The Ape is one cockamamie movie. Boris Karloff made a deal with Monogram Pictures for nine movies (which included three turns as Mr. Wong a Chinese detective) and this humble 1940 effort is the final one of those. Here he is a country doctor with a difference, former researcher he is a man who is driven by a compelling need to cure the lame and prove his theories. To that end he makes use of what comes his way and that includes two men who are murdered to get at spinal fluid used to make a beautiful young girl walk again.
Now mix with this set-up the arrival of a circus, a circus with a ferocious gorilla who kills his abusive trainer and in the doing sets fire to the whole shebang. The circus folk move on but the small town in which the doctor lives and works must find the escaped gorilla. The doctor finds it first, kills it and uses the ape's hide to prowl the night getting his precious spinal fluid. (I told you it was weird.)
I won't say more, so as not to spoil, but most of this you can see coming a mile off. The gorilla portrayed by Ray Corrigan is pretty darn tough but not as tough as a crazy Boris Karloff it seems.
I recently had the great pleasure to enjoy one of the most exquisite perks in the teaching field, a snow day. They come in the depths of winter, some much anticipated, a precious few unseen and even more pleasurable, but they are jewels of time given over by Mother Nature and so must be used to best effect. I used mine to watch Abbott and Costello movies, especially those in which the classic comedy team match up against some of Universal's mighty monsters. Here are my results as along with Bud and Lou, I too meet the monsters!
(1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is the first and best of these quasi-horror comedies. Bud and Lou play delivery men Chick and Wilbur (respectively) who end up getting on the wrong side of Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and his schemes to revive the Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange) as his slave. To help him he uses a beautiful criminal scientist named Mornay (Lenore Aubert). Looking to frustrate the scheme is Larry Talbot, the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.) who tries to get Wilbur and Chick to help him. Also on hand is an insurance agent (Jane Randolph) who gets mixed up with Mornay's assistant (Charles Bradstreet). There is much highjinks as the boys get dragged to a creepy island castle and run amok during a masquerade ball in which Dracula can walk around with little suspicion.
This is a romp of the grandest order, with delightful gags and truly amazing pacing. It's almost never a drag, even by modern standards and the spectacle of the sets is keen to the nth degree. For monster fans there are plenty of Wolfman moments with three four transformations, lots of Dracula allure with his changes into a bat handled with some slick animation, and scuds of Frankenstein action with Glenn Strange offering up another glimpse of the sympathetic monster. The Abbott and Costello gags are by and large pretty funny, so it scores high on that side as well. The Invisible Man puts in an appearance before this one is over and that's nifty since he's the focus of the next move.
(1951)
Abbot and Costello Meet The Invisible Man is the least of the four movies in this collection. The boys are two recently graduated detectives who get asked by an escaped murder suspect and former boxing hero Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz) to help him prove his innocence. We also meet his girlfriend Helen (Nancy Guild) and scientist Dr. Gray (Gavin Muir) who are working to recreate the formula of John Griffin (shown in a photo to be Claude Rains) to become invisible.
Chased by police detective Roberts (William Frawley) Tommy uses the formula and then becomes increasingly erratic as the story unfolds. To prove his innocence he convinces the boys to go undercover as a boxer and his manager to draw out the hoodlum (Sheldon Leonard) who framed him. Along the way a dame named Boots (Adele Jergens) who tries to seduce Lou to get him to throw a fight. There is much double-crossing and gags, but overall very little aside from a few great special effects.
(1953)
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde stars not only Bud and Lou (named Slim and Tubby in this one) but Boris Karloff (as Dr. Jekyll though stuntman Eddie Parker played Hyde) as well. Karloff had done an earlier movie with Abbott and Costello but apparently had little regard for the work he'd done there. Nonetheless he's great as a scheming Jekyll who transforms himself into the murderous Hyde to get rid of rivals and critics. Slim and Tubby meet a reporter named Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens) and a suffragette named Vicky Edwards (Helen Westcott) who is also Jekyll's ward, a woman he has designs on. After many complications in Jekyll's lab assistant, them menacing Bately (John Dierkes) who chases the boys around for a bit.
