SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY CINEMA:
Classic Films of Sci-Fi, Horror & The Supernatural
By John Howard Reid
HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS 23
Smashwords Edition © 2011 by John Howard Reid
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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All rights reserved. Inquiries: johnreid@mail.qango.com
Other Books in the “Hollywood Classics” series:
1. New Light on Movie Bests
2. “B” Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies
3. Award-Winning Films of the 1930s
4. Movie Westerns: Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West
5. Memorable Films of the Forties
6. Popular Pictures of the Hollywood 1940s
7. Your Colossal Main Feature Plus Full Support Program
8. Hollywood’s Miracles of Entertainment
9. Hollywood Gold: Films of the Forties and Fifties
10. Hollywood “B” Movies: A Treasury of Spills, Chills & Thrills
11. Movies Magnificent: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics
12. These Movies Won No Hollywood Awards
13. Movie Mystery & Suspense
14. America’s Best, Britain’s Finest
15. Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome and Fantastic
16. Hollywood Movie Musicals
17. “Hollywood Classics” Index Books 1-16
18. More Movie Musicals
19. Success in the Cinema
20. Best Western Movies
21. Great Cinema Detectives
22. Great Hollywood Westerns
23. Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema
24. Hollywood’s Classic Comedies
25. Hollywood Classics Title Index to All Movies Reviewed in Books 1-24
Additional Movie Books by John Howard Reid
CinemaScope One: Stupendous in Scope
CinemaScope Two: 20th Century-Fox
CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge
Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD:
A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills
WESTERNS: A Guide to the Best (and Worst) Western Movies on DVD
Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan’s Guide
British Movie Entertainments on VHS and DVD
Table of Contents
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Aladino y la lampara maravillosa
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
Chanoc contre el tigre y el vampiro
Chanoc en la isla de los muertos
Chanoc en las garras de las fierras
Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Hardship of Miles Standish
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Cushing)
Der Hund von Baskervilles (Bruno Guttner)
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
The Phantom of the Opera (Nelson Eddy)
Popeye the Sailor Meets Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Santo en la vengenza de la momia
Santo vs. la invasion de los Marcianos
Superman in Billion Dollar Limited
The Thief of Bagdad (Fairbanks)
Viking Women and the Sea Serpent
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
130 Top Flights of Film Fantasy
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
Bud Abbott (Chick Young), Lou Costello (Wilbur Grey), Lon Chaney, Jr (Lawrence Talbot), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Glenn Strange (Frankenstein’s monster), Lenore Aubert (Sandra Mornay), Jane Randolph (Joan Raymond), Frank Ferguson (McDougal), Charles Bradstreet (Dr Stevens), Howard Negley (Harris), Joe Kirk (man), Clarence Straight (man in armor), Harry Brown (photographer), Helen Spring (woman at baggage counter), Paul Stader (sergeant), Bobby Barber (waiter), George Barton, Carl Sklover, Joe Walls (men), and Vincent Price (voice of Invisible Man).
Director: CHARLES BARTON. Original screenplay: Frederic I. Rinaldo, Robert Lees and John Grant. Photography: Charles Van Enger. Film editor: Frank Gross. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun and Hilyard Brown. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and Oliver Emert. Costumes: Grace Houston. Music: Frank Skinner. Special photographic effects: David S. Horsley and Jerome H. Ash. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Make-up sculptor: Chris Mueller. Hair styles: Carmen Dirigo. Camera operator: Robert Pierce. Music orchestrations: David Tamkin. Script supervision: Bud Abbott. Assistant director: Joseph E. Kenny. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard. Producer: Robert Arthur.
Copyright 8 September 1949 (in notice: 1948) by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York release at Loew’s Criterion: 28 July 1948. U.S. release: July 1948. U.K. release (through J. Arthur Rank’s General Film Distributors): 7 November 1949. Australian release: 25 November 1948. U.S. length: 83 minutes. U.K. length: 79 minutes. Australian length: 5,642 feet. 63 minutes.
U.K. and Australian release title: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE GHOSTS.
SYNOPSIS: Two bungling shipping clerks (helped? by the Wolf Man) tangle with Count Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster.
NOTES: Some sources cite the U.S. running time as 92 minutes. This is incorrect. The TV print which seems in every way complete, runs 83 minutes.
The film was cut on original release in both the U.K. and Australia by the Film Censors, both of whom also insisted on the title change. “Frankenstein” was a dirty word in both countries in 1948 as all so-called “Horror films” at that time were completely banned.
Negative cost: $800,000 (quite a fair amount of money in 1948 when Poverty Row westerns were still being churned out for little more than one hundredth of that amount).
Universal Studios, the home of horror, created a stable of monsters in the 1930s led by Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man (and later, in the 1950s, the Creature from the Black Lagoon debuted). In this delightful spoof, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, the studio’s resident comedians run up against four of the horrors—although The Invisible Man makes only an amusing, though highly appropriate fade-out appearance. However, the comedy duo made up for this slight in 1951 when The Invisible Man featured as a solo item in Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. And if The Mummy was peeved by his initial neglect, he was doubtless mollified by Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy in 1955.
COMMENT: It’s amazing how few contemporary critics appreciated Abbott and Costello. They were generally dismissed with a sneer. The fact that some of their films had quite novel plots (The Little Giant, The Time of Their Lives) as well as a high level of verbal and visual wit was usually overlooked or disregarded. Abbott and Costello were irredeemably “lowbrow”. Even at the conclusion of an otherwise favorable review of Meet Frankenstein, Lionel Collier (chief reviewer for the high-circulation weekly magazine Picturegoer) can sum up that the comedians provide plenty of entertainment “if you are unsophisticated enough to enjoy them.”
Fortunately the public took very little notice of critics in the 40’s. Meet Frankenstein restored Abbott and Costello’s flagging careers, putting them right back with the top ten money-making stars.
Today Meet Frankenstein is justly regarded as one of their best films—if not their masterpiece. For once director Charles T. Barton (a longtime friend and former assistant of William A. Wellman) has really risen to the occasion, handling both the comedy and the horror so effectively as to rouse the ire of both the U.K. and Australian censors. Exactly twenty minutes were lopped from Australian prints. Meet Frankenstein must hold the record for the most mutilated U.S. film ever put into Australian theatrical release.
As Abbott & Costello’s biographer, Jim Mulholland. comments: “One of the film’s chief assets is that the horror sequences are played completely straight, leaving the comedy to the comedians… Meet Frankenstein is the best satire on horror movies ever made.”
Production values are absolutely first-class. It is not only Barton’s deft direction that keeps the laughs and the thrills coming at a marvelous pace, but the skilled film editing, atmospheric photography, creepy sets, and mood-enhancing music scored and directed by Frank Skinner; while even by 2011 standards, the make-up and special effects are often stunning.
Available on an excellent Universal DVD.
Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Bud Abbott (Bud Alexander), Lou Costello (Lou Francis), Nancy Guild (Helen Gray), Adele Jergens (Boots Marsden), Sheldon Leonard (Morgan), William Frawley (Detective Roberts), Gavin Muir (Dr Philip Gray), Arthur Franz (Tommy Nelson), Sam Balter (radio announcer), Syd Saylor (waiter), Billy Wayne (Rooney), Bobby Barber (Sneaky), John Day [John Daheim] (Rocky Hanlon), Edward Gargan (Milt), Paul Maxey (Dr Turner), Herbert Vigran (Stillwell), Frankie Van (referee), Carl Sklover (Lou’s handler), George J. Lewis (torpedo), Ralph Dunn (motorcycle cop), Walter F. Appler (Professor Dugan), Harold Goodwin (bartender), Howard Banks (officer), Chuck Hamilton, Kenner G. Kemp, Perc Launders (cops), Edith Sheets (nurse), Milt Bronson (ring announcer), Richard Bartell (bald-headed man), Charles Perry (Rocky’s handler), Dick Gordon, Ray Darmour, Ralph Brooks (men), Sayre Dearing, Russ Conway, Billy Snyder (reporters), Frank Dae (Col Duffie), Kit Guard (boxer on rowing machine), Stuart Holmes (cigar-smoking ringsider), Donald Kerr, William H. O’Brien (fight spectators), Rory Mallinson (tough guy at bar), Ralph Montgomery, Franklin Parker (photographers), Jack Shutta (attendant).
Director: CHARLES LAMONT. Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo. Abbott and Costello’s material: John Grant. Story: Hugh Wedlock, Jr and Howard Snyder. Suggested by the 1897 novel The Invisible Manby H.G. Wells. Photography: George Robinson. Film editor: Virgil Vogel. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun and Richard H. Riedel. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and John Austin. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Hair styles: Joan St Oegger. Special photography: David S. Horsley. Music director: Joseph Gershenson. Assistant director: Ronnie Rondell. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard. Producer: Howard Christie.
Copyright 19 April 1951 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. A Universal-International Picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 12 April 1951. U.S. release: 7 March 1951. U.K. release (on the lower half of a double bill): 4 June 1951. Australian release: 23 November 1951. 7,394 feet. 82 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Falsely accused of murdering his manager, a boxer hires a pair of dim-witted detectives.
COMMENT: Oddly designed as a sequel to Universal’s 1933 The Invisible Manitself—there’s even a recapitulation (complete with photo of Claude Rains) of the original story—this emerges as a fairly amusing Abbott and Costello vehicle. True, the climax once again features Lou in his familiar turn as a sure-gone loser in a knockabout prize fight, but this time with some delightful variations. In fact, the whole movie is quite cleverly handled. The boys themselves are in fine form and they are handed some great gags to work with—both verbal and visual. A wonderful support cast—Lou’s scenes with Paul Maxey’s psychiatrist are a real joy—add further luster to the movie.
I always expect George Robinson’s photography to be imaginatively atmospheric—which it certainly is! Perhaps too atmospheric. Just about the whole film action takes place at night, which is most unusual for the standard comedy movie, although Abbott and Costello had used this approach before in The Time of Their Lives and Meet Frankenstein. Whatever, the picture definitely has an attractively out-of-the-norm look about it. What’s even more important, director Charles Lamont has risen to the challenge with scene-setting that is far more flavorsome and stylish than his usual endeavors. But perhaps best of all are the special effects—some admittedly obvious and even amateurish, but many very ingenious indeed.
Available on an excellent Universal DVD.
Aladino y la lampara maravillosa
Antonio Espino [“Clavillazo”] (Aladdin), Ana Bertha Lepe (princess), Eda Lorna (the princess’s companion), Oscar Pulido (the magician), Carlota Solares (Aladdin’s mother), Eduardo Alcaraz (the wazir), Guillermo Orea (the caliph), Manuel Tamez [“Régulo”] (the genie), and Fidel Angel Espino, José Wilhelmy.
Director: JULIAN SOLER. Screenplay: Fernando de Fuentes. Screenplay contributors: Fidel Angel Espino, Manuel Tamez, Victor Manuel Castro, Maria Luisa Algarra. Film editor: Rafael Ceballos. Photographed in Eastman Color by José Ortiz Ramos. Art directors: Jorge Fernandez, Javier Torres Torija. Set decorator: Raul Sorrano. Costumes designed by Bertha Mendoza Lopez, Cristina G. de Escobar, Georgette Somohano. Dances staged by Ricardo Luna. Music: Manuel Esperon. Camera operator: Manuel Gonzalez. Producer: Gregorio Walerstein.
Copyright 1957 by Diana Films (Mexico City). Mexican release: 25 December 1958. 90 minutes.
English title: ALADDIN AND THE MARVELOUS LAMP.
SYNOPSIS: Despite his youthful appearance on the posters, in this version Aladdin is enacted by 47-year-old, rubber-faced comedian, Clavillazo (Pinhead is a fair translation), who has both eyes on the girls as well as a nodding acquaintance with the lamp.
COMMENT: After an extremely slow start in which the magician pontificates at length (mostly in dreary close-up) in a small and not overly inspiring set, this version fails to pick up much speed on the introduction of a rather mature Aladdin and his equally garrulous, complaining mother. It’s not until the Throttler’s awesomely belt-buckled genie (obviously modeled on Rex Ingram in Korda’s Thief of Bagdad) ingeniously makes his appearance (Aladdin’s back is itchy and he uses the lamp to scratch himself) that the clever variations on the familiar old tale start to exercise their spell. And once the girls, led by that ravishing blonde and former Miss Mexico, Ana Bertha Lepe, come out and come on in their dazzlingly seductive costumes, the movie really captures its audience’s undivided attention. Ramos’ gorgeous cinematography, along with the film’s splendid sets, entrancing costumes, eye-catching dancing, melodious music and impeccable special effects, lifts the movie into a stratosphere of delight. The scriptwriters capitalize on this happy mood by fomenting a conflict between a now rich-as-Midas Aladdin and the sultan’s grand vizier. All previous wonders are then equalled and excelled by a side-splitting duel, deftly built up, first in a literal battle of words and then with swords, between our hero and the jealous potentate. This rates as one of the funniest sequences I’ve ever seen in a lifetime’s viewing of over 20,000 movies. Any lingering doubts I had as to Clavillazo’s comic abilities vanished. True, he does tend to over-act a trifle, but I’ll forgive him. And as for Senoritas Lepe and Lorna and their companions, and for the lush, money-no-object way this most attractively sumptuous Aladino is often mounted: Wow!
Available on DVD through Laguna Films. Quality rating: ten out of ten.
Charlotte Henry (Alice), Richard Arlen (Cheshire Cat), Roscoe Ates (Fish), William Austin (Gryphon), Billy Barty (White Pawn), Billy Bevan (Two of Spades), Gary Cooper (White Knight), Leon Errol (Uncle Gilbert), Louise Fazenda (White Queen), W.C. Fields (Humpty Dumpty), Richard “Skeets” Gallagher (White Rabbit), Cary Grant (Mock Turtle), Ethel Griffies (Governess), Sterling Holloway (Frog), Edward Everett Horton (Mad Hatter), Roscoe Karns (Tweedledee), Mae Marsh (Sheep), Polly Moran (Dodo Bird), Jack Oakie (Tweedledum), Edna May Oliver (Red Queen), May Robson (Queen of Hearts), Charles Ruggles (March Hare), Jackie Searl (Dormouse), Ned Sparks (Caterpillar), Ford Sterling (White King), Colin Campbell (Garden Frog), Jack Duffy (Leg of Mutton), Harry Ekezian, Joe Torillo, Meyer Grace (executioners), Colin Kenny (The Clock), Charles McNaughton (Five of Spades), Patsy O’Byrne (The Aunt), George Ovey (Plum Pudding), Will Stanton (Seven of Spades), Baby LeRoy (Joker).
