The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas 1957 I saw it on tv yesterday . Terrific film with a great cast which included Peter Cushing and Forest Tucker . The film had very interesting take on on the Abominable Snowman.
The Terminal Man (1974) There was one line in here that made me think I must have seen this before now. Just that one line, though. So there is this guy, who on seemingly random occasions suffers fits of madness, in which he becomes a homicidal maniac. Doctors decide to implant a computer chip in him along with several electrodes that will stimulate his pleasure centers when a 'fit' occurs.
During the scene in the operating room, I identified with the procedure they used to determine exactly what the electrodes were stimulating. I went through a similar procedure, in which the doctors by stimulating certain areas in the right hemisphere, the one where the blood clot had occurred, so long ago, to find areas that were associated with the involuntary movement on the left side of my body. But that was not the part that resonated.
So, they implant this system in the guy, & test it, by chemically forcing a 'fit' to see if the system worked, which it did. And, because they are monitoring the thing, they realize that he is hiving increased frequency of 'fits' because his subconscious has figured out that it can force the stimulating of the pleasure centers by causing the 'fits'! So, this computer guy runs a projection that tells him that eventually, the poor guy will have nonstop 'fits' so that his pleasure centers will be continuously stimulated. Too late, because the guy had just walked out of the hospital!
The Crimson Kimono (1959) NOIR ALLEY. Watched it a week ago, and have forgotten too much already. Los Angeles, as I recall, two cops, one Caucasian, the other of Japanese descent. A stripper has been murdered, and they are investigating. Muller called this a "buddy cop" film, as I recall. I think this is the 1st time I have seen this, so, that is good. The two cops are also competing for the affections of one woman. Good film!
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) i AM NOT MUCH FOR MUSICALS, unless they are comedy 1st & musical 2nd. I had wanted to see this for a while, & finally, it was a prime-time movie on TCM, along with comments before and after. Prior to this, the closest I had been to this film, was A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. I cheated, though, because I fast forwarded through some of the dance scenes. While this was a musical comedy, it seemed musical 1st, comedy, 2nd. So, the setting is the last few days of silent films, and this man & woman team, have just finished a film-- but the producers decide to remake it a musical, seeing that sound was 'in' & 'silent' was out. But the leading lady's voice, which had been irrelevant in the silent era, was not that of a leading lady. I thought it was a screech, though the closed captions said 'squeaky' in describing it.
Recently watched The Ladykillers, with Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lomm, Jack Warner and the sweet old lady Mrs Lopsided (Mrs Wilberforce.) Brilliant comedy classic.
Literally just got finished watching Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow again, probably for the first time in years too. It's a kitschy, high budget unapologetic homage to the Hammer horror films, which is obvious since Christopher Lee himself has a rather memorable cameo role. Back in those days, Burton knew how to make a movie about some rather cruel beheadings feel like a hammy action film with enough fun spooky imagery slapped on for us 90's Goth kids to get antsy over.
As far as new movies go, I watched As Above So Below on Netflix the other day and while it wasn't spectacular, it was a fairly well done "found footage" film. I think I mostly stuck with it because the actress was lovely to look at.....until she got covered in blood, that is.
Even though it's a contemporary 70s movie, it doesn't seem dated. Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow (who just passed away in March) and director Sydney Pollack all make this a great movie. One of my favorites.
Sword-and-sandal epic that messes around with history and mythology. Begins at the end of the Trojan War, as Menelaus is about to take Helen back to Sparta. Our muscular hero is a Spartan warrior, who winds up with Helen in Egypt after a storm. (Why was Menelaus sailing past Africa on his way from Troy to Sparta? That's actually a plot point.) Mind you, all of this is revealed in dialogue and a brief flashback, and the movie begins with the pair wandering through the desert. The Pharaoh is smitten with Helen, and dumps his intended for her. Helen just wants to get away. An escape plan winds up with our hero and Helen blamed for the murder of the Pharaoh. Meanwhile, Menelaus intends to help another guy become Pharaoh, but is really only interested in grabbing Egyptian treasure. As you can see, there's plenty of plot, along with the expected fight scenes, dance sequence, and so on. It's not a bad example of its kind.
