Radio review - Suspense – “The Lost Special” (1943) **

Starts with a flourish – it’s the last testament of a person about to be executed – but the story was a bit dull and hard to follow. Orson Welles narrates. From a story by Conan Doyle. A copy of the script is here.

Radio review – Lux – “Notorious” (1948) **1/2

Ingrid Bergman reprises her screen role in what remains a good story; of course the visual flourishes Hitchcock brought are missed – especially in the wine cellar sequence, and the finale, which depends on POV. But the emotional stuff of the story remains. Joseph Cotten substitutes very well for Cary Grant – he feels like a natural Bergman co-star does Joe Cotten, but the guy who replaces Claude Rains isn’t as good. A copy of the script is here.

Movie review – “Cindy and Donna” (1970) **

Sleazy Crown International sexploiter about two sisters who have a wild weekend. Mum’s a drunk, Dad sleeps with prostitutes and his eldest daughter Donna – who poses nude and is gangbanged by her boyfriend and his mates (with her consent). Younger daughter Cindy tries sex with her female friend, who tells her “it was fun… but it’s no substitute for the real thing” – so she sleeps with Donna’s boyfriend. Donna walks in and sees, then runs out and is run over. Tragic ending! A film made by and for dirty old men, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hot at times and Cindy and Donna are at least good looking, Cindy especially.

Movie review – “Confessions of a Shopaholic” (2009) *1/2

A movie made by people who don’t care. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t have been a hit – it’s got a great title, all the ingredients are there, Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy aren’t stars but they’re amiable enough, the supporting cast is strong. But they make several mistakes.

Firstly, Fisher’s character comes from a poor background – so it’s her own fault she’s addicted to mindless consumerism, and it’s not really fun to see her get into financial turmoil (one of the basic rules of farce is to make your characters rich). Secondly nothing’s at stake. She’s hiding the fact she has a credit card debt – OMG! What sort of deception is that? (She needed to become a big media star about how to save money or something). Thirdly it just feels false – people don’t become massive stars from writing columns. There is a great deal of forces humour, slapstick etc.

The makers are this are going to be able to point to the GFC as an excuse for this film's failure at the box office. But the fact is they just made a bad movie.

Radio review – Orson Welles on Jack Benny (1940, 1943) ***

Welles appeared on The Jack Benny show in 1940, playing himself, training Jack for the role of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Benny returned the favour the next week by appearing on June Moon for Campbell Playhouse). 

Welles was a great success – he wasn’t always the best at comedy but could be hilarious in a well written piece for which he was appropriately cast (eg Twentieth Century). He fit into Benny land because (a) he was playing a funny version of himself, kidding his genius image, and (b) the Benny show had a strong ensemble that centred around an egotistical lead; it was a kind of mad house into which Welles slotted right in. (One can imagine most stars with a strong persona could, eg Errol Flynn, Bogart.) So in 1943 when Benny was ill, Welles was invited back as guest host and proved very successful.

There were some irritating things about the Benny ensemble – that slightly creepy boy tenor who always sang, the catch phrase “isn’t that a lu-lu” from the band leader. But there was a genuine warm family feeling despite the insults and it's not hard to see how it was so successful.

Movie review – “Attack of the Giant Leeches” (1959) **

Producer by Gene Corman (Roger was exec p) but directed by Bernard Kowalski and written by Leo Gordon. Yvette Vickers, everyone’s favourite late 50s sci fi tramp, plays a tramp married to a fat man but who actually is having an affair. There’s a do-gooder park ranger hero who comes up against hostile locals - was John Jarrat in Dark Age a homage to this? He’s a Ken doll hero, so it’s great he’s played by an actor called Ken.

This is not a bad film. Okay that’s relative – there is too much bad acting (the hero park ranger and his wife are particularly bland), the creature effects are a bit silly, and the climax underwhelming (you keep waiting for the wife to be threatened and it never happens). But the structure is basically sound, there is some decent drama – the bit where its revealed some missing hicks are in fact alive and being kept captive by the leeches is creepy

NB If I’m not mistaken that’s Roger Corman playing the silent role of a sheriff deputy around the 11 minute mark

Movie review – “De Sade” (1969) **

When Sam Arkoff was interviewed in the early 70s he gave this as an example of AIP’s biggest disaster. It’s a surprise when you consider the subject matter would seem a natural for AIP (this was part of the second cycle of Poe pictures) and there were some impressive names involved: the cast included Lilli Palmer, Santa Berger and John Huston, the script was by Richard Matheson), the director Cy Endfield. However the shoot proved highly troublesome. Endfield apparently rewrote the script (changing it from non-linear to linear) and flipped out, causing Roger Corman to step in to help finish the film.

Apparently Endfield’s direction was chaste but here are lots of bare boobs here, some female bums (no male bums); Arkoff says in his memoirs that Dullea was reluctant to do orgy scenes but he’s in there, licking nipples. Presumably Corman did all this.

Keir Dullea's performance is a major debit. The role of de Sade is a gift but Dullea lacks spark, artistry, madness, etc. He does have a look of bored aplomb of the aristocracy – kind of like a Nazi officer – but that doesn't work for someone like de Sade. As a result, for all the orgies and boobs on display, the film isn't very interesting. There are lots of trippy sequences, music that sounds a bit like 70s TV, some decent art design. A major opportunity missed.

Play review – “Henry VI Part 1” by William Shakespeare

Despite the title, the king is a minor character in this – as indeed he was in all three Shakespeare plays which bear his name. Another thing all three shared in common was Shakespeare's inability to figure out who the main character was - Joan of Arc? super hero Talbot? - although it does have a central topic, namely the revolt of the French.

