The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator, starring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert
The Great Dictator, possibly the most well-known of Charlie Chaplin’s films, was a timely satire on Nazisim and fascism in general, and Adolph Hitler in particular. In it, Charlie Chaplin plays a double role — Adenoid Hynkel, autocratic dictator of Tomania who blames the Jewish people for all of society’s ills, and a Jewish Barber who happens to be the spitting image of Hynkel. Contrary to what some people believe, the Jewish Barber was not Chaplin’s world-famous tramp character, although they clearly share some of the same traits. The film is a true classic, with the famous “dance with the globe” where Hynkel dances with an oversized inflated image of the globe, fantasizing about his eventual conquests. The film ends with the famous “Look Up, Hannah” speech which is, perhaps, both verbose and even hokey, but it fits properly and plays well.
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I’ll Be Seeing You
I’ll Be Seeing You (1944) starring Joseph Cotten, Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple
In short, I‘ll Be Seeing You is a wonderful film. It’s set towards the end of World War II. A veteran (played very well by Joseph Cotten) is suffering from what we would now call PTSD. He’s jumping at any sound, and thinks that he’s likely to be attacked at any moment. His doctors at the VA are letting him out from the psych ward …. In order to see how well he’s able to function in normal society. On his train ride, he meets a beautiful young lady (played very well by Ginger Rogers). She’s a lady who’s also out on furlough — from prison.
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The Clown
Movie review of The Clown (1953) starring Red Skelton, Tim Consadine, Jane Greer
Having just watched Red Skelton in the serious drama, The Clown, my first reaction is simply, “wow”. Although it stars Red Skelton, and deals with a clown/comedian as the central character, The Clown is not a comedy. It is a very serious drama, which left me with a new respect for Red Skelton’s acting ability.
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Dracula vs Frankenstein
Dracula vs Frankenstein (1971) starring J. Carrol Naish, Lon Chaney Jr.
Before talking about Dracula vs Frankenstein itself, I would like to point out that it was the final appearance by two excellent actors: J. Carrol Naish (Sahara, Annie Get Your Gun) and Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man, The Defiant Ones) — and both frankly deserved better. Lon Chaney Jr. was mute in the film, due to the damage done by throat cancer. Although I doubt that it would have improved the film very much if he had been able to speak. Yes, Dracula vs Frankenstein is that bad.
The plot is …
The basic plot for Dracula vs Frankenstein, such as it is, is as follows: the lovely and successful Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol) is looking for her missing sister, Joan (Maria Lease, St. Elsewhere) who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. However, Joan has become the victim of Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.), a mute, axe-wielding homicidal maniac who alternates with playing with little puppies. Groton, in turn, is working for Dr. Durea (J. Carrol Naish), a wheelchair-bound mad scientist who is experimenting with re-attaching decapitated heads and resuscitating the victims. Dr. Durea is secretly the last descendant of Dr. Frankenstein and is running a house of horrors by the beach as a cover, assisted by Grazbo the Evil Dwarf (yes, that’s the character’s name, portrayed by Angelo Rossitto).
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The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush, produced & directed by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray
Synopsis of The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush is one of Charlie Chaplin’s greatest films. Like all of his films starring the Little Tramp, it is a silent, and demonstrates very well why the silent move is an art form in its’ own right. Modern clowns would do well to learn from a master of the art of pantomime by watching this film — it’s Chaplin at his finest. Chaplin and his crew do an excellent job of telling the story without dialog, and it moves from funny to poignant to sad to touching and back to funny again.
It details the Little Tramp, who has made his way to Alaska for the Gold Rush, trying to make his fortune. Along the way, he partners with a mad-from-hunger gold digger looking for his lost claim (played by Mack Swain, one of Chaplin’s regulars), falls in love with a young lady from a saloon (played by Georgia Hale), gets on the wrong side of a very dangerous outlaw, and finds his way to happily ever after by the end of the film.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Robinson Crusoe on Mars, starring Paul Mantee
Editorial review of Robinson Crusoe on Mars courtesy of Amazon.com
Although it is a thoughtful and surprisingly non exploitative movie, the title Robinson Crusoe on Mars might conjure up unholy echoes of cross-pollinated genre movies such as Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Well, don’t worry. This 1964 space epic is in fact an adaptation of the classic Daniel Defoe novel, and it plays fair by logic and science.
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The Circus (1928) starring Charlie Chaplin
The Circus, produced & directed by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Al Garcia, Harry Crocker, Henry Bergman
Synopsis of Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus:
The Circus is one of the Little Tramp’s most poignant roles, as well as one of Charlie Chaplin’s funniest silent movies — for which he won a special Oscar. It begins with the Tramp attending a small circus that comes to town. He haphazardly bumps into a pickpocket, who hides his ill-gotten goods in the Tramp’s pocket. This soon leads to a marvelous chase, with the police chasing both the pickpocket and the Tramp. At one point the pickpocket and the Tramp are running in parallel …. And the Tramp politely tips his hat to the thief. After a chase through the hall of mirrors (which has to be seen). The Tramp accidentally runs into the circus’ center ring, where he is unintentionally hilarious. The circus owner/ringmaster auditions the Tramp as a new clown. Only to find out that he can’t be funny on purpose — only unintentionally.
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The Spell
The Spell (1977) starring Lee Grant, Susan Myers, Helen Hunt, Lelia Goldoni, Jack Colvin
The Spell is an NBC made-for-television movie, clearly, a rip-off of Carrie. However, it was actually slightly more than that. The Spell begins with a young teenager named Rita (Susan Myers, Revenge of the Nerds) who is being picked on by her fellow high school students for being “fat” — i.e. not being anorexic like them. As they’re tormenting her, the Phy Ed teacher stands by and watches, doing absolutely nothing. This prompted one of my children to comment, “The teacher’s evil! She’s just standing there!” Actually, she’s more right than she knows, but more on that later.
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The Beast Within
The Beast Within (1982) starring Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, Logan Ramsey, Don Gordon
In short, The Beast Within is a 1980’s horror film that’s a mixture between The Curse of the Werewolf and any number of Southern Gothic movies. It begins with a newlywed couple (Ronny Cox and Bibi Besch) on their honeymoon. They have car trouble in the middle of nowhere, in the American South. Filmed in Raymond, Missouri, for those who care about such things. While the husband goes to find help, the woman is assaulted and raped by an insect-like monster. She conceives a child from the rape and gives birth to seemingly-normal Michael (Paul Clemens). He appears to be a nice, average, handsome young man. Until he turns 17 …
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