Hypnotised ...

IPNOSI (HYPNOSIS) 1962 (or DUMMY OF DEATH). An ingenious little thriller (directed by Eugenio Martin) which is a nice discovery and also showcases that young Jean Sorel ...(lots more on him at Jean Sorel label)

As usual my pal Melvelvit summarises it nicely over at IMDB: "Hypnotist's assistant Eric Stein (Jean Sorel) is in love with his boss Han's (Massimo Serrato) fiancée Marta (Eleanora Rossi Drago) and secretly sends her roses every opening night. Chris (Götz George), the guy delivering the flowers, is also an amateur boxer down on his luck and takes advantage of an empty dressing room to steal the trio's bankroll but he's caught by Hans who gets knocked out during a brief struggle. Eric finds the unconscious Hans and bashes his head in with a cane before calling for help as the act's ventriloquist dummy, Grog, seems to look on. The police track Chris to his sister Carmen and chase him out onto a ledge where he saves a detective from falling before fleeing into the night. Now hiding out with his boxing buddies, Chris asks Carmen to help him find the real killer while Marta has a breakdown and the only witness to the crime, Grog, disappears...

The next murder comes as a surprise and what follows is reminiscent of PSYCHO with one sibling searching for another who's already dead in a surprisingly suspenseful black & white crime thriller with some supernatural touches. The film's also a forerunner of the Italian horror sub-genre later known as Giallo, some of which even starred that handsome devil Jean Sorel, a little league Alain Delon".
There is also a VERTIGO touch as the tough police guy (Heinz Drach) on the case follows Chris out on to a high window ledge and is left dangling by his fingers as the fugitive goes to rescue him - who will fall? In this case neither as the cop is saved, then knocked out by the fugitive who flees into the night, giving the cop another reason to find him before the real killer does - thats just the first of many thrills and spills here, Sorel shines as another villain, as in his CHAIR DE POULE the next year - Sorel/French labels.

1960 !

A thread on The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) on 1960 unleashed a torrent of memories:

1960 - what a year to have been 14 and "deeper into movies". Looking at it retrospectively now I am firmly in the PSYCHO and L'AVVENTURA camp (though I did not see the latter until years later) as the two most important films of the year, ushering in the new modern world (both of course feature a woman who goes missing and the people searching for her....)



So the major ones that year for me are: The 10 Big Ones:

PSYCHO
L'AVVENTURA
LA DOLCE VITA
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS
PLEIN SOLEIL [I was entranced by that cool European style, and Delon and Laforet]
WILD RIVER [ditto Lee Remick]
THE APARTMENT
SPARTACUS
A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (BREATHLESS)
PEEPING TOM.

Lots of solid middlebrow entertainment:

SONS AND LOVERS
TWO WOMEN [Sophia at her peak]
NEVER ON SUNDAY
ELMER GANTRY
LETS MAKE LOVE
THE UNFORGIVEN
EXODUS
NORTH TO ALASKA [a favourite!]
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
WHERE THE BOYS ARE
THE CROWDED SKY
THE TIME MACHINE
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON [great fun]
POLLYANNA [how we loved that in Ireland!]
BUTTERFIELD 8
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
BRIDES OF DRACULA
SINK THE BISMARCK
THE ENTERTAINER
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
TUNES OF GLORY
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN
THE SUNDOWNERS [Mitch and Kerr were so ideally perfect here, again]
THE GRASS IS GREENER
CIMARRON
THE LOST WORLD.

I suppose THE ALAMO should be included too among the year's hits, and I also liked Blake Edwards' HIGH TIME where rich Bing Crosby goes back to college, and rooms with Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld!

It was certainly the year for call girls - apart from Elizabeth and Melina (NEVER ON SUNDAY) there were also

Gina Lollobrigida - GO NAKED IN THE WORLD (high class call girl falls for Tony Franciosa but his powerful father - Ernest Borgnine, an ex-client of hers, has other ideas...)

Nancy Kwan - THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG

Anne Francis - GIRL OF THE NIGHT (downbeat indie film)

and award-winning Shirley Jones in ELMER GANTRY.

Adultery in suburbia was covered in Quine's STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET, with Kim Novak at her zenith.

It may have been Sophia Loren's best year: apart from the success of TWO WOMEN, she was also in Cukor's charming western HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS, plus THE MILLIONAIRESS with Peter Sellers' Indian doctor, with Gable in his second last film IT STARTED IN NAPLES which is still a charmer, and the under-rated A BREATH OF SCANDAL which I liked a lot.

