PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Night And The City 1950

Night And The City 1950 Based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Kersh, screenplay by Jo Eisinger with additional uncredited contributions by Austin Depster and William E Watts, directed by Jules Dassin.

Dassin was being being talked about at the US House of Representatives House Un-American Activities Committee while he was directing the film, he wasn't allowed to finish editing the film or supervise the music. The British version has a score by Benjamin Frankel, the 5 min shorter American version has a score by Franz Waxman. Dassin said he feels the US version is closer to his vision. I do like the Waxman score better. After Night And The City Dassin worked in the US for a short while before taking a job in France. He never appeared before the HUAC. He wouldn't return to the US until the 1970s.

I saw one of his later pictures on TV, Topkapi from 1964, without knowing anything about him. It starred Melina Mercouri, whom Dassin later married. I liked the film, it was a rather adult heist film for a 12 or 13 year old. Peter Ustinov won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, his second in four years. I should watch it again sometime. It's been a while since I've seen it.

Richard Widmark plays Harry, an American living in London. He's a schemer, he's got plenty of ideas to make money, he's not good following through. Trouble is Harry's ideas always need a lot of someone else's cash, then they fail. Harry regularly lifts cash from his girlfriend, played by Gene Tierney, he never plays it back. He gets involved with a wrestling scheme and that will be the end of Harry. He's a stupid man who treats people like garbage. He deserves some payback and he gets it. Nice when a film pays off well in the end.

I watched both versions. Besides the different score there are a few scenes trimmed from the British film. It's a good number of short trims. There's a 111 minute version also. Both the 95 min and 100 min versions are in a Criterion Blu-ray set.

I liked the film but hated Harry. He's a weasel that teats people so poorly he deserves his just rewards. There's a good cast and Widmark stands out. He's makes it easy t hate him. The script is good, most everyone is a villain, some deserve their fate. I'd watch it again.

Friday Night Movies 991

Dark Intruder 1965 Written by Barré Lyndon, directed by Harvey Hart. Lyndon's real name was Alfred Edgar, he was a British guy who moved to Hollywood in 1940. He wrote a good number of films but I've only seen a handful. I did like Hangover Square, Man In The Attic and The Man Who Could Cheat Death. Harvey Hart directed several movies but he was mostly a TV director. He worked on a lot of shows, mostly just one episode. You might have seen his work on The Wild Wild West, Seaway, Ben Casey, Star Trek, T.H.E. Cat, Peyton Place, The Mod Squad, Mannix, The Starlost and a lot more. Hart directed 5 episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Dark Intruder was made as the pilot of a series called The Black Cloak. It was to replace The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as it was coming to an end. The Black Cloak didn't sell so the TV movie was padded out to 59 mins and released as a film. It was part of a double bill with William Castle's I Saw What You Did.

Leslie Nielsen plays a playboy and supernatural investigator in 1890 San Francisco. He gets involved in a strange murder case involving friends of his. Mark Richman plays the friend who's having some issues before his wedding. There's also someone murdering people, the killer leaves a statue as a calling card. The statue changes a bit after every killing, revealing more of the Sumerian demon each time.

I thought it was a fun bit of business. It has a nice supernatural story with a decent monster. It's short but there's a fair bit of story. I bought the BLU-Ray at the Kino Lorber sale that's just ending, I was glad I did. I'll watch it again someday and I'll also try to listen to the commentary some time.

Secret Of The Incas 1954 Based on The Legend Of The Incas by Sydney Boehm, screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Ranald MacDougall, directed by Jerry Hopper. An American adventure film that was set and filmed in Peru. The film spends a good bit of time at Machu Picchu. The scenery looks nice.

Charlton Heston plays American Harry Steele, a shady guide who lives in Cusco, Peru. He hopes to make a big score with a fabulous Inca treasure. Nicole Maurey is a Romanian defector who's on the run from Romanian officials. Lucky for Charlton the Romanian guy chasing her has a small plane, just the thing for Charlton to steal and fly to Machu Picchu so he can gather up the treasure and escape to the US.

Things don't work out too well for Charlton, local thug Thomas Mitchell makes himself a partner in the heist. Thomas was a tired old man who had a belly full of failure when he horns in on Charlton. Things get worse for him before the movie ends. When they get to Machu Picchu they meet Robert Young and some other scientists who are digging in the same tomb Charlton wants a crack at.

The Wikipedia and the IMDb have people saying the movie was an inspiration for Indiana Jones character. He wears a costume that could have inspired Indy but the character is not very much like Indy. He's a bit of a cheat who's mostly in it for himself. You can check out his fate, link in the title. You might enjoy it, especially if you like 50s adventure films. It's nice when they have a good budget and can film on location. I was glad to have picked up the Kino-Lorber DVD. I liked it and hope to watch it again sometime.

