PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

The Medusa Touch 1978

The Medusa Touch is a 1978 film with Richard Burton. Jack Gold is the director, John Birley wrote the screenplay, Peter Van Greenaway wrote the novel of the same name. As the movie opens Richard is attacked in his apartment, he's nearly killed and he spends the rest of the movie bandaged in the hospital. Inspector Brunel, on a working visit from the French Police, is assigned the case. Lee Remick plays Richard's psychiatrist, she fills Brunel in on Richard's delusion. Richard is a guy who's got some mental issues. He believes that he can cause accidents with his mind. Turns out he can, he kills plenty of people and the movie ends with next next target being a nuclear power station. A good thriller, plenty of destruction and a good cast. Glad I saw it. I got a copy in a 4 pack of films called Appointment With Terror: The 70s. It was under 10 bucks delivered to me. I had Hands Of The Ripper and Countess Dracula but it was still cheaper to buy the set than buying the two films separately. Turns out that HOTR and CD had commentaries that weren't on the DVDs I already had.

Through The Looking Glass 1976

Through The Looking Glass is a 1976 adult film that really isn't much of an adaptation of the Lewis Carrol book. It's directed by Jonas Middleton who co-wrote the script with Ron Wertheim and David Maryla.

A woman has a magic mirror in her attic, he dead dad haunts the mirror, he brings his daughter into the mirror for some bangin'. Catherine Erhardt plays the woman and Jamie Gillis plays the dad. It's somewhat creepy and nasty in the mirror world. There isn't much sex in the film and some of it's got a rather violent streak. The story doesn't end well for anyone but Jamie. Reminds me not to buy a magic mirror. They can fuck you up, big time.

People on the IMDb say it's rather more interesting than I found it. Someone had lent me their DVD and after seeing it, I didn't feel I needed to see it again. Lucky me, saved a few smackaroonies.

Science Fiction Sunday 555

I watched the whole series of The Guardians through the day. It's a 1971 British TV show about Britain being under totalitarian rule. It's slightly in the future, the 80s, so it's slightly science fiction. It's created by Rex Firkin and Vincent Tilsley. Vincent wrote the first episode and Hugh Whitemore, John Bowen, Monty Poole, Arden Winch and Jonathan Hales wrote the rest. Directing is by Robert Tronson, James Goddard, Tony Wharmby, Mike Newell, Brian Parker, Derek Bailey and Moira Armstrong. The only one out of all of those people was Mike Newell.

England has had a bit of a financial and political collapse, the General has taken over. He runs things through his own people, he rarely appears in public. The Guardians are British version of Gestapo. Their main enemy in the country are the communists, they get a lot of blame for just about anything bad that happens. News is restricted, people are arrested for speaking out, some disappear, never to be seen again. The Queen and family have left the country and they refuse to return until democracy is restored.

We follow various people around, the Prime Minster and his son, a Captain in The Guardians and his wife, a psychiatrist and his wife, there's a lot of character development in just those 6 people. Of course they affect dozens of characters. Some get killed. There's a resistance in the Quarmby's, they don't know who any of the other cells are, they act alone and more people die.

I knew some of the cast. Gwyneth Powell plays the wife of the Guardians' captain. I most recently saw her in Man Down, playing Greg Davies's mum. She was pretty funny and she's OK in The Guardians. It was only her second TV role, she would have plenty more.

Cyril Luckham plays the Prime Minister. He's been in all sorts of TV programs, I've seen him in Doctor Who playing a character called The Guardian and the White Guardian. He was in a couple of episodes of The Famous Five series from 1978.

That's Graham Crowden from the episode The Dirtiest Man In The World. He is pretty dirty and smelly. Graham has been in all sorts of TV over his 58 year career. That's a Quamby lying there with an umbrella stuck through him. That's Graham's work. The Quamby deserved it, he was going to have Graham killed after he had gotten what he wanted out of him. John Rhys-Davies plays a Guardian soldier.

All in all The Guardians was kind of interesting but why too talky. It's got 13 episodes of about 50 mins each and they're packed with dialog. In the 2nd last episode Gwyneth and the psychiatrist's wife have a conversation for half the show. Everyone discusses everything but much of the conversation doesn't amount to much. I would have preferred a shorter series with a bit more action. The other issue hangs on the lack of a second series. The show ends unresolved. I would have liked it better if it had been a complete story. Glad to have seen it and it seems kind of pertinent now.

Friday Night Movies 755

Our first movie is Killer Crocodile, a 1989 horror film featuring a giant crocodile. It's Italian and it's filmed in the Dominican Republic. Fabrizio De Angelis is the director and he wrote the script with Dardano Sacchetti. Fabrizio uses the name Larry Ludman in the film's credits. We watched a nice looking Blu-ray. Turns out I had seen the movie back in 1997 but I had forgotten most of it so it was almost new.

