Movie review - "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956) ***

 Do people still watch this movie any more? It's fun. I mean, it's long, but it gave people their money's worth in 1956. Length! Colour! Widescreen! Stars!

David Niven is a lot of fun as Fogg (the film put him back on top) and Cantiflas engaging as Passporteu. The cameos range from fun - Noel Coward, John Gielgud - to "whatever" - Fernandel, Charles Boyer.

Movie review - "War Gods of the Deep" (1965) **1/2 (re-watching)

 I'm watching most of Tab Hunter's oeuvre and sometimes that's a slog so I put this on again, one of his most fun films for me. I know it's not that good with silly Gill Man make up and too-long scenes of swimmimg under water, but it's entertaining. Charles Bennett movies generally have a decent structure and this one does. Its more Jules Verne than Poe. I liked the art design, the underwater world, Vincent Price hamming it up, Tab Hunter and Susan Hart as juveniles. I could've done without David Tomlinson and the duck but there's even something endearing that Louis Heyward added that.

Hayley Mills Top Ten

 I just finished Hayley Mill's memoirs, quite fun, and in the interests of killing time wile half watching a movie I'm not that engaged in I thought I'd do a Hayley Mills top ten.

1) Tiger Bay (1959) - astonishing debut. One of the best ever by a child actor, up there with Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon. One of J Lee Thompson's best movies. Yvonne Mitchell very good in a support role. A lot of 40s and 50s British films were about a kid who witnessed a crime (Hunted, Secret Place, The Fallen Idol, The Yellow Balloon)... this gets points for having a female.

 

2) The Parent Trap (1961) - I always wondered what Annette Funicello thought when Disney flipped over Hayley Mills and started making all these movies for her. "What am I? Chopped liver?" This movie is fun, once you get past the fact the parents conspired to keep kids away from their siblings and other parent for their whole life... oh, and that you can tell the reunion will last five seconds. Mills is excellent. Brian Keith is always good.

 

3) Whistle Down the Wind (1961). A small film, but extremely well done. Superbly acted. Written by Mills' mum - who became an alcoholic. Hayley later did another film written by her mother, Sky West and Crooked, that was a lot less successful.

 

4) The Trouble with Angels (1966) - Mills showed she could be in a popular teen film not made by Disney. Really fun girls-at-convent-school movie, surprisingly hasn't been embraced by many feminist critics despite its female stars, writer and director.

 

5) The Family Way (1966) I figured this would be a cutesy generation gap comedy jazzed up with a Paul McCartney soundtrack and some brief Hayley Mills nudity and, yeah, it is, only there's all this complex sexual stuff going on. Like Hywell Bennett clearly has a much lower sex drive than Mills which is going to cause troubles down the track, and John Mills plays a man who was clearly in love with his best friend (who went along on John Mills' honeymoon... is that normal in England?).

6) In Search of the Castaways (1962) Bright Jules Verne adventure.

7) Endless Night (1972) The best of Mills' psycho thrillers (Twisted Nerve, Deadly Strangers).

8) The Chalk Garden (1964) An old play gets the Ross Hunter treatment but quite well done.

9) The Moonspinners (1964) Charming spys in Greece tale from Disney, lovely location scenery, and Mills the ideal plucky heroine.

10) Appointment with Death (1988) - I wanted to include one late period HM film and this was it for me, she's very good in an entertaining film.

Movie review - "The Light at the Edge of the World" (1971) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

Splendid rocky locations and lighthouse. Yul Brynner ideal as a pirate. Kirk Douglas in some late period stardom - he also produced.

At first I wondered why this movie cost so much. But then boats become involved - Douglas clambered over them, there's boats on the rocks, etc. That wouldn't have been cheap.

Good solid concept - Douglas is at a lighthouse that's taken over by pirates led by Brynner, who turn it into a wrecking location.  The development is less assured - Douglas runs around rocks and doesn't seem to have a plan; he kills the odd pirate then goes and hide again; his actions don't stop Eagger being pack raped and his associate being killed.

Surprisingly violent - the pirates kill Douglas' co workers relatively mildly, but when they get a boat to crash they go about killing women and children, hacking away. Later on a man Douglas rescued is flayed alive (skin ripped off) before Douglas shoots him dead, Samatha Egger is pack raped by the ship's crew (which does happen off screen at least) on a ship which is blown up by Douglas so they all die.

Brynner seems more interested in Douglas than Eagger but at least it's well cast.  Not very tense. Strong idea - they should remake this.

Movie review - "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) ***1/2

It looks wonderful - those rich blue sea colours, and the marvellous creation of the Nautilis. James Mason is a superb Nemo, driven and tormented, intelligent and empathetic - he sets new standards for this sort of thing. Kirk Douglas is perfectly cast as the swaggering, obnoxious, gropy Ned, Peter Lorre is always great fun, and Paul Lukas is dull but you need his character.

The film could have done with a subplot and/or a fleshed out member of Nemo's crew  - they're all like robots. It needed say a daughter/niece of Nemo to romance Douglas or something. It feels a little long.

But gorgeous photography, an exciting fight with a squid, a genuine sense of adventure... great fun.

The Surprisingly Interesting Cinema of Pat Boone

Pat Boone had a decent career as a movie star. He was no Elvis Presley, but he starred in over a dozen films, had a couple of huge hits, and for a few years was one of the biggest box office draws in the US. He was famous for being a "clean" teen idol on screen - a non-smoking, non-drinking church goer, he was married with three kids by the age of 22, and who insisted on finishing college even while a huge star. Few of his movies are well remembered today. But a closer look at Boone's filmography reveals a series of works that are, in fact, surprisingly complex. Stephen Vagg looks at fifteen of his most notable movies.

1) Bernadine (1957)

Boone's first film was based on a play that 20th Century Fox had optioned intending to turn into a Robert Wagner vehicle. When Elvis Presley hit big in Love Me Tender (1956) - also at Fox - Wagner was out and Boone was in. He was signed to a multi-picture deal at the studio by Buddy Adler, who had recently taken over as head of production from Darryl F. Zanuck, and was keen to turn Boone, one of the biggest singing acts in the country, into a movie star.

Bernadine is a coming-of-age piece about about a small town teenager, Sanford, who falls for a pretty telephone operator, hangs out with his friends, hoons around in jalopies and boats, struggles to pass his high school exams, and cock blocks his mother's relationship with a man he doesn't like. A good role for Pat Boone, right? Only, get this -  he doesn't play Sanford; that job is done by Dick Sergeant, a.k.a. the second Darrin on Bewitched - while Boone appears as his buddy, Beau. Boone isn't great but he doesn't have much of a character to play, and at least he has looks, charm and can sing. Sergeant is awful. The role really required a young Mickey Rooney but it could have been tailored for Boone, who is wasted in his part.

This weird casting decision was presumably made so as not to burden Pat too much on his first time out - after all in Love Me Tender Elvis plays a support role to Richard Egan, and later in Hound Dog Man (1959) Fabian would support Stuart Whitman. But those were good parts - Pat Boone's role is lousy. The main thing he does in the movie is sing (including "Love Letters in the Sand" which became a huge hit), and introduce an elder brother (James Drury) who runs off with Terry Moore. Boone's presence even throws the movie off a little - he gets this screen time his character doesn't deserve, and when he sings love songs despite not having an on screen love interest it feels weird.

