ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

FILM THEMES,
SETTINGS AND SERIES
 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
FILM THEMES,
SETTINGS AND SERIES
RICHARD B. ARMSTRONG
MARY WILLEMS ARMSTRONG

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Je›erson, North Carolina, and London
 The present work is a reprint of the illustrated case
bound edition of Encyclopedia of Film Themes,
Settings and Series, first published in 200¡ by
McFarland.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Armstrong, Richard B., ¡956–
Encyclopedia of film themes, settings and series / Richard B.
Armstrong [and] Mary Willems Armstrong.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: The movie list book. ¡990.

ISBN 978-0-7864-4572-1
softcover : 50# alkaline paper

¡. Motion pictures — Plots, themes, etc.— Encyclopedias.

I. Armstrong, Mary Willems, ¡957– II. Armstrong, Richard B.,
¡956– Movie list book. III. Title.
PN¡997.8 .A76 20¡0
79¡.43'75'03 — dc2¡ 00-64009

British Library cataloguing data are available

©200¡ Richard B. Armstrong and Mary Willems Armstrong.

All rights reserved

Cover image ©20¡0 Index Stock

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
 For Galahad
And pets everywhere
In appreciation of your unquestioning love
and joyous companionship
 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S *
Introduction 1 Atomic Bombs ¡4 Bigfoot 25
Ator ¡5 Billy Jack 26
The Abominable Snowman 3 Auto Racing ¡5 Billy the Kid/Billy Carson 26
Acronyms in Title 3 Autobiographical Films ¡6 Birds 26
Ad Lines (Selected) 3 Automobiles ¡6 Black Cobra Series 27
Addresses in Title 4 Babies ¡7 Blackie, Boston 27
Airplanes 4 Babysitters ¡7 Blackouts 27
Airport Series 5 Back to the Future Series ¡8 Blane, Torchy 27
Aladdin Series 5 Backwoods Feuds ¡8 Blaxploitation Films 27
Alcoholism 5 The Bad News Bears ¡8 The Blind Dead 28
Aldrich, Henry 6 Baines, Scattergood ¡8 Blindness 28
Alien Series 6 Ballet/Ballerinas ¡8 Blondie 28
The Alilenas 6 Balloons, Hot Air ¡9 Bloodfist Series 29
Alligators and Crocodiles 7 Bancroft, Brass ¡9 The Blue Demon 29
American Film Theatre Presenta- Barbers/Hairdressers ¡9 Boarding Schools 29
tions 7 The Barrytown Trilogy 20 Body Chemistry Series 30
American Ninja Series 7 Barton, Dick 20 Body Switching 30
Amityville Series 7 Baseball 20 Bodybuilding 30
Amnesia 7 Basket Case Series 20 Bodyguards 30
Androids and Cyborgs 8 Basketball 2¡ Boggy Creek Series 3¡
Angel Series 8 Batman 2¡ Bomba, the Jungle Boy 3¡
Angels 9 Bats 22 Bond, James 3¡
Animal Instincts Series 9 Beach Party Series 22 Bond Heroines 3¡
Animated Movies (Feature- Bears 23 Bond Villains 32
Length) 9 Beastmaster 23 Bounty Hunters 32
Anthologies ¡¡ Beauty Contests 23 The Bowery Boys 32
Apartments ¡¡ Belvedere, Mr. (Lynn) 24 Bowling 33
Apes and Monkeys ¡2 Benji 24 Boxing 33
Apu Trilogy ¡2 Bermuda Triangle 24 Boy Scouts 34
Arthur, King, and the Knights of Best of the Best Series 24 Brain Transplants 34
the Round Table ¡2 A Better Tomorrow Series 24 Brainwashing 35
Assumed Identity ¡3 Beverly Hills Cop Series 25 Buddy Action Films 35
Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets Bicycles 25 Buried Alive 35
¡4 Big Town Series 25 Buses 36
Asylums ¡4 Bigamy 25 Butchers 36

*Throughout the work are “see” references not reflected in this table of contents.

vii
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Butlers 36 Composers (Popular) 53 Dreams 66

La Cage aux Folles Series 37 Computers 53 Drew, Nancy 67
Cagney & Lacey 37 Concert Movies 54 Drug Addiction 67
Camels 37 Confessions… Series 54 Drummond, Bulldog 67
Cannibalism 37 Corman’s Poe Series 54 Dupree, Paula (The Ape Woman)
Cannon Movie Tales 38 Courts-Martial 55 68
The Care Bears 38 Crabs and Lobsters 55 Durango Kid 68
Carnosaur Series 38 Crane, Bill 55 Earthquakes 68
Carry On Series 39 The Creature from the Black Earth’s Core 69
Carter, Nick 39 Lagoon 55 Elephants 69
Cartoon/Live Action Features 39 The Crime Doctor 55 Elevators (or Lifts) 69
Cartoonists 40 Critters Series 56 Emmanuelle 70
Casper 40 Crusoe, Robinson 56 End of the World/Post-Apocalypse
Cassidy, Hopalong 40 Curse Series 56 70
Cats 4¡ Cyborg Cop Series 56 Ernest 7¡
Caution, Lemmy 4¡ Cyborg Series 56 Eternal Youth/Rejuvenation 7¡
Cave People 4¡ Cyclops 57 The Evil Dead Series 7¡
Centerfolds 42 Dancer, Joe 57 The Exorcist Series 72
Chainsaws 42 Danger Zone Series 57 Eye of the Eagle Series 72
Chan, Charlie 42 Daninsky, Waldemar (El Hombre Fairs and Carnivals 72
Chau›eurs 43 Lobo) 57 Faith Healers 73
Cheerleaders 43 Dark Shadows Series 57 The Falcon 73
Chess 44 Darkman 58 Family of Cops Series 74
Child Custody Disputes 44 Dates in Title 58 Fantômas 74
Children of the Bride Series 44 The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Fashion Models 74
Children of the Corn Series 45 Series 58 Fassbinder’s Women Trilogy 75
Children Raised by Animals 45 Deafness 58 FBI 75
Child’s Play Series 45 Dear Ruth Series 58 Film and Theater Critics 75
A Chinese Ghost Story Series 45 Death Incarnate 59 Film Star Biographies 76
Christian, Dr. (Paul) 46 Death Wish Series 59 Fires and Firefighters 76
Christmas 46 Deathstalker 59 Fish 77
Cinerama 47 Delta Force Series 59 Five Little Peppers 77
Circuses 47 Dentists 60 Flagg and Quirt 77
Cisco Kid 48 Desperado Series 60 Floods 78
Clairvoyants and Fortunetellers The Devil 60 The Fly Series 78
48 Dinosaurs 6¡ Flying People 78
Class Reunions 48 Dirigibles 6¡ Football 78
Clocks and Watches 49 The Dirty Dozen 62 Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy 79
Co‡n Ed Johnson and Grave Dig- Dirty Harry 62 Foreign Legion 79
ger Jones 49 Disaster Movies 62 Four Daughters Series 80
The Cohens and the Kellys 50 Disguises 62 Francis, the Talking Mule 80
Color/B&W Features 50 District Attorney, Mr. 63 Frankenstein/The Monster 80
Columbo, Lieutenant 50 Doctor in the House Series 63 Free Willy Series 8¡
Coma 5¡ Dogs 63 Friday the ¡3th Series 82
Comic Book Characters 5¡ Doinel, Antoine 64 Frogs 82
Comic Book-Style Movies 5¡ Dolls 64 Frogtown Series 82
Comic Strip Characters 5¡ Dolphins 65 Fu Manchu 83
Compilation Films (Fictional) 52 Dracula 65 The Gambler Series 83
Composers (Classical) 52 Dragons 66 Gambling 83
 TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

Game Shows 84 Horses ¡00 Kickboxer Series ¡¡4

Gamera 84 Hospitals ¡00 Kildare, Dr. James ¡¡5
Gangsters (Real-Life) 84 Hotels ¡0¡ Killer Tomatoes Series ¡¡5
Genies 85 House Party Series ¡0¡ King Kong ¡¡5
Ghidrah 85 House Series ¡02 Kojak, Theo ¡¡6
Ghosts 85 The Howling Series ¡02 Korean War ¡¡6
Ghoulies Series 86 Huggetts Family ¡02 Ku Klux Klan and Other White
Ghouls 86 Hulot, Monsieur ¡02 Supremacists ¡¡6
Giants 87 Humanimals ¡02 Labor Unions and Strikes ¡¡7
Gidget 87 Hunchbacks ¡03 The Land Before Time Series ¡¡7
Gildersleeve, The Great 87 Hunting Parties ¡03 Lassie ¡¡7
Gilligan’s Island Series 88 Hurricanes and Tornadoes ¡03 Lemon Popsicle Series ¡¡8
Gimmicks 88 Hypnotists ¡04 Leprechaun Series ¡¡8
Ginger Series 88 I Love a Mystery Series ¡04 Lethal Weapon Series ¡¡8
The Godfather Trilogy 89 Ice Cream ¡04 Letters ¡¡8
Godzilla 89 Ice Skating ¡05 Levinson’s Baltimore Series ¡¡9
Golf 90 If… Series ¡05 Librarians ¡¡9
Gorgons 90 Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS ¡05 Lighthouses ¡¡9
Governesses and Nannies 90 In Search of… Series ¡06 Lightning ¡¡9
Grave Robbers 90 In the Line of Duty Series ¡06 Lions and Tigers ¡20
Gunsmoke Series 9¡ The Incident Series ¡06 Little House on the Prairie Series
Gypsies 9¡ The Incredible Hulk ¡06 ¡20
Halloween Series 9¡ Inner Sanctum Series ¡07 Little People ¡20
Hammer, Mike 92 Insects ¡07 The Lone Rider ¡2¡
Happy Hooker Series 92 Insurance Investigators ¡07 The Lone Wolf ¡2¡
Hardy, Andy 92 Invasions/Takeovers of the U.S. Lone Wolf and Cub ¡2¡
Having Babies Series 93 ¡08 Long Running Times ¡22
Heaven 93 Invisibility ¡08 Long Titles ¡23
Heist/Caper Films 93 Iron Eagle Series ¡08 Longstocking, Pippi ¡23
Helicopters 94 Islands ¡09 Look Who’s Talking Series ¡23
Hell 94 It’s Alive Series ¡09 Lookalikes ¡24
Hellraiser Series 94 Jack the Ripper ¡09 Lottery ¡24
Helm, Matt 95 Janek, Frank ¡¡0 Lumberjacks ¡25
Henry Series 95 Jaws Series ¡¡0 Lupin, Arsene ¡25
Herbie, the Love Bug 95 Jekyll, Dr. Henry, and Mr. Hyde Lupin III (The Wolf ) ¡25
Hercules 95 ¡¡0 Lynching ¡25
Hickok, Wild Bill, Series 96 Jesus ¡¡¡ Mabuse, Dr. ¡26
The Higgins Family 96 Jewel Thieves ¡¡¡ Maciste ¡26
The High Schoolers Series 96 Jiggs and Maggie ¡¡2 Mad Max ¡27
Highlander 96 The Jones Family ¡¡2 Magicians ¡27
Hitchhiking 97 Jones, Indiana ¡¡2 The Magnificent Seven ¡27
Hitler 97 Josser, Jimmy ¡¡3 Maids and Housekeepers ¡27
Hockey 97 Judges ¡¡3 Mail Order Brides ¡28
Holmes, Sherlock 97 Jungle Jim ¡¡3 Maisie ¡28
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Series The Karate Kid ¡¡4 Majin ¡28
98 Karnstein Trilogy ¡¡4 Major League Series ¡29
Hood, Robin 99 Keate, Nurse Sarah [Sally Keating] Malibu Express Series ¡29
Hornleigh, Inspector 99 ¡¡4 A Man Called Horse Series ¡29
Horse Racing/Equitation 99 Kettle, Ma and Pa ¡¡4 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ¡29
x TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Man with No Name ¡30 ¡9¡8 Trilogy ¡44 Postal Workers ¡58
Maniac Cop Series ¡30 No Retreat, No Surrender Series Prehysteria Series ¡58
Marlowe, Philip ¡30 ¡44 Prequels ¡59
Marple, Miss Jane ¡30 North Pole/South Pole ¡44 Presidents (U.S.) ¡59
Marriage Brokers and Dating Ser- Nostradamus ¡45 Presley, Elvis ¡60
vices ¡3¡ Nuns ¡45 Prisoners of War ¡60
The Marseilles Trilogy ¡3¡ Nurses Series ¡45 Prisons ¡6¡
Marsh, Abel ¡3¡ Octopuses and Squids ¡46 Problem Child Series ¡62
Mason, Perry ¡3¡ Oh, God Series ¡46 Prom Night Series ¡62
Matadors/Bullfights ¡32 Oil Wells ¡46 Psychiatrists ¡62
Meatballs Series ¡33 Olympics ¡46 Psycho Series ¡63
Mediums and Seances ¡33 The Omen Series ¡47 Puppet Master Series ¡63
Mermaids ¡33 Once Upon a Time in China Puppets ¡64
Mexican Spitfire ¡33 Series ¡47 Purple, Alvin ¡64
The Mighty Ducks ¡34 Outlaws (Real-Life Western) ¡48 Quatermass, Professor Bernard
Military Academies ¡34 Painted People ¡48 ¡64
Mirrors ¡34 Painters ¡49 Queen, Ellery ¡64
Missing in Action Series ¡35 Paintings ¡49 Rabbits ¡65
Mr. Vampire Series ¡35 Palmer, Harry ¡49 Radio ¡65
Mobile Homes ¡35 Parallel Worlds ¡50 Rambo ¡65
Moment of Truth Series ¡35 The Parent Trap Series ¡50 The Range Busters ¡66
Monks ¡36 Pasolini’s Trilogy of Life ¡50 Rebel Highway Series ¡66
Mothra ¡36 Peanuts Series ¡50 Reincarnation ¡66
Moto, Mr. ¡36 Penitentiary Series ¡5¡ Relentless Series ¡66
Motorcycle Gangs ¡36 Penrod ¡5¡ Remakes of Foreign Films ¡67
Mountain Climbing ¡37 People Hunters/Human Prey ¡5¡ Renfrew of the Royal Mounted
Mounties ¡37 Personal Ads ¡5¡ ¡67
Movie Theaters ¡38 Persons in Hiding Series ¡5¡ Restaurants ¡68
Movies About Movies ¡38 Peyton Place Series ¡52 Return of the Living Dead Series
Movies Without Dialogue ¡39 Phantasm Series ¡52 ¡68
Multiple Personalities ¡39 Photographers ¡52 Revenge of the Nerds Series ¡69
Multiple Roles ¡40 Pianists ¡53 Revere, Johnny ¡69
The Mummy ¡40 Pickpockets ¡53 Riley, Dexter ¡69
The Muppets ¡4¡ Pigs ¡53 Riley, Old Mother ¡69
My Favorite… Series ¡4¡ Pinball/Video Games ¡54 Road Movies ¡69
The Naked Gun Series ¡4¡ The Pink Panther Series ¡54 RoboCop ¡70
National Lampoon’s Vacation Pirates ¡54 Robots ¡70
Series ¡42 Planet of the Apes Series ¡55 Rockford, Jim ¡70
Nemesis Series ¡42 Plants ¡55 Rocky ¡7¡
Neutron ¡42 Plastic Surgery ¡56 Rodan ¡7¡
The NeverEnding Story Series Poirot, Hercule ¡56 Rodents ¡7¡
¡42 Poison Ivy Series ¡56 Rodeos ¡72
Night Eyes Series ¡43 Police Academy Series ¡56 Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs
Night of the Demons Series ¡43 Police Story Series ¡57 ¡72
Night of the Living Dead Series Pool ¡57 Rohmer’s Moral Tales ¡72
¡43 Pop, Rock, and Country Singer Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons
Nightmare on Elm Street Series Biographies ¡57 ¡72
¡43 Popes and Cardinals ¡58 Roller Blade Seven Series ¡72
9∂ Weeks Series ¡44 Porky’s Series ¡58 Roller Skating/Skateboards ¡73
 TABLE OF CONTENTS xi

Room at the Top Series ¡73 Sometimes They Come Back… The Texas Rangers 203
The Rough Riders ¡73 Series ¡87 That’s Entertainment Series 203
Running ¡73 Somewhere Series ¡87 Theatrical Films Based on TV
Rusty ¡74 Spenser ¡87 Series 203
Ryan, Jack ¡74 Spiders ¡87 Theatrical Films Based on Video
Ryder, Red ¡74 Stairs ¡88 Games 204
Sabata ¡74 Star Trek Series ¡88 The Thin Man Series 204
The Saint ¡75 Star Wars Series ¡89 Three Colors Trilogy (Liberty,
St. Trinian’s Series ¡75 Statues Come to Life ¡89 Equality, Fraternity) 204
Samurai Trilogy ¡75 The Stepfather Series ¡89 3-D 205
Sanders, Commissioner Harry ¡76 The Stepford Wives ¡90 The Three Mesquiteers 205
El Santo ¡76 Stevens, Cat ¡90 The Three Musketeers 206
Sarah, Plain and Tall Series ¡77 Stores ¡90 3 Ninjas Series 206
Sartana ¡77 Strippers ¡90 Three Smart Girls Series 206
Scanners Series ¡77 Stunt People ¡9¡ Tibbs, Virgil 207
The Scarlet Pimpernel ¡77 Submarines ¡9¡ Time Travel 207
Scream Series ¡78 Subspecies Series ¡92 Titanic 207
Sea Serpents ¡78 Subways ¡92 TNT Bible Stories 208
Seals and Sea Lions ¡78 Suicide ¡92 Topper 208
Secret Games Series ¡79 Summer Camps ¡93 Tora-san 208
Serials into Features ¡79 Superfly ¡93 The Toxic Avenger 209
Sewers ¡80 Superman ¡93 Tracy, Dick 209
Sex Change ¡80 Surfing ¡94 The Trail Blazers 209
The Shadow ¡80 Surrogate Motherhood ¡94 Trains 209
Shadowchaser Series ¡8¡ Suspended Animation ¡94 Trancers Series 2¡0
Shaft, John ¡8¡ Swamps ¡95 Traveling Salespersons 2¡0
The Shaggy Dog Series ¡8¡ The Swan Princess Series ¡95 Trinity 2¡0
Sharks ¡8¡ Sword and Sorcery ¡95 Truck Drivers 2¡¡
Shayne, Michael ¡8¡ Talking Animals ¡96 Trumpet Players 2¡¡
Shoes ¡82 Tammy ¡96 Tunnels 2¡¡
Silent Night, Deadly Night Series Tarzan ¡96 Turtles 2¡2
¡82 Tattoos ¡97 Twins 2¡2
Simon’s Suites Series ¡82 Taxi Drivers ¡97 Two-Headed Creatures 2¡2
Sinbad the Sailor ¡83 Teen Apocalypse Trilogy ¡98 Unicorns 2¡3
The Six Million Dollar Man Series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universal Soldier Series 2¡3
¡83 ¡98 Uptown Saturday Night Series
Skiing ¡83 Telekinesis [Psychokinesis, or PK] 2¡3
Skydiving ¡84 ¡98 Vampires 2¡3
Slasher Movies ¡84 Telephones ¡99 Vance, Philo 2¡4
Sleepaway Camp Series ¡84 Teleportation ¡99 Ventriloquists 2¡5
Slumber Party Massacre Series Television ¡99 Veterinarians 2¡5
¡85 Television-Expanded Films 200 Vice Academy Series 2¡5
Smithee, Allen/Alan ¡85 Television Movie Sequels to The- Videotaped Films 2¡5
Smokey and the Bandit ¡85 atrical Films 200 Vietnam 2¡6
Snails and Slugs ¡85 Television Series Reunion Films Vigilantes 2¡6
SnakeEater Series ¡86 20¡ Vikings 2¡6
Snakes ¡86 Tennis 202 Violinists 2¡7
Soap Operas ¡86 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Viral Epidemics 2¡7
Soccer ¡86 Series 202 Volcanoes 2¡7
xii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Walking Tall Series 2¡8 Whales 220 The Wizard of Oz 222

The Waltons 2¡8 The Whistler 220 The Wolf Man 223
Warsaw Trilogy 2¡8 Whistling in the Dark Series 220 Wolfe, Nero 223
Watchers Series 2¡8 Who, Doctor 220 Wong, Mr. James Lee 223
Wax Museums 2¡8 Windmills 22¡ Wrestling 223
Welby, Marcus 2¡9 Witchboard Series 22¡ Year in Title 224
Wenders’ Road Movie Trilogy Witchcraft Series 22¡ Zombies 224
2¡9 Witches 22¡ Zoos 224
Werewolves 2¡9 Withers, Hildegarde 222 Zorro 225
 I N T RO D U C T I O N
This encyclopedia continues our never-ending task of cally or broadcast in their country of origin. Made-for-
categorizing movies by topics. Whereas many film books tell television movies are denoted with the abbreviation TVM.
you about a specific film, this work tells you about a specific If a film played theatrically after its broadcast premiere, we
topic and then provides a list of the movies that fall under still annotate it as a TV movie. The first title is the film’s
that topic. Therefore, you will not find a capsule review of most widely known U.S. title. Alternative titles, including
the ¡984 science fiction film C.H.U.D. But you will find the original foreign title if part of a series, are shown in
C.H.U.D. mentioned under the entries Acronyms in Title parentheses. The size of the film lists varies from three to
and Cannibalism and Sewers. After all, the title is an acro- eighty titles depending on the scope of the entry (i.e., few
nym (standing for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground movies have featured Gorgons; many films have taken
Dwellers), the main characters ate people for dinner, and place on Trains).
they resided in sewers. We have refrained from listing credits and plot sum-
We have defined over 670 categories, ranging from maries for each title. Most of the listed films can be found
film themes and series to settings, occupations, animals readily in mainstream reference works like Leonard Maltin’s
and happenstances. Each category, or entry, consists of two Movie & Video Guide, Halliwell’s Film and Video Guide, and
parts: a narrative description that defines the category and The Motion Picture Guide. More obscure films are likely to
a representative list of films in chronological order. be found in periodicals such as Variety or cult movie vol-
Typically, the narratives present an historic overview umes such as The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film.
of the entry or subcategorize the films within it. For ex- We have tried to compile an exhaustive list of En-
ample, the Television entry traces its treatment in films glish-language film series and, in the process, have included
from the early ¡930s to the present. The Gangsters (Real- information on well-documented characters such as Sher-
Life) entry discusses how various individuals have been lock Holmes and Tarzan. We have done this for two rea-
treated in the movies. At the conclusion of the narrative sons. First, new movies are continually being made about
portion of some entries, we have included “see also” refer- these popular characters (e.g., Disney’s ¡999 animated
ences to other entries. For example, the Abominable Tarzan). Secondly, we felt this book should be a one-stop
Snowman entry refers readers to the Bigfoot entry. We reference on film series, at least for some users. A film bu›
figure that if you’re interested in one type of large, hairy trying to find out the name of Charlton Heston’s only Sher-
beast, you might want some information on similar crea- lock Holmes film (it was the ¡99¡ TV movie The Crucifer
tures. of Blood) will find this a handy volume. A Holmesian
In addition to the “see also” references, the abbrevia- scholar seeking more explicit details would be advised to
tions q.v. or qq.v. may appear in parentheses following one seek a reference work devoted exclusively to the Baker
or more subjects mentioned in an entry’s narrative. A q.v. Street sleuth. We formed some general ground rules to
indicates that the subject in question appears as a separate limit the scope of the book to a manageable size:
entry elsewhere in the book. A qq.v. following a group of ¡. Most of the films listed are English-language pic-
subjects indicates that they all appear as separate entries. tures released during the sound era. Occasionally, we have
For example, the Plants entry notes that the Mummy (q.v.) included silent or foreign films to give the reader a histor-
was revived with tana leaves in some films. The (q.v.) in- ical or international perspective of the category. For exam-
forms readers that there is a separate entry for The ple, no write-up of Hood, Robin would be complete with-
Mummy. out mentioning the Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., ¡922 version.
The films within each entry are listed chronologically, 2. A notable exception to the above rule is the inclusion
their dates indicating when the films were released theatri- of popular foreign film series. For example, the Mexican

