TARANTULA

The spider plans a midnight snack at the ranch

TARANTULA (1955). Director: Jack Arnold. 

Professor Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) is conducting experiments with a food supplement in an isolated Arizona laboratory. The food supplement makes baby animals reach adulthood much sooner, and it also increases their size. During a fire one of the lab experiments, a tarantula the size of a large dog, escapes into the desert, where it rapidly grows to tremendous proportions and begins snacking on cows, horses, and people. Dr. Hastings (John Agar of Bait), Deemer's pretty assistant, Stephanie (Mara Corday), and Sheriff Andrews (Nestor Paiva) discover this all too clearly when the spider demolishes Deemer's house then -- as big as a mountain-- advances on the town itself!

Peekaboo! The big spider looks for a meal

After the success of the giant ant movie Them, there was no doubt that more giant insect/arachnid films would be in the offing, and Tarantula was the first of them and probably the best. Although the process work is imperfect, the monster looks and acts a lot better than the giant spiders in modern low-budget CGI offerings. With a creepy, suspenseful musical score, Tarantula also manages to work up plenty of chills as the creature advances on a ranch, overturns a truck, corners two fleeing hobos who huddle together in horror as it bears down upon them, and in a bravura sequence approaches Deemer's mansion and prepares to tear it apart after first spying on Stephanie in her bedroom, its mouth parts moving back and forth expectantly in the window.

One friggin' big spider!

Tarantula is able to get across the horror of its concept without throwing one severed limb at the viewer after another or becoming too gross to be amusing, although there is some gruesome stuff involving skeletons and huge pools of spider venom. The performances are more than adequate, and the byplay between characters is often intentionally comical. The sound FX for the creature are typically disquieting. Clint Eastwood has a bit part as a pilot who drops napalm on the spider as it moves rapidly towards the town. John Agar did a number of sci fi films, and Mara Corday did a few more monster movies as well. Two years later Jack Arnold would deal with another tarantula when he helmed The Incredible Shrinking Man. 

Verdict: Entertaining semi-classic creature feature. ***. 

THE REBEL SET

Kathleen Crowley and Gregg Palmer

THE REBEL SET (1959). Director: Gene Fowler, Jr. 

Mr. Tucker (Edward Platt of Atlantis the Lost Continent) owns a coffee shop but he has a sideline: he plans heists for lots of money. He enlists the participation of three men whom he clearly thinks of as losers: struggling actor John (Gregg Palmer); failed novelist Ray (John Lupton); and George (Don Sullivan), the screw-up son of a famous movie star. Tucker actually plans his caper very well, and the heist of an armored car goes off without a hitch, until everyone makes their escape on a train and a murder or two occurs ... 

John Lupton and Don Sullivan

The Rebel Set was packaged as some kind of "beatnik" movie, but while there are appearances by stereotypical beatniks in the film, the main characters don't fit into that category and the film has little to do with them. The screenplay for this is not that bad, but the performances are a little too laid-back to give the pic the tension it requires. Don Sullivan essays a very different character from the one he plays in The Giant Gila Monster, but he's versatile enough to pull it off although he, too, underplays too much. Poor Ed Platt walks through the movie as if it were a rehearsal and he didn't know the cameras were filming -- his high water mark really was Get Smart.  Kathleen Crowley with her trademark whiskey voice gives the best performance as actor John's very worried wife, who thinks he's going to appear in a play instead of a robbery. Others in the cast include Robert Shayne, Byron Foulger, and Gene Roth [Earth vs the Spider]. The film was shot by Karl Struss. Probably influenced by films like The Killing and The Asphalt Jungle, it's not in their league.

Verdict: Just misses. **1/2. 

HIDDEN HOMICIDE

Griffith Jones, Maya Koumani, Patricia Laffan

HIDDEN HOMICIDE (1959). Director: Anthony Young. 

Michael Cornforth (Griffith Jones) is spirited away from his flat by an unknown person and wakes up in his cousin's cottage with his dead body inside. Two women -- Jean (Patricia Laffan) and Marian (Maya Koumani) -- happen along and Michael bares his soul to them. Attracted to Micheal, Jean decides to cover up the business with the corpse although Marian is a bit more skeptical. Now Michael has to find out not only who kidnapped him but who murdered his cousin, a man from whom he might have inherited money. Seems he not only had the means but the motive. 

James Kenney

Hidden Homicide is a twisty British thriller that sets up an intriguing situation, although one has to suspend disbelief at times. The acting is sufficient, with James Kenney [The Gelignite Gang] having fun as Oswald, a presumed friend of Michael's who comes to Jean's assistance at one point. The plot is the kind of convoluted thing you would see years later in Italian giallo films, and frankly this could have used a couple of gruesome murders. It does have some lively moments, and a couple of good twists, but it's also a little too weird and disjointed. Kenny is quite good in this. 

