Rififi (1955)

Tony, recently released from prison, is talked into pulling one more heist. A team is assembled to break into the safe of a nearby jewelry store. Just like in all heist films, everyone lives happily ever after.

The actor hired to play the safecracker Caesar became unavailable, so director Jules Dassin stepped into his ballet shoes. Dassin was an American and directed The Naked City among others. Brief membership in the Communist Party got him blacklisted in Hollywood, so he moved to France and became more successful. By the mid 60s he was back working in the US.

There is a 32 minute heist sequence that is absolutely riveting. No dialog, no score, just the execution of the plan. So much is communicated by careful staging and meaningful glances. It’s brilliant.

Rififi is considered one of the great heist films. TCM’s Eddie Muller proclaimed it the best. The word rififi is loosely defined as trouble or violence. A stylish musical number titled Le Rafifi ties the title to the story. The number is quite good, actually. So is the film. AMRU 4.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

A new kid in town (James Dean) is arrested for public drunkenness and crosses paths with an outsider (Sal Mineo) and the girlfriend (Natalie Wood) of one of the school toughies. Events bring them together.

Perhaps the definitive 1950’s America film, it was released about a month after Dean’s death. This means two of his three starring roles were released posthumously. I have seen much of this film over the years but never all the way through. It was quite surprising.

While I don’t care much for some of his method scenes, his on-screen charisma is plain to see. I’ll put East of Eden onto my watchlist. Mineo was apparently quite popular in his time. Except for this role, it seems he is mostly forgotten today. He would be murdered by a random drifter. Wood, despite being the same age as her character (about 16), was considered to be too young. She did her hair and makeup to look older and earned the role, and a relationship with director Nicholas Ray. Ah, Hollywood!

Every character has a want. Dean’s Jim wants to understand what it means to be a man. He feels his father (Jim Backus) isn’t a real man because of how his wife treats him. How he let's her treat him. Yea, that part doesn’t age well. Mineo’s Plato wants to be part of a family. His dad left and his mom leaves him in the custody of the family maid much of the time. Wood’s Judy wants to be loved, specifically by her father. The script makes this crystal clear.

But the subtext is almost as clear. I’m getting into spoiler territory so I will mention that the actor who played Judy’s father was about four years younger than the director. This video does an excellent analysis. But see the movie first.

Dennis Hopper and Nick Adams were members of the gang. Edward Platt (Get Smart) is a cop with a sympathetic ear. If you don’t recognize Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III or the voice of Mr. Magoo, then shame on you. Dean goes all meta at one point by doing a Magoo voice.

The number of the cast that died young seems disproportionate. Platt and both of Judy’s parents before 60, Natalie Wood at 43, Mineo and Adams in their late 30’s, and James Dean at 24. Jack Grinnage, who plays Moose in the gang, is apparently still living.

Rebel Without a Cause is a fascinating watch. The events and performances are engaging, and the subtext, definitely intended by the filmmakers, adds another layer. AMRU 4.

We’re No Angels (1955)

Three escapes from Devil’s Island prison (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray) hide out on the island waiting for a chance to sneak aboard a steamship to freedom. In the meantime they meet the Ducotel family who run a general store, whom they plan to rob blind. The family trusts the men, although it’s unclear why, and the men begin to like the family. Cousin Andre (Basil Rathbone) proves harder to like.

Similar to 3 Godfathers, we again have three criminals learn the true meaning of Christmas and become good people. Instead of wise men, our three are analogs of the three archangels, even watching the family from up on high. But as Bogart’s Joseph says, “we’re no angels”. And they’re not.

Joan Bennett came out of scandal-induced retirement to play the Ducotel matriarch. Leo G. Carroll is over a barrel as shop owner Felix Ducotel. Pretty Gloria Talbott (The Cyclops) is their fainting-prone daughter. Peter Ustinov is a name I am quite familiar with but may have heard him more than seen. At 55 he played the 'Old Man' in Logan’s Run. His distinct line delivery was quite interesting.

I did not pick up on the screwball tone of We’re No Angels at first. When Mom Ducotel finds her daughter unconscious in the arms of a convict, I would expect her to have some follow-up questions, but we saw what happened and she believes their explanation without question. They are the main characters, after all. Once I accepted these things, it was quite enjoyable. AMRU 3.5.

