PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

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.

The Big Chance 1957

The Big Chance 1957 Based on the novel The Big Chance by Pamela Barrington, screenplay by Barbara S Harper and Peter Graham Scott, directed by Peter Graham Scott.

William Russell is a travel agent, he's not a happy guy, he doesn't care much for his job, he's not happy at home. He gets a chance to steal a big pile of cash and a ticket to South America. The flight get delayed and William meets a woman, they have a fling.

The ending is a bit weak but the film is good on average. I'd watch it again but not for a while.

Stormy Crossing 1958

Stormy Crossing 1958 Based on the story Black Tide by Sid Harris and Lou Dyer, screenplay by Brock Williams, directed by C M Pennington-Richards, produced by Monty Berman. The film was released in the US under the title Black Tide.

John Ireland is training his brother to swim the English Channel, Sheldon Lawrence plays the brother. Joy Webster is also swimming the channel, she's having an affair with a married man played by Derek Bond. On the big day someone comes along in a speedboat, attacking Sheldon and killing Joy. It's believed to be an accident but Sheldon turns up and the killer is revealed.

I found a copy on YouTube. I thought it was a decent story but there was way too much swimming for me.

The Big Night 1951

The Big Night 1951 Based on the novel Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin, screenplay by Joseph Losey, Stanley Ellin, Hugo Butler and Ring Lardner Jr, directed by Joseph Losey.

Pretty much a family drama with a gun wielding young man. Nothing much special about it. Pretty much average. Doubtful I'll bother watching it again.

The Black Castle 1952

The Black Castle 1952 Story and Screenplay by Jerry Sackheim, directed by Nathan H Juran. The first film in the Universal Horror Collection Volume 6. Four films on 4 Blu-rays with commentaries and a few random extras.

Jerry's film before this one was The Strange Door, another odd and entertaining film. Can't say I recognize any of his previous dozen films and I don't think I've seen much of the TV he wrote in the 50s.

The Black Castle was Nathan's first film as a director, he'd been an art director on a couple of films in the 40s. He won an Oscar for How Green Was My Valley back in 1942 and a nomination for Razor's Edge in 1946. I know I haven't seen the latter but not sure on the former. I might have seen it on TV when I was a teen.

Nathan didn't win any Oscars for his film direction but he won the hearts and minds of young SF and Horror fans from the mid 50s on. In 1957 he directed The Deadly Mantis, 20 Million Miles To Earth and The Brain From Planet Arous. In 1958 he followed that with The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad and Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman. In the 60s there was Jack The Giant Killer and First Men On The Moon. There's some entertaining films there. I wish I had seen more of his crime and western films.

That's Stephen McNally, Richard Green, Rita Corday and Nancy Valentine. Richard plays Sir Ronald Burton, he's investigating the disappearance of his friends. They'd been to see Count von Bruno, played by Stephen, and disappeared. The Count has a grudge against the British after they sent African natives to attack him. He's killed Sir Ronald's pals and plans to put an end to Ronald's life.

Rita plays the Count's wife Countess Elga von Bruno and Sir Ronald plans to take her with him when he escapes the Count's clutches. John Hoyt and Michael Pate play the Count's pals and they are a scummy lot. No one will miss them when they wind up dead. Boris Karloff plays Dr Meissen, Lon Chaney Jr plays Gargon, the Count's servant.

There's plenty of scheming and running about with occasional fights and murders. I first saw the film in 2015 as part of a DVD set of Boris Karloff films. I thought it was good enough to upgrade to Blu-ray. The Shout Factory transfer is fine and there's a good commentary by Tom Weaver and a still gallery.

The 13th Letter 1951

The 13th Letter 1951 Based on the French film Le Corbeau, screenplay by Howard Koch, directed by Otto Preminger. The original 1943 film has a bit of a troubled past, it was made by a German company after the occupation of France. It was thought to demean the French people and banned until 1969.

Michael Rennie plays a doctor who works at a hospital in a small town in Quebec. Locations were filmed in the town of St Hilaire, just a few miles from Montreal. Someone in the town is writing poison pen letters to Michael and other locals. Michael gets accused of having an affair with another doctor's wife, some of the other people's letters mention him. The town is upset and the town officials haven't a clue as to the writer. Michael does some serious detecting when a young man in his care commits suicide. He'd gotten a note that said Michael wasn't telling him he is going to die from cancer. He had no cancer in his body.

Eventually Michael figures out who it was and it ends sadly. I thought it was more a drama than a film noir as some call it. It was entertaining enough but I doubt I would need to watch it over again.

The Blue Lamp 1950

The Blue Lamp 1950 Original treatment by Jan Read and Ted Willis, screenplay by T E B Clarke, directed by Basil Dearden. I've been picking up random Basil Dearden films and occasionally getting around to watching them. This I just got today and I decided to plop it on. Turned out I was quite happy to have picked it up.

