JUVENILE JUNGLE

Corey Allen and Rebecca Welles

JUVENILE JUNGLE (1958). Director: William Witney. Colorized. 

Hal McQueen (Corey Allen of The Big Caper) is new in town and attracts the attention of waitress, Glory (Rebecca Welles). She has a jealous sometime boyfriend in Monty (Joe Di Reda), who throws liquor-fueled beach parties with his buddies Tic-Tac (Richard Bakalyan of The Delinquents) and Duke (Joe Conley). Duke also works in a liquor store that has a check-cashing service that takes in an awful lot of loot. Although initially hostile and distrustful of each other, Hal and Monty, along with the latter's buddies and Glory, decide to rob the liquor store and get $40,000. Part of the plan is for Hal to romance Carolyn (Anne Whitfield), the daughter of John Elliot (Walter Coy), the proprietor of the store. This last doesn't sit well with Glory, but she goes along with it for her cut. But as Hal and Carolyn get to know each other, will the young man's conscience get the better of him?   

Corey Allen with Conley and Di Reda

The most amusing thing about Juvenile Jungle is that there isn't a juvenile in sight! Most of the actors appear to be at least in their thirties (Allen was twenty-four). As juvenile delinquency films were big in the fifties, titles often reflected this trend even when it wasn't remotely accurate. The male characters in particular seem like mere loafers with no goals in sight, perpetual adolescents. In spite of this they give solid performances, as do the ladies, Welles in particular. There are also some surprises in store as to which character turns out to be the most vicious. Welles and Whitfield both had busy careers; so did the male players, with Bakalyan amassing the most credits. Allen eventually turned to directing and became a respected acting coach. 

Verdict: Minor but adsorbing crime caper with interesting players. ***. 

NUDE ON THE MOON

Lester Brown

NUDE ON THE MOON (1961). Director: Doris Wishman. 

Dr. Jeff Huntley (Lester Brown) inherits a fortune from an uncle and decides to use it to build a moon rocket although his partner, Professor Nichols (William Mayer), cautions him that he could lose money that could have lasted him his entire life. Their secretary, Cathy (Marietta), is carrying a torch for Jeff, but he only has eyes for science. The two men build the rocket, take off, and land on what they think is the moon, although it does not have the familiar lunar landscape. Instead there are lush gardens and a nudist colony, where virtually everyone is undraped. (The women's breasts are exposed but that's it). These women are not only naked but telepathic. Before long Jeff, formerly cold to women, has fallen in love with the queen! 

lunar astronauts Brown and William Mayer

The odd thing about Nude on the Moon is that the first half is more or less reasonable and seems no different from other very low-budget sci-fi items of the period. However, the moon scenes are pretty dull in spite of the nudity. Lester Brown is an attractive fellow with a pleasant manner and an adequate actor, but he only made this one movie. Director Doris Wishman specialized in low-grade soft core movies centered on nudist camps. There are no sex scenes in the movie, and the two heroes never take their clothes off. The credit song, "Moon Doll," is dreadful!

Verdict: A real oddity with very little entertainment value. *1/2. 

REPENT AT LEISURE

Wendy Barrie and Kent Taylor

REPENT AT LEISURE (1941). Director: Frank Woodruff. 

Wealthy heiress Emily Baldwin (Wendy Barrie) runs off from her wedding to a greedy prince (Rafael Alcayde) and runs into Richard Hughes (Kent Taylor of The Crimson Key) on a bus. The two become instantly smitten, then Emily learns that Richard is a salesman at Baldwin's, her father's department store. She keeps her true identity a secret after they get married when Richard learns that all single men will be let go from the store due to dropping profits. The two go so far as to adopt a baby. Then Emily's father (George Barbier) invites the young man to dinner ... 