There's a lot of a grand chase sequences in this one and really fun gags. But mostly it's the brisk pace, which after a somewhat sleepy beginning rarely lets up. It's the second best of these four flicks by a large margin, which in no small part because it attempts to mimic the first one. Karloff is typically great.
(1955)
Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy is the last of these four movies and as it turns out, the final Abbot and Costello major movie ever. They turned their attention to television after this and broke up in 1957. This is a movie that's desperate to keep the viewer's attention with a story set in Egypt in which our heroes who use their own names in the movie though the end credits do list character names for them. They run afoul of a cult led by Semu (Richard Deacon) trying to retrieve the mummy Khalis which has been taken by Professor Zoomer (Kurt Hatch) who is swiftly murdered and our heroes get blamed for it.
Chased now by the Cairo police they also run afoul of Madame Rontru (Marie Windsor) and her henchmen (Michael Ansara and Dan Seymour). There's a lot of running, and inexplicably lots of dancing as the movie often stops for simple stage acts to take off. We have a dance troup or two and a lounge singer (Peggy King) who entertain while the movie hovers in abeyance. It's a movie with moments but not a success. The Mummy is pretty good but the story gets out of control as its explosive ending indicates.
All in all, these are monsters exceedingly well met and a snow day exceedingly well spent.
I picked up King of the Wild from Mascot Pictures several weeks ago because it advertised Boris Karloff in one of his pre-Frankenstein roles, and because I just like old serials. This offers up a lot on both counts.
Karloff plays Mustapha, a devious Arab who darts in and out of the story, especially at the beginning and end of the serial. He is instrumental to keeping this complicated clanker of a plot tumbling along, and he offers up a decent portrayal. I suspect some of his lines outdoors were dubbed, as none of the characters seem to sound like themselves. Perhaps this is repair or something Nat Levine's production crew did at the time.
The story deals with an American named Bob Grant who discovers that he looks just like a Rajah, who then wants to keep Grant around. The Rajah is killed in an accident and implores Grant to take his place to keep his evil cousin Dakah from seizing power. The Rajah writes a note to explain all of this. (This is the Maguffin in this movie.) But a "friend" of Grant's, a white hunter named Harris betrays him and Grant is put into prison for a year before escaping and seeking Harris and the note. He then finds a woman named Muriel and her brother Tom who have a diamond mine, and this is where Mustapha comes in, as he wants it. He and Harris plot to get hold of the mine and kidnapping and skullduggery of all types ensues. There is also a little old lady who seems to be a Secret Service agent, a Swedish guy and animal trainer who ain't all he seems, and a guy with dark glasses who keeps shooing people. And then there's Bimi.
Bimi is my favorite character in this magilla of a flick. Bimi is an Ape-man/Monster played to the hilt by the very buff Arthur McLaglen (Victor's Brother), and Bimi steals many a scene from his more loquacious comrades. No explanation is made about Bimi, save that he is loyal to Harris who apparently captured him at some time. But the weird relationship between Harris and Bimi slowly becomes the one you're most interested in.
This is an action-filled story, that truth told does drag a bit towards the end when some of the story lines seem to run past their due dates, and unnecessary complications seem thrown in for no good reason. The ending is a tad talky, but the final scene is worth the wait.
I highly recommend this one, and it can be had for cheap. And ignore the lousy look of the first chapter as the production improves in the later installments.
One source says this movie was intended for Trader Horn star Harry Carey and his co-star Edwina Booth, but production woes on that movie forced the leads to be given to Walter Miller and Nora Lane. Miller was as well known for playing bad guys as good. Dorothy Christie who is in the serial briefly later shows up in Gene Autry's epic serial The Phantom Empire as the haughty Queen Tika. Tom Santschi a long-time silent hero and heavy, who played the villain Harris died the same year this movie was made, which I have to admit adds a bit of poignancy to the final scene.
An especially curious note is that the guy who plays the local top cop Wainwright in the movie was Albert De Winton Jones, a real life explorer who disappeared in Brazil trying in vain to solve the Fawcett mystery soon after this movie wrapped.
