WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

I watched WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) for the first time this afternoon. While watching it, my beautiful wife Judy came into the room, saw what I was watching and said, "despicable people, despicable behavior, and nothing happens."

She was right.

That's really my review of the film in a nutshell. Despite being nominated for a mind-boggling 13 Academy Awards (and winning five), WHO'S AFRAID may be the worst big studio/mainstream film I've seen so far this year. This is what I get for trying to broaden my cinematic horizons and change up my usual movie fare of B movies and genre films. I'll take the worst of those any day over this disgusting waste of time.

And it's not that I'm offended by the rampant vulgarity on display in the film. What was shocking in 1966 (lots of god damns, son-of-a-bitch, bastard, screw you, up yours, monkey nipples and hump the hostess are uttered throughout) is pretty tame in 2020.

No, the utter pointlessness of the whole affair, the waste of talent both in front of and behind the camera, is what gets my goat. Who were the decision makers at Warner Brothers in 1966 that thought this film had any commercial potential whatsoever? Despite the presence of top-billed Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and horse face Sandy Dennis (I swear, with those buck teeth, she could eat an apple through a picket fence), as the entire cast, ace cinematographer Haskell Wexler behind the camera and the very talented Mike Nichols making his feature film directorial debut, WHO'S AFRAID is 132 minutes of unrelieved cinematic agony.

Thankfully, director Nichols redeemed himself with his next film, the certified classic masterpiece THE GRADUATE (1967). Unfortunately, when Wexler got the chance to direct his first film, he delivered another next to unwatchable hot mess of a film in the then X-rated MEDIUM COOL (1969). 

Yes, Taylor is quite good as the harpy Martha, playing strongly against type as the vicious shrew of college professor George (Burton). But really, Richard Burton playing a drunk? Gee, who would have thought it. 

The action (such as it is), strains credulity. The film begins with the end of a faculty party at a small eastern college at 2:00 a.m.. George and Martha, already clearly in their cups, stagger home under the opening credits and begin drinking once they're inside. The verbal barbs start flying when Martha tells George they are having guests, the young couple of biology professor Nick (Segal) and his mousy wife, Honey (Dennis). The four indulge in more drinking and savage bon mots, stuff about hysterical pregnancies, an is-he-real-or-is-he-not son for George and Martha, father issues, a rejected novel about a young man who kills his parents that be more memoir than fiction, and other assorted sordid stuff.

At one point, the four drive off to take Nick and Honey home only to end up at an inexplicably still open roadhouse, devoid of customers, where a drunken dance party ensues. By now, it's got to be at least three in the morning, maybe later. What bar is still open and serving drinks at that hour, and especially to just four clearly inebriated customers?

The four return to George and Martha's house where it's strongly suggested that Nick and Martha make love. Finally, with dawn breaking, the shit hits the fan with the story of the mysterious offspring mentioned earlier. 

And that, folks, is it. The End. 

What in the name of the wide world of sports is any of this supposed to mean? It's not funny, and the overwrought "dramatic" dialogue wore me out (c'mon, nobody really talks like that, especially after consuming that much booze). It's a wonder that these people can drink until dawn and still remain upright and reasonably coherent. 

 Yes, WHO'S AFRAID earned 13 Academy Award nominations including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress (Taylor, winner), Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress (Dennis, winner), Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Black and White Art Direction (winner), Best Black and White Cinematography (Wexler, winner), Best Black and White Costume Design (winner), Best Film Editing, Best Original Music Score, and Best Sound. 

 I defy anyone to sit through this film and tell me that they like it. It may be well made, it may have cost a lot of money, it may have garnered multiple award nominations  but in the end this mess is as much Faulkner as it is Edward Albee. It is truly full of sound and fury signifying nothing. 

Cross against the light to avoid this one. 

WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Karel Reisz's neo-noir WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN came out in 1978. I was in college at the time and a fairly regular moviegoer, seeing at least one new film a week (sometimes more). Somehow I managed to miss this one, a mistake I had the opportunity to correct today thanks to TCM.

I've never read Robert Stone's novel "Dog Soldiers" on which the film was based so I cannot compare the novel to the film (although Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Judith Rascoe). I can only judge the film on its' own merits and as such, it's a very good movie.

Nick Nolte stars as Ray Hicks, a merchant marine sailor during the war in Vietnam. His buddy, disillusioned war correspondent John Converse (Michael Moriarty) , convinces Ray to smuggle a huge quantity of raw heroin out of Vietnam to be sold for a sizeable amount of money to John's wife, Marge, in the Bay Area.

Hicks agrees only to find Marge (Tuesday Weld), dealing with her own drug addiction and no clue about the payoff for the smack. They're soon ambushed by a pair of phony DEA agents, Danskin (Richard Masur) and Smitty (Ray Sharkey). The two are under the command of real but bent cop Antheil (Anthony Zerbe).

 Ray and Marge go on the run, desperate to sell the drugs to any taker (including Hollywood player Eddie Peace (Charles Haid)) while John, who has returned to the states, finds himself a hostage to the vicious gunmen who want the  heroin at all costs.

Everything climaxes in a nighttime gun battle illuminated by strobe lights and ear-splitting country western music. It's an eerie and surreal sequence, one which echoes the madness of the war in Vietnam.