Fox gave Bernadine all the trimmings - colour, Cinema Scope, a support cast that included Janet Gaynor (in her last movie) and Dean Jagger, and old pro Henry Levin behind the camera - but it's the sort of story that needed love and care (and perfect casting) to really work... and it didn't get it. The end result is awkward, unfocused, and not a little creepy, especially in the relationship between Sergeant and his mother. However the public were keen to see Boone on the big screen and his popularity turned this into a box office success.

2) April Love (1957)

Boone's second film is much  more satisfactory, in part because it puts him front and centre, but also because the material is more fool-proof. It's a remake of an earlier Fox hit, Home in Indiana (1944), with Pat stepping into a part originally played by Lon McAllister, an actor who had a brief heyday in the forties playing All-American types like Pat.

This is a sweet, wholesome tale where Pat is a "juvenile delinquent" i.e. he stole a car... though we never see the theft. He's sent out to a country town, where he has to take lifts from people (which is actually a jolt to see, such is our conditioning that movie heroes should drive) and falls for Shirley Jones. He also gets lectured to by Arthur O'Connell, who played an on-screen paterfamilias for most of the screen teen idols during this era, from Elvis and Fabian to George Hamilton and Sandra Dee.

This was the film where Boone refused to kiss Jones on the lips for fear of upsetting his wife. He was about to do the kiss then realised he hadn't checked with Mrs Boone; he asked to postpone the scene, then got his wife's approval overnight... but by the next day the story had leaked, Buddy Adler was furious, he and Boone fought, and Boone arced up and refused to do any kissing. So Jones goes in for a kiss but he pushes her away (this is motivated by story at the time), and at the end he goes to kiss her but they are interrupted. It feels odd - these sort of movies are so wholesome you need a kiss as a form of release and you don't get it.

But it has nice colour and charm, Boone sings a few pleasing tunes and he teams marvellously with Jones, who had a similar all-American image (though she was a lot raunchier in her private life than her co-star). Boone loved the movie and later said he wish he could have made twenty more of them: "a musical, appealing characters, some drama, a good storyline, a happy ending." Why didn't he? The film was a hit - it helped Boone be voted the number three box office star in the country at the end of 1957. And it wasn't as if Fox lacked Americana stories in their back catalogue that they could remake: Kentucky (1938), Maryland (1940), Margie (1946), Smoky (1946), Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948), etc. The only other remake he'd wind up doing was State Fair and that wasn't even a star vehicle. Why didn't someone put him together with Jones again?


3) Mardi Gras (1958)

Pat Boone became a famous homophobe so it's ironic to see him in a movie based on a story by gay Curtis Harrington and directed by bisexual Edmund Goulding who was notorious for hosting orgies.  Mind you, gays were hard to avoid in Hollywood - Boone's first co star, Dick Sergeant, was one, as was Lon McAllister, and Shirley Jones' husband during the making of April Love, Jack Cassidy, was bisexual. And Boone has always denied accusations of homophobia, saying some of his best friends were gay (he and his wife did Bible readings at Rock Hudson's house when the latter was dying of AIDS), and co-writing two books about gays who gave up the "lifestyle", Joy: A Homosexual’s Fulfillment, and Coming Out: True Stories of the Gay Exodus. So that's settled, then.

Mardi Gras is a three-servicemen-on-leave musical, a subgenre that prospered in the fifties after On the Town (1949); the plot also borrows liberally from The Fleet's In (1942) and Roman Holiday (1953). Producer Jerry Wald liked the chance to showcase Fox's contract talent - Tommy Sands and Gary Crosby play Boone's fellow West Point grads while Christine Carere, Sheree North and Barrie Chase are the girls.

The film is bright enough but is hampered by its casting - Boone is fine but Carrere looks like a stunned mullet for most of the running time. (Boone kisses her on the cheek, incidentally - still no mouth!) Goulding shoots a scene where Boone, Sands and Crosby have an extended shower together... presumably this was a fun day at the office for the director, whose last film this was. It was a minor hit at the box office, though not as successful as Boone's first two movies. His box office ranking dropped to number eleven in 1958, which was still pretty good.

4) Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959)

Boone was reluctant to be part of this fantasy adventure, well aware he would be a support player (the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for Clifton Webb before he became too ill and James Mason stepped in). He was persuaded to sign by a healthy fee and was rewarded with the biggest hit of his career.

And it's no surprise - for this is an utterly magical, charming adventure that works on every level. It's restrained, intelligent and enchanting - easily the best film for both director Henry Levin and Boone (and, come to think of it, co-star Arlene Dahl).

As in Mardi Gras, Boone's physical beauty is exploited - he walks around shirtless a lot and takes a shower that's as gratuitous as any that had to be performed by a starlet in the fifties. He originally performed several songs in the film but they were cut when it was seen how they slowed up the action. And his role brushes up uneasily with that of Peter Ronson - it's like these two parts should have been combined in one.

But that's griping. This is the one Boone film I can recommend unreservedly and it remains a mystery why Boone never appeared in another fantasy/sci fi adventure in his entire career. He was believable in them, he could easily sing a song over the credits if he wanted, he wouldn't have to worry about kissing any of his co stars, or "morality" issues. And it wasn't as though Fox weren't making them - when he was under contract they turned out The Lost World (1960), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) and Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)... the last two even featured pop stars, Frankie Avalon and Fabian respectively. But no Boone. Was he too expensive? Did the dates not work out? Did he insist on playing the lead? Whatever the reason it was a great shame... for me the biggest misstep Boone made in his film career.

The second biggest was he never again supported a star like James Mason, at least not during his prime. Boone could have benefited from being teamed with an older "name," like say John Wayne in The Comancheros (1961) (he could've played the Stuart Whitman part) or Frank Sinatra in Can Can (1960) (he could've played the Louis Jourdan part). But he didn't - at least not until Goodbye Charlie by which stage he really wasn't a movie star any more. Was it cost? Ego? Dates not working out? Anyway, it was silly of him.

Incidentally, in Journey Boone kisses Diane Baker on the forehead then is about to kiss her on the lips when they're interrupted... but at the end he kisses her briefly on the lips. His first lip kiss. Awww.

Despite the film's success, his box office ranking dropped to 22 in 1959. He kept that the following year despite appearing in no movies that year, and thereafter did not make any of the lists.

5) All Hands on Deck (1961)

Boone took a break away from movies for a few months, studying acting with Sanford Meisner, before returning to the screen in this service comedy. He plays a naval officer who has to babysit a madcap Native American sailor (Buddy Hackett in brownface) whose family are rich on oil money. The racism against native Americans here is both casual and formal, but it's a rare Hollywood film at the time where they are shown to have some status in the modern world.

Towards the end of the movie the writers got bored with that plot and make the story about a turkey, which tends to make for a patchy storyline... but it is all done with high spirits and Boone is quite animated; it's a relaxed performance, and his best to date - the Meisner training did pay off. Director Norman Taurog worked several times with Elvis Presley and this feels like it could have been a Presley vehicle. Barbara Eden plays Boone's love interest and again he struggles to kiss her on camera; he comes close a few times but they pull away, which is distracting.

