skjam

Hand of Death (1962) dir. Gene Nelson

Alex Marsh (John Agar) is a biochemist who was supposed to be working on an aerosol anesthesia that patients could absorb through the skin. This research got derailed when Alex stumbled across a formula that instead caused temporary paralysis of the entire body, effectively a nerve gas. It's also apparently very compatible for mixture with other chemical compounds. So his current project is combining the nerve gas with a will-deadening hypnotic so that even when the paralysis wears off, the victims will be suggestible and easily controlled. The military will certainly want this!

The people he's explaining this to aren't so sure. His wheelchair-bound mentor Dr. Frederick Ramsey (Roy Gordon), girlfriend Carol Wilson (Paula Raymond) and friendly rival Tom Holland (Stephen Dunne) are all concerned about the safety and possibly the morality of such research. Alex dismisses their concerns and returns to his desert laboratory. Carlos (John A. Alonzo), his laboratory assistant, is also concerned with the possible dangers, but his paycheck depends on Alex, so agrees to help.

A combination of overwork and being exposed to trace amounts of the nerve gas causes Alex to become less rational and more careless. One night, he accidentally knocks over his latest combination serum and tries to wipe up the mess with his bare hand. This causes great pain and he rips his shirt open, falling into his bed with severe hallucinations.

When he wakes up, Alex is feeling somewhat better, but his skin has darkened. And when Carlos tries to get him medical attention, Alex grabs his arm to stop him...which causes Carlos to drop dead with the affected skin turning black. To cover up the accidental death, Alex sets the lab on fire and flees to seek a cure. Things only go downhill for him from there.

This low budget horror flick seems more Fifties than Sixties, and may have been written much earlier. It's less than an hour long, suitable for a quick drive-in feature before the main movie of the night. The love triangle subplot feels stuffed in to bring the story up to even that length.

The makeup for Alex's monster form is admittedly crude, but in black and white it works decently well. The acting is adequate.

One scene reminded me this takes place before the Americans with Disability Act. Dr. Ramsey has been in a wheelchair for decades due to an accident with live polio virus. The entrance to the institute where he works has a staircase. And in all the years he's worked there, no one has thought to put in a ramp or handicapped entrance. This isn't said out loud, but simply shown.

There's a couple of interesting cameos. Joe Besser, one of the substitute Stooges, plays an over-eager gas station attendant. And The Munsters' Butch Patrick is a little boy who finds Alex lying on the beach and almost touches him. Oh, and then there's the taxi driver (Fred Korne) who sees a man with a blackened, crackled face in his cab and doesn't get scared or concerned, just angry. Perhaps bigotry is overcoming his ability to perceive beyond skin color?

Content note: Several deaths, including two mice. Deformity. Alex is a little too into the idea of turning enemy soldiers into medical zombies.

This movie was apparently lost media for a few decades, so those of you interested in the history of horror films might want to check it out to fill in your knowledge. Viewers with little patience may want to fast forward to when Alex is contaminated and the scary parts begin.

Starship Troopers (1997) dir. Paul Verhoeven

John D. "Johnny" Rico (Casper Van Dien) is a jumpball star at his local high school in Buenos Aires in the 22nd Century. But he has decided he doesn't want to go professional, and he's having second thoughts about simply working for his wealthy father's (Christopher Curry) company. Instead, he's thinking of going into government service, which guarantees citizenship, the right to vote. He's been influenced in this by his civics teacher, Jean Raszcak (Michael Ironside) who flatly states that most civilians can't cut it in government service, and his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), who is signing up herself.

Despite his parents' strong objections, Johnny signs up right out of high school, as do Carmen, Dizzy Flores (Dana Meyer) who is a fellow jumpball player and attracted to Johnny, and Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris), a "sensitive" with some psychic abilities. Carmen gets a prestigious flight academy posting, Carl is sent off to military research, while Johnny and Dizzy, not exactly being mental powerhouses, have to "settle" for the Mobile Infantry, the grunts of the future military.

At boot camp, Johnny meets tough but fair drill instructor Sergeant Zim (Clancy Brown), new best friend Ace Levy (Jake Busey), and a number of other recruits. Johnny's skillset and personality give him potential as a soldier, and he's soon a temporary squad leader. Then a fatal training mistake shatters Johnny's confidence. He's about to quit when the conflict with an alien species called the Bugs goes hot with the destruction of Buenos Aires. A war's on now, and Johnny is going to do his part!

Would you like to know more?

This sci-fi action movie is loosely based on Robert A. Heinlein's novel of the same name. And by "loosely", I mean that the director read the first couple of chapters, bounced hard, asked the scriptwriter to summarize the plot, then decided to make a satire of what he thought the book's themes were, completely missing the actual social commentary contained therein.

Which is not to say it isn't a great movie. You just have to catch that it's an in-universe propaganda film made by a fascist regime to sell an ill-thought-out war to its populace. There are plenty of hints. The Buenos Aires characters might have Hispanic names, but are conspicuously white-looking and don't show any signs of Hispanic culture. Buenos Aires might be a city from the little we see of it, but the high school sure looks feels like a small-town school. Once we get into the military portion, there's a lot of echoes of fascist symbology. The tactics are laughable, and some of the propaganda blurbs are outright silly.

And of course, to make a good satire, it also has to work as an actual example of the genre. A likeable hero, relatable struggles, awesome action and reasonably plausible plot twists.