“We came here to rob them and that's what we're gonna do - beat their heads in, gouge their eyes out, cut their throats. Soon as we wash the dishes."

The Big Combo (1955)

A police lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is obsessed with taking down a cruel crime boss (Richard Conte), maybe because he is more than a little infatuated with his pretty girlfriend (Jean Wallace aka Mrs. Cornel Wilde).

The role of Conte’s Brown was originally given to Jack Palance, but he clashed with producers and stormed off the set. Conte gave a very Palance-like performance. Perennial heavy Lee Van Cleef, along with Earl Holliman, are Brown’s henchmen, and apparently more than just friends. The characters, not the actors.

Many familiar faces round out the cast. Helene Stanton is memorable as Detective Diamond’s sometimes girlfriend, and Brian Donlevy (The Great McGinty) is great as the henchman on his way down. Helen Walker was a rising star when she had a terrible automobile accident while carrying three hitchhiking war veterans. Everyone sustained serious injuries and one soldier died. Acquitted of charges, she nevertheless carried the stigma and better roles dried up. Her small appearance here marked her last feature film credit, and would only make sporadic television appearances over the next few years. Cancer would take her at age 47.

The Big Combo is an effective, if improbable crime drama. Diamond is relentless and consequently a little dull, but not to worry. Conte’s Brown and others more than makes up for it. Interesting story, good performances, and real consequences. AMRU 3.5.

I just learned that the last living cast member, Earl Holliman, passed away a couple days ago. He was 96.

Killer’s Kiss (1955)

A washed up boxer becomes involved with a pretty dime-a-dance girl, who’s boss has designs on. Mobster antics ensue.

Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film is a significant step up from Fear and Desire, but still has an air of amateurism. Audio problems required all dialog and sound effects to be added in post. The Killers, released the following year, would mark his first step into greatness.

Of the three leads only Frank Silvera had a significant film and TV career, with 81 screen credits. At 55 he would accidentally electrocute himself while fixing a garbage disposal. Pretty Irene Kane has only seven credits, mostly TV, but wrote several books under the name Chris Chase.

Pretty Gloria is a taxi dancer, a thing common in older movies, but may confound younger readers. During the early to mid part of the 20th century, young men would go to a dance hall, buy tickets, and use them to dance with a young woman for one song. Typically a ticket would cost ten cents and the girls would earn a nickel per dance. Careers for young women were in short supply.

Longtime fans of TCM will recognize a couple shots used in the TCM “Open All Night” montage. There’s something unpolished about the shots that worked for their purpose. I miss TCMs old aesthetic. I may soon be missing TCM altogether.

Not much to say, really. I struggled to remember details even though I saw it less than a week ago. In actuality, stuff just happens. Killer’s Kiss is interesting because it’s Kubrick and definitely better than his previous effort, but on its own it’s just ok. AMRU 3.

High Society (1955)

With the help of a reporter, C.K. Dexter-Haven crashes his ex-wife’s wedding in order to HEY! What are the Bowery Boys doing here?

It was my intention to record the 1956 Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly musical, but what I got was the 1955 low rent comedy of the same name. And I was not alone in making this mistake. This 61 minute jokeless comedy received the Academy Award nomination for best writing, motion picture story. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences actually nominated the wrong film! The writers graciously declined.

So, I watched it anyhow. A man trying to scam a boy out of his inheritance discovers a dumb guy (Huntz Hall) at a service station with a very similar name. He produces fake documents to push him as the proper heir so that he can scam him out of the fortune.

The history of The Bowery Boys is quite long and fairly complicated. They started as the Dead End Kids in a 1937 play, which led to a series of seven films. After a few iterations and imitations they eventually rebranded as The Bowery Boys, where they were featured in forty eight films over thirteen years! I’ll let that sink in. That’s more than three and a half films per year for over a decade. That sounds exhausting.

High Society is a pretty joke-free comedy. If you don’t find their gags amusing, and I didn’t, then we are looking at a laugh free zone. Other than one quick snicker at a malapropism, I just watched in silence. Skippable, forgettable, AMRU 2.5.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

The US Navy, with help from two scientists, fights an enormous hextopus. Will love bloom?

Released two years after “It Came from Outer Space”, it helped solidify the “It Came From” cliche for B movie titles. And say what you will, it is an accurate description of where the It came from. But one big difference between this film and the former is the budget. While From Outer Space was a B movie, From Beneath had practically no budget at all. Ray Harryhausen created his monster with only six legs to save money. Because it’s never seen in full, it is not noticeable. What is sometimes noticeable is that many scenes only got a single take. If it was good enough, it was good enough.

