A STRANGE ADVENTURE

Marla English and Ben Cooper

A STRANGE ADVENTURE (1956). Director: William Witney. Colorized. 

Harold Norton (Ben Cooper) works in his mother's motel, where he falls under the spell of pretty alleged singer Lynn Novak (Marla English of Voodoo Woman). Two members of her combo arrive in town -- Al (Jan Merlin) and eternally sniffling Phil (Nick Adams) -- but they are actually there to pull off a robbery. Harold innocently winds up driving a getaway car, and the whole group hides out at a snowed-in mountain cabin where a brother and sister team (Joan Evans of The Walking Target and Peter Miller of The Delinquents) stay to do research for the electric company (?) Then it becomes a tense battle of wits between them and Harold on one side, the nasty Al and Phil on the other, with Lynn playing both sides against the middle. 

Nick Adams and Jan Merlin

The performances in A Strange Adventure help put the film over, with Merlin taking top honors as the sociopathic Al. Adams is also good, and Marla English does a more convincing job than usual. Cooper and Evans are reasonably appealing as the couple who seem to fall in love almost overnight. Director William Witney of serial fame keeps things moving, but can't quite overcome a minor-league script. The caper itself only takes a couple of minutes. Paul Smith of the perpetual hangdog expression plays the ill-fated Carl, who drives a payroll truck, and Ken Terrell shows up for a few seconds as a security guard. 

Verdict: Acceptable minor crime film from Republic. **1/4. 

THE SHE CREATURE

Chester Morris and Marla English

THE SHE-CREATURE (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Dr. Carlo Lombardi (Chester Morris) claims he is able to get in touch with the past lives of his subject, Andrea (Marla English of Runaway Daughters), by putting her in a trance. Andrea can give details of her 16th century life as a woman named Elizabeth. Lombardi can not only also regress Andrea to an ancestor from thousands of years ago, but call this ancestor -- a kind of humanoid, prehistoric sea creature -- up from the sea, where it proceeds to kill people. Dr. Ted Erickson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) is out to debunk Lombardi, while Timothy Chappel (Tom Conway of Bride of the Gorilla) wants to turn him into a star -- for 50% of the profits. But things get sticky when Red and Andrea fall in love ... 

Lance Fuller with William Hudson in the background

The She-Creature is one weird and nonsensical movie. Chester Morris, in an unusual role for him, gives a good account of himself, but we never learn how he knew that Andrea was once this strange creature nor is it explained why or how he can materialize it from the sea. It simply makes no sense. On the other hand, there simply isn't enough of the creature and its attacks to keep the excitement level up, and the film eventually becomes tedious. The actors, including Fuller and English, do the best they can and are generally more than adequate.

close-up of the She-Creature

Others in the cast include Cathy Downs [Missile to the Moon] and Frieda Inescort (as Conway's daughter and wife), Ron Randell [Captive Women] as a police lieutenant, El Brendel as Conway's comical butler, Frank Jenks as Randell's associate, Jack Mulhall as Lombardi's lawyer, and William Hudson as a tippling party guest who has a thing for Downs. These last two were both in The Amazing Colossal Man while English, Fuller and Conway also appeared in director Cahn's production of Voodoo Woman. The She-Creature, portrayed by Paul Blaisdell, has claws, intense eyes and large breasts.

Verdict: Sounds like fun but really isn't. **. 

RUNAWAY DAUGHTERS

Kay, English and Castillo

RUNAWAY DAUGHTERS (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

"Some men are kids at thirty. Some kids are men at twenty." 

Three young ladies have their problems at home. Audrey (Marla English) has overly permissive parents, Ruth (Anna Sten of Let's Live a Little) and George (John Litel). Mary (Mary Ellen Kay) lives with her father (Jay Adler), who fears she will become like her tramp mother who left home, and objects to her wanting to marry her boyfriend, Bobby (Steven Terrell). Angela (Gloria Castillo) is ignored by her unseen mother and has to make do with her horrible brother, Tony (Lance Fuller), who has his eye on Audrey. Fed up with life and parents, the three gals take off in a stolen car and get in a wreck, then decide to go to work at a dance hall run by Tony's gal pal Dixie (Adele Jergens). But can there possibly be a happy ending for any of these young ladies?

Adele Jergens and Lance Fuller

Although her part is not huge, Adele Jergens probably gives the best and most vivid performance in the movie, and she is a lot of fun as she verbally spars with Angela in more than one sequence. English makes a better impression in this than she did in her starring role in Voodoo Woman. Mary Ellen Kay is also a bit better than usual, and Castillo is probably the best actress of the three. Lance Fuller scores as Tony, herein given one of his best roles, and John  Litel makes an amiably clueless and borderline alcoholic father. Steven Terrell, who also appeared with  Castillo in Invasion of the Saucer Men, is adept and appealing. Frank Gorshin also makes an appearance as a teen, as does Nicky Blair as dopey Joe. Edward L. Cahn directed in haste. 

Verdict: You might need to runaway from this often silly melodrama. **1/4. 

VOODOO WOMAN

Touch Connors wants none of Marla English

VOODOO WOMAN (1957). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

Deep in the jungle, a crazy scientist named Dr. Roland Gerard (Tom Conway of Bride of the Gorilla) uses a combination of his science and the witch doctor, Chaka's (Martin Wilkins) voodoo to turn a pretty native girl, Zuranda (Jean Davis) into a hideous, hulking monster. With some vague plan to get revenge on colleagues who laughed at him and probably take over the world, Gerard is dismayed to discover that the decent Zuranda will not kill at his command, even when she is in her monster form. However, he also discovers that a greedy adventuress named Marilyn Blanchard (Marla English), who had a tough early life in Pittsburgh, will be only too happy to kill whoever gets in her way. Will these two creeps form an unholy alliance?

Wedded bliss? Tom Conway and Mary Ellen Kay

Voodoo Woman just misses being a hoot, although it certainly tries hard to be a luridly entertaining melodrama. Marla English makes a game effort to get across Marilyn's sociopathology, but she hasn't quite got the real acting chops to completely pull it off. As Gerard's helpless wife, Susan, whom he keeps a prisoner, Mary Ellen Kay gets across her character's hysteria but is also limited as an actress. Conway, who looks ill, is fun as the mad doctor. Lance Fuller [This Island Earth] is Marilyn's disposable boyfriend, Rick, and Mike Connors (billed as "Touch" Connors) is the guide, Ted,  who takes the couple deep into the dangerous jungle wherein they encounter that fun couple, the Gerards. It's funny how often Ted rejects the supposedly seductive advances and icy would-be charms of the not-terribly-feminine Marilyn. This was the one and only starring role for Marla English, and the last picture she made as well. One positive thing about the movie is that at least it employed a lot of black actors instead of having natives portrayed by whites, although native stereotypes undoubtedly abound. Paul Blaisdell, who designed the barely-seen creature, plays the monster.

Verdict: Moderately compelling schlock. **.