it twice uncut, I STILL can't make heads or tails of it! It all comes together at the end, in a very long-winded monologue from Mason. I expect this sort of thing from Hercule Poirot, but wouldn't a courtroom judge insist on a lot further testimony from others to corroborate what Mason says? It's almost a shock when Mason asks for a dismissal and the judge agrees, instead of the guy telling Mason his head's spinning from everything Mason just said!
I suppose the biggest mystery concerning this film must be, WHY did they only do ONE film with Cortez and his supporting cast? (But then, I'm also wondering why WB seemed bent on sabotaging the series after Warren William's excellent debut installment as well.) Maybe Hollywood just didn't like mysteries that were too "intelligent".
(3-13-2009)
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THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP (1937)
Perry Mason 6: Dull, Confusing, but Solid ***** (of 10)
You can often tell when a studio is losing interest in a film series when they start replacing the entire cast. In this instance, they did it twice in 2 films-- and by the time of THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP, we'd not only seen 3 Perry Masons in 6 films, but 5 different Della Streets! Donald Woods does his 2nd PM film, having played one of the suspects in ...THE CURIOUS BRIDE, while William Clemens directs his 2nd PM film, having already done the relatively sober ...VELVET CLAWS. Clemens would go onto quite a few series films, including a Torchy Blane, 4 Nancy Drews, a Dead Ends Kids, a Philo Vance, and 3 Falcons. There's nothing especially flashy or stylish about this film, and it starts out very confusing, but it is a solid mystery film, and gets better as it goes.
For example, you have the boastful house detective who Perry winds up hiring part-time, and as the story goes on he proves to be genuinely helpful, rather than "merely" comic relief. It seems the murder takes forever to happen in this one, but once it does, the story FINALLY kicks into gear, and the courtroom sequence at the end is probably the BEST in all 6 films. Unlike when Perry rattled off confusing info nobody but HE knew in the previous installment, the quick stream of witness testimonies actually help to pull all the threads of the story together neatly. And at last, there's the patented "blurted out confession" seen in so many PM stories-- only in this case, NOT from the person being grilled on the stand.
It's been said that sometimes casting actors very accurate to novels can lead to dull films. Some of the most popular versions of characters are quite unlike their literary sources-- good examples being Sean Connery's JAMES BOND and Stacy Keach's MIKE HAMMER. In this case, I find myself wishing Warren William had done more films like this one-- his version of Perry might not be thought of as so much of a joke then.
(3-5-2009)
Additional comments: Donald Woods is too young & not dynamic enough to be Perry. Ann Dvorak is the least-attractive and my least-favorite Della, and as one other reviewer suggested, should have played one of the suspects. Ann Nagel ("Lenore Case" in the GREEN HORNET serials) would have been far better as Della than as the character she did play. The guy playing District Attorney Hamilton Berger (pronounced "Berjer" here) is a non-entity.
The most outstanding, charismatic actor in the film is Joseph Crehen as the film series' most authentic Paul Drake! (He even bears a slight physical resemblance to William Hopper.) He played other characters in "...HOWLING DOG" and "...LUCKY LEGS", but among his countless roles may be best remembered as "Chief Brandon" in the late-40s DICK TRACY features!
I might add the above to my earlier IMDB review, but that website isn't quite working right today.
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WRONG IS RIGHT (1982)
Complex, Brilliant, Terrifying, Hilarious! (10 of 10)
In a possible near-future where network news has become pure entertainment, a globe-hopping reporter follows a story that involves an Arab King, a pair of atom bombs, an international terrorist, an arms dealer, the C. I. A., the President of the United States, an INSANE ex-President hoping to be re-elected, a war-mongering General, a black woman VP, human bombs, and other fun stuff.
The day this came out in May of 1982, my best friend and his wife and I were considering going to see CONAN THE BARBARIAN. I convinced them to see this instead. Never regretted it. Especially as it vanished from theatres 7 days later, and over time has become one of my top favorite movies! Rumor had it someone in the Federal Government pulled strings and had it PULLED from theatres. I wouldn't be surprised. It was based on a book written by a former C. I. A. Agent, who clearly knew his stuff. 20 YEARS after it came out, it was shocking to see how accurately it predicted the U. S. using falsified "evidence" to justify to 2nd invasion of Iraq. 20 YEARS AFTER THAT, it became even more uncanny in a "Twilight Zone" way for how it features a skinny President, a BLACK WOMAN Vice President, and an INSANE ex-President trying to get re-elected to a 2nd (non-consecutive) term. I mean, this is just downright SPOOKY, and could be a lot more disturbing than it is... if it wasn't played so damned FUNNY.
What a cast! Sean Connery has one of his best roles ever as reporter "Patrick Hale" (indeed, this eventually became my FAVORITE Connery film). Robert Conrad is "General Wombat", who keeps urging the Pres to shoot first. Katharine Ross is "Sally Blake", a C. I. A. Agent posing as a reporter whose murder sets a lot of the plot in action. G. D. Spradlin is "Philandros", the very devious head of the C. I. A. Who cons the Pres into giving him a direct order to do something he ALREADY did without said authorization. John Saxon has one of my favorite roles of his as "Homer Hubbard", the C. I. A. Trouble-shooter who is mostly likable, but at one point, shows a scary, devious side that leaves you wondering. Henry Silva is "Rafeeq", a scheming and ruthless terrorist who somehow manages to be charming at times. Leslie Nielsen is ex-President "Mallory", who seems based on Donald Trump-- except this was made in 1982! Robert Webber is "Harvey", the news boss who cares more about ratings than mass murder. Rosalind Cash is Vice-President "Mrs. Ford"; I keep thinking of her line "END-- of-- DISCUSSION!" --but that was another 80s movie she did! (She's got more personality than Kamala Harris.) Hardy Kruger is arms dealer "Helmut Unger", who during a sales pitch for a machine-gun, says, "It makes KILLING a PLEASURE!" Dean Stockwell is White House Chief-of-Staff yes-man "Hacker", who almost seems more machine than human. Ron Moody is totally-convincing as Arab King Awad, whose fate is sealed when he listens to "voices in the desert". A very young Jennifer Jason Leigh is a girl who's interviewed on TV about wanting to murder her parents as a fantasy. And Paul Lambert has an almost-invisible cameo as the Defense Secretary; it feels like he must have had a bigger part that somehow got cut down. I always remember him as the main villain in the 6th-season McCLOUD episode, "The Day New York Turned Blue".
The film starts slow and casual, but like a roller-coaster going up the long chain at the start, once it hits the first big drop, it picks up speed and continues to get more chaotic and frantic, at times with fast-paced editing that leaves you gasping for breath and struggling to follow along with what the heck is going on! And there must be almost as many great lines in this as DR. STRANGELOVE, that I'm disappointed so few have been listed on the IMDB so far.
The film appears to have been issued twice on DVD; first in 2004, then again in 2015, but at the moment, the 2004 disc from Columbia-Tristar Home Entertainment seems to be the easiest to find. There's no audio commentary, but weirdly enough, it does appropriately come with 3 trailers for other films: THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, DR. STRANGELOVE and FAIL SAFE!! What I can't figure is, while both the film AND the 3 trailers are in widescreen (thank God for that, I've been putting up with a miserable fullscreen VHS copy I taped off HBO for decades), the menu was clearly designed for fullscreen. Who screws up stuff like that?
And speaking of screw-ups, Columbia-Tristar slapped no less than 3 wraparound pieces of tape on the DVD case, requiring more than 5 careful, tedious minutes for me to remove them just to get the thing open. I'm real glad they don't do CRAP like this anymore! (Since CD and DVD cases are already inside shrink-wrap, there was NEVER any reason for tape to be applied right to the plastic underneath that.)
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TARZAN’S REVENGE (1938)
ELEANOR and the APE man! (4 of 10)
A safari collecting animals for a zoo run into trouble when a filthy-rich egomaniac decides he wants young Eleanor Reed as his latest harem member, and doesn't care if she's interested, or not. This poor girl's having bad luck with men, as her current fiance Nevin Potter is a trigger-happy idiot intent on killing every animal that crosses his path, not for food, not for their hides, not even for their heads, just for the sake of killing-- and, he's a wimpy coward to boot. But then along comes a nearly-MUTE Tarzan and his never-named chimpanzee sidekick, who repeatedly rescues her, winds up having fun swimming with her, and after getting her away from a kidnapping, winds up beating the fear of God into her now-ex boyfriend, who really had it coming!
Tarzan also spends a LOT of time rescuing cute animals from captivity, making him a very ecology-minded hero.
MGM's series was never like this!
Sol Lesser made a deal with Edgar Rice Burroughs even before MGM did, which no doubt annoyed MGM greatly. But once MGM was forced to replace the injured Herman Brix with Johnny Weismuller, and HE became such a sensation, Lesser decided on ALL his future ape-man films, to imitate their idea of a NEAR-illiterate Tarzan! What a shame. Lesser's 1st effort, TARZAN THE FEARLESS (1933) had one of the most charismatic actors of Hollywood's golden age, Buster Crabbe, in the lead role-- but he barely had a chance to show what he could do, when his dialogue was reduced to maybe 9 words in the entire feature version of the (now-lost) serial. I'm guessing Crabbe was busy elsewhere when Lesser decided to try again with TARZAN'S REVENGE (1938), as he set his sights on not one but TWO Olympic champion swimmers-- Glenn Morris, and Eleanor Holm. Of the two, SHE had far more charisma, screen-time, and pretty much stole the picture. I can't really say Morris was bad-- but with only 3 words of dialogue in the entire film, he didn't exactly get a chance to show off what he could have done, did he?
C. Henry Gordon, that perpetual baddie, played "Ben Alleu Bey", who has a totally out-of-place castle built deep in the jungle with a large group of dancing girls and a small army of natives at his disposal. This element seems more "authentic" to Burroughs than the MGM series, oh, IF ONLY Morris had played a more authentic TARZAN! (I've been spoiled by the Sy Weintraub films & TV series, and, the newspaper strip stories.)
George Meeker's fiance "Nevin" is such an annoying kill-crazy IDIOT, he reminded me of "Lyle" from GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (1997), except Lyle was actually FUNNY-stupid, not STUPID-stupid. And that movie, which I consider one of the best things Disney ever did, was really less authentic to the Jay Ward cartoons than it was an actual adaptation of the first 2 TARZAN books! (Really!)
When MGM dropped their series, Sol Lesser was there to pick up the banner. He made 6 more with Weismuller, 5 with Lex Barker, and 4 with Gordon Scott... ALL the while maintaining the "Weismuller"-style illiterate Tarzan. Understand, I LIKE the Weismuller films-- it's just, he's NOT the "real" Tarzan!!! And sadly, neither is this guy.
(https://jnpickens.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/tarzan-eleanor.png?w=745)
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Terrific review of the film!
https://www.erbzine.com/mag41/4147.html
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COUNTER-ESPIONAGE (1942)
NAZI SPIES in London! (8 of 10)
Sir Stafford Hart of the British War Department has troubles. At the height of the Blitz, he's got top-secret plans in his safe, and suspects one of his aides may be working for the other side. And then, right after his future son-in-law is kidnapped, his safe is burgled by Michael Lanyard, The Lone Wolf, who, soon after, is contacted by a Nazi Spy ring who want to get their hands on those plans. But Lanyard CAN'T be working for the bad guys-- CAN HE?
The mix of mystery & humor had gone completely off the rails 2 films earlier, but I'd have to rank COUNTER-ESPIONAGE as the very best of the Lone Wolf films with Warren William in the lead role-- nearly as good (!!) as FALSE FACES (1919) with Henry B. Walthall or THE LONE WOLF RETURNS (1935) with Melvyn Douglas. Take it from me, this is high praise indeed.
The plot reminds me of a wartime espionage variation on Leslie Charteris' novel "Angels Of Doom". Both involve the hero working IN SECRET for a high-ranking official, a daughter whose father is killed and totally mistrusts the hero, and comic relief (?) in the form of cops who continue to accuse and chase after the hero, despite his having previously proven he's on their side. In this case, the hero's contact and the dead father are combined into one character, which makes things extra difficult, as in the 2nd half of the film, Lanyard has NOBODY who can vouch for his innocence. And the presence of both Inspectors Crane & Dickens has to be the single really contrived and out-of-place element of the film, as they have NO BUSINESS being in this story. At least Charteris, in his SAINT stories, had the sense to keep New York Inspector Fernack and London Inspector Teal in their own separate locales.
What a cast! Stanley Logan is "Sir Stafford Hart", who recruited Lanyard but then was killed off-camera in a traffic accident. I've seen him in THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, THE SPIDER WOMAN and TARZAN'S PERIL.
Hillary Brooke is "Pamela Hart", whose fiancee goes missing, and really gets on her high horse to an obsessive degree when she confronts Lanyard and accuses him of all the worst possible things, even while he's trying to save HER country! I've seen her in the 1941 DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, CALLING DR. GILLESPIE, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (made back-to-back with this one, they'd make a fitting double-bill), SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH, THE WOMAN IN GREEN and INVADERS FROM MARS.
Morton Lowry is "Kurt Weil", the actual double-agent, who finds out Lanyard was working for Hart. I most remember him as "Stapleton" in the 1939 HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and have also seen him in TARZAN FINDS A SON!, THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, SON OF LASSIE and PURSUIT TO ALGIERS.
Forrest Tucker, one of my favorite actors, is "Anton Schuff", a Nazi spy posing as an air raid warden. Apart from BOSTON BLACKIE GOES HOLLYWOOD, THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1957), THE GHOST BUSTERS tv series (1975) and TIMESTALKERS (1987), of course I'll always most think of him as "Sgt. O'Rourke", the star of all 65 episodes of F TROOP (which is on my "wanted" list right now).
Matthew Boulton is "Inspector Stephens", who far-too-easily is convinced by the halfwit American cops of Lanyard's guilt. I mostly remember him as "Inspector Gregson" in THE WOMAN IN GREEN.
Kurt Katch is "Gustav Soessel", the head of the Nazi spy ring. His scenes with Lanyard are really INTENSE and have some of the best and cleverest writing in the film, as Lanyard keeps playing up to him to get more info, and later, when Soessel is bragging in the most maniacal way about the "supreme achievement" of his mission in England, and then diabolically REFUSES to admit that Lanyard was really working for England the whole time, adamant that if HE goes down, Lanyard will as well. Katch was a Polish Jew whose early career was in European films, and later was typecast as Nazis when he escaped to America. It seems the only other films I've seen him in were THE MUMMY'S CURSE and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY.
Lloyd Bridges does his 2nd LONE WOLF film, this time as a Nazi spy posing as a nightclub waiter.
And finally, Billy Bevan is "George Barrow", an air raid warden whose life Lanyard saves during a bombing, and in return believes he's innocent and chips in to help when things get REALLY dangerous at the climax! Usually "comic relief" in these kinds of films, it was a delight to see him play a more serious and fleshed-out character for once. His career goes back to 1916, though I've only seen a tiny handful of his films, including A STUDY IN SCARLET (1932), DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO, A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS, REBECCA (1940), DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (1941), THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, THE PEARL OF DEATH, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, and TERROR BY NIGHT.
I wish all of Warren William's LONE WOLF films had been this good!
OnesMedia's DVD-R has excellent picture & sound, though there's these odd sound gaps here and there. I'm guessing that all the damage seen in the newsreel excerpts were already there when the film was made in 1942!
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THE SAINT IN NEW YORK (1938)
THE SAINT vs. The Big Fella (8 of 10)
A crime gang is terrorizing New York City, the police seem helpless, and the head of a "citizens' committee" suggests hiring the services of the infamous outlaw crusader for justice, Simon Templar. Lured away from a potential revolution in South America, he's (secretly!) sworn in by the Police Commissioner and given a free hand (more or less) to track down and eliminate 6 members of the mob, starting with one Jake Irbell, moments after the murder case against him is dismissed due to repeated lack of witnesses showing up. Nobody in the crowd who saw Jake shot noticed that his assassin was dressed as a NUN. One down, five (or more) to go!
Even by the variable standards of Leslie Charteris' original stories, THE SAINT IN NEW YORK was not a normal one! At the time of the novel's release in 1935, it was told as a flashback set around 1932, making it a contemporary of such films as THE PUBLIC ENEMY and SCARFACE. What on Earth possessed RKO to start their series with a film that, from the word go, was destined to be TONED DOWN to get it past the Production Code? And despite how the finished film may well be the single most violent of all the SAINT films ever made for theatres or television, believe me, toned down it WAS!
When I began reading The Saint books in the early 1980s, I was struck by the way Templar's personality in the books had only ever been captured authentically by ONE actor-- LOUIS HAYWARD. There's something very "fantastic" about the way he thinks, talks, acts, that sets him apart from virtually every other literary or film hero ever seen. More than once in the books he jokes about himself as if he's a character in a book. Here he certainly quotes enough literature in between bumping off deserving bad guys. Pretty much EVERY scene he's in, he's totally mesmerizing, his performance raising the level of this unfortunately LOW-budget film far above itself. How much I wish he'd done the rest of the series.
Jonathan Hale is "Inspector Henry Fernack", a tough but frustrated cop whose life Templar saves, and who first admits he could "like" Templar, then winds up agreeing to work with him! "Don't you think the law in its zeal sometimes loses sight of right and wrong?" "It's my job to arrest criminals. Why if an archangel came down to Earth and parked illegally, I'd have to give him a ticket." "Yeah, but a Saint oughta be able to get his ticket FIXED!" I've seen Hale in several Charlie Chan films, and he also played "Mr. Dithers" in the BLONDIE series, but it's Fernack I always remember him for.
The rest of the cast are okay, but most are either flat or cartoony. Charles Halton is "Vincent Nather", the crooked shyster lawyer; Lester Door is Jake Irbell, Templar's 1st victim; Paul Fix is the doorman at the Silver Club, who makes the mistake of letting Templar in; Ben Weldon is "Boots Pappinoff", who is similarly accused of working with Templar and is gunned down in his own car (in a shot I believe was reused in the pilot episode of THE UNTOUCHABLES). Other standouts are Paul Guilfoyle as "Hymie", repeatedly impressed with Templar's eloquence and total lack of fear; Sig Ruman as the German beer-drinking underboss "Hutch Rellin", whose recurring phrase "You was a good boy..." is always a prelude to murder; and Kay Sutton as "Fay Edwards", the mysterious and aloof gun moll who switches sides to Templar for no apparent reason other than her own whims.
It's clear to me that when RKO filmed this, a lot was changed to sneak it past the censors. In the book, Valcross hires AND PAYS Templar to do the killings, completely without the knowledge of the NYC Police Commissioner. (The Commissioner subplot appears to have been borrowed from the earlier novel "Angels Of Doom", where the London Commissioner engages Templar to take down another gang, all the while Inspector Teal has no idea that Templar, who he's chasing, is really working on the same side.) When Templar rescues the kidnapped Violet, he shoots at least 3 men in the living room while coming down the stairs! The kidnapping incident is also played different in the book, as she was apparently snatched not for money, but to send a message to someone who was "getting out of line". Had this film been made 5 years earlier, it might have become a "pre-Code classic", rather than a bizarre anachronism.
I've been reading that it was very popular at the box office. Which makes its current status all the more maddening. It seems no one at the moment is sure of the status of the RKO master, and even when Turner Classic Movies ran it in 2007, they ran a fuzzy 16mm print with VERY LOUD HISSING on the entire soundtrack. It pains me to think that one of my very favorite movies of the last 40 straight years is in such DESPERATE need of a major restoration!
The film can currently be found on DVD from a number of small mail-order outfits, presumably all with prints in the same shape as the one TCM ran. There's also 2 outfits who have box sets of all 9 RKO films-- OnesMediaFilms and Thomas Film Classics. I haven't upgraded to disc yet, but after doing research tonight, I'm not in a great hurry to.
Apart from ...NEW YORK, my personal favorites in the series are ...IN LONDON, ...TAKES OVER, and ...VACATION. Also, the B&W Roger Moore seasons feature what's almost certainly the best acting HE ever did in his entire career, matched with wonderful adaptations of Charteris' short stories. And then there's Vincent Price on the radio-- to me, he doesn't "look" like Templar, but personality-wise, he captures him better than probably anyone ever did!
My other favorite Hayward film is undoubtedly AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, the first and by far the best adaptation of Agatha's Christie's "Ten Little Indians". He's also terrific in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK and SON OF MONTE CRISTO, where he's pitted against villain George Sanders!! (PERFECT casting if there ever was any.)
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THE SAINT STRIKES BACK (1939)
Awkward, Confused Jumble (2 of 10)
After Roger Moore, this was my very first SAINT film with George Sanders. Over the years, he's become one of my favorite actors, and there's quite a few other decent actors in this film. However, this gets my vote for the WORST Saint film ever made-- and let me tell you why.
I sat thru this thing at least 3 times and could not make heads or tails of the plot at all. And then, not long after seeing Louis Hayward in THE SAINT IN NEW YORK, I started reading Leslie Chartis' books. Imagine my surprise and shock when I got to "ANGELS OF DOOM", on which this is VERY loosely based, and not only was it was straight-forward, easy to understand, exciting, entertaining and in places downright hilarious, it also became my favorite novel of all time. It also "explained" to me exactly what was WRONG with this movie!!!
They took a story that by rights should have been done as a 3-hour film (2 at the absolute minimum) and crammed it into just about 60 minutes. Is it any wonder it makes almost no sense at all? Never mind that they also decided to set it in the WRONG country (San Francisco instead of London), they gutted the plot so much that in order to get even the basics across, about 95% of the film is just people standing around talk talk talking.
So the plot structure is awful, the directing is appallingly bad, and half the acting in the film is stiff and lifeless, even from normally very talented actors.
And then of course there's George Sanders, who's COMPLETELY miscast as Simon Templar. I never even really understood the whole aura of "The Saint" until I saw Louis Hayward in action; to date, NOBODY else has ever brought the character to accurate life before (NOT EVEN Roger Moore!! --who usually plays it too SERIOUS, which is mind-boggling when you consider he never took James Bond seriously). The dialog Templar spouts in much of this film would be impossible for ANY actor to deliver credibly, EXCEPT for Louis Hayward, and I doubt even he could have made the story in this one fly. Maybe it wasn't just RKO's low low budget that caused him to depart after only one picture-- maybe he read the script, too.
In all fairness, and despite himself, the next 4 SAINT films all had the dialog tailored specifically to fit Sanders' personality. How else could he have done such an INCREDIBLE job in THE SAINT IN LONDON, or THE SAINT TAKES OVER (the latter of which, an "original" story, is actually a thinly-disguised-- and BETTER-told-- remake of THIS mess! --and with the same 3 actors in the leads!).
Half the actors in this I've seen in other "B" movies from this period, and most of them do far better jobs elsewhere. Truthfully, the only one who comes off unscathed is Jonathan Hale, and you can't help but feel sorry for his Inspector Fernack, for the dizzying way Templar leads him on a confused merry chase, on his way to becoming a "hero" at the end.
As if everything else wasn't so bad, at the end of the film, the "big reveal" as to the true identity of the main villain ALSO is told entirely thru confused dialog, and we find that the baddie got KILLED-- off-screen! I just watched this again today, and the whole time, I wanted to throttle the person who wrote the screenplay!
It's no wonder after 6 RKO films, series creator Leslie Charteris PULLED the plug and took back the rights. Ironically, RKO distributed the 2 British-made films that followed, and simultaneously did THE FALCON series, initially also with Sanders, which was based on a novel that was the subject of a plagiarism lawsuit brought against it by Leslie Charteris! I guess that didn't bother RKO any...
Finally, allow me to recommend much better Simon Templar films...
THE SAINT IN NEW YORK
THE SAINT IN LONDON
THE SAINT TAKES OVER
THE SAINT'S VACATION
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THE SAINT IN LONDON (1939)
The SAINT vs. Bruno Lang (9 of 10)
British Intelligence suspects Bruno Lang of espionage and a plot to run off forged bank notes. Their man Sir Richard Blake recruits Simon Templar to get the goods on Lang and put a stop to it! He's helped by his new American ex-convict sidekick Dugan, rich & beautiful adventuresss Penelope Parker, and even his longtime Scotland Yard nemesis, Inspector Claude Teal, who really is smart enough to know Templar is better off free to round up the real bad guys.
THIS is what happens when a studio actually respects and follows the source material! Following the disastrous ...STRIKES BACK (one of the worst adaptations of any novel I've ever seen), RKO wisely decided to drastically shift gears and adapt a short story, "The Million Pound Day", and actually DO the story with as few changes as possible. The result is something very much akin to the early B&W episodes of THE SAINT tv series 25 years later, only, even MORE authentic! For the first time we get to really see the "world" of Simon Templar-- England, the mews where he has his apartment, the garage with the secret entrance (that allows him to come and go unseen) and the closest we ever got to his on-again-off-again girlfriend Patricia Holm in the form of "Penelope Parker", PERFECTLY played by my #1 favorite SAINT girl, Constance Stevens (alias "Sally Gray")! I've only seen 3 of her films, but I'd love to see more. She returned in THE SAINT'S VACATION (oddly playing a different character) and was most prominent in GREEN FOR DANGER.
Henry Oscar probably gets my vote as the 2nd-best SAINT villain I've ever seen, in the form of "Bruno Lang", a smart, suave, dangerous foreigner, very much the model of a "James Bond" villain 15 years early. I mainly know him from much-later films, including THE BRIDES OF DRACULA, THE LONG SHIPS, MURDER AHOY and WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP.
David Burns is "Dugan", formerly of San Quentin. Early in his literary career, Templar spent time in America dealing with gangsters, and had an affinity for low-end criminals who weren't really bad, just "hungry". He really lights up the story. It's unfortunate we never saw this character again, it seems Burns spent most of his career performing on Broadway.
The other real highlight of the film is Gordon McLeod as "Inspector Claude Teal". Of the many actors who've played the part, McLeod is by far the best. He's smart enough to be a road hazard to Templar's less-than-legal methods, but also smart enough to know when those methods will get the job done more efficiently than sticking to the book. "Inspector Lestrade" he ISN'T. He played Teal 3 times, but ...IN LONDON was the only film that really allowed him to shine.
The rest of the film is crammed with wonderful characters actors, including Athene Seyler as "Mrs. Buckley", who runs the boarding house Simon hides a rescued kidnap victim at and does her wildest to confound Teal; John Abbott (who I mostly remember from both LOST IN SPACE and STAR TREK) as said victim, who unfortunately winds up murdered in an attempt to frame Simon; and Ballad Berkeley as "Blake" of British Intelligence. I knew the name, but he was so young here I didn't recognize that I knew him mostly from FAWLTY TOWERS ("The Major"), TO THE MANOR BORN (Audrey's rich uncle), and 2 60s episodes of SHERLOCK HOLMES ("The Illustrious Client" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles").