1
2 INTRODUCTION

wrestler Santo appeared in a film series spanning four 7. We included TV movies only if they were shown
decades, and many of these pictures have eventually shown originally in no more than two parts or were subsequently
up on American television. The Japanese Tora-san films are edited into a single film. Therefore, miniseries such as The
virtually unknown in the United States, but they comprise Thornbirds and The Stand were excluded. The theatrical
the longest running film series with the same star in the movie The Quatermass Conclusion, which was culled from
world. We have listed foreign series films under their most the British miniseries Quatermass, was included.
common English-language titles, although the original for- 8. Our cuto› point was movies released or broadcast
eign titles are shown as well. through August 2000.
3. We defined a series as three or more movies linked We have been delighted with the previous editions’ en-
by a recurring theme or characters. Thus, we did not in- thusiastic reception by readers and critics. We continue to
clude the films of Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers, receive many suggestions for additional entries and titles. To
or Laurel and Hardy. Their movies can be found in bio- that end, we have added over two hundred new entries to
graphical film reference books. For the same reason, we left the original edition published (as The Movie List Book) in
out Roy Rogers and Gene Autry — although they do play ¡990. We have also updated the lists with thousands of new
the same character (themselves) in most of their movies. B- titles. To our entries on film series, we have added the obvi-
Western fans can rest assured, however, that their favorite ous (the Highlander movies), the obscure (Roller Blade
genre is well represented by the Durango Kid, the Range Seven), and the o›beat (Mr. Vampire). Other new cate-
Busters, Red Ryder, and others. gories range from Bowling to Clocks and Watches to
4. If a category contains movies that are part of a se- Zorro. We work hard to double-check our entries, but mis-
ries, then we listed only the first film in the series and in- takes can still find their way into a volume of this size. We
cluded a “see also” reference to the corresponding film se- have corrected all known errata from the earlier editions.
ries entry. For example, only the first Death Wish film It would be di‡cult to acknowledge everyone who
appears under Vigilantes; a “see also” reference refers read- added a film or two, but there are some who made
ers to the Death Wish Series which lists the other Death Wish significant contributions. Readers Michael Will and Jeanna
movies. F. Gallo provided many excellent suggestions for the third
5. To avoid redundancy in the lists, we sometimes edition. Likewise, film bu› Kent Armstrong of Mitchell,
omitted remakes of movies already included. For example, Indiana, o›ered some useful recommendations. The Wis-
all the versions of And Then There Were None could be consin Center for Film Research in Madison gave us the
listed under Judges, but we figured readers would get the opportunity to view vintage films from its collection when
idea by just including the original film. Likewise, the Rab- compiling our original lists. We’d like to thank those peo-
bits entry includes only the first Hollywood sound version ple in the publishing business who worked on the various
of Alice in Wonderland and Disney’s animated adaptation — versions of this encyclopedia. Finally, we’d like to express
although the white rabbit played a significant role in all the our love and gratitude to our families and friends who have
Alice movies. provided steady support and encouragement over the years.
6. We have included many lengthy lists, but the sheer We heartily encourage reader correspondence,
size of others mandated their exclusion. For example, a whether it be corrections, recommended additions, or com-
narrative overview and a representative sampling of Civil ments over exclusions of favorite movies. Please address
War or World War II movies would require a write-up far your letters to us in care of the publisher.
beyond the scope of this book. On the other hand, there
are relatively few films about the Korean War and Vietnam.
Hence, we have included entries on them. We expect that Mary Willems Armstrong
our decisions on what to include and exclude will spark Richard B. Armstrong
some debate. Constructive criticism is most welcomed. Summer 2000
The Abominable Snowman Growth; F.I.S.T. (¡978) Federation of Interstate Truckers;
Also known as the Yeti, the Abominable Snowman is a hairy, C.H.O.M.P.S. (¡979) Canine Home Protection System;
H.E.A.L.T.H. (¡979) Happiness, Energy and Longevity Through
manlike creature reportedly inhabiting the Himalayas. His movie
Health; H.O.T.S. (¡979) Help Out the Seals; S*H*E (¡980 TVM)
appearances have been almost as scarce as Yeti photographs. His Security Hazards Expert; S.O.B. (¡98¡) Standard Operating Bull-
film debut was probably ¡954’s Snow Creature, a King Kong–in- shit; Looker (¡98¡) Light Ocular-Oriented Kinetic Emotive Re-
spired cheapie in which a Yeti is captured and brought back to sponses; T.A.G.: The Assassination Game (¡982); Angel of H.E.A.T.
Los Angeles (where he escapes, of course). Man Beast (¡955) kept (¡982) Harmony’s Elite Attack Team; M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against
the action in the Himalayas, but didn’t live up to its outrageous Drunk Driving (¡983 TVM); C.H.U.D. (¡984) Cannibalistic Hu-
ad campaign: “See women stalked and captured for breeding by manoid Underground Dwellers; R.S.V.P. (¡984) Répondez S’il
Vous Plait; D.A.R.Y.L. (¡985) Data Analyzing Robot Youth Life-
Yeti monsters!” A friendly snowman turned up unexpectedly at
form; C.A.T. Squad (¡986 TVM) Counter Assault Tactical Squad;
the earth’s core in the ¡993 TV movie Journey to the Center of the R.O.T.O.R. (¡988) Robotic O‡cer of Tactical Operations Re-
Earth. However, the only semi-intelligent film on the subject was search; B.O.R.N. (¡989) Body Organ Replacement Network; Navy
The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, scripted by sci-fi/fan- SEALS (¡990) Sea Air Land; Robo-C.H.I.C. (¡990) Computerized
tasy writer Nigel Kneale. The Yeti in Shriek of the Mutilated (¡974) Humanoid Intelligence Clone; Josh and S.A.M. (¡993) Strategically
turned out to be a man in a costume. See also Bigfoot. Altered Mutant; M.A.N.T.I.S. (¡994 TVM) Mechanically Aug-
mented Neuro-Transmitter System.; P.C.U. (¡994) Port Chester
Snow Creature (¡954); Half-Human (¡955); Man Beast (¡955);
University; S.F.W. (¡994) So F —-g What; A.P.E.X. (¡994) Ad-
The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (aka Abominable Snow-
vanced Prototype Extermination; D.R.O.P. Squad (¡994) Depro-
man) (¡957); The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964); Shriek of the Muti-
gramming and Restoration of Pride; F.T.W. (¡994) Frank T. Wells
lated (¡974); The Werewolf and the Yeti (aka Night of the Howling
or F--k the World; W.E.I.R.D. World (¡995 TVM) Wilson Emery
Beast) (¡976); Snowbeast (¡977 TVM); Yeti (¡977); Journey to the
Institute for Research and Development; Day of the Warrior (aka
Center of the Earth (¡993 TVM); To Catch a Yeti (¡995); Bigfoot:
L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Day of the Warrior) (¡996) Legion to Ensure
The Unforgettable Encounter (¡995)
Total Harmony and Law; Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (¡998
TVM) Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-En-
Acronyms and Abbreviations in Title forcement Division; DWM (¡999) Divorced White Male; Titan
The nondescriptive nature of abbreviations has made them un- A.E. (2000) After Earth
popular title choices, especially among theater owners. They have
been the ones forced to field complaints from irritated patrons, Ad Lines (Selected)
such as the ones distraught to discover that Sylvester Stallone’s As a general rule, bad movies have the best ad lines — which makes
F.I.S.T. was not a boxing film (but the story of a truckers’ union). a lot of sense when you think about it. After all, if the movie
Still, that has not deterred the occasional use of acronym titles. stinks, then there must be something else — like a catchy adver-
Studios concerned about pronounceable titles have shown a pref- tising phrase — to lure unsuspecting patrons into the theater.
erence toward acronyms that spelled familiar words, as in the case That’s why some of the most memorable (and tasteless) ad lines
of D.A.R.Y.L. and M*A*S*H. In addition to film titles, acronyms come from bottom-of-the-barrel horror flicks like The Driller
have been used extensively in screenplays. For example, in Our Killer (“Several pints of blood will spill when teenage girls con-
Man Flint and In Like Flint, secret agent Derek Flint ( James front his drill”). Of course, a clever phrase can still accompany a
Coburn) worked for Z.O.W.I.E.—Zonal Organization on World big-budgeted science fiction film (Alien: “In space, no one can
Intelligence Espionage. On TV and in the movies, Robert Vaughn hear you scream”) or a cult classic (I Walked with a Zombie: “She’s
and David McCallum worked for U.N.C.L.E., which stood for alive … yet dead! She’s dead … yet alive!”). Some of the cinema’s
United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. more memorable ad lines:
The Bride Came C.O.D. (¡94¡) Cash on Delivery; O.S.S. “Out of the dark fantastic madness of his science … He created
(¡946) O‡ce of Strategic Services; D.O.A. (¡950) Dead on Arrival; them! Pig-Men … Wolf-Women…Thoughtful Human Apes —
The D.I. (¡957) Drill Instructor; A Matter of W.H.O. (aka A Matter and His Masterpiece … The Panther Woman … Throbbing to the
of Who) (¡96¡) World Health Organization; The V.I.P.s (¡963) Very hot flush of new found love!” Island of Lost Souls (¡933); “Jungle
Important Persons; The T.A.M.I. Show (¡964) Teenage Awards love tease! Bob Preston tears the heart out of Preston Foster by
Music International; Agent for H.A.R.M. (¡966) Human Aetiologi- making jungle love to exciting Dorothy Lamour under that burning
cal Relations Machine; U.M.C. (aka Operation Heartbeat) (¡969 Burma moon!” Moon Over Burma (¡940); “Bing Bong! Bing Bong!
TVM) University Medical Center; M*A*S*H (¡970) Mobile Army With song and sarong they hit the gong!” The Road to Singapore
Surgical Hospital; R.P.M. (¡970) Revolutions Per Minute; F.T.A. (¡940); “Kiss me and I’ll claw you to death.” The Cat People (¡942);
(¡972) Free (or F--k) The Army; Z.P.G. (¡972) Zero Population “How’d you like to tussle with Russell?” The Outlaw (¡943); “Body

3
4 ADDRESSES IN TITLE

of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!” I Was a Hell’s Angels (¡930) also featured magnificent dogfight footage, but
Teenage Frankenstein (¡957); “It crawls! It creeps!” The Blob (¡958); is best remembered for launching Jean Harlow’s career (her fa-
“You’ll be sick, sick, sick from laughing!” A Bucket of Blood (¡959); mous line: “Do you mind if I slip into something more com-
“Beware the beat of cloth wrapped feet!” The Mummy (¡959); “Just
fortable?”). Despite their now-dated techniques, these World War
ring for doom service!” Horror Hotel (aka The City of the Dead)
(¡960); “Beware the eyes that paralyze.” Children of the Damned I aerial actioners, along with both versions of The Dawn Patrol,
(¡964); “They’re young … they’re in love … and they kill people.” still surpass similar films made in the ¡960s and ¡970s (e.g., The
Bonnie and Clyde (¡967); “The story of a homosexual who married Blue Max, Aces High, Von Richthofen and Brown). The plight of
a nymphomaniac.” The Music Lovers (¡97¡); “You have nothing to air mail flyers proved an equally popular subject in the ¡930s, with
lose but your mind.” Asylum (¡972); “To avoid fainting, keep re- such memorable e›orts as Air Mail, Ceiling Zero, and Only An-
peating: It’s only a movie … it’s only a movie …” The Last House gels Have Wings (the latter two directed by Howard Hawks). Air-
on the Left (¡972); “They’ll love the very lives out of your body!”
planes played a strictly supporting role in most World War II pic-
Invasion of the Bee Girls (¡973); “If this movie doesn’t make you
scream and squirm, you’d better see a psychiatrist — quick!” They tures, although Hawks’ Air Force and (much later) Battle of Britain
Came from Within (aka The Parasite Murders; Shivers) (¡975); “The gave them proper recognition. Interest in aviation had hit a low
only thing more terrifying than the last twelve minutes of this film ceiling when, in ¡954, Wellman’s The High and the Mighty trans-
are the first 80.” Suspiria (¡976); “Just when you thought it was planted Grand Hotel drama into the clouds and added a gener-
safe to go back into the water.” Jaws 2 (¡978); “Roses are red. Vio- ous dose of in-flight disaster. This successful formula was not
lets are blue. ‘My Bloody Valentine’ is absolute grue.” My Bloody fully exploited until ¡6 years later, when Ross Hunter mounted
Valentine (¡98¡); “The story of a man who wanted to keep the
world safe for democracy — and meet girls.” Stripes (¡98¡); “Her-
an expensive adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s best seller Airport
bert West has a very good head on his shoulders — and another one (q.v.). This time, a mass of second-class imitators flooded the
in his desk.” Re-Animator (¡985); “So young! So bad! So what?” screens, including three Airport sequels and eventually the highly-
Reform School Girls (¡986); “Like father, like son, like hell.” At successful spoof Airplane! (¡980). Undoubtedly, the most bizarre
Close Range (¡986); “Sleep all day, party all night. It’s fun to be a airplane disaster film was the ¡972 TV movie The Horror at
vampire.” The Lost Boys (¡987); “There are no limits.” Hellraiser 37,000 Feet, in which a sacrificial druid stone unleashed evil spir-
(¡987); “A comedy about sex, murder, and seafood.” A Fish Called its on screeching passengers. Films about real-life aviators have
Wanda (¡988); “You have the right to remain silent … forever!”
Maniac Cop (¡988); “Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on been scarce, consisting primarily of The Spirit of St. Louis (Charles
gas.” Army of Darkness (aka Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3) (¡993); Lindbergh), The Winds of Kitty Hawk (the Wright Brothers),
“All Singing! All Dancing! All Flesh Eating!” Cannibal! The Musical Amelia Earhart, Flight for Freedom (Earhart again), The Right Stu›
(¡996); “U-Turn, U-die!” Trucks (¡997 TVM); “Size does matter!” (Chuck Yeager), Pancho Barnes, and The Wings of Eagles (Frank
Godzilla (¡998); “The sequel with balls!” Phantasm: Oblivion (aka “Spig” Wead). Jet pilots can also lay claim to being ignored in
Phantasm IV: Oblivion; Phantasm: oblIVion) (¡998) favor of fictional dogfight specialists. Howard Hughes’ Jet Pilot sat
on the shelf for seven years before its ¡957 release. Clint East-
Addresses in Title wood’s high-tech Firefox fared better, but it took ¡986’s Top Gun
Street addresses have been used infrequently for movie titles, to give the jet pilot his proper recognition. However, Tom Cruise’s
probably since they don’t provide much in the way of description. cocky hero (“I feel the need — the need for speed!”) was a far cry
Still, Gary Cooper played a nagging husband who found solace from the serious aviators portrayed in the films of Hawks,
with younger woman Suzy Parker at Ten North Frederick (¡958). Hughes, and Wellman. While the jets in these latter films looked
A murder occurred at ¡0 Rillington Place (¡97¡), a fact-based ac- impressive, none of them compared favorably with the Batplane
count of the Christie-Evans case which ended capital punishment from ¡989’s Batman in terms of sheer aesthetic design. But, alas,
in Britain. On the lighter side, Anthony Hopkins and Anne Ban- the Batplane proved to be just a pretty package when the Joker
croft formed a lasting friendship through exchanging letters shot it down with his long-barreled hand gun. Plane crashes have
mailed to 84 Charing Cross Road (the address of Hopkins’ book- played important roles in several memorable yarns, most notably
store). Lost Horizon, Back from Eternity, Fate Is the Hunter, Phone Call
Forty-Second Street (¡933); ¡5 Malden Lane (¡936); 52nd Street from a Stranger, Fearless, The Edge, A Simple Plan, and The Flight
(¡937); ¡3 Rue Madeleine (¡946); Green Dolphin Street (¡947); Dul- of the Phoenix. In the latter film, James Stewart and his fellow
cimer Street (aka London Belongs to Me) (¡948); 7¡¡ Ocean Drive crash survivors escaped from the desert by building a mini-plane
(¡950); Sunset Boulevard (¡950); 99 River Street (¡953); Ten North from the wreckage. On a lighter note, Flying Down to Rio deserves
Frederick (¡958); ¡3 West Street (¡962); Madison Avenue (¡962); ¡0
an honorable mention for its delirious dance number featuring
Rillington Place (¡97¡); ¡¡ Harrowhouse (aka Anything for Love; Fast
Fortune) (¡974); Hester Street (¡975); Hanover Street (¡979); Can- chorines high-stepping on top of an airplane’s wings. See also
nery Row (¡982); Half Moon Street (¡986); 84 Charing Cross Road Airport Series; Balloons, Hot Air; Dirigibles; Helicopters; Iron
(¡987); ¡02 Boulevard Haussman (¡990); 29th Street (¡99¡) Eagle Series; Skydiving.
Wings (¡927); Hell’s Angels (¡930); The Dawn Patrol (aka Flight
Airplanes Commander) (¡930); Air Mail (¡932); Christopher Strong (¡933);
Airplanes have provided the setting or functioned as the focal Flying Down to Rio (¡933); Central Airport (¡933); Ceiling Zero
(¡935); Wings in the Dark (¡935); China Clipper (¡936); Non-Stop
point for dozens of movies. Early e›orts typically revolved around
New York (¡937); Lost Horizon (¡937); Sky Giant (¡938); The Dawn
the adventures of World War I dogfight pilots or pioneer air mail Patrol (¡938); Men with Wings (¡938); Five Came Back (¡939); Only
carriers. William Wellman’s Wings (¡927), the first film to win a Angels Have Wings (¡939); Flight Angels (¡940); Dive Bomber (¡94¡);
Best Picture Oscar, established the standard for combat flying se- Spitfire (aka First of the Few) (¡942); Flight for Freedom (¡943); Air
quences and sealed Gary Cooper’s stardom. Howard Hughes’ Force (¡943); Gallant Journey (¡946); Broken Journey (¡948); Chain
 ALCOHOLISM 5

Lightning (¡950); Breaking the Sound Barrier (aka The Sound Bar- Airport (¡970); Airport ¡975 (¡974); Airport ’77 (¡977); The
rier) (¡952); Phone Call from a Stranger (¡952); The High and the Concorde: Airport ’79 (aka Airport ’79) (¡979)
Mighty (¡954); Escapade (¡955); Back from Eternity (¡956); Zero
Hour (¡957); Bombers B-52 (¡957); The Spirit of St. Louis (¡957); Aladdin Series
The Wings of Eagles (¡957); Jet Pilot (¡957); Wings of Chance (¡96¡);
Fate Is the Hunter (¡964); Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Disney followed up its Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast
Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours ¡¡ Min- with this colorful, tune-filled Arabian Nights tale. Thanks to a
utes (aka Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines) (¡965); clever bit of casting — Robin Williams as a wisecracking genie
The Doomsday Flight (¡966 TVM); The Flight of the Phoenix (¡966); with a knack for impersonations —Aladdin quickly become Dis-
The Blue Max (¡966); Battle of Britain (¡969); Airport (¡970); Von ney’s most successful animated film. Yet, just two years later, its
Richthofen and Brown (aka The Red Baron) (¡970); Terror in the Sky impressive box-o‡ce tallies would be eclipsed by ¡994’s The Lion
(¡97¡ TVM); Wild in the Sky (aka Black Jack) (¡97¡); Only One More King. Except for Williams’ seemingly ad-libbed scenes, Aladdin
Day Left Before Tomorrow (aka How to Steal an Airplane) (¡97¡
relies heavily on the animated musical formula originated in The
TVM); Skyjacked (aka Sky Terror) (¡972); The Horror at 37,000
Feet (¡972 TVM); Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (¡973); The Great Little Mermaid (¡989) and perfected in Beauty and the Beast (¡99¡).
Waldo Pepper (¡975); Amelia Earhart (¡976 TVM); Aces High (¡977); All three films feature young lovers kept apart, cute supporting
Flight to Holocaust (¡977 TVM); Crash (¡978 TVM); The Winds of characters, big production numbers, and a soaring ballad. In Al-
Kitty Hawk (¡978 TVM); Cloud Dancer (¡980); Airplane! (¡980); addin, the lovers are Aladdin and Jasmine (who are both a bit
Firefox (¡982); Airplane 2: The Sequel (¡982); The Right Stu› bland). The cute supporting characters include a charismatic
(¡983); Tail of the Tiger (¡984); The Aviator (¡985); International magic carpet and a mischievous monkey named Abu. The big
Airport (¡985 TVM); Top Gun (¡986); Iron Eagle (¡986); Pancho production number, courtesy of Williams, is a “A Friend Like
Barnes (¡988 TVM); Batman (¡989); Party Plane (¡989); Slipstream
(¡989); Die Hard 2 (aka Die Hard 2: Die Harder) (¡990); Memphis Me.” And the ballad is the Oscar-winning song “A Whole New
Belle (¡990); Miracle Landing (¡990 TVM); Crash: The Mystery of World” (which became a hit single for Peabo Bryson and Regina
Flight ¡50¡ (¡990 TVM); The Tragedy of Flight ¡03: The Inside Story Belle). Despite several impressive sequences, the formula grows
(¡990 TVM); Hot Shots! (¡99¡); Into the Sun (¡992); Passenger 57 tiresome as the film progresses. Even the songs cannot match the
(¡992); Alive (¡993); Fearless (¡993); Nurses on the Line: The Crash two previous Disney animated outings, perhaps because lyricist
of Flight 7 (¡993 TVM); Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 77¡ Howard Ashman died during production (and was replaced by
(¡993 TVM); Final Mission (¡994); Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight Tim Rice). Some critics suggested that Williams deserved an
(¡994 TVM); Terminal Velocity (¡994); The Tuskegee Airmen (¡995
Oscar nomination for his voice work, but the Academy did not
TVM); Fly Away Home (¡996); Angel Flight Down (¡996 TVM);
Executive Decision (¡996); Hijacked: Flight 285 (¡996 TVM); Pan- concur. Spurred by huge videotape sales, Disney produced an an-
dora’s Clock (¡996 TVM); Alaska (¡996); Turbulence (¡997); Con Air imated Saturday morning TV series in ¡993. It featured Dan
(¡997); The Edge (¡997); Air Force One (¡997); Six Days, Seven Castellaneta (Homer on The Simpsons) as the voice of the genie.
Nights (¡998); A Simple Plan (¡998); A Wing and a Prayer (¡998 Several episodes were later edited into a direct-to-video “movie”
TVM); Pushing Tin (¡999); Wild Wild West (¡999); Fly Boy (¡999) The Return of Jafar. Its success subsequently prompted a second
videotape feature, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which marked
Airport Series Robin Williams’ return as the genie. See also Animated Movies
Ross Hunter’s glossy adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s best-seller has (Feature-Length); Genies.
a lot to answer for, although it was little more than a slight vari- Aladdin (¡992); The Return of Jafar (¡994); Aladdin and the
ation of William Wellman’s The High and the Mighty (¡954). In King of Thieves (¡996)
addition to begetting three progressively inane sequels, Airport
refined the all-stars-in-peril formula that kicked o› the disaster Alcoholism
movie (q.v.) craze of the ¡970s. On its own terms, Airport was a The plight of the problem drinker has been glossed over by most
slick entertainment package that a›orded Helen Hayes another major Hollywood pictures. Even Billy Wilder’s landmark portrait
opportunity to win an Oscar. Burt Lancaster, as the dependable of an alcoholic, ¡945’s The Lost Weekend, ended on an upbeat
chief of airport operations, headed a cast that also included Dean note with Ray Milland’s “hero” indicating that he’s on the road
Martin as a pilot, Jacqueline Bisset as a stewardess (and Dean’s to recovery. Still, Wilder’s film broke new ground with its
mistress), Van Heflin as a bomber, and sturdy George Kennedy as straightforward treatment—Milland begging for drinks, stealing a
Burt’s right-hand man. Kennedy was the only one who returned woman’s purse, experiencing D.T.s, etc. The female side of alco-
for Airport ¡975, a silly sequel requiring stewardess Karen Black holism followed three years later, with Susan Hayward giving a
to take over the jet’s controls after a midair collision. Charlton He- mannered performance in Smash-up, the Story of a Woman. Bing
ston gave her support from the sidelines, while the all-star pas- Crosby, playing against type, gave one of the best performances
senger list included Helen Reddy as a singing nun (q.v.) and of his career as a singer battling the bottle in the film version of
Linda Blair as a sick kid. Airport ’77 sent a jet crashing into the Cli›ord Odets’ The Country Girl (¡954). Once again, though, an
ocean, while The Concorde: Airport ’79 featured Robert Wagner optimistic ending blunted the film’s impact, with Grace Kelly
as a ruthless tycoon out to destroy the jet. George Kennedy stood passing up caring William Holden to stay with unreliable hus-
around in these films as well, just to lend some consistency to the band Crosby. Blake Edwards’ The Days of Wine and Roses (¡962)
proceedings. Oddly, the films never spawned a TV series, perhaps injected a jolt of realism into its depressing story of married al-
because the ill-fated ¡970-7¡ San Francisco International Airport coholics. After introducing wife Lee Remick to the “pleasures” of
had already beaten the producers to the punch. See also Air- drinking, Jack Lemmon becomes a reformed drinker by joining
planes; Disaster Movies. Alcoholics Anonymous. His wife lacks his strength, however, and
6 ALDRICH, HENRY

