Last night's film had an interesting premise and the style of a stage play. "When The Clock Strikes"(1961) tells the story of a man and a woman brought together by the pending execution of a murderer. "Sam Morgan" (James Brown, but not The Godfather of Soul) is driving down a lonely highway at night in a raging thunderstorm when he comes across a lady in the road. She's "Ellie Pierce" (Merry Anders), and in the opening scene, she gives him a phony story about where she's going. A tree falls in the storm, blocking the road and causing them to have to stop at a lodge. Of course it's the only one for miles around. There's a hint of "Psycho" in all of this, the blonde woman on the run, but it's only a stylistic influence. The plot takes off in another direction.
At the lodge, when Sam Morgan finds out Ellie's last name is Pierce, he is stunned. The town Sheriff is also on hand, at the bar, so Sam reluctantly confesses why he came there. A killer is going to be executed that night at twelve o' clock. It was Sam's testimony at the trial that convicted him. Sam now tells the Sheriff he wants to recant what he said in court. "I'm not sure he was the man I saw. The prosecutor twisted my words". Now he's feeling guilty that a possibly innocent man will be hung (hanging in 1961 is another weird touch). But when Sam finds out Ellie is Mrs. Pierce - the killer's wife - now he is doubly morose.
Except she isn't Mrs. Pierce. In reality, she's a dancer from New York, who knew the condemned man as a customer. She knows about the 160 Grand he hid from a bank robbery, and she's trying to locate it after he's executed. But get this : once James Brown finds out about the stolen loot, he's got a Brand New Bag in the motivational sense. Now, instead of trying to get the killer a stay of execution (because he feels guilty about the trial), now he wants in on the money. He and Ellie Pierce team up to find it.
They have to work around the lodge owner "Cady" (Henry Corden), a grumpy conniver who eavesdrops on everything that's going on. He's especially perturbed by the sheriff, who only ever orders one beer (what a cheapskate).
By now, the killer has been executed. Sam finds a key hidden in his belongings, which have been sent to Ellie at the lodge because she's registered as "Mrs Pierce". The key goes to a safe deposit box in New Mexico. Sam calls the bank and, using a fake name, arranges for the contents of the box to be sent to the lodge as well, hoping it will include the stolen money. He's posing as the killer's lawyer and tells the postman to deliver it to him personally, but the owner Cady overhears this too, and he intercepts the package, which does contain the money. Then the real Mrs. Pierce shows up, saying that her husband was a killer after all. "He murdered my father". The point is that Sam shouldn't feel bad that Pierce went to the gallows, because even though he may have been innocent of the murder he was convicted of, he sure as hell killed Mrs. Pierce's dad. He was a killer one way or the other.
But back to the lodge owner, he kills Mrs. Pierce to frame Sam and Ellie. Then he tries to run off with the dough. This leads to a Moral of the Story type of ending, in which Sam and Ellie learn that honesty is the best policy. The script is like a puzzle, assembled piece by piece. The story takes place almost entirely in the confines of the lodge, which gives it the structure of a play. There's very little action, much of the backstory is revealed through exposition. But it holds you because of the twists, and also the over-earnest acting. Is it deliberate? The line is fine indeed. The trouble with crime films, once you get to the early 1960s, is that irony is now involved. You've got black humor in the mix, and harpsichord music. Who knows where the hell those influences came from. Well, at any rate, it's directed by Edward L. Cahn, a Sam Newfield type who also made a lot of good cheapies. Merry Anders is good as the fabricating "Ellie Pierce". She has a touch of that "John Waters movie" sass in her voice, which is what I mean by deliberately overacting. Henry Corden is menacing in a bland way as the ornery lodge owner Cady, and James Brown fills the bill as the guilt-ridden eyewitness. Two Big Thumbs Up for "When the Clock Strikes". The script makes up for the lack of outside action, it's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night we had a blast watching "Sky Patrol"(1939), one of four films about the exploits of "Tailspin Tommy Tomkins" (John Trent), who this time plays a captain in a precursor to the Civil Air Patrol. A young Uncle Fester co-stars as "Carter", the son of the squadron's leader, "Colonel Meade" (Boyd Irwin). As the movie opens, the Colonel is talking to Fester about his upcoming tryout for the squad. "You're going to be using the machine guns this time, so be sure to aim for the targets". Fester says he doesn't have it in him to shoot. "Guns mean killing. I don't want to kill anyone". "But sometimes you have to, son. We'll be dealing with smugglers and criminals in Sky Patrol. We can't let them overrun the country". When Fester goes up for his graduation flyby, "Tailspin" Tommy is his copilot. Fester nearly crashes while performing a dive bomb move, so Tailspin knocks him unconscious and flies the plane himself, performing barrel rolls and other amazing stunts. The onlookers on the ground think it's Fester who's flying, and when they land he gets a hero's welcome and graduates with flying colors.
Now that he's a member of the Sky Patrol squad, he finds himself tailing an amphibious plane coming in off the coast of California. He radios in the plane's serial number, but the smugglers shoot him out of the sky. Fester parachutes into the Pacific Ocean and is picked up by the bad guys in a boat. Now he's their captive.
When Fester's plane is shot down, reports say he's dead, but Tailspin thinks he's still alive, and cooks up a rescue plan. Using an early form of radar, he locates the smuggler's boat, which is loaded with guns and TNT. With his trusty sidekick "Skeeter" by his side, Tailspin invades the boat but the two men are captured. This creates a role reversal in which Fester must now do the rescuing. To save Tailspin and Skeeter, he will have to use a gun, which he has been loathe to do.
"Sky Patrol" is an hour of pure entertainment of the Saturday Afternoon Matinee kind. There's a lot of early stunt flying, all of which takes place at Van Nuys Airport, then known as Metropolitan Airport. Besides the heroics, it's fun to watch Jackie Coogan at 25 years old and try to picture him morphing 25 years later into the bald-headed weirdo from The Addams Family. He's almost unrecognizable until he breaks out that patented grin. Then you go, "there's the future Fester!". Other than that, his role is a serious one. Milburn Stone provides the comic relief as the verbally-challenged Skeeter, and Marjorie Reynolds is on hand for morale-boosting cuteness. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Sky Patrol". It's highly recommended and the picture is soft but watchable. ////
That's all for tonight. Go Rams tomorrow. I send you Tons of Love, as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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