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[profh0011]

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!

[The Australian Panther]

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!       

[profh0011]

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!   

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.

[bowers]

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

[profh0011]

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

[profh0011]

"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

[profh0011]

"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

[profh0011]

(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.

[crashryan]

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.

[profh0011]

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.

[profh0011]

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?)

[The Australian Panther]

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!
   

[The Australian Panther]

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.

[profh0011]

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!

[The Australian Panther]

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/

[profh0011]

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!

[profh0011]

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.

[profh0011]

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".

[profh0011]

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."

[profh0011]

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.

[profh0011]

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.

[profh0011]

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!

[profh0011]

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...

[profh0011]

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".

[profh0011]

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.