her alcoholism keeps them apart. The drawing power of the stars What a Life (¡939); Life with Henry (¡94¡); Henry Aldrich for
made the film a hit, but few producers in the ¡960s were inter- President (¡94¡); Henry and Dizzy (¡942); Henry Aldrich, Editor
ested in duplicating its downbeat ending. Subsequently, movies (¡943); Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (¡943); Henry Aldrich Haunts a
House (¡943); Henry Aldrich Swings It (¡943); Henry Aldrich, Boy
about alcoholism moved to television where they flourished dur-
Scout (¡944); Henry Aldrich’s Little Secret (¡944); Henry Aldrich
ing the ¡970s and ¡980s. Veteran TV nice guys Dick Van Dyke, Plays Cupid (¡944)
David Janssen, and Andy Gri‡th played self-destructive drunks
in The Morning After (¡974), A Sensitive, Passionate Man (¡977),
and Under the Influence (¡986), respectively. Linda Blair, who
Alien Series
battled a demon in The Exorcist, fought her own alcoholic demons The four Alien films provide hard evidence that stylish thrills can
in ¡975’s then-topical Sarah T.— Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic. make big audiences overlook repetitive, mundane plotting bor-
James Woods played the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in rowed from a forgotten ¡958 sci-fi feature. That latter film was
the fact-based TV biography My Name Is Bill W. (¡989). Back on the low-budget It! The Terror from Beyond Space, a tidy program-
the big screen, Nicolas Cage earned a Best Actor Oscar for play- mer about a Martian monster which stows away on a U.S. space-
ing an incredibly self-destructive alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas ship and proceeds to dispose of the crew members one by one.
(¡995). Dozens of movies, not principally about alcoholism, have Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon served up the same storyline, albeit
featured main characters inflicted with the disease. Some of the with a pleasant twist, in ¡979’s Alien. The film’s popular success,
most memorable performances have come from Albert Finney in though, can be attributed to Sigourney Weaver’s likable heroine
Under the Volcano (¡984), Dudley Moore in Arthur (¡98¡), and Ripley, director Ridley Scott’s old-fashioned dark corridor chills,
Errol Flynn as John Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon (¡958). See and the sharp special e›ects (especially H. R. Giger’s terrifying
also Drug Addiction. creature). The ¡986 sequel was a vast improvement, primarily
due to director James Cameron’s instinctive feel for the genre (he
The Lost Weekend (¡945); Smash-up, the Story of a Woman (aka
A Woman Destroyed) (¡948); Come Fill the Cup (¡95¡); Something to was coming o› ¡984’s smash The Terminator). Aliens takes place
Live For (¡952); The Country Girl (¡954); I’ll Cry Tomorrow (¡955); 57 years after Alien and finds Ripley, the original’s lone human
The Bottom of the Bottle (¡956); The Voice in the Mirror (¡958); The survivor, in hibernation. It’s not long, though, before she returns
Days of Wine and Roses (¡962); The Fire Within (¡963); The Late to the planet where the creature was found — and discovers that
Liz (¡97¡); The Morning After (¡974 TVM); Sarah T.— Portrait of a it was not an only child! Ripley also finds a little girl and gets to
Teenage Alcoholic (¡975 TVM); A Sensitive, Passionate Man (¡977 display her maternal instincts in a terrific showdown with the
TVM); A Cry for Love (¡980 TVM); The Boy Who Drank Too Much “mother of all aliens.” It’s the highlight of the series and would
(¡980 TVM); Special Treatment (¡980); Life of the Party: The Story have made a fitting conclusion. Unfortunately, Weaver returned
of Beatrice (¡982 TVM); Under the Influence (¡986 TVM); Shat- for the depressing Alien3, which begins and ends with the deaths
tered Spirits (¡987 TVM); The Betty Ford Story (¡987 TVM); My
of the series’ most endearing characters. Ripley spends almost the
Name Is Bill W. (¡989 TVM); Torch Song (¡993 TVM); When a
Man Loves a Woman (¡994); My Name Is Kate (¡994 TVM); Leav- entire film on a prison planet where the disbelieving inmates are
ing Las Vegas (¡995); Drunks (¡995); No Laughing Matter (¡998 being devoured in Agatha Christie–like fashion. Director David
TVM) Fincher, a music video veteran at the time, created a grimy, murky
atmosphere, but displayed no gifts for storytelling or chill-creat-
Aldrich, Henry ing. The downbeat climax put an apparent end to the series.
“Wimmen — they bore me!” proclaimed the ad to Henry Aldrich However, Alien Resurrection (¡997) brought back Ripley (well, a
Gets Glamour, thus separating Henry from rival film teen, and clone of her) so scientists could remove an alien baby from her
renowned girl chaser, Andy Hardy (q.v.). Yet, for the most part, womb. Unfortunately, like Alien3 , the fourth installment was a
the Henry Aldrich series was Paramount’s B-movie answer to box-o‡ce disappointment and put an end to the series. Weaver
MGM’s more successful Andy Hardy films. Ezra Stone originated played Ripley in all four films, with Lance Henriksen as the
the character in Cli›ord Goldsmith’s ¡937 Broadway play What Bishop androids in the second and third chapters.
a Life. It spawned a popular radio program (also with Stone) and Alien (¡979); Aliens (¡986); Alien3 (¡992); Alien Resurrection
a big screen version, adapted by Billy Wilder and Charles Brack- (¡997)
ett and starring veteran child actor Jackie Cooper as Henry. Two
years later, Cooper and co-star Eddie Bracken (as pal Dizzy) re- The Alilenas
turned to their roles in Life with Henry (“You’ll get a bang out of These twin six-inch princesses hailed from Infant Island, home
Henry and his gang!”). But Paramount sought a fresh face for its of the giant caterpillar Mothra (q.v.). They had the power to sum-
third installment and introduced Jimmy Lydon as Henry in ¡94¡’s mon Mothra, which unfortunately required them to talk (which
Henry Aldrich for President. Lydon, who had made an impact two they did in unison — a very irritating habit). Stars Emi and Yumi
years earlier in Tom Brown’s Schooldays, was the ideal choice for Ito recorded songs in Japan as the Peanuts Sisters. In later films,
the bumbling, likable Henry. He made nine films, supported by the Infant Island princesses were known by di›erent names and
Charles Smith as Dizzy, John Litel as his stern father, and Olive played by di›erent actresses. They were called the Cosmos in
Blakeney as his mother. Like the Hardy films, the series ended Godzilla vs. Mothra (¡992) and the Aliases in Mothra (¡996) and
shortly after World War II. However, in ¡949, original author Mothra 2 (¡997). See also Mothra.
Goldsmith revived his characters in the half-hour TV series The Mothra (aka Mosura) (¡962); Godzilla vs. The Thing (aka
Aldrich Family. It ran for four years and starred five di›erent ac- Godzilla vs. Mothra; Godzilla tai Mothra) (¡964); Ghidrah, the
tors as Henry. Three-Headed Monster (aka The Greatest Battle on Earth; Sandai
 AMNESIA 7

Kaiju Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) (¡965); Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster Three Sisters (¡970); The Iceman Cometh (¡973); The Home-
(aka Ebriah-Terror of the Deep; Nankai No Dai Ketto) (¡966); coming (¡973); A Delicate Balance (¡973); Galileo (¡973); Rhinoceros
Godzilla vs. Mothra (aka Gojira vs. Mothra) (¡992); Mothra (aka (¡974); Butley (¡974); Luther (¡974); Lost in the Stars (¡974); The
Mosura) (¡996); Mothra 2 (aka Mosura 2 — Kaitei No Daikessen; Man in the Glass Booth (¡975); In Celebration (¡975)
Mothra 2 — Showdown Beneath the Sea) (¡997)
American Ninja Series
Alligators and Crocodiles Title tells all in this Cannon Films action series about a U.S. sol-
These much-maligned reptiles made their mark in horror films, dier schooled in ninja-style martial arts. Michael Dudiko› played
but are more fondly remembered for their dancing and comedic quiet-but-lethal Joe Armstrong in the first two films. Karate ex-
talents. Dancing gators performed a ballet parody in the “Dance pert David Bradley, portraying a di›erent character, took over in
of the Hours” sequence from Disney’s Fantasia. A pet alligator ¡989’s American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt. Both Dudiko› and Bradley
played cupid for a young British couple in the ¡955 romantic com- appeared in the fourth entry, which found Dudiko› coming out
edy An Alligator Named Daisy. Daisy proved to be a gifted comic, of “retirement” to rescue captive Bradley. In American Ninja 5
especially in the scene where she was discovered in an upright (¡993), Bradley joins forces with Lee Reyes, a former junior karate
piano. Prior to writing and directing intellectual fare like Mate- champion. Steve James appeared as the hero’s two-fisted sidekick
wan and Eight Men Out, John Sayles penned ¡980’s Alligator, a in the first three movies. For other martial arts films, see Best of
campy horror picture about a giant alligator running amok in the Best Series; Bloodfist Series; The Karate Kid; Kickboxer
Chicago’s sewers. Between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pol- Series; and No Retreat, No Surrender Series.
tergeist, director Tobe Hooper made Eaten Alive, a barely-released American Ninja (¡985); American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
film about a Louisiana hotel owner who feeds unwelcome guests (¡987); American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (¡989); American Ninja 4:
to his pet crocodile. After creating TV series like Ally McBeal and The Annihilation (¡99¡); American Ninja 5 (¡993)
The Practice, David E. Kelley wrote the screenplay for Lake Placid
(¡999), a horror-comedy about a 30-foot-long crocodile. Stephen Amityville Series
McNally really kept alligators in the moat of The Black Castle, In ¡979, American International Pictures turned Jay Anson’s al-
while Whit Bissell was dead serious when he threatened to throw legedly nonfiction best seller about a haunted house, The Ami-
victims to the alligators in I Was a Teenage Frankenstein. Richard tyville Horror, into its biggest hit. It was a sorry excuse for a hor-
Crane slowly turned into an alligator in ¡959’s The Alligator Peo- ror picture, despite the presence of the once-reliable Rod Steiger
ple, a sobering little horror picture with a most sympathetic mon- as a troubled priest. The ¡982 sequel, Amityville: The Possession,
ster. Crocodile Dundee is the most famous “croc” hunter while turned out to be a prequel — but no one really cared either way.
Tarzan (q.v.) surely holds the record for most crocodile wrestling The third installment, Amityville 3-D (¡983), made no attempt
matches. James Bond (Roger Moore) disguised himself as a croc- to connect itself with the first two films. Its box-o‡ce failure (de-
odile to infiltrate a secret hideout in ¡983’s Octopussy. spite the added allure of 3-D) apparently signaled the end of a the-
Fantasia (¡940); The Black Castle (¡952); Peter Pan (¡953); An atrical series. The series moved briefly to television, with the ¡989
Alligator Named Daisy (¡955); I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (¡957); Patty Duke–Jane Wyatt movie Amityville: The Evil Escapes, be-
Naked Earth (¡958); The Alligator People (¡959); The Three Worlds fore finding its niche with additional direct-to-videotape entries.
of Gulliver (¡960); The Happiest Millionaire (¡967); Live and Let
Die (¡973); 99 and 44/¡00% Dead (aka Call Harry Crown) (¡974); See also Ghosts; House Series.
Eaten Alive (aka Starlight Slaughter; Death Trap; Horror Hotel Mas- The Amityville Horror (¡979); Amityville: The Possession (¡982);
sacre; Legend of the Bayou) (¡976); The Rescuers (¡977); Crocodile Amityville 3-D (aka Amityville: The Demon) (¡983); Amityville: The
(¡979); Alligator (¡980); The Great Alligator (¡980); Octopussy Evil Escapes (¡989 TVM); The Amityville Curse (¡990); Amityville
(¡983); Romancing the Stone (¡984); Crocodile Dundee (¡986); All ¡992: It’s About Time (¡992); Amityville: A New Generation (¡993);
Dogs Go to Heaven (¡989); Howling VI: The Freaks (¡99¡); Alligator Amityville: Dollhouse (¡996)
II: The Mutation (¡99¡); Jumanji (¡995); Happy Gilmore (¡996);
The Legend of Gator Face (¡996); Eraser (¡996); Gone Fishin’ (¡997); Amnesia
Wild America (¡997); Lake Placid (¡999)
A plot device staple, despite its unlikely real-life occurrence, am-
nesia has shown no favoritism toward any particular genre nor sex.
American Film Theatre Presentations Screen legend Greta Garbo made it fashionable for women to
Producer Ely Landau created the American Film Theatre (AFT) forget their identities in ¡932’s As You Desire Me, thus inspiring
in ¡972 as a vehicle for preserving quality plays on film while other actresses to ponder “Who am I?” A sample roster spans five
concurrently introducing these notable works to large audiences. decades and includes Jennifer Jones (Love Letters), Ava Gardner
His project attracted a number of outstanding performers, such (Singapore), Karen Valentine (Jane Doe), and Lindsay Wagner
as Fredric March (The Iceman Cometh), Alan Bates (Butley), (Stranger in My Bed). Males have proven to be equally forgetful,
Katharine Hepburn (A Delicate Balance), and Maximilian Schell especially William Powell and Gregory Peck, both of whom
(Oscar nominated for The Man in the Glass Booth). Although su›ered two bouts of amnesia (Powell in I Love You Again and
Laurence Olivier’s Three Sisters was released as part of the series Crossroads, Peck in Spellbound and Mirage). Greer Garson, who
in ¡974, it was actually made independently and released in dealt with Ronald Colman’s loss of memory in Random Harvest
Britain in ¡970. The AFT films were originally distributed to (¡942), experienced it herself earlier in Remember? (¡939). In an
movie theaters on a subscription basis. Despite critical acclaim, unusual plot twist, she and Robert Taylor played a bickering cou-
the series folded in ¡975. ple who take a potion that causes amnesia and then wind up
8 ANDROIDS AND CYBORGS

falling in love again. Amnesia has also separated lovers in high- Scream Again. However, artificial humans such as these remain
class soap operas like Random Harvest, Love Letters, and Singapore. rare, with most movie androids hailing from the human-like robot
It’s hard to remember many amnesiac comedies, although Des- school. In Fritz Lang’s highly influential Metropolis (¡925), a mad
perately Seeking Susan and The Road to Hong Kong spring to mind scientist kidnapped a peace-minded tunnel worker and replaced
with little di‡culty. The most interesting amnesiac plots have ap- her with a trouble-making robot lookalike. Androids ran amok
peared in mysteries and espionage thrillers. Gregory Peck played in a fantasy resort in Michael Crichton’s Westworld (¡973) and its
the new head of an asylum who turns out to be an imposter with semi-sequel Futureworld (¡976). Men replaced their female com-
amnesia in Hitchcock’s Spellbound (¡945). Warner Baxter’s The panions with more easily controlled androids in The Stepford
Crime Doctor (q.v.) was a sleuthing psychologist who had been a Wives (¡975) and Cherry 2000 (¡988), although the hero of the
master criminal before being reformed by amnesia. Unethical latter film ultimately chose Melanie Gri‡th over his robot lover.
psychiatrist Tony Perkins tried to manipulate amnesiac killer Some androids, such as the “replicants” in Blade Runner (¡982),
Charles Bronson into murdering his wife’s lover in the ¡97¡ thriller gradually became so human-like as to question their own iden-
Someone Behind the Door. James Garner, unable to remember his tities. Androids far outnumber their relatives, the cyborgs. The
name, saw a Budweiser truck and an airplane and decided to call term “cyborg,” a contraction of “cybernetic organism,” describes
himself Mister Buddwing (¡966). It was certainly one of the more a hybrid between man and machine. Television’s The Six Million
commercial films of its time. Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman brought fame to cyborgs. In-
As You Desire Me (¡932); Remember? (¡939); Missing Ten Days deed, the pilot movie for The Six Million Dollar Man (q.v.) (¡973)
(aka Spy in the Pantry; Ten Days in Paris) (¡939); I Love You Again was originally called Cyborg. Technically, former Jedi knight Darth
(¡940); Crossroads (¡942); Dr. Gillespie’s New Assistant (¡942); Street Vader had become a cyborg by the time Luke Skywalker en-
of Chance (¡942); Random Harvest (¡942); The Crime Doctor countered him for the first time in Star Wars (¡977). Likewise, the
(¡943); Two O’Clock Courage (¡945); Identity Unknown (¡945); Tin Man was one when he and Dorothy met in The Wizard of
Love Letters (¡945); Spellbound (¡945); The Unknown (¡946); Some-
where in the Night (¡946); While I Live (aka The Dream of Olwen) Oz (¡939). In futuristic Detroit, a cop left for dead was trans-
(¡947); Singapore (¡947); High Wall (¡947); Lost Honeymoon (¡947); formed into the cyborgic crimefighter RoboCop, one of the most
Girl in the Painting (aka Portrait from Life) (¡948); Shadow on the popular movie heroes of ¡987. RoboCop, together with the inex-
Wall (¡950); The Woman with No Name (¡950); A Tale of Five pensive Cyborg (¡989), inspired a ¡990s “mini-genre” of low-bud-
Women (aka A Tale of Five Cities) (¡95¡); Home at Seven (aka Mur- get action films about cyborgs and androids. See also Comput-
der on Monday) (¡952); The Unholy Four (aka A Stranger Came ers; Cyborg Series; Cyborg Cop Series; Nemesis Series;
Home) (¡953); Man in the Dark (¡953); The Long Wait (¡954); The RoboCop; Robots; Shadowchaser Series; The Six Million Dol-
Constant Husband (¡955); Istanbul (¡957); Forger of London (¡96¡);
Sundays and Cybele (¡962); The Road to Hong Kong (¡962); The lar Man Series; The Stepford Wives; Universal Soldier Series.
Double (¡963); Hysteria (¡964); Mirage (¡965); The Third Day Metropolis (¡925); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); The Perfect Woman
(¡965); Mister Buddwing (¡966); Project X (¡968); Jigsaw (¡968); (¡949); Creation of the Humanoids (¡962); Dr. Goldfoot and the
Run a Crooked Mile (¡969); Someone Behind the Door (¡97¡); Richie Bikini Machine (¡965); The Human Duplicators (¡965); Cyborg
Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours (¡976 TVM); Beyond the Door 2 2087 (¡966); Scream and Scream Again (¡970); The Six Million
(aka Shock) (¡979); The Return of the Soldier (¡98¡); Jane Doe (¡983 Dollar Man (¡973 TVM); Westworld (¡973); The Questor Tapes
TVM); Blackout (¡985 TVM); Desperately Seeking Susan (¡985); (¡974 TVM); The Stepford Wives (¡975); Futureworld (¡976); Fu-
Stranger in My Bed (¡986 TVM); Lilac Dream (¡987); The Stranger ture Cop (¡976 TVM); The Cops and Robin (¡978 TVM); Alien
(¡987); Overboard (¡987); Murder by Night (¡989 TVM); The Lady (¡979); Galaxina (¡980); Android (¡982); Blade Runner (¡982); Pro-
Forgets (¡989 TVM); Moving Target (¡990); Memories of Murder totype (¡983 TVM); The Terminator (¡984); D.A.R.Y.L. (¡985);
(¡990 TVM); Total Recall (¡990); Finding the Way Home (¡99¡ J.O.E. and the Colonel (¡985 TVM); Condor (¡986); The Vindicator
TVM); Regarding Henry (¡99¡); Dead Again (¡99¡); Shattered (aka Frankenstein ’88) (¡986); Deadly Friend (¡986); Eliminators
(¡99¡); A Stranger in the Family (¡99¡ TVM); With a Vengeance (¡986); RoboCop (¡987); Making Mr. Right (¡987); Not Quite
(¡992 TVM); The Disappearance of Nora (¡993 TVM); Bloodfist V: Human (¡987 TVM); Cherry 2000 (¡988); Cyborg (¡989); Vice
Human Target (¡993); The Blonde (aka La Bionda) (¡994); Snap- Academy II (¡989); Slipstream (¡989); Class of ¡999 (¡990); Hard-
dragon (¡994); Amateur (¡994); Clean Slate (¡994); See Jane Run ware (¡990); Robo-C.H.I.C. (¡990); Syngenor (¡990); Edward Scis-
(¡995 TVM); All Men Are Mortal (¡995); Tough and Deadly (¡995); sorhands (¡990); Steel and Lace (¡99¡); Eve of Destruction (¡99¡); Cy-
Sweet Dreams (¡996 TVM); The Perfect Daughter (¡996 TVM); The bernator (¡99¡); Terminator 2: Judgment Day (¡99¡); Bill and Ted’s
Long Kiss Goodnight (¡996); Yesterday’s Target (¡996 TVM); Amne- Bogus Journey (¡99¡); The Running Delilah (¡992 TVM); Project:
sia (¡996); Anastasia (¡997); Dark City (¡998) Shadowchaser (¡992); Universal Soldier (¡992); Toys (¡993); Nemesis
(¡993); Cyborg Cop (¡993); Mandroid (¡993); Cyber Tracker (¡994);
American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (¡994); The Companion (¡994 TVM);
Amusement Parks see Fairs and Carnivals Star Trek Generations (¡994); Oblivion (¡994); Circuitry Man II:
Plughead Rewired (¡994); Cyber Tracker 2 (¡995); The Android
Androids and Cyborgs A›air (¡995 TVM); Cyberzone (¡995); Droid Gunner (¡995); Scream-
Much to the dismay of science fiction purists, the cinema has often ers (¡995); Dark Future (¡995); Solo (¡996); The Tomorrow Man
confused androids and cyborgs. The term “android” refers either (¡996 TVM); Phoenix (¡996); Precious Find (¡996); Alien Resurrec-
to an artificial man made of organic substance or, in a looser tion (¡997); Omega Doom (¡997); Austin Powers: International Man
of Mystery (¡997); Leprechaun 4 in Space (aka Leprechaun 4) (¡997)
sense, to a human-like robot. The most famous artificial man,
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Monster (q.v.), is seldom described
as an android, though he certainly fits the first definition. On a Angel Series
larger scale, Vincent Price tried to create a race of “synthetic men” “High school honor student by day, hooker by night!” proclaimed
and move them into government positions in ¡970’s Scream and the ad line to ¡984’s Angel. It’s a concise plot summary, actually,
 ANIMATED MOVIES (FEATURE LENGTH) 9

