Mr. Baker

 

BEWARE OF MR. BAKER-This is a crazy but interesting documentary about rock drummer Ginger Baker told mainly by him while living in South Africa in deteriorating health having lost none of the shit ass attitude that made him so notorious. It's pretty thorough starting with his Jazz beginnings with Graham Bond to Cream, Blind Faith, Air Force, Masters of Reality, etc. It details his marriages, health and drug problems, time in Nigerian, anger issues and features interviews with Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, John Lydon, and family members. Funny how Bruce can muster up some kind words for his musical partner/adversary but Baker's own son can't. The present day interviews with him are pretty funny/insane but considering how it ends I have a hard time believing most of it isn't a put on especially when he attacks the director Jay Bulger.

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Argento

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CAT O'NINE TAILS-1971-A blind ex-reporter Franco Arno (Karl Malden) who likes puzzles teams up with a local reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) to solve a series of brutal murders that seem connected to a “hush-hush” genetics corporation. There are a lot of suspects but most are killed. After Arno's niece is kidnapped and Carlo is stabbed and thrown off a roof he discovers the murderer who has a “weird chromosome” make up. The ending is way too abrupt and doesn't actually tell you the fate of the Carlo character. Catherine Spaak gives a pretty bad performance in a co-starring role (and has a terrible hair style) and the plot is very confused. Even the score by Ennio Morricone doesn't help.

 

 It's the second film directed by Dario Argento who of course went on to make more interesting and stylish (but sometimes just as confusing) “Giallos”.

 

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Bond Take-Off

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE-1966-Mike Connors is Kelly, an international James Bond like CIA agent in this tongue in cheek spy drama with comedy overtones, a co-production between Columbia Pictures and Dino De Laurentiis.. 

Kelly is in Brazil tailing a rich industrialist named Ardonian (Raf Vallone) and his connection with some missing women. Ardonian is in league with Red China in a plot to sterilize the US but in actuality he wants to sterilize the whole world except for himself! The missing women are kept in suspended animation until he needs them. Dorothy Provine (THE 30 FOOT BRIDE OF CANDY ROCK) is Susan Fleming, Ardonian's bimbo girlfriend who wears some really weird outfits and has a Rolls Royce with Aston Martin like features. Terry Thomas is her chauffeur who beats up 5 guys. Later, after it's revealed she is with British Intelligence, she and Kelly team up. They wind up in an underground lab where Provine ends up on a rocket. There's some dumb humor (including a slip on a banana peel) but the real highlight of this movie is Ardonian's massive desk and multi-screen TV monitoring system in a couple of scenes. There's great shots of Rio though. 

Beverly Adams (HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI, TORTURE GARDEN) is one of the victims. Connors would star in the long running TV series MANNIX the next year. Co-director Henry Levin made a similar secret agent satire the same year, MURDERER'S ROW with Dean Martin as Matt Helm (which according to Mike Connors he almost played). 

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Sound So Nice They Had To Tell Them Twice

TWICE TOLD TALES-1963-This trio of tales are based on stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne and were probably made to cash in on AIP's successful Corman/Poe series (TALES OF TERROR was released the year before). While director Sidney Salkow is no Roger Corman, he does a capable job on such a noticeably low budget. And he got “Poe” star Vincent Price to be in all three segments! (He's also the narrator)

In “Dr. Heidegger's Experiment”, the old doctor of the title (Sebastian Cabot) celebrates his over 40 year friendship with Alex Melbourne (Price) but the doc still pines for his lost love Sylvia (Mari Blanchard) who died on their wedding night. When a storm damages her tomb, the duo investigates and finds her ancient body preserved with no signs of decay. After some experimentation, Dr. H. finds that the water seeping into her tomb is actually some kind of eternal youth serum. He and his friend drink it and become young again. The doctor decides to use the serum on his dead wife. He brings her back to life with tragic (but predictable) results.

Next is “Rappacino's Daughter”, where a once famous scientist (Price again) has made his daughter (Joyce Taylor) poisonous through the infusion of a deadly plant into her blood stream (or something like that). Anything she touches dies. He has presumably done this to “protect her from sin” after his own wife's infidelity. A young medical student (Price's RETURN OF THE FLY co-star Brett Halsey) falls in love with her. The scientist tricks the student into becoming poisonous too. The student's professor (Abraham Sofaer) creates a serum that might cure them. The deadly love birds drink it and die. The scientist commits suicide.

The final segment is a truncated version of the novel “The House of Seven Gables”, a version of which Price co-starred in in the 1940's. Jerold Pyncheon (Price of course) and his wife Alice (Beverley Garland) return to the haunted house he grew up in and where every male Pyncheon has died. Jerold wants a treasure hidden in a secret vault but a family foe Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning) stands in his way. Alice becomes possessed by the spirit of a woman who once loved a Maulle ancestor, who was hung by a Pyncheon ancestor. When Jerold's sour puss sister (Jacqueline DeWit) says she deserves a share of the elusive booty he kills her and then buries Alice alive! After finding the treasure he's strangled by a skeleton hand. Somehow Maulle rescues Alice as the House of Seven Gables crumbles. Gene Roth has a small role as a cab driver.

