Comic review – Tintin #16 – “Destination Moon” by Herge

Part one of Herge’s true Tintin epic, where the author became so confident he decided to send his characters to the moon… and what’s more he pulled it off. We never are quite told why the Syldavian government (a) has enough money for a space program and (b) is happy for Tintin, Haddock and Snowy to go to the moon instead of someone from their own country (presumably Calculus trusts them and Tintin would make a sensible adult – but the others are bound to cause trouble and they do).

Herge treats the whole thing seriously and it works extremely well – though he does fall in love with his research at times resulting in some lumpy exposition. Haddock and the Thomsons bumble their way through the story, Calculus is offended by the word “goat” and has a magnificent tantrum, and there of course are baddies out to stop the mission. The launching is extremely tense. The piece has such ambition and sweep you forgive any of its flaws.

Comic review – Tintin #15 - “Land of the Black Gold” by Herge

Herge famously started work on this comic before the war and was using it to attack imperialism again – notably the presence of the British in Palestine, with the Irgun featured. War intervened and in coming back to it later Herge rewrote the story so it was set in a fictitious Arab country. (This long gestation period explains why Haddock is hardly in the story at all).

All that aside this is a real first-rate Tintin – the basic idea (mysterious explosions to oil disputing the world economy) is excellent, the pacing superb, the villain (Col Muller) is worthy adversary (dangerous, smart and ruthless), the Thomson Twins have never been better particularly facing mirages (Tintinologists have pointed out this was a wonderful last hurrah for them as main supporting actors – the role of bumbling sidekick was soon hogged by Haddock), the Arab settings are wonderful and most of all there is Abdullah, the brattish prince whose antics make for a hilarious and thrilling final chase sequence, one of the best in the whole series.

Movie review – Bulldog #1 - “Bulldog Drummond Escapes” (1937) **

Ronald Colman had starred in two Bulldog Drummond movies before Paramount decided to turn the books into a B series. Ray Milland took over, and did so well he was promptly promoted off the franchise – the less charismatic John Howard stepped in for the rest of the movies. Milland is very engaging and likeable as Drummond – he dominates the film far more than Howard did in his movies, which tended to be more ensemble pieces (also, here Algy(Reginald Denny) , Tenny (E E Clive) and the Colonel (Guy Standing) don’t do that much). Plot wise this is so-so – Drummond comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress whose family have basically kidnapped her. She’s a bit of a ninny though she proves her worth by the end – she is Phyllis (Heather Angel) who became Drummond’s fiancée. (NB for the purposes of numbering I only refer to the official series - there was another Drummond made aroud this time with John Loder, called Bulldog Drummond at Bay without Denny or Clive).

Book review - "American Hero: The Life and Death of Audie Murphy" by Charles Whiting

Audie Murphy was one of those gimmick stars that Hollywood throws up from time to time - people who become famous in one sphere then go into movie fame: John Weismuller, Buster Crabbe, Esther Williams, Sonya Henie, etc. Murphy's gimmick was being the most decorated soldier in World War Two - a topic which takes up three quarters of Whiting's book. Whiting isn't that much interested in Murphy's childhood or growing up apart from mentioning the povery and father who shot through, but is strong on the war stuff. Murphy saw really hard service - North Africa, Sicily, France (not Normany but the south during the champagne campaign). Whiting gets stuck into General Clark for the debacle at Anzio (some maps and more pictures would have helped).

Only around a quarter of the book is spent on Murphy's Hollywood years, which started when James Cagney brought him out and put him under contract - the young veteran did very little apart from a part in Beyond Glory but Allied tried him in a low budgeted Bad Boy which prompted Universal to star him in a series of films, mostly Westerns. Whiting devotes some time to Red Badge of Courage and To Hell and Back (where Murphy played himself) but unfairly I think skips over The Quiet American in a paragraph. He does talk about a proposed sequel to To Hell and Back which sounds as if it would have been fascinating.

Murphy's good friend Doug McClure was interviewed for the book and he provides some invaluable insights to Murphy's character - he doesn't seem to have been a particularly nice person, a womaniser, compulsive gambler and later a drug addict, redeemed by his incredible fighting skill, though, as Whiting points out, much of his troubles could be traced back to post-traumatic stress disorder. I just hate it when they blow their money! I enjoyed the book but kept wanting a bit more, especially on the films.

Book review - "The Errol Flynn Movie Poster Book" by Lawrence Bassoff

We've had a series of books about Flynn - autobiography, cut and paste bios, looks at his films, muck racking jobs. Here's one on his posters - because Flynn made so many swashbucklers he's an ideal topic as his posters were often colourful.

Bassoff is a poster enthusiast and writes with some skill on the topic (he is not blind to the faults of the dodgier ones). No posters for more obscure works like Murder at Monte Carlo, Don't Bet on Blondes, Hello God and The Case of the Curious Bride, which is disappointing, though understandable. Bassoff's summary of the films and short and often witty (one line: "Flynn minues vim equals Brian Ahern") though at times I think he's a bit harsh on some of the films.

Interesting intro from Stewart Granger, written shortly before he died - Granger was something of an heir to Flynn, grumpy bugger in real life (he was living alone at the end of his life), and he tells a funny story about lending his flat to a mate of Flynn's.

Comic review - Asterix #8 - "Asterix in Britain" by Goscinny and Uderzo

The greatest Asterix adventure? It would certainly be up there, for this is a brilliantly entertaining romp where Asterix and Obelix go visit the village of the former's cousin in Britain, where they are the lone hold outs against the Romans. There is one irritating factor - if Getafix is willing to give one Pommy village a barrel of potion, why not to all of Gaul (we really just need one sentence along the lines of "if too many people have the potion it will cause never-ending war" or something) - I think secretly maybe Getafix thinks the Gauls are better off under Rome. Apart from that, the rest is enormous fun - the satire on the British is abundant but affectionate (they stop fighting for tea and weekends - partly why Caesar beat them apparently!, are protective of their gardens, love warm beer and awful food, are unemotional, etc - Brits love hearing this stuff about themselves no wonder they lapped it up), the "macguffin" of the barrel of magic potion works well, there are some hilarious sequences such as the tower of London and everyone getting drunk while searching for the potion, the Romans are worthy adversaries (note how their skilled aim gets the barrel) and the heroes have to rely on cunning instead of potion to get themselves out of trouble by the end.

Book review - "Che Guevera: A Revolutionary Life"

Reading this makes me understand in a way why Che is so popular with students, both in his prime and today (his picture's on T shits in Herbie: Fully Loaded and Shooter) - he's that cool kid you knew at school, the good looking moody one who maybe rode a motorcycle and had lots of sex - not sex with skanks but like elder women or other unobtainable species. He would be enigmatic, and know poetry, maybe even write it. Other boys would have man-crushes on him. He would make these statements with clarity and certainty and be able to charm when he set his mind to it. A wanker, basically - until you chatted to him yourself and was charmed. Such blokes are often found in the arts world and the backpacking trail - so its not surprising that Che wrote often, mostly diaries and poetry, and was a voracious reader and traveller.

Four incidents leap off the page as potential movies

1) Che's motorcycle trips across the US, and I'm not saying that just because of The Motorcycle Diaries (which I haven't seen yet), there's other reasons:it's self contained, starts with Che getting dumped by a woman whose parents don't want to see him, has comedy with them pretending to be leprosy experts, gets serious with encounters with the poor - and finishes with him visiting the US (which I understand wasn't in the film).

2) The second is when Che arrives in Cuba to lead the revolt - its incredibly exciting, constant last minute escapes, the revolution being one step forward and two steps back (one of the biggest early fillips was surprisingly some positive press in the New York Times), Che discovering his courage and capacity for ruthlessness.

3) The third would be the travails of Felix Rodriguez, the Cuban who left after the revolution and subsequently became a noted anti-Castro fighter, training in the Dominican Republic, sent to kill Castro then winding up in Bolivia at Che's death.

4) The final segment of the book would also make a good film - his attempt to raise rebellion in Bolivia (which could be subtitled "suppose they try to overthrow a government but nobody came"). This started badly for Che and went from bad to worse to the ultimate tragedy. The Bolivians were determined not to bury him but wanted to prove he was dead - so as a compromise (!) they cut off his hands.

