Category: Z-View

“The Mutations” aka “The Freakmaker” (1974) / Z-View

Posted on by

The Mutations aka The Freakmaker (1974)

Director:  Jack Cardiff

Screenplay:  Robert D. Weinbach, Edward Mann

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Tom Baker, Brad Harris and Michael Dunn

Tagline:  It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature…… it can be HORRIFYING! EVEN TO THEM!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Professor Nolter (Pleasence) believes he is close to a breakthrough.  His goal to create the next stage in human development — a hybrid human/plant!  Nolter gives the results of his failed experiments to a circus sideshow owner who puts them on display.  When students from Professor Nolter’s class start disappearing, it’s time to check to see if the sideshow is getting bigger.

The Mutations would have been the third or fourth feature at a drive-in theater.  Donald Pleasence wanted to play his character “low key”.  If that means without emotion and monotone, he succeeded.  Like many low-budget films of this type made in the early 70s, The Mutations included several topless scenes with women who were in danger,  The producers brought in real sideshow performers to take up some of the slack when no boobies were showing.

Jack Cardiff, the director of The Mutations, was an Oscar nominee for Best Director in 1960, but you’d never guess it from this film.  Mr. Cardiff was better known for his Oscar-worthy Cinematography (3 nominations for Best Cinematography with one win and one Honorary Oscar)!  As a side note, Jack Cardiff was the Director of Photography on Rambo; First Blood, Part II.

The Mutations barely earns a 2 of 5 star rating.

“Fatty Joins the Force” (1913) / Z-View

Posted on by

Fatty Joins the Force (1913)

Director:  George Nichols

Screenplay:  Mack Sennett

Starring:  Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Fatty (Arbuckle) is walking in the park with his girlfriend (who has a thing for policemen), when a little girl falls into a pond, Fatty’s girlfriend pushes him in to rescue the child.  The little girl turns out to be the Police Commissioner’s daughter.  The Commissioner is so appreciative, he makes Fatty a police officer.

Once Fatty is on the force, let the good times roll!  Fatty attempts to break up a fight and gets the worst of it.  While catching his breath afterwards, four boys pelt him with food and Fatty gets a pie in the face.  When Fatty strips down to his underclothes and goes into the pond to wash up, the boys cut up Fatty’s clothes.  Fatty comes out and dresses in his cut up duds. When two ladies see Fatty in his strange outfit hiding in the bushes, they think a mad man is loose!  Meanwhile, Fatty’s police coat is found floating in the pond.  His squad thinks he drowned… until two policemen bring in the captured mad man aka Fatty!  Fatty is put behind bars while his girlfriend is consoled by the police chief.

All this take place in 12 minutes with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle as the star.  That earns Fatty Joins the Force 4 of 5 stars.

“Attack!” (1956) / Z-View

Posted on by

Attack! (1956)

Director:  Robert Aldrich

Screenplay:  James Poe, based on the 1954 play Fragile Fox by Norman Brooks

Starring:  Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, Buddy Ebsen  and Strother Martin

Tagline: TRAPPED BEHIND ENEMY LINES…THEY PASSED THE WORD ALONG TO — ATTACK!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

World War II is rumored to be coming to an end, but the fighting on the front lines is still fierce.  When Lt. Costa (Palance) and a few of his men discover a German machine gun post, they radio Captain Cooney (Albert) and advise him of the situation.  Lt. Costa believes with covering fire, his men can take out the pill box.  Captain Cooney agrees his men will provide the cover needed.

As Lt. Costa’s men approach and begin firing on the Germans, he radios for the protective cover.  Captain Cooney seeing Costa’s men being shot down, freezes and never gives the order for the protective cover fire.  Lt. Costa loses several good men.

When the soldiers return to camp, Lt. Costa reports the incident to Lieutenant Colonel Bartlett (Marvin).  Bartlett is aware of Captain Cooney’s shortcomings as a soldier.  He is also very much aware that Cooney’s dad is a judge with a lot of political sway back home.  Colonel Bartlett has political ambitions after the war. Bartlett flat out tells Costa that he won’t do anything to upset the judge.   Lt. Costa is livid.  He says if Cooney freezes again and any of his men die, he will kill Captain Cooney.  Colonel Bartlett says that their unit is unlikely to see any more action.