except that ¡5-year-old Angel (Donna Wilkes) gets “rescued” from diamond in ¡989’s Field of Dreams. The role call of performers
a life of prostitution by caring cop Cli› Gorman. Viewers lured who have played angels is an impressive one: Edmund Gwenn in
by the exploitative advertising campaign were probably disap- Between Two Worlds and For Heaven’s Sake, James Mason in For-
pointed by the film’s tame content. Nevertheless, this B-picture ever Darling and Heaven Can Wait, Claude Rains in Here Comes
generated some unexpected box-o‡ce noise and New World Pic- Mr. Jordan, Sidney Poitier in The Angel Levine, and Clifton Webb
tures rushed out a sequel. Busy B-film actress Betsy Russell took in For Heaven’s Sake. See also Heaven.
over the title role for ¡985’s Avenging Angel, which found our Green Pastures (¡936); Here Comes Mr. Jordan (¡94¡); I Mar-
heroine studying for a legal career. However, when her cop friend ried an Angel (¡942); Cabin in the Sky (¡943); Between Two Worlds
is murdered, she cuts her academic endeavors short, reverts to (¡944); The Horn Blows at Midnight (¡945); That’s the Spirit (¡945);
her tough girl persona, and hits the streets again to exact ven- It’s a Wonderful Life (¡946); Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter of
geance. Rory Calhoun and Susan Tyrell had supporting roles in Life and Death) (¡946); The Bishop’s Wife (¡947); Heaven Only
Knows (aka Montana Mike) (¡947); For Heaven’s Sake (¡950); Angels
these first two films. For a couple of years, it appeared as though in the Outfield (aka Angels and the Pirates) (¡95¡); The Angel Who
Angel had fired her last bullet. Then, in ¡988, Angel III: The Final Pawned Her Harp (¡954); Forever Darling (¡956); Barbarella (aka
Chapter reached the screen with Mitzi Kapture, who would later Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy) (¡968); The Angel Levine (¡970); It
find fame on the late night TV series Silk Stalkings. This install- Happened One Christmas (¡977 TVM); Heaven Can Wait (¡978);
ment sent Angel, now an undercover cop, on a mission to rescue Human Feelings (¡978 TVM); Fear No Evil (¡98¡); The Kid with the
her kidnapped sister. After a six-year hiatus, the series resumed Broken Halo (¡982 TVM); Two of a Kind (¡983); It Came Upon a
with ¡994’s Angel 4: Undercover, which starred Darlene Vogel. Midnight Clear (¡984 TVM); The Heavenly Kid (¡985); One Magic
Christmas (¡985); Date with an Angel (¡987); Made in Heaven
Angel, now a police photographer called Molly, infiltrates the (¡987); Wings of Desire (aka Der Himmel über Berlin) (¡987); Field
world of rock ’n’ roll to discover who murdered a former hooker of Dreams (¡989); Always (¡989); Soultaker (¡990); Clarence (¡990
friend. TVM); Earth Angel (¡99¡ TVM); Defending Your Life (¡99¡); Hi
Angel (¡984); Avenging Angel (¡985); Angel III: The Final Honey, I’m Dead (¡99¡ TVM); Far Away, So Close! (¡993); Heart
Chapter (¡988); Angel 4: Undercover (¡994) and Souls (¡993); Angels in the Outfield (¡994); Dark Angel: The As-
cent (¡994); The Prophecy (aka God’s Army) (¡995); Heaven Sent
(¡995); Michael (¡996); Lover’s Knot (¡996); The Preacher’s Wife
Angels (¡996); Angels in the Endzone (¡997 TVM); A Life Less Ordinary
One rather expects to find angels in heavenly fantasies like Green (¡997); City of Angels (¡998); Fallen (¡998); The Prophecy II (¡998);
Pastures (¡936), Stairway to Heaven (¡946), and Made in Heaven What Dreams May Come (¡998); Dying to Live (¡999 TVM);
(¡987). However, earthbound angels outnumber their celestial Dogma (¡999); The Soul Collector (¡999 TVM); Angels in the Infield
counterparts on film. They have also made a more lasting im- (2000 TVM)
pression, perhaps because they appear in smaller numbers, one or
two to a film, allowing them to become more personable (and in Animal Instincts Series
some cases, more mortal-like). Guardian angels are the most com- Inspired by a sordid real-life case, Animal Instincts (¡992) chron-
mon variety and have been sent to Earth to rescue misguided icled the tale of a police o‡cer (Maxwell Caufield) “turned on”
mortals from suicide, ambition, and lousy baseball playing. Henry by watching his wife (Shannon Whirry) have sex with other men.
Travers played Clarence, an angel trying to earn his wings, in The provocative subject matter could have resulted in an incisive
Frank Capra’s annual Christmas favorite It’s a Wonderful Life examination of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and sexual behavior.
(¡946). He dissuades a distraught family man ( James Stewart) However, in the hands of “erotic thriller” director Gregory Hip-
from ending his life by showing him how he has a›ected the lives polyte, Animal Instincts never amounted to more than softcore
of others. Cloris Leachman replaced Travers as the angel in the sex. Its only distinction is the launching of Whirry’s career as a
sticky-sweet ¡977 TV movie remake It Happened One Christmas, “video vixen.” In addition to Animal Instincts 2, Whirry would
while Robert Carradine took his turn in the ¡990 TV movie se- display her voluptuous body in other erotic thrillers such as Body
quel Clarence. Another holiday feature, ¡985’s One Magic Christ- of Influence, Mirror Images II, and Private Obsession. Much to the
mas, cast Harry Dean Stanton as an unlikely-looking angel who dismay of Whirry fans, Wendy Schumacher took over the lead
comes to the aid of a confused woman (Mary Steenburgen) who role in Animal Instincts: The Seductress. Director Hippolyte, who
has lost the Christmas spirit. Cary Grant made a charming angel got his start in adult films, helmed all Animal Instinct movies and
in The Bishop’s Wife (¡947), helping clergyman David Niven re- a bunch of other erotic thrillers. See also Body Chemistry Se-
alize that his desire to build a cathedral had begun to cut him o› ries; Night Eyes Series; and Secret Games Series.
from his family and his own love of God. Grant’s angel also found Animal Instincts (¡992); Animal Instincts 2 (¡994); Animal In-
himself in the precarious position of falling in love with Niven’s stincts: The Seductress (aka Animal Instincts III: The Seductress)
wife (Loretta Young). Other angel-mortal love a›airs occurred in (¡995)
the Jeanette MacDonald–Nelson Eddy musical I Married an Angel
(¡942), Wim Wenders’ lyrical Wings of Desire (¡987), its Ameri- Animated Movies (Feature-Length)
can remake City of Angels (¡998), and the ridiculous comedy Date Not only was Walt Disney the father of feature-length animated
with an Angel (¡987). Baseball collided with heavenly forces in An- films, but his studio completely dominated the field for nearly
gels in the Outfield (¡95¡), in which an angel guides the woebe- three decades. The Disney artists produced ¡3 movies during that
gone Pittsburgh Pirates (not the yet-unformed California Angels) span, beginning with ¡937’s landmark motion picture Snow White
to a winning season. The spirit of baseball great Shoeless Joe Jack- and the Seven Dwarfs. For the most part, Disney had little com-
son returned to Earth to play on farmer Kevin Costner’s baseball petition, chiefly due to the high costs associated with animation.
10 ANIMATED MOVIES (FEATURE-LENGTH)

Nevertheless, Max Fleischer, creator of Betty Boop and Popeye, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (¡937); Gulliver’s Travels
mounted some rival productions in the early forties. His Gul- (¡939); Pinocchio (¡940); Fantasia (¡940); Dumbo (¡94¡); Hoppity
liver’s Travels and Hoppity Goes to Town earned good reviews for Goes to Town (aka Mr. Bugs Goes to Town) (¡94¡); Bambi (¡942);
Make Mine Music (¡946); Cinderella (¡950); Alice in Wonderland
their artwork, but critics complained about weak storytelling.
(¡95¡); Peter Pan (¡952); Animal Farm (¡955); Lady and the Tramp
Husband-and-wife team John Halas and Joy Batchelor produced (¡955); Sleeping Beauty (¡959); ¡00¡ Arabian Nights (¡959); One
an ambitious adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm in ¡955. Hundred and One Dalmations (¡96¡); Alakazam the Great (¡96¡);
It was oriented toward a more sophisticated adult audience — but The Sword in the Stone (¡963); Gay Purr-ee (¡963); Pinocchio in
did not find one. The UPA studio, home of Mr. Magoo, tried un- Outer Space (¡964); Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear (¡964); A Man Called
successfully to duplicate the Disney magic with ¡959’s ¡00¡ Ara- Flintstone (¡966); Gulliver’s Travels Beyond the Moon (¡966); The
Jungle Book (¡967); Yellow Submarine (¡968); A Boy Named Charlie
bian Nights and ¡963’s Gay Purr-ee, a musical tale about Parisian
Brown (¡969); The Phantom Tollbooth (¡969); The Aristocats (¡970);
cats. The latter film signalled the end of an era, as even the Dis- Shinbone Alley (¡97¡); The Point (¡97¡ TVM); Fritz the Cat (¡972);
ney product began to exhibit a lowering of standards. Rising costs Snoopy, Come Home (¡972); Charlotte’s Web (¡973); Robin Hood
and Walt Disney’s death (in ¡966) undoubtedly contributed to the (¡973); Fantastic Planet (¡973); Journey Back to Oz (¡974); The
decline. However, in ¡972, a 32-year-old animator named Ralph Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (¡975); Hugo, the Hippo (¡975); The Res-
Bakshi revived the feature-length cartoon in grand fashion, with cuers (¡977); Wizards (¡977); The Hobbit (¡977 TVM); Raggedy
his stylish, controversial X-rated film Fritz the Cat. Although Bak- Ann and Andy (¡977); Watership Down (¡978); The Lord of the
Rings (¡978); Animalympics (¡979); Grendel, Grendel, Grendel
shi’s subsequent movies made little money, they acquired a strong (¡980); American Pop (¡98¡); The Fox and the Hound (¡98¡); Heavy
cult following, principally among college-age viewers raised on Metal (¡98¡); Hey, Good Lookin’ (¡982); Heidi’s Song (¡982); The
Disney cartoons. Sadly, soaring costs prevented Bakshi from com- Secret of NIMH (¡982); The Plague Dogs (¡982); The Last Unicorn
pleting his Lord of the Rings films. His ¡978 adaptation ended (¡982); Fire and Ice (¡983); Twice Upon a Time (¡983); Rock & Rule
abruptly, promising a sequel that was never made. Meanwhile, in- (¡983); Lensman (¡984); The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (¡984);
ternal problems at the Disney studio resulted in scarce output The Black Cauldron (¡985); Vampire Hunter D (¡985); The Cosmic
Eye (¡985); The Care Bears Movie (¡985); Here Come the Littles
during the ¡970s. Several Disney animators, led by Don Bluth,
(¡985); Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (¡985); Rainbow Brite and
quit and formed their own studio. Bluth’s first independent fea- the Star Stealers (¡985); Vampires in Havana (¡985); The Great
ture The Secret of NIMH (¡982) was a colorful, heartwarming re- Mouse Detective (aka The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective)
turn to the Disney formula. It led to a revival of quality feature- (¡986); Heathcli›: The Movie (¡986); My Little Pony (¡986); GoB-
length cartoons in the ¡980s, culminating with the simultaneous ots: Battle of the Rock Lords (¡986); An American Tail (¡986); The
¡988 releases of Disney’s Oliver and Company and Bluth’s The Chipmunk Adventure (¡987); The Brave Little Toaster (¡987); Pinoc-
chio and the Emperor of the Night (¡987); Pound Puppies and the
Land Before Time. There were even novel experiments like Star-
Legend of Big Paw (¡988); Oliver and Company (¡988); The Land
chaser: The Legend of Orin (¡985), the only feature-length 3-D Before Time (¡988); Light Years (¡988); All Dogs Go to Heaven
cartoon. However, the genre became glutted with lower quality (¡989); The Little Mermaid (¡989); Da›y Duck’s Quackbusters
cartoon features based on best-selling toys such as the Care Bears (¡989); Jetsons: The Movie (¡990); Duck Tales: The Movie — Treasure
(q.v.), the Pound Puppies, Rainbow Brite, and My Little Pony. of the Lost Lamp (¡990); The Rescuers Down Under (¡990); The
These films, like their Saturday morning counterparts, strove to Nutcracker Prince (¡990); Happily Ever After (¡990); Rock-a-Doodle
sell as much as entertain. Animated films needed a renaissance and (¡99¡); The Magic Riddle (¡99¡); Beauty and the Beast (¡99¡); Rover
Dangerfield (¡99¡); An American Tale: Fievel Goes West (¡99¡); The
Disney provided one in ¡989. After su›ering major disappoint- Tune (¡992); FernGully … The Last Rainforest (aka FernGully)
ments such as The Black Cauldron, Disney went back to the draw- (¡992); Bebe’s Kids (¡992); Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
ing board and reinvented the animated feature as a Broadway (¡992); Freddie as F.R.O.7 (¡992); Tom and Jerry: The Movie (¡992);
musical. The Little Mermaid (¡989) captivated children and adults Aladdin (¡992); The Princess and the Goblin (aka A Hercegno es a
with its charming characters, splashy production numbers, and Kobold) (¡992); Jonny’s Golden Quest (¡993 TVM); Batman: Mask of
catchy songs (including Oscar winner “Under the Sea”). The next the Phantasm (¡993); Once Upon a Forest (¡993); A Troll in Central
Park (¡994); Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina (¡994); Felidae
Disney film Beauty and the Beast improved on the same formula
(¡994); The Swan Princess (¡994); The Lion King (¡994); Jonny Quest
and became the first animated feature to be nominated for a Best vs. the Cyber Insects (¡995 TVM); Balto (¡995); A Goofy Movie
Picture Academy Award. Disney animated films continued to (¡995); The Pebble and the Penguin (¡995); Pocahontas (¡995); The
achieve blockbuster status, with The Lion King (¡994) eventually Wind in the Willows (¡995); Toy Story (¡995); The Hunchback of
earning over $300 million. Other studios took note of Disney’s Notre Dame (¡996); Beavis and Butthead Do America (¡996); All Dogs
success and set up their own animation divisions. Between ¡997 Go to Heaven 2 (¡996); Hercules (¡997); Pippi Longstocking (¡997);
The Princess Mononoke (¡997); Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted
and ¡998, Twentieth Century–Fox produced Anastasia, Warner
Christmas (¡997); Cats Don’t Dance (¡997); Anastasia (¡997); Aaron’s
made Quest for Camelot, and Dreamworks SKG produced Prince Magic Village (¡997); Ferngully 2: The Magical Rescue (¡998); Poca-
of Egypt. The last film, developed by former Disney excecutive hontas II: Journey to a New World (¡998); Quest for Camelot (¡998);
Je›rey Katzenberg, became the first non–Disney animated film Mulan (¡998); Pokémon: The First Movie (¡998); Hercules and Xena —
to gross over $¡00 million. In the interim, Disney pioneered the The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus (¡998); The Lion
first feature-length, computer-generated animated film with Toy King: Simba’s Pride (¡998); The Prince of Egypt (¡998); The Rugrats
Story (¡995). Its box-o‡ce success, along with the computer-an- Movie (¡998); The King and I (¡999); Doug’s ¡st Movie (¡999); Tarzan
(¡999); South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (¡999); The Iron Giant
imated Antz and A Bug’s Life, opened up a new world for feature (¡999); Toy Story 2 (¡999); Fantasia 2000 (¡999); Bartok the Magnifi-
film animators. See also Aladdin Series; The Care Bears; Car- cent (1999); Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (aka Pokemon X: Revelation
toon/Live Action Features; The Land Before Time Series; Lugia) (1999); The Road to El Dorado (2000); The Tigger Movie
Peanuts Series; The Swan Princess Series. (2000); Dinosaur (2000); Titan A.E. (2000)
 APARTMENTS 11

Anthologies in the World (aka The Oldest Profession) (¡967); The Torture Garden
(¡968); Spirits of the Dead (¡968); The Illustrated Man (¡969); Night
Also called “episode films,” anthology movies contain two or more Gallery (¡969 TVM); The House That Dripped Blood (¡970); The
separate stories, typically linked by a framing device. The format Decameron (¡970); Triple Play (¡97¡ TVM); Asylum (aka House of
descended from D.W. Gri‡th’s Intolerance (¡9¡8), which inter- Crazies) (¡972); Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
wove four stories set in di›erent time periods. One of the first (But Were Afraid to Ask) (¡972); Tales from the Crypt (¡972); The
American films to separate its “internal plots” was ¡932’s If I Had Canterbury Tales (¡972); Tales That Witness Madness (¡973); Vault
a Million. Richard Bennett played a millionaire who gave for- of Horror (aka Tales from the Crypt 2) (¡973); From Beyond the
Grave (aka Creatures from Beyond the Grave) (¡974); Immoral Tales
tunes to people (e.g., Charles Laughton, Gary Cooper, W.C.
(¡974); Arabian Nights (¡974); Trilogy of Terror (¡975 TVM); How
Fields) randomly selected from the phone book. In the early Funny Can Sex Be? (¡976); The Uncanny (¡977); Roseland (¡977);
¡940s, French immigrant Julien Duvivier directed two highly- Movie Movie (¡978); Tigers in Lipstick (aka Wild Beds) (¡979); Sun-
acclaimed anthology films, Tales of Manhattan and Flesh and Fan- day Lovers (¡980); Heavy Metal (¡98¡); Creepshow (¡982); Night-
tasy. The former film used a dress tailcoat to link five stories, mares (¡983); Twilight Zone — The Movie (¡983); Jealousy (¡984
while Robert Benchley tied the stories together in the latter film. TVM); Cat’s Eye (¡985); Creepshow 2 (¡987); New York Stories
Curiously, the three-part Flesh and Fantasy originally included a (¡989); After Midnight (¡989); Two Evil Eyes (aka Due Occhi Dia-
bolic) (¡990); Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (¡990); Grim
fourth tale, which was expanded by Reginald LeBorg into ¡944’s
Prairie Tales (¡990); Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (¡990
Destiny. Britain’s initial foray in anthology films resulted in the TVM); Campfire Tales (¡99¡); Seduction: Three Tales from the Inner
classic ¡945 chiller Dead of Night. Ironically, this film is best re- Sanctum (¡992 TVM); Hotel Room (¡993 TVM); Two Mikes Don’t
membered for its frame, as opposed to the stories. It opens with Make a Wright (¡993); Bedevil (¡993); Weird Tales (aka Strane
an architect who visits a country manor and engages in a con- Storie) (¡994); Baltic Love: Three Stories (¡994); Being Human
versation about dreams with its inhabitants. After the last dream (¡994); Four Rooms (¡995); Tales from the Hood (¡995); Flirt (¡995);
is told and a shocking murder takes place, the architect wakes Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (¡996); Quicksilver Highway (¡997
TVM); The Red Violin (¡999)
up — for he has been dreaming all along. That morning, he
drives to a client’s estate in the country and arrives at the same
manor. The recurring, and endless, nightmare has begun again.
Apartments
In the wake of Dead of Night, British studios produced three The narrow confines of apartment living have created stress-in-
highly successful adaptations of Somerset Maugham short stories: ducing problems for many tenants, while implicating others ro-
Quartet, Trio, and Encore. These inspired a ¡952 U.S. author an- mantically. In Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (¡965), a sexually-re-
thology, O. Henry’s Full House, featuring John Steinbeck as nar- pressed girl (Catherine Deneuve) spends a weekend alone in her
rator. Budget-conscious director Roger Corman reacquainted the sister’s London flat and winds up murdering the lecherous land-
anthology format with horror tales in his ¡962 Edgar Allan Poe lord with a dinner knife. Polanski himself played an apartment
collection Tales of Terror. Amicus, a small British studio, followed dweller who became obsessed with his pad’s former occupant in
Corman’s example with ¡964’s Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors and ¡976’s The Tenant. The Kowalskis’ claustrophobic apartment
subsequently specialized in producing anthology horror films. It served to feed the sexual tensions in Elia Kazan’s ¡95¡ adaptation
made seven additional anthology movies between ¡968’s Torture of A Streetcar Named Desire. Supernatural creatures have dis-
Garden and ¡974’s From Beyond the Grave. Throughout the ¡960s, played a special fondness for apartment living in films like The
episodic films enjoyed great popularity in France and Italy, with Sentinel (¡977), Poltergeist III, and Demons 2 (both ¡988). Even
distinguished filmmakers such as François Tru›aut and Federico the Devil showed up, amid a building full of satanic tenants, in
Fellini contributing segments to international e›orts like Love at Rosemary’s Baby (¡968). A temporary housing shortage forced
Twenty and Spirits of the Dead. In the ¡970s, attempts to adapt Jean Arthur to share her small Washington, D.C., apartment
the anthology format to U.S. made-for-TV movies met with with Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn in the ¡943 comedy The
modest success. Television viewers seemed to prefer the inter- More the Merrier. Naturally, she and Joel discovered true love.
locking-story format made popular by the Love Boat and Fantasy The same plot, with a di›erent setting (Tokyo), surfaced in ¡966
Island TV series. as Walk, Don’t Run. Apartments have also been the site for illicit
love a›airs. Fred MacMurray paid Shirley MacLaine’s rent for
If I Had a Million (¡932); Tales of Manhattan (¡942); Flesh The Apartment (¡960), while Jason Robards visited Jane Fonda
and Fantasy (¡943); Dead of Night (¡945); On Our Merry Way on Any Wednesday (¡966) at his company-paid flat. The close
(¡948); Bond Street (¡948); Quartet (¡948); Trio (¡950); Actors and proximity to his neighbors inspired James Stewart to engage in
Sin (¡952); Encore (¡952); O. Henry’s Full House (¡952); Tonight at
8:30 (aka Meet Me Tonight) (¡952); It’s a Big Country (¡952); The some hazardous window-peeping in Hitchcock’s Rear Window
Story of Three Loves (¡953); Love in the City (¡953); Daughters of (¡954). Other nosy apartment neighbors proved meddlesome in
Destiny (aka Love, Soldiers and Women) (¡953); Letters from My Terraces (¡977) and Through Naked Eyes (¡983). In the ¡943 com-
Windmill (¡954); Three Cases of Murder (¡954); Invitation to the edy Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (¡943), Simone Simon dis-
Dance (¡957); Of Life and Love (¡957); Rising of the Moon (¡957); covered that keys to her apartment were distributed freely dur-
Love and the Frenchwoman (¡96¡); The Devil and the Ten Com- ing the war. The Key (¡958) was an emotional drama about a
mandments (¡962); Tales of Terror (¡962); Seven Capital Sins (¡962); woman (Sophia Loren) who passes the key to her apartment to
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (¡963); Twice Told Tales (¡963);
Black Sabbath (¡964); Kwaidan (¡964); Bambole! (¡965); Dr. Ter- a series of fighting Naval o‡cers. In The Night We Never Met
ror’s House of Horrors (¡965); Let’s Talk About Women (¡965); (¡993), complications naturally ensued when three people time-
Woman Times Seven (¡967); Dr. Terror’s Gallery of Horrors (aka Re- shared the same apartment on di›erent days of the week. See also
turn from the Past; The Blood Suckers) (¡967); The Oldest Profession Hotels.
12 APES AND MONKEYS