I consider this the single BEST "Saint" film EVER made! I'd have given it 10 stars but had to knock one off because of its LEADING man. Yes, that's right! George Sanders is one of my very favorite actors, in so many films and TV shows, he's one of the few people who's highly entertaining in almost anything he does, including, especially villains. But he's just COMPLETELY-miscast as Simon Templar! It's so crazy ironic that RKO briefly had the BEST actor to ever play Templar (Louis Hayward) in only one film, ...IN NEW YORK, but that film was by no means any kind of normal representation of the character or his adventures. However, while the follow-up, ...STRIKES BACK, gets my vote as the single WORST "Saint" film EVER, they really turned things around after that. By the way, see SON OF MONTE CRISTO for perfect casting: Hayward as the hero vs. Sanders as the villain!
THE SAINT IN LONDON is an amazing example of a film that, because it follows the source material, allows a lead actor who's TOTALLY-wrong for the part to shine. Other examples that come to mind would be FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (Sean Connery as James Bond) or the 1982 HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes). Had Louis Hayward done this film, it would have been PERFECT.
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THE GIRL FROM UNCLE: The Little John Doe Affair
Mr. Peepers: Hit-Man For Hire! (9 of 10)
UNCLE negoaitates with a "freelance" gangster who's been in competition with the Mafia his whole career, for info to take them down in exchange for retirement with security. But first, April has to protect him from being BUMPED OFF by the most unlikely of paid assassins, a quiet, low-key, mild-mannered, happily-married church-going pillar of his community.
YES, too many episodes of MAN and GIRL FROM UNCLE during the 1966-67 season got a little too silly. Actually, that goes for almost every adventure show on the air during that season (with the notable exceptions of the 1st seasons of TARZAN, STAR TREK, and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE). But NOT this one! Mark Slate is in the hospital with a broken foot, being nagged by his boss about it, while, somehow fittingly, the hit-man April is keeping a watch for walks with a limp.
The humor this times comes from the situation, and very likely social commentary, that someone so normal might not be what he seems. On the flip side, the career criminal April is protecting also comes across as a VERY nice guy, who's quite taken with both her beauty and her abilities.
A highlight has to be when a knock-down-drag-out fight erupts between the gangster and a hotel waiter working for the hit man, during which April is passing on a report to Mark, and, racing down a hallway to drop off a bomb in the hit man's room.
Pernell Roberts gets my vote for perhaps the most charming guest-star I've seen on this show so far. It was a shame he left BONANZA the way he did, but, clearly he didn't want to get stuck in such a rut for the rest of the decade, and I'm glad he didn't. I need to see more of his work.
On the other side is none other than Wally Cox, who growing up I mostly knew as the voice of UNDERDOG. (I've also seen him in an episode of LOST IN SPACE from this same season, and, the tv-movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER as the man in charge of the newspaper archive who helps Carl Kolchak track down info going back many decades.)
The hit man's wife looked vaguely familar-- turns out, it was Olive Sturgess, who played Vincent Price's daughter (and a young Jack Nicholson's potential love interest) in the Roger Corman film THE RAVEN.
The longer this season went on, the more competant and confident April Dancer became. Maybe seeing less of handsome, smiling Noel Harrison would have been a GOOD thing? Had we seen more episodes THIS good, the show might have lasted more than one season.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The My Friend The Gorilla Affair
JUNGLE BOOGIE (8 of 10)
A mad scientist tries to force the president of an emerging African country to have his people submit to a eugenics-style experiment to turn them into "supermen" who will form an army to do his bidding and take over the entire continent. Meanwhile, a female photographer is searching for her long-missing sister, who, rumors have it, survived the plane crash that killed her parents, and may have been raised by apes. NO, REALLY.
You know, a lot of 3rd-season UNCLE episodes are silly. But this one goes all the way and actually manages to be REALLY F***ING FUNNY! I mean, I was laughing hysterically in a lot of places. Especially when the jungle girl's gorilla friend "Baby" was onscreen. I wound up shouting at my TV-- "It's BOB BURNS!" Well, no, it turns out, I was wrong, it was actually George Barrows (who also performed in a gorilla suit on THE LUCY SHOW and THE RED SKELTON SHOW among others). But I'd swear he was using the same gorilla suit! I was particularly amused when "Girl" told him to "stay", and his gestures clearly showed he was thinking, "Oh, DARN, I wanted to GO!"
I'm just picturing Robert Vaughn-- apparently one of the MOST intelligent people in all of Hollywood-- having to laugh this off, and think to himself, "Can you imagine? I'm actually GETTING PAID to do this?"
The visual difference between indoor studio sets and locations shots were shockingly noticable. How bizarre that THAT, of all things, was what bugged me the most about this story, which was ALMOST (not quite) in 2nd-season LOST IN SPACE territory. How bizarre to think this was done at the same time as Ron Ely's 1st season of TARZAN, one of the few adventure shows that season (along with STAR TREK and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE) that actually did take itself seriously.
What really pushed this over was the guest cast. Arthur Mallet (MARY POPPINS, THE MONKEES, HALLOWEEN, WKRP) was the raving-mad neo-nazi scientist. Percy Rodrigues (STAR TREK: "Court Martial") was the dignified President who absolutely refused to cooperate with the insane doctor. Alan Mowbray (1932's SHERLOCK HOLMES, 1933's A STUDY IN SCARLET and 1946's TERROR BY NIGHT) is a walking British stereotype who's working for the bad guy, tries to murder Ilya and the photographer lady, and yet somehow is allowed to walk away free at the end. Raymond St. Jacques (COTTON COMES TO HARLEM) was Arunda, who I believe was the villain's super-strong henchman (it was hard to tell under the warrior make-up). Joyce Jillson (KOLCHAK: "The Energy Eater") was the photographer, a real sweetie. Vitina Marcus (LOST IN SPACE: "The Girl From The Green Dimension") was "Girl", this story's female version of Johnny Weismuller.
Also outstanding (in a good or bad way, depending on your taste) was composer GERALD FRIED. His score on this varied was very moody to COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS, which is why I actually recognized it was his work. He made this episode feel EVEN SILLIER than it already was!
One had to wonder how Alexander Singer, who had a long, long career of mostly serious TV episodes (including "The Derelict" on LOST IN SPACE) wound up doing what may be the most right-off-the-deep-end UNCLE episode ever made.
Anyway, as I like to say... "FUNNY FORGIVES a world of sins."
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THE SAINT’S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940)
The Confused Doppleganger Affair (5 of 10)
Simon ships a mummy to his old college professor in Philadelphia; however, jewel thieves use it to smuggle diamonds into the country. To make matters worse (if not downright non-sensical), "The Boss" (alias Duke Bates) is a DEAD RINGER for Simon, impersonates him and leaves The Saint's calling cards at the scenes of various uncalled-for murders.
Like a lot of LOST IN SPACE episodes, this one might actually make more sense if one thinks about it more than the writers clearly did, and filled in the blanks. While Simon seems to be finding out about his evil twin as the story goes, Bates was clearly aware of Templar. Did he realize his likeness and decide to use it to his advantage, or did he get plastic surgery for this purpose? I'd lean toward the former, but at a mere hour and 7 minutes, there's no time to ever find out.
More coincidence is piled up when Inspector Fernack is on vacation, decides to visit his old police friends in Philly, but before they can go to a reunion dinner, he's called to the scene of a murder and finds Templar's calling card. And then Simon shows up in his hotel room, presumably eager to enlist Fernack in proving that he's not the killer.
I've long considered this one of George Sanders' "middle" SAINT films. Two are much better than this, one other is about this level of quality, and thankfully, only ONE is far, far WORSE than this (the ABYSMALLY-awful "...STRIKES BACK"). Sometimes, "okay" is fun enough.
Between the 9 feature films, the 120 Roger Moore episodes, the 24 Ian Ogilvys, the 1 Andrew Clarke and the 6 Simon Duttons, this is, in fact, the ONLY Saint film that ever delved into Simon's background and past. (Please note: whatever it's called, the Val Kilmer film is NOT about "The Saint"-- it's actually a loose, UNCREDITED adaptation of Louis Joseph Vance's 1914 Michael Lanyard novel "THE LONE WOLF". I'm NOT KIDDING.) After all these years, I still haven't read most of the earliest stories written by Leslie Charteris, but as Simon is supposed to be "a modern Robin Hood", one thing I knew was that he came from a wealthy family and attended the best schools before embarking on a crazy life of adventure fighting injustice. Here we meet a beloved old college professor and his daughter who once looked up to Simon before he took up what she believes was a "life of crime" (rather than crime-fighting). Among the humor in the story are some very sad, disturbing sequences where the father is needlessly murdered, and the daughter is almost driven into the river in a speeding car. THOSE BASTARDS! Rest assured, BOTH criminals involved GET what's coming to them before it's all over. Simon makes SURE of that.
Apart from Jonathan Hale, who lights up any scene he's in, my other favorite bits in the film involve the 2 stupid henchmen, Limpy & Monk (John F. Hamilton & Elliot Sullivan). They're so delightfully dim-witted, you can't really hate them... well, except for the scene where Limpy tries to MURDER the professor's daughter. I loved the bit where Templar, pretending to be the bad guy, walks up to Limpy, who, after a moment, says, "Hey, wait-- you-- you ain't the boss! You wuz wearin' different clothes!" (It's too bad on the awful WOR Channel 9 print I have it's IMPOSSIBLE to tell the difference.) And then Simon tries to make Limpy open a door, KNOWING his buddies are planning to shoot whoever opens it first (a bit later used in the Howard Hawks mangling of "THE BIG SLEEP").
A novelty bit for me is that this is probably the only film I've ever seen in my life where my home town of Camden, New Jersey is mentioned. I've written so many stories myself that take place IN Camden, watching this film is like seeing one of those from the other side of the river.
Bela Lugosi has a small part as "The Partner"-- a character they never even bothered to give a real name to! This is a shame, as every moment he's onscreen, he impressed me with what a wonderful, subtle actor he was. Whoever said he "never learned English" was full of it! The shame is that he wasn't given a MUCH-bigger role in this picture.
Sanders was NEVER right as Templar; see "SON OF MONTE CRISTO" where he's opposite Louis Hayward for proof of that. But Sanders was SO good, that with the right script, he could make it SEEM he was right. This film wasn't quite that, but it was wedged between 2 others that were.
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I want to once again thank the person who did a review of the 1914 novel THE LONE WOLF. After 24 YEARS, it finally "explained" to me EXACTLY what the HELL went on with that 1998 Val Kilmer movie.
Somebody should have been SUED over that.
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Today: REBECCA (1940)
I first turned this on halfway in on TCM, and within 5 minutes, quickly realized it was the main source for the "1970 Parallel Time" story on DARK SHADOWS... except, WITHOUT any supernatural elements. I soon found it again and watched it from the beginning. I've been watching it every few years ever since.
This is like 3 stories in 1... and that's not the only time this happened in an Alfred Hitchcock film. In 3 acts, it goes from being a love story, to a psychological thriller, to suddenly, a MURDER mystery!
This quickly became my FAVORITE of all his movies, and the last time I watched it (a few years back), it was part of a small Hitchcock marathon, consisting of all his films I had copies of... which, pathetically, is only about 6. (Crazy enough, the generally excellent NORTH BY NORTHWEST is actually my LEAST-favorite of those 6... as I just can't stand all the S*** that keep happening and keeps happening to Cary Grant, and, the way that no-good B****** US intelligence boss played by Leo G. Carroll keeps LETTING it happen. You know, "Alexander Waverly" on UNCLE is almost the identical character, and in more than one episode, one of the main characters said to the other, "Do you ever sometimes wonder WHICH SIDE he's really working for?")
What a fabulous story... what a fabulous CAST... and great locations & sets. Something I NEVER noticed until TODAY, oddly enough-- perhaps because this is the 1st time I watched it on a larger wide screen (than my previous square 20-incher) is HOW MUCH use they made of REAR-PROJECTION for the location shots. When you see people at a distance, or you don't see their faces, it's location shots; but when there's close-ups, or medium close-ups of people walking, REAR-projection. Mostly it's very well-done, but there's at least one shot of Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine walking among the trees where it's BLATENTLY obvious. Hmm.
One thing that always baffles me about this story, is how "Maxim" remains so PAINFULLY oblivious to just how EVIL and MANIPULATIVE the house-keeper "Mrs. Danvers" (Judith Anderson) is. It seems to me, if I were in that situation, I'd have given her an ultimatum: lighten up, clean up your act, improve your attitude, or I'll be ALL TOO HAPPY to "make other arrangements". You can't have ONE employee going around acting like SHE'S the one in charge, instead of the employers. Especially when she winds up trying to convince the man's wife to commit SUICIDE.
This movie reminds me quite a lot of many classic Hammer Films... except, it actually HAS A BUDGET. If there's a Blu-Ray of this out there (particularly if there's some nice extras), I'm sure I'll be putting it on my wanted list one of these days.
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PHANTOM RAIDERS (1940)
Insurance Fraud & Mass-Murder! (5 of 10)
A gangster conspires with the owners of a shipping freight line to collect insurance money by blowing up their own ships. But when they get too greedy and destroy 3 ships in 2 weeks (murdering their entire crews in the process), Scotland Yard tracks down private eye Nick Carter to get to the bottom of it. Insanely, his sometimes-annoying sidekick Batholomew ("the bee man") takes the case for him and then tracks him down in Panama... in fact, Nick's hanging out with a girl named Dolores (who doesn't speak a sensible word of English), in the VERY bar where the villains are operating from! I mean, really... WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
As portrayed by Walter, ehh, Pidgeon, Carter is more interested in chasing women than in stopping criminals or saving lives. What kind of "hero" is this? Until he sets his eyes on a pretty secretary, who almost violently brushes him off while failing to tell him she's engaged. (What is WRONG with some women?) The story is a mix of cleverness, suspense, humor and utter madness, as it seems half the cast is in on the crime, and those who aren't come across as unusually dim. From the start, Carter is suspicious of the bar-owner, who he knew running a racket back in San Francisco, but on getting beat up by Dolores' boyfriend, he wants only to resign the case and leave town... until Bartholomew forges a threatening "Get out of Panama" letter, wraps it around a rock and throws it thru a window at him. Batholomew repeatedly proves FAR more clever and helpful than he was in the previous picture, several times getting Carter out of dangerous or even deadly situations.
The literary character of Nick Carter actually predates Sherlock Holmes, and there were no less than 24 silent NICK CARTER films made from 1908-21. Following an 18-year break, MGM (of all studios) decided to revive the character, but only managed 3 installments, and frankly, I think I can understand why. On the other hand, the radio show with Lon Clark lasted 12 years (1943-55).
Joseph Schildkraut plays Al Taurez, gangster, bar owner, knife-thrower, and one of the most ruthless, cold-blooded murderous villains I've ever seen in any movie. I've also seen him in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION and THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER.
Nat Pendleton is "Gunboat Jacklin", Suarez' bodyguard, who's kept in the dark about his boss's illegal activities, and incessantly annoyed whenever anyone looks at "his" girl (but, does Dolores KNOW she's "his" girl?). I enjoyed him as the ambulance driver in the DR. KILDARE series, but in here, he takes thick-headed to a whole new level. (Pendleton was artist Don Heck's original model for "Happy Hogan" in the IRON MAN comic-book series in late 1963. Every time I see him in one of his films, I always wind up saying, "It's Happy Hogan!")
Cecil Kellaway is "Franklin Morris", the manager of the shipping company, who's horrified at what his business partners have talked him into, and eventually winds up with a knife in his back for it. (I'll always remember him for THE MUMMY'S HAND.)
Matthew Boulton is "John Ramsell, Sr.", the owner of the line, who tries to keep his son from taking command of a ship he knows will be blown up. A regular in the BULLDOG DRUMMOND series, I've also seen him in THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS, TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE, COUNTER-ESPIONAGE, RANDOM HARVEST and THE WOMAN IN GREEN (as Inspector Gregson).
Alec Craig is "Randy MacMillan", an employee of the line who (as far as I can remember) knows nothing about the monstrous scheme. I've also seen him in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT, A DATE WITH THE FALCON, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, RANDOM HARVEST, THE SPIDER WOMAN, and THE HOUSE OF FEAR (1945).
A real surprise was Dwight Frye as "Eddie Anders", who's paid to murder Carter in his bed, but is caught, interrogated and nearly knifed in the back by his employer. He's SO cool, takes SO much effort to talk, and emotes SO much tension with almost no words at all, it really shows what a fantastic actor he was, far more than just a "raving madman" that he was often typecast as. It's really a shame he didn't have a bigger career, and that he passed away far too soon.
The climax of this film is BY FAR the best part. Nick & Bartholomew manage to corral the main villain on board the latest ship scheduled for destruction-- with only a half-hour to go before it happens. The suspense builds and builds, as Taurez REFUSES to admit his guilt. The resolution was brilliant. I only wish Carter had been more on the ball for the rest of the picture.
My Philly Channel 3 copy of this is so fuzzy, no doubt at some point I'll happily get all 3 of Pidgeon's NICK CARTER films on DVD at some point. If nothing else, it'll be nice to be able to hear the dialogue a lot clearer than it was on this 80s broadcast. (I can but hope. You never know what you're gonna find on DVD when it comes to old "B" movies. Or, ehh, any other kind, for that matter.)
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THE NOTORIOUS LONE WOLF (1946)
The Not-So-Comical Lone Wolf (4 of 10)
Back from 4 years of fighting in WW2 for a few hours, and Michael Lanyard is immediately suspected of stealing a rare & valuable gem. Next thing, he winds up accused of murder, and has to find the real culprits to clear himself. So what else is new?
Meeting Jamison at the airport, Lanyard says, "Jamison, you haven't changed a bit!" That's clearly to comment on the fact that while Eric Blore returned as Jamison, Warren William has been replaced by Gerald Mohr-- younger, rougher & more romantic. But also more comical-- or, he would be if the writing in this one wasn't so AWFUL. There's a running gag about Lanyard & his (apparently) serious girlfriend (since when?) Carla Winter being continuously interrupted when they're trying to get romantic, Lanyard & Jamison at one point doing a bad impression of an Abbott & Costello routine, and overall, the entire film somehow looking and feeling like a 3 STOOGES short, except without the Stooges, and with most of it just NOT being funny. Three writers worked on this thing, and it seems it was the only “Lone Wolf” film for any of them. In my book, that was one film too many.
William B. Davidson replaces Thurston Hall as Inspector Crane, and manages to be far less stupid, despite the dodgy material he's given to work with. His career goes back to 1915, but the only things I've seen him in were bit parts in SCARFACE, THE DRAGON MURDER CASE, MAN-MADE MONSTER, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA.
Meanwhile, Eddie Acuff plays cop sidekick "Inspector Jones", a HUGE upgrade from the terminally brain-dead Sgt. Dickens (Fred Kelsey). I’ve seen him in a pile of movies, including THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS (he was a terrible “Spudsy”), THE PHANTOM CREEPS, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, HIGH SIERRA, LADY IN THE LAKE, and he was in a regular in the DR. KILDARE / DR. GILLESPIE film series. Oddly, he has virtually no lines in the film at all, and, Crane & Jones did NOT return in the follow-ups!
Don Beddoe makes his 6th appearance in the series, this time as shady nightclub owner Stonley, having previously been in …SPY HUNT, …STRIKES, …MEETS A LADY, …KEEPS A DATE, …TAKES A CHANCE, making that 3 different cops and 3 different baddies he’s played.
Peter Whitney is Harvey Beaumont, Beddoe’s sidekick. Despite a long career, crazy enough, the only 2 things I remember him for was a deputy in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) and a Mexican bandito in an episode of THE MONKEES!
Janis Carter is Carla Winter, an apparently serious girlfriend of Lanyard’s who waited 4 years for him to come back from the war, yet oddly is never seen in the series again. This entire film gives me the impression that somebody at Columbia wanted to revive the series, but didn’t actually put much thought into how to go about doing it.
John Abbott has a fun but brief role as the aide of a foreign dignitary. He always stands out, whether he in a SAINT film, or an episode of STAR TREK or LOST IN SPACE.
Ian Wolfe is Adam Wheelright, a legitimate jeweler who acts more suspiciously than he should. In a long career including multiple Basil Rathbone SHERLOCK HOLMES films and 2 episodes of STAR TREK, I’ll always most remember him as Lillian Carlson’s delightfully-difficult butler, “Hirsch” on WKRP IN CINCINNATI.
And that brings me to Gerald Mohr, who played a number of baddies in the 40s, including CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, JUNGLE GIRL (I really wanted him DEAD in that one!), and ONE DANGEROUS NIGHT (an earlier installment in this series). But he’s probably better-remembered for THE ANGRY RED PLANET, episodes of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and LOST IN SPACE, and as the voices of Green Lantern & Reed Richards in THE SUPERMAN-AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE and FANTASTIC FOUR cartoons. In recent years, he also became my favorite actor to play PHILIP MARLOWE, on the radio series. Ever since, I’ve felt it was a real crime that he never played Marlowe in a movie or on TV. He blew Humphrey Bogart out of the water! If memory serves, his LONE WOLF films got better as they went. It’s just a shame he started with one this bad. At a mere hour and 4 minutes, it felt a lot longer.
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THE LONE WOLF IN MEXICO (1947)
The Mexican Casino Mystery (6 of 10)
Michael Lanyard takes a vacation to Mexico, where his valet Jamison insists it's time for HIS vacation as well, and he wishes to be treated an as equal. However, the usual pattern emerges when a former flame from Monte Carlo shows up trying to involve him in some shady deal, a croupier at a crooked casino is murdered just when he's trying to hand Lanyard an illegal proposition, a woman in debt plants a jewel in Jamison's pocket as a way of then trying to blackmail Lanyard into helping her, another murder follows, and of course, before long, Lanyard decides to NAIL the real criminals, clear himself, and have loads of FUN doing so!
Let me get this out of the way right here: ...MEXICO is a HUGE improvement over the previous film, THE NOTORIOUS... Gerald Mohr's been one of my favorite actors since first seeing him on TV in the late 60s, and it was infuriating to see him in a film as badly-written as that one was. With this, he comes closer to what I expect from him, and the plot is almost a throwback to the late 30s installments... before Columbia's writers turned Inspector Crane into such a complete IDIOT. The best part of this film, in fact, may be the total absence of Crane, apart from a teletype message FROM him in New York, warning the Mexican Police that Laynard is arriving in Mexico on vacation... he HOPES.
Generally, Eric Blore as Jamison is entertaining, though at times he can be annoying. This time around, he only very briefly got on my nerves, when he was considering stealing a jewel from a woman he was giving a car ride to. Of course, his pride in his own restraint was sabotaged when SHE wound up planting the jewel on HIM, something Lanyard flat-out refused to believe!
Unlike many of these films, for much of the story, I genuinely found myself wondering... "WHAT is really going on?" I liked the fact that it wasn't completely obvious, and actually kept me guessing. The owners of the "somewhat illegal" casino (HOW can something be considered "somewhat" illegal?) seemed mostly legit at first... before it turned out they were up to several different shady things at the same time. It was therefore hilarious, when Lanyard, forced to steal jewels from their safe, then proceded to steal them back from their actual owner, and replace them back in the casino safe, just as the news of the latter theft made newspaper headlines.
I think the most entertaining part of the film, however, had to be Nestor Paiva as Police Captain Carlos Rodriguez. Warned by Crane, he goes to the hotel, whose manager fully expects him to arrest Lanyard, but who he instead welcomes as an old friend he hasn't seen in years. When things start happening, naturally, he questions Lanyard, repeatedly declaring, "I HATE mysteries!", but, even when he's forced to arrest Lanyard at one point, he never really wants to do it, and near the end happily accepts Lanyard's help in catching the real criminals. (By then, they've managed to rack up fraud, theft, kidnapping and at least 2 murders!) I've seen Paiva in so many things, including THE SPIDER'S WEB (1938), PHANTOM RAIDERS, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, MEET BOSTON BLACKIE, TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY, THE FALCON IN MEXICO, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, I THE JURY (1953), CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, and episodes of JONNY QUEST (1964).
Even the finale is fun, as Rodriguez sends a similar telegram to Lanyward's next destination, only one written a lot more positive than the one Crane sent at the beginning.
When TCM ran most of the series back in the mid-2000s, this was not among them. No wonder, even they can't find a decent copy. It is, of course, included in OnesMedia's THE LONE WOLF FILMS COLLECTION (15 films from 1935-1949), but comes with a "warning" about the picture quality. While the opening credits didn't look too promising, most of the film is VERY watchable, and better than some others I've seen thanks to them. I plan on getting a lot more of their box sets before I'm through!
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ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)
GEEZ. I just did some research on this. Seems there's this 2013 Warner Bros. Blu-Ray that is described as VASTLY superior, for both picture and sound, to an earlier 2007 Blu-Ray. I was THAT close to ordering it... when I happened to look over the Blu-Ray_com review of the 2007 disc, and suddenly noticed it said it contained the "rarely-seen original theatrical version". WHAAAAT???
This was a major red flag for me, as for some years now, I've been concerned about which version of the film would be available on disc.
Somewhere (back in the 2000s?) somebody put out a "extended special edition" with 3 EXTRA MINUTES not seen in theatres. Remember when the big networks tried to fight the inroads of cable movie channels, but including OUT-TAKES in their broadcasts of movies? Well, those scenes were CUT for a reason!!!
Back around 2008, I saw the "extended" ETD on TV, and the "added" scenes turned out to be COMPLETELY REDUNDANT. They were either Bruce Lee spouting philosophy (the exact same words as he'd done in various TV interviews), or character exposition that was ALSO included LATER in the film as the story slowly unfolded. Meaning, TOTALLY REDUNDANT. And frankly, I'd seen the film so many times, these additions ruined the film for me, and the thought of them being there has bugged me ever since.
So, it seemed I had a choice of buying a slightly-inferior print of what I wanted... or a slightly-better print of what I DIDN'T want.
Luckily, there's a 3rd alternative. Criterion put out a BOX SET in 2020 (just 2-1/2 years ago!) including BOTH cuts of the film... plus all of Lee's other films. It's called "BRUCE LEE: HIS GREATEST HITS". And for the price, it's like getting each film for about $12 apiece. I can't do it this month... but next month, almost for sure.
I'm not crazy about the box design... but, oh well, it's the contents I'm most interested in.
THIS is why I love doing RESEARCH before doing mail-orders.
