THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960)

Laurence Payne

THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960).  Director: Ernest Morris. 

Edgar Marsh (Laurence Payne of The Trollenberg Terror) is a shy librarian who lives alone in his house and has a hirsute best friend named Carl (Dermot Walsh). One day a pretty young lady named Betty (Adrienne Corri) moves into an apartment across the street. Advised by Carl to make the acquaintance of the woman, Edgar summons up his nerve and before long they are dating -- although Edgar is smitten and Betty, new in town, just needs company. Betty, however, is galvanized when she meets Carl, and it is apparent that he feels the same about her. The trouble is, if something develops between the two, how will Edgar react?

Payne with Adrienne Corri

The Tell-Tale Heart, loosely based on the famous story by Edgar Allan Poe, is an intelligent and well-made expansion and revisioning of Poe's work, playing upon the theme of guilt and the resultant madness. Laurence Payne gives an outstanding performance as Edgar, and there is fine work from Walsh and Corri. Well-paced and suspenseful under Ernest Morris' direction, the film has atmosphere and is often surprisingly gruesome, including a grisly sword murder and an impalement, like something out of a Hammer film. (In fact the film opens with an announcement that the squeamish should immediately close their eyes when they hear the sound of a heartbeat!) This is a British film from Danziger productions. 

Verdict: Admirable horror film with an impressive Payne. ***. 

KING KONG (2005).

KING KONG (2005). Director: Peter Jackson.

Although better by far than the first remake that starred Jessica Lange, this isn't as good as the 1933 original, despite some exciting sequences and outstanding visual effects work. The movie has a slow and tedious opening that borders on the campy approach of the Lange version. The leads are all miscast as well. Jack Black might be fine for a Saturday Night Live parody of the movie, but as a leading man in a serious motion picture he's completely ludicrous and even amateurish. Adrien Brody is a better actor but really adds nothing to the movie. Lead actress Naomi Watts , who plays Ann, is a bit of a lightweight. The movie picks up a bit once our voyagers arrive at Kong's island, although the first appearance of Kong is muffed, much less dramatic than in the original picture. Once the action starts, however, it rarely stops, and some of the sequences are astounding: a harrowing stampede of brontosauri (or apatosauri); Ann and a Tyrannosaurus Rex swinging past one another on vines as the dinosaur repeatedly attempts to snatch her into its jaws; the nightmarish scenes in the pit where the sailors are gruesomely dispatched by monstrous prehistoric insects. 

As in the Lange version, more of a rapport is developed between Ann and the Big Ape, which leads to a lot of nonsense that was not in the original. Kong may not have asked to have been shanghaied to New York but it's hard to feel sorry for him when so many innocent people have been killed during his rampage (including not one but three helpless blonds that he tosses aside to their presumed deaths). This dopey “animal rights” undertone gives the movie a pretentious and airy ambiance in its final moments. Fay Wray was just glad to get away from the monster; she didn't get all upset when it died! The musical scoring is bland and inept, only reminding one of the masterful work of Max Steiner for the original.

Verdict: Watch the 1933 version instead. **1/2.

NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK -- JOAN CRAWFORD: THE ESSENTIAL BIOGRAPHY

Joan Crawford in Strait-Jacket

Just released is a spanking new trade paperback edition of JOAN CRAWFORD: THE ESSENTIAL BIOGRAPHY, which I co-authored with Lawrence J. Quirk.        

I mention the book on B Movie Nightmare because Joan appeared in a number of horror films, chief among them What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? She almost appeared in Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, but couldn't deal with Bette Davis (and vice versa). She instead did William Castle's zesty Strait-Jacket and I Saw What You Did, then wound up in Herman Cohen's productions of Berserk and the awful Trog. She was quite good in some of these movies, not as good in others. She really didn't think much of her horror period -- far from the glamorous days of her Hollywood past -- although she did want to do Baby Jane and even went to Davis to ask if she'd do it with her. 

As the publisher, University Press of Kentucky, puts it: 

"Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography explores the life and career of one of Hollywood's great dames. She was a leading film personality for more than fifty years, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s, to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression thirties, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as Mildred Pierce. Crawford's legacy, however, has become somewhat tarnished in the wake of her daughter Christina's memoir, Mommie Dearest, which turned her into a national joke. Today, many picture Crawford only as a wire-hanger-wielding shrew rather than the personification of Hollywood glamour. 

"This new biography of Crawford sets the record straight, going beyond the gossip to find the truth about the legendary actress. The authors knew Crawford well and conducted scores of interviews with her and many of her friends and co-stars, including Frank Capra, George Cukor, Nicholas Ray, and Sidney Greenstreet. Far from a whitewash―Crawford was indeed a colorful and difficult character― Joan Crawford corrects many lies and tells the story of one of Hollywood's most influential stars, complete with on-set anecdotes and other movie lore.

