MACABRE

William Prince and Jacqueline Scott

MACABRE (1958). Director: William Castle.

Dr. Rodney Barrett (William Prince) lost his wife, Alice (Dorothy Morris), when she died in child birth, something for which Sheriff Tyloe (Jim Backus of Angel Face) has always blamed Barrett. Tyloe was in love with Alice but married her blind sister, Nancy (Christine White). Now Nancy has died and her funeral is to be held at midnight in the town cemetery. Then the doctor learns that his and Alice's young daughter, Madge, has been kidnapped, and is buried in a small coffin somewhere in the cemetery ... The race is on to find the child before the air runs out and everyone becomes a little crazier than they already are. 

William Prince and Jim Backus

Macabre is William Castle's first horror film, although it might be more accurately called a thriller, with the location of the cemetery adding to the horrific ambiance. The acting in the film -- especially by Jacqueline Scott, who plays Barrett's nurse, suffering from unrequited love, in her first movie -- is considerably overwrought even when one takes into account the desperate situation, but I suspect Castle directed everyone to act a little strange so as to increase suspense and suspects. 

Prince and Scott in the office

Prince gives a good performance, and Backus is better than I've ever seen him. Christine White scores as Nancy, and Jonathan Kidd makes an effectively quivering funeral director. Les Baxter [Jungle Heat] offers one of his better scores, which adds a great deal to the eerie quality and tension of the film, as does the photography by Carl E. Guthrie. Castle's direction is generally good but there are clumsy moments, and Robb White's script -- taken from the novel The Marble Forest (which was apparently written by several crime writers as an experiment) -- has its dumb aspects, making some sequences unintentionally comical. All in all, this is an interesting and yes, macabre, motion picture with a very good premise and plot. 

Verdict: One of Castle's better pictures. ***.   

SPACEFLIGHT IC-1

SPACEFLIGHT IC-1 (1965). Director: Bernard Knowles.

A flight to a planet dubbed "earth 2" just outside our solar system, where mankind hopes to have a new beginning, is beset with tension and problems. Dr. Steven Thomas (John Cairney) discovers that his wife (Linda Marlowe) has a serious pancreatic condition, but the stern Captain Ralston (Bill Williams) refuses to turn back so that she can receive medical treatment. This leads to tragic consequences and some dramatic incidents, including what the captain perceives as mutiny. This short, low-budget British production is like a TV show, but Harry Spalding's script and some intense performances make it more interesting than you might imagine. There are no real effects or BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) or any other trappings of 50s/60s sci fi, but the story and its confrontations sustain interest. There's an android whose head is attached to a life support block, and two couples are kept in suspended animation. John Cairney, who also played Hercules' little friend Hylas in Jason and the Argonauts, is fine and has a bigger role than the nominal lead, former Hollywood second lead Bill Williams, who gives a solid performance as Ralston.

Verdict: There have been worse star treks than this one. **1/2.

ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES

Steve Darrell and Clayton Moore as Frank and Jesse James

ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES (13 chapter Republic serial/1948). Directed by Fred C. Brannon and Yakima Canutt.

After the events of Jesse James Rides Again, Jesse (Clayton Moore) is reunited with his brother, Frank (Steve Darrell). Although it is hinted that the men may have been up to nefarious doings in their younger days, all they want to do is go straight, and pay back some of their supposed victims, who were actually robbed by a phony Jesse James -- a man named Rafe (George J. Lewis). The James' boys think the answer to their troubles is a gold mine, but Amos Ramsey (John Crawford of Zombies of the Stratosphere), who covets the gold for himself, is working against them every step of the way. Jesse and Frank pretend to be the cousins of sympathetic Judy Powell (Noel Neill of Freddie Steps Out) and they also have banker Paul Thatcher (Sam Flint) on their side.

