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    Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural
    Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural
    Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural
    Ebook675 pages6 hours

    Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural

    By John Howard Reid

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    John Howard Reid's books just seem to get bigger and better and more informative. His new 2011 e-book release will fill a void for all who are interested in movies that deal with science fiction, fantasy, horror and the supernatural. Many books deal with these subjects, but most are just glossy picture books. JHR's book delves into all of the films' actors, directors, producers, release dates, opening nights, technical staff and much, much more. This book is a must. It opens up new areas for appreciating a film. Most books just give the critic's own comments, but JHR offers critical comments from other reviewers as well, so that the reader obtains a more balanced view of the film's qualities. For the Disney version of "10,000 Leagues under the Sea" for instance, in addition to relevant notes and comments about the film's production and its stars, Reid offers succinct quotes from a number of critics who either praised or damned the film. Fantasy cinema offers a greater variety of movies than most people realize. For example, Reid includes comedies and spoofs like the famous "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and Bob Hope's "The Ghost Breakers" as well as fantasy cartoons like Disney's "Ichabod and Mr Toad". If you are a trivia buff that likes learning little tidbits about classic movies or like me are constantly asking "Isn’t that the guy from such and such a movie?" then you'll enjoy "Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & The Supernatural". This reference covers a wide variety of movies from the thirties to the seventies. These include epic movies like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Star Wars", Abbott & Costello comedy flicks, and even a large selection of Disney movies. The movies are presented in alphabetical order. Each entry then notes the characters and the actors that played them as well as all the people behind the scenes such as the director, producer, writer, etc. From here we get into the details of copyright date, release dates, and length of the film. A short synopsis and an extensive comments section follow. Apart from the section where I could look up names of actors, the comments section was probably the section I most enjoyed. I found myself browsing these sections and finding out all sorts of interesting bits of information. (Reviewed by Ross Adams and Tami Brady).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Howard Reid
    Release dateMar 10, 2011
    ISBN9781458044730
    Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural
    Author

    John Howard Reid

    Author of over 100 full-length books, of which around 60 are currently in print, John Howard Reid is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Merryll Manning series of mystery novels, anthologies of original poetry and short stories, translations from Spanish and Ancient Greek, and especially books of film criticism and movie history. Currently chief judge for three of America's leading literary contests, Reid has also written the textbook, "Write Ways To Win Writing Contests".

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      Book preview

      Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema - John Howard Reid

      SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY CINEMA:

      Classic Films of Sci-Fi, Horror & The Supernatural

      By John Howard Reid

      HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS 23

      Smashwords Edition © 2011 by John Howard Reid

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      All rights reserved. Inquiries: johnreid@mail.qango.com

      Other Books in the Hollywood Classics series:

      1. New Light on Movie Bests

      2. B Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies

      3. Award-Winning Films of the 1930s

      4. Movie Westerns: Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West

      5. Memorable Films of the Forties

      6. Popular Pictures of the Hollywood 1940s

      7. Your Colossal Main Feature Plus Full Support Program

      8. Hollywood’s Miracles of Entertainment

      9. Hollywood Gold: Films of the Forties and Fifties

      10. Hollywood B Movies: A Treasury of Spills, Chills & Thrills

      11. Movies Magnificent: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics

      12. These Movies Won No Hollywood Awards

      13. Movie Mystery & Suspense

      14. America’s Best, Britain’s Finest

      15. Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome and Fantastic

      16. Hollywood Movie Musicals

      17. Hollywood Classics Index Books 1-16

      18. More Movie Musicals

      19. Success in the Cinema

      20. Best Western Movies

      21. Great Cinema Detectives

      22. Great Hollywood Westerns

      23. Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema

      24. Hollywood’s Classic Comedies

      25. Hollywood Classics Title Index to All Movies Reviewed in Books 1-24

      Additional Movie Books by John Howard Reid

      CinemaScope One: Stupendous in Scope

      CinemaScope Two: 20th Century-Fox

      CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge

      Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD:

      A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills

      WESTERNS: A Guide to the Best (and Worst) Western Movies on DVD

      Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan’s Guide

      British Movie Entertainments on VHS and DVD

      Table of Contents

      Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

      Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

      Aladino y la lampara maravillosa

      Alice in Wonderland

      Arabian Nights

      Assignment Outer Space

      Atlantis the Lost Continent

      Ballot Box Bunny

      Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

      La Belle et la Bete

      The Belle of New York

      The Bishop’s Wife

      The Black Scorpion

      Blithe Spirit

      The Brain That Wouldn’t Die

      Bride of Frankenstein

      Bride of the Gorilla

      Bride of the Monster

      Buccaneer Bunny

      Canary Row

      The Canterville Ghost

      Car of Dreams

      The Cat and the Canary

      The Cat Creeps

      Cats A-Weigh

      Chanoc contre el tigre y el vampiro

      Chanoc en el circo union

      Chanoc en la isla de los muertos

      Chanoc en las garras de las fierras

      A Christmas Carol

      Cinderella

      Cinderella Meets Fella

      The Climax

      Cobra Woman

      Coma

      Commando Duck

      Conrad the Sailor

      Crazy over Daisy

      Creature from the Black Lagoon

      Cured Duck

      Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur

      The Day the Earth Stool Still

      Destination Moon

      Devil Monster

      The Devil’s Partner

      Dixie Fryer

      Doctor X

      Donald Gets Drafted

      Donald’s Dilemma

      Donald’s Dream Voice

      Dracula (Lugosi)

      Drácula (Lupita Tovar)

      Dumb Bell of the Yukon

      Easy Peckins’

