Last night we had another classic from the ABC Tuesday Night Movie of the Week. "A Cold Night's Death"(1973) is a sci-fi tale with only three actors that's more or less a takeoff on "The Thing from Another World", but with a very clever karmic twist. Eli Wallach and Robert Culp are a pair of scientists sent to the North Pole to relieve the present crew, who are working with research monkeys, testing them at high altitudes for the space program, seeing how they respond to various temperatures and other conditions. A helicopter pilot (Michael C. Gwynne) familiar with the laboratory flies them up there in a raging snowstorm. Instantly, it's apparent that something is wrong. The main Quonset hut is trashed, food is scattered everywhere, chairs are askew. Equipment and pipes are frozen because a windum has been left wide open. The men cautiously inspect the facility, fearing foul play. No enemy is present, but the scientist on duty is deceased, frozen solid in his chair. He was using his tape recorder when he died.
The chopper pilot shows them where everything is located, how to make water from snow, etc. He shows them the chimp room, but wants to get the hell out because of the blizzard outside. He needs to take off asap. Culp and Wallach wrap the body of the frozen scientist so it can be flown back to base. After that, it's just the two of them for the rest of the movie. I saw it the night it aired, and at the time, I'd never seen The Thing from Another World, and "The Thing" by John Carpenter was still nine years away, so I didn't know the comparison, and to me this was totally original, with two scientists at the North Pole, freezing, slowly going mad, and turning against one another. Culp is the open-minded one, willing to consider the possibility that something (not someone) is messing with their equipment. The tape machine erases. The water heater breaks. The windum keeps opening in the middle of the night, subjecting them to sub zero temperatures. There are scenes of Robert Culp outside, in Arctic snow gear, with snow-glare goggles, where the only thing visible are his lips. His efforts to shovel snow into the hopper, for water, slowly become more strenuous. In the lab, the monkeys are getting rambunctious. There's a detail you will notice about the monkeys without realizing you've noticed it, something that is shown again and again.
Things get worse between Culp and Wallach, because Culp knows something inexplicable is going on, while Wallach, ever the rationalist, is too scared to admit Culp is right. Wallach busies himself with monkey experiments, and - of all the chimps present - the one named "Allie" seems to be doing okay, considering that when the scientists arrived, the poor creatures were almost frozen to death.
Wallach finally pulls a gun on Culp when he discovers Allie dead in a cupboard. Figuring Culp killed him (but for what reason?), he says, "I know you aren't sane. You've got hypoxia so I'm not holding you accountable. But I am gonna lock you in the lab for the time being, until we can radio for help." As he's saying this, Culp has just struggled mightily to stay alive while outside shoveling snow, becoming increasingly lethargic, his face and beard growing icicles. This is one of the scariest scenes in the movie, and the scariest Freezing to Death scene since the one in "Stalingrad" (when the soldier freezes at the end). Robert Culp's acting here is phenomenal; he must've researched Arctic hypoxia and the experience of freezing to death. But Wallach doesn't get it. He doesn't see that Culp is physically disabled. He just assumes that Culp killed Allie the chimp, when he could not possibly have done so, being four-fifths dead himself. What force is causing this havoc? What demon is pulling them apart? Is it the Abominable Snowman? Wallach thinks Culp is tricking him, trying to experiment on his psyche. How? By freezing himself to death?
But then that Noticeable Thing kicks in, the one I mentioned earlier. Culp notices it, and we have our inexplicable monster. It's a heck of a twist to this psychological, sci-fi horror. I'd forgotten about this movie, but once it got to about the ten minute mark, when they find the frozen scientist, I remembered having seen it. It's a classic and the acting doesn't get any better. Two Huge Thumbs Up. The picture is slightly soft, and in places the dialogue is out of sync, but not enough to cause a problem. Don't miss it. ////
The previous night, Patty Duke starred with a top cast in "She Waits"(1972), yet another TV Movie. Duke is "Laura", the newly married second wife of "Mark Wilson" (the late David McCallum, sans Gigantic Head). Prior to leaving on a business trip, he's taking Laura to Lowss Ang-less, to the Hollywood Hills home of his mother (Dorothy McGuire). Mom has asked to meet Laura, though she'd prefer if the couple don't stay there. Laura is eager to learn more about Mark and his family. What was his first wife like? And mother? Mark doesn't really want to talk about either of them. He's either embarrassed, or ashamed, or there's a secret. All we know is that Mom's been in a mental institution. Her helper (Beulah Bondi), insists that she get some rest.