Director: NORMAN Z. McLEOD. Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankiewicz and William Cameron Menzies from the novels, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, by Lewis Carroll, as illustrated by Sir John Tenniel. Photography: Bert Glennon, Henry Sharp. Film editor: Ellsworth Hoaglund. Art director: William Cameron Menzies. Masks, make-up and costumes: William Cameron Menzies, Wally Westmore, Newt Jones. Settings: Robert Odell. Music: Dimitri Tiomkin. Music supervisor: Nat W. Finston. Technical effects: Gordon Jennings. Process photography: Farciot Edouart. Pageants staged by LeRoy Prinz. Animated segment produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Assistant director: Ewing Scott. Sound recording: Gene Merritt. Associate producer: Benjamin Glazer. Producer: Louis D. Lighton. Executive producer: Emanuel Cohen.
Copyright 22 December 1933 by Paramount Productions, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount, Times Square, and simultaneously at the Paramount, Brooklyn: 22 December 1933. The film also opened on the same date at 223 other cinemas in the USA and Canada. U.K. release: 22 December 1934 (sic). Australian release: 4 April 1934. Running time: 90 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: ’Twas brillig and slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe, all mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe.
NOTES: Charles Dodgson’s Alice books were published in 1865 and 1871. This version and the Walt Disney cartoon of 1951 are the most famous of many short and feature-length movie adaptations.
COMMENT: Whilst it’s undoubtedly true to say that few (if any) members of the cast were ever again to play such weirdly offbeat roles, the performances generally rate as both captivating and fascinating. Adults will be enthralled. The film may, however, be regarded as too grotesque for children.
Mary Boland, Bing Crosby and Charles Laughton were originally scheduled for the cast, while Jack Oakie was slated to play both Tweeledum and Tweedledee. Charlotte Henry was chosen to play Alice from over seven thousand applicants.
Although the official writing credit is divided between Menzies and Mankiewicz, what Menzies actually did was to illustrate the script which Mankiewicz combined from the two Carroll novels. When I interviewed Mankiewicz, he was justifiably proud of the fact that he used Carroll’s original dialogue and followed the original characters and incidents without the slightest deviation, except for the omission of the Lion and the Unicorn, the Live Flowers and the episode on the train in Chapter Three of “Looking Glass”. (We were speaking, of course, about the original 90 minutes version, not the ruthlessly truncated parody that formerly plagued television airings).
A striking film in every respect, this version also anticipates Disney with its excellent cartoon sequence, “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.
Sabu (Ali Ben Ali), Jon Hall (Haroun al Raschid), Maria Montez (Sherazad), Leif Erikson (Kamar), Billy Gilbert (Ahmad), Edgar Barrier (Hadan), Richard Lane (corporal), Turhan Bey (captain), John Qualen (Aladdin), Shemp Howard (Sinbad), Wee “Willie” Davis (Valda), Thomas Gomez (Hakim the slave trader), Jeni Le Gon (dresser to Sherazad), Robert Greig (story-teller), Charles Coleman (eunuch), Adia Kuznetzoff (slaver), Emory Parnell (harem sentry), Harry Cording (blacksmith), Robin Raymond (slave girl), Virginia Engels, Nedra Sanders, Mary Moore, Veronika Pataky, Jean Trent, Frances Gladwin, Rosemarie Dempsey, Patsy Mace, Pat Starling, June Ealey (harem girls), Andre Charlot, Frank Lackteen, Anthony Blair, Robert Barron, Art Miles, Murdock MacQuarrie (bidders), Elyse Knox (duenna), Burnu Acquanetta (Ishya), Ernest Whitman (Nubian slave), Eva Puig (old woman), Ken Christy (provost marshal), Johnnie Berkes (blind beggar), Cordell Hickman, Paul Clayton (black boys), Phyllis Forbes, Peggy Satterlee, Helen Pender, Eloise Hardt (virgins), Alaine Brandes (street slave girl), Jamiel Hasson, Crane Whitley, Charles Alvarado (officers), Duke York (archer), Mickey Simpson (hangman), Amador Gutierrez, Ben Ayassa Wadrassi, Edward Marmolejo, Daniel Barone (tumblers), Kermit Maynard (soldier), David Sharpe (double for Sabu), Carmen D’Antonio (harem queen).
Director: JOHN RAWLINS. Story and screenplay: Michael Hogan. Additional dialogue: True Boardman. Photographed in Technicolor by Milton Krasner. Film editor: Philip Cahn. Associate photographers: William V. Skall and W. Howard Greene. Production designers: Jack Otterson and Alexander Golitzen. Set decorations: R.A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb. Costumes: Vera West. Music composed by Frank Skinner and directed by Charles Previn. Technicolor color consultant: Natalie Kalmus. Technical advisor: Jamiel Hasson. Assistant director: Fred Frank. Sound supervisor: Bernard B. Brown. Sound technician: William Fox. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Walter Wanger. A Walter Wanger Production.
Copyright 29 December 1942 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Rivoli: 25 December 1942. U.S. release: 25 December 1942. Australian release: 12 August 1943. 9 reels. 7,853 feet. 87 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Because of his abiding love of Sherazad, a dancing girl who promises to marry him if he becomes caliph, Kamar seizes the throne from Caliph Haroun al Raschid, his half-brother. Kamar orders his men to kill Haroun, but he escapes and is given refuge by Ali Ben Ali, an acrobat with Ahmad’s tent circus. Others in the troupe are Sinbad, Aladdin, and the star attraction, Sherazad. None know of Haroun’s true identity save Ali, who agrees to keep the discovery a secret. Unknown to Kamar, his aide Hadan has Sherazad sold into slavery in order to prevent her from becoming Queen and taking away his power.
NOTES: Nominated for the following prestigious Hollywood awards: Krasner, Skall and Greene for Color Cinematography, losing to Leon Shamroy’s The Black Swan; Golitzen, Otterson, Gausman and Webb for Color Sets, losing to My Gal Sal; Bernard Brown for Sound Recording, losing to Yankee Doodle Dandy; Frank Skinner for Scoring of a Drama or Comedy, losing to Now, Voyager.
Universal’s first three-strip Technicolor feature, and the studio’s top domestic boxoffice attraction of 1942-43.
Above are the official writing credits. Producer Walter Wanger stated at the time of the film’s New York release that the story was written by Michael Hogan, True Boardman and Eddie Hartmann from a general outline by Alexander Golitzen. Its only similarity to Burton’s classic is the title as Mr Wanger found the original “dull and dirty”.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Adults. The story is certainly silly enough for kids, but they’re likely to take it seriously.
