THE SOUL OF A MONSTER

Horror Hair: Rose Hobart as Lilyan

THE SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944). Director:  Will Jason. 

A great doctor and humanitarian, George Winson (George Macready), is dying and no one can save him. His wife, Ann (Jeanne Bates), calls on any power, including the power of darkness, to save him. Along comes a mysterious woman named Lilyan (Rose Hobart) with a severe and hideous hairdo, who somehow manages to save George's life. However, everyone -- including his friends and associates Fred (Erik Rolf) and Dr. Vance (Jim Bannon of The Unknown) -- notice that the good doctor has changed and doesn't especially care about people anymore. Ann is convinced that George is under the control of the evil Lilyan, and the witch even tries to get George to murder Dr. Vance. Then George wakes up ...

Jeanne Bates and George Macready

The ending to the pretty terrible Soul of a Monster will have you groaning. The screenplay by Edward Dein -- who was better known as a director [The Leech Woman] -- is ludicrous, with stilted dialogue that would have been a challenge to any actor. Despite this, Rose Hobart manages to make a minimal impression and Macready is almost always on target in his performances. The best you can say about Will Jason's direction is that it is fortunate he did no more horror movies. Dein did write a few more scripts in the genre, which were better than this. The basic effect of the movie is that of a filmed old comic book with little logic and very haphazard storytelling. A near-murder sequence where Macready stalks his friend (who never mentions it to anyone) with an icepick in hand is so protracted  and slow that it becomes more boring than suspenseful. A scene with a boys' choir singing "Ave Maria" is more interesting. 

Verdict: A waste of an interesting idea. *1/4. 

THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN

Lee Bowman and Marguerite Chapman

THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN (1946). Director: Lothar Mendes. 

"There's something wrong with that man!"

New York newspaper columnist Gilbert Archer (Lee Bowman) is shocked to learn that an old friend of his, a priest, has supposedly committed suicide. He believes the man was murdered, and is soon surrounded by a host of suspicious characters. There is an attractive lady named Laura Brown (Marguerite Chapman); a weird character who claims to be her father, Ernst (J., Edward Bromberg); a highly sinister "reverend" who carries guns (George Macready) and his equally unpleasant better half (Katherine Emery); a nasty creature named Rausch (Noel Cravat); the shifty lawyer George Bradford (Edgar Buchanan) and others. Most of these people seem to be after a pair of bibles that have been secreted somewhere and contain the location of a lost painting depicting the Walls of Jericho -- done by no less than Leonardo da Vinci. People would kill to get such a priceless painting, and indeed there are soon more murders ... 

Bowman with J. Edgar Bromberg

The Walls Came Tumbling Down boasts an absorbing and convoluted plot, several good performances from an interesting cast, an attractive credits theme by Martin Skiles, and a pretty fast pace to boot. Yet ... the whole thing is somehow second-rate. Maybe it's that Lee Bowman, while competent, isn't the most thrilling leading man, or that there are other directors who could have done more with the material. But while you're enjoying the plot twists and turns you're not quite believing any of it. Lee Patrick is also in the cast as Bowman's put-upon secretary, and she's as snappy as ever, and Elisabeth Risdon is fine as the dead priest's sister and another murder victim. Bowman never quite seems to evince enough rage over the terrible deaths of people he cares about. Marguerite Chapman is excellent as the mysterious woman who could be a heroine or a femme fatale.

Verdict: Fair-to-middling film noir. **1/2.  

THE MONSTER AND THE APE

The robot "monster"

THE MONSTER AND THE APE (15 chapter Columbia serial/1945. Director: Howard Bretherton. Colorized.

Professor Arnold (Ralph Morgan) has invented a robot which he calls the Metalogen Man after a material used in its construction. A colleague, Professor Ernst (George Macready of Steve Canyon), covets the robot for himself and uses his trained gorilla, Thor (Ray Corrigan), to get it, and thus begins a battle of wills and counter-strategies between opposing factions to get the robot back,  keep it out of Ernst's hands, and stay away from the paws of the mighty Thor and Ernst's nasty henchmen. Working on the side of justice along with Prof. Arnold are Ken Morgan (Robert Lowery of Sensation Hunters), Arnold's daughter, Babs (Carole Mathews of Assignment Redhead), and the lovably bumbling assistant Flash (Willie Best).  