The movie apparently did generate some intriguing posters, many of which are on view below. Bimi looks a little too docile in these, compared to his wildman visage on screen, but you do get a sense of the sweep of the serial. I'd love to know who the artist is on these if anyone can say.
I had some time to dither away yesterday while my wife was busy with her hobby of pottery painting. It takes a few hours, so I spent my time at the local shop checking out the Wednesday delivery.
I found a trade paper titled Golden Age Marvel Comics, part of Marvel's Masterworks collection which put into print the first issue of Marvel Comics and the subsequent three issues of Marvel Mystery Comics. While I've bought reprints of Marvel Comics a few times over (1990 and 2009)I've never had the others and it was a treat for which I was eager to pay full price.
Then I scuttled over to my new favorite story Half-Price Books and found a bunch of gems.
First I found the Dick Tracy Show, the cartoon from the 60's. This is a collection I've wanted and let slide a few times, but at the meager price of six bucks I couldn't resist. A wacky bunch of socially suspect cartoons, this huge collection has them all and threw in a tiny little reprint of the earliest Dick Tracy comic strips to boot.
I also found a copy of King of the Wild, the 1931 serial from Mascot which features Boris Karloff in one of his pre-Frankenstein roles. This vintage stuff can be a pain to watch, but fun too.
I was already quite pleased.
Then I found the real treasures.
The first is titled Art In Time and is a collection of obscure comics properties from across several decades. The clincher for me was the inclusion of Charlton Premiere #2 by Sergius O'Shaughnessy (Denny O'Neil) and Pat Boyette. That along with some choice artwork by Tony Tallarico, Pete Morisi, Sam Glanzman, Bill Everett, and more sold me on this discounted trove. I'll have more on this volume later.
The other gem was The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, a masterpiece of vintage material (mostly Golden Age) from a wide swathe of sources. There's offbeat stuff from Pogo to Scrooge McDuck, from Gerald McBoing Boing to Captain Marvel, from Dennis the Menace to Scribbly, and much much more.
I need more comics laden volumes in my house like the flu but I cannot resist these handsome packages, so full of classic goodness. As it turned out the store was having a twenty percent off sale to boot and I got all of this stuff for the full price of one of the comics volumes, a real true bargain. So if you're a bargain hunter, you might want to check out the local Half-Price Books, if you're lucky enough to have one.
So when I picked up my beloved spouse a few hours later, she was happy and she could tell by my smile that I was a happy camper too. A dandy winter day indeed!
I've read this evocative title in many a monster magazine and elsewhere, a late feature in the career of the matchless Boris Karloff. But I've never had the chance to see it...until yesterday. AMC ran it early yesterday morning and I caught not all but most of it.
I liked what I saw.
Boris Karloff plays Dr.Bolton, a pioneering surgeon in the 1840's who is seeking anesthesia so that as he says "the knife and the pain can be separated". He is scoffed at by some of his peers, but continues and discovers what he seeks, but alas his demonstration is a disaster ruining his reputation and he desperately falls into drug addiction while seeking to finish his life's work. He then finds himself among a pack of murderers who trade in bodies for the very doctors he associates with, especially one named Resurrection Joe played by Christopher Lee.
It's neat to see these two most famous screen Frankenstein Monsters together in a very smart movie that makes a lot of the talents of both men. Lee has little to say and relatively little screen time, but he gets his moments an makes the most of them.
I've read criticism that the movie is dull, but I didn't find that to be the case. Karloff is in top form and makes you really care for a desperate man. He's exceedingly well cast in a roll perfectly suited to his age and situation. Likewise the others in the cast seem well chosen. It's a slick movie.
Apparently though it was not thought well of by its producers though as it was allowed to languish in the vaults for four years. The movie was made in 1958 and is Lee's first role after his memorable turn as the Monster, but was not released until 1962. Whatever others thought of it, I liked it a lot and mostly because of the impeccable acting of the late great Karloff.