The cast is uniformly excellent and director Karel Reisz does a great job of capturing the burnt out disillusionment of Vietnam vets who returned home broken and cast adrift in a society that offers only crime as a way out.

Director Reisz had an interesting career. He was part of the British New Wave movement in cinema in the 1960s, beginning with his debut film SATURDAY NIGHT, SUNDAY MORNING (1960). He made three more films in England before moving to the states where he made THE GAMBLER (1974), his most high-profile and acclaimed film, THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN (1981) and the Patsy Cline biopic SWEET DREAMS (1985). 

With a great soundtrack of classic rock hits (including three songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival), WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN is a gritty little thriller that delivers the goods. 

Thumbs up.

WINTER LIGHT

I know that Woody Allen thinks that Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was one of the great filmmakers of the twentieth century, an opinion to which he's fully entitled. Surprisingly, despite jokes about his films and references to his work, I had never seen a Bergman film until recently. Thanks to TCM, I watched THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960) last week and today viewed WINTER LIGHT (1963). 

Bleak. Grim. Stark. Depressing. Despair. Doubt. Pain. 

These are all words I'd use to describe WINTER LIGHT. Not much happens in this story of the pastor of a small Swedish church who undergoes a crisis of faith so crippling that he spurns the love of a woman and fails to minister effectively to one of his parishioners, a man, who because of this failure, takes his own life. 

Yeah, sweetness and light this ain't. 

Although unrelievedly downbeat, WINTER LIGHT is nonetheless an extremely well made film. All of the actors are first rate and the crisp black and white cinematography of Sven Nykvist adds much to the narrative. Bergman doesn't make many show offy camera movements, relying instead on long takes (the jilted woman delivers a minutes long, one take monologue directly into the camera), close-ups and compositions in which characters turn their backs to the camera and each other. It's visually impressive even if the story is a downer. 

Gunnar Bjornstrand stars as pastor Tomas Ericsson, a man who has lost his faith and belief in God following the death of his wife. Pastor Tomas is physically ill throughout the film but he soldiers on, performing his duties in an effort to distract himself from the fact that he is standing on the edge of a yawning, spiritual abyss. Ingrid Thulin is Marta Lundberg, a young school teacher who pours out her unrequited love for Tomas throughout the film. 

One of Pastor Tomas's parishioners, Jonas Persson (Max van Sydow), comes to speak to the pastor about his fears and anxieties over the news that Red China has nuclear weapons. Tomas is unable to console the man in any way and the distraught fisherman later takes his own life. 

Tomas goes to the scene of the suicide and later, delivers the news to the man's widow. The film ends with Tomas preparing to conduct a worship service in an empty church. 

Bergman's film is an unflinching study in what happens when a man of God loses his faith and subsequently finds his entire life falling apart. It's not the stuff of light entertainment but it is skillfully mounted and executed. 

The other Bergman film I've seen recently, THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960), also involves the Swedish church and man's relation with God. Set in Sweden in the Middle Ages, VIRGIN is the story of a close knit family of farmers led by patriarch Max von Sydow. His only daughter is sent on a mission to the church to deliver candles for a worship service. Her journey through the woods brings her into contact with three brothers. The oldest two rape and murder the innocent young girl and later, all three seek refuge in von Sydow's farmhouse, without knowing that it's the home of their victim. 

When von Sydow discovers the truth about his unexpected guests, he goes on a murderous rampage, killing all three in a brutal sequence. Afterwards, the family goes into the woods to recover the girl's body. When she's lifted from the ground, a spring bubbles forth. von Sydow, with blood on his hands, vows to build a church on the spot where his daughter died and serve God for the rest of his life.

The rape and revenge storyline of THE VIGIRN SPRING served as inspiration for Wes Craven's controversial horror film, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), a film which I've never seen. I have a copy of it and it's on my list of films to watch 

My take on Bergman based on these two films is that he was indeed a remarkably talented filmmaker. These films are well made and deal with thought provoking themes. I'm open to seeing more of his films but I don't know that I'll ever hold him in such high regard as Woody does. 

Thumbs up.

TRAPPED

TRAPPED (1949) is the third Richard Fleischer directed film I've had the pleasure to view lately, thanks to TCM. In the case of TRAPPED, thanks also to UCLA Film Archives and the Film Noir Foundation for the restoration work done on this tough, tight little thriller. 

Produced at Eagle Lion (one of many minor studios in Hollywood at the time), TRAPPED may be a B picture but it's a first class one all the way. The film opens in a pseudo documentary style, providing the audience a brief overview of how the Treasury Department operates and the dangers of counterfeit currency. 

The story starts when funny money made from engraving plates used by Tris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), before his conviction, show up in circulation. The T-Men spring Stewart from prison (a staged escape)  in the hopes that he'll be able to discover who is using the plates again. 

But Stewart's no stool pigeon. He turns the tables on the Feds and sets out to score on his own. He hooks up with his old girlfriend, Meg (Barbara Payton), and approaches crime kingpin Jack Sylvester (James Todd), about arranging a deal. Sylvester's willing to work with Stewart for a price. 

That price is $25,000 which Stewart plans to get from wanted gambler and con man Johnny Hackett (John Hoyt). But what Stewart doesn't know is that Hackett is really an undercover Secret Service agent. 