The People Next Door 1953

The People Next Door 1953 Based on the 1953 play Wearing The Pants by Zelda Davees, directed by John Harlow. No writer is credited on the film or on the Wikipedia. There is a credit on the film and the Wikipedia for Zelda Davees for writing the play. The IMDb lists Zelda as the only writer.

A bit of class struggle set during the WWII. An RAF pilot from an upper crust family is dating the daughter of a factory worker. The rich parents try to get the couple to break it up, even to the point of trying to bribe the father who is played by Jack Warner. It just makes him mad. The families bond a bit when the pilot is shot down in action.

It's a sentimental story that is pretty familiar. It's well enough made and the cast is fine but there's nothing special about it. A good solid 6 from me. I might watch it again sometime but it's doubtful.

Devil's Bait 1959

Devil's Bait 1959 Written by Peter Johnston and Diana Watson, directed by Peter Graham Scott.

A baker has a rat problem and the council rat catchers are on honeymoon. A phone operator gives him the name of Mr Love, a man who had done some rat catching in the past but mostly drinks nowadays. Mr Love comes by to kill some rats and prepares his poison in a broken bread loaf pan. He doesn't throwaway the loaf pan or even clean it and it gets used to make a loaf of bread.

Love pays the supreme price for his carelessness, he's killed in an accident on the way home. The police learn of his job at the bakery and head on over. Mr Frisby lies  and says he doesn't know anything. He later discovers the broken tin and smells the cyanide. He tries to find the loaf before someone eats it.

It's a bit dry but there's a decent story and a fairly good level of tension. I enjoyed it and would watch it again.

 

Stolen Face 1952

Stolen Face 1952 Story by Alexander Paal and Steven Vas, screenplay by Martin Berkeley and Richard Landau, directed by Terence Fisher. A Hammer Film production.

A love sick plastic surgeon called Ritter changes a lady criminal's face into the image of his lost love, a pianist called Alice. He marries Lily, the criminal lady, thinking he can change her ways. Foolish doctor. Lily doesn't change, she goes back to her wild ways and criminal activities. Alice comes back into Ritter's life and things get more complicated.

It was a good reminder not to marry a criminal. I saw it on YouTube, link above. You might like it. I liked the ending. Made me laugh.

The Camp On Blood Island 1958

The Camp On Blood Island 1958 Written by Jon Manchip White and directed by Val Guest. A Hammer film about a Japanese prisoner of war camp in British Malaya while it was occupied by Japan. The 12th most popular movie in the UK that year.

The Emperor announces Japan's surrender in August 1945. The commander of the Blood Island camp says he'll kill everyone in the camp if the Emperor surrenders. Lucky for the inmates he hasn't heard the news yet. The British soldiers have and they work to keep the news from the commander.

A solid script and a good cast. I enjoyed it and would watch it again someday. You can see it on YouTube, see link above, there is a sequel called The Secret of Blood Island.

Friday Night Movies 957

The Story Of Mankind 1957 Based on the 1921 novel of the same name by Hendrik Willem van Loon, screenplay by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett, directed by Irwin Allen.

The Great Court Of Outer Space puts the human's of Earth on trail for the invention of the Super H-Bomb. The court will decide to stop the bomb or or let the human's destroy themselves.

Defending the human's is The Spirit Of Man, played by Ronald Colman, prosecuting the human's is the Devil, Mr Scratch, played by Vincent Price. They travel through time and space to visit various famous people from many times and places.

John Carradine plays Khufu and there were many other stars in similar roles. The poster has a list of most of the actors in the film. It's an impressive list and certainly one of the reasons I picked up the DVD. Even from an early age I tended to follow certain actors and would watch films because they appeared in them. I'm still keeping an eye out for films with them, I've not seen them all.

Groucho Marx plays colonist Peter Minuit, his brothers Harpo and Chico are also in the film but they don't appear in a scene together. It was the last film for the fellows and their first color film. Harpo played Sir Isaac Newton and Chico played a monk.

Dennis Hopper plays Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie Wilson played Marie Antoinette. Having 44 year old Hedy Lamarr playing 19 year old Joan Of Arc was a bit of an odd choice. Peter Lorre only has two lines of dialog playing Emperor Nero but he does get to laugh a lot, while Rome burns.

The Devil and The Spirit play tit for tat with human accomplishments and failures. Eventually the Court Of Outer Space has to make a decision. They fail and push the decision on to the future. Hopefully we'll keep from destroying ourselves.

I enjoyed the film despite it not being that good. It's more interesting for what it is than for it's story. You can try it out on YouTube. You might like it, or not, doesn't matter, it's what it is.