There is a really, really high death toll and some bits which are laughable, such as Talbot’s big speech about Salisbury dying while Salisbury is dying (you can imagine Salisbury saying ‘I’m not dead yet’ during this). There is plenty happening to keep you interested, although there is no sense of closure -this is very much a "part one" work.

Radio review – George Edwards - “Frankenstein” (1932) *

Edwards did a decent version of Jekyll and Hyde so I was surprised to hear how poor this was. It’s flat and uninspired with lots of bad acting and horrid writing (check out those end of eps - "I don't feel like talking any more, you'll have to wait.")

It’s hard to get used to a Frankenstein with an accent (how quickly we become accustomed to hearing him be English), but it’s a supporting character actor accent. There’s no drive or passion in this Frankenstein – he’s played like one of those burgomeisters who get killed one hour into the film. An embarrassment.

Book review – “Levinson on Levinson”

Entertaining albeit brief overlook at Levinson’s career in his own words. He had an interesting background, Levinson, working his way up through the TV industry, then doing comedy, becoming a comedy writer for TV then Mel Brooks, then a “serious writer, then director. The book goes up until the making of Toys – it would be interesting to read an updated version, which takes in the 90s and noughties, where Levinson has not enjoyed the commercial success that he did in the 80s. (NB Although as Levinson pointed out, neither Good Morning Vietnam or Rain Man were obviously commercial projects – and he’s made some great films since then, like Wag the Dog.)

Radio review – SDP – “The Spiral Staircase” (1949) ***

Robert Siodmark must have loved this radio show, he was always representing his films on them. This is actually an imaginative version of a film – confronted with a heroine who is deaf and dumb, they have Dorothy McGuire narrate her internal monologue. The result is an entertaining half hour. McGuire appears at the end, breathless and fluttery, praising her director to the skies.

Radio review – Suspense – “Til Death to us Part” (1942) **

The Suspense template – a Hollywood star (Peter Lorre), a husband trying to kill his unfaithful wife, a final twist (he doesn’t!). My sympathies are with the husband, especially as the other man is such a pompous patriotic twit, droning on after Pearl Harbour.

Movie review – “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) ***1/2

Universal didn’t stint on its Lon Chaney vehicles – the sets here are even more amazing than Phantom of the Opera. And Chaney responds with an equally touching performance – his make up is even more impressive because it involves body stuff when he’s whipped. The plot has Quasimodo’s master lust after Esmeralda – he sends Quasimodo to capture her but e winds up captured himself when Esmeralda is rescued by an officer (who starts off slimy but becomes nice – he’s played by the game who played Raoul in Phantom).

Many memorable scenes – Esmeralda giving water, the riot scenes, the Hunchback dying as Esmeralda kisses her pompous lover. Unlike the Phantom the Hunchback is more of a support character in this one to the stuff around Esmeralda. The villain seems to stroll in and out of the film at all too convenient times. But it remains an impressive achievement, especially with regards to Chaney and the incredible production design.

Radio review – MT – “The Man Who Was Thursday” (1938) **1/2

Interesting Mercury version of a Chesterton story about a man who goes undercover among anarchists. The version I listened to conked out after 35 minutes or so but it held interest until then – a good thriller with odd ball characters, reminiscent in some ways to The Stranger or Lady from Shanghai. A copy of the script is here.

Radio review – MT - “Seventeen” (1938) **

Nostalgic Americana was all the rage in the US the late 1930s – its not surprising, with everything going on in Europe – and Orson Welles was as affected by it as much as anyone. For radio he did this, Ambersons, Life with Father, Abraham Lincoln, Wickford Point, Huckleberry Finn; he also made Ambersons on film (even Citizen Kane qualifies as Americana).
Seventeen was based on a story by Booth Tarkington and centres around the usual coming of age adventures – squabbling with the girl next door, chasing after a fast girl, palling around with mates, wanting to buy a jacket. Welles plays the lead role and its fascinating to hear him play it with a whiny high pitched voice – it’s a bit amateur dramatic society (even geniuses can be miscast) but the piece does have charm, even if Welles’ character is irritating. Joe Cotton plays a black called Genisus.

Radio review – SDP – “Alias Nick Beal” (1950) **1/2

Interesting Faustian tale with Ray Milland very well cast as a modern day devil who tempts an honest DA with the help of a fallen woman (here Jan Sterling). These stories work well when the devil has good arguments and Milland does here , pointing out the iomportance of compromise, and the options given to the DA are genuinely tempting (eg dodgy evidence to put away a genuinely bad person). Apparently the film version which I’ve never seen is very noir – this doesn’t really come across on radio but the drama still works. Presumbaly John Farrow was attracted to the themes of temptation, good vs evil, etc – I was looking forward to hearing what he sounded like at the end (how broad was the accent?) but he was sick and couldn’t make the broadcast.

Radio review – MT – “A Passage to Bali” (1938) **1/2

The Mercury specialised in adapting better known stories than this but Orson Welles was presumably attracted by the juicy role that he could play: He plays an enigmatic mystery man who winds up on a passenger ship to Bali and because of his presence no one will let the ship dock. That sounds like ideal material for, say, a Val Lewton film (The Ghost Ship was in the same ball park) – or even an Orson Welles thriller. 

It’s pretty fair entertainment - Welles later reprised the role a number of years later.

Radio review – MT – “Around the World in 80 Days” (1938) **1/2

Decent enough version of the tale, which Welles later adapted for the stage. Welles isn’t quite right as the stuffy Phileas Fogg (Joseph Cotton, say, would have been better casting), although the story holds well and is ideal for radio.