Things come to a head in the third act (as things in these films always do) with a well staged and executed climax set in a huge barn that houses a fleet of Los Angeles trolley cars. 

The title, TRAPPED, refers to both Stewart, as he's caught between the law and his criminal partners and Hackett, who gets to the heart of the enterprise only to have his cover blown. 

The three main characters are all well written and acted. Bridges is first rate as a tough, brutal, gum chewing crook, Payton is solid as a doomed cigarette girl and Hoyt (best loved by genre fans for his lead in ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE (1958)), is convincing as a crook and a cop. 

Payton is of special interest here. While never achieving major stardom, Payton made several low budget films over the course of her short career. She was a decent actress but her offscreen life, filled with alcohol and drug addiction and numerous run ins with the law, led her down a path of self destruction that ended when she died in 1967 at the age of 39. 

TRAPPED is a first rate film noir that shows Fleischer making the transition from being merely a competent director to someone to watch. 

Highly recommended. 

WILDCAT BUS

WILDCAT BUS, a bottom of the bill B-picture produced at RKO in 1940 is proof positive that when a motion picture studio has to churn out product on a regular basis, any subject matter is fair game for a narrative. 

WILDCAT BUS is, as the name implies, an action film about, yep, a bus line. Wealthy playboy Jerry Waters (Charles Lang) and his chauffeur Donovan (Paul Guilfoyle) are forced to look for work after being evicted from their penthouse apartment. Donovan finds legitimate work as a driver for Federated Bus Line, run by the tough-as-nails daughter of the boss, Ted Dawson (Fay Wray). 

Waters meanwhile hires on with a "wildcat" car company, a crooked outfit that uses unlicensed private cars and drivers to ferry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco at cheaper rates than Federated charges. The gang also regularly performs sabotage on the buses and stages "accidents" in order to sue Federated for damages. It's all part of a revenge scheme run by an unexpected criminal mastermind to ruin Federated and the owner, Charles Dawson (Oscar O'Shea).

Things take a turn for the worse in the third act before a bus load (literally) of drivers and mechanics attack the boarding house which serves as the gang's hideout for a wild and frantic climax. 

With barely any score and a running time of 64 minutes, WILDCAT BUS is stripped down to the essentials of formula storytelling. It's not a bad little film but the only reason to recommend it to anyone is the appearance of Fay Wray (who is top billed). 

Wray appeared in dozens of films during the course of her career. Her later years found her regularly guest starring on popular dramatic television series. But Wray is forever known by the brace of horror films she made in the early '30s. These include DOCTOR X (1932), THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932), THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933), MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) and the film that made her an immortal, KING KONG (1933). 

If you have a yearning for a quick and dirty B film about buses, check out WILDCAT BUS. And if that doesn't scratch your bus itch, try Clint Eastwood's THE GAUNTLET (1977) or SPEED (1994), the film that made Sandra Bullock a star. 

WHO WAS THAT LADY?

WHO WAS THAT LADY? (1960) is the kind of smarmy sex farce that Hollywood turned out by the dozens in the 1960s. The three leads, Tony Curtis, Dean Martin and Janet Leigh are all fine with Martin clearly enjoying playing the stooge after serving as straight man to Jerry Lewis when the two were a comedy team in the 1950s.  

Curtis is a Columbia University chemistry professor. His wife, Leigh, catches him kissing another woman (whom we only ever see from the waist down) and decides to fly to Reno and get a divorce. Curtis, desperate to save his marriage, enlists best buddy Martin, who happens to be a television writer, for help. Martin concocts a wild story about the two men secretly serving as F.B.I. agents and, with the help of some realistic props from the television studio, Leigh is convinced they're telling the truth and forgives Curtis. 

All is going well until James Whitmore, a for real F.B.I. agent, shows up and starts asking around. Comedy (I use the term loosely) chaos ensues as Curtis, Martin and Leigh get caught up in a Cold War spy plot involving enemy agents played by Simon Oakland and the great Larry Storch. 

WHO is decidedly dated in it's characterization of women. In fact, it's downright misogynistic. Leigh plays an otherwise intelligent woman who falls hook, line and sinker for the wild F.B.I. story and wants to be part of the adventure. The only other women with sizeable roles in the film are Barbara Nichols and Joi Lansing as the blonde and buxom Coogle sisters whom Curtis and Martin get involved with. 

Another factor working against WHO is the fact that it was originally written and produced as a play and director George Sidney does nothing to open up the action and take it out of a series of well designed sets (dig that crazy two level pad where Curtis and Leigh live!).  But given that the writer of the material, Norman Krasna, was also the producer of the film, I suspect that he had final say over the entire production. 

Sidney later directed two of my all time favorite Ann-Margret films, BYE, BYE, BIRDIE (1963) and VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964) while Janet Leigh, Simon Oakland and John McIntire would all appear in Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO (also released in 1960).

WHO WAS THAT LADY? is a product of its' time, the type of film that simply could not be made by the end of the decade. If you can overlook its' sizeable flaws, you might enjoy it. Personally, I got a kick out of watching Martin's performance but other parts of the film made me wince. 

Flip a coin. 

