Who Knows?

 (crimereads.com)

THE SHADOW: THE CURSE OF THE COTTON KIMONO-1954-Lamont Cranston (Tom Helmore; later in Hitchcock's VERTIGO (1958)), a police psychiatrist, helps a cheerful police commissioner (Frank M. Thomas) and a dour detective (Norman Shelly) solve the murder of a seemingly innocent woman. He's assisted by girlfriend Margo Lane (Paula Raymond; THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1952)). The dead girl's boyfriend Bromm (William Smithers) leads Cranston to music teacher Rollo (Alexander Scourby). Cranston becomes the Shadow laughs and threatens Rollo who's killed before being of any help. 

This pretty dull TV pilot failed to impress any network and was never picked up as a series. Directed by Charlie Haas who early directed episodes of the ill-fated Dick Tracy show.

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Who knows?

 (you-tube)

THE SHADOW-1954-TV PILOT-Lame attempt to bring the famous crime fighter to TV with a run of the mill murder plot as a police detective seems hell bent on arresting a young man (William Smithers) for the shooting death of his girlfriend. A pompous music teacher (Alexander Scourby) is also involved. Criminologist Lamont Cranston (Tom Helmore) and girl pal Margo Lane (Paula Raymond) investigate. 

The Shadow only appears as a flash of light but does cloud men's minds, sinisterly cackles and says his famous phrase. Director Charlie Haas later became a fairly versatile prolific TV director (Mickey Mouse Club, The Millionaire, Bonanza) but also made off beat movies like THE BEAT GENERATION and GIRLS TOWN).

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Harryhausen Beast

 

THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS-1953-In the Arctic, Prof. Tom Nesbitt (Paul Hubschmid aka Paul Christian) & Colonel John Evans (Kenneth Tobey) await the arrival of a plane as part of "Operation Experiment", an atomic explosion. While checking for radiation Nesbitt and his pal Prof. Ritchie (Ross Elliot) run into a giant dinosaur which causes an avalanche. Nesbitt is rescued. 

Of course Evans and his doctor (Frank Ferguson) and a psychiatrist (King Donovan) don't believe him. After the monster sinks a ship and Nesbitt reads about it he hightails it to NYC to convince Prof. Elson (Cecil Kellaway) to organize an expedition. His assistant Lee (Paula Raymond) tries to be helpful but to no avail. Eventually Nesbitt convinces Elson the monster exists and asks Evans to help. He in turn asks his Coast Guard friend (Donald Woods) for assistance and finds out the monster wrecked a lighthouse in Maine. When Edson goes down in a diving bell he encounters the monster confirming its existence. Unfortunately he's killed and the monster attacks Manhattan. 

People flee in terror, buildings are wrecked, cars are crushed and in the movie's most famous scene a cop is lifted by his head and eaten. It's also discovered that the beast is carrying deadly germs. Nesbitt says shooting it with a radioactive isotope is the only way to kill it. He and an army sharpshooter (Lee Van Cleef) wind up on a roller coaster in a Coney Island like setting to destroy the beast. 

BEAST was one of the biggest money making films for 1953. Eugene Lourie does a fine job directing and there's lots of familiar characters throughout but of course what really makes this film is the excellent stop motion animated giant monster created by the one and only Ray Harryhausen. His painstaking effects are incredible! Based in part on a short story by Ray Bradbury.

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John Agar

HAND OF DEATH-1962-A guy investigates a bunch of dead sheep and passes out. Scientist Alex Marsh (John Agar) & his assistant Carlos (John Alonza) revive him and say they were conducting a secret experiment for the government and he mustn't tell anyone. Back in civilization, Alex visits wheelchair bound Dr. Ramsey (Roy Gordon), his kind of girlfriend Clara (Paula Raymond) and another scientist Tom Holland (Stephen Dunne). He tells them he’s invented a nerve gas that can also hypnotize its victims. Clara doesn't like it. She thinks it's too dangerous. One night while working he knocks over a beaker containing some experimental gas. He passes out and has a dream about floating test tubes and lab mice. He wakes up with a dark sunburn and when he touches Carlos he dies. Alex packs a bag, sets the place on fire and leaves. Joe Besser plays a happy gas station attendant who's cheerful outlook doesn't pay off. I’ll watch anything with John Agar in it but I’ll never forgive him for killing lovable Joe Besser! 