Then an order comes down to take back a city fortified by German soldiers with tanks!  Captain Cooney, Lt. Costa and their men head back into battle.  Will Captain Cooney “freeze up” again?  If so will more good soldiers die as a result?  And if that does happen, will Lt. Costa keep his word and kill the Captain?

Directed by Robert (The Dirty Dozen; The Longest Yard; Emperor of the North) Aldrich, Attack doesn’t feel like a 1950s war film. Part of that is due to the great cast they assembled:

  • Eddie Albert plays the cowardly Captain Cooney perfectly.  He’s the disappointing son to a powerful judge.  A wanna be tough guy, who should have never risen to the rank where he leads men into battle.  What makes Albert’s portrayal even more impressive is that he was an actual Bronze Star medal winner in World War II.
  • Jack Palance is the hero of the film and my guess is he enjoyed the change of pace since he was usually cast as a villain.
  • Lee Marvin plays the smug Lt. Colonel who will put his ambitions ahead of his men’s lives.
  • Robert Strauss and Buddy Ebsen provide just the right amount of comedy relief.

Norman Brooks (wrote the play) and James Poe adapted it to create the screenplay.  Attack! has a surprisingly modern take on war.  The screenplay was so controversial that the Defense Dept. refused to provide ANY support for the film!

Attack! is an under-rated film with a great cast, talented directed and surprising story.  It earns a 4 of 5 star rating from me.

“My Name Is Julia Ross” (1945) / Z-View

Posted on by

My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)

Director:  Joseph H. Lewis

Screenplay:  Muriel Roy Bolton, based on the novel  The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert

Starring:  Nina Foch, May Whitty, George Macready and Roland Varno

Tagline:  She went to sleep as a secretary … and woke up a madman’s “bride”!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Julia Ross (Foch) is getting desperate. She’s out of work and behind on her rent. The man she loved, Dennis Bruce (Varno) has left to marry another.  Julia has applied for jobs, without luck.  When she sees an ad for a personal secretary, Julia heads to the agency.  Mrs. Hughes (Whitty) says the job pays well, but requires a dedicated person. She asks if Julia has family or a boyfriend.  Julia has neither and is hired on the spot.  Mrs. Hughes needs Julia to come to her house immediately.

Julia returns to her apartment to get her personal items.  As she is leaving, Dennis Bruce shows up.  He’s come to his senses and realizes he loves Julia.  She is happy and explains that she’s starting a new job.  She gives Bruce Mrs. Hughes’ address and agrees to meet him the following evening for dinner.

Julia goes to Mrs. Hughes’ house, is greeted and shown to her bedroom.  Julia wakes up two days later in a different bedroom.  This one is on the upper floor of a mansion.  Julia learns that she’s in a different town and her name isn’t Julia Ross. Her name is Marion and she’s suffering from a mental illness.  Mrs. Hughes is her mother-in-law!  She assures Julia that she and her son Ralph are going to do everything in their power to nurse her back to health.

Julia cannot understand why this is happening.  Why would Mrs. Hughes and Ralph take such extreme measures to make her think she’s crazy?  Either Julia has suffered a nervous breakdown and is Marion, or Ralph and his mother have plans that put Julia’s life in danger.  But why?  Julia will find out if it kills her.

I would have never watched My Name is Julia Ross if it wasn’t for Turner Classic Movies Noir Alley hosted by Eddie Mueller.  My Name is Julia Ross is that rare breakout film that deserves more attention.  Originally released as a “B” movie, it became the first feature on many double bills.

My Name is Julia Ross wastes little time setting up the plot and moves at a brisk pace throughout.  Clocking in at just 65 minutes, the film packs in plot twist after plot twist and ratchets the tension as Julia comes to realize she’s not crazy, but is trapped by a madman and his mother!  Hats off to George Macready as the insane and sadistic Ralph Hughes who can’t wait to kill Julia (and is ready to kill his own mother)!