WEST OF ZANZIBAR

WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928) is yet another one of the countless films I was first exposed to in the pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine when I was a kid. Every once in awhile, whenever Forry Ackerman felt like running on article on the great silent film star Lon Chaney, he would usually include a still from WEST in the piece. I was left to wonder about this ancient film, wonder what it was all about and, more significantly, wonder if I would ever have the chance to view this mysterious relic of an age long gone. 

Wonder no more. I watched WEST OF ZANZIBAR for the first time this afternoon (thanks to a recent broadcast on TCM). The film isn't a horror film really, although it does contain horror elements, many of which are revealed to be "Scooby-Do's", things which, while appearing to be supernatural in origin, are really just some guy in a mask. Chaney himself wears a mask (that looks more like a Muppet than a monster), in a couple of scenes. 

Even though it's more of a revenge melodrama than an out and out horror film, WEST contains a human "monster" in the form of paralyzed stage magician Phroso (Chaney). Here, the man of a thousand faces, sports a closely shaved head and useless legs (his henchmen refer to him as "Dead Legs"). And while Phroso has a wheelchair, the most horrific scenes in the film occur when Chaney drags himself across the floor, totally convincing audiences then and now, that his body was dead from the waist down. 

Phroso looses his wife Anna (Jacqueline Gadsden) to Crane (Lionel Barrymore). Crane brags he's going to take the woman to Africa and when Phroso tries to stop him, Crane pushes him from a great height, causing his paralyzing injury. A year later, Anna is back in town, with an infant in tow. She dies in a church and Phroso swears to have his revenge against both Crane and the child. 

It's eighteen years later when the scene shifts to somewhere west of Zanzibar. Phroso and his magic tricks help him control a tribe of natives who, using "voodoo, " steal ivory tusks from Crane. Phroso  reveals himself to Crane as the ivory thief and then plays his trump card: he brings Crane's daughter, Maizie (the luminous Mary Nolan) from her job as a prostitute in Zanzibar, to confront her father in all her debased and drunken debauchery. 

But Crane gets the last laugh when he reveals that he is not Maizie's father. She is truly Phroso's' child and he is suddenly faced with executing one last bit of trickery (the same trick that opened the film is used again in the climax), to save his daughter. 

Director Tod Browning, who worked with Chaney on several silent films including the legendary lost work, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, works his magic again here. Cinematographer Percy Hilburn brings loads of atmosphere to the jungle sets and with a running time of 65 minutes, there's never time to become bored or distracted by frivolous sub-plots (there aren't any!)

Be aware that there are elements in this film that are objectionable by today's standards. The treatment of natives as ignorant, superstitious savages is a cliché that was already old (and offensive) in 1928. 

That said and despite the fact that it's not a genuine horror film, WEST OF ZANZIBAR, thanks to the talents of Browning and Chaney, is an effective tale of revenge and jungle justice. 

Recommended. 

"WHAT'VE YOU GOT?"

I first encountered THE WILD ONE (1953), in a paperback book that reprinted material from early issues of the legendary MAD magazine. In fact, I might still have a copy of that book somewhere around here. The parody of THE WILD ONE, entitled "The Wild 1/2" was written by Harvey Kurtzman with art by Wally Wood. It was originally published in MAD #15 in September 1954. I had no idea what the whole thing was about but I read it any way. I'm sure Kurtzman's jokes sailed right over my head but even at a young age, I recognized and admired the incredible artwork of the gone-too-soon Wally Wood. 

My next encounter with WILD was when I first started writing film notes for the Paramount Theatre's Summer Classic Film Series. The year was 1996 and if I recall correctly, one of the first (if not THE first  screening I wrote the notes for was for a '50s rebellion double feature featuring REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) and THE WILD ONE. I sat through both features the night they ran, which, as time went on, became a feat I was no longer able to accomplish. The idea of watching a movie, either at home or in a theater, that starts at 9:00 p.m. or later, is something that belongs to my younger days. I'm usually in bed and asleep by 9:30 on any night of the week. 

THE WILD ONE was loosely based on a real incident that occurred in 1947 and was written up in the pages of LIFE magazine. On July 4th, 1947, a motorcycle gang terrorized the small town of Hollister, California. The material later became the basis for a short story, "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney. 

While the events depicted in the film are, by today's standards, incredibly tame, this material was pretty bracing stuff for audiences in 1953. Produced by Stanley Kramer, who made a career out of making liberal, "message" oriented films that tackled the problems of post war American society, WILD was a no-holds-barred look at the widely misunderstood phenomenon of motorcycle gangs. While some gangs of the time did engage in violence and wild behavior, the majority of the '50s biker clubs were comprised of WWII vets, their girl friends and wives, who enjoyed riding on the weekends. The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club depicted in the film, is a far cry from the notorious Hell's Angels and other gangs who gained notoriety in the 1960s as the subject of books, documentaries and feature films. 

Motorcycle gatherings are still with us today. The biggest and best known is the annual get together in Sturgis, South Dakota, while Central Texas plays host to the annual ROT (Republic of Texas) Rally every June. I look forward to the ROT Rally, not because I'm a motorcycle enthusiast but because many of the people in town for the weekend spend a lot of money here in Manor, a move I'm all in favor of. Sadly, the current pandemic caused this year's rally to be canceled. I hope it will take place in 2021 but at this point, only time can tell. 