Clayton Morre and Noel Neill

Although as portrayed herein the James Brothers seem to come from an alternate dimension, Adventures of Frank and Jesse James is another exciting and well-done Republic western serial. There's a thrilling stage coach race in chapters five - six that seems like a blueprint for the chariot race in Ben-Hur, which is no wonder since Adventures' co-director Yakima Canutt helped stage both. Notable cliffhangers include a carriage flying off of a shattered bridge sans horses; a fiery explosion in a mine; Jesse caught beneath a falling plank with embedded nails; the Marshall (Gene Roth) about to see the boys' real signatures on a real estate deal; and Jesse and an assailant punching each other out and falling off a very high cliff. The uncredited, probably stock musical score for this is especially effective. 

Verdict: Another Western winner from Republic. ***. 

MURDER MOST FOUL

Ron Moody and Margaret Rutherford

MURDER MOST FOUL (1964). Director: George Pollock.

"It may upset you, Inspector, that women sometimes have superior minds -- you just have to accept it." -- Miss Marple.

Miss Marple is a hold-out on a jury because she's convinced of the defendant's innocence, and she sets out to prove it by joining a theatrical troupe where she believes the true murderer is ensconced. The troupe is run by H. Driffold Cosgood (Ron Moody), who has little interest in signing up Marple as an actress until she intimates that she has money. (She auditions by reciting "The Murder of Dan McGrew.") Other members of the group include psychic Eva (Alison Seebohm); Sheila Upward (Francesca Annis), who is engaged to Bill (James Bolam); Ralph Summers (Ralph Michael) and his wife Maureen (Pauline Jameson); and others. But as more murders occur, Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) has to wonder if Miss Marple will finish her sleuthing before she herself is bumped off?

Margaret Rutherford and Charles Tingwell

Murder Most Foul is very loosely based on Agatha Christie's novel "Mrs. McGinty's Dead," which actually featured her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and not Miss Marple. While the novel is much better than this film, I must say the movie is still a delight, with a wonderfully plucky Rutherford and many other talented cast members, such as Ron Moody. Stringer Davis appears, as does Dennis Price as agent Harris Tumbrill and Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Thomas. This was the third of the four Miss Marple films that Rutherford starred in. As usual composer Ron Goodwin just repeats the same theme music for each movie. Smoothly directed by George Pollock, who also helmed the other three films. The conclusion is unexpected. 

Verdict: A well-done combination of laughs and suspense. ***. 
 

BARE BONES Number 8

BARE BONES Number 8. Fall 2021. Edited by Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri. 

Bare Bones is a terrific periodical that unearths "vintage, forgotten and overlooked" horror, sci fi, mystery, western, and just plain weird material from comics, pulps, films and television. The latest issue, number 8, offers a look at Damnation Alley by Matthew R. Bradley; Christopher Conlon's examination of Robert Bloch's Psycho and its sequels; Peter Enfantino's look back at William Ard's paperback western character, Tom Buchanan (as depicted on the cover); John Scoleri's review of the deluxe hardcover edition of Quentin Tarantino's novel of Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood; a survey of crime digests by Richard Krauss; David J. Schow's look at horror on LP; my own piece on Charlton's horror-fantasy comic books; and more. 

I recommend all the issues of this magazine, especially for genre enthusiasts, as it covers material you won't find anywhere else in a scholarly and very entertaining fashion. 

Bare Bones is available on amazon. 

MACHETE

Carlos Rivas and Mari Blanchard

MACHETE (1958). Produced, directed and co-written by Kurt Neumann.

Sugar plantation owner Luis Montoya (Albert  Dekker) comes back to Puerto Rico with a young bride in tow, the sexy blonde Jean (Mari Blanchard). Jean, of course, wants some security from this much older man, but when she sees his ward and foreman, Carlos (Carlos Rivas), she also wants him. Carlos tries to resist Jean's charms at first, but the two are caught in a compromising situation. Luis is filled with fury, and the situation isn't helped by Luis' cousin, Miguel (Lee Van Cleef), who has always been jealous of Carlos' place in the family and plots revenge. Then there's the housekeeper, Rita (Ruth Cains), who is in love with Carlos. It's a sure bet things are not going to end well ... 