Instead of the book's single narrative following just Johnny, we cut to Carmen's story every so often, making her an actual character in the story. This also allows the filmmakers to introduce romance subplotting that was almost completely ignored in the book.

The special effects are top-notch for the time, and haven't aged badly at all.

Will we ever see a reasonably faithful adaptation of the book? Probably not. It's very much a reaction to American (and to a lesser extent global) conditions of the 1950s and so would need updating to deal with current cultural touchstones. (For example, a Filipino as the protagonist would be seen by conservatives as "woke" rather than the mind-blowing reveal it was when the book was first published.)

In the meantime, we have this twisted adaptation to enjoy.

Content note: Lots of military violence, often gory and/or lethal. Quite a bit of mutilation and severed limbs. Torture by whipping. A cow dies with minimal censoring. Extramarital sex just off-camera. Male and female nudity, including the infamous mixed shower scene. People with bug phobias might want to skip this altogether. Vomiting. Some rough language. This is an R-rated movie and fully earns that.

People who prefer their science fiction serious should read the book instead. Also, if you see the movie I recommend reading the book so see what Heinlein was actually talking about. Still, this is a good movie, and recommended to people who understand where the director is coming from.

Detour (1945) dir. Edgar G. Ulmer

When we first meet Al Roberts (Tom Neal), he's hitchhiking east, unshaven, haunted-looking, and reacting badly to a jukebox song. That song used to mean something different, when he was a pianist in a small club, hoping for a break into the big time, and singer Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) was his sweetheart. His memory flashes back, remembering how he got into this mess....

Neither Al nor Sue is getting better job offers in New York City, so she moves to Los Angeles in hopes of getting into the movies. Al tries to stick it out in the Big Apple for a while, but his emotional state deteriorates, so he decides to follow her. Problem is that he has no savings, so a plane or train ticket is out. Guess he'll have to go by hitchhiking.

Progress is slow, most people are only going to the next town over, and Al loses a few rides because he or the driver get sore. By the time he reaches Arizona, he's dead broke. That's when he's picked up by Charles Haskell, Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), who bears a faint resemblance to Al. At first, this seems like a lucky break. Haskell plans to go all the way to L.A., and needs to get there ASAP so he's willing to let Al spell him on driving. Haskell's a bit shady, admitting to being a bookie, but he's friendly seeming, and quite garrulous. He explains some nasty scratches on his wrist came from a female hitchhiker he picked up earlier, but that's nothing compared to his dueling scar.

Haskell's been popping pills, we never find out what kind. But eventually, he needs to sleep, and Al takes over driving through the night. At oh dark thirty, there's a sudden rainstorm, and Al decides to stop so he can put up the convertible's top. He tries to rouse Haskell, but the man is unresponsive. Al opens the passenger door, intending to move Haskell out of the way so the top can be raised. The other man falls out of the automobile and hits his head on a rock at the side of the road. If he wasn't already dead (quite possible), he's definitely dead now!

Al panics. He's sure the police won't believe his story that Haskell's death was entirely an accident. There's only one thing to do. Switch clothes and identification with the corpse, then hide it off the road. (Driver's licenses didn't have photographs back then, and the statistics listed match his own, so he figures he can get away with it, at least for a while.) Haskell had a decent amount of money in his wallet, so Al is able to stop at a motel, freshen up and sleep (restlessly) for a few hours.

He gets through a police checkpoint okay, and is starting to think he'll do okay. Al's confidence is boosted enough that when he sees an attractive woman needing a lift, he doesn't think twice about picking her up. Unfortunately, Vera (Ann Savage) just happens to have been the woman who have Haskell those scratches, having managed to catch another ride that got ahead of Al while he was sleeping. She almost immediately clocks that this is Charles Haskell's car, and those are Haskell's clothes, but Al isn't Haskell. She jumps to the entirely logical conclusion that Al robbed and murdered Haskell.

But Vera is no friend of the law. She sees...possibilities...in Al, and won't turn him in just yet, if he'll help her raise some cash, one way or another. Things aren't going to get any better for Al from this point on.

This immediately post-war film noir was made on a tiny budget--the car that most of the action takes around was the director's own personal automobile, and one of the outfits Vera wears belonged to the script clerk. There's a minimum of sets, very few stunts, and limited special effects. Al's piano-playing is closeups of the film score composer's hands. You can tell this was a Poverty Row picture. But that said, this is a very good movie for what it is.

It's very dark and pessimistic, as Al's options keep getting worse and worse, and Vera gets ever greedier. The runtime is short, making sure the movie doesn't outstay its welcome. The dialogue works well.

Some moments in the story don't quite make sense as presented, but since Al is the narrator, it's possible he's not telling the entire truth. The ending is ambiguous...up to the final shot which the Hays Code insisted had to be added. The script makes that work, mostly.

Content note: "Accidental" death. It's implied Haskell attempted unwanted sexual contact with Vera. Alcohol abuse. Some rough language, as bad as the Hays Code will allow.

This is a very good B-movie that is short enough to work as part of a double feature. Recommended to noir fans.

McLintock! (1963) dir. Andrew V. McLaglen

It is summer, 1895, and Elizabeth "Betsy" McLintock (Stefanie Powers) is coming home from college in the East to her hometown of McLintock, named after her father George Washington "G.W." McLintock (John Wayne). She has no idea what she's walking in to. G.W. and his wife Katherine "Kate" McLintock (Maureen O'Hara) have been separated for the last two years, and she's been hanging out as a socialite in the territory capital in the eastern part of the territory. Now that Betsy has graduated, the fiery-tempered Katherine has returned to the family ranch to seek a divorce and custody of their daughter.