There are many words to describe Che: brave, asthmatic, indomitable,charismatic, ambitious. One word not used enough is "wanker". I'm sorry,but he was - he lacked humour, he spent his Sunday mornings in Havana volunteering cutting cane (you cannot negotiate with people like that they are too hard core). People poo-poo the idea of communists wanting to take over the world, but that was Che's goal. While the USSR were happy to go along in peaceful co-existence, Che was pushing for war everywhere - Africa, Asia, even global. In South America the local communist parties wanted to achieve power (gasp) peacefully but not Che,oh, no. Having said that the Yanks can take a deal of blame for making a bad situation worse, i.e. overthrowing a properly elected govt in Guatemala in 1954, and knocking back Fidel's overtures of friendship in the 1960s. (When will this silly country learn that it's better to stand for something than against something - "oh, we're anti-communist",as if there aren't better things to be.)

Why do people wear his face on T-shirts? Don't they know what he stood for? No elections, rule of the gun, no jokes, lots and lots of talk about the revolution. I think people just love charismatic martyrs, especially people who always seem so sure about everything. A dangerous, dangerous man, whose legacy is a poor one.

Oh and this book is brilliant - superbly researched, written, fair, not biased unless you're a political nutter. Surely it would have to be definitive. The main problem is unavoidable - sometimes you lose track of who is who.

Movie review - Elvis # 17 - "Girl Happy" (1965) **1/2

Cheerful Elvis MGM-Joe Pasternak musical in which the star is perhaps a bit too old but has a totally ideal plot for a Saturday afternoon film - he goes to Fort Lauderdale to keep an eye on the daughter of a tough club owner; at first he thinks the job will be easy, only to discover she looks like Shelley Fabares.

Gary Crosby, Bing's son, who made a few films at Fox, plays Elvis' mate - he's a bit too old, too - but it's all very cheerful with a catchy theme tune, and Shelley Fabares is always a pleasure to watch in this sort of thing. She does a fewdances where she invokes to spirit of Ann Margaret, i.e. a lot of hairflying and hip shimmying. Elvis' performance is erratic - sometimes he seems interested in what's going on, other times bored, and he smoulders a surprising amount for a beach party movie (notice his look at Fabares at the end, its like he can't wait to drag her off into the bushes).

Movie review - "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) ***

Many commentators think this is the best of the Beach Party series. I used to think so until a recent re-viewing made me change my mind. It's definitely not the purest, if that makes sense, as there are too many things which make it stick out from the series: Frankie and Annette aren't in the best of form, John Ashley plays Frankie's rival instead of friend (this at least means Ashley has something to do, though), Jody McCrea is the lead as much as anyone else as she chases mermaid Marta Kristen and winds up with beautiful starlet Linda Evans.

There is lots of colour and action and movement - sky diving is the gimmick here, plus mermaids (the romance between McCrea and Kristen is unexpectedly touching) - with some decent songs, apart from an awful ballad sung by Avalon. The scene where he impresses columnist Earl Wilson while singing it makes one think he had one eye well and truly on Vegas by this time. The climax, in the style of old Hollywood silent cinema, is funny.

My main problem with it was Frankie Avalon was so obnoxious – he’s cocky with Paul Lynde, he tells Annette that a woman’s place is in the kitchen so she shouldn’t sky dive (he also complains about her cooking). Also Deborah Walley accuses him of sexually assaulting her – which is a bit full on for a Beach Party movie. To compensate though, Don Rickles and Paul Lynde insult Avalon several times, and most of the romantic duties are carried by McCrea .

Annette Funicello has very little to do – so too do Buster Keaton and Bobbi Show (who seems to be sucking in her gut the whole movie). The music is a bit different, indicating that even AIP were getting impatient with the series.

Movie review - Bulldog #3 - "Bulldog Drummond's Revenge" (1937) **

Sapper's series of Bulldog Drummond novels may have been fascist escapades but the movies on which they were based were more like jolly japes about some chaps who went to school together and never really shook it off - Drummond (John Howard) is an ideal prefect, friendly, brave and basically sensible but always up for an escapade, Algy (Reginald Denny) is a dumb ass but loyal, the butler Tenny (E.E. Clive) sensible, and fiancée Phyllis (Louise Campbell), is exasperated (the story happens on the way to Drummond's marriage to Phyllis). They, along with Algy's equally dumb girlfriend and John Barrymore's Scotland Yard detective, all have an engaging easy-going familiarity with each other, mucking around like one big family, which is the film's best attraction. Story-wise things are less strong - the basic plot is servicable enough (a scientist is killed and his super secret explosive device goes missing), but it's a bit of a long haul to have Drummond just happen to stumble upon the device just after his friend Barrymore has said goodbye to the scientist, then (this is the biggest flaw) just happen to get on the same train as the killer. This is lazy writing. Cast in good form - Howard isn't the most charismatic actor in the world but he tries and has energy, and it's fun to see Barrymore.

Movie review - Errol #11 - "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) *****

Some stories never seem to find audiences when they're filmed - Ned Kelly, Eureka Stockade, Alice in Wonderland - whereas others always seem to - Titanic, Robin Hood, romantic comedies involving deception. You couldn't say this was the definitive Robin Hood but its the definitive classical Hollywood version.

It's hard to imagine a more perfect fairytale Robin than Errol Flynn, all sparking teeth and green tights, bursting into the castle with a stag over his shoulders throwing it on the table. He's more than matched by Olivia de Havilland, exquisite as Maid Marian, a little imperious but basically nice, very brave in a trembling school virgin way, but with a twinkle in her eye to match Flynn's.

The support cast is dazzling: the silky villainy of Claude Rains as King John (he has some lovely justifications for the things he does and his look on the end - "but I'm your brother" - is priceless), the smooth Basil Rathbone, bluff hearty Alan Hale as Little John, fat spunky Eugene Palatte as Friar Tuck.

The film keeps hitting bullseyes all the way through: the scene where King John and company are wondering about how to find Robin and he just saunters in, the fight on the log between Little John and Robin, the meeting with Friar Tuck, the balcony scene between Robin and Marian, the archery competition, the reveal of King Richard's identity (what a thrill to see Ian Hunter pull back his cloack to show who he is), the final battle (for some reason the sword fight between Flynn and Rathbone here isn't as highly regarded amongst coineussuers as Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk maybe because it doesn't involve rapiers but I love it just as much), the sumptuous music.

Occasionally there are what surely must be unintended laughs: the Merry Men are a bit too Merry at times, Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles) tooks totally wimpy playing his lute and laughing on the bank while Robin fights Little John; I also think it was a mistake for the Merry Men to capture Basil Rathbone then let him go - it devalues him as an antogonist.

Melvile C Cooper's Sherriff of Nottingham is more buffoonish than a threat - though the filmmakers probably figured with Rathbone and Rains they could afford a more comic villain, and Nottingham does come up with the clever archery tournament trap - and there is an extra villain most people forget, the cardinal played by Montagu Love. (People sometimes forget, too, Herbert Mundin as Much the Miller's Son, who gets quite a long sequence towards the end when he has to kill a henchman of Rathbone's). Considering all the hands that went into this - two directors, several writers (Seton I Miller is one of the forgotten heroes of Errol Flynn's career) its a tribute to the Hollywood factory. And only 98 minutes, too!

Comic review - Tintin #14 - "Prisoners of the Sun" by Herge

This Tintin has a flawed idea at its centre - Calculus has been abducted by a lost tribe of Incas who take him all the way to their secret hideout in the jungle in Peru so they can sacrifice him... because he wore some Inca jewellery.

It seems to be an awful lot of trouble to go to (especially since they don't want anyone to know they're around) for a relatively small offence. I can understand wanting to attack the expedition who dug up their treasures but not poor old Calculus.

Also this adventure tends to be episodic in nature, with the story basically consisting of a series of misadventures as Tintin, Haddock and Snowy track down their friend. Having said that, the exotic location of Peru (teaming cities, mountains, jungles) really works and it gets better and better the more "lost" our heroes become - we really feel they are in danger and cut off from everything. It is a real roller coaster adventure, with odd creatures, avalanches, villainous Indians, freezing cold, cemeteries, sacrifices and Haddock hilariously doing constant battle with llamas.

