THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE

 

The British/American co-production THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE (1959), has an impressive pedigree both in front of and behind the camera. This no-nonsense adventure thriller co-stars two of the screen's greatest "manly" actors, Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. For Cooper, WRECK marked his next to last film. THE NAKED EDGE (1961) was his last but production on WRECK was halted several times due to Cooper's ill health. For Heston, WRECK was one of two films he made in 1959, the other being BEN-HUR.

The source material is the novel of the same name by British adventure scribe Hammond Innes with a screenplay by Eric Ambler, the king of realistic spy thrillers. And director Michael Anderson (who could make good films and very bad ones), here does a very good job of orchestrating the narrative. Anderson's other credits include THE DAM BUSTERS (1955), the Best Picture of the Year Oscar winner AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956) (which earned Anderson a Best Director nomination), OPERATION CROSSBOW (1965), THE QUILLER MEMORANUDM (1966), DOC SAVAGE: THE MAN OF BRONZE (1975), LOGAN'S RUN (1976) and the JAWS ripoff, ORCA (1977).

WRECK is the story of two men, Captain Gideon Patch (Cooper) and salvager John Sands (Heston), thrown together under extraordinary circumstances. The first act finds Sands boarding what appears to be a deserted ship, the Mary Deare. He finds only Patch onboard and it's clear that the man is hiding a secret about the damaged vessel. Patch eventually runs the ship aground on some reefs in the English Channel and asks Sands to remain quiet about the affair until after an official inquiry can be held.

The second act is centered on the inquiry, which does not go well for Patch. His opponents in the courtroom include the owners of the Mary Deare, their insurance company and a ruthless first mate, Higgins (Richard Harris).

A race against time takes up the third act as Patch and Sands try to get to the wrecked ship and reveal the truth before the Mary Deare can be sunk, taking it's secrets to the bottom of the sea. 

WRECK is helped tremendously by some first rate model work, great water tank action sequences and tense underwater scenes. Cooper is tight lipped and stoic throughout while Heston plays second fiddle without going over the top. 

WRECK was originally planned to be an Alfred Hitchcock production. The plan was for Hitchcock to direct with Cooper starring. Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman worked on the script for weeks but couldn't solve the problem of such a large chunk of the action taking place in a courtroom. The men eventually abandoned the project and began working on what became NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959).

It's fun to speculate on what a Hitchcock and Lehman version of WRECK would have looked like but alas, that must ever remain in the realm of unwrought things. As it is, the version of WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE that we do have is a first rate adventure film.

Recommended.

THE SPANISH MAIN

 

Now this, my friends, THIS is Technicolor! As the lobby card pictured above so proudly proclaims, THE SPANISH MAIN (1945) was shot not just in Technicolor, but in "Glorious" Technicolor. The Technicolor cinematography (hats off to George Barnes who received an Oscar nomination for his work) in SPANISH is light years better than the Technicolor displayed in UNHOLY WIFE (which I recently reviewed on this blog).

Produced at RKO, SPANISH MAIN was the studio's first all-Technicolor film since BECKY SHARP (1935). It's a lush and lavish swashbuckling adventure film starring Paul Henreid and Maureen O'Hara, the woman for whom Technicolor cinematography seems to have been invented. The close-ups of the drop-dead gorgeous O'Hara are simply breathtaking, alive and shining with a rich vibrancy that is better than real life.

The narrative is pretty routine stuff. Henreid is Laurent van Horn, a Dutch sailor who butts heads with the corrupt governor of Cartagena Don Juan Alvarado (Walter Slezak). Laurent escapes with three companions only to return five years later under the guise of the notorious pirate, The Barracuda (his ship bears the same name).

The Barracuda intercepts a Spanish vessel bound for Cartagena carrying Francisca Alvarado (O'Hara), the daughter of the viceroy of Mexico and the bride to be of Don Juan.

The Barracuda takes Francisca as his own wife, is challenged by his old flame Anne Bonny (Binnie Barnes) and meets treachery from his second in command Mario Da Bilar (John Emery). Veteran tough guy Barton MacLane is almost unrecognizable under a wig and pirate garb as Captain Black, another foe that The Barracuda must eliminate. 

There's tons of sword fighting and ship to ship combat all of which is well staged and handsomely mounted by director Frank Borzage with the stirring score by Hanns Eisler adding immensely to the action. The miniatures and sets are quite good by 1945 standards and it's obvious that RKO spared no expense to bring this rousing adventure to the screen. 

Walter Slezak practically steals the show as the buffoonish villain Don Juan Alvarado. He's a vainglorious lout who poses no real physical threat, preferring to have his underlings do all of his dirty work. At times it seems Slezak is somehow preparing for his turn more than twenty years later as the villain The Clock King on television's BATMAN.

