Jack Palance in "Man in the Attic", plus "The Ghost of Rashmon Hall", and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" with Bela Lugosi

Last night we saw Jack Palance in "Man in the Attic"(1953), a remake of "The Lodger"(1944) starring Laird Cregar. Both are based on the Jack the Ripper story. I'll state right off that "The Lodger" is the superior picture. "Attic" is well produced and acted, and Palance is particularly good (though not as good as the late great Cregar), but despite the lavish production values and attention to period detail, the movie lacks tension because we know going in that Palance is The Ripper. No attempt is made to disguise that fact, unlike in "The Lodger" where scriptural feints are made to keep you guessing for at least half the movie.

What happens is that Palance, as "Dr. Slade" (a pathologist), moves into a rooming house late one night, after the first Ripper murder has been committed. He takes the attic as it's the only room available but really it suits him just fine. He doesn't want to be bothered. "I have to concentrate on my work", he tells the landlady (Frances Bavier aka "Aunt Bea"), who thinks he's nice but a little strange. Her niece "Lily Bonner" (Constance Smith) comes to stay at the house soon after. She's a Can-Can dancer with a following in London. Slade disapproves of Can-Can dancing, but falls for Lily anyway. He seems to want to save her from something. Could it be from his alter ego, Jack the Ripper?

There are moments when you think that, just maybe, Palance is not The Ripper, and that he'll be exonerated or even become the hero when the real Ripper is caught, maybe at the end of the movie. I didn't know beforehand that it was a "Lodger" remake, so I thought a surprise might be coming. But that thought was brief, because soon the plot becomes telegraphed. Midway through, it's clear that Slade is The Ripper. The only question is what will happen to Lily Bonner. Again, it's a stylishly made film, and in that respect it's eminently watchable. The trouble is that in a mystery, there's got to be something mysterious, some aspect that keeps you guessing. Here the mystery runs out halfway through, and all that you're left with is the style. That part of "Man in the Attic" is high quality, so I'm gonna give it Two Solid Thumbs Up, with a recommendation that's more than the execution of the film warrants. I give it a high recommendation for the effort of Jack Palance and the other actors. See it for something "not bad" to watch, or if you're a Jack the Ripper completist. ////

Much better was another film we saw beforehand on the same night. It was a short one, just 49 minutes long, so I'm not sure we can even call it a movie, but it was released as one, in theatres in England so I guess that makes it official. It's called "The Ghost of Rashmon Hall"(1952). Valentine Dyall stars as "Dr. Clinton", a parapsychologist who is narrating the story of a haunting to a group of houseguests. They are gathered at the home of "John" and "Phyllis" (Alec Faversham and Anne Howard), an old, formerly decaying mansion they bought for next to nothing and restored. No one wanted it because it's said to be haunted by it's former owner, a self-styled necromancer. The guests make a round of comments. Most believe the ghost story is hogwash. Dr. Clinton assures them that it isn't - "I've seen the ghost myself". He then tells the tale of how he was summoned by John and Phyllis to investigate their experiences in the house.

The budget is low and the special effects rudimentary. Some look like "now you see it, now you don't" home movie effects on a 8mm camera. The thing is, though.........they're effective. Cheap doesn't always mean cheesy. Sometimes it just means inexpensive, as in "that's all the money we had". But when your heart is into it, a little money can go a long way. It's the energy of the effects and their intent to scare that come through in the finished product.

The telling of the tale sets an unsettling tone. I had never heard of Valentine Dyall but apparently he was Britain's Vincent Price, tall with pronounced features and a mellifluous voice. He's gentlemanly but with an undercurrent of disquieting threat. You think it's because he's insistent that the guests believe him, but perhaps there's an additional reason. John and Phyllis, the owners whose story he is telling, sit quietly as he recounts it. The action is intercut in flashback. I thought it was frighteningly suspenseful. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Ghost of Rashmon Hall". You might find it under a different title on Youtube ("An English Ghost Story"), but look it up by either name and don't miss it. The picture is slightly soft but in this case it adds to the ghostly atmosphere. And it's sharp enough not to take away your enjoyment of the film. Highly recommended for tonight, before Halloween! You won't be able to watch it tomorrow cause you'll be out Trick or Treating..... :)  ////

The previous night we were back with Bela Lugosi in "Murders in the Rue Morgue"(1932), his first major film after "Dracula" (he had a co-starring role in "The Black Camel", a Charlie Chan movie, in 1931). In "Rue", Lugosi plays "Dr. Mirakle", a Mad Scientist who is trying to initiate evolution by injecting human blood into an ape. He's got the beast locked up in a cage in his lab, but lets it out when he needs a human guinea pig. The ape carries off young women, who become subjects in Lugosi's blood experiments.

Holy smokes is Bela bad. He's got a torture chamber in his basement, and there's a scene which is extreme even by today's standards and would surely be canceled by the wimps of the 21st century. If Lugosi was evil in "Voodoo Man", he's positively malevolent in "Rue". At least in "Voodoo" he had a semi-legit motivation. He was trying to reanimate his wife. The great Leon Ames ("Meet Me in St. Louis") plays one of Dr. Mirakle's students, who discovers what he's doing and tries too late to intervene. His fiancee gets kidnapped by the ape and is next up for the experimental transfusion. If "Voodoo Man" broke the bank on weirdness, then "Rue Morgue" has the market cornered on savagery. As written by Poe, it may be a commentary on evolution. That's the way I see it, though admittedly my views are not in the mainstream.

The movie is staged like a play, with theatrical performances and costuming. Lugosi began his career on the stage in Hungary in 1901, so he was a veteran actor by the time he attained stardom on the silver screen in the early '30s. I think he was a lot better than he's often given credit for, though indeed he didn't get a chance to stretch out. For sheer horror, though, he can't be beat, and with "Dr. Mirakle" he's playing perhaps his most merciless role. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Murder in the Rue Morgue". This one looks like it's been restored in addition to the picture being razor sharp. It's only an hour long, so you can watch it on a double bill with "The Ghost of Rashmon Hall". That's the route I'd take tonight, if I were you. Even if you're going to a Halloween party, you can still get to bed by 2 am if you start the flicks shortly after Midnight. /////

So there you have it. Sorry the reviews weren't as full bodied as you've come to expect, but I had three films to cover, and I'm working on my book as well. I'm also getting in the Halloween spirit myself. Gonna watch the traditional "Mr. Toad/Ichabod Crane" dvd tonight, as well as another movie. Have a nice evening and a great Halloween in case I don't see ya tomorrow (though I'll try to). I send you Tons of Love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):) 

Peter Lorre in "The Lost One", and "Voodoo Man" starring Bela Lugosi, George Zucco and John Carradine

Last night we found another buried treasure, a previously unheard of German film from 1951 called "Der Verlorene" (English title : "The Lost One"). Peter Lorre directs and stars as "Dr. Karl Rothe", who is working at a refugee camp at the end of World War Two. Dr. Rothe is in charge of vaccinating the camp's populace, until one day when he is replaced by a doctor named "Hosch" (Karl John). The two men know each other and share a sordid past. Hosch is a jovial backslapper who boasts about covering for Dr. Rothe in the aftermath of some crime. At first we don't know what it is. Rothe resents his presence but keeps things friendly for the moment. Later on, as the story is told through flashback, we will see that Hosch was covering up something even more sinister than what Peter Lorre was involved in. I have to cut in to note that the subtitles are a problem. Because they are closed captioned and, I assume, generated by the computer rather than embedded in an uploaded commercial dvd, they are less than accurate and only give a general idea of what is being said. This leaves the viewer to have to interpret much of what is going on. It's like reading a "See Spot Run" version of the actual dialogue, so you only get the gist of the plot (and apologies to the author of 'See Spot Run' because in that book you know exactly what's happening. I only chose it as an analogy because of the book's simplicity.)

Having said that, the film is well acted and the photography is masterful. Lorre does his trademark Downcast Look, to emphasize his eyelids, while he smokes cigarettes and paces back and forth. Still, it's a great performance because of the psychological weight he is carrying. It turns out there was a secret at the camp, to infect the refugees with a poisoned vaccine. The scheme was concocted by the Nazi administrators.

Lorre murders his fiancee when he discovers she knows the secret, but it's all alluded to. I had to look up the meaning of that sequence on IMDB because the subtitles and Lorre's directorial style are minimal in the extreme. Watch the murder scene for yourself, and see if you can find any reference to the secret of the poisoned vaccine, or even that the woman is Lorre's fiancee. What I assumed while watching was that she was the daughter of his landlady, and that she was sexually tempting him. I thought he killed her because he was doing his Repressed Peter Lorre Thing. She was branded a "tramp" by the other doctors in the compound, and I thought he was ashamed at having had relations with her, and killed her because of that.

But apparently the explanation is far more conclusive. You'd never know it from the subtitles, though, nor the action. I think that even if you understood German you wouldn't get it, because Lorre intended to keep it mysterious. It's still a great movie, however - if a little slow. For sheer Peter Lorre-ness, it comes in close to "M". I apologize for the vagueness of the review, but it's in proportion to what I gleaned from watching. You might be surprised that I'm gonna give it Two Big Thumbs Up, but I am, and Two Huge Thumbs for Lorre's direction and the expressionistic photography and sets. Don't worry about getting only bits and pieces of plot information to work with. Just go with what you're given and let it lead you into the mystery. It will resolve to some level of satisfaction (and yikes! watch out!), and the rest you can look up when it's over. The picture is razor sharp. "The Lost One" is very highly recommended. ////

Alrighty, then. Just when we thought we had seen every available Bela Lugosi movie, up jumps one of his weirdest. I'm talking about "Voodoo Man"(1944), which we watched the previous night. Are you ready for the cast? Are you sure? Okay. You've got Bela as a Mad Doctor, who's trying to revive his dead wife. Then there's George Zucco, who runs a gas station in the daytime but is a Voodoo Priest by night. Finally, you've got tall, gaunt John Carradine, who plays a creepy half-wit. He's one of Lugosi's assistants, who kidnaps blonde girls for his experiments. To picture Carradine in this movie, think of The Hitchhiker in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He's a maniacal numbskull but harmless compared to his compadres.