And there's quite a bit more going on in McLintock. Recently a new crop of homesteaders arrived, lured by the prospect of "free" government land. Land agent Matt Douglas (Gordon Jones) is looking forward to all the transaction fees he'll be pocketing, and tries to preempt G.W.'s warning that the land parcels are unfit for farming by claiming that this is the usual cattlemen vs. settlers conflict. One young man, Devlin "Dev" Warren (Patrick Wayne), has already lost his chance at a parcel due to the death of his father, whose name the parcel was in. He asks G.W. for a ranch hand job, initially being turned down as the rancher doesn't hire "farmers", but persists when old-timer Bunny Dull (Edgar Buchanan) advises him not to be too proud to beg. He breaks down a bit when this works, but G.W. turns out to appreciate that proud streak. When G.W. discovers that Dev's mother Louise Warren (Yvonne De Carlo) is an excellent cook, he hires her as well, not really thinking about her good looks, but not minding them if you catch my drift.

Also on the train is Mr. Douglas' son, Matt Junior (Jerry Van Dyke), who's kind of a goofball and is sweet on Betsy. G.W. is very unimpressed with him, so Betsy allows the boy to court her out of contrariness. This doesn't sit well with Dev, who also takes a liking to Betsy, though the two don't get off on the right foot (Betsy shares quite a bit of her mother's temper.)

More dramatically, four Comanche chiefs have been released from confinement and also arrived on the train, though they had to ride in a cargo car. They include Chief Puma (Michael Pate), G.W's old arch-enemy and blood brother, and are met by members of their tribe including deadpan humorist Running Buffalo (John Stanley). Inept "Indian agent" Mr. Agard (Strother Martin) speaks no Comanche and knows nothing of their culture, but expects them to obey his orders. Including being deported from their current reservation to Fort Sill, Oklahoma so that they can be better controlled. This plan is endorsed by territorial governor Cuthbert H. Humphrey (Robert Lowery).

All these ingredients and a few more set to bubbling, and things come to a boil at the McLintock Fourth of July celebration.

This comedy-Western took its initial inspiration from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, thus the female lead's name, and the now infamous spanking scenes which espoused that men should take firm physical measures to handle "unruly" women and that this would repair relationships.

Other script elements were introduced to feature John Wayne's personal interests. He'd disliked how racist his character was portrayed in The Searchers, so in this movie, G.W. is depicted as a good friend to the Comanche despite having been at war with them previously, and standing up for them against the inept federal government. Governor Humphrey was a direct shot at Minnesota senator Hubert H. Humphrey, whose politics and personality Wayne didn't like. (Though at this late date only people from Minnesota are likely to catch the reference.) There's even chess scenes reflecting John Wayne's fondness for the game.

Good: Some nice fist fights (the mud pit sequence is particularly good) and stunt work. A lot of the comedy hits. The treatment of Native Americans is very respectful for the time it was made.

Less good: The whole "spanking your woman is good for your relationship" thing. This sort of thing was already frowned upon in America by the time this movie was made, but Mr. Wayne thought modern society had gotten too soft on the subject. Plus, it was very much a callback to Shakespeare. People who are triggered by physical abuse may want to sit this one out.

G.W. is depicted as being basically right about absolutely everything, except when he's trying to be too "nice." This verges on excusing his jerk moments as just being kind of rude.

Content note: In addition to the issues already discussed, a bird dies on camera as part of hunting. While teenagers up should be okay, parents and other responsible adults may want to be ready for conversations about physical violence in a relationship.

Overall: This is a cracking good movie with some attitudes that haven't aged well. Recommended to Western fans with some caution.

Tears of the Black Tiger (2000) dir. Wisit Sasanatieng

Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan) and Rumpoey (Stella Malucchi) first met as children, when her wealthy father was visiting his father's farm village. An encounter with a trio of bullies wound up with Dum being scarred and Rumpoey nearly drowned. Rather than find out what had happened, Dum was brutally punished by his father. As the boy was recovering, Rumpoey came by to give him a harmonica, and he silently came to watch her train pull out when her vacation was over.

They reconnected years later in Bangkok in school when Rumpoey recognized Dum by the harmonica he was playing. Unfortunately, the same trio of bullies, who'd also come to the school, accosted Rumpoey again. Dum easily won the ensuing fight, but the school officials took the bullies' side and expelled Dum. Rumpoey felt guilty about getting the boy she had always secretly loved in trouble again, and took him to a beach where they had a heart-to-heart talk. Dum admitted that he too had always loved her, but felt that the vast gap in their social status meant that he could never be with her. Rumpoey declared that she was willing to sacrifice her social standing to be with Dum, and they arranged to meet at a certain sentimental location on a future date.

When Dum returned home, he found the farmstead wrecked, most of his clan dead, and his father dying. This, his father said, was the work of the jealous Kong clan. Naturally, the police could do nothing, and it was up to Dum to avenge his clan and father. Except that in the process, he was joined by the notorious bandit Fai (Sombat Metanee), who'd owed Dum's father a favor for saving his life years before. The vengeance was completed, and Dum was inducted into Fai's gang of outlaws, the Tigers.