6) State Fair (1962)

Fox blew the dust off another old property for Pat Boone, in this case the 1945 musical State Fair, which had originally been filmed in 1935. Boone (who is top billed) plays the son of a family who have various adventures at a state fair; he gets to romance singer Ann Margret and it's heavily implied they sleep together... the film goes from them embracing then cuts to a shirtless Boone lying in her lap. He also gets drunk on screen for the first time. Way to go, Pat!

This movie has its fans but was a financial disappointment and I think that's because it just doesn't work. It's not the material - sure, it's cheesy, but The Sound of Music (1965) was cheesy and that came along three years later. I feel the main problem is too many key people were miscast. Jose Ferrer was not the right director and most of the cast fall short of their 1945 counterparts:  Tom Ewell seems too urban to play "paw" compared to Charles Winninger; Pamela Tiffin looks like an urban ditz rather than a sweet naive country girl like Jeanne Crain; Bobby Darin (another pop star turned actor) comes across as sleazy rather than sharp like Dana Andrews; Ann-Margret was always better as good girls who looked as though they wanted to be naughty (Viva Las Vegas, Bye Bye Birdie) rather than straight-out naughty girls; Alice Faye looks like Alice Faye coming out of retirement (it was her last film) whereas Fay Bainter felt like a character.  The one exception is Pat Boone who is far better than Dick Haymes - but he can't save things.

Everyone assumed this would be a big hit but it wasn't. Still, Fox signed Boone to a new three-picture contract, although his next movie would be made for MGM-Seven Arts.

7) The Main Attraction (1962)

Pat Boone would later talk how he turned down a chance to star with Marilyn Monroe in an adaptation of William Inge's play Celebration because he felt the material was immoral (it later became The Stripper (1963) with Joanne Woodward and Richard Beymer). However two box office disappointments meant Boone was susceptible to overtures from producer Ray Stark, suggesting the actor change his image.

The Main Attraction was a tale of an amoral drifter (Boone) who lives out of wedlock with an elder circus performer (Mai Zetterling), then falls in love with a bareback horse rider (Nancy Kwan). This was racy stuff for Boone, who says he was attracted by the moral of the picture where his no-good character is redeemed by The Love Of a Good Woman.

Boone says in the original script his character resisted having sex with Kwan, which he liked because he felt it showed his character was growing emotionally. He claims when it came to filming this had been changed so that they slept together. Miscegenation and sex! There was a stand off, Boone complained to the press, and Stark agreed to re-shoot the scene so it's implied Boone and Kwan sleep together instead of showing it. They did this in order to get Boone's co operation publicizing the movie.

It's a weird film, not quite successful, but interesting, which benefits from being shot in Europe and a catchy theme tune. The public didn't particularly like it. Pat Boone said it was because it was too sexy for something starring him, and he's probably right. It was a role that needed an Elvis.

8) The Yellow Canary (1963)

While Elvis Presley was turning out three films a year that were all basically the same, Boone was continually changing genres. In The Yellow Canary he agreed to play another anti-hero, an egotistical singer whose son is kidnapped. A script was prepared by Rod Serling and Boone was going to make it under his new three-picture contract with Fox at $200,000 a film... but then the studio changed management. Daryl F. Zanuck returned to take over and did an audit of all projects. He disliked The Yellow Canary and would have shut it down completely but since Boone had a pay or play contract (as did Serling and co stars Barbara Eden and Steve Forrest), Zanuck flicked it over to Fox's ""B" unit, run by Robert L. Lippert, whose regular director, Maury Dexter, shot it in ten days on a below-the-line budget of $100,000 - less than Boone's fee.

Boone whined about Fox's cheapness but you know something? Zanuck was right. Serling's script isn't very good with too much flowery dialogue. Because it's a thriller the low budget didn't necessarily have to hurt in the hands of an imaginative director - but Dexter was a second-rater. It is interesting to see Boone play someone unpleasant who proves his manhood by shooting someone dead - this was a rare film where the actor used a gun. The movie flopped at the box office.

9) The Horror of It All (1963)
 

 Zanuck doesn't seem to have been a fan of Boone's; the next film he put the actor in was another cheapie for the Lippert unit, this time filmed in England. It was a "comedy chiller" set in an old dark house, directed by Terence Fisher and is populated by a fine supporting cast of English character actors playing various eccentrics (doddery inventor, sexy dame, etc). Boone is a solid straight man and the film lively. It's not up to something like The Cat and the Canary (1939) which it was clearly aping, but those films are harder to do than they look. It's not bad. It could have done with colour and songs.

10) Never Put It In Writing (1964)

Boone's next film was his third cheapie in a row, this time a screwball comedy for Seven Arts. It was written and directed by Andrew L. Stone, best known for his realistic thrillers but who actually started his career with comedies; based on the results here, he had gotten rusty at making them. This is a sluggish, underwritten effort about a man who writes an abusive letter to his boss in pique then tries to retrieve it.

The most interesting thing about this is part of the action was shot in Ireland and there was an accident involving planes while filming at Shannon Airport that led to questions being asked in the Irish parliament. This is the sort of movie that needed songs and colour to compensate for the script; it has neither. Boone's performance is fine, by the way.

By 1963 Boone's albums weren't selling as strongly as they used to (his last top ten hit was in 1962), but it's a mystery why he allowed himself to appear in the three low budget films in a row.  It was this run more than anything that ended his reign as a film star. He did have one more studio picture to go, but it would be as a supporting actor...

11) Goodbye Charlie (1965)

This was gender bending comedy based on a play by George Axelrod that really needed to star Marilyn Monroe and be directed by Billy Wilder - instead it got Debbie Reynolds and Vincent Minnelli. The plot is about a womanizing man who is shot dead and reincarnated in the body of woman (Reynolds) and has to fend off advances from Tony Curtis and Pat Boone. It's not that shocking to see the star of Spartacus (1960) and Some Like It Hot (1959) make moves on a woman not knowing she's a man, but it is a surprise to see Boone to do it. He later admitted to having a drinking problem around this time and shot some scenes for the movie while drunk. You can't tell.

This film remains resolutely undiscovered by queer/feminist film analysts, despite its subject matter and bisexual director (Boone's second!)... I think in part because Reynolds' performance is so utterly sexless it holds any feeling of kinkiness at bay. But there's no denying it - Boone plays a guy who effectively tries to make out with a dude.

The film does have another point of distinction - the opening scene involves a long tracking shot at a party that results in a middle aged man getting annoyed at his wife having sex with a younger hunk, taking out his gun and shooting at the guy...just like in Boogie Nights (1997). The movie was a financial disappointment (though not a flop) and Boone made no further films for Fox.

12) The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

After all the sexual confusion in Goodbye Charlie it must have been a relief for Boone to go into his first religious film.  He's one of many star cameos in this George Stevens epic, playing an Angel at the Tomb.

Boone (who is perfectly fine in the role, by the way) was proud of his association with the movie, making you wonder why he didn't appear in more Biblical stories. After all, Fox made a bunch in the early sixties - The Story of Ruth (1960) with Stuart Whitman, Esther and the King (1960) with Richard Egan, and Francis of Assisi (1961) with Bradford Dillman. It might be because shortly after Mardi Gras Boone turned down a role in a film Buddy Adler wanted him to make - The St Bernard Story, where Boone would play a monk who falls in love with a woman. After much soul searching, Boone turned the part down because he felt he couldn't play a Catholic. The film was never made - but if he wouldn't play a Catholic, would he play a Jew? There weren't many Protestants around in Jesus' day. Maybe an angel was the only sort of part he was interested in.