Verdict: Moderately entertaining. **1/2.  

ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE

Judd Holdren and Leonard Nimoy

ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE (12 chapter Republic serial/1952.) Director: Fred C. Brannon. 

Marex (Lane Bradford) has come from the dying planet Mars to plant bombs that will knock earth out of its orbit so that Mars can take its place. Marex has enlisted the help of two earth thugs -- Roth (John Crawford) and Shane (Ray Boyle) -- who somehow think it's not only okay that everyone on earth but them will die, but that they will spend the rest of their days on Mars. Marex also has a Martian helpmate on earth named Narab, who is played by a 21-year-old Leonard Nimoy, and there is a traitorous earth scientist named Dr. Harding (Stanley Waxman), who is helping him build a hydrogen bomb. Narab has a conscience, and Nimoy displays some ability in his unusual role. 

Judd Holdren

Battling Marex and his boys are Larry Martin (Judd Holdren), who wears the rocket man outfit from King of the Rocket Men, and his associates Bob Wilson (Wilson Wood), and Sue Davis (Aline Towne), as well as their rocketship pilot, Dick (Gayle Kellogg). Chapter four has a bunch of bad cowboys trying to get away with some uranium for Marex, while a large metal robot robs a bank in chapter five -- there are subsequent lively scenes with the robot. The following chapter has an underwater knife fight, and in one of the best cliffhangers Sue is pulled off a dock and into deep water when a rope with an anchor attached is wound around her ankle in chapter seven. Roy Barcroft and Tom Steele have smaller roles. 

Verdict: Zombies of the Stratosphere is another fun, fast-paced Republic serial. ***. 

THE HIDDEN EYE

Edward Arnold

THE HIDDEN EYE (1945). Director: Richard Whorf. 

Jean Hamptom (Frances Rafferty of Public Defender) is engaged to Barry Gifford (Paul Langton), but their marriage may be delayed by murders in the family. Now you would think two murders would be enough for Jean to seek the help of blind friend Duncan Maclain (Edward Arnold), who happens to be a private eye, but she waits until three of her relatives -- elderly uncles in general -- are gone before she goes to see him. Each body is found with the same note, and the room is full of the same perfume. Naturally Barry is under suspicion as a potential fortune hunter, but there is one other suspect, lawyer Phillip Treadway (Ray Collins). When his antagonist realizes that Maclain is on the right track, his seeing eye German Shepherd, Friday, is kidnapped. 

Rafferty, Collins, Langton

This is the second of two MGM films starring Arnold as Maclain, and it's nearly as bad as the first one, Eyes in the Night. This sequel is at least more of a nominal murder mystery, but as there's only one serious suspect one can't say this has much suspense to it. The culprit is revealed halfway through the running time and the rest is a lot of uninteresting running around. At least Maclain gets involved in a rather ferocious fist fight at the very end that temporarily wakes the viewer up from their stupor. The cast is game, and Arnold, always an excellent actor, proves as charismatic as ever, but this material is way beneath him. Byron Foulger [Lady in the Death House], Morris Amkrum [Earth vs. the Flying Saucers] and Arthur Space are also in the cast. 

Verdict: This short-lived detective series was done in by very poor scripts. **. 

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER

Gila monster surveys the scene: anything to eat? 

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER (1959). Director: Ray Kellogg. NOTE: This is the colorized version.

Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan) is an aspiring singer in a small Texas town who works at a garage. When his friends and his boss go missing, he and the sheriff (Fred Graham) come to fear that something monstrous and hungry is on the loose in the deep woods surrounding their community,  especially in Williams' Wash. There sure is! A Gila monster the size of a bus is snacking on hitchhikers, over-turning trucks and even derails a passenger train at one point. Can Chase save his friends, girlfriend, and family before the creature strikes again?

Don Sullivan

The Giant Gila Monster is a very low-budget movie so it can't offer tremendous stop-motion effects a la Harryhausen or adept process shots blending monster with victims, but somehow it manages to get across some creepy suspense in spite of that. The film has a great deal of fifties charm. Part of that charm has to do with the lead actor Don Sullivan, who is competent, good-looking, and can sing -- although his song compositions are nothing special. Sullivan had a handful of credits in the late fifties and then became a chemist. Incredibly, Giant Gila Monster was remade in 2012 as Gila! and Sullivan had a small role in it. 

