Category: Z-View

“Lucky Ghost” aka “Lady Luck” (1942) Starring Mantan Moreland & F.E. Miller / Z-View

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Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck (1942)

Director:  William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Lex Neal, Vernon Smith

Stars:  Mantan Moreland, F.E. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Napoleon Whiting. 

Tagline:  A Thriller-Diller Laff Sensation Feature!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Washington (Moreland) and Jefferson (Miller) are down-on-their-luck friends looking for an opportunity.  When they meet a couple of rich men standing by a limo, they learn that the driver has gone for gas.  Washington entices the men into a dice game.  By the time the driver has returned, Washington has won all of the men’s money, their fancy clothes and the car!

Washington and Jefferson have the driver take them to a nearby country club.  The club is run by a crook named Dr. Brutus Blake (Sheffield).  Blake invites Washington to play in his private gambling room.  There he plans to swindle Washington out of all his cash using crooked dice.  What Blake doesn’t know is that ghosts are watching and don’t like what they’re seeing.

The movie really takes off once Mantan begins playing craps in the club.  He’s hilarious when he’s forced to roll using dice he knows will cause him to lose.  Lady Luck isn’t as funny as Mr. Washington Goes to Town, but this semi-sequel has its moments.

Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Northman” (2022) starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman & Claes Bang / Z-View

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The Northman (2o22)

Director:  Robert Eggers

Screenplay:  Sjón, Robert Eggers

Stars:  Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe.

Tagline:  Conquer your fate.

The Plot…

Amleth (Skarsgård) is a boy destined to become King.  That changes when Amleth’s father, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Hawke) is brutally murdered.  Amleth watches in shock as his Uncle, Fjölnir (Bang) kills his father!  As Fjölnir carries Amleth’s mother (Kidman) away, he orders his men to find and kill Amleth.  Amleth escapes and vows to avenge his father and mother…

Years later Amleth has grown into a strong Viking warrior and is now ready to take his vengeance.

Thoughts (Beware of spoilers)…

The Northman‘s trailer led me to believe it would be a great adventure/revenge film with a little Viking mythology thrown in.  It turned out to be an interesting adventure/revenge film with quite a bit of Viking mythology.  There’s stuff like interactions with a Seeress and he-witch, prophetic dreams, rescue from chains by ravens, and a Valkyrie from Valhalla.  For me, a little of that goes a long way.

Alexander Skarsgård makes a scary, believable Viking… especially in full blown warrior mode.  Ethan Hawke’s role could best be described as a cameo.  A small amount of screen time, but his character’s death sets everything in motion.  Then again, if Ethan Hawke’s screen time amounts to a cameo, I’m not sure what you’d call Willem Dafoe’s role as a fool.  Claes Bang and Nicole Kidman make worthy villains, but are they truly the “bad guys”?

One of the interesting aspects is that for the whole movie, Amleth wants to avenge his mother and father.  He sees his father brutally murdered and his mother carried off by his father’s killer.  When Amleth, as an adult, meets his mother we learn that she was once a slave; that Amleth’s father raped and forced her into marriage.  Further it was she who convinced Fjölnir to kill her husband and take her away,  She wasn’t screaming in fear as Fjölnir carried her off, she was laughing!  Amleth’s father wasn’t the great man he (and we) had been led to believe!  So is it heroic when Amleth kills his mother and her son by Fjölnir?  And when Fjölnir learns of their deaths, and challenges Amleth to battle, isn’t Fjölnir as much of a hero as Amleth?  Just some things to think about…

The Northman earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Angel’s Alley” (1948) Starring Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys / Z-View

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Angel’s Alley (1948)

Director:  William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Edmond Seward, Tim Ryan, Gerald Schnitzer

Stars:  Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, David Gorcey, Nestor Paiva, Benny Bartlett,  John Eldredge and Mary Gordon.

Tagline:  The Bowery Boys Make It Rough On Racketeers!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Slip Mahoney (Gorcey) learns that his cousin is being pressured into stealing cars for Tony Locarno (Paiva), a local crime boss.  Slip decides that the best way to get his cousin out is for Slip to break in… to Locarno’s gang.  Slip will then learn Locarno’s set-up and call the police.  That’s the plan, but since this is a Bowery Boys’ movie, we know how their plans work out…

Angel’s Alley earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Hot Water” (1924) Starring Harold Lloyd / Z-View

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Hot Water (1924)

Director:  Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor

Screenplay:  Thomas J. Gray, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan, John Grey

Stars:  Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Josephine Crowell, Charles Stevenson and Mickey McBan. 