      Elmer’s Candid Camera

      The Face at the Window

      Fall Out, Fall In

      Fastest with the Mostest

      Faust

      Feather Dusted

      The Fighting Devil Dogs

      Fire Maidens from Outer Space

      The Flame Barrier

      Flash Gordon

      The Flying Serpent

      Forbidden Planet

      For Scent-imental Reasons

      The Foxy Duckling

      Francis Covers the Big Town

      Frankenstein

      French Rarebit

      From Hare to Heir

      Fury of the Wolf Man

      The Ghost and Mrs Muir

      The Ghost Breakers

      Gift Wrapped

      Gold Rush Days

      Gorilla at Large

      The Hardship of Miles Standish

      Hare Brush

      Haredevil Hare

      Hare Trigger

      Haunted Gold

      Heaven Only Knows

      Here Comes Mr Jordan

      High Diving Hare

      Hollywood Steps Out

      The Horn Blows at Midnight

      Horrors of Spider Island

      The Hound of the Baskervilles (Cushing)

      Der Hund von Baskervilles (Bruno Guttner)

      Ichabod and Mr Toad

      Indestructible Man

      Inki and the Mynah Bird

      Invisible Agent

      The Invisible Boy

      Invisible Ghost

      Invisible Invaders

      The Invisible Man

      The Invisible Man Returns

      The Invisble Man’s Revenge

      The Invisible Woman

      Island Monster

      Jungle Moon Men

      Killers from Space

      Kit for Cat

      Kronos

      The Lady in Red

      The Leech Woman

      Lighthouse Mouse

      Lost Continent (1951)

      The Lost Continent (1968)

      Magoo Breaks Par

      The Major Lied Till Dawn

      Make Mine Music

      Malibu Beach Party

      Mandrake the Magician

      Marooned

      Masterminds

      The Merry Widow

      Metropolis

      The Mice Will Play

      Midnight Faces

      The Mikado

      Mr Duck Steps Out

      Mr Peabody and the Mermaid

      Mr Peek-a-Boo

      The Mouse on 57th Street

      The Mummy

      A Mutt in a Rut

      The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu

      Nabonga

      Napoleon Bunny-Part

      The Night Watchman

      Now That Summer Is Gone

      The Office Boy

      The Old Army Game

      The Old Curiosity Shop

      Old Glory

      On Borrowed Time

      One Meat Brawl

      La Otra

      Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

      The Passing of the Third Floor Back

      The Patchwork Girl of Oz

      The Perfect Woman

      Pests for Guests

      The Pest That Came to Dinner

      Peter Ibbetson

      Peter Pan (Betty Bronson)

      Peter Pan (Disney)

      The Phantom Creeps

      The Phantom Light

      The Phantom of Soho

      The Phantom of the Opera (Nelson Eddy)

      The Picture of Dorian Gary

      Pinocchio

      Popeye the Sailor Meets Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp

      Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves

      Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor

      Prehistoric Women

      The Preview Murder Mystery

      The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

      Rabbitson Crusoe

      Rabbit’s Kin

      Raggedy Ann and Andy

      The Rattled Rooster

      Ready…Set…Zoom!

      Ready Woolen and Able

      Red Riding Hoodwinked

      The Return of Doctor X

      The Return of Peter Grimm

      The Return of the Frog

      Revenge of the Creature

      Roadrunner a Go-Go

      Road to Rio

      Road to Singapore

      Robin Hood Daffy

      Rocking Horse Winner

      Roughly Squeaking

      Saddle Silly

      Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

      Santo en la vengenza de la momia

      Santo vs. la invasion de los Marcianos

      The Savage Girl

      Scrap Happy Daffy

      Screwball Football

      Scrooge (Sir Seymour Hicks)

      Scrooge (Alastair Sim)

      The Secret of the Loch

      She

      Shock

      Shot and Bothered

      Show Biz Bugs

      Simbad el mareado

      Sinbad the Sailor

      Sky Trooper

      The Slap-Hoppy Mouse

      Sleepy Time Donald

      Slick Hare

      Snow Business

      The Snow Creature

      Snowman’s Land

      Son of Dracula

      Son of Frankenstein

      Son of Kong

      Spaceways

      Speaking of the Weather

      Spook Chasers

      Spring Antics

      Stars Wars

      Stork Naked

      Strange Cargo

      Stranger from Venus

      Strangler of the Swamp

      The Student of Prague

      Sudan

      Superman

      Superman in Billion Dollar Limited

      Superman in the Bulleteers

      Superman in the Japoteurs

      Supernatural

      Supersonic Saucer

      Tarzan and the Amazons

      The Terror

      Terror in the Midnight Sun

      The Testament of Dr Mabuse

      The Thief of Bagdad (Fairbanks)

      The Thief of Bagdad (Veidt)

      Time Flies

      The Time of Their Lives

      Tombstone Canyon

      Tom Thumb

      Tom Tom Tomcat

      Torture Ship

      Touché and Go

      Trip for Tat

      Tugboat Granny

      The Tunnel

      The Turn-Tale Wolf

      Tweety’s S.O.S,

      20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

      Undersea Kingdom

      The Underwater City

      Unearthly Stranger

      The Unknown Terror

      Unknown World

      Unnatural

      The Vampire Bat

      The Vanishing Legion

      The Vanishing Private

      Viking Women and the Sea Serpent

      Visit to a Small Planet

      Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women

      Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet

      Wabbit Twouble

      The Wasp Woman

      Weasel While You Work

      The Werewolf

      Werewolf of London

      When Worlds Collide

      Which Is Witch

      The White Gorilla

      A Wild Hare

      Wild Horse Phantom

      Wild Over You

      Wise Quackers

      The Wolf Man

      The Wolf Man Series

      Wonder Man

      Wrong Again

      You’re an Education

      Zebra in the Kitchen

      Zoom and Bored

      130 Top Flights of Film Fantasy

      Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

      Bud Abbott (Chick Young), Lou Costello (Wilbur Grey), Lon Chaney, Jr (Lawrence Talbot), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Glenn Strange (Frankenstein’s monster), Lenore Aubert (Sandra Mornay), Jane Randolph (Joan Raymond), Frank Ferguson (McDougal), Charles Bradstreet (Dr Stevens), Howard Negley (Harris), Joe Kirk (man), Clarence Straight (man in armor), Harry Brown (photographer), Helen Spring (woman at baggage counter), Paul Stader (sergeant), Bobby Barber (waiter), George Barton, Carl Sklover, Joe Walls (men), and Vincent Price (voice of Invisible Man).