Radio review – MT - “The Affairs of Anatol” (1938) **

The sex comedy/drama of Schnitzler doesn’t adapt well to radio, at least not here – it’s hard to tell the women apart and the broadcast doesn’t quite convey the sexy stuff as well as seeing it in a theatre does. Also the minimal story hurts it on air. But Orson Welles has fun as Anatole who gets himself into all sort of a mess and there are some funny bits, like Anatole trying to avoid admitting he’s getting married that day.

Movie review – “Battle of Blood Island” (1959) **

One of three films Roger Corman made in Puerto Rico – this was one not directed by him but was financed by him; the helmer was Joel Rapp and producer was Stanley Brickman. It’s based on a short story by Phil Roth. The story concerns two American survivors of a disastrous landing attempt on a Japanese-occupied island, one of whom is badly wounded. The healthy one runs around taking out Japanese one by one, and philosophising in the cave. They talk about morality, William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life”, people back home.

There’s a great scene where the Americans are about to attack the Japanese – but then the Japanese all kill themselves (it’s a shame we can’t actually see this). But most of it’s a two hander – the healthy soldier and the sick one start to squabble, the sick one makes an anti-Semitic crack and goes to kill himself, then they make up. It needed another subplot – a third person or an incoming storm or for them to go gay or something. Corman never made a film full of this much dreary talk. (At the end the island is becoming a test site for the atomic bomb – that would have made a good second act twist, or even premise.) Roger Corman has a small role in this – just like he did in Ski Troop Attack – only here he has more dialogue; he acquits himself not too badly (his fresh faced good looks suit a GI)

The DVD features commentary from Joel Rapp which reveals the budget for the film is $30,000, $1,000 of which went to Philip Roth (Rapp says 90% of the script is his dialogue). Rapp can’t tell an anecdote very well and isn’t the best judge about his own film but some interesting stuff sneaks through. He talks about writing some beach party movies for Roger.

Movie review – “Preston Sturges: the Rise of an American Dreamer” (2003) ***

Decent doco on the famed filmmaker suffers from hyperbole at times (eg “he introduced irony to American cinema”, “he changed Hollywood”) but has some great talent (especially former flames of Sturges), and great vision eg colour home movies, Sturges on a quiz show with Katy Juarando, taped interviews with him. It’s a shame no vision from The French they Are a Funny Race or a film version of Strictly Dishonorable, but it does have filmed interviews with several of Sturges’ girlfriends (all bright, smart and funny – I’m not surprised).

Movie review – “Atlas” (1961) **

Roger Corman is fond of saying it’s best to make a low budget movie by telling a story that suits the budget – not trying to take a big budget story and faking it. He says he learnt this lesson the hard way, using this, The Undead and Saga of the Viking Women as examples. This especially cries out for a large budget – there are scenes upon scenes which cry out for extras and production value: Atlas fighting an opponent in a Colosseum, ambush sequences, soldiers hailing leaders (this is particularly laughable), battle sequences, Atlas’ final battle, dance sequences, etc. They try to cover it in the script with lines like “the countryside has been decimated” and “our soldiers have been weakened” and Corman does everything he can – keeping shots tight, using sound, keeping the camera moving - but it doesn’t work.

It’s a shame because the film has a lot going for it. The story is a decent one – a tyrant is involved in a siege and persuades them to agree to settle it by single combat; he persuades Atlas to fight on his behalf; Atlas then finds out his boss is a baddy and joins the other side. (Charles Griffith, who wrote the script, was best known for oddball humour but he was also good on structure.)

There’s also two strong performances from Frank Wolff as the tyrant (cheerful, sly, intelligent and attractive) and Barboura Morris as a femme fetale who turns good (sexy, leggy). Michael Forrest copped criticism as Atlas for being skinny but there’s no reason why a more lithe, sinewy warrior wouldn’t have worked as opposed to a muscle man (eg Brad Pitt in Troy). The problem with Forrest’s performance isn’t his physique it’s his stuff, unvinvolving performance (the Fabian haircut doesn’t help).

Movie review – “The Indestructible Man” (1956) **

Lon Chaney Jnr has a terrific face to convey anguish and pain – flabby, world-weary, innocent eyes – so he makes great casting in this variation of the Frankenstein story. He’s a criminal who is killed in the chair only to be revived by a doctor looking for a cure; he then goes looking for revenge. It’s a decent idea for a film (it’s actually a remake of an earlier Chaney movie) but the handling is uninspired as are Chaney’s adventures. There is a novelty of an inappropriately smug and sleazy male romantic lead.

Movie review – “Public Enemies” (2009) ****

The first few minutes Michael Mann shows again his tendency to rip himself off – not only is there some music from Heat, there's a reprise of a criminal heist which nearly goes wrong due to the idiocy of a crim who later in the movie turns up to cause hassle to the professional crims.

But this filn's got plenty of style and some very good actors; two support players were especially impressive, Aussie Jason Clarke (great face and very sympathetic) and Stephen Lang who plays the bad-ass FBI agent. Enjoyable period detail.

It still uses Hollywood conventions – the professionalism and humaneness of Dillinger is contrasted with the psychoticness of Baby Face Nelson and the ruthless of the Mob and the cops (thereby making him for sympathetic); before he dies Dillinger wants to do “one last job” (something which even Mann admits in his interviews was not like the character); Clarke says he wants to get out of it just before dying; Melvin Purvis is not as bad as Hoover or his more ruthless agents (although the Litte Bohemia raid is established as being his fault).