Problem is, Fai has a strict rule that anyone who betrays him, by, say, leaving the gang or informing on them, must die. So Dum couldn't leave the gang. His skills, bravery and integrity soon earned him the nickname Black Tiger, and he became Fai's right-hand man, to the jealousy of former right-hand man Mahesuan (Supakorn Kitsuwon). On the date that Dum was supposed to meet Rumpoey, he and Mahesuan are stuck on a mission to wipe out traitors to the gang. Dum bails as soon as the traitors are dead, but arrives too late; Rumpoey is already gone.

Meanwhile, Rumpoey's father has become provincial governor. Being the kind of man who never actually asks his daughter's opinion on anything, he's engaged her to ambitious Police Captain Kumjorn (Arawat Ruangvuth), who is so taken by Rumpoey's beauty that he's utterly failed to notice how cold she is towards him. Now that Dum has (she thinks) failed her, Rumpoey has no choice but to go through with the engagement.

Captain Kumjorn wants to prove himself worthy of this honor, so he's pledged to destroy the Tigers once and for all. The stage is set for tragedy.

This romantic drama is a homage to Hollywood, especially the Western genre. Even though the setting is 1950s Thailand, the bandits dress and ride horses like Wild West outlaws, and Western-style background music is common. (There's also insert songs that are more Fifties Thai pop music.) The colors are rich, and many of the sets deliberately artificial-looking. The violence scenes are clearly homaging the violent Westerns of Leone and Peckinpah.

Black Tiger is a stoic and emotionally repressed protagonist. He'd very much prefer not to be a bad guy, but his life circumstances and skills at killing have pushed him into an outlaw role. He chooses to show brotherhood and trust to Mahesuan; too bad his fellow bandit doesn't reciprocate.

Rumpoey is a much put-upon heroine, bratty as a child and cold as an adult. Men are constantly hitting on her, and perhaps the reason she like Dum so much is because he has to be asked his opinion. She's willing to defy social convention, but only if she gets the support of her lover, otherwise being an obedient daughter.

Captain Kumjorn is an ass. He's well-meaning, but completely misses that Rumpoey is not in any way attracted to him as a lover or even a friend until far too late in the story. His reaction to that is ill-advised, and leads to the final tragedy.

The action is exciting, it's a good-looking movie, the music's nice. The artificiality of some of the acting is meant to be a feature, not a bug, but sometimes it goes a little too far and that threw me out of suspension of disbelief several times.

This movie was first optioned for American distribution by a company that shortened it, tacked on a happier ending, and then shelved it for several years. It was then bought by a smaller distributor and released at full length and the plot intact, but by that time the publicity buzz had worn off, so it remains obscure.

Content note: Frequent gory violence and death, including a severed limb. Child abuse. Peril to a child. Sexual harassment and attempted marital rape. Black Tiger and Mahesuan swear blood brotherhood before Buddha, actual blood is involved, and Mahesuan is being impious. Animal death. A little person bandit is used for sight gags, but otherwise seems to be treated as an equal by the bandits. This film is unrated, but would probably come down as an "R" for violence, so sensitive viewers should proceed with caution.

This is a movie that makes it onto a lot of "weird movies" lists; it's by no means bad, but it's not going to be to many viewers' taste. But if you like both Golden Age Hollywood romantic drama and violent Westerns, this might be the movie for you.

Goldeneye (1995) dir. Martin Campbell

Nine years ago, MI6 agents 006 Alex Trevelyan (Sean Bean) and 007 James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrated a Soviet chemical weapons plant hidden inside a dam. A alarm was tripped early, and 006 was caught and shot by the base commander, Colonel Ourumov (Gottfried John). Bond shorted the timers on the explosives he'd planted and managed to escape by the skin of his teeth. The plant was destroyed, but James has been haunted ever since by the death of his colleague and friend.

In the present day, things have changed. There no longer is a Soviet Union as such. And MI6 has a new "M" (Judi Dench) in charge. So there's an evaluation of 007 going on to make sure he's still fit for service. After an exciting car chase with a mysterious woman (Who will turn out to be Xenia Onatopp (Famke Jannsen)), James is able to seduce his pretty evaluator into giving him a passing mark.

Onatopp is suspected of working for Janus, a new organized crime group working out of the Russian Federation and named after its mysterious leader. Bond investigates, but is unable to prevent her from murdering an admiral and stealing an experimental helicopter shielded against radiation and electromagnetic pulses.

This turns out to be part of a plan to steal control of "Goldeneye", a secret Soviet space weapon capable of creating EMPs on demand (once); because it was super-expensive and violated treaties, only two were ever placed in orbit. They're controlled from a Space Weapons facility in Northern Russia.

This is where we meet our female lead, Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), systems engineer and computer programmer for the base, paired with Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming). Boris is a genius hacker, but alas poor in social skills, creating a hostile work environment for Natalya with his juvenile sexual jokes and crude innuendo. She puts up with him because he's sometimes genuinely funny and also she doesn't have a lot of choice in her career field.

Colonel (now a general, apparently) Ourumov arrives at the facility for a surprise inspection. Once having secured the Goldeneye key, he and Onatopp kill everyone except Boris, who was outside for a smoke break, and Natalya, who'd gone for coffee and tricked Onatopp about her hiding place. The criminals then use the first Goldeneye to destroy the base itself and any evidence that might have been there, but Natalya manages to survive that too.

Shortly thereafter, James Bond is in St. Petersburg, investigating leads to Janus. He learns that part of the gang leader's motivation is revenge against the Soviet and British governments, due to the Brits sending refugees back to the murderous government they were fleeing. (Topical!) Bond admits, "not our finest hour."