      Director: CHARLES BARTON. Original screenplay: Frederic I. Rinaldo, Robert Lees and John Grant. Photography: Charles Van Enger. Film editor: Frank Gross. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun and Hilyard Brown. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and Oliver Emert. Costumes: Grace Houston. Music: Frank Skinner. Special photographic effects: David S. Horsley and Jerome H. Ash. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Make-up sculptor: Chris Mueller. Hair styles: Carmen Dirigo. Camera operator: Robert Pierce. Music orchestrations: David Tamkin. Script supervision: Bud Abbott. Assistant director: Joseph E. Kenny. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard. Producer: Robert Arthur.

      Copyright 8 September 1949 (in notice: 1948) by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York release at Loew’s Criterion: 28 July 1948. U.S. release: July 1948. U.K. release (through J. Arthur Rank’s General Film Distributors): 7 November 1949. Australian release: 25 November 1948. U.S. length: 83 minutes. U.K. length: 79 minutes. Australian length: 5,642 feet. 63 minutes.

      U.K. and Australian release title: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE GHOSTS.

      SYNOPSIS: Two bungling shipping clerks (helped? by the Wolf Man) tangle with Count Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster.

      NOTES: Some sources cite the U.S. running time as 92 minutes. This is incorrect. The TV print which seems in every way complete, runs 83 minutes.

      The film was cut on original release in both the U.K. and Australia by the Film Censors, both of whom also insisted on the title change. "Frankenstein was a dirty word in both countries in 1948 as all so-called Horror films" at that time were completely banned.

      Negative cost: $800,000 (quite a fair amount of money in 1948 when Poverty Row westerns were still being churned out for little more than one hundredth of that amount).

      Universal Studios, the home of horror, created a stable of monsters in the 1930s led by Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man (and later, in the 1950s, the Creature from the Black Lagoon debuted). In this delightful spoof, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, the studio’s resident comedians run up against four of the horrors—although The Invisible Man makes only an amusing, though highly appropriate fade-out appearance. However, the comedy duo made up for this slight in 1951 when The Invisible Man featured as a solo item in Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. And if The Mummy was peeved by his initial neglect, he was doubtless mollified by Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy in 1955.

      COMMENT: It’s amazing how few contemporary critics appreciated Abbott and Costello. They were generally dismissed with a sneer. The fact that some of their films had quite novel plots (The Little Giant, The Time of Their Lives) as well as a high level of verbal and visual wit was usually overlooked or disregarded. Abbott and Costello were irredeemably lowbrow. Even at the conclusion of an otherwise favorable review of Meet Frankenstein, Lionel Collier (chief reviewer for the high-circulation weekly magazine Picturegoer) can sum up that the comedians provide plenty of entertainment if you are unsophisticated enough to enjoy them.

      Fortunately the public took very little notice of critics in the 40’s. Meet Frankenstein restored Abbott and Costello’s flagging careers, putting them right back with the top ten money-making stars.

      Today Meet Frankenstein is justly regarded as one of their best films—if not their masterpiece. For once director Charles T. Barton (a longtime friend and former assistant of William A. Wellman) has really risen to the occasion, handling both the comedy and the horror so effectively as to rouse the ire of both the U.K. and Australian censors. Exactly twenty minutes were lopped from Australian prints. Meet Frankenstein must hold the record for the most mutilated U.S. film ever put into Australian theatrical release.

      As Abbott & Costello’s biographer, Jim Mulholland. comments: "One of the film’s chief assets is that the horror sequences are played completely straight, leaving the comedy to the comedians… Meet Frankenstein is the best satire on horror movies ever made."

      Production values are absolutely first-class. It is not only Barton’s deft direction that keeps the laughs and the thrills coming at a marvelous pace, but the skilled film editing, atmospheric photography, creepy sets, and mood-enhancing music scored and directed by Frank Skinner; while even by 2011 standards, the make-up and special effects are often stunning.

      Available on an excellent Universal DVD.

      Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man

      Bud Abbott (Bud Alexander), Lou Costello (Lou Francis), Nancy Guild (Helen Gray), Adele Jergens (Boots Marsden), Sheldon Leonard (Morgan), William Frawley (Detective Roberts), Gavin Muir (Dr Philip Gray), Arthur Franz (Tommy Nelson), Sam Balter (radio announcer), Syd Saylor (waiter), Billy Wayne (Rooney), Bobby Barber (Sneaky), John Day [John Daheim] (Rocky Hanlon), Edward Gargan (Milt), Paul Maxey (Dr Turner), Herbert Vigran (Stillwell), Frankie Van (referee), Carl Sklover (Lou’s handler), George J. Lewis (torpedo), Ralph Dunn (motorcycle cop), Walter F. Appler (Professor Dugan), Harold Goodwin (bartender), Howard Banks (officer), Chuck Hamilton, Kenner G. Kemp, Perc Launders (cops), Edith Sheets (nurse), Milt Bronson (ring announcer), Richard Bartell (bald-headed man), Charles Perry (Rocky’s handler), Dick Gordon, Ray Darmour, Ralph Brooks (men), Sayre Dearing, Russ Conway, Billy Snyder (reporters), Frank Dae (Col Duffie), Kit Guard (boxer on rowing machine), Stuart Holmes (cigar-smoking ringsider), Donald Kerr, William H. O’Brien (fight spectators), Rory Mallinson (tough guy at bar), Ralph Montgomery, Franklin Parker (photographers), Jack Shutta (attendant).

