Wilder's Fright

 

 (imdb)

FRIGHT-1956-After psychiatrist Dr. Hamilton (Eric Fleming) helps police stop a murderer (Frank Marth) from jumping off a bridge, he meets Ann Summers (Nancy Malone; INTIMACY (1966)) who seems to have some problems. He regresses her through hypnotism where she speaks German. Then she disappears. Later he learns she was once Baroness Maria in 1889 Vienna. They wind up falling in love. The doc thinks it's a case of split personality but an annoying reporter prints the reincarnation story which causes a rift between the two lovers. Eventually, Maria takes Ann over completely and vanishes, leading the police to think she might have been murdered by the doc. To get her to come out of hiding, he convinces the murderer that he's the crown prince Maria might be looking for! 

Extreme boredom from director W. Lee Wilder, whose son Myles wrote the screenplay obviously inspired by the Bridey Murphy reincarnation case. The elder Wilder also made MANFISH the same year. Lead actor Fleming starred in QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE in 1958 and in 1959 began a long run as the trial boss on TV's “Rawhide”. TV actress Malone later was also a TV director.

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George Sanders

 

BLUEBEARD'S TEN HONEYMOONS-1960-Antique dealer Henri Landru (George Sanders) falls for cabaret singer Odette (Corinne Calvet). She says she needs 3000 francs to help her sick mother (yeah right). He tries to borrow money from another dealer (George Coulouris) and sell his watch but to no avail. Odette dumps him but he's persistent. He meets widow Vivian (Patricia Roc) and woos her to get her money and accidentally kills her but makes it look like suicide. He gives Odette the money even though he finds her with another man. Vivian's sister Giselle (Ingrid Hafner) goes to the police but they can't help. He then romances Juliette Gullin (Jean Kent) and eventually takes her to a secluded villa where he poisons her, cuts up her body and burns it. He repeats this process several more times just to make the ungrateful Odette love him. When one woman stalls their marriage plans he strangles her in a bathtub. 

Then he meets Jeanette (Greta Gynt) and after stabbing her to death, pretends to be her dead husband to get the contents of a safety deposit box. He also tries to bamboozle Mrs. Boyer (Selma Vas Diaz) about her dead husband being alive but then he catches Odette with another man. He takes her to the villa and gives her the kill, chop and burn treatment. Then Giselle discovers his identity and pays him a visit. They almost miss each other but when they meet he nearly kills her. Fortunately the police arrive and after a brief chase arrest him. In the final scene he is guillotined for his crimes. 

This is not a half bad little thriller made essentially better by the presence of George Sanders in the lead role. It could be the best film made by director W. Lee Wilder (KILLERS FROM SPACE). It was written by his son Myles.

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Early Wilder

Mr. Fowley

YANKEE FAKIR-1947- Long before he became the notorious “auteur” of KILLERS FROM SPACE and other dreck director W. Lee Wilder made this funny western for Republic Pictures about two traveling salesmen (Douglas Fowley and Ransom Sherman). It was his second film.

When a border patrol sheriff is murdered, the duo are suspected and thrown in jail. They manage to get out and investigate. They concoct a scheme to catch the real killer involving an old prospector (Chem Bevins) posing as a millionaire and offering $50,000 to the person who can expose the worse character in town.

Joan Woodbury (the mini-bride of Henry VIII in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN) is the victim’s daughter who runs the local boarding house.

Frank Reicher is a bank manager. Marc Lawrence (who was in Cecil B. DeMille’s UNCONQUERED with Gary Cooper & Boris Karloff the same year) runs the local saloon and reports to a mysterious, unseen boss. Also with little Tommy Bernard.

Fowley was the father of “Nutrocker” composer Kim Fowley! He was in SCARED TO DEATH (with Lugosi) the same year and had roles in many later movies like MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON (1953) & THE NAKED JUNGLE (1954) and TV too. He produced and directed the voodoo tinged MACUMBA LOVE in 1960.

Reicher of course was the ship captain in KING KONG (and SONG OF KING) and had directed many silent movies. His last role was in SUPERMAN VS. THE MOLE MEN (1951). He died in 1965.

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My First one Here

Ok this is my first post here. I have another movie blog at another site but I decided to switch over here. I'll see how it goes. Anyway this is mostly about the movies I watch. I like all sorts but I particularly lean toward low budget films of the '50's but I watch all kinds. Here's my first movie post. It's kind of long...









THREE BY A WILDER AND CRAZY GUY!


PHANTOM FROM SPACE-U.A.-1953-It’s hard to believe that director W. Lee Wilder was the less talented older brother of Hollywood’s famous Billy Wilder and while Brother Bill was helming STALAG 17 (for which star William Holden won an Oscar) W made this cheap, minimalistic talkfest.



Two cops (Ted Cooper and Harry Landers) investigate the sudden appearance of a mysterious, headless “phantom” in a diver’s suit. The two cops interview witnesses and consult a doctor (Rudolph Anders from SHE DEMONS and FRANKENSTEIN 1970). Eventually Giger counters track down the space suited creature who escapes by shedding his seemingly indestructible suit, because....Ta Da ......he’s invisible! More talking and cigarette smoking ensues as the phantom hitches a ride on the doc’s car. While the doctor, his assistant (Noreen Nash) and an army major (James Sealy, later in the TV series THE SWAMP FOX) test the suit, the invisible alien (Dick Sands) roams the lab opening and closing doors, moving furniture and being terrorized by the doc’s dog. He (?) kidnaps the assistant and communicates by tapping. In the end he turns into a visible, bald headed humanoid who falls to his death and evaporates. The doctor sums it up: “So he came here from where ever from and right before our eyes his body went though the final phrases of life.”. Yup, that’s it!