Natalya is able to get to St. Petersburg as well, and uses her computer skills to try to locate help. She's surprised to learn Boris is still alive, but when they meet she's bitterly disappointed to find out he was working for Janus all along. Fortunately, James is there to rescue her, but she is understandably suspicious of him. And the leader of the gang, Janus, also is revealed and it's someone 007 has met before.

Can James Bond convince Natalya that he's one of the good guys and prevent Janus from using Goldeneye on London?

This was the first Bond movie for Pierce Brosnan--it had been delayed by legal difficulties and other issues, so Timothy Dalton had asked to be released from his contract. The script still was tuned to Dalton's darker take on the character. The fall of the Soviet Union did require some major changes to the story, and it became focused on "what do we do now that our main enemy is defeated? Is James Bond still relevant?")

Janus helps ease this transition. He's not just a random bad guy that 007 is fighting because that's his job, he's one of the few people James Bond considered a close friend. That makes it personal, and Janus takes advantage of his knowledge of Bond's vulnerable spots to score some nasty emotional blows. The backstory makes Janus' bitterness and betrayal understandable, though he loses any sympathy points by his greed and willingness to kill innocent people.

Onatopp is also memorable, as her character type was still rare at the time, a fighting woman who gets off sexually on violence and killing. And crushing men with her thighs. Ahem.

Boris is the comic relief for the villains, a nerd who suddenly finds himself very much in demand for his computer skills and gloating about it. His sexism and immaturity make it satisfying when he declares himself "invincible" once too often.

Brosnan is an acceptable Bond, though he's still not completely into the role. Natalya gets to be pretty darn competent, somehow managing to get from the destroyed base all the way to St. Petersburg without getting caught, and her computer skills being actually just as good as Boris'. (Bond does have to solve a password for her.)

As always for Bond movies, exciting, well-staged action scenes, stuff blowing up and nice scenery (including actual footage of St. Petersburg, the first time a Bond film had actually shot inside Russia.)

This film is perhaps best remembered by fans as having inspired the best tie-in video game for a James Bond movie, but it's a good installment in the series, and recommended for action movie buffs.

The Raven (1935) dir. Lew Landers

Dr. Richard Vollin (Bela Lugosi) was a brilliant neurological surgeon until his recent retirement to pursue research on the nature of pain. He did very well for himself during his career, allowing him to pursue his hobby of collecting memorabilia of his favorite author Edgar Allen Poe. He's even recreated some of the torture devices from Poe's stories, with the crown piece being the famous Pendulum. But his retirement is rudely interrupted.

Interpretive dancer Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) was in an automobile accident that has damaged the nerves at the base of her skull. Dr. Jerry Halden (Lester Matthews), a younger and less brilliant surgeon, admits he's not skilled enough to perform this particular operation. He tries calling in Dr. Vollin, but is unable to convince the man. Jean's father, Judge Thatcher (Jerry S. Hinds), goes out to Vollin's house in person to beg for help. Dr. Vollin reluctantly agrees, and the operation is a success.

Jean is grateful to both her doctors, and begins a relationship with Jerry, but also spending a lot of time with Richard. Dr. Vollin had been too focused on his career and research when he was young to have any time for romance, and is surprised by how strongly he's attracted to the beautiful young woman. When he sees her performing to a reading of Poe's The Raven, Vollin becomes utterly smitten with Jean and starts actively courting her.

Judge Thatcher is alarmed by this as there's something like a thirty-year age gap between the two. He approaches Dr. Vollin and makes it clear he want Richard to back the hell off and let her wed the more age-appropriate doctor. Vollin knows that Thatcher has the right to demand this, but is by no means a good sport about it and swears vengeance. Mind you, he finds a way to back out of the courtship while remaining friendly to the young couple. For now.

It's at this point that Edmond Bateman (Boris Karloff) enters the picture. He's a bank robber and murderer who recently escaped prison. His face is distinctive enough that Dr. Vollin recognizes him instantly even though he's wearing a beard. Bateman hates his face because the bad treatment he received because of his ugliness contributed to him going into a life of crime. He's heard that Dr. Vollin is able to change a man's appearance (exactly how the underworld knows this is never explained.) Bateman believes that with a better face, not only could he evade the police search for him, but he could start a life as a good man instead.

Unfortunately for Edmond, Dr. Vollin is most interested in the brutality that Bateman showed in burning a bank teller's face when the man insulted him during a robbery. While Vollin has a morbid interest in torture, he's never actually done it before and needs some muscle. He's willing to do the operation, but only if Bateman assists him in gaining his revenge. Bateman has no interest in doing further harm, but sees no other choice but to agree.

The operation succeeds in changing Bateman's appearance...by hideously disfiguring him. Dr. Vollin did this in order to force Bateman to assist in his upcoming vengeance, as he's the only surgeon who's skilled enough to fix the damage. (The disfigurement is only on one side of Bateman's face, but in-universe it makes him unrecognizable even by Judge Thatcher--it's just that distracting.)

Dr. Vollin invites newlyweds Jean and Jerry, and Judge Thatcher, as well as a few decoy guests, over to his mansion for the weekend. He plays the charming host, but his intentions are evil.

