HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS

George Nader, Martha Hyer and Vincent Price

HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS (aka House of 1000 Dolls/1967). Director: Jeremy Summers. 

Dr. Stephen Armstrong (George Nader of Sins of Jezebel) and his wife, Marie (Ann Smryner), are vacationing in Tangier when their friend, Fernando (Sancho Gracia), tells them that he's searching for his missing fiancee, Diane (Maria Rohm). Diane was last seen in Vienna where she was made to disappear by stage magician Manderville (Vincent Price) and his assistant, Rebecca (Martha Hyer of First Men in the Moon) -- and she was never seen again. Diane has been shanghaied to the House of 1000 Dolls, a house of prostitution where most of the kidnapped girls are forced to service wealthy clients and are mistreated by the staff, including Madame Viera (Yelena Samarina). When Fernando is found murdered, Stephen begins his own investigation, but he doesn't realize that this will cause a lot of trouble for himself and his wife ... 

Magician Manderville (right) checks out Dr. Armstrong

House of a Thousand Dolls, whose villains are truly loathsome, has a certain sinister atmosphere throughout and holds the attention, if for no other reason than you hope to see the bad guys get their comeuppance at the finish. Manderville, Rebecca, and the others report to a mysterious King of Hearts whose identity isn't revealed until the end. The actors are all professional, although Price -- probably contemplating which piece of art he will buy with his paycheck -- doesn't put himself out too much. Luis Rivera makes an impression as Fernando's sexy friend, Paul. For some reason Stephen is remarkably obnoxious to the police inspector (Wolfgang Kieling of Our Man in Jamaica) in the case, which seems foolish for someone who may need the man's help in the future. There's a fairly exciting chase scene with two desperadoes pursuing Stephen through a series of interesting locations (the film was actually shot mostly in Spain). Reportedly a racier version of the flick was shown in Europe. The villains in this don't really get the vicious fates they so richly deserve. 

Verdict: Minor but entertaining and smooth Euro-thriller. ***.  

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON

Lionel Jeffries and Edward Judd

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1965). Director: Nathan Juran. 

In 1899 a scientist named Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) creates a substance that cancels out gravity, to which purpose he decides to fly in a sphere to the moon. His companions are greedy, bankrupt playwright, Bedford (Edward Judd), and his fiancee, Kate (Martha Hyer) who is only dragged along to save her life when she comes to confront Bedford over his nefarious financial dealings. On the moon they discover an insect-like civilization of "selenites," but while Cavor approaches these creatures with respect and scientific curiosity, Bedford is more like a bull in a china shop, creating dangerous complications. 

a gigantic moon calf attacks

First Men in the Moon is a very loose adaptation of the novel by H. G. Wells. It takes nearly an hour for our trio to actually reach the moon and the first half of the film is full of supposedly comical incident largely centered on Cavor, who is riotously overplayed in very tiresome fashion by a normally dependable Jeffries. Just when you think the film can't get any sillier, our voyagers literally hit the moon and the film becomes much more interesting. A highlight is the appearance of unpleasant and bad-tempered moon calves -- like gigantic caterpillars -- who go on the attack thanks to the stop-motion artistry of Ray Harryhausen. In general the FX of the film are very, very good. 

Jeffries and Hyer inside the moon

There is a sub-text of Cavor's intellectual approach versus the macho meat-headedness of Bedford, but the film, determined to be as stupid as possible, sort of throws this away, dismissing the destruction of an entire civilization with a quip at the end. (Bedford was just as unlikable in Wells' novel as he is in the film). Judd plays his distasteful character adroitly, Hyer is fine as the throwaway gal who never appeared in the book, and the score -- especially the stunning theme music -- by Laurie Johnson is exceptional. Wilkie Cooper's widescreen cinematography is another plus. The story is bookended by a modern-day sequence with sixties astronauts arriving on the moon only to find a Union Jack implanted in the ground! Peter Finch has a cameo as a process server. 

Verdict: The moon sequences are generally quite well done, but the rest is hash. **3.4,