SINS OF JEZEBEL

Paulette Goddard

SINS OF JEZEBEL (1953). Director: Reginald Le Borg.  

King Ahab (Eduard Franz of The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake) of Israel sends Captain Jehu (George Nader of Death in a Red Jaguar) to accompany his bride-to-be, Princess Jezebel (Paulette Goddard), back to the palace. Jezebel is delighted to see handsome Jehu and at first mistakes him for the King. Her face reflects her disappointment when she finally comes face to face with the much-older Ahab, but she's also relieved that her future husband isn't the fat man in consultation with him. Even before the ceremony, Jezebel is making out with a besotted Jehu, who undoubtedly thinks that his girlfriend, Deborah (Margia Dean), can't hold a candle to the much sexier Jezebel. Jezebel insists that Ahab build a temple to her Pagan God, Baal, which infuriates the pious prophet Elijah (John Hoyt). You know all of this will lead to trouble. And just where does one of the Three Stooges fit in with Jezebel and her schemes? 

Goddard with George Nader

No, this isn't The Three Stooges Meet Jezebel although that might have been more fun. And Joe Besser of the Stooges does have a very small role as the keeper of the chariots (and isn't very good). Sins of Jezebel almost sinks right from the start with tedious narration of Genesis from the bible delivered by John Hoyt in front of a large painting depicting some of the events. With a beard, Hoyt also plays Elijah and he is good in the role, although when he shows up again as a lecturer at key moments (obviously the budget was too small to film every sequence) it's a different story. 

John Hoyt as pious Elijah

Paulette Goddard had only four minor films to make and several TV appearances before she retired. She was still quite attractive at 43 but not quite in the siren league. She gives a solid "B" movie performance in this -- the film doesn't deserve anything better -- and the same could be said for George Nader. Sins doesn't have very strong production values, and the best thing about it is a notable score by Bert Shefter. The picture does follow the essential story of Jezebel, Ahab and Elijah, although we don't see the queen being eaten by wild dogs. 

Verdict: Not bad or campy enough to be good. **. 

BLACK ADAM

Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, as Teth-Adam

BLACK ADAM (2022). Director: Jaume Collet-Serra. 

After thousands of years an alleged hero named Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) returns to the nation of Kahndaq, which has been taken over by an evil organization called Intergang. The Justice Society (not to be confused with the Justice League), run by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge of The Invisible Man) fears that this very powerful warrior may not have Kahndaq's best interests at heart, nor the world's. Hawkman especially has a problem with Adam's "take no prisoners" and literally death-dealing attitude, as real heroes simply don't kill except in self-defense. The Society and Adam engage in heated battle, until an even more powerful threat unites these enemies against a common foe. 

Black Adam vs Hawkman

Black Adam is sort of a sequel to Shazam, although Captain Marvel never appears. Black Adam was originally a villain in the old Captain Marvel comics published by Fawcett, but in recent years DC Comics, which acquired the rights to the characters, made Black Adam more complex and dimensional. First let me say that this is strictly a film for comics/super-hero fans, and for us the movie works beautifully. It has thrilling, well-crafted battle sequences, fine special effects and cinematography (Lawrence Sher), and boasts rich, beautiful visuals throughout. Lorne Balfe's music is also effective. On the technical production end, Black Adam is an absolute winner. 

Aldis Hodge as handsome Hawkman

As Adam, Dwayne Johnson is terrific, although he is much too contemporary a figure to be completely convincing as a man 5000 years out of time. (It develops that Teth-Adam is not actually the great hero from the past, but his son, who died, which is where Adam's anger comes from.) Aldis Hodge, who makes a very striking and handsome Hawkman in or out of his winged mask, grows on the viewer, because at first he seems a bit crude. Sarah Shahi and Jalon Christian are notable as a woman, Adrianna, who appeals to Adam for help, and her son Hurut, who befriends the dark hero and tries to get him to come up with a cooler super-hero name (that being "Black Adam"). Marwan Kenzai also scores as Ishmael, a traitor who turns into the demonic Sabbac. 