COMMENT: “The woman whose beauty shames the glory of the sunset” (to quote some of the rich dialogue in this delightfully escapist yet ultra-lavish and regally elegant slice of eye-dazzling fantasy), namely Maria Montez, here makes her Technicolor debut. Shortly to be crowned “Queen of Technicolor”, Montez presents an exotically fiery, tantalizingly tempestuous personality, extravagantly costumed, exquisitely groomed. That she can’t act for toffee and that her accent is often almost impenetrable simply adds to her more-than-mortal allure. Interestingly, as her boxoffice appeal was as yet unknown, she is not allowed to dominate the Nights as she did her subsequent films, like White Savage, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Cobra Woman, Gypsy Wildcat, Sudan and Pirates of Monterey. Here, there’s still plenty for Jon Hall and his seemingly acrobatic sidekick Sabu to get their hands on. Turhan Bey, later to take precedence over Jon Hall as the romantic lead, is also in the cast; Leif (pronounced “Life”) Erikson and Edgar Barrier enact the villains; whilst some additional comedy relief (the whole film is just one vast howl) is skilfully provided by our favorite (if impermanent) Stooge, Shemp Howard, plus John Qualen and Sneezy Gilbert.
The trailer for this one is also a real hoot, the best of the lot. “Bagdad, city of temptations, where ruler and rogue, slaver and sinner fight for the forbidden Sherazad. A story rich and exotic as the East itself!” And that’s just for openers. Mind you, the trailer for Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves runs this one pretty close. How about: “See Bagdad enslaved by Hunnish hordes!” or, as the off-screen commentator breathlessly informs us, “see Romance in the shadow of the torture rack!” Cut to hero Jon Hall as he remarks (with a perfectly straight face) to heroine Maria Montez, “I’m curious why a girl so young, so lovely, should marry the ruthless Khan?”
Available on a superb Universal DVD.
OTHER VIEWS: Lush color, attractive sets and costumes and plenty of action, somewhat offset by corny dialogue and plotting of predictable juvenility.
—G.A.
Rik Von Nutter (Ray Peterson, the reporter), Gaby Farinon (Lucy), Archie Savage (Al), Alain Dijon (Archie), Dave Montresor (George, the commander), Joe Pollini (King 116), David Maran (Davis), Jose Nestor (Venus commander), Frank Fantasia (Sullivan), Anita Todesco (Venus control), Aldo Pini (Jackson).
Director: ANTONIO MARGHERITI. Screenplay: Ennio De Concini. English dialogue: Jack Wallace. Photography: Marcello Masciocchi. Music supervisor: Gordon Zahler. Music score: J.K. Broady. Music editor: Ted Roberts. Sound effects editor: Joseph Von Stroheim. Special effects: Caesar Peace. Producers: Fred Gebhardt, Hugo Grimaldi. A Four Crown Picture. Color by Technicolor.
A Titanus/Ultra Film presentation, released in the USA through American-International Pictures: 13 December 1961. Rome opening: 25 August 1960. Never theatrically released in Australia. 79 minutes.
Alternative title: SPACE MEN.
SYNOPSIS: Hotshot reporter newbie teaches veteran space commander how to run his ship and destroy errant spacecraft.
COMMENT: Although it has maybe three or four effectively presented action sequences, for the most part this over-talkative, dialogue bound, ploddingly scripted, slackly acted and unimaginatively directed space entry offers rather dull sledding to all but the most inveterate sci-fi hounds. Time-wasting dialogue exchanges like “Indian Zebra Why Fourteen calling Jungle King Two Eleven” abounds. Aside from a ho-hum one or two tracking, scene-establishment shots, the director seems unacquainted with any other camera set-ups than deadly routine TV-style close-ups and two-shots. And the heroine is probably a most attractive girl, but you wouldn’t know it from the hide-all space outfits she models throughout. Admittedly, the writer tries real hard to work up a bit of tension in a three-way split between heroine, reporter and commander, but it’s all stale old stuff which has been presented with far more skill and vigor in at least thirty-five thousand other pictures.
AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: ten out of ten.
Anthony Hall (Demetrios), Joyce Taylor (Antillia), John Dall (Zaren), Bill Smith (captain of the guard), Edward Platt (Azor), Frank de Kova (Sonoy), Berry Kroeger (surgeon), Edgar Stehli (King Kronas), Wolfe Barzell (Petros), Jay Novello (Xandros), Buck Maffei (Andes), Peter Pal (slave), Keith Andes (map maker).
Narrated by Paul Frees.
Directed by GEORGE PAL. Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring, based on an unproduced play Atlanta by Sir Gerald Hargreaves. Music score by Russell Garcia. Director of photography: Harold E. Wellman. Art directors: George W. Davis and William Ferrari. Set decorations: Henry Grace and Dick Peferle. Color consultant: Charles K. Hagedon. Special effects: A. Arnold Gillespie, Lee LeBlanc, Robert R. Hoag. Animation: Project Unlimited. Film editor: Ben Lewis. Recording supervisor: Franklin Milton. Assistant director: Ridgeway Callow. Hair styles by Mary Keats. Make-up created by William Tuttle. Photographed in Eastman Color. Westrex Sound Recording. Producer: George Pal. A Galaxy [George Pal] Production.
Copyright 1961 by Galaxy Productions, Inc. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Capitol: 26 May 1961. U.S. release: May 1961. U.K. release: November 1961. Australian release: 25 May 1961. 90 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: One hundred and fifteen centuries ago, a young Greek sailor named Demetrios finds a beautiful, unconscious girl adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean. When she regains consciousness and announces that she is the Princess Antillia of Atlantis, a kingdom that lies in the great sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), Demetrios reluctantly agrees to sail her back to her home. Upon their arrival, Antillia learns that her father’s power has been usurped by his Minister of War, Zaren, who plans to conquer the world with a massive death-dealing crystal which lies embedded within an extinct volcano. To dislodge it, Zaren has recruited hundreds of slaves, some of whom have been turned into animal form.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Adults.
COMMENT: Passable Pal. The story is not particularly engaging. Made up of elements from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, H.G. Wells’ Island of Doctor Moreau and Homer’s Iliad—with a few slices of pseudo Old Testament thrown in—it seems both overly trite and tediously familiar.
The acting is no great shakes either. For a change—not a welcome change so far as this reviewer is concerned—it is the male lead who spends most of his screen time displaying his physique, whilst the heroine remains far more demurely clothed throughout. This seems to be Mr Hall’s only movie—which doesn’t surprise me. True, the girls may think he’s a good-looking lad, but he can’t act for toffee, and has all the charisma and usefulness of a pistonless bicycle pump.
Miss Holden is slightly more appealing. This was her second or third film and she did go on to enjoy a very modest career in the 60s. The support players, led by an appropriately villainous John Dall, have more to offer, with Berry Kroeger excelling as the vicious “surgeon”.
Pal’s flat, lazily unimaginative direction with its plentitude of monotonously dull close-ups doesn’t help the dialogue scenes any. Fortunately, the director has handled his action material in a more vigorous manner. The “ordeal by fire and water” packs a moderately exciting wallop. This and other sequences are further spiced by a few impressive sets and dazzling props.
Of course it’s neither the story itself nor the stars that will attract customers to Atlantis. It’s the allure of those destructive-earthquake-watery-grave special effects implicit in the title. Despite some extremely obvious shortcomings and budgetary limitations—crude make-up for the human animals; easily recognizable crowd, arena, forum and fire shots from Quo Vadis; glaringly miniature buildings made of cardboard—the destruction of Atlantis is just impressive enough to justify the price of admission. Just!
