HAWAIIAN EYE Season One

Connie Stevens, Anthony Eisley, Robert Conrad

HAWAIIAN EYE TV series Season One (1959).

77 Sunset Strip was such a successful private eye show that Warner Brothers producer William Orr decided to use the same formula -- good-looking guys involved with dames and intrigue -- on a series set in Honolulu instead of Los Angeles and the result was Hawaiian Eye. Anthony Eisley and Robert Conrad played the detectives, who have an office complete with bedrooms and swimming pool inside the Hawaiian Village Hotel (which still exists) for which they do security. They also have time to take cases for people who are being threatened or searching for someone who's disappeared etc. 

Douglas Mossman as Moke

There are two other recurring characters, the cab driver and kibitzer Kim (Poncie Ponce), and the singing photographer Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens). Cricket is a petulant, annoying, 12-year-old in a woman's body who has a serious crush on Tracy Steele (Eisner of The Wasp Woman). She not only adds little to the program -- there are plenty of attractive women in the stories -- but her contract obviously gives her the right to sing a song in virtually every episode. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that Stevens' whispery so-called singing is pretty mediocre. Actually Poncie Ponce, who like Stevens is afflicted with terminal cuteness, has a much better voice and is a more talented singer. Others who appeared frequently in the first season and afterward include handsome Hawaiian native Douglas Mossman as security officer Moke and Mel Prestidge  as Lt. Danny Quan, another native Hawaiian who was also a real-life sheriff at the time the show was filming. 

Anthony Eisley and Robert Conrad

Hawaiian Eye was a good and entertaining series if not necessarily a great one. It lasted four seasons, however. Notable episodes include "Beach Boy" with Troy Donahue, Faith Domergue and Robert Lowery in a story of a young man who may or may not be the wealthy heir who supposedly drowned ten years earlier. "Secret of the Second Door" features Harry Bartell in a story of a woman who wants Tom Lopaka (Conrad) to find a stolen cache of money. "Dead Ringer" stars an excellent Dianne Foster and Warren Stevens in a tale of a sinister plot that enfolds Lopaka simply because he resembles Foster's husband. "The Kikiki Kid" stars John Gabriel as a nightclub singer with major show biz aspirations who pursues and romances a columnist (Jean Byron) who can help him while neglecting his wife (Myrna Hansen). Kim is accused of stealing a diamond worth half a million dollars in "Cut of Ice" with Robert Clarke and Frank Albertson. 

Verdict: Fun colorful series with interesting leads and guest performers. ***. 

THE MIGHTY GORGA

THE MIGHTY GORGA (1969.) Director David L. Hewitt.

Anthony Eisley of The Wasp Woman plays a circus owner who teams up with a female animal trapper (Megan Timothy) to find a mythical giant ape in the supposed jungles of Africa. (This section of the jungle is referred to as "Green Hell" and is supposed to be an area where no white man has ever gone -- even though the natives are all played by white guys!) Climbing to the top of the plateau (shades of The Lost Continent with Cesar Romero), the couple encounter a hilarious forced perspective T Rex with a flapping bottom jaw, as well as a kind of cave lizard or dragon brought to life by a few seconds of crude stop motion animation (the only time it's employed in the film). 

Gorga turns out to be man in an ape suit and a mask with immobile eyes. Miniature props are used to make the ape seem giant-sized. Director Hewitt's script is an affectionate homage to great and not-so-great old monster movies like King Kong (giant ape), The Lost World (plateau with dinosaurs), Monster from Green Hell, and so on, but the film lacks the budget and imagination to make it work and the whole thing comes off like an ambitious home movie. This is a cheapjack, ultra low-budget film devoid of pacing, style or suspense. The actors aren't bad at all, and give the film more than it deserves. Kent Taylor and Scott Brady are also in the cast. Even if you think you love monster movies you should probably skip this one. 

Verdict. 1/2* for the creditable acting.

THE WASP WOMAN

Susan Cabot

THE WASP WOMAN (1959). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. 

Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot), the head of a once-flourishing cosmetics company, has a problem. Now hitting forty, she uses younger models in her ad campaigns, but now the sales are falling off because these models don't have an image that registers with consumers as she does. She realizes that she might not only save her company but look young again when she is contacted by Dr. Zinthrop (Michael Mark), who tells her he's developed an enzyme from wasps that has remarkable properties. Alas, it also has a deadly side effect, and before long people in the building start disappearing. A hideous woman with a freakish wasp-like face is on the loose! 

The Wasp Woman on the rampage!

The wasp paralyzes and devours her victims while they're still alive. This last aspect is sort of glossed over (one can imagine it would take Janice quite some time to completely consume the hefty watchman played by Bruno Ve Sota), and there isn't much real on-screen bloodshed in the movie. The pic isn't that well-paced, either, but its last quarter has some exciting sequences, such as when the Wasp Woman attacks a nurse and drags her off for dinner. Susan Cabot is very good in the lead, although one never knows exactly how much she remembers of her exploits once she's turned into the buzzing, hungry horror. Barboura (sic) Morris is a secretary, and the board members include Anthony Eisley, Roy Gordon [Attack of the 50 Foot Woman], and William Roerick. Leo Gordon's screenplay has its amusing elements and some good dialogue to go with it. Fred Katz's brassy score is unusual, but I'm not certain it's the best kind of score for this kind of horror flick. This is one of those movies that you can't take seriously but nevertheless has its depressing aspects because the characters are in such an utterly hopeless situation. 

Verdict: Cute little Corman horror film. **1/2.