13) The Perils of Pauline (1967)

One of the mysteries of Boone's career was why he didn't support major stars more like say John Wayne or James Stewart - I'm assuming this was due to ego and/or cost. But by the late sixties he was willing to play the leading man alongside the little known Pamela Austin, who is really the protagonist of this silly light hearted adventure. It  was a pilot for a TV series that didn't sell, so was released as a theatrical feature by Universal. It was Boone's fifth comedy of the sixties - he just kept trying to make them.

The basic story has Austin and Boone as childhood sweethearts at an orphanage - he goes off to make his fortune in order to marry her, and spends the rest of the running time of the movie trying to be reunited with her.  They are constantly thwarted by the fact men keep falling in love with Pauline.

There's a surprisingly strong emotional undercurrent to the story - Austin and Boone are soulmates, and just want to get married, but others stop them: lecherous sheiks, pukka sahibs (Terry Thomas!), Russian secret agents, Italian film directors, cosmonauts, gorillas, etc. It's a repetitive storyline, though - Boone and Austin are about to get together, but something stops them - and has the cheerful racism of films of this era (horny Arabs, midgets in Africa).

It is is full of energy and never lets up. The movies it most reminded me of were the 60s AIP beach party comedies, with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Boone throws himself into his silly role with much enthusiasm  and little kids will like it, especially girls who might identify with Pauline. Incidentally Boone was starting to lose his hair by now and the hair pieces would soon kick in... for all this later talk about the importance of being honest, Boone, like many a star, was cagey about the reality of his hair.

14) The Pigeon (1969)

Boone played a support role in this TV movie starring Sammy Davis Jr - the billing says he made a "special appearance". He did it for the chance to do a dramatic role and says he was surprised to be offered. Was this true? Had he really become so unfashionable that the only role going was supporting Sammy Davis Jr in a TV movie? Boone did seem out of step in the swinging sixties but it's still surprising he wasn't signed up to make, say, a family sitcom. This was The Brady Bunch era after all.

15) The Cross and the Switchblade (1970)

This was Boone's last role as a leading man in a feature until the 2010s. It was a religious themed biopic about a pastor who goes to the streets and teaches gang members about Jesus. It was done very cheaply and looks it but was widely seen among its target audience - I actually think a major studio would've make money out of this had they picked it up.

The film ended Boone's career as a leading man though he's remained active as an actor, guest starring on TV series like Owen Marshall and Moonlighting. He returned to films in the 2010s in Christian themed tales like Boonville Redemption (2016) and A Cowgirl's Story (2017). He continues to sing, and regularly commentates on cultural matters, such as promoting the theory that Barak Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim.

His film career remains a fascinating grab bag of genres and missed opportunities with one unadulterated classic, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, one sweet romance, April Love, and two films which spoke very much to his personal beliefs, The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Cross and the Switchblade.

It's completely bizarre that Boone never tried to repeat these movies. It's also weird there are no war films in his oeuvre (he must have been one of the few Fox contract players to not appear in The Longest Day), no Westerns, no adaptations of a Broadway musical - genres that might have given him an extra lease of life as a movie actor. He could have taken roles played by Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Al Hedison but didn't. He wondered why Hollywood no longer made family films but never appeared in any - Fox made some, like Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation with James Stewart, but also Disney and filmmakers like Joe Cap... yet Boone was MIA.

But to be fair, movie making was just one chapter of Boone's life. He's devoted more time and attention to his efforts as a singer, TV presenter, writer, real estate developer and cultural commentator. But he was the most successful fifties pop star turned movie star after Elvis and that deserves some respect.

The Cinema of Fabian

In a recent interview for the Pure Cinema Podcast (https://purecinemapodcast.libsyn.com/new-beverly-calendar-july-2019-with-quentin-tarantino), Quentin Tarantino talked at length about his influences for the Rick Dalton character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Among such names as Ty Hardin, George Maharis, and Edd Byrnes was the pop star turned actor Fabian, whose talent was admired by the director ("he was very personable"), leading to Tarantino scheduling three Fabian movies at his New Beverly Cinema in July 2019.

Fabian is still probably best known for his (relatively) brief heyday as a pop star - specifically the year 1959 when he had three top ten hits - "Turn Me Loose", "Tiger" and "Hound Dog Man". Yet he also had a career as a motion leading man that spanned over a decade. It's one that is worth revisiting.

Early Career

Fabiano Anthony Forte was born in Philadelphia in 1943. His launch into showbusiness was  something out of a Ruby Keeler musical: in 1957 his policeman father had a heart attack at home; Fabian was waiting by the ambulance when spotted by record producer Bob Marcucci. Marcucci was on the hunt for a good looking teen who could be the next Elvis Presley and asked the fourteen year old if he was interested in a singing career. Fabian, wanting to help his family financially, agreed to give it a shot.

Fabian wasn't a natural singer, but he worked hard, looked good and could at least put over a song. Marcucci gave him singing lessons and new clothes, made him lose the crew cut and get an Elvis-style pompadour, and shorted his name to "Fabian". After a few false starts the teenager started appearing at Dick Clark record hops, lip syncing to songs. Girls went wild, Clark put him on American Bandstand and a star was born.

Right from the start Fabian was something of a joke within the industry - his name, inexperience and limited singing ability were all much mocked (for example on the comedy album 2000 Years With Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks there's a interview with the teen idol "Fabiola"). But the baby boomer teens who formed the bulk of his audience didn't care - Elvis was in the army and they needed a new idol. By 1959 Fabian was earning $250,000 a year and Hollywood came calling.

20th Century Fox

Fabian (or, rather, his managers) elected to go with 20th Century Fox, who had a decent teen idol track record: they made the highly successful debut features of Elvia Presley (Love Me Tender) and Pat Boone (Bernandine), albeit also the flop first film of Tommy Sands (Sing Boy Sing).

It was a smart decision - Fox gave Fabian a top producer (Jerry Wald), skilled director (Don Siegel), colour and CinemaScope, plus a decent budget  and source material - Hound Dog Man (1959), based on the novel by Fred Gipson who had written Old Yeller. His co stars included two Fox contract players: Carol Lynley coming off Blue Denim (1959) and Stuart Whitman, an emerging name. There was also Arthur O'Connell who played paterfamilias to pretty much all the teen idols on screen around this time, and an excellent line up of character actors including Royal Dano, Claude Akins and Edgar Buchanan. While Fabian was top billed he really had a supporting role - the protagonist was Blackie Scantling, the "Hound Dog Man", played by Whitman.  This was in line with Love Me Tender where Elvis made his debut supporting a more experienced actor, Richard Egan. 

 The film is set in 1912 Texas and revolves around shiftless Blackie going on a hunting trip over the weekend with young friend Clint (Fabian). It doesn't have the heavy plot of Love Me Tender  - that was a serious Western with brothers betraying brothers, shoot outs, Civil War and so on. Hound Dog Man is a more slice-of-life, coming-of-age piece - a little hunting, some singing, Claude Akins pops around periodically to snarl at Whitman, Lynley pants over Whitman as does Akins' wife. There's a comic doctor, a dog, a barn dance. It's actually a sweet film - well made, with great production values, and a very strong cast.   