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THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: The Suburbia Affair
Granny Goodness in the Suburbs (5 of 10)
A scientist has gone into hiding for 10 years, fearng his discovery will be put to terrible use by the wrong people. Both UNCLE and Thrush are after him, and have infiltrated a recently-built suburban tract to figure out which of its residents is living there under an assumed name. The foul-tempered and intimidating "Miss Witherspoon" is using a method involving altering light frequency to drive the locals slightly mad, hoping it will flush their quarry, who suffers from a very rare medical condition, when he tries to get a very rare drug to deal with it. Unfortunately, the local pharmacist is one of the bad guys.
Robert Vaughn is his usual charming, unflappable self throughout this rather dodgy story, one that could have been a lot better if played just a wee bit more serious. More than ever, one thing that's clear watching this is that Napoleon Solo & Ilya Kuryakin are NOT friends, and really don't like each other. Even John Steed & Cathy Gale got along better than these two.
Writer Sheridan Gibney, who once won two separate Academy Awards for one movie about Louis Pasteur, had to have been the one who came up with this story about a scientist concerned for humanity. Sadly, Stanford Sherman, one of the worst writers on both UNCLE and BATMAN, worked on the screenplay. Maybe he'd have been more at home as a milkman or a breadman (seriously, WHO has JUST bread delivered to their house?).
Victor Borge plays the scientist-in-hiding, and his performance is very much on the same keen level as Vaughn's. The rest of the cast, however, seem to have stepped right off a 60s sitcom, including Herbert Anderson (Dennis The Menace's father), Ray Kellogg (forever typecast as policemen), King Moody (Siegfried's idiot sidekick "Shtarker" on GET SMART), Richard Erdman as "P. T. Barkley"-- some name (I can imagine if this had been made 15 years later, Frank Bonner playing the salesman). Beth Brickell is very sweet as "Betsy Wilson", the "innocent" caught up in all this. (She switched over to producing & directing later on.)
And then there's Reta Shaw, who did this in between MARY POPPINS and THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR. With a face like a brick wall and a personality to match, she always seems to be playing these very aggressive, bossy women, but here she turns it up to "11". A few years later, comics legend Jack Kirby modelled his character "Granny Goodness" on her, and I can't think of anything I've ever seen her in where she was more like "Granny" than in this episode!
You know, in the book on this show, it was mentioned how censors inspired the producers to replace regular guns with "stun guns"... but apart from one or two instances in the 1st season, I haven't been seeing those at all. Both UNCLE and Thrush agents are shooting (and sometimes killing) people in this story like crazy, and they're definitely using REAL bullets. At one point, 2 cops are called about a break-in, but you'd think they'd have showed up a lot sooner with all the gunfire going on!
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MEET BOSTON BLACKIE (1941)
The Safe-Cracker and the Foreign Spies (6 of 10)
Returning from Europe too early following a pearl theft, notorious-yet-charming Boston Blackie is acosted by his "friendly" nemesis Inspector Farraday, who wants to take his downtown for questioning. However, a murder gets in the way, and Blackie has to flee to clear his name of a crime he's never been known for. Before things are over, he runs into a whole ring of foreign spies, unintentionally kidnaps a woman to escape certain death, locks a pair of cops in a high-rise elevator, winds up wanted for two murders, slowly figures out a complex series of codes and just barely manages to hand the spies over to the police before he's arrested by a cop so single-minded and thick-headed all he can think of is sending Blackie to the electric chair. Fun stuff, EHH?
Following a 14-YEAR break, Columbia decided to revive the BOSTON BLACKIE series, with what modern audiences would probably call a "reboot". Unlike too many such series, this one features a pretty stable main cast, with Chester Morris & Richard Lane playing Blackie & Farrady 14 films in a row, while George E. Stone played his sidekick "The Runt" in 12 films (starting with the 2nd installment). Sadly, that kind of consistency was also to a degree a downside to the films, as in each and every movie, Blackie would be accused of some crime, and have to spent the stories trying to clear his name by nailing the real culprits-- and then being accused AGAIN in the following film. I know a lot of police departments these days go out of their way NOT to hire intelligent applicants who can think for themselves, but Richard Lane's Farraday almost manages to make Thurston Hall's Inspector Crane in the LONE WOLF series seem brilliant by comparison. THE SAINT's Inspector Fernack or Inspector Teal were NEVER this stupid! (Well, except sometimes on the Roger Moore tv series.)
I understand that, for some unspecified reason, the Morris BLACKIE films were completely out of circulation for decades, which explains why I grew up and never saw a single one of them, until TCM brought them out of obscurity in January 2007. I taped every one of them I could back then, and am re-watching them now, as part of a much-bigger 1930s-1940s marathon I'm doing with my collection. MEET BOSTON BLACKIE was my 1st exposure to the character, and while there were some good follow-ups, this one may still be my favorite. Among other things, its "formula" hadn't run itself into the ground thru repitition yet, the plot was rather different from most that followed and at times was difficult to guess, and around half the film was NON-STOP high-speed action of the likes one usually didn't see in "B"-movie series.
One very odd thing I might as well point out ahead of time here... a running plot thread in this one is the idea that Farraday has never gotten Blackie's fingerprints, and therefore, presumably, he's never been in prison. Yet a few films later, Blackie is referred to as an EX-CON, totally contradicting this! I'd like to see someone "explain" that.
MEET BOSTON BLACKIE was actually the 12th BLACKIE film made, but the first during the sound era. At the moment, it seems only ONE of the silents is currently in circulation-- the 11th, THE RETURN OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1927), with Raymond Anthony Glenn (alias "Bob Custer") in the lead role. That film seems to have suffered over the years, as at some point it was cut from 77 to 57 minutes. I've seen the shorter version, from Grapevine Video, which has a lot of damage to the print, but a VERY nice organ score. The story, in which Blackie is released from prison and then finds some former associates trying to coerce him back into crime (and failing that, frame him for their crimes) is actually a lot of fun, and, funny enough, like "MEET...", also takes place partly on an amusement pier. The film is also more or less "stolen" by his canine friend, "Strongheart The Dog", who apparently predated Rin Tin Tin as a movie dog hero. I highly reccomend people search this out, and I only wish the other 10 films would turn up one of these days.
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THE SAINT TAKES OVER (1940)
The Saint TO THE RESCUE! (8 of 10)
A gang of criminals involved in fixing horse races have murdered a police officer, and framed his superior, Inspector Fernack, by planting $50,000 in his safe. Suspended, he's determined to do whatever it takes to clear himself. Lucky for him, Simon Templar has decided to help out, with humorous results. Bodies start piling up, and Fernack naturally assumes Templar is the killer, but it gets hilarious when Simon keeps finding Fernack standing over the latest corpse, and although he obviously doesn't believe Fernack is the killer, he has too much fun at his friend's expense, saying, "Oh, HENRY!" Little do either realize that the sister of the murdered officer is the one killing the gangsters and stealing their ill-gotten gains, donating it to her brother's widow, very much in the style that Simon himself did in THE SAINT IN NEW YORK. One could say "The Saint Meets His Match", but this wasn't something the Hayes Office was going to let slide.
My favorite SAINT novel is "Angels Of Doom", in which Simon helps a woman whose police detective father was framed and wound up committing suicide. In that story, there were 3 gangsters involved, and Simon had to convince his new aqcuaintaince that they had to get a confession from one of the crooks before all of them wound up dead. The story was HORRIBLY adapted in THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, a film so AWFUL it gets my vote as the single worst SAINT movie ever made. Well, whatta ya know... just 3 movies later, they decided to take another whack at it, just as there'd been 3 different adaptations of "The Maltese Falcon" in 9 years and 2 adaptations of "Farewell My Lovely" in less time than that. Incredibly, both ...STRIKES BACK and ...TAKES OVER feature the same 3 actors in the lead roles-- George Sanders, Jonathan Hale & Wendy Barrie, but the results are so far superior I rate this as Sanders' 2ND-best SAINT film.
Even the climax, where Simon uses radio equipment to allow the police to overhear the crook's confession, is the same, though done SO much better this time.
Another returning actor in this one is Paul Guilfoyle, this time as "Pearly Gates", a nervous henchman. Suspected of a double-cross by his boss, and suspected by Fernack of being a killer, he's coerced by Templar into going straight. One of his best moments is when Simon & Pearly find Fernack standing over a corpse with a smoking gun in his hand , and Pearly says, "This guy's a mad-dog killer!", a mistaken impression Simon takes great amusement with at Fernack's expense.
The girl in "Angels" got off at the end; Hollywood censorship would not allow such a thing in ...IN NEW YORK or in ...TAKES OVER. I sometimes think it's a shame that the SAINT series wasn't being made in England, instead of America. It's kinda ridiculous when you have a character who spends most of his time in England, yet in 4 out of his 5 SAINT films, Sanders was in The States.
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THE SAINT IN PALM SPRINGS (1941)
The Sinister Stamp Collectors (5 of 10)
Inspector Fernack asks Simon's help transporting a trio of extremely-rare stamps valued around $200,000 from New York City to Palm Springs, California. It seems they were smuggled out of an unnamed country in Europe (no doubt NAZI Germany, Hollywood was very antsy about getting political before WW2 actually broke out), and turning cash into easily-smuggled stamps was the only way the family involved could avoid losing everything they had. But Simon winds up being a lousy bodyguard, as the man he meets is almost immediately murdered, his train compartment is searched en route, and a series of assaults, robberies & murders rack up once he reaches his destination. He gets some help from his old acquaintance "Pearly" Gates, now on probation and working as a hotel detective, who's desperate not to go to prison if and when things start going wrong.
Jonathan Hale's Fernack is only in the story at the start, while Wendy Barrie appears as her 3rd character in the series. I cannot bring myself to believe Fernack would have acted the way he did at the beginning-- putting out a BOGUS arrest order for Templar concerning a NON-existent murder! That's just not his style at all, and gets the movie off on a bad foot. Simon doesn't quite seem himself this time, as he's far too clueless to what's going on around him, who's doing what, and even when cooperating directly with the local police chief, is still blamed for how badly things are going. Plus, his wardrobe is far too average. The only one of the crooks involved with any personality at all is murdered halfway thru by one of the others, and at the end, it's not so much who was the main villain, as how many, as it appears half the guests at the hotel were all part of the gang!
RKO had a really dodgy track record with their SAINT series, pretty much alternating every other film between very good and... NOT. It's come to my attention that, as has been happening too many times for my liking, I've run across two DRASTICALLY-different behind-the-scenes stories about what went on between RKO and SAINT author Leslie Charteris. The current, widely-popular story, is that RKO got tired of paying Charteris so much for the rights to The Saint, and so stopped doing the films and began doing a somewhat-similar (not really) series about the Falcon-- ALSO with George Sanders & Wendy Barrie-- and Charteris sued them for plagiarism. However, this is NOT what I read many years ago!
The story I read started when writer Michael Arlen created a character named "Gay Stanhope Falcon", who appeared in a single novel, "The Gay Falcon" in 1940. Aside from there being an earlier character called "Michael Waring", also known as "The Falcon", created by Charles H. Huff, who appeared in 3 novels from 1936-38, Arlen was SUED by Charteris for plagiarism, which would seem to explain why "Gay" only ever appeared in a single novel. Meanwhile, Charteris was VERY unhappy with how RKO was handling their SAINT series (I don't blame him, only 2 out of Sanders' 5 Saint films are really worth watching), and TOOK BACK the rights. At which point, RKO decided to thumb their nose at Charteris, and began their FALCON series, almost certainly knowing that it was based on a character whose author Charteris had already sued! Charteris, meanwhile, worked out a deal with another studio IN ENGLAND, who produced 2 more SAINT films, both set IN ENGLAND, and which were distributed by RKO (so RKO wound up making money off them anyway).
I'm sure people will argue over this... but the story I just described makes MUCH MORE sense, to me!
Anyway, the biggest problem with ...IN PALM SPRINGS is that's it's DULL. When you have an actor as terrific as George Sanders and somehow manage to make a movie this boring, there's obviously a problem. The next installment would be a HUGE improvement... in my view!
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THE SAINT’S VACATION (1941)
The SAINT vs. Rudolph Hauser! (9 of 10)
Simon Templar promises his old college chum Monty Hayward a relaxing vacation in Europe, but the press are sure he's onto something big. So much so that reporter Mary Langdon follows him over half of France & Switzerland before catching up with him at a hotel. Well, Simon may have meant what he said, but no sooner does Mary arrive than Simon crosses paths with his ARCH-NEMESIS, Rudolph Hauser, and when he sees a man being attacked in the woods, he can't help but stick his nose in. Next thing, he finds himself between 2 different groups trying to get their hands on a mysterious box containing who knows what, which leads to a murder in his hotel, a confrontation at Rudolph's castle home, a chase on board a speeding train, an escape from a small local jail, a kidnapping, a rescue, and finally being arrested by the British police on returning to England. Just another typical adventure for "THE SAINT"!
My GOD, what a serious, MAJOR upgrade this film was to its predecessor! Made by the newly-formed RKO Radio British Productions and filmed entirely in England, it returns Simon Templar to his natural environment, recasts the part with someone who actually looks right for the role, and give us, instead of another dreary crime story, an actual ADVENTURE, which is the sort of thing RKO in Hollywood should have been doing from the start but NEVER did!
Contrary to several comments, this film was not a swipe of THE LADY VANISHES (1938) or its source novel "The Wheel Spins" (1936) but was in fact adapted from Leslie Charteris' novel "Getaway" from 1932! Any complaints about the lack of Nazis or World War Two can be put down to this being adapted from a story written 9 YEARS earlier. (Not every film adaptation is or should be "updated" to the year it was filmed. I really wish more "classic" characters would be presented in their authentic time as "period pieces".)
Hugh Sinclair takes over as Simon, and is insanely-relaxed regardless of the situation, but also good in a fight. He's a bit skinny for the part, but the only thing that actually bothers me is his moustache-- The Saint should ALWAYS be clean-shaven! I've seen a photo of him from some other film, where he looked more right than he does here.
Arthur Macrae is Simon's pal "Monty Hayward". Unlike a number of Simon's sidekicks, this guy is NOT an ex-con who's decided to go straight, but clearly someone Simon probably went to college with. He's such a "Nervous Nellie" I'm sure he's bound to get on the nerves of most modern audiences, but you have to take into account when these characters were created. I've also seen Macrae in SILVER BLAZE (1937) opposite Arthur Wontner's Sherlock Holmes.
Sally Gray, my FAVORITE "Saint girl", plays relentless girl reporter Mary Langdon, who proves handy in some tough situations. It's very odd that both SAINT films she appeared in were based on stories that originally featured Simon's sometimes-girlfriend Patricia Holm, and would have been PERFECT in the role, but both times was playing other people!
Gordon McLeod makes his 2nd appearance as Inspector Teal, but only in a brief cameo at the end, seeming rather disappointed that Templar wasn't being charged with anything. As it turns out, this was the 2nd story he was in where Templar wound up doing a favor for the British government-- although this time, he didn't tell them that until the whole case was over with!
Amazingly, the person who completely STEALS the movie is Cecil Parker. As "Rudolph Hauser", he's my FAVORITE Saint villain, a guy so smooth, so suave, so cool, so calculating (yet not shy when it comes to murdering people himself when the situation calls for it), he is this series' equivalent of a BOND villain, decades early! This story is also the ONLY time in the RKO series where we see a baddie with a genuine "villain hideout", in the form of Rudolph's castle. Something I didn't realize for many years was, the character of "Prince Rudolph" was the main villain in 3 different novels-- "The Last Hero", "The Avenging Saint" (alias "Knight Templar"), and "Getaway"-- and I've READ the first 2, but never the 3rd! I really need to make up for that. Realizing this now, and re-watching the film, I feel it's downright CRIMINAL that RKO spent so much time doing tedious crime stories when they should have been adapting Charteris' ADVENTURE novels. My estimation of some of these has altered a bit over the decades, and right now, I'd rank this as the 2nd-best in the series (right after ...IN LONDON).
There's some great dialogue in this, including... "What am I under arrest for?" "Murder!" "Oh, is that all?" ...and... "I'm not as stupid as you think I am!" "That practically impossible."
It's a shame they only did 2 SAINT films in England with Sinclair, and judging by the release date of the 2nd one, I'd guess the abrupt end of the series may have had something to do with WW2 being officially declared at that point. I'd have loved to have seen a DOZEN of them as good as this one was.
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THE GAY FALCON (1941)
The gay-and-witty FALCON (7 of 10)
Gaylord Laurence, a famous globe-hopping adventurer, has apparently fallen in love and promised his VERY bossy fiancee that he'll give up crime investigations-- and other women-- and settle down with a real job, as a Wall Street Broker. Well, bored out of his mind, that doesn't last long, as he's invited to a society party given by a female socialite whose parties tend to have jewelry being stolen at them. Next thing, he & his ex-convict sidekick Jonathan "Goldie" Locke are mixed up in theft, murder, and the usual stuff one finds in 1940s "B" mystery movies.
Depending on who you ask, Leslie Charteris was getting fed up with how badly RKO was treating his character THE SAINT, took back the film rights, and then made a deal with the brand-new RKO British Productions to do SAINT films more in line with his stories. RKO looked around for a replacement series, and settled on THE FALCON. But this is a bit odd. Charles H. Huff (under the name "Drexel Drake") created the character of "Michael Waring"-- alias "The Falcon"-- who appeared in 3 novels from 1936-1938. But then, Michael Arlen created another character, "Gaylord Falcon", also known as "The Falcon", who appeared in a single novel in 1940. And RKO decided to adapt THAT novel... despite (from what I've read many years ago) Charteris having already SUED Arlen for plagiarism! I can't be sure what the truth is under these circumstances. Did Charteris sue Arlen-- or RKO-- or BOTH? In any case, many have insisted (with some justification) that RKO's FALCON series was "very similar" to RKO's SAINT series, so it would seem RKO was giving Charteris the middle finger. As it happens, the movie THE GAY FALCON came out (you'll pardon the expression-- HEEHEE) 5 months after RKO British's THE SAINT'S VACATION with Hugh Sinclair. In my view, BOTH films in very different ways were major steps UP from the earlier THE SAINT IN PALM SPRINGS, which, along with THE SAINT STRIKES BACK and THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE, were all dire enough for me to well believe Charteris was unhappy with RKO.
George Sanders returns (well, SORT of) as "Gaylord Laurence", who, while he may be imitating Simon Templar to a degree, strikes me as a rather "low rent" imitation. He's just not as stylish or classy or, dare I say it, "crazy" as Templar should be-- but then, Sanders' Templar almost never was. Here, he's got a fiancee, yet flirts with every woman in sight right in front of her, and she vacillates between angry-as-hell and utterly-forgiving. Between that and her general bossiness, I'd have never gotten involved with someone like her to begin with.
Allen Jenkins STEALS the picture as "Goldie Locke", the patented comedy sidekick, wanting to stay out of trouble, never being able to, getting found at the scene of a murder not once but TWICE, and harrassed mercilessly by the cops, even after they figure out he's too dumb to be guilty. Jenkins was a highlight of several of the PERRY MASON films, and if anything, he's even funnier here. He remained a highlight in the first 3 films, but strangely was not in the 4th one at all-- and, the character was repeatedly recast in all the subsequent sequels!
Willie Fung, perpetually typecast as Chinese butlers, waiters, ship stewards, and the like, is "Jerry", Gay's butler. After reading some 25 SAINT books, it struck me that Simon Templar often had a regular butler, but, you ALMOST never saw one in any of the films or TV series! This might be a case of the FALCON being more true to the SAINT books than the SAINT movies, which would lend credence to the idea of Charteris suing the studio. Like Goldie, Jerry was apparently played by a different actor EVERY time the character appeared. Was it too much to ask for consistency?
Speaking of which... Arthur Shields (younger brother of Barry Fitzgerald) is fabulous as Gay's cop friend "Inspector Mike Waldeck", who has no trouble wanting to arrest Gay or Goldie whenever trouble erupts, but is smart enough to know that they're PROBABLY not the ones he's really after, and also smart enough to let Gay point him at the real culprits. That puts him more on a level with Inspectors Fernack & Teal from the SAINT series, and miles ahead and above Inspectors Crane or Farraday from the LONE WOLF and BOSTON BLACKIE series (both of whom were outright MORONS). I've seen Shields in THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, RANDOM HARVEST, LASSIE COME HOME, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL, and as the host of YOUR SHOW TIME. Shields was so good in this, it totally baffles me that he was replaced in the follow-up by the equally-fabulous James Gleason, playing apparently the identical character, who was oddly renamed "Mike O'Hara".
Ed Brophy is "Detective Bates". I've seen him in many things, including THE THIN MAN, THE SOLDIER AND THE LADY, CALLING PHILO VANCE, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and sometime after this, he would play Goldy Locke in 2 later FALCON films. But, like "Mike", "Bates" would be recast with Edward Gargan in the 2nd film.
Eddie Dunn is "Detective Grimes". Funny enough, he WOULD return in the sequel!
Hans Conreid plays the police sketch artist, and in a very brief scene, ALSO nearly steals the picture. This is a film over-flowing with fun and funny writing. Conreid returned in the next 2 films, but each time playing a different character. Of course, I'll always remember him as Disney's "Captain Hook" and as Jay Ward's "Snidely Whiplash".
Nina Vale (alias Anne Hunter) plays Gay's loud, bossy, over-the-top, and possibly BI-POLAR fiancee. Oddly, she only has 4 credits to her name at the IMDB.
And then there's Wendy Barrie, making her 4th appearance with George Sanders-- RKO must have loved teaming them up. While at times she seems hooked on speed or some other form of uppers, her character here, "Helen Reed", is actually the NICEST of the 4 she played opposite Sanders, and wound up coming very much in handy as a self-appointed sidekick. A one-time real-life girlfriend of Bugsy Siegel (NO KIDDING!) she was also the real-life inspiration for the character of "Wendy Darling" in the PETER PAN story. (NO KIDDING!!!)
In addition, there's also Turhan Bey, who I'll always remember as George Zucco's protoge in THE MUMMY'S TOMB, and Gladys Cooper, who I'll always remember as Henry Higgins' mother in MY FAIR LADY.
This was one REALLY fun movie, and, as others have pointed out, the mystery plot even made sense. There's a moment near the end where Gay ties up a dangling plot point mystery from halfway in the movie, and when he mentioned it, I wound up yelling at my TV! It's always nice when you can see that the writers are actually paying attention to the story they're doing.
I find it ironic that, when I was taping these off local Philly commercial channels decades back, this was actually the LAST of the Sanders / Conway films I wound up seeing. I just got it again as part of the Onesmedia FALCON box set (ALL 16 films in one compact place!), and the picture quality is pretty good (apart from recurring sparkles and streaks) while the sound is VERY clear. I'm looking forward to working my way through the whole box, and comparing the quality against my decades-old videotapes.
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THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER (1941)
The Million Pound Gold Heist (7 of 10)
A dead man on his doorstep leads Simon Templar-- AND Inspector Teal-- to Cornwall, in search of a gang who made off with a MILLION pounds in gold. Simon takes a cottage while he's there, and at a social gathering, acts like he knows far more than he does to make the baddies nervous and draw them out. Teal, meanwhile, goes undercover posing as a geological professor, and while he's ever suspicious of Templar, he's stymied by not wanting to blow his cover. Simon winds up spending half his time flirting with a local girl, Patricia Holm, who winds up joining his crusade to nab the bad guys and uncover the stolen gold. Eventually, it all leads to an amusing run-around on a huge yacht, a couple of red herrings, Simon learning the identity of the gang's leader, and finally revealing to Teal that he IS going to "get away" with the gold. "But you CAN'T DO THAT!" (Oh YES he can-- the same way Thomas Banacek did in every one of HIS stories-- heh.)
If I get this right, RKO British Production made this film, but due to a dispute between RKO in America and author Leslie Charteris, while it was released in England in December 1941, it wasn't until July 1943 that Republic Pictures finally released it in America. I suppose this explains why they didn't make any more after this. What a shame! Based on Leslie Charteris' 1st SAINT novel, "Enter The Tiger" (1928!), this film simply looks and feels more like a "real" SAINT story than almost anything else in the RKO series, and actually feels like a Roger Moore SAINT episode, 20 years EARLY! It has a VERY "English" look and feel to it-- viewers will enjoy it or not based on their liking or lack thereof for such things. I've seen this film multiple times since the 1980s, and I must admit, I NEVER quite enjoyed it as much as I did tonight. Perhaps my tastes have been continuing to evolve over the years.
Hugh Sinclair is TERRIFIC in this film-- so relaxed, so witty, so CONFIDENT, even in the most insane or dangerous situations. In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!
Gordon McLeod makes his 3rd and biggest appearance as "Teal", and he just about steals the picture. Simon dances a fine line with him in this story, telling him if Teal "lets him have his fun", he'll deliver the bad guys to him, but also never quite telling him how. The funniest moment in the story has to be when Teal has Templar arrested for murder, then, an hour later, laughs himself silly revealing that he never did think Simon was guilty. These two have a very strange "friendship", if that's what you'd call it.
Wylie Watson is "Horace", Simon's butler, who wonders if he made the right decision turning down a job with a Chicago gangster. The only other thing I've ever seen him in was the offbeat comedy WHISKEY GALORE (1949).
Jean Gillie is "Patricia Holm", who turns out to be far more help than most girls in these things. In the books, she was Simon's on-again-off-again sometimes-steady girlfriend, and it's sad that this is the only time she ever appeared onscreen. Ironically, the character of Pat was in both "The Million Pound Day" and "Getaway", adapted as THE SAINT IN LONDON and THE SAINT'S VACATION-- but both films had Sally Gray, playing 2 different characters, instead of Pat-- and she'd have been PERFECT in the role! Well, Gillie is no Sally Gray... but, she's nice enough, and the presence of both Pat and Horace makes me really wish they'd done a whole long series of these things in England after this one.
The only other actor I really know in this one is Clifford Evans, who plays Pat's friend "Tidemarsh", the local newspaper reporter... who also turns out to be the film's MAIN villain. The audience is clued in on this quite early, while apparently, his identity was not revealed in the book until the very end. This reminds me of how the "007" film DR. NO totally gave away the main plot while Bond was still in M's office, instead of keeping it a mystery until 3/4ths of the way in. Long before I saw this film, I saw Evans on THE PRISONER as the "Number Two" who oversaw the mind-transfer story in "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling".
Someone mentioned a body on the hero's doorstep coming from "The Maltese Falcon", but that book came out in 1930, 2 years after "Enter The Tiger". Meanwhile, I noticed a line where Simon says "I keep collecting guns", a line very similar to one Humphrey Bogart said as Philip Marlowe in THE BIG SLEEP (1944 / 1946)-- but that book came out in 1939! The bookcase hiding the entrance to an underground tunnel also turned up in the film A STUDY IN SCARLET (1933), but, the book that movie was based on, "Six Dead Men", came out in 1931! Seems to me other writers made a habit of swiping from Leslie Charteris (and NOT just Michael Arlen-- heh).