Tagline:  A cyclonic comedy of newlyweds and meddling relatives!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Hubby (Lloyd) is a confirmed bachelor who cannot understand someone wanting to get married.  In his dash to get to a wedding on time, Hubby knocks down a woman (Ralston).  As he helps her to her feet, their eyes meet… and the next thing you know they’re married.  What follows are three vignettes of Hubby’s married life.

As Hubby heads home from work, Wifey asks him to pick up a “few” things from the store. While at the store Hubby wins a live turkey.  Hubby has a tough time making it to the trolley and home with more groceries than he can carry and a live turkey!

When Hubby’s mother-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew show up unexpectedly, Hubby decides to take them for a ride in his new car.  Runs-ins with other autos and the police are just part of the fun.

The third episode involves his sleepwalking mother-in-law, a potential murder and possible ghosts!

The segments were hit and miss for me.  I liked the third episode the best.

Hot Water earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Mr. Washington Goes to Town” (1941) Starring Mantan Moreland & F.E. Miller / Z-View

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Mr. Washington Goes to Town (1941)

Director:  Jed Buell, William Beaudine (uncredited)

Screenplay:  Lex Neal from a story by Walter Weems

Stars:  Mantan Moreland, F.E. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Marguerite Whitten. 

Tagline: The First All Colored Cast Feature Comedy Ever Made!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Wallingford (Miller) and Schenectady Jones (Moreland) are buddies serving time in the county jail.  Wallingford sees a newspaper article about a rich man who died and left his hotel to any living relative that he may have had. Since the man’s last name was Jones and he was from the same area as Schenectady, Wallingford asks his buddy if he may have been related to the rich old man.  The two discuss the life of luxury that would come from being a rich hotel owner.  As Schenectady falls asleep he dreams…

Miller and Moreland can be favorably compared to Abbott and Costello.  Both duos are funny.  Miller, like Abbott is the brains of the two and takes advantage of his partner.  The difference is that Miller is more of a true friend.  Mantan Moreland is one of the most under-rated comedians in Hollywood.  He has great timing and his line and non-verbal reactions are priceless.

The set-up of owning a hotel presents great opportunities for gags as different guests arrive.  We get a magician, a Lonesome Ranger, a guest with a gorilla, an invisible man, and more.  Each different arrival provides laughs.  The main storyline involves Brutus Blake (Sheffield) looking for money hidden somewhere in the hotel and hoping that midnight arrives before Moreland can pay the balance owed on the hotel’s mortgage.

Mr. Washington Goes to Town earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Invisible Ghost” (1941) Starring Bela Lugosi / Z-View

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Invisible Ghost (1941)

Director:  Joseph H. Lewis

Screenplay:  Al Martin, Helen Martin

Stars:  Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire and Clarence Muse, Laurence Criner and Emil Van Horn

Tagline:  THE PHANTOM KILLER STRIKES! Only a terrified woman knows the secret of this ghostly murderer…who strikes in the night and leaves no clues—but his victims!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Dr. Charles Kessler (Lugosi) hasn’t been the same since his wife left him several years ago.  Kessler hasn’t seen or heard from her since.  His grown daughter, Virginia (Young) and Evans (Muse) their butler accommodate Dr. Kessler’s  eccentricities.  When one of the Kessler’s servants is killed, Virginia’s fiancée Ralph Dickson (McGuire) is arrested, tried, sentenced to death and executed in the electric chair!

Soon Ralph’s twin brother, Paul shows up.  He doesn’t believe that Ralph could have committed the murder… but if  Ralph didn’t, who did?  As Paul, Dr. Kessler and Virginia follow the clues, they get closer to the unbelievable truth that could get them all killed!

Surprisingly, Invisible Ghost features no one that’s invisible and not a single ghost.  Perhaps the title is evidence to how much thought was put into the story.  Bela Lugosi deserved better… and so did poor Ralph.

Invisible Ghost earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Law of the Jungle” (1942) / Z-View

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Law of the Jungle (1942)

Director:  Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay:  George Bricker, Edmond Kelso (additional dialogue)

Stars:  Arline Judge, John ‘Dusty’ King, Mantan Moreland, Arthur O’Connell, Laurence Criner and Emil Van Horn

Tagline:  A Story to Thrill You and Chill You to the Rhythm of Jungle Tom-toms!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Enemy agents attempt to blackmail Nora Brooks (Judge) into transporting important papers out of Africa.  Brooks refuses instead running into the jungle.  There she meets explorer Larry Manson (King) and his assistant, Jeff Jones (Mantan).  With enemy agents leading hostile natives after them, Manson, Brooks and Jones have little chance for survival…

Not even Mantan Moreland’s comedy relief can save Law of the Jungle.