There is some effective imagery in the movie, the most notable being when Dr. Vollin unveils multiple mirrors by remote control to taunt Bateman with his new hideousness. Legosi does a smooth slide from cultured doctor to cackling maniac, and Karloff does a good job as the psychologically tortured Bateman.

At the time, this movie was considered so scary by British authorities who came down on it hard that the local cinemas started just not showing horror movies at all until after World War Two. Nowadays, most audiences are likely to find the scares in this movie fairly mild.

Dr. Vollin could have been a sympathetic figure given how cruelly his romantic feelings are trampled by the judge, but him going immediately to torture and murder as a response loses him any softer evaluations. Bateman is more sympathetic despite his criminal history--he genuinely doesn't want to be a bad person anymore, and he has a point about society's lookism. (Vollin grants this point but ignores it in favor of his revenge scheme.)

Odd moment: There's a clockwork contraption in Dr. Vollin's manor that simulates a horse race that his guests bet on. It doesn't fit his Poe theme at all and I kind of wonder if this was an actual thing rich people could buy in the 1930s.

Teens on up should be okay watching this movie, but younger viewers should have a trusted adult present, especially to talk about prejudice against ugly people. Recommended to Legosi and Karloff fans, and people interested in the history of horror movies.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) dir. Robert Wiene

The frame story begins with Franciz (Friedrich Feher) having just been told by another man (Hans Lanser-Ludloff) about the supernatural events that drove him from his home. Franciz replies that the events he and his fiancée Jane Olsen (Lil Dagover) experienced were even more chilling. We then flash back to the announcement of a fair in the city where Franciz and Jane then lived. Their friend Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski) sees an ad for the fair and asks Franciz to come with him. Despite their both being in love with Jane, the two are still good friends.

Meanwhile, a mountebank calling himself Doctor Caligari (Werner Krauss) tries to get a license to perform at the fair. The Town Clerk does allow this, but not before he's very rude to the applicant. By what I am sure is a total coincidence, the Town Clerk is murdered that very night.

Alan and Franciz go to the fair and visit Dr. Caligari's concession. The act turns out to be the supposed doctor displaying a "somnambulist" he calls Cesare (Conrad Veidt) who he awakens from deep sleep. Caligari claims that Cesare has supernatural knowledge of the future. When Alan foolishly enquires how long he will live, Cesare tells Alan he will be dead by dawn.

When Alan is murdered that night, Franciz' logical first suspect is Cesare. But is that really the case?

This 1920 silent German film is one of the most famous movies ever made, and even if you haven't seen it, you've probably heard of it if you have an interest in film history, horror, or German Expressionism. The last is most obvious in the nightmarish set design.

Conrad Veidt is chilling as Cesare, the sleepwalking killer, scrambling over the rooftops on his deadly mission. And within context, Dr. Caligari makes a very sinister figure.

There's a couple of nice touches. An unrelated criminal attacks an old woman in hopes that his murder will be mistakenly credited to the mysterious previous ones. And Dr. Caligari has a "lifelike" dummy of Cesare that he puts in the cabinet while the somnambulist is away to create an alibi.

The title card says that this is a retelling of an 11th Century legend, though that legend itself is made up for the movie--and then there's the infamous twist ending that turns most of what we've learned on its head.

It does have to be remembered that this movie is still quite early in the history of films, and silent, so the acting can come off artificial and stiff, and the lighting is sometimes dubious. The set design actually helps by being so weird that the viewer might not feel the need to nitpick details so much.

Content note: Murder, naturally, though the actual deed is suggested by shadow, not directly shown. Some period depiction of mental illness that may come off badly to modern viewers. Older teens should be fine; younger viewers may not be ready for the conventions of silent film.

This is one of those movies that's more important than good, but it's good enough that it's worth seeing for any fan of horror or film history buff.

Gone With the Wind (1939) dir. Victor Fleming

Gerald O'Hara (Thomas Mitchell) is an Irish immigrant who got lucky in a card game many years ago, winning a substantial tract of farmland in Georgia. He married a woman of French extraction named Ellen (Barbara O'Neil) and by hard work and being a decent master to his slaves built Tara into a fine plantation, manor house and all. He has three daughters, Catherine Scarlett (Vivian Leigh), Suellen (Evelyn Keyes), and Carreen (Ann Rutherford). Scarlett, as most folk call her, is a willful but charming belle of sixteen in 1861. While proud of his Irish heritage, Mr. O'Hara has acclimated to the customs and beliefs of his Southern gentry neighbors.

Prominent slaves at Tara include housekeeper and caregiver Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), valet Pork (Oscar Polk), maid Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) and foreman Big Sam (Everett Brown). Jonas Wilkerson (Victor Jory) was, up to the moment we meet him, the white overseer of the slaves, but is a Yankee, and of low moral character, which gets him fired.

Scarlett is a shameless flirt, and enjoys the attention of all the local swains, but she has her heart set on Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), a fine young Southern gentleman and the son of John Wilkes (Howard Hickman), owner of the neighboring Twelve Oaks plantation. Ashley has a sister named India (Alicia Rhett), but Scarlett mostly ignores her. Scarlett is looking forward to the big barbecue and ball at Twelve Oaks so she can finally make it clear to Ashley that she loves him (and pin him down that he loves her.) She's fed up with all the menfolk's talk of "war", even though that seems inevitable.