Jack Warner plays PC Dixon and would go on to play PC Dixon in the 1955 TV series Dixon Of Dock Green. He would play the part for 21 years, he was 80 years old when he stopped. Sadly most of the 400 plus episodes were wiped by the BBC. No one was making audio recordings of those shows and it's doubtful that the BBC is going to make animated versions. You can see the few random episodes left on YouTube if you go look.

In The Blue Lamp Dixon is nearing retirement when he offers a young constable a place to stay. Jimmy Hanley plays the young man, he had been in a couple of films with Jack Warner, Holiday Camp and Here Come The Huggetts. Holiday Camp is quite good and worth a look. The Huggetts trilogy that followed is a bit more light weight but still worth a gander.

Dirk Bogart is a young hoodlum who pals around with a guy called Spud. They rob people and places and they have a general disregard for others. They're disrespected by the local villains for their use of violence and menace. Dirk has a 17 year old girlfriend who moves in with him. He recruits her to work in a theater the gang wants to rob. The night of the robbery PC Dixon confronts Dirk as he's exiting the robbery scene. Dirk fires the gun and Dixon goes down, he would later die. The police step up the investigation. Dirk and his girlfriend slowly fall apart as the investigation draws closer and closer. It's only a matter of time before the Yard can slip the noose around Dirk's neck and he's already feeling it tighten.

There's plenty of interesting characters and there's a good cast to really bring them to life. You might know some of them: Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee, Peggy Evans, Bruce Seton and Clive Morton where the ones I knew. Their stages are the streets around the Padding Green Police Station, the film makers were given access to the station and even parts of Scotland Yard. There's a nice short film in the Bonus material that compares the locations in the film to the modern day locations. Many of the buildings in the area have gone over the years but there's still lots left.

I really enjoyed the movie despite being a bit of a police fantasy. There were many problems with the police force at the time, by the mid 70s much of it was revealed to the totally unsurprised public. I watched the Kino Lorber DVD and it looked quite nice. There's a couple commentaries that proved to be interesting, that location featurette, a nice BBC radio essay and 3 trailers.

British Noir III

Another Noir film collection from Kino Lorber. Five old British films on two discs. The films look alright but they are arguably noir. The only one I had already seen was The Frightened Lady.

The Frightened Lady 1940 Based on a 1931 play by Edgar Wallace, screenplay by Edward Dryhurst and an uncredited Robert Stevenson, directed by George King.

Helen Haye is Lady Lebanon and the head of the Lebanon family, her son is Lord Lebanon and he's played by Marius Goring. They live in Marks Priory which Lady Lebanon has decided needs some renovations. Patrick Barr plays an architect named Richard Ferraby, he's come to look the place over. Penelope Dudley Moore plays a cousin called Isla Crane. Lady Lebanon wants Isla to marry her son but Isla isn't that keen and neither is his Lordship. Lady L is a strong believer in blood lines and not interested in polluting them with inferior blood.

When the chauffeur gets strangled the police come visiting. George Merritt plays the Detective Inspector and Ronald Shiner plays the Sergeant. Their first suspicion is that the husband of a local woman could be the murder, the wife and the chauffeur were having an affair and she intended to leave the husband for the chauffeur. Something suspicious puts their attention on the family's doctor but he soon turns up strangled.

The story gets more and more complicated as the police dig into the family history, eventually they figure out who done it. It's a fairly good thriller but hardly noir. There's a bit of humor and romance mixed in with the reminder that marrying close family members isn't that good an idea, even if it's keeping the bloodline pure. You can check it out on YouTube in the link above.

Brass Monkey 1948 Based on a play by Alec Coppel, he wrote the story for the film with Thornton Freeland, additional dialogue by William Freshman, Vernon Sylvaine and Robert Buckland, directed by Thornton Freeland. It's Carole Landis' 2nd last film, it was filmed in late 1947, but not released in the US until 1951. A troubled woman she committed suicide in 1948 at the age of 29.

Another one that's not noir, more a comedy crime musical set in the world of radio. Carole plays the fiance of a guy who's smuggling a brass monkey into the UK. Thinking the piece is of no value she gives it away. Turns out that some rich guy is willing to pay a large pile for the monkey and it's two pals. The crook at the heart of the transaction won't stop at murder in getting that third figure back. Herbert Lom and some other guy work for the crook and provide the rough stuff.

Terry-Thomas appears in a series of radio bits and sings a comedy song. There's a lot of music, especially in the last act when the radio show is going on. It's barely average to me. I wound up speeding through some of the musical numbers and the comedy bits had barely any laughs.

Third Time Lucky 1949 Written by Gerald Butler and directed by Gordon Perry. More an anti gambling melodrama than a noir film.

Glynis Johns plays a young woman who gets involved with a gambler that thinks she brings him luck. He takes her to gambling places and wins a bit of money. She slowly falls for him but he's stickily business. He does poorly when she's not there and winds up owing a lot of money. That gets him shot and as the movie opens we see Glynis telling the police what lead up to that.