Hawkman

The other members of the Justice Society include Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), who can whirl at tornado speeds, and Atom-Smasher (Noah Centineo), who can grow into a giant (a power that seems to be more of a nuisance than anything else), as well as Dr. Fate, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. Superman (Henry Cavell) shows up in a post-credit sequence. The movie isn't perfect, some of the humor is misplaced and inappropriate, but in general it's exciting and moves like a whirling dervish. The device of quickly freezing the action for a second, then going into slow-mo for a few seconds afterward, before reverting back to real-time action, is a little annoying, but nothing that ruined the movie for me. It's sad, but I think a lot of the surprisingly negative reaction to this picture comes from conservative viewers who are annoyed that the two lead characters are black and most of the others are middle-eastern. Viola Davis has a cameo as the ultra-tough Amanda Waller, and Henry Winkler appears briefly as Atom-Smasher's Uncle Al. Jaume Collet-Serra also directed the excellent horror film Orphan. 

Verdict: Real fun, action-packed movie-movie with striking and colorful visuals. Classy and stylish. ***1/4. 

STAR TRAP Simon Brett

STAR TRAP. Simon Brett. A Charles Paris Mystery.  

Simon Brett began his Charles Paris mystery series with Cast, In Order of Disappearance in the seventies, but the title was the only worthwhile thing about that book and it's surprising that it wasn't the last in the series. The alcoholic actor Charles Paris did not make a terribly convincing amateur sleuth -- something that has always been a bit of a problem for the series -- but eventually Paris himself began to grow on the readers. So Much Blood, in which Paris does a one-man show at a festival in Edinburgh, had him again involved in murder and spending limited time with his mostly estranged wife. It was slightly better than the first book. 

Then Brett hit his speed with the third book in the series, Star Trap, in which he is hired for a small role in a musical based on She Stoops to Conquer. In addition to being in the cast, Charles is also told to keep an eye out for someone who might be committing acts of sabotage on the production. (One doesn't quite buy that anyone would ask this semi-drunk to do much more than remember his lines!) The star of the musical is an egomaniacal actor who has become famous as a lovable character on a very popular British sitcom, and it isn't long before he takes over the entire production, almost literally. Along with the suspense over what might happen to whom, and who is responsible, Brett examines the very nature of stardom, the behavior of actors who have hit the heights and are terrified of falling, and illuminates where everyone else in a production might fit in or not while dissecting what goes on behind the scenes. As the star makes wholesale changes the musical resembles She Stoops to Conquer less and less. Star Trap -- the title refers to a kind of trapdoor as well as being a pun on "Star Trip" --  is more serious and thoughtful than other Paris mysteries, and it is very well-written. I confess the ending was not entirely satisfying to me, but Brett does more or less wrap up everything  in a compelling fashion. The latest Charles Paris novel is A Deadly Habit. 

Verdict: Very engaging mystery with interesting twists. ***. 

PIER 23

Hugh Beaumont and Richard Travers

PIER 23 (1951). Director: William Berke.

Dennis O'Brien (Hugh Beaumont of Railroaded) lives on the San Francisco docks and operates as a troubleshooter. Father Donovan (Raymond Greenleaf) importunes Denny to meet up with an escaped con on Pier 23 and bring him to the priest, who hopes to convince him to turn himself in. Denny grabs the guy, who insists on taking time out to see a shady lady named Ann (Ann Savage). Denny is slugged and wakes up to discover that the escaped con is a corpse -- and it turns out that he wasn't even the guy he was supposed to bring to Father Donovan. This leads into a convoluted plot involving wrestling fraud (!) and murder. 

Ann Savage with Beaumont

In the early fifties Hugh Beaumont starred in three films featuring the character of Dennis O'Brien, who takes on cases but doesn't really seem to be a licensed private eye. His adversary was Police Inspector Lt. Bruger (Richard Travis of Missile to the Moon.) Beaumont gets into the hard-boiled style even better than he did as Michael Shayne in the forties, but the character is callous and unlikable. The films were generally two radio scripts put together and it's sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Pier 23 is talky and convoluted but also fast-paced at 57 minutes, and it has an interesting cast. 