The first adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. They took Farewell, My Lovely and replaced Philip Marlowe with the Falcon, a playboy amateur detective. The plot is pretty much the same -- huge guy gets out of prison, tries to find his old girlfriend, murders and a convoluted plot follow -- but the mood is quite different. Lots of comedy relief, from the Falcon's chauffeur, the cops, and a would-be spunky female reporter. Nicely filmed and acted for an hour-long B picture.
The first English language adaptation of an Inspector Maigret novel by Georges Simenon. Burgess Meredith is a guy who ekes out a living as a knife sharpener. He attempts to burglarize a rich woman's house, but her and her maid stabbed to death already. Meredith drops his glasses -- shades of Twilight Zone! -- which links him to the murder. The killer forces him to agree to be arrested for the crime, and then the murdered will get him out of prison. Before all this happens, we already know that the nephew of the rich woman paid the killer to do the deed, so he can inherit the money and run off with his mistress after he pays off his wife. (The three of them discuss the affair in a quite civilized manner in a cafe. Ah, the sophisticated French!) Charles Laughton is Maigret. He deliberately lets Meredith escape in an attempt to catch the real killer. What follows is a Columbo style battle of wits between Maigret and the killer, who muddies the waters in all sorts of ways while openly taunting Maigret about his inability to solve the case. It's kind of like a low key Hitchcock film, with a convoluted plot that requires careful attention.
British spy flick made during the Bond craze. American agent shows up in London, meets a contact who gets killed right away, when a woman bumps into him with her purse. I'll admit that murder by poisoned purse is a new one. Our hero gets beat up by thugs and taken to the lair of the bad guys, where he is strapped to an electronic torture device. The movie's Bad Girl, a blonde in a leather miniskirt, obviously enjoys her job a little too much, as she gives the hero a big smooch after zapping him. Meanwhile, Joan Collins shows up as the world's most glamorous housewife, married to a British agent. She wants him to transfer out of the spy department, because her husband spends so little time with her and their young son. After some complications, it turns out that our hero is really here to figure out who is leaking secrets. Romance blooms between our hero and Collins, the child gets kidnapped, the traitor (whose identity is quite obvious) gets exposed, etc. This combination of spy story and domestic drama lacks the spectacle of the 007 films, the grittiness of more serious espionage movies, and the campy appeal of Eurospy flicks, but it's passable entertainment.
MAD MONSTER PARTY? (1967) I guess I have seen this too many times, already. Yet, once more!
Baron Dr. Von Frankenstein: Karloff, not just a resemblance, but Boris, himself.
Bride of the Monster: Phyllis Diller; the real PD, not just a voice impersonation.
SHIP CAPTAIN: resembles Charles Laughton, especially in the role of Capt. Bligh
Dracula: no Bela Lugosi voice, or other resemblance.
chef Machiavelli, pure Italian accent
Invisible man: voice impersonation of, and rotund figure of Sydney Greenstreet
Dr. J & Mr. H: I think he is modeled on Spencer Tracy rather than Frederick March; do not think the voice was mimicked, though.
& the baron's nephew,
"Felix Flanken (voiced by Allen Swift impersonating James Stewart). " -Wiki
It must have been too long, since I last saw a James Stewart film; I am surprised I did not recognize the voice impersonation! A Prairie Home Companion, which I had enjoyed for a very long time, frequently featured impersonations of his voice, but that was a few years ago, when Garrison Keillor retired, & I lost interest.
So, the Baron is old, & intends to retire, name his nephew as his successor, head/boss of all monsters. He invites most of them, with the exception of "It" (King Kong?) to his island for a meeting to announce his retirement.
He entrusts much to his secretary, Francesca (Gale Garnett), but she covets the power he intends for his nephew.
All the guests are likewise forming partnerships, conspiracies, and double crosses intending to cheat their dupe partners out of the Baron's greatest secret, the explosive that "can completely destroy all matter."
From the same guys who made R. the Red Nosed Reindeer. Oh, & the guys at MAD Magazine were also involved.
Cornered (1945) noir Alley's most recent film.
