Book review – “Mind Warp: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures” by Chris Koetting

An overdue account of one of the most famous indie film studios of them all; I’m surprised no one’s done a book on New World before now when there’s been a few on AIP. Maybe people figured it had been covered enough with all the various books on Corman.

This work doesn’t have an index (very frustrating) and also seems to be based almost entirely on secondary sources (the exception is the writer seems to have read some original scripts with a view to disputing some urban legends about Corman’s contribution to them eg Death Race 2000). But at least some of those sources are contemporary trade papers and news papers.

It also benefits from not being a Corman vanity project – in amidst the much deserved praise of Corman (his eye for new talent, the way he found and promoted foreign films, his tenacity when other companies went to the wall), there is criticism. Of course he’s famous for low budgets (even cutting them during filming) but there’s less pleasant stuff too like inserting a lot of rapes into Humanoids of the Deep. And all the New World films are covered, even the pick ups - there are making of stories and production details, so it really is an invaluable book for Corman/New World fans (such a good reference book that the lack of an index really is annoying!)

Lots of stuff I didn’t know – among New World’s biggest ever successes were two Tim Conway-Don Knotts vehicles (why didn’t they keep making these?); they also tried making TV movies and romances (Julie Corman’s influence); Fighting Mad was made by Corman and Jonathan Demme for Fox and was constructed specifically to be a hit – and flopped. I was also surprised that New World enjoyed a fair amount of success post-Corman – Robert Rehme ran it, and he was very skilled in the exploitation field (he worked at New World, and ran Avco Embassy for a while): their hits included Children of the Corn, Flowers in the Attic and Angel. (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun isn’t mentioned.) Eventually the tide ran out of course – as it seems to do for everyone in indie land except Roger Corman.

Corman’s post-New World output has little renown – few film buffs know the films, there haven’t been too many graduates from the Roger Corman school. The main reason seems to be the fact he makes films for video now, not the big screen; also budding filmmakers have the indie self-funded film festival route to go now. So when people talk about Roger Corman, this book does cover the last chapter of Corman as a major player in Hollywood.

Radio review – Lux - “Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ (1947) ***

This adapted to radio surprisingly well – it didn’t have the colour and movement of the film of course, but the simple plot works well enough (love triangle, trying to set themselves up as a band – 20th Century Fox used countless variations on it over the years) and there’s lots of great Irving Berlin songs, like the title track and ‘Blue Skies’. Tyrone Power recreates his film role; instead of Don Ameche and Alice Faye there’s Dick Haymes and Dinah Shore. Al Jolson shoves his head in and tries to hog the spotlight – listen to him muff a joke at the end.

Movie review – “The Hurt Locker” (2009) ****1/2

Kathryn Bigelow deserves the Oscar for her magnificent work here – a girl doing a guy story through the eyes of a girl. She observes all the macho by play and posturing but doesn’t buy into it – but doesn’t simplistically bag it either. This reminded me a lot of Journey’s End – not an overtly anti-war piece, it simply says “this is the way that it is”, and is all the more effective for that. Also like Journey’s End you automatically assume X is going to die and are thrown to realise they don’t.

Watching this it’s also clear the American’s haven’t really learned how to fight a police action since Vietnam – they still have these massive outposts and drive convoys in which they are terrified of every foreigner they run into. It seems Americans are still stuck in the siege/forts/stagecoach mentality. (Contrast them with the British mercenaries, who are low key and dressed like locals – mind you, the British still lose a few men and the Americans save them – but then this is an American film.) And why don’t the Americans insist on clearing a perimeter from everyone when disarming a bomb instead of allowing people to casually watch and film? It’s not very good acting.

Occasionally the drama scenes feel a bit flat – they’re okay, it’s just in comparison to the other stuff. I liked the cameos from Guy Pearce, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and Evangeline Lilly – everyone earns their keep. Good acting from the mostly unknown lead players. The only bit I felt could have been cut out was when Jeremy Rimmer leaves the camp on his own one night – it’s not really needed, and there’s a sneaking-through-the-streets-of-Baghdad scene later on.