      Director: CHARLES LAMONT. Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo. Abbott and Costello’s material: John Grant. Story: Hugh Wedlock, Jr and Howard Snyder. Suggested by the 1897 novel The Invisible Manby H.G. Wells. Photography: George Robinson. Film editor: Virgil Vogel. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun and Richard H. Riedel. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and John Austin. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Hair styles: Joan St Oegger. Special photography: David S. Horsley. Music director: Joseph Gershenson. Assistant director: Ronnie Rondell. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard. Producer: Howard Christie.

      Copyright 19 April 1951 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. A Universal-International Picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 12 April 1951. U.S. release: 7 March 1951. U.K. release (on the lower half of a double bill): 4 June 1951. Australian release: 23 November 1951. 7,394 feet. 82 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Falsely accused of murdering his manager, a boxer hires a pair of dim-witted detectives.

      COMMENT: Oddly designed as a sequel to Universal’s 1933 The Invisible Manitself—there’s even a recapitulation (complete with photo of Claude Rains) of the original story—this emerges as a fairly amusing Abbott and Costello vehicle. True, the climax once again features Lou in his familiar turn as a sure-gone loser in a knockabout prize fight, but this time with some delightful variations. In fact, the whole movie is quite cleverly handled. The boys themselves are in fine form and they are handed some great gags to work with—both verbal and visual. A wonderful support cast—Lou’s scenes with Paul Maxey’s psychiatrist are a real joy—add further luster to the movie.

      I always expect George Robinson’s photography to be imaginatively atmospheric—which it certainly is! Perhaps too atmospheric. Just about the whole film action takes place at night, which is most unusual for the standard comedy movie, although Abbott and Costello had used this approach before in The Time of Their Lives and Meet Frankenstein. Whatever, the picture definitely has an attractively out-of-the-norm look about it. What’s even more important, director Charles Lamont has risen to the challenge with scene-setting that is far more flavorsome and stylish than his usual endeavors. But perhaps best of all are the special effects—some admittedly obvious and even amateurish, but many very ingenious indeed.

      Available on an excellent Universal DVD.

      Aladino y la lampara maravillosa

      Antonio Espino [Clavillazo] (Aladdin), Ana Bertha Lepe (princess), Eda Lorna (the princess’s companion), Oscar Pulido (the magician), Carlota Solares (Aladdin’s mother), Eduardo Alcaraz (the wazir), Guillermo Orea (the caliph), Manuel Tamez [Régulo] (the genie), and Fidel Angel Espino, José Wilhelmy.

      Director: JULIAN SOLER. Screenplay: Fernando de Fuentes. Screenplay contributors: Fidel Angel Espino, Manuel Tamez, Victor Manuel Castro, Maria Luisa Algarra. Film editor: Rafael Ceballos. Photographed in Eastman Color by José Ortiz Ramos. Art directors: Jorge Fernandez, Javier Torres Torija. Set decorator: Raul Sorrano. Costumes designed by Bertha Mendoza Lopez, Cristina G. de Escobar, Georgette Somohano. Dances staged by Ricardo Luna. Music: Manuel Esperon. Camera operator: Manuel Gonzalez. Producer: Gregorio Walerstein.

      Copyright 1957 by Diana Films (Mexico City). Mexican release: 25 December 1958. 90 minutes.

      English title: ALADDIN AND THE MARVELOUS LAMP.

      SYNOPSIS: Despite his youthful appearance on the posters, in this version Aladdin is enacted by 47-year-old, rubber-faced comedian, Clavillazo (Pinhead is a fair translation), who has both eyes on the girls as well as a nodding acquaintance with the lamp.

      COMMENT: After an extremely slow start in which the magician pontificates at length (mostly in dreary close-up) in a small and not overly inspiring set, this version fails to pick up much speed on the introduction of a rather mature Aladdin and his equally garrulous, complaining mother. It’s not until the Throttler’s awesomely belt-buckled genie (obviously modeled on Rex Ingram in Korda’s Thief of Bagdad) ingeniously makes his appearance (Aladdin’s back is itchy and he uses the lamp to scratch himself) that the clever variations on the familiar old tale start to exercise their spell. And once the girls, led by that ravishing blonde and former Miss Mexico, Ana Bertha Lepe, come out and come on in their dazzlingly seductive costumes, the movie really captures its audience’s undivided attention. Ramos’ gorgeous cinematography, along with the film’s splendid sets, entrancing costumes, eye-catching dancing, melodious music and impeccable special effects, lifts the movie into a stratosphere of delight. The scriptwriters capitalize on this happy mood by fomenting a conflict between a now rich-as-Midas Aladdin and the sultan’s grand vizier. All previous wonders are then equalled and excelled by a side-splitting duel, deftly built up, first in a literal battle of words and then with swords, between our hero and the jealous potentate. This rates as one of the funniest sequences I’ve ever seen in a lifetime’s viewing of over 20,000 movies. Any lingering doubts I had as to Clavillazo’s comic abilities vanished. True, he does tend to over-act a trifle, but I’ll forgive him. And as for Senoritas Lepe and Lorna and their companions, and for the lush, money-no-object way this most attractively sumptuous Aladino is often mounted: Wow!

      Available on DVD through Laguna Films. Quality rating: ten out of ten.