Screenwriters George Worthing Yates and Herman J. Mankiewicz know better than to reinvent the wheel and their script rings all the notes of a standard pirate swashbuckler. Nothing new or original here but who cares? Feast your eyes on the saturated Technicolor palette and the ravishing Maureen O'Hara.

 A good time is guaranteed.

THE UNHOLY WIFE

I have a coupe of unprovable theories about why THE UNHOLY WIFE (1957) looks and sounds as bad as it does. Although shot by ace cinematographer Lucien Ballard (who photographed a lot of great movies including Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING (1956) and Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH (1969), UNHOLY has a washed out look and dialogue that was clearly looped during post-production. These two factors serve as minor distractions in what is otherwise a fairly decent little film noir which really should have been produced in black and white.

When UNHOLY went into production at RKO in 1957 that studio was in the process of getting out of the movie production business. In fact, what was left of the RKO studios was eventually sold to Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, who transformed it into their own studio/production company, Desilu. But someone in the head office made the decision to shoot UNHOLY in Technicolor and here's where my two theories come into play. 

One, the studio had a bunch of unused Technicolor film stock on hand and the producers decided that rather than incur any additional expenses, they'd simply use what was available. I think it's possible that the film stock was well past it's "sell by" date and as a result, the colors turned out slightly blurry, with noticeable blackness around the frames. Nothing is sharp and well defined and Lucien Ballard was too good a DP not to deliver first rate work.

My second theory is that the decision was made to shoot in color only to find that there was no color film available. Perhaps some hapless production assistant was dispatched to the corner drug store to purchase as much color film stock as could be had and said stock was more suitable for home movies than major Hollywood productions. Because that's what UNHOLY looks like at times, someone's semi-well lit home movies. If someone reading this can either prove or disprove these theories I'd love to hear from you. As I said it's not a deal breaker because the film is certainly worth your time, just be aware that the overall production looks like it was made on the cheap and the quick.

British sex symbol (dubbed the British Marilyn Monroe) Diana Dors stars as Phyllis Hochen, a femme fatale who commits cold blooded murder and frames her wine making husband Paul (Rod Steiger in a somewhat subdued, at least for Steiger, performance). Phyllis has the hots for rodeo cowboy San Sanders (Tom Tryon) and plans to run away with the tall, dark and handsome stud after securing the conviction of Paul. But the web of lies spun by Phyllis becomes increasingly entangled and she ends up being convicted for a murder which she really didn't commit. It's all terribly ironic and it's classic noir material.

The supporting cast includes Arthur (MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS) Franz, Beulah (IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE) Bondi, and noir icon Marie (NARROW MARGIN) Windsor in a small part. Look quick or you'll miss Hal (THE ANDY GRIFIFTH SHOW) Smith in one scene as a doctor. 

 Director John Farrow does yeoman like work here but he made better noirs in his career including THE BIG CLOCK (1948), WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950), and HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951). 

UNHOLY WIFE was a financial flop, a factor which led to the end of Dors short lived American filmmaking career. She soon returned to her native Great Britain where she enjoyed a long career in films and on television.

 

A DANGEROUS PROFESSION

Wikipedia says that A DANGEROUS PROFESSION (1949) is a film noir.

I disagree.

In my opinion, this RKO production is an overly convoluted yet thoroughly routine crime drama made worth watching primarily for the cast.

George Raft, who made three other films at RKO after WWII (JOHNNY ANGEL (1945), NOCTURNE (1946) and RACE STREET (1948)), stars as ex LAPD detective turned bail bondsman Vince Kane. He's partners with Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien) and the two do a very good business.

When two bit hoodlum Claude Brackett (Bill Williams), gets arrested, Kane discovers that he's married to his old flame, Lucy (the oh-so-beautiful Ella Raines). Brackett was involved in a years-old robbery case and is wanted by police detective Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus), for the murder of a cop.

Kane takes a considerable amount of bail money from two separate parties to bail Brackett but when Brackett disappears, Kane is forced to play detective once again and find his missing client.

Kane's quest leads him into a complicated web of crime, intrigue and murder. Is he really trying to solve the case out of a sense of duty or to win back his old flame?

The film climaxes with a shoot-out and fight staged close to L.A.'s legendary Bronson Caverns in which a couple of stunt men really earn their pay.

Everything is tied up in a neat package at film's end and Kane and Lucy are reunited at last.

A DANGEROUS PROFESSION was directed by Ted Tetzlaff who directed the far superior noir thriller THE WINDOW (1949). Raft and O'Brien are old pros who seem to be on automatic. Raft is especially stiff while it's interesting to see perennial good guy O'Brien play a character with a touch of larceny in his heart. The gorgeous Ella Raines also appeared in such better noirs as PHANTOM LADY (1944), BRUTE FORCE (1947) and IMPACT (1949). 