Alex hides out at Ramsey's place while they try to find a cure. Tom comes up with something but by then poor Alex turns into a lumpy faced monster (he resembles the original version of The Thing from the Fantastic Four comic books) who accidentally kills Ramsey. Despite his obvious pathetic grunts that are pleas for help when Clara sees him she flees in terror (ok, I would have done the same…). Undaunted he puts on a floppy hat and trench coat and goes for a ride. That doesn't work out so he wanders around aimlessly scaring women until he kills a cabbie and steals his cab. With the police on his trail Alex ditches the cab and wanders on the beach. After he collapses a little kid (Butch Patrick) almost touches him, Alex goes to Tom’s beach house for help but surprise! Clara is staying there instead. Tom and the police arrive and when Alex becomes aggressive a cop shoots him. Tom can have Clara all to himself. 

This seldom seen low budget horror movie was the first feature length film directed by Gene Nelson, also an actor who went on to direct Elvis Presley in KISSIN' COUSINS but worked mainly in TV. 

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Wild Weird West

FIVE BLOODY GRAVES-1970-I can't believe this is the first Al Adamson movie I'm reviewing here! He was a staple of late night NYC TV viewing in the '70's and '80's. His stuff usually featured aging actors, long fight or chase scenes with no dialogue and bad SFX. Here's his only western! 

I love the cartoon credits too!

Death (Gene Raymond; once a popular star in the 1940's) narrates this low budget weird western tale. Cowboy Ben Thompson (Adamson regular Robert Dix who also wrote the screenplay) is hunting renegade Apache Setago (Adamson regular and future director John “Bud” Cardos) for killing his wife on their wedding day. He starts off by helping save Setago's half brother Joe Lightfoot (also Cardos). Then he saves a former girlfriend Nora Miller (Adamson regular Vicki Volante) but gets into trouble with her jealous husband Dave (Adamson regular Kent Osbourne). 

After Ben leaves Setago's minions kill the couple and burn their house down. Then Death introduces us to Clay Bates (Jim Davis) and his partner Horace (Ray Young) who sell rifles to the Indians. Ben meets up again with Lightfoot now wounded in an attack. Clay and Horace find Lightfoot's “squaw” (Maria Polo) staked to the ground by Setago and Clay rapes and kills her. The Indians then attack a stagecoach. Somehow the passengers manage to hold off the first onslaught. Scott Brady is crabby Jim Wade who's always barking orders at his wife. Paula Raymond (BEAST FROM 50,000 FATHOMS) is aging show girl Kansas Kelly and John Carradine is great as Boone Hawkins, a voyeur preacher. Tara Ashton (later Mrs. Dix) is Althea, another show girl who provides some new love interest for Ben who shows up (with Lightfoot) to help the group survive. 

They meet up with Clay and Horace along the way. After some in fighting Lighfoot gets his revenge on Clay but he is killed by Setago. Then the Indians attack and most of the remaining cast is killed off leading to a final knife fight between Ben and Setago. Death says: “One will come to me. The other will ride on seeking me. Because in violence between men and nations there can be only one victor and that is death”.

I read comments about FBG saying it's the worst western ever made. Well, of course it's not great but it's entertaining. The “oldsters” cast (typical of an Adamson movie) is great but the film is really enhanced by locations (it was shot in a Utah National Park) and the cinematography by future Academy Award winner William (now Vilmos) Zsigmond. Al himself plays an Indian who fights Ben near the beginning of the film and his own father Victor Adamson has a small role. The elder Adamson once made his own low budget westerns in the '30's under the name of Denver Dixon! Besides playing two roles John Cardos was associate producer, production manager, stunt coordinator and assistant director!  

As with most of Adamson's product it was distributed by Independent International, a company founded by former Famous Monsters of Filmland writer Sam Sherman. On the DVD from Retro Shock A Rama there's a commentary track by Sherman and star Robert Dix. (both still alive at the time of this review)

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Note: I just realized I reviewed another Adamson movie:

http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2010/12/talking-chimp.html