Bachelor Apartment (¡93¡); The More the Merrier (¡943); There Finally, Marlene Dietrich, in one of her most memorable scenes,
Is a Family (¡944); Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (aka And So sang “Hot Voodoo” while wearing a gorilla suit in ¡932’s Blonde
They Were Married) (¡944); Apartment for Peggy (¡948); A Kiss in the Venus. See also Dupree, Paula (The Ape Woman); King Kong;
Dark (¡949); A Streetcar Named Desire (¡95¡); Love Nest (¡95¡); Rear
Planet of the Apes Series.
Window (¡954); The Key (¡958); The Apartment (¡960); Why Bother
to Knock? (aka Don’t Bother to Knock) (¡96¡); The Notorious Landlady Murders in the Rue Morgue (¡932); The Monster Walks (¡932); Is-
(¡962); Boys’ Night Out (¡962); Repulsion (¡965); That Funny Feeling land of Lost Souls (¡933); King Kong (¡933); The Wizard of Oz (¡939);
(¡965); Any Wednesday (¡966); Walk, Don’t Run (¡966); Wait Until The Ape (¡940); The Ape Man (aka Lock Your Doors) (¡943); Captive
Dark (¡967); Barefoot in the Park (¡967); The Penthouse (¡967); Rose- Wild Woman (¡943); Nabonga (aka Gorilla) (¡944); Mighty Joe Young
mary’s Baby (¡968); The Odd Couple (¡968); The Landlord (¡970); (¡949); Bedtime for Bonzo (¡95¡); Road to Bali (¡952); Bonzo Goes to
Strangers in 7A (¡972 TVM); Nightmare (¡974 TVM); They Came College (¡952); Monkey Business (¡952); Phantom of the Rue Morgue
from Within (aka Shivers; The Parasite Murders; Frissons) (¡975); The (¡954); Gorilla at Large (¡954); The Bride and the Beast (aka Queen of
Tenant (¡976); Terraces (¡977 TVM); The Sentinel (¡977); Through the Gorillas) (¡958); Alakazam the Great (¡96¡); Konga (¡96¡); The
Naked Eyes (¡983 TVM); The Guardian (¡984 TVM); The Family Monkey’s Uncle (¡965); Sands of the Kalahari (¡965); Morgan! (Mor-
(¡987); Demons 2 (¡988); Poltergeist III (¡988); Apartment Zero gan—A Suitable Case for Treatment) (¡966); Monkey, Go Home (¡967);
(¡989); Pacific Heights (¡990); The Super (¡99¡); World Apartment 200¡: A Space Odyssey (¡968); Planet of the Apes (¡968); The Barefoot
Horror (¡99¡); Scissors (¡99¡); Single White Female (¡992); Through Executive (¡97¡); A Cold Night’s Death (¡973); A*P*E (¡976); Goliathon
the Eyes of a Killer (¡992 TVM); The Night We Never Met (¡993); (¡977); Every Which Way but Loose (¡978); The Mafu Cage (aka My
Sliver (¡993); Roommates (¡994 TVM); Shallow Grave (¡994); House Sister, My Love) (¡978); Bye Bye Monkey (¡978); The Wild and the Free
Call (aka De Flat) (¡994); Joe’s Apartment (¡996); Un Divan à New (¡980); The Ivory Ape (¡980 TVM); Any Which Way You Can (¡980);
York (aka A Couch in New York) (¡996); Addicted to Love (¡997); Two The Incredible Shrinking Woman (¡98¡); Going Ape! (¡98¡); Greystoke:
Girls and a Guy (¡998); The Landlady (¡998); The 4th Floor (2000) The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (¡984); Phenomena (aka
Creepers) (¡984); In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro (¡986); Link (¡986);
Project X (¡987); Gorillas in the Mist (¡988); Monkey Shines: An Experi-
Apes and Monkeys ment in Terror (¡988); Animal Behavior (¡989); The Fifth Monkey
(¡990); Shakma (¡990); The Entertainers (¡99¡ TVM); Monkey Trouble
Ape and monkey performers have earned a notorious reputation
(¡994); The Lion King (¡994); Congo (¡995); The Barefoot Executive
for stealing scenes from their human co-stars. The chimpanzee (¡995 TVM); Born to Be Wild (¡995); Jumanji (¡995); Dunston Checks
Bonzo had little trouble upstaging future president Ronald Rea- In (¡996); Ed (¡996); Buddy (¡997); George of the Jungle (¡997); Pippi
gan in Bedtime for Bonzo. Clyde, a mugging orangutan, showed Longstocking (¡997); Rocketman (¡997); Rudyard Kipling’s The Second
far more facial expression than iron-jawed Clint Eastwood in Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (aka Jungle Book Two) (¡997); Mighty
Every Which Way but Loose. King Kong towered over Fay Wray Joe Young (¡998); Summer of the Monkeys (¡998); Babe: Pig in the City
and Robert Armstrong in terms of on-screen impact as well as (¡998); The Rugrats Movie (¡998); Primal Force (¡999 TVM); Instinct
(¡999); Being John Malkovich (1999); Return to Me (2000)
sheer size in his ¡933 film debut. Although Kong reigns as the cin-
ema’s biggest ape in terms of popularity, his physical dimensions
have been equalled by Mighty Joe Young (¡949), Konga (¡96¡), Go- Apu Trilogy
liathon (¡977), and, to a lesser extent, Son of Kong (¡933). There Satyajit Ray’s simple, powerful films about the son of a Brahmin
have been no oversized monkeys, although an equally unusual priest brought international attention to Indian cinema in the
winged species abducted Dorothy and took her to the Wicked ¡950s. Ray adapted the first film, ¡956’s Pather Panchali, from
Witch’s castle in The Wizard of Oz (¡939). Ordinary apes have Bibhuti Bannerji’s acclaimed novel. He bought the book’s rights
proven to be meddlesome as well, especially in horror/mystery fare for a modest $¡,300, but encountered financial problems early in
such as Murders in the Rue Morgue (¡932), The Ape (¡940), and the production. He pawned his wife’s jewelry (a last resort in In-
Gorilla at Large (¡954). Typically, though, a villainous human dian families) before eventually securing backing from the West
lurks behind the ape’s ghastly deeds — and in some cases, the true Bengal government. The film’s story dealt with life in a small vil-
murderer turns out to be a man in an ape suit. Rene Russo played lage as seen through the eyes of Apu, a young boy. He watches
a ¡920s socialite who raised a gorilla as her son in the fact-based his sister die, his father leave to find work, and finally his family
Buddy (¡997). David Warner longed to be a gorilla — and carry forced to move from their home. This visually stunning, emo-
o› his estranged wife — in the ¡966 satire Morgan! Mad scientist tional drama soon attracted the attention of international critics.
Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) transformed apes into men with It was voted a special award at the ¡956 Cannes Film Festival and
dubious results (“Are we not men?”) in ¡933’s The Island of Lost was subsequently honored by festivals in Berlin, Tokyo, and Den-
Souls. John Carradine turned a female ape into pretty Acquanetta mark. Ray returned to Apu as both a young boy and an adoles-
in the Captive Wild Woman series, while Bela Lugosi injected cent in ¡957’s Aparajito. In ¡959’s Apur Sansar, Apu marries and
himself with an ape-transforming serum in ¡943’s The Ape Man. becomes isolated from village life by his own education.
Apes and humans became intellectual and sociological equals in Father Panchali (aka Pather Panchali; Song of the Road) (¡956);
The Planet of the Apes films (q.v.). For most of that series, the The Unvanquished (aka Aparajito) (¡957); The World of Apu (aka
simian society was the dominant one, although it experienced in- Apur Sansar) (¡959)
ternal conflicts between its chimpanzee scientists, orangutan
politicians, and gorilla military leaders. The right to teach the the-
ory that man evolved from apes was hotly debated in Inherit the
Arthur, King, and the Knights of the
Wind (¡960), based on the famous Scopes Monkey Trial. A mys- Round Table
terious monolith brought intelligence to earthly apes in the dra- The legendary 6th century British king, oddly ignored during
matic opening of Stanley Kubrick’s 200¡: A Space Odyssey (¡968). Hollywood’s swashbuckling days, has gradually evolved into one
 ASSUMED IDENTITY 13

of the cinema’s most durable mythic heroes. He was strictly a sup- Artists see Painters
porting character in the film versions of Mark Twain’s A Con-
necticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. British comedian Arthur
Askey dreamed he was a knight of the Round Table in ¡942’s King Assumed Identity
Arthur Was a Gentleman. Then in ¡953, MGM followed its block- The plot device where one person assumes another’s identity has
buster Ivanhoe with the gloss-dripping Arthurian spectacle Knights evolved into one of the cinema’s most reliable conventions. Fre-
of the Round Table. Mel Ferrer made a noble Arthur, with Ava quently, it is paired with related plotlines such as amnesia, dis-
Gardner (beautiful, but not quite right) as Guinevere and dash- guises, lookalikes (qq.v.), and undercover cops. For example, am-
ing Robert Taylor (a bit old, actually) as Lancelot. Despite its dra- nesiac Gregory Peck assumed the identity of asylum director Dr.
matic shortcomings, it remained the most complete recounting of Edwardes in Hitchcock’s Spellbound. In The Great Impostor (¡960),
the Arthurian legend for almost three decades. The next version Tony Curtis played real-life master of disguises Ferdinand De-
of the legend came from an unlikely source, action star Cornel mara, who assumed the identities of a prison warden, a naval
Wilde. He produced, directed, and starred in The Sword of doctor, a school teacher, and others. Ronald Colman played a
Lancelot, a straightforward well-done drama focusing on the ro- dashing gent who substitutes for his lookalike, the king of Ruri-
mance between Lancelot (Wilde) and Guinevere ( Jean Wallace). tania, in an e›ort to thwart an usurper in ¡937’s The Prisoner of
Brian Aherne made a low-key Arthur. Novelist T.H. White’s The Zenda. Undercover cops and FBI agents with fake identities have
Once and Future King provided the basis for Disney’s animated been played by Laurence Fishburne (Deep Cover) and Johnny
feature The Sword in the Stone (¡963) and the Broadway musi- Depp (Donnie Brasco). Despite the utilities of these plotline pair-
cal/film Camelot (¡967). The former was a bland tale of Arthur’s ings, some of the more intriguing films about assumed identities
youth, while the latter benefited from star turns by Richard Har- involve neither amnesia, disguises, nor lookalikes. In ¡975’s The
ris and Vanessa Redgrave as Arthur and Guinevere. In the ¡970s, Passenger, Jack Nicholson played a man so unhappy with his own
French directors Robert Bresson and Eric Rohmer contributed life that he assumed the identity of a dead man he knew nothing
the atmospheric, sometimes esoteric, knightly tales Lancelot of the about. In The Inspector General (¡949), Danny Kaye was mis-
Lake and Perceval, respectively. The Monty Python troupe spoofed taken for the title character, but he readily assumed the role once
Arthurian films hilariously in their finest feature, ¡975’s Monty he realized the power it possessed. Gerard Depardieu was executed
Python and the Holy Grail. Disney added an unnecessary remake for assuming another man’s identity in The Return of Martin
of A Connecticut Yankee in ¡979, dubiously titled Unidentified Fly- Guerre (¡982), even though everyone seemed to prefer him to the
ing Oddball. Two years later, director John Boorman brought at- real Martin Guerre. Richard Gere experienced a similar fate in the
mosphere, mystery, and sexuality to his epic Excalibur. Based on ¡993 Americanized version Sommersby. Poor Janet Leigh woke up
Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Boorman’s picture gave equal time to from her wedding night with a stranger in her bed claiming to be
Merlin (played by Nicol Williamson) while telling Arthur’s (Nigel her husband in the appropriately-titled Honeymoon with a
Terry) tale in depth. The ¡998 two-part TV movie Merlin devoted Stranger (¡969). Still, that’s not as bad as Gloria Talbott, who ac-
even more footage to the sorcerer, relegating Arthur to a sup- tually married an alien who had assumed her fiancé’s identity in
porting character. First Knight (¡995) focused again on the love I Married a Monster from Outer Space (¡958). See also Amnesia;
triangle of Arthur (Sean Connery), Guinevere ( Julia Ormond), Disguises; Lookalikes.
and Lancelot (Richard Gere) with middling results. Malcolm Mc- The Masquerader (¡933); Maniac (¡934); The Great Imperson-
Dowell made a passable Arthur in the otherwise dreadful ¡985 TV ation (¡935); The Prisoner of Zenda (¡937); The Great Impersonation
movie Arthur the King, which co-starred Dyan Cannon as a con- (¡942); The Impostor (aka Strange Confession) (¡944); Spellbound
temporary lass who falls through a hole in Stonehenge and winds (¡945); Detour (¡945); Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) (¡948); The
up in Camelot. George Romero’s heavyhanded ¡98¡ parable Inspector General (¡949); No Man of Her Own (¡949); The House on
Telegraph Hill (¡95¡); Scarlet Angel (¡952); Arrow in the Dust
Knightriders told the Camelot story in a contemporary setting (¡954); I Married a Monster from Outer Space (¡958); Libel (¡959);
with Ed Harris as the leader of a troupe of jousting motorcycle The Great Impostor (¡960); Purple Noon (aka Plein Soleil) (1960);
riders. In Seaview Knights (¡994), a bank robber becomes delu- Honeymoon with a Stranger (¡969 TVM); One More Time (¡970);
sional after a head injury and believes he is King Arthur. The Passenger (¡975); Kagemusha (aka Kagemusha, the Shadow War-
A Connecticut Yankee (¡93¡); King Arthur Was a Gentleman rior) (¡980); The Ninth Configuration (aka Twinkle, Twinkle Killer
(¡942); A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (¡949); Knights Kane) (¡980); The Return of Martin Guerre (¡982); I Married a
of the Round Table (¡953); The Black Knight (¡954); The Sword of Shadow (¡982); The Impostor (¡984 TVM); Critical Condition
Lancelot (aka Lancelot and Guinevere) (¡963); The Sword in the (¡987); The Killing Time (¡987); The Couch Trip (¡988); Caroline?
Stone (¡963); Siege of the Saxons (¡964); Camelot (¡967); Gawain (¡990 TVM); Paper Mask (¡990); Taking Care of Business (¡990);
and the Green Knight (¡973); Lancelot of the Lake (aka Lancelot du The Stranger Within (¡990 TVM); Shattered (¡99¡); True Identity
Lac; Le Graal; The Grail) (¡974); Monty Python and the Holy Grail (¡99¡); Chameleon Street (¡99¡); White Sands (¡992 TVM); Deep
(¡975); King Arthur, the Young Warlord (¡975); Perceval (aka Perce- Cover (¡992); Body Language (¡992 TVM); Sommersby (¡993); Dave
val le Gallois) (¡978); Unidentified Flying Oddball (aka A Spaceman (¡993); Dream Lover (¡994); The Counterfeit Contessa (¡994 TVM);
in King Arthur’s Court) (¡979); Excalibur (¡98¡); Knightriders Princess Caraboo (¡994); Houseguest (¡995); Mrs. Winterbourne
(¡98¡); The Sword of the Valiant (¡982); Arthur the King (¡985 (¡996); The Truth About Cats and Dogs (¡996); The Associate
TVM); Waxwork II: Lost in Time (¡99¡); Army of Darkness (aka (¡996); Donnie Brasco (¡997); Face/O› (¡997); Trial and Error
Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3) (¡993); Seaview Knights (¡994); (¡997); The Man Who Knew Too Little (¡997); The Man in the Iron
First Knight (¡995); A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (¡995); Merlin Mask (¡998); Mr. Headmistress (¡998 TVM); There’s Something
(¡998 TVM); Quest for Camelot (¡998); A Knight in Camelot (¡998 About Mary (¡998); The Impostors (¡998); Blue Streak (¡999); The
TVM) Talented Mr. Ripley (¡999)
14 ASTEROIDS, METEORS, AND COMETS

Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets found Stuart Whitman as an actor who entered an asylum to dis-
cover where Roddy McDowell hid a fortune. However, the most
In ¡993, a House of Representatives Committee on Science,
famous picture along these lines was the ¡975 multiple Oscar win-
Space, and Technology heard congressional testimony on “The
ner One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Jack Nicholson’s Randle
Threat of Large Earth-Orbit Crossing Asteroids.” Five years later,
Patrick McMurphy faked temporary insanity because he preferred
Hollywood o›ered not one, but two, big-budget science fiction
a mental institution over hard labor at a prison. He discovered that
films that hypothesized what might happen if the Earth collided
the patients were saner — in their own way — than the medical
with an asteroid or comet. Studio insiders fretted that the com-
sta›. Alan Bates made a similar observation in ¡966’s King of
peting films would cancel each other out at the box-o‡ce (which
Hearts, in which a group of inmates escaped into an evacuated
happened the year before with the lava-spewing rivals Dante’s
town during World War I. Bates learned that these charming lu-
Peak and Volcano). However, moviegoers embraced both Deep
natics may be “touched,” but at least they were not fighting a war
Impact and Armageddon, turning both disaster epics into big hits.
to destroy each other. Another oft-filmed plot — sane people who
Despite the hype and costly special e›ects that accompanied these
are revealed to be mad — has been featured prominently in The
films, their premise was far from original. In ¡930, Abel Gance
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Ninth Configuration. A highly
(Napoleon) produced End of the World, a preachy treatise about a
influential expressionistic film, Caligari (¡9¡9) is ultimately the vi-
comet hurtling toward Earth. In ¡95¡, producer George Pal
sion of a lunatic, for in its famous closing scene, the narrator is
o›ered a sobering scenario with When Worlds Collide, a thought-
revealed to be a patient recounting the story to the head of an asy-
ful yarn noted for its then state-of-the-art special e›ects and for
lum. William Peter Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration (¡980) takes
being one of the few films in which Earth is actually destroyed
a similar theme one step further — the asylum director (Stacy
(see End of the World/Post-Apocalypse). Other films in which
Keach) turns out to be a mad impostor. Other movies which take
Earth is threatened by an asteroid, comet, or meteor include: The
place principally within the confines of an asylum include Bed-
Day the Sky Exploded (¡958), War of the Planets (¡965), A Fire in
lam, The Snake Pit, and Marat/Sade. Escaped inmates are played
the Sky (¡978), Meteor (¡979), Night of the Comet (¡984), and As-
for laughs in Road Show and horror in Alone in the Dark. Frances,
teroid (¡997). Of course, some meteors and comets have threat-
the true story of actress Frances Farmer, and the James Stewart
ened Earthlings in ways other than a massive collision. In The In-
comedy Harvey have memorable closing scenes in mental insti-
visible Ray (¡936), a meteor emitting “radium X” transformed
tutions. See also Hospitals; Psychiatrists.
scientist Boris Karlo› into a mad man with a deadly touch.
Karlo› encountered a similar problem in Die, Monster, Die! The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (¡9¡9); Road Show (¡94¡); Random
Harvest (¡942); Spellbound (¡945); Bedlam (¡946); The Snake Pit
(¡965), in which a radioactive meteorite turned family members (¡948); Behind Locked Doors (¡948); Harvey (¡950); Blood of the
into mutants. An uno‡cial remake, The Curse (q.v.) featured a Vampire (¡958); Suddenly, Last Summer (¡959); The Hideout (¡96¡);
meteorite that turned a family into murderous zombies. Clever The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (¡962); Shock Corridor (¡963); The
aliens have used comets and meteors as modes of transportation. Caretakers (aka Borderlines) (¡964); Shock Treatment (¡964); Sign-
Halley’s Comet delivered vampire-like aliens in Tobe Hooper’s post to Murder (¡965); King of Hearts (¡966); Marat/Sade (¡967);
Lifeforce (¡985), while meteorites delivered and later activated The Big Cube (¡969); The Night Visitor (¡970); Asylum (aka House
people-eating alien plants in The Day of the Tri‡ds (¡963). To of Crazies) (¡972); Don’t Look in the Basement (¡973); Frankenstein
and the Monster from Hell (¡973); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
make matters worse, the meteorites in Tri‡ds blinded most of the (¡975); High Anxiety (¡977); I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Earth’s population. Several movies have taken place on asteroids, (¡977); Down the Ancient Stairs (¡977); The Other Side of Hell
although the one in Phantom Planet (¡96¡) merits special men- (¡978 TVM); Dracula (¡979); The Ninth Configuration (aka Twin-
tion for being invisible. See also Disaster Movies. kle, Twinkle Killer Kane) (¡980); Alone in the Dark (¡982); Frances
End of the World (¡930); The Invisible Ray (¡936); The Heav- (¡982); Hellhole (¡985); The Dream Team (¡989); Crazy People
enly Body (¡943); When Worlds Collide (¡95¡); Riders to the Stars (¡990); Committed (¡990); Disturbed (¡99¡); Against Her Will: An
(¡954); The Day the Sky Exploded (aka Death from Outer Space) Incident in Baltimore (¡992 TVM); Without Consent (¡994 TVM);
(¡958); Valley of the Dragons (¡96¡); The Phantom Planet (¡96¡); The Asylum (¡997)
Day of the Tri‡ds (¡963); War Between the Planets (aka Planet on
the Prowl) (¡965); Die, Monster, Die! (aka Monster of Terror) (¡965); Atomic Bombs
A Fire in the Sky (¡978 TVM); Meteor (¡979); Night of the Comet The atomic bomb has been the subject of earnest fact-based dra-
(¡984); The Curse (aka The Farm) (¡987); The Meteor Man (¡993); mas, escapist science fiction, chilling thrillers, and one wild satire.
Super Mario Bros. (¡993); August in the Water (aka Mizu No Naka
The fact-based films began with ¡947’s The Beginning or the End,
No Hachigatsu ) (¡995); Asteroid (¡997 TVM); Doomsday Rock
(¡997 TVM); Falling Fire (¡998); Meteorites! (¡998 TVM); Deep a stilted, but historically interesting, government-approved story
Impact (¡998); Armageddon (¡998); Dinosaur (2000) of the Manhattan Project. The personal drama behind the bomb-
ing of Hiroshima was better explored in ¡952’s Above and Beyond
and in the ¡980 TV movie Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the
Asylums Atomic Bomb. PBS’s American Playhouse produced ¡986’s Desert
The line between sanity and madness has frequently been por- Bloom, a perceptive family drama set in Nevada during the ¡950s
trayed as a thin one in films with an asylum setting. A common atomic bomb tests. Another American Playhouse production,
plot device has a sane person feigning insanity in order to be ¡983’s Testament (¡983), featured a powerful performance by Jane
committed to an asylum. Journalist Peter Breck pulled the trick Alexander as a mother coping with her family’s survival in the af-
to win a Pulitzer Prize in Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor (¡963). termath of an atomic explosion. It easily eclipsed the similar,
He lost his mind as a result. The following year’s Shock Treatment heavily-hyped ¡983 TV-film The Day After. Both films owe a
 AUTO RACING 15