When Mark's best friend and business partner (James Callahan) visits, he flirts with Laura before taking the couple out to dinner. It's no biggie. He's good-natured, not threatening. "Oh come now, David," Mark jokes, "You can steal her from me when we get back from Japan." Then they move on to business matters. But Laura wants to know more about Elaine, Mark's first wife. "Come on, Mark. Tell me. What was she like? Was she pretty?" Mark won't answer, so David interjects: "Yes, Laura, she was. In fact she was very pretty." Patty Duke was no slouch in the looks department herself. I liked her show (The Patty Duke Show) when I was little, it was one of the first shows I can remember watching. Well, it must be in her contract, because - once inside the house, and after meeting Mom - she starts hearing voices, then does the Identical Cousins thing again. Remember? "They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike - you can lose your mind, when cousins.......are two of a kind!" Laura's being possessed by the spirit of Mark's first wife Elaine, who died and is seeking revenge.
But revenge for what? How did she die? When did she die? No one will tell Laura a thing. Institutionalized Mom keeps saying "It's Elaine! She's never left this house!" But her doctor (Lew Ayers) says, "There's no such thing as possession." Didn't he see "The House that Would Not Die"? C'mon! Get real! Everybody knows there's possession! (Or what about "Bad Ronald"? Did any of them see that? Could Elaine be hiding in the walls?). Patty Duke takes over the movie, much in the same way Kitty Winn did the other night. Laura is scared to death of what's happening in her bedroom. Curtains are billowing, someone's talking on the phone. The doorknob keeps turning but nobody's there. "But there IS someone," says Mom. "I'm telling you, it's Elaine!" But no one believes her, and McCallum is gaslighting her, his own mother.
Laura tracks down the origin of a household music box, which plays a big part in the mystery. It came from an antique shop near Century City and was one of a matched pair: one melancholy, one joyful. I can't reveal any more about it. But when Laura asks Mark's Mom about the box, Mom finally spills the beans. The secret comes out, the one Mom's been keeping, for which she was put in the nuthouse. It seems she's been protecting her son, but why? How did Elaine die? Well, you're about to find out.
"She Waits" is a slow burn. There isn't a lot of supernatural razzle-dazzle (not compared to our last two haunted house flicks), just the billowing curtains and the invisible phone caller. Instead, it's all about the tension caused by The Secret, and the conflicting behavioral reactions. Mom gets gaslighted, called crazy, but remains earnest. Mark is evasive. He's covering something up, under the guise of "that was all in the past". Doc Lew Ayers is of the mind that: "It can't be explained by science so it must be hogwash". Man, what a fool. I'm a huge fan of science, but not scientists, especially modern-day ones. I can't stand that astronomer guy Neil deGrasse Tyson, what a smug a-hole. He thinks he knows it all but he doesn't. Not even close. And that's because all science can do is measure. That's all science IS, is measuring. Measuring one thing or another. And to be sure, what science has accomplished is astounding. But when they find, or hear about, something they cannot measure (or hear or see) they call it BS. That's why I like science but not modern scientists, with notable exceptions.
Patty Duke struggled with manic depression, and likely used it as motivation in roles like this one. She doesn't go all out, like Kitty Winn, but when she does become Elaine, her method of performance is effective because it draws out how and why she died. And, it vindicates Dorothy McGuire (as Mom), whose performance is the best in the movie. The family are removed from the world, and there's a great line where Beulah Bondi says, "Look out that window, Laura. There's 20th Century Fox to your left, Century City to your right. What self-respecting ghost would haunt any house around here?" Great cast, good movie if slow to build. Two Big Thumbs Up. It needs a new print though. The picture is soft but watchable. ////
And that's all I know. I just don't get it with the Dodgers. How can you win 211 games in the last two seasons, but get swept by two lesser teams (Padres and Diamondbacks) in the first freaking round of the playoffs? And give up a truckload of runs but barely score any? How can Clayton Kershaw pull the same stunt again and again? I just absolutely do not get it. Thank goodness the Cincinatti Reds had a good year and almost made the playoffs. Did anyone follow the Reds and see Elly de la Cruz? Man, that kid is incredible. And I don't get the Angels, either. How can you have Mike Trout and Shohei Otani, and finish far below .500? Indeed, how can you not win a championship? Ah well, 'tis only sports.
My blogging music was Klaus Schulze "Deus Arrakis" (one of his best), and my late night is Wagner's Parsifal.
I hope your week is going well, and I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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