Johnny (Brando), is the confused, conflicted leader of the Rebels. He's rebelling against something but he's not exactly sure just what it is. He commands respect from his gang and what he says goes. The bikers mainly drink a lot of beer (which is never seen as being paid for), racing their bikes, cat calling the local women and roughhousing with each other. There is wilder, more dangerous behavior in Dallas during OU weekend than is seen here. 

Johnny butts heads with Chino (Lee Marvin), a former gang member of Johnny's who now leads his own pack. As iconic as Brando is (and this film went a long way towards making him such), I much prefer watching Marvin's rough-and-tumble performance. He seems much more natural while Brando, in many scenes, appears to be caught "acting". 

Johnny is intrigued by Kathie (the supremely beautiful Mary Murphy), who works in a café run by her uncle (Ray (BONANZA) Teal). Her father Harry (Robert Keith) is the ineffectual police chief of the town. Johnny yearns to be moving on and Kathie, desperate to escape her suffocating, dead-end environment, longs to go with him. 

But a vigilante mob rears its' ugly head in the third act when a group of citizens, frustrated by Harry's ineffectiveness, take matters into their own hands. An innocent man is accidently killed but sympathetic Sheriff Singer (Jay C. Flippen), cuts Johnny a break and orders him and the gang out of town. 

THE WILD ONE is crisply shot by cinematographer Hal Mohr and the night time scenes have a film noir ambience. In fact, some consider THEWILD ONE an actual noir. I don't.

The supporting cast includes Will Wright (Ben Weaver on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), cult actor and Stanley Kubrick regular Timothy Carey, Jerry (THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW) Paris and, believe it or not, Alvy Moore (County Agent Hank Kimball on GREEN ACRES) as a biker. 

I mean, seriously, how vicious can a biker gang be that has this guy in it?

Astonishingly, THE WILD ONE was only Marlon Brando's fifth feature film. He had already earned three Best Actor Academy Award nominations including A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), VIVA ZAPATA! (1952) and JULIUS CASEAR (1953). 

Horribly dated, THE WILD ONE is still worth a look to see how popular culture confronted the "threat" of motorcycle gangs in the 1950s and for Brando's ascent into the ranks of cinema icons.

THE ORGAN BANK FARM

The first science fiction novel I read by John Boyd was ANDROMEDA GUN. I rather liked it and you can read my review of the book elsewhere on this blog. The second science fiction novel by Boyd I've read is THE ORGAN BANK FARM. It may be the last novel by Boyd I ever read. 

To be fair, I do have one more book by him sitting on my shelf. It's SEX AND THE HIGH COMMAND, from September 1971. I'll give it a try but if that book is as bad as ORGAN, that's it for this author for me. 

THE ORGAN BANK FARM is a midlist science fiction novel (and raise your hand if anyone out there remembers midlist paperback fiction), from March 1972. It's one of those books that I considered quitting reading more than once as I plowed through it's 182 pages. But no, I kept going hoping that everything would tie together in some semblance of a coherent plot and a surprise ending (as promised on the back cover blurb), would somehow redeem this unbelievably hot mess of a sf novel. 

ORGAN doesn't lack for ideas. In fact, it has too many, any one of which would make a fairly decent narrative if properly developed. It starts with a bang, a worldwide plague that lasts for seven years (yikes!) and leaves billions dead in its' wake. The two main characters, Doctors Galway and English, were in the military in south Asia during the plague years and it's strongly hinted that they may have been responsible for creating the deadly strain. 

The action begins when Galway is seduced into visiting Paradise Valley, a remote scientific research facility masquerading as a state-of-the-art resort in Northern California. English appears to be in charge and he makes Galway his second in command but the identity of the real head of the facility isn't revealed until late in the book (I guess that's the blurbed surprise). 

English and Galway are in hiding from BAC (Behavior Analysis Computer), which can monitor their moves and innermost thoughts and thwart any attempt to revolt against the mechanical master (which is secretly controlled by either the CIA or the department of Health, Education and Welfare, HEW). BAC is clearly a reference to HAL, the super computer from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), while making HEW the bad guys echoes the James Coburn film, THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST (1967)in which the phone company is revealed to be the big bad. 

And speaking of analysis, ORGAN is chock full of it. There are pages and pages of psychobabble as Galway attempts to break through with his four young autistic charges, one of whom, Christine,  is an incredibly beautiful (and physically well developed) sixteen year old girl whom Galway, thirty years her senior, lusts after. Ick. 

Oh, and some of the residents of Paradise Valley are cyborgs (a sub plot that goes nowhere), there are experiments involving the splicing of human and animal DNA (shades of Dr. Moreau!), dead bodies are cryogenically stored in vast underground vaults to provide fresh organs for transplants (hence the title and an idea that anticipates Robin Cook's medical thriller COMA (1977)). 

And then there are the brain transplants, which Galway, a neurosurgeon, successfully performs. And it's not just one. By the end of the book, multiple transplants have been performed, so many that's it's hard to remember whose brain now resides in whose body. Brain swapping was a lot simpler in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN (1943).

The whole affair is permeated with enough sexual escapades to fill a Philip Jose Farmer book. Unfortunately, none of it is particularly erotic and the relationship between Galway and Christine is frankly disgusting. Boyd brings a sardonic sense of humor to the narrative and tries to cast everything as an elaborate black comedy but fails miserably in the attempt. 

