Bantam Street

A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH (1969)

Written by Dale Wasserman, adaptation by Hans Koenigsberg from his novel  Directed by John Huston

  During the 100 Years War, Heron of Foix (Assaf Dayan), a young student, decides to walk from Paris to the sea. During his journey he encounters Lady Claudia (Anjelica Huston), a young noblewoman, and they fall in love. I first saw this movie many years ago on the CBS Late Night Movie, edited and interrupted every few minutes by commercials, but even viewed that way it had a strong effect, so much so that I sought out the novel its based on. I've been waiting since the dawn of the VHS era for it to turn up again, and now finally the Fox Movie Channel has shown it several times recently. In a long career filled with big masterworks like TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, MOBY DICK, and KEY LARGO, A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH shares with Huston's final masterpiece THE DEAD a quiet, subtle mastery that is enthralling. The two young protagonists live in a world that doesn't care about them; they have only each other, and for them and, I believe, for their director, that is sufficient - although it won't protect them from the harsh realities of the world.The director's daughter in her first role is quite good, impossibly young and beautiful, and Moishe Dayan's handsome son Assaf is likewise the personification of youthful idealism. Zefferelli's ROMEO AND JULIET may be the more famous example of late Sixties doomed young love, but Huston's film is more truthful, simultaneously compassionate while viewing mankind with clear eyes. Though Michael Gough is billed in the opening and closing credits as "Mad Monk", he was nowhere to be seen. (Viewed on Fox Movie Channel, whose full screen print is old and unrestored, but looks pretty good and doesn't appear to be overly cropped.)

THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE (1958)

Written by David Duncan Directed by Will Cowan

  Jessica (Carolyn Kearney) is using a divining rod to find water on her Aunt Flavia's (Peggy Converse) farm, when she discovers evil: a chest buried deep in the ground, containing the still living head of Gideon Drew (Robin Hughes), who was decapitated but sentenced to a "living death" by Sir Frances Drake 400 years ago. The early scenes of this film are atmospheric and eerie, with wind, the desolate location and the music from THIS ISLAND EARTH used nicely. But once the head is let out of the treasure chest, the ludicrous humor of it being carried around, placed on window ledges, boulders, and hiding on a closet shelf in a hat box, dissipate the atmosphere considerably. The lengthy, talky flashback establishes that Drew's body and head will live until they are reunited, but when that happens at the film's climax he feels better than ever. With familiar faces James Anderson and Charles Horvath as slimy Boyd and mindless Mike. Not to be confused with THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE, which was originally titled THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE. (TCM's print is clean but soft.)

CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER (1962)

Written by Robert Hill  Directed by Albert Zugsmith

  "I am...  DeQuincey. I dream...  dreams."  A descendant of the writer Thomas DeQuincey arrives in San Francisco in the early 19th Century and gets involved in Tong wars and the fight to stop the trade in Chinese Picture Brides. When Vincent Price introduces himself in voice over, it sounds like his name is Gilda DeQuincey, but the imdb reports the name as Gilbert DeQuincey; actually, having a brawling hero named Gilda would be more in line with the weirdness of this, what is surely director Albert Zugsmith's masterpiece. Taking a break from the aesthetes of the Corman Poe films, Price spends the entire movie in pea coat and captain's cap, tossing off hard-boiled one-liners and philosophical musings with equal aplomb ("I felt like the abacus of fate had my number." "You wear as many masks as there are stars reflected in a gutter.")From the moment a white stallion suddenly appears to stop a Tong man from killing an escaped picture bride, never to be seen again, to the 5 minute opium dream shown entirely in slow motion and nearly silent, to the climax in which Price drifts away down a sewer, the movie combines surrealism and pulp adventure in equal measure. With a terrific score from Albert Glasser, noirish cinematography from Joseph Biroc, and dreamlike production design from the great Eugene Lourie. Featuring Linda Ho as Ruby Low, Richard Loo, Philip Ahn, Victor Sen Yung, John Mamo, Angelo Rossitto, Yvonne Moray as Price's midget sidekick, and a cameo from the titular monster from VOODOO WOMAN. I've liked this movie ever since first seeing it on late night TV, and am very happy that it's at last readily available in a nice, widescreen DVD from Warner Archives.

SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE (1960)

Written by Robert Hill  Directed by Albert Zugsmith

MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944) Written by Seton I. Miller, from the novel by Graham Greene

Directed by Fritz Lang When Stephen Neale (Ray Milland ) is released from Lembridge Asylum after two years, his biggest wish is to spend time among crowds of people. His wish is immediately granted when he attends a small fair next to the local train station. But when he is told the weight of a prize cake by a fortune teller, his possession of the cake begins a chain of events that make him a marked man. This most Hitchcockian of Lang's American thrillers is a superb example of the director at his best, with each shot meticulously framed to evoke subtle unease, an excellent cast, including Milland subtly underplaying his role's potential hysterics, Marjorie Reynolds as the woman who believes in him, Carl Esmond as her brother, Hillary Brooke as a high society woman who is not what she appears to be, and a great cast of mid-century Hollywood supporting players like Erskine Sanford, Percy Waram, Dan Duryea, Alan Napier, Byron Foulger, Cyril Delavanti, Lester Matthews, and Eustace Wyatt. Featuring superb noirish cinematography by Henry Sharp and a script by producer Miller that emphasizes the theme of trust and betrayal of a loved one, while being ahead of its time in presenting a lead character accused of murdering his wife who is completely innocent of the crime; to say more about these last two topics would give too much away. Even a 70 year-old film has delights and surprises that shouldn't be spoiled for a first time viewer. (TCM's print is old but perfectly acceptable.)

PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)

Written by Harold Medford and James R. Webb  Directed by Roy Del Ruth

A series of gruesome murders in Paris' sleazy Rue Morgue has police baffled. What with the conflicting reports of witnesses ("The killer spoke German." "The killer spoke Italian." "The killer was short." "He was tall.") and the savage violence of the murders, Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin) is happy to arrest young university teacher Pierre Dupin (Steve Forrest) though evidence against him is entirely circumstantial. This adaptation of the classic Poe story opens with great speed and energy and continues this way for most of its first third, with killings - still surprisingly gory for a major studio movie of the mid-Fifties - and music hall entertainment (Paul Richards' knife-throwing act is a highlight), then quiets down for most of its remaining screen time. Its a shame that Richards disappears after his arrest and release as a prime suspect, because he is a lot more interesting and engaging a character than Forrest's earnestly dull blond professor. Karl Malden as Professor Marais takes center stage once Forrest is behind bars, and though his performance is nuanced and psychologically rich, he is missing the edge that Vincent Price (for example) would have brought to the proceedings. He is ably supported in his villainous obsessions by eye-patched sailor Anthony Caruso. While Patricia Medina does what she can with her role as the object of Malden's obsession and looks beautiful as usual, the part is seriously underwritten. The best scenes remain those that depict the nightlife of Rue Morgue and the murders themselves, which are staged with vigor and edited to dynamic effect. In addition to those already mentioned, in supporting roles are Allyn McLerie as Richards' assistant, Merv Griffin as a student, and the always welcome Erin O'Brian-Moore, Paul Brinnegar, Virginia Brissac, Henry Corden, Henry Kulky, Frank Lackteen, George J. Lewis and Charles Gemora as Sultan the Gorilla - the last seven of whom are uncredited in the cast list. (TCM's print looks good but could stand a restoration.)

STEAM WARS NEWS

LEMORA: A CHILD'S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL (1973) Written by Richard Blackburn and Robert Fern  Directed by Richard Blackburn

  Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith) is a ward of the church in a small southern town in the Thirties. Her father Alvin (William Whitton) is a gangster who is abducted by the mysterious Lemora (Lesley Gilb). When Lila receives a letter from Lemora  informing her of her father's whereabouts, she undertakes a perilous journey to see him in the town of Asteroth. This is exactly the kind of movie that makes wading through the vast sea of cinematic mediocrity worthwhile. Though low budget and with acting that is mostly on an amateurish level, the film is intelligently written and shot and is bursting with ideas and unique perspectives. Lila's journey and what happens to her once she arrives at Lemora's home can be viewed as straight-forward horror film, a fairy tale for adults or even a metaphor for puberty, and it works satisfyingly on all those levels as well as others I've probably not thought of. The over emphatic amateurishness of most of the acting works in the film's favor, making it's events all the more strange and unreal, and placing in sharp relief the naturalness of Cheryl Smith (later known as Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith and, unfortunately, a heroin addict who died before her 50th birthday). Lesley Gilb as Lemora has a riveting presence, resembling a Photoshop collage of Barbara Steele, Karen Black and Martine Beswicke, and is as odd and otherworldly as the film that bears her character's name. The print shown by TCM is very dark, losing detail in the abundance of night-for-night shots; Synapse has released the film on DVD mastered from a 35mm print, so TCM's is probably an old 16mm reduction print. At any rate, there are scenes that are better for their visual vagueness, including several in which a child's whimpers are heard but we can't quite make out what is happening. If you think you've seen it all and are open to the unusual, I can't recommend LEMORA more highly.

