Month: February 2019

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

Directed by Terence Fisher.

Screenplay by Bert Batt based on a story by Anthony Nelson Keys.

Cast: Peter Cushing (Baron Frankenstein), Veronica Carlson (Anna Spengler), Freddie Jones (Professor Richter), Simon Ward (Karl), Thorley Walters (Inspector Frisch), Maxine Audley (Ella Brandt), Geoffrey Bayldon (Police Doctor), George Pravda (Doctor Brandt), Colette O’Neil (Mad Woman), Harold Goodwin (Burglar).

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) is my favorite of the Hammer Frankenstein series; due largely to Peter Cushing’s performance and the dark humor that pervades the film from the opening scene with the burglar who inadvertently breaks into the Baron’s laboratory heading off further experimentation at that location. He is cornered there by the Baron who has returned to the lab with a head in a box. How the head got into the box is detailed in the opening title sequence.

Trapped, the burglar tries to make a run for it and gets into a tangle with the Baron. He manages to break free and escape covered in blood from the Baron’s experiments and runs right into a bobby on the street. As the Baron throws the contents of his lab and his ‘experiment’ down a deep well, the burglar ends up at the police station being grilled by Inspector Frisch (Thorley Walters). Inspector Frisch and the Police Doctor (Geoffrey Bayldon) play off of each other expertly and the resulting humor makes this one of the most enjoyable in the series. The high caliber of the performances of all of the players makes the film a strong entry. Even the least experienced actor in the cast, Veronica Carlson contributes greatly to the film’s success.

The Baron’s cold heartedness is countered by Anna’s (Veronica Carlson) innocence. She is pulled into a horror only because she is trying to care for her mother, and Karl is stealing the cocaine for the same reason. The Baron uses her to control Karl (Simon Ward) getting him to assist in breaking the insane Doctor Brandt out of the asylum. He needs to cure Brandt’s insanity so that he can get the information he needs to prefect brain transplants.

The success of the series has been the focus on Baron Frankenstein rather than on the monster which is both truer to Shelley’s novel than the Universal films, yet takes the Baron’s obsession beyond anything that she had imagined. He was foremost a doctor that was trying to do good, but ventured too far into God’s realm and paid dearly. Here, instead of learning from his transgression, he arrogantly pursues his goal beyond all reason. Even after he restores Doctor Brandt’s (George Pravda) sanity and transplants Brandt’s brain to the body of Professor Richter (Freddie Jones), the Baron Frankenstein still persists.

Wanting no part in the madness, Brandt escapes (mortally wounding Anna in the process) and goes to his home and finds that his wife is terrified of him. The Baron finds his way to the Brandt home and the showdown does not end well.

The last of the Hammer Frankenstein series was Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1972). It is too bad that Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed was not the last film. That would have ended the series on a high note, but there was redemption for the monster just two years away with Mel Brook’s & Gene Wilder’s, Young Frankenstein (1974).

NEXT: Young Frankenstein (1974)

Above: Black Angel (1946) Dan Duryea, June Vincent, & Peter Lorre

Phantom Lady (1944) Universal

Directed by Robert Siodmak

Screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld based on the Novel by Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish)

CAST: Franchot Tone (Jack Marlow), Ella Raines (Carol Richman), Alan Curtis (Scott Henderson), Aurora Miranda (Estela Monteiro), Thomas Gomez (Inspector Burgess, Elisha Cook Jr. (Cliff), Fay Helm (Ann Terry).

The writer that casts the longest shadow in Film Noir is Cornell Woolrich.  Truly  a master of dark fiction, Woolrich’s stories and novels were mined by film-makers as far back as 1934’s Manhattan Love Song, and most notably in Val Lewton’s 1943 production of The Leopard Man which was based on Woolrich’s novel, Black Alibi.

 

The following year, the first of the Woolrich based Film Noirs would be released, Phantom Lady (1944).  The novel, published under the pseudonym William Irish, was adapted to the screen by Bernard C. Schoenfeld (The Dark Corner) and directed by Robert Siodmak who also directed the Noir classic, Criss Cross (1949).  Phantom Lady begins innocently enough when Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) goes out to get a breather from his shrewish wife and meets a woman in a bar.  They innocently go for a night on the town, but he never learns her name.    Unbeknownst to him, while he is out his wife is strangled with one of his ties.  His only alibi is a woman he can only identify by her unusual hat.  It is a simple plot that is brought to life by what should have been a star making performance by Ella Raines.

Carol Richman (Ella Raines) is Scott Henderson’s secretary who not only believes that he is innocent, but is also in love with him.  She powers the story as she pushes to prove his innocence in a seemingly hopeless situation.

