Danger Signal (1945)

A charming scoundrel charms women, kills them, then steals their money. Now he charms the charming Hilde, then charms her charming little sister because she has money coming. Whatever shall they do?

Danger Signal is, I guess, a lesser film-noir. That is to say, it checks enough noir boxes to fit the category. Still, it lacks the attitude and atmosphere I come to expect. Think Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt. But unlike Doubt, there are no big names attached to this project. Just studio contract players.

Faye Emerson plays the pretty but not too pretty Hilde, who succumbs to Ronnie’s charms, and Mona Freeman is her adorable little sister. Also here is Richard Erdman who went on to a much longer film and TV career, and is best remembered as that guy who reviews snack foods on youtube.

I’ve heard it say that Danger Signal would be better known had it’s cast some star power, but I’m not convinced. I’ve loved films with no stars or even budget and left cold by films with an impressive marquee. Looking at you, Honeymoon! I wonder if casting stars makes everyone believe in the picture and thus try a bit harder. I don’t know. Danger Signal had some good ideas and solid performances, but the script and story were just blah. Plus the ending was terrible. AMRU 2.5.

Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Director Dziga Vertov subscribed to a radical school of filmmaking, casting off the artifice of actors and story. Pure cinema. This film, part documentary part experiment, shows people at work. Doing things and going places, illustrated without title cards. In fact, we see the making the very film we are watching. We see it filmed, edited, and exhibited. Not for a moment are we allowed to forget we are watching a movie. Even the reel changes are announced. Clearly there is another man with another camera, but the technique is quite effective.

“Film buffs” are supposed to like Man with a Movie Camera because, like broccoli, it’s “good for us”. It is a landmark of early cinema. I didn’t, however, actually expect to like it. TCM ran an excellent restoration with a recreation of Vertov’s original score and I don’t recommend watching a lesser copy. The score was quite compelling and made the experience.

Dziga Vertov (whose name literally means spinning, turning) used a number of camera tricks to heighten the experience, many of which he developed. During the editing montage we see how the double exposures were created, the editor (Vertov’s wife) carefully scraping the silver oxide from the celluloid. In other segments we see a factory worker hand pack cigarettes. I found it all fascinating.

There’s not a lot to say here. While it appears to have a narrative, it’s not something easily communicated. Man with a Movie Camera is historically significant, fairly short, and surprisingly entertaining. Watch it. It’s good for you. AMRU 4.

Sex Kittens Go To College (1960)

 

Thinko (Elektro) selects the perfect candidate to head the science department at Collins College, but Dr. West turns out to be a blond woman who looks like Mamie Van Doren (Mamie Van Doren). I mean, a blond woman? To run a college department? All of the men and some of the women fall over themselves in slapstick antics, while idiot gangsters try to find this Thinko character. I knew what I was getting into.

Perhaps Dr. West (Tassels Monclair to her friends) is the titular Sex Kitten but the plural ‘Kittens’ implies more than one. Maybe it’s a general statement as there are several attractive women we presume to be students: ‘The place that sex kittens go is college’. More likely they simply didn’t think very long on the title before shipping it off to drive-ins. The original title was Sex Pot (singular) goes to College. Either way, it wasn’t a terribly sexy movie. Or a funny one.

The main character other than Mamie is college administrator George, played by Martin Milner. Us old people will recognize him from Adam-12. He likes Dr. West just fine, but blond and attractive? Ya gotta admit she doesn’t look the part! Also here is a sixteen year old Tuesday Weld and her friend Brigitte Bardot’s sister. Bardot Sister is quite adorable but apparently needed to have all her lines dubbed.

John Carradine played a lecherous professor. He played a lot of low rent roles later in his career, though this was rather early for him to sink so low. Jackie Coogan plays Wildcat MacPherson, a college benefactor with a W.C. Fields impression. He was a child star in the silent era (The Kid) before personal problems put his career into the toilet. He would slowly revive his reputation earning roles in crap like this. Oh, and as Uncle Fester.