Movie review – “Motorcycle Gang” (1958) **

The success of Dragstrip Girl saw AIP reunite much of the same team (Lou Rusoff, Edward Cahn, Steve Terrell, John Ashley). Again, Ashley is the bad boy and Terrell is the good one and they are squabbling over a girl – Anne Neyland, a teen temptress who plas both men off against each other. Parents are again a strong presence here, despite Arkoff’s later claim that he tried to keep them out of his films – the cops try to organise a sanctioned race between kids, and when Ashley complains, a cop says that Ashley just wants the old days back because he could boss everyone around (and when Ashley tres to get his old mate to rise up in protest and they don’t).

Ashley walks around in a leather jacket with a gang of bad people – just like Eric von Zipper. There are lots of scenes of teens dancing in a café, plus a comic Chinese cook who speaks slang, and some decent motorcycle scenes - although it's a shame there couldn't have been more of these.

There’s a lot of camp value – like Neyland in tight shorts straddling a motorcycle talking about wanting to go fast (John Waters surely had this movie in mind when he wrote Cry Baby). For the most part the low budget isn't particularly noticeable, except at the end when Ashley and his mates go on a rampage and it isn't much of a rampage (the film is highly influenced by The Wild One). Terrell isn't much in his role - when he drives off a bridge you can't help laugh, he has such a wet expression on his face - but then it isn't much of a role, essentially being an Uncle Tom teenager, who sucks up to the cops. Ashley is better value in a better part - a snarly rebel.

TV review – “Law and Order” Season 6 (1995-96) ****

Towards the end of season 5 it became apparent there wasn’t much point of keeping Chris Noth, so Benjamin Bratt’s arrival is like a breath of fresh air. He’s a different character – much younger, a hot head, but also morally self-righteous, a family man with three daughters. Bratt’s a better actor than Noth, too – they don’t have to protect him as much. Sometimes Steven Hill’s grumpiness gets on your nerves – it’s like he’s always angry at his staff, even when it’s not their fault. Jill Hennessy has grown into her part nicely – her character is still a bit nervous but growing in confidence.

The plots remain strong. There’s a decent black episode for a change – about adoption of black crack babies by white families (the black side is given a decent argument) with a reappearance by Robert Brooks, now a lot more militant and interesting. In LAO style they are always throwing in some twists – there’s a cross over with another show, a final utterly untypical episode where our main characters deal with the fall out of having sent someone to be executed (it’s like everyone was making a dash for the Emmy; it’s a bit slow and could have been done in half the time but has some great bits, like the revelation of Jill Hennessy’s father, Jerry Orbach falling off the wagon, Sam Waterston’s good drunk acting – a hard thing to find - and Hennessy’s death).

Guest stars include Amanda Peet as a Patty Hearst type, Peter Skarsgaard as a victim’s boyfriend, Sandy Duncan (terrific as a cheerful defence lawyer), Jennifer Garner as a wish-fulfilment student who seduces Bratt on an afternoon, Sunday in New York style, Ellen Pompeo, Chris Cooper (as a Klan lawyer), Patti Lu Pone (brilliant as another seen-it-all defence lawyer). One ep makes a big deal out of the defence attorney being an old friend of Jill Hennessy’s and you get the feeling maybe they were testing her as a possible replacement for Hennessy.

Movie review – Hercules #2 - “Hercules Unchained” (1959) **

Hercules helped make a star of Steve Reeves and a fortune for Joe Levine, so it was no surprise to see the two of them reunite for this sequel which has Hercules gets involved in a dispute over who should rule Thebes. Sylvia Koscina also returns as his wife, as does director Pietro Francisci. There’s high production values, nice photography and location work, plenty of action and muscle men and curvaceous girls – it’s good entertainment for kids (Mario Bava was director of special effects).

The story has a flaw – most of the running time concerns Hercules losing his memory and living with a hot princess who loves him (the scriptwriters raid liberally from The Odyssey); then he escapes from the land 20 minutes to go and goes off to rescue his wife, which feels like an add-on part.

Reeves isn’t that good to be honest – I mean, he looks the part with the physique and beard, but he doesn’t have much personality (the eyes aren’t very animated). Also it’s laughable when he emotes. This was the last time he played Hercules – other actors took over for the sequels, although Reeves continued making swashbucklers for a number of years.