Anthony Crenna is one of a group of Eco-warriors visiting Dominican Republic, they are looking for a reason that the local waterway is poisonous. Van Johnson is the Mayor and Bill Wohrman is a villainous American who's dumping radioactive waste in the swamp. That crap makes a croc a giant man munching prick who slaughters the group one by one. Van hires a local hunter to blast the croc, he doesn't do so well and it's up to Anthony to do the big beastie some harm. Anthony is the son of Richard Crenna.

I laughed a lot but the movie is hardly a comedy. Some of the acting isn't that good but the giant crocodile is fairly descent. Sadly it doesn't have enough onscreen chomping action. They cut away on several scenes just as the croc gets up close. There was a big laugh in the room when the beastie got done in. I wouldn't need to pick up one for me. The Blu-ray has the sequel and we are contemplating that for next week. No one wanted to double dip.

The Vineyard also came out in 1989. James Hong stars in, co-wrote and co-directed this goofy low-budget horror movie. James has a problem, he needs blood to keep alive. He's got a dungeon filled with people chained up, ready to draw a pint or two. He's also got some zombies buried in the woods near his island home. He lures some idiot actors to his island, they think he's going to hire them for a movie, he just wants their blood and he doesn't care if they live or die. He's a dick alright. That's James in his lab in the photo below.

Robert Ito pops up in a short scene, Michael Wong plays one of the people who've come to visit. I didn't recognize anyone else from the cast. It's about average and more fun than the crocodile movie. I don't think I need a copy. I might never get back to it.

The Happiest Days Of Your Life 1950

The Happiest Days Of Your Life is a 1950 British comedy with Margaret Rutherford and Alastair Sim. That's two good reasons to take a gander and the guys behind the scenes are favorites too. It's produced by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat from a play by John Dighton. Frank directed the film and he co-wrote the screenplay with John. Frank and Sidney went on produce the St Trinian's films and you know what a fan of those I am. The poster for THDOYL is decorated with Ronald Searle drawings. He was responsible for the drawings of the St Trinian's girls that lead to that series.

Alastair plays the head of Nutbourne College, it's a boys school that's just getting ready for the students to return as we pop in to have a look around. They find out at the last minute that another school will be billeted at Nutbourne. The staff are poleaxed when a bunch of women teachers from St Swithin's Girl's School arrive. Even more formidable is the head played by Margaret. There's a scramble for power at the top of the heap and Margaret gets a bit of the upper hand. The girls get the dorms and the school's housekeeping staff depart. It's a mess and the Board of Education is no help.

It seems a never ending parade of noise with 217 students turned up to 11 crammed into that small school. There are even more complications with Alastair trying to get inspected for a job at a better college and Margaret getting a visit from some parents who need to be convinced that the school is running smoothly. There's plenty of malarkey, slapstick and snide dialog.

The cast is fun, Guy Middleton, Joyce Grenfell, Edward Rigby, Richard Wattis, Laurence Naismith, George Cole, and Stringer Davis were some that I knew from other films. Joyce would play a similar character in the St Trinian's films, she had to go undercover at St Trinian's once and almost didn't make it out alive. Richard would play the Deputy Director of Schools in St Trinian's series, his character quaked in fear at the mention of school's name, with good reason.

I really enjoyed The Happiest Days Of Your Life but I'm such a fan of all those people it was inevitable I'd like it. Not that others don't seem to like it, the IMDb score is a healthy 7.3 with 1307 votes. Sadly, there is no US DVD available, I got one from the UK. All caveats apply.

Smashing Time 1967

I really enjoyed Smashing Time, a 1967 British musical comedy with Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. They play a couple of gals from the north of England who come to London to see Swinging London. Periodically the gals sing songs in a voice over while the action continues on screen and they are proper musical type songs, observational ones that move the story ahead.

George Melly wrote the screenplay and Desmond Davis directed. George only wrote 2 films, this one and another called Take A Girl Like You in 1970. I haven't seen that movie but I have seen George acting in Demob, a 1993 mini-series set after WW2. George was a jazz singer and Demob is about a couple of jazz musicians wanting to get some BBC radio action. Martin Clunes and Griff Rhys Jones play the musicians. I picked it up cheap because of those two guys.

Desmond is probably best known for directing the 1981 Clash Of The Titans. He only directed 7 theatrical features, starting with Girl With Green Eyes in 1964. That film also stars Rita and Lynn. Desmond directed several TV movies and a good number of TV episodes. I can't say I've seen any of it except for the 1983 TV movie The Sign Of Four and an episode of The Agatha Christie Hour.

