Munster, Go Home!

Review #1727: Munster, Go Home! 

Cast: 

Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster), Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster), Al Lewis (Grandpa), Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster), Debbie Watson (Marilyn Munster), Terry-Thomas (Freddie Munster), Hermione Gingold (Lady Effigie Munster), Robert Pine (Roger Moresby), John Carradine (Cruikshank), Bernard Fox (Squire Lester Moresby), and Richard Dawson (Joey) Directed by Earl Bellamy.

Review: 

To crib from cliché, remember The Munsters? Oh, I'm sure at least one of you is familiar with the television show, one that premiered (and ended) over a half century ago. But hey, a recap wouldn't hurt, particularly from someone who found themselves watching each of the 70 episodes of the show a year ago. The show ran from September 24, 1964 to May 12, 1966 on CBS. It was created by Allan Burns and Chris Hayward (who each had served as writers on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show), who had submitted the idea to Universal Studios; Norm Liebman and Ed Haas were then tasked to write a pilot script, while Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher (creators of Leave It To Beaver) were producers. Perhaps it was a coincidence that a sitcom with tinges of the macabre aired right at the same time as another sitcom involving a family with the macabre aired with The Addams Family. Of course, this is a show involving ordinary folks in suburban life that just happen to look like monsters, so who knows in a decade that had plenty of interesting premises. In any case, right around the time of the second season, plans for a film were begun by Universal, who undoubtedly wanted to cash in on introducing the characters to a wider audience (i.e. folks outside the States that had not watched it yet - by the time the series ended its second and final season there were 70 episodes); production for the film began shortly after the end of the production of the series, and it was shot over the course of a month in Hollywood, complete in Technicolor (perhaps it is ironic that one factor attributed to the end of the show was the arrival of a campy competitor series in Technicolor with Batman). Tasked to write the film was Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher, George Tibbles, and Earl Bellamy (the latter three had written several episodes on the show while the latter directed seven episodes). 

The movie was not a major success at the time, but at least it can be said that the series managed to live on in syndication, and a reunion film and sequel series came about in the 1980s; attempts at re-booting the Munsters has persisted for over a decade (with the latest attempt being one directed by Rob Zombie). Honestly, I have mixed feelings about the show (one that attracted my interest because, well, how many TV shows think to do a sitcom with monster makeup?), one that was mildly effective with its attempts at, well, being a sitcom with campy values that had a bunch of puns and gags that came and went (one involving the only non-monster character being thought of as the ugly duckling, ha-ha, huh?). Honestly, the middling quality of the film is not a surprise to those who had watched the show, as if the only difference is not having a laugh track to help with chuckles. Perhaps comparing it to Batman '66 is unfair, but honestly that show seemed to do better with generating good natured humor in regard to how it took its situations with tongue-in-cheek nature, with its theatrical adaptation being just as interesting to watch on the big screen as it was on TV. To me, this is a thin plot that just happens to be 96 minutes long (weirdly enough, its failure influenced the makers behind Get Smart to not do a feature, instead turning the script into a three-part episode). Of course, this is like criticizing a tree for having a few dead branches - the tree does what it does, and it takes a fair eye to appreciate it. To its credit, one knows that the main group does their finest with keeping things on level, mostly with Gwynne (good natured despite plenty of makeup), De Carlo (the tying force), and Lewis (basically playing himself). There isn't a moment where they seem bored with what they are doing, and they each share little interesting moments that will draw a smile for those familiar with these folks (incidentally, they would reprise their roles one more time together with the TV film The Munsters Revenge 15 years later); the sequence between Gwynne and Lewis bumbling around the house looking for the supposed secret of the house is probably the best part of the film, complete with a quiet De Carlo sharing time with a bucket. Patrick has less to do than usual for the film, unless one counts "sleeping in the cupboard" as a thing. Watson replaced Pat Priest in a move felt to boost the then teenaged actress with the studio. She does okay, mostly because the role is quite ordinary to begin with, sharing time with Pine with very okay qualities. Terry-Thomas does fine as the key new face, making his cad presence known for fair chuckles to go with Gingold. Carradine, who, in a habit of being in anything, had actually appeared on the show a few times before, rounds out the cast with his usual lumbering presence within a face full of makeup that I'm sure folks familiar with him will appreciate in their own way. As a whole, my quibbles on the show should not affect the curiosity one can have with the film as a whole, since anyone who cares for the show will find a worthy time to spend here, one that has a few chuckles with a familiar group of folks that makes for a curious sight. There is just enough to sneak by without too many eye rolls (intentionally, anyway), and I suppose that should be just enough for those who are with what the movie wants to do in simple chuckle times with folks who look like creatures.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars. 