Don Sullivan, Don Flournoy, Fred Graham

The rest of the cast members are generally adept, although a couple are clearly amateurs. The best-known actor in this is Shug Fisher, who amusingly plays "Old Man Harris;" he amassed 86 credits in a long career which included playing "Shorty Kellems" on The Beverly Hillbillies. Lisa Simone, who plays Chase's girlfriend, had a small role in Missile to the Moon. Jay Simms' screenplay is more-than-serviceable, and Jack Marshall's musical score is cheap but effective. The creature, a real Gila Monster interacting with miniature sets, is cleverly spliced into scenes of people reacting to it, generally before its big paw comes down to smash or grab them. The colorization process for the picture is well done; it looks good.

Verdict: Hot rods and monsters -- how can you go wrong? ***. 

RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON

Commando Cody takes flight!

RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON (12 chapter Republic serial/1952). Director: Fred. C. Brannon. 

In the first appearance of "a new character," Commando Cody (George Wallace) -- actually a new version of the Rocket Man from King of the Rocket Men -- our hero uses his flying jet pack to take on moon men whose atmosphere is deteriorating and want to take over Mother Earth in a mass migration. The chief moon man is Retik (Roy Barcroft) and his chief confederate on earth is Krog (Peter Brocco). As incredible as it may seem -- but remember this is a serial -- the advance force to take over an entire planet with billions of inhabitants consists of one moon man and two -- count 'em -- two American gangsters named Graber (Clayton Moore of Lone Ranger fame) and Daly (Robert R. Stephenson). As for Cody, he also has two assistants: Ted (William Bakewell of All Quiet on the Western Front); and Joan (Aline Towne). More than once Cody flies to the moon in his rocket ship, once to reconnoiter and another time to get the Lunarium that the moon men use in their ray guns. 

Bakewell, Wallace, Towne

George Wallace is fine as Cody; in addition to a lot of film work Wallace was Mary Martin's leading man in the Broadway musical Jennie. The process work that shows Cody taking to the air is effective all these years later, and Stanley Wilson's score is consistently exciting. Our hero is trapped by molten lava at one point, and there is at least one exciting mid-air rescue. Some of the cliffhangers are recycled from King of the Rocket Men but used in different circumstances. 

Verdict: Snappy, fast-paced, and lots of fun. ***. 

THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH

Anton Diffring

THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (1959). Director: Terence Fisher.

In Paris of 1890, doctor and sculptor Georges Bonnet (Anton Diffring), is anxiously awaiting the arrival of an old friend, Dr. Ludwig Weiss (Arnold Marle). Elderly Weiss, who is actually younger than Georges, performed a certain operation on the latter that has kept him young for many decades. The operation needs to be repeated periodically and now it is time for Weiss to perform it again, only a stroke has made this impossible. Now Georges is desperate to find another doctor who might look the other way and save Georges' life. But will Dr. Pierre Gerard (Christopher Lee) agree to do what Georges' requires? Complicating matters is a woman named Janine (Hazel Court), who is in love with Georges but may find his secrets a bit too much to bear.

Arnold Marle and Anton Diffring

The Man Who Could Cheat Death is a notable Hammer production, well-directed by Terence Fisher, and with a splendid lead performance from Anton Diffring, who makes the most of both the characters' arrogance and his near-hysterical desperation. Court and Lee are also memorable, and Arnold Marle is excellent as the originally compliant doctor who becomes increasingly appalled by his old friend's attitude and actions, which include murder. Based on a play by Barre Lyndon, this was originally filmed as The Man in Half Moon Street. This is the superior of the two versions.

Verdict: Lurid and entertaining with a superb Diffring. ***. 

THE KETTLES ON OLD MACDONALD'S FARM

Marjorie Main and Parker Fennelly

THE KETTLES ON OLD MACDONALD'S FARM (1957). Director: Virgil W. Vogel. 

"After thirty years I don't think I can fall asleep until I hear the sound of your snoring." -- Pa to Ma Kettle.

Pa Kettle (Parker Fennelly) is finally planning to sell the old farm after winning a new house way back in Ma and Pa Kettle. The potential buyers are Sally Flemming (Gloria Talbott of The Leech Woman) and her fiance, Brad (John Smith of Hod Rod Girl). Sally's father (Roy Barcroft) objects to the wedding because he thinks his daughter is spoiled and will never make a good farm wife. Ma (Marjorie Main) and Pa decide to let the couple move in on a trial basis, with Ma as chaperone, but will they ever actually make it to the altar?

Gloria Talbott and John Smith

Percy Kilbride had left the series by this time and Parker Fennelly took over the role for this final Kettle film. Fennelly is fine as Pa, and doesn't make the mistake of aping Kilbride. As happened in an earlier Kettle film, Pa gets the mistaken impression that Ma is pregnant again. Another complication is the mischievous presence of an amazing trained bear called Tree-Toes, which the Kettles try to capture, as well as the usual, amusing disagreements and misunderstandings.