MY SECOND VIEW: Berry Kroeger plays a wizard who turns slaves into pigs. We love the scene in which he compels one of his victims to repeat after him: “Every day, in every way, I’m getting to be a boar!” Climax aside, it would be difficult to think up a more acurate description of the movie itself. It held such promise too, but as it slowly unfolds, the story gets less and less involving, the acting more and more wooden. A bore indeed!
"Bugs Bunny", "Yosemite Sam".
Director: I. FRELENG. Story: Warren Foster. Animation: Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez. Lay-outs: Hawley Pratt. Backgrounds: Paul Julian. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Carl W. Stalling. Color by Technicolor.
Copyright 13 January 1952 by The Vitaphone Corp. (In notice: 1950). A Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" cartoon. U.S. release: 6 October 1951. 1 reel.
COMMENT: Running for mayor, Sam's the Man promises his constituents their fair share of fresh air and sunshine, and a rabbit—no, two rabbits—in every pot. Naturally, Bugs is forced to campaign against Yosemite, doing his famous Teddy Roosevelt impersonation and providing a free picnic which Sam disrupts with a packet of Assorted Picnic Ants. Further amusing confrontations follow before both our heroes are defeated by a dark horse. Clever, fast-paced, ingratiatingly characterized, more than gently satiric. Definitely recommended. [Available on a superb Warner Home Video DVD].
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
The Internet Movie Database is very down on correspondents who give away too much of a movie’s plot in their reviews. Contributors who don’t warn intending readers that their comments contain “spoilers”, are blackbanned for life. Well, I must admit I’m fairly sympathetic to this approach. Yet, oddly enough, IMDB editors themselves on occasion spoil the plot in the way they detail their cast lists—and with never a warning! So be warned, readers, the following cast list contains “spoilers”!
Bela Lugosi (Dr Zabor/the head waiter) [he does not play himself as the title would seem to indicate], Duke Mitchell (Dean Martin), Sammy Petrillo (Jerry Lewis), Charlita (Princess Nona/nightclub actress with gorilla), Al Kikume (Chief Rakos/nightclub gorilla), Muriel Landers (Saloma/nightclub singer), Mickey Simpson (Chula/nightclub entertainer), Martin Garralaga (Constable Pepe/nightclub waiter), Milton Newberger (Bongo, the witch doctor), Billy Wilkerson (native warrior), “Cheetah” (Ramona, the chimp), Ray “Crash” Corrigan (Ramona as a gorilla), Steve Calvert (male gorilla).
Director: WILLIAM BEAUDINE. Screenplay: Tim Ryan. Additional dialogue: Ukie Sherin, Edmond Seward. Photography: Charles Van Enger. Film editor: Philip Cahn. Art director: James W. Sullivan. Set decorator: Edward G. Boyle. Wardrobe: Wesley Jeffries (men), Esther Krebs (women). Make-up: Glen Alden. Hair styles: Ann Locker. Music: Richard Hazard. Songs: “Deed I Do” (Mitchell) by Fred Rose (music) and Walter Hirsch (lyrics); “Too Soon” (Mitchell) by Nick Therry. Dance director: Lee Scott. Dialogue director: Ukie Sherin. Set continuity: Helen McCaffrey. Assistant to the producer: Tony Roberts. Assistant director: Glenn Cook. Sound recording: Dean Thomas. Associate producer: Herman Cohen. Producer: Maurice Duke. Executive producer: Jack Broder.
Not copyright by Jack Broder Productions, Inc. U.S. release through Realart Pictures: 8 October 1952. New York opening: 4 September 1952. Never theatrically released in Australia. 74 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A good-natured spoof of jungle pictures and horror movies, starring Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist turning men into monkeys on a remote Pacific Island.
NOTES: Negative cost: $50,000. Movie debut of Sammy Petrillo. His partner, Duke Mitchell had a small part in the Martin and Lewis movie, Sailor Beware (1952).
COMMENT: Here’s a movie, scripted and played with all tongues firmly in cheeks by a cast headed by Bela Lugosi, the lovely Charlita (love her sarongs!) and a couple of not-so-talented Martin and Lewis imitators. Despite the short shooting schedule and the minimal negative cost, the movie’s production values actually look quite lush, thanks to William Beaudine’s surprisingly skillful direction and Charles Van Enger’s attractively stand-out cinematography.
AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: Ten out of ten.
Jean Marais (Avenant/the beast), Josette Day (Belle), Michel Auclair (Ludovic), Marcel André (the father), Mila Parély (Felicity), Nane Germon (Adelaide), Raoul Marco (the usurer), Jean Cocteau (man at the blackboard/voice of magic), Christian Marquand, Noel Blin, Gilles Watteaux.
Directors: JEAN COCTEAU, RENÉ CLÉMENT. Screenplay: Jean Cocteau. Based on the story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Photography: Henri Alekan. Film editor: Claude Ibéria. Art director: Christian Bérard, Lucien Carré. Set decorators: Lucien Carré, René Moulaert. Costumes designed by Christian Bérard, Antonio Castillo, Marcel Escoffier. Costumes made by Jeanne Lanvin, the men’s costumes under the supervision of Pierre Cardin. Other costumes made by Paquin. Make-up: Hagop Arakelian. Masks made by Pontet and Son. Music: Georges Auric, conducted by Roger Désormières. Camera operators: Robert Foucard, Henri Tiquet, Raymond Letouzey. Stills: Aldo Graziati. Set continuity: Lucile Costa. Production manager: Emile Darbon. General manager: Roger Rogelys. Sound recording effects: Rouzenat. Sound recording: Jacques Lebreton, Jacques Carrère, assisted by P. Gaborian and H. Girbal. Producer: Jean Cocteau. Executive producer: André Paulvé. Filmed at Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, and on locations at the Chateau de Raray at Senlis and Rochecorbon, Indre-et-Loire.
A Discina Production. French release: 29 October 1946. U.S. release through Lopert Films: 23 December 1947. New York opening at the Bijou: 23 December 1947.
SYNOPSIS: The period is vaguely 17th century and the locale is evidently in the countryside, about a day’s journey on horseback from Marseilles. Forced to journey home at night, a businessman takes shelter from a storm in a mysterious chateau that is apparently deserted. The next morning, however, when he picks a rose to take home to one of his daughters, he is accosted by the chateau’s owner, a hideous beast.
NOTES: Originally Clément was on hand to assist his friend, Cocteau, with technical advice as to camera placement and as a general sounding board. When Cocteau became ill and had to be hospitalized, Clement took over the reins until Cocteau was able to resume. Shooting from 26 August 1945 through 11 January 1946. Movie debut of Christian Marquand.
COMMENT: A fairy story most charmingly, imaginatively and effectively brought to life by film-maker/poet Jean Cocteau and stunningly enacted by the multi-talented Jean Marais and the entrancingly beautiful Josette Day. Marais most convincingly plays two wholly contrasting roles: the repulsive yet oddly sympathetic beast and the handsome yet blackguardly boon companion of the heroine’s weak, dissolute brother (Michel Auclair). For the beast, Marais adopts a harsh, grating voice. For the would-be suitor, however, he simulates all soft charm. Miss Day of course is perfect as Beauty (a role which enables her to wear some really spectacular costumes), while Marcel André does well by the role of the too-doting father. Parély and Germon brilliantly fill the shoes of the heroine’s wickedly self-centered sisters, while baby-faced Auclair excels in the sort of role in which he eventually became type-cast.