All the tropes of the subgenre are here. Military type partners with nerdy scientists, one being a pretty woman (Faith Domergue), to do some detective work and eventually save the day. Think of films like Them!, Cosmic Monsters, and The Monster That Challenged the World. 50’s audiences were always flabbergasted that a young, attractive woman could be an actual scientist. 50’s sexual politics rears its head again when Commander Pete pursues Domergue’s Professor Joyce a little too aggressively.

Short, watchable, and forgettable, It Came from Beneath the Sea is one of many also-rans of the era. It offers nothing new or interesting. The best think I can say is that it is inoffensive. Unless you are a woman scientist. AMRU 2.5.

Marty (1955)

Marty (Ernest Borgnine), a middle aged butcher, has given up on finding love, but his mom convinces him to go to a dance hall. It seems that there are tomatoes there. A man there ditches a girl he came with to go off with another, and Marty feels bad for her. They hit it off but he is pressured to brush her off.

The good-natured Marty finds someone he might be happy with but she isn’t pretty enough for his friends, or Italian enough for Ma. Marty touches on loneliness, self worth, and independence. And does so in a very simple and heartwarming manner. We watch young men looking for something to do on a Saturday night that would have resonated with young men in the mid-50’s and the mid-80’s. Today, the same people would stay home, put headgear on, and play online games throughout the night, but that’s just the grumblings of an old man.

Borgnine, of Mermaid Man fame, was mainly a heavy to this point in his career, but the unexpected success of Marty would improve the quality of his roles. Of eight Academy Award nominations, it won four Oscars including best picture and best lead actor. Maybe this is because of the movie’s refreshingly positive tone, or maybe because the for your consideration budget was higher than the actual production budget. Whatever works.

TV’s Jack Klugman had an uncredited role and I was surprised to see Frank Sutton, whom people my age will remember as Sgt. Carter. Oscar winning screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky also got a cameo. I don’t know much about him but film nerds speak his name in hushed voices. Those people, am I right?

Marty is just a pleasant watch. It provides a nice look into a particular slice of life that doesn’t really exist anymore. I don’t know if it was actually the best film of 1955, but I haven’t seen much that was nominated. But then again, Night of the Hunter wasn’t nominated.

“See, dogs like us, we ain't such dogs as we think we are.”

Guys and Dolls (1955)

Gangster Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is trying to organize an underground poker game, but for some reason can’t afford the rent on a location. So he makes a bet with high-roller Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can’t go on a “date” with a woman of his choosing. Sky agrees and Nathan chooses  the prudish do-gooder, Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons).

What is hyper-realistic, non-singing Marlon Brando doing in a hyper-stylized musical? I understand Sinatra was annoyed at losing the lead to Brando, whom he called Mumbles. I’m strongly in Sinatra’s camp here. Brando seemed like he was in a different movie.

Old friend Sheldon Leonard is here. I have realized that his and the other gangsters’ non-use of contractions is used by the legitimate businessmen in The Simpsons. In fact, Fat Tony is a dead-on impersonation of Sheldon’s Harry the Horse. Jean Simmons is new to me and I found her quite charming.

Guys and Dolls is has a pretty nonsensical story. Some of the musical numbers were tedious and I found the distinct and unique style was a bit off-putting, but in the end I came around, mostly. The numbers that worked, worked. I find my view softening the more time that passes since I watched it. I really want to give it a 3, but, what the hell. AMRU 3.5.

The Ladykillers (1955)

Pretending to be musicians, a gang of thieves rent a room from a little old lady (Katie Johnson) and plan their heist. Things don’t go as planned.

Quite unintentionally, this is the third black comedy I’ve hit recently. Leader Obi Wan (Alec Guinness) hatches a complicated plan and puts all of the pieces in place, including their charming landlady. The producers balked at casting the 76 year old Johnson and hired a younger actress, who died prior to filming. And so it goes.

A young and somewhat hard to recognize Peter Sellers appears in what he called his first ‘real’ film. He idolized Alec Guinness, who was insecure about his role. Originally intended for Alastair Sim, Guinness did a better than fair impersonation of him. Herbert Lom played another thug and would go on to co-star with Sellers in the Pink Panther series.