THE SNOW DEVILS (1967) Written by Renato Rossetti and Ivan Reiner, from a story by "Audrey" (Aubrey) Wisberg

THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962)

Written by Ellwood Ullman and Norman Maurer Directed by Edward Bernds

  Having been thrown out of their boarding house for cooking in their room, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita) answer an ad placed by eccentric Professor Danforth (Emil Sitka), who has invented a flying submarine/tank/helicopter that is coveted by Martians. The "Boys" may have been in their mid-sixties when they made this movie, but they certainly weren't lacking in energy. They carry this entertaining comedy squarely on their shoulders, making it feel as though it's just a long short subject. The team behind the camera, having been well experienced with the Stooges and the Bowery Boys, knows how to make crowd pleasing comedy, and the score by Paul Dunlap adds greatly to the breezy proceedings (with a recurring motif that sounds a great deal like Herrmann's opening strains of VERTIGO). Footage of flying saucers and general destruction are from EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS.Emil Sitka is, of course, the perfect absent-minded professor; I'm pretty sure the voice of Mel Blanc is heard in a Stooges cartoon (where did that come from, I wonder?), while Frankenstein-headed, Dracula-capedMartian spies Ogg and Zogg are played by George N. Neise and Rayford Barnes (who are also seen briefly as human airline pilots). The second of the two Stooges features with a sci-fi theme; while I prefer HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL, IN ORBIT is a whole lot of fun. The opening scenes in the boarding house and at the Professor's castle were originally shot for a TV pilot, which can be seen in its entirety on YouTube, which is where I watched this feature.

I LIKE YOUR NERVE (1931)

Written by Roland Pertwee and Houston Branch

Directed by William C. McGann

  Rascally rogue Larry O'Brien (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) is thrown out of one South American country because of his unacceptable behavior with their women, only to crash through the border of the next country over. At first sight of Diane (pronounced "Deeann") Forsthye (Loretta Young), he falls head over heels in love with her, his efforts to win her affections disregarding social conventions and her own desires to such an extent that his behavior borders on the sociopathic. His egocentric single-mindedness becomes heroic, however, when Diane (pronounced "Deeann") is kidnapped by her embezzling step father (Henry Kolker). This breezy early talkie from First National, barely an hour long, is quite entertaining, with nice location shooting, a sophisticated script, and brisk direction and editing. Fairbanks' constant grin makes him appear to be insane, at first, until one realizes that he may be copying his father, whose ready smile in the face of adversity looked devil-may-care. One can't blame Fairbanks for falling for the young Loretta Young, who is stunning. The performances of Kolker and Edmund Breon as Young's step-father and elderly intended husband, respectively, add greatly to the proceedings, while Charles Middleton appears briefly as a soldier (with no lines) and fifth-billedBoris Karloff plays Kolker's butler, with a half dozen lines, all of which begin with "Excellency..."  TCM's print is not first generation, with soft focus, splices and scratches, and is reportedly missing an opening scene with a fortune teller.

