PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

The Monster And The Girl 1941

The Monster And The Girl 1941 Story and screenplay by Stuart Anthony, directed by Stuart Heisler. Heisler had a pretty good career starting in 1936 and ending when he retired in 1962. He passed away in 1979. I've only seen a few of his films: The Glass Key, Along Came Jones and 1956 film The Lone Ranger. He worked in TV from 1958 with an episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Anthony has 54 credits on the IMDb but I can't say I've seen many of his films, other than the two Charlie Chan films he did.

The first of 4 films in the 5th volume of the Universal Horror Collection Blu-ray set. Each film gets it's own disc and each film has it's own commentary, two have stills and two have a trailer. The films look nice and some of the commentaries are more interesting than others. This film has a commentary by Tom Weaver and Steve Kronenberg with comments from an interview with Bob Burns. I enjoyed this commentary quite a bit, Weaver has plenty of interesting info and a real fondness for the film.

 

That's Phillip Terry and Paul Lukas on the left, Phillip plays a poor sap that gets framed for murder by scumbag gangster Lukas. The other photo is Rod Cameron, Ellen Drew and Paul Lukas. Rod's a reporter, Ellen plays Phillip's sister and Paul is still a scumbag gangster. Ellen's under Paul's thumb, he's tricked her into owing him some money and he's forcing her to be a bar girl for him. She wants out before he turns her into a prostitute. Phillip doesn't care for the life Ellen's fallen into and he causes some waves in Paul's pool. In typical scumbag gangster fashion Paul decides to frame Phillip and rid himself of another problem guy at the same time.

Phillip gets convicted despite Ellen passionate speech to the court. Before the execution George Zucco turns up with a proposal. That's George in the picture on the left. He has often played a crazy doctor with inappropriate thoughts in his head. He wants Phillip's brain for research, Phillip signs off , the body goes to George's lab where he plunks it in the gorilla's brain pan. Once Phillip gets used to the gorilla's body he starts going out and mangling the people who sent him to his death. Sadly poor Phillip is killed finishing off the gang that framed him.

I wound up enjoying the movie quite a bit and the commentary only reinforced my enjoyment. I'd highly recommend it to those interested in this sort of thing.

Here's a look at the King Of The Gorilla Men.

Charles Gemora became known as King Of The Gorilla Men for his numerous appearances in films as a gorilla. He was from the Philippines and he arrived in the US as a stowaway. He worked as fruit picker before moving to Los Angeles. He was discovered by the Universal Art Department outside the studio doing portrait sketches. In 1923 he worked in the sculpture department on The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.

He wore his first gorilla suit in the 1928 film The Leopard Lady. He played gorilla's in 55 films, including The Unholy Three, Murders In The Rue Morgue, The Marx Brothers At The Circus, Road To Zanzibar, Charlie Chan At The Circus, Gildersleeve's Ghost, Africa Screams and The White Witch Doctor. He plays a bear in one movie, a Martian in The War Of The Worlds, and the alien in I Married A Monster From Outer Space. I've seen many of his films without knowing anything about him. Sadly he died rather young at age 58.

Charles did makeup on a lot of films and he made his own gorilla suits. That's Charles in the 1932 film The Sign Of The Cross. The suit for The Monster And The Girl is a great one. Charles really brings the gorilla to life and once Phillip's brains inside he makes that believable. The gorilla is my favorite character in the film.

Bob Burns, a huge fan of gorilla's in films tells a story of meeting Charles at the Universal makeup department in an interview. He spent an afternoon with Charles and had a great time. Charles passed on a lot of tips on making gorilla suits and how to act more gorilla like. Charles had spent a lot of time observing gorilla's in their day to day at the local zoo.

That's my second favorite character in the movie. Skipper plays Phillips's dog and he's missing his pal. Skipper eventually connects with the gorilla, seeming to know it's Phillip. He follows the gorilla around as he goes about his deadly business. I was really impressed with Skipper, he did a good job, his sad scene at the end of the film brought a tear to my eye.

Tom Weaver mentions Skipper in the commentary, the dog trainer thought he might be scared of the gorilla costume so they introduced Skipper to Charles without the suit. Charles put on the suit and Skipper recognized his smell through the suit and everything was fine. Skipper willingly followed Charles around as the gorilla.

Little bits like that add up to a darn good film and one I'll be watching again. Already I'm thinking the set has paid back it's cost.

Noose 1948

Noose 1948 Based on a play by Richard Llewellyn, he also wrote the screenplay, directed by Edmond T Gréville. A British film that was called The Silk Noose in the US.

 

That's Derek Farr and Carole Landis in the photo. Derek is Captain Jumbo Hyde, he's back in London after the war. Carole is his ex-fiance and she's called Linda Medbury, she's an American reporter. The guy with the droopy mustache in the poster is Joseph Calleia, he's a baddie called Sugiani. He runs some rackets and nightclub. Linda sets her sights on him and his organization. She gets too close for comfort and Sugiani pushes back. The local police are pretty corrupt so Jumbo rallies the guys at his gym and they keep an eye on Linda. They also smash up some of Sugiani's rackets and battle his henchmen.