There's nothing remotely funny (or exciting) about this hot mess of a novel. 

Thumbs down.

BODYGUARD

I wrote at length the other day about the career of director Richard Fleischer when I reviewed his 1958 historical epic, THE VIKINGS, here on the ol' blog. . I mentioned Fleischer's earlier works, including a brace of terrific film noirs. I had the opportunity today (thanks to TCM, Eddie Muller and his always entertaining NOIR ALLEY Saturday night feature) to see for the first time, BODYGUARD, Fleischer's first noir.

It's a fairly routine little B crime film but it has a couple of interesting things going for it. First and foremost is the star of the film, Lawrence Tierney. Tierney made a career out of playing tough guys in such films as DILLINGER (1945), THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947) and BORN TO KILL (1947) along with appearances in other crime films and westerns throughout the '40s and 50s. He was also, by all accounts, completely off the rails in his offscreen life. A hard drinker with a very short fuse, Tierney had multiple run-ins with the law and his rap sheet was almost as long as his filmography. He wasn't a great actor by any stretch but he brought a wound-too-tight air of unstable menace to his roles even when he was playing a good guy, as he does in BODYGUARD. 

Here Tierney is a former LAPD homicide detective who is hired to play bodyguard to the head of a meat packing company. He discovers that a so called "accident" that occurred at the plant was really a murder and before you know it, Tierney himself is soon wanted for murder (a frame up) and on the run (along with helpful police secretary Priscilla Lane) to uncover the truth about the corruption at the plant. 

It's all standard stuff but Tierney is fun to watch and Fleischer keeps things moving at a brisk clip. The screenplay is by Fred Niblo, Jr. and Harry (IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE) Essex based on a story by George W. George and, believe it or not, Robert Altman. Told you this is an interesting little film. 

Although Tierney's career had many ups and downs, he is perhaps best remembered by modern audiences for his appearance in Quentin Tarantino's vastly overrated RESERVOIR DOGS (1992). Tierney played the crime boss in the film that is just too, too precious (Tarantino screams "look how clever I am!" in every frame) and nowhere near as good as its' legion of admirers think. 

BODYGUARD is a good little thriller with a star on his way down and a director on his way up. Worth seeing. 

THE TOUGH TEXAN

I love western movies. I love western TV shows. But I have to confess that when it comes to the printed page, I've read very few western novels. I took an English class in college on the western but the only two books I can remember reading are THE VIRGINIAN by Owen Wister and SHANE by Jack Schafer. 

Since my college days, I've read a handful of Elmore Leonard westerns, all of which I enjoyed but then, I have yet to NOT enjoy any Leonard book I've read. And a couple of years ago I inherited a box of Louis L'Amour paperbacks (and other westerns)  from my late father-in-law. I've read a few of the L'Amour books (reviews are posted on this blog) and enjoyed them but I have yet to be convinced that L'Amour was anywhere near as good a writer of westerns as Leonard was. 

Among the other westerns I got from Lawrence was THE TOUGH TEXAN by Will Cook. I finished reading it yesterday evening and, based on the strength of this novel alone, I have to rank my admittedly short list of favorite western writers as follows: 

1. Elmore Leonard 

2. Will Cook.

 3. Louis L'Amour. 

Cook (1922-1964) wrote 56 novels over the course of his career, two of which, THE DRIFTER and TWO RODE TOEGTHER have been made into movies. THE TOUGH TEXAN was first published in September 1963. That's the cover of the first paperback printing pictured above. The edition I read, also published by Bantam, came out in July, 1980 with completely different cover art. Gotta admit, I think the art on the first edition is terrific and it does kinda sorta capture a scene in the book. I'd post a scan of the edition I read but it's pretty beat up and well read. 

THE TOUGH TEXAN is the story of young drifter Martin Hinshaw, who, having tried his hand at rodeoing (and failing), decides to join up with the Texas Rangers in Laredo. The year is 1905 and the very first automobiles are beginning to dot the South Texas landscape along with the new fangled weapons mass produced by Germany, the Mauser rifle and a new model of machine gun (lighter and more powerful than the existing Gatling gun). 

Hinshaw and his fellow Rangers are up against Pedro Vargas, a Mexican outlaw in command of his own private army. Someone on the Texas side of the border is supplying Vargas with these new weapons and Vargas is planning an all out attack on Laredo, South Texas and beyond. It's up to the new recruit and the seasoned veterans of this legendary law enforcement organization to stop the threat of Vargas and his guns. 

Cook paints vivid portraits of all of the players. The characters are more complex and flawed than those found in the pages of a L'Amour novel and many a racial epithet is delivered by some of the "good guys". The violence when it comes is sudden and unexpected and several characters that I was sure would live meet swift and brutal deaths. 

Hinshaw and the Rangers win out in the end but not before the loss of several key players on both sides of the law. THE TOUGH TEXAN lives up to it's name. It's a tough, gritty western that delivers the goods with both barrels blazing. 

Thumbs up.

BY THE SACRED BLOOD OF ODIN!