Albert Dekker

Machete is a melodrama that could have used some steamy overheating. The younger wife falling for the handsome foreman is as old as They Knew What They Wanted, with sugar cane instead of grapes, but there the comparison ends. Mari Blanchard is as vivid and entertaining as ever, but the others just seem to be saying lines, although if this is bad acting, or just an indication that the film was probably shot in two days with little rehearsal time, is hard to say. Blanchard and Rivas make a sexy duo but they aren't allowed to actually do that much together despite an interesting swimming sequence late in the picture. Machete was filmed hastily on an actual sugar plantation, which gives the film some atmosphere, but little else. An interesting aspect of this production is the casting of Black/Latino actor Juano Hernandez, who was born in San Juan, as Dekker's major domo, Bernardo, who seems an adviser to Luis and a member of the family even though he doesn't sit and have dinner with them. Dekker and Blanchard also appeared in Kurt Neumann's similarly-mild She-Devil. 

Verdict:  This flick needs more steam! **. 

THE BLACK WIDOW

Carol Forman as Sombra

THE BLACK WIDOW (13 chapter Republic serial/1947.) Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Fred C. Brannon. 

"Open the tanks and we'll cremate them!" -- Sombra.

The beautiful fortune teller Sombra (Carol Forman), popularly known as the Black Widow, takes orders from her father, Hitomu (Theodore Gottlieb) -- who shows up now and then in a puff of smoke in a kind of teleportation chair --  but otherwise seems very much in charge of her assorted underlings. Her chief adversaries are mystery writer (!) Steve Colt (Bruce Edwards) and reporter Joyce Winters (Virginia Lee), to whom Steve is continuously condescending. Sombra, who got her nickname from her use of black widow spider toxin in her victims' bloodstreams, employs such thugs as Nick Ward (Anthony Warde of Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc.) to do her dirty work, although she's not above getting her own hands dirty when it suits her. She is a mistress of disguise who impersonates more than one woman, causing both consternation and havoc. Sombra and her father particularly want to get their hands on a special formula for atomic rockets if not the rockets themselves. 

Theodore Gottlieb as Hitomu

The Black Widow is a very entertaining Republic serial with good performances from Forman and Warde, who seemed to make a career playing nasty and efficient bad guys in assorted serials. Alas, Edwards and Lee as the good guys in this are comparatively colorless, although Joyce can be feisty at times, and at one point tries to clobber Sombra with a steering wheel that she had been handcuffed to. Notable cliffhangers include the tunnel filled with fire in chapter five, and a large pane of glass that nearly functions as a guillotine in chapter six. The most outstanding and thrilling sequence is in chapter four, when Joyce is secreted in a crate on a plane as the crate keeps sliding closer and closer to the open hatchway ... 

Virginia Lee and Bruce Edwards

The Black Widow is full of stock "orientalisms," including the excellent theme music (although the rest of the score is not as memorable), even though none of the actors are remotely Asian. Theodore Gottlieb as Hitomu reminds me of nothing so much as a Borscht Belt comic and apparently that's exactly what Gottlieb was! While he doesn't make the most convincing "Oriental" ruler -- I'm not even certain if that's what he's supposed to be -- he is still effective and fun as Hitomu. A clever bit has Ward using a special mist to instantly change the color of his car when he is being pursued by Colt, although the business with Colt having to use special "triangulation" to find Sombra's HQ is laughable, as by now he should surely have known where the woman was! 

Verdict: Whatever its flaws, this serial is a lot of fun! ***. 

TEACHING MRS. TINGLE

Helen Mirren

TEACHING MRS. TINGLE (1999). Written and directed by Kevin Williamson.