Rita and Lynn come into London on the train. Lynn is smitten with the idea of being a big star. She's read all about Swinging London and Carnaby Street but she's hardly hip. Rita is even more unhip but she's practical and protective of her friend. Lynn is shallow and oblivious to what's going on around her, she treats Rita rather poorly.

Lynn meets up with hip photographer Michael York, he spots her on the street and takes her picture. It runs in the paper the next day as an example of a fashion travesty. Of course, Lynn gets instant fame and becomes a trend setting pop star. Her song, I'm So Young, is a wonderful poke at youth culture that reminds me of Julie Brown's I'm A Blonde. Julie's on-screen persona is very like Lynn's character but with a bit more sass.

Rita has hurdle after hurdle placed in front of her but she too becomes famous for 15 minutes when Michael uses her as a model. Everywhere Rita goes she causes chaos. There's a massive mess created in a cafe, an art gallery and in a shop that only sells pie. Their fame peaks and the girls head for home.

I really enjoyed their trip to London and all the chaos. There's plenty of location shots that were fun to see. It's a nice combo of jokes and slapstick. I enjoyed the heck out of it. I picked up the Kino Lorber Blu-Ray during a sale and it was well worth it. The image is nice. I also enjoyed the commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger. She had lots of info and interesting stuff to say. I'll certainly watch it again someday.

Don't Bother To Knock 1961

Don't Bother To Knock is a 1961 British film that's based on Clifford Hanley's 1959 novel of the same name. It was titled Why Bother To Knock in the US. The screenplay is by Denis Cannan and Frederic Gotfurt, additional dialog is by Frederic Raphael, the director is Cyril Frankel.

Richard Todd is a travel agent who's always on the pull. When he loses his key a friend gives him a bunch of copies with name tags. Richard hands them out on his trip around Europe. After he gets home all those ladies start showing up at his flat. Elke Sommer is one of the ladies, Nicole Maurey is another, June Thorburn is Richard's girlfriend. John Le Mesurier is the only other actor I knew. He's always enjoyable to watch.

It's kind of funny but there are no big laughs, at least for me. I'm also not much of a Richard Todd fan, this isn't make me like him any more than I did. I might watch it again.

Sword Of Vengeance 2015

Sword Of Vengeance is a 2015 British film set in 1066. It's dark, dirty and filled with stabbing and bashing. Nothing much to recommend it for, there's way too much of that quick cut fighting for me and when that isn't going on there's plenty of slow motion. Nearly everyone's covered in mud and most of them die. Lucky for me the Blu-ray was only a buck at the local Dollar Tree. Quarterly they have batches of DVDs and BRs in for the deal of the week. Most of the movies are a few years old and often not that great. Like this one.

My Learned Friend 1943

My Learned Friend is Will Hay's last movie, it came out in 1943. Angus MacPhail and John Dighton wrote the screenplay and Basil Dearden and Will Hay directed. Will got cancer and he didn't work in films anymore. It's too bad, it's one of my favorites of Will's films.

That's Claude Hulbert, Mervyn Johns and Will Hay, left to right. Will's a shady barrister, we first meet him in court where he talks his way out of trouble, Claude is the barrister trying to convict him. Mervyn is a forger who had Will for his defense. Will had lost that case and Mervyn went to jail. Now he's out and he tells Will and Claude he's interested in executing those who put him behind bars. At first he convinces Will he's joking but then he sends Will a newspaper with a story about the very same Judge at the trail being drowned in a river. The note from Mervyn asks if the judge fell or was pushed.

For some reason Claude joins Will in trying to warn the other victims before Mervyn gets his hands on them. They aren't very successful and there are 3 more murders. Now Mervyn is after Claude and Will. There's plenty of running about and activity with the trio winding up inside Big Ben. Mervyn has rigged the clock to blow up boxes of dynamite under the Houses of Parliament. At one point they've all crawled out onto the face of the clock. Lucky the Bobbies arrive to save Will and Claude from death.

It's nicely dark and there's a great mix of crime and comedy. Some say that it was the template for future, darker Ealing comedies like The Lady Killers and Kind Hearts and Coronets. There's plenty of killing and some of the murders are rather inventive. Will and Claude are fun together and Mervyn does a nice murderous lunatic. There's plenty of other enjoyable characters for them to interact with, their dialog is entertaining and so their physical comedy. There's some action and one of the better bar room brawls that isn't in a western. It would have been nice to have several more Will Hay comedies that were as good as this. It wasn't too be so I'll have to be happy with the lot I have. Glad I picked this up, I'll run it again.

Classic British Cinema Crime Collection

Classic British Cinema Crime Collection is a 4 movie collection of British Crime films. Three of the films were produced by Edward J Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger. The Danzigers produced a lot of films and TV Shows over the years. They were most prolific in the 1950s and 1960s. All the films are in the hour long range so they don't have any time to waste.