Production values are first-class, the movie’s sumptuously budgeted sets enhanced by Alekan’s superbly atmospheric cinematography and Auric’s beguiling score.
Rabid devotees of special photographic effects are warned that there are few such examples in this picture. Cocteau deliberately preferred to employ fantastic on-camera effects such as animated busts, moving statues and dislocated, naked arms holding candelabras in their hands. Cocteau reasoned that these devices would give the movie a unique atmosphere. He was right. Writ large in white and black, his Beauty and the Beast is an unbridled fairy tale, full of magic and fantasy, love and hate, romance and peril, rags and riches.
Fred Astaire (Charlie Hill), Vera-Ellen (Angela Collins), Marjorie Main (Mrs Phineas Hill), Keenan Wynn (Max Ferris), Alice Pearce (Elsie Wilkins), Clinton Sundberg (Gilfred Spivak), Gale Robbins (Dixie “Deadshot” McCoy), Henry Slate (Officer Clancy), Tom Dugan, Percy Helton, Dick Wessel (Bowery bums in mission-house; Percy Helton has the flowers, Dugan the suspect present, Wessel threatens Charlie), Lyn Wilde, Dorinda Clifton, Carol Brewster, Meredith Leeds, Pamela Drake, Mary Jane French, Helen Kimbell, Jean Corbett, Betty Jean Onge, Beverly Thomas, Lola Kendrick, Jetsy Parker (Frenchie’s girls), Lisa Ferraday (Frenchie), Benny Rubin (Herman), Buddy Roosevelt (chauffeur), Roger Davis (Judkins, the butler), Oliver Prickett (Currier), Billy Griffith (Ives), Joe Niemeyer (bum/also Astaire’s stand-in), Walter Ridge, Donald Kerr, Sandee Marriott, Joe Evans, George Boyce, Bud Penny, Al Gallagher, Charles Cross (Bowery bums), Reginald Simpson (casino headwaiter).
Director: CHARLES WALTERS. Screenplay: Robert O’Brien and Irving Elison adapted by Chester Erskine from the 1897 Broadway stage musical of the same title, book by Hugh Morton, music by Gustave Kerker. Uncredited scriptwriters: Irving Brecher, Fred Finklehoffe, Sally Benson, Jerry Davis, Joseph Fields. Photographed in Technicolor by Robert Planck. Film editor: Albert Akst. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith. Set decorators: Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle. Women’s costumes: Helen Rose. Men’s costumes: Gile Steele. Make-up: William Tuttle. Hair styles: Sydney Guilaroff. Technicolor color consultants: Henri Jaffa and James Gooch. Special effects: Warren Newcombe and Irving G. Ries. Assistant director: Al Jennings. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Associate producer: Roger Edens. Producer: Arthur Freed.
Songs: “The Belle of New York” (chorus; reprised by chorus), “Bachelor Dinner Song” (Astaire and female chorus), “Seeing’s Believing” (Astaire), “Baby Doll” (sung by Astaire, danced by Astaire and Vera-Ellen), “Oops” (Astaire, danced by Astaire and Vera-Ellen), “Thank You, Mr Currier, Thank You, Mr Ives” (Vera-Ellen dubbed by Anita Ellis, and Astaire, danced by Astaire and Vera-Ellen), “Naughty But Nice” (Vera-Ellen dubbed by Anita Ellis, reprised by Alice Pearce), “Baby Doll” (reprised by Astaire in quartet), “I Love To Beat A Big Bass Drum” (Astaire),—all music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Johnny Mercer; “Let A Little Love Come In” (Alice Pearce and Vera-Ellen dubbed by Anita Ellis), music and lyrics by Roger Edens; “I Wanna Be A Dancin’ Man” (Astaire), by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics); “Street-Cleaner Dance” (whistled and danced by Astaire), by Roger Edens. Musical numbers staged and directed by Robert Alton. Assistant dance directors: Alex Romero and Marilyn Christine. Orchestrations: Conrad Salinger, Maurice de Packh, Robert Franklyn, Alexander Courage. Vocal arrangements: Robert Tucker. Music director: Adolph Deutsch. Associate music director: Roger Edens. Background music: “Fred Toasts the Girls” by Adolph Deutsch; “Fred Drinks To The Bride” by Roger Edens.
Copyright 12 February 1952 by Loew’s Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, production number: 1545. New York opening at Loew’s State: 5 March 1952. U.S. release: 22 February 1952. U.K. release: 14 April 1952. Australian release: 23 May 1952. 82 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Playboy falls for Mission lass.
NOTES: Shooting commenced 18 June 1951 and finished 3 October 1951. Negative cost: $2,606,644. U.S. gross rental receipts (on first release): $1,993,000.
COMMENT: Like me, Fred Astaire had a taste for fantasy. I particularly enjoyed Yolanda and the Thief and Fred’s contributions to Ziegfeld Follies. The Belle of New York is likewise one of my favorite MGM musicals—and I was glad to hear one of Astaire’s favorite movies too (despite the fact that it didn’t prove a boxoffice success. Why? Who knows? Maybe it was too clever, too fanciful, too inventive, too sprightly, too venturesome into the realm of fantasy for the stolid majority of 1952’s Picturegoers).
For me, The Belle of New York is an almost perfect musical. Admittedly it lacks ultra-spectacular production numbers with hundreds of chorus cuties playing pianos or shooting firecrackers. Instead, the musical interludes are more intimately charming; yet at the same time they’re most inventively choreographed and staged with exceptional fluidity. Furthermore, the songs and dances are not only bright and lively and fresh and “new”, they are extremely well placed and paced. There’s just enough story between each number to cue them in for maximum dramatic effect and contrast. The story too is bright, gay, fanciful and amusing, likeable and involving—though not too involving to overshadow the musical interludes, not too slight to come across as a mere mechanical peg or a boring mark-time—just exactly right. And that delightful script is charmingly played with some nice comic touches by such great character warm-ups as Marjorie Main, Alice Pearce, Clinton Sundberg and Keenan Wynn—none of whom outstay their welcome. Best of all (as of course they should be) are Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen—who was never better than in this film. Fred too is at his absolute best as dancer, singer and leading man!
Yes, one of my favorite MGM musicals—right up there with The Band Wagon and Gigi and Singin’ in the Rain and the “Limehouse Blues” number from Ziegfeld Follies. The story here may not be as strong; instead it has an altogether different atmosphere—a wispily fanciful aura that is equally breathtaking and entrancing. The songs are just as melodic (and twice as graceful). The bright and charmingly breezy dance duets are equally imaginative. Such inspired flights of fantasy as Fred’s gently acrobatic roof-top solo or the winningly nostalgic scene-changing of the Currier & Ives number or the altogether delightful streetcar dance which deftly combines Astaire’s attractive whimsy with Vera-Ellen’s appealingly down-to-earth practicality—these are absolutely unforgettable and can be enjoyed time after time.