At the end, Simon tells Pat, "Halfway around the world there's a crook with a lot of money, and I'm going to have a lot of fun with him!" What a shame we had to wait so long to see The Saint onscreen again after this!
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CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1941)
The Counterfeit Statue Caper (5 of 10)
Crooks copy a statue worth $50,000 to sell at auction and defraud the owner. When she realizes something's wrong, an attempted murder goes astray, and Boston Blackie, who just happened to be in the auction room, is wrongfully accused by Inspector Farraday, who never once figured out or admitted that Blackie had actually gone straight.
Many have rightly compared the BOSTON BLACKIE and the LONE WOLF series from Columbia, as both feature reformed thieves forever accused of whatever crime happens by the same IDIOT policemen in film after film. The main difference is in tone, as BLACKIE tends more toward ridiculous comedy and non-stop high-speed action. I'd compare the difference to that between, say, THE 3 STOOGES and THE MARX BROTHERS, with BLACKIE being the former!
Chester Morris, with his square jaw, intense eyes and ever-smiling grin, was the 10th actor to play Boston Blackie on film, but he did 14 movies in a row, plus episodes of the radio show! That's pretty consistent for a "B"-movie series from this era. As others have said, he's always the smartest person in any room... but sometimes, I wish the screen-writers didn't go to such extreme lengths to make nearly everyone so jaw-droppingly STUPID!
Richard Lane has the thankless job of playing "Inspector Farraday", who may well get my vote for the DUMBEST lead cop in any of these series. It just goes beyond any level of reason that anyone could watch someone like Blackie help the police solve crimes, over and over and over, yet still continue to accuse him of all sorts of things, never on actual evidence but just on the basis of a terminally-misguided grudge. Like Morris, Lane was in all 14 of Columbia's BLACKIE films.
George E. Stone, who was one of the henchman in Howard Hawks' SCARFACE, debuts as Blackie's pal "The Runt". Replacing Charles Wagenheim from the previous film, Stone would do no less than 12 BLACKIE films in a row.
Lloyd Corrigan is "Arthur Manleader", a rich, middle-aged playboy who somehow became good friends with Blackie. At times it's a toss-up as to who's the bigger "comic relief" character, him or The Runt. He returned in several later installments.
Walter Sande is "Detective Matthews", Farraday's sidekick, and the best thing I can say is, he's NOWHERE NEAR as dumb as "Detective Dickens" in the LONE WOLF series is. Sande played a random cop in the previous films, then (presumably) debuted as Matthews here, and managed 5 films in a row before moving on. His resume shows he was perpetually typecast playing cops and the like.
Harriet Hilliard is "Diane Parish", the owner of the statue who's the target of the thieves, in more ways than one. She spends part of the film believing Blackie is pretty rotten, but then comes to realize the truth. I suspect Hilliard was basically playing herself in this film, as she just comes across as very sweet and considerate; I can see why Ozzie Nelson fell in love with her!
Joan Woodbury is "Mona", an old flame of Blackie's who intrudes in the story claiming to be his wife (she isn't) and demanding blackmail money ("or else"). When things don't go her way, she proceeds to completely trash Blackie's apartment single-handedly, as The Runt stands by watching helplessly. What on Earth would Blackie have ever seen in this CREATURE (heh)? I've seen Woodbury in a whole lot of films, and every time I see her, I can't get over how much she resembles Mary Woronov, who also had a way of making such strong impressions, decades later.
The climax of the story, in which the heroes, the baddies AND the cops all suddenly find themselves trapped in a seemingly-inescapable underground death trap (yeah, how did a place like this ever get past building code inspectors?) seems as if it was tacked on just to extend the running time of the film, as without it, it would certainly have been under an hour. The funny thing that crossed my mind was, the large wooden scaffold in the underground room looks EXACTLY like the one in Roger Corman's THE HAUNTED PALACE. Could it possibly have been a leftover prop Corman reused more than 20 years later? In Hollywood, you never know.
The only thing about this film that really got on my nerves, to be honest... was THE COPS. And in this instance, I don't just mean Farraday. I mean, EVERY single cop in this film is portrayed as intrusive, abusive, and in many scenes, just total A**H***s. The tragic thing is how much this genuinely reflects police in REAL LIFE-- then, AND NOW. Maybe the screenwriters had a grudge and this was a way of getting it out there? I note this film was released the day after Pearl Harbor. In one scene, a character says to a policeman, "You have a lot of GESTAPO in you." No kidding.
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In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!
If you think that's bad, how about the Van Dyke beard they gave Simon in the Saint newspaper strip? Egad!
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In fact, I only have 3 criticisms of him in this film: his hair doesn't look right, his CLOTHES look too casual, and... that moustache. OH dear!
If you think that's bad, how about the Van Dyke beard they gave Simon in the Saint newspaper strip? Egad!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
Yes, I've never read any of those, but, I have SEEN some art samples.
Most of the reviewers at the IMDB seem obsessed with George Sanders. Now, over decades, yes, he's become one of my favorite actors. He's one of the few people I can think of who is FUN to watch, whether he's playing a good guy, or a REALLY ROTTEN baddie, or, someone in between (see REBECCA or ALL ABOUT EVE).
But while I do think ...IN LONDON and ...TAKES OVER are 2 fantastic films (I'd even rate ...IN LONDON as the best Saint film EVER made!), HE is just not "right" for the part, and it's a tribute to his talent and charisma that with a decent script, he can make you wanna forget that... the same way Tom Baker & his co-stars did in the 1982 HOUND. (Holmes, Watson AND Sir Henry, ALL totally mis-cast... yet, all 3 do AMAZING jobs in their roles! That's really something.)
My main criticism of Hugh Sinclair since I first saw him in the 80s was that he was TOO SKINNY. Plus, the moustache. (And I've seen a photo of him from some other movie, clean-shaven-- MUCH better!) But he is SO DAMNED GOOD in ...VACATION, I currently rate that as the 2nd-best in the series. Both his hair and his wardrobe are better in there. That's what bugs me-- they got those right in his debut film, how did they screw them up in the follow-up? ;D
Simon should always be wearing the sharpest clothes, but his suit looks too casual in ...TIGER, and it his jacket seems a couple sizes too big for him. (Don't tell me he lost weight between installments? heehee)
I've long been saying, good writing gets better over time, bad writing gets worse. So it was PAINFUL to sit through ...STRIKES BACK this time... but ...TIGER was a real surprise, I enjoyed it more than I ever did before. And I really was not expecting that.
It's probably part of the reason that night, before falling asleep, I went ahead and read a whole Saint novella. And the whole time, I kept hearing a Scottish accent for Teal. ;D
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For the record, here's Doug Wildey's bearded Saint in full regalia:
(https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B2%2F2%2F8%2F4%2F7%2F22847199%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D)
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You know, that kinda looks like George Sanders! ;D
OH MAN! Doug Wildey!!
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Another film on my wanted list: SON OF MONTE CRISTO.
The hero is played by Louis Hayward!
The villain is played by George Sanders!!
Perfect casting.
And when I was re-reading my TINTIN comics the other year... it hit me that the villain in both "King Ottokar's Sceptre" and "Explorers On The Moon"... looked EXACTLY like Sanders, from that movie!
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYWFiNzA5ODktMDZkOS00ZTJiLWIwNWQtMzdlOTI2ODg0OTk1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjU4NzU2OTA@._V1_.jpg)
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Yo-ho-ho And A Bottle Of Rum Affair
The Tidal Wave Machine Affair (7 of 10)
A broken-down freight ship is transporting a machine that can cause tidal waves all over the world. Ilya is caught as a stowaway, and winds up, to a degree, gaining the confidence of the drunken Captain, while Solo tries to get the location the device will be used at from a Thrush woman whose other job is a lounge singer. The funniest moment has to be when Solo finds out that she's figured out his identity long before SHE started to seduce HIM.
Based on the title alone, I was expecting another really idiotic episode... but that's not WHAT what I saw here! Somehow, this episode feels like it could have been one of the better ones from season 2-- or even, left over from season 1. It was funny in spots without being stupid, and Ilya's behavior toward the Captain in mid-story reminded me of my own job as a home health aide trying to be sympatheric and helpful to someone who's problematic, but still could use sympathy. Sometimes, it pays off-- and it certainly did here.
Dan O'Herlihy as "Captain Morton", the afforementioned drunk, really did a heck of an acting job here. If I didn't know who he was, I might never have recognized him as the same guy who was the main villain in HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH.
Kevin Hagen was his usual despicable self as the never-named head Thrush agent. I wonder if this guy ever got tired of almost always playing these kind of bad guys, as he did for 2 seasons on LAND OF THE GIANTS?
Eddie Quillan was "Scotty MacPhearson", the over-the-hill ship's engineer who seems more in love with his engines than he does common sense. He had an amazingly long career playing mostly bit parts, but I recognized his name from THE MANDARIN MYSTERY (1936), where he was the 2nd actor to ever play Ellery Queen!
A very familiar face for me was Robert DoQui, who played "Hank", Scotty's assistant in the engine room. I've seen him in several episodes of DAKTARI and TARZAN, as well as many other shows.
Peggy Taylor was Thrush agent "Jenny Janus", who seemed to have as much or more fun with Solo as he did with her. Aside from acting and being a TV announcer, she was also a singer on Stan Freberg's radio show. I guess that means she was doing her own singing in the night club scenes!
When I see some of the things that Mr. Waverly puts Solo & Kuryakin through in these stories, I wonder if UNCLE wasn't under-funded and under-manned. He often comes across as far more sympathetic toward normal people than he does his employees, as seen in the finale where he reveals he's had Captain Morton's earlier court-martial case reviewed and overturned-- and then offers him a job! There's usually a fine line between "funny" and "stupid", and I wish UNCLE had leaned toward "funny" more often. I'd rate this as one of the best episodes of season 3, and that was quite a surprise!
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THE SAINT (1997)
The LONE WOLF (7 of 10)
An orphan grows up to become a professional thief. He runs afoul of a criminal organization who coerces him to steal something for them. He winds up falling in love with his victim, and decides to reform, taking down the baddies in the process.
First things first: I loved this movie. I saw it in theatres twice, and bought the videotape when it came out.
Second: I fell in love with the character played by Elisabeth Shue in this film. It was very personal for me, because the personality of the character she played reminded me more than anyone I’d ever seen of a girl I was actually in love with when the film came out, who tragic circumstances prevented me from being with.
Third: I thought the character played by Rade Serbedzija, "Ivan Tretiak", totally out-ranked every single Bond villain ever seen onscreen. It’s only recently I came to realize that he may may well have been modelled on real-life Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
That said, this movie has always had some MAJOR things wrong about it. MAJOR.
THE SAINT was one of a number of Hollywood films in the 80s & 90s featuring classic characters that, for reasons that make absolutely ZERO sense to me, decided to concoct brand-new "origin" stories for their characters, that had absolutely NOTHING whatsoever to do with the characters the films were allegedly about! The others were CONAN THE BARBARIAN (which I found dull, slow, depressing, and boring as hell) and THE SHADOW (whose new origin completely ruined what for me had been an otherwise very well-made and highly-entertaining movie).
In the case of THE SAINT, Simon Templar had become, in the 1980s, my #1 favorite fictional character. In the books, he is, essentially, "a modern Robin Hood". He comes from a well-to-to family, went to all the best schools, surrounded himself with a circle of like-minded friends, and dedicated his life to the the pursuit of justice, almost always at the expense of "law and order".
Basically, the character in this film IS NOT "Simon Templar". AT ALL!
Even the way that the name "Simon Templar" in the film is an alias the character came up with, whereas in the books, "Simon Templar" is his REAL name.
For many years, this bothered me. When I look online, it continues to bother me that so many people will complain about how they made "so many changes"—usually while being unaware that what’s onscreen is so completely "wrong".
It was only this past year I finally found out EXACTLY what they did when they did this film. It’s not that they made "so many changes". It really isn’t. It’s that they FAITHFULLY ADAPTED THE WRONG SOURCE MATERIAL!
This film is actually a rather-faithful adaptation of Louis Joseph Vance’s 1914 novel "The Lone Wolf", the 1st of 8 novels to feature "Michael Lanyard" between then and 1934. There were 24 films between 1917-1949, as well as a radio series in 1948 and a tv series in 1955. Like the character in this 1997 movie, "Michael Lanyard" was an assumed name. The film also shares in common with the 2006 Daniel Craig film CASINO ROYALE that it faithfully adapts a classic novel while adding many new elements, and UPDATING the action to the present day!
Now, if you can imagine that 2006 film being presented as a movie about "Matt Helm"… while in fact adapting Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel… you see the problem.
I’ll say it again: the character played by Val Kilmer IS NOT "Simon Templar". AT ALL.
Considering that, legend has it, SAINT author Leslie Charteris once sued RKO Pictures for plagiarism, because their FALCON series was so similar to their own SAINT films… somebody should have been SUED over this.
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It was someone at the Comic Book Plus message board last year who did a review of the 1914 novel "The Lone Wolf". As soon as I read the plot description, I recognized it as the source of this 1997 movie. Unfortunately, the 1917 film is considered "lost". But I do have the 1919 sequel on DVD.
This also reminds me of the what went on with the 1933 film "A STUDY IN SCARLET". Many people at the IMDB complain it has nothing to do with the Arthur Conan Doyle novel, and they're right. But only ONE person at that site made note of what it actually WAS... an adaptation of the 1931 Stanislas-André Steeman novel "Six Hommes Morts". (He mentioned it in the "trivia" section, but not in a review. I put it in my review. But then the IMDB refused to let me add it to the "connections" section.) The cheap studio had paid for the name of Doyle's novel, but not the story-- then told their screenwriter to "come up with something else". But what he did, was RIP OFF a different novel-- uncredited, and, I'm sure, UNPAID. I have 3 different film adaptations of that one novel now, one each from the US, UK and France (1933, 1935, 1941), and all 3 are fun films.
I think it's crazy that right now, I feel like I'm the ONLY person online who realizes what the actual source of this movie is. And even the guy who clued me in, didn't make the connection!
I think the comment I made in my review about CASINO ROYALE was particularly on-target. Many have complained about how Daniel Craig's "James Bond" doesn't feel like the character at all. And 99% of them, I bet, are basing that entirely on the film series.
Well, I say he doesn't remind me of the BOOK version of the character, either-- and I've read all of Fleming's stories (and, the newspaper strip as well).
It struck me that I once read that the book version of "Matt Helm" was a hard-nosed, cold-blooded, emotionaless killing machine. That certainly ISN'T what audiences got in those idiotic Dean Martin movies in the 60s. (Or the Tony Franciosa TV series in the 70s.) But it seems to me, that description does seem to fit Daniel Craig's Bond. I think it may be safe to say that with VERY few exceptions (notably, George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton), the Bond films NEVER gave us an "authentic" Bond-- and it's mainly because, the producers NEVER wanted to.
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A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1942)
The Diamond Formula Caper (5 of 10)
A scientist who's developed a method for creating artificial diamonds for industrial use that are indistinguishable from real ones is kidnapped. While Gay Falcon plans to elope with his fiancee Helen Reed, his old pal Detective Mike O'Hara wants his help solving the case. When the crooks, led by unscrupulous femme fatale Rita Mara (who Gay knew years before in Europe) see him chatting with O'Hara, they mistakenly believe he knows more about what they're up to than he does (or wants to). Next thing, he's repeatedly dragged against his will (often at gunpoint) into the case, the cops believe he's involved in a murder (or at least, pretend to), and his fiancee repeatedly goes ballistic and full-on bipolar, not being able to decide if she wants to leave him, kill him or kiss him. And while this is going on, sidekick Goldy just tries to keep up, while Detective Bates actually does better figuring things out than his boss!
What a crazy film. Part detective mystery, part slapstick romantic comedy. Lots of fun, provided you're not too particular and don't try to think too much.
The 2nd of RKO's "FALCON" series based on Michael Arlen's one-and-only "Gaylord Falcon" novel sees 4 of the regulars from the 1st film returning, while a 5th actor (Hans Conreid) returns to play his 2nd of 3 different characters in 3 films.
George Sanders is "Gay Lawrence", now out of the brokerage business and engaged, determined to put his adventuring and crime-investigating (and womanizing) behind him, but being thwarted at every turn. Any hint at the sort of "class" he brought to the role in the previous film (left over from his 5 films playing "Simon Templar") has vanished here, as he seems alternately relaxed, bored, or outright silly.
Allen Jenkins is sidekick "Goldy", still trying to stay away from trouble but stuck between his boss, his boss's fiancee, the crooks and the cops.
Wendy Barrie is "Helen Reed", who seems to have lost her brains and her mind since the previous film, and is so manic I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to be involved with her, let alone engaged!
Eddie Dunn returns as "Detective Grimes", who's so dim in this he's interrogating Goldy at one point and seems to have no idea that the two have ever met before. (Was anybody involved in these pictures paying any attention to continuity at all?)
James Gleason is head cop "Inspector Mike O'Hara", clearly a good friend of Gay's, who's known him long enough to respect his talents and ask for help, but also eager to have fun at Gay's expense by accusing him of murder, having him arrested, slapped in handcuffs, and so on. Gleason replaces Arthur Shields from the previous movie, and it's a toss-up for me who did the better job. There's just one thing. It's VERY obvious both actors played the same character-- so WHY did his name change from "Mike Waldeck" to "Mike O'Hara" between pictures? Gleason is so good, he's usually one of the best things in any film he's in, and I've seen him in a few, including HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. He'd return in THE FALCON TAKES OVER, a major step up from this one.
Edward Gargan is "Detective Bates", who on the surface looks like the typical "dumb sidekick cop", but in this case, ISN'T. Like Gleason, he replaced Edward Brophy from the previous film, and, again, is so good, you'd almost think he was here all along. Perpetually typecast as cops, I've also seen him in CRIME SCHOOL, THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE, CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA, BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, THE LONE WOLF KEEPS A DATE, ELLERY QUEEN AND THE MURDER RING, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. After this, he would return as "Bates" for 6 more FALCON films!
Mona Maris is "Rita Mara", the femme fatale who first offers Gay a piece of the crime she's involved in, then decides he knows too much and needs to be bumped off. Which is a shame, as, if she'd left him alone, she "might have gotten away with it". I've also seen her in THE DEATH KISS, WHITE HEAT, and THE FALCON IN MEXICO (one of my favorite of the Tom Conway installments).
I'd say this was a step down after the previous film, but would rank it somewhere between the best and worst of Sanders' 5 "SAINT" films. So it goes.
The Onesmedia box set copy of this film has mostly crystal-clear picture & sound, though it seems to fade out a bit too quickly right at the end. Oh well. For the price I think it beats out the Warner Archive box, especially as it's got ALL 16 films in one set. HOW can you beat THAT?
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ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942)
The Escaped Christmas Convict Caper (7 of 10)
A man, framed as an accomplice by two crooks, escapes prison during a Christmas show put on by ex-convict Boston Blackie-- and NATURALLY, Inspector Farraday (who was there when it happened!) accuses Blackie of being behind it all. But rather than simply inform the cops as to what went on, Blackie decides to help the escapee avoid increasing his prison term, tries to prevent a murder, and then determines to nail the real criminal. Along the way, Blackie, The Runt and the convict's sister are involved in one cat-and-mouse game with the cops after another.
My favorite bit in the whole film was when Blackie escapes from Police HQ. When it happened, I said to myself, "I saw that coming." THEN I found out what he was REALLY doing-- which I hadn't seen coming! I couldn't stop laughing for a whole minute. This installment really managed to mix mystery, high-speed action, intense crime drama and flat-out COMEDY in equal doses, and was a major step up from the previous film.
I think one of the things I appreciated the most about this one was that Farraday (and even Matthews) did NOT come across as complete idiots (nor did any other police in the film), which, to me, makes Blackie's antics stand out even more. It's easy to look smart when you're surrounded by morons-- when you're not, you wind up looking EVEN smarter!
In addition to returning regulars Chester Morris, George E Stone, Richard Lane, Walter Sande and Lloyd Corrigan, this one also saw the debut of Cy Kendall as "Jumbo Madigan", a fence who has his ears to everything going on in the underworld. I usually see Kendall playing some form of criminal or corrupt official, and have seen him in CRIME SCHOOL, YOUNG DR. KILDARE, THE ANGELS WASH THEIR FACES, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939), THE GREEN HORNET, THE SAINT TAKES OVER, TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE, THE CHINESE CAT, SECRET AGENT X-9, and LADY IN THE LAKE. Oddly enough, he'd return as Jumbo in 2 more films, but appear in another playing someone else, while other actors would replace him as Jumbo. (That's Hollywood film series for you.)
I also recognized Lester Dorr as the hotel manager (I mostly remember him from THE SAINT IN NEW YORK); Lloyd Bridges as a bus driver; and Paul Fix as a cab driver who winds up more involved than he pretends. With a long resume, I'll probably always remember him as "Dr. Piper" in the 2nd STAR TREK pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (he was the ship's doctor in between John Hoyt & DeForest Kelley).
I really need to get the Onesmedia BOSTON BLACKIE FILMS box-set; my copy recorded off TCM back in January 2007 was nearly-perfect, until the last 60 seconds when the tape somehow got MANGLED. Oh well, one series at a time!
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THE LONE WOLF IN LONDON (1947)
The Eyes Of The Nile Caper (6 of 10)
Reformed international jewel thief Michael Lanyard has made a deal with a publisher to write a book about rare jewels, but runs into a snag when the focus of his last chapter, a pair of identical diamonds called "The Eyes of the Nile", prove elusive. It seems they were only recently recovered from a Nazi hoard and were temporarily in the possession of Scotland Yard, so he stops by there to get the info he needs to finish his book... only to find, they were stolen from the Yard just the day before. NATURALLY, the cops assume HE did it, and has unbelievable nerve to come to them before they go pick him up despite having no evidence of his guilt!
What follows is one of the most confusing plots in the entire LONE WOLF series. Nearly the entire first third of the film seems to ramble on before it gets going, during which a formerly-rich man suddenly in need of cash asks Lanyard's help pawning his jewel collection for him (which of course the cops are very suspicious of), Lanyard is briefly romanced by a music-hall singer whose show was financed by someone who "suddenly" came into money, Jamison gets very friendly with the maid who works for both the rich man AND the singer (that's almost too much of a coincidence, isn't it?) and the rich man's future son-in-law gets increasingly suspicious and downright offensive in his attitude and behavior. I think the problem is that it seems as if nothing's going on, when in fact, a LOT is going on, but you don't see how it all connects up until the last act of the story! When it arrives, Lanyard convinces the real thief (who's also guilty of murder on the side) that his partner plans to blackmail him, and he uses Jamison to get the mastermind of the crime, said henchman AND the cops to all show up at the airport at the same time to prove to the cops who the real guilty party is. The finale is the most exposition-heavy ending I've seen outside of THE CASE OF THE BLACK CAT with Ricardo Cortez (1936). It's completely NUTS!
Gerald Mohr makes his 3rd (and final) appearance as "Michael Lanyard", and it's a toss-up for me which I liked better, this or ...IN MEXICO. He gets to shine in a few scenes, such as when he confronts the rich guy about being lured in and framed, and explains half the plot for pretty much the entire audience, since without his saying so most people watching would probably still have NO idea what was really going on.
Eric Blore makes his 11th and also final appearance as "Jamison", who seems more helpful and less annoying than in many previous films.
Frederick Warlock is "Inspector Broome", who comes across as more reasonable, polite and patient than Lanyard's longtime nemesis Crane ever was. I'm not sure if I believe him when he claims, at the end, that he somehow knew Lanyard was innocent from the beginning. I've also seen him in MURDER OVER NEW YORK, MAN HUNT, DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (1941), RANDOM HARVEST, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON, PASSPORT TO SUEZ (in which he played a far-more suspicious police inspector), SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, THE WOMAN IN GREEN, PURSUIT TO ALGIERS, TERROR BY NIGHT, and DRESSED TO KILL (he really was a regular in the Basil Rathbone HOLMES series).
Dennis Green is "Detective Inspector Garvey", who Broome gladly assigns to follow Lanyard, since the man is obsessed with trying to "pin" whatever he can on him, no matter what lengths he has to go to. Garvey is the kind of police officer who frankly, gives ALL cops a bad name.
Evelyn Ankers is "Iris Chatham", the singer who's just involved with too many people and knows too much for anybody's good. I've seen her in quite a few things as well, including THE WOLF MAN, THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR, CRAZY HOUSE, SON OF DRACULA, THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE, THE PEARL OF DEATH, and TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN.
Alan Napier is "Monte Beresford", who financed Iris' show, but proves to be involved in a lot more than that. Long a favorite of mine, I've seen him in THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS, RANDOM HARVEST, LASSIE COME HOME, THE UNINVITED, TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN, TARZAN'S PERIL, JULIUS CAESAR (1953), JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959), THE PREMATURE BURIAL, THE SWORD IN THE STONE, MARY POPPINS, MY FAIR LADY, THE LOVED ONE, and of course, 120 episodes of BATMAN plus the 1966 feature film!
Mohr's 1st LONE WOLF outing was really lame, but his next 2 were both quite good, despite the insane story structure of the 3rd one. I don't know why Columbia decided to stop here. The following year, Mutual did a LONE WOLF radio series, with Mohr continuing to play Lanyard in that. But the year after that, Columbia did one more LW film, but recast both Lanyard & Jamison in it-- and it wasn't very good, which no doubt explains they stopped THERE. 5 years went by before THE LONE WOLF tv series aired, with entirely-different people involved on both sides of the camera.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Hula Doll Affair
The FAMILY Affair (7 of 10)
Thrush steals a new UNCLE explosive with the force of an atom bomb, but they don't realize it detonates at 90 degrees farenheit. And-- it's a heat wave, with the temperature rising. Mr. Waverly is certain it must be held in Thrush's NYC headquarters, which they have to locate. But to complicate things, 2 brothers are vying for the position of permanent head of Thrush NY HQ, and are willing to do anything to accomplish it.
Coming so late in season 3, this one genuinely surprised me, as it feels more like season 2-- or almost season 1. We see Florio's Tailor Shop for the first time all season, and the emphasis of the plot is a satire of CORPORATE structures-- making it feel decades ahead of its time when it comes to social commentary. On that score, this is like a less-silly episode of GET SMART. Writer Stanford Sherman definitely did better work on UNCLE than he did on BATMAN (although he did somehow manage a couple of my favorites on that show).