"Through extensive interviews, in-depth analysis, and evaluation of her films and performances―both successes and failures―Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell present Crawford's story as both an appreciation and a reevaluation of her extraordinary life and career. This fascinating book tells the behind-the-scenes story of one of Hollywood's great dames."

You can buy a copy on amazon or elsewhere.  

DRACULA (2006)

 

DRACULA (2006). Director: Bill Eagles. Presented on Masterpiece Theatre.

Although this adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel takes a great many liberties, it is still a very well-done and entertaining version of the classic story. In this a Lord Holmwood (Dan Stevens) is engaged to Lucy Westenra (Sophia Myles) when he discovers that he was born with syphilis due to his infected parents. His far-fetched, if intriguing (and never really fully explained) solution is to bring Dracula to England from Transylvania because he believes the evil being can somehow cure his infected blood. Dracula, of course, has other ideas. 

In this generally fast-moving, somewhat sexed-up version of the story (see photo), Marc Warren makes an interesting alternative Dracula (very different from both Lugosi and Christopher Lee, and younger than either), while Dan Stevens and Stephanie Leonidas (as Mina Murray) play with great passion and conviction. Rafe Spall and Tom Burke also score as, respectively, Jonathan Harker (it is he who embarks on the journey to Dracula's castle) and Dr. John Seward, a friend of Holmwood's and Lucy's. David Suchet, who brilliantly played Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, offers another of his incisive characterizations as Abraham Van Helsing. While the definitive version of Stoker's novel has never been made, this is -- as heretical as it sounds -- much more entertaining that the Lugosi version. 

Verdict: Very creditable. ***.

THE PERFECT ASSISTANT

THE PERFECT ASSISTANT (2008 telefilm). Director: Douglas Jackson. 

Rachel Partson (Josie Davis) is an excellent assistant to ad exec David Westcott (Chris Potter) but she's harboring a secret. She is so pathologically in love with the man that she's willing to resort to anything, including murder, to have him for herself. This quite entertaining teleflick gets across the anguish, hope and delusional state of unrequited love so strongly that you almost find yourself feeling sorry for a woman who is otherwise not very sympathetic. It doesn't hurt that Josie Davis gives a terrific performance as the sociopathic assistant. The premise of a deranged woman out to get a man by any means necessary is a popular and familiar one, but The Perfect Assistant is one of the better films on the subject. Rachel Hunter plays one of Westcott's associates. 

 Verdict: Absorbing and suspenseful. ***.

THIRTEEN FRIGHTENED GIRLS

 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS (1963). Director: William Castle.

Candace Hull (Kathy Dunn) is an American diplomat's daughter who attends Miss Pittford's Academy for Young Ladies along with many other diplomats' daughters. Her best friend is Mai-Ling (Lynne Sue Moon), whose father is Red Chinese. Candy has a big crush on Wally Sanders (Murray Hamilton of Jaws fame), who works for the state department and may soon be out of a job. When a murder occurs while Candy is visiting Mai-Ling in the Chinese embassy, Candy decides to become a spy -- code-named "Kitten" -- so that she can help Wally out of his career problems. If it all sounds pretty awful, believe me it is -- but not bad enough to be good. This is one of the few William Castle films that has virtually no entertainment value. Kathy Dunn is so shrill and whiny at times that you want to slap her; Lynne Sue Moon is cute and charming, however. Candy's obsession with Wally is inexplicable when there are handsome guys closer to her own age in the movie, with whom she flirts -- but only as part of her spy activities. Hugh Marlowe of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers plays Candy's dad. Joyce Taylor of Atlantis the Lost Continent and who also (badly) played "Rappaccini's Daughter" in Twice-Told Tales, plays Wally's fiancee. Alexandra Bastedo and Judy Pace are two of the girls who became somewhat better known years later. Khigh Dhiegh plays Kang, Mei-Ling's uncle. 90 minutes of your life you can never get back. 

Verdict: Read a Nancy Drew book instead. *.

THROUGH NAKED EYES

 

David Soul

THROUGH NAKED EYES (1983 telefilm). Director: John Llewellyn Moxey. 

In an apartment complex in Chicago, an unknown murderer is killing both men and women. One of the chief suspects is flautist William Parrish (David Soul), who uses binoculars to watch a neighbor, Anne (Pam Dawber), across the way and discovers that she is looking at him with a telescope. Eventually the two meet, even as obnoxious Sgt. Scopetta (Gerald Castillo) follows Parrish' every move and even warns Anne about him. Anne is convinced that William is just a nice, lonely guy with artistic abilities but then she discovers some photographs in his possession ... 

