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. ***. 

PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO

Phyllis Coates vs Gorilla

PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO (12 chapter Republic serial/1955. Director: Franklin Adreon. 

Dr. Morgan (Arthur Space of The Crimson Key) and his cohorts Cass (John Daheim) and Rand (Mike Ragan) have discovered diamonds in an abandoned gold mine and want to scare the natives out of the territory so they can work it without interference. To that end Morgan uses a formula to enlarge crawfish to giant size, creating "Devil Monsters" that terrify the tribesmen. Wildlife photographer Jean Evans (Phyllis Coates), who is known as the Panther Girl due to her heroic actions regarding a rogue panther, and who frequently rides around on an elephant, wants to film and possibly capture one of these monsters with the assistance of Larry Sanders (Myron Healey). This is something Cass and Rand try to stop on a regular basis. 

Claw Monsters go at it

The "claw monsters" are the most interesting feature of this entertaining serial, which frequently uses stock footage from Republic's previous jungle cliffhangers. Amazingly, the natives are portrayed by actual black actors! I believe the monsters are photographed in slow motion which almost makes them seem to be products of stop-motion animation at times, although the time factor would make that unlikely. Trying to prove the existence of these creatures for the authorities with her home movies, Jean photographs them separately so that there's nothing to show their actual size in relation to everything else. In reality everyone would just assume she was taking pictures of ordinary craw fish! 

Myron Healey and Phyllis Coates

Dr. Morgan also drugs the natives to make them compliant and to work against Jean and Larry along with his two nasty hirelings. In the cliffhangers, Jean's arm is grabbed and nearly torn off by a giant claw; Larry is almost run over by a jeep rushing toward his prone form on the road; a maddened gorilla goes after Jean for heaven knows what purpose; and Larry gets caught in deadly quicksand even as the natives lob arrows at him and his would-be rescuers. The entertaining serial moves at a swift pace and boasts excellent theme music by composer R. Dale Butts. The serial was shown on television in an abbreviated form as The Claw Monsters.  

Verdict: Thrills, fistfights, gun battles, and yucky giant monsters! ***. 

GIRLS IN PRISON

Joan Taylor

GIRLS IN PRISON (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Anne Carson (Joan Taylor) is incarcerated in a woman's prison after being convicted of robbery, although she claims she didn't know that the two men she was with were going to commit a crime. She also claims that she has no idea where the money is, a notion that doesn't sit well with fellow inmates Jenny (Adele Jergens), Melanie (Helen Gilbert), and others. Paul Anderson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) goes to see Anne's crusty pop (Raymond Hatton) and the two try to find the stolen money. The prison chaplain, Reverend Fulton (Richard Denning), believes that Anne should be transferred to a prison farm where things will be easier for her, but then an earthquake and a prison break -- not to mention a run for the money -- changes the scenario dramatically, 

Taylor and Jergens on the run

Girls in Prison is a lively, engaging "chicks-in-stir" movie and it's one of the better ones. The prolific Edward L. Cahn also turns in one of his best directorial jobs and the picture moves at a swift, exciting pace. Joan Taylor of Earth vs the Flying Saucers is effective in a sort-of bad girl persona, Denning is typically professional and blandly pious, but of the jailed ladies Adele Jergens gets the acting honors with her vivid portrayal of Jenny; Jergens keeps you guessing as to which side she will ultimately be on. Jane Darwell also makes an impression as the unsentimental but sympathetic wardress. Raymond Hatton nearly steals the movie as Pop Carson, always complaining of assorted trials and tribulations while also hoping he can get his hands on some money. 

Richard Denning

Helen Gilbert scores as Melanie, but the rather obvious hints at her sexuality go unexplored. Phyllis Coates is fine as another inmate who murdered her cheating husband and still thinks her little boy is alive. Laurie Mitchell of Queen of Outer Space has a small role as another nasty inmate. The earthquake sequence is handled quite well on a limited budget, and Ronald Stein's score effectively underlines the busy action. The slight touches of religiosity are silly but brief. Cahn also directed the similar Betrayed Women the previous year. This is not to be confused with the inferior Women's Prison also made the previous year. Girls on the Loose, directed by Paul Henreid, is another entertaining flick about an all-girl gang. 

Verdict: Zesty B movie is well-acted and a lot of fun. ***.