The portrayal of the jungle compensates for some of the slack work Herge did in The Broken Ear. The idea of the lost Inca civilisation is a strong one - it's very H Rider Haggard, and there is another Haggard touch when Tintin gets out of a spot of bother by predicting an eclipse (which surely the Incas knew about). Herge's take on the Inca civilisation is an odd one - while they're bloodthirsty and very strict, and spend most the book trying to kill Tintin, their point of view is sympathetically portrayed - they just want to protect their secrecy and their ancestors' belongings, and the little orphan boy whom Tintin befriends (rid your mind of impure thoughts when I write that! He's just another version of the Chang character from The Blue Lotus) decides to stay with them in the end. I would argue against Tintin's contention, though, that the archaeological expedition members were just trying to promote Inca culture - they were grave robbers.

Movie review - "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) **1/2

One of the most engagingly crappy titles of any Hollywood sequel - only matched by Gidget Goes to Rome - this was actually even more popular than the original (it made $2.2 million against Gidget's $1.5 million). Deborah Walley is terrific replacement as the new Gidget (Universal wouldn't let Sandra Dee return as they had her earmarked for Tammy), she's bright and perky - did being so easily replaced send Sandra Dee into a bulimic spiral?

 

The plot has her running around Hawaii torn between Michael Callan (a likeable talent who never quite made it - possibly because he rarely got the chance to dance and he was a top dancer) and James Darren. The main plot has a bitchy girl (Vicky Trickett) spreading a rumour about Gidget being easy  – everyone gets their knickers in a twist over it. And there’s a really, really long sequence where they can’t find Gidget. This threatens to take down what until then had been a bright, entertaining film.

 

Callan does an impressive dance number – and so does Walley, albeit in a fantasy sequence. Darren sings some tunes so this is almost like a musical. It has a real family feel – she goes on vacation with her parents, who get their own subplot with some other parents they meet. Walley's pregnancy meant she did not return for Gidget Goes to Rome.

Movie review - Elvis #8 - "Blue Hawaii" (1961) ***

It's a mistake to think that Col Tom Parker shoved Elvis into nothing but colourful pap - after GI Blues the King made two more serious films, Flaming Star and Wild in the Country, but audience response wasn't as enthusiastic, so this was an attempt to come up with something more colourful and fun. The public loved it and it was one of Elvis biggest hits - and thereafter, admittedly, Col Tom shoved Elvis into mostly pap (the majority of which followed the formula established here).

The plot mostly has Elvis running around Hawaii trying to avoid working for his dad after coming out of the army. There is lots of bright colour, Hawaiian locations, some genuinely funny Hal Kanter lines and a sparkling performance from Angela Lansbury as Elvis' mom, plus some strong songs including "I Can't Help Falling In Love" (this has got one of the best soundtracks of any Elvis films).

Joan Blackman is pretty enough as the female lead - apparently her role was also offered to Juliet Prowse, who made too many demands, and Pamela Tiffin, who turned it down - both would have been better (sorry, Joan).

The script isn't the strongest - it sort of ambles along with little conflict, with far too many scenes of Elvis using rougher than usual handling on women (he forces himself upon his girlfriend, spanks another, etc); Norman Taurog's direction isn't fantastic, either - two songs Elvis singing in a car (why not get him moving out and about?). The relationship between Elvis and his girlfriend is an intriguing one - she's really just a pal for him, a very good looking pal, but clearly just someone who's been around forever - and it's clear at the end she'll be doing all the work at the office while he takes tourists around, and that's most of the attraction for Elvis. More realistic than one expects!

Movie review - "Where the Boys Are" (1960) ****

Joe Pasternak made his career producing colourful escapist entertainments with an eye on youth: over the years he worked with Deanna Durbin, June Allyson, Peter Lawford, etc - then as rock and roll took the US by storm he showed that he had what it took to make something of the next generation with this cheerful clean teen flick, which adapts the MGM gloss to the boomers. As Danny Peary pointed out, what makes it special is its the stories of four girls who go looking for love during Spring Break - make it about four boys and it becomes sordid (though American Pie which had a similar plot was kind of sweet).

Very strong cast for this sort of thing: Dolores Hart and Yvette Mimieux had been around for a bit, but Pasternak gets marks for discovering Paula Prentiss and teaming her with Jim Hutton (a wonderful duo they made three more films together though none as successful); he also successfully risked Connie Francis in a lead role. George Hamilton is fun as the male lead; ditto Frank Gorshin and Barbara Nichols. Sean Flynn, Errol's son, has a very small role.

Dolores Hart is strong, sexy and sensible as the head girl, kind of like the "Carrie from Sex in the City character - believing that sex should be discussed and women should have the right to sex before marriage... just not necessarily willing to go through with it herself. (This has extra poignancy because Hart went on to become a nun.) She is good friend (she's the one who stays on with Mimieux at the end), still up for romance with Hamilton, but loyal and supportive. It's no wonder Hamilton falls for her. He's well cast too, and is comfortable as the rich preppy dream boat who genuinely likes Hart (as he says, he tells plenty of women he loves them but rarely does he like them).

Mimieux is very believable as the naive thing who misinterprets what Hart says and gets in over her head on spring break. She sleeps around, hoping to nab a husband, but can't handle it - and, in a shocking for its time sequence, gets raped and tries to kill herself. Full on! This movie had numerous knock offs but none of them got this heavy - and perhaps not coincidentally none of them did as well at the box office. I think producers went 'great, colour, young stars, pretty locations... that's what people liked'. Well, yeah, they did but they also liked the fact this movie didn't cop out - I mean, it's very clear that Mimieux has sex, and is raped and wants to kill herself - that is serious stuff, and really makes this movie stand out amongst the glossy beach party movies of the time.

Paula Prentiss is hilarious as the gawky Tuggle. Modern viewers will probably not like the fact that Prentiss says she doesn't want to finish school, she just wants to get married - but cut those few lines out and its a performance with remarkable freshness. I love her with Jim Hutton (who is marvellous) and totally believed them to be one of those couples who instantly click and when they're together it's like they've been happily married for twenty years. She and Hutton were teamed together three more times, neither as successfully although The Honeymoon Machine is fun.

Connie Francis is sweet and not required to do too much except be likeable and sing. I enjoyed her little romance with snobby, short sighted Frank Gorshin. And she and the boys all have tremendous camaraderie - there's a real sense of making friends and being keen to have a good time.

The popularity of this movie ushered in a series of comedies set in exotic locations centered around a bunch of young women looking in love - Follow the Boys, Come Fly with Me, The Pleasure Seekers - but none of them worked as well. None of them ever got as luck with the casting, and none had the serious undertones and sexual freshness which makes this so good.

Movie review - "Gidget" (1959) **1/2

The film that launched the clean teen beach craze and proved Sandra Dee could carry her own vehicle, both admittedly perhaps not the most crucial events in cinema history, but not without import. Dee is extremely likeable in that girl-next-door pretty-but-not-too-pretty way which helped make her a big star for such a short period of time.

The character she plays is constructed to be very relatable and appealing to other teenage girls: visiting the beach with her more voluptuous friends and feeling like a dork; pining after James Darren; being looked after by spunky older Cliff Robertson; hanging around lots of boys with their shirts off; learning how to surf; wishing her boobs were bigger; paying a guy to get Darren jealous; succeeding in getting Darren jealous; both Darren and Robertson wind up wanting her.

It’s also reassuring to conservative teenage girls – Darren may talk like he wants to be a free spirit and go out with a trashy girl, but he’ll settle down and go to college, want you, and your dad will approve; Robertson may be a surf bum but he’ll quit too and suit up (because of Gidget’s influence); if you try to lose your virginity to Robertson he won’t go through with it, even though he’s tempted; people will notice if you’ve gone missing.

Dee is excellent value – was there a better perkier teenager – and Robertson gives this genuine gravitas. There's a memorable scene where he gets turned on by young little Gidget and contemplates having his way with her, but turns away, tormented. Darren has looks and a good voice but lacks warmth – I think that’s why he never became bigger than a teen idol. No one in the cast gets much of a look in except for the lead trio – it’s a shame Gidget’s girlfriends weren’t used more – although Arthur O’Connell is on hand as Gidget’s father (he played benign authority figures for most of the late 50s teen idols: Dee, Fabian, Pat Boone, Elvis).