The movie opens at Zucco's gas station. A blonde chick pulls in to fill up. While waiting - because there was full service in those days - she asks George for directions to the highway. He obliges, but deliberately sends her to a phony detour on Mulholland Drive, where she becomes trapped when Lugosi sends an electromagnetic pulse from his lab and her car stalls. At that point, Carradine and his fellow creep "Grego" (Pat McKee), emerge from the bushes and capture her, then carry her to Bela's house.

His dead wife is sitting in the basement. She's a knockout for someone who's been deceased for 22 years. The blonde gal is placed in a chair next to her, and now the weirdness goes into overdrive as Zucco, in a runic robe and pointed hat, recites an incantation designed to transfer the blonde's soul into Lugosi's wife's lifeless body. (yeah sure, but yeah, sure).

So far we've only covered the first five or six minutes. Monogram Pictures was the studio, usually noted for their Poverty Row production values but they've gone all-out here, giving Lugosi a decked-out Mad Scientist lab with all the bells and whistles.

It turns out that the hijacked Blonde Gal isn't the right soul-match for Bela's wife, so the kidnapping must begin anew. This time, another blonde pulls into Zucco's gas station. She too needs directions to the highway and he gives her the same phony detour, but she's traveling with her boyfriend, so when their car goes dead from Lugosi's EM pulse, he goes in search of help. She gets abducted during this time, but when the boyfriend returns, clues lead him to Lugosi's house. Now, Lugosi is also a legitimate doctor, who tends to his patients in town. He has a sterling reputation there, so when the boyfriend comes calling, he puts on his Good Doctor face to get rid of him. But the boyfriend's no stooge. He starts to suspect his fiancee is trapped in Bela's house, and he concocts a ruse involving her sister - also a blonde - to get inside and find her.

Topping all of this off is that the boyfriend is a Hollywood screenwriter who's been signed to write a horror movie. But! - and this is an Important 'But' - this is not one of those 1940s Lugosi horror comedies like "Spooks Run Wild", which, while they're fun, aren't particularly scary or weird. On the contrary, "Voodoo Man" is one of the weirdest flicks in Bela's canon. It's completely off the wall. Lugosi is downright evil as "Dr. Marlowe", and when he chants "soul into body!......body into soul"! and other creepy incantations while performing the revival rites for his wife, it looks like you're witnessing the real thing, if there really were (or are) such weirdos who'd perform reanimation rituals. I'm surprised "Voodoo Man" isn't more well known. I'd never heard of it and only discovered it by looking up Lugosi's filmography on IMDB. For what it is, it's unique. George Zucco is off the charts as the Voodoo Priest. Then you've got John Carradine slapping a bongo drum during the ceremony with a cretinous grin on his face. In it's weirdness it reminds me of a film like "The Devil Commands" starring Boris Karloff, which involves a similar subject, communication with the dead. But "Voodoo Man" is even weirder, and for that I'm gonna give it Two Huge Thumbs Up. This is not to say it's a masterpiece on the scale of epic films that are usually are given that rating, but for what it is, it's tremendous and unmissable. I can't recommend it highly enough, especially for fans of Lugosi. You also get Zucco and Carradine in the bargain and the picture is razor sharp. ///// 

So there you go, two Weird Ones, from Peter Lorre and Bela Lugosi. The Lorre does qualify as a Halloween movie, I think, just by it's grimness and chiaroscuro lighting. You don't wanna miss either one, so watch 'em back to back. I hope you have a great day and I send you Tons of Love as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Herbert Lom in "The Dark Tower", and "The Clairvoyant" starring Claude Rains and Fay Wray

Last night's movie was "The Dark Tower"(1943), a British thriller about a hypnotist (Herbert Lom) who comes to work for a circus. Lom plays "Mr. Torg", a secretive man of unspecified European extraction. The circus is in financial straits. "Phil Danton" (Ben Lyon), the owner who doubles as the ringmaster, is about to lay the performers off when Torg walks into the Big Top. He has a pitch for Danton : "What you need is a draw. Something unique that will bring people in. Something they've never seen before. I can give you that". He wants to work with the tightrope walker.

"Mary" (Anne Crawford) normally performs using a parasol for balance. "I can do the same thing through hypnosis", Torg tells Danton. "My mind will become her mind. She'll maintain her balance by a transferred force of thought. It will add an extra element of danger to her act. I promise you'll see an increase in ticket sales". Danton thinks it's a great idea, and Mary is willing to try it if it's safe. Torg promises her it is. Less pleased, though, is Mary's trapeze partner, "Tom Danton" (David Farrar), Phil's brother. He and Mary are unofficially engaged. "I don't want her risking her life with some Mesmerist"!

Danton's the boss, however, so Torg is brought in and he transforms the act into a success. The audience thrills to the sight of Mary gliding down the high wire unaided by a balance apparatus. Word gets around and the shows sell out. Now Torg demands a share of the business. Phil Danton agrees to make him an equal partner, which infuriates not only his brother Tom but also another performer, the Lady Sharpshooter. She believes Torg is evil and is out to destroy the circus, using Mary as his instrument. This isn't quite accurate, as Torg's now in love with Mary, but what he is out to do is to pull her away from Tom, using hypnosis as his rope. Torg's motive doesn't matter to the Sharpshooter. She threatens him to his face that he'd better quit.

It's an excellent set-up that combines the supernatural aspect of mentalism with hard-boiled revenge. Herbert Lom, who is best known for his roles as "Inspector Dreyfus" in several Pink Panther movies, is great as the spooky, sullen Torg, whose magnetism enthralls everyone around him, save Tom Danton and the angry Lady Sharpshooter. The hypnotism and circus context adds an eerie quality to an otherwise straightforward suspense plot. Some performance scenes run long, like the dancing in "Jungle Street Girls", but it's less obtrusive here. Maybe five minutes could be cut from the running length of 93, but it will not detract from your enjoyment of this unusual story. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Dark Tower". It would make a great double feature with our next film, which also involves extrasensory perception.......

I'm talking about "The Clairvoyant"(1935), which we watched the night before going to Disneyland. It stars Claude Rains and Faye Wray as a man-and-wife mind reading team. He plays "The Great Maximus"; she is his prompter. Really they're a couple of charlatans who use memorised verbal cues to fool their audience. I was about five minutes in when I realized I'd seen it before, sometime in the last 19 months since we began watching movies on Youtube. I'm surprised I didn't remember the title, given that I've seen it that recently, but then again we've watched close to 600 films in that time, so maybe it's not so surprising that it slipped my mind.

Anyway, it's a doggone good flick. Rains and Wray fake their act to begin with. Then one night, a Mysterious Woman is in the audience : "Christine" (Jane Baxter) is the daughter of a wealthy publisher. She possesses the ability to send. In this way, she becomes an engine for Rains. Her power of thought transference turns him into a real clairvoyant. She continues to be present at his shows and soon he's predicting things like the winner of the English Derby. He becomes famous but the press has a field day when he's wrong. Once a charlatan, always a charlatan, right? Fay Wray is feeling neglected because her husband is spending all his time with Christine. He swears it's strictly for business reasons. "We need her, don't you see"? But Fay knows that Christine is in love with Claude and will steal him first chance she gets.

Or maybe not.

Rains ends up on trial, for causing panic with one of his predictions. He foresees a mining disaster in which a dozen of the miners are trapped. Many in the press, and some in the legal sphere, believe he caused the situation by preconditioning the workers with his prediction. The lawyers theorize that Rains made the miners nervous and and therefore they became distracted. The result was an inattention to their jobs that caused a flood in an underground tunnel. At the trial, Rains' spooky telepathic reception is presented by the prosecutor as something evil, just like Mr. Torg's hypnotic talent in "The Dark Tower" (see above). But the lawyers don't account for the willing participation of Christine. Is she the real clairvoyant, and Rains just her mouthpiece? More importantly, will Rains let go of her hold on him - an altruistic hold to be sure - in order to save his marriage? Fay Wray will eventually approach Christine for her help. "I know you love my husband but he's about to go to prison. You led him down this road. If you love him lead him off it". The trial takes a turn from there.

"The Clairvoyant" is filmed and acted in the mid-30s style of affected elegance. Fay Wray is noble as Rene, Rains' loyal wife, who steps aside when Christine comes into his life but never deserts him when the chips are down. As in "The Dark Tower", the dialogue delves below the surface into the subject of ESP, how it works and how, in this case, Christine's natural ability for thought transfer is absorbed by Rains, who was merely an impostor before they came in contact. It turns out they have compatible wavelengths ("she's like an engine for him", says someone), which also causes her to fall in love with him. He falls for her also, but in the end.......well, I won't tell you. Watch the movie for yourself and find out. It has the emotional/romantic context of a melodrama, with the eerie overlay of a suspense thriller. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up and highly recommend it on a double bill with "The Dark Tower". If you can't watch 'em both in one night, watch 'em two nights in a row. Good stuff for Halloween week. //// 

That's all I've got for the moment. I'm back here at Pearl's, housesitting for a couple of weeks and helping to clear out the house. I'm also working like mad on my book, and because of the subject it's a great place to write. I've been asked "is it sad to be there"?, and the answer is yes, in the sense of the house being emptied. Pearl lived here for so long - 68 years - and many of her belongings were in place all that time. They became part of the spirit of her life, as the house did. Maybe that's why they call them "belongings", not because they belong to you, but because they belong with you. So yeah, that part's sad. But Pearl's still here, and I can feel her. I have a lot of experience with The Other Side and it just feels comfortable to me, and comforting to know that it's really All One Big Side with souls in different forms. Some of us are still in physical form (with our spirits inside our bodies), and others have left their bodies and are living as pure spirits! But they're all still here, still with us, and I find that incredibly reassuring. Earth is included in Heaven. Eternal life is real, continuing in another form, and we're connected by love and the unbreakable desire to remain together. I learned that when my parents crossed over (I like that phrase better than "passed away"), and I am feeling it again now with Pearl.  