Beaumont vamped by Margia Dean

Ann Savage of Detour is typically vivid but she doesn't have much time on-screen and it's never clearly delineated as to how exactly she fits in the story line. Mike Mazurki of New Orleans Uncensored plays a wrestler named "Ape," and Edward Brophy is comedy relief as Professor Shickler, Denny's tippling roommate. Eve Miller gives a poor performance as Savage's nicer sister, Norma, but Margia Dean is more flavorful as a dead wrestler's widow named Flo. Frankly Dean and the other ladies are not exactly the sexiest women in the world, but the real beauties don't wind up in poverty row pictures. (Dean was actually the mistress of producer Robert L. Lippert.) On the other hand, Joi Lansing has a small role as a cocktail waitress and is rather sexy. This is atmospheric and well-acted but the plot is poor. 

Verdict: Despite a solid performance from Beaumont this never really catches fire. **.

INJUSTICE

James Purefoy

INJUSTICE (5 part British mini-series/2011). Director: Colin McCarthy. 

I often find British mystery mini-series to be a little too deliberately-paced -- I generally prefer the "let's get on with it" pace of Law and Order -- to hold my attention for long, but happily that wasn't the case with Injustice. In this very interesting limited series lawyer William Travers (James Purefoy), who gave up criminal law after a kind of breakdown, agrees to represent an old friend, Philip Spaull (Robert Whitelock), who has been accused of murdering his mistress. Meanwhile Police Investigator Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles), who has faced Travers in court as a witness, looks into the cold-blooded killing of a man that Travers once got off a murder charge. Wenborn, a rather nasty character who has a physically abusive relationship with his frightened wife, who remembers him as a kinder person years ago, begins to wonder if Travers had something to do with his old client's death even as Travers -- a regular Perry Mason -- insists he is taking Spaull's case only because he is convinced of his innocence.

Verdict: Although frankly a little far-fetched at times -- for instance, defense attorneys wouldn't make much of a living if they only took on innocent clients -- Injustice is very well-acted, keeps you in suspense, and has several interesting twists. This is streaming on Amazon Prime and is well-worth a look for mystery fans. ***. 

THIS IS NOT A TEST

Seamon Glass as Deputy Sheriff Colter

THIS IS NOT A TEST (1962). Director: Fredric Gadette. Colorized. 

Deputy Sheriff Dan Colter (Seamon Glass) stops a motley group of people on the highway when he gets news of an impending nuclear attack on a nearby city. These people include Sam and Karen Barnes (Norman Winston and Carole Kent); truckdriver Al Weston (Alan Austin); Junie (Aubrey Martin) and her grandfather, Jake (Thayer Roberts); fast-driving Cheryl (Mary Morlas) and her boyfriend Joe (Michael Greene); and an honest-to-goodness serial killer escapee, Clint (Ron Starr). 

Aubrey Martin and Ron Starr

Colter thinks that the little group may survive if they empty out Al's truck and take shelter inside it, an idea that both Jake and Sam find ludicrous. They figure the blast will probably obliterate the entire countryside and Junie hates the idea of being shut up in the truck with little food, water or air. As tensions arise both inside and outside of the truck, Al and Karen form a sexual connection that leads to tragedy. There are other surprising developments as the picture proceeds; one of the movie's assets is its general unpredictability. 

Carole Kent and Alan Austin

This is Not a Test is clever and memorable low-budget filmmaking. The screenplay, which is generally well-done (if not exactly Oscar-worthy), does not require massive sets or special effects. Most of the story takes place at night time, so there are no worries about inappropriate objects in the background, and a genuine truck serves as the only real set. The cast consists of some talented amateurs mixed in with a couple of professionals and some who'd never make another movie. Seamon Glass, who had many credits afterwards, is perfect as the stalwart, by-the-book, semi-psychopathic police officer, Colton. Aubrey Martin makes perhaps the best impression as Junie, although the other ladies also have their moments. This was the last performance for Carole Kent, who had a number of television credits. This was also true of Alan Austin, who is quite notable as Al, with Michael Greene almost as good; he amassed 120 credits during a long career. Ron Starr had a memorable guest-spot on a classic episode of Perry Mason. This was director Fredric Gadette's only movie. 