This helped establish many requirements of the genre: musical numbers (Darren sings a few tunes), beach party at night with people playing bongos and couples pairing off, a love triangle, defence of virginity. Incidentally, there's an interesting movie in the story of the real Gidget - the California raised daughter of a German Jewish screenwriter who turned her exploits into a novel.

Movie review - Beach Party #1 - "Beach Party" (1963) ***

Few moments in cinema - well, in beach cinema, anyway - match the sheer good natured fun of this one's opening scene , with Frankie and Annette driving in their car with surfboards singing the very catchy "Beach Party Tonight" (the effect is slightly ruined when they end the song by driving a car on the beach).

Shenanigans ensue: Frankie wanted to bang Annette but she didn't without a wedding ring (1963 - still holding out!) so she invited their mates. So Frankie makes her jealous with Eva Six (cue another decent song, "Don't Stop Now") and Annette makes him jealous with Robert Cummings, box office security for AIP not sure about having teens as the leads, who plays an anthropologist investigating sex habits of teens.

Add the following to the mix: Harvey Lembeck as a biker, Dorothy Malone in a thankless part as Cumming's secretary, Candy Johnson as a Perpetual Motion Dancer, John Ashley and Jody McCrea (who apparently sexually harassed some of the female cast including Malone) as Avalon's friends, Dick Dale and the Dell Tones and a cameo from Vincent Price, plus some really crappy surfing back projection.

AIP originally wanted Fabian for the lead but Fox wouldn't let him do the role so they went with Avalon - who actually was a much better match for Annette than Fabian would have been (there is something goofier about Avalon's persona - that helmet hair, I think - which suited the movies more). Apparently Cummings would be a pain on set discussing his scenes and whinging about his dialogue until Asher says "what's wrong here is that you'd like Willie Wyler as your director and I'd like Cary Grant as my star, but have you and you have me and let's just stop this fooling around and go make a movie." (Cummings carries most of the plot which at times is reminiscent of Come September i.e. middle aged guy proves to young kids he's still cool).

The kids in this one drink beer and smoke cigarettes but wouldn't do it in later films. It's all good colourful fun, with bright Dan Haller art direction, plus some decent songs: not just 'Beach Party Tonight' but 'Don't Stop Now' and 'Surfin''. I didn't even mind Annette F singing the ballad 'Treat Him Nicely' because there's funny subext about Annette wondering whether to root Frankie or not (you can imagine the things going through her brain: hand relief instead? or Greek?)

Movie review - Orson #4 - "The Stranger" (1946) ***1/2

Not one of the favourites of Orson cultists, even though it ticks a major box (i.e. it was stuffed around by insensitive producers during post-production), perhaps because the star-director never cared for it much himself and it is more conventional than his other films and Welles' visual flourishes are toned down. Having said that the basic idea is a strong one: Edward G Robinson (bringing warmth and audience identification which sometimes is not present in Welles films) is the American agent who tracks ex Nazi Orson to small town America where he's married to Loretta Young.

The film gets off to a flying start with Robinson letting one of Orson's cronies escape so he can follow him, the crony arriving in town, then being killed by Orson. (Welles wanted more of this sequence but I don't think producer Sam Spiegel was wrong to keep it the length it is). It's a terrific start after which things slow down a bit with Robinson poking around town. Danny Peary has correctly I think pointed out the film lacks something in its story - a plan by Orson to revive the Nazis, a love interest (say a rival for Young - there's her brother, Richard Long, who helps Robinson but its not quite enough), or another even more evil Nazi or something - a plot strand to help motor the second act a bit more.

The scripts to Welles movies often suffered problems (and not always due to post production interference) - this one was written by AH Veilier and an uncredited John Huston and is generally well done but feels as if it needs another iron or something, if that makes sense. But every time things get flabby they perk up - for instance at first I was annoyed at Young's character being so stupid, but it makes sense a stupid girl would marry an overbearing man in order to escape her overbearing father (and that she would then try to kill that man when he betrayed her - if only Young had actually died, now that would have been a great ending).

Full of great touches like the man who is always playing checkers, some flashy camera angles, Orson being impaled on a clock, the fact that Orson's character is basically banging this ninny. Orson's own performance is full of make up and facial ticks but is fun if you're in the mood, and I enjoyed this a lot more on second viewing and you can see why it is the one Welles film to make money on its initial release (though in 1946 it was hard not to make money in Hollywood).

Movie review - "Fog Island" (1945) **

How can you not like a film called Fog Island starring Lionel Atwill and George Zucco? Unfortunately, the best thing about the film is it's called Fog Island and stars Lionel Atwill and George Zucco. This is a knock off of And Then There Were None with Zucco inviting the people who were responsible for sending him to prison and killing his wife to a deserted fog drenched island. If you wonder why they'd go well you're not alone - the film tries to explain it (they're motivated by greed) but it's not entirely successfully. There are other debits as well - some dodgy pacing, odd music and a spectacularly amateurish performance by the male juvenile lead. Also we miss Zucco who disappears half way through. Against that there is some polished acting by the cast - the two leads of course, plus Veda Ann Borg - and the house has some neat hidden panels and trap doors.

Book review - "Hollywood's Surf and Beach Movies" by Tom Lisanti

Long overdue (says I, anyway) overview of one of my favourite genres, the beach party films of the 1960s. I developed a fondness for these creations from watching them on Saturday afternoon television, particularly the AIP films, with their bright colours and corny jokes. They also had a real family feeling with actors appearing again and again (not to mention similar plots, music and behind the scenes key creatives).

The book is excellently done, very well researched (and equitable, too - lesser known entires like Catalina Caper and Out of Sight still get thorough exploration), with plenty of interviews and astute points. Lisanti perhaps goes on a bit too long about all the flesh ogling you can do in the films - he reviews the perving you can do for each film, just like you would the music; he is a modern guy, appraising both the male and female flesh, though a few comments (such as his preference for the camp Winter A Go-Go) lead one to think he is more interested in looking at the boys. There is heaps of wonderful trivia such as

- Roger Corman's involvement in the genre (something of which I was totally unaware, and I'm a big Corman buff) - the maestro funded Beach Ball and The Girls on the Beach, but kept it top secret because of his contract at the time with Columbia.

- The number of obscure stars of these films who went on to have successful other careers: John Ashley who co-produced The A Team and Walker Texas Ranger, Michael Blogdett (of Catalina Caper) who wrote Turner and Hooch.

- Bobby Vinton was desperate to be a movie star and tried to get the lead in Beach Party before winding up in Surf Party.

- Aaron Kincaid, who provided the intro, is probably given too much attention - he was in a number of these films but always seem to be the second lead. It's not hard to see why he didn't have much of a career, despite his blonde good looks - have a squizz at this scene from Ski Party where Lesley Gore sings "Sunshine, Lollipops"... whereas Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman are fully into it, Kincaid just sort of dopily sits there. (To be fair Kincaid says he felt the leads in that film bascially ignored him making filming less than pleasant.)

- William Asher of the Beach Party movies played favourites with support players big time and if you fell out of his good books you were lucky to get any screen time.

- John Ashley was a particular favourite of James Nicholson's at AIPs and he was the one always pushing for him to feature in AIP films.

- Gail Gerber, star of Beach Ball, went on to become life partner of writer Terry Southern.

- The female cast in The Girls on the Beach ostracised Anna Capri and Lana Wood (the latter very much va-va-voom at the age of 18).

- Raquel Welch was a major bitch on the set of A Swinging Summer who insisted on wearing her signature bikini... even though she wasn't a star yet.

- Wild on the Beach uses actors in the leads who are Frankie and Annette lookalikes.

- James Stacy, who formed a buddy team with William Wellman Jnr on A Swinging Summer and Winter a-Go-Go, was thought destined for major stardom - but he lost an arm and a leg in a motorcyle accent and later went to prison for molesting an eleven year old girl.

Great fun.