I have just begun reading the new Stephen King, "Billy Summers", about a hit man who takes on one last job. I'll be looking for previously unseen scary movies for us to watch this week, so stay tuned and have a wonderful day. I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)   

Disneyland Report

Okay, here's my  Disneyland report from Saturday. I got up at 7:30 and was out the door at 9. I drove up the onramp of the 118 freeway at 9:08, switched to the I5 and made it to the parking lot at D-Land by 10:20. "The Shabularity is negative, sir"! Yes, it was indeed. On my trip to the park in July, it took an hour and a half to get there, so today was a reduction of 18 minutes. On the crummy side, the sky was clouded in a heavy overcast all the way down there, and when I began my walk to the front gate, a drizzle became a light rain that produced enough water to wet my hair to the dripping point.

"Thanks, Mr. Weatherman", I thought, silently cursing him. He'd predicted clear skies by 10am over Anaheim.

But Lo and Behold, when I got in line to enter, the rain returned to a drizzle and the clouds broke by the time I walked through the turnstile. Welcome to The Magic Kingdom. It's all decked out in orange for Halloweentime, with jack-o-lanterns grinning from all directions.

There was a message on my flip phone. My sister had already arrived. She was originally scheduled for Noon, but left her house early. I met her at the gate with her ticket. Once inside on Main Street, we headed for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We'd talked the night before about seeing him, since we missed him when we went back in July. Personally, I don't think I'd seen Honest Abe since the early 80s. In any case it was "high time we went" to quote Joe Cocker.

I got goosebumps watching the stage show. It opens with some historical background on Mr. Lincoln and the Civil War. Stirring music plays. His life is depicted in paintings, photographs and illustrations. Then the announcer tells us it's time for him to speak for himself. "He's the man who can best tell this story". A curtain rises and suddenly there he is, sitting in a large leather chair. I'm sure you remember the feeling when Mr. Lincoln stands up and talks. You think "it's really him", and after yesterday I'm sure it is. It's truly an amazing show.

We had an all day blast.  

Rides I went on, the ones w/Vickie noted in parentheses : 1) Mr. Lincoln (w/Vic), 2) Pirates of the Caribbean (Vic), 3) Splash Mountain (Vic), 4) Small World (Vic), 5) Snow White's Enchanted Wish (Vic), 6) Mark Twain Riverboat (Vic), 7) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (twice, first time w/Vic)), 8) Matterhorn Bobsleds, 9) Autopia, 10) Pinnochio's Daring Journey, 11) Millennium Falcon : Smuggler's Run, 12) Space Mountain (Vic), 13) Story Book Land Canal Boats, 14) Indiana Jones Adventure 15) Haunted Mansion ("Nightmare Before Christmas" Halloween Version), 16) Disneyland Railroad, including a trip through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World.

Seventeen rides total if you count Mr. Toad twice.That's two less than I managed in July, but it's not bad if you figure this trip was on a Saturday (July was a Tuesday), and it was Halloweentime and the crowd was near capacity. Plus, I lost half an hour waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise, which was ultimately shut down for the rest of the night due to technical problems. Vickie and I also spent a lot of time on Main Street browsing the shops. We saw an art gallery in the Mr. Lincoln hall. We watched the Dapper Dans - Disneyland's famous Barbershop Quartet - sing a couple of tunes by the Fire Station. We saw a small parade right after we got there, featuring Mickey, Minnie and a handful of other characters. We saw Princess Tiana (from "The Princess and the Frog") who was onboard the Mark Twain Riverboat. We also saw a trio of musical Pirates, who were strolling through New Orleans Square playing a guitar, a fiddle and a stand up bass. Just walking around the Square is transformative.

Vickie left at 6pm. On my own, I watched the Halloween Screams light, sound and animation show, which was projected against the facade of It's a Small World, with the patented Disneyland fireworks display in the background. It's a mindboggling exhibition that is nearly worth the price of admission by itself. When it was over, I thought, "as if this day wasn't amazing enough already". 

In an online ad campaign, Disneyland has a new slogan. You may have seen it on Facebook. "Stay in the Magic". After today's trip to the Magic Kingdom, that's all I want to do, not necessarily at the hotels that the ads refer to (cause I can't afford them haha), but just at the park itself. For me, "Stay in the Magic" means remain in the Magic, which I take somewhere between a suggestion and a command, and I intend to follow it because I see no reason to ever leave the place.

They let you linger in the park for an hour after closing. People use this time to shop and buy treats at the Candy Store and the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. I had already purchased my traditional pin (a early version long eared Mickey) at the Frontierland Trading Post earlier in the evening, so after coming out of the Haunted Mansion, my final ride of the night, I wandered back over to Main Street and browsed the store windows for a little while. BTW, if you've never seen the Mansion decked out for Halloween, I suggest you haul your rear end to Disneyland sometime this week before it's over. Or you can wait and go next year. It's a visual feast with all the Tim Burton-inspired imagery and they've added new, state of the art special effects including some tarot cards that appear to emerge from thin air.

Back on Main Street, I hung out from 11 to 11:45am. Another recent tradition of mine is to close the day in the Main Street Theater watching old Mickey Mouse cartoons, so I did just that. "Steamboat Willie" is always playing alongside other Silly Symphonies, as Walt called them.

Finally, folks were filing out. The ground crew swept their brooms in the direction of the gates. I didn't wanna be the Last Man Out The Door, so I walked past the Fire Station and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, through the brick tunnel and back out the turnstile, then down the long walkway to the Mickey & Friends parking lot. Man, what a day! I could hardly believe I got on the Star Wars ride. It wasn't the super deluxe 18 minute one, but it was still pretty awesome. "Smuggler's Run" is a flight simulator like Star Tours in Tomorrowland, except with Smuggler's, you're at the controls. A cast member explained this to us while in line. I was by myself at this point, so she sat me with a family of four. I was one of the two Captains of our ship, their little boy was the other. The terrain and other space ships come at you fast and furious. You've gotta dodge and chase them without crashing, which is of course impossible to do. Then a gruff Star Wars character (some old Chinese guy) grades you after you finish. "Not bad but you could've done better. You owe me for such-and-such damages (for busting up his ship),  but at least you completed the run".

So yeah, the day was a total success. The Halloween Screams show and the Haunted Mansion are worth the price of admission alone. We still missed out on Tom Sawyer's Island and the Submarines (which haven't yet re-opened). We missed the Monorail and Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and the Teacups. The canoes, too. Have you ever done the canoes? Big Thunder Mountain was also closed, but we did do Splash Mountain, one of my favorites. I also missed the Carousel and Dumbo, and the Revue at the Golden Horseshoe, but there are only so many hours in the day. That's why, one of these years, we've gotta stay at the hotel and get a multi-day ticket, so we can do the entire park in one stay.

My drive home was uneventful. No freeway detours in Burbank like last time. I love Disneyland and can't wait to go back, maybe in 2022 around my birthday.

So that's my report. I'll try to be back with some movies tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Have a great day. I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

"Cone of Silence" starring Bernard Lee and Peter Cushing

Two nights ago we watched "Cone of Silence"(1960), an Aviation Disaster flick from Britain about the repeated accidents of a veteran commercial pilot flying a new model jet. Bernard Lee stars as "Captain Gort" (no, not that Gort, don't gimme no Klaatu Barada Nikto). As the movie opens, he's the subject of a legal inquiry into the cause of a runway mishap in which a flight officer was killed. Prosecutor George Sanders stylishly propounds the theory that the crash was caused by pilot error. Capt. Gort stands his ground, with a moment by moment dissection of the timeline and a textbook answer for every technical question. The result is a hung jury made up of aircraft safety judges. Now it's up to Gort's boss "Captain Manningham" (Andre Morrell) to decide whether or not to suspend him. Morrell casts the decision to his young assistant "Captain Dallas" (Michael Craig), the pilot training officer for the airline.

Dallas at first agrees with Sanders - Gort is unfit to fly. He's old (51, looks 65), and the new jet technology is beyond his capability. Capt. Manningham concurs, but feels a responsibility to honor Gort's 14,000 flight hours. He orders Dallas to give the man one more chance for fairness' sake. "Take him up and test him again". The test is to be made using "instruments only". Gort will wear blinders and headphones and will have to home in on a radio signal to locate "the cone of silence", a bearing at the center of the signal. He has to find it using only his hearing. Capt. Dallas is thinking he can't do it, but Gort surprises him and his assistant by locating the Cone at the last minute, by a novel flight route, which he chooses for the sake of weather safety.  

Capt. Dallas is impressed and reports back to Manningham. "He not only passed, sir, but passed with flying colors. He took the long way around and at first I misunderstood what he was doing, but he avoided a storm front with cumulus that could've torn the wings off the airplane". Manningham is satisfied but remains wary. "I suppose I've no choice but to reinstate him".

"I don't think he's any risk at all sir. Quite the opposite. I rather think that he could be a steady influence on some of our younger pilots".

"Yes, well tell that to the family of the dead flight officer".

Gort resumes flying, but on his very next departure he once again has trouble getting the jet airborne. He's already noted the maxed-out weight load. "Same tonnage we had last time". This time, once aloft, he also takes notice of the weather. "Hot and humid. Come to think of it, it was like this when we ran off the runway". Hmmm, similar conditions in weight and weather on both flights. Gort doesn't say so, but you can tell he believes there may be proof that the runway crash was mechanical in nature. 

A spoiler is coming up, so stop reading if you don't want to know.

Though he has the jet in the air, this second flight is not uneventful. In fact it's a near disaster. At altitude, Gort and his crew run into another storm front. Suddenly they're being pelted by hail the size of golf balls. It must be mentioned that the special effects here are excellent. Soon there's a crack in the windshield. It worsens until the glass shatters. With freezing air rushing in, Gort struggles to maintain stability. His co-pilot jams a seat cushion into the opening. Gort manages to land the plane.