I suppose this falls into the ‘caper gone wrong’ subgenre and the plan was quite ingenious. I had watched the remake and it stands as the only Coen Brothers movie that disappointed me. As for the original, it was amusing, clever, and interesting to the finish. AMRU 4.

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

A retired sea captain (Edmund Gwenn) is out hunting when he discovers the dead body of a stranger he presumes to have accidentally shot. Not wanting trouble, he tries to hide the body. Unfortunately this corner of the forest gets many visitors today, some of which also feel responsibility.

It is said to be Hitchcock’s second comedy, but several of his early films are labeled as such. Either way, this is the first Hitchcock comedy I’ve seen. It was an experiment to see how audiences would react to a film without big stars. Lukewarm was the answer but that may have had more to do with the unexpected tone from The Master of Suspense. More of a dark comedy, there are few real laughs.

The film gives Shirley MacLaine an “introducing” credit which is strange as six year old Jerry Mathers didn’t. He, of course, had already done a fair bit of film and television by that time. The main protagonist was starving artist Sam (John Forsythe) who to me is Charlie of Angels fame. Known mostly for television, he also did a fair number of films.

Nobody feels sorry for dead Harry. And as the story progresses, we learn that we shouldn’t shed too many tears for him. This is key to the comedy. His inconvenient body is dragged around with little regard. Along the way we have not one but two obligatory Hollywood romances, with Santa Gwenn making time with the “well preserved” spinster Gravely. It was downright uncomfortable when the two male leads mention how no man had ever “crossed her threshold”. Well preserved, indeed.

Filmed in VistaVision, The Trouble with Harry looks fantastic. The exteriors were filmed in Vermont but most of the action was filmed on a Hollywood sound stage. They imported boxes of fall leaves. This is a surprising, pleasant diversion. A film I would not have even heard of had it not been for one YouTuber. AMRU 3.5.

“Yes, very well preserved. And preserves have to be opened, some day.”

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

A one-armed stranger (Spencer Tracy) arrives in a tiny, remote town asking about a farmer. The locals are none too keen to city slickers poking their noses where they don’t belong, but this Macreedy fellow doesn’t take hints.

The war had just ended and back at the beginning something bad happened at Black Rock. This film acts as an unconventional mystery. We understand the broad strokes but can’t be sure exactly what. Who knows, who was involved, and who can be trusted.

Set in 1945, war vet Macreedy is played by 54-going-on-100 Spencer Tracy, and this stretches credibility more than a little. The studio recruited Tracy hard who wasn’t initially interested. Making his character crippled seemed to have cinched the deal. The studio threw every talented character actor on the payrolls into this vanity project. Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin play principal antagonists, Anne Francis was adorable, Ernest Borgnine in an early role, Dean Jagger as a toothless sheriff, and Walter Brennan to argue politics with Tracy.

Bad Day at Black Rock isn’t actually a mystery but like any good film the details unfold over time. What specifically happened is less of a question than what Macgreedy’s backstory and motivation is, which isn’t explained until the final minutes. But this is an engaging story and an impulse watch. It came on right when I wanted to see something new (and not the dozen or so films I’ve already recorded), and I had never heard of it. Very progressive for it's time, I found it a pleasant surprise. AMRU 4.

“I believe a man is as big as what'll make him mad. Nobody around here seems big enough to get you mad.”

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

An Xperimental rocket lands in an English farm. What went up with three astronauts came down with only one and two empty space suits. Our heroic pilot Victor can't talk to explain what happened. Chaos reigns as things go from bad to worse.

The spelling of Xperiment is explained by this being the first Sci-Fi film to earn an X rating. Apparently that meant something different in 1955 Britain. British films lacked the polish and style of Hollywood which gives them a certain charm. Another difference is their choice for protagonist. In America he would be a young hotshot or a thirty-something hunk, with a love interest either way. Here he’s a fifty-something bombastic professor who bullies everyone into doing what he wants. In real life he would have been taken into custody on day one.

Here we find that annoying Sci-Fi trope where the mystery is explained by two minutes of speculative, ridiculous exposition that makes sense to nobody, and the audience is expected to accept it without question. Nothing further happens in the film to support or better explain this hypothesis.