minor debt to Ray Milland’s ¡962 B-movie Panic in the Year Zero, Ator, the Fighting Eagle (¡983); Blademaster (aka Ator, the In-
a taut tale of a family’s struggle to survive in a post-atomic world, vincible) (¡984); Iron Warrior (¡987); Quest for the Mighty Sword
and a major debt to Peter Watkins’ bleak The War Game (¡967). (¡990)
Using a pseudo-documentary approach, Watkins showed what an
atomic bomb would do to London. It’s a brutal, frightening pic- Auto Racing
ture — so scary that its sponsor, the British Broadcasting Com- The high-velocity thrills of auto racing date back to Howard
pany, refused to air it on television. Today, it’s shown frequently Hawks’s ¡932 speedway drama The Crowd Roars with James
in conjunction with anti-nuclear protests. On a more positive Cagney as a cocky driver. Yet, despite other vintage e›orts like
note, scientists have used atomic devices for worthy purposes, Speed (¡936), Indianapolis Speedway (a ¡939 remake of The Crowd
such as destroying city-crunching monsters like ¡953’s The Beast Roars) and The Big Wheel (¡949), auto racing was virtually ignored
from 20,000 Fathoms. Ironically, as in the case of The Beast, many by filmmakers until the late ¡950s. The sport’s grass-roots pop-
of these creatures were also created by atomic bomb testing. Mu- ularity grew rapidly in the early ¡960s and so did the number of
tant humans worshipped an atomic bomb in Beneath the Planet big screen racing dramas. Some pictures catered to Southern stock
of the Apes (see Planet of the Apes) (¡970). It was detonated in car fans (e.g., ¡960’s Thunder in Carolina), while others o›ered
the film’s climax and destroyed the world. At the conclusion of European locales and sleek formula cars (e.g., ¡963’s The Young
¡964’s Fail Safe, President Henry Fonda ordered the atomic de- Racers). The common denominator in all these films was an in-
struction of New York City (while his family was there) to avoid expensive look supplemented by plenty of stock footage. Then,
a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union. Other thrillers in ¡966, director John Frankenheimer shifted racing films into
pale in comparison, although The Bedford Incident (¡965) served high gear with his visually spectacular (but emotionally shallow)
as a potent reminder of just how easily an atomic war can be ini- epic Grand Prix. With its trendy split-screen e›ects and interna-
tiated. Industrious teenagers almost caused nuclear war in tional cast, Grand Prix made it fashionable for big stars to get be-
WarGames (¡983) and The Manhattan Project (¡986). In the lat- hind the wheel. Paul Newman and Robert Wagner played pit
ter film, a high school student built an atomic bomb to prove a stop rivals in ¡969’s Winning and Steve McQueen took to the
point — a sobering premise despite an insu‡cient amount of cred- track in ¡97¡’s Le Mans. Other movies substituted real-life stories
ibility. The only film to e›ectively poke fun at atomic bombs and for big-name stars. Stock car legend Richard Petty played him-
the threat of nuclear war remains Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, self in ¡972’s Smash-Up Alley. Je› Bridges portrayed Junior Jack-
or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (¡964). son in The Last American Hero (¡973), while his brother Beau
Kubrick’s black comedy closed with a classic image: Slim Pickens played another race car driver in Heart Like a Wheel (¡983), the
riding a falling bomb bronco-style to the closing strains of “We’ll biography of drag racing champion Shirley “Cha Cha” Mul-
Meet Again.” See also End of the World/Post-Apocalyse. downey (Bonnie Bedelia). Beau was also in Greased Lightning
The Beginning or the End (¡947); Children of Hiroshima (¡977), the story of Wendell Scott (Richard Pryor), professional
(¡952); Above and Beyond (¡952); The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms racing’s first black driver. Of course, not all auto racing films have
(¡953); The 49th Man (¡953); Split Second (¡953); Port of Hell taken place at racetracks. Cross-country races have made popu-
(¡954); Hiroshima, Mon Amour (¡960); The Flight That Disappeared lar film subjects ever since two genteel couples raced their antique
(¡96¡); Panic in the Year Zero (¡962); Dr. Strangelove, or How I roadsters across the English countryside in ¡953’s Genevieve. Blake
Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (¡964); Fail Safe Edwards’s ¡965 comedy The Great Race added a bevy of stars to
(¡964); The Bedford Incident (¡965); Finders Keepers (¡966); The
the cross-country racing plot — a formula that’s been duplicated
War Game (¡967); The Day the Fish Came Out (¡967); Beneath the
Planet of the Apes (¡970); Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the in numerous films such as Those Daring Young Men in Their
Atomic Bomb (¡980 TVM); The Atomic Cafe (¡982); Testament Jaunty Jalopies (¡969), Cannonball Run (¡98¡), and Speed Zone
(¡983); The Day After (¡983 TVM); WarGames (¡983); One Night (¡989). College campus cult movie Death Race 2000 (¡975) fea-
Stand (¡984); Threads (¡985); Desert Bloom (¡986); The Manhattan tured a cross-country race in which drivers earned points for run-
Project (¡986); Day One (¡989 TVM); Fat Man and Little Boy ning down pedestrians. See also Automobiles (for nonracing
(¡989); True Lies (¡994); Hiroshima (¡995 TVM); Broken Arrow films); Herbie, the Love Bug.
(¡996); Executive Decision (¡996); Mulholland Falls (¡996); The
Rock (¡996); Warhead (¡996); The Peacemaker (¡997); The World Is The Crowd Roars (¡932); Racing Youth (¡932); Speed (¡936);
Not Enough (1999); Fail Safe (2000 TVM) Indianapolis Speedway (¡939); The Big Wheel (¡949); To Please a
Lady (¡950); Genevieve (¡953); Race for Life (¡954); Johnny Dark
Ator (¡954); The Racers (aka Such Men Are Dangerous) (¡955); Check-
point (¡956); The Killing (¡956); The Devil’s Hairpin (¡957); Speed
Shortly after achieving (very) minor celebrity status playing Crazy (¡959); Thunder in Carolina (¡960); The Green Helmet
Tarzan, the Ape Man (¡98¡) opposite Bo Derek, hunky Miles (¡96¡); The Young Racers (¡963); The Killers (¡964); The Lively Set
O’Kee›e landed in this brief Italian sword-and-sorcery (q.v.) se- (¡964); Viva Las Vegas (aka Love in Las Vegas) (¡964); The Great
ries. Aside from poor dubbing and O’Kee›e’s inept thesping, Race (¡965); Red Line 7000 (¡965); Fireball 500 (¡966); Grand Prix
these films are notable for their atrocious special e›ects (e.g., the (¡966); Spinout (aka California Holiday) (¡966); A Man and a
hilarious giant spider slain by Ator in the original). Incredibly, Woman (¡966); Thunder Alley (¡967); Fireball Jungle (¡968); Track
of Thunder (¡968); Speed Lovers (¡968); Speedway (¡968); The Wild
Sean Connery played O’Kee›e’s father in the non–Atorian Sword
Racers (¡968); Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (aka
of the Valiant (¡982). Meanwhile, Ator’s son (Eric Allen Kramer) Monte Carlo or Bust) (¡969); Drive Hard, Drive Fast (¡969 TVM);
hit the quest trail to free Margaret Lenzey in ¡990’s Quest for the The Love Bug (¡969); Pit Stop (¡969); Winning (¡969); The Chal-
Mighty Sword, a direct-to-videotape release in the U.S. See also lengers (¡969 TVM); Le Mans (¡97¡); Corky (aka Lookin’ Good)
Sword and Sorcery. (¡97¡); Smash-Up Alley (aka 43: The Petty Story) (¡972); Ba·ed
16 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FILMS

(¡972 TVM); The Last American Hero (aka Hard Driver) (¡973); vehicles, gimmicky cars, living vehicles, and high-speed car
Death Race 2000 (¡975); Win, Place or Steal (¡975); Cannonball chases. Airborne autos appeared in the TV movie M.A.N.T.I.S.
(aka Carquake) (¡976); The Gumball Rally (¡976); Bobby Deerfield (¡994) and the children’s fantasies The Absent Minded Professor
(¡977); Checkered Flag or Crash (¡977); Greased Lightning (¡977); (¡96¡), its remake Flubber (¡997), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus (¡978 TVM); The Betsy
(aka Harold Robbins’ The Betsy) (¡978); Cannonball Run (¡98¡); Sa- (¡968). The latter film was adapted from a book by Ian Fleming,
fari 3000 (¡982); Six Pack (¡982); Heart Like a Wheel (¡983); Stro- whose secret agent James Bond encountered an AMC Matador-
ker Ace (¡983); Cannonball Run II (¡984); Born to Race (¡988); turned-airplane (!) in The Man with the Golden Gun (¡974). Bond
Speed Zone (¡989); Days of Thunder (¡990); Checkered Flag (¡990) movies are well-known for Q’s gimmick-laden cars, the most
memorable being the Aston Martin in Goldfinger (¡964). It
Autobiographical Films boasted radar, machine guns, a smokescreen device, and an ejec-
tor seat that shot unwanted passengers out the roof. Its nearest
Many people have played themselves on film, but few have played
competitor, gimmick-wise, was the Batmobile from ¡989’s Bat-
themselves in film biographies. The reasons are obvious: the
man. In addition to an impressive battery of Bat-weapons, the
scarcity of motion picture biographies of living persons; the fact
Batmobile could be maneuvered at high speed by remote control
that “real” people do not necessarily make believable actors; and
and cover itself with protective armor in a matter of seconds. The
the image problem — that of having a big ego — created by por-
next step up from remote-controlled vehicles are living ones. Alas,
traying oneself in a favorable light. Sports players dominated early
most self-functioning vehicles have exhibited a bad streak. Chris-
film autobiographies, tracing the careers of boxer Joe Louis (Spirit
tine, a bright-red ’58 Plymouth, mowed down quite a few teens
of Youth), baseball legend Jackie Robinson (The Jackie Robinson
after deciding she had been insulted. The Car (¡977) proved to
Story), track star Bob Mathias (The Bob Mathias Story), and foot-
be equally troublesome, as did other independent-minded vehi-
ball players Tom Harmon (Harmon of Michigan) and Elroy
cles in Killdozer (¡974), The Hearse (¡980), Nightmares (¡983),
“Crazylegs” Hirsch (Crazylegs). None of these one-time actors
Maximum Overdrive (¡986), and The Wraith (¡986). There have
went on to pursue an acting career (though Harmon’s son Mark
been friendly autos, though, such as Herbie the Love Bug (q.v.),
eventually did). Boxing great Muhammad Ali once said: “When
a romance-minded Volkswagen Beetle which starred in four Dis-
you’re as great as I am, it’s hard to be humble.” So naturally, he
ney movies. On television, Ann Sothern was reincarnated as a
played himself in the modestly-titled biopic The Greatest (¡977).
¡928 Porter in the ¡965-66 sitcom My Mother the Car. In Steven
Actresses Ann Jillian, Sophia Loren, Shirley MacLaine, Patty
Spielberg’s ¡97¡ TV movie Duel, the director showed only fleet-
Duke, and Suzanne Somers all played themselves in made-for-TV
ing shots of the driver of the truck dead-set on running Dennis
biographies. MacLaine’s film was adapted from her best-selling
Weaver o› the road. Another ¡97¡ picture, Vanishing Point, starred
autobiography Out on a Limb. Ray Charles also appeared as him- Barry Newman as an obsessed driver who turns a wager (Denver
self in ¡964’s Ballad in Blue. To date, the best autobiographical to San Francisco in ¡5 hours) into a high speed death drive. Con-
film remains ¡955’s To Hell and Back, in which Audie Murphy sisting mostly of highway car chase footage, Vanishing Point at-
traced his own rise from farm boy to the nation’s most decorated tracted an enthusiastic youth audience and set the pattern for
soldier in World War II to movie star. Although not autobio- similar low-budget outings like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (¡974),
graphical, Will Rogers, Jr., played his father in The Will Rogers Eat My Dust! (¡976), and Grand Theft Auto (¡977). However, the
Story (¡952) and Marie Osmond played her mother in Side by most spectacular car chases of the ¡970s and ¡980s consisted of
Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family (¡982). In the follow- single extended sequences in cop thrillers, a practice perfected in
ing list, the subject’s name is included in parentheses unless the classic high-speed pursuit through San Francisco in ¡967’s
specified in the title. See also Film Star Biographies; Pop, Rock, Bullitt. Some films integrated the chase into the plot (e.g., The
and Country Singer Biographies. French Connection), while others hyped the chase scene as the
Spirit of Youth (¡937) ( Joe Louis); Harmon of Michigan (¡94¡) main selling point (e.g., The Seven-Ups). Elaborate chase scenes
(Tom Harmon); The Fabulous Dorseys (¡947); The Jackie Robinson faded in the ¡980s, though William Friedkin staged a nail-grind-
Story (¡950); Crazylegs (Crazylegs, All American) (¡953) (Elroy Hirsch);
ing drive down a wrong-way street in ¡985’s To Live and Die in
The Bob Mathias Story (aka The Flaming Torch) (¡954); To Hell and
Back (¡955) (Audie Murphy); Rock Around the World (aka The Tommy L.A. The ¡988 Dirty Harry picture The Dead Pool spoofed the
Steele Story) (¡957); Ballad in Blue (aka Blues for Lovers) (¡964) (Ray Bullitt chase with a scene of Harry being pursued through San
Charles); Smash-Up Alley (aka 43: The Petty Story) (¡972) (Richard Francisco by a remote-controlled toy roadster carrying a bomb.
Petty); The Greatest (¡977) (Muhammad Ali); Sophia Loren: Her Own Of related interest, Free for All, The Formula, and The Water En-
Story (¡980 TVM); Victims for Victims—The Theresa Saldana Story gine dealt with the invention of more cost-e‡cient gasoline. The
(¡984 TVM); Out on a Limb (¡987 TVM) (Shirley MacLaine); The cars in ¡975’s Idaho Transfer used people for fuel. See also Auto
Ann Jillian Story (¡988 TVM); Call Me Anna (¡990 TVM) (Patty Racing; Buses; Cha›eurs; Herbie, the Love Bug; Taxi Drivers;
Duke); Keeping Secrets (¡99¡ TVM) (Suzanne Somers); Miss America:
Behind the Crown (¡992 TVM) (Carolyn Sapp); Tears and Laughter:
Truck Drivers.
The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (¡994 TVM); Never Say Never: The Excuse My Dust (¡95¡); Jalopy (¡953); Inside Detroit (¡955);
Deidre Hall Story (¡995 TVM); Private Parts (¡997) (Howard Stern) Young and Wild (¡958); The Absent Minded Professor (¡96¡); The
Yellow Rolls Royce (¡964); Goldfinger (¡964); Chitty Chitty Bang
Automobiles Bang (¡968); The Reivers (aka The Yellow Winton Flyer) (¡969);
Tra‡c (aka Trafic) (¡970); Duel (¡97¡ TVM); Vanishing Point
While a number of auto-oriented movies revolve around auto (¡97¡); Two-Lane Blacktop (¡97¡); Killdozer (¡974 TVM); Dirty
racing (q.v.), they represent but one model in an eclectic line of Mary, Crazy Larry (¡974); Cars That Eat People (aka The Cars That
car pictures. More imaginative auto movies have featured flying Ate Paris) (¡974); Gone in 60 Seconds (¡974); The Man with the
 BABYSITTERS 17

Golden Gun (¡974); Idaho Transfer (¡975); Eat My Dust! (¡976); Battleship (¡956); Bundle of Joy (¡956); Night of the Blood Beast (aka
The Van (¡976); Car Wash (¡976); The Car (¡977); Double Nickels Creature from Galaxy 27) (¡958); Rock-a-Bye Baby (¡958); Unwed
(¡977); Grand Theft Auto (¡977); Corvette Summer (¡978); Zero to Mother (¡958); Bobbikins (¡960); A Global A›air (¡964); Rosemary’s
Sixty (¡978); The Charge of the Model Ts (¡979); The Hearse (¡980); Baby (¡968); Zero Population Growth (aka ZPG) (¡97¡); The Last
Used Cars (¡980); The Last Chase (¡98¡); Christine (¡983); Night- Child (¡97¡ TVM); A Brand New Life (¡973 TVM); The Godchild
mares (¡983); Repo Man (¡984); Back to the Future (¡985); Car (¡974 TVM); It’s Alive (¡974); The Stranger Within (¡974 TVM);
Trouble (¡985); Maximum Overdrive (¡986); Black Moon Rising Unwed Father (¡974 TVM); The Devil Within Her (aka I Don’t Want
(¡986); Gung Ho (¡986); The Wraith (¡986); Ford: The Man and the to Be Born) (¡975); Having Babies (aka Giving Birth) (¡976 TVM);
Machine (¡987 TVM); Tucker: The Man and the Dream (¡988); Eraserhead (¡977); Rabbit Test (¡978); The Brood (¡979); Possession
Dangerous Curves (¡988); Batman (¡989); Coupe De Ville (¡990); (¡98¡); He’s Not Your Son (¡984 TVM); Agnes of God (¡985); Hail
The Ambulance (¡990); Wheels of Terror (¡990 TVM); Drive Like Mary (¡985); Three Men and a Cradle (¡985); Raising Arizona (¡987);
Lightning (¡992 TVM); M.A.N.T.I.S. (¡994 TVM); The Van Baby Boom (¡987); Three Men and a Baby (¡987); Look Who’s Talking
(¡996); Crash (¡997); Flubber (¡997); Captured (¡998); Gone in (¡989); The Guardian (¡990); The Little Kidnappers (¡990 TVM);
Sixty Seconds (aka Gone in 60 Seconds) (2000) Baby on Board (¡99¡); Switched at Birth (¡99¡ TVM); Baby Snatcher
(¡992 TVM); Born Too Soon (¡993 TVM); The Baby of Macon
Babies (¡993); Junior (¡994); The Unborn II (¡994); Babyfever (¡994); Heart
of a Child (¡994 TVM); Moment of Truth: Cradle of Conspiracy (¡994
Infants have often exhibited a total disregard for adults, dropping TVM); Million Dollar Babies (¡994 TVM); Baby’s Day Out (¡994);
in on unlikely fathers and unwed mothers at the most inconve- Father of the Bride Part II (¡995); Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall
nient times. The Three Godfathers, the story of three tough ban- Story (¡995 TVM); The Bachelor’s Baby (¡996 TVM); Maternal In-
dits who “adopt” an orphaned baby, has been filmed at least seven stincts (¡996 TVM); A Smile Like Yours (¡997); A Thousand Men and
times as: Bronco Billy and the Baby (¡909), Three Godfathers (¡9¡6), a Baby (¡997 TVM); The Baby Dance (¡998 TVM); Baby Geniuses
Marked Men (¡920), Hell’s Heroes (¡929), Three Godfathers (¡936), (¡999); Half a Dozen Babies (¡999 TVM); Two Babies: Switched at
Birth (1999 TVM); Labor Pains (2000)
Three Godfathers (¡948), and The Godchild (¡974 TVM). John
Ford’s ¡948 version remains the most popular, with John Wayne,
Pedro Armendariz, and Harry Carey, Jr., as the improbable par- Babysitters
ents. The Baby and the Battleship (¡956) updated the premise and Stalked by psychos and harassed by bratty children, it was in-
increased the number of dads, but still derived its humor out of evitable that a babysitter or two would turn out bad. It finally
showing macho males struggling helplessly to care for a little one. happened in the ¡980 TV movie The Babysitter, with practically-
The same sturdy plot surfaced again in the ¡985 French comedy perfect sitter Stephanie Zimbalist first seducing her employer
Three Men and a Cradle and its ¡987 American remake Three Men (much to the chagrin of his wife), then taking over the family and
and a Baby. However, the most unlikely fathers were the dads- plotting murder. Diane Franklin was equally menacing in ¡983’s
to-be in Night of the Blood Beast (¡958), Rabbit Test (¡978), and Summer Girl. However, nasty babysitters have been the exception,
Junior (¡994)— unusual films about pregnant men. Unexpected of course. More typically, they have been portrayed as helpless vic-
infants provided the source of obvious misunderstandings for tims in low-grade horror fare like Fright, Trick or Treats, and Hal-
bachelorettes Ginger Rogers and Debbie Reynolds in the comedy loween (though Jamie Lee Curtis managed to defend herself rea-
Bachelor Mother (¡939) and its remake Bundle of Joy (¡956). Betty sonably well). The favorite plot of babysitter comedies has been
Hutton forgot who got her pregnant in Preston Sturges’ Miracle entrusting the child care to hapless males. Actually, Clifton
of Morgan’s Creek (¡944), but her troubles ended when she gave Webb’s Mr. Belvedere (q.v.) turned out to be a very capable
birth to sextuplets. Tragically, no one believed the young moth- babysitter in ¡948’s Sitting Pretty. However, Jerry Lewis played a
ers-to-be who claimed to have been blessed with immaculate con- stereotypically inept male babysitter in Rock-a-bye Baby, but then
ceptions in Agnes of God and Hail Mary (both ¡985). A psychotic triplets could tax even a veteran sitter. Overall, though, the per-
woman conceived (sans husband) “children of rage” in David ils of babysitting were best explored in the hectic ¡987 comedy
Cronenberg’s complex chiller The Brood (¡979). Undesirable ba- Adventures in Babysitting. Teen sitter Elisabeth Shue and her
bies surprised their mothers in Rosemary’s Baby (¡968), It’s Alive charges somehow transformed a dull night of TV watching into
(¡974), The Stranger Within (¡974), The Devil Within Her (¡975), a wild series of connected adventures through the streets of
and, most disturbingly, David Lynch’s Eraserhead (¡977). Bob- Chicago. Fortunately, they still made it back home before the
bikins (¡960), a baby who could talk like an adult, was surely a parents’ return, but only by a matter of seconds. Marilyn Mon-
shock to his parents, too. Finally, some movies have dealt with roe made the least likely of all babysitters, portraying a mentally
societies which outlawed the birth of babies, as in ¡97¡’s Zero disturbed one contemplating suicide in ¡952’s Don’t Bother to
Population Growth and its TV movie equivalent The Last Child Knock. See also Babies (for similar films like Three Men and a
(¡97¡). See also Babysitters; Child Custody Disputes; Having Baby); Belvedere, Mr. (Lynn); Governesses and Nannies.
Babies Series; It’s Alive Series; Governesses and Nannies; Look
Sitting Pretty (¡948); Don’t Bother to Knock (¡952); Rock-a-Bye
Who’s Talking Series; Surrogate Motherhood. Baby (¡958); The Babysitter (¡969); Fright (¡97¡); The Babysitter
Bronco Billy and the Baby (¡909); Three Godfathers (¡9¡6); (aka Wanted: Babysitter) (¡975); Halloween (¡978); When a Stranger
Marked Men (¡920); The Kid (¡92¡); Hell’s Heroes (¡929); A Bedtime Calls (¡979); The Babysitter (¡980 TVM); Trick or Treats (¡982);
Story (¡933); Three Godfathers (aka Miracle in the Sand) (¡936); Summer Girl (¡983 TVM); First A›air (¡983 TVM); Rita, Sue and
Bachelor Mother (¡939); East Side of Heaven (¡939); Little Accident Bob, Too (¡986); Twisted (aka Twisted: A Step Beyond Insanity)
(¡939); Miracle on Main Street (¡939); Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (¡986); Adventures in Babysitting (¡987); Uncle Buck (¡989); Don’t
(¡944); Three Godfathers (¡948); Father’s Little Dividend (¡95¡); The Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (¡99¡); The Sitter (¡99¡ TVM); The
Little Kidnappers (aka The Kidnappers) (¡953); The Baby and the Baby-Sitters Club (¡995); The Babysitter’s Seduction (¡996 TVM)
18 BACK TO THE FUTURE SERIES

Back to the Future Series Our Hospitality (¡923); Kentucky Kernels (¡934); In Old Ken-
tucky (¡935); Trail of the Lonesome Pine (¡936); Kentucky Moonshine
Robert Zemeckis was a University of Southern California film (¡938); Feudin’, Fussin’ and A-Fightin’ (¡948); Roseanna McCoy
student when he met wunderkind director Steven Spielberg dur- (¡949); Comin’ Round the Mountain (¡95¡); Feudin’ Fools (¡952);
ing the ¡973 filming of Sugarland Express. Spielberg went on to Lolly Madonna XXX (aka The Lolly Madonna War) (¡973); The
play a crucial role in Zemeckis’ Hollywood career, executive pro- Hatfields and the McCoys (¡975 TVM); Winter People (¡989)
ducing his first film (¡978’s I Wanna Hold Your Hand) and di-
recting the Zemeckis–Bob Gale script ¡94¡ (¡979). Yet, despite The Bad New Bears
Spielberg’s support, Zemeckis found few studios interested in a The combination of Walter Matthau as a beer-guzzling coach
time travel comedy he co-wrote with Gale in ¡980. Then, Ze- and Tatum O’Neal as a foul-mouthed, female pitcher turned this
meckis hit the big time with ¡984’s lighthearted adventure Ro- little league baseball comedy into a surprise ¡976 hit. Neither star
mancing the Stone. With a big hit to his credit, his script for Back appeared in the ¡977 follow-up The Bad News Bears in Breaking
to the Future became a hot property. Eric Stoltz, best known for Training, which weighed down the comedy with a large dose of
his acclaimed performance as Rocky Dennis in ¡985’s Mask, was sentiment. William Devane played the team’s new coach. But he
cast in the lead role of Marty McFly. However, after five weeks of too was nowhere to be found in ¡978’s The Bad News Bears Go to
filming, Zemeckis decided that Stoltz was not right for the part. Japan, a weak outing that ended the series. Young Jackie Earle
He replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox, who was still filming his Haley was the only Bear to star in all three films. A half-hour CBS
TV series Family Ties. Despite some mixed reviews (which those TV series aired briefly during ¡979. See also Baseball.
critics will probably now deny), ¡985’s Back to the Future went on The Bad News Bears (¡976); The Bad News Bears in Breaking
to become a monster hit and transform Fox from a TV personal- Training (¡977); The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (¡978)
ity to a film star. The film’s plot sent teenager Marty back in time
(via a modified DeLorean sports car) to ¡955. He encounters his Baines, Scattergood
parents as high schoolers and, in something of an oedipal twist,
Guy Kibbee starred as Clarence Budington Kelland’s genial coun-
has to fend o› the advances of his mother. Marty’s presence in the
try philosopher in this RKO series. Actually, the films were pro-
past gradually threatens his existence in the future — for if his
duced by little Pyramid Pictures Corporation, which convinced
mother doesn’t marry his father, the McFly family will cease to
RKO that a six-film series based on the popular radio program
exist. Fox, in a very appealing performance, receives excellent sup-
was bound to be profitable. It wasn’t — the public never warmed
port from Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown, and Lea
up to Scattergood, not even when RKO tried to hide the fact that
Thompson and Crispin Glover as Marty’s parents. The ¡989 se-
a movie was part of the series (the studio changed the title of
quel, Back to the Future II, confused most viewers with a complex
Scattergood Swings It to Cinderella Swings It). Nevertheless, the
plot sending Marty and Doc to various points in time. The se-
storekeeper of Coldriver stayed busy for three years, helping
ries’ third installment, Back to the Future III, was filmed concur-
horseback orphans (Scattergood Rides High) and would-be record-
rently and released less than six months later. It finds Marty and
ing stars (Cinderella Swings It).
Doc in the Old West, with Mary Steenburgen on hand as a love
interest for Doc Brown. An animated Back to the Future TV se- Scattergood Baines (¡94¡); Scattergood Meets Broadway (¡94¡);
Scattergood Pulls the Strings (¡94¡); Scattergood Rides High (¡942);
ries ran briefly on Saturday mornings. See also Time Travel. Scattergood Survives a Murder (¡942); Cinderella Swings It (aka
Back to the Future (¡985); Back to the Future II (¡989); Back to Scattergood Swings It) (¡943)
the Future III (¡990)
Balboa, Rocky see Rocky
Backwoods Feuds
The bitter, deadly feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys Ballet/Ballerinas
has served as the basis for two films: ¡949’s Roseanna McCoy with The challenge of integrating a dynamic theatrical art form into
Joan Evans in the title role and the ¡975 TV movie The Hatfields the confines of cinema has proven to be a di‡cult task. Conse-
and the McCoys, with Karen Lamm as Rose Ann McCoy. How- quently, it has been undertaken almost exclusively by filmmak-
ever, dramatically, both these films probably owe more to Romeo ers/ballet lovers, whose artistic successes have been mixed equally
and Juliet than to the real-life feuding families. The fictitious with unmitigated failures. British filmmakers Michael Powell and
Trail of the Lonesome Pine (¡936) earned a place in cinema history Emeric Pressburger produced two outstanding ballet films, with
as the first outdoor movie shot completely in Technicolor. It may Powell also contributing a third, less memorable solo e›ort. The
also be the best feudin’ film, with memorable performances by first Powell-Pressburger ballet film was ¡948’s The Red Shoes,
Fred MacMurray and Henry Fonda. Other serious films about which starred real-life ballerina Moira Shearer as a young dancer
backwood feuds include Lolly Madonna XXX (¡973) and the sub- driven to her death by her inability to choose between ballet and
dued Kurt Russell–Kelly McGillis vehicle Winter People (¡989). a “normal” life. The highlight of this dazzling, colorful film is a
Feuds have provided a rich source of gags for many comedians, ¡4-minute ballet of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Red
such as Buster Keaton (Our Hospitality), Abbott and Costello Shoes, brilliantly danced and photographed against stylized sets.
(Comin’ Round the Mountain), the Bowery Boys (Feudin’ Fools), The elaborate sets returned in ¡95¡’s Tales of Ho›man, a fusion
and Donald O’Connor (Feudin’, Fussin’ and A-Fightin’). The lat- of drama, singing, and ballet based on O›enbach’s opera and fea-
ter film also featured Majorie Main and Percy Kilbride, though turing ballerina Shearer again. Powell turned to ballet once more,
not o‡cially as Ma and Pa Kettle (q.v.). sans Pressburger, in ¡959’s all-but-forgotten Honeymoon, which
 BARBERS/HAIRDRESSERS 19

