Dr. Seuss

 

 (imdb)

THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T.-1953-Little Bart (Tommy Rettig) doesn't like this piano teacher, the dictatorial Dr. Terwilliker (the often under-appreciated Hans Conried). His mother (Mary Healy) lectures him about his lesson. Only their plumber, Mr. Zabladowski (Peter Lind Hayes) seems to understand Bart’s plight. When Bart falls asleep, he dreams he's in Terwilliker's “institute” where the doc plans on having 250 students play on a huge sprawling piano. And after the recital, Dr. T is going to marry his secretary, Bart's mom! Fortunately, Mr. Zabladowski is there too. Although the plumber and Dr. T seem to become friends, the doctor wants to disintegrate him. Bart finds a dungeon where T plans to put all instruments except the piano. 

This is a pretty unique musical fantasy that's probably not for everyone. Renowned kids author Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss wrote the story, screenplay and song lyrics. It is the only live action movie he ever wrote and wasn't pleased with the finished product. When it bombed at a preview several musical numbers were cut (the footage is lost but the songs are available on CD). Still, it didn't do well but has since become a cult film. 

The production was also marred by infighting between producer Stanley Kramer and Columbia studio head Sam Cohn. Stars Hayes and Healy were married in real life. The next year Rettig would star on the TV show “Lassie” for four years. Conried starred in Arch Obler's bizarre satire THE TWONKY the same year. Journeyman director Roy Rowland later worked on the “Wyatt Earp” TV series and made THE GIRL HUNTERS (1963) (where author Mickey Spillane played his own creation Mike Hammer).

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I Am The Goblin King

 

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LABYRINTH-1986-A lonely girl Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), who fantasizes about goblins and such wishes her baby brother would be kidnapped by goblins. Her wish comes true and The Goblin King (David Bowie) tells her she has 13 hours to rescue him from the labyrinth. She meets lots of wacky Muppets, some who seem to be talking Monty Python inspired dialogue (Terry Jones wrote the original script). 

Bowie sings a song backed by his Muppet horde. And there's other musical numbers and a chaotic battle. In the end Sara must find a way to rescue little bro from the MC Escher inspired labyrinth. 

This imaginative musical fantasy is a combination of music, puppets and sfx directed by Muppets creator Jim Henson who had their own TV show from 1976-1981. Connelly was in Dario Argento's PHENOMENA the year before this.

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Urgh!

 

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URGH! A MUSIC WAR-1982-Over thirty bands from the early '80's punk and new wave scene are crammed into this. The Police start things off as they were the biggest band at the time. Then Wall of Voodoo, Toyah Wilcox, poet/rapper John Cooper Clarke, OMD, Chelsea, echo andOingo Boingo, Echo & The BunnyMen, Jools Holland, XTC, Klaus Nomi, Athletico, Spizz 80, The Go-Gos, Dead Kennedys, Steel Pulse, Joan Jett, Magazine, Surf Punks, Members, Au Pairs, Cramps, Invisible Sex (in their only performance), Pere Ubu, Devo, Alley Cats, John Otway, Gang of 4, 999, Fleshtones, Skafish, UB40. The version I saw had two performers cut: Gary Numan and Splodgeness Abounds. 

Some of the venues are in London, France, LA and NYC. It's an excellent time capsule with some really great performances, directed by Derek Burbidge who directed many music videos before this and even more later on.

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Jamboree

 

 (the movie data base)

JAMBOREE-1957-A divorce couple Grace (Kay Medford) and Lew (Robert Pastene) each manage a singer. Grace manages Pete (Paul Carr) and Lew manages Honey (Freda Holliday). They decide to pair the young singers in a duo and they become an overnight sensation with their innocuous love song “What is There To Say”. The managers manipulate both singers until they break up and everyone becomes are miserable. There are performances by Fat Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Bowen, Buddy Knox, the Count Basie Orchestra, Joe Williams, Frankie Avalon, The Teenchords (featuring Louie Lymon), Carl Perkins, Slim Whitman, Connie Francis and others. 