Fabian seems to consciously ape Elvis a lot in his debut, playing a yes ma'm type complete with Southern drawl. It's an ideal role for him - a bored young teen on a farm, - occasionally sulky, but a decent kid underneath it all - and he is extremely well protected. Every time he sings, however,  Don Siegel arranges it so the song is interrupted - a dog barks, or Fabian walks off in anger, or something, I'm not joking - this happens four times. Actually some of the tunes are good, notably the title track and 'This Friendly World'.

The film was not a box office success. Maybe it was too "plot lite". Maybe it needed more star power than Whitman - Robert Mitchum was attached to play Blackie in the early 50s and he would have been ideal; an elder singer, like say Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson, could also have worked. Fox didn't lose faith in Fabian, however, and decided instead to shift him to support roles, where he would be teamed with an older star of a different generation.  This was a common device at the time (eg John Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959)), the logic being the film would then appeal to two demographics.

Fabian's second film was High Time (1960), directed by Blake Edwards, starring Bing Crosby as a restaurant magnate who decides to go back to college, where his fellow students include Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld. The film is set over four years giving it a surprisingly wistful time-moves-on quality; there are bright colours and some funny jokes though it is badly hurt by the performance of Nicole Maurey as Crosby's love interest. Fabian has a decent role as a jock who struggles at college and winds up with Weld at the end.

Far more enjoyable was North to Alaska (1960), a comedy "northern" set during the Klondike Gold Rush with John Wayne.  It's the sort of movie that could have gone disastrously wrong - battle of the sex comedies with Wayne often had an abusive vibe about them (eg McLintock (1963)); female star Capucine was the producer's mistress, a model who had only made one film before; and filming started without a completed script. But it completely works - it's charming and sweet, director Henry Hathaway keeps the pace fast, and Capucine turned out to be one of the best co-stars Wayne ever had. Fabian has a great little role as the younger brother of Wayne's partner (Stewart Granger!) who tries to seduce Capucine; he sings a song and joins in on a few comic brawls. His performance won him the "Uncrossed Heart" award for least Promising Actor of 1960 in Harvard Lampoon's Annual Movie awards - a completely unfair accolade but typical of the snarkiness with which Fabian was treated at the time. High Time was reasonably popular but North to Alaska turned into a big hit and affirmed Fox's commitment to Fabian; in November 1960 they signed a new contract with the singer, to last for seven years, with an option to make two films a year.

Fox had a lively TV division and assigned Fabian to star in an episode of the anthology series Bus Stop (based on the 1956 Marilyn Monroe film) - "A Lion Walks Among Us", directed by Robert Altman. Fabian plays a drifter who rocks into a small town and soon makes waves: hitting on the middle aged drunken lady who gives him a lift, robbing and killing a grocer, singing without permission at a tavern, starting a brawl and pulling out a switchblade. He's hauled into prison and is arrested but remains cocky, keeps singing to himself a lot and actually gets freed at the trial... whereupon he propositions a blonde groupie, kills his lawyer, then is killed in a murder-suicide by the drunken lady. It's excellent television, superbly directed by Altman, with Fabian giving his best performance.

Unfortunately the episode screened at a time when America was undergoing one of its periodical moral panics about the influence of television violence on children. Part of the problem apparently was Fabian's presence - he's handsome, young, sings a few songs, is shown to be attractive, speaks a lot of groovy early 60s slang, and gets away with it (for the most part). This perceived glamourisation of violence was very confronting for some: Jack Gould of the New York Time wrote not one, not two but three separate columns decrying the episode; several sponsors withdrew their support from the series and and a number of stations would not run it. The episode was criticised in congress, leading to Bus Stop being axed and and the president of ABC being fired.

To be fair, the show was intense, not really suitable for young kids, but it is worthy adult drama. Apparently Fox wanted to turn it into a feature but Fabian refused to shoot the necessary extra scenes - it's a shame, because then this would be better known, and his fine work more widely seen.

The blow back didn't seem to hurt Fabian personally - indeed, he decided to quit singing, buy himself out of his contract with Marcucci, and focus entirely on acting. When Fox's management underwent major restructuring in the wake of the Cleopatra (1963) debacle, numerous people lost their jobs but Fabian held on to his contract.  One possible fall out - Fabian veered away from villainous roles for the next decade. He played anti-heroes, yes, but not out-and-out villains, which I feel in hindsight was a mistake.

Fox loaned him to the producers of Breakfast at Tiffany's who put him in a teen comedy at Paramount: Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1962). Fabian played a coast guard who comes between two platonic friends - newcomer Toby Michaels and fellow pop star Tommy Sands, whose black hair was dyed blonde so he would look different from Fabian. The film has problems of movies of its time - for instance, Fabian basically tries to sexually assault Michaels - but also its pleasures (the cinematography and tunes - Burt Bacharach and Hal David did the title track). It's very possible to do a gay reading of this film, with Sands displaying zero sexual interest in Michaels or any woman throughout the film. Or maybe that's too limiting: because when Fabian puts the hard word on Michaels she is very coy and not keen at all, despite flirting heavily with him until then. So maybe it's more accurate to describe this movie as being about two people with low sex drives who find each other. Sands has the showier role but lacked the chops to pull it off (he's not a believable intellectual). Fabian is far more comfortable in a more straightforward part.

Fabian was one of many Fox contract players who appeared in The Longest Day (1962). He played a US Ranger who stormed Normandy alongside other teen idols like Tommy Sands, Paul Anka, Robert Wagner and George Segal. Okay maybe Segal wasn't a teen idol but the others were - it's like a late 50s pop supergroup put into a war movie. The film was a blockbuster - the most commercially successful movie Fabian appeared in, although his role was brief.

He was one of several names in  Irwin Allen's Jules Verne adaptation Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962). The studio had previously made a terrific film based on Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959) with Pat Boone, but Five Weeks is not in that class. It has bright colours and solid actors (Cedric Hardwicke, Barbara Eden) but too many of them seem miscast, such as Red Buttons trying to channel Clark Gable. Fabian has relatively little to do though he sings a song - the title track, which did not become a hit. The film was a box office disappointment that helped kill off the Jules Verne cycle.

Fox teamed Fabian with another old star, James Stewart in Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), a sweet comedy about Mr Hobbs (Stewart) and his family, well, taking a vacation. Fabian's role is not big but he has a lovely scene - Hobbs pays Fabian to dance with his lonely awkward daughter but Fabian has so much fun he refuses the cash. The film, written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Koster, and was popular, leading to two more comedies from the same team - Take Her She's Mine (1963) and Dear Brigitte (1965).

Fabian was meant to be in Take Her She's Mine alongside Stewart and Sandra Dee but doesn't appear in the final film - presumably because he was meant to play Dee's boyfriend and Fox head Daryl F. Zanuck eventually decided to make that character French. He is in Dear Brigitte (1965) playing the boyfriend of Stewart's daughter (Cindy Carol); it's not a very good movie and flopped at the box office, though Fabian has some decent moments trying to exploit a child genius at the race track -the film would have been better had they done more with this storyline.