Movie review – “Run for the Sun” (1956) **

Disappointing version of The Most Dangerous Game, despite being in colour, with a decent budget and strong cast. It takes a while to get going, as we follow journo Jane Greer down to Mexico where she's tracking down missing Hemingway-style author Richard Widmark. Greer isn't very sympathetic - she's upset when a lay Mexican won't carry her luggage and gives a Mexican who can't speak English very well an elaborate drink order in English. She falls in love with Widmark and can't bring herself to tell her Secret; we get a bit of boring character stuff from Widmark who explains he's bitter because his wife had an affair with his best friend. (Did they have to pump up this part to attract Widmark or something?) Anyway, Widmark offers to fly Greer to Mexico City but he gets lost and the plane crashes in a jungle where they are rescued by Trevor Howard and Peter Van Eyck. They wind up on the run from them.

Now hints are dropped that Howard is into hunting humans - he has lots of guns, and a pack of wild dogs. But they don't ever say he does - he's motivated to chase Widmark and Greer because Widmark recognises him as a Lord Haw Haw like traitor during the war (van Eyck is his brother in law). Which kind of robs the whole story of its point - about humans being game, and the former hunter learning a lesson. It just makes it a standard chase film.

Some of the chase is interesting, as is the location work. At times I wished Widmark and Howard had swapped roles but both are okay. Greer is a bit of a debit - her character isn't very smart, and there's not much chemistry with her and Widmark (at least Fay Wray got progressively nuder in the 1932 film).

The ending bit has a rip off of Rogue Male with Widmark managing to outsmart Howard while being cornered using an item handed by Howard through the door (in this case a bullet - it's a clever bit of business but co-scripter Dudley Nichols used it before in his version of the tale, Man Hunt.)

Watchable - but why didn't they use stuff from the original story? (The director was Roy Boulting, then going through the international phase of his career - he was okay with suspense not so crash hot with action.)

(NB The executive producer was Bob Waterfield - Jane Russell's football playing husband. He and Russell had a four picture deal with United Artists at the time.)

Radio review – Lux – “The Awful Truth” (1955) ***1/2

The film that launched Cary Grant as the major romantic comedian of the 20th century - this radio adaptation sees him reunited with Irene Dunne, and their playing remains highly enjoyable. It has more of a driving story than My Favourite Wife, although the basic situation is less strong - it has four parts: the break up of the marriage, both having new trashy partners (she an Oklahoma oil man, he a trashy singer), he looks like getting engaged, they get back together. Listening to this years later it's striking how easy it would be to do a gay remake of the story - a sophisticated, childless couple who have a hard time remaining faithful (in spirit if nothing else), who have custody disputes over their dog and make fun of people from fly-over states.

Radio review - Lux - “All My Sons” (1950) ***1/2

Not an adaptation of Arthur Miller's excellent play but an adaptation of the film version of the play which means it's been watered down a bit. Burt Lancaster's character, the surviving son, in particular feels as though he's been cleaned up (NB this may not be true, it's been a while since I read the play, it just feels like that). Nonetheless the piece still retains a fair amount of power, particularly the bit where they read the letter from the dead son at the end. Edward Arnold steps in to Edward G Robinson's role as a very sympathetic "villain", a forerunner to Willy Loman's distraught businessman. The radio version keeps the film change in that we get to meet and listen to Joe Keller's gaoled partner.

Movie review – “Hard Candy” (2006) **1/2

Great subject matter, two terrific lead performances (particularly from Ellen Page – if this part didn’t work the whole thing would have sunk but she’s brilliant), and the first half hour flies right by. It’s interestingly directed, with sparse art design, tricky camera work and great acting and sense of menace. But once the tables are turned it runs out of story and just becomes about Page tormenting the guy – which is repetitive (torture, escape, recapture, torture). It badly needs a third act twist, like the arrival of Patrick Wilson’s accomplice or something (the way Death and the Maiden had Sigourney Weaver's husband come back). You think it’s going to be Sandra Oh but she just drops in and heads out. You could turn this into a play. It has a Japanese "feel" with it's talk of teen sexuality and this crazy school girl.

Movie review - “The Incredible Petrified World” (1958) *

A film from Jerry Warren whose name is held in honour by some bad movie buffs. This has decent enough production value for a crappy old movie – yes there is some stock footage but the shoot scenes on a boat with a big diving bell. But it’s boring – most of the time it’s four people stuck in a cave underwater. There’s a crazy old man Treasure Island style but nothing interesting happens – you keep waiting for a monster to go crazy or for the people to start killing each other, or something. Not bad so much as boring. John Carradine is the biggest (make that only) name of the cast.