Many real-life disc jockeys appear as themselves including Dick Clark, Jocko Henderson and Dick Whittinghill. Produced in the US by Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky before they formed the British based film company Amicus. One of only 3 full length movies directed by (British born) Roy Lockwood who later work in radio.

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Short Shorts

 

 (world atlas)

POSSIBLY IN MICHIGAN-1983-This is a strange surreal plot-less musical short with two women being stalked by a weird guy named Arthur. After some incomprehensible scenes they turn the tables on him (???). Weird shit made with funds from The National Endowment for The Arts and The Ohio Arts Council.

MAMMALS-1962-This weird short about two guys in the snowy frozen wilderness has been described as "Waiting for Godot" on ice. Roman Polanski co-wrote and directed it before his first feature film, KNIFE IN THE WATER. Yuk it up. It's Roman Polanski. He's a genius...

 (grepmed.com)

MUCHAUSEN-2013-Very well made short without any dialogue, about mother's (Bonnie Bedelia) obsessive behavior toward her son who is ready to leave home for college. Written and directed by Ali Aster. 

 (getty images)

GRANDMOTHER'S BEDTIME STORY-1979-A tired grandmother fed up with her bratty grandson who won't go to bed, reads him a story about a little princess who won't go to bed and is terrorized by a witch, a goblin, a hunchback and finally a dragon. Weird little gore short by Michael Hitchcock.

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Mammal by They Might Be Giants:

https://youtu.be/14jjo7MtSzE?feature=shared

Short Musical (in Technicolor)

 

 

 (imdb)

PIRATE PARTY ON CATALINA ISLAND-1935-This technicolor musical short starts off with a big band where all the musicians are wearing masks of famous comedians (Laurel & Hardy, Chaplin, Joe E Brown). Then Chester Morris (dressed as a pirate) narrates. With appearances by Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn, Mickey Rooney, Marion Davies, Leon Errol, Robert Armstrong and some banjo playing, singing, dancing and actor Buddy Rogers and his orchestra. The uncredited director is Gene Burdette.

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Mermaids

 

THE LURE-2015- Bizarre fantasy horror musical about two Warsaw mermaids hired by a sleazy club owner to perform at his place. Blond haired Silver falls in love with the house bass player while dark haired Golden kills and eats men. They form a Euro-trashy punk pop duo called "The Lure". Starts off well but the story becomes confused and full of itself eventually fizzling out. This Polish production was directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska.

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Mantan Returns!

 

 (IMDB)

LUCKY GHOST-1942-This all black cast musical comedy stars the comic duo Miller & Moreland (FE Miller and the great Mantan Moreland) as two down on their luck hustlers:  Washington (Moreland) and Jefferson (Miller) trying to break into high society after winning big playing craps. They wind up in a sanitarium that is actually an illegal gambling casino run by tough guy Blake (Maceo B. Sheffield). No sooner do the team sit down for dinner when Washington incurs the wrath of the jealous Blake by dancing with his girl The Hostess (Florence O'Brien). 

After Jefferson knocks Blake out, they all become friends. A drunk who was thrown out and lands in the cemetery next door, hears some ghosts talking about all the noise the casino is making. At the craps table Washington not only breaks the bank but wins the whole establishment from Blake. The ghosts enter the place and scare the revenge planning Blake away. Unfortunately they scare the band and most of the customers away too! A skeleton plays the piano and a suit of armor dances. The duo give back all the money they won and are allowed to leave. 

Entertaining but forgotten little comedy directed by William X. Crowley (actually a pseudonym for the super fast William Beaudine! One of 11 films he directed in 1942!)