Book review - "Hollywood's Maddest Doctors" by Gregory William Mank

Mank is one of the leading historians on the great horror period of the 30s and 40s - he penned a strong work on Karloff and Lugosi, and here he turns his attention to three lesser known but equally skilled performers: Lionel Atwill, Colin Clive and George Zucco. All British with strong stage backgrounds (Atwill was one of the biggest names on Broadway in the 20s, Clive was in the original Journey's End), all played mad doctors at some time or another, all had tragedy in their lives: Atwill's career was damaged by (from all accounts accurate) rumours of his orgies and prediliction for cross dressing, Clive drank himself to an early grave, Zucco was pleasant and mild mannered but suffered a stroke and spent the last ten years or so of his life basically ga-ga. Careers often crossed: they'd play the same role (eg Moriarty), do a stint in Journey's End, co-star with each other. Mank runs through the main films and career details of each, has done his research including some interviews (notably with Zucco's widow, who defends her husband from the slandering he received in Hollywood Babylon II). Mank writes with affection and enthusiasm and all three tales are worth telling.

DVD review - "The First 5 Years of SNL" (2005) ***

Read this after the book on SNL - you have to, really, since reading about a TV show will only ever give you part of the story. It's a good look at the show 1975-80, with lots of clips and some grabs from people who worked on it (especially writers - writers never turn down a chance to chat), with some notable exceptions (no Bill Murray or Jane Curtin). Garrett Morris looks as though he's done a lot of living, but Laraine Newman looks in good shape. The most interesting thing is how much Lorne Michaels looks like Dr Evil (older Lorne more than younger Lorne). We also speak hear from John Belushi's widow, Steve Martin, Eric Idle and Candice Bergen. Some of the sketches stand up very well but admittedly we only see segments of them rather than the whole thing. Drugs and sex are touched on but not to the extent they are in books on the show. The DVD has another documentary - almost as long, which covers the story but with new details. Why not combine them into one long doco?

Movie review - Wong #1 - "Mr Wong, Detective" (1938) **

Boris Karloff and Monogram jumped on the Asian detective bandwagon following the successful Charlie Chan/Mr Moto series with his own "franchise", about San Francisco-based super detective James Lee Wong, created by writer Hugh Wiley. There were six Wongs in all, although Keye Luke took over the lead role towards the end.

Boris Karloff looks little more Asiatic than Peter Lorre, with that Chinese makeup not really covering for his distinguished voice, but this has the benefit of a decent enough story - Wong investigating the murder of a chemist (killed, locked room mystery style via some poison gas) - with some twists and turns and I really enjoyed the ending.

However the pacing is slow - it's closer to a Chan movie than a Moto one, only without the warmth and humour of the best Charlie Chans. The acting is very hit and miss, and Mr Wong isn't very Oriental at all - no neat Chinese things, or sayings (although he does like to unwind at home in traditional Chinese garb which was a nice touch). The production values are low and the handling not particularly inspired.

Book review - "1932" by Gerald Stone

You don't usually think of 1932 as being one of Australia's sexier years - too much depression and misery and homelessness, not like, say, 1901, 1942 or 1975. But when you think about it, it was very sexy - the year that Australia didn't go communist/fascist, which is could have, like many countries did during the Depression. Australia had strong reasons than most: heavy borrowing meant Australia's economy was hit hardest than any developed nation other than Italy, the communists were growing in strength, a far right organisation, the New Guard, were doing drills and preparing to come to the "aid" of the king, Jack Lang was refusing to pay interest on Australian bank loans. It was all very hot and bothered but we got through it, in time for World War Two. Stone tells a few stories from this year - a high profile divorce case, a missing explorer, a murder - none of which I was familiar with, but I knew about the main thing, the dismissal of Jack Lang. Stone is very sympathetic to Lang, but also to the Governor Sir Philip Game (contrast this with David Marr in his biography of Barwick who kind of made fun of him). Stone argues that Lang actually acted as a kind of stress relief for the whole nation - the left could pur their radical hopes into him while the right could focus their hate on him, then relax once he was out of the way (heaven knows what would have happened had he stayed in power - is this one reason why that unlike the 1975 dismissal few really argue the 1932 dismissal was wrong? Well, that and the fact that Lang was a thorn in the side of Labor rather than an icon, running candidates against the Labor party and helping keep them out of power - so he is not a Labor matyr).

Stone's book has its flaws - it is very NSW focused (specially Sydney), and perhaps more could have been on the Australian character - our innate conservatism mixed with apathy that as much as anything is responsible, I would argue, for our relative political stability (Australians often argue with/complain about the umpire but continue to play the game cf any Americans south of Canada, who tend to take up arms if they don't get their own way). But its enjoyably written, races along and deservedly puts the spotlight back on an important time in our history.

Comic review - Tintin #13 - "The Seven Crystal Balls" by Herge

There had been two other two part Tintin's before, but this is the first one that was very much a Part 1, i.e. it doesn't really stand on its own. It gets off to a strong start, with creepy illnesses striking survivors of a Inca expedition, and mysterious balls of fire, but the last third or so is just running around looking for Calculus, and since you know we won't find him because you need him gone for the sequel, it feels all kind of pointless. It's done with pace, speed and accomplishment but I wouldn't count it in the first rank of Tintins. He's not living at Marlinspike at this stage, incidentally - Haddock is shacked up with Calculus.

Movie review - "Thank You for Smoking" (2006) **1/2

So wanted to enjoy this film more than I did - such a rich topic of satire, and the idea of making the hero a tobacco lobbyist is fresh and wickedly delightful. But as is the case when other young filmmakers try to enter Wilder territory (eg the Weitzes), something has gone wrong - I think it was the plot maybe which has Aaron Eckhardt trying to persuade Hollywood producers to put more cigarettes in films. Don't they do that anyway? (Hollywood agent is played by Rob Lowe who surely must have had aspirations to play the lead himself, it's up his alley - I guess he hasn't comeback that much just yet.) Maybe I don't like movies where the big plot twist is someone... writing an article. Then getting back on that person... by speaking at a press conference. Maybe the film simply didn't have the guts to go hard core. Maybe it lacks a point of view (I'm sorry but those "hey it's hypocritical" arguments are boring - how do you reconcile libertarianism with passive smoking?). Despite a fine cast, the result was a bit flaccid.

Movie review - "Shooter" (2007) **1/2

I used to regard Mark Wahlberg as a not very talented overly muscular actor whose voice was too soft, but since I've become a fan of Entourage I feel a lot more kindly towards him (it's like he's my friend now, or something). Certainly he's managed career very well, with some excellent films. But, you know, watching him on screen... I still don't warm to him - he's too bland, lacks a strong voice and sense of genuine toughness - though again this is a clever career choice, playing a sniper who is set up by the government.

For the most part this is pretty enjoyable, with interesting stuff about the difficulties involved in sniping. It is familiar but it a skilled rehash - the opening scene has Wahlberg's partner talk about his fiancee just before he's killed for crying out loud (though they partly take the sting out of this by having the financee play an important role later on), there's an assassination, a betrayal. It's probably best not to approach this as a conspiracy thriller a la The Parallax View, which it has been called - it's not really spooky enough, not even X Files lite. Rather, it's an action film with conspiracy overtones.

The wheels fall off in the last half hour or so - it really should end on the mountain but there are two more sequences, and there is this awful clunky political message stuff. It's as if they had a functional slick script but then panicked about it just being an action film and shoved in all these lines about "haves" and "have nots" and conspiracies and "oh my goodness you're untouchable you're a US Senator" (as if Senators are untouchable). Michael Pena is likeable as the nerd audience surrogate character who helps super hero Wahlberg, and its great to see Ned Beatty back in a big Hollywood movie.

Movie review - "The Major and the Minor" (1942) ***

So funny and yet so wrong. There are some films which you can make today which you couldn't in old Hollywood (eg sex, violence) but there are some films which you could make in old Hollywood which you could today (eg pro British Empire films, this one). 

It is funny but there is no doubt that Ray Milland's face lights up a bit too much at the prospect of sharing a cabin with 12 year old Ginger Rogers. And at the end when he finds out Ginger is actually old Ginger - he was definitely more excited about the younger Ginger. 

The other main flaw of the film is Ginger's motivation to masquerade as a girl - to get home -is a bit thin; it lacks the urgency of say Some Like It Hot. Some very funny moments, though, with the smooth flow of structure that was the hallmark of Wilder-Brackett scripts; ditto the cynicism and gallery of impressive support characters. Few Hollywood films have so explored lechery amongst the 12 year old set - watch the way the cadets at the military school all squabble over her... all this years before tween mania set in Hollywood.

