FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON

The huge cast of Five Weeks in a Balloon

FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON (1962). Produced and directed by Irwin Allen. 

Balloonist Fergusson (Cedric Hardwicke) wants to explore Africa by air but also has a deeper concern: beating a group of slave traders to a certain uncharted territory so that it can be claimed for England instead of by them. The balloon eventually fills up with a riot of motley individuals: the fussy Sir Vining (Richard Haydn at his fussiest); Fergusson's handsome assistant Jacques (Fabian), who handles the engine; American ne'er-do-well reporter Donald O'Shay (a miscast Red Buttons); rescued slave, Makia (Barbara Luna); another rescued slave, Susan (Barbara Eden); and even the slave trader himself Ahmed (Peter Lorre). There are way too many people on this balloon!

Buttons, Luna, Fabian

Five Weeks in a Balloon is the second film version of Jules Verne's first novel of the same name. Flight of the Lost Balloon, made the previous year, is a cheaper copy with very different plot points. Released by 20th Century-Fox in CinemaScope, Five Weeks has much better production values. Unfortunately this adaptation is just as loose and silly. After The Brothers Four warble the title tune over the credits, Fabian reprises it twice -- I can't get the damn thing out of my head. It is slightly better than the title tune for Flight of the Lost Balloon. Instead of a drunken fat cannibal queen as in Flight, this version offers an equally fat and drunken sultan. There's a sandstorm that doesn't really amount to much, a few wild animals, minor romances, and a fairly exciting climax in the forbidden city of Timbuktu. 

Chester aka Duchess: a "simian sot!"

Fabian [Bus Stop] actually manages to give a decent performance, although there is absolutely nothing of the 19th century about him, especially his hair style. I had trouble understanding a lot of Hardwick's mushy speech. Hadyn seems to essentially be playing the same part he played in The Lost World and many other films. Eden and Luna are reasonably competent and decorative. Peter Lorre is too cute by far for a rather loathsome and conscienceless slave trader. The slave trade is condemned but not very forcefully and black natives are never mentioned. Henry Daniell shows up briefly as a Sheik, and Herbert Marshall is the prime minister. Chester the Chimp plays the Duchess, who likes her liquor. "A simian sot," Hadyn declares her. Score by Paul Sawtell and photographed by Winton Hoch. 

Verdict: The surplus of silliness works against it. You keep hoping some dinosaurs will show up to enliven things! **1/4. 

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season 4

Richard Basehart and David Hedison

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season Four. 

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, despite a few silly detours, began as a relatively serious show that could be watched by both children and grown-ups. But with each season it became increasingly ludicrous, mostly because the powers-that-be concluded that it was mostly kids watching the show. It would have been better had they provided more storylines that viewers of all ages could appreciate, but that was generally not the case in the later seasons of the show. 

Vincent Price with one of his "Deadly Dolls"

Nevertheless, even season four -- the final season -- had a few watchable and interesting episodes. Vincent Price guest-starred in "The Deadly Dolls," which had a script by Charles Bennett, and had the crew being replaced by puppets; it was not memorable, unfortunately. "Cave of the Dead,' with Warren Stevens, had to do with missing ships and the Flying Dutchman. "Man-beast," "Fatal Cargo" and "The Abominable Snowman" featured dangerous creatures, mutated or otherwise, the first of which was actually Captain Crane (David Hedison), stomping around the Seaview. Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) is told that Crane is an imposter in "Edge of Doom," which was a more serious but, ironically, less interesting episode than others. "The Death Clock" is a loopy episode in which guest-star Chris Robinson uses a machine to manipulate time and space. Mr. Pym (Henry Jones) did the same thing with a stop watch in two episodes with missed potential, "A Time to Die," and the series's final episode, "No Way Back," which is the better of the two. 

Basehart and Hedison keep straight faces with the Lobster Man

The show's nadir might well have been "The Lobster Man," with a silly-looking crustacean man -- Victor Lundin managed to keep his dignity in the part -- although there were other contenders for silliest monster/alien. The best episodes of the season, however, included "Sealed Orders," in which the Seaview crew disappear one by one while a neutron bomb is being transported; "Rescue," (guest-starring Don Dubbins) with saboteurs on the sub causing havoc and death; and arguably the very best fourth season episode, "Man of Many Faces," in which an unknown person disguises himself as several crew members even as a certain device begins to pull the moon out of orbit. 

David Hedison and Bob Dowdell

Most of the fourth season episodes of the show proceeded as mysteries, providing a weird situation which Nelson, Crane, Chip (Bob Dowdell) and the others would have to figure out, only the solutions too often tended to be childish alien menaces. "Nightmare" began well, with Crane being accused of treason even as the Seaview aims missiles at Washington D.C., but it collapsed before the conclusion. There were far too many episodes in which Nelson or  Crane were mind-controlled into trying to kill each other or destroy the ship. At least producer Irwin Allen got to use his beloved giant lizard from The Lost World once again in "Death Clock."

Verdict: Not enough great episodes to make this a memorable season. **1/2. 

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS. Tom Weaver. McFarland; 1994.

This book collects interviews, some already published in such magazines as Fangoria, with a variety of people associated with the horror/sci fi genre. These include Hitchcock screenwriter, Charles Bennett, who is billed as the "oldest employed screenwriter;" producer Herman Cohen, who hired Joan Crawford for her last features Berserk and Trog; director Val Guest, of Creeping Unknown and The Day the Earth Caught Fire; actress Susan Hart of Dr. Goldfoot infamy; Candace Hilligoss of Carnival of Souls and The Curse of the Living Corpse, who provides lots of behind-the-scenes details on those pictures; veteran actress Rose Hobart [The Adventures of Smilin' Jack]; Roger Corman actress Betsy Jones-Moreland, who says of Corman, "I wanted to kill him sometimes, but I liked him;" veteran actors Cameron Mitchell and Vincent Price; and lesser- known folk such as actor William Phipps [Five] and screenwriter Harry Spalding [Spaceflight IC-1]; not to mention Kenneth Tobey, who confirms that Howard Hawks was the one and only director of The Thing from Another World; among others.

Verdict: Very readable and interesting series of interviews with lesser (but no less memorable) lights. ***.