Photography, sets and costumes are delightful. Even the sound recording and special effects are impeccable. A special mention for the dexterous music orchestrations by Conrad Salinger and Maurice de Packh who do so much to set our feet tapping in unison with Fred and Vera. Charles Walters’ direction is beautifully paced and adroitly angled, always unobtrusively, thoroughly professional.
OTHER VIEWS: What a delightful movie! Witty screenplay—yet doesn’t run a second too long—incorporating some bewitching performance and dance routines, some brightly captivating songs. The film is full of memorable moments, both comedic and musical. Fred at his most charmingly stylish, even the normally abrasive Vera-Ellen is attractively subdued in the Jean Simmons Guys and Dolls role. When she does throw off her refreshing caution (in the “Naughty But Nice” number), she’s still a delight. Dance director Robert Alton is to be congratulated.
Superbly photographed in Technicolor, the movie has great production values and a terrific support cast.
The only complaint I have—and it’s a very minor one—is the climatic number, “I Wanna Be A Dancin’ Man”. Two problems: (1) it’s a solo for Fred; (2) it’s not as fanciful as the other numbers in the film and although presented and danced with style, grace and charm, it’s not quite as inventive or exciting as the numbers preceding. In other words, they’ve saved the lesser for last—and a solo at that. Every film needs a topper for the climax. Maybe this slight let-down at the finish is the reason the film got a bad word-of-mouth from critics and public who left the theatre forgetting all the imaginative numbers and lively duets they’d seen earlier.
Oddly enough, The Belle of New York still has a poor reputation to-day, with most critics regarding it as little more than mediocre. Are they comparing it unfavorably with Guys and Dolls (which is partly based on the same source material)? For me, The Belle is by far the better film—in all departments.
Available on a superb Warner Home Video DVD.
Cary Grant (Dudley), Loretta Young (Julia Brougham), David Niven (Henry Brougham), Monty Woolley (Professor Wutheridge), James Gleason (Sylvester), Gladys Cooper (Mrs Hamilton), Elsa Lanchester (Matilda), Sara Haden (Mildred Cassaway), Karolyn Grimes (Debby Brougham), Tito Vuolo (Maggenti), Regis Toomey (Mr Miller), Sara Edwards (Mrs Duffy), Margaret McWade (Miss Trumbull), Ann O’Neal (Mrs Ward), Ben Erway (Mr Perry), Erville Alderson (Stevens), Bobby Anderson (defense captain), Teddy Infuhr (attack captain), Eugene Borden (Michel), Almira Sessions (first lady in Michel’s), Claire DuBrey (second lady), Florence Auer (third lady), Margaret Wells (hat shop proprietress), Kitty O’Neill (hat shop customer), Isabell Jewell (hysterical mother), David Leonard (blind man), Dorothy Vaughan (Delia), Edgar Dearing (cop), Edythe Elliott (saleslady), Don Garrett (boy at table), Shirley O’Hara (girl at table), Joseph J. Greene (Santa Claus), and The Mitchell Boy Choir.
Director: HENRY KOSTER. Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici. Based on the 1938 novel, “In Barley Fields”, by Robert Nathan. Photography: Gregg Toland. Film editor: Monica Collingwood. Music by Hugo Friedhofer. Orchestral arrangements: Jerome Moross. Vocal direction: Charles Henderson. Musical direction: Emil Newman. Art direction: George Jenkins and Perry Ferguson. Set decorator: Julie Heron. Costumes: Irene Sharaff. Makeup: Robert Stephanoff. Hair stylist: Marie Clark. Special photographic effects: John Fulton. Song “Lost April” by Edgar DeLange, Emil Newman and Herbert Spencer. Camera operator: Bert Shipham. Production manager: Raoul Pagel. Script supervisors: Irene Carson, Sam Freedle. Grip: Ralph Goge. Still photos: Hal McAlpin. Assistant director: Joe Boyle. Sound recording: Fred Lau. Producer: Samuel Goldwyn.
Copyright 10 December 1947 by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc. Released through RKO Radio Pictures. New York opening at the Astor: 9 December 1947. U.S. release: 16 February 1948. U.K. release: 30 August 1948. Australian release: 27 February 1949. U.S. running time: 105 minutes. Australian length: 10,041 feet. 111½ minutes.
SYNOPSIS: An angel helps a bishop fix up his financial and domestic affairs.
NOTES: Won a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Sound Recording. Also nominated for Best Picture (lost to Gentleman’s Agreement); Best Directing (lost to Elia Kazan for Gentleman’s Agreement); Best Film Editing (lost to Francis Lyon and Robert Parrish for Body and Soul); Best Music Scoring of a Drama or Comedy (lost to Miklos Rosza for A Double Life) .
ANew York Timesselection as one of the Ten Best Films of the Year.
Number ten in the Film Daily poll for the Ten Best Pictures of 1948.
COMMENT: Robert Nathan’s 1938 novel “In Barley Fields” has been turned into a very slight and inoffensive film. Originally, William Seiter was the director assigned to the production but after about $900,000 worth of film had been shot, he was replaced by Henry Koster, who started shooting all over again. Unfortunately, the end result hardly justified this additional expense, for Koster’s flat and undistinguished direction does nothing to provide the sparkle the script so desperately needs. The film was made at a time when angels were popular in Hollywood, but like most of the other films in this sub-genre, it contains nothing of heavenly wisdom but much of earthly platitudes. Just about every predictable cliché can be found here.
The acting is uniformly poor. Producer Sam Goldwyn’s original choice for the angel was David Niven, while Cary Grant was to essay the part of the worthy, if money-minded bishop. Grant pleaded with Goldwyn to reverse the casting—heavens knows why, for his angel is one of the dullest, most patronizing and least convincing ever seen.
MY SECOND VIEW: Goldwyn’s 70th production—but not one of his greatest efforts. True, it is beautifully mounted with attractive sets and a very nice music score, plus superb photography by the master, Gregg Toland. But the acting is uniformly poor, the script is very slight and Henry Koster’s direction (despite his incredible nomination for an award—he lost out to Elia Kazan when Fox’s Gentleman’s Agreement swept the 1947 awards) completely undistinguished.
ON MY THIRD VIEWING: Fairly entertaining though it is, and produced in the usual lavish Goldwyn style, with superb, deep focus, glossy photography by Gregg Toland, I don’t know that I would go so far as to nominate the movie for Best Picture. Nor would I think Henry Koster’s reasonably assured but too only-occasionally inventive handling should deserve nominating for Best Directing. The Sound Recording is definitely accomplished, however, with the Mitchell Boychoir in fine collective voice, and there’s a crystal-clear harp solo (we are not surprised Hugo Friedhofer was nominated for Scoring). Miss Young is her usual wide-eyed do-gooder, but Niven is delightfully self-centered as the bishop and Grant certainly makes an unusual angel. The fine supporting cast are provided with some meaty opportunities by the script, most happily and most particularly Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester, Gladys Cooper, James Gleason and Sara Haden. The script has a rather odd impression of Christianity (in both theory and practice) but I guess that from Hollywood such doubtful moralizing is only to be expected. (The one direct biblical quote is naturally from Psalms, and the angel who romances the bishop’s wife seems more directly inspired by Genesis 6:2 than anything in the New Testament). Of course it wasn’t meant to be taken too seriously (and it paves the way for a Christian producer to make a similarly lighthearted misrepresentation of Judaism without fear of any accusations of bigotry or irreverence). Many filmgoers will appreciate that the movie doesn’t go overboard in tricks and special effects (though some will be disappointed), that the mood is light and whimsical rather than heavy-handed and farcical. Aside from the angel (and the unintentionally unctuous Reverend Miller), the characters are believable, warmly human people. The Bishop’s Wife in fact is actually a comedy of manners.