I also appreciate the ending.  Although it wraps things up quickly, there is a moment that will bring a gasp from audiences.  Nina Foch had a long career as a tv actress.  I’m surprised she didn’t do more features.

My Name is Julia Ross rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Dr. Phibes Rises Again” (1972) / Z-View

Posted on by

Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

Director:  Robert Fuest

Screenplay:  Robert Fuest, Robert Blees based on characters created by James Whiton and William Goldstein

Starring:  Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Valli Kemp, Milton Reid, Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas, Caroline Munro and Gary Owens

Tagline: He lives!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Three years after the events in The Abominable Dr. Phibes, the moon and planets literally align to bring Dr. Phibes (Price) back from his self-imposed suspended animation.  According to an ancient papyrus that Phibes locked away, there is a secret location in Egypt that contains the River of Life.  This river has special powers that will bring Phibes’ wife back from the dead and provide them with eternal life.

Phibes learns that Darius Biederbeck (Quarry) has stolen the papyrus, so Phibes recruits his mute assistant Vulnavia to help him get it back.  They will kill anyone who gets in their way.  And so they do.  The strange murders get the police involved.  Phibes and Bierderbeck race to Egypt to find the River of Life, with the police in hot pursuit.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again isn’t quite as strange as The Abominable Dr. Phibes, but it’s close.  If you liked the original, you should enjoy this follow-up.  I was disappointed that Darrus Biederbeck’s manservant, Cheng (Reid) was killed so soon, but at least he got to go out in an amusing way.  Dr. Phibes Rises Again is one of those movies where you don’t question what you’re seeing and just go with the flow like you’re on the River of Life.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Witness to Murder” (1954) / Z-View

Posted on by

Witness to Murder (1954)

Director:  Roy Rowland

Screenplay:  Chester Erskine, Nunnally Johnson (uncredited)

Starring:  Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill,  Jesse White and Claude Akins

Tagline: No one would believe what she saw that night… not the police… not her friends… no one — but the murderer himself!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Looking out of her window one evening, Cheryl Draper (Stanwyck) witnesses a murder committed in an apartment across the way.  The murderer sees the police arrive, and by the time they get to his room, he’s hidden the body in an empty apartment.  Albert Richter (Sanders) greets the police as if he’s been awakened from a sound sleep and he couldn’t be more accommodating.  The police report back to Miss Draper that she was mistaken.

The next day Miss Draper sees Richter putting a trunk into his car and driving away.  She’s convinced that he’s disposing of the body.  Draper decides to get into his apartment to find evidence and then go to the police.  Unfortunately for Cheryl Draper, it’s like the movie’s tag line says: No one believes what she saw that night… not the police… not her friends… no one — but the murderer himself!

Witness to Murder was released in 1954, the same year as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.  The release year isn’t the only thing the films have in common,  The plots of each have someone witness a murder in an apartment across the way and no one believes it but the murderer.  Hitchcock’s film is a classic, and Witness to Murder is under-rated.

Witness to Murder wastes no time to get the story going.  The black and white photography adds a feeling of menace.  Although Barbara Stanwyck is the first billed star, it is George Sanders who steals the show.  While the “insane” woman aspect of the movie is dated, Sanders’ portrayal of a sociopathic killer who is always steps ahead of the witness and cops could have been written today.  Several familiar faces show up: George Sanders, Gerry Merrill, Jesse White (the Maytag repairman!) and even an unbilled Claude Akins.

Witness to Murder is a fun ride.  Clocking in at a fast-paced one hour and twenty-three minutes, it’s a journey you might enjoy.  I did and that’s why I give Witness to Murder 4 of 5 stars.