The real surprise here is the appearance of Backus as both narrator and police detective. Of course, this was years before he did the Mr. Magoo cartoons and starred in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963) and television's GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. He's actually surprisingly good. 

 Light years away from greatness, A DANGEROUS PROFESSION is an okay time waster to enjoy on a brutally hot late summer afternoon.

 

THE WEAK AND THE WICKED

 

With a title like THE WEAK AND THE WICKED, I expected something entirely different from what I ultimately got when I sat down to watch this film this afternoon. This 1954 British women-in-prison picture looks like it should contain lots of pulpy, trashy material, you know, like the majority of women-in-prison pictures deliver (and why I bother to watch such films in the first place.) 

Instead, director J. Lee Thompson orchestrates a straight forward drama in which tawdry thrills (despite the title and one-sheet pictured above) are not to be found. WEAK opens with the trial, conviction and imprisonment of young Jean Raymond (Glynis Johns), who is sent to prison for a twelve-month sentence for fraud. She's actually innocent of the crime, a victim of a neat frame-up, but nonetheless, she has a stretch to do in a British penitentiary.

It's there she meets and befriends the brassy blonde Betty Brown (Diana Dors). The two become fast friends and are eventually transferred to an "open" prison (more like a college campus), to serve their final months. Here, the prisoners are given meaningful work to do and live in dorm like facilities. It's all very progressive and forward thinking. But Jean and Betty are tested near the end of the film with a taste of freedom that momentarily goes awry.

The narrative switches attention from Jean and Betty several times throughout the film as we see illuminating vignettes about a shoplifter, a mother convicted of infanticide and an older woman convicted of blackmail. They're interesting little stories that provide additional characterization but ultimately contribute little to the overall story.

Nothing much really happens in THE WEAK AND THE WICKED. Jean is ultimately released into the arms of her lover while Betty (jilted by her beau), remains behind to serve out the remainder of her sentence.

Much is made of the presence of Diana Dors, the British Marilyn Monroe of the '50s. But with her platinum blonde hair and Spock like eyebrows, Dors looks more freakish than alluring. She does prove herself to be a capable actress however, holding her own against the more seasoned Johns.

THE WEAK AND THE WICKED is a sincere film that offers a semi-documentary look inside British women's prisons. It's not bad but it's no CAGED HEAT.

THIS LAND IS MINE

Produced at RKO in 1943, a year before Allied forces invaded Normandy and began the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany, Jean Renoir's THIS LAND IS MINE is a stirring call to action, imploring all free men and women in every country under oppression, to stand up and fight for freedom.

Set somewhere in German occupied Europe, THIS LAND focuses on one Albert Lory (Charles Laughton), a mother dominated school teacher, secretly in love with one of his co-workers, the beautiful Louise (Maureen O'Hara). Trouble is, Albert is a coward through and through, afraid of expressing his real feelings, terrified of Allied bombings, too scared to join the underground and strike a blow against the occupiers. But Louise's brother, Paul (Kent Smith), who works at the local railyard, is an active saboteur, doing all he can to disrupt the supply lines.

Louise is in love with George Lambert (George Sanders), the superintendent of the rail depot. He's sold out to the Nazis, going along to get along with Major Erich von Keller (Walter Slezak). But Paul is ratted out and hunted down (in a brilliantly filmed sequence) among the rail cars. Stricken with guilt over his friends' death, George commits suicide and seconds later, Albert finds the body and stands accused of murder.

The third act is a bravura courtroom sequence in which Albert butts heads with the prosecutor (George Coulouris) by defending himself and finally standing up to his oppressors. He confesses his love to Louise and is finally ready to die as a redeemed hero.

THIS LAND IS MINE is propaganda of the highest order but director Renoir treats everything with the utmost sobriety and seriousness. He's aided by a first rate cast headlined by the luminous O'Hara and Laughton, playing a sympathetic character instead of a villain. 

Other points of interest include Major von Keller's artificial arm, an injury he sustained in WWI. It directly recalls Lionel Atwill's turn as Inspector Krogh in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939). The art direction in THIS LAND was under the guidance of Eugene Lourie who went on to direct such genre touchstones as BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953), COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK (1958), GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959), GORGO (1961) and CRACK IN THE WORLD (1965). Kent Smith appeared in Jacques Tourneur's horror masterpiece CAT PEOPLE (1942) while Laughton was unforgettable as Dr. Moreau in ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932). Magpie Una O'Connor appeared in two of director James Whale's gothic horrors at Universal, INVISIBLE MAN (1933) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935). And George Sanders (one of my all time favorite actors), would later star in the terrific British SF film, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960) and became one of three actors to play Mr. Freeze on televisions' BATMAN.

Handsomely mounted and laced with stirring speeches about freedom and liberty, THIS LAND OF MINE is a first rate piece of wartime filmmaking. It directly addressed the situation in occupied Europe and offered a bracing dash of hope for everyone then suffering under the yoke of tyranny.