It's hard to classify director Richard Fleischer as an auteur. None of his films have ever struck me as having a distinctive cinematic style or common thematic concerns. But even if he was largely a hired gun, especially for 20th Century Fox in the 1960s, Fleischer nevertheless produced an astounding body of work over the course of more than forty years in the business. 

His earliest success came in the films noir he helmed in the '40s and '50s, among them BODYGUARD (1948), TRAPPED (1949), FOLLOW ME QUIETLY (1949), THE CLAY PIGEON (1949), ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950), HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951), VIOLENT SATURDAY (1955) and his masterpiece (and one of my all time favorite noirs), THE NARROW MARGIN (1952). 

Fleischer stepped up his game considerably when he was hired by the Walt Disney Studios to helm the incredibly ambitious 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1954). The film proved to be both a critical and box office success and let studios know that Fleischer was capable of working with larger budgets on bigger productions. Working at 20th Century Fox in the 1960s, Fleischer directed the Biblical epic BARRABAS (1961), the science fiction adventure FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966 and another one of my all time favorite movies), the Best Picture Oscar nominee (but financially disastrous) DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967), the compelling true crime drama THE BOSTON STRANGLER (1968), and WWII epic TORA! TORA! TORA! (1970), which faithfully and accurately depicts both the American and the Japanese players in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Fleischer returned to science fiction for the cult classic SOYLENT GREEN (1973), and helmed two sword and sorcery adventures, CONAN THE DESTROYER (1984) and RED SONJA (1985), both of which were inspired by characters created by Robert E. Howard. 

Fleischer's first big budget, historical epic was THE VIKINGS (1958), a handsomely mounted production that benefits greatly from a good cast and breathtaking on location cinematography in the fiords of Norway. Kirk Douglas, all dimpled chin, flashing white teeth and wavy blond wig stars as Einar, son of Viking chieftain Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine). In real life, Borgnine was actually two months younger than Douglas but hey, this is the movies after all. 

Einar and Ragnar, aided by British traitor Egbert (James (THE GREAT ESCAPE) Donald)  come up against foppish and swishy King Aella (Frank Thring), who has something both of the horny (pardon the pun) Vikings want, the beautiful Morgana (Janet Leigh). Slave Eric (Tony Curtis), who is really Ragnar's other son (courtesy of a rape that appears at the start of the film), gets in the way, claiming his love for Morgana and his vow to fight Einar to the death, after defeating Aella, of course. 

Beautifully shot by ace cinematographer Jack Cardiff, THE VIKINGS is deliberately paced and shows signs of padding here and there. It appears as if the producer of the film (Kirk Douglas), was determined to get every cent he invested in the project up there on the big screen no matter what. The film could stand a bit of judicious editing and could easily lose a good ten or fifteen minutes of its' 116 minute running time and still deliver an exciting adventure. 

And exciting it is, especially in the third act siege of Aella's fortress castle. It's a well orchestrated sequence (filmed on location in Brittany) that climaxes in a spectacular swordfight between Eric and Einar atop the castle's tower. That's really Douglas and Curtis in the majority of the shots in this scene and the whole thing looks incredibly dangerous for them, the camera operator and any other crew members that were on that stony stair stepped roof. 

THE VIKINGS was the third of five films that Curtis and Leigh made while married. I had the honor of meeting Ms. Leigh at a monster movie convention in Washington D.C. in 2000. She was a delightful, classy lady. Got her to sign her book about the making of PSYCHO and she was gracious enough to pose for a photo with me. 

Douglas swore he'd never do another historical epic after THE VIKINGS but he changed his tune and appeared with Curtis again in Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS (1960). The success of THE VIKINGS inspired several other films about Norsemen and their adventures including Mario Bava's ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961)  and THE LONG SHIPS (1964). 

The opening narration by the great Orson Welles adds to the luster of the production but perhaps the greatest honor to be bestowed upon THE VIKINGS is that it was featured in a comic book, Dell's FOUR COLOR #910 in June, 1958. 

THE VIKINGS is definitely worth a look, especially if you enjoy old fashioned Hollywood historical epics. Hell, it's worth seeing just for that final sword fight. 

Absolutely incredible. 

TWELVE CROWDED HOURS

Journeyman director Lew Landers manages to cram TWELVE CROWDED HOURS into 64 minutes of running time in this 1939 crime drama. 

This is strictly a bottom of the bill programmer, the type of film churned out by the hundreds in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Richard Dix stars as a newspaper reporter out to bust the numbers racket run by George Costain (Cy Kendall, who makes a pretty fair crime kingpin). He's aided by dance hall instructor Paula Sanders (Lucille Ball) and cub reporter Red (John Arledge). 

The screenplay by Garrett Fort and Peter Ruric is overly complicated but Landers keeps things moving at a steady clip. There are a couple of nicely staged auto/truck crashes before the film ends with the break of day (a replay in reverse of the opening, fall-of-night sequence). 

Richard Dix is part tough guy, part comic actor wannabee. His saturnine countenance makes Dix look like the unholy love child of later actors George Reeves and Robert Vaughn (with a bit of  Rodney Dangerfield as that weird uncle that no one ever talks about, thrown in). He's not good looking by any stretch and not necessarily ugly, just unusual looking. 