AND SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT YOU by Walter Mosley / Z-View

Posted on by


And Sometimes I Wonder About You by Walter Mosley

Trade Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard; Reprint edition (April 19, 2016)

First sentence…

Taking the local train from Philly to New York’s Penn Station may not be as smooth as the Acela’s ride but it gets the job done for a few dollars less and sometimes, like that Monday afternoon, the car is nearly empty and a man has time to think.   

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Leonid McGill is a legitimate tough guy.  He’s a former boxer, a full time PI and sometime criminal.  While riding the train from Philly, a beautiful woman, Marella Herzog asks McGill to get her safely to a cab.  He says he will for a price: if he walks her to the cab and there is no incident, the price is a handshake and kiss on the cheek.  If he has to play bodyguard, the price is $1,500.00.  Marella asks, “Isn’t that price high?  “I couldn’t be trusted for less” is McGill’s response.

McGill has to take action when a man with a knife attacks Marella.  McGill leaves the man unconscious with a broken arm and gets Marella to a cab.  The attraction between Leonid and Marella is undeniable.  She invites him up to her hotel for payment.  He agrees to come by later.

As And Sometimes I Wonder About You unfolds, McGill becomes more involved with Marella.  She’s beautiful, smart, as lustful as McGill and cannot be trusted.  Why are people after her?  She has something they want, but what?  McGill realizes that she’s everything he could want in a woman (if she doesn’t kill him), but McGill has so much going on…

  • There’s his wife who is currently wasting away in a sanitorium.
  • Hiram Stent, who yesterday wanted to hire him to find his cousin, was found murdered.  Mr. Stent said his cousin was set to inherit a million dollars.  McGill felt the case was fishy and declined.
  • Then last night McGill’s office was broken into and one of the building’s security guards killed.
  • Plus, McGill’s adult son has gotten himself involved with a mysterious “underground” gang that the police have been trying to take down with the only result being more dead bodies.
  • Oh, and McGill’s estranged father is about to show up.

If this sounds like too much going on, it is for Leonid McGill, but not the reader.  Mosley keeps all plot threads going without any confusion.  Don’t think that everything all ties together and is resolved with a bow.  A couple of the plot threads are related, but others aren’t.  This seems realistic.  Too often in detective novels there is one case and nothing else comes up until it is resolved.  (If only life would cooperate like that.)

McGill is a tough guy, but he isn’t invincible.  He doesn’t have a heart of gold and has done some pretty terrible things in the past.  McGill is flawed, but has a (tarnished) code of honor.  Walter Mosley has written so many excellent novels.  And Sometimes I Wonder About You is one of them.  It rates 5 of 5 stars.      

Rating:

And Sometimes I Wonder About You Trade Paperback

And Sometimes I Wonder About You Kindle   

“The Killer is Loose” (1956) / Z-View

Posted on by

The Killer is Loose (1956)

Director:  Budd Boetticher

Screenplay:  Harold Medford from a story by John Hawkins and Ward Hawkins

Starring:  Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey,  Alan Hale Jr., Michael Pate and John Larch

Tagline: He was no ordinary killer… She was no ordinary victim… This is no ordinary motion picture!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Leon Poole (Corey) is a mild-mannered teller who police learn was the inside man on an an attempted bank robbery.  As police go to arrest Poole at his apartment, he decides to shoot it out with them.  When Detective Sam Wagner (Cotten) returns fire, he accidently kills Poole’s wife.

Poole is captured, tried and convicted. Before Poole is escorted out of the courtroom, and while staring at Detective Wagner’s wife, Poole calmly states that he will one day get his revenge.

Two years later Poole escapes from prison.  It turns out that Poole is a sociopath who has nothing on his mind other than killing Detective Wagner and his wife.  As the murders pile up, it is clear that Poole is on his way to extract his revenge and no amount of police will stop him!

GUNSHINE STATE by Andrew Nette / Z-View

Posted on by


Gunshine State by Andrew Nette

Trade Paperback: 306 pages
Publisher: Down & Out Books (February 12, 2018)

First sentence…

The high-pitched whine of the power drill tore through the confined space of the back office.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Gary Chance is an ex-military truck driver, part time bouncer, and part time thief.  What he isn’t, is a killer.  When an in-and-out robbery ends with two people dead, Chance is on the run and forced to go back to work for the Chinaman.

