BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Elsa Lancaster and Colin Clive

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). Director: James Whale.

Outrageous, campy, over-the-top and even bordering on the edges of schlock at times, Bride of Frankenstein is still a fascinating and highly entertaining picture, fast-paced (it just never stops), and beautifully photographed by John J. Mescall, with a fine score by Franz Waxman and rich art direction by Charles D. Hall. The monster survived the fire at the end of Frankenstein, and meets up with the nutty Dr. Pretorius (a gleeful Ernest Thesiger), who kidnaps Elizabeth (now played by Valerie Hobson) to force Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) to make his monster a mate. Dwight Frye is back as another sinister, grave-robbing assistant. The film is, oddly, very contemporary in its casual amorality and scenes of black comedy (interspersed with pathos, such as the long scene between the monster and the kindly blind violinist -- O.P. Heggie -- which also borders on black comedy). Una O'Connor as the hysterical maid Minnie is perhaps more irritating than amusing. The little people that Dr. Pretorius created and shows off to Henry have nothing to do with Shelley's novel and remind one of the later Attack of the Puppet People. Alternately child-like and frightening, Boris Karloff (billed as "Karloff" above the title) is magnificent. John Carradine has a small role as a hunter. Followed by Son of Frankenstein.

Verdict: Whatever its flaws, this sequel is much more entertaining than the original. ***. 

THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD

Clarke, Noonan, Coates, Windsor

THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD (1959). Produced and directed by Jerry Warren. Colorized.

Professor Millard Wyman (John Carradine of Female Jungle) has invented a diving bell through which he hopes to reach uncharted depths. Inside the bell on its first dive are Craig Randell (Robert Clark of The Man from Planet X), Paul (Allen Windsor), Lauri (Sheila Noonan), and no-nonsense reporter Dale (Phyllis Coates of Panther Girl of the Kongo), whose fiance has just told her to get lost. Something goes wrong with the bell and the foursome wind up stuck on the ocean bottom, but are able to swim out -- where they somehow find themselves inside empty caverns and discover a grizzled old man (Maurice Bernard) who has been stuck there for fourteen years! With chance of rescue unlikely, will they ever be able to reach the surface? 

Robert Clarke and Allen Windsor

Although Incredible Petrified World is almost universally excoriated, I find the premise intriguing and the film itself, aside from some tedious padded stretches, absorbing. True, this is not a grand adventure film with a big budget, but it has genuine suspense as you wonder how on earth the principals will get out of this depressing predicament. John W. Steiner's script presents characters with some dimension to them (with typical fifties attitudes), although it can't overcome the sheer illogic of the film. There doesn't appear to be an air lock in the diving bell, so it makes no sense that it wouldn't get flooded when the participants emerge. Exactly where in hell the caverns are in  relation to the bell and the surface is never made clear. Why don't they just swim to the surface? (One can only imagine that the diving bell is stuck in some crevice under the caverns, but this is never made clear.) The scene when Craig confesses his love to Lauri and says that they can be happy with each other -- stuck Lord knows where in endless caverns for the rest of eternity! -- hardly comes off as especially realistic. 

John Carradine (behind ladder) with the cast

The actors do the best they can with the material, with Carradine as professional and adept as ever as the professor. Windsor, Noonan, and Bernard had very few other credits, although Clarke and Coates had busy careers. Coates, almost as bitchy in this as her Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman, makes a good impression in the movie, which she did as a favor to old boyfriend Jerry Warren; she never got paid for it! The film has atmosphere, due to the settings in Tucson Arizona's Colossal Cave, and the colorizing process works well. 

Verdict: Hardly for every taste, but not as awful as its reputation. ***. 

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE

Joi Lansing and Ferlin Husky

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Singer Woody Wetherby (country star Ferlin Husky), his girl singer, Boots Malone (Joi Lansing), and his manager, Jeepers (Don Bowman), are traveling to Nashville for a concert when bad weather and automobile trouble forces them to seek shelter in a creepy old mansion. They don't realize that the new owner, Madame Wong (Linda Ho), is running an espionage outfit that employs Max (Lon Chaney Jr.), Gregor (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Himmil (John Carradine of Female Jungle), not to mention a bad-tempered gorilla named Anatole (George Barrows). Will Jim Meadows (Richard Webb of The Invisible Monster), secret agent for MOTHER, be able to save Boots from the Iron Maiden and make the world safe for democracy? 

Slumming: Rathbone and Carradine

Hillbillies is actually the second of two films starring Husky as Wetherby, following Las Vegas Hillbillies, in which Boots Malone was played by Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield also had a part. The first one couldn't possibly have been worse than this awful concoction, which wastes the talents of virtually everyone, especially Carradine and poor Basil Rathbone. The last ten minutes are a concert with songs being performed by Molly Bee, Merle Haggard  and Marcella Wright ("Strangers"). Husky himself does a nice job with "One Bridge I Have Never Crossed." In his heyday and for many years Husky was a very, very popular entertainer. As for Joi Lansing, who always seemed to play the perennial dumb blonde, it's ironic that in this picture she plays it straight! Jean Yarbrough also directed Inside Job and a great many other movies. 