Brigitte Bardot acted in LA VERITE, and Ingmar Bergman provided the austere THE VIRGIN SPRING, while Stanley Kramer inflicted the ponderous INHERIT THE WIND on us, and John Ford provided a good late western SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.

Donen's ONCE MORE WITH FEELING showcased Kay Kendall in her last role, she had died in 1959.

There were 2 Minnelli's: another hothouse melodrama HOME FROM THE HILL, and the under-rated musical BELLS ARE RINGING, Judy Holliday's last appearance.

Elvis was back from the army in GI BLUES and FLAMING STAR.

For those who like that kind of thing: Jerry Lewis as THE BELLBOY.

Some ghastly musicals were Fox's CAN-CAN and Columbia's all-star PEPE, and the Rat Pack played around in OCEAN'S 11.

One that did not work at all was Lumet's too highbrow THE FUGITIVE KIND, though Brando, Magnani and Woodward should have generated some box office .... despite playing what seemed like caricatures of themselves.

and for Trash you can't beat MGM and Arthur Freed for THE SUBTERRANEANS, their sanitised version of Jack Kerouac and the beat generation as depicted by Leslie Caron, George Peppard and Roddy McDowell - followed by the star quartet of Natalie, RJ Wagner, Susan Kohner and George Hamilton tearing each other apart in ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS, plus the afore-mentioned GO NAKED IN THE WORLD. Lurid melodrama doesn't get much better... though there were also two Burton starrers: THE BRAMBLE BUSH and ICE PALACE; while THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS and FROM THE TERRACE were also contenders.

Some other delirious treats - not Trash, but Guilty Pleasures - were two Ross Hunter extravaganzas: Lana, Sandra and Quinn in PORTRAIT IN BLACK and Doris and Rex in MIDNIGHT LACE, and Dirk Bogarde as Lizst in SONG WITHOUT END, plus Fox's biblical: THE STORY OF RUTH, while Gordon Scott was Tarzan and Belinda Lee and Steve Reeves headed the Italian sword-and-sandal movies.

Lots of these are covered at the Trash label.

R.I.P: Jimmy Sangster

Jimmy Sangster [1927-2011] was a scriptwriter who helped put Hammer Films firmly on the '50s movie map. He became one of the driving, creative forces behind the legendary Hammer Studios, scripting many of their successes. In 1957 he wrote the sceenplay for THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN their first horror film shot in colour, followed by DRACULA and in 1959 THE MUMMY all starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, with good production values. My particular favourite was THE BRIDES OF DRACULA in 1960 - as per my previous post here, see Horror label.

Sangster said in an interview that he was given a free hand with the scripts - the only restriction was, regarding the FRANKENSTEIN movies, they could not use the bolts in the head, as those were copyrighted. Of course the films got worse as the series went on. He had a break from the Gothic with thrillers like A TASTE OF FEAR and THE NANNY for which they imported Bette Davis and some good English players: Jill Bennett, Wendy Craig, James Villiers. Sangster also produced and scripted the madly camp over the top film of a hit play THE ANNIVERSARY again teaming Davis with most of the cast of the play, including Sheila Hancock. I saw the original production of the play which had Mona Washbourne as the tyrant mother, Bette certainly made it her own, with that eyepatch!

He directed later Hammers like LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN. But by then audiences had tired of their cheap and cheerful production values. Terence Fisher usually directed those early popular Hammer titles. Sangster also wrote novels, and was married to that very lovely individual actress Mary Peach. His many years in the business are indicative of the talent of a prolific and much-respected screenwriter whose films continue to be enjoyed to this day.

The Flesh and the Fiends

I see a new version of the Burke and Hare story titled, er, BURKE AND HARE is just out and according to the reviews its a moviemaking by numbers retelling by John Landis with those funny guys Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis - I think we can give that a miss, one can just imagine it. The version to see though - if it is still available - is the 1959 chiller THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS directed by expert John Gilling. It was part of that new series of chillers like those Hammer new versions of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and the like. It chilled me a lot at the time being all of 13! It's in widescreen black and white and plays the story of the 19th century Edinburgh grave-robbers seriously showing the squalor of the time. Donald Pleasance (its probably his best role) and George Rose are ideal as the ruffians who supply the eminent surgeon Dr Knox (an ideally cast Peter Cushing) with a supply of newly-buried corpses for dissecting at his college. This is exploitative macabre melodrama, more than a horror film; more gruesome and horrific than other films of the terror genre.