So, downed flyer Laurence Gerard (Dick Powell), had married a French resistance fighter, who was then killed by French collaborator Marcel Jarnac (Luther Adler). WWII is over, and Gerard is out for revenge. His investigation takes him to France, and then to Argentina. There, he meets Melchior Incza (Walter Slezak), who hopes to make himself useful to the newcomer, and is constantly pestering him, with unwanted offers of help.
A very good film!
The Comcharos (1961)
Says Jack Elam was in it, but I did not notice him. Anyway Louisiana dandy
Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) wins a pistol duel with an upper class wrong guy to kill, and must flee the State. Goes to Texas, where T. Ranger Capt. Jake Cutter (John Wayne) arrests him and intends to return him to Louisiana to be hanged for murder. But, things happen, and Wayne's character has other priorities. The two must work together, but there is tension between them, because of the murder charge.
It seems there are these title characters who are selling rifles to the Comanches.
Plenty of supporting stars, including Lee Marvin as the guy in the gun-running business.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) Plenty of stars in this one, also.
About one of the pilots involved in the Doolittle Raid. LieutenantTed W. Lawson (Van Johnson), just a few months married to Ellen (Phyllis Thaxter), who is about that many months pregnant. Focuses on their few times together, as preparations for the raid are made. Lawson is the real pilot who wrote the book of the same title, on which the film is based.
Secrecy is important, so, the bomber crews are told as little as possible, in dealing with take-offs on very short runways, with full loads of ordinance, etc.
A rather long, 2:45,
and the actual bombing run was without incident. Oddly, no defenses were encountered, and more drama occurred after the crew reached China than during the time over Japan.
I was once very interested in WWII history, but mostly in tanks.
I am always eager to watch Spencer Tracy films, & this was my 1st time with this one. Very well done!
Night of the Creeps (1986) A spoof of zombie movies. College kids are going to have a prom, & alien creatures are controlling a few of them. The main character is named 'Romero.' The cool guys have all the pretty girls as dates, and poor other guy, has to join a frat house to hope to be cool enough to merit one such girl. But, in performing the initiation, which involves stealing a corpse from the morgue, he, gets a frozen one with alien leach-like critters in it, that begin leaping into peoples' mouths, & possessing them.
Two Versions of William Faulkner's Most Shocking Novel Double Feature:
The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
I haven't read Sanctuary, so I can't tell you how closely this adaptation follows its source. Miriam Hopkins has the title role. She's the granddaughter of a judge, and a teasing party girl. After the car her drunken escort is driving crashes, stranding them at the dilapidated shack of some moonshiners, she is raped by a city gangster, who kills the dim-witted fellow guarding her. In a state of shock, she goes off with her attacker, and another guy gets blamed for the murder. She eventually kills her abductor, and has to decide whether to tell the truth in court or allow an innocent man to be executed. The villain is genuinely frightening, in a very cold way, and Hopkins gives a good performance in an inherently melodramatic role. Definitely a pre-Code film!
Sanctuary (1961)
Based on the same novel, plus its sequel Requiem for a Nun. Starts with a servant found guilty for murdering the infant child of her employer, the former Temple Drake (Lee Remick), now a respectable married woman. A flashback tells the same basic story as the previous film, but in this case Temple develops a mad passion for her rapist. (If the previous version suggests Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, this one seems like Stockholm Syndrome.) After the gangster apparently dies in a car wreck, she is "rescued" from the brothel where she lived with the guy. Years later, the crook shows up alive, and Temple is ready to run off with him, taking the baby with her. The servant knew her from the old days, and we learn the reason for her shocking crime. Yves Montand is oddly cast as the villain, his accent explained by making him a Cajun. Remick is fine in a difficult role.
Pat Boone sheds his squeaky clean image as a rather unlikable superstar. (We see him surrounded by screaming teenage girls as if he were all four of the Beatles.) He smokes, he drinks, he cheats on his wife, he's a lousy husband and a poor father to his infant son. The plot starts when the baby is kidnapped. Members of Boone's entourage have dark secrets, and it looks like the kidnapping was an inside job. Some folks get murdered along the way, and Boone eventually deduces who the killer is. Screenplay by Rod Serling, of all people, from a novel. It's a fair-to-middling mystery/suspense film.
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