George Barbier with Michael Dunaway

Repent at Leisure is a minor but charming comedy that is consistently entertaining in its lightweight way with excellent performances to bolster the proceedings. Barrie and Kent have chemistry and make a good team, Barbier is delightful, and the picture is nearly stolen by the adorable baby (Michael Dunaway) --there's a hair-raising moment when this little charmer wanders off and nearly falls into an elevator shaft. Thurston Hall adds some fun as the owner of the rival department store, Buckingham's, who comes up with some sales strategies that backfire on him. Charles Lane is as dyspeptic as usual as Richard's boss, Cecil Cunningham (of The Hidden Hand) makes an amusing pill of his wife, and "Snowflake" Toones is charged with watching the baby -- big mistake! From RKO. 

Verdict: Adept players and an amusing script work wonders. *** 

SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE

Rivals turned pals: David Durand; Jackie Cooper

SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE (12-chapter Universal serial/1939). Directors: Alan James; Ray Taylor. Colorized. 

Little "Skeets" Scanlon (Bill Cody Jr.), who longs to be a boy scout, finds a map which he thinks leads to treasure. He and the scouts, led by Bruce Scott (Jackie Cooper), go to a Ghost Town, where they find a fortune -- unfortunately it's counterfeit. Skeets' uncle is a crook so G-Man Hal Marvin (William Ruhl), jumps to the conclusion that Skeets' father, Pat (Edwin Stanley), must be involved in criminal activity as well. In actuality there is a gang of counterfeiters run by Turk Mortensen (Ivan Miller) who not only want some special plates the uncle made but to have Pat help them run off the phony bills. If that weren't enough, there are a group of very weird Indians living in the hills near the ghost town -- they not only hate Whites but are prone to human sacrifice!  

Junior Coghlan, Bill Cody Jr., Vondell Darr, and Cooper

Scouts to the Rescue is a busy and fairly entertaining Universal serial with several enthusiastic players. 17-year-old Jackie Cooper is top-billed and is fine as the stalwart leader of the scouts, although there's nothing in the script that would make him break out in a sweat. David Durand, who played Bette Davis' younger brother in Bad Sister, is swell as the good-looking Rip, who gets in with the thieves but whose conscience gets the better of him. Ruhl, Stanley and Miller are all professional enough, and we've also got Junior Coghlan (Frank Coughlan Jr.) as Ken, another scout, and Vondell Darr as Skeets' older sister, Mary. 

Cody and Durand

The serial is pretty fast-paced, with a lively musical score and some decent cliffhangers: an avalanche of boulders; a makeshift wooden elevator that plummets towards the ground; a stampede of rushing horses. The only problem with the serial is that it may seem bland as compared to the wilder super-hero and science fiction serials of Columbia and Republic studios. On its own terms, however, Scouts to the Rescue is a superior Universal serial. 

Verdict: Jackie Cooper -- still a star at 17! **3/4. 

PORTLAND EXPOSE

Edward Binns, unidentified player, Frank Gorshin

PORTLAND EXPOSE (1957). Director: Harold D. Schuster.  Colorized. 

Tavern owner George Madison (Edward Binns) lives with his wife (Virginia Gregg) and two children, including daughter Ruth (Carolyn Craig), in Portland, Oregon. Sleazy criminal elements have moved into the city, and Madison is threatened if he doesn't agree to put in a certain party's juke boxes and slot machines. Fearing for his family's safety, Madison goes along with this, but when one of the creeps (Frank Gorshin of Invasion of the Saucer Men) tries to rape his daughter, he agrees to help the authorities take the whole group down. But what happens if they find out what he's doing? 

Binns with Russ Conway

Portland Expose is an absorbing enough B movie with some good performances. The showiest role goes to Gorshin, who delivers as a psychopathic creep who comes to a bad end on the railway tracks when even his buddies are disgusted by him. Jeanne Carmen (of The Monster of Piedras Blancas) plays a sexy gal who makes a play for George, and is the one who figures out that he's on the side of the angels and isn't really playing ball with them. Russ Conway (of Trapped) is the head bad guy, Phil Jackman, and never chews the scenery, instead exuding quiet menace. Joe Flynn of McHale's Navy and The Big Chase has a small role as one of the good guys working on the case. Carolyn Craig is best-known for her role in House on Haunted Hill. The climax where George and Ruth nearly get acid thrown in their faces is tense and suspenseful. 