Some fantastic sequences (as Variety pointed out, the best ones all seem to happen at night) – the appearance of Baby Face Nelson, the Little Bohemia raid, the final moments of Dillinger. Other stuff which you’d think would be sure-fire, such as his escape with the fake gun, aren’t as effective.

There are lots of Aussies in the cast – apart from Clarke there’s also David Wenham (who has a depression era face) and Emily de Raven. Stephen Dorff makes his first appearance in a high profile film in a long, long time and does pretty well.

Book review – “The Hit Factory” by Mike Stock

Give Stock Aitken Watermen their due – they enjoyed a phenomenal level of success in the 80s, especially the late 80s when their songs seemed to have a lock on the top ten. They played an important role in helping popularise Australian soaps by making singing stars of Kylie and Jason.

Stock is obviously a smart, canny guys, and his views pop songs and how to write them is interesting. He’s a little defensive on how much flak SAW received (which was a lot). He also puts forward conspiracy theories as to the demise of his success – he says the big companies took over and helped drive him out of business by mucking with the charts and stuffing his distribution. There may be some truth to this but he doesn’t raise the possibility that maybe he didn’t have his finger on the pulse like he used to.

The book also lacks colour. Stock admits to spending most of the late 80s and early 90s cooped up in a studio, working – he had a strong worth ethic, didn’t take drugs. Okay, fair enough, but there aren’t that many decent anecdotes about the acts who worked for him – they didn’t know who Kylie and almost snubbed her, Jason Donovan wanted to play rock music, Mel and Kim were lots of fun then she got cancer, Rick Astley was the boy next door… that was about it. Surely there were more colourful characters than this during the hey day of Brit pop? Is Stock just being diplomatic? Or does he genuinely have no clue? Pete Waterman, all anger and ambition, seems far more lively and probably would have written a more fun book.

There’s a list of his songs at the end. A lot of them are fairly bland but some genuine non-camp classics in there – ‘Better the Devil You Know’.

Movie review – “Sullivan’s Travels” (1942) *****

Deservedly famous satire of Hollywood hasn’t aged a jot in many ways – although I would argue that the second act is a lot of treading water. The story doesn’t really get going until the hour mark when McCrea gets conked on the head and is confused for a real bum; it feels as though this should have happened a half hour in. Maybe that’s why the film never became largely popular – because the first two acts are repetitive. Mind you there’s still brilliant dialogue, superb players and the delectable Veronica Lake as The Girl (how sexy is she).

Movie review – “Role Models” (2008) ***

Buddy comedy which tickled the public fancy – partly, I would guess, because it’s reassuring to women: you know that dopey dissatisfied guy who complains about his job all the time? And that good looking but sleazy guy always chasing tail? Well, down deep they’re just nice blokes who want to commit and have children. It also has two well cast stars, Elizabeth Banks giving solid support (she’s giving Drew Barrymore a run for the money in the believably-attracted-to-dopey-guys stakes), and an impressive array of support characters who seem to be having fun, and doing a lot of ad libbing.

Radio review – “Hello Americans” (1942-3) ***

Most people are familiar with Orson Welles’ Mercury/Campbell radio shows but I never knew of the existence of this one until reading Simon Callow’s book of the same name. It was a propaganda show about the American continent and ran for 12 episodes.

Welles isn’t that good on propaganda – as Callow pointed out his populism was always self-conscious. (eg Ep 1 person going “you don’t need to tell me how to be American”, Ep 2 the quiz show, the ranting of the final ep) But when he lets his imagination cut loose he’s marvellous - there is some terrific radio here.

First episode is about Brazil, with emphasis on the samba – Welles using his material from It’s All True; Carmen Miranda’s in it too. Great music and knowledge. Part 2 focuses around the Andes with a detour into South America’s bloody history – the conquistadors, independence movements, Bolivar, etc. Vivid and atmospheric. There is a brilliant segment on Haiti, particularly the reign of Henri Christophe (a period familiar to Welles from his MacBeth) a harrowing one on slavery. I enjoyed the one on Mexico too.

It's not all great. There is a weird segment about food, which is very avant garde. Plus a not-particularly-interesting episode about an obnoxious American traveller (he’s not nearly obnoxious enough). Also Welles doesn’t appear in Ep 8 or 11 due to illness. But overall this is very entertaining, and will be of particular interest to those interested in It's All True or depictions of South America during the war.

Movie review – “Duplicity” (2009) *** (warning: spoilers)

Very smart and very clever, terrific star roles, an interesting “world” (industrial espionage), lots of twists and turns, solid support cast… but something about it doesn’t quite work. Clive Owen, who is a great star in brooding parts, is never quite 100% effective in a part seemingly written for George Clooney or Cary Grant, and there’s something distracting about Julia Roberts’ lips (not in a good way). Also the final twist – which I genuinely didn’t pick, because it breaks narrative rules – makes you feel a little flat and let down at the end emotionally.

Movie review – “Autumn in New York” (1999) **

Is there an aspect of this film that isn’t annoying? The title, the plot, the power of Richard Gere’s hair, the notion of Winona Ryder with a terminal illness, the generation gap dodginess inherent in romance, the number of times they try to get around said dodginess by continually mentioning it and making fun of it as if they makes it less dodgy (it doesn’t), the terminal illness acting. It’s all glossy and pretty and I’ve got to say I had no trouble watching it all the way through, but it feels all-so-calculated.

Radio review – SDP – “Pitfall” (1949) **

Dick Powell is a bored exec lured into a life of crime by a femme fetale – kind of. You don’t blame him since his wife is dull and his kid so whiny (“we’ll get ‘em, won’t we dad” – just like the little brat in Shane, a pure baby boomer). At the end when the wife tells him she’ll take him back but only under sufferance you can’t help thinking maybe he’d be better off going it alone. Enjoyable enough although probably could have done with a bit more detail. Raymond Burr reprises his film role but he doesn't get featured billing in the end credits. Andre de Toth pops up at the end and its interesting to hear his halting English.