This was a good way to end the series, as this entry -- while not quite as good as the best entries -- has a better story than the last couple of films, and is consistently amusing. There's also new theme music to go with a new Pa, but there is no "MacDonald" or his farm. Sally and Brad's differences -- frankly she doesn't really seem cut out to have the tedious, back-breaking life of a farm wife and why should she have to endure it?  -- are never really resolved.  Roy Barcroft appeared in a number of cliffhanger serials such as Radar Men from the Moon. John Smith was a handsome leading man who appeared in many "B" movies and television programs. 

Verdict: Fun movie bolstered by performances of Main and Fennelly and the depiction of their long-time warm relationship. ***

THE FLAW

John Bentley has a fatal flaw

THE FLAW (1955). Director: Terence Fisher.

Paul Oliveri (John Bentley) is a race car driver who sweeps a wealthy woman named Monica (Rona Anderson) off her feet. Paul marries Monica for her money, and makes sure his mistress, Vera (Tonia Bern), gets enough of it to live on. He also makes sure that Monica makes out a will leaving him everything. When Monica learns of the mistress from her solicitor and friend, John (Donald Houston), she decides to divorce him. So Paul concocts a scheme to get rid of John so that his body will never be found, and then murder Monica for her money. But while John is at Paul's mercy he tells him his plan has a fatal flaw ... 

John Bentley and Rona Anderson

The Flaw -- which could refer to sociopathic Paul's character flaws as well as the flaw in his murder plot -- is another of the British crime films directed by Terence Fisher before he became famous as a horror filmmaker. This one is somewhat better than others, but still no world-beater. John Bentley proves a more interesting actor as a bad guy than as a hero, although one can't quite say he's a George Sanders. I don't wish to generalize but I often find that British thrillers of this nature never quite have the oomph of American melodramas of similar theme -- maybe they're just not lurid enough -- admittedly there are exceptions to this rule. Rona Anderson and Tonia Bern look enough alike that at times you're not certain if Paul is talking to his wife or mistress, who doesn't show up very often anyway. There's one okay twist at the end and the song "Getting Away with Murder" that plays in a club sequence is catchy. 

Verdict: Too short a running time to make this especially compelling. **1/2. 

KING OF THE ROCKET MEN

The Rocket Man takes to the air

KING OF THE ROCKET MEN (12 Chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon. 

Jeffrey King (Tristram Coffin) is the director of security for a group called Science Associates, and also happens to be a rocket propulsion expert. When a series of scientists are killed in "accidents" Jeff helps Professor Millard (James Craven) fake his own death so that he can work in secret against the person responsible. Millard creates an atomic-powered rocket suit that Jeff (and at one point Millard) wears as "Rocket Man." His opponent is the mysterious Dr. Vulcan, whom both Jeff and Millard suspect is one of the members of the Science Associates board. 

Mae Clarke and Don Haggerty

King of the Rocket Men is the first of three Republic serials -- four if you count Commando Cody, the serial/TV series -- that use the rocket man suit and feature a flying hero who has various identities. This serial is exciting and suspenseful as our hero dodges a river of lava in a cave (chapter six) and other dastardly traps. The cliffhangers generally aren't that inventive, but there is still a lot of action and fun. The climactic chapter features Dr. Vulcan unleashing his "decimator" and practically destroying Manhattan, wherein stock footage from the old disaster flick Deluge -- still impressive -- comes in. Jeff's partner is Burt Winslow (House Peters Jr.) and both men suspect the other of being in league with Vulcan at various points during the serial. 

Tristram Coffin

Other cast members include Mae Clarke, famous for Frankenstein and the grapefruit scene in Public Enemy, who plays feisty reporter Glenda Thomas. At 39 Clarke was older than the typical serial heroine or female colleague. Don Haggerty makes an impression as the persistent thug Dirken who works for Dr. Vulcan. Stanley Wilson's music score keeps things hopping, and everything moves at a very swift pace. Tristram Coffin was offered a very rare leading role in this serial; he appeared in a number of previous serials in supporting or villainous roles. Coffin amassed 260 credits, and appeared in numerous movies and TV shows such as the "Country Club Dance" episode of I Love Lucy. 

Verdict: Great fun for serial devotees. ***. 

DARKNESS FALLS

Chaney Kley

DARKNESS FALLS (2003). Director: Jonathan Liebesman. 

When Kyle (Chaney Kley) was a boy, his mother was murdered by a ghastly figure who came out of the shadows. This figure is a vengeful witch, wrongly accused of child murder, who was known as the town of Darkness Falls' "tooth fairy" because of her loving habit of exchanging teeth for coins. Facially burned in a fire, and then burned to death at the stake, she places a curse on the town. Anyone who sees her face when she comes to get their teeth must die. 