In between these films Fabian was borrowed by Columbia Pictures for a surf movie, Ride the Wild Surf (1964). Production on this was difficult - original director Art Napoleon was fired and replaced by Don Taylor; Fabian's original co-stars Jan and Dean (fellow pop artists) got the sack when a good friend of theirs kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jnr and were replaced by Tab Hunter and Pete Brown. The resulting film is, however, one of the best beach movies of the 60s - it actually makes an attempt to understand surf culture, has decent female roles, and features some spectacular surf footage. Fabian has a solid part, accessing his pseudo-Elvis schtick playing a surfer with a chip on his shoulder. He is charming with Shelley Fabares, although yet again there's a scene where he uses rough handling on her - this was very common in 60s cinema.

Fox announced Fabian for several projects which did not happen - adaptations of the novels Beardless Warriors and A Summer World as well as a Western, Custer's Last Stand. He made no more films for the studio after Dear Brigitte but it had been a good  run.

In 1965 he appeared in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians for producer Harry Alan Towers, playing a singer who is the first guest killed. He was also appearing regularly as a guest star on episodes of TV shows such as Wagon Train and The Virginian, always doing professional work - though never under a director as good as Robert Altman and they never came up to the standard of A Lion Walks Amongst Us.

AIP

Samuel Z Arkoff, one of the vice presidents in American International Pictures, wrote in his memoirs that he wanted Fabian to co star alongside Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) but was prevented by Fabian's contract with Fox. Even if the story is accurate - Arkoff was notorious for bending the truth  - it was probably lucky for AIP they got Frankie Avalon instead: the amiable actor-singer had a broader, more cartoon-style persona that fitted those movies better.

AIP were still keen on Fabian however and signed him to a seven picture contract in November 1965. By then the studio had made six beach party films and the formula was waning so they took key members of the team - notably Avalon, Funicello, and director William Asher - and put them in a stock car racing movie, Fireball 500 (1966)... co starring Fabian. The film awkwardly straddles the broad surrealistic musical comedy of the Beach Party movies with AIP's more serious works of the late 60s - it has a claymation title sequence, Avalon does a double take at the camera and characters break out into song, but it has more adult themes (characters have sex, people die, 50% of Julie Parrish’s dialogue is sexual innuendo). Fabian brings his pseudo-Elvis snarling to this one and it works well - he was a believable race car driver, angry but good underneath. Funicello winds up with Fabian at the end rather than Frankie, which after all those beach party movies she made with Avalon feels like cheating.

The film was produced by Burt Topper who  put Fabian in another stock car racing film for AIP, Thunder Alley (1967).  It co-stars Funicello and Diane McBain under the direction of later cult favourite Richard Rush (Getting Straight, The Stuntman). Thunder Alley is far more cohesive and successful film than Fireball 500 - a solid drama with a thumping soundtrack (some of which Tarantino appropriated for Deathproof) and Annette Funicello is really good - but then it's a strong role, perhaps her best ever for AIP. Fabian is also strong - cocky, arrogant, but haunted and basically decent; it's one of his best parts.

In between these two movies AIP sent Fabian to Italy to replace Frankie Avalon in Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), a sequel to Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) starring Vincent Price. Girl Bombs, directed by Mario Bava of all people, is a nutty comedy that was mashed up between two different styles of films - a Goldfoot sequel (Price reprised his role) and vehicle for the Italian comedy duo Franco and Ciccio. There are two main versions of the film - one for America (with more Vincent Price) one for Italy (with more Franco and Ciccio). Fabian is an amiable straight man but it's a terrible movie, considered among Price's and Bava's worst.

Fabian's third racing film for AIP was very different from the others. The Wild Racers (1968) was shot on location in six different countries throughout Europe. Producer Roger Corman supervised a tight crew who would go from race to race shooting footage (a method he had used earlier on The Young Racers (1963)). It's a very arty avant garde film, directed by Dan Haller - shots rarely go longer than ten seconds, most dialogue is voice over. Fabian is very good as the cocky race driver who is meant to help his more senior partner win but can't help winning himself. That's the gist of the plot - plus a romance with a stunningly beautiful Mimsy Farmer. There are plenty of scenes of cars zipping around, groovy music and credits, great production values and consistently interesting techniques - Nestor Almendros did the cinematography. There's not a lot of drama going on and only Fabian gets a full fleshed character - the way the movie is made causes you to feel distance from it. Still, it's worth seeking out if you're interested in a race car movie that is very "late 60s funky". It's Tarantino's favourite race car movie.

Fabian's fifth film for AIP was a surprisingly conventional drug drama, Maryjane (1968) where he  plays a teacher who uncovers a marijuana racket at his high school. It's bewildering to think that AIP made this the year after The Trip (1967)... but then Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were concerned about the former movie being too pro drug so maybe they churned this out to cover their bases. Maury Dexter's handling is generally quite lively and there is some decent enough acting but this is just silly, with gangs of kids puffing weed and driving off cliffs, like in Reefer Madness (1936). It's a little odd seeing Fabian play a teacher; he's alright, but it's a shame this wasn't made a few years earlier when he could have played the charismatic bad student.

The Devil's Eight (1968), produced and directed by Topper, was an AIP rip off of The Dirty Dozen where agent Chris George recruits a bunch of convicts to take on moonshiner Ralph Meeker. Fabian's role is surprisingly small for someone second billed - he plays a convict with a drinking problem, and he's fine, but his part is not as good as Ross Hagen, who plays a former moonshine driver whose ex is Meeker's mistress. Maybe Fabian didn't seem Southern enough, or they only used him in the movie under suffrance. The film was the first credit script credit for John Milius and Willard Hyuck and was based on a story by Larry Gordon - all would become major players in Hollywood in the 70s but none of them used Fabian again. Neither did other collaborators who went on to bigger things, such as Mario Bava and Richard Rush.

Fabian took time out from AIP to play a Depression era gangster, John Ashley, in a film for Crown International - Little Laura and Big John - a low budget knock off of Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Fabian gives a decent performance as does co star Karen Black but the film, shot in 1968 was not seen until 1973. 

Fabian's seventh and final  movie for AIP was Bullet for a Pretty Boy (1970) another Depression-era biopic of a gangster, in this case Pretty Boy Floyd. It was mostly directed by legendary schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, given his biggest budget ever, with Maury Dexter coming in to shoot some additional scenes. Fabian gives another accomplished performance as a gee-it-isn't-his-fault-kid-forced-to-crime. His physical attractiveness is exploited heavily in the movie - surprisingly few films did this considering Fabian became a pop star mostly by being good looking. Here he's got Jocelyn Lane and Astrid Warner throwing themselves at him, as well as a brothel madam. The film itself is competent rather than inspired - it could have done with more passion - but isn't bad.

Later Career

Without a contract to a studio, Fabian found himself in considerably less demand for feature film work in the 1970s. He made a few career missteps this decade - he posed nude for Playgirl and regretted it, was involved in a car accident.  He had the lead in some low budget features that few people saw - Soul Hustler (1973), directed by Burt Topper, where Fabian plays a drifted who becomes a Christian rock star; and Disco Fever (1978), disco-splotatoin effort with Casey Kasem.