Comic review - Asterix #7 - "Asterix and the Big Fight" by Goscinny and Uderzo

Perhaps not as famous as some other entries in the series but a very strong one, mostly because the villagers are in genuine peril. Romans engineer a fight between Vitalstatistix and a Roman-friendly Gaul (nice satire and also good to point out that some Gauls were very positive about the Romans), the winner of which get to rule the tribe - only Getafix is injured when Obelix throws a menhir on him and can't make the magic potion. Pleasingly, Vitalstatistix has to get himself out of trouble instead of relying on the typical get out of gaol free card of the magic potion, which does get irritating after a while. I also loved the sequence where the Roman soldier was spent to spy on the Gauls - this was really funny.

Book review - "Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror" by Richard Hand and Michael Wilson

The other major English language work on Grang Guignol is more academic-y with lots of irritating references, is perhaps a bit more thoroughly researched but is less readable and fun than Gordon's book. But it does have advantages - it has the full script of ten plays, and the authors run their own Grand Guignol theatre company so can bring their expertise to describing the plays. It seems a key of the theatre were the comedies - the thing very few remember about it but you needed it for the hot and cold shower.

Book review - "Grand Guignol: Theatre of Fear and Terror" by Mel Gordon

Excellent overview of the famous theatre genre, written with a lively style with plenty of pictures, reviews, paragraph descriptions of heaps of plays plus two complete plays. Gordon really gets under the skin of Grand Guignol - reading it I couldn't help think this would have made a terrific Lugosi-Karloff film and wonder why it wasn't done. Maybe legal reasons. The characters are all there: the playwright Andre de Lorde, whose father made him spend the night in a room with a dead body so he wouldn't fear death, the female star Maxa who was raped on stage 10,000 times and killed 15,000 (or some such), mysterious managers, Ho Chi Minh visiting while a pastry cook, Goering and Patton visiting during the war. Great fun.

Play review - "In Praise of Love" by Terrence Rattigan

Late period Rattigan inspired by the Kay Kendall-Rex Harrison relationship - she had terminal cancer but he elected not to show her. Here the woman knows as well. The man is a prick but a feisty left wing writer. The song character, a political writer/Liberal candidate is a bit flat as is the best friend rich novelist character. For a while this slugs along but the last ten pages or so really hit home. Rattigan often does that - sneaks up on you then "whack". Not one of this best, though.

TV series review - "Entourage" Season 3 Part 1

The HBO gang keep the standards high with another excellent installment of this series. Vinnie Chase becomes a big star with Acquaman - although I maintain this wouldn't make him a really big star in the way that say Ace Ventura made Jim Carrey a star, people would think Vinnie was carried by the property and James Cameron. There are some lovely moments, like when Vinnie makes the nerds day, when the moms come out to LA, Martin Landau as an old producer and Beverly d'Angelo as a tough agent, the Lloyd-Ari scenes (I so want Lloyd to become Johnny Drama's agent), the 13 year old kid who goes for Ari's daughter (this show is brilliantly cast), the hot threesome episode. Kevin Dillon again brings this wonderful car crash quality to everything his character does and Seth Green is a lot of fun. Some wonky bits - after a while Turtle became too greedy (the thing with the shoes got to me - you don't need shoes, Turtle, this is false warmth), Ari going to Vegas felt wrong (they didn't give him a good enough reason to go); the arrival of an old friend to the gang was a bit distressing, though of course that was the point - it just made the show a little less fun to watch for those episodes. Still great fantasy TV.

Book review - "That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It" by Spike Lee and Kaleem Aftab

Enthralling recap of Lee's career - it's not really by Lee, its by Aftab with lots of Lee co-operation, and Aftab does a very good job. (In fact it's really unfair to Aftab to call this an autobiography). It's sympathetic but not sycophantic - the chief criticisms of the director are addressed, such as his poor depiction of female characters (Lee's wife gives him a hard time about it), some of his dud films (few have nice things to say about Girl 6), the allegations of anti-Semitism, his head in the sand attitude to use of sweatshops by Nike. There are a few places you go "all right calm down" - like going on for three paragraphs about the failure of Four Little Girls to win the Oscar for best doco, or over quoting excuses for Lee's films that underperformed at the box office (studio marketing is blamed again and again and again). But it's an enthralling read - Lee's story is inspirational, not just getting his career up and going, but sticking to it, diversifying (merchanise, videos, commercials), never giving up. You have to be single minded to make it as a filmmaker, which is why so many filmmakers are boorish wankers, including Lee, but look at the scoreboard as they say and the films hold up (well, until Malcolm X that is - after that his record gets a little wonkier). The book ends around the time Lee was to make Inside Man - it's a shame a new edition couldn't be made to incorporate this as it was Lee's biggest hit in Yonks.

Movie review – “Sunshine” (2007) ***1/2

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s follow up to 28 Days Later is similar in a lot of ways: a genre piece which features elements of lots of other films, but is put comfortably over the line by the fact that those elements work and Boyle’s dynamic team (terrific design, music, “look”, etc). It’s great to see a big screen science fiction film actually set in outer space and the concept is intriguing – the sun is dying and a ship takes a bomb to re-ignite it. The critic for Variety was spot on in picking up that the structure of the screenplay was similar to 2010, right down to finding a spooky ship that was a prior visit and a mysterious presence on said ship. Not many other critics seemed to pick up on this.

For the first two thirds of this film its pretty gripping – sure, the elements are familiar, with the captain dying early, some crew conflict, a talking super computer, spunky female pilot (Rose Byrne). The last bit got confusing in places when it didn’t need to be – also Garland loses points by having a killer chase a woman around dark corridors. I mean, come on, Garland! Also, with the whole world to pick crew from, it’s a bit worrying that only one (Chris Evans 'character) seems really focused on the mission – the other all stuff up, have nervous break downs, get sentimental, etc. Are the people of the future all destined to be neurotic wrecks?

Comic review - Tintin#12 - "Red Rackham's Treasure"

One of the most famous Tintin's - I would say only The Moon series would have a better known cover - and it is great fun, with Tintin, Haddock and co on a treasure hunt. Professor Calculus is an engaging addition to the main cast (there had been several eccentric scientists in the series til now but he took their place from this point on). Haddock is in glorious form in this one, really reaching full flower, swearing or bumbling; the shark submarine is charming as is the island. I'll put my hand up and admit, though, I didn't like it as much as The Secret of the Unicorn - it lacks villains (they mention the Birds, the baddies from the previous comic, having escaped from prison but don't use them - it would have been a better story with some human baddies), and while it is a bit more grown up to have them not find treasure on the island, it is a little anti-climactic.

Comic review - Tintin #11 - "The Secret of the Unicorn"

Glorious installment into the series: fast moving, funny, a real thrilling adventure. What could be romantic than a story about buried treasure? Although this is set mostly in town, there are flashbacks to Haddock's ancestor, and the wonderful Marlinspike Hall. It's simply great fun, close to perfection as these things go, and when Tintin says come back for Red Rackham's Treasure, you nearly want to cheer.

Haddock has thrown off the weaknesses of The Crab with the Golden Claws and the tentativeness of The Shooting Star to become a fine, flourishing character - you can feel Herge get increasingly excited by the possibilities of him (the writer increasingly identified with the stressed-out captain in later years).

Comic review - Tintin #10 - "The Shooting Star" by Herge

This comic got Herge into no end of trouble after World War Two and is the chief basis for all those Tintin-was-a-Nazi stories. Tintin takes part in an expedition to the Arctic Sea to track recover a meteor - the expedition has representatives from most European countries (including Germany), and the baddies are from a ficticious country but the chief baddy looks Jewish (in the original edition the country was America).

I don't think Herge was a Nazi, just a Belgium who was distrustful of all other countries except Belgium and, later, England - up til then he'd had digs at imperialism by America, Japan, Germany, Russia and England (but not Belgium) - but the drawing of the baddy is a bit anti-Semitic and makes the story a bit uncomfortable.