Radio review – SDP – “Trade Winds” (1949) **

Errol Flynn did a long version of this story; Fred March reprises his film role in a half hour tale. It’s alright; I’d probably like it more if I was a Fred March fan. It is interesting to hear Tay Garnett chat at the end.

Movie review – “The Killer Shrews” (1959) *

This made an appearance in a British book about the worst films of all time. It’s not really up in the top rank but there are some good cult factors– a Swedish female lead (runner up to Miss Universe apparently) who can’t act to save herself, the fact that the killing creatures are shrews played by dogs with wigs. The central idea isn’t bad – bunch of scientists researching overpopulation create really hungry shrews who eat everything – but it’s done in by a lack of atmosphere and poor handling. There’s a lot of sitting around in a crummy house set chatting to each other (a Roger Corman or someone could have made more out of this.) The cast is headed by James Best, who later played Sherriff Roscoe in Dukes of Hazard, but the real stars are the dogs – sorry, woops, shrews. Pretty good fun.

Radio review – MT – “Three Short Stories” (1938) **

The Mercury show their variety by adapting three short stories. Problem is none of them are very interesting. The first one at least has the fascination of listening to Orson Welles play an aw-shucks-gee-whiz country hick who gets in over his head – he’s not very good at all, but it is a novelty to hear him in such an untypical role. The third one has him play a father raising a young son; it touches on the subject of anti-Semitism. During a later Mercury double bill – the one with Heart of Darkenss – the announcer says that double bill came about out of popular response to these three short stories; it’s hard to understand why they were so well received but I guess short stories were bigger back then or something.

Movie review – “X – the Man with X-Ray Eyes” (1963) ***1/2

Roger Corman takes time out during the Poe cycle to make a contemporary film, albeit one with many of his Poe gang (Floyd Crosby, Dan Haller, Les Baxter, etc.) and a story which could have been a period film. Indeed, at times I wish it was, with Vincent Price in the lead – though Ray Milland is fine as the scientist so devoted to finding a formula that enables him to see through things he experiments on himself.

It’s an original screenplay, and a good one – well, half good. Lots of smart stuff – it begins well, with believable mumbo jumbo and interesting scientific gobbledy gook. The structure isn’t right – at first it’s fine, with Milland experimenting on himself, then going to a party (nude jokes a la The Immoral Mr Teas), then pulling funding and turn to murder. But it feels as though the middle bit with Don Rickles should have been at the end, and the bit going to Vegas should have been the second act.

Also they set up these interesting support characters and drop them – the girl disappears from the middle, pops up at the end but she isn’t really used, you wish Rickles would come back, etc. The acting is good. Milland is believably determined (he lacks Vincent Price’s flamboyance but still goes ga-ga quite well). Rickles is very effective in an unsympathetic “straight” part that still incorporates a scene where he insults members of the general public.

Radio review – Command Performance – “Superman with Bob Hope” (1946) **

The cast and idea would have made a great film – Bob Hope as Superman, Paulette Goddard as Lois Lane, and Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist bad guy. Although having said that they don’t use the Hope as Superman as much as they could have – maybe it needed something visual. He throws in some various contemporary ad libs. Lugosi does his regular stuff, and Goddard’s not-quite-right timing is more noticeable when you’re not distracted by her prettiness.

Movie review - “Smokey Bites the Dust” (1983) *1/2

It was cheeky of New World to pinch the title of the Burt Reynolds series – surely there was a copyright issue – but I guess Roger Corman could argue that he was before Smokey and the Bandit making smash and bash films, with Grand Theft Auto, Death Race 2000, etc. 

The plot involves a young hoon abducting the sheriff’s daughter as a joke – she’s all for it, of course, but dad heads off in pursuit. It’s all very much in the teen hoon mode of New World’s Ron Howard starrers, Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto – like the first of those this is directed by Chuck Griffith. Griffith isn’t credited with the script but it feels like a Griffith work – lots of off the wall humour and wacky characters, in addition to the hooning around.

Unfortunately, apart from a few bright spots (eg the young girl addicted to cigarettes) it gets wearisome after a while, not helped by the uninspiring lead couple - a pair of TV stars of the late 70s, Nancy Drew and Kirsty McNicol’s brother. The support cast lacks gravitas, particularly the character of the girl’s father, and in the end it gets just too silly. Presumably this helped kill off genre.

The co-producer was Gale Ann Hurd; this was made at the tail end of the period in Roger Corman’s career when the people he worked for went on to have top rank careers. (What killed that off was the explosion of the video market, causing the majority of his films to be made for the small screen.)

Radio review - SDP – “Fort Apache” (1948) **

The basic story is decent and John Wayne’s on hand to reprise his film role – Wayne had a great voice, and is a natural for radio – but Ward Bond is a poor substitute for Henry Fonda, and it badly lacks the subplots and visual flourishes that made the film so memorable.

Radio review – CP#23 - “Our Town” (1939) ***

More Americana from Welles, but at least this has the benefit of a stronger source, Thornton Wilder’s famous play. The stage manager narrator device adapts very well to radio with Welles ideally cast as the narrator. I’ll put my hand up and admit that I’ve never found Wilder’s play amazing. I recognise the quality and it’s a real kick to have the girl die at the end but maybe it’s just been copied too many times to blow me away – both the small town stuff and the theatricality of it. But it's still very strong and this is a good version.

