Noir Thing

 

THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE-1958-A Kansas City cop Bill Brennon (Rod Cameron) investigates the death of his mobster brother TJ (Don Megowan) in Chicago. Two hit man Hart (Gerald Milton) & Santoni (Richard Karlan) want a package of dope TJ's widow Lyn (Vera Ralston) might have. Nightclub bartender Rak (Mike Mazurki) is also after the stash and is in love with Lyn. There's a plot twist toward the end in this minor film noir crime drama directed by Joseph Kane and written by Richard C. Sarafian. 

Co-star Vera Ralston (sometimes billed as Vera Hruba Ralston) was a former Olympic skater for Czechoslovakia who it's said once insulted Hitler to his face. She retired from acting after this film. 

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The Third and Final

THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US-1956-A new expedition is put together by hot headed Dr. Barton (Jeff Morrow) to go to The Amazon and capture “The Gill Man” in this second sequel to the classic THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (after REVENGE OF THE CREATURE). For some reason Barton wants to change the creature into a new species and has something to do with man living in outer space! Level headed Dr. Thomas Morgan (Rex Reason) just wants to make the world “a happier place”. Barton's spoiled rich wife (Leigh Snowden) gets in the way. When the gill man attacks the small group drug him and accidentally set him on fire. Unconscious they take the poor water breather back to their lab and perform several operations to save him. It seems the fire has burned away his scales and he (?) now has the metabolism of a normal man. They also do an operation that removes his need to breath under water so when he escapes he nearly drowns. Eventually they take the now rather docile creature back to San Francisco and put him in an outdoor cage with some sheep. In a jealous rage Barton kills his deck hand (Greg Palmer) and tries to blame it on the creature who goes bonkers, breaks out of his cage and kills Barton. Shot up and breathing heavy the now “gill-less” man leaves the compound and heads toward the sea (and his apparent death). Whether intentional or not the story really shows “man's inhumanity to monsters”.

 The Gill Man underwater was played by Ricou Browning while on land Don Megowan portrayed him. Usual second unit director John Sherwood makes the best of what he's got to work with in this senseless sequel. He made the more interesting THE MONOLITH MONSTERS the next year. Lead actress Leigh Snowden married singer Dick Contino the year this was released and following the birth of their first child retired from acting.

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TV Frankenstein

TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN-1958-This is the pilot for a series co-produced by Hammer Films and Columbia Pictures. German born actor Anton Diffring is Baron Frankenstein trying to create life in his laboratory. A dying artist (familiar TV actor Richard Bull) and his wife (Helen Wescott) want the Baron to help save his life but he refuses. When the artist dies Frankenstein steals his brain and uses it in his monster (stuntman-actor Don Megowan, in make-up resembling Universal's except he has no neck bolts).

When the monster awakes after his latest transplant he turns on the his creator and goes after his former wife. He dies by falling into an open grave after seeing his reflection. It's only 28 mins. long so it moves pretty fast but it's well done and an interesting look at an early TV horror tale. Ludwig Stossel and Peter Brocco are also in it. 

Hammer head honcho Michael Carrerras is listed as producer (TOF was made in between the first two Hammer Frankenstein movies). Director Curt Siodmak (who worked on several films in Universal's original Frankenstein series) does manage to give it a certain "classic" feel despite time and budget drawbacks. Siodmak also directed several episodes of the mysterious 13 DEMON STREET see:http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2009/07/lon-is-messing-with-devil.html . It was written by Henry Kutter and his wife CL Moore, who later became successful Sci-Fi/fantasy authors. 

One story goes that the pilot never went anywhere because the two studios (I've also read Screen Gems not Columbia was the other studio) disagreed on the future of the series.

Thanks for reading (and Thanks again to my pal Tony for getting me this !)

Andy Warhol's Favorite Movie..They Say...

CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS-1962-After a nuclear war, the human race has dwindled. They've created robots (humanoids) to help out. They are green, bald and have no emotions and are called "clickers" by people who dislike them. Due to the weird looking Dr. Raven (Don Doo-little) some robots are getting more emotional. Another scientist Cragis (Don Megowan) sees the robots as threats to humanity and heads the "Order of Flesh and Blood". His sister is having a "relationship" with a clicker named Pax (David Cross, who was in Bert I. Gordon's THE MAGIC SWORD around the same time). Dudley Manlove (Eros in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) is one of the lead clickers.

There's not much action in this Technicolor wonder that has bad acting, funny Ed Wood like dialogue and strange Art Deco sets.

Makeup is by the great Jack Pierce and the cinematographer was two time Oscar winners Hal Mohr!

COTH was directed by former child actor Wesley Barry who made other movies but was mostly an assistant director on movies and TV shows. Co-writer Jay Simms wrote the screenplay for PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO the same year.

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Made Hairy By Science

THE WEREWOLF-1956-An amnesic man turns into a werewolf when he gets excited. He terrorizes a small town where actor/stuntman Don Megowan is the sheriff. Unlike most "wolf man" movies the monster is actually a product of science rather than a curse or legend. Two nutty scientists (S. John Launer and George Lynn) were working with radioactive wolf's blood and used the guy as a guinea pig after he was in an automobile accident. The experiment had to do with some kind of vaccine that would help them survive a nuclear war (well something like that...Hey! This was the '50's. That's all they thought about back then!).

This poses a problem for the sheriff who gets caught between trying to catch a killer and helping an innocent victim. The werewolf make-up is pretty effective when shown in the night time scenes, less so in the day. Considering Sam Katzman was the producer the production values aren't bad either. Steve Ritch the actor who portrays the doomed wolfman is very good. Joyce Holdren (later in THE TERROR FROM 5000 AD) is on hand as Megowan's kind of girlfriend and TV character actor Harry Lauter is his deputy. Gerald Mohr is the uncredited narrator. Unfortunately there's lots of talk but it moves along quickly thanks to the workman-like direction of Fred Sears.

Director Sears was a kind of '50's dynamo turning out 8 other movies (most of them also for Katzman) in 1956 including the far superior EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS and ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK. He also found time to act in over 50 movies! The same year he was hunting hirsute killers Don Megowan also played "The Gill Man" (only on land) in THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US. He appeared in around 40 films (and on TV) and was later in the very strange CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS!


"Whoever cares to learn will always find a teacher"…German proverb

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