      Alice in Wonderland

      Charlotte Henry (Alice), Richard Arlen (Cheshire Cat), Roscoe Ates (Fish), William Austin (Gryphon), Billy Barty (White Pawn), Billy Bevan (Two of Spades), Gary Cooper (White Knight), Leon Errol (Uncle Gilbert), Louise Fazenda (White Queen), W.C. Fields (Humpty Dumpty), Richard Skeets Gallagher (White Rabbit), Cary Grant (Mock Turtle), Ethel Griffies (Governess), Sterling Holloway (Frog), Edward Everett Horton (Mad Hatter), Roscoe Karns (Tweedledee), Mae Marsh (Sheep), Polly Moran (Dodo Bird), Jack Oakie (Tweedledum), Edna May Oliver (Red Queen), May Robson (Queen of Hearts), Charles Ruggles (March Hare), Jackie Searl (Dormouse), Ned Sparks (Caterpillar), Ford Sterling (White King), Colin Campbell (Garden Frog), Jack Duffy (Leg of Mutton), Harry Ekezian, Joe Torillo, Meyer Grace (executioners), Colin Kenny (The Clock), Charles McNaughton (Five of Spades), Patsy O’Byrne (The Aunt), George Ovey (Plum Pudding), Will Stanton (Seven of Spades), Baby LeRoy (Joker).

      Director: NORMAN Z. McLEOD. Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankiewicz and William Cameron Menzies from the novels, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, by Lewis Carroll, as illustrated by Sir John Tenniel. Photography: Bert Glennon, Henry Sharp. Film editor: Ellsworth Hoaglund. Art director: William Cameron Menzies. Masks, make-up and costumes: William Cameron Menzies, Wally Westmore, Newt Jones. Settings: Robert Odell. Music: Dimitri Tiomkin. Music supervisor: Nat W. Finston. Technical effects: Gordon Jennings. Process photography: Farciot Edouart. Pageants staged by LeRoy Prinz. Animated segment produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Assistant director: Ewing Scott. Sound recording: Gene Merritt. Associate producer: Benjamin Glazer. Producer: Louis D. Lighton. Executive producer: Emanuel Cohen.

      Copyright 22 December 1933 by Paramount Productions, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount, Times Square, and simultaneously at the Paramount, Brooklyn: 22 December 1933. The film also opened on the same date at 223 other cinemas in the USA and Canada. U.K. release: 22 December 1934 (sic). Australian release: 4 April 1934. Running time: 90 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: ’Twas brillig and slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe, all mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe.

      NOTES: Charles Dodgson’s Alice books were published in 1865 and 1871. This version and the Walt Disney cartoon of 1951 are the most famous of many short and feature-length movie adaptations.

      COMMENT: Whilst it’s undoubtedly true to say that few (if any) members of the cast were ever again to play such weirdly offbeat roles, the performances generally rate as both captivating and fascinating. Adults will be enthralled. The film may, however, be regarded as too grotesque for children.

      Mary Boland, Bing Crosby and Charles Laughton were originally scheduled for the cast, while Jack Oakie was slated to play both Tweeledum and Tweedledee. Charlotte Henry was chosen to play Alice from over seven thousand applicants.

      Although the official writing credit is divided between Menzies and Mankiewicz, what Menzies actually did was to illustrate the script which Mankiewicz combined from the two Carroll novels. When I interviewed Mankiewicz, he was justifiably proud of the fact that he used Carroll’s original dialogue and followed the original characters and incidents without the slightest deviation, except for the omission of the Lion and the Unicorn, the Live Flowers and the episode on the train in Chapter Three of Looking Glass. (We were speaking, of course, about the original 90 minutes version, not the ruthlessly truncated parody that formerly plagued television airings).

      A striking film in every respect, this version also anticipates Disney with its excellent cartoon sequence, The Walrus and the Carpenter.

      Arabian Nights

      Sabu (Ali Ben Ali), Jon Hall (Haroun al Raschid), Maria Montez (Sherazad), Leif Erikson (Kamar), Billy Gilbert (Ahmad), Edgar Barrier (Hadan), Richard Lane (corporal), Turhan Bey (captain), John Qualen (Aladdin), Shemp Howard (Sinbad), Wee Willie Davis (Valda), Thomas Gomez (Hakim the slave trader), Jeni Le Gon (dresser to Sherazad), Robert Greig (story-teller), Charles Coleman (eunuch), Adia Kuznetzoff (slaver), Emory Parnell (harem sentry), Harry Cording (blacksmith), Robin Raymond (slave girl), Virginia Engels, Nedra Sanders, Mary Moore, Veronika Pataky, Jean Trent, Frances Gladwin, Rosemarie Dempsey, Patsy Mace, Pat Starling, June Ealey (harem girls), Andre Charlot, Frank Lackteen, Anthony Blair, Robert Barron, Art Miles, Murdock MacQuarrie (bidders), Elyse Knox (duenna), Burnu Acquanetta (Ishya), Ernest Whitman (Nubian slave), Eva Puig (old woman), Ken Christy (provost marshal), Johnnie Berkes (blind beggar), Cordell Hickman, Paul Clayton (black boys), Phyllis Forbes, Peggy Satterlee, Helen Pender, Eloise Hardt (virgins), Alaine Brandes (street slave girl), Jamiel Hasson, Crane Whitley, Charles Alvarado (officers), Duke York (archer), Mickey Simpson (hangman), Amador Gutierrez, Ben Ayassa Wadrassi, Edward Marmolejo, Daniel Barone (tumblers), Kermit Maynard (soldier), David Sharpe (double for Sabu), Carmen D’Antonio (harem queen).

      Director: JOHN RAWLINS. Story and screenplay: Michael Hogan. Additional dialogue: True Boardman. Photographed in Technicolor by Milton Krasner. Film editor: Philip Cahn. Associate photographers: William V. Skall and W. Howard Greene. Production designers: Jack Otterson and Alexander Golitzen. Set decorations: R.A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb. Costumes: Vera West. Music composed by Frank Skinner and directed by Charles Previn. Technicolor color consultant: Natalie Kalmus. Technical advisor: Jamiel Hasson. Assistant director: Fred Frank. Sound supervisor: Bernard B. Brown. Sound technician: William Fox. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Walter Wanger. A Walter Wanger Production.