Radio review – CP#22 -“Wickford Point” (1939) **

More Americana from Orson Welles – a tale of class and old families in new England. It’s about a family who were once great but now have no money, only they still act like they do. There are various romantic entanglements. Who cares? Well, Welles, presumably, since he kept returning to this theme, and John Marquand, who wrote the novel. You might also be interested in listening to it if you really like The Magnificent Ambersons and are keen to hear to hear Welles tackle a similar sort of story.

Radio review – CP#19 – “The Patriot” (1939) **

I’ve never read a Pearl Buck novel but I can just imagined them being beloved by book clubs and sold in those musty hardcovers you find at grandmother’s houses and second hand book dealers. This is about a young Chinese who wants to join Chiang Kai-Shek’s revolutionaries and who falls in love with a Japanese. There’s the novelty of hearing Orson Welles play a Chinese (he does it soft spoken and diligent) but it gets very boring. Anna May Wong is among the cast and Pearl Buck is interviewed.

Radio review – SGP - “Gentleman Jim” (1944) **1/2

Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith and Ward Bond reprise their roles in a half hour adaptation which keeps a lot of good bits but is just too small to recapture the charm of the film. Some of this is unavoidable – we can’t see the period detail or the boxing – but mostly it’s because of the time thing (eg the romance between Errol and Smith is given short shrift). It doesn’t help the adaptation is not done with particular imagination, although the actors are all in good form. There’s one bit where Errol performs the scene where he wakes up hungover and the audience gives out this massive laugh – he must have been doing some visual bit which we don’t pick up on.

Movie review – “Myra Breckinridge” (1970) *

In a Vanity Fair piece on the making of this film, director Michael Sarne makes some of the least convincing arguments in defence of his own lack of talent – “I didn’t really want to make the film”, “the producer was an idiot”, “the preview in San Francisco in front of a gay audience went really well”. Rex Reed would later take Sarne to task but his performance – clearly cut about as it is - is poor. Raquel Welch tries but she’s simply not up to it – although she does look pretty in a variety of outfits.

Gore Vidal’s novel was never going to be easy to adapt but this is a fair mess – characters and subplots come and go, it lacks rhyme or reason, the cutting in of old Fox movies (something Julien Temple loved doing) gets irritating after a while. Anal rape may have been liberating (or something) in the late 60s but now it just comes across as unpleasant.

Still, there’s no denying the film has its fascination: Mae West’s return to the big screen (some of her lines are actually funny and she sings a version of ‘Hard to Handle’ – Mae West doing a dong later covered by The Black Crowes!); early performances from Farrah Fawcett and Tom Selleck (both poor – Fawcett doesn’t even go through with a lesbian love scene with Welch); John Carradine saying “tits”; John Huston.

NB To understand how this got through the system you have to remember it was a time when sure fire projects like Hello Dolly were crashing, and sleepers like The Graduate and Easy Rider were raking in the dough. Shutting your eyes and hoping for the best also resulted in MASH for the same studio, so there is something to be said for this method of filmmaking.

Movie review - “Dead Men Walk” (1943) **

Entertaining, if creaky, low budget combination of vampire and evil twin film – George Zucco plays two identical brothers, one a nice doctor, the other a vampire twin. The nice Zucco killed his brother in self defence and now the brother is back fro the dead to get revenge by making it seem like the nice Zucco is a killer. It gets off to a bright start – the bad Zucco is already dead by the time the opening credits roll (there’s a whole film – or at least a first act – in the backstory); but it slows down during the middle section, before recovering for a decent enough finale.

Additional interest is provided by Dwight Frye, looking very old and haggard, as the Renfield-like hunchback assistant for the vampire Zucco; the romantic male lead is Ned Young (very wooden), who later became an Oscar-winning blacklisted screenwriter.

Radio review – SDP – “The Killers” (1949) **1/2

Hemmingway’s short story would have made an effective radio play on its own but this one is taken from the movie of the story. While that used most of the short story, this radio version only uses the ending, but it does have Burt Lancaster reprising his star making role. Despite being unable to show off his great asset as an actor – his physical presence – Lancaster is effective, being particularly emotional during his attempted suicide scene. Shelley Winters takes over. It feels as though they didn’t quite get the timing for this one right – there’s a bit at the end where the narrator character (played by Edmund O’Brien in the film but I don’t know if he does so here, they don’t say so).

Movie review – “The Mad Monster” (1942) **

If you couldn’t get Belga Lugosi or Lionel Atwill to play your mad scientist during the 1940s, George Zucco was always willing to step into the breach. This film is a sort of remake of Lugosi’s The Devil Bat with a werewolf instead of a bat. Zucco spends his days in the basement transporting his gardener into a werewolf; originally his intention was to make a super army but now he’s after his former colleagues who laughed at him. (I remember growing up the main impressions I had of academia was of squabbling mad scientists in old horror films.)

Zucco was a different sort of mad scientist, Zucco – more soft spoken, gentle looking. But there’s no denying the gleam in his eye; he’s having a high old time and is the best thing about this movie. It’s also fun to see Glenn Strange, who played Frankenstein’s monster a number of times, in a sort of Lon Chaney Jnr part as a simpleton unknowingly experimented on by Zucco.

