20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ~ For a kid, tales of Jules Verne, and especially Captain Nemo, just fire the imagination, and this film has always been a grail for me in this way. I of course had read the books, but I had seen the movie Mysterious Island, with its great Ray Harryhausen effects, first, with Nemo as a peripheral character and yet so large - I wanted more. When I finally saw the 1954 Disney version of the real Nemo saga, I was thrilled.

Originally imagined as an animated feature over a decade before, Walt Disney eventually decided to make the move to live-action with this story, investing much in special effects, and winning Academy Awards for the effort. Coupled with an all-star cast - James Mason, Peter Lorre, and Kirk Douglas - this was a sure-fire hit, although the truth is it took several re-issues to get its money back. Either way, it remains a pinnacle of the genre, inspiring generations, just as the source material of Jules Verne did.

I got the chance to see this on the big screen recently at the 2016 TCM Classic Cruise, and it was introduced by Craig Barron and Ben Burtt, two of the men behind the special effects on the Star Wars movies, who were also spurred by this film to become the SPFX wizards they are today. The boys gave a 30-minute presentation about the making of the film, the special effects, and the miniatures, which was fantastic, featuring footage from the Disney vaults never before seen.

The cast is simply stunning, with James Mason as the prototypical Bond villain a good decade before they really hit the screen, as Captain Nemo. The camaraderie between Douglas and Lorre, and Douglas and Esmeralda the seal too, as a matter of fact make this a buddy movie before its time as well. Kirk Douglas' Ned Land is flamboyant, loud, and lovable, and we do love him, and root for this hero throughout the movie. We love him so much that the wonderfully addictive and simultaneously obnoxious "Whale of a Tale" song is even excusable. You will be humming it for days after seeing it.

Highly recommended, a classic Disney adventure that we have rarely seen since.

The Raven

The Raven ~ Vincent Price was my gateway drug to Edgar Allan Poe. I remember in tenth grade, Mr. Tomasello apparently didn't like teaching English all that much and we had movie days pretty often. Perhaps it had to do with him being in charge of the A/V department or perhaps he just needed naps, but we had movie days a lot. Trust me, no one minded, and sometimes we really dug what was shown. Case in point, Price and Poe.

Vincent Price did these terrific, dramatic, and scary readings of Poe stories. The movies were just him, a dark background, and the mad words of Poe. The most dynamic was "The Tell-Tale Heart" and I'm pretty sure there was also "The Cask of Amontillado," and a third lost to the ages, perhaps it was even "The Raven." No matter my memory, I loved it, that I do remember.

That said, I've never been much of a fan of the Hammer horrors, at least not the remakes of Universal monsters, but the Poe stuff is so much fun. Seeing The Raven with Roger Corman on the TCM Classic Cruise would be the first time I'd seen it since a long lost Saturday afternoon horror feature decades before. I couldn't wait.

Robert Osborne interviewed Roger for a few minutes before the showing of the film. They talked of the difficulties of dealing with Peter Lorre who winged it as an actor and constantly ad-libbed and Boris Karloff who was always on script. As far as the rest of the cast, it included an extraordinarily young Jack Nicholson and Vincent Price, who, to paraphrase Corman, could do anything. The director got everyone to a happy medium.

The decision, after a few serious horror adaptations of Poe to do a comedy horror like The Raven. Corman felt he'd played all the horror out of Poe, and went in another direction. Based on the middle tale of Tales of Terror, also comedic, he felt it would work. They also talked about The Terror, which was created and filmed in just a matter of days because Corman still had time with the sets of The Raven. Oh, that Corman ingenuity!

The Raven begins and ends with that amazing Vincent Price recital of "The Raven" but the story has bits from the poem, mixed in with a tale rival sorcerers, culminating in a magic duel that, while long, puts similar magician's duels - like in Disney's The Sword in the Stone - to shame. The mad limited special effects are marvelous. Richard Matheson provided the script under Corman's direction. This was a lot of fun. Now I want to go back and watch all the other Corman/Poe flicks!

Quicksand!

Quicksand ~ I bet you never knew Mickey Rooney made a film noir, did you? This lost flick from 1950 stars Rooney as a good old American kid, almost a grown up Andy Hardy without the smarts who wants to take a flashy girl, played by Jeanne Cagney (Jimmy's sister), out and impress her. He sneaks twenty bucks from the register at work, fully intending to return it the next day, and chaos ensues. She's not the innocent girl she seems, and is involved in shady dealings, including the creepy and fearsome Peter Lorre who runs the local arcade.