WHAT a cast! Jan Murray & Pat Harrington Jr are Simon & Peter Sweet, the two brothers whose personal and professional competition winds up endangering their criminal organization. I mainly know Murray from TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER, and Harrington, oddly enough, for several different voices on Filmation's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH cartoon series.
Tall & voluptuous Edy Williams is an UNCLE tech who flirts with Ilya; her I mostly remember from 3 episodes of BATMAN, particularly the 2 where she was one of Liberace's villainous assistants. Bobbi Jordan is "Marge", a woman whose apartment closet Ilya uses to spy on Mrs. Sweet, mother of the 2 fighting brothers. I've seen her in a number of things, but none of them stand out in my memory; a shame, as I found her more attractive than Williams. Grace Gaynor is "Wendy Thyme", a secretary hired by Simon to embarrass Peter, as an outsider brought into Thrush HQ. Later, Peter uses a threat against her to persuade Napoleon to follow his orders. I'll always remember her as "Chickadee", Burgess Meredith's moll in "The Penguin's Nest" story, whose personality struck me as very likely the inspiration for the much-later Joker moll, "Harley Quinn"!
Patsy Kelly is "Mama Sweet", who seems all innocent and annoyed her boys don't tell her what they do for a living, but later is revealed as one of Thrush's top people, who never told her SONS what SHE did for a living. When she shows up at the board meeting, she comes across so tough, ruthless & murderous, she would have been a good choice to play "Ma Barker".
Rex Holman is "Oregano", a deadly-serious, cold-blooded thrush security man. I knew that face from somewhere-- he played "Morgan Earp" in the STAR TREK episode "Spectre Of The Gun"! The unmistakable Angelo Rossitto turns up as a "blind" pencil seller who's really passing on a message to Napoleon to lead him into a trap. His credits are endless, usually playing EVIL dwarves, like in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. And finally, James Milhollin is "Cardaman", who runs the "Thrale and Usher Haberdashers" store. YEAH. Is THAT where the name "Thrush" REALLY comes from? It gets me that Thrush already knew exactly where UNCLE's NYC HQ was in the pilot episode, but somehow, it took UNCLE 3 whole years to track down THIS place. Absurd!! Milhollin is almost always playing rather condescending, snide characters, like when he was Liberace's "criminal lawyer" on BATMAN, and he's doing another one here. The strange thing here (among so many) was that while Mr. Waverly obviously figured out where Thrush HQ was by the end of the story, he didn't seem to act like "Cardaman" was going to be arrested, although from his behavior and attitude, it's CLEAR the guy KNEW who he was working for.
Gerald Fried's chase music at the end got so ridiculous, it seemed to have stepped right out of a silent movie. Just before that, however, Nelson Riddle borrowed from his own BATMAN score during the scene where Ilya was pretending to be a cab driver. This story may not have been borrowing so much of the style of BATMAN as some episodes, but it certainly borrowed several of its personnel!
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BEHIND THAT CURTAIN (1929)
"Walk Softly, Travel Far" (6 of 10)
An heiress foolishly marries the wrong man, then deeply regrets it when he's abusive and cheating on her, but when she learns he murdered a P. I. her now-late father had hired to investigate the man, that's one line crossed too many! So she runs off with her old friend, a noted explorer who deeply loves her, but REFUSES to tell him what her husband did that was so bad, since she wants to "avoid a scandal". WHAT? Meanwhile, a die-hard, determined Scotland Yard inspector goes to insane lengths to somehow both find the truth-- and protect her honor.
Let's get this out of the way: this is NOT any normal kind of "Charlie Chan" film. In fact, since we pretty much KNOW who the murderer is early-on, this is more of a "Columbo", where the focus is on a detective trying to prove what he ALREADY knows to be the truth. But Peter Falk never took this much time doing so!
The main criticism of this film-- and it is an extremely-valid one-- is that nearly every actor in the film is talking in slow motion, as if they're all on downers. This is especially true of Gilbert Emery, who plays the hero of the film, Scotland Yard Inspector "Sir Frederick Bruce". I've seen him in a few films where I found the characters he played intensely annoying in the extreme (THE SAINT STRIKES BACK, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER), but here, despite his slow-motion delivery of every single line, I genuinely ENJOYED his character! I could tell early-on he always seemed to know more than he said, he was the one heaping praise on his long-distance colleague in San Francisco who found the all-important clue (though we never learn how he managed that), and on chasing down the blackguard husband and the two errant lovers in the desert, he showed such great restraint and concern, it just put a smile on my face whenever he was onscreen. These days, I cannot believe there is even a single real police officer anywhere on Earth with this much sense of humanity about them.
Warner Baxter is "Colonel John Beetham", the explorer who foolishly "left the field open" for the girl he loved to go off and marry someone else... then, agreed to help her when she was in distress, despite her abject refusal to explain the circumstances. Somehow, I never warmed up to the CRIME DOCTOR films (compared to so many other mystery series from that era), but I found myself really relating to his character here. In my life, I've know TWO different women who married the wrong guys, and I was unable to do anything to help. At least Beetham got a chance, and had a happy ending, eventually.
Lois Moran is "Eve Mannering Duran", the heiress whose life becomes an unending hell-- though, frankly, to a large degree due to her own stubbornness. WHY refuse to help the police once she knows the truth? WHY drag things out for more than a year? It's like she's asking to be dumped on. On his blog, Dennis Schwartz describes her as having "the dubious honor of being one of the most obnoxious and dumbest heroines ever in films." I'm afraid I must agree! Despite this, I was somewhat mesmerized by her beauty. She reminded me a lot of Denise Crosby-- who, in later years, reminded me of my Aunt Cecilia (my Mom's sister), an amazing women I always wished I'd gotten to know better than I had. If nothing else, watching this film had me remembering her.
A real highlight of the film, halfway in, was when I suddenly recognized Beetham's servant was none other than BORIS KARLOFF. What a FACE! What a VOICE! He has pitifully little to do in this (his 1st speaking role!), and yet, like his appearance in SCARFACE, he seems to be the most "natural" actor in the entire movie. NO WONDER he became so popular and had such a long career. He just about steals the film in one scene without saying a single word!
It's not until the last act that we finally set eyes on "Inspector Charlie Chan", played by E. L. Park in what seems to have been his ONLY appearance on film. One reviewer poses the question, was Park even a professional actor? Hard to say. For myself, I was reminded that one of my pharmacists is a Chinese girl also named Park. Of course, she's a lot cuter...
According to the "Faded Page" blog, the 1928 novel this was based on was a much-more traditional "murder mystery", which focused on Charlie Chan trying to solve a murder that happened 15 years earlier. WHATEVER possessed the people at Fox to completely jetison that in favor of showing the story from the point-of-view of the 3 people involved in the "love triange"? I admit, I enjoyed this film for what it was... but now, I REALLY wanna track down the NOVEL and read that!
The 20th Century-Fox "Cinema Classics Collection" had 3 boxes to cover the Warner Oland era, with the films, for whatever reason, spread out almost RANDOMLY across the 3 boxes, with this one on Box 3. They're out of print and getting pricey, and I was considering for more than a year going after them... when suddenly, I didn't have to anymore. OnesMedia has just put out a box set with EVERY available Warner Oland film in chronological order-- PLUS, 2 audio reconstructions of missing Oland films-- and, "ERAN TRECE", the Spanish version of the missing "CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON"-- and, "BEHIND THAT CURTAIN". I put off buying this film separately, or watching it on Youtube, and having now seen it in the OnesMedia box, I was stunned at how CRYSTAL-CLEAR so much of the film was, with only 2 reels near the end (around the 70-minute mark) being from a lesser source. I'm now so much looking forward to re-watching the entire series, for the first time on DVD. And, they've announced they're doing Box 2 with all 22 Sidney Toler films-- and Box 3, with all 6 Roland Winters films, PLUS, the 2 horrible, ghastly ones from the 70s, PLUS, all 6 "MR. WONG" films as extras. Wow! I don't know if what this company puts out are "bootlegs" or not, but their packaging continues to blow me away. If I were putting films series out on DVD, I'd be doing the way they are.
Oh yeah, and just to be clear... whatever its faults, BEHIND THAT CURTAIN is at least 10 times better than THE RETURN OF CHARLIE CHAN... and 100 times better than CURSE OF THE DRAGON QUEEN. Take that for what it is.
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Prof's review of Behind that Curtain made me curious to watch the movie. It's slow going. I finally lost patience and just skipped through most of the film. There's a nice, clear copy of the feature on YouTube if you want to try it yourself.
nearly every actor in the film is talking in slow motion, as if they're all on downers
You know what it sounded like to me? It sounded like the patronizing manner in which some people speak to foreigners with limited English skills. They. E-nun-ci-ate. Each. Word. Very. Slowly. And. Carefully. with the unspoken implication that the foreigner is not only not a fluent English speaker but also a moron. The actors were probably instructed to speak slowly and clearly to ensure their voices would record, and they overdid it.
The sets and photography weren't bad. It didn't look like a poverty row production. The cast didn't seem so much to be poor actors as to be hesitant and uncomfortable, as if they were didn't know what to make of this newfangled talking picture business. The exception was E.L. Park. This fellow was not a professional actor. I imagine an incompetent producer suddenly informed that they didn't have anybody to play Charlie Chan. "Find me a Chinese guy, fast!" "How about that fellow Park who works in the cafeteria?" "Yeah, that's it! Bring him here and put him into a suit! We got a schedule to meet!" They got a Korean instead of a Chinese, but what the heck? The other two Asian Chans were Japanese.
What Prof said about Karloff's "natural" manner is something I've noted in both early talkies and in silents. Almost all the actors use a version of the prevailing acting style. Suddenly up pops someone who seems to preview the next acting generation. I saw one of Sessue Hayakawa's silents (he was a big star in late teens-early twenties American cinema) and was struck by how natural his performance appeared in contrast to everyone else's stylized silent technique.
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Terrific comments! Hope you made it to the end.
I like reading IMDB reviews before I write my own, so I can find something different to say. Of late, I also like describing the plot in as few lines as possible, then focus more on the actors & characters and other stuff. In this case, I was actually inspired to refer to 2 different reviews from other sites. I seem to have an easier go getting thru these "stodgy antiques" than most people, but in this case, the slow-motion talking was worse than usual, so what amazed me was how I just focused on the story, and found it had my mind running through all sorts of related memories. Like, at least I found SOMETHING that made it worth sitting though.
I do think the question about WHY did Fox so completely change the manner the story unfolded was a valid one. It makes me want to read the book, and I've never read a Charlie Chan book!
I have, funny enough, read no less than 4 MR. MOTO novels. Boy, are THEY different from the film series that spun off of them! He is something only vaguely hinted at in a couple of the films-- a Japanese SECRET AGENT. It's no wonder the film series ended so abruptly, when WW2 broke out. The closest I've seen in a movie in style and tone to John P. Marquand's novels is probably HIGH ROAD TO CHINA with Tom Selleck.
Anyway, I suspect there's a really good movie just waiting all these decades to be made based on the novel "Behind That Curtain".
Next week: ERAN TRECE! (The Spanish version of CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON.) Watching series like these ONE per week really allows me to focus on each installment and get more out of them as I go.
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Speaking of "natural" acting: check out SHERLOCK HOLMES (1916) with William Gillette! He and nearly the entire cast were adapting their stage play to silent film (what a wild transition!), which had been going for 17 years by then (since 1899).
Someone described the acting in it as shockingly natural and modern, given just when the film was made.
The film had been reissued in France in 1920 (and cut into 4 separate chapter serialized weekly), and those were the prints they managed to find and restore. Thank God! What a revelation.
I think things got confusing for a lot of people... as in 1922, John Barrymore starred in a remake of it, also called SHERLOCK HOLMES, which added an entire new first half-hour as a prologue to the stage play story (and which I believe served as inspiration for the Spielberg film YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES). The 1922 film, despite decades of work done on it, still looks like it needs a restoration, and is still missing quite a bit of its original run-time. It also ends abruptly, missing the ending of the stage play. Crazy.
Early in the sound era, Clive Brook starred in THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1929), loosely based on "The Dying Detective" and "His Last Bow".
Then in 1932, Brook starred in SHERLOCK HOLMES (you'd think the titles of these 2 movies would have been revesed, HMM?). This film is NOT an adaptation of the stage play-- it's a genuine SEQUEL, picking up exactly where the play leaves off, with Holmes & Alice Faulkner planning to get married. But Moriarty ESCAPES from prison, and plans to both destroy Holmes' reputation AND carry out the crime of the century. Sound familiar?
For decades, people have described 1939's THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES with Basil Rathbone as "based on the stage play". IT'S NOT! It is, IN FACT, a loose remake of the 1932 Clive Brook film, only without Alice Faulkner, and set back in the proper time period. Rather than break jail, Moriarty is released when a witness fails to show up at his trial. At which point he tells Holmes face-to-face he's going to destroy him reputation, by pulling off the crime of the century right under his nose.
The Rathbone-Bruce films carry over quite a lot from earlier Holmes films, and in that case, the climax was actually swiped from the 1935 Arthur Wontner film, THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
It's been so much fun seeing all these older films, and learning so much about the movies that came before Rathbone.
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ERAN TRECE (1931)
Charlie Chan Carries On—in SPANISH! (7 of 10)
An around-the-world-cruise becomes the scene of tragedy when one of the tourists is murdered while in London. Scotland Yard Inspector Duff is unable to hold the suspects, but continues to follow up, especially when he's contacted by a woman who claims one of those involved is using an assumed name. But before she can identify the killer, she's shot dead while riding in an elevator with Duff! He eventually goes to Honolulu to seek help from his proverb-speaking friend, Inspector Charlie Chan-- only to be shot in the back in Chan's office. Taking this as an affront to his profession, Chan sets out to finish the case himself.
The earliest CHARLIE CHAN films were all based on the novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Tragically, quite a number of them are considered "LOST", several all being destroyed in a single fire in Hollywood decades ago. But over time, prints of a number of them have been found, among them ...IN PARIS (1935), the very strange adaptation of BEHIND THAT CURTAIN (1929), THE BLACK CAMEL (1931), and... ERAN TRECE ("There Were Thirteen"), the Spanish version of CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON (1931). So it is that, while Warner Oland's 1st turn as Chan is among the missing, we can see this excellent Spanish version (with English subtitles, thankfully!)
I've long noted how many detective series in the 1970s seemed inspired by earlier series or films from the 1930s & 40s, and one comparison I like to make is between Charlie Chan and Columbo. Both feature polite, self-effacing detectives investigating murders, who hide brilliant, sharp minds behind their polite exteriors. As others have noted, Manuel Arbo's Chan is more physically active than his contemporary Warner Oland, and which one prefers is a matter of personal taste.
I found the first half of this rather difficult, as there were so many suspects to deal with, and having to read English subtitles made it more challenging. Despite this, it HELD my interest, was a HUGE step up from the previous BEHIND THAT CURTAIN, and, when Chan finally appears 41 minutes in, the whole thing really picked up tremendously.
Among my favorite characters were the retired Chicago gangster & his wife. He talked tough and had an attitude, but when Chan appeared, it was interesting how he showed genuine respect. I also found his wife the most attractive woman character in the story. It was nice to see that while he had a rough exterior, they clearly got along very well and treated each other right.
Several of the early CHAN books were filmed more than once. In the case of "The House Without A Key" and "The Chinese Parrot", BOTH versions of each are lost! Luckily, with "...Carries On", we have both the 1931 Spanish version and the 1940 ...MURDER CRUISE (which is even better than this one!).
While the existing Oland films were spaced out almost randomly on the 20th Century-Fox box sets (now out of print and getting very pricey), OnesMedia just put out a brand-new CHARLIE CHAN VOL.1 containing all the available films from 1929-1937 in chronological order in a single compact box. The print of ERAN TRECE is excellent, crystal-clear picture & sound, though so far I find the subtitles confusing to turn on or off! I'm looking forward to upgrading the entire series from them, once the 2nd & 3rd boxes come out.
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CHARLIE CHAN’S CHANCE (1932)
The Murdered Scotland Yard Inspector Case (4 of 10)
Charlie Chan is in New York City with Scotland Yard Inspector Fife to "learn big city police methods" from NYC Inspector Flannery (sounds a bit like the set-up for McCLOUD, doesn't it?). While there, a fellow Scotland Yard inspector is murdered-- and the 3 detectives join forces to find out what case he was working on, and bring his murderer to justice. As is usual with any case Chan gets involved in, there's a list of suspects to be investigated, an endless stream of poetic proverbs, numerous references to his ever-growing family (his wife just gave birth to their 11th child, and he misses the boy he hasn't set eyes on yet). And of course, there's enough plot twists to hold your interest.
Apparently this was the 2nd adaptation of Earl Derr Biggers' 1928 novel, "Behind That Curtain", but may have been much closer to the book than the first version was, as Chan is in this all the way from the beginning, trying to solve a murder that took place several years earlier. While the 1st film version made in 1929 hardly had Chan in it at all, this version, tragically, was one of countless Fox films destroyed in the infamous 1937 vault fire in New Jersey that wiped out pretty much all of Fox's silents and many of their earliest sound films as well. Apparently, the first 7 CHARLIE CHAN films from Fox were all destroyed in that fire-- but, over the decades, prints of BEHIND THAT CURTAIN (1929), ERAN TRECE (1931, the Spanish version of CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON) and THE BLACK CAMEL (1931) were all found elsewhere, as well as CHARLIE CHAN IN PARIS (1935) which was found sometime in the late 70s or early 80s.
In the case of CHARLIE CHAN'S CHANCE (1932) and CHARLIE CHAN'S COURAGE (1934), audio "reconstructions" with still photos were created, to at least allow fans to experience some versions of the stories. The first time I saw such a thing was LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927, destroyed in 1965). I must say, I enjoyed this quite a bit more than that one, no doubt because so much of any typical CHAN film is dialogue, and this is pretty much like listening to a RADIO show, only with still photos accompanying it. I've listened to so many radio shows, especially in recent years, that I'm afraid I wasn't really impressed by ANY of the voice-actors employed on this (I'm pretty sure I could have done a better Warner Oland impression than the guy they used here)... but somehow, that didn't get in the way of me really enjoying the STORY. There were quite a few times where I found myself LAUGHING out loud at some of Chan's sayings, and some of the plot twists, such as when he explains that a now-dead suspect saved him the trouble by killing himself.
I knew I recognized Ralph Morgan in the photos. I somehow wasn't sure which character he was playing, but, based on the cast list at the IMDB, it appears he was the main bad guy-- something he was regularly typecast as, particularly in several different CHAN films over the years. I guess we can only continue to hope that maybe, someday, copies of more of the missing films may turn up somewhere. It sure would be nice.
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THE GIRL FROM UNCLE: The Double-O-Nothing Affair
Sydney and THE SARGE (7 of 10)
In New York City, a local Thrush office has developed a series of "mobile" agent units to disrupt UNCLE activity. Mark Slate infiltrates one of them and gets a tape with info that made lead to the location of their hideout, but loses it and is wounded in a shoot-out. Taking over, April finds that a downtrodden accountant has found the tape and hopes to sell it to the highest bidder. Instead, she and the man, Sydney Moorhouse, are captured and taken to the HQ, which is set up below a used car lot run by an ex-army Sergeant with a bad temper (shades of "The Sarge" from the SAD SACK comic-books!). Meanwhile, completely against orders, Mark figures out where the HQ is on his own, and infiltrates again-- this time posing as a German Thrush Central inspector.
There are 2 things that really make this episode stand out from most this season. One is Edward Asner, as ex-arms Sarge George Kramer. Asner raised the level of just about every show or film he ever appeared in, and this is definitely on the list. But many terrific actors have crashed and burned on this series, due to questionable writing. NOT this time! This has to rank as one of the most level-headed, sensible scripts in the entire run of GIRL FROM UNCLE, and when the end credits came up, I wasn't surprised to see a familiar name listed-- Dean Hargrove! As one of the most-successful writers & producers ever on television, he's worked in one capacity or another on MY THREE SONS, THE MAN FROM UNCLE, THE NAME OF THE GAME, COLUMBO, McCLOUD, MADIGAN, McCOY, the 80s PERRY MASON revival, FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES, MATLOCK, JAKE AND THE FATMAN, and countless others.
Meanwhile, Sydney was played by Sorrell Booke. I didn't recognize him here, but, but he's probably most known for playing "Boss Hogg" in 146 episodes of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.
If more episodes of this show had been this good, it might have lasted more than one season!
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I keep forgetting to post new reviews on this board! Oh well...
THE FALCON IN MEXICO (1944)
Mexican Murder-Travelogue (5 of 10)
Moments after promising his latest girlfriend he's giving up crime and other girls, Tom Lawrence becomes involved in the break-in at an art gallery, the murder of its owner, the theft of an expensive painting by a man believed long dead, the millionaire who owns most of the late artist's work, and a trip to Mexico, with the artist's daughter, who believes her father may still be alive, that seems to double as an extended commercial travelogue for vacation-goers. What fun!
The 10 FALCON movies starring Tom Conway break down almost neatly into 2 periods. The first had him involved with Inspector Timothy Donovan (Cliff Clark) and his sidekick Detective Bates (Edward Gargan). Most of these took place in the New York City area, except for the 5th, ...OUT WEST, where the two cops followed Lawrence's long-distance investigation. Unlike THE LONE WOLF series, which carried such nonsense to insane limits, starting with his 6th film, you had 5 in a row, each featuring a different pair of cops in a different part of the country.
Emory Parnell is "Winthrop Lucky Diamond Hughes", who owns most of the dead man's work, and insists he knows his style better than anyone. He's also arrogant, obnoxious, and never stops complaining. Among his long resume are ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, THE HOUSE OF FEAR (1939), THE SECRET OF DR. KILDARE, FOREIGN CORRESEPONDENT, THE MALTESE FALCON, ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, and 3 FALCON movies (he comes back in the next one as the cop-of-the-film).
Pedro De Cordoba is "Don Carlos Ybarra", the local rich guy whose daughter posed for the stolen painting. I've also seen him in CITY IN DARKNESS, THE GHOST BREAKERS, THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), TARZAN TRIUMPHS, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945), and SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949).
Mona Maris is "Raquel", half of a professional dance team, and the 2nd wife of the late artist, who worries that should her first husband turn out to still be alive, she will be married to two men at once. Often playing femme fatales, I've seen her in THE DEATH KISS, WHITE HEAT, and A DATE WITH THE FALCON (opposite George Sanders).
Martha Vickers is "Barbara Wade", the dead man's daughter, who's long suspected that her father may still be alive, and almost seems to have a psychic connection with the hotel he lived in. She had bit parts in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN and THE MUMMY'S GHOST, but will forever be remembered as "Carmen Sternwood" in the 1946 version of THE BIG SLEEP.
Nestor Paiva is "Manuel Romero", a cab driver of many, many talents who, along with his young son "Pancho", attaches himself to Lawrence the moment he arrives in Mexico and won't let go. He absolutely STEALS the movie, and to me is the main reason to watch-- and re-watch, when you find out what he's really hiding from his temporary employer. I've seen him in THE SPIDER'S WEB (1938), THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939), PHANTOM RAIDERS, THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN!, MEET BOSTON BLACKIE, DRESSED TO KILL (1941), TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY, THE LONE WOLF IN MEXICO (where he plays one of the more intelligent cops in that series), THE PALEFACE, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, MY FAVORITE SPY (1951), I THE JURY (1953, as a bartender friend of Biff Elliot's "Mike Hammer"), CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, TARANTULA, 2 episodes of RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, 14 episodes of ZORRO with Guy Williams, ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT, and, he did voices in 3 episodes of JONNY QUEST (1964). What a guy!
This particular film has always struck me as possibly being a direct influence on not one but two much-later episodes of McCLOUD with Dennis Weaver. While the now-departed Cliff Clark's brusk personality often reminded me of that show's "Chief Clifford" (J. D. Cannon), the search in Mexico for an artist believed dead turned up in "Somebody's Out To Get Jennie" (from season 2), while the prolonged scenes of driving in Mexico turned up in "Lady On The Run" (season 5). I've been seeing so much in the various "NBC Mystery Movies" series from the 1970s that were inspired in one form or another by film series of the 1930s and 40s, can this really be a coincidence, or later writers simply borrowing and updating obvious tropes to use in shows watched by audiences too young to even be aware of what they're borrowing from?
Just as this was the first FALCON film without some kind of regular supporting cast, it's also the first to end without a bogus lead-in to the next film. ("Oh, Mr. Lawrence! You HAVE to help me!")
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MURDER MY SWEET (1944)
D'ja ever notice that the psychiatrist blackmail angle in "I, THE JURY" was almost identical to the one in "FAREWELL MY LOVELY"?
Every time I watch the damned Dick Powell movie, I get TOTALLY lost when Claire Trevor starts talking to Marlowe in that beach house. I mean, seriously, it makes the Bogart "BIG SLEEP" seem crystal-clear by comparison.
I dunno about anybody else, but style and mood and character is nice, but if you're writing a murder mystery, the murder mystery part of the plot should MAKE SENSE-- especially after watching the same movie more than a dozen times! ????
Seems to me, except for Michael Winner, every time someone tries to adapt Chandler into a movie, they take his biggest failing and make it WORSE. And they always think they're being "clever" when they do it!
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Q PLANES (1938)
The Disappearing Airplanes Caper (6 of 10)
In 1938, test planes with advanced, experimental features have been vanishing without a trace, yet the factory owner continues to insist they must all be the results of accidents, equipment failure, or sabotage. But eccentric espionage man Major Charles Hammond is certain enemy agents are involved, even though his own boss doubts it and is in a hurry to send him off to another assignment in the Middle East. While investigating undercover, he runs across Tony McVane, an outspoken test pilot who believes as he does, but also finds his own sister Kay has been spying on the plant in order to dig up a story for her newspaper. Before it ends, a plane flown by Tony is brought down by a secret weapon, several plane crews rebel against their foreign captors, and a British Destroyer ambushes the "salvage" ship involved. All the while, the film wildly bounces between serious thriller and outright comedy. What fun!
Ralph Richardson steals the film as "Hammond", whose interests include horse racing, crosswords and cooking; according to Patrick Macnee, "Hammond" was his model for "John Steed"! (I find it amusing that both Richardson and Macnee at different times played Dr. Watson.)
Laurence Olivier is "McVane", angry at his boss, angry at the idea of lady newspaper reporters, yet by the end even angrier at the foreign spies and takes a gattling gun to many of them, while also falling in love with Hammond's sister.