THE PSYCHOPATH (1963)

Written by Robert Bloch Directed by Freddie Francis

The members of a post WWII Allied commission are being murdered 20 years later, a doll with a sculpted likeness of their faces left beside the bodies. This Amicus suspense thriller starts off well with a scene in which a man is stalked down dark streets by a noisy red car; the murders prove to be the best scenes in the film, with director Francis paying special attention to shadows and sounds. The bulk of the film, though, is made up of talky scenes of stolid Inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) stolidly investigating. I don't think I'm giving too much away - though you may want to stop reading here if even mild spoilers ruin your day - when I say that the title character is not the murderer. Like his work on THE SKULL, Francis is more interested in what things look and sound like than the story he has to tell, resulting in a few good scenes with long stretches of not very good dialog. Bloch's script contains some fine ideas that could have stood another draft. The score by Elizabeth Lutyens, as conducted by Phillip Martell, sounds just like a Hammer film. In a tradition begun by Hammer, lead actress Judy Huxtable's entire performance is post-dubbed; whether by the actress herself or someone else I have no idea. The endangered members of the Allied commission are well played by Alexander Knox, Thorley Walters and Robert Crewdson, who sports a unique black beard and silver head of hair, making his doll a memorable one. Margaret Johnston, playing the wheelchair-bound widow of the man they wrongly condemned, is so far over the top and down the other side she threatens to leap out of this movie and chew the scenery in whatever film was on this one's original double bill. (Viewed on TCM, whose full screen print of this Techniscope film is seriously comprised, losing valuable visual information on the left and right of the screen.)

THE FACE OF FU MANCHU (1965)

Written by Peter Welbeck (Harry Alan Towers)  Directed by Don Sharp

  Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee), assisted by his devoted daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin), kidnaps Prof. Muller (Walter Rilla) and his daughter Maria (Karin Dor), forcing him to finish his development of an invisible, fast-acting poison gas, lethal enough to destroy entire populations in minutes. The only man standing in his way is Commissioner Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) of Scotland Yard. With an unforgetable opening sequence in which the title character is executed, this first of five Fu films produced and written by Harry Alan Towers is the best, with good production values, a late 20's/early 30's period atmosphere, and most importantly, a genuine feeling of pulp adventure. Though an attempt was made to link this film with the Bond series, mostly in its advertising (the fantastic poster is by Mitchell Hooks, who created the ads for the first Bond films), the story is played straight. Lee is perfect as the diabolical Fu; Green, an actor who doesn't get the credit he deserves for his wide range and reliability as hero (ZULU), villain (DEADLIER THAN THE MALE), or character (Little John, Hercules), is the very image of upright British heroism, while Howard Marion-Crawford doesn't lay on the Nigel Bruce-ness too thickly as Dr. Petrie. Solid support comes from Joachim Fuchsberger as Prof. Muller's two-fisted assistant, Chin as Fu's sadistic daughter (I highly recommend her autobiography, by the way), Harry Brogan as an absent-minded professor, while Dor is given more action scenes than most heroines of the era, even resourcefully causing the final showdown between Fu and Smith. My only quibble - a minor one - is that Smith has lost the first part of his name (he's Sir Denis Nayland-Smith in the books) and Fu has lost his "Dr." Don Sharp's direction is what one expects from this genre veteran, fast and clear, and Christopher Whelan provides an effective score that is more James Bernard than John Barry. The series declined with each succedeeding film, the final one looking cheap and making little sense, but one should be gratefuil that this entertaining example of solid 60's action/adventure has been buffed up by Warner Archives with a lovely widescreen DVD release.

RHINO! (1964) Written by Art Arthur and Arthur Weiss  Directed by Ivan Tors Zoologist jim Harmon (Robert Culp) hires poacher Alec Burnett (Harry Guardino) as a guide to assist him in researching the endangered animals of Africa. They are both especially interested in the rare white rhino, although each has very different reasons. This movie can't decide if it wants to be a travelogue about animals, an Ivan Tors-style family-friendly entertainment (ala FLIPPER or "Daktari"), or a tense safari adventure (like KING SOLOMON'S MINES) so it suffers on all counts. The characters are seriously underwritten, and though Culp, Guardino and Shirley Eaton (as a doctor) do their best, they don't have a lot to work with. When Guardino's men steal Culp's truck loaded with his notes and equipment and Culp tracks them down, the pace finally picks up, but by that time the film has been running for 50 minutes and it's too late. The final sequence involving the capture of two white rhinos is well filmed, with the two leads obviously interacting with the dangerous wild animals. Gorgeously filmed on location in Zululand, but the movie's versimilitude can't rescue it from its poor writing, direction and pacing. (Viewed on TCM, whose print looks fine.)