While watching This is Not a Test one must remember that back in the day children were instructed to sit under their desks in the event of a nuclear attack, or in the hallway with their heads bent, as if that would do the slightest good. The movie accurately reflects the attitudes that many people had back in that time period. 

Verdict: Surprisingly watchable melodrama with an uncompromising finale. ***. 

FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS

Lee Powell and Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett

FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS (12 chapter Republic serial/1938). Directors: William Witney; John English. COLORIZED. 

Lt. Tom Grayson (Lee Powell) and Lt. Frank Corby (Bruce Bennett AKA Herman Brix) of the United States Marine Corps discover that their colleagues at a base in Linchuria have been completely wiped out by a mysterious weapon. This infernal machine, called the Thunderbolt, is an "aerial torpedo charged with massive amounts of electricity" and is aimed via a radio-controlled gyroscope. The villain of the piece, who calls himself the Lightning, and whose motives are rather obscure, operates from a flying craft called the Wing (which first appeared, I believe, in the first Dick Tracy serial). 

Did the Lightning's appearance influence Darth Vader?

Grayson, Corby and General White (Montagu Love) work with scientist Ben Warfield (Hugh Sothern) to come up with something that can stop the deadly Thunderbolt, which is being used to wipe out fighting ships at sea and entire villages. Characters suspected of being the Lightning include assistant Crenshaw (Perry Ivins), butler Benson (Forrest Taylor), and even Warfield's gardener, Sam (Henry Otho), but the truth might be much more startling. Most serial villains don't actually chew the scenery that much, but the actor playing the Lightning is initially very hokey until apparently someone told him to tone it down for the later chapters. 

Lee Powell

There is no love interest in the film, but Warfield's daughter, Janet, is played by the colorless Eleanor Stewart, who appeared mostly in B features. Lee Powell was the first actor to portray the Lone Ranger and also had a big part in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. During WW2 after surviving a bloody Japanese attack on his unit, he ironically and tragically died from alcohol poisoning after celebrating with his buddies and some rotgut liquor. Herman Brix went on to play Joan Crawford's husband in Mildred Pierce as Bruce Bennett. He had a solid career as second lead in several features and also appeared in many television episodes. 

Colorized but colorless: Eleanor Stewart

Fighting Devil Dogs has several exciting and suspenseful sequences, chief of which is a bit when Grayson, Corby and others are trapped in a locked room into which cardon dioxide is slowly being pumped. A big iron bar hovers over Tom and falls, nearly crushing him, and he has a desperate battle aboard a careening plane. He and Corby aim their own plane towards one of the Thunderbolt missiles before it can smash into a dirigible, but first jump out via parachute. The serial has a mediocre score, but plenty of action.  

Verdict: The Lightning is a nasty bad guy with a formidable weapon. ***. 

 

DOC SAVAGE: THE MONSTERS

Art by James Bama

 THE MONSTERS: DOC SAVAGE. Lester Dent writing as "Kenneth Robeson." Originally published in April 1934 in Doc Savage pulp magazine. 

This Bantam books cover gracing the reprint of a novel originally published in the Doc Savage pulp magazine was my first introduction to the Man of Bronze. I was probably thinking Amazing Colossal Man when I saw it, but the guys who grow to giant size and terrorize a town aren't quite as big as all that. In one scene a giant grabs Doc by the shoulder and sort off tugs him to a nearby island where the monsters are headquartered, but I don't think our hero could fit so neatly in his fist. 

Besides Doc and his gang, the other characters in the story include Griswold Rock, head of a railroad and apparently the captive of one Pere Teston, a former employee and scientist who created the outsized monstrosities, which from descriptions seem to grow from 12 to 18 feet tall (in any case they can fit inside an airplane). Then there's circus performer Jean Morris, whose hair is the color of steel and who was hired because she speaks the language of two African pinheads who have also been turned into giants (and who get their terrible revenge on a trapper, a man named Bruno Hen, who tormented them in a creepy early sequence when his cabin in the woods is torn apart and Hen along with it). 