Movie review – “High School Caesar” (1960) **1/2

After achieving teen fame as a bad boy in Dragstrip Girl, John Ashley was given an even nastier role in this JD film, in which he plays the title role. He rules the school, beating up kids for protection money, selling stolen teats to classmates and rigging the election for president. Of course it’s not all his fault – his rich parents have left him in the care of servants while they travel (there’s even a scene where Ashley sobs in bed over this – gee, he isn’t all bad…). However he still slaps a woman across the face and later basically tries to rape another one.

It has the novelty appeal of films made in this era: Ashley in a leather jacket, high school dances, souped-up cars with fluffy dice, girls with pointy boobs. Ashely gives an effective performance and I really liked that enigmatic doll faced girl who is his love interest.

The plot has definite parallels with Dragstrip Girl – Ashley has a rivalry with a clean cut kid and kills someone in a road accident which sets up the third act – only the person he kills here is said clean cut kid. But it’s a better film, with a more interesting central character, better acting and car racing scenes; there’s also an effective wind-swept finale where Ashley is left all alone waiting for the police to come. Still, it was probably too late in the JD cycle to be a big success – Ashley spent the next few years in TV before emerging as a second lead in the Beach Party movies. (NB This isn’t an AIP film although it was distributed by Roger Corman’s Filmgroup.)

Movie review – “Dragstrip Girl” (1957) **

Fairly typical AIP juvenile delinquent exploitationer, with a couple of standard ingredients: fast cars, a love triangle, and comic relief. The triangle is between childhood friend, poor Steve Tyrell and rich John Ashley, over “fast girl” Fay Spain. This was an early lead role for Ashley, who apparently got the part because he impressed writer Lou Rusoff with his Elvis Presley impression; accordingly Ashley does a bit of an Elvis impression singing a sort of title song with Frank Gorshin (who’s the comic relief, a beatnik type). (Ashley would later do a Presley type number in AIP’s How to Make a Monster.)

Parents have a stronger presence in this than I remembered from AIP films (Spain’s parents in particular are quite prominent) – but then, I guess this was 50s AIP as opposed to 60s beach party AIP where there were no parent.

You can’t help wishing there was more car action, and the murder plot is introduced too late – Ashley runs someone over in Tyrell’s car (this is accidental and the film would have perhaps worked better had it been a deliberate set up). Also they cheat at the end without having a really big car chase – although I did like the fact that Fay Spain steps in for Tyrell. The same team later appeared in a re-hash of these elements, Motorcycle Girl.

Movie review – “Couples Retreat” (2009) **1/2

Some talented actors, pretty surroundings and intriguing idea results in an okay enough entertainment – there are some bright lines but the filmmakers don’t really dig into the subject. The matter cried out for a bit more seriousness, or at least insight – there is some there, but it’s skin deep. All the lead actors are impressive – I think Kristen Bell is going to be a big star if she gets the right rom-com; the people at the retreat are caricatures (stuffy waiter with a secret, suave Fabio type – there’s also Temura Morrison, who does nothing). 

Probably should have busted up one of the couples. Half way through I started thinking "I wonder if Vince Vaughan and Jennifer Aniston ever went to one of these retreats" - and once I did I couldn't stop thinking that that would have made a better movie.

Movie review – “War of the Colossal Beast” (1958) **

Sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man (which I haven’t seen yet) has the amazing man back from the dead. He is captured and put in an aircraft hanger, tied down – at which point (this was 30 minutes in) I realised “oh yeah they’re going for a King Kong type thing”. It took that long for the penny to drop because up until then the sense of adventure and mystery had been mild, with some bad low budget 50s acting (particularly by the girl who plays the Man’s sister and her love interest army officer; they have this great scene where he says her job as an ad copywriter should take her mind off things and she says she’ll never be able to write the words “gigantic” again). We don’t even see the Man until 20 minutes in – although it is kind of cool to see Glen Langan with his twisted face make up and nappy and all the 50s sfx. After that though things pick up – there’s a flash back to the Man’s adventures from the first film, and he goes on two rampages, winding up holding a bunch of kids in a bus. It’s a shame they couldn’t deal with the tragedy of the lead character more – have him fall in love with someone instead of his dull sister. I enjoyed it more as it went on and it was more about the Man; loved the ending where it briefly flares into colour.

