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. 

THE LOST WORLD

Yehudi, the fire monster, pops in for supper

THE LOST WORLD (1960). Produced and directed by Irwin Allen. 

"This is the greatest moment of your lives." -- Professor Challenger. 

The peppery Professor Challenger (Claude Rains) insists that he saw dinosaurs on a South American plateau from the air and wants to mount an expedition right away. Against his better wishes and despite skepticism, he assembles a team consisting of explorer Lord Roxton (Michael Rennie), reporter Ed Ames (David Hedison), the doubting and persnickety Professor Summerlee (Richard Haydn), and late arrivals Jennifer Holmes (Jill St. John ) and her brother David (Ray Stricklyn). Rounding out the motley crew are pilot Manual (Fernando Lamas) and his pal and helpmate, Costa (Jay Novello). The group do find the expected dinosaurs, as well as a race of decidedly unfriendly cannibals. It's not only a question of how they will get off the plateau but which will kill them first -- the monsters or the natives?

The explorers get their first look at a dinosaur

Very loosely based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the movie is fun and colorful as long as you don't take it too seriously. The monsters are genuine lizards who are placed into process shots of varying effectiveness with the actors -- there's a marvelous scene with a monster's huge tail nearly sweeping Hedison and St. John off of a cliff as two dinosaurs have a battle nearby. The climax, greatly embellished and extended from Doyle's novel, features a cavern with a giant skeleton, angry pursuing natives, and a fire monster that makes a tasty snack out of poor Costa. It's ironic that he is so terrified of being sacrificed to cannibals but winds up eaten by a monster instead. 

Hedison, Stricklyn, St. John

Novello is probably the best actor in the bunch aside from Rains, who appears to be having fun if nothing else. The others all perform with a certain stalwart dignity, although many critics noted that St. John in her "shocking pink knee boots" seems out of her element. The film is well photographed in CinemaScope and Technicolor by Winton C. Hoch, and the score by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter is quite effective. 

Verdict: The biggest star is the Fire Monster. ***. 

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.