The Quatermass Xperiment was based on a TV mini-series and spawned a series of TV and feature film sequels. They tried rebooting it in 2005 to less than spectacular results. It’s interesting, maybe counter intuitive, to continually make feature film versions of television productions, but that’s what seems to have happened here. Don’t we usually do it the other way around? TV and film reboots happened so often I’m not certain they are part of the same Quatermass universe.

Let’s get back to what a jerk our hero really is. Quatermass launches the rocket without authorization because he's impatient. And every decision he makes along the way seems to be incidental to the safety and well being of the people around him. How is this our hero?

1950’s British level production quality, interesting concept, short enough not to bore me. Pilot Victor's makeup was creepily effective (although wife didn't mention anything about his looks) and the final monster was quite good. The story? Well, it was almost interesting enough to be a Dr. Who episode. AMRU 3.

Kismet (1955)

A sharp-tongued poet (Howard Keel), who somehow made it to adulthood before learning you can’t make money from poetry, is mistaken for a beggar. He goes along with it. A notorious thief mistakes him for the man who put a curse on him that lost him his son, so he cons his way into being paid to release the curse. Things are going great but soon he is arrested by the Great and Mighty Wazir (Mr. French), his daughter (Ann Blyth) falls in love, and coincidences keep us all so very entertained.

Kismet is the forth and best remembered version of the 1911 play of the same name. Stylistically it falls in line with a great many musicals made around that time. Brightly colored, expansive sets, heavily rehearsed period pieces with family friendly stories that also border on the naughty. See Seven Brides, Kiss me Kate, Brigadoon. Grand spectacles, if you’re into that sort of thing.

If you’re vexed by all the honkies in Arabia remember that this is 1955 and suspension of disbelief rules the day. Particularly out of place is the Grand Caliph and teen heartthrob Vic Damone. Why he wasn’t in more films is wondered by nobody. But don’t judge him too harshly. He’s just a teenager in love.

Old friends Monty Woolley (The Man Who Came to Dinner), Jack Elam (Kansas City Confidential and just about every low budget western imaginable), and Jamie Farr make appearances. This is first film I’ve seen directed by the guy who gave Liza her last name.

Not a bad thing if you’re into the genre. I tolerated it well. I expected an “Oh, that’s where that song comes from” moment but there was none. People who whistle show tunes will be more familiar. But for me, AMRU 3.

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

While in the county lockup a dubious preacher (Robert Mitchum) with a troubled past learns that a man slated to be executed (Peter Graves) hid ten thousand stolen dollars. Once freed, he decides to pay the grieving widow a visit. The son is wise.

The Shelley Winters I remember was a fat, obnoxious, busybody who gossipped endlessly on talk shows about better actors she had worked with. I remember her badmouthing Marilyn Monroe and found that distasteful. Maybe I was too harsh. I later learned what a train-wreck Monroe really was. And Winters’ personal story was one of a hard working actress being type-casted out of more challenging and coveted roles. Until roles like the one here came along. I will, as I have done before, put aside what I know. While her character wasn’t terribly deep or complicated, her performance was. And nothing like what I expected her to be.

Mitchum’s Harry Powell was seldom unhinged but frequently on the cusp. He is single minded, almost Terminator like, in finding the money and capturing the kids. I haven’t seen too much of his work but he’s usually the protagonist. He lobbied hard for this role that director Charles Laughton wanted for himself. That would have been a disaster!

Silent film giant Lillian Gish was delightful as a stern but kindly woman who took in troubled street children. She sets the tone with an opening monologue despite not showing up in the story until the third act. I haven’t seen her silent work yet but she was in the snoozer Follow Me, Boys. Billy Chapin was absolutely fantastic as the suspicious boy and parlayed this success into a life of substance abuse. He wouldn’t appear on screen after the 1950’s.

The Night of the Hunter is a beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, perfectly paced film. Shot like a silent film, it defies categorization. Is it Horror? Maybe. Film-Noir? I suppose. Genius? Absolutely. But apparently it was a critical and commercial failure and Laughton would never direct again. This is a real shame because Hollywood seemed to have lost its way during the 1950s. So many of the big films were shallow, two dimensional vanity projects. Much like today. Hunter, however, was inspired, innovative, and refreshing. And it kept you on the edge of your seat. AMRU 4.5.

“Don’t he ever sleep?”