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,-- For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble." -from Shakespeare's Macbeth
I've read about this episode of the vintage TV show Route 66 forever. It is a breezy Halloween episode titled "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" and brings together a trio of classic monster movie greats. Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Lon Chaney Jr. are the famous monsters in this one.
The premise is pretty weak really, as we find the trio trying to bring monsters to a new market, ostensibly television and they are debating whether the classics will serve or as Karloff argues a new horror is called for. The debate is pretty tepid with Lorre and Chaney going to great lengths to pitch for the classic approach. With the aid of Martin Milner, they eventually partner up to frighten a gaggle of secretaries who are attending a conference.
There's more, but what horror fans want to know is that Lon Chaney appears in several make-ups, beginning the show in the Hunchback of Notre Dame garb, switching briefly to the Mummy, and then spending a great deal of the show as the Wolfman. His face is actually only glimpsed in one scene. Lorre having no classic make-ups to refer to must use his considerable mug to bring effect and he does so masterfully. Karloff, the reluctant member of the trio eventually dons the classic Frankenstein make-up for a few scenes, apparently the last time the famous actor did so.
The clash of imagery with old monsters trying to scare folks in a modern hotel are interesting. This one is supposed to say something about fate, love and such given its titled is derived from Shakespeare's Scottish play, but the subplots about women, men and some malarkey about love and whatnot are pretty confusing. Karloff does give a heartsick young woman a sweet speech about the nature of love at one point, but I'm still confused about how this all ties up.
But while they are trying to make the whole thing tie up it really just ends with each of the great actors getting a send off deserving of his status.
The show is diverting, the old actors are fun, but it's only as a curiosity that I can recommend this one, but I do recommend it.
The Ghoul starring Boris Karloff is a highly entertaining little excursion into mysticism and monstery doings.
The movie was made when Karloff, after the success of Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, and The Mummy went back home to England to patch things up with his family. While there he made this little movie for Gaumont Studios.
The movie was thought lost for decades and then turned up in a private collection. Thanks goodness for that, as it's a right entertaining movie.
The plot is pretty typical of monster movies of the era. A reclusive and repulsive Englishman who is dreading death played by Karloff seeks a cure in Egyptian mysticism and makes plans for his life beyond the grave. He then dies.
His butler played by Ernest Thesiger (who is outstanding in this) has second thoughts and seeks to warn Karloff's relatives who are about to inherit his grounds, unaware he plans to return.
Ralph Richardson is on hand as a disreputable lawyer, and along with Karloff and Thesiger gives this movie a real trove of great characters.
There is a bunch of typical 30's banter, but after much running about, the Ghoul is seen and dealt with, though it's a hairy matter for a while there.
Without revealing too much, this one is at once offers a typical scenario but sprinkles it with enough twists to keep it interesting right up to the end.
Karloff himself is outstanding, and I'd rank this as one of his scariest roles.
While Mummy Yummies and Fruit Brute didn't last all that long, the continued success of Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry prove the utter genius of this General Mills cereal concept. Outstanding!
Actually I don't much like the cereals all that much, too sweet, but I love the designs. Here's the official General Mills website. And if you go to this website and scroll down a bit you'll find some neat trivia on the monstery quintet.
And here are several commercials. It's great to hear the wonderful voices for Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry. The classic tones of Karloff, Lorre, and maybe a hint of Lugosi add luster to the characters. I have no idea who if anyone inspired Fruit Brute or Yummy Mummy. They seem pretty random.
But I did accomplish at least one tiny goal. I watched the early 1930's Universal horror movies in chronological order. Now I've seen these dozens of times, but usually when I bust them out it's to watch the Dracula movies or the Frankenstein movies or whatever.
This time I wanted to replicate what it must have been like to see each of the Universal flicks as they hit the theaters. It's a different experience I will say.
The use of the same actors from movie to movie is more clearly seen this way. The way music began to have a greater impact, and the way the directors made use of the characters to speak to other concerns.
1931
I began with Dracula (and I watched the Spanish version at the same time and despite what people say while the Spanish one is more sophisticated film making, I still find the Bela version more potent). It's a movie that is rough around the edges, but nonetheless demands your attention. With virtually no music it's a movie that forces the actors to work and work hard to keep the atmosphere.