Recommended.

 

SLEAZE '73

I recently purchased this magazine on eBay. It's yet another piece to add to my growing collection of vintage men's adventure magazines (or MAMs). I've got about two hundred different issues in my collection so far, one which I've built over the last several years. I don't buy them as often as I used to but every once in a while, I get an itch that only one of these mags can scratch.

Case in point, MEN for May 1973. I was at the end of my junior year in high school the month this magazine was originally published. I certainly didn't buy it at the time as I wasn't buying any of this type of material back then. I probably saw it on the stands at 7-11 or some other convenience store but I avoided that material for fear that one, the guy behind the counter probably wouldn't sell it to me and two, it just looked sleazy as hell.

And sleazy it is. That's a huge part of the appeal for me now all these many years later. By May of 1973, MEN was clearly making the transition from focusing on articles and artwork with the occasional, fully clothed pin-up photos to an almost 100% skin mag. You can see it in the cluttered art direction on the cover. Four different images and more than a half dozen blurbs make it hard to determine exactly what this magazine was selling. One of the articles, about "Mate-Swap" Cities, actually names Austin, TX, as one of the top cities for "swingers" in 1973.

MEN wasn't an out and out skin mag yet but clearly the powers that were at Magazine Management Company (which also handled the Marvel Comics black and white magazines of the era), saw that featuring photos, (even grainy black-and-white pics printed on cheap paper) of near naked young women was more profitable (and cheaper to produce) than paying writers and artists to crank out outlandish "true" stories of crime, adventure and war.

Even though I passed on issues of MEN and their like minded brethren publications, I was eager to reach the point where I could purchase an issue of a honest-to-Hefner real skin mag, something that had class and critical cachet. I'm speaking of course, of the legendary PLAYBOY magazine. Oh sure, I'd seen issues here and there. My older brother had copies stashed in the bath towel compartment in our bathroom, some barber shops had them around for customers to peruse and some neighborhood kid always had a prized (and possibly purloined) copy to show around.

But I had never actually gone into a 7-11 or other convenience store and purchased a copy for myself. Again, I was afraid that the sale would be turned down and I wanted to spare myself the embarrassment of not being to able to buy an issue of PLAYBOY.  All of that changed in November of 1973.

Even though I wouldn't turn 18 until March of 1974, I could pass as being of age and I decided that if I acted with confidence and self-assurance, I could probably pull off buying the latest issue.

And that's just what I did one fine day.

Here's the issue I purchased:

 

THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP

Peter Sellers is one of my all time favorite comic actors. He seldom fails to make me laugh no matter what the film or role he's playing. So, I would think that pairing the great Sellers with the ditzy, screwball actress Goldie Hawn (not long removed from her days on televisions' ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN) in an R rated British sex farce would be a can't miss recipe for some naughty hijinks.

Except that I'd be dead wrong.

THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP (1970) is based on a long running British play by Terence Frisby. Frisby and Peter Kortner do much to open up the action in the narrative but ultimately, the film cannot escape it's origin as material for the stage and thus, there are many scenes that suffer from an inherent "stagy" quality.

The plot concerns the adventures of Robert Danvers (Sellers), a restaurant critic who has a popular television show. He's also a letch who scores with almost every beautiful young woman he meets. But when he meets kooky American Marion (Hawn), he's met his match. Although the two get off to a rocky start, they do eventually fall in love only to have Marion walk out on Danvers in the final act, leaving the middle aged lothario right back where he started from, ready for his next sexual conquest.

There's some brief glimpses of female nudity here and there, horrible pop songs by Mike D'Abo punctuate the soundtrack, and a supporting player, the hippie drummer and Marion's former lover Jimmy (Nicky Henson), is the winner of the Don Stroud look-alike contest. It says something about the tepidness of the film when the thing that got me most excited was seeing a large poster of the Incredible Hulk (drawn by Jack Kirby), on the wall of Jimmy's "pad".

Hawn is fine here. She's her usual giggly, adorable self who occasionally shows some flashes of maturity and depth. No, the real problem here is, sadly, Sellers.

When you hire Sellers to star in your film, you should give him a larger than life character to play, preferably one with an accent and he should certainly be allowed to engage in some of the slapstick buffoonery that he exceled at. That's not the case here. As Sellers himself said, "they've hired me to play Cary Grant". Oh there are a couple of moments of physical schtick that show Sellers doing what he did best but those scenes are few and far between.

If you're looking for a vintage Peter Sellers comedy that is guaranteed to produce laughs, move along. There are none to be had here.

 

TWO RODE TOGETHER

Many people consider John Ford to be the greatest American film director of the twentieth-century.

 I'm not one of them.