At the barbecue, Scarlett is less thrilled by the arrival of some of the guests. These include Ashley's cousins Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) and Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks). You see, there's a Wilkes custom of marrying one's cousin. And Scarlett is aware that most of the family is expecting Ashley to marry Melanie, who Scarlett considers a mealy-mouthed goody two-shoes. And there's a special guest from Charleston, a Mr. Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Rhett's a black sheep, no longer welcome in Charleston, who made his money gambling and operating shady businesses. But John Wilkes has business with him, so despite his poor reputation, he's been invited. Rhett's interested in Scarlett, but not vice versa.

Scarlett isn't able to get Ashley alone at the barbecue (he's busy affirming his engagement to Melanie, and it's clear to the audience that neither of them is entering this relationship unwillingly), so when the ladies are supposed to be taking an afternoon nap, she sneaks downstairs to find him.

Meanwhile, the menfolk have been discussing the prospects of the upcoming war. Most of the Southerners are all for it. They figure it will be a short, victorious war of independence as Yankees can't fight for spit and the South has all the good officers. Ashley demurs, he's against war in principle as immoral, though if called to serve he will do so. Rhett, on the other hand, who has actually been to the North, warns that the Yankees' superior numbers and industrial capacity will make them difficult foes, and the South is not assured of an easy victory. This dose of facts makes the outsider very unpopular, and he walks out. Ashley goes after him to be a good host.

Scarlett waylays Ashley before he can catch up to Rhett, and after a bit of small talk drags him into the library to confess her love. Ashley tells her that he's marrying Melanie, but instead of saying that he loves his cousin, cites his "duty." It's clear that Ashley is attracted to Scarlett, but is smart enough to realize they're not compatible, and is far more comfortable in the important ways with Melanie. Scarlett isn't catching the unspoken overtones, and only sees that Ashley isn't saying that he doesn't love her. After Ashley leaves, she has a fit of temper, only to discover that Rhett was in the room all along, lying on a couch with a high back turned towards her. He indicates that he's interested in Scarlett, but she's angry and embarrassed and just not interested right now.

Before anything else can happen, it's announced that the War of Northern Aggression has begun, and all the men start getting ready to enlist. Realizing there's no time to get Ashley to change his mind, Scarlett fastens on to Charles Hamilton, who is smitten by this fiery young woman and agrees to marry her pronto, thus making Scarlett and Melanie sisters-in-law.

And there's still over three hours left of this movie!

Gone With the Wind was based on a bestselling novel of the same title, written by Margaret Mitchell. It was wildly successful, becoming the highest-grossing movie (adjusted for inflation) ever. It won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and a Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, the first acting Oscar given to a Black person.

And honestly, this is a very well-made and impressive movie. Music (the classic "Tara Theme"), special effects, costuming, set design, stuntwork (including by legendary Yakima Canutt), directing and acting are all top-notch. A very impressive amount of the novel got into the movie, justifying the nearly four-hour runtime. Which is why most of the DVD versions are on two discs.

Scarlett is an interestingly flawed protagonist. She's charming, clever when she thinks ahead (her picture is next to "conniving" in the dictionary) and a shrewd business owner. But she spends most of the runtime hankering after a man who is never going to return her love and failing to realize that Melanie is her one true friend. She's just as responsible for the failure of her eventual marriage to Rhett as he is.

And Rhett? Well, he's definitely the clearest-headed man in the movie, but he's earned his bad reputation and cannot for the life of him stop saying cynical or sarcastic things to Scarlett that damage her ability to trust him. He too can be very charming when he tries, but his normal bluntness burns bridges and at the end, he's just not willing to stay in this toxic relationship.

Mammy is also a complex character. She's essentially a second mother to Scarlett, and far more involved in her day-to-day life than Ellen. As such, Mammy often gives orders and sound advice to Miss Scarlett far beyond what their respective social stations would normally allow. Not that Scarlett, a headstrong teen, pays attention. Her bond to the O'Hara family is so strong that she continues working for them even after the war ends and she's technically free. And winning her approval is something that Rhett seriously cares about. Ms. McDonald is said to have disliked playing such a stereotyped role, but "I'd rather play a maid for seven hundred dollars than be a maid for seven dollars." And there were such women in real life.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, in the first half of the Twentieth Century, there was a concerted effort by writers and filmmakers to romanticize the Old South and present a revisionist history where the Lost Cause was noble and slavery wasn't all that bad, really. Ms. Mitchell's novel actually was a bit of a reaction to that, showing that the Old South wasn't all "magnolias and moonlight" as Rhett calls it out, but the movie smooths out some of the edges. There's no blatant mistreatment of slaves on screen or referenced, and the O'Hara slaves who have dialogue are nothing but loyal to their masters with no talk of wanting freedom. The "political meetings" that Ashley and Frank Kennedy (Carroll Nye) (Scarlett's second husband) attend are not clarified as them belonging to the Klu Klux Klan nor do we see those meetings or the raid during which Ashley is wounded and Frank killed.

On the other hand, when Scarlett decides to save money by leasing convict labor (the one kind of slavery allowed under the Fourteenth Amendment) rather than hire free black people, it's presented as a moral failing that extends on from her upbringing as a slave owner's heir.

Content note: Murder in self-defense. Marital rape off-screen. It's implied that the "renegade" wanted to rape Scarlett (in the book it's spelled out.) Many deaths from war wounds, a child dies, two miscarriages, other deaths. A horse dies on screen, and another one offscreen. Wounds are shown. Rhett's very good friend Belle Watling (Ona Munson) is pretty obviously a prostitute and extramarital sex is implied, though of course, not actually mentioned on screen. Racism towards and enslavement of black people, use of outdated terms. Women are shown in period underwear, and at one point there is a woman implied to be naked behind some furniture. Older teens will probably be okay, but younger viewers should have a responsible adult handy for discussions of heavy topics.