Frankenstein is obviously a better movie, but not necessarily a better story. I have pet theories about how to interpret this one, and I'll address those at another time, but there's no getting away from the way James Whale uses his scenery and his actors to tell a snapping good tale. Karloff's monster is transformative for the very idea of film.
1932
Lugosi nexts shows up Murders in the Rue Morgue. His villain in this potboiler is exotic looking and even more peculiar (if possible) than Dracula. He's a mad scientist to rival Frankenstein, and his lurid desire to make men from apes forms a great core story which alas loses some of its steam before the climax. There are some outstanding shots in this one though, very memorable.
The Old Dark House from James Whale gives us Karloff back, but he's pretty much lost in this charming haunted manor tale. It's a fun movie, one I enjoy more with each viewing, but it's not really a monster tale in the same vein as the other Universal tales. There's no real supernatural element here, just great atmosphere. I'll have more to say about this one at a later time.
Karloff as The Mummy is sterling stuff. This movie is almost perfectly constructed, with so much startling restraint demonstrated when showing the Mummy that you hunger for more from the glimpses. The only modern film that got this right was the original Alien. Less is more and this movie is a perfect example. Karloff is outstanding.
1933
The Invisible Man is a cackling fun movie, but not really all that scary I think. The notion of an invisible madman is intellectually frightening, but doesn't make my skin crawl like some of the other stuff Universal showcased in these early flicks. Whale's technical work on this one is obvious, a dandy movie, but doesn't have the impact of its peers alas.
1934
The Black Cat succeeds masterfully for a number of reasons, but foremost is that it takes Bela and Karloff and thrusts them into an ultra-modern setting. This sets this movie apart from the others Universals, almost all in vaguely historical if mythical locations. The stark lines of the house that Karloff's Satanic architect resides in is lusciously vile. Bela plays a man who wants to attack his host at almost every moment; it's perhaps the best acting job I've ever seen him do.
1935
On the other hand The Raven with the two greats is a bit of clunker. The story should work, but Karloff's role is too small and his make-up is unfortunate and detracts from his acting. You literally cannot take your eyes off his eye and that's a problem. The story is a bit overly complex and for the first time I got the sense in a monster movie that people have to do really stupid things to keep the plot going. It's an indicator that the movie is failing if you have time to think that.
Werewolf in London is a great monster flick, and only fails in that it seems a bit afraid of its own power. The werewolf portrayed by Henry Hull is a beastly man, and as I understand it this movie was more influenced by Paramount's Mr.Hyde movie than anything else. It shows. I did like the strong woman in this one, a nice break from the whiners most monster flicks utilized. The plot does come undone at the end as way too much coincidence is needed to keep it rolling.
The Bride of Frankenstein is the apogee of Universal's monster flicks of this era, and one of the best movies made period. It's smart and there's not a single frame wasted in this one. I won't waste time singling things out here, as I'm sure most folks agree with me, but James Whale never made a better movie than this that I've seen. It's exquisite.
1936
On the other hand Dracula's Daughter, the other sequel is pretty good, but alas not great. Gloria Holden is excellent as a reluctant bloodsucker, but the male lead in this one is sturdy though not compelling. There are some great scenes in this one, but the overall impact is diminished by some clunky planning. The way it functions as a reverse Dracula, getting them back to Transylvania for the finale is a neat idea, but doesn't really come across as it should.
The Invisible Ray closes out this era of Universal's flicks and it again teams Karloff and Lugosi, with Lugosi being a good guy for one of the very rare times. It's more a pure science fiction story with some gothic touches, and it's a hair-raiser. The story is a wee bit complex but offers up some neat scenes of death rays and suchlike. This one really feels more in the vein of Universal's later monster flicks of the 50's.
And that's a wrap for the Universal monsters of this era. There are some other fantastic creepy flicks from other studios from this prime time for monsters, but it's the Universals that establish the standard they are measured against.
If you have them, I recommend watching the movies in this fashion. It will open your eyes to parallels in the flicks you'd perhaps not seen before.