The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

A creepy old guy (Vincent Price) laments the death of his wife, The Lady Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd). He thinks she isn’t really dead because of something she said, but buries her anyhow. When he meets The Lady Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd), he mistakes her for his dead wife and treats her terribly. Will love bloom? Anyhow, after the wedding, the dead wife starts to complicate things.

Roger Corman directed eight Edgar Allen Poe adaptations in the early 1960’s and this was the most expensive, elaborate, and the last. It was the only one not to be filmed entirely on a soundstage. The shoot went long because of the British crew’s tea obsession. This is my thirteenth Price film so far, which is fewer than I would have expected.

I’ve dinged Corman over his focus on budget and profit over quality, but a great many industry people credit him with giving them their start and an opportunity to learn the craft. I can’t discount that. But I can say I don’t care much for the films he produces. And boy does he produce. He has over 440 feature film producer credits, including four in pre-production. But he wasn’t credited as producer on this one. A Brit was so he could earn a British subsidy.

As for The Tomb of Ligeia, it is what it is. The sets are on par with Hammer, the period dialog is a bit overdone, and the story, well, it is what it is. It will hold your interest but not capture your imagination. AMRU 3. Being a little generous, for Vincent’s benefit.

The Naked City (1948)

A pretty young woman is found drowned in her bathtub, with signs of a struggle. This is a case for the homicide department of New York City’s 10th precinct.

Everyone’s favorite leprechaun Barry Fitzgerald is Lieutenant Muldoon. He, along with Detective Halloran and others, work the case. They follow leads, question suspects, and do research. You know, police work. It’s worth noting that actual police work was quite the novelty in 1940’s Hollywood.

I had turned on TCM half way through an unfamiliar noir. A good noir, I thought, would really scratch the itch, so I hunted through my DVR for a candidate. I found The Naked City. Although labeled film noir by IMDb, it really isn’t. No hard boiled attitude, no expressionistic lighting, no femme fatal. It’s a police procedural, and a pretty good one.

While not what I was looking for, The Naked City is a very interesting watch. We don’t know much more than the detectives, so it serves as a better than fair mystery. And it’s a realistic case. The earth isn’t in the balance, just a murder that needs to be solved. There were likely a few in the city that summer. Some elements are more flick than fact, much of the ending in particular, but it remains a solidly realistic depiction.

The Naked City spawned a TV series of the same name, and inspired many others in the years since. It won't rock your world, but the story is deceptively complex and will definitely hold your interest. AMRU 3.5.

"There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

Sh! The Octopus (1937)

Two dopey police detectives learn that the new police commissioner is targeting a criminal organization called The Octopus, which they confuse as being the real animal. A frightened woman has them travel to an island lighthouse during a storm for some cockamamie reason. A painter is staying at the lighthouse expecting it to be a quiet place to work. An assortment of other strange characters file in.

This film is complete nonsense. We are teased with some semblance of a story early on, but that goes out the window pretty quickly. Characters come and go without explanation, action happens without purpose, and the final reveal does little to satisfy. While it is not uncommon in some light comedies for the story to be nothing more than a framework to hang comedic bits off. Here, there is only a set piece and a basic premise for that purpose. And the comic bits aren’t funny.

The movie is memorable for one thing. A character transforms from normal looking into a witch-like appearance. This is achieved using special makeup and red and blue light filters. It was used in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and is quite effective. It would only work in black and white and I am surprised it wasn’t used more often.

Detective Kelly was played by Hugh Herbert and has a distinctive voice and mannerisms. I haven’t seen him in a film before but I am certain I’ve seen him characterchured in a Warner Brothers cartoon. He was teamed with Allen Jenkins for the first and only time.

SH! The Octopus really is a mess. Story elements are introduced, then never mentioned again. It appears characters are included simply because actors under contract needed work. They were asked to quickly create a character and run with it. Thing is, though, the movie seems to be based on a play. I'm sure a lot of foolishness was thrown during filming.

It's unclear how this movie got onto my radar, perhaps it was the visual effect, but it was quite skippable. That said, it was short and despite it all, held my interest. AMRU 2.5.

Fear and Desire (1953)

Four soldiers crash miles behind enemy lines and formulate a plan to get back to safety. They experience a lot of fear, but also desire.

Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film is a surreal affair. Mostly because of its very low budget, it has an abstract and stripped down feel. Two of the unnamed enemies were played by two of the main characters. This saved Kubrick from having to hire two more actors and also gave it a “they are us” feel. And as no nation or geolocation is ever mentioned, they might actually be us. Financed by Stanley’s uncle, the film was shot silent and dubbed by the actors in post.

Our four heroes are the pilot, Lieutenant Corby, Sergeant “Mac” who resents his fly-boy superior what with all that fancy book learning, and still wet behind his ears Private Sidney, who is not prepared for what lies ahead. Oh, and private Fletcher is there too. This also features the first film role for Virginia Leith, whom old friends will remember as Jan in the Pan.

The twenty four year old Kubrick produced, directed, filmed, edited, and even did sound design here, and his inexperienced hand is apparent. Some edits are very clumsy, likely caused by a lack of coverage. The dialog is clunky and philosophy heavy. And some character interactions implied more story that did not come. The film lost money, uncle refused to provide any more loans, and Stanley hated the finished product so much he tried to have every existing copy and negative destroyed. Apparently he failed.

Fear and Desire is a short, somewhat interesting film but is inescapably amateurish. Kubrick was said to have “absolutely loathed it” and called it a “bumbling amateur film exercise". It is not without some interesting elements, but were it not for the name attached to it, it would be entirely forgettable. AMRU 2.5.