Verdict: For something set in Oregon, this isn't too bad. **3/4. 

THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES

Dennis Moore and Linda Stirling

THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES (15-chapter Republic serial/1945). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred C. Brannon. Colorized. 

A malevolent visitor from Mars who is inexplicably called the "Purple Monster" (Roy Barcroft) kills scientist Cyrus Layton (James Craven), and inhabits his corpse -- when he isn't in his own body -- as he goes about his deadly business. His main goal is to steal an interplanetary jet plane that will get him back to Mars so he can lead a major invasion force. Working against him are Layton's niece, Sheila (Linda Stirling, and agent Craig Foster (Dennis Moore). Working with the Purple Monster are would-be extortionist Hodge Garrett (Bud Geary) and -- briefly -- the Martian witch Marcia (Mary Moore), who tries to throw Sheila off of a cliff. 

Dennis Moore in a death trap

The Purple Monster Strikes is another lively Republic cliffhanger that moves at a breakneck pace, has an exciting musical score that bolsters every scene, action-packed fisticuffs in which every bit of furniture is broken as the antagonists literally hurl themselves at each other, and some memorable cliffhangers. Foster nearly falls to his death when a ladder is toppled in chapter one; a car in a garage plummets down onto the hero in chapter eight; and a clever phone trap has Foster nearly punctured by sharp rods when iron bars come down from the ceiling. Meanwhile Sheila nearly drowns when she falls into a room through a trapdoor, a room that rapidly fills with rushing water. 

Roy Barcroft and Bud Geary

However, if you're expecting logic be warned that it is not in great supply in this serial. For instance, in the aforementioned sequence there is simply no reason why a kindly professor would have such a secret room under the floor in his laboratory. The whole business with Tony (Anthony Warde), a supposedly blind associate of Garrett's, doesn't make much sense. The actors go through their paces with professionalism, although Stirling mostly seems bored. Handsome Moore is a stalwart hero, however. Craven and Barcroft show why they were both much in demand for serial action. John Davidson appears a couple of times as the Emperor of Mars, as does Ken Terrell as another bad guy. Stuntman and actor Bud Geary had nearly 300 credits in serials, westerns, and other types of movies, generally playing nasty gunsels. 

Verdict: Fun cliffhanger from Republic! ***. 

FACES IN THE DARK

Mai Zetterling and John Gregson

FACES IN THE DARK (1960). Director: David Eady. Colorized. 

Richard Hammond (John Gregson of Fright) is a gruff and unpleasant developer who is working on a revolutionary new light bulb called the Apollo. This bulb explodes, blinding Hammond. His wife, Christiane (Mai Zetterling), who was about to divorce Richard, decides to stay and take care of him, and she takes him for a rest stay at their place in Cornwall. Other guests and residents include Richard's mistreated business partner, David (Michael Denison), Richard's irresponsible brother, Max (John Ireland of Gunslinger), the chauffeur Clem (Tony Wright of The House in Marsh Road), and the maid Janet (Nanette Newman of The Painted Smile). Richard actually seems to be adjusting to his vision loss rather well, but then he gets the notion that things in the household just aren't right. Is he being paranoid or mentally unstable, as his wife suggests, or is he truly the victim of a diabolical plot?

Gregson with Tony Wright

Faces in the Dark is based on a novel by the authors of the source material for Les Diaboliques and Vertigo. It is also a tricky suspense tale that will keep you wondering exactly what is going on in the background. Gregson gives an excellent performance, perfectly convincing in his blindness, and remaining true to his grumpy characterization throughout, although he eventually becomes pitiful. Zetterling, Denison and the others are all on target, with the exception of Ireland, who gives a surprisingly  perfunctory performance. Although the film lacks the slick quality and pacing of other British thrillers of the period, it's great in its depiction of the harrowing struggle of Richard to uncover the truth, whatever it may be, and survive. The movie makes clear, as Richard states, that a blind person is easily fooled by his enemies. 