The passengers are largely unaware how close they just came to dying. They know, however, that they passed through stormy weather, and consider Gort a hero for guiding them to a safe landing. Back at airline headquarters, Capt. Manningham is not so complimentary. A stewardess complains that she won't fly with Gort anymore. "I don't know if he's jinxed or what. But I do know that Capt. Dallas is looking the other way. He's involved with Gort's daughter, are you aware of that, Capt. Manningham"?

That may or may not be true. Yes, Capt. Dallas is seeing "Charlotte Gort" (Elizabeth Seal), but it's mainly to keep her up to date on her father's runway case and subsequent reinstatement. The stewardess interprets this as romance. She believes Dallas is giving Gort a pass on account of this.

It is true that Gort is captaining flights that have been in serious trouble. But is it his fault or is something wrong with the airplane? The jet's designer swears it's been through every imaginable safety check, ten times over. "What do you think we have wind tunnels for"? he asks Dallas. "If you knew how much I worry over every possible failure - and we're talking about 46, 000 parts! - then you'd know that I'd never release it for manufacture unless I was well and truly satisfied". 

Capt. Manningham doesn't like being caught in the middle of this situation, so he decides to bring in an assessor, another veteran pilot named Captain Judd (Peter Cushing). A second test flight is ordered, with Judd in the co-pilot's seat. Judd knows and respects his colleague Gort, but you get the sense he's looking for a reason to fail him. He finds one, too. When the test is over, Judd enters the office to show Captain Manningham a curled piece of shubbery. "Do you know where this came from"?, he asks sternly. "It's part of a hedge. Gort clipped it at the start of the runway. He came in too low, I tried to warn him".

"Did he land safely or not"?

"He did......but it could've been catastrophic". 

Captain Manningham has finally had enough. He plans to ground Captain Gort as soon as he comes into the office. But Captain Dallas is suspicious of the origin of the shrubbery. He decides to conduct his own investigation into where it came from.

That's all I'm gonna tell you about the plot. The flying sequences are the movie's main strength. The emergency conditions that arise are real nail-biters. Do you remember the harrowing plane crash in "Cast Away"? That was one of the best ever filmed, as far as realism, but the near crashes in "Cone of Silence" are right up there. For 1960, they're exceptionally well done. The investigative scenes are compelling also. The story has many aspects, including the court drama with George Sanders and the subplot involving the designer. Millions have been spent developing this jet. Will he accept blame if it's warranted? Will the manufacturer recall the airplane? Or will they just hang Captain Gort out to dry in order to save their company? It's a multi-tiered plot that I found most gripping. One small complaint involves the downtime when the minor relationship theme is intercut. There's a jealousy issue between the stewardess and Charlotte Gort that plays a role in her father's fate. It could've been left out, or presented in brief, but that's just a small complaint in an otherwise top-notch motion picture.

According to Wiki, the story of the troubled plane is based on the deHavilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet aircraft. It entered service in 1952, but had three accidents within a year. This is the basis of "Cone of Silence", which gets Two Big Thumbs Up. If you like big league aviation movies, "Cone" will be right up your alley. The picture is close to razor sharp. It's very highly recommended. /////

That's all for tonight. I'm sorry I only have the single movie. Last night I was finishing my Robert McCammon book "Queen of Bedlam". I got so caught up in it that I didn't notice the time. Then I did my CSUN walk and listened to the rest of the Dodger game (Chris freakin' Taylor!), and by the time I got back it was too late to watch a flick. Now, tomorrow I'm going to Disneyland again with my sister, so I won't have two movies in the next blog either, but I will have a Disneyland Report. It should be a good one, too, this being Halloweentime at the park. I haven't been to Disneyland at Halloween since 2011, so of course I'm totally stoked. As far as movies go, we'll get back to twinbills after that. I hope you had a nice day. Have a great weekend also.....

I send you Tons of Love, as always!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):) 

David McCallum in "Jungle Street Girls", and "State Secret" with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns

Last night we watched a tough little British crime flick called "Jungle Street Girls"(1960), which centers around a seedy strip club called The Adam & Eve (ouch!). David McCallum stars as "Terry Collins", a punk who pumps gas by day and hangs around the club by night, dogging "Sue" (Jill Ireland) one of the joint's top dancers. Terry is a secret hoodlum who mugs senior citizens in the shadows. In the very first scene we see him jumping an elderly man. Terry takes the man's wallet, then returns home in the wee hours. The next morning his Mum calls him down to breakfast, where his alcoholic sot of a father berates him cause he can't hold a job. 

The harassment from his Dad is enough to stress him out, but it's nothing to what he feels when he sees the morning's headline. "Man Dies After Robbery". Terry knows it's his victim. The text makes that clear. What's worse is when Dad grabs the paper. "I hope he hangs", he says of the perpetrator. Terry shudders in his chair. But he can put up a good front, so he steels himself for the coming police investigation, and fends off the last several insults from Dad on his way out the door. At least he's got the backing of his Mum, who supports him for "trying to find his way".

The pacing of the film is unusual. An inordinate amount of time is spent on the dancers. I suppose it's one thing to go out to such a club and watch this kind of dance in person (though I'm not a Strip Club kind of guy), but if you linger on such a dance in a movie - which the director does, with several dancers for minutes at a time - you lose the forward motion of your plot. Most of this attention to the dancing takes place early on, but after Terry mugs the old man at the beginning of the movie, it's not until the half hour mark that the plot resumes cooking.

By now, the police are interviewing people associated with the club, patrons and employees alike. The mugging took place just outside in the alley, so the cops figure it's a good place to start. They talk to a gent named "Joe Lucas" (Brian Weske). Joe is a sketchy guy who plays around the edges of criminality. He's got an alibi. "I spent the night with Dimples", i.e. one of the dancers. But later on, he notices Terry freely spending money, splurging for drinks for himself and Sue. Terry never has a dime, Joe thinks. When the night winds down and the bar goes quiet, he confronts Terry with a proposition. "Y'know Terry.....them coppers was talkin' to me. They were askin' me did I know who mighta done it? And I told 'em no, cause at the time I really didn't. But now.....well let's just say I do. Know who did it, that is. Or at least I have a pretty good idea. Do you get the drift so far? Okay, good. Well, let's just say - in continuing - that I could 'forget' again, or 'have no idea' who done it, if that person were to pay me some money, say.......50 quid? It doesn't seem a lot, with what bills a certain person's been flashin' round tonight. Do you think that certain person might consider it"?

Terry's a nervous type. Instead of playing it cool and ignoring the blackmail attempt, he decks Joe, which only confirms his suspicion. Now Joe demands the 50 quid. "And that's only for starters, pal". Inside Terry's tough exterior is a scared kid who wants to run and hide. But he can't now cause it'll look suspicious, so - thinking quickly - he's keeps Joe at bay by promising him an even bigger sum "if you give me a chance to get it". He's referring to the sizeable stash of cash that's kept in the club's safe by the owner Jacko Fielding (John Chandos). Terry's seen the safe open when he's been in the office with Sue.

He knows he's got a shot because, just prior to this, his old pal Johnny's been paroled. Johnny is a safecracker who's last job included Terry. Johnny's been round his house to look him up. Two things complicate this possibility, however. 1) Sue is Johnny's girlfriend. If he discovers Terry's been hounding her, he's gonna be upset. 2) Terry has the money from their last safecracking job. Or at least he was supposed to. "You were holding it when I went down"!, Johnny yells. "Uh.....I'm sorry, Johnny. I had some debts, y'know. But I can get us some more......way more"!

"How much more are we talking"?

"How about ten times more"?

Thus Johnny agrees to the job, and from here the movie becomes part Heist Flick, as the two hoods plan for the robbery at the club. If successful, it will allow Terry to get Joe Lucas off his back and repay Johnny several times over for the loot he spent.  

The issue of Sue will have to be settled, but she's on the back burner for now. One thing, however, that the boys should be considering, is Jacko Fielding. The Adam and Eve's owner has mob connections. Are they certain he's a man who should be messed with? The fact that he's played by John F. Chandos should be enough to answer that question!  

Once you get past the half hour of dancing, this is a nice little crime flick. And hey, if scantily clad, gyrating ladies is your thing, you might not even mind the distraction. And I would've been fine with a normally edited scene (or even two), but as it stands these sequences are far too long, because again - Hello! Crime film here! - let's get back to the story! All that being said, the film more than makes up for it in the final 45 minutes. My goodness, David McCallum even acts! He's really good, too. Maybe we should forgive those wooden roles we saw him play earlier. Perhaps those were the anomalies, and he's actually got some talent. He will always be legendary in either case, just for having a Giant Head on "Outer Limits". On a side note, Wiki says that he and Jill Ireland were married at the time of this movie. She's good in it also, as is Kenneth Cope as Johnny and Brian Weske as the insinuative Joe Lucas. The domestic scenes showing Terry at home with Mum and Dad are classic Kitchen Sink, that British subgenre we mentioned earlier this year.

You'll like "Jungle Street Girls" for it's gutter level realism. Two Big Thumbs Up. The picture is razor sharp, don't miss it.  ////

The previous night's film was "State Secret", starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as an American surgeon who is asked to operate on a patient in a small foreign country. Some background is definitely in order. Fairbanks plays "Dr. John Marlowe", the inventor of a new procedure for treating portal hypertension. As he gains fame, he's invited to parties and testimonials. While in England for a conference, he's approached by a dignitary from "Vosnia", a country invented by the screenwriter that could represent either a fascist or communist dictatorship. The dignitary wants Dr. Marlowe's help. "Please, doctor. We have no one of your skill in our country. If you could come and save this man's life, just think what it would do for our relations, and global relations really. You could help bridge the gap between East and West"!

That pitch is enough to sell the humanitarian Dr. Marlowe, who boards a plane to Vosnia the next morning. When he gets there, he is welcomed by a military official (Jack Hawkins), who greets him with the excessive courtesy of a man who may have an ulterior motive. 