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

In the summer, wives and children of the well to do escape the Manhattan heat for lakeside paradises, leaving husbands and fathers behind to behave like unsupervised delinquents. Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) wants to be good, yes he does, but, you see, this hot blond (Marilyn Monroe) just moved upstairs, and you know …

Originally a play, the story revolved around a man’s affair when the wife is away. No, actual affairs just won’t do, says the Hays office. Instead of feeling guilty for having an affair, good old Sherman has to feel guilty about WANTING to have an affair. So Ewell plays the aging, dorky, ladies-man-wanna-be to Monroe’s ditzy sexpot confused why men react strangely to her baby-doll act. We, the audience, grin and pretend to be wiser.

For reasons that escape me, now that I’ve seen the film, I don't understand how Marilyn’s subway skirt scene became so iconic. It is shorter and less sexy than I expected, and, well that’s all I have to say about that. Hey, look! It’s Carolyn Jones, again in a tiny role. She played Morticia …. nevermind.

The production code turned a very provocative stage play into a somewhat confounding film. Billy Wilder and George Axelrod did their level best to create a viable comedy out of a redacted screenplay, but the end result is only mildly amusing and eminently dated. Compare this to Irma la Douce made seven years later also by Wilder (and originally was to star Monroe) after standards were loosened quite a bit. Neither were fantastic films, but Irma at least had sex appeal. In a very giggling-twelve-year-old sort of way, but still. I would be curious what a faithful adaptation would look like.

The Seven Year Itch isn't uninteresting, but it is somewhat strange (Sherman has fantasy conversations and narrates his own life). There is humor, but nothing to evoke an actual laugh. AMRU 3.

“Miss Morris, I'm perfectly capable of fixing my own breakfast. As a matter of fact, I had a peanut butter sandwich and two whiskey sours.”

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Reformed cat burglar John Robie (Cary Grant) is under suspicion when jewels go missing in a manner identical to his old M.O. Rather than cooperate with the police and provide an alibi, like a crazy person, he goes on the lam and tries to expose the real burglar. He convinces an insurance agent (John Williams) to hand over private details of clients with insured valuable jewels, you know, for research. Sign me up for that insurance company.

The real mystery here is, is Robie the Robber, and if not, who is? It could be just about nobody. Back story: Robie was convicted, served in the French underground during the war, and became a hero. He doesn’t want new allegations to besmirch his name and risk his lucrative career of living in a luxurious villa on the French Riviera and doing nothing. His first victim … I mean, research participant is a his mom from North by Northwest and her hot hot hot hot way-too-young-for-him daughter (Grace Kelly). Guess which one he falls in love with.

John Williams (no relationship to John Williams) was an interesting man. Basically he played only formal British types, but he did it well. He didn’t appear in a huge number of films (27 not including TV, uncredited, and shorts) but they included Dial M for Murder (1954), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Sabrina (1954), and this, just to name a few. A favorite of Hitchcock, he also did ten episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Grant had decided to retire, annoyed by the growing popularity of method acting. He was lured back to play the elderly love interest to Kelly, who had a reputation of having a reputation. He would continue to play the dashing young man well into his 60's. Grace would film on a stretch of road she would die on twenty eight years later. So it goes.

A teensy bit sloppy by Hitchcock standards. There is a scene early on between Grant and a French man who was clearly not saying anything actually heard by audience. More than simply taking me out of the story, I found it klunky and confusing. Thankfully he didn’t prove to be a major character. Overall it was a good, if not up to its reputation. AMRU 3.5.

“A child? Shall we stand in shallower water and discuss that?”

Diabolique (1955)

Michel is the headmaster of a boarding school. He is a cruel, disagreeable man. His wife and his mistress conspire to do him in.

During school break, they lure him away from the school, where they drug him then drown him in a bathtub. Next step is to sneak him back to the school and drop him into the disgusting pool. After a few days, his body should surface and his death be ruled an accidental drowning.

But, when the body fails to surface, the pool is drained and the body is gone.

Strange things happen while our two heroes try to figure out what happened. Watch the movie if you want to find out what happened.

At first I thought the blond (Simone Signoret) was the wife and the brunette (Vera Clouzot) was the girlfriend. Vera looked younger and prettier than Simone. Vera was, in fact, almost ten years older than Simone. And, incidentally, the wife of the director. She would die only five years later causing her husband to sink into depression.