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More Darro and Moreland

LET'S GO COLLEGIATE-1941-A star athlete Bob Terry is supposed to arrive at Raleigh college and help the rowing team. Unfortunately he’s drafted. This puts a damper on the hope of having a championship and students Frankie Monahan (Frankie Darro), Tad (Jackie Moran) and Buck Wing (Keye Luke) are quite depressed. The girls on campus led by Bess (Marcia Mae Jones) and Midge (Gale Storm) are so excited that the losers are afraid to tell them. They get a guy named Herc (Frank Sully) to impersonate Terry. Then they can't get rid of him so they try to make him into a rower. There are several songs but Mantan Moreland as Jeff is wasted. Barton Yarbourough (I LOVE A MYSTERY) is their coach and Tristram Coffin is Slugger. 

Work horse director Jean Yarbrough made KING OF THE ZOMBIES (also with Moreland) the same year. Later he directed four Abbott & Costello movies (and all the episodes of their great TV series), Rondo Hatton in HOUSE OF HORRORS and THE BRUTE MAN, The Bowery Boys and many TV episodes.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4609335177952045780/6557514618581060655?hl=en

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Mexico Monsters

SHIP OF MONSTERS-1960-This lunatic Mexican sci-fi musical comedy features Gamma (Ana Bertha Lepe) & Beta (Lorena Velazquez), 2 alien women from Venus who comb the solar system in search of males to breed with after a war has destroyed their male population. A clunky blinking robot Torr assists them.  Before coming to Earth they pick up some doozies! There's the short big head Tawal, Prince of Mars, who's brain seems to be on the outside of his head. Demonic Ogre Muppet like Uk, king of the fire planet. Giant Crassus of the red planet (isn't that Mars?). Plus a marionette like bag of bones whose name and planet are not mentioned. 

The girls freeze them and hide them in a cave when their spaceship has trouble and they are forced to land on Earth. They meet the loud smiling Lauriano (Eulalio Gonzalez) and his much younger brother. Almost immediately he and Gamma fall in love and he sings a couple of songs! Later Beta is jealous and reveals that she is a vampire from the vampire planet Uranus and plans to drain Earth of its blood. She turns into a bat and kills a farmer. Gamma rats her out to their boss and Beta is condemned to be disintegrated. Beta double crosses Gamma, locks her up, makes Torr her slave and convinces the captured male prisoners help to her terrify and conquer Earth. She and Tawal seem to have a thing for each other! Lauriano encounters all 4 of them in the forest. Since he’s a big mouth braggart no one believes him. He manages to get to the spaceship but Beta catches him and makes him sing her a love song. While they are kissing Lauriano steals the control box Bets uses and frees Gamma (and his little brother) but sends the rocket into space. With the help of the robot the aliens are destroyed and Beta is impaled. Gamma stays on Earth. 

This is so nutty and dumb it's very entertaining! Vampire alien Lorena Velaquez was later in some Wrestling Women movies. Director Rogelio A. Gonzalez made many more movies in Mexico but unfortunately was killed in a car accident in 1984.

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Herman's Back!

MRS. BROWN YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY DAUGHTER-1968-Herman's Hermits tries to emulate The Beatles movie success with inept talky musical. Peter/Herman is an unhappy guy who lives with his mother and works for an advertising agency. He also owns a racing dog named Mrs. Brown. At night he rehearses with the rest of the Hermits. The title cut and “There's A Kind of Hush” are in it but so are some forgettable tunes. A guy named Mr. Brown (Stanley Holloway) sponsors the band so they can raise money to race their dog. Not surprisingly his daughter Judy (Sarah Caldwell) falls for Herman. The weirdest part is that co-stars Holloway, Mona Washburn (as a human Mrs. Brown) and Lance Percival all sing too! 

Director Saul Swimmer later filmed THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH. American born screenwriter Norman Thaddeus Vane later returned to his native country and made low budget horror movies (FRIGHTMARE, THE BLACK ROOM). He may have been married to lead actress Caldwell.

