Tne Big House

 

(IMDB)

BIG HOUSE USA-1955-Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) botches the kidnapping of the son of a rich guy (Willis Bouchey) when the kid is killed escaping. Ranger Chief Erickson (Roy Roberts) and FBI agent Madden (Reed Hadley) arrest him but can only find him guilty of extortion. The warden (un-billed Stafford Repp) puts him in "the lion's den", a cell with 4 notorious criminals: Machine Gun Mason (William Talman), Benny Kelly (Charles Bronson), Alamo Smith (Lon Chaney) and Rollo LaMar (Broderick Crawford). Notoriously nicknamed "the Iceman" Barker becomes the most hated prisoner there. However his four cell mates are planning a prison break and LaMar wants Barker to go with them so he can get the un-recovered ransom money. They succeed in escaping but LaMar is too tough for his own good. 

This gritty little prison drama was the second feature directed by Howard Koch. He went on to direct stuff like UNTAMED YOUTH, BOP GIRL GOES CALYPSO and THE GIRL IN BLACK STOCKINGS (all in 1957). He also produced many low to medium budget films including horror films like THE BLACK SLEEP, VOODOO ISLAND, FRANKENSTEIN 1970 and THE PHARAOH'S CURSE. In the 1970's he produced several episodes of “The Annual Academy Awards TV Show”.

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Bela, Basil and Broderick

THE BLACK CAT-1941-Rich cat loving Mrs. Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) seems on the verge of death but still lives. Her relatives wait around. She has a spooky caretaker Eduardo (Bela Lugosi) and a spooky housekeeper Abigail (Gale Sondergaard). Mrs. Winslow is so nuts about cats she has her own feline crematorium. Relatives include niece Myrna (Gladys Cooper), her hard up for cash husband Monty (Basil Rathbone), her uncaring step-grandson Richard (Alan Ladd), granddaughter Margaret (Claire Dodd), grandson Stanley (John Eldredge) and granddaughter Elaine (Anne Gwynne). After Henrietta tells them what she's leaving them in her will, real estate agent Gil Smith (Broderick Crawford) stops by with antique dealer Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert) to buy the house. He's allergic to cats. When Henrietta is stabbed to death everyone is a suspect. Even though Henrietta told everyone what they were getting Abigail and the cats get everything until her death.. Gil says to Rathbone's character "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes". Later Abigail is killed and Eduardo becomes the chief suspect. But Elaine figures out who the real killer is. Gil arrives in time to save Elaine from being cremated. 

Director Albert S. Rogell had been making movies since the silent days and made a version of LIL ABNER around this time. Of course Lugosi and Karloff had starred in a movie of the same name back in 1934. Bela is good in his role but still kind of a wasted red herring. 

Basically this BLACK CAT is enjoyable but typical Universal “old dark house” murder mystery played mostly as a comedy. Some sources say Marlene Dietrich is standing in for Claire Dodd in one scene shot from the back with no dialogue.

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Different Stuff

IKINAI-1998-11 men agree to commit group suicide by staging a bus accident so the insurance money can go to their families. Aragaki (Screenwriter Dankan from GETTING ANY?) is their unsmiling leader. A young girl accidentally winds up on the doomed bus and complicates things. This is an unusual black comedy from Japan that’s serious, funny and poignant. Director Hiroshi Shimizu was an assistant director to Beat Takeshi on several films.



GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON-1960-Strongman Goliath (American Mark Forest) fights a variety of creatures (a giant bat, 3 headed fire breathing dragon, etc) in his quest to rid his land of the evil King Eurystheus (Academy Award Winner Broderick Crawford with dubbed voice). There’s a lot of sub-plot in this mostly involving Goliath’s younger brother who’s in love with a woman who Goliath thinks killed his parents (or something like that). The dialogue is very funny and the effects very cheesy but the Alpha Video DVD letterboxed print I saw looked terrific. Laughable but great for “the sword & isandal “ fans!

(Thanks to my friend Mike for lending me this)



THE CHINESE GODS-1980-Very strange animated fantasy from Hong Kong. Ancient gods of legend battle evil demons. When the going gets tough they enlist Bruce Lee (with a third eye) to help! He turns into a dinosaur at one point and makes a lot of Bruce Lee like noises when he fights but sounds more like Curly Howard! It’s goofy but kind of entertaining. Strangely the animation itself seems geared toward kids yet it features much violence and a little nudity.

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