The Rifleman & Loose Girls

I was just watching some episodes of the 50's western THE RIFLEMAN with Chuck Connors in the title role, Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher who has a pretty impressive self made rifle. He's also raising his young son Mark, played by Johnny Crawford. Many of the episodes had McCain killing some desperado and then lecturing Mark on why "it had to happen this way". Paul Fix as the local sheriff was the only other regular. The best thing about the show was the guest stars. So far I've seen James (billed as Jim) Coburn, John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Robert Webber, Vic Morrow, Sidney Blackmer and Raymond Bailey (the future Mr. Drysdale on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES).



GIRLS ON THE LOOSE-1958-Night club owner Vera Parkinson (Mara Corday) and her girl gang rob a bank of 20 thousand dollars. They bury the loot and go back to working at the club. Unfortunately, Vera's younger sister (Barbara Bostock who sings) falls for the detective (Mark Richman) who's investigating the robbery. Double crossing and death follow as Vera goes to any means to protect her ill gotten gain. The climax features a cat fight at the site of the buried money.

GIRLS ON THE LOOSE reminded me a little of Ed Wood's THE VIOLENT YEARS (made two years before) but is not nearly as entertaining. Star Corday was also in the cheapies THE GIANT CLAW and TARANTULA around the same time. Also with Joyce Johanesson, Lita Milan, Abby Dalton and Fred Kruger. 
This low budget exploitation quickie was one of the half dozen films directed by actor Paul Henreid (he did much more TV).

Thanks for reading!

Carradine and Chaney together..... in a Western?

FRONTIER MARSHALL-1939-Randolph Scott stars as Wyatt Earp who brings law and order to the lawless town of Tombstone.

Caesar Romero is Doc Halliday who despite his reputation becomes friends with Earp. John Carradine is a saloon owner who is also responsible for some stagecoach robberies. His gang includes Joe Sawyer and Lon Chaney Jr. (the same year he was in OF MICE AND MEN). There's a lot of plot involving Doc and his wife (Nancy Kelly) and a chorus girl (Binnie Barnes) but in the end history is rewritten with Earp going solo to see justice prevail at the OK corral.

Although there are several plot holes and clichéd dialogue this is a very entertaining western made 7 years before John Ford's more famous MY DARLING CLEMENTINE.

Frontier Marshall was director by Allan Dwan who's career dates back to 1911. He made two other movies in 1939. THE 3 MUSKETEERS and THE GORILLA, both featuring The Ritz Bros.

Thanks to my friend Tony for giving me this!

And thanks for reading!

MMA?DNA

CYBORG SOLDIER-2008-This dumb Sci-Fi action drama has been done a zillion times before only the actors change. In this case MMA fighter Rich Franklin plays an emotionless, logical killer cyborg (named Isaac) who escapes his research lab. He hooks up with a female deputy (Tiffani Thiessen) while being hunted by another group of cyborgs. Franklin's trance like robot acting is the unintentional funny highlight of this done to death mundane film. Bruce Greenwood is the head of the project that created Isaac. The director John Steadman was a stunt director on other films.

Thanks for reading!

Philippine Horror

DAUGHTERS OF SATAN-1972-In this Philippines shot horror film, a guy (Tom Selleck) brings home a painting of three witches. His wife Chris (Barra Grant) resembles one of them and seems bent on suddenly killing him. She toys with a dagger when his back is turned and almost suffocates him with some burning gas. A doctor (Vic Silayan) tries to convince hubby that his wife is possessed. The picture comes to life and shows the witches actually being burned at the stake. Later Chris is hung topless above some spikes and whipped by the head of a coven.

There's too much talk and the acting by the two leads isn't very good. The ending is dumb too. It does features Vic Diaz, a comedian who played villains in many Philippine productions. Director Hollingsworth Morse made very few movies but did lots of TV episodes including F-TROOP, HR PUFNSTUF and MARCUS WELBY.

Thanks for reading!

Denmark

VALHALLA RISING-2009- A warrior called One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) escapes his captors in 1000 AD. He joins up with some Christian crusaders (?) and discovers a new land. He's accompanied by Are (Marteen Stevenson), a mute slave boy who suddenly starts talking toward the end. After breaking away from the Crusaders he's hacked to death by (North American?) Indians. This is not an action packed sword slashing Viking battle epic as some might suspect from the title. There's excellent direction and photography but it might leave some viewers scratching their heads. Hey, my head was itchy anyway! 

Denmark director Nicolas Winding Refn's name is (at the time of this writing) attached to a LOGAN'S RUN remake.

Thanks for reading!

Bela's Blue Eyes In Color

SCARED TO DEATH-1947-This very weird low budget murder mystery (filmed in "natural color") is Bela Lugosi's only color film! And it's narrated by a dead woman! 

Just before an autopsy is to be performed on her, murder victim Laura Van Ee (Molly Lamont) decides to relate a flashback to the audience. She's a paranoid wife who believes her husband (Roland Varno) and her father in law Dr. Van Ee (George Zucco) are trying to drive her crazy so she will give the husband a divorce. Nat Pendleton is a dumb house detective who's sweet on the comic maid (Gladys Blake). Lugosi shows up as Prof. Leonide, the doctor's European cousin! He's accompanied by Indigo (Angelo Rossitto in his third movie with Bela), "a dwarf, one of the little men". The characters all talk very mysteriously and a figure in a blue mask keeps poking it's head in a window once in a while. Since the plot has something to do with a dancer in a green mask I suppose the cheap color process used here wasn't working very well.

Later, a clichéd fast talking reporter (Douglas Fowley) shows up to try and help Laura. Leonide and Indigo creep around and Lugosi really hams it up. It all has to do with a green scarf, a spy, revenge, a cross dresser and a murder committed 20 years before. The funniest part is when the doctor who's going to do the autopsy comes up to the body and says to his assistant "Is this the body?".

Director Christy Cabanne was nearly at the end of his long career that had started in 1912! Some of his other movies included GRAFT, the 1934 version of JANE EYRE and THE MUMMY'S HAND.

Thanks for reading!

Well Shivers My Timbers!

SHIVERS (THE CAME FROM WITHIN)-1975-David Cronenberg's first feature is about medical transplants using a parasite as a substitute. It's very talking, badly acted, ineptly directed and unintentionally funny. All the characters seem creepy and/or deranged.

After a scientist kills a woman and burns her with acid, Dr. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton, a TV actor and musician) investigates the murder and discovers the scientist's weird experiments. His nurse is played by Lynn Lowry (from THE CRAZIES, which this seems influenced by) who has a nude scene. Most of it takes place in a trendy high rise apartment building. The parasite infects its victims and sends them into bizarre sexual frenzies. ("I'm hungry for love" proclaims an infected fat woman)

Barbara Steele (she was in CAGED HEAT the same year) gets infected while taking a bath and seduces a female neighbor. Another TV actor Joe Silver (also in Cronenberg's RABID) has the bloodiest death.

Well Cronenberg certainly got better!

Thanks for reading!