Miami Connection 1987 Story by Richard Park and Y K Kim, screenplay by Joseph Diamond, directed by Richard Park (Park Woo-Sang) and Y K Kim.

Dragon Sound is a band that plays at clubs to make money so they can go to college. The Dragon's live together in a house near the college. Y K Kim is Mark, he teaches the band Taekwondo and plays rhythm guitar. Singer  Jane and guitarist John are dating and Jane's brother Jeff doesn't approve of the relationship.

Jeff has a gang of thug and his pal Yashito has his own gang of Miami Ninjas. The Ninja's steal a big supply of cocaine from some other guys. The drug dealers seem to disappear from the film.

The Dragon's replaced another band who are mad at getting fired, they try to beat up the club owner but he's good at martial arts and kicks the band's collective butts. The failed band members get Jeff's gang to attack Dragon Sound but that fails too. Jeff is determined to separate the couple and kidnaps a band member. Y K leads a rescue and Jeff is killed. Yashito brings his Miami Ninjas for some revenge. Of course the Dragon's prevail.

I enjoyed the film despite it's many weaknesses. The script is poor but not much worse than the average American made martial arts film. The acting is bad, poor Y K can hardly speak English and he still does better than some of the other actors. The stunts range from good to absolutely dreadful.

On the plus side Maximo Munzi, the cinematographer and editor, did a good job shooting the film and putting it together. It got into a few theaters in 1988 but failed to pull in the crowds and disappeared for a number of years. It cost about a million and didn't make much money back. Alamo Drafthouse re-released the film in 2010 and recently Vinegar Syndrome released the film on 4K and Blu-ray. I don't know that I need to buy one as I doubt I'm going to need watching it again.

Why Men Leave Home 1951

Why Men Leave Home 1951 Written by Kroger Babs, Mildred Horn and Erna Lazarus, directed by Erle C Kenton. Produced by Kroger Babs who also makes a bit of an appearance in the film. It's also called Secrets Of Beauty.

Richard Denning is a married man who's not happy with his wife. After 10 years and a couple of kids the romance has gone out of their marriage. Richard is eyeing his secretary. Julie Bishop is the wife and real life Hollywood make up man Ern Westmore is the make up artist who helps her lure her hubby back with a make over. There's 20 mins plus make up tutorial by Ern near the end of the film.

It's well enough made but it's still just a family drama. I'm glad I saw it, Kroger Babs is part of the Roadshow/Exploitation film world and a mentor to David C Friedman. That movement made a lot of interesting films, despite some of them being pretty poor.

5 Fingers 1952

5 Fingers 1952 Based on the 1949 novel Der Fall Cicero by Ludwig Carl Moyzish, screenplay by Michael Wilson and an uncredited Joseph L Mankiewicz, directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz. A British spy film set in 1944.

James Mason is a valet for a British Ambassador, he wants some cash and he approaches the Germans with some documents. They get real documents and they want more. Danielle Darrieux is a Countess who wanted to spy for the Germans but they didn't want her. She gets mixed up with James and his dreams of South America don't quite work out.

It's a bit slow in the pacing, there's a lot of talking. It was fairly entertaining despite not having anyone to root for, there's hardly anyone likeable. There are some good double crosses going on. I'd watch it again sometime. You can see a good copy of it on YouTube. Link in title.

The Crowded Day 1954

The Crowded Day 1954 Based on a story by John Paddy Carstairs and Moie Charles, screenplay by Talbot Rothwell, directed by John Guillermin. Released in the US under the ghastly title of Shop Soiled. A comedy with a serious side.

 

Joan Rice plays a shop girl at Bunting and Hobbs, a large multi floor department store in London. Joan is dating a co-worker played by John Gregson. She's not happy with him, when the movie opens he's failed to show up for their date, his excuse is he had to go to a meeting of his vintage car club. She breaks their engagement and they spend the rest of the movie getting back together.

On a more serious note, Josephine Griffin plays another store employee with relationship problems. She's desperately trying to find her fiance. He left his mother's house two months ago for a job and Josephine hasn't heard from him since. The mother hates Josephine and won't tell her where her son has gone. The personal manager finds out that she's pregnant and gives her two week notice. Josephine steals some strychnine tablets and leaves the store. She spends the rest of the movie deciding what to do. Josephine's scenes contrast with the more carefree scenes of her co-workers. The movie ends on a high note for her.

The other characters have small story arcs that fill in the spaces around the two main story lines. It's more of a drama that I care for but I enjoyed it. There's a good script, a director I like, and some good actors in the cast: Freda Jackson, Patricia Marmont, George Woodbridge, Sonia Holm, Rachel Roberts, Vera Day, Thora Hird, Arthur Hill, Prunella Scales, Sydney Tafler, Edward Chapman, Richard Wattis and Sidney James. You can check out a nice copy on YouTube.