Richard Denning (Hank Scott), Mara Corday (Teresa Alvarez), Carlos Rivas (Artur Ramos), Mario Navarro (Juanito), Carlos Muzquiz (Dr Velazco), Pascual Garcia Pena (José de la Cruz), Fanny Schiller (Florentina), Pedro Galvan (Father Delgado), Arturo Martinez (Major Cosio), Fernando Curiel (Pio).
Director: EDWARD LUDWIG. Screenplay: David Duncan, Robert Blees. Story: Paul Yawitz. Photography: Lionel Lindon. Film editor: Richard L. Van Enger. Art director: Edward Fitzgerald. Music composed and directed by Paul Sawtell, orchestrated by Bert Shefter. Electronic music: Jack Cookerly. Special effects supervisor: Willis H. O’Brien. Animator: Peter Peterson. Sound effects: Mandine Rogny. Assistant director: Jaime Contreras, Ray Heinze. Sound recording: Rafael Ruiz Esparza. Producers: Jack Dietz, Frank Melford. A Frank Melford-Jack Pietz Production.
Copyright 1957 by Amex Productions. Released through Warner Brothers Pictures: 19 October 1957. New York opening at the Paramount: 11 October 1957. U.K. release: floating from April 1958. Banned in Australia. 7,896 feet. 88 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Released from their nest by an earthquake, giant scorpions are on the march in Mexico, but an American geologist is quickly on the spot to help out. You just can’t keep a good guy down!
NOTES: Director Edward Ludwig turned to TV when this assignment was completed, working exclusively in that medium until his retirement except for The Gun Hawk (1963) starring Rory Calhoun and Rod Cameron.
Shooting commenced 21 November 1956 at Estudios Tepeyac. Mexico City.
COMMENT: A trite screenplay complete with dull characters, clumsy, instant-information dialogue and an absolutely pointless romance, contrives to work in loads of extended, ugly but none too realistic special effects involving giant scorpions. This plot ploy obviously owes a lot to Them! and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Those two pictures rate as superior offerings, but the monsters here not only look like models but are ineffectively disguised by a tendency to repeatedly over-use dead giveaway close-ups. There are lots and lots of them! Fans will doubtless relish this tide of abundance, but I felt sad to see capable players like Richard Denning and Mara Corday stooging for such obvious black crayon and pasteboard “monsters” while trying to make the best of an absolutely impossible script. They receive no help whatever from the tepid, totally lack-luster direction of Edward Ludwig, who made his entire career in low-budget movies like this one. Mind you, this effort does pack at least one big shock: What a jolt to find Lionel Lindon’s name on the credits! Just the year before, he’d photographed Around the World in 80 Days for Michael Todd and carried off the world’s most prestigious award for Cinematography from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Presumably the grainy, none-too-brightly lit camerawork from the special effects unit is not his, but even the main unit photography, whilst capable enough, seems hardly the product of a journeyman apprentice, let alone a master!
Rex Harrison (Charles Condomine), Constance Cummings (Ruth Condomine), Kay Hammond (Elvira), Margaret Rutherford (Madame Arcati), Hugh Wakefield (Dr Bradman), Joyce Carey (Mrs Bradman), Jacqueline Clark (Edith).
Director: DAVID LEAN. Screenplay: Noel Coward, David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame. Based on the 1941 stage play by Noel Coward. Photographed in Technicolor by Ronald Neame assisted by William McLeod. Technicolor color consultant: Joan Bridge. Music composed by Richard Addinsell and directed by Muir Mathieson. Film editor: Jack Harris. Art directors: C. P. Norman, G. E. Calthrop. Special photographic effects: Tom Howard. Producers: Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan.
A Two Cities-Cineguild Production filmed at Deham Studios, released in the U.K. through General Film Distributors, in Australia through G-B-D, in the U.S.A. through United Artists. Copyright in the U.S.A. by General Film Distributors: Ltd. 14 December 1945. U.S. release: 14 December 1945. New York opening at the Winter Garden: 3 October 1945. London opening at the Odeon, Leicester Square: 5 April 1945. U.K. release: 14 May 1945. Australian release: 31 October 1946 (sic). 10 reels. 8,864 feet. 98½ minutes.
SYNOPSIS: The ghost of a novelist’s first wife returns to stir up the domestic scene.
NOTES: Tom Howard won a prestigious Hollywood award for his Special Effects (defeating A Stolen Life).
COMMENT: A great success in its day, this adaptation now seems more than a trifle stagey. Still it does capture a winning performance by Margaret Rutherford as the deliciously eccentric medium, and the charming presence of Constance Cummings is also a distinct plus. Rex Harrison tends to blusteringly over-act, but Coward’s wickedly witty lines still come across with enough zing to raise more than a few cynical chuckles.
Still an entertaining picture in 2011, though one suspects it was a bit dated even in 1945.
Herb Evers (Bill Cortner), Virginia Leith (Jan Compton), Leslie Daniels (Kurt), Adele Lamont (Doris Powell), Bonnie Sharie (blonde stripper), Paula Maurice (brunette stripper), Marilyn Hanold (Peggy Howard), Bruce Brighton (Dr Cortner), Lola Mason (Donna Williams), Doris Brent (nurse), Bruce Kerr (beauty contest m.c.), Audrey Devereal (Jeannie), Eddie Carmel (monster), Sammy Petrillo (Art), Arny Freeman, Fred Martin.
Director: JOSEPH GREEN. Screenplay: Joseph Green. Additional dialogue: Doris Brent. Story: Rex Carlton, Joseph Green. Photography: Stephen Hajnal. Film editors: Leonard Anderson, Marc Anderson. Art director: Paul Fanning. Make-up: George Fiala. Special effects: Byron Baer. Property man: Walter Pluff jr. Camera operator: John S. Priestley. Gaffer: Vincent Delaney. Grip: John Haupt jr. Script supervisor: Eva Blair. Assistants to producer: Linda Brent, James Gealis. Production manager: Alfred H. Lessner. Assistant director: Tony LaMarca. Sound recording: Emil Kolisch, Robert E. Lessner. Producer: Rex Carlton.
Not copyrighted by Rex Carlton Productions. U.S. release in May 1962 through American-International. No recorded New York opening. No recorded U.K. release. Never theatrically released in Australia. 82 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A surgeon robs graves to obtain organs for his transplant experiments.
NOTES: Location scenes filmed near Tarrytown, New York, in 1959.
First of three movies directed by minor film distributor Joseph Green, and the only one on which he receives a writing credit.
COMMENT: Despite the presence of the lovely Virginia Leith in the title role and a joyful assemblage of other nice girls, this emerges as an el-cheapo horror flick with a few gory moments, lots of time-wasting chit-chat and extremely limited production values. Steadfastly slow, cop-out direction doesn’t help either. However, the dialogue is sometimes unintentionally hilarious and this has given the movie a certain bottom-rung status on the cult circuit.