Oh, I admit, Ford was certainly capable of greatness but in my opinion, he was an incredibly uneven, inconsistent filmmaker. Some of his films are indeed great, solid, unquestioned American classics such as STAGECOACH (1939), THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) and THE QUIET MAN (1952). I'm ambivalent about THE SEARCHERS (1956), which many consider Ford's masterpiece but I will confess that I do need to revisit that film with a fresh perspective. However, I wouldn't watch HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (21941), MISTER ROBERTS (1955) or DONOVAN'S REEF (1963) again with someone else's eyes. 

For my money, the best John Ford film I've ever seen is (and always will be) THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERY VALANCE (1962). A brilliantly structured and measured deconstruction of the myth of the American West, VALANCE is not only Ford's finest hour, it's also among the best work ever done by co-stars John Wayne and James Stewart. 

Stewart's appearance in TWO RODE TOGETHER (1961) contributes greatly to the status of this film (which I watched today for the first time) as one of Ford's best. Although the film treads a lot of similar thematic material as THE SEARCHERS, with it's narrative of two men seeking to rescue captured white children from hostile native Americans, it's not as deeply dark as SEARCHERS nor is it played out on such an epic scale. TWO is not without moral ambiguity but overall the film is a more positive take on the idea of rescue from one culture and re-entry into society.  

Stewart is Marshall Guthrie McCabe in Tascosa, Texas in the 1880s. He's not totally corrupt but he is on the take for 10% of all of the business in the small town. He's approached by old friend, Calvary Lieutenant Jim Gary (Richard Widmark) with a mission: ride into a Comanche camp and barter for the release of white children captured years ago.

McCabe agrees to do it but demands a high price for his services. Desperate pioneers, whose children were taken, meet his demands,  and the two ride towards a meeting with Comanche chief Quanah Parker (Henry Brandon), a real figure in Texas history. Two of the captives refuse to leave. Another, a wild young man, is taken by against his will while Elena (Linda Cristal) the wife of warrior chieftain Stone Calf (Woody Strode) has her freedom purchased by six additional rifles for Parker. 

The third act of the film deals with the difficulties these two outsiders encounter while trying to fit back into "civilized" society. The young man (who is revealed to be the lost brother of lovely Marty Purcell(Shirley Jones), meets a violent end while the beautiful Elena finds herself scorned by the men and the women stationed at the military outpost.

Ford populates his supporting cast with many of his regular players including Harry Carey Jr, real-life son-in-law Ken (GUNSMOKE) Curtis, John McIntire, John Qualen, Andy Devine and Woody Strode. 

TWO was the first time Stewart and Ford worked together and although the one-eyed director had a well deserved reputation as a hard to get along with son of a bitch, Stewart and Ford worked well together and made two subsequent films, LIBERTY VALANCE and CHEYENNE AUTUMN (1964). 

The screenplay by Frank Nugent was based on the 1959 novel COMANCHE CAPTIVES by Will Cook and was shot location in and around Alamo Village in Texas by cinematographer Charles Lawton, Jr.. There's one remarkable scene early in the film, an unbroken two shot that runs for five minutes, of Stewart and  Widmark sitting on a log by a river and talking. The scene contains a lot of great character and narrative exposition and seems completely natural and relaxed. However, the camera crew had to endure an entire day in the icy river water in order to get a perfect take of the scene. 

TWO RODE TOGETHER is a first rate western with a ton of talent in front of and behind the camera. It's not Ford's best but it's not far behind. 

Thumbs up. 

 

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

If you dismiss Douglas Sirk's WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1955), as merely an overblown, soap opera melodrama (which it most certainly is), you're denying yourself one helluva movie watching experience.

To put it bluntly, I flat out love this film which I watched for the second time this afternoon. German émigré director Douglas Sirk made several films in a variety of genres in the United States after coming to Hollywood in 1937. But it's the string of melodramas that he helmed for Universal International in the 1950s that secured his place in the pantheon of great 20th century directors.

The Sirk melodramas include ALL I DESIRE (1953), MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954), ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955), THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956), TARNISHED ANGELS (1957) and his final film, IMITATION OF LIFE (1959). It was in these films that Sirk found his greatest canvas on which to showcase subversive entertainments that, while ultra slick and glossy on the surface, dared to reveal the darkness that lurked in the corners of mid-century American life. And WRITTEN ON THE WIND is a fine of example of Sirk at the peak of his creative genius.

To start with, the film is drop dead gorgeous to look at. The super-saturated Technicolor cinematography of Russell Metty practically explodes off of the screen, while the art direction, sets, clothes and period cars, make you wish you could step into this full to bursting, overripe fantasy world that depicts the 1950s as they should have been. 

Rock Hudson, who worked with Sirk on a total of four films (MAGNIFICENT OBSESSEION, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, WRITTEN and TARNISHED ANGELS), stars as Mitch Wayne, a geologist employed by the Texas based Hadley Oil Company (the headquarters of which is located in, where else, Hadley, Texas). He's best friends with Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack), an alcoholic playboy overflowing with self loathing. Friends since childhood, Mitch has always stood up for Kyle, even at his worst.