During the operation, which is overseen by Hawkins, Marlowe discovers that his patient is the Vosnian dictator. Holy smokes. He realizes he's been duped into coming to the country. Now it's made crystal clear to him by Hawkins that if the patient dies, so will he. Where's the heck is Paul Shortino when you need him?

The operation fails. "I never claimed to have perfected it"! , Dr. Marlowe protests. "And you brought me here under false pretenses"! General Hawkins maintains his oily charm, presenting himself as a Fair Man with no choice. "I'm sorry to have to kill you, but it cannot get out to the people that our leader is dead". Why not? Because "the people" have just endorsed his "election". And that's the entire conundrum, because The People need a leader to believe in. They cannot lead themselves. And the puppet masters need a figurehead to control and dictate to The People, so it's a mutually beneficial deception. But if the dictator is dead, what will happen to The People?

Ahh yes........"the people". Whenever you hear The People parsed in politics, I suggest you run in the other direction. And what about Foster the People? What kind of freakin' band name is that?! Well anyhow...

The movie turns into a Chase Film after that, as Marlowe takes his one chance to skirt smilin' Jack Hawkins. After losing the authorities in the middle of the city, he takes refuge in a nightclub, where he corners a singer. "Lisa Robinson" (the great Glynis Johns) is half-English. She speaks the language and can help Dr. Marlowe escape. But will she? At first she wants no part, but because she's Glynis Johns, we need her empathetic altruism or Marlowe's goose will be cooked (and the movie would end prematurely).

What follows, then, is an Epic Chase over the Italian Alps, doubling for the Vosnian landscape. A local climber is enlisted to help. We watch Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in these scenes, and we wonder if he used a stuntman. I've always liked Fairbanks Jr. in the few movies we've seen him. He's got a Good Guy quality that comes through in his eyes. Yes, he was very handsome and intelligent, too, but it's that other quality, that genuine-ness, that sets him apart from the pack. Junior, or "Doug" as he was known, was an athlete like his more well known father. I'm guessing he did a lot of his own climbing in this film; whether on sets or the real Alps doesn't matter. It looks real enough, except the daunting cliffside shots, and Glynis Johns is no slouch either. She appears to be clambering up those mountainsides herself. 

I won't spoil the ending, or the details of their dash, by revealing the fate of our heroes. Let's just say Jack Hawkins is looking for an "out", a political excuse, so he won't have to shoulder the blame or make excuses for his country's rotten philosophy. As we'll see, it's all done by smoke and mirrors anyhow.

Two Big Thumbs Up for "State Secret", and there you have it. A pair of most excellent pictures. They differ in style, but you could watch 'em as a double feature and be done in under three hours. If not, watch 'em two nights running.

That's all I know for now. I'm working on the book every day. I hope you're having a very nice evening and I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Top Notch Brit Heist Flick : "A Prize of Arms", and Hugo Haas' "One Girl's Confession"

Last night we saw an outstanding British heist movie called "A Prize of Arms"(1962). The plot takes off from the very first frame as a car crawls along a wilderness road in the dead of night, coming to a stop at a pasture. Three men get out and unload some gear. One sets off detonations that take out sections of a fence. Another has a flamethrower. He sets the field afire. The third man times these actions with a stopwatch. The three are practicing for a rip off of the payroll at a military base. Ten minutes into the movie their escapade begins, and it doesn't let up till the last fifteen seconds.

Stanley Baker stars as "Turpin", the leader of the gang. They've planned all their moves in advance and we follow them with no explanation. We're watching the job "in progress", as if we are in on it from the get-go. The men have every possible contingency figured out and adjusted for.

The other two guys are "Swavek" (Helmut Schmid) and "Fenner" (Tom Bell). The former is a Polish national with a heavy accent. Turpin has instructed him not to speak once they're on base, lest his voice betray his foreignness. The latter is a career criminal that Turpin has chosen for his nerve. "He's amoral but he doesn't rattle". The premise revolves around a large transfer of personnel at the base. A convoy of troops will be shipped to the Suez Canal. This means two things, according to Turpin. 1) There will be a huge sum of cash in the payroll safe, to pay salaries and facilitate the move, and 2) the transfer will create a lot of activity on the base. As long as they move forward with confidence, as if they belong there, the gang will move freely in the disarray.

They'll be leaving from their hideout, an old stone barn, at 6am on the day of the transfer. They'll drive up in a stolen Army truck, similar to the ones in the convoy. They have several different uniforms stashed in their duffel bags. When they arrive at the main gate they'll be wearing standard infantry duds, complete with berets. They have counterfeit papers to present to the guard. Once they're in, they'll park the truck and set out to the payroll office, where they're going to impersonate fire inspectors first. "Hello, sir", Turpin says to the duty officer. "We're here to change the extinguishers". Later they'll impersonate MPs.

I'm not going to tell you the reason for that, nor reveal all the details of their scheme. This movie is so tight, so inventive and sharp, that you've just got to see it unfold for yourself. The tension ratchets higher in many of the situations, as the gang is asked questions they hadn't thought of answers for. They're good at B.S.ing their way through the doubters, however. One officer, a medic, wonders why Turpin hasn't been vaccinated for the transfer to Suez. He's gotta come up with a reason on the spot. Does the medic suspect he's an infiltrator? Or just a slacking soldier? Director Cliff Owen plays it straight down the middle. "C'mon, Turpin"!, you find yourself thinking. "Answer the doctor's question"! This is one of those crime movies where you're rooting for the bad guys. They've invaded a military base, so security is super tight, and authority has hold over everything. Chain of command is the stone-carved rule. If someone higher up asks a question, you'd better have an answer right quick, before they ask again and then thrice, by which time they're very suspicious.

The gang has to create a diversion to ultimately access the payroll safe. Keep the early practice session in mind, in the pasture at the beginning of the movie. Once this most crucial action is accomplished, they need to leave the base, with the stolen cash hidden, along with the departing convoy. They'll blend in with the long line of trucks.

I'm gonna straight-up say that "A Prize of Arms" is one of the top three heist flicks I've ever seen, including "Rififi" and "Touchez Pas au Grisbi" (also know as just "Grisbi"). Am I justified in such high praise? Watch it for yourself and decide. Yeah, there are many other movies that could vie for that claim, but this is one of them. I thought it was freakin' tremendous in every respect, which is why it gets my highest rating : Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. This is one crime film you absolutely shouldn't miss. The print is darn good, if not razor sharp. If you're watching on an old laptop like my little Chromebook, you may want to listen through headphones as the volume is slightly lower than ideal. There's also a fair amount of Britspeak. But these are all minor concerns. I'm just trying to maximize your experience so you get the most out of this excellent film. It runs 105 minutes, which might seem like an eternity in our Short Film-loving climate, but it moves like the breeze so you never notice. Watch it as soon as you can.  /////

The previous night's movie was an idiosyncratic noir entitled "One Girl's Confession"(1953), written and directed by a Czech filmmaker named Hugo Haas, who also co-stars. I'd never heard of Haas, who was apparently a big star in his home country in the 1930s before the Nazis forced him out. If this film is any indication, his movies are a personal vision. Cleo Moore stars as "Mary Adams", a waitress at a beachfront dive in Santa Monica. She hates her job; the male patrons grab her and her boss is a crusty old jerk. But it's all that she's got so she tolerates it and perseveres, until one day when she sees her boss accepting a payoff. We aren't sure what it's for (and it's never explained), but it's a tidy sum of dough. "He's nothing but a crook", Mary thinks and she's right. The crustacean is a stone cold criminal. 

She watches him hide the money, then steals and hides it herself. Then she does the unthinkable for a thief. She turns herself in to the police. Sentenced to a woman's prison, she does some hard time, but is paroled early for good behavior. The authorities know she hid the money but they've never found it. Now we find out that her former boss once screwed her father out of his life savings. Ahhh....so there's a motive for her actions, now it all makes sense. Free from prison and back in town, Mary gets another job waitressing and bides her time, while planning to recover the money. Her new boss is quite a character, friendly and always laughing. His name is "Mr. Damitrof" (played by Hugo Haas himself). It's often hard for Mary to tell when he's joking. Is he a schemer, too, or does he genuinely have her best interests in mind?

Mr. Damitrof also has a terrible gambling problem. At one point, he loses his cafe in a game of cards. Mary is tempted to bail him out, to offer him her hidden money as a loan, so he can pay off his poker debt. But she hasn't even recovered it yet. She's afraid to, in case she's being watched. She does feel righteous about keeping it, however, given that it came from her former boss, the man who bankrupted her father. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with a sailor who dines at the cafe. He seems like a truly good guy, who wants to take Mary overseas.

There are several different themes at play, and you wonder, at times, of the focus. As I noted, it's an idiosyncratic film. Haas lets his characters act out, in long monologues expressing their feelings. He especially allows himself to ramble on and on as Mr. Damitrof (love that name). At first it's a question mark, but I found his style growing on me, and by the end of the movie I was loving it's sincerity. Apparently, according to IMDB, Haas was working in a format not unlike that of Eric Roemer and his "Moral Tales". He called his group of films, which included this one, his "Fate and Irony" series. "One Girl's Confession" is a little slow in places and could benefit from a 5 to 7 minute cut in it's 74 minute running time, but overall you'll enjoy it for it's warmth, especially when the fate and irony become clear. Let's give it Two Big Thumbs Up for originality, and look for more from Hugo Haas. He's recommended!  ////

That's all I've got for the moment. I wrote for three hours this afternoon. The book is coming along like gangbusters. You might say, "a book, Ad, about your personal caregiving experience? What gives"? Wouldn't you think there'd be a hundred books like that? But as I mentioned, it's gonna be about a lot more than that, and..........it's idiosyncratic! (hey, wait a minute. didn't we just hear that word?) But it will indeed be unique, and that's because it's me who's writing it, haha, so it can't help but be that way. It'll be full of all kinds of different flavors besides caregiving. As I summed it up before, it's about Absorbing and Sharing Life, and the thing is - most importantly - that I was only motivated to write it because of the response I got to the remembrance I wrote for Pearl's service. Since I read it at church a little over two weeks ago, I've had numerous people remark that it moved them, to laughter, to tears and both. People have asked me for copies of the two page story, and some have passed those copies on to other people to read, people who didn't even know Pearl. I wanted to bring her to life, and I think I did, even though I was limited to a ten minute reading.