      Copyright 29 December 1942 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Rivoli: 25 December 1942. U.S. release: 25 December 1942. Australian release: 12 August 1943. 9 reels. 7,853 feet. 87 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Because of his abiding love of Sherazad, a dancing girl who promises to marry him if he becomes caliph, Kamar seizes the throne from Caliph Haroun al Raschid, his half-brother. Kamar orders his men to kill Haroun, but he escapes and is given refuge by Ali Ben Ali, an acrobat with Ahmad’s tent circus. Others in the troupe are Sinbad, Aladdin, and the star attraction, Sherazad. None know of Haroun’s true identity save Ali, who agrees to keep the discovery a secret. Unknown to Kamar, his aide Hadan has Sherazad sold into slavery in order to prevent her from becoming Queen and taking away his power.

      NOTES: Nominated for the following prestigious Hollywood awards: Krasner, Skall and Greene for Color Cinematography, losing to Leon Shamroy’s The Black Swan; Golitzen, Otterson, Gausman and Webb for Color Sets, losing to My Gal Sal; Bernard Brown for Sound Recording, losing to Yankee Doodle Dandy; Frank Skinner for Scoring of a Drama or Comedy, losing to Now, Voyager.

      Universal’s first three-strip Technicolor feature, and the studio’s top domestic boxoffice attraction of 1942-43.

      Above are the official writing credits. Producer Walter Wanger stated at the time of the film’s New York release that the story was written by Michael Hogan, True Boardman and Eddie Hartmann from a general outline by Alexander Golitzen. Its only similarity to Burton’s classic is the title as Mr Wanger found the original dull and dirty.

      VIEWER’S GUIDE: Adults. The story is certainly silly enough for kids, but they’re likely to take it seriously.

      COMMENT: The woman whose beauty shames the glory of the sunset (to quote some of the rich dialogue in this delightfully escapist yet ultra-lavish and regally elegant slice of eye-dazzling fantasy), namely Maria Montez, here makes her Technicolor debut. Shortly to be crowned Queen of Technicolor, Montez presents an exotically fiery, tantalizingly tempestuous personality, extravagantly costumed, exquisitely groomed. That she can’t act for toffee and that her accent is often almost impenetrable simply adds to her more-than-mortal allure. Interestingly, as her boxoffice appeal was as yet unknown, she is not allowed to dominate the Nights as she did her subsequent films, like White Savage, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Cobra Woman, Gypsy Wildcat, Sudan and Pirates of Monterey. Here, there’s still plenty for Jon Hall and his seemingly acrobatic sidekick Sabu to get their hands on. Turhan Bey, later to take precedence over Jon Hall as the romantic lead, is also in the cast; Leif (pronounced Life) Erikson and Edgar Barrier enact the villains; whilst some additional comedy relief (the whole film is just one vast howl) is skilfully provided by our favorite (if impermanent) Stooge, Shemp Howard, plus John Qualen and Sneezy Gilbert.

      The trailer for this one is also a real hoot, the best of the lot. Bagdad, city of temptations, where ruler and rogue, slaver and sinner fight for the forbidden Sherazad. A story rich and exotic as the East itself! And that’s just for openers. Mind you, the trailer for Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves runs this one pretty close. How about: See Bagdad enslaved by Hunnish hordes! or, as the off-screen commentator breathlessly informs us, see Romance in the shadow of the torture rack! Cut to hero Jon Hall as he remarks (with a perfectly straight face) to heroine Maria Montez, I’m curious why a girl so young, so lovely, should marry the ruthless Khan?

      Available on a superb Universal DVD.

      OTHER VIEWS: Lush color, attractive sets and costumes and plenty of action, somewhat offset by corny dialogue and plotting of predictable juvenility.

      —G.A.

      Assignment: Outer Space

      Rik Von Nutter (Ray Peterson, the reporter), Gaby Farinon (Lucy), Archie Savage (Al), Alain Dijon (Archie), Dave Montresor (George, the commander), Joe Pollini (King 116), David Maran (Davis), Jose Nestor (Venus commander), Frank Fantasia (Sullivan), Anita Todesco (Venus control), Aldo Pini (Jackson).

      Director: ANTONIO MARGHERITI. Screenplay: Ennio De Concini. English dialogue: Jack Wallace. Photography: Marcello Masciocchi. Music supervisor: Gordon Zahler. Music score: J.K. Broady. Music editor: Ted Roberts. Sound effects editor: Joseph Von Stroheim. Special effects: Caesar Peace. Producers: Fred Gebhardt, Hugo Grimaldi. A Four Crown Picture. Color by Technicolor.

      A Titanus/Ultra Film presentation, released in the USA through American-International Pictures: 13 December 1961. Rome opening: 25 August 1960. Never theatrically released in Australia. 79 minutes.

      Alternative title: SPACE MEN.

      SYNOPSIS: Hotshot reporter newbie teaches veteran space commander how to run his ship and destroy errant spacecraft.

      COMMENT: Although it has maybe three or four effectively presented action sequences, for the most part this over-talkative, dialogue bound, ploddingly scripted, slackly acted and unimaginatively directed space entry offers rather dull sledding to all but the most inveterate sci-fi hounds. Time-wasting dialogue exchanges like Indian Zebra Why Fourteen calling Jungle King Two Eleven abounds. Aside from a ho-hum one or two tracking, scene-establishment shots, the director seems unacquainted with any other camera set-ups than deadly routine TV-style close-ups and two-shots. And the heroine is probably a most attractive girl, but you wouldn’t know it from the hide-all space outfits she models throughout. Admittedly, the writer tries real hard to work up a bit of tension in a three-way split between heroine, reporter and commander, but it’s all stale old stuff which has been presented with far more skill and vigor in at least thirty-five thousand other pictures.

      AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: ten out of ten.

      Atlantis, the Lost Continent

      Anthony Hall (Demetrios), Joyce Taylor (Antillia), John Dall (Zaren), Bill Smith (captain of the guard), Edward Platt (Azor), Frank de Kova (Sonoy), Berry Kroeger (surgeon), Edgar Stehli (King Kronas), Wolfe Barzell (Petros), Jay Novello (Xandros), Buck Maffei (Andes), Peter Pal (slave), Keith Andes (map maker).

      Narrated by Paul Frees.

      Directed by GEORGE PAL. Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring, based on an unproduced play Atlanta by Sir Gerald Hargreaves. Music score by Russell Garcia. Director of photography: Harold E. Wellman. Art directors: George W. Davis and William Ferrari. Set decorations: Henry Grace and Dick Peferle. Color consultant: Charles K. Hagedon. Special effects: A. Arnold Gillespie, Lee LeBlanc, Robert R. Hoag. Animation: Project Unlimited. Film editor: Ben Lewis. Recording supervisor: Franklin Milton. Assistant director: Ridgeway Callow. Hair styles by Mary Keats. Make-up created by William Tuttle. Photographed in Eastman Color. Westrex Sound Recording. Producer: George Pal. A Galaxy [George Pal] Production.

      Copyright 1961 by Galaxy Productions, Inc. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Capitol: 26 May 1961. U.S. release: May 1961. U.K. release: November 1961. Australian release: 25 May 1961. 90 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: One hundred and fifteen centuries ago, a young Greek sailor named Demetrios finds a beautiful, unconscious girl adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean. When she regains consciousness and announces that she is the Princess Antillia of Atlantis, a kingdom that lies in the great sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), Demetrios reluctantly agrees to sail her back to her home. Upon their arrival, Antillia learns that her father’s power has been usurped by his Minister of War, Zaren, who plans to conquer the world with a massive death-dealing crystal which lies embedded within an extinct volcano. To dislodge it, Zaren has recruited hundreds of slaves, some of whom have been turned into animal form.

      VIEWER’S GUIDE: Adults.

      COMMENT: Passable Pal. The story is not particularly engaging. Made up of elements from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, H.G. Wells’ Island of Doctor Moreau and Homer’s Iliad—with a few slices of pseudo Old Testament thrown in—it seems both overly trite and tediously familiar.

      The acting is no great shakes either. For a change—not a welcome change so far as this reviewer is concerned—it is the male lead who spends most of his screen time displaying his physique, whilst the heroine remains far more demurely clothed throughout. This seems to be Mr Hall’s only movie—which doesn’t surprise me. True, the girls may think he’s a good-looking lad, but he can’t act for toffee, and has all the charisma and usefulness of a pistonless bicycle pump.

      Miss Holden is slightly more appealing. This was her second or third film and she did go on to enjoy a very modest career in the 60s. The support players, led by an appropriately villainous John Dall, have more to offer, with Berry Kroeger excelling as the vicious surgeon.

      Pal’s flat, lazily unimaginative direction with its plentitude of monotonously dull close-ups doesn’t help the dialogue scenes any. Fortunately, the director has handled his action material in a more vigorous manner. The ordeal by fire and water packs a moderately exciting wallop. This and other sequences are further spiced by a few impressive sets and dazzling props.

      Of course it’s neither the story itself nor the stars that will attract customers to Atlantis. It’s the allure of those destructive-earthquake-watery-grave special effects implicit in the title. Despite some extremely obvious shortcomings and budgetary limitations—crude make-up for the human animals; easily recognizable crowd, arena, forum and fire shots from Quo Vadis; glaringly miniature buildings made of cardboard—the destruction of Atlantis is just impressive enough to justify the price of admission. Just!

      MY SECOND VIEW: Berry Kroeger plays a wizard who turns slaves into pigs. We love the scene in which he compels one of his victims to repeat after him: Every day, in every way, I’m getting to be a boar! Climax aside, it would be difficult to think up a more acurate description of the movie itself. It held such promise too, but as it slowly unfolds, the story gets less and less involving, the acting more and more wooden. A bore indeed!

      Ballot Box Bunny

      Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam.

      Director: I. FRELENG. Story: Warren Foster. Animation: Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez. Lay-outs: Hawley Pratt. Backgrounds: Paul Julian. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Carl W. Stalling. Color by Technicolor.

      Copyright 13 January 1952 by The Vitaphone Corp. (In notice: 1950). A Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon. U.S. release: 6 October 1951. 1 reel.

      COMMENT: Running for mayor, Sam's the Man promises his constituents their fair share of fresh air and sunshine, and a rabbit—no, two rabbits—in every pot. Naturally, Bugs is forced to campaign against Yosemite, doing his famous Teddy Roosevelt impersonation and providing a free picnic which Sam disrupts with a packet of Assorted Picnic Ants. Further amusing confrontations follow before both our heroes are defeated by a dark horse. Clever, fast-paced, ingratiatingly characterized, more than gently satiric. Definitely recommended. [Available on a superb Warner Home Video DVD].

      Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

      The Internet Movie Database is very down on correspondents who give away too much of a movie’s plot in their reviews. Contributors who don’t warn intending readers that their comments contain spoilers, are blackbanned for life. Well, I must admit I’m fairly sympathetic to this approach. Yet, oddly enough, IMDB editors themselves on occasion spoil the plot in the way they detail their cast lists—and with never a warning! So be warned, readers, the following cast list contains spoilers!