Burke and Hare soon of course run out of bodies and decide to supply their own, killing people and selling them on to the doctor who turns a blind eye as he needs a regular supply of cadavers. His daughter June Laverick of course does not suspect .... but when local tavern girl Billie Whitelaw who has been befriended by one of the medical students, turns up as the latest body then things start to unravel for our couple, who have entered folklore. It's a brilliant cast scary movie and must be infinitely better than any comedy remake. It probably provided the template for the new one! PS: It IS available: - I have just ordered a copy!

Coming up: a lot of new movies for review and comment:

The giallo LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN with Bolkan, Sorel and Baker
The recent THE SEA WALL with Isabelle Huppert
Chabrol's LE CEREMONIE and 2 boxsets!
Costa-Gavras's THE SLEEPING CAR MURDER with Signoret, Montand and all star cast
Carrey & McGregor in I LOVE YOU PHILIP MORRIS
Tom Hollander in LAWLESS HEART
Tilda Swinton's I AM LOVE
BURN AFTER READING
Varda's THE BEACHES OF AGNES
Ozon's TIME TO LEAVE + boxset
RETURN FROM THE ASHES - Ingrid Thulin
Glenda (Jackson) as SARAH (Bernhardt)
2 Gerard Butlers: THE UGLY TRUTH / 300
Kim Novak as JEANNE EAGELS ('57) and Jeanne Eagels in the 1929 THE LETTER
Michael Craig and Billie Whitelaw in PAYROLL, 1961
Antonioni's LE AMICHE ('55)
Malle's LE FEU FOLLET ('63)
Belinda Lee as MESSALINA
and some more Romy Schneider, Anouk Aimee, Monica Vitti films.
and some Hollywood classics I need to see/re-see: LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, THE PALM BEACH STORY, and titles with Loretta Young, Margaret Sullavan, Irene Dunne, Norma Shearer and Carole Lombard.

The House of Hammer, and other horrors

I have been meaning to write about Hammer films and now seems as good a time as any - as BBC4 here in the UK has been running some programmes on the horror genre by devotee Mark Gatiss and they have been screening some treats. I loved THE BRIDES OF DRACULA back in 1960 and it was good to get it on dvd a while back, now that it has been screened again by the BBC a lot more should have appreciated it. Also the classic 1935 THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - those early Bela Lugosi Draculas were not really scary but Christopher Lee was terrifying in Hammer colour!

Like most kids I liked the first Hammer FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA films in the late 50s in lurid colour and making stars of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Lee's second outing as Dracula in the 1966 DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS is one of the best. Gatiss in the BBC series is lucky to have got interviews with Barbara Shelley and Barbara Steele, as well as Gloria Stewart and director Roy Ward Baker before they died, as well as Hammer regulars Jimmy Sangster and others.



BRIDES OF DRACULA is a delirious example of the genre, as directed by Terence Fisher, and ticks all the boxes: the carriage racing through the woods as darkness falls, the scared locals at the inn (led of course by Michael Ripper), the fresh young virgin (French starlet Yvonne Monlaur) as the teacher on her way to the girls school. Enter Baroness Meinster (the wonderful Martita Hunt in one of her best roles, as good as her Miss Havisham) who takes the girl off to the sinister castle where her son is locked away in chains.... I wonder why? Monlaur of course releases him and the young vampire (surely he could have changed himself into a bat?) goes on the rampage, after turning on his mother and making her too one of the undead. Cushing as Van Helsing returns and cue a nice moment when the Baroness confronts him with a "Do you know who I am?" and he says "I know who you were". The Baroness understands and submits to the stake and is then at peace. Meanwhile there is consternation at the girls school as teacher Yvonne is courted by the handsome if rather effete young Baron as teachers Mona Washbourne and Miles Malleson happily look on - but one of the girls (Andree Melly, sister of George) is feeling unwell and soon dies, as the Baron has also been calling on her at night. Then there is that amazing eerie scene where the Baron's aged retainer Freda Jackson (as malevolent as ever) urges the freshly buried vampire to emerge from her resting place .... its all splendidly done and one of the best of the vampire cycle as Van Helsing and the Baron confront each other.

I also liked Hammer's 1959 THE MUMMY which looks great in colour and of course Christopher Lee is he - we start with a prologue in Ancient Egypt as he tries to resurrect his dead queen and is mummified alive for centuries. Cushing of course is the professor whose wife - the very attractive Yvonne Furneaux - is the exact likeless of the dead queen and she is taken off to the swamp by the lumbering mummy. Lee,like Karloff, brings a lot of pathos to the role. These are solid well crafted movies like their '59 version of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.