Mitch has eyes early in the film for Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall), who works in an advertising company. But when Mitch introduces Lucy to Kyle, Kyle sets his cap for the young woman and before you know it, they're married.

Poor Mitch burns a long smoldering torch for Lucy while fending of the overly aggressive advances of Kyle's sister, Marylee Hadley (Dorothy Malone), a tramp whose horniness meter goes to 11.

Add all of these ingredients together, throw in some father issues, stir in some heaping helpings of sexual impotency, and top it all off with a fatal shooting and a dramatic final act inquest and you've got one deliriously intoxicating cinematic experience.

The supporting cast includes Edward (GET SMART) Platt as a sympathetic doctor, Robert Keith as Jasper Handley, the father of the dysfunctional Kyle and Marylee, John (DIRTY HARRY) Larch as one of Marylee's many admirers and Grant (INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN) Williams as a hapless gas jockey seduced by the volcanic Marylee. Oh, and look fast for the appearance of veteran character actor William Schallert who plays a reporter in one scene. 

And just to make sure there's no doubt about the subtext of this film (which is SEX), Sirk sets his players and their twisted lives amidst a veritable wilderness of oil derricks, giant erector set structures that throb and pulse with phallic symbolism in every shot in which they appear. Hell, the next to last scene in the film shows Marylee sitting at her dead father's desk, stroking and caressing a golden oil derrick model, the same object which her father is fondling in the portrait hanging above her. 

Sirk also includes a ton of mirrors throughout the film. There are multiple shots that feature a mirror and mirror images, visuals that underline the duality of the characters and the hidden depths of their true selves. 

WRITTEN ON THE WIND received three Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actor (Stack), Best Supporting Actress (Malone, winner) and Best Original Song. Malone, who practically burns a hole in the screen with her voracious carnality, clearly deserved her Oscar.

A clear inspiration for the long running television soap opera DALLAS, WRITTEN ON THE WIND would make a great double bill (albeit a lengthy one) with GIANT (1956), another Rock Hudson starring film about the Texas oil business .

I've watched a lot of films so far this summer and while I've enjoyed the majority of them, WRITTEN just knocked me out with it's audacity, daring and can-you-believe-this situations and characters.  

Highest recommendation.

 

VENGEANCE VALLEY

 

Based on the 1950 novel by Luke Short, VENGEANCE VALLEY (1951) is a routine Western enhanced by the presence of Burt Lancaster, whose status as a major movie star was on the rise at the time the film was produced and released and some nice Technicolor cinematography by George J. Folsey.

The story revolves around foster brothers Owen (Lancaster) and Lee (Robert Walker) and their relationship with their crippled father (and wealthy rancher), Arch Strobie (Ray Collins). Young Lee is no good but older brother Owen has always looked out for him and covered up for his misdeeds out of respect for the old man.

Lee gets local girl Lily (Sally Forrest) pregnant before he marries Jen (Joanne Dru). When Lee and Owen return from a months long cattle drive, Lilly has given birth (with Jen playing nurse). Lilly's brothers Dick (Hugh O'Brian) and Hub (John Ireland), are out to kill the man who got their sister pregnant even if it means killing the wrong man, in this case, Owen, who is covering for Lee.

Lee schemes to take over the ranch and sets up Owen for a deadly ambush while on a cattle drive. Owen, of course, survives and the two brothers face off against each other in a final showdown.

Lancaster, as usual, is fun to watch and the supporting cast is solid. O'Brian went on to play Wyatt Earp on the television series THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP (1955-1961) and Collins spent years playing homicide lieutenant Tragg on the original PERRY MASON series. Ranch hand Mr. Willoughby, was played by Will Wright who (among other roles), was Ben Weaver, owner of Weavers' department store on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. Finally, Glenn Strange has a small part late in the film. Strange played Sam the bartender at the Longbranch Saloon on the long running GUNSMOKE television series and, most importantly for genre fans, played the Frankenstein monster in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKSENSTEIN (1948).

There's nothing here you haven't seen before but VENGEANCE VALLEY is a good little Western with first rate production values thanks to the folks at MGM. 

Thumbs up. 

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

German émigré director Fritz Lang's 1937 film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (his second American film after 1936's FURY) is a compelling proto-noir that draws heavily on the then recent exploits of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde for inspiration. But Lang and screenwriters Gene Towne and Charles Graham Baker, shape the material into something different, albeit every bit as doom laden. 

A very young and slightly baby faced Henry Fonda stars as ex-con Eddie Taylor. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE was Fonda's eighth film after starting his cinematic career two years previously in 1935. At the time of YOU, he had yet to establish an identifiable screen persona. Here, he's just a young actor (indeed, a very good young actor), who clearly relishes the part he was hired to play. 