Verdict: Solid lead and supporting performances help bolster this interesting suspense film. ***. 

COLD PREY

COLD PREY (aka Fritt Vilt/2006). Director: Roar Uthaug.

Five young people in Norway go off on a ski weekend, but the trouble begins when one of them, Morten (Rolf Kristian Larsen), breaks his leg. The group seeks shelter in what turns out to be an abandoned ski resort, which happens to have one unfortunate, and homicidal, occupant in the basement. It isn't long [actually it's rather long] before the skiers are fighting for their lives against this menacing stranger. The main problem with Cold Prey  -- which might be considered Norway's answer to the Friday the 13th mad slasher franchise  -- is that the first half is staggeringly tedious, showing us these standard horny teens in much too much detail. On the other hand, all that detail does let us distinguish one from the other, which helps you care a bit about [or at least know] who's being fricasseed when the slaughter begins. What saves the movie is a fairly solid second half, which is exciting and well-directed and greatly abetted by the performances of the talented cast, with Larsen and Ingrid Borsal Berdal (as Jannicke) taking top honors. There's a striking and suspenseful climax near a crevasse as well. The movie does feature some by-now very familiar elements, including a lone female survivor taking care of the killer a la all those American slasher films. Gore-geeks will be disappointed as the film doesn't rely too much on sickening graphic details. The movie has had two sequels so far.

Verdict: You've seen it all before, but once it gets going it's quite well done. ***.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two

Senior Batman vs eternally young Superman

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two (/Video/2012 - 2013). Director: Jay Oliva.

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, this two-part animated feature looks at the dark side and older years of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman has not appeared in Gotham city for a decade, but the threat of a homicidal gang that calls itself the Mutants, and whose activities are becoming more and more violent, bring him out of retirement. Eventually this brings him into conflict with the Gotham police department, which gets a new female commissioner in part two, and then with Superman in the final sequences. Taking care of the Mutants with blunt brutality, something the police were not able to do, makes the now-senior Batman a hero in the eyes of some Gothamites, and a fascist in others, such as the Joker's nutty psychiatrist, who thinks Batman is the real sociopath and is responsible for villains like the Joker. This is all played out before a backdrop of social and political commentary. A new, very young female Robin named Carrie at first seems like a frivolous character, as she comes out of nowhere and seems to have had absolutely no training, but she grows on you after awhile. There's more than one suggestion that the Joker in this might be gay -- his final confrontation with Batman is in a Tunnel of Love! -- as well as other sexually ambiguous characters, but whether this is to give them added color or is mere LGBT exploitation is debatable. [One villainess has a butch haircut and swastikas painted on her naked, substantial breasts!] Peter Weller makes a fine Batman, with David Selby also notable as Commissioner Gordon, and other voice roles are well cast.The animation is fluid and Oliva's direction is fast-paced and cinematic. This is not your father's Batman.

Verdict: Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes childish, but it holds the attention. ***.

THE CARD PLAYER

THE CARD PLAYER (aka Il cartaio/2004). Director: Dario Argento.

A maniac who kidnaps women wants to play poker with the police with the stakes being the life of the woman he holds captive, all played out over the Internet. Rome police inspector Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) and John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) from Interpol are the team trying to find the women and stop the "card player;" they enlist the aid of a young poker expert named Remo (Silvio Muccino). The Card Player is different from a lot of Argento's shockers in that it's a fairly straight-forward crime thriller, which boasts a tense, exciting climax on the train tracks. It is also a lot better than some of the other films Argento made during this later period. Some Argento fans -- gore geeks -- hated it because it wasn't gruesome enough.

Verdict: Absorbing and suspenseful for the most part. ***.