But after the response, I said "I've gotta write this as a book"! So now I'm doing it. I think it's gonna make a heck of a story, in honor of an amazing lady. And of course I'm in it, too.

I hope you had a nice day. Can the Dodgers come back from 0-2? We'll find out tomorrow night.

I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Richard Conte in "Highway Dragnet" and "The Unearthly" starring John Carradine

Last night's movie was "Highway Dragnet"(1954), a low budget noir co-produced by Roger Corman, starring our new go-to guy Richard Conte as a man wrongly accused of murder. He plays "Jim Henry", a Marine just back from Korea. As the movie opens, he walks into a bar in Las Vegas and sits down next to "Terry Smith" (Mary Beth Hughes), a blonde gal who looks like she knows the ropes. They hit it off and later spend the night, though we don't see this. The next we see of Conte, he's hitching a ride in the desert. Before he can get picked up, he's surrounded by Vegas PD patrol cars. Suddenly he's under arrest for the murder of Miss Smith, the bar girl.

Richard Conte always plays Earnest Guys, characters who are often troubled but not usually capable of murder. So we assume he didn't do it, even though the cops believe they have him dead to rights.

A tall cowboy police Lieutenant named "Joe White Eagle" (Reed Hadley) interrogates him back at the station. All Conte can do is deny the accusations but White Eagle's sure he's got the right man. "Did you kill her because she refused your advances"?, he asks Conte, who's getting scared now, not because it's a frame up but because the Lieutenant wants to close the case. He's gonna go down for the murder, even though it's all circumstantial evidence. Just before the cops can haul him into a jail cell, he uses his Marine self defense training to kick down Lt. White Eagle and fend off his two deputies. With the three policemen subdued, he runs out the door and jumps in an empty squad car. With haste, he drives off into the desert. 

The police are in hot pursuit, so Conte has to go off-road. In the course of speeding over the rugged desert terrain, he manages to elude the chasing coppers, but in the process he bangs up the stolen squad car on rocks until it's useless. He abandons it to travel on foot. Walking a little used road, he gets lucky this time when he comes across two women trying to start their car. One is "Mrs. H.G. Cummings" (Joan Bennett), a professional photographer. The other gal is "Susan Wilson" (Wanda Hendrix), her model. They are on their way to a shoot in Apple Valley, for an advertisement of a brand new motel. Conte fixes their car and they give him a ride. Up ahead is a roadblock. The police are looking for an escaped prisoner, the suspect in a recent killing. The officers on site only have a basic description, which could match a thousand men. Conte matches it, but he gives them an alias ("James Johnson"), and because he's an Earnest Guy they believe him. One thing concerns Wanda Hendrix, however. When they stop at a cafe for something to eat, she whispers to Joan Bennett. "You heard what they said back there. The prisoner was last seen hitchiking".

"Well, what of it"?, replies Bennett.

"Mr. Johnson was wandering down the road when we saw him. And, he matches the basic description".

Bennett blows this off and they continue to the Apple Valley Inn. While setting up the photo shoot, she notices the headline on the local paper. "Police Seek Suspected Killer". Underneath it is a photo of a soldier who looks a lot like Richard Conte. It is in fact him, though we still believe he's innocent. The photo is enough to convince Joan Bennett, however, and she alerts the manager of the motel. With his back to the wall, Conte is forced to produce the gun he took from the arresting officers. "Okay, yeah. That's me. But I didn't kill that woman". He makes Bennett and Hendrix get back in the car, and with Conte driving, they head out into the desert again. This time they get stuck in the sand. With Conte and Hendrix pushing from behind, they manage to free the car, but Bennett drives off, leaving them stranded with little water. They later locate Bennett, who's now stranded herself as the car has overheated. Conte uses the remaining water to fill the radiator. "It's the only hope we've got". He tries to convince the women that they need one another to stay alive.

By now, Wanda Hendrix believes Conte's claim of innocence. "But if you didn't kill the woman, who did"?

"I have no idea". Things take another turn when Conte sets down his gun. Bennett picks it up and threatens to shoot him. He uses his Marine skills again to disarm her. This causes Susan Wilson to start wondering about Joan Bennett.

"What was the dead lady's name again"? she asks Conte. "Uh....it was 'Terry' Something....'Terry Smith' ".

A cold slap of recognition hits Wilson in the face. "Mrs. Cummings? Didn't you know a Terry Smith? Isn't that the name of the woman who was involved with your husband"?

Holy Smokes, folkerinos, Paul Shortino and Folkker Triplanes. This is one heck of a high concept chase flick we're developing. Roger Corman not only co-produced, but co-wrote the screenplay. According to Wiki it was the first script he ever sold. The plot winds up at the Salton Sea, where Conte owns a flooded house. He's supposed to meet his brother there, who can vouch for his whereabouts on the night of the murder. But the brother is elusive. He's a classified Military Intelligence agent. The Salton Sea is an amazing, atmospheric location to wind things up. There really are abandoned houses in the water.

"Highway Dragnet" is a tight, exciting noir that takes some unexpected turns within the desert. Nathan Juran directs with assurance, despite the small budget. He brings out the best from his actors and the story. I'm gonna give it Two Big Thumbs Up, with an extra plus for the photography at the Salton Sea. It's highly recommended and the print is almost razor sharp. One small defect is that the sound is a quarter-second out of synch. But that's no big deal. Make sure and see it, it's a Good One.  /////

The previous night we watched "The Unearthly", a cheesy Mad Scientist flick starring John Carradine as the crazed doctor. It was actually not bad, and weird with a capital W, but it did run on too long, the chief culprit in many a flawed motion picture. On the plus side, when you've got Carradine you know he's gonna act. How much is always a gamble, but he doesn't overdo it in this film and he's perfect as "Dr. Conway", who runs an institute for the mentally ill.

As the movie opens, an associate is delivering "Grace Thomas" (50 Foot Woman Allison Hayes) into Conway's care. Grace is suffering from depression. Conway assures she'll get well if she follows his instructions and makes contact with no one during her stay at the institute.

We then observe a conversation between Conway and his associate, concerning his real plans for Miss Thomas, but I won't reveal them to you now.

Next to arrive is "Frank Scott" (Myron Healey), a man who has wandered in from the forest. Dr. Conway identifies him as a recently escaped convict from a nearby prison. "You can stay here", Conway tells him, "but you're not to speak to anyone. If you do I'll call the police to turn you in". 

He has a hulking assistant named "Lobo" (Tor Johnson), who wanders the halls and does the heavy lifting. Two things about Tor : 1) As an actor he's the ultimate Johnny One Note. It's not his fault. Not that he'd be Sir Laurence Olivier anyway, but in every movie he does the same thing, stumbling mindlessly across the set with eyes wide open, a slack jaw, and a look of absolute stupor on his face. The second thing, 2), is a question I have : "How many times have Tor's characters been named 'Lobo'? It seems like it's every movie he's in.

Well anyway, there's an excellent Mad Scientist Laboratory, set up in the basement (naturally), within a labyrinth of thick concrete walls. It is there that Coway carries out his real secret work, using his patients as guinea pigs to reorganize their endocrine glands. He's hoping to create eternal youth through hormonal balance, but the results unfortunately don't jibe with his intention. 

Dr. Conway keeps his patients calm through sedation and by playing Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor for them on the organ. There's also an experimental "test model" patient in a secret room. This guy's a zombie with a flap on his throat, so many times have his glands been rearranged. Conway thinks he's dead at one point and orders Lobo to bury him.........but........of course he's still alive, so you can guess how that turns out.

Throughout the proceedings, Carradine rages and carries on, self-righteously assured of his mission. "Who wouldn't want eternal life"?, he bellows. Well yeah, maybe......but not with a neck full of sutures. Plus, the "treatment" isn't working out so well for one woman, who's turning into a prune before our eyes.

"The Unearthly" treads close to Ed Wood territory, but while it's cheesy it isn't camp (I don't think). As I said before, it's just really really weird. John Carradine is at his off-the-wall best, while the other actors (with the exception of Tor Johnson) play it straight. Allison Hayes is gorgeous and sincere as always. Though she was 50 Feet Tall, she had a tragic life story and we always have a soft spot for such actresses (and actors).

You might watch it and go "huh"? or even "ugh"!, but I loved this movie and I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. Actually I think you're gonna love it too, or at least like it a lot, just because it's so, um......different. Give it a watch, it's perfect for Halloween season.  /////

That's all I've got for tonight. My life is way too strange right now, too changed, too quiet and too lonely. I miss Pearl and I miss our routine, which was my life for the past dozen years. I'm slowly getting used to the fact that it's over, but...........it ain't easy. Really it's extremely difficult. On the good side though, I'm taking advantage of the solitude and the downtime to write. I've started my aforementioned book. I've been working on it for the past four days, and when I'm writing I feel energized because I'm bringing the story to life. All I'm capable of doing right now is doing what's right in front of me, and that's what's there - the book. I'll keep you posted on it's progress and we'll keep watching movies.

I hope you have a nice evening and I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):) 

Original Thug Life : "The Stranglers of Bombay" with Guy Rolfe, plus an old MySpace blog from April 2010

Last night's movie was "The Stranglers of Bombay"(1959), a horrible title in the horrific sense, especially since we just watched "The Haunted Strangler" a few days ago. What's with all the Stranglers lately? Hell, I don't know, but it's an awful word because it just seems so descriptive. The movie doesn't shy away from the act of strangulation either, as it depicts the misdeeds of the Thuggee Cult of India, from where the word "thug" derives. All of this is to say it's not for the squeamish, so viewer be forewarned.