Fabian returned to singing and hit the nostalgia circuit, notably in places like Las Vegas; he was well received and still remains in demand for this in 2019, sometimes teaming up with fellow idols like Avalon and Bobby Rydell. On a personal front, he had two unsuccessful marriages but struck gold with the third, marrying magazine editor Andrea Patrick in 1998. A son from his first marriage, Christian, wrote the film Albino Alligator (1996).

Fabian continued to act through the 70s, 80s and 90s, mostly guest shots on TV shows - Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and so on. Perhaps his best performance from this period was the George Peppard TV movie Crisis in Mid Air (1979) where Fabian plays an airport worker who kills taxi drivers. He was a cop in the zombie film Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1981), Joe Dante gave him a small role in Runaway Daughters (1994) and he had a cameo as himself in Up Close and Personal (1996).

He wasn't forgotten as a cultural touchstone. The leads in Laverne and Shirley were obsessed with Fabian, as was the Nicolas Cage character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). "Turn Me Loose" was used in Ralph Bakshi's American Pop (1981) and Fabian provided the inspiration for the character of Cesare (Peter Gallagher) in The Idolmaker (1980) a thinly disguised account of the rise of Bob Marcucci directed by Taylor Hackford (Fabian sued the filmmakers and won an out of court settlement.)

Conclusion

What to make of the cinematic career of Fabian Forte? He was no Elvis Presley, or even Pat Boone, but he certainly did better as an actor than, say, Tommy Sands or Bobby Rydell. His career was more analogous with his fellow Philadelphian Frankie Avalon. He was mainly called upon to play basically nice young men, sometimes with a chip on his shoulder. When offered a meaty role he usually rose to the occasion - Hound Dog Man, A Lion Walks Among Us, Thunder Alley - when he had to support he did it effectively s - North to Alaska, Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation. He wasn't a great actor but he was good one, and should be better remembered.

Movie review - "In Search of the Castaways" (1962) ***

A big hit in its day but, oddly enough, it doesn't seem that well remembered as other early Hayley Mills films like Parent Trap or Written Down the Wind. It's a vehicle for Mills, clearly with Swiss Family Robinson in mind, though she shares the heroism around with Maurice Chevalier, Michael Anderson, Wilfred Hyde White and whoever plays her brother.

The script is flawed - sections of the adventure are motivated by mistakes from Maurice Chevalier and/or other characters being silly. (You could cut the whole south American sequence and it wouldn't matter, for instance. Why not use it - say have the Indian go along with them?) I forgot at times they were looking for the father. Villain George Sanders was introduced too late in the piece (he's great fun - they should have used him more - had him chasing after Mills, say).

The puppy love romance between Mills and Michael Anderson is sweet. There's a strong cast - Chevalier, Wilfred Hyde White. It could have done with a bit more character differentiation - a grown up romance (say if Chevalier had been made a female and with White or vice versa). That's what Journey to the Centre of the Earth

It'll be of interest to Aussies and Kiwis. The group visit Melbourne (though it just looks like studio set London) and "New Zealand" - there are a bunch of Maoris who are important to the plot.

There's good special effects - a tidal wave, a volcano. It looks impressive. I enjoyed the song interludes - it's like a musical they genuinely sing. The piece has charm. I just wish they'd tightened the script.

Movie review - "Up to His Ears" (1965) **1/2

This was so frustrating because so much was good about it - fantastic locations, colour, action, stunts, plus Jean Paul Belmondo having a great time, ditto Ursula Andress. They make a great on screen couple. The action gets particularly good once she joins him on his adventures.

But it's a dumb story. That Man from Rio was simple, and clear - girl's father goes missing, boyfriend helps out. Sympathetic protagonist, strong stakes, clear goal. This is a mess - Belmondo is a a millionaire who is bored so tries to kill himself but fails - he arranges for someone to kill him then changes his mind.

I'm not a big fan of this over used plot, especially not here - who cares about a bored millionaire? They just should have had his relatives try to kill him.

Andress is stunning and good fun. Belmondo too. The support cast all go for it.

This is set in the present day but at times feels like it's the 19th century. It's so frustrating because so much of this is good.

Movie review - "Flight of the Lost Balloon" (1962) *1/2

Hard slogging. I admitted watched a poor quality print but this was not fun. It's an el cheapo attempt to do a Jules Verne story - it beat Five Weeks in a Balloon to the punch. So you've got three people in a balloon - and they don't meet any weird creatures (except a tall dude) or have very interesting adventures. There's some cannibals, random other natives, torture... that's about it. Really you shouldn't make this film on a super low budget.

The basic premise is dumb. This Hindu baddy wants the location of a treasure from a captured prisoner. So goes all the way to England to persuade a rescue mission to come, so he can get the guy's fiancee to act as leverage to get the prisoner to tell. It's robs the story of all mystery and adventure because we start at the destination - the whole thing is a trick. (Would've been better to not have had the opening sequence and explained it later). It also makes travelling seem easy - I know they have a rough time in the balloon but the Hindu managed to go the other way easy enough.

Marshall Thompson and Mala Powers offer some C list star power.

Movie review - "The Southern Star" (1969) ***

I'd never heard of this film despite it starring a couple of my favourites, Ursula Andress and Orson Welles. It's the sort of movie I'm surprised didn't play on TV more when I was growing up because it's a fun adventure film (presumably there was a rights issue).

It's also one of the very few English language movies to my knowledge that have been made in West Africa - in particular Senegal (which admittedly is a former French colony). The locations are consistently interesting. And the time period - 1912 - is novel.

The story is taken from a little know Jules Verne novel. It's adventure more than sci fi  - a diamond is discovered in Africa, and is stolen. George Segal, an adventurer who is engaged to the daughter (Andress) of the company boss (Harry Andrews) sets out looking for it along with the daughter with Ian Hendry in hot pursuit and Orson Welles as a neighbouring official making life difficult. Johnny Sekka is Segal's black friend who everyone thinks pinched the diamond.

Welles part isn't that big - I'm guessing they couldn't afford him for that long - but he makes an impact. Hendry is good fun.

Sega was a revelation - not so much his acting just seeing him in this sort of movie. He actually fits in well. Andress is great - she actually has a character to play, and goes along on the adventure. She fires guns, and helps save the day a few times. She has a nude swim - we see a bare bum which is a bit racy for what is basically a kids film.

I think the writers made a mistake by having Segal and Andress as a couple from the get go. Would have been better if they'd fallen in love during the course of the movie.

And of course the black African characters are pretty much backgrounded - though Sekka has a decent part.

Still the locations remain fresh, it has a decent tone. I'm surprised this isn't better known. Ideal kids film.

Book review - "Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne (warning spoilers)

This Verne classic gets off to a cracking start with a bunch of Union prisoners escaping from a Confederate prison via hot air balloon and winding up on a mysterious island where they run into strange creatures and pirates. Unfortunately there's not enough creatures and the pirates are dull and after the opening third I found this a slog, notably dragged down by the fact the characters were all the same (one was a faithful black, a Verne trope).