Taylor is released from prison (following his third time in stir) at the beginning of the film. He finds Joan Graham (Sylvia Sidney) waiting for him. The two marry and begin a new life together. But it's not long until things go wrong. Eddie loses his trucking job due to lateness caused by his purchase of the couple's first house. Unable to find work, Eddie contemplates returning to a life of crime. 

We are next witness to a brilliantly staged bank robbery sequence in which the audience is led to believe that Eddie is the culprit. He swears his innocence but is nevertheless convicted and sentenced to die (several police officers were killed in the robbery). On the night of his scheduled execution, Eddie stages a desperate escape attempt at the same time that his innocence is proved and he receives a pardon. But Eddie thinks it's all a trick and guns down Father Dolan (William Gargan), the prison priest who always tried to help him

Eddie, now a bonafide killer and a just pregnant Joan go on the run together. It's a miserable existence and after the baby is born, Joan turns the infant over to the care of her sister, Bonnie (Jean Dixon) and her husband, public defender Stephen Whitney (Barton MacLane). Eddie and Joan are determined to cross the Canadian border into freedom no matter what the cost. But a roadblock comprised of heavily armed state troopers spells a violent, bullet riddled end for the couple.

Bleak and downbeat, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE features great performances by Fonda and Sidney and Lang indulges in several expressionistic flourishes in several sequences, most notably the fog shrouded nighttime bid for freedom from prison that ends so tragically for Eddie.

Lang, of course, went on to be one of the chief architects of the American film noir while Fonda had a long and impressive career playing mostly good guys (except for his appearance in Sergio Leone's masterpiece ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)).

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE points the way for bigger and better things to come for all concerned but on it's own terms, it's a very good crime drama.

Recommended

 

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

As regular reader of this blog might recall, I recently had the opportunity to view Ingmar Bergman's 1960 film, THE VIRGIN SPRING. I noted in my review that the film served as an inspiration for Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), which was, more or less, a remake of Bergman's rape and revenge drama.

I've now watched for the first time, LAST HOUSE and found it to be a genuinely unpleasant experience. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a monster kid through and through. Grew up on a steady diet of horror films. Love 'em. But LAST HOUSE was such an utterly pointless exercise in depravity that I find it hard to say hardly anything good about it.

The plot parallels Bergman's film (more or less). Here, instead of one young woman, there are two victims and instead of  two men and a boy, there are now three men and a woman who are the murderers. There's rape and murder in the woods and revenge at the hands of one of the dead girls' parents (they both get in on the action) and instead of medieval implements like swords and axes, here the parents attack with a variety of weapons including shotguns, electrified doors and a chainsaw.

The first use of a chainsaw as a weapon in the cinema was in the great B movie DARK OF THE SUN (1968) and later made infamous in Tobe Hooper's masterpiece THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), another film of unrelieved brutality as is LAST HOUSE, but one which I actually find contains a tremendous amount of merit, a film well deserving of its' status as a true classic of the American horror cinema.

LAST HOUSE has echoes of both Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS (1971) and the similar rape-in-the-woods sequence of DELIVERANCE (1972)  but Craven's depiction of the ordeal is much longer, more graphic and more depraved than anything seen in American mainstream films to that time.

The film is grainy, cheap looking (made on a budget of $87,000) and the entire cast is comprised of unknown New York area actors. This actually works to the film's advantage because if Craven had cast recognizable actors in any of the parts, that presence would have served to detract from the icky verisimilitude of the whole affair. 

There's comic relief in the form of two bumbling and ineffectual cops and several scenes are scored with off kilter rinky tinky music (by David Alexander Hess) that seems more at home at a Shakey's pizza parlor than a horror film.

Still, the film packs an unmistakable wallop. It was extremely controversial upon first release and was heavily censored in some markets (some foreign countries banned the film entirely). The result was a  box office bonanza, earning more than $3 million dollars domestically. That's quite a return on an investment that is strictly grindhouse fodder.

LAST HOUSE made Craven a creative force to reckon with and he went on to make bigger budget (and much better) films including THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977), DEADLY BLESSING (1981), SWAMP THING (1982), THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART II (1984) and his most iconic film (and franchise starter) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984).

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is not for everyone but as a devoted horror film fan, it's a film I thought I really should see. I'm glad to have seen it. Now I know what all the fuss is about. It's an important, groundbreaking film of the horror cinema of the '70s but I have no desire to ever watch it again. 

 

VIBES

Somehow, this one never showed up on my radar. I have absolutely no memory of even hearing about this film when it was released in 1988. I only know about it now because it was recently broadcast on TCM. I decided to give it a shot.

Kinda wish I hadn't.