I recognized several other actor in this, including Gordon MacLeod as the chief Nazi (even if he's never identified as such); I'll always think of him as the best-ever "Inpector Teal" in 3 different SAINT movies around this time. There's also Ronald Adam & John Laurie, who both turned up in Cathy Gale AVENGERS episodes, a series this film shares so much in common with, more than 20 years before-the-fact.
Amazingly, one of the writers is Jack Whittingham, who collaborated with Ian Fleming on the unproduced screenplay, "Longitude 78 West", that Fleming turned into his next novel, "Thunderball". BOTH this story and that one involve enemy agents bringing down a plane over the ocean with somthing valueable onboard-- in this case, a prototype engine, in the latter, 2 atomic bombs.
Further, while the bulk of the film is very much like a prototype of an AVENGERS episode, the climax, where several captive crews are in a cell comparing notes, later turned up in the film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), while those same crews escaping and starting a running gun-battle with the villains turned up in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977)! The design of the "Marconi" ray looks like something out of THINGS TO COME (1936) or THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE (1958).
I never even heard of this film until a few weeks ago, but now I'm so glad I got my hands on a copy. I've always enjoyed Richardson as an actor, but this role of his is unlike anything I've ever seen him do.
I only now dearly wish someone would do a full restoration on it-- and much more importantly-- issue it on a BLU-RAY. As far as I know, the film is in Public Domain, as multiple small outfits have copies of it available. I got mine from "Reel Vault". The picture is crystal-clear, the sound mostly the same, and like their copy of the 1931 THE SPECKLED BAND (with Raymond Massey), the box art is very nice! There's only one major problem... it MUST be copied from a PAL disc, as it's running at THE WRONG SPEED. (The Region 2 DVD box sets I have of THE AVENGERS seasons 2 & 3 have the exact same problem.)
For me, Blu-Rays are not so much about enhanced picture and sound quality-- but the fact that they're encoded to AVOID the old PAL-NTSC problem. Anyone who ever claims Blu-Ray technology "never caught on" is spouting utter nonsense! There are GREAT films and TV series from all over the world that deserve to be viewed in all countries, PROPERLY. This is one of them!
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COLUMBO: THE COMPLETE SERIES
OH BOY!!! I got the box set in the mail today. I'm in a state of SHOCK. I'd videotaped stuff off the air for so long, and it continues to be such a thrill NOT to have to. ALL 69 episodes for far less than i was expecting to pay. Wow.
Crazy surprise... my new "LG" Region-Free Blu-Ray Player, so far, everything plays with the TV set to "stretch". Which is weird. EXCEPT this COLUMBO box. I tested one episode out, and it actually plays at "NORMAL"-- which is what older "square" "fullscreen" films should be.
Just for the hell of it, I checked out the first few minutes of "Ashes To Ashes" -- Patrick McGoohan's 4th appearance. He was not only the murderer, he was also co-executive producer, AND, director!! He said in an interview he wanted to do another one right after he did the 3rd one... but it took years longer than expected. I actually had a DREAM about being on the set of them making a new episode with him as the guest. That day, after I woke up, I went out and got the new TV GUIDE... and found out that episode was coming up 9 days later! A real "Twilight Zone" moment. 9 days later, I had my VCR set up a half-hour early. 5 minutes into the show... I suddenly realized the VCR REMOTE, the batteries had died. I hit "RECORD" manually, then replaced the batteries. So my copy has been missing the first 5 minutes for all these years.
ANOTHER "Twilight Zone" moment today: Rue McClanahan showed up for a funeral in a BRIGHT RED DRESS, and some character sarcastically referred to her as "Miss Red Death". I was watching Corman's THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH only the night before. I almost fell over laughing. Stuff like this makes me feel I'm somehow "in tune" with the universe.
I start in on the box MONDAY NIGHT. :)
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MADIGAN (1968)
GREAT Crime Drama; SCHIZO Movie (6 of 10)
2 detectives are surprised when a suspect they want to bring in for questioning gets the drop on them, steals their guns, gets away, then turns out to be wanted for MURDER. Oops. They have 72 hours to bring him in-- "OR ELSE". But a full HALF of the film is dedicated to a completely-unrelated parallel story about a hard-nosed Police Commissioner with impossibly-high moral standards who happens to be involved with a married woman. So the film is one part hard-boiled crime drama, one part soap-opera, and you wind up feeling like you're watching 2 films that have been inadvertently inter-spliced together (something Universal Television became INFAMOUS for when they butchered some of their own shows for syndication in the 70s).
I came to this having been a huge fan of the short-lived NBC Mystery Movie series MADIGAN, which made me an instant fan of Richard Widmark. In the late 60s & early 70s, it became a strange habit to run pilots separately, often months before subsequent series would debut, and a side-result of that would often be that I'd never see the pilot until after the series itself ended and went into syndication. In the case of MADIGAN, the "pilot", so to speak, was actually a theatrical feature film. Imagine my SHOCK when the title character GETS KILLED at the end! I guess, one could joke, when the later series began... "He got better."
Based on the 1962 novel "The Commissioner", somehow the screenplay wound up focusing more on the detective character than on the P. D. who was fighting with his conscience and outlook on life. The first time I saw the film, I didn't know what to make of it. I loved the scenes with Dan Madigan (Richard Widmark) and Rocky Bonaro (Harry Guardino). The HALF of the film that focused on Commissioner Anthony X. Russell (Henry Fonda) was a slow, painful slog. I must say, it has grown on me over the years, but I do agree with whoever feels the film might have been much more of a classic if the entire narrative had focused on the 2 detectives and skipped all the various moral and romantic sub-plots.
WHAT an incredible cast! So many actors I know from so many things, among them, Inger Stevens (HANG 'EM HIGH), Susan Clark (COOGAN'S BLUFF), Michael Dunn (THE WILD WILD WEST), Steve Ihnat (STAR TREK), Don Stroud (MIKE HAMMER), Warren Stevens (FORBIDDEN PLANET), Lloyd Gough (THE GREEN HORNET), Woodrow Parfrey (DIRTY HARRY), Lloyd Haynes (ROOM 222), Bert Freed (I'd just watched the COLUMBO pilot a week ago, and couldn't help but wish someone would put HIS 1960 version of that story out on disc). It goes on!
My favorite scenes probably involve the utterly-INSANE "Barney Benesch" (Ihnat), when the 2 detectives argue over which one of them screwed up ("You bum, you were lookin' at the BROAD!"), or later, just before the intense and fatal shoot-out ("Send the girl out, she can't help you." "I don't know-- I MIGHT GET BORED!").
Re-watching this not long after re-watching COOGAN'S BLUFF made me notice something interesting-- or is that hilarious? The 23rd Precinct seen early in the film, appears to be the IDENTICAL LOCATION used in both COOGAN'S BLUFF and MADIGAN, with Lee J. Cobb getting swapped out for Frank Marth. The exterior of the building, meanwhile, is the same one used in the 2nd season of McCLOUD.
I suppose the biggest sign that this film had an effect on me was when, in late 1975, my brother suggested I do a variation on its plot for one of my own home-made mini-comics. My version focused entirely on the hero chasing down a murderer-- and, I did mine as a COMEDY. (I'd love to get that thing published one of these days.) My brother told me he HATED Henry Fonda's character in the movie!
I recently got my hands on all 6 NBC episodes of the MADIGAN series, including my favorite, "The London Beat", which I haven't seen since NBC reran it in 1973. (The CBS Late Movie, in the early 80s, only ran 5 of the 6 movies-- skipping that one. Grrr.) I can't wait to watch them again!
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A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023)
I'm in a state of shock. I haven't seen an Agatha Christie film ON A BIG SCREEN since APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH in 1988... and this is MUCH better than that!!
For ethical reasons, I can't talk about it... except to say, the last 15 minutes, when Poirot sums up the crimes left me absolutely STUNNED. And there was one more shocking revelation that came out during the epilogue! Wow.
I'm going after and watching so many things these days, it's gonna be some time yet before I start upgrading my AC collection... but I'm definitely looking forward to see this again. And, the 2 previous Kenneth Branagh films which I totally missed.
This was infinitely better than the LAST 4 007 films put together.
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THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968)
The Rich Bank Robber and The Greedy Investigator (6 of 10)
Wealthy, brilliant and cynical Boston financier Thomas Crown masterminds a bank heist. Out of boredom? For "kicks"? Or, as he claims (and director Norman Jewison confirms), as his only way of "striking back at the system"? The police are utterly baffled. The insurance company pays the bank... but then brings in a specialist... Vicki Anderson, to find out who was behind it, and get the money back... for 10% of what's returned. The investigation turns into an intense cat-and-mouse game... and then a bizarre love affair between two sociopaths who were made for each other. But will his cynicism-- and her absolute need to "win"-- destroy the only chance either might have for true happiness?
As we first see the crime, and then the investigator doesn't turn up until exactly 35 MINUTES into the movie, the film winds up having almost the exact same structure as PRESCRIPTION: MURDER (1968), which aired on TV exactly 4 months before this hit theatres. But Lt. Columbo NEVER wound up sleeping with the murderer he was trying to nail.
"Style over substance". No kidding. An astoundingly-visual film with virtually no likable characters plays out over gorgeous locations and the stirring musical score of Michel Legrand, highlighted by Noel Harrison singing "The Windmills Of Your Mind". I'd only seen this ONCE before, on TV 50 years ago, before buying the 2018 Kino Lorber Blu-Ray. I'd forgotten most of it. I doubt I'll ever forget it now. This will NEVER be a favorite film of mine, but it is unquestionably fabulous and fascinating.
Rumors to the contrary, Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway were the only leads ever considered. He always plays close to his chest, she always seems to be playing psychologically screwed-up women. A number of other familiar faces dot the cast, including Paul Burke as Police Detective "Eddy Malone", who gets increasingly incensed at Vicki's immoral and ILLEGAL methods of trapping her quarry. He starred in 10 episodes of FIVE FINGERS, 48 episodes of 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, and 99 episodes of NAKED CITY!
Jack Weston is "Erwin", the nervous getaway driver (I mainly recall him from one of countless sad episodes of THE FUGITIVE). Addison Powell is "Abe", one of the robbers (I'll always remember him as "Dr. Lang" from DARK SHADOWS). Yaphet Khotto is "Carl", another robber (years before he did LIVE AND LET DIE or ALIEN). Patrick Horgan is "Danny", another detective (see the STAR TREK episode "Patterns Of Force"!). Richard Bull is the unnamed "Booth Guard" (he played the never-named Ship's Doctor on VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA). And standing out in a crowd is the gorgeous Judy Pace as "Pretty Girl" (a BATMAN, a TARZAN, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM and FROGS, among others).
As it happens, I've been buying a number of "heist" films lately, but the reason I got this one is because it is, according to legend, the inspiration for the later NBC Mystery Movie series BANACEK, with George Peppard, as a Boston-based freelance insurance investigator who gets 10% of whatever stolen items he recovers. (Sound familiar?) They basically combined the look and personality of McQueen with the profession of Dunaway, although, as with most movie-to-TV transitions, Thomas Banacek is WAYYYY more likable than Thomas Crown could ever be. And, hilariously enough, BOTH characters live in the EXACT SAME Boston mansion! (How about that?)
Next week I'm looking forward to THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS (also 1968), about the theft of an armored car... which, crazy enough, was the PLOT of the BANACEK pilot.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Summit Five Affair
The New Producer Affair (8 of 10)
A once-yearly meeting of 5 UNCLE heads is endangered by a double-agent somewhere in their Berlin office... and because he was there when a murder occurred, Napoleon is one of the suspects. He eagerly agrees to submit to intense interrogation, certain he'll be cleared, and the only remaining suspect will then be the target of suspicion. But all through this, I kept wondering, how do we know this OTHER guy, who was portrayed as "everything a subtle agent shouldn't be" wasn't the real culprit? Boy, was I right...
After an absolutely-incredible 1st season, UNCLE fell victim to the mood of the times, and the result was no less than 3 entire seasons' worth of inconsistent, increasingly-silly plots (that's seasons 2 & 3, PLUS the entire season of THE GIRL FROM UNCLE!). Ratings were apparently endangered, but somehow the show made it to a 4th season, and this episode shows what can really be accomplished when a show that's gone off-track has a new producer take over. I knew I recognized the name Anthony Spinner! Apart from THE INVADERS, THE F. B. I., and CANNON, the show he was associated with that I most remember was RETURN OF THE SAINT with Ian Ogilvy, who eventually became my favorite actor! (He's better than Roger Moore-- what can I say?)
The mood was toned down, the lights in Waverly's office were toned down (heh), Waverly got a regular secretary for the first time in the series (whatever took them so long?), the THEME song got a more intense arrangement, and the story at times made me think someone had decided to follow the model of "Harry Palmer" rather than "Derek Flint". I haven't seen a show turn around this much between episodes since the 3rd season opener of LOST IN SPACE, "Condemned Of Space" (which, funny enough, aired only 5 DAYS before this one!).
I've been re-watching the early seasons of THE AVENGERS lately, and it's occurred to me that a number of things established in that show later turned up almost verbatim on UNCLE. One was Steed's boss "One-Ten", an older man who still had an eye for the ladies, who reminds me an awful lot of "Alexander Waverly", 2 years before-the-fact. Another was in the episode "The Outside-In Man", where another boss of Steed's has his office hidden behind a butcher shop (2 years before UNCLE's tailor shop). Having the main character put through a really-intense interrogation, trying to break his will and make him confess to crimes the audience cannot believe he's possibly guilty of, seems to have been borrowed straight out of "The Nutshell", an episode aired in England more than 3-1/2 YEARS before this one. The big difference being, in that, the interrogator turned out to be the main villain. Here... NOT quite! (heh) It's cool when somebody borrows a plot idea and then puts their own unexpected twist on it.
Albert Dekker is "Harry Beldon", a most-unseemly spy who's oddly successful despite his extrovert eccentricities. I've never cared for him as an actor, and I suppose I was inclined to be suspicious of his character from the start.
Lloyd Bochner is "Gerald Strother", who was also present when the murder Solo is suspected of took place. IS he the killer, or just ridiculously-overzealous at his job? I've seen Bochner in so many things, often playing baddies or simply sleazebags, but he always has an aura about him that makes him very entertaining to watch, no matter his role. I mainly remember him for THE NIGHT WALKER (1964), a McCLOUD ("Night of the Shark") and of course, 2 episodes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ("Greetings From Earth" and "Baltar's Escape", where he was virtually playing a space NAZI).
James Millhollin is "Wraithlike", a Thrush agent with no pretenses whatsoever. As soon as I saw him onscreen, my eyes lit up, I've seen in so many things, including a "criminal lawyer" on BATMAN ("The Dead Ringers") and a very gentle soul on LOST IN SPACE ("The Great Vegetable Rebellion"-- hey, it's NOWHERE near as bad as so many insist that it is-- heh).
I got a kick out of seeing that row of NASA-surplus computers, no doubt re-purposed when Irwin Allen's THE TIME TUNNEL was abruptly cancelled. But the one genuinely funny bit in the story is when the heroes are in a glass elevator, going down, which is filling with poison gas. "How far does this go?" "I don't know, this is one of the newer models." (I LOVE humor in my adventure shows-- as long as it doesn't get out of hand.) It was also nice to see Solo & Kuryakin actually GETTING ALONG, as for far too many of the stories, it seemed they were barely concealing contempt for one another.
I can't be sure if the previous year permanently killed any chances for UNCLE's ratings' recovery, or if the anti-violence crusade of 1968 really did it in. Jon Heitland's 1987 book on the series mentioned that early-on, pressures to reduce violence resulted in them coming up with tranquilizer guns... but watching the entire series on DVD, I have only seen their use in-- at most-- 2 episodes! The rest of the time, they're SHOOTING real bullets and KILLING an awful lot of people-- and these are the good guys I'm talking about. When the climax of this episode arrived, I'd have almost thought I was watching THE UNTOUCHABLES, when both Solo & Kuryakin were machine-gunning a whole squad of Thrush killers to death. Several "action" shows were actually yanked off the air due to pressure from anti-violence groups in 1968. This included THE WILD WILD WEST, cancelled while it was still in the top ten! I can't help but wonder if this didn't also affect UNCLE. After a massive turn-around like the one seen here, this show deserved to go on a lot longer than it did.
(7-13-2023)
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Prince Of Darkness Affair – Part 1
The Laser Crystal Affair (9 of 10)
A middle-eastern megalomaniac has developed a "thermal prism" weapon, which, if launched into space, could hold the entire world for ransom. UNCLE recruits a career criminal wanted in 22 countries to break into the villain's safe and steal the weapon. Complications arise when a woman whose brother is in prison, framed by the safe-cracker, wants to get her hands on him to free her brother. As Solo-- with the help of the main villain's unfaithful wife-- infiltrates posing as a shady businessman, Ilya & the safe-cracker sneak their way through various death-traps and security systems to get into the safe. As things moved into the 4th act, I wondered, where will this go in the 2nd half? I must confess, the PLOT TWIST at the end was surprisingly unexpected, and left my jaw dropping. DAMN, what an intense episode!
Anthony Spinner's taking over as producer turned this show around like nothing I've ever seen before. And the return of writer Dean Hargrove (one of the most successful writers & directors in TV history) saw one of the most INTENSE, gripping stories in its entire run. I LOVE seeing both Napolean & Ilya being DEAD-SERIOUS as they are here. Not only are they ruthless when it comes to dealing with anyone who gets in their way, they're also getting along with each other, which was a huge change in attitude from the previous 3 whole seasons. And while the tone of seasons 2-3 were no doubt influenced by the Adam West BATMAN (something that never should have been allowed to happen), this episode in particular seems aiming more for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, even borrowing a gimmick featured in both that show's pilot and the earlier feature film TOPKAPI.
As usual, the guest cast is stellar, some in rather-surprising ways.
Arthur Mallet (who's been in just about everything from MARY POPPINS to HALLOWEEN) has a cameo as an African hunter who's one of the victims of the death ray.
John Dehner (who's also been in just about everything, on both radio and TV) is "Dr. Parvis Kharmusi", a man obsessed with power, whose estate is a well-guarded fotress, and whose security force takes loyalty to insane lengths, even committing suicide on command (as one character in the film WRONG IS RIGHT once said). Absurdly, Dehner's accent seems all over the place, and it's the one "off" note in the entire episode!
Bradford Dillman (ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE ENFORCER, SUDDEN IMPACT) is "Luther Sebastian", a career criminal with a whole list of college degrees, who's got his own attitude problems. He agrees to help in exchange for amnesty, but refuses to get involved in "violence" (letting Ilya take the full brunt of any fights), until, out of nowhere, he picks up a gun and kills someone. And therein lies the twist...
John Carridine (JESSE JAMES, HOUSE OF DRACULA, TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT) is the "Old Man" head of "The Third Way" cult, who hasn't got a single line in the episode. I was stunned when I saw his name in the end credits! Carridine has always been one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood history, and yet, staring right at him, I didn't realize who he was! As an actor, I bet he'd have been flattered to hear that.
Carol Lynley (SHOCK TREATMENT, THE NIGHT STALKER) is "Annie Justin", who just plain gets in Solo's way in her quest to find Sebastian so she can get her brother out of prison. I've always found her attractive-- but NOT in this story! She played one of the most thick-headed, stupid, annoying women I've ever seen on this show, and I wound up agreeing with the character who said, "Something tells me she deserves whatever happens to her."
H. M. Wynant (one of Eli Wallach's henchmen on BATMAN, and countless other roles) is "Hassan Aksoy", a friend of Annie's, whose own brother is also in prison thanks to Sebastian. He knocks Solo out, then intimidates him with knife-throwing, before being SHOT dead by Kharmusi's wife. Again, I'm so familiar with his name and face, yet I DID NOT recognize him at all, and was unaware he was in this until I saw his name in the credits.
Lola Albright (84 episodes of PETER GUNN!) is Kharmusi's wife, "Azalea", who apparently is helping Solo because she's not getting on with her husband. But there's more to her than meets the eye, which Solo might have suspected by her driving habits (I was reminded of Lucianna Paluzzi taking Sean Connery for a ride in THUNDERBALL).
Sid Haig (BATMAN, GET SMART, BUCK ROGERS, GALAXY OF TERROR) is "Alex", head of Kharmusi's security squad. Him I recognized instantly, despite my never having seen him play any role so low-key and DEAD-serious! Especially "dead", as when his boss is displeased and offers him a suicide pill, he takes it without hesitation. I suspect there's too many company CEOs these days who think their employees should act like that.
The "McGuffin" here was later reused-- BADLY-- in the 7th "007" film DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER-- but I think I can say with some authority, this TV 2-parter must be TEN TIMES better than that terribly-disappointing movie. And to think, this in only Part 1! My late best friend once noted that in the 60s, many TV 2-parters felt like 2 stand-alone stories just barely linked together with a cliffhanger in the middle. This is definitely one of those! I'm seriously thinking, when I re-watch UNCLE, of just doing Season 1, and then jumping straight to Season 4 afterwards. With such a recovery as seen here (4 AMAZING episodes in a row, so far), this show deserved to go on a lot longer than it did. I suppose it was matter of "too little too late". Ah well. Thank God for "complete series" DVD box sets!
(8-3-2023)
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THE FALCON: DEVIL’S CARGO (1948)
The Magician-Detective and the Safe-Deposit Key (5 of 10)
A man pays a detective $500 to hold a key for him, while admitting he just killed a rival for his wife's affections. After happily turning himself in to the cops, certain he won't be convicted, some goons come looking for the key-- and one of them gets blown to bits when he opens the locker it fits. And then, the confessed murderer winds up dead of poison while in jail. The detective is determined to find out what's going on, because he didn't like the way those thugs "annoyed" him. Uh huh.
Something very few movie fans seem aware of, is that in the late 1930s, there were two completely-different fictional characters in print, both nick-named "The Falcon"! The 1st was named "Michael Waring", created by Charles H. Huff (under the name "Drexel Drake"). Waring appeared in 3 novels between 1936-1938. The 2nd was "Gaylord Falcon", crreated by Michael Arlen, who appeared in a SINGLE novel in 1940. RKO decided to undercut "Saint" author Leslie Charteris by starting a "Falcon" series with George Sanders (as "Gaylord Lawrence"), and from various sources, I've read that Chartertis sued BOTH Arlen AND RKO separately, for plagiarism! This is why the 2nd of 2 "Saint" films made in England with Hugh Sinclair was delayed release in the US by 2 years-- apparently it took that long to find someone other than RKO to distribute it here.
Meanwhile, Sanders got bored, and starting with the 4th RKO film, his real-life brother Tom Conway took over playing Sanders' character's brother "Tom Lawrence", who kept making "Falcon" films until 1946.
But WHILE this was going on, The Blue Network was doing a FALCON radio show, featuring the "Michael Waring" character, which ran from 1943-1954! The radio show starred Barry Kroeger (1943), James Meighan (1945-47), Les Tremayne (1947-50), Les Damon (1950-53) and George Petrie (1953-54). Right in the middle of this, the "Falcon Pictures Corporation" (distributed by "Film Classics") did 3 movies featuring "Michael Waring" (mysterious dubbed as "Michael Watling"), all starring real-life stage magician John Calvert. Oh yeah, and in 1954, "Federal Telefilms" did a TV series, ADVENTURES OF THE FALCON, starring Charles McGraw as "Michael Waring", who switched professions from private eye to espionage agent!
So-- as insane and bizarre as it may seem-- "Michael Waring" is the original Falcon, "Gaylord & Tom Lawrence" are the RIP-OFF characters. What baffles me is how RKO got away with it for so long.
This is NOT a great film, but, having just re-watched it, it's not a bad little mystery, either. Calvert's attitude reminds me a bit of Louis Hayward's as "Simon Templar" (he's just too over-confident to believe), and the mystery angle is nicely done. I'd say, low-low budget aside, the main failing here is the directing and the acting-- and having seen too many movies not to realize this, I'd have to put the blame on the director. Too many people in this look like they're reading lines from cue cards during a first rehearsal.
A few familiar faces spice things up, including Rochelle Hudson (MEET BOSTON BLACKIE), Lyle Talbot (BATMAN AND ROBIN), and Michael Mark (FRANKENSTEIN). I also liked the relationship between the hero and "Lt. Hardy" (Roscoe Karns). It's genuinely refreshing to see a PI and a cop portrayed as friends. It's a shame that Hardy, the dog and the magic tricks didn't return in the 2 follow-ups.
BIG question: WHY was this called "DEVIL'S CARGO"? The working title, "THE UNWRITTEN LAW" was far more appropriate.
The print in OnesMediaFilms' FALCON box set isn't the greatest, but I've seen far worse. It's just nice to have the entire series-- or should that be two series combined-- all in one handy set.
(9-23-2023)
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THE FALCON: APPOINTMENT WITH MURDER (1948)
The Counterfeit Art Racket (5 of 10)
Michael Waring (inexplicably dubbed "Watling" on existing prints) is hired by an insurance company to recover a pair of stolen paintings. From LA to Italy, he runs into a local artist who makes a shady living creating absolutely-authentic fakes of old masters, fraud, theft, MURDER, and a gallery run by a woman he takes a liking to. She's a bit on the shady side, too, but not nearly as much as her business partner. The big question over the course of this story is, are the two paintings FAKES-- or, the ORIGINALS?
Once more for those who came in late: Michael Waring was the creation of Charles H. Huff. The character appeared in 3 novels from 1936-38, a long-running radio show from 1943-54, 3 low-budget movies from 1948-49, and a TV series from 1954-55. He had NOTHING whatsoever to do with the character created by Michael Arlen, who RKO based their series of 13 films on from 1941-46. Leslie Charteris (creator of "Simon Templar, The Saint") SUED both Arlen and RKO. My question is, why didn't Charles Huff?
So, just to be clear: the 3 John Calvert "Falcon" movies are NOT in any way a continuation of what RKO did-- if anything, they're a spin-off of the THEN-CURRENT radio show! At the time of these films, Les Tremayne was starring on that; I can't help but wonder why HE wasn't in these movies!
Anyway, yeah, "Falcon Pictures Corporation" and their distributor "Film Classics" made PRC look like Monogram by comparison (HEH), but this is a nice little film, provided you know what you're in for and go in without any high expecatations. And I enjoyed this just enough to wish someone could find decent prints and put them out. The print in OnesMediaFilms' 16-film FALCON box set has very fuzzy picture, tinkling sound, a few damage cuts, and for about a minute, a bit of text saying who "digitally remastered" it. Hmm. Oh well, at least it's on DVD, which is handy.
John Calvert, a famous and highly-successful stage magician, somehow made a detour into a brief Hollywood career. His performance was nicely toned-down here from the previous installment, though I got a laugh in that one scene where the baddie finds a BLANK canvas, and Calvert says, "It disappeared-- like MAGIC!" Cute. I think I'd have loved to see this guy on stage!