Night Train To Inverness 1960 I was curious to read that this movie was the film debut of Dennis Waterman, he was 7 at the time. I've mostly seen his adult TV work, The Sweeney, Minder, and more recently New Tricks. Mark Grantham wrote the screenplay and Ernest Morris was the director. I didn't see anything in the few writing credits Mark has listed on the IMDb. Ernest I do better by, I've seen the William Tell episodes he directed, the one episode of The Saint and my personal favorite Five Have A Mystery To Solve. His last movie was The Return Of Mr Moto in 1965. That's the film that features Henry Silva as Mr Moto. I know it's more a curiosity than a good film but I still got through to the end. I have a copy of Ernest's 1962 children's program Masters Of Venus in my Wish List. It mixes space travel and Atlantic mythology. It's sad, at least to me, that there are hardly any posters or marketing material for these movies on the internet.

The story is about a young boy, Dennis, who's just getting out of hospital after a diabetes problem. He's now got to take insulin twice a day or he'll have serious issues and die. Dennis and his mom, played by Sylvia Francis, live with her mother, played by Irene Arnold. She's a controlling monster. The father, played by Norman Wooland, has been in prison for stealing some money. He's written every week but not heard anything back, turns out Irene has been destroying the mail that comes for Sylvia. She won't even let Norman see his kid.

Norman picks up Dennis from school and takes him on the train to Inverness. He leaves false clues and asks a woman he knows, Jane Hylton, to come along as cover. Jane's stupidly in love with him but he's not interested when he's made aware. Norman's also not aware that Dennis is a diabetic, he plies the kid with ice cream and candy. Dennis goes into a coma and spends a lot of the movie flopped over. Lucky for him Jane gets fed up with Norman and gets off the train. When she sees the newspaper about the story she calls the police and they get to Dennis in time. For some reason Sylvia tells her mother off and gets back together with Norman. It's a decent thriller with good characters and it kept me interested to the end. Production is TV quality but they do OK with the small budget. Probably watch it again someday.

The Pursuers 1961 Entertaining story about getting vengeance on a Nazi scumbag. It was written by Brian Clemens and David Nicholl, Godfrey Grayson is the director. Brian has some great titles on his IMDb credit page. David has very little. Godfrey has a fair number of credits but I can't recall seeing more than one or two titles. Cyril Shaps plays Luther, an ex-Nazi who has escaped and set up a new life in England. That's him in the picture on the right. He's been in plenty of TV and films over a career that started in 1955 and lasted until 2003 when he passed away at age 79. I remember him from a couple of different roles on Midsomer Murders and I see he was in an episode of The Young Ones. Wow, huh.

In The Pursuers Cyril plays a nervous man who's been found out by the Nazi hunter on the DVD cover. That's Francis Matthews and he's come after Luther because he was a former Auschwitz commandant. Luther can't get any help from his ex-Nazi pals. I laughed when one of them told him united we fall and divided we stand. Luther tries to run away but Francis has destroyed his passport. He takes refuge with a call girl who offers to help him. It doesn't turn out too well for Luther in the end. It wasn't a surprise. I thought it was a pretty good thriller that had a pretty topical story. It's a nice reminder that Nazi's are scum. Good cast and decent production. I'd watch it again.

Return Of A Stranger 1961 Cyril Shaps returns to my small screen, this time he's as horrible a person as any young woman could expect to find stalking her. The Danziger Brothers produced this one with Max Varnel directing and Brian Clemens writing the script. John Ireland is married to Susan Stephan, they live in a nice house on that street above. Cyril is a handy man at the orphanage that Susan lived in as a 14 year old. It was there that Cyril raped the young woman. He was send off to prison, now he's out, he wants to restart the relationship that's all in his head. He causes great problems for the family but they get the prick in the end. Good thriller with some good actors in the cast. Worth a look in my eyes.

Strip Tease Murder 1961 The last of the Danziger productions in the set, the script is by Paul Tabori, Ernest Morris is the director. I liked Paul's 1953 film Spaceways but didn't care much for his Four Sided Triangle film. A young stripper is killed by a crook, she was the wife of the nightclub's compere and comedian. The crook hired a crazy electronics expert to rig a microphone with plenty of juice to do the girl in, problem is he got the wrong girl. There was a backstage switch at the last minute and the crazy man juiced her. He didn't even care, he's that way out. John Hewer plays the compere, he sets out to find out why his wife was killed after the real target lets something slip. He dogs his way through the clues left behind and eventually figures out what's happened. The police need proof and our guy gets that too. My favorite of the four, there's a nice bunch of characters and a good story. The baddie gets his in the end and that's it for the day. Worth a look.