Further in the background is Conway Twitty (Conway Twitty) who was properly embarrassed by his presence here, and Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira. I had trouble spotting her because she wasn't in character. Further still in the background is Charlie Chaplin, Jr. and Harold Lloyd, Jr. Yea, I wasn’t going to search for them.

Dr. West has, we are to believe legitimately, fourteen degrees and is fully qualified for her role. Is there a subtle message for women's rights here? To not judge people by their appearance? Not actually. This is simply a sexy fish out of water and played for as many laugh-adjacent reactions as possible. Not sure if drive-in audiences of the day would have tolerated anything smarter. But they should have held out for something funnier. The chimp was the best part. AMRU 2.

The Virgin Spring (1960)

A farming couple sends their young, spoiled daughter to church to deliver candles. Along for the ride is their pregnant and wayward servant girl. Things don’t go well.

Based on a Swedish folk ballad and inspired by Kurosawa’s Rashomon, director Ingmar Bergman was disappointed with the result. The Rashomon link is how everyone involved evaluates their role in the tragedy and how the events unfold. Yes, I’m being intentionally vague.

I find Bergman films more accessible than his reputation. The events here are pretty straight forward, simple really. The viewer is left to consider everyone’s response and maybe what the end means. Most synopses will detail more of the story but I’d rather not reveal too much. And I suppose I agree with Bergman to a point because I find it to be the least interesting of his films I’ve seen so far. But it is still an interesting and visually attractive film, and Birgitta Pettersson is adorable. I hope your day goes better. AMRU 3.5.

What’s Up, Doc? (1972)

An engaged musicologist (Ryan O’Neal), a man carrying government secrets, jewel thieves, and a crazy woman (Barbra Streisand) cross paths in a San Francisco hotel. Each has an identical overnight bag that is confused for the others. Zany antics ensue.

What’s Up, Doc? legitimately feels like a Warner Brothers cartoon but also takes inspiration from classic screwball comedies, principally Bringing Up Baby, and other classic films. O’Neal’s musicologist is Grant’s paleontologist. The film is packed with classic film references. Streisand plays As Time Goes By from Casablanca and insists on calling O'Neal's Howard ‘Steve’ as Lauren Bacall’s character does to Bogart in To Have and Have Not. The references are too numerous to list.

There’s not much else really to say of the story other than Streisand is relentless in her pursuit of Howard, Howard is helpless in everything he does, and mobsters and g-men are incompetent. Screwball to the end, which is fairly satisfying.

The absurdist nature of the comedy is somewhat off putting at first, but it grows on you. Barbra is quite charming as a crazy lady, Madeline Kahn is the perfect unlikable fiancee, and the crazy pace is kept up throughout. It's an amusing and unique comedy, if not hilarious. AMRU 3.5.

Yojimbo (1961)

A Samurai (Toshiro Mifune) wanders into a village with a problem. Two warlords are in conflict for control of the village and the only person profiting is the casket maker. He decides to stay and play both sides off each other for profit. Yojimbo means bodyguard.

Director Akira Kurosawa wanted to reinvent the western for Japanese audiences. Taking inspiration from John Ford, he crafted a new kind of western in the form of a Samurai film. He even included a gunfighter, the very western looking Tatsuya Nakadai.

Kurosawa just seen his Seven Samurai remade into a Hollywood western and Yohimbo would follow suit. The story would be taken in whole cloth by Sergio Leone for A Fistful of Dollars, sparking a lawsuit.

Set in a humble village and filmed in black and white, Yojimbo looks fantastic. Even in rain the visual popped. The gang’s henchmen move like a comedic dance troupe, acting brave but clearly craven. It’s a serious film that uses levity to its advantage. It is visually stunning in many ways.

Maybe I didn’t enjoy the film as much because I already knew the story because I saw Fistful … holy crap, eleven years ago! Still, I remembered it well. People may find Fistful more accessible because it was filmed in “English” but Yojimbo is clearly the better film. AMRU 4.