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Herman's Hermits

HOLD ON!-1966-Herman's Hermits are a hit in America! They disguise themselves as policemen to get away from screaming fans. Somehow NASA winds up naming one of there rockets after the group. A government employee (Herbert Anderson) investigates the band because the State Department doesn't like the idea of naming a US rocket after an English pop band. Herman falls for American Louisa (Shelly Fabares) and he has a daydream about being a knight in shining armor. There's also a fantasy sequence where Herman dreams he and his manager (Bernard Fox) are astronauts.

This dumb but harmless Sam Katzman produced musical comedy (obviously trying to emulate The Beatles' HELP!, from a year early; both titles end with exclamation points...) also features a side plot about an actress (Sue Ane Langdon) trying to get a publicity shot with Herman. (Character actor Mickey Deems is her agent) In the end Anderson decides “the lads” are just like any other teenagers.

While no Beatles Herman's Hermits had some pretty nice songs (although almost none are in this!). Ray Kellogg (director of THE KILLER SHREWS) and John Hart (who'd played The Lone Ranger on TV for a season or two) play detectives. HOLD ON was written by B-movie Robert Kent under the pseudonym James B. Gordon. He wrote THE FASTEST GUITAR ALIVE (with Roy Orbison) the next year. Director Arthur Lubin had work on several Abbott & Costello movies in the early '40's. Then on the Francis the Talking Mule series. By this time he was doing a lot of TV. The title song and several others were penned by PF Sloane who died this passed November.

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CRAZY HOUSE-Universal-1943-The second film featuring the
comedy team of (Ole) Olsen & (Chic) Johnson after their chaotic HELLZAPOPPIN (based on their Broadway show). 

The team play themselves and want to make another movie for Universal but the studio head (played by Thomas Gomez) refuses so they decide to make their own "independent" movie! They hire a director (played by Patric Knowles who was in HIT THE ICE with Abbott & Costello and FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN the same year) and go about "signing" talent. Singer Cass Daley (who made very few movies) and Martha O'Driscoll (who later played the hunchback nurse in HOUSE OF DRACULA!) co-star. Parts are funny but the whole thing is bogged down by more musicial numbers than in any two Abbott & Costello movies! Many familiar character actors appear: Shemp Howard, Billy Gilbert, Percy Kilbride, Hans Conried, Franklin Panghorn, Bobby Barber and Charles Middleton. Actors and Actress appearing as themselves include: Leo Carillo, Johnny Mack Brown, Allan Jones, Count Basie and many more. Basil Rathbon and Nigel Bruce have cameos as Holmes & Watson!! Although Crazy House was not a hit, Olsen and Johnson would star in one more movie for Universal, GHOST CATCHERS (also with O'Driscoll). They would become stars of early TV several years later. Director Edward F. Cline worked with Buster Keaton on many of his classic silent films and later directed films with WC Fields and Olsen & Johnson's other movies.

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Pre-Super Reeves

TEAR GAS SQUAD-1940-Druggist Joe McCabe (pre-Superman George Reeves) captures gangster Rocks Dawson. Joe's brother is a nightclub singer named Tommy McCabe (Dennis Morgan) who impersonates a singing cop in his act. He really doesn't like policemen but manages to win over a woman, Jerry Sullivan (Gloria Dickson) who's whole male family are police officers (Edgar Buchanan plays one of them). John Payne (MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET) is Morrissey, another policeman who becomes a rival to Tommy for Jerry's affections. McCade joins the police training school (where future Perry White John Hamilton is the police commissioner) to impress Jerry. He becomes leader of the Police Glee Club but after punching out Morrissey he's drummed out of the force. When brother Joe is killed for revenge Tommy wants back in. When Morrisey is taken hostage by a gang tear gas comes into play...sort of. Tommy rescues Morrisey and together they arrest the gang. Tear gas really doesn't have much to do with it except maybe all the songs caused a lot of gas and tears?? Who knows? It just got my attention because Reeves was in it. Mary Gordon is Jerry's mother and Frank Wilcox and Ben Weldon (a future frequent guest villain on TV's Superman) have small roles.