Movie review – “Julie and Julia” (2009) ***

After the misfire of Bewitched Nora Ephron found form again by making a film on a subject she was really passionate about – food. When I say “found form” I really mean she made a good Nora Ephron film; my wife adored it but I found myself nodding off a bit. 

Meryl Streep is good value as Julia Childs and her relationship with Stanley Tucci is one of the most believable depictions of a loving supportive marriage (very subtly played, like the way he’s supportive and how the fact the can’t have children is conveyed). The modern section is less good; it’s simply less of an achievement to cook a lot of stuff than it was to do what Julia Childs could, the character of Julia’s husband is nothing (if they didn’t give him a character why not just make him really good looking, or funny, or cast a TV star keen to break into features?). 

Also Amy Adams is surprisingly un-engaging; I was always a big Amy Adams fan but it's like she's hamstrung by having to play a real character and has tried to dig in where she can, creating pain and frustration that's all too well. The film really just needed a good old fashioned bubbly star performance like from a young Meg Ryan, or say Reese Witherspoon or Kristen Bell. Bright support cast and great art direction if you're into that sort of thing. 

The film also gets points for acknowledging that Julia wasn't particularly appreciative of Julie when she found out about what was going on.

Radio review – Lux- “Prisoner of Zenda” (1939) ***

In the chat at the end of this play, Cecil b de Mille talks about how when Zenda was on Broadway it prompted lots of men to propose. Maybe they were attracted by the sense of honour and moment. Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks are back, with Colman’s wife Benita Hulme (although I gather she wasn’t during recording of this as they don’t mention it) stepping in for Madeleine Carroll. It’s not as much fun to hear this as it is to see it because you don’t get to see the impersonation and the tension involved. But the romance works well as does the by play between Colman and Fairbanks Jnr and it's still a strong story.

Radio review – Lux - “The Devil and Miss Jones” (1945) ****

Norman Krasna’s famous farce – a rare pro-union film from Hollywood - is given bright treatment by Lux – although Charles Coburn was excellent in the film, Frank Morgan is very well cast (perhaps not as scary as Coburn), and Linda Darnell acquits herself well in the Jean Arthur role (she was no Jean Arthur but she could be lively and she is here).

Some guy called Garret Oliver or Oliver Garret or Oliver someone plays Robert Cummings; they remove the Spring Byington plot and the sequence where Morgan/Coburn is arrested. Krasna’s structure remains a delight. Morgan is a rich man who goes undercover to find out who is leading industrial dissent against him; he finds himself adopted as an example of capitalist exploitation by Darnell who brings him to the attention of her unionist boyfriend; the macguffin in the third act is the list of names of employees who want to join a union. Funny and lots of fun; unlike a Lux version of Bachelor Mother this is fast paced.

Radio review – Escape – “The Birds” (1954) ***

Strong version of Daphne du Maurier’s tale of birds attacking for no reason. Quite powerful and exciting in places; could have been really awesome with better sound effects, but it still works, partly because the story means you can really use your imagination.

Radio review – Escape – “She” (1947) ***

30 minute version of the Haggard novel doesn’t devote much of it’s time to Ayesha, more on the adventures getting there. It’s a decent condensation with decent performances – they probably could have cut loose a bit more. While you can use your mind to imagine the beauty of Ayesha you still hear her voice (a bit feature of the character’s attraction in the novel) – and that's not that great here.

Radio review – SDP – “Shadow of a Doubt” (1951) ***

Joseph Cotten was pretty good in the Hitchcock film, but Cary Grant would have been great and he’s great here. I can’t imagine Grant would have played a killer, no matter how charming – he refused to do so (or was not allowed to do so, I can’t remember) for Suspicion. But he was happy enough to do it on radio – of course, it would have helped that his wife Besty Drake plays the Teresa Wright role. This lacks the small town atmosphere and complexity of the film, with its visual cues and emotional intensity, but is still enjoyable.

Radio review – SDP – “My Favourite Wife” (1951) **

The playing of Cary Grant and Betsy Drake (standing in for Irene Dunne) is immaculate, the central idea is a good one – but listening to this again it is striking how bitsy this is for a comedy considered to be a classic. There’s an awful lot of jumping up and down on the spot as the ex-wife turns up, then the other guy on the island turns up. This really needed a spine –some reason to propel the action (of course in the 40s maybe it was enough to stop Grant having sex with his new wife but that doesn’t come across now). At the end producer Leo McCarey speaks and he’s careful to praise actual director Garson Kanin.