Also notable in the cast is Elisha Cook Jr. who gives a exceptional performance as a strung out musician.  One of the best character actors of all time in a powerful role.

Phantom Lady begins like many of Woolrich’s stories, with common place events and no hint of the horror to come.  Unlike most of the pulp writer’s whose stories found their way to the screen, the private eye was not always present in Woolrich’s tales.  Ordinary people lost in the darkness of a shadowy turn of events that moved from the light of day into the blackness of a moonless night were at the heart of his fiction.  His writing was always dark as was reflected in many of the titles: Black Alibi, The Bride Wore Black, The Black Curtain, Rendezvous in Black, and Night Has a Thousand Eyes.

 

Black Angel (1946) Universal

Directed by Roy William Neill

Screenplay by Roy Chanslor based on the Novel by Cornell Woolrich

CAST: Dan Duryea (Martin Blair), June Vincent (Catherine Bennett), Peter Lorre (Marko), Broderick Crawford (Police Captain Flood), Constance Dowling (Mavis Marlowe), John Phillips (Kirk Bennett).

June Vincent (Catherine) and Dan Duryea (Martin) are excellent together as they work very hard to try to prove the innocence of Catherine’s husband Kirk (John Phillips) in the murder of well known night club singer, Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling). Going to great lengths to track down evidence they end up working at a night club run by the unsavory Marko (Peter Lorre) as a singer and her pianist. One of Woolrich’s very intricate plots, it takes a while to get to the truth.

Martin (Dan Duryea) is seen entering the lobby of the Mavis Marlowe’s building. We see him get turned away by the doorman on Mavis’ orders. As Martin leaves, we see Marko (Peter Lorre) enter the building and gain access to the elevator that will take him to Mavis’ rooms.

Their plan is to get close enough to Marko to get evidence to prove that he is indeed the murderer. The entire cast pulls this noir conundrum together with stylish aplomb. Duryea is wonderful against type and June Vincent adds a wary innocence as she and Duryea can’t help but get too close for comfort making the ending even darker.

The third episode of the first season (also written by Rod Serling) was titled, Mr. Denton on Doomsday.  The cast included: Dan Duryea (Al Denton), Martin Landau (Dan Hotaling), Jeanne Cooper (Liz), Malcolm Atterbury (Henry J. Fate), and Doug McClure (Pete Grant).  It is the tale of a burnt out gun slinger that time and circumstance has reduced to the town drunk.  Al Denton is constantly taunted by the slick gunslinger Dan.  Dan humiliates him in order to make him beg for money for drinks.  The barmaid, Liz tries to comfort and encourage Denton, but to no avail.

A barker arrives in town whose wagon announces, Henry J. Fate and suddenly, Denton finds a six shooter in the dust of the road.  Dan sees Denton with the gun and challenges him to a gunfight.  Fate seems to give Denton an edge as with two quick shots he sends Dan’s gun spinning through the air and Dan stands holding an injured hand. He won’t be quick drawing any more.

Denton wins the respect of the town that fast, but he knows that now he’ll be in the same conundrum that led him to drink in the first place. It won’t be long before someone comes to challenge him to a gun fight.

Dan Duryea gives a controlled performance and Jeanne Cooper as the sympathetic barmaid reigns in the sentiment keeping her role perfectly modulated.  As with most of the Twilight Zone series, the black & white photography lends strong support with stunning light and shadow that enhances the mood.  Martin Landau’s Dan Hotaling is a perfect foil, smart mouthed and arrogant as he goads Denton into the gunfight.  The show not only showcased good writing, but also extended the careers of seasoned actors by introducing older players to an audience that may not have been familiar with their previous work.  This episode is a good example as it showcased the very talented Dan Duryea as well as younger actors Martin Landau, Jeanne Cooper, and Doug McClure.

The fourth episode is a supernatural twist on Sunset Boulevard that stars the multi-talented Ida Lupino as a fading Hollywood legend. She is supported by Martin Balsam (who was probably working or about to start working with Hitchcock on Psycho), as her well meaning agent. Her maid sees that her mistress is spending far too much time in a dark room watching her own films from the golden age of Hollywood and calls the agent for help.

Her agent shows up and tries with kindness to bring her to what he feels should be her senses, but she does not respond. He brings a retired actor that she had worked with in the past, but that backfires on him. It is no use and the inevitable happens. Light and shadow are important in this episode as well with the flickering of the past illuminating the present. The visuals were as atmospheric as necessary. Ida Lupino and Martin Balsam were perfect, and the ending was as it could only have been in The Twilight Zone.