      Bela Lugosi (Dr Zabor/the head waiter) [he does not play himself as the title would seem to indicate], Duke Mitchell (Dean Martin), Sammy Petrillo (Jerry Lewis), Charlita (Princess Nona/nightclub actress with gorilla), Al Kikume (Chief Rakos/nightclub gorilla), Muriel Landers (Saloma/nightclub singer), Mickey Simpson (Chula/nightclub entertainer), Martin Garralaga (Constable Pepe/nightclub waiter), Milton Newberger (Bongo, the witch doctor), Billy Wilkerson (native warrior), Cheetah (Ramona, the chimp), Ray Crash Corrigan (Ramona as a gorilla), Steve Calvert (male gorilla).

      Director: WILLIAM BEAUDINE. Screenplay: Tim Ryan. Additional dialogue: Ukie Sherin, Edmond Seward. Photography: Charles Van Enger. Film editor: Philip Cahn. Art director: James W. Sullivan. Set decorator: Edward G. Boyle. Wardrobe: Wesley Jeffries (men), Esther Krebs (women). Make-up: Glen Alden. Hair styles: Ann Locker. Music: Richard Hazard. Songs: Deed I Do (Mitchell) by Fred Rose (music) and Walter Hirsch (lyrics); Too Soon (Mitchell) by Nick Therry. Dance director: Lee Scott. Dialogue director: Ukie Sherin. Set continuity: Helen McCaffrey. Assistant to the producer: Tony Roberts. Assistant director: Glenn Cook. Sound recording: Dean Thomas. Associate producer: Herman Cohen. Producer: Maurice Duke. Executive producer: Jack Broder.

      Not copyright by Jack Broder Productions, Inc. U.S. release through Realart Pictures: 8 October 1952. New York opening: 4 September 1952. Never theatrically released in Australia. 74 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: A good-natured spoof of jungle pictures and horror movies, starring Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist turning men into monkeys on a remote Pacific Island.

      NOTES: Negative cost: $50,000. Movie debut of Sammy Petrillo. His partner, Duke Mitchell had a small part in the Martin and Lewis movie, Sailor Beware (1952).

      COMMENT: Here’s a movie, scripted and played with all tongues firmly in cheeks by a cast headed by Bela Lugosi, the lovely Charlita (love her sarongs!) and a couple of not-so-talented Martin and Lewis imitators. Despite the short shooting schedule and the minimal negative cost, the movie’s production values actually look quite lush, thanks to William Beaudine’s surprisingly skillful direction and Charles Van Enger’s attractively stand-out cinematography.

      AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: Ten out of ten.

      La Belle et la Bête

      Jean Marais (Avenant/the beast), Josette Day (Belle), Michel Auclair (Ludovic), Marcel André (the father), Mila Parély (Felicity), Nane Germon (Adelaide), Raoul Marco (the usurer), Jean Cocteau (man at the blackboard/voice of magic), Christian Marquand, Noel Blin, Gilles Watteaux.

      Directors: JEAN COCTEAU, RENÉ CLÉMENT. Screenplay: Jean Cocteau. Based on the story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Photography: Henri Alekan. Film editor: Claude Ibéria. Art director: Christian Bérard, Lucien Carré. Set decorators: Lucien Carré, René Moulaert. Costumes designed by Christian Bérard, Antonio Castillo, Marcel Escoffier. Costumes made by Jeanne Lanvin, the men’s costumes under the supervision of Pierre Cardin. Other costumes made by Paquin. Make-up: Hagop Arakelian. Masks made by Pontet and Son. Music: Georges Auric, conducted by Roger Désormières. Camera operators: Robert Foucard, Henri Tiquet, Raymond Letouzey. Stills: Aldo Graziati. Set continuity: Lucile Costa. Production manager: Emile Darbon. General manager: Roger Rogelys. Sound recording effects: Rouzenat. Sound recording: Jacques Lebreton, Jacques Carrère, assisted by P. Gaborian and H. Girbal. Producer: Jean Cocteau. Executive producer: André Paulvé. Filmed at Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, and on locations at the Chateau de Raray at Senlis and Rochecorbon, Indre-et-Loire.

      A Discina Production. French release: 29 October 1946. U.S. release through Lopert Films: 23 December 1947. New York opening at the Bijou: 23 December 1947.

      SYNOPSIS: The period is vaguely 17th century and the locale is evidently in the countryside, about a day’s journey on horseback from Marseilles. Forced to journey home at night, a businessman takes shelter from a storm in a mysterious chateau that is apparently deserted. The next morning, however, when he picks a rose to take home to one of his daughters, he is accosted by the chateau’s owner, a hideous beast.

      NOTES: Originally Clément was on hand to assist his friend, Cocteau, with technical advice as to camera placement and as a general sounding board. When Cocteau became ill and had to be hospitalized, Clement took over the reins until Cocteau was able to resume. Shooting from 26 August 1945 through 11 January 1946. Movie debut of Christian Marquand.

      COMMENT: A fairy story most charmingly, imaginatively and effectively brought to life by film-maker/poet Jean Cocteau and stunningly enacted by the multi-talented Jean Marais and the entrancingly beautiful Josette Day. Marais most convincingly plays two wholly contrasting roles: the repulsive yet oddly sympathetic beast and the handsome yet blackguardly boon companion of the heroine’s weak, dissolute brother (Michel Auclair). For the beast, Marais adopts a harsh, grating voice. For the would-be suitor, however, he simulates all soft charm. Miss Day of course is perfect as Beauty (a role which enables her to wear some really spectacular costumes), while Marcel André does well by the role of the too-doting father. Parély and Germon brilliantly fill the shoes of the heroine’s wickedly self-centered sisters, while baby-faced Auclair excels in the sort of role in which he eventually became type-cast.

      Production values are first-class, the movie’s sumptuously budgeted sets enhanced by Alekan’s superbly atmospheric cinematography and Auric’s beguiling score.

      Rabid devotees of special photographic effects are warned

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