The Giant Spider Invasion.

Review #2443: The Giant Spider Invasion.

Cast:

Steve Brodie (Dr. Vance), Barbara Hale (Dr. Jenny Langer), Robert Easton (Dan Kester), Leslie Parrish (Ev Kester), Alan Hale Jr (Sheriff Jones), Bill Williams (Dutch), Kevin Brodie (Dave Perkins), Dianne Lee Hart (Terry Kester), and Tain Bodkin (Preacher) Directed by Bill Rebane (#756 - Monster A Go-Go)

Review: 

"I call myself a dyed-in-the-wool Wisconsinte and I just believe this state has so much to offer other filmmakers, especially in locations."

I suppose it made sense to give a proper spotlight to Bill Rebane with his most talked about movie. Born in Latvia, he came to the States at age 15 and majored in drama at the Art Institute of Chicago. He worked a variety of jobs in media from WGN-TV to working in Germany involving Cinemascope and his own circular motion picture process. He also worked as an international studio representative with Bendestorf Studios for several years. He wanted to make a feature film in 1961 and began production on what was to be "Terror at Halfday" with June Travis. You might recognize that the movie did come out...as Monster A Go-Go, since Rebane sold his (not quite complete) footage to Herschell Gordon Lewis, who needed a movie to put on a double feature. Apparently, he felt that his real contribution to the industry was the "first 360-degree motion picture process created with one camera" (which had one projector on a seamless screen), brought over from Germany. Later in the decade, he bought a farm property in Gleason, Wisconsin that became "The Shooting Ranch", an actual feature film studio in the Midwest that could do commercials and small-scale films. Rebane used it to do his first true film with Invasion from Inner Earth (1974). Apparently, the Giant Spider Invasion was made for roughly $300,000 and was shot around the Wisconsin towns of Merrill, Tomahawk and Gleason. The movie apparently made millions of dollars (although it was apparently pirated many, many, many times) and Rebane continued to make horror movies for a time, with one even featuring Tiny Tim as a star. His career effectively ended when he had a stroke in 1988, as the farm soon was sold off and Rebane moved away from the town to Hurley. Did you know that Rebane actually ran for Governor of Wisconsin twice? (1978 and 2002, where he was quoted as not really caring about the results). Rebane has lived long enough to see a film festival (as hosted by people from Mystery Science Theater 3000, no less) held in his honor and even served as the focus of a documentary. Apparently, the movie will have an "enhanced version" to celebrate its 50th anniversary later in the month.

 

Admittedly, you probably have low expectations for a movie that dare to call itself "Giant Spider Invasion". And you would be right. This is a movie that has a Volkswagen beetle used to represent a giant spider (one spider was lifted by crane) to go along with "The Skipper" being cast as a goofy sheriff talking to scientists that are claiming the spiders have arisen from a mini-black hole to go along with a diamond plot, I swear. The movie was written by Richard L. Huff and Robert Easton. Easton is mostly known for his countless years of work as dialogue/accent coach (which led to Rebane motivating him the best way possible: locking him in a cabin to write multiple pages to get food) while Huff apparently never wrote for a movie again. The best thing to say is that at least the crowds that run from the spider at least looked like they had fun doing things. Well, that, and the fact that you need crap like this to remind you of what to appreciate when watching movies and saying they look like slop or find on a streaming service (pity). Honestly, while I get how some people call it one of those "cult following things, I just found it kind of boring and not really that interesting as a movie. Easton being in the movie to play a skeevy husband is at least semi-curious, but the movie clashes way too much with what it wants to be: either attempt to be a monster movie like the 1950s or go all out in humor, but pick one, man. The spiders (whether as a car or the actual tarantulas they used) are only moderately funny to see on screen. This might be one of those movies you watch with The Giant Claw (1957), but at least that movie wanted to try and actually follow procedure in monster mashing (okay that movie had a monster from an "antimatter galaxy"). This movie just meanders for 80 minutes with either skeevy weirdos, a preacher that randomly pops in (and doesn't even get eaten!), totally funny line-delivery or bland authorities. Sure, it is funny to look at the countless times where day-for-night shots are actually screwed up, and sure it is funny to look at the absurd juxtaposition of man and car-spider. That's about all you get. On the other hand: at least when you say the name Bill Rebane, you won't immediately think of worse stuff like Monster A Go-Go. There's a lesson to be had there...probably.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

The Steel Helmet.