Emma Caulfield Ford, Lee Cormie, Kley

Kyle has managed to stay out of the shadows, sleeping with the lights on and so on, until he reaches adulthood. His childhood friend, Caitlin (Emma Caulfield Ford) contacts him when it develops that her little brother, Michael (Lee Cormie), has also seen the witch's face and is absolutely terrified. As Kyle tries to do what he can to help Michael, others around him who see the witch are murdered, with Kyle becoming the prime suspect. This leads to an assault on a police station and a desperate struggle for Kyle, Caitlin, Michael and cop Matt (Sullivan Stapleton), who comes to believe Kyle's incredible story, to stay alive until daylight. 

Sullivan Stapleton as the cop

If I remember correctly, Darkness Falls did not get especially good reviews, mostly because they saw the villain as being the tooth fairy -- not quite the truth -- and couldn't take it seriously. Also the creepy scenes eventually gave way to action sequences that were generally well-done, although the supernatural element perhaps became too literal to be scary. However, the film is fast-paced, well-acted, and entertaining, so I don't think it deserved a critical drubbing, although I can certainly see why many viewers didn't care for it. As for the cast, Chaney Kley ironically and tragically died of sleep apnea when he was only thirty-four. Ford had many subsequent credits, as did Stapleton, now best-known as the super-butch FBI agent on the hit series Blindspot. Cormie was an appealing and talented child actor who is still working today. Liebesman also directed Wrath of the Titans. 

Verdict: No masterpiece, but hardly the train wreck some have called it. ***. 

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR

pitiful victim of Trollenberg Terror

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR (aka The Crawling Eye/1958). Director: Quentin Lawrence. 

Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker), who works for the United Nations, arrives in the Swiss town of Trollenberg -- named for its mountain -- along, coincidentally, with two sisters, Anne (Janet Munro) and Sarah (Jennifer Jayne), who form a mind-reading act. Anne is a genuine telepath, and she senses that something strange is happening up on the Trollenberg, where climbers are having "accidents" in which their heads are inexplicably torn off. Alan's friend, Professor Crevett (Warren Mitchell), runs an observatory on top of the mountain that is studying cosmic rays and he has observed a strange radioactive cloud on the Trollenberg that never moves, until ... 

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne

The Trollenberg Terror is a feature-length version of a now-lost British TV serial. Say what one will about the absurdities of the story and production and the occasional lapse in logic, the fact remains that the film, better-known as The Crawling Eye, piles one creepy incident on top of another -- bizarre decapitations, ax-wielding maniacs, dead men who walk and talk, clouds that move without wind and can freeze telephone wires to brittleness, tentacled monstrosities with huge eyes that pop out of the cloud -- quickly and methodically building up eerie atmosphere and suspense in equal measure. Quentin Lawrence, who also directed the TV version, worked mostly in television and did very few feature films, but he does a fine job with this flick. The actors are also on target, and these include Laurence Payne [The Third Alibi] as a reporter and Colin Douglas as the frightened bar man, Hans, among others. 

Warren Mitchell and Forrest Tucker

The FX work in Trollenberg is quite good, especially when you consider that this is a low-budget production. Although the crawling eyes have somewhat limited movement, they prove lively enough when they need to be, and the sounds they make are unnerving. Stanley Black's music summons up plenty of chills during the scary scenes, and Monty Berman's photography adroitly turns pleasant locations into sinister ones. One of the best scenes has a group of people trying to escape via cable car high, high above the mountain when the cables start to freeze, and it's a question if they'll make it. The climactic attack on the observatory is also well-handled, and the miniature sets are first-rate. One could quibble that the characters don't quite display enough amazement about the nature of these alien creatures, but since they're fighting for their lives they have other things on their minds! NOTE: For more on this film and others like it, see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Crackling good British horror sci-fi. ***. 

INSIDE JOB (1946)

Alan Curtis and Ann Rutherford

INSIDE JOB (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough. 

Eddie Norton (Alan Curtis) works as a kind of mechanical man in a department store window, and hides the fact that he is an ex-con because of a youthful indiscretion. His old "friend" Bart Madden (Preston Foster) threatens to tell his employers about his past if he doesn't help him rob the department store. You'd think Eddie would want no part of this scheme no matter what -- especially since Eddie took the fall for Bart --  but the dope not only eventually decides to go along with it but enlists his wife, Claire (Ann Rutherford), in his plans, which include ultimately cutting Madden out of the profit. But loose lips and a cute little boy with a cop father may prevent Eddie from realizing his larcenous ambitions.