I was bored through part of it and turned up the speed. Not a film I would bother with again.

Tall Headlines 1952 Based on a novel of the same name by Audrey Erskine Lindop, she wrote the screenplay with husband Dudley Leslie, directed by Terence Young. Terence would go on to direct Dr No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. I've seen those more than once, most of his other work, not at all.

Totally a weepy miserable melodrama about a family nearly destroyed when their son gets charged for murder and executed. It goes on and on until there's a brief glimmer of hope in the last minute. The only thing I liked seeing was Sid James as a neighbor, sadly, he only pops in in that last minute. Not one I cared that much for.

Breakaway 1956 Original story by Manning O'Brine, screenplay by Norman Hudis, cinematography by Monty Berman, directed by Henry Cass. A nearly noir thriller in the same vein as The Saint or Tom's long running series about The Falcon. Some might remember him from three of Val Lewton's films, Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie and The Seventh Victim.

Tom plays a private eye who winds up in the middle of a smuggling operation gone south. The always entertaining Michael Balfour plays Tom's sidekick Barney and Honor Blackman plays the sister of a kidnapped woman called Diane.

The criminals want to use Diane as a bait to get a special formula for hardened steel. Diane's boyfriend Johnny was supposed to deliver the formula to his brother, when he stops on the road to see what's going on with a crashed car, he's beaten up and knocked out, the crooks take Diane.

Tom and Barney come along soon after the crooks bolt and Tom takes a sock on the chin for waking Johnny. Johnny bolts and Barney finds Diane's purse. Honor comes calling and things get more and more complicated.

I enjoyed it, it ties with The Frightened Lady for best of the set. There's a nice mix of mystery, action and humor. You can watch it on YouTube in the link above. It's one I would watch again.

The Cruel Tower 1956

The Cruel Tower 1956 Based on the novel of the same name by William Brown Hartley, screenplay by Warren Douglas, directed by Lew Landers. Lew has over 300 directing credits on the IMDb in a career that started in 1934 and ended in 1963. I suspect he would have continued on but he died but he died in 1962. 

I noticed that The Cruel Tower had Mari Blanchard in it so I put it on. I'd just seen her in She Devil. John Ericson is riding the rails, three other men ride the same boxcar, they decide to rob John and in the scuffle he's tossed off the train. Peter Whitney finds John and puts him in the house trailer that belongs to Charles McGraw.

That's Charles and John up a chimney stack, way high up in the air. Charles is a steeplejack, he takes his crew to various job sites in the state to work on water towers and other tall structures. Steve Brodie, Peter and Alan Hale Jr all work for Charles, Mari is his girlfriend, at least on the road, he's got a wife at home.

Steve has been seeing Charles wife in secret. After Peter spills the beans Steve dies in a fall from the water tower. Things get worse when John decides to make a play for Mari and Charles finds out. Things don't go so well for Charles in the end.

Fairly well made drama but nothing special about it. You can see it on YouTube if you're so inclined. Link in the title above.

Jirocho Fuji 1 1959 & 2 1960

Jirocho Fuji 1 1959 Written by Fuji Yahiro and directed by Kazuo Mori. Kazuo directed over 90 films between 1037 and 1976, he directed a bit of TV after that, finally retiring in 1980. He passed away 9 years later at the age of 78. He directed 10 episodes of the Zatoichi TV series from 1974 and three of the Zatoichi films with Shintarô Katsu. 

Jirocho Fuji is a Japanese action film about the legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho, the biggest Boss in Shimizu. There are dozen's of movies about him. He's played here by Kazuo Hasegawa, who started acting in 1927 and retired in 1968, he passed away in 1984 at the age of 76. I think the only other movies I've seen him in are Gate Of Hell and The Loyal 47 Ronin. It's hard to find copies of Japanese films before the 60s with subtitles.

This film takes place in the middle part of his life, he's a raising boss in the city of Shimizu. He's a much more level headed man than the other yakuza bosses and one less prone to cheat his customers and murder his fellow yakuza to gain an advantage. He'll fight when he has to and he wins. He's got to fight a couple of other bosses who want his territory.

Raizô Ichikawa plays a friend of his called Nikichi and Shintarô Katsu plays his one-eyed best pal Ishimatsu. Shintarô adds some humor to the movie as his character is a bit of drunk with a tendency to get into fights. Lucky for him he's a good fighter. The action scenes are fairly good, plenty of sword waving and people slashing.

The copy on YouTube isn't very good but it's watchable. There's a link in the title above. Same as the sequel below.

Jirocho Fuji 2 The Chivalrous 1960 Written by Fuji Yahiro and directed by Kazuo Mori.

More yakuza action between Jirocho and other rival yakuza gangs. Some of these guys are absolute scum. Nice to see them put down.

I was entertained by both films but wished the video quality was better.