Catherine Craig plays the art gallery manager, who seems nicer than one might expect of a possible crook. I found it a nice twist that she genuinely seemed concerned about Waring, and-- just like something Simon Templar would have done-- he makes sure she's completely cleared of any wrong-doing at the end!
Jack Reitzen ("Chopstick Joe" from TERRY AND THE PIRATES) is "Norton Benedict", who really is too shady for his (or anyone else's good). He reminded me a bit of Lloyd Corrigan's "Arthur Manleader" from the BOSTON BLACKIE series, apart from turning out to be a real RAT.
Familiar faces included Lyle Talbot (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) as the insurance company boss; Peter Brocco (THE HAUNTED PALACE) as the Italian art forger; Ben Welden (THE BIG SLEEP) as an enthusiastically-brutal thug; and Michael Mark (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN) as a baggage claim clerk. Both Talbot & Mark had played other characters in the previous film!
I'm strongly considering looking up the Michael Waring FALCON radio show and TV series when I'm done with these. I do have to wonder: why DID they dub "Watling" over "Waring" on TV prints of these? That's like calling Godzilla "GIGANTIS".
(9-29-2023)
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ROPE (1948)
2 sociopaths murder someone they consider an "intellectual inferior" just to prove they can. Then they throw a party with the corpse hidden in a chest in the same room! GEEZ.
This was the 3rd time I saw this (it was a gift from a friend about 20 years ago). I'm SO glad I watched it today, rather than, say, 2 months ago. Tonight, the 2 murderers reminded me TOO much of my NOW-EX home care clients, a pair of control-freak NARCISSISTS. It added an extra level of disturbing that hadn't been there before.
Crazy enough, the IMDB has the cast list taken from the end credits, not the opening credits. In the opening credits, JAMES STEWART got top billing. As he should have.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Rope2.jpg)
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THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS (1968)
The Las Vegas Armored Car Heist (8 of 10)
Tony Ferris' older brother Gino escapes from prison and plans to steal a casino's futuristic high-tech armored car. He and his gang are all killed... but then Tony plans a 2nd attempt, with far-more careful planning. This involves getting information from Ann Bennett-- the mistress of Steve Skorsky, whose security company built the "impregnable" armored car. They manage the seeming-impossible, and pull off an incredibly-complex heist in the middle of the Nevada desert-- before things go wrong, as they always do in old "heist" films.
But early on, the plot throws in a huge twist. It seems the "insurance investigator" is really a Federal agent from the Treasury Department (gee, like Elliot Ness!) who's out to NAIL Skorsky for something HE's doing that's illegal! So you have two different forces going after Skorsky at the same time, each unaware of the other's existence or intentions-- until the robbery happens.
What we have here is a European thriller (a Spanish-Italian-French-West German co-production) filmed partly in Spain and partly in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco-- with all that entails. There's English dubbing after-the-fact, some INCREDIBLY-cool jazz music, lots of style over personality, but with a plot that gets SO twisted, SO complex (especially in the last half-hour) that I was MESMERIZED, trying to guess from one moment to another, WHERE is this all going? I wouldn't say this was the greatest heist film ever made, but I LOVED it!
Gary Lockwood (STAR TREK, 2001) is "Tony Ferris", who very determinedly plans and executes the incredible heist, with the sometime-reluctant help of his girlfriend. Even when things go wrong (among other things, one of his own gang goes rebel and really should have been killed about halfway through the film), Tony keeps his head.
Elke Sommer (A SHOT IN THE DARK) is "Ann Bennett", Skorsky's mistress and Tony's lover, who winds up being trailed both by the cops and by the Mafia in the last act.
Lee J. Cobb (12 ANGRY MEN, COOGAN'S BLUFF) is "Steve Skorsky", whose reputation for his security company masks his MAFIA connections.
Jack Palance (Dan Curtis' DRACULA) is "Douglas", who's posing as an insurance investigator while all the time is secretly trying to take down not only Skorsky but his Mafia bosses. WHO ever imagined Palance would be playing a GOOD guy in one of these things? Certainly not me. One of the best parts was his relationship with the local sheriff, who's as anxious to clear up the case as Douglas is, and helps him keep the top people in D. C. at bay when it looks like the whole operation may fall apart. When they finally get a lead, you can see both men are really thrilled about just doing their jobs.
Jean Servais is "Gino", whose robbery attempt goes tragically, fatally wrong. Back in 1955, he played "Tony le Stéphanois", who masterminded the jewelry heist in RIFIFI.
I never even heard of this movie until a few weeks before I got the 2010 Warner Archive DVD. I heard about it from IMDB reviewer "SearchAndDestroy-1", who pointed out that the actual robbery in this film apparently was swiped outright for the 1972 TV pilot of BANACEK, with George Peppard as the freelance insurance investigator who gets 10% of whatever he recovers. I'm planning to get my hands on that series on DVD sometime soon, but wanted to get this film first! One of the best things about this film is that they never tell you how Tony plans to steal the truck in advance-- you find out AS it's happening!
I was half surprised the Warner DVD didn't have a foreign language dub on it. Or any extras at all. Oh well! At least it was CHEAP. The ending left me wondering about the fate of Tony & Ann. SURE, they were guilty of so many things (including the murder of TWO Federal agents and one innocent bystander). But the way things panned out, I wouldn't be surprised if some Federal judge didn't give both of them a suspended sentence.
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Gary Lockwood
2001: A Space Odyssey - Dr. Frank Poole - 1968
The guy who has the conversations with Hal the computer.
Oddly, IMDB lists this film on his entry, but whoever supplied the Bio misses it entirely.
The most famous role he ever played.
He was still working in 2020 when he made Unbelievable!!!!
Which is, actually. According to the preview, it's a spoof, of many SF films and shows but mostly Star Trek.
He plays a Gerry Anderson type puppet - In Star Trek first series uniform. [????] Film also has cameos from many Star Trek Alumni..
So, he finishes where he began?
Doesn't seem to be anybody left in Hollywood who can write comedy.
Looks painfully bad to me, but what do I know.
I'll bet it goes down a riot at Trek cons.
Near the top of my list of places I never want to go.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Man from THRUSH Affair
The Earthquake Machine (9 of 10)
On a tiny Greek island, Thrush has spent 3 BILLION dollars so that obsessed mad scientist "Dr. Killman" can build a device that-- it turns out late in the story-- can cause earthquakes and destroy major cities, which will allow the crime syndicate to blackmail and take over the world. But Killman's project is running behind schedule, so Thrush sends an efficiency expert, Mr. Filene, to speed things up. There's mutual contempt between the madman and his bosses, so much that he records Filene's voice and sends it to Thrush central for identification. Doing so violated their rules, causing the "Thrush Authority" to announce he's CANCELLING the entire project, and everyone on the island will be killed within 12 hours! But before this happens, "Filene" actually manages to speed up the project, via the simple act of having the slaves working in shifts so as to not tire themselves nearly to death. ("You should have thought of that yourself long before this.", Filene tells Killman.) So now Killman is thrilled with Filene-- until 3 other Thrush agents show up to announce that "Filene" is really UNCLE's #1 operative-- Napoleon Solo. "OOPS!"
There's so much more to this plot, but just what I've already described would be enough to fill a feature film. This is genuinely one of the VERY BEST episodes of the show I've ever seen. It's criminal that by the time it aired, UNCLE had no doubt already been cancelled and there were only 4 more weeks to go.
Top of the guest list is John Larch as "Killman". As I mostly remember him from the movie DIRTY HARRY (1971), it's hilarious that in the MAD magazine parody of that movie, the hero is named "Killerman". We've seen lots of mad scientists on this show, but how many of them refer to themselves in the third person?
Barbara Luna is "Marnya", Killman's reluctant girlfriend who betrayed her own people into slavery and now deeply regrets it. It takes most of the story before she comes to realize that "Filene" (Solo) is actually on her side. I'll always remember her for THE OUTER LIMITS ("It Came Out Of The Woodwork") and STAR TREK ("Mirror Mirror").
Jan Arvan is "Thrush Authority", who is in too much of a HURRY to take over the world, and his own violent mood-swings wind up sabotaging his organization's biggest effort to date. Are we to believe this guy might actually have been Thrush #1? He seems kind of non-descript to me, but then Thrush was often portrayed as operating like a modern-day international corporation more than a run-of-the-mill crime syndicate. Arvan had, oddly enough, played 2 earlier roles on UNCLE, and his portrayal in this role makes it seem like they could have cast anybody in it. But maybe that was the idea?
A surprise for me was in the pre-credits scene where 2 UNCLE agents we've never seen before (or after) get ahold of some info, but are tracked down to a photo lab while in the process of reporting to Waverly. One of them was played by Jack Bannon, who I recognized from 114 episodes of LOU GRANT, where he played reporter "Art Donovan".
I'm guessing David McCallum had the week off. It happened... even on THE AVENGERS.
My favorite moment in the story is when Killman is SO obsessed with getting his project completed AT ALL COSTS, he has his men KILL the 3 Thrush agents, even though they just told him that the man he's taken into his confidence was Solo. That's when I thought to myself, "This is BRILLIANT!"
As I've found myself saying in a few other instances... "THIS is NO TIME for the show to be cancelled!"
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21 BEACON STREET (1959)
I've become very obsessed with inspirations lately, like when one movie is based on another one, or a movie inspires a TV series. I put this show on my "wanted" list some time, ago, based on what I read on the "Thrilling Detective" site, never really expecting to be able to knock it off.
I JUST DID.
Imagine my shock when, 2 weeks ago, I found out this was put out on DVD just 3 months ago!!! It immediately jumped to the top of my "wanted" list. I JUST got it in the mail today. WOW!!! I just watched the first episode. Man, I REALLY enjoyed this thing.
It's pretty clear that Classicflix did not bother remastering the sound on this (lots of hiss), but the picture is pretty clear. You know what? This DOES remind me of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. Only in a half-hour fomat. I used to love half-hour adventure shows. I think it's a shame nobody does them anymore.
In the last couple weeks, I've seen RIFIFI (1955), THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN (1960) and now this. When I'm done with this, I'll be going after TOPKAPI (1964), and then-- the 1st season of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. I got hooked on the 2nd season back in 1967, and for decades, never realized that Peter Graves' "Jim Phelps" was a replacement. I've never seen season 1! I can't wait. Truthfully... I haven't looked yet. If there's a "complete series" box-- I'll be going after THAT. Much easier.
(https://i0.wp.com/thrillingdetective.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21_Beacon_Street.jpg?w=380&ssl=1)
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Prof, who are the people in the photograph?
I don't recognize either of them.
I've become very obsessed with inspirations lately, like when one movie is based on another one, or a movie inspires a TV series.
You need to go right back to the Sllents and for those you need to go to plays and what was shown on stage before the movies.
One thing that annoys me about IMDB, is they don't outline what work directors and actors have done on stage. Doesn't give you an accurate picture of their careers.
Also, books, fairy tales, pulps and from the 30's on, Radio serials.
For books ERB, Jules Verne, HG Wells, Conan Doyle - all PD. Disney, who guard their own properties like hawks, fairy tales - no royalties.
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Prof, who are the people in the photograph? I don't recognize either of them.
I believe that's Dennis Morgan & Joanna Barnes.
I don't know who they are, either-- but they're 2 of the stars of the show!
It flips me out that this was unseen for 63 YEARS. Also, that after doing research, thinking about it and planning it for about a year, that at the very time I started buying the inspirations for M:I, I suddenly found out this was put out just 3 MONTHS ago. What amazing timing!
You need to go right back to the Sllents and for those you need to go to plays and what was shown on stage before the movies.
A valid point. Right now, though, I'm mainly concerned with some specific films that inspired TV shows (or, in the case of Roger Corman's POE films, which specific NON-Poe films inspired THOSE! --heehee)
When I got the idea a year or so back to do a "chronological" movie marathon-- without any restrictions on genres-- it allowed me to have one really wild experience. A lot of people refuse to even consider ever watching silents. (Some refuse to watch anything not in COLOR!) But some of my favorite versions of some stories that have been filmed multiple times are the silents-- like THE MARK OF ZORRO and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
When movies evolved to sound, it was a slow process. Many very early sound movies still look and feel like silents. A lot of films from, say, 1929-32 FEEL very strange, like you're watching an almost entirely-different art form. But here's the kicker-- you watch enough of them back-to-back, and they start to feel "normal"!
I'm trying to watch everything in my collection, and also add a lot of new ones I never had before. So it's not all strictly chronological, as some things I've gotten out of sequence, and a few I've forgotten. Perfect example, I'm up to 1949, but updating my list last night, I suddenly found a 1945 film I'd overlooked. That will be this afternoon: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. It's on the back of a tape, and I have to fast-forward over another (later) movie to get to it. It's also one I never actually liked. I saw it and taped it off TCM about 20 years ago, but I never felt inspired to watch it again. But, as part of a humongous marathon... yeah, I can watch it NOW.
One thing that annoys me about IMDB, is they don't outline what work directors and actors have done on stage. Doesn't give you an accurate picture of their careers.
Also, books, fairy tales, pulps and from the 30's on, Radio serials.
For books ERB, Jules Verne, HG Wells, Conan Doyle - all PD. Disney, who guard their own properties like hawks, fairy tales - no royalties.
Yep.
I wanted to mention, it's amazing how many movies around 1930 or so were based on stage play versions of stories, NOT the earlier novels. This includes DRACULA (Bela Lugosi), FRANKENSTEIN (Boris Karloff) and THE SPECKLED BAND (Raymond Massey as Sherlock Holmes-- BOY, do I wish to God somebody could unearth a COMPLETE, INTACT print of that one-- I really love Massey in the role).
Come to think of it, the 1914 HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES is also based on a stage play version. That thing has even less to do with the book than the 1959 Hammer version (which looks GREAT, but isn't half the story it should have been), but, it's one REALLY FUN flick. My favorite bit is when the bad guy impersonates Holmes; Holmes reads about it in the paper, then decided to go have a look at this "Sherlock Holmes" character. Later, he turns up at the mansion disguised AS the murderer! It's hilarious.
People who refuse to watch silents don't know what they're missing.
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Here's the Thrilling Detective page on 21 BEACON STREET.
https://thrillingdetective.com/2021/08/11/dennis-chase-21-beacon-street/
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Apparently there is a DVD box set of 21 Beacon Street.
Unboxing 21 BEACON STREET: THE COMPLETE SERIES from ClassicFlix!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phrQikI_J5E
It always annoys me that those guys who do these kinds of videos think we want to stare at their faces for half an hour. This one is particularly annoying because he doesn't understand that he needs to look into the camera.
It's visually quite irritating.
21 Beacon Street - Ep. 1, Opening Scene Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B57-ei8DgcA
Doesn't look too bad.
Of course it's impossible not to wonder if the creators of 21 Jump Street chose the name as a homage.
For mine, a bit too much of a co-incidence.
cheers!
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Apparently there is a DVD box set of 21 Beacon Street.
I'm not sure where I first heard of the show, but sometime early this year (or late last year) I read the THRILLING DETECTIVE page, and added the show to my "wanted" list... just in case it ever came out.
Then, to my shock & surprise-- it DID-- after being out of circulation for 63 YEARS!
I got my copy on 10-6-23. Been watching it at a rate of one episode a week. Enjoying it immensely!
I posted a comment about the DVD box on the THRILLING DETECTIVE page. A day or so later, the guy who runs the site added links about the set so people can go buy it. (Of course, I got mine thru Ebay, not Amazon... and the seller trhere was Classicflix, the manufacturer!)
I just ordered the new restoration of I, THE JURY (1953), the first time there has ever been an "official" release of this film. And, whatta ya know, it's also from Classicflix. However, in this case, I ordered a copy from my favorite Ebay seller-- and wound up getting it for about $6 LESS than if I'd gotten it straight from Classicflix themselves.
This will be my 2nd upgrade of the film. I first taped it off a cable channel, in the middle of the morning, with commercial breaks. Worse, they started it early-- so the tape was missing the first 8 minutes. (GRRR.)
Later, I got a bootleg DVD-R which was uncut. HUGE improvement. But, it was "fullscreen", something that was only really noticable when watching the opening credits (as part of the text on one side was cut off).
I'm not sure how wide the widescreen is on the film, but, I'll be finding out soon! ;D
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THE RETURN OF THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Fifteen-Years-Later Affair
The Nuclear Affair (5 of 10)
THRUSH is back in business, and one of their top men is broken out of prison after 15 years, heading up a scheme wherein a nuclear device is stolen from a downed military jet. A huge ransom is demanded or the device will destroy part of the USA, and the agency demands the ransom be delivered by former UNCLE agent Napoleon Solo-- who must be recruited back to do the job-- and he has to recruit his former partner Ilya Kuryakin, who quit years earlier over a mission that went bad. Solo know his old enemy well enough to believe the man will detonate the device EVEN AFTER he's been paid, and so plans a two-pronged assault to find and deactivate the bomb on one hand, and find and take down the new THRUSH HQ on the other.
It all sounds a lot better than it actually is-- TRUST me!
In the late 70s, "reunion" films became a new fad in the wake of RESCUE FROM GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. Tragically, too many of them were apallingly-bad, like THE WILD WILD WEST REVISITED, THE RETURN OF MAXWELL SMART, and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE. This one didn't happen until several years later (1983). Compared to those 3 examples... it's not that bad. But that's not what I'd call a glowing reccomendation. TV adventure shows were demasculated in the late 70s by heavy censorship, and in the early 80s, network TV was still trying to figure out how to do exciting action shows again. (Having to watch bad guys climb out of just-crashed cars BEFORE they explode, so nobody actually gets killed onscreen, gets extremely annoying after the first time you've seen it.)
I first saw this (and taped it!) when it was first-run. At the time, I'd actually seen very little of UNCLE. But watching it on DVD now, it has the huge disadvantage of my having just watched EVERY single episode of UNCLE in sequence (even the "GIRL" episodes). Season 1 was revolutionary for TV at the time, and as close to perfect as a show from that era could be. Seasons 2 & 3 (and yes, "GIRL" as well) had a lot of really fun episodes, but far too many just got SILLY-- and STUPID. Season 4 was a revelation; I've NEVER seen a show turn around like that one did. Until the unintended series finale (which was painfully padded-out to 2 episodes), there had NOT been a single bad episode in there. So going from THAT-- to THIS-- was one of the most painful TV-viewing experiences I've had this year. Let me put it this way: I'd rather re-watch Season 3.
I feel the source of the entire problem can be summed up in one person: MICHAEL SLOAN. When he took over as Producer on McCLOUD in its 7th season, the quality of the writing went through the floor. I know he got better as he went (see KUNG FU: THE LEGEND CONTINUES). But I fear he hadn't made it there yet when he did this. It just feels amateurish, like it was done by some enthusiastic fan who thinks he knows the show, but really doesn't. And I have to wonder what happened with director Ray Austin. EVERY episode of THE AVENGERS he did in the 60s and 70s was better-done than this! Nearly every actor in this gives a STIFF, lifeless performance, as if they're all reading from cue cards during a rehearsal. The incessant attempts at humor are NOT funny, and annoying. The only exception to this is during the really lame car-chase in Vegas when several cars crash, and George Lazenby looks straight at the camera and says, "Shaken-- but not stirred!" THAT I found funny.
Details... with 105 episodes of THE MAN FROM UNCLE at their disposal, do they mean to tell me they couldn't find ONE villain actor from that show to come back for "revenge"-- and they had to make up several new ones? Anthony Zerbe (THE OMEGA MAN), Keenan Wynn (DR. STRANGELOVE) and Geoffrey Lewis (HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER) all seem wasted in this. Gayle Hunnicutt (SHERLOCK HOLMES: "A Scandal In Bohemia") arguably gives the single worst acting performance in the entire film. Carolyn Seymour, an excellent actress (RETURN OF THE SAINT: "The Arrangement") is barely even visible in her one brief cameo. At least Simon Williams (DOCTOR WHO: "Remembrance of the Daleks"), Lois De Banzie (SUDDEN IMPACT), Dick Durock (SWAMP THING), John Harkins (DARK SHADOWS), and Randi Brooks (MIKE HAMMER: "Dead Pigeon") had memorable moments.
On the other hand, Tom Mason's "Benjamin Kowalski" was the MOST annoying character in the entire film. THIS guy is supposed to represent a modern UNCLE agent? He's even more insufferable here than he was when he played "Archie Goodwin" opposite Thayer David in the 1977 unsold NERO WOLFE pilot.
When Vaughn & McCallum are onscreen, it's not bad, but you get really tired of being reminded every few minutes that they're older, out-of-shape and out-of-place. And Patrick Macnee, one of my all-time favorite actors, seemes even more out-of-place as "Sir John Raleigh", supposedly stepping into the top slot but somehow knowing less about UNCLE than 2 former agents do. The organization has clearly gone to pot.
Even the high-speed camera-pan scene-change visuals got on my nerves here-- as did the music. Those never did on the original show.
I think the thing that puts the final kibosh on it is having Zerbe's main villain ESCAPE at the end. WHAT were they thinking? "He'll come back in the sequel"? Well, there WASN'T one, and looking back now, I can really tell why.
As a parting shot, I'd like to reccomend what I consider the BEST reunion movie I ever saw: GET SMART AGAIN (1989). That one ignored the previous reunion (pretended it never happened, basically), and was a loving tribute to the original show in many ways that this thing simply WASN'T. But, I shouldn't be surprised. I ALWAYS liked GET SMART more than THE MAN FROM UNCLE anyway.
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Vulcan Affair
The Emerging African Nation Affair (6 of 10)
4 Thrush assassins manage to break into UNCLE HQ in NYC, attempting to kill the #1 man, Alexander Waverly. Top agent Napoleon Solo shoots him 3 times-- very dead. It seems they've intercepted a transmission indicating that when the Premier of a newly-formed African nation is visiting an industrial plant owned by a known Thrush agent, someone is to be assassinated. The only way to get close to the man in charge, insanely enough, is to recruit an innocent married woman with 2 kids... who used to be the guy's girlfriend in college. As is to be expected in situations like this, things don't quite go as planned!
Producer Norman Felton had an idea to do a show that for legal reasons, they couldn't refer to as "James Bond On Television"-- especially after consulting with Ian Fleming, who contributed 2 character names: "Napoleon Solo" and "April Dancer". Fleming withdrew when EON Productions threatened a lawsuit, so writer Sam Rolfe "developed" the show, initially named SOLO but then (also for legal reasons) renamed the much-cooler THE MAN FROM UNCLE.
Robert Vaughn (THE MAGNIFICENT 7, THE LIEUTENANT) was cast as "Solo" because they wanted someone who looked "normal" who also could look really good in a tuxedo. When it comes to 60s spies, I find him infinitely more-likable than James Bond ever was! (Come to think of it, he's a lot closer to Fleming's version of Bond from the novels to that sexual predator Sean Connery helped co-create for the Bond movies.)
Leo G. Carroll (Alfred Hitchcock's favorite actor-- see REBECCA, SPELLBOUND, and most notably, NORTH BY NORTHWEST) is "Alexander Waverly", a guy so cool, so laid-back, at times he can seem cold-blooded when he sends his men out on dangerous missions. ("I sometimes wonder which side Mr. Waverly is really working for.", one of the heroes said in a later story.) He was apparently cast at a very late stage of the game, because Will Kuluva's "Mr. Allison", who was in the unaired pilot (and, crazy enough, the expanded theatrical movie version) was replaced due to a happy mix-up. (Kuluva would eventually play baddies in 2 much-later episodes.) Oddly enough, these days I find Waverly reminds me an awful lot of one of John Steed's bosses on THE AVENGERS, "One-Ten" (Douglas Muir), a cultured older gent who still has a thing for much-younger ladies. He was on that show 2 YEARS before UNCLE debuted!
In fact, similar to NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), Steed also had recruited a total innocent to help him, lounge singer "Venus Smith" (Julie Stevens), but unlike Solo, Steed didn't bother to tell Venus what was going on. THE CAD! (Again, 2 years before UNCLE debuted.)
David McCallum (THE OUTER LIMITS: "The Forms Of Things Unknown") has a tiny part as Russian UNCLE agent Ilya Kuryakin. Some network exec wanted him gone (even as some other network exec initially wanted "Mr. Spock" gone from STAR TREK!) but he survived and soon had such a building fan base that he became HALF of the show (even as Spock did on ST).
Guest-stars this ep include Patricia Crowley (THE LIEUTENANT, PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES), Fritz Weaver (CREEPSHOW: "The Crate"), William Marshall (TARZAN, STAR TREK, BLACULA, ROSETTI & RYAN), Ivan Dixon (HOGAN'S HEROES), Rupert Crosse (THE MONKEES, THE PARTNERS), with Roy Jenson (STAR TREK) and Richard Kiel (THE WILD WILD WEST, THE MONKEES, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) as an assassin and a security guard.
There are actually 3 distinct edits of this one story! Just last week, for the first time, I saw the original UNAIRED pilot, "SOLO", which was filmed IN COLOR. What struck me as bizarre is that it clocks in at 1:09:58. That's 19 MINUTES longer than when it was broadcast as the official 1st episode, "The Vulcan Affair". I know that the STAR TREK pilot ("The Cage") was also much longer than the then-common 51-minute slot. What was going on there? Did someone already have it in mind to expand it to feature length, just in case it wasn't sold as a series? Eventually, it was expanded to 1 hour 32 minutes and run in theatres as TO TRAP A SPY, with the additional 22 minutes of that coming from "The Four-Steps Affair", at least part of which must have been filmed in COLOR to facilitate this.
Re-watching "The Vulcan Affair" today, I noted multiple scenes being cut all over the place to get it down to 50:52. Among them, the bit where Elaine asks Solo if he wouldn't mind getting out of her bedroom. This stood out, as in THE NEW AVENGERS episode "House Of Cards", Purdey (Joanna Lumley) says to Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), "Would you mind getting out of my bedroom?" (Of course, on that show, Gambit WAS always hoping to get closer to Purdey. Here, Napoleon is being much more of a gentleman.)
Other cut scenes include revealing that all 4 Thrush assassins had taken poison before the break-in, and all DIED before they could be interrogated; "Margaret Oberon" (the girl with the gun on the airplane who later turns up at Vulcan's party) is really working for UNCLE; Vulcan taking Elaine for a protracted tour of his plant (and Solo hid in the trunk of his car); the explanation that the plant manufactures PLASTICS; the scene where Vulcan angrily tries to SLAP Elaine in the face, only to be knocked down by Napoleon (in the broadcast version, you can see Solo rubbing his hand after just punching the guy in the face); the bit where Solo & Elaine are hanging from that pipe, where she says, "Will you please STOP doing that?" and he replies, "I'm trying to break this pipe loose."; and finally, the bit on the plane where Solo offers Elaine tickets to a fancy reception at the UN Building, so her family can see her in that gorgeous dress, but she turns him down. (I've probably missed some.)