Chance is quickly offered a job.  A crew is in place to rip off Freddie Gao, an extremely wealthy man who is flying into town for a weekend of gambling (he always loses) and whoring.  Gao has security and his father is a well-connected and feared criminal.  Chance can see holes in the crew’s plan, but there are holes in any plan.  All Chance has to do is drive… and hope there are no hiccups.

When members of the crew pull a double-cross a lot of people die and Chance is set-up to take the fall.  Now on the run from the police and Gao father’s gangsters, Chance looks to clear his name and get revenge on everyone who set him up.  Odds aren’t good, but there’s a Chance.  ; )

Andrew Nette has written a fast paced crime story populated by believable characters.  Chance is a likeable (anti)hero.  The story flows with the action moving between Australia to Thailand, but never becomes a travelogue.  Nette puts Chance through the ringer, but the story and twists don’t seem forced.  Gunshine State is a crime story that entertains from start to finish.  It earns 4 of 5 stars.    

Rating:

Gunshine State Trade Paperback

Gunshine State Kindle   

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / Z-View

Posted on by

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Director:  Robert Fuest

Screenplay:  James Whiton, William Goldstein

Starring:  Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Virginia North and Terry-Thomas

Tagline: Dr. Phibes has great vibes!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Dr. Anton Phibes (Price) is out for revenge.  When Phibes learned his wife was in a terrible auto accident, he jumped in his car and raced to get to her.  Sadly, Phibes was also involved in a wreck.  Meanwhile, Dr. Phibes’ wife died on the operating table.

Four years later, disfigured due to his accident, Dr. Phibes is ready to extract his revenge on the doctors who failed to save his wife.  Phibes plots to kill each based on one of the Ten Plagues of Egypt.  After the third doctor is murdered, the police figure out Dr. Phibes is the killer.  Always a step behind the insane Dr. Phibes, the police continue to search for clues as the bodies pile up.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes is supposed to be a dark comedy, but there aren’t any real laughs.  Dr. Phibes often kills his victims using elaborate Rube Goldbergesque contraptions.  In between murders he spends time dancing with his mute assistant with music provided by his large wind-up animatrons.  The advertising for Dr. Phibes – “Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Ugly” – “Dr. Phibes has great vibes” – indicates they weren’t sure how to sell the film to the public.  Once you’ve seen the film, that is understandable.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes isn’t a great film or a bad film.  It’s a strange film.  For that reason The Abominable Dr. Phibes rates 2 of 5 stars.

“The Takedown” (2022) / Z-View

Posted on by

The Takedown (2022)

Director:  Louis Leterrier

Screenplay:  Stéphane Kazandjian

Starring:  Omar Sy and Laurent Lafitte 

Tagline: Two Cops. One Case. No Clue.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Ousmane Diakhité (Sy) and François Monge (Lafitte) are two cops who years ago worked together.  Their careers took different paths, but a case has brought them together again.  Half a body was found on a train!  Although they have different methods,  Diakhité and Monge are going to have to make things work to solve the case!

The Takedown is full of bad jokes and forced humor.  I tried to make it through the movie.  When they chased a suspect into a bumper car rink, and the suspect jumped in a bumper car to make his getaway, I thought this cannot get any worse.  Then one of the cops used his police ID to commandeer a bumper car and give chase.  If this is your kind of humor, you’ll like The Takedown better than me.  Look at the photo below, if that makes you laugh, then add a couple of stars to my rating to get yours.  As for me, The Takedown gets 1 of 5 stars.

House of Wax (1953) / Z-View

Posted on by

House of Wax (1953)

Director:  André De Toth

Screenplay:  Crane Wilbur based on The Wax Works by Charles S. Belden

Starring:  Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Roy Roberts and Charles Bronson (as Charles Buchinsky).