Review #2234: The Steel Helmet.

Cast: 

Gene Evans (Sergeant Zack), Robert Hutton (Private Bronte), Steve Brodie (Lieutenant Driscoll), James Edwards (Corporal Thompson), Richard Loo (Sergeant Tanaka), Sid Melton (Joe), Richard Monahan (Private Baldy), William Chun ("Short Round"), Harold Fong (The Red), Neyle Morrow (First GI), and Lynn Stalmaster (Second Lieutenant) Written, Produced, and Directed by Samuel Fuller (#1790 - Park Row)

Review: 

"I hate violence. That has never prevented me from using it in my films. It's part of human nature." - Samuel Fuller

It isn't too surprising that there were a few films made about the war effort in Korea while the war there was occurring, particularly one made by a veteran of the last World War. Samuel Fuller had served in the United States Army within the infantry. He went from working on screenplays to offering his services to direct with I Shot Jesse James (1949), which worked well enough to get him to continue as a director, which led to The Baron of Arizona (1950). With this film, he added producer to his line of credits (each of these first films were produced in some way by Robert L. Lippert). In his autobiography, he stated that he wanted to make a movie different from the usual stuff seen involving war, such as seeing the "genuine hardship of soldiers" to go with the fact that war in its confusion and brutality needed to be shown more so than straight heroism. Fuller cast Evans (an actor who had done only bit parts after returning from U.S. Army after having served as an engineer) on the strength of his actions when he approached for the role: when Fuller tossed an M1 rifle at him, he grabbed it, complete with racking it back when asked to by Fuller. He was kept even when suggestions were made to cast Larry Parks (of course, bigger studios earlier had thought of making it with John Wayne as the lead). Fuller shot exteriors for the film at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. His attempts to show the "organized insanity" that comes in war managed to ruffle feathers on each side (lefty or not), particularly with a visit with Army officials because of certain actions depicted in the film that, well, matched with actual events seen by Fuller, such as the shooting of a prisoner of war. The resulting film was a general hit (incidentally, the war would enter a period of stalemates that lasted until the 1953 ceasefire) that saw Fuller get a contract with 20th Century Fox for a time, for which his next film in Fixed Bayonets! (1951) also was a war film.

What we have is a straight-to-the-point story that manages to achieve the brilliance of looking like a thoughtful movie about the madness that arises in war that struck differently from the angle of the time within budgetary limitations that do more than if it had been a multimillion-dollar film. One gets an honest movie for 85 minutes with a worthwhile ensemble that shows the worry that arises from being packed in such a rough situation without turning it into a mark for eventual ra-ra heroism. In fact, the end of the film merely has a card saying, "There is no end to this story", which one doesn't usually get from their war films. It stokes curiosity for seeing strangers in a strange land rather than just being a mark for patriotism. Of course, they also don't usually see people asked about why they maintained their service even in the face of racism back home (such as the prior internment of Japanese Americans less than ten years prior). Fuller acts on his instincts to make a pulpy war film (dedicated to the U.S. infantry, as seen in the intro) that likely will leave a cutting impression on its viewer after it is finished. It doesn't take long to see the wisdom of having casted Evans (who would feature in a few more Fuller films) when it comes to his naturalistic performance that we follow along with in great interest in its gruff glory from the word go. The melting pot within the people around Evans is a curious one (one even is a conscientious objector) that consisted of actors who either didn't get many chances to get their due that do pretty well, such as the weariness played by Loo (a Hawaiian-born actor with Chinese ancestry that did plenty of stock roles) and Edwards. The bond of Evans and Chun is a curious one because of how each fit in the loosest of senses with the others, particularly since most of it is spent in a Buddhist temple with tension bubbling among these strangers that probably match the quote stated best in the film involving two kinds of soldiers, "those who are dead and those who are going to die." Aside from its partial time with Fong, one is mostly here with these shaky band of brothers before that fateful climax (as skillfully done with a handful of extras in a park) that drifts to a sobering conclusion for those who survive as opposed to the ones that did not get killed that day. As such, this is a worthwhile hard-nosed war film that rises above expectations with a useful cast and director all working in stride that results in an honest winner.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

The Wild World of Batwoman.