Oddly enough, after Solo's car crashes, there's a clip of him walking into Elaine's hotel room BEFORE she sees him, that wasn't in the longer version. In that one, she's walking around her room, thinking, when she suddenly looks over and there he is standing in the doorway.
I've seen the theatrical version TO TRAP A SPY more times than the other two, but frankly, the story makes more sense without the footage from the other episode (no matter how hot Luciana Paluzzi looks in there). Having now seen SOLO, I'd say the unaired COLOR pilot is the best version of the 3. I'm sure glad when I decided to go after UNCLE, I sprung for the "Complete Series" box. It's got 5 boxes in it, one for each season, and a fifth consisting entirely of "extras"!
Until recently, I'd never actually seen the bulk of this series. Now that I have seen it from beginning to end, I really wish they'd stuck with the format they had in Season 1. On multiple occasions, I kept comparing it to THE TWILIGHT ZONE, in that nearly every actor who appeared on it that year got one of the BEST scripts of their entire career. I can't say that for Seasons 2 & 3. (Although Season 4 blew my mind. I've never seen a show recover and improve THAT drastically.)
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DO NOT FOLD, SPINDLE OR MUTILATE (1971)
The Dangers of Dishonest Computer-Dating (6 of 10)
4 little old ladies with too much time on their hands and a habit for crazy fun ideas to avoid boredom, decide to sign up with a computer-dating agency by creating a fictional 23-year-old blonde applicant... and then see what happens. Rather amusing until one of the potential suitors turns out to be dangerously mentally-unstable. When they suddenly realize the MURDERED girl in the newspaper may be the one they saw at a singles bar the night before, they set out to determine if the man they saw with her might actually be the killer... and somehow wind up ahead of the cops investigating the crime.
Not a mystery so much as a comedy-thriller, this ABC Movie of the Week (an anthology series I really loved back in the early 70s) starred a quartet of adorable characters. There's Helen Hayes (AIRPORT), Myrna Loy (THE MASK OF FU MANCHU, THE THIN MAN), Mildred Natwick (McMILLAN & WIFE), and Sylvia Sidney (DEAD END, WKRP, BEETLEJUICE, MARS ATTACKS!), plus, almost unrecognizable, Vince Edwards (BEN CASEY, STAR RAIDERS). In supporting roles are John Beradino (GENERAL HOSPITAL), Larry D. Mann (POLICE SURGEON) and, also almost unrecognizable, John Mitchum (DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, THE ENFORCER). Paul Smith (who I've only ever seen on an episode of BATMAN) plays a man the police insist is NOT a "prime suspect", especially when it turns out he's a regular customer for the murdered woman (who turned out to be a cut-rate hooker).
The film was based on the novel by Doris Miles Disney, while the director was Ted Post. I have a really hard time connecting that this wonderfully-goofy bit of fluff was done by the same guy who did HANG 'EM HIGH, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, MAGNUM FORCE and GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK! I guess people shouldn't be judged via type-casting. Jerry Goldsmith did the music, and the "theme song" (or whatever it was) is just one of the WEIRDEST things I've ever heard from him. And he scored PLANET OF THE APES!
A year later on a different network, thanks to Leonard Stern (GET SMART, McMILLAN & WIFE), Hayes & Natwick were reunited in the pilot film THE SNOOP SISTERS, which, the following season, led to the short-run series as part of the NBC Mystery Movies. Previously available as a DVD-R from MOD Cinema, it has recently been added as an extra to the newer 2020 VEI box of THE SNOOP SISTERS: The Complete Series. The color on the print is a bit faded, and there's some HISS on the sountrack, but the picture is clear, and exceedingly-watchable.
What nobody else has mentioned is that, with 4 older ladies as this film has, it's very much like THE GOLDEN GIRLS-- 14 years early!
Ever since 1973, Helen Hayes has really cracked me up. I wish I'd had an aunt like her when I was growing up.
(12-11-2023)
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TOMORROW AT SEVEN (1933)
A mysterious killer predicts he will murder someone at a specific time-- then, pulls it off! What kind of mystery is it where on the surface, there appears to be NO suspects? I had the sneaky feeling the initial premise of this was used in the 1st "Joker" story in BATMAN #1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeLK3C7fbhc
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Double Affair
The Project Earthsave Affair (3 of 10)
Solo is kidnapped and replaced by a surgically-created double whose mission is to transport the secret combination lock of a high-security vault in Austria, that protects a powerful energy source designed to fight back against a potential alien invasion from outer space.
SAY WHAT???
UNCLE season 1 generally features the best writing, directing and acting in the entire run of the series. NOT THIS ONE, though.
The plot involving a Thrush doctor (Harold Gould, who's got more charisma than any other guest-actor in this episode) creating a fake Solo (too bad Robert Vaughn didn't get paid double for playing 2 parts, heh), the fake exhibiting virtually NO personality whatsoever (shouldn't anyone have noticed this, especially Waverly, his boss, and Ilya, who was good friends withy him in seasons 1 & 4), is problematic enough.
It's the "McGuffin" part of the plot that makes this fall right thru the floor. Every step-by-step as they go dealing with the security for the code, the attache case, the airplane, the entrance to the base, the descent into the vault area, the techs in charge, the EXPLANATION of what the vault is keeping secure, what it's for, how it "works", what it does if you accidentally aren't wearing protective glasses... it's all INSANE. It is the single WORST writing, directing & acting in the whole of season 1. (I don't even want to compare it to seasons 2, 3 & 3B, they had an entirely-different kind of problem.)
I looked up Clyde Ware. This was one of his earliest scripts, it was his ONLY episode of UNCLE, and the one thing he did the most of was 17 episodes of GUNSMOKE. I'd say he was completely out of his depth here. I also looked up John Newland. AHA. His main claim to fame was the series ONE STEP BEYOND. I wasn't surprised. The whole "Project Earthsave" plot did NOT fit on this show, it felt like it was a rejected VOYAGE script, or a script leftover from the 2nd season of THE OUTER LIMITS. This gives me the impression that Newland was more responsible for the content of this story than the writer was.
I also get the feeling this may have been filmed earlier than it was broadcast, since Ilya has so little to do with the story, it may have been written before they began to expand David McCallum's part on the show.
I've read that this was filmed IN COLOR in order to expand it into a Euro feature film (THE SPY WITH MY FACE). One very odd thing, watching it on DVD, is that somehow, the entire soundtrack sounded like it had been BADLY dubbed onto the episode. The sound quality was so "harsh", I couldn't escape the feeling that something strange had gone on technically behind-the-scenes before it was aired. (I wonder if it was like this back in 1964?)
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THE MAN FROM UNCLE: The Project Strigas Affair
The Non-existent Nerve-gas Affair (10 of 10)
A Russian diplomat is stirring up tensions between East & West, and Mr. Waverly wants him taken out-- in a way that will not make him a hero. When Solo asks his boss if he has any ideas how to do this, Waverly replies, "Oh, I'm sure you can come up with something." (If this were a McCLOUD, the hero would have replied, "'preciate yer confidence, Chief!") They decide to recruit the owner of a struggling exterminator company to pose as a government scientist who's invented a new form of gas that will all but eliminate regular warfare-- and the diplomat, though suspicious as he could be, can't help but eventually want to get his hands on it.
This episode is arguably one of the BEST in the entire series. It's so good, SO well-written, well-directed, well-acted, it hurt to watch it, knowing how the show began to drop off in quality in its 2nd season. And, it didn't depend on car chases or fight scenes! Writer Henry Misrock had a shockingly-short career, and this was his only UNCLE-- a CRIME! This was director Joseph Sargent's 1st of 11 UNCLE episodes, which ranged from deadly-serious to hilarious farce. There is so much style in this one, and it's played so straight, it's the incessant twists of plot & character that make parts of it funny as hell. This is how I wish more of the series had been-- and all of the '66 BATMAN as well. I was also blown away by the moody piano score of Walter Scharf, his 1st of 10 for UNCLEs, all in the 1st season. Scharf's long resume also includes THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1939), several Jerry Lewis films, 5 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLEs, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and JACQUES COUSTEAU specials.
William Shatner (STAR TREK) is "Michael Donfield", the reluctant recruit who soon dives in full-throttle with so much enthusiasm you'd think he did this before. It's one of the best acting jobs I've ever seen from him, which happened with quite a few guest-actors during UNCLE's 1st season. Werner Klemperer (HOGAN'S HEROES) is "Laslo Kurosov", the trouble-making diplomat who is the target of Solo's con game. Woodrow Parfrey (who I've seen in countless movies & tv shows) is a Russian agent who's conned by Waverly into switching sides. Leonard Nimoy (also STAR TREK, heh) is "Vladeck", Kurosov's henchman who Kurosov never passes up an opportunity to insult, leading Vladeck to try that much harder-- with surprising results.
One of the best scenes is when Vladeck supplies evidence that the Russian spy Ilya is posing as in disguise, is not who he claims to be, and right then, Ilya takes cyanide and KILLS himself. Instead of grabbing Donfield, they tell him to get rid of the body or they'll pass on evidence to the cops that Donfield murdered him. At that point, Donfield is terrified, until Ilya reveals that, NO, he didn't REALLY kill himself. But they fear their plan has gone astray... until those devious wheels in Solo's head start spinning. "Unless..." This episode really should be a course in how to play a story DEADLY serious, while still being hilarious.
The finale, when Solo, Ilya and Donfield are all standing there at the airport as Kurosov is being escorted back to Russia to face charges of embezzling one million dollars (!) is the sort of "twisting the knife" that Jim Phelps on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE always avoided doing... until the late 80s, when he got much older and meaner (heh). When Donfield's wife says to Solo, "That's DIABOLICAL!", he smiles and replies, "We try."
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MAD DOG COLL (1961)
History vs. Hollywood-- BRUTAL GANGSTER style! (7 of 10)
2 years after THE UNTOUCHABLES did an episode about "Mad Dog" Vincent Coll, came this gripping low-budget thriller. Sure, they got pretty much ALL the details wrong. Sure, 95% of the people in front of the cameras and in back of them had incredibly-SHORT careers. But on the other hand, aside from headliner John Davis Chandler, you also had terrific spotlights for Telly Savalas (the tough cop who gave Coll too MANY chances), Vincent Gardenia (who makes Dutch Schultz seem more civilized than he probably was), and a very young Jerry Orbach (who tortures over whether to stick with his lifelong "friend", OR, help the cops PUT HIM DOWN. There's even a wordless cameo by Gene Hackman in his screen debut, as a uniformed cop.
There's also the loud, powerful, in-your-face score from Stu Phillips, whose work I know from countless things, including McCLOUD, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY. Its nice to know some people made it out of this piece of obscurity and had long, successful careers.
Hey, I gotta hand it to the people who made this film for the simple fact that THEY MADE THIS FILM. And, it's watchable! That in itself is quite an accomplishment, no matter how you look at it.
For comparison, try watching this and the 1959 UNTOUCHABLES episode with Clu Gulager as Coll and Lawrence Dobkin as Shultz. Or, check out the 1981 mini-series, THE GANGSTER CHRONICLES, that had David Wilson as Coll and Jonathan Banks as Schultz (my personal favorite). My Dad always said that show had the MOST-authentic casting he'd ever seen for all the real-life characters involved. I always remember in that version of events, Coll & Schultz were the only 2 gang leaders who refused to sign the Atlantic City 'peace treaty' between all the major gangs-- and Coll got rubbed out soon after.
A quick Google search reveals there's also several other film versions of Coll's story. Hey, why not watch 'em all and compare?
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MADIGAN: The Manhattan Beat
The Cop and the Sociology Major (7 of 10)
A pair of ex-con punk brothers are mugging people and terrorizing others to keep them quiet, which make it hard for the police to charge them. This doesn't stop tough, old, grizzled Detective Dan Madigan from rousting them on petty misdemeanors to try and keep them off the streets at least for a night here and there, even if it does come under the heading of "police harrasassment". While this is going on, he's saddled with a new partner, fresh out of college with a degree is Sociology, who thinks "new-fangled" methods like communication and "encounter groups" may be able to help at least one of the brothers.
MADIGAN had to be the most "different" of all the NBC Mystery Movies series. Filmed entirely on location (at the insistence of lead actor Richard Widmark), it's like a tougher, grittier version of McCLOUD with nearly all of the humor surgically removed. I came in a bit late, but for most of the 1972-73 season, it became one of my favorite shows, despite how deadly-serious it often was. Re-watching this episode, it feels like it stepped out of a time warp. On the one hand, the attitude of his partner screams of the era it was made more than anything on any other Mystery Movie series, while the look and style seems at least 20 years ahead of its time. A shame that like too many of the series that came after the initial 3, it didn't last. In an interview in TV GUIDE at the time, when asked what he thought the show's chances were, Widmark replied, "All I know is, whenever I like a show, it only lasts one season." He called that one right.
What a cast! Richard Widmark (KISS OF DEATH, THE ALAMO, JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS) is "Dan Madigan", a cop who claims to hate his job, but keeps doing it because it's the only thing he knows, and, he's so good at it. I always remember being shocked when I got around to seeing the 1968 feature film MADIGAN, and found he was married in it, and, more, got KILLED at the end. This episode mentions he's divorced, and, as for the other thing, I guess he "got better". The nerve of whoever was responsible for taking a DEAD character and reviving him for a TV series.
Ronnie Cox (ROBOCOP) is "Norman Fields", the all-too-sensitive college boy with the way-too-long hair who isn't sure he's made the right career choice, tries to reach the younger mugger (and his sister), and oddly lies to his parents about what his older partner does on his time off.
Murray Hamilton (JAWS) is "Charlie Kane", Dan's ex-parter who's moved up to a desk job, and understands him better than anyone else. Hamilton replaced James Whitmore from the 1968 film, and while I know they only made 3 episodes set in New York City, it's very odd that Hamilton didn't come back for the other 2.
William Prince (THE GAUNTLET) is "Mr. Fields", Norman's father who asks Dan to "watch over" his son.
Tony Lo Bianco (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) is Joe Lakka, a scum if there ever was one, who mugs and terrorizes old people, but also brutalizes his own brother to keep him in line. Suffice to say, things don't end well, but he really had it coming.
James Sloyan (BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY) is Tommy Lakka, the annoying younger brother who does whatever his older sibling tells him to, no matter how much trouble it means.
Earle Hyman has a brief part as "Detective Clark", who we see at the grimy precinct house. He later appeared in 40 episodes of THE COSBY SHOW!
Ann Wedgeworth is "Angie", the waitress Dan is friendly with. She later appeared in 99 episodes of EVENING SHADE!
I strongly suspect the location used for the police precinct was the SAME one that appeared in both the 1968 MADIGAN film and the 1968 COOGAN'S BLUFF. I found it interesting at the time that MADIGAN and THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO debuted the same month, and both featured grizzled old detectives partnered with young college boys (on the other show it was Karl Malden & Michael Douglas). STREETS ran 120 weekly episodes; MADIGAN, a mere 6 tv-movies. So it goes.
At the moment, the series is available as bootlegs from OnesMediaFilms. The prints, taken from French copies (with the important credits altered to read in English) are a bit too dark and grainy, but at least they're watchable. I really wanted to upgrade from my own videotapes recorded off The CBS Late Movie in the early 80s, when they skipped my favorite episode, "The London Beat". But I would really love it if Visual Entertainment Incorporated (VEI), who put out the boxes of McCLOUD, McMILLAN & WIFE, and THE SNOOP SISTERS, would get around to doing MADIGAN, HEC RAMSEY, COOL MILLION, and the other later NBC Mystery Movie series.
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There are 6 episodes of MADIGAN ON YouTube.
Find them here
MADIGAN (1972 - 1973) Richard Widmark
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAkFwZCQjyWxlfUcwHHOfnzkHmHLzEKOW
These are with French Titles but all the dialogue is in English.
I downloaded and watched them all last year.
Oh Yeah, there are also several episodes of
THE EDDIE CAPRA MYSTERIES
THE EDDIE CAPRA MYSTERIES - Ep. 1 "Nightmare at Pendragon Castle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8QtLp1uV-o
Huge Guest cast for episode #!
cheers!
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Probably the same source as the DVD-R box set! ;D
Marcello (who runs OnesMediaFilms) accidentally included a copy of the widescreen 1968 feature film, only blocked on the disc in "fullscreen", so it's got black bars on all 4 sides, PLUS, the English subtitles were left on, no way to turn them off. He apologized for the error, and said as soon as he could get around to it, he'd try to get a better copy... but, personally, I'd just as soon rather buy the current BLU-RAY of the film.
I sent an e-mail to VEI today with my comments about hoping they'd get around to putting out the later Mystery Movie series. They've done 3 so far (the McCLOUD box is what got me started on this, I'd been hoping for that for YEARS), while, oddly, 2 other outfits did BANACEK and COLUMBO.
I found it very odd that the 2nd season opener of COLUMBO had the modern "Universal" logo on the disc TWICE (before and after the menu), and, the "teaser" at the beginning, with NO gap between it and the start of the movie itself... but oddly, was MISSING the Universal logo at the END of the film. The MADIGAN this week movie had that! That little 9-note bit of music always serves as "the end", and it feels wrong when it's not there.
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PICASSO TRIGGER (1988)
REVENGE is never a good business model (5 of 10)
Drug lord Miguel Ortiz thanks his business partner Salazar for his help, but right after, Salazar is gunned down at an art gallery. Soon after, Ortiz has his men bumping off DEA agents, and plans to then murder civilians, all of whom were involved in the death of his brother. Luckily, 3 of the good guys targetted AREN'T killed, and one of them, cowboy "L. G.", gets in touch with his "Agency" friends and gathers them together for a massive assault to "arrest" (or, just plain KILL OFF) all the bad guys involved. Along the way, we have the usual helicopters, fast cars, speed boats, motorcycles, martial arts fights, high-powered guns, gimmicky exposives... oh yeah, and HOT NAKED BABES. All in beautiful, gorgeous, STUNNINGLY-photographed locations. Writer & director Andy Sidaris is on the loose again!
The 5th (yeah, 5th!) of Sidaris' sexy action flicks brings back several cast members from both HARD TICKET TO HAWAII (1987) and SEVEN (1979), the latter of which was apparently a victim of some legal rights problems for decades, and so never included in Sidaris sets or reissued on disc until 2018! But it's my FAVORITE of his films, so I was thrilled to see not only "Cowboy" / "L. G." (Guich Koock) and "The Professor" (Richard LePore) return from that film, but also the near-identical fight scene and method of killing used wherein a drug boss is shoved thru a high window out of a tall office building!
Returning from HARD TICKET are Dona Spier ("Donna"), the adorable Hope Marie Carlton ("Taryn"), Cynthis Brimhall ("Edy"), Patty Duffek ("Pattycakes"), Harold Diamond ("Jade"), Wolf Larson (golf pro "Jimmy-John Jackson"), and Andy Sidaris ("Whitey"). Several other actors return in different roles, including John Aprea (crime boss "Salazar", nick-named "Picasso Trigger"), Rodrigo Obregón (crime boss Miguel Ortiz), Nicholas Giorgiade (white slaver "Schiavo"), and John Brown (DEA agent "Juan", previously hired thug "Luke" in MALIBU EXPRESS). It's fun how Sidaris' films has a stock company of actors not unlike the Universal Rathbone Holmes films of the 1940s. New Playboy Playmate additions this time are Liv Lindeland ("Inga", the Professor's Swedish girlfriend), Kym Malin ("Kym", Pattykakes’ dancing partner), and the incredibly-beautiful Roberta Vasquez ("Pantera", who says she was once in love with the film's hero Travis).
Steve Bond is "Travis Abilene", and like Cody and Rowdy, CAN'T hit a moving target! The joke has gotten old and tired by here. Bond is all grown up since his appearance in TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY (1966, released in 1968), and of all the guys in this film, I thought he was the only one who was, frankly, as hot-looking as the girls were. But his acting wasn't half as good as his 2 predecessors. I kept wishing Sidaris had brought back William Smith.
I was somewhat surprised that neither Hope or Roberta ever showed their breasts in this film. Sidaris once hilariously said, comparing his films to the 007 series, "Our girls are prettier, and they show their stuff." But I guess Donna & Cynthia made up for it.
I've repeatedly read this film's plot was "hard to follow". MAYBE. By halfway in, I was actually reminded of The Monkees' film HEAD (1968), in that both seemed to have a "stream-of-consciousness" feel about the way events played out. You MAY not know for sure what's going on at any given moment, but, keep watching, and it WILL all make sense as it goes.
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What with ELLERY QUEEN up in the current Reading Group post, I have come across several MYSTERY Series PILOTS.
The Pilots are sometimes more interesting that the rest of the series.
It seems that the technique was to do the aired Pilot as a 1 hour 30 minute movie with half a dozen guest stars, which meant that the series that followed could be a let-down.
Here are three.
Here is the Pilot of Jim Huttons Ellery Queen.
Ellery Queen - Pilot - "Too Many Suspects"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgpz2tW-REU
As was the custom, it's a 1 hour 38 minute movie with lots of 'Guest Stars'
[Ray Milland, John Hillerman, John Larch, Monte Markham]
This is worth watching for the opening sequence demonstrating the recording of a radio drama in 1947. A an absolute gem of a sequence.
THE EDDIE CAPRA MYSTERIES - Ep. 1 "Nightmare at Pendragon Castle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8QtLp1uV-o
Huge Guest cast for episode #!
Wendy Phillips, Ken Swofford, Michael Horton, Seven Ann McDonald. Guest Stars Michael Conrad, John Considine, George Hamilton, Robert Hogan, Janet Margolin, Lois Nettleton, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Stella Stevens, Robert Vaughn, Robert Walker, Jr.
Robert Vaughan is the Murder victim and also chief bad guy. Does it well.
A Nero Wolfe Mystery S00E01 The Golden Spiders Pilot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1VkNZHviGE
No guest stars in this one. Not necessary. Superb show.
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I believe Jim Hutton was the 10th actor to play Ellery Queen on film. From what I know, he was THE BEST! The pilot was run, I believe, durng the schedule of the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movies (or was it Tuesday? heh). The following season, it ran as a one-hour, and was tons of fun. Sad it only ran one year. I really loved that show.
Last year or so I saw the earlier pilot, DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU (1971), which may (or may not) have been intended for the Mystery Movie cycle that year, or the following year, but wasn't picked up... THANK GOD, it sucked beyond all believe on every possible level, with the exception of Harry Morgan as Inspector Queen, who was every bit as good as David Wayne.
A bit earlier, Jim Hutton had starred in an entirely-different pilot, THEY CALL IT MURDER (filmed in 1969-70, aired in 1971), starring as D.A. Doug Selby, based on Earl Stanley Gardner's 1939 novel "The D.A. Draws A Circle". It was terminally dull beyond belief and I could see why it wasn't picked up. I think I figured out something. Gardner HATED what Warner Bros, did with their 6-film PERRY MASON series from 1934-37, which featured 3 different actors as Mason. Most outstanding was Warren William in the first 4 films, who seemed to play Perry as a real "shyster". (He was a dead ringer for "Ham" in the DOC SAVAGE stories. I wonder if one inspired the other?) Doug Selby's nemesis was a sleazy defense attourney named A.B. Carr. In the 1971 film, Carr was played by Lloyd Bochner-- virtually a DEAD RINGER for Warren William! I think the Doug Selby / A.B. Carr novels were Gardner's way of striking back at the Warner Bros. / Warren William PERRY MASON films, since the 1st novel came out 2 years after the last WB MASON film.
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GUNS (1990)
Big Guns and Big ‘Uns! (5 of 10)
A mobster wants to ship high-tech Chinese weapons to South America-- thru Hawaii-- and so decides to kill several DEA agents there to lure them to Las Vegas, knowing one will come after him, because ten years earlier, he killed her father. What follows involves action, violence, nudity, and occasional comedy (but not really enough of the latter two).
Andy Sidaris is at it again! Dona Spier, Roberta Vasquez, Cynthia Brimhall, Kim Malin, Donna Spangler, Lisa London, Liv Lindeland, Devin DeVasquez... how many Playboy Playmates (and the like) can you squeeze into one film? There's also Erik Estrada as the main baddie, Danny Trejo as his sidekick, George Cheung as his weapons supplier, Bruce Penhall, Michael J. Shane, Chuck McCann, John Brown & William Bumiller as DEA agents (more than usual this time, though some of them get killed off before it's over). The lesson I got from this movie is, if you're a criminal, operate in quiet. If you go out of your way to target cops-- especially Feds-- you might as well just be painting a target on your chest. (Actually, I think that was Lucky Luciano's MO as well.)
"Taryn" (Hope Marie Carlton) left after 3 pictures (perhaps her character made off with so much money she decided it was better to separate herself from all these dangerous DEA missions?) and was replaced with "Nicole" (Roberta Vasquez, who's beautiful, but far more serious, maybe too much so, throwing off the balance the previous films had). "Shane Abilene" (Michael J. Shane) STILL can't hit a moving target, not even with a massive .44 Magnum, prompting Dona to yell at him, "Don't just DO something, STAND there!", before she blows up a mini-plane with a rocket launcher. DEA agent and stage magician "Abe" (Chuck McCann), interrogates 2 thugs and asks, "Do you know what's the difference between a magician and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist!" When confronted with a pair of sword-weilding ninjas, Donna just SHOOTS them-- the 3rd time such a thing happened in a Sidaris film!
"Edy Stark" (Cynthia Brimhall), who in earlier films ran a restaurant as her cover, moved over to singing in nightclubs, so "Rocky" (Lisa London) took over the restaurant-- an interesting bit of continuity in these things. Edy's role REALLY expanded in this one (and it looks like her breast size did as well, but that may just be her push-up bras). The film opens (and closes) with Edy singing onstage, in what I can only think it a tribute to the Dean Martin-Matt Helm film THE SILENCERS (1966). And it suddenly hits me, lead character "Donna Hamilton" almost has to be a tribute to author Donald Hamilton, creator of Matt Helm!
Looking back over posters for this film, I find the original was quite misleading. It said, "James never had this kind of help!", and pictures a smiling Erik Estrada with Dona Spier & Cynthia Brimhall, as if he were the hero of the picture-- but he's the MAIN BAD GUY!
I wonder why Andy Sidaris didn't have a cameo in this one? (Or did I miss him somehow?)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TTDQF3B3L.jpg)