Screenwriter/producer Robert E. Kent worked with Edward L. Cahn on some of the best horror/Sci-Fi movies of the '50's (IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, INVISIBLE INVADERS). Despite it's budgetary drawbacks TTT is entertaining. Director Sidney Salkow worked with Price again when he co-directed LAST MAN ON EARTH.

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I Don't Need Your Rules or Your Uniform,Man!

HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS-1967-A recently fired gas station attendant named Poet (Jack Nicolson) gets in with the LA branch of The Hell's Angels when his motorcycle's headlight is busted by one of the bikers. In a bar he helps them beat up another gang. He hangs out with them and takes a shine to Shill the "old lady" (Sabrina Scharf; later in EASY RIDER) of their leader Buddy (Adam Rourke). Some sailors beat him up at a carnival. After the Angels get revenge on the sailors the whole gang has a drug and sex party. When the cops come the spray the room to eliminate the grass aroma and cry harassment. Later they have a weird wedding ceremony at a church where Bruno VeSoto is the pastor. They also tangle with some frat boys (led by future director John "Bud" Cardos) and act mostly like drop-out hippies than an actual motorcycle gang. A falling out between Poet and the leader spells the end of Poet's membership and a firery crash caps the end of the movie. Real life Angels (including leader Sonny Barger) play themselves.

WHEELS is a dated but amusing biker film with lots of guys saying "man". Not much really happens but it should make you laugh!

In addition to Bud Cardos (and Nicolson) WHEELS features three other future directors Jack Starrett, Gary, Bob Kelljan and (unbilled) Gary Kent, who was also did stunts. The same year Nicolson had a bit role in THE ST. VALENTINE'S MASSACRE and was on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW twice!

In 1968 director Richard Rush made PSYCH-OUT with Nicolson but since then he's only made 6 films.

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Karloff!

BORIS KARLOFF-THE GENTLE MONSTER-1995-This is basically an overview of the life and career of "the king of monsters" Boris Karloff from his beginnings in England to struggling starving unknown to superstardom at age 43 in FRANKENSTEIN. It touches on his marriages, typecasting and even does a nice bit on his association with Val Lewton. It covers his TV work including showing some scenes from the Playhouse 90 version of HEART OF DARKNESS. And of course HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS  It's told mostly through film scenes, trailers, home movies, etc. but there are interviews with Ron Borst, Sara Karloff, Roddy McDowall, Bela Lugosi Jr., Forrest Ackerman, Robert Wise, Anna Lee, Carol Burnett, Cynthia Lindsey and his agent Arthur Kennard. Glosses over a lot but it's only 60 mins so they do cram in most of his life (it was originally an episode of A & E's BIOGRAPHY TV show although this is narrated by Richard Kiley who says "What the Beatles were to music Boris was to horror").



Director Kevin Burns also made a very good TV special THE FANTASY WORLDS OF IRWIN ALLEN the same year. Most recently he produced and directed episodes of the reality show THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND on The History Channel.

Watch a Karloff movie this weekend! Thanks for reading!

A-Mazing!

THE MAZE-1953-Usually underrated horror mystery (originally shot in 3-D) was the last film directed by William Cameron Menzies (also an art director and production designer) who also made INVADERS FROM MARS the same year!

A baronet named Gerald McTeam (Richard Carlson; in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE the same year) seems quite happily engaged to a woman named Kitty (Veronica Hurst) until he gets a telegram from the mysterious Craven Castle in his native Scotland. He rushes off promising to come back for their wedding in 2 weeks but over a month goes by and she hasn't  heard from him. Eventually she learns that Gerald's uncle has died and Gerald is next in line to take his place.  A few weeks later Kitty receives a letter releasing her from their engagement. But Kitty loves Gerald too much. So she and her Aunt Edith (Katherine Emory; the woman who goes mad after being buried alive in ISLE OF THE DEAD) venture to the fog shrouded castle. There they find Gerald cold and distant having aged prematurely. His dour kind of sinister butler William (Michael Pate) hangs around. Gerald insists they leave but Kitty makes several excuses. Everything seems to revolve around Gerald's midnight jaunts and a giant maze no one is allowed access too. There seems to be one other resident in the castle no one knows about even after Edith has a small run-in with him. Hoping to help Gerald Kitty summons their old friends for a surprise weekend visit. One of them is a doctor and Kitty hopes he can "examine" Gerald and do something for him. He comes to believe Gerald may be insane and should be taken away by force. Later Kitty and Edith enter the maze and discovery the dreaded family secret. The real baron was born in 1750 and is still alive. He's also part frog and part man having never evolved from an amphibian state!

Despite some low budget drawback THE MAZE is a good mystery thriller.  Almost a film noir horror movie I guess. The castle sets are very dark and sinister and though not one of the more memorable screen monsters the frog like baron is eerie until fully seen. His demise is a little ridiculous.
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Apparently although based on a novel by Swiss writer Maurice Sandoz, THE MAZE also takes inspiration from the Scottish legend of Glamis Castle involving a deformed child who was walled up its room.

Hilary Brooke (also in INVADERS FROM MARS) and Robin Hughes (later in THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE) are two of Gerald's friends who come to cheer him up.

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