Though for the most part forgotten, this is a pure example of film noir, as our mostly innocent protagonist falls deeper and deeper into a criminal whirlpool of quicksand, thus the title. Taken from Cornell Woolrich story and deftly played by the cast, this film was also one of the first to feature product placement - keep an eye out for Pepsi and Bit-O-Honey.

Quicksand does have two failings, and they're not all that bad, and of course I'm excluding the, er, intriguing fashion of the time. It suffers from the Woody Woodpecker syndrome of "None of this would have happened if only he'd gone to the police in the first place." Also, it's hard to ever forget that Mickey Rooney is anybody other than Mickey Rooney. Still, it's an intriguing time capsule, and a great lost film noir.

20,000 Leagues Under Turok

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ~ The 1952 Disney version is by far the best and most entertaining of this Jules Verne classic. I love the classic Disney opening with the book opening just like their animated films, even though this was their first live action film. Seeing Kirk Douglas sing “Whale of a Tale” is worth watching all by itself. Douglas and James Mason as Captain Nemo make this one rock. It does swerve into True Life Adventure territory from time to time and gets preachy in some places (as in the book) but this is still one of the best. I love Douglas’ comment about Peter Lorre’s eyes looking like soft-boiled eggs. One note about the closed-captioning on TCM however – it’s very streamlined, changing the dialogue slightly for time, and it didn’t make me very happy. Otherwise this is a great flick.

The Enchanted Cottage ~ Perhaps one of the greatest love stories ever filmed, this 1944 remake was originally written by Arthur Pinero to give hope and inspiration to soldiers who had been wounded in the first World War. It’s a magical film, and I watch it every time it airs. Heartily recommended.

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver ~ Despite the fact that they are missing at least one if not more worlds that Gulliver visited this is still a pretty entertaining flick. The highlights include a wonderful score by Bernard Herrmann and not enough effects by Ray Harryhausen. Enjoyable for kids for than adults.

Turok: Son of Stone ~ Turok first began as a Dell Comics hero back in 1954, and began a rocky (pun unintended) journey through several other comics companies, like Gold Key, and later Valiant and Acclaim. The character has long achieved cult status eventually leading the property to become a video game and now, a direct-to-DVD movie. Always a reliable formula, Turok was a Native American warrior who stumbles upon a land inhabited by dinosaurs, hilarity ensues. Yes, Turok is a great character and it’s a shame that he’s pretty much wasted here. The animation is much the same simple stuff seen in the recent Marvel DVD features, no frills stuff. About all I can recommend here is the excellent score by James Venable which is superb.

The Maltese Falcon

NEAR PERFECT

A Video Review of The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

The third screen version from 1941 of Dashiell Hammett’s "The Maltese Falcon" is quite possibly the best film noir ever made. Not only is director John Huston’s screenplay nearly word for word identical to the novel the film has a nearly perfect ensemble cast.

The famous story involves private investigator Sam Spade on the track of both his partner’s killer and an elusive jeweled statuette called the Maltese Falcon. Where the 1941 version succeeds over its predecessors is in the casting. Hammett’s work is about off the wall, colorful characters that just weren’t properly brought to life previously.

Humphrey Bogart is Sam Spade. He plays it with a cynical disconnection almost giving the effect of not actually living his life but watching and enjoying the ride. The female lead is Mary Astor one of the few actresses to make the leap between silents and talkies successfully. Her Brigid O’Shaughnessy isn’t as tough as she should be but still exquisitely done.

The skill demonstrated here is immaculate. Gladys George as Spade’s partner’s sexy wife Iva, Barton MacLane as big time prick Dundy, Peter Lorre in one of his most famous roles as Joel Cairo - all wonderful and flawless in their parts. I didn’t care much for Lee Patrick as Effie but that’s just my personal preference. I found her foxy but unconvincing at times, not as charming as previous Effies.

The parade doesn’t stop there. Sydney Greenstreet is the sinister fat man Kaspar Gutman perhaps his most memorable role, Ward Bond famous for TV’s "Wagon Train" plays amiable cop Tom Polhaus and film noir veteran Elisha Cook Jr. known as Hollywood’s lightest heavy is the decidedly evil Wilmer Cook. Blink and you’ll miss the director’s dad Walter as Captain Jacoby. As I said this is a perfect ensemble cast.

It’s rare that such a combination of perfect script and cast happens but when they do it’s a joy. Add in the beautifully fitting score by legendary composer Adolph Deutsch and you’ve got possibly one of the best film noirs ever made and probably one of the best of that decade. 1941’s The Maltese Falcon is a masterpiece.