Tagline: UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU’VE SEEN BEFORE!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Henry Jarrod (Price) is a skilled sculptor who creates life-like wax figures of famous people from history.  Jarrod’s business partner, Matthew Burke (Roberts) feels their wax museum would do better business if Jarrod sculpted scenes of murderers and their victims.  Jarrod refuses. So for the insurance, Burke sets the museum on fire.  He douses Jarrod with kerosene and leaves him to burn alive!

Months later a horribly disfigured man murders Burke.  Coincidently (?), Henry Jarrod reappears.  Although the fire didn’t disfigure his face or kill him, Jarrod is confined to a wheelchair.  His burned hands are no longer useful.   Jarrod plans to create a new wax museum with the help of his assistant, Igor (Bronson) and some of his art students.  When Burke’s fiancé is murdered by a disfigured man, the police begin looking for a serial killer.  And isn’t it strange that Jarrod’s new figures look amazingly like women who have recently been killed?

The disfigured man has his sights on more victims… will the police discover his identity in time to stop him?

House of Wax was originally presented in 3D, so there are some scenes specifically to take advantage of the process.  This is one of Vincent Price’s most famous roles and rightly so.  Carolyn Jones is a standout in one of her earliest roles.  Charles Bronson is effective as Igor, Price’s deaf/mute assistant.

House of Wax is a reworking of 1933’s Mystery at the Wax Museum (which is also worth a watch).  Interestingly enough, the success of the 1953 film, gave Warner Bros. the idea to create a weekly television series involving bizarre murders solved by a trio of amateur detectives who own a wax museum.  A pilot was filmed, but rejected as too intense for television.  The pilot was then expanded into a full length feature, titled Chamber of Horrors and released to theaters!

House of Wax rates 4 of 5 stars.

Murder in Greasepaint: A Rock Cobbler Case by Whiskey Leavins / Z-View

Posted on by


Murder in Greasepaint: A Rock Cobbler Case by Whiskey Leavins

Trade Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Independently published (March 30, 2022)

First sentences…

“STOP IT! We’re not clowning around here. Just put it down, why don’t you?”  I used my best cop voice.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The first thing you notice with Murder in Greasepaint is another very cool painted cover by Rafael Andres.  Andres also did the cover to Leavins’ first book, The Devil’s Own Piss.  I’m happy to see this partnership continue.

Rock Cobbler is a detective with the Santa Lacrimosa PD.  An apparent suicide at the local clown college, gets Cobbler’s number called.  What looks to be an open and shut case turns out to be murder.  Rob Sofritas aka Mr. Rubadubdub was tortured, stabbed and then thrown from his dorm window.

Sofritas was well-liked and had a bright future in clowning.  Did jealousy lead to Sofritas’ murder?   He also came from money.  Blackmail gone wrong? Then there’s the nasty rumor about Sofritas’ affiliation with a clown faction and their legendary fights to gain control of an artifact that supposedly gives power to those who posses it. Did Softitas have the item?

With so many leads, Cobbler seeks the assistance of Professor Wiggles aka Corine D’Ambrosia.  From their first encounter, Cobbler finds himself attracted to her.  She’s beautiful, smart and also a suspect.  D’Ambrosia may have nothing to do with the murder, or she may be setting Cobbler up for a fatal pratfall.  One thing’s for sure, clowning ain’t no joke.

Hat’s off to Whiskey Leavins for finding the perfect balance of suspense and humor.  While we meet many colorful characters, they’re believable because of the way Leavins presents them.  The situations are humorous and sometimes silly, but we never lose sight that the danger is real.  I was especially impressed with the exchanges between Cobber and D’Ambrosia.  They reminded me of the flirting patter we’d get in an old Bogart/Bacall film.  Also kudos to Leavins for bringing back three characters from The Devil’s Own Piss.

Whiskey Leavins has another winner.  This is his second novel in a row that has earned my top rating.  I hope he goes for a trifecta.    Murder in Greasepaint earns 5 of 5 stars.