Having said that, this is a top quality entry - the opening scenes of impending apocalypse (heatwaves making tires burst, a creepy telescope) being particularly effective. Ditto the visit to the meteor, where there is spectacular action including a fight with the spider - this is weird, too - science fiction-ish but still has firm roots in reality, making it very effective. The setting of the Arctic Sea is higly effective - this Tintin looks like no other in the series. Haddock has a strong reason for being in this one as captain of the boat - he soon wouldn't need one apart from being Tintin's friend.

Movie review - "Circus World" (1964) **1/2

Along with The Fall of the Roman Empire this was the last gasp of the short-lived Sam Bronston experiment. There is plenty of production value in this tale of an American circus in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century and John Wayne is at home as the owner of the circus; Claudia Cardinale is beautiful as ever although a little silly (she has to act like a child who becomes a woman - but I'm sorry the way she fills out those outfits she's a woman from the get-go).

Despite all the writers who worked on it the story is not strong, most of it concerned with Wayne casually looking for ex love (and Cardinale's mother) Rita Hayworth. The big secret is that Hayworth was having an affair with Wayne... Cardinale is shocked for about five minutes before forgiving him. And that's it. John Smith (in a role Rod Taylor was meant to play only he walked out prior to shooting) plays Wayne's partner and Cardinale's love interest - you keep expecting him to do something, some confict, but nothing happens. Ditto Lloyd Nolan as Wayne's off sider. Hayworth isn't bad in her role, a faded beauty - the part is similiar to the one she played in Separate Tables.

The best bit comes around 20 minutes in when there's an accident involving the circus at the docks and everything sink. There's also a decent fire sequence towards the end. Colourful and not bad, but, like so many Bronston productions, needed a little more care in the script.

Movie review - "Nevada Smith" (1966) ***

Steve McQueen is a little too old to play the title character, out for revenge against the trio who killed his maw and paw. The baddies are an imposing line-up of cut-throats: Martin Landau, Arthur Kennedy and Karl Malden. Revenge takes up an awful lot of time - surely there was an easier way to knock off Kennedy than to get himself put in prison? (What if they'd put him in a different prison?) There are some benefits, though, like hooking up in a tipi with cute Indian Janet Margolin. 

Because this was the 60s, action films had to have significance (remember all the chats in The Magnificent Seven?) so there is a bit of tut-tutting over McQueen's desire from revenge, such as from Raf Vallone and Suzanne Pleshette - but the thing is, the deaths were so horrible they should be punished. It's just that it should be according to the law - an option no one seems to mention. 

Wonderful locations and colour photography and Henry Hathaway was good with this sort of action. Some terrific scenes, like the knife fight with Landau, and where Malden realises that McQueen is among his gang - but doesn't know what McQueen looks like so suspects everyone. Brian Keith plays a character who is the father of the George Peppard character in The Carpetbaggers where the McQueen part was played by Alan Ladd.

Comic review - Asterix #6 - "Asterix and Cleopatra" by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

The best of the Asterix series to date, mostly because of the Egyptian setting, which gave rise to some wonderful visuals - the pyramids and other Egypitan architecture, Egyptian faces, the language - and atmosphere. Asterix, Getafix and Obelix (oh and Dogmatix - the first time he played a significant role in the series) journey out East to help a friend of Getafix's build a palace in short period of time. Cleopatra is a wonderful character (she does have a pretty nose) and the support is engaging: Edifis, Getafix's friend, is particularly likeable (I love how he is covered in gold at the end except his backside and asks for it to be done). The original concept of building a palace in time isn't the strongest, but more than compensated by the setting and two occasions in the story when the heroes are in actual genuine danger where they don't get easily out of it via magic potion: one when they are trapped in the pyramids and can't bash their way out of they'll be crushed (Dogmatix has to save them), and when they are fighting off the Romans and trying to defend the building at the same time (Cleopatra has to save them).

Comic review - Tintin #9 - "The Crab with the Golden Claws" by Herge

Following King Ottakar's Sceptre, Herge began work on what was to become Land of the Black Gold, but put that on hold due to WW2. Instead he came up with this adventure tale, which is a strong effort though a dip from Ottakar. This was presumably due to adjustments in Herge's working methods - for instance the story is so short that there are a number of drawings converted into full page ones to pad out the length.

The plot involves Tintin tracking down opium smugglers in North Africa: the African locations are pleasing, especially the hustle and bustle of the towns. This was Haddock's debut: he is a pitiful creature here, very alcoholic, so much so his drinking almost causes Tintin's death on a few occasions, though his temper and bravery are present and they would come through more in other adventures. The fact this was written in wartime may explain why there is a sympathetic Japanese character (a detective) - although to be fair there are sympathetic English, too (Haddock) and the look the French colonial offficers in Africa are kindly portrayed.

Comic review - Tintin#8 - "King Ottokar's Sceptre" by Herge

Brilliant Tintin, the last one without Haddock and easily the best - excellent drawings, a first-rate adventure tale with plenty of twists, and terrific atmosphere. It owes a little to The Prisoner of Zenda with its quiet mid European kingdom full of peasants and intrigue, theatrened by invasion from a brutal neighbour. The action sequences are fast and furious, Tintin is in a lot of danger, the Thompson Twins are in good form (I love the way they keep getting assigned to important jobs), and we meet Bianca Castiafore, one of the greatest Tintin support characters. The way the baddies steal the sceptre is genuinely clever - they are an imposing lot of antagonists (clearly inspired by fascists making this the most explicitly anti-fascist Tinin after The Blue Lotus). I particularly loved the history of Syldavia, with its story of Turk invasions and old pictures.

Movie review - Corman #12 - "She Gods of Shark Reef" (1958) *

Poor Roger Corman effort - shoddily done, without wit or imagination, despite Hawaiian locales. Two brothers, fleeing the police, wind up in on one of those women-only islands that populated cinema screens in the 1950s. One of the brothers (the nice one) falls for a local girl; the ruler of the women islanders is opposed (just like witchdoctors in Africa movies). There are some pretty girls and colour but its one of those movies that you watch and you discern movement but you don't really follow what's going in. It was shot at the same time as Thunder Over Hawaii but lacks any of that film's bright touches; although financed independently, AIP agreed to pick it up for distribution.

Movie review - Orson #1 - "Citizen Kane" (1941) ****1/2

Few films were made with such enthusiasm or gusto - you can feel the talent and keeness behind every frame, a talented young man playing a game. Which means technical wizardry - the opening montage, the chatting by the reporters, the song and dance routine with its long shots and very funny lyrics (my personal favourite scene in the movie), the breakfast montage, the opera montage.

It also means the film has a certain emotional hollowness. Hang me from the highest tree, sorry, but I have always felt the emotion in the scenes with Orson Welles feels forced and tacked-on. (By contrast Everett Sloane's chat about the woman with the white parasol seems genuine). All the surface stuff is there but having seen the film so many times it's a little less impressive. And towards the end it starts to drag, with the picnic and the jigsaw puzzle, etc. It's like, alright, already let's wrap it up.

Stunning achievement nonetheless - even if Welles lacks emotional depth as an actor he is charming and charismatic; Joe Cotten is very likeable; actors like Agnes Moorehead and George Coulouris are stunning. My own philistinism: I never thought Dorothy Colimore's singing was that bad. 

The themes about politics, corruption, etc haven't dated a jot - the stuff about love and being wanted was dated even back then.

Movie review - RKO Dick Tracy#1 - "Dick Tracy, Detective" (1945) **

Ralph Byrd had played Dick Tracy for a serial over at Republic but when RKO wanted to make some feature films of the character he was injured so the studio went for Morgan Conway instead. Conway sounds a little like Humphrey Bogart and he's fine in the role. Mike Mazurki plays the villain Splitface, who is killing the jurors who sent him to prison. Regulars for the series included Tess Trueheart (Anne Jeffreys), Dick's adopted son (Mickey Kuhn) and his parner Pat Patton (Lyle Latell). This is a decent enough mystery - Spitface is a strong villain and it hums along at a fair speed.

Movie review - "The Mysterious Mr Wong" (1934) **

A crappy Monogram film but not without charm and it certainly has strengths, chiefly Bela Lugosi as a Chinese storekeeper who is secretly killing people in order to collect twelve coins that will enable him to rule the world... well, not the world but a section of it. On his trail is a wisecracking 30s newspaperman (Wallace Ford) and his switchboard operator girlfriend (Arline Judge).