Hammer also divered into other genres which we all lapped up at the time: I now have a 4 disk set of their pirate and oriental titles: THE DEVIL SHIP PIRATES, THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER (featuring Lee again and interesting casts including the young Oliver Reed), TERROR OF THE TONGS and THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY with that sinister Marne Maitland, and there is also THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND (or is it THE BLOOD ON CAMP ISLAND). Then there was SHE in 1965 with Ursula Andress as the glacial exotic queen, John Richardson as her reincarnated lost love, Cushing and Lee again, Andre Morrell and lovely Rosenda Monteros. This was the era of double features when we enjoyed THE REPTILE, THE GORGON, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. Like the CARRY ONs Hammer kept going throughout the 60s but soon the early 70s soft porn took over as Lesbian Vampires came to the fore in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, COUNTESS DRACULA etc. At its best though Hammer was terrific at what it did in the 50s and 60s starting with those QUARTERMASS films.

What I did not care for though were those early '70s Amicus compendiums of titles like TALES FROM THE CRYPT, VAULT OFF HORROR or ASYLUM - cheapo productions with that tatty early '70s look and luckless actors (Richard Todd, Sylvia Syms, Michael Craig etc) reduced to mugging in silly stories, though I dare say Ralph Richardson in TALES FROM THE CRYPT made appearing in these almost legitimate, soon Joan Collins, Anna and Daniel Massey and the like were signing up for them. The trend soon passed though.

Back to Hammer and Joseph Losey did one of his more fascinating early 60s films for them: THESE ARE THE DAMNED with Oliver Reed as the leader of the teddy boys "terrorising" the seaside town of Weymouth as sinister civil servant Alexander Knox has his own secret laboratory and Viveca Lindfors scores as the sculptor (using Elizabeth Frinck's artworks). It looks terrific in black and white widescreen.

Also in the '60s of course we had Roger Corman producing in the UK those two Vincent Price classics THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH with its great imagery and sets, and colour by Nicholas Roeg, with Price in his element as evil prince Prospero with those rooms in different colours, and the lovely young Jane Asher as well as stalwart Hazel Court, and the stylish THE TOMB OF LIGEIA. Price though was utterly terrifying as the THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL in 1967, a grim look at life back in the Civil War with superstitious villages isolated from each other. It's young director was Michael Reeves whose early death was surely a great loss to the horror genre, but Vincent was soon back in high camp mode in THEATRE OF BLOOD and the DR PHIBES films.

The Innocents

THE INNOCENTS was a key movie for me in 1961, being all of 15 at the time. It was the scariest thing since PSYCHO. Over the years its subtle pleasures have increased and its certainly for me the best version of the Henry James Story.
Jack Clayton's direction, the screenplay by John Mortimer and Truman Capote and Freddie Francis's camerawork [he also shot Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN] all create this masterwork of eerie suspense. Deborah Kerr delivers one of her best performances as Miss Giddens, the governess persuaded by Michael Redgrave’s Uncle to take on the task of looking after his two charges who live deep in the country. Bly, the estate, becomes an eerie, mysterious place with all that lush vegetation and that lake. Mrs Grose, the house-keeper (Megs Jenkins) is pleased there is a new governess, and the two children Miles and Flora initially enchant Miss Giddens. Miles has got himself sent home from school. The power of suggestion is perfectly utilised here as Miss Giddens begins to suspect that her charges are far from innocent, and the apparitions of Quint and Miss Jessel become bolder. But is it all in her fevered imagination? There are two logical interpretations: the governess is slowly going mad, or the estate is haunted and if it is are the children in on it? Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin are both brilliant as the precocious Miles and Flora [Stevens had already played Kerr's son in a very forgettable 1959 comedy COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS]. Sound is used brilliantly too with that song that Flora sings and that first ghostly appearance by the lake (below).


There was a new version [“The Turn of the Screw”, the title of Henry James’ story] last year from the BBC, one of their “re-imagining the story for a new audience” adaptations (like their recent laughably inept, radically changed and widely derided remake of “The 39 Steps”), that firmly suggested the Governess imagined it all, with those naked all too physical ghosts copulating in the bedrooms, and it begins and ends with her in a mental hospital telling it all to doctor Dan Stephens. This was updated to 1920 which didn't work at all - it needs that Victorian Gothic ambience - but was presumably to show her frustrations due to the lack of young men after the great war. It seems to play it both ways though with a more knowing, sly Mrs Grose (Sheila Johnston) and suggesting the demons win at the end as a new governess arrives....

Forty years on though the original is the one to see and it will keep on enthralling us (unlike that silly BBC version). There is enough evidence in the film to suggest that Miss Giddens is not just imagining things or has lost her mind, unlike the more ambiguous Henry James novel. There is now a good dvd transfer from the BFI.