Rating:

Murder in Greasepaint Trade Paperback

Murder in Greasepaint Kindle

Tarzan of the Apes (1918) / Z-View

Posted on by

Tarzan of the Apes (1918)

Director: Scott Sidney

Screenplay:  Fred Miller and Lois Weber based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Starring:  Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey and Gordon Griffith.

Tagline:  Tarzan did not know why he caressed her… He had never seen a white woman before!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Tarzan of the Apes is the first movie appearance of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ iconic character.  The film’s popularity led to three sequels:  The Romance of Tarzan (1918), The Son of Tarzan (1920), and The Adventures of Tarzan (1921).

Tarzan of the Apes is a fairly straightforward retelling of the novel.  After a mutiny, John and Alice Clayton are marooned in Africa.  Soon Alice gives birth to a son. Both parents die shortly after the child is born.  Kayla, an ape, raises the baby as her own.  The boy grows to adulthood among the apes. 

Years later another survivor of the mutiny spreads word that the Claytons survived.  An expedition is sent to Africa to locate them, but instead they find Tarzan of the Apes!  When Jane, a member of the expedition, is captured by natives, it is up to Tarzan to save her.

Tarzan of the Apes consists of iconic scenes from the novel which covers decades,  Gordon Griffith plays Tarzan as a young boy.  So technically, Griffith is the first person to play Tarzan!  Take that, trivia buffs.  Elmo Lincoln plays the adult Tarzan.  His Tarzan is a strongman with a headband.  Having only seen stills from the movie before, I was surprised at how quickly I adjusted to Lincoln’s portrayal of the Ape Man.   Although Enid Markey had a long acting career, she doesn’t have much to do here but scream, faint and look lovingly at Tarzan.

Tarzan of the Apes suffers from the actors in (poorly designed) monkey suits playing the apes.  The lion that Tarzan fights doesn’t look overly threatening.  Keep in mind that audiences of the day had never experienced better effects.  With that said, I’ve always enjoyed the different adaptations of Tarzan – movies, tv shows, comics, cartoons, etc.  I’m glad I finally got to see the 1918 Tarzan of the Apes.  It gets 3 of 5 stars.

“Mr. Wu” (1929) Starring Lon Chaney! / Z-View

Posted on by

Mr. Wu (1929)

Director:  William Nigh

Screenplay:  Adapted by Lorna Moon, Titles by Lotta Woods, based on the play by Maurice Vernon and Harold Owen, from the book by Louise Jordan Miln

Starring:  Lon Chaney, Renée Adorée, Ralph Forbes, Louise Dresser  and Anna May Wong 

Tagline: SHE WAS GUILTY OF LOVE AND THE UNWRITTEN CODE OF THE EAST CRIED FOR VENGEANCE!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Mr. Wu (Chaney) is a wealthy and powerful man raised to follow the ancient traditions of China.  Although he is a traditionalist, Wu knows “the West is coming to the East.”  To that end, Mr. Wu interacts with diplomats from other countries.  That is how Wu’s adult daughter, Nang Ping (Adorée) meets and begins secretly seeing Basil Gregory (Forbes), the son of a British diplomat.

Nang Ping becomes pregnant at the same time she learns that Basil is about to return to England.  A gardener learns of Nang Ping’s pregnancy and informs Mr. Wu.  Wu is despondent, torn between love for his daughter and what tradition requires of a father whose daughter has dishonored the family.  Mr. Wu will comply with tradition and then extract revenge on the Diplomat’s family!

Lon Chaney plays two roles in this silent film.  Chaney created his own makeup making him unrecognizable as both Grandfather Wu (100 year old man) and Mr. Wu.  Mr. Wu provides an excellent example of why Lon Chaney is my favorite silent movie star.  He plays a full range of emotions and they all come alive through his facial expressions.  Anna May Wong appears in just a few scenes but she shines.  Renée Adorée is okay as Mr. Wu’s daughter, but it’s interesting to think what Wong would have done in the role.

Mr. Wu’s plan to extract vengeance on the diplomat’s family forces an impossible decision and a surprising conclusion to the film.  Mr. Wu rates 4 of 5 stars