When it appears that three high school students have been trying to steal test questions, their very nasty teacher Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren) promises that they are going to pay dearly. This is especially bad news for Leigh (Katie Holmes), who is hoping to go to Harvard. She and her friend, Trudie (Liz Stauber), go to Tingle's home to beg and plead, and the woman winds up getting hit by a crossbow! Instead of calling for an ambulance, the young ladies tie her to her bed and hope for the best. Mrs. Tingle revives, but how can Leigh and Trudy convince their teacher not to go to the police? 

Young cast members of Tingle up against Mirren

Frankly, I thought that Teaching Mrs. Tingle might wind up in one of my "Films I Never Quite Finished" posts more than once, but at least the picture is unpredictable, and while I can't say I particularly liked the movie, I did want to see how it would all turn out. Helen Mirren, if course, easily out-acts the rest of the cast, although they manage to acquit themselves in a more or less professional manner. Jeffrey Tambor is also good as Coach Wenchell, who winds up unwittingly helping Leigh in her goal. The irritating thing is that the only really guilty party (to the original offense) is a jerk named Luke (Barry Watson), who never once offers to take the blame and let the gals off the hook. Michael McKean is the principal; Lesley Ann Warren is Leigh's mother; Molly Ringwald is Miss Banks; and Viveca A. Fox scores as another teacher, Miss Gold. The characters are virtually all unsympathetic and the movie, written and helmed by the writer of the Scream movies, is morally bankrupt. 

Verdict: Well, at least it's somewhat different and a wonderful Mirren is always watchable. **1/4. 

JESSE JAMES RIDES AGAIN

John Compton and Clayton Moore

JESSE JAMES RIDES AGAIN (13 chapter Republic serial/1947). Directed by Fred C. Brannon and Thomas Carr.

Jesse James (Clayton Moore of G-Men Never Forget) is on the run from the sheriff along with his buddy Steve Long (John Compton of The D.A.'s Man). Jesse feels his criminal activities have been highly exaggerated and Steve is completely innocent. With Jesse using a fake name, they come to a small town and bunk with an old farmer, Sam Bolton (Tom London)  and his daughter, Ann (Linda Stirling.) When the farm is attacked by a group of masked Black Raiders, Jesse and Steve help fight them off, and Jesse tells a grateful Ann who he really is. These seemingly inexplicable raids against farmers are engineered by James Clark (Tristram Coffin of King of the Rocket Men) and carried out by Frank Lawton (Roy Barcroft) -- they are after the oil that is under everyone's property.

John Compton with Roy Barcroft

In chapter one a riverboat blows up with Ann tied up on board. Chapter 12 features an exciting horse and carriage race between raiders and farmers as the latter try to deliver oil and the raiders try to stop them. The best cliffhanger occurs in chapter 7, when Ann is put inside a cage called a cotton compress and is nearly crushed to death. The performances are all good in this, the action is fast, the fisticuffs are furious, and the serial is fun. This was the first of three Republic serials featuring the character of Jesse James. The follow ups were The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James and The James Brothers of Missouri. 

Verdict: Action, thrills, and two handsome hunks! ***.  

KOMMISSAR X: KILL PANTHER KILL

Brad Harris and Tony Kendall escape from a trap

KOMMISSAR X: KILL PANTHER KILL (aka Kommissar X - Drei blaue Panther/1968.) Director: Gianfranco Parolini. 

Jo Louis Walker (Tony Kendall) and Captain Tom Rowland (Brad Harris) re-team to investigate the case of twin brothers (Franco Fantasia) who are in the stolen gem business. As usual, there's an amusing love/hate relationship between the two men as they dodge bullets, romance gals, and get involved in a terrific and protracted karate fight where they manage to defeat all of their opponents in record time. There's a flying jet pack like something out of James Bond, but generally this "Kommissar X" adventure is not a typical eurospy film, and the 007-isms are kept to a minimum. The best sequence has Walker trapped when his leg is caught in some mud and he appears to be flattened by a bulldozer, distressing Rowland, who is gratified to find him alive. This high-spirited flick is one of the better Kommissar X adventures. 

Verdict: Playful and fun. ***.