Verdict: Aside from some of the songs there's little point in sitting through this. *1/2. 

FEMALE JUNGLE

Burt Kaiser and Lawrence Tierney

FEMALE JUNGLE (1955). Director: Bruno VeSota.

An actress is strangled to death and a heavy-drinking cop, Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney), fears he may have had something to do with the murder in a black out. Suspects also include columnist Claude Almstead (John Carradine of Death at Love House), who was in love with the actress, and caricaturist Alex Voe (Burt Kaiser), who is married to waitress Peggy (Kathleen Crowley of The Flame Barrier) but is carrying on with Candy (Jayne Mansfield). As the night proceeds Almstead takes Peggy out for a ride and Stevens and Sgt. Duane (Duane Grey) interrogate Almstead; Duane is convinced that the columnist is guilty. But on this he may be fatally mistaken.

John Carradine

Female Jungle has only been remembered, if at all, because future brief star Jayne Mansfield has a small role. She has a credible death scene but otherwise her performance is undistinguished; leading lady Crowley is much, much better. Tierny and Carradine are solid, but the most impressive performance is given by Burt Kaiser, who also co-wrote the screenplay and produced. Despite his good looks and acting ability, Kaiser only made one film and had a very few TV credits. Connie Cezon, who plays another club employee, was receptionist Gertie on Perry Mason. Director Bruno VeSota gives himself a small role -- Cezon's husband -- but his direction is nothing to rave about and even in a clear print the film is criminally under-lit. Dull in spots, the picture goes on too long after the climax.

Verdict: Some good acting and a decent plot, but the execution is mediocre. **.   

DEATH AT LOVE HOUSE

Robert Wagner and Kate Jackson

DEATH AT LOVE HOUSE (1976 telefilm). Director: E. W. Swackhamer.  

Joel Gregory Jr. (Robert Wagner) is the son of a man who was once the lover of the late movie star Lorna Love (Marianna Hill). Joel and his pregnant wife, Donna (Kate Jackson), move into the Love estate to work on a book about the great romance between Lorna and his father. Mysterious people run about the estate at night, and there is an attempt on Donna's life. Conan Carroll (John Carradine), who worked with Lorna and loathed her, is attacked and killed on the grounds, not far from a vault where Lorna's perfectly preserved corpse (!) is on display. Then Joel starts acting all weird ... 

Dorothy Lamour

Death at Love House sets up an intriguing situation but it's one of those movies where characterization and common sense are sacrificed so there can be inexplicable and unlikely plot twists. If anything, the denouement raises more questions than it answers. However, Wagner and Jackson give good performances, and along with Carradine we have appearances by Sylvia Sidney as a housekeeper, Joan Blondell as an obsessive aging fan, and Dorothy Lamour as Lorna's old rival in pictures. Marianna Hill proves no great actress in her brief scenes as Lorna Love. Wagner plays his father in sepia flashbacks. Laurence Rosenthal's score helps a bit. 

Verdict: You won't love this love house. **1/4.                           

LEGACY OF BLOOD

Bad Hair Day: Faith Domergue and John Russell

LEGACY OF BLOOD (aka Blood Legacy aka Will to Die/1971). Director: Carl Monson.

Christopher Dean (John Carradine), the hateful patriarch of the Dean family, has expired, and the relatives are gathered to hear the reading of the will. Dean's four children -- Greg (Jeff Morrow), Veronica (Faith Domergue), Leslie (Brooke Mills) and Johnny (Richard Davalos), the last two of which have incestuous feelings for one another -- will inherit millions but must spend a week in the family mansion before they can get a dime. Naturally, murders begin to occur, with the first, inexplicably, being that of the sheriff (Rodolfo Acosta). 

Faith Domergue

Legacy of Blood certainly has an interesting cast in that we've got sci fi hero Jeff Morrow [This Island Earth], Howard Hughes discovery and genre actress Faith Domergue [It Came from Beneath the Sea and This Island Earth as well], Dick Davalos of East of Eden, and another genre specialist, Merry Anders [The Hypnotic Eye], playing Morrow's wife. Then we've got TV stars John Smith and John Russell playing, respectively, Leslie's husband and a servant-driver named Frank. The movie is reminiscent of Curse of the Living Corpse, and not only because of the business with a severed head on the kitchen table. 

Faith Domergue and Richard Davalos

Domergue easily gives the best and most convincing performance although the others are credible, given the material. Davalos has some good moments but is a little too overwrought at times. Ivy Bethune makes her mark as the maid, Helga, and she has one very good scene with Davalos, but Brooke Mills and Buck Kartalian (as another servant, Igor, who likes to be whipped) are memorable for all the wrong reasons. The picture has some atmosphere and a slight touch of suspense, and there's an electrocution-in-bed sequence that's effective, but there are too many "twists" and the black comedy aspect of the ending doesn't really work. This may hold your attention but there have been better dysfunctional family/maniac movies.  

Verdict: Low-budget horror flick could have used a little more originality but it has its moments. **1/4.