Review #1928: The Wild World of Batwoman.

Cast: 

Katherine Victor (Batwoman), George Andre (Professor G. Octavius Neon), Steve Brodie (Jim Flanagan), Richard Banks (Rat Fink), Steve Conte (Bruno), Mel Oshins (Tiger), Bruno VeSota (Seltzer), Bob Arbogast (Voice of the Spirits in Séance), and Lloyd Nelson (Heathcliff) Written, Produced, and Directed by Jerry Warren.

Review: 

You may or may not know about Jerry Warren. Well, he was a California native that wanted to get into the film business, and he even appeared in a handful of small parts in films of the 1940s. He became a filmmaker with Man Beast (1956), which he directed and produced. He would direct a couple of his own films before deciding to just simply buy and distribute films made internationally with re-editing (such as 1959's Space Invasion of Lapland). This was his penultimate feature, as Warren did one further film as director and producer of Frankenstein Island (1981) after spending the time between films on his ranch; in total, Warren was involved as director in some capacity (full or in segments) for eleven films. Katherine Victor had worked with Warren on films such as Teenage Zombies (1959) and Curse of the Stone Hand (1965). She was promised a movie with better production values to be made in color with her own boat. Bruno VeSota called the film script as "like memorizing a telephone book with pages picked at random". DC Comics sued Warren for "copyright infringement", since you know, the movie was made to try and capitalize on the Batman craze that happened with the 1966 series, but the lawsuit was won by Warren; he later released the film as She Was a Hippy Vampire. The film re-uses footage from No Time to Kill (1959) and The Mole People (1956), and you even get to see the batgirls get mated with mole people...nah, just kidding. 

Victor has a costume all by herself: a bat insignia with cardboard cutout that is outlined in pencil and filled in with black eyeliner that is right on her chest to go along with a leotard, a domino mask, and feathers. You can see the enthusiasm on her face at being in a movie with no boat or the semblance of being anything other than incomprehensible. Incidentally, she served as a continuity director (among other roles) on a handful of animated films and cartoons released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, which probably means that any cartoon that she was a part of in some form was automatically better than this film. Hell, she could have done as little as provide someone with a piece of paper, and boom, that means she did more to making a useful product than what she does here. This is the kind of movie with "synthetic" vampires that drink smoothies for the introduction and wrist radios for the "Batgirls" that must deal with the acquisition of an "Atomic Hearing Aid". You get to see a seance to try and find the device that ends up seeing a "Chinese" spirit interrupting the ceremony. I think dubbing the film would almost make the film something worth understanding. At any rate, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew also covered the film. 70 minutes of mildly boring entertainment that may or may not work in the realm of subdued surreal crapfests, one where you can see a director-writer-producer-editor mishandle each category. You get to see an actor do a crappy attempt at an accent while playing a mad scientist. You get to see a bunch of dancing and a plot that moves like jello and feels like kitsch in all of the worst ways. In other words: things happen, and you just have to make sure you don't fall asleep when it ends in a mishmash of words. The fact that the movie managed to garner a 0 rating is not even a surprise, because giving the movie credit for anything seems like a bridge too far. Lousy acting, lousy action, lousy from top to bottom is the best way to describe the film. One can only wonder what other "films" came from Jerry Warren that could possibly top this one in rancid quality.

Overall, I give it 0 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Warrior of the Lost World.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Review #1899: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Cast: 

Paul Hubschmid (Professor Tom Nesbitt), Paula Raymond (Lee Hunter), Cecil Kellaway (Dr. Thurgood Elson), Kenneth Tobey (Colonel Jack Evans), Donald Woods (Captain Phil Jackson), Ross Elliott (George Ritchie), Steve Brodie (Sgt. Loomis), Jack Pennick (Jacob Bowman), Michael Fox (ER doctor), Lee Van Cleef (Corporal Jason Stone), and Frank Ferguson (Dr. Morton) Directed by Eugène Lourié.