Lead actress Gloria Dickson had a promising career hampered by alcoholism. In 1945 she died in a house fire at age 28,

Director Terry Morse also made BRITISH INTELLIGENCE (with Karloff), FOG ISLAND and UNKNOWN WORLD. He also edited many films.

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Cowboy Musical

TERROR OF TINY TOWN-1938-Everyone's favorite little peoples western begins with a narrator addressing the audience.

Billy Curtis is the cheerful hero Buck Lawson. He battles cattle rustler Bat Haines ("Litte Billy" Rhodes), a really mean guy who's trying to cause a range war between Buck's father (John Bambury) and another rancher named Tex Preston (Billy Platt). The highlight for me are the very bizarre musical numbers but it has all the elements of a regular low budget western: shoot outs, runaway stagecoach, crooked sheriff, hired gunslingers, outrageous make-up, bad acting, chiched script. The funniest character is Tex's German cook. Buck (who sings and plays guitar) falls in love with Tex's niece (Yvonne Moray) to complicate matters. Later Haines kills Tex and Buck is blamed. He's almost lynched but Haines' neglected girlfriend (Nita Krebs) clears him. In the climax Buck and Hanes duke it out in a cabin while dynamite burns in the basement.

Some of the cast would appear in THE WIZARD OF OZ the next year.

TERROR was directed by San Newfield who typically made 15 other features in 1938!

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The Great Morgan

THE GREAT MORGAN-1946-Character actor Frank Morgan (who played the wizard in THE WIZARD OF OZ IN 1939) plays himself in this unusual MGM musical comedy. Morgan is tired of being an actor and getting no respect so he decides to produce his own movie. This seems to really be a compilation of MGM shorts and musical segments. A Pete Smith short "Badminton" and one of John Nesbitt's "A Passing Parade" shorts are shown in their entirety. Other performances are cut scenes from other musical productions and include a tap dancing Eleanor Powell, The King Sisters, Tommy Dorsey and Virginia O'Brien (she's also in THE BIG STORE with The Marx Bros.). It's all kept together by having Morgan and the studio head (played by Leon Ames) watch it. The funny gag ending involving the famous MGM lion is pretty good. It was the only movie directed by Nat Perrin who began his film career writing gags for early Marx Bros. movies and did the screenplays for the Abbott & Costello movies KEEP 'EM FLYIN' and PARDON MY SARONG. 

Originally made only to be shown in Europe for some reason, it was once considered a lost film.

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Just Imagine...if it was real...

JUST IMAGINE-1930-This whacked out musical-comedy-fantasy is set in the far flung future of 1980 where everyone has numbers instead of names. Part of the plot involves a man (comedian El Brendel, who speaks with a phony Swedish accent) from 1930 being revived in the future. The other part has a guy J-21(John Garrick) who's in love with a married women LN-18 (Maureen O'Sullivan in her third movie). The musical numbers are pretty hokey and quite bizarre in some cases. The art deco sets and special effects are great though.

For years this movie was unseen (I think it might have been considered a "lost film") but in the '60's the horror magazine "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" occasionally ran stills from JI and editor Forrest J Ackerman touted it as one of the greatest films ever made. I wonder if he ever saw it?!

Anyway, a scientist convinces the J-21 to take a spaceship to Mars with his best friend RT-42 and Brendel, who's character chooses the name Single 0. The inhabitants are very strange and the men appear to be gay ("She's not the queen, he is")!

JUST IMAGINE was written by the songwriting team of DeSylva, Henderson and Brown (they wrote a huge amount of famous songs but none from this movie) and directed by David Miller who made many movies in the '30's & '40's including directing Karloff, Lugosi and Lorre in the Big Band comedy-mystery YOU'LL FIND OUT. In the late '50's he turned to TV. 

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