Movie review – “Voodoo Woman” (1958) *

Tom Conway once achieved movie greatness with voodoo in I Walked with a Zombie and is here with some natives again this time for AIP – however Alex Gordon was no Val Lewton and Edward Cahn no Jacques Tourneur, and this is very poor. His co-star is Marla English, who comes across in Mark McGee’s book on AIP as a sexy, enigmatic good time girl – it was because of her I wanted to see this. She’s quite fun – never as good looking at the beginning as she is later on when she goes on safari along with great white hunter Mike Connors to look for some treasure. They run into Conway who has a creature who he gets to kill people. Typically dull handling from Cahn – if you ever want to know why Corman is regarded so highly, compare Corman’s films from this time. 

This doesn’t really feel like an AIP film – there’s no teenagers, or crazy creature, just a lot of running around a studio jungle – it’s more like a Monogram Picture from the 40s, without George Zucco, Lionel Atwill or Bela Lugosi (the film cries out for someone like this, a mistake AIP would rectify in their 60s horror films.) 

Very ordinary.

Movie review – “Shake, Rattle and Rock” (1956) *1/2

One of the those juke box rock and roll musicals which flourished in the late 50s, which featured a loose plot, usually about establishment figures worried about the corrupting influence of rock music being defeated by a hero who shows that the kids are alright, that served to enable a bunch of guest artists to sing. This was an AIP entry into the series, from one of their most prolific and boring directors, Edward Cahn. Mike Connors plays a DJ determined to hold a concert that the kids are alright and rock music is okay; Margaret Dumont is one of the fuddy duddies who wants to stop it. Among the guests are Fats Domino who sings ‘Aint that a Shame’. There’s an irritating beatnik comic relief who I kept thinking was Harpo Marx. It’s fairly tired with really dull handling, despite the talent of the acts. By the end, when Connors takes place in a trial to try and get the concert to go ahead, it’s just irritating, with a particularly drawn out scene where Connors cross examines himself.

Radio review – Escape – “The Most Dangerous Game” (1947) ***1/2

Escape didn’t always have the best actors but here they’ve got Hans Conreid and Paul Frees and the result is an excellent, faithful adaptation of the famous story. Exciting and enjoyable.

Radio review – SDP – “The Fugitive” (1951) *

One of John Ford’s lesser known films, this is about a priest who is being pursued in an unnamed American country simply by virtue of being a priest. Henry Fonda isn’t very good as said priest, mainly because he doesn’t convey the complexities of the part (which is one of Graham Greene’s “whiskey priests”). 

There are some interesting chats about the nature of religion, but this piece really had its balls cut off – and anyway I don’t think Ford was the director for it; he was better with myth than a serious treatment of religious prosecution, even if done in the guise of a chase fiml.

Movie review – “How to Make a Monster” (1958) **

Roger Corman was the best known producer for AIP in the 50s, but for a while Herman Cohen was just as important, as he’s the guy who made I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Cohen followed this up with I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and Blood of Dracula (posters for which appear in this) – then spun things on it’s head and sent it all up, with this film. Well it’s a kind of a send up – it’s set at American International Studios, a clear reference to AIP, but it actually seems more based on Universal – they used to make horror films but the studio’s moving in a new direction so they sack the make up man who swears revenge.

That’s a pretty good idea for a horror film – you have your crucial ingredient, a sympathetic villain/protagonist – but after that the ideas run out. There’s not enough satire of AIP, or horro movies, or teen films, or anything memorable really apart from the fact the last ten minutes are in colour.

It lacks interesting teenage characters (there are two young actors who are drawn in to kill on behalf of the make up man) and is really badly undercast. I kept wishing it was written by Chuck Griffith and starred someone like Vincent Price or Dick Miller – the lead guy is bland. John Ashley makes a cameo singing an Elvis-style number.

Radio review – Escape – “Man who Would be King” (1947) **1/2

Kipling’s marvellous story of adventure and hubris isn’t very long so it adapts well to the half hour Escape format – but this version lacks atmosphere and decent acting from the two leads (if they couldn’t have gotten decent English actors they just should have changed the two leads to Americans, it still would have worked and wouldn’t have had that naughty-naughty cockneys thing. After all, that's what John Huston was going to do when he wanted to make it with Gable and Bogart.)