Review: 

The creature feature is a fun one to think about in the Atomic Age, considering that you had films that ranged from ones attacking Tokyo to ones involving irradiated ants or octopuses. Sure, there were movies you might call "monster movies" beforehand such as The Lost World (1925) or King Kong (1933), but you have to consider how the dawn of nuclear paranoia with the 1950s made for a whole new element of creature terror, primarily as B-productions...and this one came in 1953, before Godzilla (1954) and others of its ilk.  The film is loosely based on the short story "The Fog Horn", written by Ray Bradbury (you may remember Bradbury as the writer of numerous short stories and novels such as Fahrenheit 451). That story involved a lighthouse with a horn that attracts the attention of a lone sea monster. The studio bought the rights to the story when the screenplay was in development, probably because of the lingering similarities between sea monster and creature from beneath the sea (besides, who wouldn't want to say they were based on a Bradbury work?). The screenplay was done by Fred Freiberger, Eugène Lourié, Louis Morheim, and Robert Smith. The career of its director is a bit fascinating. This was the debut of Lourie, who directed just three more films after this one: The Colossus of New York (1958), The Giant Behemoth (1959), and Gorgo (1961). The Russian-born Frenchman was first inspired by film when he saw his first cinema theater in 1911 as a six-year-old, and he even appeared as a bit player in films starting in 1919. By the 1930s, he would do work as an art director that spanned numerous directors such as Jean Renoir and Clint Eastwood. Of course, he noted later in life that he was typecast as a director of science fiction because of his work with this film (incidentally, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects on Krakatoa, East of Java in 1969).

Incidentally, Bradbury was a long-time friend of Ray Harryhausen. The Los Angeles native had an interest in animation since seeing King Kong (1933) numerous times, and he would study at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California to hone skills in arts and sculpture. He would get a chance to work with his mentor Willis O'Brien as a technician on effects with the Academy Award awardee Mighty Joe Young (1949). When it came time for Fathoms, Harryhausen would get his first chance to do a film with himself in charge that saw him pioneering "Dynamation". The process required split-screen, rear projection, multiple pieces of glass between camera and screen with paint to black out the part that are meant to be in front of the creature required to be seen before using one that blackens out the reverse of the first glass. This required less building of miniatures that were apparent for stop-motion that could have a bit more interaction between creatures and actors. In total, Harryhausen would use the process for fifteen films from 1953 to 1981 as one of the most distinct effects people of the last half-century.

For an 80-minute movie made for roughly $200,000 (as produced by former Monogram associates in Jack Dietz and Hal E. Chester that saw distribution by Warner Bros.), it was a clear-cut success with audiences. It is a fun movie in its construction that pulls off spectacle with careful patience that never sells out for simply being a mash movie with no substance to it. Any movie that takes a little bit of time to cover how a nuclear weapons test goes. Sure, the actors aren't exactly doing stand-out performances, but making sure to not look goofy in the face of what is meant to be refreshing entertainment is something to give credit to, particularly since a handful of the actors were part of other monster movies besides being usual veterans of the screen, such as Tobey or Elliott. Hubschmid makes a solid lead in trying to make others believe a monster lurks while Kellaway works his charm in the "let's capture it alive" type to go with a soothing Raymond. They keep the edges at a fairly rounded level to make the scenarios work, whether that involves sharpshooting isotopes or trying to make people believe a monster exists. The effects are dazzling and effective in the moments required in making a capable threat, one seen terrorizing streets and even a lighthouse and rollercoaster ride with believability. My favorite part is the idea that the people can shoot the creature, which works for them shooting a hole in it before they find that the blood coming out from it is getting people really sick. That's one interesting way to have a scary monster that moves on four legs, one that can snatch police officers and chomp them and also get you sick if someone tries shooting holes in it. With a smooth monster, it is no wonder how this movie worked so well with audiences, because it is a fair treat that fit its era like a glove, pulling off entertainment with resourceful craftmanship fit for everyone.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Home of the Brave (1949).

Review #1797: Home of the Brave.