VIBES is a mash up of far better films including ROMANCING THE STONE, GHOSTBUSTERS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. It's a quirky rom-com/adventure movie that pairs ditzy pop singer Cyndi Lauper with Jeff Goldblum. The two have psychic powers and they're recruited by Peter Falk (the best thing in this whole affair) to help him find a fabulous treasure hidden somewhere in the mountains of Ecuador.

VIBES has nice on-location cinematography by John Bailey but suffers from those really crappy 1980s visual effects that looked so state of the art at the time and now look terrible. 

The role of Nick, a psychometrist who can pick up on the past of an object by touching it, was originally slated to be played by Dan Aykroyd. He bowed out after reading the screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and the part went to Jeff Goldblum, who was no stranger to genre films at that point in his career having appeared in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978), BUCKAROO BANZAI (1984), TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 (1985) and his most high profile film, David Cronenberg's THE FLY (1986). 

Produced by Ron Howard's production company, Howard eschewed directing duties on VIBES, turning the reins over to Ken Kwapis, who only had two films (THE BENIKER GANG (1984) and FOLLOW THAT BIRD (1985)) to his credit at the time. Show of hands please for anyone who has ever seen or heard of these films.

VIBES tries hard to win the audience through the oddball pairing of string bean Goldblum and the tiny, pixyish Lauper but it's strictly routine. Sadly, it's veteran Falk who has all of the best lines and moments in a film that fails to deliver either laughs or thrills.

Thumbs down.

WICHITA

Legendary Old West lawman Wyatt Earp has been the subject of dozens of movies and television shows over the years. So many, in fact, that a semester long college class could be offered just on depictions of Earp in popular culture.

The actors who have portrayed Earp onscreen include: Henry Fonda in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), Will Geer in WINCHESTER '73(1950), Burt Lancaster in GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957), James Garner in HOUR OF THE GUN (1967), Kurt Russell in TOMBSTONE (1993) and Kevin Costner in WYATT EARP (1994). And let's not forget the television series THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP (1955-1961), in which Hugh O'Brian played the title character.

There are many more films and while I haven't seen all of the Earp related films, I will go on record that of the ones I have seen, Russell's portrayal in TOMBSTONE is hands down the best.

WICHITA (1955) is yet another Wyatt Earp movie, this time featuring veteran Western actor Joel McCrea in the role. It's a serviceable enough film in which Earp cleans up the wild boom town of Wichita by instituting his no firearms policy.

Sure, it's a seen-it-all-before narrative but there are several interesting things about this film that stand out. First, it's shot in CinemaScope and Technicolor, a format that was introduced in the 1950s to combat the growing threat of television which was stealing audiences away from movie theaters. It's beautifully shot by Harold Lipstein but, like so many other CinemaScope pictures of the era, the widescreen format practically demands that everything be photographed in either long or medium shots. There's not a close up to be seen anywhere in this film.

Another tidbit is the choice of director, none other than Jacques Tourneur. WICHITA was not the only Western film Tourneur made but he's much better known for his horror and noir films including: CAT PEOPLE (1942), I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943), THE LEOPARD MAN (1943), OUT OF THE PAST (1947), BERLIN EXPRESS (1948), NIGHT OF THE DEMON/CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957), THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1964) and CITY UNDER THE SEA/WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP (1965). Tourneur's direction here is professional enough, it's just that the CinemaScope format locks him into a severely rigid visual style. The score by Hans J. Salter is rousing and adds much to the story.

The supporting cast include many actors who later gained fame in television. One of the villains, a vicious cowboy named Gyp is played by Lloyd Bridges, who later starred in SEA HUNT (1958-1961). Edgar Buchanan, who plays a crooked saloon owner, was the loveable Uncle Joe on PETTICOAT JUNCTION (1963-1970). Big Peter Graves (real life brother of James (GUNSMOKE) Arness), plays Wyatt's brother Morgan. Graves later starred in FURY (1955-1960) and on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1967-1973).

Western regular Jack Elam is on hand as another bad cowboy, Wallace Ford plays the boozy newspaper publisher Arthur Whiteside, and the always lovely Vera Miles is Laurie, Wyatt's love interest. Her mother, Mrs. McCoy, who gets gunned down by the bad guys, is played by Mae Clarke who found fame in FRANKENSTEIN and THE PUBLIC ENEMY (both 1931). Keith Larsen plays Bat Masterson, who starts out as a newspaper reporter and ends up as Earp's deputy. Gene Barry also played Bat Masterson in the television series of the same name that ran from 1958-1961.

WICHITA ends with Earp and his bride, having brought law and order to Wichita, head off for Dodge City where his adventures would continue.

WICHITA is a perfectly fine production with a solid cast and high production values. Heck, there's even a theme song sung by Tex Ritter! There are certainly worse Wyatt Earp films as there are also much better ones. Still, it's an enjoyable way to pass a hot summer day. 

Thumbs up.