There's two characters from other Verne books - Tom Ayrton from In Search of the Castaways, not particularly memorable, and the legendary Captain Nemo, who is awesome and totally brightens proceedings - but he doesn't come til the very end when he gives his back story, reveals he's been helping out, and dies. If only Nemo had made himself known earlier and interacted with the others! I did get a shock on reading Nemo was Indian -talk about whitewash casting over the years. So it ends on a high but I did find it hard to get through.

Movie review - "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (2008) **1/2

Enjoyable family film which doesn't have the magic of the 1959 version - it lacks another character or two and doesn't have the same atmosphere - but has it's own goofy charm.

It's helped by engaging lead performances from Brendan Fraser (big and clunky and affable... a little like a young Ronald Reagan!) and the girl and boy. The film has a bright spirit - it moves fast and is cheerful.

It lacks stakes. And is sometimes too silly for it's own good eg being able to get mobile reception down there (something which is used for a gag). There's no villain, or extra complication. Another creature or two with personality may have helped. But it's okay.

Book review - "Five Weeks in a Balloon" by Jules Verne (1863)

Verne's first hit novel hasn't aged as well as his other classics, though it has some good bits. There's three characters - Dr Ferguson, Dick Kennedy and Kennedy's black servant Joe... who is admittedly a "yes massa" type but also gets to be heroic.

The basic plot is travelling over Africa in a balloon - but there are some lively set pieces: rescuing a missionary, Joe getting sucked down by quicksand, a missionary is rescued, Joe is rescued. There's lots of description of the places they travel and the balloon - this quasi-documentary approach (for lac of a better term) I think sold the piece as more realistic to viewers.

So some good bits but not that good.

Movie review - "Five Weeks in a Balloon" (1962) **

I'm going through a Jules Verne stage so I thought I'd revisit this Irwin Allen take on Verne's first successful novel. It was made by Twentieth Century Fox who had a hit with Journey to the Centre of the Earth and this film repeats the template: established British star in the lead, pop star in a support role, some pleasant looking females, hunky leading man.

But they miscast it. Cedric Hardwicke is too dull - he doesn't match Claude Rains or James Mason who did similar roles around this time. This part needed someone like Vincent Price or even Ray Milland.

They also made a mistake with Red Buttons. I know he won the Oscar only a few years previously but the role needed someone conventionally handsome and heroic - like Stuart Whitman or even Pat Boone (who should've made more fantasy/sci fi)

The basic structure isn't bad - the film gets off too literally a flying start with the balloon being tested (albeit with some unconvincing effects). There's some potentially interesting passengers on the balloon.

But the script is flawed. It's useful to compare with the superior Journey which was also about a cross section on an expedition. In that one James Mason had his own subplot - sexual tension with Arlene Dahl. Here Cedric Hardwicke has some dull banter with Richard Haydn, as a sort of outlandish comic relief. I get the idea but they needed to have more grounded conflict between Hardwicke and Haydn - or made her a female... someone like say Margaret Rutherford.

In Journey Dahl had more of an agenda - finding her husband. There are two women in this film but both interchangeable - missionary Barbara Eden and slave girl Barbara Luna.

I mean there's potential in Eden's character - uptight teacher girl is a great trope. But there's no interesting dynamic with Buttons, partly because Buttons is so cuddly and daggy but also because there's no inherit character clash apart from some vague misunderstanding where Eden doesn't think Buttons is as anti-slavery as she is to start off with. They really just should've gone something simple - womanizing sexy journalist falls for prim stuck up girl who is actually hot for him. And it would've been nice if she did something more than be rescued.

No one has a personal agenda. In Journey Dahl wanted to find her husband. Mason had a professional rival. Here it's vague "prove a point". The slave traders are just these N/S characters. The head slave trader should've been a character - have him approach Hardwicke at the beginning or something, or a rival of Hardwicke's, or Eden's father, or Luna's owner. Get him on the balloon.

And they needed to have a traitor on board. Maybe Luna - that would've been an interesting twist. But maybe that was too heavy for this film which is jokey - whereas in Journey the stakes were real.

It's all easier to do it from a distance, I know. But they had a template for Journey and didn't follow it enough.

Book review - "Robur the Conqueror" by Jules Verne

A short novel that Richard Matheson later combined with its sequel Master of the World to make an AIP Vincent Price film of the same name. This has more meat than the sequel - a crazy genius, Robur (a Captain Nemo type) talks at a balloonist conference. They mock him so he later abducts two of them in his super ship, the Albatross. This annoys the two men so much they arrange to sabotage the boat. Then, in a neat twist, they don't report it but try to rip off the design. Robur comes looking for revenge. That's a decent story even though as usual Verne spends more time describing places they fly over than dramatising the plot.  Not bad - fast paced.

Book review - "Master of the World" (1904) by Jules Verne

Weird book. Like many a Verne novel it starts with strange sightings/things happening... a man investigates, Strock, he pokes around some places, he gets some letters warning him off, then discovers a mighty ship/aeroplane/sub driven by the Master of the World aka Robur from the previous novel (which Verne politely recaps). Just when you think it's getting good though, some lightning hits the ship, it crashes, Strock escapes and that's about it. What an anti-climax! The ship does have a cool name "The Terror".

Book review - "The Floating World" by Jules Verne

A not very well known Verne novel despite a high concept - it's about an island that travels around the world, as a home for the rich. There's two main families who are rivals and an exiled king plus four musicians who wind up on the island (the story is told through their eyes).

There's stuff happening in the book - a collision with a British ship, picking up a Malay boat that turns out to be full of pirates, a storm, visiting Pacific islands full of cannibals. It's not excitingly realised though - Verne is more interest in travelogues and creating dramatic situations. But I'm surprised this isn't more famous.

Movie review - "Valley of the Dragons" (1961) **

Al Zimbalist was a producer of B/C films best known for incorporating lots of stock footage from other movies. This one uses a lot of One Million Years BC

I don't mind that and this has a solid, if fanciful basis for a movie - two men in the middle of a duel, Cesare Danova and Sean McClory, are whipped off on a passing comet which consists of an ancient civlisation and various monsters.

That's the basis of a potentially really intriguing film - it's from a lesser known Jules Verne novel, Off on a Comet. The filmmakers don't do anything with it though - they just rehash One Million Years BC and The Time Machine having two warring tribes of cavepeople each with a hot girl for the guy.

I think they would've been better off spending the cast budget on characters from the modern day instead of random cave people - you could've had them reacting to what's going on on the comet in different, interesting ways, like in the book. But presumably for budget, it's just Danova and McClory a lot of the time.

The male leads, Danova and McClory are professional, but sleazy in their love scenes. The women are good looking but play completely vapid, blank eyed interchangeable cave women. Danova goes for a really long swim with one for one scene.

There's cave man acting, lots of walking around. I wanted to like this more and maybe I would have had I seen it as a kid on TV. It gets off to a good start, with Danova and McClory about to duel - that's different - but quickly gets boring: lots of Danova and McClory walking around, then they get separated and encounter different cave people, then the cave people point sticks at each other.

I actually think the Verne novel is so strong it's worth someone else having a crack at it. This version doesn't do it justice.

Book review - "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne

It's been ages since I read any Jules Verne - he's great fun. It starts rollicking, imaginative adventure with one of the great anti heroes in Captain Nemo and is wondrous underwater machine, the Nautilus. But after the first act is turns into a not particularly interesting travelogue of the Nautilis going around the world.