Some neat touches – Zucco arguing with imagined versions of his old uni colleagues, the spooky country setting, the fact the werewolf actually kills a little girl. The wolf make up isn’t bad. On the debit side – this is relative, the whole thing is a low budget cheapie – it drags a bit around the two third mark, is a bit long (75 minutes, which is long for this sort of movie)

Radio review – “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” (1932) ***

George Edwards was known as the man of a thousand voices, so he was ideal casting to play the famous dual personality. He gives a strong performance, helped by his powerful voice – both characters are very distinctive. This is a robust version of the tale. It feels padded – 52 episodes of 12 minutes each, surely longer than the original story

It started out well – I really enjoyed the young Jekyll scenes with Jekyll going berko as a child and getting in trouble at uni. But during the middle- two thirds section it was particularly hard going, before recovering at the ending, with some strong scenes. I particularly liked where Jekyll and Hyde talk to each other, where the nurse character who falls for Jekyll sees him transform to hide and then is shoved off to the loony bin. Too much time with boring Mary, a childhood sweetheart who everyone pants over.

Movie review - “The Jericho Mile” (1979) ***1/2

Michael Mann’s impressive television debut foreshadows much of his later work – the criminal world setting, an isolated hero who lives by his own code, slightly expressionistic dialogue, an interest in black culture, emphasis on music, honour among thieves, attention to realism.

Peter Strauss is excellent as a Folsom lifer who has the potential to be a champion miler; he looks in shape, seems like a working class type – why did he never escape TV land? The supporting cast is full of familiar faces: Brian Dennehy, Roy Moseley (from Magnum), other actors you’ll recognise from TV drama. It was actually shot in Folsom which helps (the officers are depicted sympathetically – which works for the drama)

Sometimes the dialogue sounds a bit odd coming from the actors – maybe the actors weren’t up to it, or it was too stylised, or they just needed more time. Indeed, you wish Mann had been given a little more time and money to smooth it out.

I wasn’t crazy about the back story of Strauss having only killed his father because he was bashing his sister – it softens someone who doesn’t need softening. Great versions of Rolling Stones songs – a bossanova riff like ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is used throughout; there’s also a bit of ‘No Expectations’.

Radio review – CP#16 - “Twentieth Century” (1939) ***1/2

Orson Welles wasn’t the most natural comedian in the world but he’s perfectly cast here as the bombastic, egomaniacal Leo Jaffe – as well cast as John Barrymore in the film (I guess Welles had a baby face around this time but it doesn’t matter on radio). Elissa Landi tries but doesn’t quite match Carole Lombard (she doesn’t have any of Lombard’s great hysterical scenes), but you don’t really notice as the piece is such a great star vehicle. This is more effective than many radio versions of stage plays because there's so much going on. Great fun.

Radio review – SDP - “The Sea Wolf” (1950) **

Okay I’m starting to get sick of these half hour film adaptations by now – they are simply too short. Also on Screen Directors Playhouse they don’t seem really concerned in doing a good job – it’s like they go “we’ve got the star and the director, how much extra effort do we have to put in”? Edward G Robinson reprises his role – he tells it from first person for a bit too unlike the novel –and he’s effective but this is too short. Michael Curtiz appears at the end and makes fun of his English.

Movie review – “My Son, The Vampire” (1952) **

Bela Lugosi starred in some weird-arse projects during his career, especially towards the end of his life, none more so than British comedy starring a man in a dress. The plot involves a scientist who think he’s a vampire on the lose in Britain, kidnapping women, having robots, wrapping people as mummies. But he’s stopped by said man in a dress and some of his mates.

Lugosi played able straight man to a variety of comedians throughout his career: Abbott and Costello, the Dead End Kids. He’s pretty good, seems to be into that part – of course, that may have been the morphine. The film is entirely silly, too silly to take offence by it. I mean, they throw in everything but the kitchen sink: a musical number which seems to have been recorded in the studio while filming, heaps of slapstick, a finale involving a fake robot chasing the hero (ine) around a house and a chase, Lugosi has an engaging entourage of side-kicks. This was produced and directed by John Gilling who later did work for Hammer.

Movie review – “The Neverending Story” (1984) ***1/2

Big film from my youth, the sensation of its day – it ran for over a year in the cinema. And it still has that great idea – a boy reading a book set in the never-never land of Fantastia doesn’t realise that he’s actually part of the story. The special effects are still pretty good and there’s some great moments – the death of the horse, the revenge of the bullies, the sad rock creature, the climax. Atreyu is a whiny brat, constantly complaining – the only heroic thing he really does is dodge a zap of lightning and kill a wolf, the dragon does all the other hard work. And it’s entirely possible to do a Nazi reading of it – an encroaching, soul-destroying force (Communism) threatens a peace-loving kingdom, so the empress (fuhrer) sends a member of the Nazi youth out to save the day. But I guess you could do a Nazi reading of every German film if you tried hard enough. Great theme song and Barrett Oliver is winning as the boy – what happened to him? He was everywhere 1984-85 then disappeared.

Radio review – CP#55 – “June Moon” (1940) **1/2

The penultimate show of the Campbell Playhouse (at least, the show done with Orson Welles)was an adaptation of the Ring Lardner-George S Kaufman Broadway hit, a success in its day but not that well remembered because (a) lack of a well remembered film adaptation and (b) it isn’t that good. Well the story isn’t. 

It’s okay, there are some bright lines, but it feels underwhelming (the script isn’t as good as, say, Once in a Lifetime; maybe it played better if the industry it was lampooning – song writing on the hit parade – was still current) Jack Benny, in a rare “straight role”, plays the lead, a naïve songwriter who gets involved with some show biz sharks. Welles, or Benny or someone, seems to have wanted to reassure Benny playing a dramatic role so the Jack Benny character is always making cracks about the comedian Jack Benny.

Radio review – SDP – “Yellow Sky” (1949) **

Gregory Peck reprises his part in this Western heist thriller. It doesn’t adapt too well, lacking atmosphere and action. I also found it hard to tell some characters apart, although that might be because I was a bit bored.