The characters are interesting and I liked the story well enough. There's a bit of humor and plenty of rough housing. I liked the vigilantes from the gym and I enjoyed the movie. I'd watch it again. There's a copy or two on YouTube, link in the title above.

I Was An Adventuress 1940

I Was An Adventuress 1940 Screenplay by Karl Tunberg, Don Ettinger and John O'Hara, directed by Gregory Ratoff. It's based on the 1938 French film called J'étais une aventurière.

Peter Lorre, Erich von Stroheim and Vera Zorina are a team of grifters who steal jewels and swindle the rich. Vera falls for one of their marks, played by Richard Greene, after swindling him she leaves the gang and and marries the guy. Only a little time passes before Erich and Peter are back into Vera's life. Erich blackmails her into getting back to work and she rats on him to the police. Erich and Peter escape the coppers and rob Vera's guests instead. Richard and Vera chase after the thieves.

I enjoyed it, it's got a good sense of humor and Peter Lorre is at his scene stealing best. The script is clever and the cast is good. You can see it on YouTube, link in the title. You might enjoy it.

The Mysterious Mr M 1946

The Mysterious Mr M 1946 Written by Paul Huston and Joseph F Poland, directed by Lewis D Collins and Vernon Keays. A 13 part serial produced by Universal. It was the last one they produced and it's kind of lack luster.

A villain has a hypnotic drug that he uses to control people. He calls himself Mr M. Another villain forces themselves into Mr M's plan to steal some submarine electronics. Dennis Moore and Richard Martin play a couple of detectives on Mr M's trail. There's all the usual running about, cliffhangers, double dealing, fist fights, car chases, explosions and criminal activity. I started speeding up the film after a chapter or two. I bought the DVD, I might not get around to it again but I will keep it in case I run out of other things to watch.

Night Monster 1942

Night Monster 1942 Written by Clarence Upson Young and directed by Ford Beebe. Ford has 125 writing credits on the IMDb, he's only got 105 director's credits. His first film was in 1921 and he made 31 silent shorts before graduating to features in 1931. He directed quite a number of serials, I've seen some of them, including Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe, Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars and Secret Agent X-9. 

It's the second film in the 4th volume of the Universal Horror Collection. I'd seen it couple of times before and enjoyed it. There's a commentary by Gary D Rhodes, it's fairly decent but way too slow. The Blu-ray has a nice looking picture, a trailer and stills.

A wheel chair bound rich man invites three doctors who were trying to cure him. He blames them for their failures and one by one the men are murdered in the house. The police suspect the rich man but he has no arms or legs.

That's the rich guy in the wheel chair, he's played by Ralph Morgan, I'd seen him in quite a few films from the thirties and forties. Bela Lugosi is the butler, the man next to him is Francis Pierlot, one of the soon to be murdered doctors. Don Porter is the guy in the light coat, he'd have a nice long career in TV that lasted until 1988. The guy sitting down is Nils Asther, he's playing a mystic, the short man next to him is Frank Reicher, he's another of the soon to be murdered doctors. The lady is Irene Hervey, her career lasted nearly 50 years but I can't say I've seen more than a few of her pictures, I've probably seen her more often on TV.

I enjoyed the movie, it's got a nice creepy vibe going on. It's only 73 mins and it moves along quickly. The cast is good and the characters suspicious. I'd certainly want to watch it again sometime.

North To The Klondike 1942

North To The Klondike 1942 Loosely based on Jack London's Gold Hunters Of The North, story by William Castle, screenplay by Clarence Upson Young, Louis Sarecky and George Bricker, directed by Erle C Kenton.

I'm always on the lookout for any film that has a connection to William Castle. He's one of my favorite film makers and it's getting rarer to find a film I haven't seen yet. Sadly his involvement in North To The Klondike only extends to writing the story.

It's basically a Western land grab film with a crooked trading post owner trying to cheat the farmers out of a gold mine. Lon Chaney Jr plays the trading post and saloon owner. He's got a gang of scum to help him out. Broderick Crawford plays the hero, he comes to the remote Alaskan community at Lon's request. Broderick is a mining engineer but while he was traveling there the situation changed and Lon doesn't need him. He tells Broderick that the mine failed while he was travelling and offers him some expense money and a boat ride back.

That Evelyn Ankers with Broderick, she's the romantic interest. Lon has eyes on her and that causes some friction. Lon is working behind the miner's backs to drive them from the area. He doesn't want to share any profit from the mine. He burns the settlers winter supplies and kills the man who was sent down river to reorder. Lucky for the locals Broderick can save the town.