The most interesting thing about TWELVE CROWDED HOURS by far is the fact that in 1939, Lucille Ball was a contract player for RKO. In the early 1950s, what was left of the studio was purchased by Lucy and her husband Desi Arnaz and renamed Desilu. Along with being a first rate comedienne, Lucy was a shrewd and astute business woman. 

ANDROMEDA GUN

I've had a copy of ANDROMEDA GUN, John Boyd's 1975 science fiction novel on my shelf for I don't know how long. I was in college when this was originally published and while I didn't purchase it at the time of release, I picked up a copy somewhere over the years. Two things influenced my purchase. First, the terrific cover art (they just don't make 'em like this anymore) and the mash up of two of my all time favorite genres, science fiction and westerns. 

I finally got around to readying ANDROMEDA GUN during the afternoon of July 4th. First, and this is no surprise, the cover doesn't reflect any scene found in the book. It's still a great piece of cover art and I'm sure it helped sell many copies then and now. Second, this novel is about 10% science fiction and 90% western but that's okay because Boyd spins a pretty good western yarn. 

G7 is a being of intelligent light, part of an intergalactic brotherhood of similar beings whose mission it is to bring peace and harmony to the inhabited planets in the galaxies. G7 arrives on earth in the late 19th century where he takes up residence in the consciousness of one Johnny Loco (real name Ian McCloud). Ian is an outlaw with plans to hold up a stage, get revenge on his former partner in crime, and rob the bank of the small town of Shoshone Flats, located in the Wyoming territory. But fate, in the form of G7, has other plans in store for the young gunman. 

Ian, through the subtle influences of G7, slowly starts going straight and in so doing, becomes a respectable member of the community. He courts the lovely young school teacher Gabriella, while G7 has his "eyes" set on the older, riper Liza, Gabriella's mother. 

Ian becomes deputy and starts doing good things for the community but it's all to his own ends. He still plans to rob the stage, kill his former partner, hold up the bank and hightail it out of town. But G7 has other plans. 

While G7 ultimately decides that saving the entire human race is impossible, the redemption of one wayward, yet savvy young man, is a goal worth achieving. 

There's nothing spectacular to be found within these 172 pages but nevertheless I did enjoy the book. Boyd salts his narrative with nice doses of sly humor and the main characters are colorful and well drawn. 

Reading ANDROMEDA GUN was the perfect way to spend the 4th of July afternoon. 

Thumbs up. 

THE STALKING MOON

I have only the vaguest memory of seeing THE STALKING MOON when it was released in 1968. I know I saw it at either the Paramount or State Theatre in downtown Austin and I recall that 12-year-old Frank liked it for the suspense/thriller aspects of the story, Gregory Peck going one-on-one against a murderous Apache. 

Peck stars as Sam Varner, an Army scout about to retire after 15 years of service. He's persuaded to accompany white woman Sarah Carver (Eva Marie Saint) and her half-breed son to a safe place. But as the unlikely trio hit the trail, they soon discover that they are being stalked by Salvaje (Nathaniel Narcisco), a much feared hunter who is also the father of Sarah's son. Salvaje kills several people while pursuing Varner and his charges before Varner reaches his ranch in New Mexico. 

There, aided by an old man, Ned (Russell Thorson) and Varner's half breed tracker protégé Nick (Robert Forster), the valiant band stages a last stand against Salvaje. 

Varner takes a beating at the hands of his opponent. He's shot in the shoulder and stabbed in the thigh but he keeps going, fighting the good fight after his other male companions have been killed. 

The last act of the film is tense and suspenseful and extremely well staged by director Robert Mulligan (who previously directed Peck in the American classic TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)). The setting, Charles Lang's  expert camera work, and Fred Karlin's effective score contribute to the success of the cat and mouse sequences. 

Based on a novel by T.V. Olsen, THE STALKING MOON marked the last time the team of producer Alan J. Pakula and director Robert Mulligan worked together. The two went their separate ways with Pakula launching an extremely successful career as a director. 

THE STALKING MOON is an offbeat western that trades heavily on the suspense/thriller tropes for its' narrative engine. Not a great film by any means but a very enjoyable one with first rate talent both in front of and behind the camera. 

Thumbs up.

I'LL BURY MY DEAD

I'LL BURY MY DEAD (1953) is the first book by James Hadley Chase that I've read. It won't be the last. 

Chase (1906-1985), was a prolific author, with 90 novels to his credit. 50 of them have been made into films, most of them in foreign countries. Writing under a variety of pen names, Chase's novels were published in the United States and Europe and while never achieving universal critical acclaim, his books sold extremely well. 

BURY is the story of Nick English, a powerful, rich and influential entrepreneur with a number of ongoing business interests. When his estranged brother, a two-bit private detective is found dead, apparently by his own hand, English deices to investigate because even if the two siblings didn't get along, the dead man was family. 

English uncovers a blackmail ring headed by a cold-blooded murderer who kills anyone who gets in his way. The killer frames English for two murders and before things come to a smashing climax aboard a blazing yacht, seven corpses litter the landscape. 

BURY isn't a mystery novel because the killer is revealed midway through the narrative. But it's a solid piece of crime/suspense fiction, as English and his aides (his loyal secretary, his lawyer, another private detective and his chauffeur ) race against time to bring the killer to justice and clear English's name. 

Nice way to pass a hot summer afternoon. Thumbs up.