Law of the Jungle earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Harlem on the Prairie” (1937) Starring Herb Jeffries / Z-View

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Harlem on the Prairie (1937)

Director:  Sam Newfield, Jed Buell

Screenplay:  Fred Myton, F.E. Miller (additional dialogue)

Stars:  Herb Jeffries, F.E. Miller, Mantan Moreland, Consuelo Harris, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Spencer Williams

Tagline:  KING OF THE JUKE BOX AND RADIO NOW SEEN IN FULL FEATURE!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Jeff Kincaid (Jeffries) is riding to the next town when he comes across Doc Clayburn’s (Williams) medicine show.  Kincaid joins them for dinner and a few songs.  Kincaid and Clayburn’s daughter, Connie (Harris) are obviously attracted to each other.  What no one knows is that outlaws have their eye on Clayburn.  Years ago, Clayburn ran with a group of bank robbers.  Clayburn was the only one who wasn’t killed and the outlaws want the gold he has hidden.  After some more songs and comedy from Crawfish (Miller) and Mistletoe (Moreland) things will come to gunplay when the outlaws attack.

Herb Jeffries was a popular singing radio star who decided to try acting.  Jeffries wanted to play a black singing cowboy leading man along the lines of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.  Harlem on the Prairie is played straight (with some comedic moments) just like a Rogers or Autry film.  Jeffries riding a beautiful white stallion makes a serviceable lead.  Spencer Williams has great facial expressions telling more of his story without a word.  Mantan Moreland and F.E. (Flournoy Eakin) Miller provide comedy relief.  If you’re a fan of singing cowboy films, then give Harlem on the Prairie a shot.

Harlem on the Prairie earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Black and Tan” Starring Duke Ellington and Fredi Washington / Z-View

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Black and Tan (1929)

Director:  Dudley Murphy

Screenplay:  Dudley Murphy

Stars: Duke Ellington and his Duke Ellington Orchestra, Fredi Washington, Edgar Connor, Alec Lovejoy and Arthur Whetsol

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Duke (Ellington) is an out of work jazz musician struggling to make ends meet.  When his girlfriend, Fredi (Washington) tells Duke that she’s scored them a job – her dancing and him with his orchestra, Duke reminds her that the doctor said she shouldn’t exert herself  because of her heart condition.  Despite the doctor’s warnings, Fredi is determined to perform since they need the money…

For a short, the film employs creative camera work.  We see many of the dances from the view of a mirrored floor.  As Fredi waits to perform and is feeling ill, we see the performers from her perspective.  Black and Tan was the film debut of both Duke Ellington and Fredi Washington.  Black and Tan was inducted to the National Film Registry in 2015.

Black and Tan earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Ghost Talks” (1949) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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The Ghost Talks (1937)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard and Nancy Saunders

Tagline:  It’s Historical!  It’s Hysterical!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Shemp and Moe are movers hired to empty out a spooky old castle.  A suit of armor contains the ghost of Peeping Tom.  Tom tells the boys that 1,000 years ago he heard a commotion outside.  When he looked out the window he saw Lady Godiva making her famous ride.  Tom was hit in the face with a pie and his ghost trapped in the suit of armor.  Tom warns the Stooges that if they try to move the armor, bad luck with follow.  You guessed it, they try to move the armor and bad follows… they even are visited by Red Skeleton!

The Ghost Talks earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Dizzy Doctors” (1937) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Dizzy Doctors (1937)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Al Ray from a story by Charlie Melson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Bud Jamison

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe are told by their wives if they don’t get jobs, they will be getting divorces.  The boys find work as salesmen of a new potion called Brighto,  They mistakenly believe that Brighto is a polish.  In attempts to make sales they ruin customers, shoes, jackets and cars. When they learn that Brighto is actually a health aide, the Stooges go to a hospital.  Who needs a health aide more than folks in a hospital?  What could go wrong… other than Brighto is as good a health aide as it is a polish.  Wait, there’s more — the hospital Superintendent is one of the customers who had his car ruined by Brighto!

Dizzy Doctors earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Firestarter” (2022) / Z-View

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Firestarter (2022)

Director:  Keith Thomas

Screenplay:  Scott Teems based on Firestarter by Stephen King

Stars: Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben, Kurtwood Smith and John Beasley

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Andy McGee (Efron), his wife Vicky (Lemmon) and their daughter Charlie (Armstrong) are living off the grid.  Andy and Vicky were part of an experimental drug test conducted by a secret government organization.  Andy gained telepathic powers, and Vicky developed telekinesis. Charlie was born with the ability to cause objects to burst into flame. Her ability is becoming more powerful and Charlie hasn’t yet learned to control it.  The organization is looking for them to take advantage of their powers.