The Monsters has always been considered one of the most memorable Doc Savage books and it is fast-paced and entertaining with some colorful descriptions, a good scary and suspenseful plot (the nature of the menace is only hinted at in the earlier chapters)  and Dent's use of unusual and amusing character names. James Bama's striking cover for the Bantam paperback of the sixties was based on the Walter M. Baumhofer cover for the original pulp magazine. The Monsters was one of the stories adapted by Marvel Comics for its own Doc Savage comic book. 

Verdict: No intellectual feast but fun. The cover alone is worth the price of admission. ***. 

FINGER OF GUILT

FINGER OF GUILT (aka The Intimate Stranger/1956). Director: Joseph Losey. 

American film director Reggie Wilson (Richard Basehart of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) has come to England to continue his career after he made the mistake of having an affair with the boss's wife. Now he's managed to marry the daughter, Lesley (Faith Brook), of the head of the British studio, and also importuned an old girlfriend, Kay Wallace (Constance Cummings), to star in his latest picture even though his father-in-law, Ben Case (Roger Livesey) isn't fully supportive. But when he begins receiving letters from a supposed old flame named Evelyn (Mary Murphy), he wonders if he's going crazy. Evelyn insists that they were lovers in America but he swears to his wife and everyone else that he never even met the lady. Tracking the woman down, Reggie and Lesley discover that Evelyn is determined to stick to her story even when the police are called in. 

Finger of Guilt is one of the better British B mysteries with a suspenseful storyline and some fine performances, with Basehart in top form, Cummings in fine support, and Mary Murphy perfection as the mysterious and determined Evelyn. Joseph Losey went on to direct much more famous movies than this one. 

Verdict: Basehart's strong performance helps this flick enormously. ***. 

2012

Trying to save the world: Chiwetel Ejioforas Dr. Helmsey

2012 (2009). Director: Roland Emmerich.

Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a special officer of science and technology who is one of the key men dealing with a planet-wide crisis. Solar eruptions are causing the earth's crust to destabilize, causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves. Some feel this is the fulfillment of an ancient Mayan prophecy saying the world will end in 2012. All of the nations of the world have united (an unlikely development) in coming up with a plan to save as many people as possible, and anyone who endangers this very secret scheme is literally assassinated over Helmsley's objections. His chief opponent is a rather ruthless politician named Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt). In the meantime a divorced writer named Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) tries to get his ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet), their two children, and Kate's boyfriend Gordon (Tom McCarthy) to one of the ships that will take the specially-chosen to safety. These turn out not to be spaceships (as in When Worlds Collide) but gargantuan arks. 

A tsunami wipes out India

2012 obviously has a lot of material to cover, and while there are some problems with the human drama, the FX and disaster sequences are quite eye-popping and thrilling: Jackson and company driving pell mell to the airport as the city literally collapses all around them; the plane flight as California shatters and sinks into the ocean far below; the collapse of St. Peter's, destroying the faithful; a battleship smashing into the White House as Washington D.C. is engulfed in a massive, devastating tidal wave; a tsunami obliterating India along with the scientist who first figured out what was going on; and so on. 

John Cusack and Woody Harrelson

The real star of this movie is not John Cusack (whom I've always thought of as competent but strictly minor-league) but Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays the real compassionate hero with strength and dignity. Cusack and the others seem more concerned with survival than with anything else -- not that we can necessarily blame them-- and in fact few characters display the effects of such a traumatic and catastrophic situation. Characters rarely express dismay and compassion over the deaths of millions (but then when heroic Gordon dies a terrible death, he is pretty much forgotten by the end of the movie, making the film's claims about how much we should all care for each other ring a bit hollow). 

Danny Glover as the president

Woody Harrelson offers a flavorful performance as a kind of weird doomsayer who turns out to have been right all along, and Danny Glover (of Switchback) is effective as the American president who elects to stay behind with his doomed constituents. George Segal and Blu Mankuma (playing Helmsley's father) score as two buddies who take one last cruise into oblivion, and Zlatko Buric is fine as the stereotypical Russian billionaire who, surprisingly, makes a supreme sacrifice for one of his little boys. Dean Semier's cinematography is first-rate. Roland Emmerich also directed Moonfall.

Verdict: Imperfect but exciting disaster flick with often stunning effects work. ***.