The ending of this movie is a bit of a surprise and I am very annoyed to say that most of it was ruined when I watched the 100 Years of Horror documentary. Apparently they missed the anti-spoiler message. They didn't ruin the end of any other movie. Damn you, Count Dooku.

The French title was "Les Diaboliques", meaning The Devils, apparently referring to the plotting women. The American title becomes singular, I presume referring to the headmaster, who was truly horrible. And interesting shift in emphasis, if that's what it was.

The mood, the acting, the pacing, the story: everything was just about perfect. Had the ending not been spoiled, I would have enjoyed it even more. The surprise ending makes a second viewing less interesting, but I don't care. AMRU 4.

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

I've moved The Beast with a Million Eyes to the top of my list because I promised to take part in Project Terrible, a blog-a-thon where we challenge ourselves to watch the worst movies imaginable. This would have been fun had I the time to properly participate, but I don't. This will be my last entry. Sorry guys. After this, I have five movies I've already seen but haven't made time to post.

Don't know the premise of the movie? Don't worry! Evil alien explains it at the very beginning. You see, his species used up their home planet so he wants to take over ours. Damn interlopers! He will accomplish this (all alone, it turns out) by taking over the minds the lower animals first then the lesser men. By doing so, he will be able to watch all mankind. He will be known as The Beast with a Million Eyes!!!!

So, here's how things pan out. Said alien lands in an extremely remote area outside a small family farm. On said farm lives a man, his hysterical wife (that's BEFORE she finds out about the aliens), and his semi-hot daughter. Also is a "handy man" called "Him". He don't have a name so folks just call him Him. Clever. Him don't talk. Him just do his chores and stare at the wife and daughter. Him like pretty women. Him like wife and daughter too.

Father, hysterical wife, and daughter mostly go about their dysfunctional lives almost oblivious to the main plot of the movie. Low flying "air craft" causes lots of glass to break, making hysterical wife extra hysterical. Animals seem to be acting strange causing Father to go "Hmmm." Eventually dad concludes that the only explanation is that an alien must have landed in the desert and is trying to take over the world. It's the only logical conclusion.

So, the family, aided by the deputy, go into the desert to sing combaya and defeat the alien. Wow, did this movie drag! No action, mediocre acting, bland dialog, this movie had nothing. Now, while watching I was waffling between giving it a 2.0 and 2.5. It was, after all, mostly watchable. In the end, it earns a 2. It was boring.

While there were four main characters (not including the alien and animals), there were two others. An old foolish man who gets killed by his cow and Deputy Larry, played by Dick Sargent. Folks may remember him as the second and slightly more butch Darrin Stephens. There may have been a quick scene at the police station, but I forget.

So, before I go, here are my last cuts. Apparently daughter was a "lesser man". The bathing suit she wore would have been appropriate for swimming in January. The alien isn't known as the beast with a million eyes because nobody found out about him until the very end. And how do you expect to take over the world by starting in the middle of nowhere?

Bride of the Monster (1955)

Edward Wood, I think, tried to make the same kind of movies I would want to make. Lots of gothic elements and creepy settings. Unfortunately he couldn't, or wouldn't execute them, and I have no theatrical experience whatsoever. He didn't care about things like acting or script, things that are crucial to building atmosphere. Can't do that when your actors are screaming at each other. Add to the fact that he didn't have the budget for props or a proper score, well ...

People are disappearing near a swamp where it's always night. The cops are unable to solve the mystery and the idea of paying a visit to the spooky mansion owned by a crazy scientist never occurs to them. When the kinda hot reporter girlfriend of the worlds worst cop does some "investigations", she decides to visit said spooky mansion alone, at night, and armed only with her high heels and razor sharp wit. Crazy Scientist (Bela Lugosi), of course, captures her. Cop boyfriend decides to go looking for her. Still not suspicious of the spooky mansion owned by the crazy scientist, he plays with the alligators.

Not really a lot to the story. Bela is using radiation trying to turn people into supermen, but usually kills them. The movie is notorious for the rubber octopus Wood allegedly stole from a studio. Actors had to shake it to make it look like it was moving. It didn't.

Octopus aside, this was not a bad effort. It's said to be the only of Wood's films that wasn't a box office disaster. Bad acting, weak story, poor dialog, but not as bad/weak/poor as Plan 9. Not nearly so. It was, however, uninteresting. A sad way to end Bela's career. AMRU 2.5.