Fear and Desire and Kubrick

FEAR AND DESIRE-1953-Stanley Kubrick's first film isn't as bad as he'd have liked us to believe. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Quentin Tarantino saw this before making RESERVOIR DOGS! 

It's essentially a war story although what war and where it takes place is arbitrary. A group of soldiers are caught behind enemy lines and as they try to weave their way back to allied territory tensions and desires mount. Future director Paul Mazursky makes his acting debut (he was in THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE two years later) as a crazy private who molests a local girl (Virginia Leith, later in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE). Frank Silvera (also the villain in KILLER'S KISS) is a doomed Sargent. It's hampered by some choppy editing, weird dialogue and stilted acting but it's a low budget film where Kubrick did almost everything (direction,writing, producing, editing, cinematography, sound). And it definitely shows a little of things to come. It would be only 4 years (and 2 movies) later that Kubrick would make PATHS OF GLORY. 

For years it was out of circulation and the story went that the director himself acquired all known prints and had them destroyed. Fortunately this was not the case and although it has yet to be released legally on DVD, TCM showed a newly restored version about a year ago. 

The music was supervised by Gerald Fried who worked with Kubrick on his next 3 films and became a prolific low budget film and TV composer. The script was written by Howard Sackler who years later won a Pulitzer for his play "The Great White Hope". 

Kubrick's then wife Toba was the dialogue director. Problems resulting from the film are said to have lead to the break-up of their marriage! 

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Early Kubrick, Later Price and Anime!

KILLER’S KISS-1955-Before KILLER’S KISS Stanley Kubrick had made only one other feature (his other efforts were all shorts). His first film FEAR & DESIRE in 1953 is never seen. Some say Kubrick destroyed the negative because he hated it. Bootleg copies do exist however. KK was also rarely shown until the 1990’s when it played in revival theaters and now can even be seen on TCM (the greatest TV movie station in the world!) occasionally.

Jamie Smith (a TV actor with very few film credits) is Davy Gordon, a washed up boxer who gets involved with Gloria (Irene Kane who also used the name Chris Chase), a dancer and kind of mistress to her sleazy thug boss (top billed Frank Silvera; also in FEAR & DESIRE). The acting and script aren’t that great and the sound and editing are kind of choppy but Kubrick puts his mark on several scenes including a flashback featuring a ballerina and a finale that takes place in a warehouse full of mannequins.

Frank Silvera had an interesting career. He was a black actor born in Jamaica but raised in New York. He occasionally played Latinos and even white characters in movies and TV. He was also a producer and director and was once nominated for a Tony. He died in 1970, a victim of a freak electrocution accident.

A year later Kubrick would make THE KILLING, then PATHS OF GLORY. In 1960 Kirk Douglas would hire him to complete SPARTACUS (replacing Anthony Mann) and well, you know the rest of the story!



DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE-1965-This dated and dumb take-off is kind of like an off-shoot of AIP’s long running “Beach Movies” but is really only worth watching because of Vincent Price’s fun performance as the top billed villain. He’s invented an army of bikini-clad robots and sends one (Susan Hart) to seduce and marry a rich dork (Dwayne Hickman). His stupid assistant Igor (familiar and annoying 60’s character actor Jack Mullaney) ruins many of his other plans (and scenes!). Frankie Avalon is a secret agent who tries to help. Fred Clark plays his grouchy boss/uncle. Despite a lot of silliness and car chases Price, in smoking jacket and Abdullah The Butcher type slippers manages to be entertaining enough to save the whole thing. The Supremes do the theme song!

Director Norman Taurog’s career started in 1920! He directed most of Elvis’ ‘60’s movies. Price made WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP (also with Hart) the same year and starred in a worse sequel in 1966 DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS (directed by Mario Bava!




ESCAFLOWNE-(2000)-This is a feature version of the popular Japanese TV anime. It’s actually more of a retelling with much darker overtones. Hitomi, an average high school student is transported to the fantasy world of Gaea where she helps survivors of “The Black Dragon” prepare for the final battle to save their world. There’s the usual love story, a lot of action but not much story. Still the animation is excellent as well as the music.

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