Guy Rolfe stars as "Captain Harry Lewis", an officer working for the British East India Company, which ran and dictated the commercial spice trade out of that enormous country for almost three centuries. It's now the 1830s, and Lewis' boss "Colonel Henderson" (Andrew Cruickshank) is concerned about the recent disappearances of merchant caravans along the trade route. He calls for a meeting with Captain Lewis, who informs him of the additional mystery of 2000 local natives who've gone missing. "We didn't notice it at first, but over the past few months the numbers have continued to add up. I think there's a pattern here, sir, connecting the missing merchants and the natives".

Colonel Henderson has his doubts. "It could be that the locals have just run off. We've had that happen in the past. Some don't appreciate our way of doing things, you know".

"But sir", Lewis interjects, "we've actually found bodies in hidden spots along the road. Not laying out in the open but buried, as if the killers wanted to make them vanish".

"But how do you know they were murdered? They could've been buried by family members, after they'd fallen ill on the way to their destination".

"But that's just it, sir. Every body we've found, and there are several so far, shows evidence of a broken neck. I think we're dealing with some kind of organized murder ring, a cult perhaps. You know how superstitious some of these tribes are. Perhaps robbery is tied in also. That would explain the disappearance of the caravans".

Colonel Henderson is a practical man. He's willing to accept the motive of robbery, and perhaps a few random murders as a consequence, but the hocus-pocus of a tribal cult? There he draws the line. The way he sees it, the matter is a business problem to be solved, so he asks Captain Lewis to step aside and appoints another officer, "Captain Christopher Connaught-Smith" (Allan Cuthbertson) in his place. Smith is a nuts-and-bolts realist, not one to jump to imaginative conclusions. The Colonel feels he'll lead a pragmatic investigation that will quickly solve the case. Captain Lewis, being a man of honor, accepts his demotion with dignity, but then declares his resignation from the company. "With all due respect, sir, I believe the situation to be past the point of theorizing. I am certain this is murder on a mass scale. Action must be taken at once, and while I'll not interfere with the company's investigation nor engage in illegal activity, I feel I must do what is needed to stop this. I hope you will not interfere".

Colonel Henderson offers a resigned smile. He and Captain Lewis are old friends. "Alright then, Harry. Do what you must. You have my unofficial blessing but stay out of danger and please, let's not work at cross purposes. Allow Captain Smith his own methods and don't question his authority".

Lewis has a houseboy whose brother is one of the disappeared. One day, he sees his brother in the marketplace, and follows him into the jungle where, in a clearing, a religious leader is holding forth to his followers. We the audience have already seen this Zealot and his flock. They are disciples of the Hindu goddess Kali, who is known, among other names, as The Destroyer. The Zealot is preaching of her powers, that she has come to destroy evil. He tells a tale of how she once cleansed India of demons. However, at first her tactics caused them to multiply. "Every time she cut one down, it's blood drops created more demons. Kali saw that there were more than before she started! She knew she must kill them without shedding their blood". He then produces a length of silk from his waistband to demonstrate Kali's solution.

With the silk wrapped around each hand and stretched tight in between, he shows his followers how Kali strangled her opponents. "The demons died without a drop of blood being shed. Thus she eliminated them entirely". He then exhorts the disciples to continue her mission. "But now, my friends, the demons have returned, in the form of these foreign agents and their company. And not only them, but the merchants they trade with, and the lowly citizens who do their bidding. We must therefore continue Kali's work. It's what she commands of us! We must kill demons to destroy evil, and we must use the technique of the silk"!

The houseboy watches all of this from a distance, believing he is safe in the jungle. But no sooner does he turn to report back to Captain Lewis than he is captured and tied up. As a test of loyalty, the Zealot forces his brother to strangle him. Later that night, his hand is cut off, wrapped in cloth and tossed through a window of the Captain's house.

This is the Thuggee Cult and how they operate. The Zealot is one of their leaders. But there is someone above him, a business representative of the merchants. That's all I'm going to tell you about the plot, except that Captain Connaught-Smith, in all his non-imaginative practicality, will be taken in by this man and fooled into trusting his suggestions. This will lead his investigation into a trap, while Captain Lewis, acting independently, will tread a surreptitious - but no less dangerous - course.

"The Stranglers of Bombay" is a combination adventure and horror movie, produced by Hammer Studios, with all stops pulled out on the viciousness of the Thuggees' murders. The fanaticism of the cult is also emphasized, especially in the incitements of the Zealot leader, who stands before an iron statue of the scowling, four-armed Kali. The performance of Greco-British actor George Pastell as the Zealot is downright unnerving, a textbook example of the True Believer, ready to condemn anyone who disagrees. Worse, he is energized by the promotion of murder. His eyes blaze as he demonstrates The Silk to his followers.

Guy Rolfe is courageous as Captain Lewis, willing to sacrifice himself if need be to root out and expose the Thugs, whose success is based on stealth. There's a lot of history also dealt with in the script, including the way in which the Indian class structure played a role in the rise of the murder cult. All in all, I think it's one of the best Hammer films I've seen, because it's so unique. There's adventure, British colonial history, and gruesome horror all rolled into one. There's also the mystery of the hidden Thugs, some of whom have been merged into business and military culture, the better to destroy from within. 

I'm gonna give the movie Two Big Thumbs Up, and Two Huge if you're a Hammer fan. I do feel the need to restate my caveat, though : this is a brutal movie in places, depicting what you could call "a celebration of mass murder" by fear-inspired mind-controlled maniacs. If you can handle it, though, it's first rate filmmaking, shot in rich black and white with Hammer's traditional high quality production values. The print is not only razor sharp but widescreen as well. Don't miss "The Stranglers of Bombay" (unless you're squeamish), it's a little known classic in my opinion.  /////

I don't have a second movie, because my timing has been temporarily thrown off. I did one movie two blogs ago, then I did three movies in the last blog, and now I'm back to one again, but I'll get it fixed and we'll return to double-doubles soon. In the meantime, I'll post something I found today that I thought was kind of cool. It's an old blog from April 2010, written right after I began working for Pearl. It would've been from MySpace, which makes it extra cool. I always liked MySpace, and in fact I like it better than FB, because it was a one-on-one social network. You had your own custom page, and anyone could look at it (depending on your settings), but it was one person looking at one other person's page, so it didn't have everybody in everyone's face like FB, which has led to all the bickering we see today. Don't get me wrong, I still like Facebook too, but going over my old blogs made me nostalgic for MySpace, when we lived in a more civil time. Anyway, without further ado, here's that April 2010 blog, which I discovered today at Northridge Libe. The font is smaller because it's copied-and-pasted from my email, so put on your reading glasses.....

   Apr 8, 2010 

Blessings! Hi everybody. I haven't been posting here from the Northridge libe 

because these city computers are too sketchy - they freeze up, run slow, delete 

what you write, etc. But I have some good news to report, so a quick blog is 

definitely in order. I heard from Helen last night, and she wants me to begin 

caregiving for her Mom starting tomorrow, Friday April 8th. My schedule will be 

four hours a day, seven days a week, and will be broken up into two parts: 7:30 

to 9:30 in the morning and 5:30 to 7:30 in the evening. That is great, because 

it means I will still have my afternoons free to write, and because I will be 

able to pay my bills now on a regular basis, this means I will be able to 

really concentrate on my writing for the first time in about three years, with 

the exception of last fall, when I was working for Sue.

But this is even better, because the hours are broken up and I'll have my 

afternoons and late evenings free. So, I wanna dive right in and get back on 

track, though whether it's gonna be "Lorne Street" or the final draft of "What 

Happened", I haven't decided as yet. Part of my job will be to drive Pearl to 

doctor's appointments and trips to church, etc., on various afternoons, and four 

of those appointments are next week, so it might still be a week or two before 

things really get going, but I cannot tell you how blessed I feel and how 

grateful I am to finally have a steady income again, which will take 

away what has been a constant preoccupation with paying my bills. I am hoping 

this job will last a long time, because then I will be able to get a lot of 

writing done, but for now I am just going to take it one month at a time and get 

settled in. Adding to the good vibe is the fact that this is a job I can enjoy, 

and one that does not include a freeway commute or a lot of stress. Plus, I get 

Kobi the dog for an assistant! How cool is that?! So, I am really happy today, 

and doubling that happiness is the news that Rush is going to be touring this 

summer with an August 11th stop in Los Angeles at The Forum.

Interestingly, the tour is called the "Time Machine", and as part of their usual 

3 hour set, Rush will be performing the "Moving Pictures" album in it's 

entirety.

Hmmmmm......."Time Machine" and "Moving Pictures"..........well, the last time 

Rush toured in support of that album was 1981. And if we're going back in a 

Time Machine to 1981..........well, that means I will be back in Las Vegas, during

what proved to be a wonderful time in my life.

Sounds like a pretty good concert, eh?  /////

So there you have it, the week I began working for Pearl. I'm still feeling an incredible sense of disconnect, and I'm coping by writing about it. Yep, I'm starting another book. It's gonna be about my time with Pearl, but it'll be more than just a feel-good or therapeutic caregiver/patient story. I'm gonna try to pull out all the fine detail I can, about what it means to absorb life and to share what you absorb with another person, in this case a lady who suffered from dementia. Does that sound cliche? I hope not. I can't give you the title just yet (cause it's really good and I don't want anyone to steal it), but maybe down the road I'll reveal it. I'm guessing the first draft could take several months to a year, depending on what the future holds. But I'm compelled to tell our story. It feels like the certain thing to do. 

That's all I know for tonight. I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)      

Three Fine Films : "So Long at the Fair", "The Haunted Strangler" and "The File on Thelma Jordon"

Last night's movie was "So Long at the Fair"(1950), a period piece mystery set in 1889 at the Paris Expo. Jean Simmons stars as "Victoria Barton", a young Englishwoman traveling to Paris with her brother "Johnny" (David Tomlinson). They're excited to be staying in a hotel facing the newly completed Eiffel Tower, and they plan to take in the Expo in all it's modernistic glory.