George Macready consults with gunsels 

The Monster and the Ape is a fair-to-middling Columbia serial with a few interesting elements, such as the fact that the bad guys have an extra entrance to Ernst's HQ via a tunnel in the back of Thor's cage in the Municipal Zoo (yes, when he's not out killing people Thor stays in the zoo!). There are some more than decent cliffhangers, such as the bit with a conveyer belt that leads into an incinerator, and an even better sequence with walls closing in on our hero. Although he's as professional in this claptrap as he is in almost everything, Macready is an odd choice for this material, certainly not a career highpoint such as Paths of Glory. It's amusing that when Ernest disguises himself he doesn't disguise his voice -- surely even ten-year-olds would have wondered about that! Willie Best is forced to play the cowardly fool, as usual, but he is quite adept as Flash. 

Verdict: If you can't get enough apes and robots! **1/4. 

STEVE CANYON

Dean Fredericks as Col Stevenson B. Canyon

STEVE CANYON (1958 ABC television series). 

Steve Canyon was based on the popular comic strip written and drawn by the famous Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates). Canyon is an Air Force colonel who in the first few episodes is assigned to various bases as the mission dictates. Eventually he becomes the commanding officer at a base in the town of Big Thunder, California, where the townies initially resent and even hate the military men. Canyon worked at Big Thunder for the remaining episodes, although his assignments still took him to foreign locales. Some of the earlier episodes were a bit on the dull side, but others were quite suspenseful and exciting. Although unconventionally handsome, unlike the character in the comic strips, Dean Fredericks (of Jungle Jim) is perfect as Steve Canyon, displaying strength and compassion in equal measure. 

Dean Fredericks and Julie Adams

One main difference between the strip and the TV series is the female element. At Big Thunder a very sexy and curvaceous secretary (Ingrid Goude) struts through the offices from time and time and gets stared at but hasn't much to do otherwise. A girlfriend for Canyon is introduced and there's some smooching but she isn't around for long. In the comic strip Canyon was consistently involved with a variety of women, including femme fatales, but these don't really show up in the TV series, unfortunately. Julie Adams plays a slightly nefarious character in one episode but there's no hint of romance or sexual tension between her and Canyon. 

James Drury with Fredericks.

Steve Canyon lasted for one season and 32 half-hour episodes. The best episodes include "Operation Nosewheel" in which the front wheel of Steven's plane comes off in flight and there are problems with ejecting the paralyzed-with-fright passenger (played very well by actor and later director Lamont Johnson). "Operation Intercept" shows what happens when a stray bullet fired at a plane by young boys causes a crack in the window that ultimately leads to tragedy. Steve isn't sure that everyone in the crew is dead but as the plane heads into Soviet air force he wrestles with the possibility of having to shoot it down. "The Muller Story" stars a superb George Macready as a Nazi war criminal who claims that an Air Force lieutenant (James Drury) is his son. 

Dean Fredericks

In "The Bomb" some little boys manage to carry off a bomb by wagon and hide it in a shed, unaware that it could go off at any moment and blow the whole neighborhood to smithereens. "Sabotage" presents six Oriental trainees, one of whom is suspected of being a spy responsible for treacherous and deadly actions. In "Room 313" a lady reporter (Amanda Blake of Betrayal) comes afoul of an assassin planning a hit on a visiting Eastern potentate (Ross Martin). Many of the episodes feature some striking aerial photography and examine the latest 1950's style technology. Ted de Corsia appeared in a few episodes as the Big Thunder police chief and Jerry Paris (of Man on the Prowl) had a recurring role as Major Williston. The DVD set for this show is rather expensive considering it only lasted one season, but the episodes have been beautifully digitally remastered and the show looks and sounds great. There are also extras on the DVDs.

Verdict: Not quite a classic show, but some of the episodes are winners. **3/4.