Crime Drama

 

 (imdb)

CRIME WAVE-1953-Parolee Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) and his wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk) become entangled in the escape plan of his escaped con pals Doc Petty (Ted DeCorsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky Bronson's first film credit). Since Lacey is a pilot they want him to fly them to Mexico. Ridiculously surly cop Lt. Syms (Sterling Hayden) is on their trail unmercifully hounding Lacey . Un-billed Timothy Carey shows up midway holding Kirk hostage while the others hold up a bank. 

Gritty little film noir also has Dub Taylor, Jay Novello, Fritz Feld and Iris Adrian. Director Alex DeToth later used Kirk and Buchinsky in HOUSE OF WAX. Hayden, DeCorsia and Carey were all in Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING in 1956.

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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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Master of The World

MASTER OF THE WORLD-1961-This starts off with a kind of out of place montage of the various ill fated contraptions man has devised to conquer the air.

 In Morgantown, Pennsylvania there seems to be an earthquake followed by a disembodied voice issuing a warning. A government agent Strock (Charles Bronson) arrives at the home of Prof. Prudent (Henry Hull) just in time to hear him and his future son in law Phillip (David Frankham) locked in a heated argument as to where a propeller must go on their new balloon. Strock says the government would like to use the new balloon he and Phillip have designed to investigate the earthquake and voice that seem to emulate from a nearby mountain (too tall to climb). You know trouble is brewing when they bring along Prudent's daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster). No sooner do they get near the mountain than a rocket deflates their balloon and they crash. They are taken aboard the flying ship Albatross, the creation of Robor (Vincent Price) a genius inventor who wants to eradicate war with an ultimatum: “Disarm or perish”. Friction builds between Strock and Phillip as Phillip is kind of a pompous macho man who thinks Strock is a coward and a supporter of Robor's philosophy. 

After an escape plan fails (Strock rats them out to save them) Robor hangs Phillip and Strock in mid-air by a rope. Later Robur sees Strock as a threat but instead of killing the agent he'd rather Strock join him. Strock rejects his offer but agrees not to interfere in Robur's plans. When the British navy tries to destroy the Albatross bombs decimate the fleet. Robur flies all over the globe intend on destroying the armies of the world and put an end to war. Finally the four decide the only way to go is that they must destroy the deadly flying ship. Eventually Robur's mania leads to his own destruction. An explosion created by Strock puts the nail in the Albatross' coffin. Rather than abandon ship his crew stays by his side as the flying ship crashes into the sea. Vito Scotti's comedic scenes as the ship's cook seem out of place.

MASTER OF THE WORLD was the biggest budgeted film for AIP at the time. It was written by Richard Matheson and adapted from two novels by Jules Verne. Veteran filmmaker William Whitney was working mainly in TV at the time but also made the seldom seen low budget crime drama THE CAT BURGLAR the same year. Price is good as usual as the obsessed Robur who manages to be more sympathetic than evil. Henry Hull (nearing the end of his long career) is a hoot as the curmudgeonly Prudent. Bronson and the other leads are ok.

Personal note: Actor Gordon Jones who appeared as "Mike the cop" on The Abbott & Costello show in the early '50's is featured in an unbilled role at the begining of the picture.

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This Price is Right!

HOUSE OF WAX-1953-This is one of the best horror films of the ‘50’s and not only is it in Technicolor but it was originally filmed in 3-D! Vincent Price is in top form as Prof. Henry Jarrod, gifted if eccentric wax sculptor obsessed with Marie Antoinette. When his greedy partner (Roy Roberts) burns down their museum for the insurance money Jarrod is presumed dead. He re-emerges as a scarred killer with a wax facemask, He pretends to be wheelchair bound and opens up a new museum with the help of Igor, a mute sculptor played by Charles (Bronson) Buchinsky. He covers his murdered victims with wax and uses them as exhibits. He takes a liking to Phyllis Kirk and decides to make her his new “Marie”. Paul Picerni plays her boyfriend, a sculptor who briefly works with Jarrod. A Police Lieutenant (square jawed Frank Lovejoy) investigates. Strange that an actor with such a last name would have neither love nor joy in his performance. The wax figures have more expressions! Familiar character actor Dabbs Greer is his assistant.


Carolyn Jones is also featured as one of Jarrod’s early victims. She was in WAR OF THE WORLDS and Fritz Lang’s THE BIG HEAT the same year. The story goes that HOUSE’s director Andre De Toth had only one eye and therefore couldn’t even experience the 3-D effects. This makes sense considering how little it’s used. The most famous scene doesn’t even involve horror. It features the paddleball talents of one Reggie Rymal (who died in 2002). Still De Toth’s “flat” direction keeps the story moving.

HOUSE is a remake of the 1933 film MYSTERY IN THE WAX MUSEUM that was shot using an early 2-color process. Lionel Atwill had the Price role in that one. Both are based on a play by Charles Belden.

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves"-Confucius

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Night/Door

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION-1999=The original NOTLD is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Even today I think it stands up pretty well against most “modern horror”.

Anyway, the story of how the movie finally got made is amazing too. The 10 principle investors (including director George Romero & screenwriter John Russo) never made much money from it despite it bringing in a gazillion dollars over the years! This “new edition” was put together by Russo and two of the original cast members (also investors) Russell Streiner (Johnny) and Bill Hinzman (the first zombie who kills Johnny in the cemetery). It adds new music and sound effects and worse of all newly shot scenes designed to “enhance” the original!

So colorizing it years ago wasn’t enough! Remaking it wasn’t enough! No, they had to add new scenes!

It’s crazy too! Some of the scenes feature zombies and some gore but the main new scenes consist of a weird priest (he kind of looks like Anton LeFay) ranting and the revelation that that first zombie was actually a child killer. The disc also features the original version but it also has a new musical score.

There’s a “making of” feature too, a trailer for the new version and a scene from Hinzman’s FLESH EATER (but for some reason it’s in black & white; I could swear it was in color when I saw it years ago…).

Some NOTLD fans went nuts for this when it was released a few years back but I’ll take the dark grainy original that scared the hell out of me back in 1968!



SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR-1971-Weird psychological drama features Anthony Perkins as a brain sturgeon who takes an amnesia victim (Charles Bronson) into his home and tries to piece together his past. However Perkins has his own agenda that involves taking care of his unfaithful wife (Jill Ireland) and her lover. While Perkins is his usual cool calculating self, Bronson is out of character acting confused, befuddled and/or frustrated. It’s talky but short enough not to be too boring but the ending is a real letdown.

The print I saw was very worn and jumped in spots but several companies have released it on video. Bronson made THE VALACHI PAPERS the next year. It was made in France (but takes place in England) by Hungarian born director Nicolas Gessner who also made the original version of THE 12 CHAIRS, THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE and TENNESSEE NIGHTS.


"Spring makes everything young again except man"-Jean Paul Richter

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