After arriving, Johnny helps Victoria get settled in her room, then turns in for the night himself in the room across the hall. The next morning, she can't find him, and is told by the manager that she must be mistaken. "You checked in by yourself, madame". Ahh, the old Gaslight Game. Victoria isn't falling for it, however. She sticks to her guns and accosts other hotel employees to demand they reveal the whereabouts of Johnny. When that doesn't work, but she goes to the Paris police chief to demand action, and finally to the consulate's office to talk to the British ambassador, all to no avail.

These officials are of no help because they believe the story of the hoteliers, which is that Victoria checked in alone, and therefore must be delusional or suffering from exhaustion.

Victoria later recalls a man she met in the lobby, right after she and Johnny checked in. "George Hathaway" (Dirk Bogarde) is a fellow Englishman, also on holiday at the fair, who is squiring two ladies (a mother and daughter) around the city. In the lobby that first night, he stopped Johnny to ask for change for a large bill. Victoria's got to find him. Hopefully he's still at the hotel. If he is, he can vouch for Johnny's presence. Since we began watching British films, we've seen a lot of Dirk Bogarde and I've become a big fan. Part of the reason is that he keeps you guessing. In many of his roles, he uses his looks and considerable charm as a wall to hide behind. With early Bogarde, you often see him playing a cad or a bad guy, so you have to give him a length of rope before you trust him, but in this film he does turn out to be a good guy, and as the plot progresses, he inserts himself into the mystery of Johnny's disappearance and goes to great lengths to help solve it for Victoria. He discovers that the number on Johnny's room was switched during the night he and Victoria checked in, and that another room next to it has been walled off.

But why? Are the French hoteliers running some kind of extortion or kidnapping ring? And if so, why has there been no ransom demands? Or could robbery be the motive, stripping a foreign guest of his cash and jewels, then killing and "disappearing" him, and claiming he never existed? This makes no sense either. While Johnny and Victoria arrived well dressed, neither wore expensive jewelry. They didn't bring much baggage and both are far from wealthy. It's a perplexing situation, and I'm going to leave it to you to discover the rest of the details.  

"So Long at the Fair" was produced by a mid-century British studio called Gainsborough Pictures, and like the paintings by it's namesake artist Thomas Gainsborough ("Blue Boy"), it's movies featured lush production values. The photography is gauzy, the sets elaborate, and the bearing of lead actors Bogarde and Simmons is mannered and genteel (even when Victoria is demanding to see Johnny). Their shared screen presence is a thing to behold; she was just 21 at the time, he 29. Try to find two actors of this caliber and class at such a young age now, and good luck to you.

I loved "So Long at the Fair". On top of a vexing mystery, you get taken away to another place and time. Two Big Thumbs Up and a strong recommendation. The print is razor sharp. /////

The night before, I watched "The Haunted Strangler"(1958) starring Boris Karloff. About halfway through I realized I'd already seen it, which also means I may have previously written a review. If so, please forgive the repeat. Boris plays "James Rankin", a novelist investigating the case of the Haymarket Strangler in Victorian England. A man named Edward Styles has just been executed for the crimes. Rankin thinks they strung up the wrong guy and sets out to prove it, working alongside a police superintendent named "Burk" (Anthony Dawson).

They come to the conclusion that, if Styles was innocent, then there must be someone else closely connected to the murders who is the actual killer. Noting that in addition to being strangled, several of the victims also have stab wounds, Boris and Burk measure these and determine they were made by a very sharp instrument. Hmmmm.......well, the only other person connected to all five bodies is the medical examiner, a physician named Tennant. He performed the autopsies on each of the murder victims. They try and fail to locate him. Boris then begins a search for his scalpel. Surely it could have bloodstains or other telltale signs of being the murder weapon. But where would this instrument be found?

Boris thinks Tennant might've buried it with his last victim, so he takes it upon himself to make an exhumation of the grave, and.......(drum roll please).......it turns out he was right. There is a scalpel in the coffin, on top of the body.

This is where the movie changes tone, from mystery to revelation. I'm gonna give you a major spoiler, so read no further if you don't wanna know, but it's okay to reveal it in my opinion because it begins the true plot of the movie. What happens is that Boris picks up the scalpel and is transformed. We watch as his arm atrophies, his face contorts into a palsied snarl, his eyes narrow and he goes insane.

Suddenly we realize : oh my goodness! It is he! Boris himself is the Haymarket Strangler! He's Dr. Tennant! Why didn't he know this? Because his wife didn't want him to know. She hid him away in an asylum for many years after his first murder, for which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. His brain was washed in the nuthouse, he was given a name change from Tennant to Rankin, and he had no awareness of his other, crazy self. After he was rehabilitated and released, he decided to become a writer, encouraged by his wife, who is still holding on to the secret.

This is some weird, sinister stuff. Once Boris realizes he's Dr. Tennant and therefore the Haymarket Strangler, he feels guilt that an innocent man - Edward Styles - was hanged for his crimes. The trouble is that he can't get anyone to believe him. He tries telling the police he's Dr. Tennant, and that Styles was not the killer, but they just scoff. "Mr. Styles was found guilty by a jury of his peers". He then tells his own doctor. "Please, you've got to believe me! I'm Tennant, and I'll kill again on the next full moon"! In this respect, the story is similar to that of "The Wolfman" (written by our Reseda pal Curt Siodmak), wherein Lon Chaney Jr. pleads with authorities to lock him up before he goes all lupine on them during the next full moon.

As with our first movie, I'll leave the remainder of the plot for you to discover on your own. As noted, this was my second viewing of "The Haunted Strangler" and by now I consider it a minor classic and one of the best performances of Boris Karloff's career. Just the way he twists his face up to "become" Dr. Tennant is impressive, in that no makeup appears to be used. Also noteworthy is that the movie has been restored by Criterion. That alone gives an indication of it's merit, and you know the print is razor sharp.

Two Big Thumbs Up. A must-watch this Halloween season.  //// 

Finally, I have a third film, "The File on Thelma Jordon"(1950), a classic Hollywood noir starring Northridge's own Barbara Stanwyck. In addition to being a great overall actress, she was one of the queens of film noir ("Double Indemnity", "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", et al), and though I'd never seen her in "Thelma Jordon", I didn't know a print was available until the other night. It's the kind of big budget movie you wouldn't expect to be available on Youtube, but there it was in my recommendations, directed by Robert Siodmak no less, which makes it a Northridge and Reseda Trip this time around.     

At 99 minutes long, it's an extended watch by our current standards. Isn't it funny how, in the Old Days, i.e. before Covid and movies on Youtube,, a one hour and forty minute movie would have been considered standard length, or even a Shortino compared to some of the 2 1/2 to 3 hour epics that were (and still are) regularly released?

At any rate, a synopsis is in order. One night, Stanwyck, playing "Thelma Jordon", walks into the office of a big city district attorney to report a series of burglaries at the home of her rich Aunt. The DA has gone home but his assistant Wendell Corey is still there, getting drunk at the prospect of spending another night with his wife, with whom he's rapidly becoming estranged. After Babs lays out the details of her complaint, Corey asks her out for a drink. At first she declines, then accepts to humor him, and she appears to be a straightforward woman, self-assured and wanting her case to proceed. But for some reason she continues to see Wendell Corey. He's got a weak willed charm that appeals to her, and she falls for him, even though he's always on the verge of falling down drunk. For the first 40 minutes, the movie focuses on their romance. You're kind of wondering, "where's the noir"? Stanwyck knows Corey is unhappily married, but you're wondering what the rub is, and in that respect the  plot is slow to develop. But when it does, it goes dark in a hurry.

Barbara turns out to be married also, to a lowlife hustler named "Tony Laredo" (Richard Rober). She gives Corey a B.S. story about barely knowing him. "He conned me into it", she says of their marriage. "I was vulnerable at the time". 

It's a lie. Even though she has real feelings by now for the drunken assistant DA, we discover that her relationship with him was planned in advance by Laredo, to set up an alibi in the robbery of her Aunt, who has a safe filled with emeralds. The script also mentions a lifetime annuity that gets lost in the dialogue. This is another of those screenplays in which some of the details are driven right past the viewer, who is paying attention to the chemistry of the actors in a given scene, while too much dialogue is being recited. That's why you miss details in some plots, when the conversation is not properly slowed down.

Don't get me wrong because this is a hell of a noir and as hard-boiled as they come, once the plot gets rolling. It's just that, in my opinion, way too much time is given to developing the romance between Stanwyck and Corey. It takes up nearly half the movie. so by the time the crime plot kicks in, you're playing catch-up. You find yourself concentrating on their relationship, because you don't yet know about Barbara's double dealing, and you have to rewind because you wonder "What did she say about her Aunt in the previous scene (or three scenes ago)? I forgot, because I was enthralled by the romance".

This is where the fine points of direction and screenplay mesh, where dialogue must either be cut down or slowed down so that the audience remains fully involved. I'd love to start a film school based on the idea of Audience Concentration on the story, where Style doesn't have to take a back seat, but where lines of dialogue can never be allowed to pass by unnoticed, because of an actors' too rapid enunciation or a director's focus on production values or the need to move on to the next scene.

Story is everything, and storytelling is the method that gets you there. I mention all of this in my review of "The File on Thelma Jordon" because, while in the long run it's an above average picture which turns out to have the darkest finish of a big budget film noir that I can remember, it also had the potential to become an all time classic. Far be it from me to cast an eye at Robert Siodmak, but dragging out the romance between Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey led to a confusion of plot.

Still and all, the finish is so bereft of hope - and therefore a bleak noir in the truest sense - that I have to give the movie Two Big Thumbs Up for having the courage to see the story through, with no showbiz shine. My complaints are due to flaws in the formatting of the film, which could have been sequenced much better, or intercut.

Nevertheless, Two Big Thumbs Up for "The File on Thelma Jordon". Like our other movies in this blog, the print is razor sharp. It's a noir that's one notch short of being an All Time Classic, which isn't too shabby, and is highly recommended despite the complaints.  //// 

That's all for tonight. Hope you had a great day. See you in the morning and I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)