featured excerpts from the Spanish ballets “Los Amantes de Teruel” TV movie Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase. James Bond
and “El Amor Brujo.” The most interesting pre–Red Shoes ballet (Roger Moore) made an unexpected arrival via hot air balloon in
picture was The Specter of the Rose (¡946), an o›beat drama about Octopussy (¡983). Jessica Lange took a pleasure ride with Joan
a young dancer who is slowly losing his mind. It featured a rare Cusack in ¡990’s Men Don’t Leave. Baron von Munchausen cre-
screen appearance by drama teacher Michael Chekhov and the ated a hot air balloon made of ladies’ bloomers in ¡989’s The Ad-
potent presence of Dame Judith Anderson. Gene Kelly, after ventures of Baron Munchausen. Magical balloons grew from the
choreographing a modern ballet for a set piece in An American in ground like plants in the Disney TV movie Balloon Farm (¡999).
Paris (¡95¡), incorporated ballet into his all-dance ¡957 picture In- See also Airplanes; Dirigibles; Helicopters.
vitation to the Dance. Shot in ¡952, this three-part anthology Queen of the Jungle (¡935); Penrod’s Double Trouble (¡938);
boasted energetic dancing and clever direction (including a com- The Wizard of Oz (¡939); Around the World in Eighty Days (¡956);
bination of live action and cartoon), but it crashed at the box-o‡ce Flight of the Lost Balloon (¡96¡); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); Five Weeks
and almost ended Kelly’s career. In contrast, Herbert Ross’s The in a Balloon (¡962); Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Ma-
Turning Point (¡977) was a solid popular and critical favorite. chines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours ¡¡ Minutes
(aka Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines) (¡965); The
Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft had the starring roles as a Great Race (¡965); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (¡968); Charlie Bubbles
pair of former ballerinas, but Mikhail Baryshnikov stole the film (¡968); Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (aka The Great Balloon Adventure)
every time he took to the dance floor. Ballets filmed in their en- (¡978); Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase (¡98¡ TVM); Night
tirety have been rare, but have nevertheless been captured in Peter Crossing (¡98¡); The Flight of the Eagle (¡982); Ingenjör Andrées
Rabbit and the Tales of Beatrix Potter (¡97¡), Nutcracker (¡982), and Luftfärd (¡982); Octopussy (¡983); Cloud Waltzing (¡987 TVM);
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (¡986). There have been numer- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (¡989); It Nearly Wasn’t
ous films, not expressly about ballet, which have featured balleri- Christmas (¡989 TVM); Men Don’t Leave (¡990); Je›erson in Paris
(¡995); The Avengers (¡998); Balloon Farm (¡999 TVM); The World
nas as principal characters. The role call of actresses who have Is Not Enough (1999); Mermaid (2000 TVM)
played ballerinas is a varied one: Greta Garbo (Grand Hotel); Mau-
reen O’Hara (Dance, Girl, Dance); Vivien Leigh (Waterloo Bridge);
Loretta Young (The Men in Her Life); Margaret O’Brien (The
Bancroft, Brass
Unfinished Dance); Janet Leigh (The Red Danube); Gene Tierney A promising young star named Ronald Reagan played secret ser-
(Never Let Me Go); and Leslie Caron (Gaby). Ballet segments have vice agent Brass Bancroft in a series of four Warner Bros. pro-
highlighted many mainstream musicals, though the sequences in grammers, beginning with ¡939’s Secret Service of the Air. The
An American in Paris, Oklahoma! and On Your Toes stand out. films were inspired by the memoirs of William H. Moran, a for-
mer secret service chief. Reagan’s heroics, though, were strictly
Grand Hotel (¡932); On Your Toes (¡939); Dance, Girl, Dance
(¡940); Waterloo Bridge (¡940); The Men in Her Life (¡94¡); The Saturday afternoon kid’s stu›. Brass fought smugglers, counter-
Dancing Masters (¡943); Specter of the Rose (¡946); Carnival (¡946); feiters, and experimental death rays in his brief career. In real life,
The Unfinished Dance (¡947); The Imperfect Lady (¡947); The Red Reagan fought Warner Bros. to shelve his second Bancroft film,
Shoes (¡948); The Red Danube (¡949); Illicit Interlude (aka Summer Code of the Secret Service, because he felt it was unfit for release.
Play; Summer Interlude) (¡950); An American in Paris (¡95¡); Tales of Director Bryan Foy backed Reagan and Warner Bros. compro-
Ho›man (¡95¡); Limelight (¡952); Never Let Me Go (¡953); Dance mised (slightly) by not releasing the film in Los Angeles. Eddie
Little Lady (¡955); Oklahoma! (¡955); Gaby (¡956); Meet Me in Las Foy, Jr., the director’s brother, played Brass’s sidekick Gabby Wat-
Vegas (aka Viva Las Vegas) (¡956); Invitation to the Dance (¡957);
Angel in a Taxi (¡959); Honeymoon (¡959); Vampire and the Ballerina ters.
(¡962); Peter Rabbit and the Tales of Beatrix Potter (aka The Tales of Secret Service of the Air (¡939); Code of the Secret Service
Beatrix Potter) (¡97¡); The Turning Point (¡977); Slow Dancing in the (¡939); Smashing the Money Ring (¡939); Murder in the Air (¡940)
Big City (¡978); Nutcracker (¡982); The Cowboy and the Ballerina
(¡984 TVM); Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (¡986); Dancers
(¡987); Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas (¡989); Brain
Barbers/Hairdressers
Donors (¡992); Tender Heart (aka Alciz Shurek; Coeur Fragile) (¡994) On those rare occasions when hairdressers are featured characters
in a film, their profession rarely receives much exposure. Murder
witness Kim Basinger could have easily been mistaken for a model
Balloons, Hot Air instead of a hairdresser in Nadine (¡987). Likewise, the fact that
Phileas Fogg may be the world’s most famous balloonist, but Frances McDormand’s character was a beautician in Mississippi
Around the World in Eighty Days is but one of several balloon Burning (¡988) had little bearing on the plot. Still, hairdressers
movies (indeed, Phileas’s balloon flight is relatively short). Red have made a major impact in a handful of films. Warren Beatty
Buttons and Barbara Eden spent Five Weeks in a Balloon in Irwin played an amorous one in his ¡975 hit Shampoo and Julie Walters
Allen’s ¡962 adaptation of Jules Verne’s adventure tale. Civil War received an Oscar nomination for portraying an uneducated hair-
prisoners escaped via a hot air balloon and blew o› course onto dresser seeking to better herself intellectually in ¡983’s Educating
a Mysterious Island (¡96¡) in another Verne-inspired epic. Toto’s Rita. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (¡936) was
mad dash from the Wizard’s hot air balloon kept Dorothy from about a barber who killed his customers and turned them into
returning home in a conventional fashion in The Wizard of Oz “meat pies.” Composer Stephen Sondheim transformed the same
(¡939). Good thing she kept those ruby slippers. Katharine Hep- story into the Broadway musical smash Sweeney Todd.
burn helped two children launch a balloon — and nearly land on Smart Money (¡93¡); Diplomaniacs (¡933); Sweeney Todd, the
an orchestra conductor — in Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (¡978), while a Demon Barber of Fleet Street (¡936); Keep Fit (¡937); The Great
boy and his grandfather made a transcontinental flight in the ¡98¡ Dictator (¡940); Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (aka Bud Abbott
20 THE BARRYTOWN TRILOGY

and Lou Costello in Hollywood) (¡945); Monsieur Beaucaire (¡946); spectively, Damn Yankees (¡958) and Angels in the Outfield (¡95¡).
Wait ’Til the Sun Shines, Nellie (¡952); The Adventures of Hajji In ¡989’s Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner built a baseball diamond
Baba (¡954); Staircase (¡969); Five on the Back Hand Side (¡973); in lieu of planting crops, so the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson and
Don Quixote (¡973); Female Trouble (¡974); Shampoo (¡975); Out-
other heavenly ball players would have a place to play their beloved
rageous! (¡977); Educating Rita (¡983); Old Enough (¡984); Nadine
(¡987); Conspiracy of Love (¡987 TVM); Mississippi Burning (¡988); game. Most filmmakers have preferred to gloss over the game’s
Getting It Right (¡989); Steel Magnolias (¡989); Earth Girls Are Easy darker days, although John Sayles’ Eight Men Out (¡988) presented
(¡989); Skin Deep (¡989); Highway 6¡ (¡99¡); Stan and George’s New a factual account of the ¡9¡9 “Black Sox” scandal. Corruption was
Life (¡99¡); Victor’s Big Score (¡992); The Crying Game (¡992); The also an issue in ¡984’s The Natural, an unusual morality tale of a
Hairdresser’s Husband (¡992); Who’s the Man? (¡993); Poetic Justice highly-gifted player (Robert Redford) confronted by temptation
(¡993); Wrestling with Ernest Hemingway (¡993); The Grass Harp and evil. Baseball comedies have ranged from the hilarious to the
(¡995); The Beautician and the Beast (¡997); I Want You (1998);
ridiculous, with some of the more successful ones incorporating un-
Summer of Sam (¡999); Stigmata (¡999); The Big Tease (¡999)
usual angles. The ¡95¡ Rhubarb was about a baseball team owned
The Barrytown Trilogy by a cat. The Bad News Bears (¡976) were a team of foul-mouthed
little leaguers transformed into winners by beer-guzzling coach Wal-
Author Roddy Doyle’s humorous, a›ectionate novels about a
ter Matthau. Abbott and Costello recreated their famous vaudeville
working-class family living in Barrytown, a suburb of Dublin,
baseball routine “Who’s on First?” in ¡945’s The Naughty Nineties.
provided the source for this well-done film trilogy. Doyle’s three
Films about female baseball/softball players include Aunt Mary
books traced the exploits of the Rabbitte family: The Commit-
(¡979), Squeeze Play (¡980), and the ¡992 fact-based hit A League of
ments was about Jimmy Jr.’s attempts to start a blues band; The
Their Own. See also The Bad News Bears; Major League Series.
Snapper (Irish slang for “baby”) focused on unwed, pregnant
daughter Sharon; and The Van put the spotlight on father Jimmy Fireman, Save My Child (¡932); Elmer the Great (¡933); Death
on the Diamond (¡934); Alibi Ike (¡935); The Pride of the Yankees
Sr. The screen adaptations followed the same plotline, although (¡942); Ladies’ Day (¡943); Whistling in Brooklyn (¡943); The
the family’s name and its members change from film to film. For Naughty Nineties (¡945); The Babe Ruth Story (¡948); It Happens
example, although Colm Meaney played the family patriarch in Every Spring (¡949); The Kid from Cleveland (¡949); The Stratton
all three movies, his characters’ names were Mr. Rabbitte, Dessie Story (¡949); Take Me Out to the Ball Game (¡949); Kill the Umpire
Curley, and Larry. Meany played a supporting role in The Com- (¡950); The Jackie Robinson Story (¡950); Angels in the Outfield (aka
mitments (¡99¡), a charming tale merging energetic young per- Angels and the Pirates) (¡95¡); Rhubarb (¡95¡); The Winning Team
formances with great music (including a show-stopping rendition (¡952); The Pride of St. Louis (¡952); The Kid from Left Field (¡953);
The Big Leaguer (¡953); Roogie’s Bump! (¡954); The Great American
of “Try a Little Tenderness”). It’s more of an ensemble picture Pastime (¡956); Fear Strikes Out (¡957); Damn Yankees (¡958);
than The Snapper (¡993) and The Van (¡996), which devote most Moochie of the Little League (¡959); Safe at Home! (¡962); Bang the
of their running times to Meaney’s character — as he tries to dis- Drum Slowly (¡973); It’s Good to Be Alive (¡974 TVM); The Bad
cover his daughter’s lover in the former film and start a restau- News Bears (¡976); The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor
rant in a broken-down van in the latter film. His performances, Kings (¡976); Murder at the World Series (¡978 TVM); One in a
especially in The Snapper, capture the joys and frustrations of a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story (¡978 TVM); Here Come the Tigers
goodhearted man dealing with independent children, unem- (aka Manny’s Orphans) (¡978); A Love A›air: The Eleanor and Lou
Gehrig Story (¡978 TVM); Goodbye, Franklin High (¡978); Aunt
ployment, and the Irish soccer team in the World Cup. Mary (¡979 TVM); The Kid from Left Field (¡979 TVM); Squeeze
The Commitments (¡99¡); The Snapper (¡993); The Van (¡996) Play (¡980); The Comeback Kid (¡980 TVM); Don’t Look Back: The
Story of Leroy “Satchel” Paige (¡98¡ TVM); Chasing Dreams (¡982);
Barton, Dick Million Dollar Infield (¡982 TVM); Tiger Town (¡983 TVM); Blue
Skies Again (¡983); The Natural (¡984); Brewster’s Millions (¡985);
Barton, a British Dick Tracy (q.v.), evolved from a popular ¡948 The Slugger’s Wife (¡985); A Winner Never Quits (¡986 TVM); Long
radio series. Don Stannard played him in three low-budget movies Gone (¡987 TVM); Amazing Grace and Chuck (¡987); Bull Durham
with villains that used “germ bombs” and atomic weapons. The (¡988); Eight Men Out (¡988); Stealing Home (¡988); Trading Hearts
series concluded following the actor’s death in ¡949. (¡988); Major League (¡989); Field of Dreams (¡989); Night Game
Dick Barton, Detective (aka Dick Barton, Special Agent) (¡949); (¡989); The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (¡990 TVM); Blood
Dick Barton Strikes Back (¡949); Dick Barton at Bay (¡950) Games (¡99¡); Pastime (aka One Cup of Co›ee) (¡99¡) (about the
minor leagues); Talent for the Game (¡99¡); A League of Their Own
(¡992); Mr. Baseball (¡992); The Babe (¡992); The Comrades of Sum-
Baseball mer (¡992 TVM); The Sandlot (¡993); Rookie of the Year (¡993);
Football may have been played in more movies, but no sport sur- Cooperstown (¡993 TVM); The Man from Left Field (¡993 TVM);
passes baseball in providing subjects for inspirational film bi- Angels in the Outfield (¡994); The Scout (¡994); Little Big League
ographies. Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Dizzy Dean, Grover (¡994); Cobb (¡994); Ed (¡996); The Fan (¡996); The Big Squeeze
Cleveland Alexander, Jackie Robinson, Jimmy Piersall, Ron (¡996); Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way (¡997 TVM); BASEket-
LeFlore, Roy Campanella, and Monty Stratton have all had their ball (¡998) (a combination of baseball and basketball); For Love of
the Game (¡999); Mean Streak (¡999); Angels in the Infield (2000
stories brought to the screen — often with conviction, almost al- TVM); Perfect Game (2000)
ways with sentiment. Baseball fantasies have proven to be popu-
lar, too. In It Happens Every Spring (¡949), college professor Ray
Milland became a star pitcher for St. Louis when he accidentally Basket Case Series
invented a chemical that repelled wood (i.e., baseball bats). The Frank Henenlotter’s original Basket Case (¡982) mixed gore and
Devil and an angel turned last-place teams into winners in, re- black comedy with enough wit to earn a cult reputation among
 BATMAN 21

midnight movie fans and mainstream film critics. The plot cen- And real-life players have appeared in Cornbread, Earl and Me
ters on Duane and Belial Bradley, Siamese twins severed at birth ( Jamaal Wilkes), The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (Kareem Abdul
by quack doctors who tossed the hideously-deformed Belial into Jabbar, Meadowlark Lemon, Julius Erving), and Amazing Grace
the garbage. Belial survives and eventually gets reunited with and Chuck (Alex English).
Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck), with whom he has formed a Here Come the Coeds (¡945); The Harlem Globetrotters (¡95¡);
telepathic bond. With Belial in a wicker basket, Duane heads to Go, Man, Go (¡954); Tall Story (¡960); The Absent-Minded Professor
New York City to take revenge on the unsuspecting doctors. Be- (¡96¡); Drive, He Said (¡97¡); Shirts/Skins (¡973 TVM); Maurie
lial, despite being a homicidal monster, earns viewer sympathy for (aka Big Mo) (¡973); Mixed Company (¡974); Cornbread, Earl and
most of the film (until he kills Duane’s girlfriend in a tasteless Me (¡975); One on One (¡977); The Greatest Thing That Almost
Happened (¡977 TVM); Coach (¡978); Fast Break (¡979); The Fish
scene). Shot over three years, Basket Case’s reputation can be at- That Saved Pittsburgh (¡979); Inside Moves (¡980); The Harlem Glo-
tributed chiefly to Henenlotter’s quirky humor and o›beat sup- betrotters on Gilligan’s Island (¡98¡ TVM); That Championship Sea-
porting characters. These same qualities were present, but to son (¡982); Teen Wolf (¡985); Porky’s Revenge (¡985); Hoosiers
much less e›ect, in Henenlotter’s long-awaited sequel, ¡990’s (¡986); Amazing Grace and Chuck (¡987); Laker Girls (¡990 TVM);
Basket Case 2. It finds Duane (Van Hentenryck again) and Belial The Pistol (aka The Pistol: Birth of a Legend) (¡990); Heaven Is a
taking refuge in the Staten Island home of Granny Ruth (jazz Playground (¡99¡); One Special Victory (¡99¡ TVM); Final Shot: The
singer Annie Ross), who provides sanctuary to a variety of freaks. Hank Gathers Story (¡992 TVM); White Men Can’t Jump (¡998);
Above the Rim (¡994); Hoop Dreams (¡994); Blue Chips (¡994); For-
Duane and Belial fall in love with Siamese twins Susan and Eve, get Paris (¡995); The Basketball Diaries (¡995); Slam Dunk Ernest
but a nosy reporter interrupts their bliss and Susan winds up (¡995); Eddie (¡996); Space Jam (¡996); Sunset Park (¡996); Celtic
dead. In Basket Case 3: The Progeny (¡992), Eve becomes preg- Pride (¡996); Rebound: The Legend of Earl “The Goat” Manigault
nant and has a “litter” of little mutant babies. The children are (1996 TVM); The Sixth Man (¡997); Air Bud (¡997); Flubber
kidnapped by some nasty Southern deputies, who naturally re- (¡997); He Got Game (¡998); BASEketball (¡998) (a combination of
ceive their comeuppance in gruesome fashion. The two sequels baseball and basketball); Passing Glory (¡999 TVM); Michael Jor-
borrow their basic premise from Tod Browning’s ¡932 classic dan: An American Hero (¡999 TVM); That Championship Season
(¡999 TVM); Love & Basketball (2000)
Freaks: The “normal” people are portrayed as cruel and thought-
less, while the “freaks” are presented as caring individuals who
simply want to be left alone. Unfortunately, neither Basket Case Batman
sequel can match the first film’s inventiveness. Henenlotter fared “Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, so my disguise must
much better with his gory Frankenstein (q.v.) satire Franken- be able to strike terror into their hearts — I must be a creature of
hooker (¡990). See also Twins. the night, black, terrible … a … a … a bat!” With that an-
Basket Case (¡982); Basket Case 2 (¡990); Basket Case 3: The nouncement, Bruce Wayne transformed himself into the epic
Progeny (¡992) comic book superhero Batman. Created by Bob Kane in ¡939,
Batman first appeared in Detective Comics before getting his own
Basketball comic book a year later. The Batman mythology may be the most
While other sports films, particularly those involving baseball extensive in comic book literature, matched only by Superman.
and football, have devoted extensive footage to real-life person- Over the years, Batman readers saw the Dark Knight acquire side-
alities, basketball movies have emphasized fiction over fact. Nat- kicks in Robin, Batgirl, and Ace, the Bat-Hound (who also wore
urally, there have been a few exceptions. The Harlem Globetrot- a mask). There have even been more than one Batman (e.g., one
ters (¡95¡) and Go, Man, Go (¡954) employed realistic settings, for Earth ¡, another for Earth 2) and multiple Robins, too. Yet,
even though they took dramatic license with their plots. Hoosiers despite this extensive literary history, Batman’s film appearances
(¡986) was a fact-based story about a small-town Indiana high have been surprisingly few and, for the most part, uninspired.
school team which staged an amazing series of upsets en route to Two routine movie serials appeared in the ¡940s: Batman (Lewis
a state title. Other fact-based basketball movies include Passing Wilson) fought Japanese saboteurs in Batman (¡943); Robert Low-
Glory (¡999), the documentary Hoop Dreams (¡994), and the TV ery took over the role for Batman and Robin (¡949), which pitted
movie biographies The Pistol (¡990), Final Shot: The Hank Gath- the Caped Crusader against an evil scientist called The Wizard.
ers Story (¡992), and Michael Jordan: An American Hero (¡999). In ¡966, Batman’s popularity soared with the debut of Twentieth
However, most basketball movies have opted for make-believe Century–Fox’s campy TV series starring Adam West and Burt
tales which climax in dramatic last-minute “buzzer shots,” as in Ward as the Dynamic Duo. The series burned out quickly as TV
¡977’s One on One. For a change of pace, The Absent-Minded viewers tired of the corny dialogue and broad performances. How-
Professor and Teen Wolf featured some rather bizarre basketball ever, before the series ended, Fox mounted a big screen version fea-
games. In the former film, professor Fred MacMurray ironed turing super villains The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), The Penguin
“flubber” onto the shoes of his college’s team, allowing the play- (Burgess Meredith), The Joker (César Romero), and The Cat-
ers to bounce higher than the backboard. In Teen Wolf, mediocre woman (Lee Meriwether). Subsequent attempts to bring Batman
player Michael J. Fox suddenly transformed into a basketball phe- to the silver screen failed until Frank Miller’s brooding graphic
nomenon after becoming a werewolf. Anthony Perkins (Tall Story) novel The Dark Knight Returns appeared in ¡986. Miller’s work re-
and Robby Benson (One on One) played more conventional star vived interest in Batman and created a dark landscape of Gothic
players. Inspirational coaches have been played by Robert proportions. Director Tim Burton and set designer Anton Furst
Mitchum (That Championship Season), Bruce Dern (Drive, He (who won an Oscar) created a similar world of shadows for
Said), Gabe Kaplan (Fast Break), and Cathy Lee Crosby (Coach). the ¡989 box-o‡ce smash Batman. Comic book fans howled
22 BATS