This is one of the all time classic movies, and well worth watching at least once. The long running time means that it's a serious commitment, so be sure to block out a full day to watch it including breaks during the musical interludes. Recommended to classic movie fans.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) dir. Frank Lloyd

Midshipman Roger Byam (Franchot Tone) is excited for his first Royal Navy assignment, sailing aboard the Bounty under Captain William Bligh (Charles Laughton) to Tahiti to secure breadfruit trees and in Mr. Byam's case, compile a dictionary of the local language. Bligh is a brilliant navigator and mapmaker who sailed with Captain Cook, and knows Tahiti from that previous voyage. Byam is somewhat taken aback when he arrives on ship and witnesses British Navy discipline. A sailor had struck an officer and was sentenced to be flogged. That sailor has died during the punishment, but Bligh orders the corpse to continue to be flogged to carry out the entire sentence.

Captain Bligh feels it's necessary to maintain harsh discipline from the beginning of the voyage, especially as several of the crewmen have been "pressed" (grabbed off the street), including an ex-convict and a new father. Other officers are somewhat less harsh on the men, including first mate Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and drunken doctor Bacchus (Dudley Diggs).

On the long voyage out to Tahiti, Captain Bligh metes out disproportionate punishments for the slightest infraction, including telling him that he's mistaken, even if he is. He explodes when Mr. Christian refuses to sign a blatantly fraudulent supply log, and their relationship sours completely.

Finally the Bounty arrives at Tahiti, and is greeted by the friendly natives. We briefly see a better side of Captain Bligh as he meets with the local chief Hitihiti (Bill Bambridge) and they reminisce fondly about Captain Cook. While the crew gets no respite from hard work, they do get to walk around and see the island and interact with its people and get decent food for a change. Even Mr. Christian is allowed a short shore leave. Native girls Tehani (Movita) and Maimiti (Mamo Clark) are especially willing to keep the officers company.

After a few months gathering breadfruit trees, restocking supplies and repairing the ship, it's time to leave. Captain Bligh asserts his authority by having any personal goodies the crew brought aboard like bananas or piglets confiscated as "Crown Property." This extends to pearls Tehani gave Mr. Christian as a present for his mother. Mr. Christian pointedly repeats the words "Crown property", which Bligh bristles at. He may or may not be planning to pocket them, but he doesn't like being suspected.

About a week into the return voyage, Captain Bligh has cut the water rations to keep the breadfruit trees alive, and is generally back to his old harsh discipline self. When he orders a severely ill Dr. Bacchus on deck and the old man dies, this is the last straw for Mr. Christian, who starts a mutiny. Mr. Byam refuses to join the mutiny, and is trapped below decks when Captain Bligh and a number of other loyalists are offloaded into a small launch.

By a stunning feat of navigation and gumption, the men in the launch are able to cross 3000 miles of ocean to a safe harbor at the loss of only one man.

The mutineers and the few remaining loyalists sail the Bounty back to Tahiti, where they live relatively happily for a year. Mr. Christian has married Tehani and had a child! But a distant sail reminds them that eventually the British Navy will be coming back and the penalty for mutiny is death by hanging. So most of the mutineers and their native spouses and allies board the ship again and sail for parts unknown. Byam and the other loyalists, as well as a few mutineers who long to return to England regardless of the danger (the new father among them) stay.

Everyone is dismayed when the new ship arriving, the Pandora turns out to be commanded by the very much alive Captain Bligh, who's holding a massive grudge against his entire former crew, and is enraged when Byam and the others won't tell him where Mr. Christian sailed off to (as they honestly don't know.) The court martial back in England is a harrowing experience, but we're told by the narration that out of this experience came a new understanding of the relationship between officers and crew that improved things in the Royal Navy.

While Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian were real people, and the Bounty did indeed have a mutiny, this movie (and the remakes) is based on a trilogy of novels that greatly fictionalized the events. Many incidents in the story were made up to give Mr. Christian a more obvious motive for the mutiny, while other aspects directly contradict historical records. (For example, the movie has Bligh and Christian meeting for the first time aboard the ship--in real life, they were long-time friends.)

That said, this movie is very good. Outdoor location shooting was done in Tahiti, and most of the Tahitian extras are actual natives. Exhaustive work was put in to make the ship scenes look as authentic as possible. Mr. Laughton and Mr. Gable were chosen for their roles specifically because their personalities and lifestyles clashed, so it was easy for them to portray animosity towards each other. The supporting actors also do solid work.

There's some excellent camera work and exciting moments of sea action in between the tense character scenes.

Content note: Violence, some lethal, and other deaths. There's a gory shot of a hand being impaled. Torture (primarily flogging) and other abusive behavior. Extramarital sex is heavily implied. Bacchus drinks to excess. It'd get a PG-13 these days, I think.

My DVD copy came with a short feature "Pitcairn Island Today", about the place where the mutineers and their allies settled. When they were found twenty years later, all but one of the sailors had died, but their descendants still live there today. The feature is more marketing gimmick than documentary, but a fascinating glimpse into an isolated community.

This is a classic movie and well worth watching even if it does play fast and loose with historical details. Recommended to Clark Gable fans and those who love tales of the sea.