When Charlie is bullied at school, she runs to the bathroom in an attempt to control the fire she feels coming.  Her rage at being picked on causes a flame burst that school officials think was a small explosion set off by Charlie.  This incident brings Charlie and her family to the attention of the secret government agency.  They send Rainbird (Greyeyes), to bring back the girl even if it means killing her parents.  Things are about to heat up…

Firestarter (2022) doesn’t hold a candle to the 1984 version.  Before Andy uses his telepathic powers he does an exaggerated neck crack which just comes off as silly.  Charlie is made less sympathetic when she accidentally unleashes her fire burst and roasts a cat.  We see the cat badly burned and then Charlie is told to put it out of it’s misery, so she lights the cat up again.  We hear a final cry from the cat.  Charlie accidentally sets her mom on fire and then later tells her dad, “I meant it to be you.”  The movie ends — big spoiler alert — with Charlie willingly going off with Rainbird, the man who brutally killed her mother, captured her father which lead to his death, and forced Charlie to kill many folks who worked for the organization.

Usually movies I watch all the way through earn at least a two star rating.  Sadly, Firestarter (2022) doesn’t.

Firestarter earns 1 of 5 stars.

“The Outfit” (2022) Starring Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien & Johnny Flynn / Z-View

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The Outfit (2022)

Director:  Graham Moore

Screenplay:  Graham Moore, Johnathan McClain

Stars:  Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Johnny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Mehdizadeh, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Chiedu Agborh and Michael Addo. 

Tagline: Every Suspect Fits a Pattern

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

1956.  Chicago.  Leonard Burling (Rylance) is a gentleman cutter.  Some might call Burling a tailor, but they wouldn’t understand his craftmanship or the pride he takes in his work.  Burling’s shop is frequented by men who want tailored suits so they look their best.  What those customers don’t know is that in the back room is a drop box used by the Roy Boyle (Beale) gang to pass along dirty money and messages.

Burling keeps his nose out of who uses the drop box and what may go into it.  He just wants to make the finest suits possible.  All of that changes when Richie (O’Brien), Roy Boyle’s son and Francis (Flynn), Richie’s bodyguard, show up unexpectedly at the shop one evening.  Richie has a brief case and a bullet wound.  He was shot in a confrontation with members of the LaFontaine family. The brief case contains a tape recording that could bring down the Doyle family.

Richie is bleeding out.  Cops are everywhere.  The LaFontaines are still looking for them.  Richie will die unless something is done… and that tape needs to be hidden.  Burling is put in a position where helping or not helping could get him killed.  Richie’s dad and backup is on the way… but so are the cops and the LaFontaine gang.

The Outfit is easily one of the best films of the year.  Screenwriters Graham Moore and Johnathan McClain have crafted a story where every scene intensifies the action and takes the characters in a different direction with the same destination — people are going to die.   First time director (and co-screenwriter) Graham Moore has faith in the story and actors to let scenes go on without quick cuts.  Every actor does an outstanding job and rises to the level of the material given.

I cannot give The Outfit or the folks behind it enough praise.  I was surprised at the revelations that just kept coming and the twists that kept ratcheting up the stakes.  The Outfit is a movie I look forward to sharing and watching again.

The Outfit earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Scotched in Scotland” (1954) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Scotched in Scotland (1954)

Director:  Jules White, Edward Bernds (stock footage)

Screenplay:  Jack White, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Philip Van Zandt, Christine McIntyre and Theodore Lorch

Tagline:  A MAN CAN GET KILT DOING THIS!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Shemp and Moe are in Scotland where they are hired by a rich man to guard his valuables while he is away from his spooky castle.  Little does the man know, but it is his hired staff who plan to rip him off!  The would-be thieves decide to scare the Stooges into leaving and hilarity follows.

Scotched in Scotland is a remake of The Three Stooges’ earlier short, The Hot Scots and uses quite a bit of footage from the earlier film.

Scotched in Scotland earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Spook Louder” (1943) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Spook Louder (1943)

Director:  Dell Lord

Screenplay:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Lew Kelly, Stanley Blystone  Theodore Lorch, Charles Middleton and Shirley Patterson

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Professor J.O. Dunkfeather (Kelly) tells the story of how spies trying to steal a death ray from an inventor were thwarted and how a mysterious pie thrower was involved.  Larry, Curly and Moe are door-to-door salesmen who get hired to housesit for a scientist who is going to Washington, DC, to test his death ray.  The boys are on edge since the scientist lives in a spooky mansion and they’re jumping at every sound.  However when criminals dressed in Halloween costumes show up to steal the death ray, things are taken to a whole new level.  Will the criminals get what they’re looking for?  Will the Stooges survive?  And WHO is throwing those pies?

Curly gets a lot of mileage out of a balloon with a face painted on it that gets attached to his backside!

Spook Louder earns 4 of 5 stars.