Alan Curtis hatches plan

Inside Job features perhaps two of the dumbest protagonists in any movie. They seem to have no real skill at robbery or much of anything else. The three leads give solid performances, although Rutherford is not really the "gorgeous model" type that she is supposed to be (although she was cute enough to excite the interest of Andy Hardy when she played Polly Benedict). The movie glosses over details about the heist so that a lot of the plot doesn't make much sense. Midway through the movie it decides to drag in some sentiment with a cute neighbor kid (Jimmy Moss) next door as Eddie and Claire hide out after the heist. There's also a borderline cloying simple-minded nanny named "Ivory" (Ruby Dandridge, mother of Dorothy) and the kid's father, a cop named Thomas (Joe Sawyer). Marc Lawrence and Milburn Stone are also in the cast. The script for Inside Job is just too weak to make this a contender, but the uncompromising ending makes it clear that crime, in this case, really doesn't pay despite the fact that the couple are pretty much redeemed by their actions at the end. 

Verdict: Minor film noir with sentimental interludes. **. 

PROFILE

Thea Gregory, Kathleen Byron, John Bentley

PROFILE (1954). Director: Francis Searle.

Margot (Kathleen Byron) is married to an older man, Aubrey (Stuart Lindsell), who decides to publish a new magazine called Profile. He hires Peter (John Bentley of Calling Paul Temple) as the editor, a situation which is all to Margot's liking as she has a decided yen for Peter. Things get even more complicated when Aubrey's daughter, Susan (Thea Gregory), comes to work in the office -- where Margot hangs out every day -- and she and Peter begin falling for each other. Margot is not about to stand for that. Before long Peter is being accused of embezzlement and Margot is insisting he was actually framed by her husband. But is this really the case?

John Bentley and Kathleen Byron

Frankly, it's hard to care, because Profile is a dull picture. Had this same basic plot been employed by, say, Hugo Haas at an American studio, and a bit more melodrama and sexiness instilled in it, it may have amounted to at least an entertaining timepasser. Instead this just lumbers along without ever igniting. Other characters include Margot's sleazy ex-husband, Charlie (Gerard Green), the jealous artist Jerry (Ivan Craig), and Michael, the  butler (Lloyd Lamble). There's some very minor excitement when one of them falls into a printing press. The acting in this is professional but no one is really given a chance to shine. Francis Searle also directed The Gelignite Gang. 

Verdict: Another bad British nominal mystery. **.

NEVER AGAIN: ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Phyllis Thaxter

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: NEVER AGAIN. Season One. 1956. Director: Robert Stevens. Teleplay by Bagni, Gielgud and Silliphant. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns. 

Karen Stewart (Phyllis Thaxter) has a drinking problem and is terrified of losing the man she loves, Jeff (Warren Stevens). One night at a party she gets jealous of the hostess, Renee (Louise Allbritton), and throws a drink in her face. A concerned Jeff goes to her home, and she decides to go back to the party, where Renee is surprisingly understanding. But Renee's brother, Marlow (Jack Mullaney), who also indulges to excess, lets it slip that his sister wants Jeff and is hoping Karen will make a mess of things. Instead of making up her mind that this will not be the case, Karen has a martini -- and then another and another. She winds up intoxicated at a bar with Marlow when Jeff and Renee come in and Karen picks up a broken bottle ...

Never Again features fine performances from the entire cast. Thaxter, in the performance of a lifetime, is absolutely outstanding as the troubled and self-loathing Karen. Warren Stevens plays his part in such a way that you're not absolutely sure how he feels about Karen until the end. At the tragic close of the episode, Alfred Hitchcock does not make his usual quips but urges people with serious drinking problems to get help before a tragedy occurs in their own life. Never Again is absorbing and hard-hitting stuff with a devastating ending. 

Verdict: Classic episode; classic TV. ***1/2. 

FINAL APPOINTMENT

John Bentley and Eleanor Summerfield

FINAL APPOINTMENT (aka The Last Appointment/1954). Director: Terence Fisher. 

Reporter Mike Billings (John Bentley of Calling Paul Temple) tries to investigate when he learns that a solicitor, Hartnell (Hubert Gregg), has been getting threatening letters. Hartnell wants no part of this even when he is later reminded by Billings and Inspector Corcoran (Liam Redmond) that he was the lead prosecutor for a court-martial and is also told that three other men who served on the panel have been murdered -- on the same date over three years; Hartnell is certainly next. Now you would think most people would take the threat to their life seriously under the circumstances, but as this is a mediocre British mystery Hartnell instead acts like an ass. 