McLintock!

Review #1414: McLintock!

Cast: 
John Wayne (George Washington McLintock), Maureen O'Hara (Katherine McLintock), Patrick Wayne (Devlin Warren), Stefanie Powers (Becky McLintock), Jack Kruschen (Jake Birnbaum), Chill Wills (Drago), Yvonne De Carlo (Louise Warren), Jerry Van Dyke (Matt Douglas Jr), Edgar Buchanan (Bunny Dull), Perry Lopez (Davey Elk), Strother Martin (Agard), and Gordon Jones (Matt Douglas) Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.

Review: 
“The only one who could stand up to my father, and stand toe-to-toe with my father, and match him in everything.”

It never hurts to make a film that fit into numerous genres. In this case, why not have both a Western and a comedy? With famed stars in Wayne and O'Hara, who could go wrong? At the helm for the film was Andrew V. McLaglen, a British-born American director that grew up with his father Victor (a prolific character actor in numerous John Ford films, where he won an Academy Award for The Informer in 1935) around films, and he eventually found work for himself such as production assistance and assistant directing, with one notable film credit being The Quiet Man (1952, where he did the latter category). In 1956, he started his career in directing, doing Gun the Man Down while also starting work in television with programs such as Gunsmoke and Have Gun - Will Travel, and he directed over 90 episodes of each show over the course of nine and six years respectively. McLaglen would direct a variety of subjects over the course of 35 years in film and television (ranging from Western to war films) with a variety of stars like Wayne (who he would work with five times), James Stewart (four times), and Roger Moore (three times). Familiarity is the name of the game when it comes to this film, since James Edward Grant (who wrote several films with Wayne in them, such as The Alamo) served as writer for a film that was inspired by William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; Wayne acts alongside his third son while having his eldest son serve as producer and this was the fourth of five Wayne-O'Hara films, which were noted for their clear chemistry between their stars. One shouldn't forget about O'Hara in all of this, a figure of the Hollywood Golden Age that came from Ireland and theater acting at a young age to stardom in a variety of genres such as Westerns, melodramas, and adventure films. Speaking of actors nicknamed the "Queen of Technicolor", De Carlo (star of film and future star on television) was given a role in the film because of Wayne's sympathy in light of her husband being permanently crippled while doing stunt-work on How the West Was Won (1963, which had Wayne as star).

While the film is certainly a bit different from the usual Wayne fare, he also made this film as a way to express his belief (and disapproval) on certain topics, where his character yearns to tame both his wife and the West at the same time. There are quite a few moments of amusement within a story that moves at its own careful pace of 127 minutes, one with a casual story rather than tension that takes a familiar story to make a controlled film that sticks out from the usual Wayne experience without becoming a parody of itself. This is a film with a climax involving a paddling with a coal scuttle shovel, after all. The mud brawl proves to be a big highlight, one with plenty of fist-fighting and amusement, complete with the usage of bentonite (a type of clay that looks like syrup) for mud. Wayne seems to be having a fine time here, a clear-cut blunt performance that has a sense of honesty and humor without becoming too obvious about it. One can see the chemistry between him and O'Hara even when he's drunkenly falling down the stairs with her, really. O'Hara makes for a fiery presence with her own sense of humor that makes for plenty of smiles with those expressive eyes. The younger Wayne and Powers prove a fair pairing with others and themselves, while Kruschen, Wills and De Carlo provide capable careful chuckles that resonate with the trappings of the plot. There isn't the usual villain to make a showdown, but at least there are adversarial presences to drive things (however obvious things get). In the long run, this is a fair little mixture of Western and comedy, buoyed by Wayne, O'Hara and company to make a useful time worth having, particularly since it is readily available in the public domain (bless those failures to copyright) for anyone to stoke their curiosity in familiar territory for all in the 1960s.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.