There's an Irish cop, various Chinese try to drop things on Ford, Lugosi wears a Fu Manchu moustache and has a sexy daughter to match, Ford may be a poor man's Lee Tracy but I started to enjoy him after a while and he has an engaging chemistry with the lovely Judge, and the two are tied up to a chair by Lugosi at the end. Oh and it doesn't go for long after an hour.

Movie review - "Detour" (1946) ***1/2

Highly regarded film noir from director Edgar G Ulmer, perhaps his best known film, loved by film buffs for a variety of reasons: Ulmer's culti-ness, the fact is was shot in a very short period of time, the lead Tom Neal later went to prison, the atmosphere of doom and fate, Ann Savage's electrifying portrayl as Vera - the scowling, hard voiced femme fetale who is dying of consumption but actually reading the subtext just wants to be hugged.

I think it's been over-hyped a little but once Vera comes into the film (around half way though) it really flies. Neal is handsome and gives a good performance - you wonder why he didn't become a bigger star. (Maybe his loser face - so wonderfulyl appropriate here, watch how he gets increasingly pathetic as the film progresses - didn't work in other films). The big where the guy he gives a lift falls and conks his head doesn't look very realistic (I know it's the point, but still...); ditto his decision to pick up Vera as a hitchhiker when he's supposed to be keeping a low profile.

There is still much to admire: the terrific atmosphere, with its roadside diners and cheap motels, the consistently strong acting, Vera's death, the feeling of pessimism and fate.

Comic review - Tintin #7 - "The Black Island" by Herge

The Blue Lotus is commonly considered the first classic Tintin but I've always been a bit cold on it (never quite known why - maybe the anti-Japanese stuff is a bit too full on and the Chang plot too icky). For me this is the first great one - beautifully drawn with wonderful British locations (especially the highlands and the mysterious island), with a solid story and consistent pacing throughout. To be fair on the other earlier comics the edition I have was rewritten extensively in 1966. But the charm would have been there all along. The Thompson twins are in excellent form, whether failing to arrest Tintin or taking over a plane, Snowy's method of rescuing Tintin (causing a goat to charge the baddies) is very clever, and the baddies are a tough bunch, worth adversaries. Great stuff.

Comic review - Tintin # 6 - "The Broken Ear" by Herge

I have a lot of affection for this Tintin, written at a time Herge was growing in confidence. It starts with a bang, with a missing piece from a museum and various people chasing it, and keeps strong as it goes off to South America - Tintin gets really drunk, gets caught up in a revolution, we meet General Alcazar, there is some brilliant satire over the horrible Gran Chaco Wars of the 1930s.

But as the action goes on Herge seems to run out of puff - the drawings get more simple (note how he doesn't even bother with backgrounds for some) and all the exposition comes in a big rush at the end (except for one plot point which Tintin admits he'll never find out - this was a bit slack). The final sequence with the American millionaire is a sequence too many - it feels as though the story should have ended in South America. Plenty of pace, fun and colour and the spoof banana republics is fun - there is a higher body count than usual (a solider is blown up, two people drown)

Movie review - "Mr Moto # 6 - "Mr Moto's Last Warning" (1939) ***1/2

Superb Moto entry, which for me ranks with Thank You, Mr Moto as the best in the series. It's got energy, imagination and a fantastic gallery of characters and twists. It's mostly said in Port Said where Moto tries to stop agents of that perennial 30s bogeyman, the unnamed foreign power, from causing a breech between British and French by blowing up the French fleet in the harbour. This already elevates the movie because it's based in truth - the baddies are clearly Axis, that British-French conflict was real and there's extra resonance because it was the British who wound up sinking the French fleet! (This is easily the most political film in the series.)

This gets off to a great start when we first meet Moto he's played by a different actor to Peter Lorre. So you think he's either a friend or a baddie... he's a friend who winds up getting killed for Lorre. The villains in this one are the most ruthless and clever Moto ever faced - in part because normally we didn't know who the baddy was until the very end.

George Sanders is on hand as a monocle-wearing sophisticate, and thus villainous, and John Davidson is a browned up henchman, both excellent - but both led by Ricardo Cortez, as a very clever agent, who has a day job as a ventriloquist in a variety show (shades of Mr Memory in The 39 Steps). Cortez is never very far behind Moto, figuring out the identity of not one but two foreign agents, and always a threat until the end.

There are some great other characters as well; the female lead (Virginia Field, who was in Think Fast, Mr Moto) is the trashy owner of a dingy bar and Cortez's lover - she's a smuggler so we think she's bad but actually she turns out to be not that bad, unwilling to betray England and she shoots Cortez. Robert Coote is on hand as a silly ass Englishman touring the colonies, who isn't particularly funny but earns his keep in the last act, inadvertently putting Moto in real danger then helping him get out of it again.

There's also John Carradine as someone who at first seems to be bad but then turns out to be a British agent  - and in a shocking scene, is exposed, thrown into a diving bell and left there to die by Cortez! (Who wants to blame the attack on French ships on the British.) It's a full on sequence and the filmmakers devote a decent amount of time to it.

There are moments of excess and silliness of course (Moto's escape from a planted bomb felt too easy - he just realises the bomb is there), and the part of the French admiral's wife felt undercooked.  But it's a first rate entertainment.

NB There is a tribute to Warner Oland of the Charlie Chan films - the marquee for a show lists Charlie Chan in Honolulu with "final day" written across it - Oland had just died.

Comic review - Asterix # 4 - "Asterix the Gladiator"

This has one of the best ideas of the whole series - Cacophonix is kidnapped by Romans as a gift to Caesar, so Asterix and Obelix follow him to Rome - when the bard is to be fed to the lions, our hero become gladiators. The gladiator/Roman setting inspire the drawings to an even higher level of artistry and by now the writers had the chief feature of the comic down to exact precision - to wit, showing people getting increasingly stressed. But I found this one annoying - the magic potion feels like even more of a cheat than normal (I mean, gladiators train really hard and here some these people with their anabolic sterois who are basically cheating). When they are in Rome surely we should feel they are in more danger? (It's like Superman where his all-conquering powers got boring after a while). It is funny that Asterix encourages the Gladiators to play dud games but you feel they could have gotten more out of the basic situation; ditto the concept of Cacofonix in Rome - the idea of this pretentious idiot on the loose in the capital of the Empire is a rich one, but instead we just get the one note samba of "isn't-he-a-bad singer).

Movie review - Errol #21 - "Dive Bomber" (1941) **1/2

A weird kind of semi-documentary military drama, the sort of thing that Hollywood liked to make in the 50s with James Stewart and June Allyson. There are some great flight scenes, the "world" of the flight surgeon is an interesting one, dealing with black out, etc - but it just feels wrong to see Errol Flynn as a flight surgeon in a flier film when WW2 was on, even if America wasn't involved yet. (There was a rash of re-assuring patriotic armed services movies before Pearl Harbour).

Errol's journey - from cocky, self-assured and not very popular to noble and accepted by the men - is similar to Tom Cruise in Top Gun but not as much fun since Errol is mostly on the ground. He flirts a bit with Alexis Smith (a potentially really fun character, a divorcee who chases Flynn) - but no way near enough - the film needed more romance (and perhaps less comic interludes from Allen Jenkins as a wacky serviceman whose wife - ha ha - is a money grabber).

For a while this is surprisingly engrossing, with all the technical jargon (it feels real), Technicolour photography (though you wish they'd used it on The Sea Hawk instead), serious treatment of a serious subject, production values (Navy co-operation) - but after a while it gets a bit boring. You start to wish they'd stop stuffing around with medical experiments and start fighting Nazis.

Fred MacMurray's conflict with Errol Flynn feels contrived - after a while you go "shut up pilot stop being annoying". (He has two friends at the beginning and when Fred says "we've been together forever" you know they're not likely to make the running time, and they don't.) Ralph Bellamy has a Ralph Bellamy role as a curmodgeonly surgeon. Note how he takes Errol's arm as they walk along. Also know how everyone smokes all the time - especially the doctors. Oh, and at the end Errol chucks a cigarette case out of a plane - what if it lands on someone's head? It could kill someone.