No concerns: Hubert Gregg

There are a couple of other suspects, of course, including two co-workers of Hartnell's who embezzled funds and are paying the money back to avoid a scandal. The man who was court-martialed is apparently dead, but his brother is still among the living. Final Appointment is briskly-paced under Terence Fisher's direction, and there's even a bit of suspense, although there are no big surprises at the finale. Billings has an irritating lady reporter girlfriend, Jennie (Eleanor Summerfield), who gets jealous at the drop of a hat, even going so far as to check out a secretary, Laura (Jean Lodge), that he is only trying to get information from; this leads into Jennie nearly getting taken hostage at the climax. Sam Kydd scores as another court-martialed soldier who comes to an unfortunate end. Fisher, of course, was at his best in the horror field [The Gorgon]. 

Verdict: So so British thriller without too many thrills. **1/4. 

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS

Ma Kettle reads Pa's letter to one of their children

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS (1956). Director: Charles Lamont. 

Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) packs up all of her brood and takes off to the Ozarks, where she plans to help her brother-in-law, Sedgwick (Arthur Hunnicutt) with his farm. Sedge has been affianced to gal pal Bedelia (Una Merkel) for twenty years, and Ma hopes to do something about that situation as well. Some shady men rent the barn from Sedge, but they turn out to be bootleggers trying to avoid "revenuers." 

Una Merkel, Richard Eyer and Arthur Hunnicutt

By this time Percy Kilbride had had enough of playing Pa Kettle and neither he nor the character appear in this film. Most of the humor has to do with the interplay between the bootleggers and the very mischievous children, with a little reserved for the not-very-romantic romance between Sedge and Bedelia. There's also a goose named Gertie who walks around wearing galoshes on her feet. Otherwise, this entry in the Kettle series is pretty weak.

Gertie the Goose goes out for a walk

The supporting cast includes child actor Richard Eyer [The 7th Voyage of Sinbad] as one of the Kettle children; Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on The Dick Van Dyke Show) as an Indian; Joe Sawyer as a neighbor; and Sid Tomack and Ted de Corsia as two of the bootleggers. Bonnie Franklin, who plays one of town children, later became a sitcom star with her show One Day at a Time. Main, Hunnicutt, and Merkel give very good performances. 

Verdict: Some amusing moments but not enough. **. 

THE CIRCUS QUEEN MURDER

Donald Cook, Greta Nissen, Adolphe Menjou

THE CIRCUS QUEEN MURDER (1933). Director: Roy William Neill. 

Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt (Adolphe Menjou) only wants to take a nice quiet vacation nowhere with his secretary, Kelly (Ruthelma Stevens). He picks out a town upstate named Gilead where he hopes to find "balm." Instead he comes across a circus where the chief performers are involved in a deadly triangle. There's Flandrin (Dwight Frye) and his blond wife, Josie (Greta Nissen), and her lover, the Great Sebastian (Donald Cook). When Flandiron disappears, there's some question if he was dismembered and fed either to the lions or to the cannibals that are part of the circus troupe! Other characters include Rainey (George Rosener), who owns the circus; Colt's friend, the chubby Dugan (Harry Holman); and Lubbell (Clay Clement), who also has a thing for Josie and is scared of her husband.

Dwight Frye

The Circus Queen Murder spills all of its secrets early so it doesn't have much suspense, although it's smoothly done by the cast and director Neill. This was the second of two Thatcher Colt films starring Menjou -- the first was The Night Club Lady -- who is fine in the role. (A third Colt film, The Panther's Claw, starred Sidney Blackmer as the commissioner.) Bug-eyed Dwight Frye has fun with the part of the near-psychotic Flandrin. The best thing about the movie is the trapeze act supposedly performed by Sebastian and Josie. Surprisingly, this was released by Columbia studios, not Monogram. It lasts a little over an hour.

Verdict: Not terrible, but you can still miss it.  **1/2. 

THIS ISLAND EARTH

Domergue, Reason and Morrow

THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955). Director: Joseph M. Newman. 

Scientist Cal Meachum (Rex Reason) is sent a manual that has instructions for building a device called an "interlociter." Being a genius, Cal is able to construct the machine, and through it is contacted by a mysterious man called Exeter (Jeff Morrow of Legacy of Blood). Exeter makes Cal an offer: to get in a plane he is sending for him and come work for him. His curiosity ignited, Cal soon arrives at Exeter's estate, where he meets fellow physicists Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue of It Came from Beneath the Sea) and Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson of Attack of the Crab Monsters), as well as other scientists who walk around like zombies. There is also another guy named Brack (Lance Fuller), who resembles Exeter. It isn't long before Cal realizes that something about this operation is not on the up and up, and Exeter is actually an alien ... Flown off of the earth, he and Ruth find themselves helplessly embroiled in a war between planets. 