Andy Devine plays a local guy, Dorothy Granger and Evelyn Ankers are the ladies. Lloyd Corrigan plays the local doctor, Willie Fung and Keye Luke play local Chinese guys who befriend Broderick and help him save the town.

 

It's a pretty standard plot but cast does well with what they had. The area around Big Bear Lake in California makes a nice scenic fill in for Alaska. I liked the characters and enjoyed the story. There's a fair bit of humor and that's always welcome. You can check out the movie on YouTube. It's not the best copy but it's the first I've seen of it.

The Devil's Sleep 1949

The Devil's Sleep 1949 Original story by Danny Arnold and Richard S McMahan, directed by W Merle Connell. An exploitation movie about teens and drugs.

A new lady judge wants to keep the local teens from getting hooked on drugs. Local drug dealers try to use her daughter to blackmail the judge, hoping to keep her from doing her job. She's tougher than that and she's got some pals to help.

It's pretty darn hokey and not overly interesting. You can check it out on YouTube.

The Mad Ghoul 1943

The Mad Ghoul 1943 Story by Hans Kraly, screenplay by Paul Gangelin and Brenda Weisberg, directed by James P Hogan. Sadly Hogan died just a week before the film was released. This is the 4th film in the 2nd volume of the Universal Horror Collection. This Blu-ray has a commentary by Thomas Reeder and a still gallery as extras. Reeder spends too much time talking about Lon Chaney Jr, the career of associate producer Ben Pivar, the Universal Mummy series and the Universal Jungle Woman series. Disappointing Thomas, disappointing. For me Volume 2 comes up short in the extras department, especially after the well padded Volume 1.

George Zucco is a doctor who has an interest in a Mayan nerve gas that was used in rituals. It requires the fluid from the heart of another animal to revive a dead animal. David Bruce is his assistant and Evelyn Ankers is David's girlfriend. She's a singer and she's going on tour with her pianist Turhan Bey. On a visit George figures out that Evelyn isn't in love with David anymore, she agrees but doesn't want to hurt David. George offers to tell him.

George wants Evelyn for himself but she's really in love with Turhan. George doesn't know this and he exposes David to the gas. David turns into a ghoul like zombie under George's control. Without regular injections of heart fluid David would wither away and die. While lucid David decides he wants to see Evelyn while on tour. They follow her tour. To get the heart fluid they dig up fresh bodies. That puts the police on their trail and it ends sadly at one of Evelyn's concerts.

There's a good script, a good cast and some entertaining scenes. I enjoyed it and would watch it again sometime.

The Strange Case Of Doctor Rx 1942

The Strange Case Of Doctor Rx 1942 Written by Clarence Upson Young, directed by William Nigh. The third film in the 2nd volume of the Universal Horror Collection. The Blu-ray disc has a still gallery and a short featurette about Lionel Atwill. He had an interesting life although it had a bad patch when he got convicted of perjury in 1942. It was for his testimony in a 1941 grand jury investigation of an alleged sex orgy at his home. He got probation, he was blacklisted, parts were scarce and not every big. He died in 1946 from cancer and pneumonia, he was 61. He was in a lot of pictures I have liked and he's almost always top notch.

Patric Knowles is a detective who's come back to town after being away for a year. He quickly marries his old girlfriend Anne Gwynne, much to the surprise of his live in butler. Mantan Moreland. plays the butler, I'm such a Mantan fan, I feel he makes a movie better. There's more silly comedy in this than most of the movies in the Horror Collection.

He gets involved with the Rx murders and helps the police catch the baddie. Edmund MacDonald and Shemp Howard play the cops, Lionel Atwill plays Dr Fish, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan plays the gorilla. I think I'd want to watch this every once in a while.

The Mad Doctor Of Market Street 1942

The Mad Doctor Of Market Street 1942 Screenplay by Paul Martin, directed by Joseph H Lewis. The second film in the second volume of the Universal Horror Collection. This Blu-ray has a still gallery as an extra.

 

The four movies in this set are also on DVD in another set called Universal Cult Horror Collection. That set has 3 DVDs with 5 movies, the 1946 House Of Horror doesn't appear in 2nd Blu-ray set, it does appear in the 4th Blu-ray set. I watched the DVD back in 2020, seeing some of these for the first time. The set has some stills and posters as an extra, no commentaries, and they still charge 50 smackaroonies for it. The Blu-ray sets are about 50 bucks each but the movies look much better and there are some nice extras.

Lionel Atwill plays a mad scientist who's got a formula that can put people into a state of suspended animation. He's got a test subject he pays to be injected but before he can re-animate the guy the cops show up with the man's wife. Lionel does a bunk and flees the country on a ship headed to New Zealand. It sinks and he's stranded on a small island with some local natives. He saves the wife of the chief and decides to continue his experiments on the survivors from the ship. He's a maniac that digs his own grave with his brain.

I have to agree with my post from 2020, it's still about average. Lionel is good but some of the scenes are kind of silly. It's not as good as Murders In The Zoo.