An odd duo penned PHANTOM. William Raynor later wrote TARGET: EARTH and became a TV writer. Co-scripter Myles Wilder (Lee's son) wrote W’s next effort (and later episodes of GET SMART). Nominal leading man Landers was a TV pitchman in the ‘60’s and appears in the STAR TREK episode “Turnabout Intruder”. The eerie music is by William Lava (who later did the “F-Troop” theme). Not so SFX were by Alex Weldon who after doing his magic on INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN (1957) graduated to better movies like THE LONGEST DAY, KING OF KINGS, CRACK IN THE WORLD and PATTON. Wilder had been a handbag manufacturer before going to Hollywood in 1945 and producing Anthony Mann’s THE GREAT FLAMARION with Erich von Strohiem!









THE SNOW CREATURE-U.A.-1954 -This is it! The very first movie about The Abominable Snowman and of course it was produced and directed by Wilder (Brother Billy was making SABRINA the same year). It’s very crazy.



A botanist (Paul Langton) and photographer (Leslie Denison) in The Himalayas are forced to accompany their Sherpa guide (Teru Shimada, a Japanese actor who had a small role in WAR OF THE WORLDS and was later on US TV shows ) to Yeti country when the guide’s wife is Yeti-napped. After following some footprints the group come upon an abominable lair inhabited by the snowman and his family. Strangely, the minute he (?) sees the group he brings the cave ceiling down on himself killing his family. Not very bright daddy Snowman is merely stunned and somehow the botanist gains control and forces the Sherpas to take them all back to civilization. For a botanist this guy has alot of pull because he manages to have his institute send a special refrigeration unit to keep Snowy in. It looks like a telephone booth! He has trouble with immigration. They’re not sure if he’s man or beast and won’t let him/it into the country! The creature is very tall and kind of funky looking with fur glued on various parts of it’s body suit. You hardly ever see it’s face. Sometimes it looks like he’s wearing a hat! A famous medical examiner (Rudolph Anders in his second Wilder film) is brought in but Snowy escapes and hilarity follows when it (fast motion) clubs a guard. Emerging out of the darkness it kills a woman. When the creature retreats it’s the same scene of him attacking but shown backwards! Another funny scene takes place in a meat packing plant. It all ends in the storm drains under the city.



According to IMDB Lock Martin (Gort The Robot in DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) portrayed the title monster but I’ve also heard that it may have been someone else. Star Langton was a busy TV actor (he’s in The Twilight Zone premiere episode “Where Is Everybody?”) but was later in THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (’57), IT! THE TRRROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (’58) , INVISIBLE INVADERS and COSMIC MAN (both ’59)! What a resume! The Director Of Photography was Floyd Crosby. Also with William Phipps, Robert Bice and Robert Kino.

KILLERS FROM SPACE-U.A.-1954-Wilder also made this, his most famous grade Z thriller the same year as SNOW CREATURE and it seems to be the first alien abduction movie!

Peter Graves stars as Douglas Martin a pilot/doctor working with nuclear scientists who appears unharmed after his plane crashes and burns. Army brass believe he’s a traitor passing A-bomb secrets to the enemy. After he cracks up, he tells the real story while under the influence of a truth drug. Here we meet a group of the most memorable aliens in bad movie history!

Yes, it’s those guys in the skin tight jump suits & zebra belts sporting bushy eye brows and golf ball eyes.! The leader (John Merrick who talks like Paul Burich) fills Dr. Martin in on the fact that he died and was resurrected by the aliens so he can be their spy. They want to eliminate the human race and take over the Earth for their own kind. The future Mr. Phelps tires to escape their underground cave but is stopped by some stock footage lizards and enlarged shots of cockroaches. He eventually blows up the alien base (while dressed in pajamas, robe and slippers; he’s a casual hero) by cutting off their electric power.

The story for KILLERS is credited to the mysterious Myles Wilder and the script is by William Raynor (see above entry). James Sealy plays nearly the same army major he did in SNOW CREATURE. Square jawed Frank Gerstle (who would later be in movies by Ed Cahn, Corman and Sam Fuller) plays a fellow scientist.

Some of the funniest non-alien scenes involve out of place close-ups of an investigating agent played by Steve Pendleton. Wilder just keeps showing shadowy close-ups of these guy’s mug while other characters are talking! The bulge eyed aliens were created by Ed Wood vet Harry Thomas!

Interestingly, Director Of Photography William H. Clothier (who also shot PHANTOM FROM SPACE) went on to shoot many John Wayne westerns including THE ALAMO (1960). W. Lee Wilder would go on to make a few more movies like the boring MANFISH (1956) with Victor Jory and Lon Chaney, the wacky MAN WITHOUT A BODY (1957) and the weird THE OMEGANS (his last in 1968) with Ingrid Pitt but he’d never top this “trilogy of terror”.

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