Cast: 

Jeff Corey (Doctor), James Edwards (Private Peter Moss), Lloyd Bridges (Finch), Douglas Dick (Major Robinson), Frank Lovejoy (Sergeant Mingo), Steve Brodie (T.J. Everett), and Cliff Clark (Colonel Baker) Directed by Mark Robson.

Review:

1949 was an interesting year for showing Black Americans. A quartet of features came out with varying levels of interest from Hollywood in telling an interesting story involving African Americans that differed from previous years (i.e. roles percieved as demeaning): Intruder in the Dust (1949), Lost Boundaries (1949), Pinky (1949), and this film. The first film was a crime drama adaptation of a William Faulkner novel, while the second one was based on a nonfiction account of a doctor who had passed for white in the 1930s/1940s, and the third was a drama adaptation incolving a woman passing for white that finds purpose in the South while re-claiming her identity. It should be mentioned, of course, that the latter two featured white actors in the starring roles. Home of the Brave (1949) does not do that here, if only because it is a film with a small cast that utilizes James Edwards with enough screen time to essentially make him the star focus in a medical war drama, filmed on modest sets over the course of a month.  The film is adapted from the 1945 play of the same name, which had been written by Arthur Laurents. He had served in the United States Army under the Pictoral Service. While the play did not run well with audiences to merit a long run, critics liked it and its themes of friendship, loyalty, and dealing with antisemitism. Producer Stanley Kramer latched onto making a film about the play, although it was the decision of screenwriter Carl Foreman to change the main character from being a Jewish person to an African American in an attempt to avoid comparisons to recent films such as 1947's Gentlemen's Agreement and Crossfire (ironically, that movie only had a theme of racism/anti-Semitism because the novel's theme of homophobia was not allowed to be shown for a film). Mark Robson had started directing with Val Lewton's unit at RKO Radio Pictures in 1943 before he directed Foreman's script in Champion (1949).

Of course, one thing that seemed to slip by at the time was the fact that the U.S. Army was segregated until 1948. At any rate, I should not be surprised that Kramer and Foreman were behind this film, because they would do another film involving the plight of recovering from the scars of war with The Men (that film dealt with paralyzed veterans as opposed to psychoanalysis), particularly when stuff like The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was an audience favorite. Atbany rate, this film ended up being a modest success by making over $2.5 million. This was the first starring role for James Edwards (who had appeared in The Set-Up earlier in the year); the Indiana native had studied psychology at Knoxville College before moving onto Northwestern University in drama, and he served in the Army as a first lieutenant. While it ended up being his most well-known role, Edwards would appear in over two dozen feature films while also writing a number of books before his untimely death in 1970 at the age of 51. Edwards proves to be the highlight of the film, wrapped with encompassing sensitivity and tension that doesn't buckle when with a crowd (read: group of five). Basically, he makes a solid lead to follow with for a war movie with semi-effective accuracy in trying to draw raw emotion onto the screen when it comes to treating folks the way one wants to be treated (particularly in war). Bridges is the warmest presence around the group (as one would expect from a sentimental favorite), but he still pulls attention without soft depth, at least when compared to the hard nosed guys like Lovejoy or the heavy in Brodie. Corey makes a decent figure in the "analysis" parts, which don't drag the film longer than it needs to go in flashback before its 88 minute runtime is up. One could see why this certainly seemed more fitting for the stage than film (setting aside one character reading poetry at times), but it manages to be just entertaining enough with its sense of interest in making a worthwhile hard-hitting story that doesnt fall prey to soapbox moments. Among a year filled with attempts at telling different stories involving African Americans, this is a solid winner that tackles prejudice with dutiful conviction and a solid lead in Edwards to make it work.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars. 

Next Time: No Way Out (1950)

Donovan's Brain.

Review #1094: Donovan's Brain.