This Island Earth was one of the big sci fi "thrill" pictures of the fifties and all these years later it is still a well-made and very entertaining movie. Morrow is excellent as Exeter, and both Reason and Domergue are effective as the lead characters. The film benefits from the blaring score that Universal-International used for virtually all of its sci fi films in the fifties (the work of various composers) and its FX work is fine for the period and still works well enough by today's standards. There is a certain inevitable quaintness to the film, however. A hilarious moment occurs when Exeter says to Ruth "don't tell me that as a woman you're not curious about our destination?" They're heading for a distant planet light years away but Exeter thinks it's only Ruth's sex that might make her curious? Really?

The scenes that take place on Metaluna, Exeter's planet, employ cartoon animation to good effect. There are also those wonderful, tall, bug-eyed "mutants" that serve as especially ugly security guards and come after poor Ruth at one point. The "science" in the film as it pertains to space travel and other matters is strictly of the "fantastic" variety. 

Verdict: Well,paced, exciting -- a big colorful comic book of a movie. ***. 

DATE WITH DISASTER

Tom Drake and Maurice Kaufmann

DATE WITH DISASTER (1957). Director: Charles Saunders. 

American Miles Harrington (Tom Drake) is in a car dealership business with his English partner, Don Redmon (Maurice Kaufmann). Don dates pretty Sue Miller (Shirley Eaton), whose sister was once involved with MIles, whom Sue is now carrying a torch for. Unbeknownst to Miles, both Don and his sales manager Ken Prescott (Richard Shaw) are planning a robbery of Wells Chemicals Company with the help of convict Tracey (William Hartnell). When the caper proceeds and thieves fall out, Miles finds himself having to rescue a kidnapped Sue from one of the men he formerly trusted. 

Shirley Eaton and Richard Shaw

Date with Disaster sounds like it might be exciting, but it's a minor picture that at least moves at a fast enough pace. Tom Drake was typical of American actors who sought work in the UK where they found themselves headlining films in a way they would not have in the U.S. His role is the least interesting of the bunch, with the other cast members offering flavorful performances of the assorted bad guys, and Eaton showing off her assets in comely and efficient fashion. Michael Golden is also fine as Detective Inspector Matthews, who has been assigned to the robbery and tries to get Tracey to turn. Deirdre de Peyer has a saucy bit as Prescott's greedy and jealous girlfriend. 

Verdict: Another forgettable British B movie. **. 

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS

Curtis, Marlowe, Taylor and Blake 

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956). Director: Fred F. Sears. NOTE: This is the colorized version.

"When an armed and threatening power lands at the steps of our capital, we don't greet them with tea and cookies!" -- Adm . Enright

Scientist Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife, Carol (Joan Taylor of 20 Million Miles to Earth), encounter a flying saucer while driving to his office at Operation: Shyhook, where rockets are being blown out of the sky. Russ can't figure out how the aliens are communicating with him, so he misses a message about their arriving at the base. Stupidly, armed forces start firing at the aliens when they land, but it wouldn't have made much difference, as these representatives of a dying universe are here to take the earth for themselves no matter what. Now it's up to Russ to come up with a weapon that can bring the multitude of saucers crashing down before they can destroy Washington, D.C. and before their disintegrator beams can destroy him and the weapons.

Russ and Carol enter the main saucer

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a fun if minor sci fi movie distinguished by some very good Ray Harryhausen effects. Though the FX genius couldn't add too much personality to these saucers as he could living animals, the UFOs still perform quite well, and the other effects are generally okay considering the very low budget -- an entry foyer into one of the spaceships actually rattles as the characters step into it. The sound effects are unnerving and creepy, however. 

Morris Ankrum

Marlowe and Taylor offer professional performances, and the latter is able to summon up the necessary emotion when required. Morris Ankrum [Beginning of the End] is notable as Carol's father, who comes to a bad end, and there are also appearances by Thomas Browne Henry as an Admiral who's itching to fight the nasty aliens; Donald Curtis as a Major who tries to assist Russ and his wife; Harry Lauter as a technician working with Russ; and Larry J. Blake as an ill-fated motorcycle cop. Curtis and Lauter were both in Harryhuasen's It Came from Beneath the Sea. 

The saucers invade Washington, D.C.!

For me the biggest problem with the movie is that not one of the many characters ever register the slightest awe or sense of wonder at the fact that aliens from a faraway world even exist, let alone that they've come to earth. (This was also a problem with the much later alien invasion movie Independence Day). You'd think this sort of thing happened every day. Russ and Carol at least seem a bit amazed and frightened when they first spot the saucer, but that aspect is quickly jettisoned. The whole movie is on the intellectual level of a cliffhanger serial along the lines of King of the Rocket Men. Just as Universal used the same music cues in its sci fi movies over and over again, Columbia studios did the same thing in its sci fi films, so the score for this is very familiar. Fred F. Sears' direction is totally routine.

Verdict: Not quite a fifties sci fi classic but entertaining on its own terms. **3/4.