Pam Dawber and David Soul

Through Naked Eyes, written by Jeffrey Bloom, is a better-than-average TV movie with some good performances and a considerable amount of suspense. The biggest problem with the film is that it has no style, even though it somewhat apes Brian De Palma (although De Palma's Body Double did not come out until a year later) and Dario Argento -- minus the gore. Soul never gives away whether he is guilty or not, Dawber is bland but effective, and William Schallert steals the film as Parrish' father, who is given a very affecting, well-delivered speech in which he tries to address the gap between the two men and the lonely life that he, too, is living. The telefilm is capped by an exciting and satisfying conclusion. Supporting and bit roles are played by Rod McCary, Dennis Farina, John Mahoney, and Ted Levine. The plot of this film has some similarities to the Italian film The Case of the Bloody Iris. 

Verdict: Absorbing thriller with an interesting storyline. ***. 

UNDERSEA GIRL

Florence Marly and the gang

UNDERSEA GIRL (1957). Director: John Peyser.  

Members of a gang led by Sam Marvin (Ralph Clanton) are after loot that comes from a sunken Navy ship. Reporter Valerie Hudson (Mara Corday of Tarantula) is trying to get info for her story from Lt. Mike Travis (Dan Seymour) and Naval investigator Brad Chase (Pat Conway), Val's on again/off again boyfriend. Apparently Brad wants Val to stop this foolishness and just shut up and marry him. Meanwhile Sam's girlfriend, Leila (Florence Marly) seems to be playing him against nasty Eric Nelson (Myron Healey of Panther Girl of the Kongo), who has his own plans for the money hidden in an underwater cave.

Pat Conway and Mara Corday

Well I won't quite say that watching Undersea Girl is like watching paint dry, but it's not all that much better. You would think a movie with gangs, hidden treasure, underwater attacks and murder, a gun moll and a brash lady reporter would be a lot more interesting than it is. Corday gives her usual spirited performance; Florence Marley is as odd as ever; Pat Conway -- son of director Jack Conway -- is okay as the hero; he was also in Deadly Mantis but had mostly television credits. Myron Healey actually does some of his best work as the sociopathic and slimy Nelson. Undersea Girl plays like a low-budget and uninspired TV production, which comes as no great surprise as director John Peyser mostly helmed episodes of TV shows. 

Verdict: Even Florence Marley  of Queen of Blood can't save this one! **. 

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY

John Rockwell as Superboy

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY (1961 TV pilot). Director: George Blair. 

In Smallville, Clark Kent goes to school with friends Lana Lang (Bunny Henning) and Jimmy Drake (Jimmy Bates). Jimmy is embarrassed to tell the class that his father, Mr. Drake (Ross Elliott), is only the doorman at the local bijou. No one is aware that the mild-mannered Clark, who keeps disappearing, is secretly the dynamic Superboy. For a movie premiere in Smallville (one of the cast members comes from there), some real diamonds worth $200,000 are exhibited in front of the theater, and stolen. Superboy asks for Mr. Drake's help in capturing the criminals and getting the jewels back, and his son develops an even greater appreciation of his dad. 

John Rockwell and Ross Elliott

Produced, I believe, by the same people who did George Reeves' The Adventures of Superman, this series -- had it gone beyond the pilot episode -- is similarly earthbound, with few of the elements that made the Superboy comic book run for so many years. Instead we have a human interest story with some mild special effects and a heart-warming quality that is typical of fifties television. John Rockwell is handsome and reasonably impressive as Superboy, and seems uncomfortable playing his alter ego. Bunny Henning doesn't really have much of a chance to get across the somewhat obnoxious qualities of Lana Lang. Bates is fine as young Jimmy and Ross Elliott, forgoing his hairpiece, also makes an impression as his likable and admirable father. George Blair also directed Exposed. Decades later, when FX capabilities had greatly improved, Superboy finally became a series. 

Verdict: Probably would have made a pleasant if unmemorable series. **1/2. 

SON OF DR. JEKYLL

SON OF DR. JEKYLL (1951). Director: Seymour Friedman. 

Edward Jekyll (Louis Hayward) discovers that he is the son of the notorious Dr. Jekyll of Jekyll/Hyde notoriety. He finds his father's note books and for reasons that are never explained, decides to continue his experiments, even down to drinking the dangerous formula. (Apparently brains don't run in the Jekyll family.) Meanwhile Dr. Lanyon (Alexander Knox), a friend of the late Dr. Jekyll, hovers about looking ominous. Although Edward does briefly turn into Mr. Hyde, this is less a horror film than a mystery. When the secret is revealed, it occurs to the viewer that everything could have been avoided if only a certain party hadn't stupidly told Edward who he really was. In any case, a somewhat similar premise was used for the superior Daughter of Dr. Jekyll six years later; although Son itself does hold the attention, has atmosphere, and is not without entertainment value. Well-acted by Hayward and the rest of the cast, which includes Paul Cavanagh [Bride of the Gorilla] as an inspector. Paul Sawtell contributed a nice score. 

Verdict: Has its moments but Daughter is more fun. **1/2.