Cast: 
Lew Ayres (Dr. Patrick Cory), Nancy Davis (Janice Cory), Gene Evans (Dr. Frank Schratt), Steve Brodie (Yocum), Tom Powers (Donovan's Washington Advisor), Lisa Howard (Chloe Donovan), James Anderson (Chief Tuttle), Victor Sutherland (Nathaniel Fuller), Michael Colgan (Tom Donovan), and Peter Adams (Mr. Webster) Directed by Felix E. Feist (#723 - The Threat)

Review: 
Independently made by Dowling Productions (with distribution from United Artists, Donovan's Brain is based off the novel of the same name by Curt Siodmak, who you may recognize as the writer behind films such as The Wolf Man (1941) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943). The novel had already been adapted into a film before by Republic Pictures as The Lady and the Monster (1944), with a radio drama adaptation on the CBS Radio program Suspense featuring Orson Welles being transmitted that same year. Another adaptation occurred in 1962 named The Brain. 

In any case, this is a movie that banks on you being invested into its concept of a megalomaniac brain for its 83 minute run-time. Unfortunately, I don't think the film is entirely successful in its goal, falling just short at both science fiction and horror, although it is certainly average enough to be harmless. The best thing that I can say is that this is a pretty competent movie, not one to insult the intelligence of the viewer with any sort of overwhelming junk - for the most part. The exposition parts are fairly familiar, but the movie doesn't bungle that up too much. Ayres plays the scientist role fairly okay, but it is his scenes under the control of the brain where the film is a bit more interesting, in part because of his mannerisms when acting as the title character. It isn't so much overacting as just a bit of scenery chewing that is certainly energetically amusing. Davis is okay for the material that she is given, but it proves to make a character that isn't too interesting to really follow with, at least for me anyway. Evans fares a bit better, albeit with a marginal amount of meaningful time on screen to make this role slightly interesting to watch and how it stands out a bit from the other two. The rest of the cast is okay, with Brodie's sneaky reporter role being a fair standout. I can't fault the movie for trying to have some faithfulness with the novel it is made from, but I really do wonder if the book was more interesting with its premise than the film presented here, particularly since that one apparently ended with some sort of mental battle. Maybe if we actually saw more of Donovan than just being told of his miserly ways (not counting the brain sequences) or even saw his offspring more often, then there would be something a bit more interesting. The shots involving the lab room and the brain are fairly nice, and the movie as a whole is decent to look at, with credit going to cinematographer Joseph Biroc. It's a film that doesn't fall too much into being corny nor too much into being creepy, falling in the middle. All in all, this is a fairly average movie that won't be a tremendous waste of your time. It won't be anybody's favorite film even for 1953 (with its quality being more akin to stuff like Cat-Women of the Moon (#668) or Spaceways (#833), basically), being hit or miss with getting enough satisfaction with its premise and execution, but if you are curious about it, I can't really blame you for doing so.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Crossfire.

Review #715: Crossfire.

Cast
Robert Young (Captain Finlay), Robert Mitchum (Sgt. Peter Keeley), Robert Ryan (Montgomery), Gloria Grahame (Ginny Tremaine), Paul Kelly (Mr. Tremaine), Sam Levene (Joseph Samuels), Jacqueline White (Mary Mitchell), Steve Brodie (Floyd Bowers), and George Cooper (Cpl. Arthur Mitchell) Directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Review
For some of you reading this at home, a b-movie refers to a movie that was low-budget, or a movie that wasn't exactly promoted as the marquee for a studio's year, though b-movies could also be profitable, given that they were fast and cheap to make and screen to theaters, ranging from science fiction to westerns, while used as part of a double feature. Ah, a film noir. But it is not so much a film noir as it is a comment on perception of others and how hatred sometimes meshes with that perception, with deadly results like this film. It's a quick movie, but it's a movie that knows what it wants to do, and it succeeds at being an effective look into people and prejudice. Young and Mitchum are good at chemistry in regards to solving the case, and the time they have on screen together is riveting. For a movie that has few characters, Crossfire manages to be engaging and compelling enough to watch to the end, to the inevitable conclusion, though at least it's a movie that tries to deliver a message while being quick and enjoyable. Whether it succeeds at being engaging is up to the viewer, but it does in my book. And I avoided making references to the board game Crossfire for the entirety of the review, which I guess is surprising. As for the movie, I'd recommend it for anyone looking to watch late 40's cinema with a touch of noir.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.