Movie review – “Capone” (1975) **

Although New World Pictures took up the bulk of Roger Corman’s attention during the 70s, he still produced films for other companies, such as AIP and 20th Centry Fox. This was one he made for Fox, for whom he also did Fighting Mad and, several years early, the St Valentine’s Day Massacre. Perhaps that it what prompted this production – it meant Corman could use the same writer of the latter film (Harold Browne) plus some footage.

There’s a good cast - Ben Gazzara is Capone; Harry Guardino plays his mentor Johnny Tonio, Gazzara’s great mate John Cassavetes is Frankie Yale; Sly Stallone (very effective) is Frank Nitti; Dick Miller is a corrupt cop. It’s very blokey for Corman – the only sizeable female part is Susan Blakely as a gangster's moll. (This is doubly surprising when one considers Corman and director Steve Carver enjoyed such success with girl gangsters on Big Bad Mama).

You do wish Cassavetes’ part was bigger. At first I also wished that Cassavetes was playing Gazzara’s role – he had a madder glint in his eye, more humour – but I found Gazzara grew into it. And chubby cheeked Gazzara looked closer to the real Capone.

The main problem with this film was that it felt too familiar. The Capone story is well known from Scarface and its impersonators– cocky kid, violent, becomes right hand to another gangster, get involves with a major crime war, comes out on top, etc. Although here Capone is called Capone, it doesn’t feel any more real – just like a movie made by people who have watched a lot of old gangster films. 

There’s a little swearing, blood and nudity (some from Blakely), but take away that and it could have easily been made in the 1930s – and you’d have had taunter handling too.

There are some interesting touches – like use of red frames to segue between scenes, and Sylvester Stallone as a seemingly loyal but actually treacherous Nitti (according to the film he’s the one who gives the Feds info for tax evasion.) But ultimately it's flat and not very good.

Radio review – Abbott and Costello – “Baseball Player” (1947) ***

Very funny entry which focuses around Costello playing baseball – Joe di Maggio asks him to take his place on the New York Yankees - , so naturally climaxes with ‘Who’s On First?’. It also features a variation on it, a play on the name of the baseball player Feller (“which feller?”)

Radio review – Lux - “The Maltese Falcon” (1944) ***

Hammett’s novel was filmed twice in the 30s but no one’s been game to have another go since the John Huston version – at least, not on screen. This radio version came along a few years later, and holds up very well, with a cast of lead players who match those in the 1941 film. Edward G Robinson for Bogie, Laird Cregar for Sydney Greenstreet and Gail Patrick for Mrs Wonderley – this may be sacrilege but those three would have hold their own if they’d been cast. (Of course, Bogart was a bit sexier than Robinson.) Instead of Peter Lorre there’s a Peter Lorre impersonator but the story holds and it’s entertaining.

Radio review – Suspense – “The Devil’s Saint” (1943) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

Peter Lorre plays a Hungarian involved in devil worshipping; the hero (not a very good performance) has to spend a night in a room with a haunted past in order to marry a girl. Neat twist at the end with the girl turning out to be the bad one.

Radio review – Suspense – “Lazarus Walks” (1943) **1/2

In addition to his own show, Orson Welles frequently guested on others, including a few for Suspense. His voice suited this spooky anthology and he is in good form here as a doctor who may or may not be interesting in killing his wife.

Radio review – MT#20 – “The Pickwick Papers” (1938) **

One of the last outings of the Mercury Theatre on the Air before it became the Campbell Playhouse. Welles and Dickens is a good match and the actors are all having a fine time in the roles – they really get into it which you need to do with Dickens - but if you’re not familiar with the book (which I wasn’t) it’s very confusing and I admit I didn’t enjoy it.

Radio review – CP#8 – “I Lost My Girlish Laughter” (1939) **1/2

A Hollywood farce, based on a novel by some ladies who worked for David O Selznick. Apparently the novel focused around a young woman, changed for this radio adaptation – it could have used it. 

 

Still this is high spirited fun, all bombastic producers, egotistical stars and bitter writers. Reminiscent of George S Kaufman, so it’s appropriate Kaufman appears in the cast (apparently his debut as an actor in radio drama.)

Radio review – MT – “Abraham Lincoln” (1938) **1/2

Orson Welles had political ambitions, and during the 40s gave some serious thought to pursuing a career in that direction, so it’s not so strange he’d be attracted to the idea of playing America’s most (or is it second-most) beloved president. He’s not very good casting – Welles can’t help but be bombastic, and overpowering, not quite the shrewd backwoodsman that Lincoln was. Although to be fair maybe that’s just because we’ve come to expect Henry Fonda to play the part. It’s just that nothing I’ve ever read about Lincoln reminds you of Orson Welles; maybe Welles could have played Teddy Roosevelt. The script starts out as an imaginative documentary-type presentation before reverting to more conventional radio drama.

Movie review – “Sex in the City” (2008) ***

They didn’t stuff it up! The overwhelming feeling from watching this is one of relief – like The Simpsons Movie it’s not up there with the best of the series but it’s no disgrace. In fact there are some really great moments and scenes, particularly the heavier ones – Samantha’s realisation she’s not cut out to be someone’s better half, Carrie being devastated after being stood up at the altar, the hurt caused by infidelity. In other places the script feels as though it needs an edit. The Jennifer Hudson character is introduced too late and takes up too much screen time for too little result. Why not flesh out some of the stories involving our stars? Have a moment where Miranda busts Steve or something? Give Charlotte something to do? The consumerism is even more prominent and mindless than in the show but I guess the paid for the budget with all the product placement.