when they heard that Michael Keaton, best known for comedy Jumanji (¡995), while Hank Azaria provided the voice for Bar-
roles like Beetlejuice, had been cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman. But tok the bat in the animated musical Anastasia (¡997). A scien-
Keaton, in a grim and determined portrayal, held his own against tist bitten by a bat turned into a homicidal “bat-man” in The
a flamboyant performance by Jack Nicholson as The Joker. The Bat People (¡974). There are no bats in The Last Man on Earth
film’s success resulted in a series, although each entry has been less (¡964), although Vincent Price believes he survived a vampire
interesting than its predecessor. Burton and Keaton teamed up plague because he was once bitten by one. Likewise, no bats ap-
again for the visually splendid Batman Returns (¡992), but the film pear in The Bat (¡926), The Bat Whispers (¡93¡), and The Bat
spent too much time focusing on the origins of the grotesque (¡958)— all three films were based on Mary Roberts Rinehart’s
Penguin (Danny DeVito) and the sensuous Catwoman (Michelle novel about a master criminal called The Bat. See also Batman;
Pfei›er). Keaton bowed out of the series and was replaced by Val Birds; Vampires.
Kilmer for Batman Forever (¡995). New director Joel Schumacher The Devil Bat (¡940); Kiss of the Vampire (aka Kiss of Evil)
took a di›erent approach than Burton, injecting more action and (¡963); Chosen Survivors (¡974); The Bat People (aka It Lives by
making the film more colorful. Unfortunately, the result was an Night) (¡974); Last Days of Planet Earth (aka Catastrophe ¡999: The
entertaining but forgettable entry that introduced Chris O’Don- Prophecies of Nostradamus) (¡974); Nightwing (¡979); House by the
nell as Robin and featured Jim Carrey as The Riddler. Schu- Cemetery (¡98¡); Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (¡994); Jumanji (¡995);
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (¡995); Anastasia (¡997); Bats (¡999);
macher also helmed Batman and Robin (¡997), which introduced Bartok the Magnificent (1999)
George Clooney as the least memorable Batman yet. It also starred
O’Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman
as Poison Ivy, and a miscast Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Although Beach Party Series
Batman Forever made a lot of money, it cost a lot and most in- ¡959’s Gidget (q.v.) and ¡960’s Where the Boys Are may have been
dustry insiders labeled it a disappointment. On television, there the first mainstream pictures to put teens on the beach, but AIP’s
have been several Batman cartoon series, including the popular Beach Party (¡963) was the one that spawned six sequels, ac-
Batman: The Animated Series, which debuted in ¡992. It inspired counted for countless clones, and made teen stars of Frankie
a theatrical animated feature called Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Avalon and Annette Funicello. The formula was simple: Start
(¡993), a direct-to-video sequel Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero with swimsuit-clad teens, add a way-out motorcycle gang, some
(¡998), and a TV movie The Batman/Superman Movie (¡998). In cameos by aging stars (e.g., Buster Keaton, Elsa Lanchester, Boris
¡999, Batman: The Animated Series was revamped as the futuris- Karlo› ), and plenty of surf music (provided by the likes of Dick
tic Batman Beyond animated series. Its premiere episode was re- Dale and the Del-Tones, the Hondells, and Little Stevie Won-
leased on videotape as Batman Beyond — The Movie. Kevin Con- der). Frankie and Annette, who had briefly dated earlier in their
roy provided the voice for Batman in both of the aforementioned careers, displayed a natural chemistry on the screen. Many of
animated series. See also Bats; Comic Book Characters. their supporting cast appeared in four or more Beach Party films.
Batman (¡966); Batman (¡989); Batman Returns (¡992); Bat- These “regulars” included: Harvey (Stalag ¡7) Lembeck as bike
man: Mask of the Phantasm (¡993); Batman Forever (¡995); Batman gang leader Eric Von Zipper; singer Donna Loren; dancer Candy
and Robin (¡997); Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero (¡998); The Bat- Johnson; John Ashley, usually cast as Frankie’s good-looking
man/Superman Movie (¡998 TVM); Batman Beyond — The Movie sidekick; Don Rickles; and Jody McCrea ( Joel’s son) who played
(¡999)
dimwitted characters with colorful names like Bonehead, Dead-
head, and Big Lunk. Beach Blanket Bingo is generally considered
Bats the best Beach Party picture. It features Frankie and Annette
Although bats have been hanging around in movies for years, skydiving, Bonehead falling in love with a lovely mermaid
they have usually been relegated to supporting roles in vampire (Marta Kristen from TV’s Lost in Space), and creepy pool shark
films. Even then, though, they have stolen their share of scenes. South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey) trying to saw singer Sugar
In Kiss of the Vampire (¡963), a horde of bats circled the vampire’s Cane (Linda Evans) in half. Still, some fans prefer Pajama Party
castle and played a critical role in the destruction of an entire vam- which boasts a great female supporting cast in beautiful Susan
pire cult. On the lighter side, when vampire Leslie Nielsen trans- Hart, charming Elsa Lanchester, statuesque Bobbi Shaw, and
formed into a bat in Dracula: Dead and Loving It (¡995), the crea- Teri Garr in one of her first roles. Pajama Party also includes the
ture still retained Nielsen’s head. Despite its promising title, The most bizarre musical number in the series, as Annette — wearing
Vampire Bat (¡933) wasn’t about a bloodsucking bat, but rather a short nightie that looks as if it came from Madonna’s
a mad scientist (Lionel Atwill) in search of a blood substitute. wardrobe — sings to stu›ed animals about her boy problems.
However, Bela Lugosi successfully raised giant killer bats in The Tommy Kirk and one-time Gidget Deborah Walley took over
Devil Bat— at least, that’s how it seemed until the sequel Devil for Frankie and Annette in the final series entry, ¡966’s The Ghost
Bat’s Daughter (¡946) revealed that the crazed scientist was actu- in the Invisible Bikini. Annette played the female lead in the first
ally a kindly researcher. David Warner really did hunt blood- six films, while Frankie headlined four films and made cameo ap-
sucking vampire bats in New Mexico in ¡979’s Nightwing. Along pearances in two others. The Frankie substitutes were Tommy
similar lines, genetically-mutated bats harassed Utah residents in Kirk (a Martian teen in ¡964’s Pajama Party) and Dwayne Hick-
Bats (¡999). In Chosen Survivors (¡974), an unexpected colony of man (¡965’s How to Stu› a Wild Bikini). Twenty years after
vampire bats caused problems for ¡¡ people living in an under- Beach Party, Frankie and Annette tried to spoof their old images
ground nuclear fallout shelter. In children’s movies, Robin in Back to the Beach, a good-natured but overdone e›ort. See also
Williams battled bats, along with other unforeseen creatures, in Gidget.
 BEAUTY CONTESTS 23

Beach Party (¡963); Muscle Beach Party (¡964); Bikini Beach Beastmaster
(¡964); Pajama Party (¡964); Beach Blanket Bingo (¡965); How to
Stu› a Wild Bikini (¡965); The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (¡966); Director Don Coscarelli followed up his ¡979 cult horror hit
Back to the Beach (¡987) Phantasm (q.v.) with this sword and sorcery epic about a muscu-
lar, revenge-minded lad who can communicate with animals.
The AIP film Ski Party (¡965) is not considered part of the Beach
Marc Singer stars as Dar, a combination of Conan and Dr.
Party series, but it stars many of the same performers (e.g.,
Doolittle, who seeks out his rightful place on the throne when
Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley) and the formula remains the
his “foster family” is massacred. Rip Torn overacts zealously as the
same. The AIP Beach Party series also fostered rival mid–¡960s
villainous Maax, while Tanya Roberts — a year removed from
sand-and-surf pictures, such as:
TV’s Charlie’s Angels— underplays Dar’s eventual love interest.
Ride the Wild Surf (¡964); For Those Who Think Young (¡964);
Alternately silly and mindlessly engaging, The Beastmaster be-
The Horror of Party Beach (aka Invasion of the Zombies) (¡964); Surf
Party (¡964); The Girls on the Beach (¡965); Beach Ball (¡965); Sea- came a cable favorite in the early ¡990s and, at one time, ranked
side Swingers (¡965); It’s a Bikini World (¡967); Catalina Caper with Gone with the Wind as one of the TNT cable network’s most
(¡967) popular movies. Interestingly, Coscarelli clashed with executive
producer Sylvio Tabet over the film’s casting. He wanted Klaus
Bears Kinski for the Rip Torn role and a then-unknown named Demi
Someone at Walt Disney Productions must have had a soft spot Moore in lieu of Tanya Roberts. Tabet took over the directorial
for bears, for the company produced four pictures about the furry reins for the belated ¡99¡ sequel Beastmaster 2: Through the Por-
forest denizens between ¡947 and ¡974. The first two were ani- tal of Time, which transported the loin-clothed Dar (Singer) to
mated bears, Brer Bear in Song of the South (¡946) and Baloo in contemporary L.A. in a plot somewhat reminiscent of Tarzan’s
The Jungle Book (¡967). As voiced by Phil Harris, Baloo has the New York Adventure. Drive-in movie host Joe Bob Briggs de-
distinction of being the only bear to sing an Oscar-nominated scribed the third installment, Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus,
song —“Bare Necessities.” The real-life Disney bears proved to be in succinct fashion: “The Beastmaster has to invade the desert
considerably less talented and, as a consequence, King of the Griz- fortress, rescue his weenie beefcake brother, the king, and kill
zlies (¡970) and The Bears and I (¡974) were also less entertain- Lord Agon before he uses the amulet to turn into a fire-spitting
ing. Gentle Giant (¡967), a juvenile tale about a boy with a pet lizard-headed beast.” In ¡998, plans for a TV series called Beast-
650-pound black bear, could have passed for a Disney produc- master: The Legend Continues were announced. Tanya Roberts
tion. Its modest box-o‡ce success led to a ¡967–69 TV series star- cashed in on her Beastmaster fame by playing the jungle heroine
ring Clint Howard (Ron’s brother) and Dennis Weaver. Clint in ¡984’s Sheena— only this time, she was the one who could talk
Walker encountered a less sociable bear in the climax of Night of with animals. See also Sword and Sorcery.
the Grizzly (¡966), while another wild bear mauled Richard Har- The Beastmaster (¡982); Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of
ris and left him for dead in Man in the Wilderness (¡97¡). Christo- Time (¡99¡); Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (¡995)
pher George had the worst luck with bears, battling an ¡8-foot,
2,000-pounder in the ¡976 Jaws rip-o› Grizzly and then running Beauty Contests
into another one in the following year’s Day of the Animals (ac- Behind-the-scene exposés of the beauty pageant business, com-
tually, this latter bear was nice enough to dispose of troublemaker plete with bickering contestants and deceitful judges, have been
Leslie Nielsen). The most versatile bear performances were given the subject of Contest Girl (¡964), The Great American Beauty
by Bart the Bear, a ¡,470-pound Kodiak who played a reluctant Contest (¡973), Smile (¡975), Miss All-American Beauty (¡982),
foster father in The Bear (¡989) and a mauling killer in The Edge and Drop Dead Gorgeous (¡999). Ironically, while these films
(¡997). The mutant, pollution-made monster in John Franken- sought to criticize beauty contests, they are best remembered for
heimer’s Prophecy (¡979) looked like a conglomeration of several the exposure they provided attractive young actresses such as
animals, but it was probably more bear than anything else. In the Diane Lane, Farrah Fawcett, Melanie Gri‡th, and Annette O’-
o›beat ¡96¡ fantasy The Two Little Bears, Eddie Albert discovered Toole. The lighthearted side of beauty contests was on display in
that his two little children could turn into bear cubs at night. Di- ¡950’s Peggy, the story of a Rose Bowl queen, and ¡95¡’s Lady Go-
rector-actor Jean Renoir dressed as a bear to attend the climactic diva Rides Again, which introduced Joan Collins as a young con-
country manor costume party in his classic social satire The Rules testant. A nonexistent woman won a beauty contest when Dick
of the Game (¡939). Natassja Kinski sported a bear costume as well Powell submitted a composite photograph in the ¡935 comedy
in John Irving’s The Hotel New Hampshire (¡984). In the ¡978 TV Page Miss Glory. Carolyn Sapp played herself in ¡992’s Miss Amer-
movie B.J. and the Bear, the “Bear” turned out to be a chim- ica: Behind the Crown, which focused on her relationship with an
panzee. Apparently, that was supposed to be funny. See also The abusive boyfriend. The Queen was a well-received ¡968 docu-
Care Bears. mentary about a beauty pageant for transvestites.
Song of the South (¡946); The Two Little Bears (¡96¡); Hey Case of the Lucky Legs (¡935); Page Miss Glory (¡935); Waikiki
There, It’s Yogi Bear (¡964); Night of the Grizzly (¡966); Jungle Book Wedding (¡937); Fast and Furious (¡939); The Crystal Ball (¡943);
(¡967); Gentle Giant (¡967); King of the Grizzlies (¡970); Man in The Duchess of Idaho (¡950); Peggy (¡950); Lady Godiva Rides Again
the Wilderness (¡97¡); The Bears and I (¡974); Grizzly (aka Killer (¡95¡); Marry Me Again (¡953); Hear Me Good (¡957); Contest Girl
Grizzly) (¡976); The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (¡976); Day of (aka The Beauty Jungle) (¡964); The Queen (¡968); The Great Ameri-
the Animals (¡977); Prophecy (¡979); The Bear (¡989); The Whip- can Beauty Contest (¡973 TVM); Smile (¡975); The Night They Took
ping Boy (¡994 TVM); Jonathan of the Bears (¡994); Alaska (¡996); Miss Beautiful (¡977 TVM); Pick-up Summer (aka Pinball Summer;
The Edge (¡997); Wild America (¡997); Grizzly Falls (1999) Pinball Pick-up) (¡98¡); Miss All-American Beauty (¡982 TVM);
24 BELVEDERE, MR. (LYNN)

Miss Firecracker (¡989); Miss America: Behind the Crown (¡992 Best of the Best Series
TVM); I Know What You Did Last Summer (¡997); Drop Dead
Gorgeous (¡999); Happy, Texas (¡999); Scary Movie (2000) High-flying Phillip Rhee co-produced and co-wrote the story for
¡989’s Best of the Best, a run-of-the-mill karate film enlivened
only by a well-choreographed fight between Rhee and his real-
The Becker Family see Children of the life brother. Rhee starred as one of five martial artists selected to
Bride represent the U.S. in a team competition against a tough Korean
squad. The U.S. coach, played by James Earl Jones, provides lit-
Belvedere, Mr. (Lynn) tle guidance, preferring to o›er clichéd words of wisdom such as:
Clifton Webb created pompous, but likable, genius Lynn “A team is not a team if you don’t give a damn about each other.”
Belvedere in ¡948’s Sitting Pretty, in which Robert Young and Of course, the coach gets stuck with a motley group of lads, which
Maureen O’Hara hired the 59-year-old as a babysitter (q.v.). The include: Tommy Lee (Rhee), who teaches karate to youngsters;
film inspired two sequels, sending Belvedere back to college and Alex (Eric Roberts), a single dad battling an old fighting injury;
then to stir things up at a home for the elderly. Webb played a and Travis (Christopher Penn), an obnoxious hefty dude who
similar character in ¡953’s Mister Scoutmaster. Christopher Hewett sports a cowboy hat. Like the Rocky films, the grueling training
played the title character in the ¡985–90 TV series Mr. Belvedere, sessions are set to a pulsing music (Ike Stubblefield tries to make
which was loosely based on the movies. the title rock song sound like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”). De-
spite an unexpected feel-good ending, Best of the Best gets all-
Sitting Pretty (¡948); Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (¡949); Mr.
Belvedere Rings the Bell (¡95¡) around low marks for originality. The ¡993 sequel reteamed Rhee,
Roberts, and Penn in a more violent tale about illegal martial arts
bouts in Las Vegas, a plot similar to ¡989’s Kickboxer. Rhee di-
Benji rected, as well as starred in, Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back
What do a man-eating shark and a playful pooch have in com- (¡996), which also featured Gina Gershon, who attracted far
mon? Both were the subject of major hit films in ¡975. While Jaws greater attention in the previous year’s Showgirls. Rhee played
garnered waves of free publicity, Benji, a ¡974 release, built its Tommy Lee in all the Best of the Best films. For other martial arts
family-oriented following on word-of-mouth. No one expected films, see American Ninja Series; Bloodfist Series; The Karate
Joe Camp’s Texas-shot, canine kiddie feature to snowball into a Kid; Kickboxer Series; and No Retreat, No Surrender Series.
box-o‡ce heavyweight. The familiar story thrust a stray little
Best of the Best (¡989); Best of the Best 2 (¡993); Best of the Best
dog into a kidnap plot involving two youngsters. Benji, as played 3: No Turning Back (¡996); Best of the Best IV: Without Warning
by a canine actor named Higgins, exuded plenty of charm and (¡998)
the low-camera angles playfully conveyed a dog’s point-of-view.
The ¡977 follow-up, For the Love of Benji, found the little pooch
in Athens, with enemy spies seeking a valuable formula stamped A Better Tomorrow Series
on his paw. This sequel failed to duplicate the success of its pre- This violent gangster series smashed box-o‡ce records in its na-
decessor, causing Camp to make a major miscalculation with his tive Hong Kong and also scored well in many other Southeast
third Benji film. Oh, Heavenly Dog! starred Chevy Chase as a Asian markets. American critics have praised the films, compar-
murder victim who returns to Earth as a dog to find his killer (a ing them to the tough, fast-paced Warner Bros. gangster pictures
plot reversal of ¡95¡’s superior You Never Can Tell). Chevy as Benji of the ¡930s. Produced and co-written by Tsui Hark, ¡986’s A
(he voices the dog’s thoughts) lacked the charm of Benji as him- Better Tomorrow focuses primarily on a pair of explosive contem-
self. Furthermore, the film’s romance elements seemed aimed at porary gangsters named Ho (Lung Ti) and Cheung Chi-Keung
adults. After a seven-year hiatus, Camp returned to his original (or Mark in subtitled prints). The film made an action star of actor
formula with Benji: The Hunted, a children’s film in which our Chow Yun Fat, but also created a dilemma for writer Hark, who
canine hero “adopts” two orphaned cougar cubs. See also Dogs. killed o› the most popular character in the film’s climax. Using
Benji (¡974); For the Love of Benji (¡977); Oh, Heavenly Dog! a plot device familiar to American TV soap fans, Hark brought
(¡980); Benji: The Hunted (¡987) back Chow Yun Fat as Mark’s revenge-minded twin brother Ken
in A Better Tomorrow II (¡988). However, Chow Yun Fat was back
Bermuda Triangle as Mark for A Better Tomorrow III (¡989), a prequel (q.v.) set in
In the mid–¡970s, Charles Berlitz published two books about Saigon in ¡974. The plot centers on Mark’s e›orts to secure exit
this site of several inexplicable disappearances in the Atlantic visas for relatives. When a North Vietnamese soldier double-
Ocean. A brief flurry of movie activity followed, beginning with crosses him, Mark rectifies the situation by engaging in a bloody
¡974’s made-for-TV feature Satan’s Triangle and the pseudo-doc- shoot-out. Although the Better Tomorrow films received very lim-
umentary The Devil’s Triangle. Similar subpar films came in quick ited theatrical showings in the U.S., they attracted a cult follow-
succession. Berlitz went on to write about Atlantis, Noah’s Ark, ing on videotape and became largely responsible for the birth of
and how to speak Italian, French, and German. the “Hong King action film” genre. John Woo, who directed the
first two series entries, reteamed with Chow Yun Fat on other big
The Devil’s Triangle (¡974); Satan’s Triangle (¡974 TVM); Be-
yond the Bermuda Triangle (¡975 TVM); Mysteries from Beyond the Asian hits (The Killer, Hard-Boiled). In the mid–¡990s, Woo
Bermuda Triangle (¡977); The Bermuda Triangle (¡978); The made a successful transition to Hollywood with films such as
Bermuda Depths (¡978 TVM); Lost in the Bermuda Triangle (¡999 Hard Target and Broken Arrow, paving the way for Hark’s U.S.
TVM) debut in ¡996 (directing Double Team) and Chow Yun Fat two
 BIGFOOT 25

years later (starring in The Replacement Killers). The ¡994 Return Big Town Series
to a Better Tomorrow, which features none of the original charac- A CBS radio program provided the inspiration for this short-
ters, does not appear to be part of the series. lived Paramount film series about crusading newspaper editor
A Better Tomorrow (aka Gangland Boss; Ying Hung Boon Sik) Steve Wilson (Philip Reed). Hillary Brooke played police reporter
(¡986); A Better Tomorrow II (aka Ying Hung Boon Sik II) (¡988); A Lorelei Kilbourne, Wilson’s spunky sidekick.
Better Tomorrow III (aka Love and Death in Saigon; Ying Hung Boon
Sik III) (¡989) Big Town (aka Guilty Assignment) (¡947); Big Town After Dark
(aka Underworld After Dark) (¡947); I Cover Big Town (aka I Cover
the Underworld) (¡947); Big Town Scandal (¡948)
Beverly Hills Cop Series
After scoring hits opposite Nick Nolte (48 HRS.) and Dan
Bigamy
Aykroyd (Trading Places), Eddie Murphy took charge of his solo
career with the ¡984 blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop. Ironically, the It is amazing that so few filmmakers have explored the dramatic
film was originally written as an action vehicle for Sylvester Stal- possibilities inherent in a serious film about bigamy. It’s as if a
lone (who allegedly integrated some of his Beverly Hills Cop ideas discouraging cloud of “uncomfortableness” hung over the subject
into ¡986’s Cobra). The Oscar-nominated screenplay by Daniel matter. Interestingly, a woman (Ida Lupino) directed one of the
Petrie, Jr., and Danilo Bach deftly combined two proven for- first serious films about a bigamous husband, ¡953’s appropriately
mulas: a fish-out-of-water story and a buddy action film premise. titled The Bigamist. Although it failed to probe deeply into its
Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit cop who travels to the West protangonist’s motivations, it was superior to ¡988’s Double Stan-
Coast to track down the murderer of a friend. To keep the hot- dard and ¡993’s The Man with Three Wives, two pointless TV
headed Foley out of trouble, Beverly Hills police lieutenant movies “inspired by true-life cases.” The cinema’s inability to
Ronny Cox assigns two straight-and-narrow detectives ( Judge deal seriously with bigamy has resulted in a plethora of multiple
Reinhold and John Ashton) to stick with Foley. Surprisingly, marriage comedies. William Bendix, an unlikely candidate for
Reinhold and Ashton generated a lot of the humor — a point lost bigamy, traveled up and down New York state visiting his two
in the subsequent sequels. Beverly Hills Cop spawned two top five wives in Don Juan Quilligan (¡945). Alec Guinness played a ferry-
songs: the instrumental “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer and “The boat captain with a wife in every port (well, two ports to be exact)
Heat Is On” by former Eagle Glenn Frey. After appearing in the in ¡953’s hilarious Captain’s Paradise. Other male bigamists have
panned pictures The Best Defense (¡984) and The Golden Child included Rex Harrison (The Constant Husband), Clifton Webb
(¡986), Murphy reprised his role as Axel Foley for the noisy, over- (The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker), and Dudley Moore (Micki
produced Beverly Hills Cop II (¡987). This sequel featured a Stal- and Maude). Female bigamists have been rare in the movies, per-
lone connection, too, since lead actress Brigitte Nielsen was once haps reflecting a male chauvinistic attitude among filmmakers.
married to Sly. Though essentially a remake of the original film, Karen Valentine played a stewardess with multiple families in
Beverly Hills Cop II made over $¡00 million at the box-o‡ce. Co›ee, Tea, or Me (¡972). Dyan Cannon’s fashion design business
That turned out to be double the box-o‡ce take of the belated allowed her to keep a husband on each coast in Having It All
third installment, a lame ¡994 e›ort which emphasized comedy (¡982). Sally Field lived with two husbands in Kiss Me Goodbye
over action. Reinhold and Ashton appeared in the first sequel, but (¡982), but one of them was a ghost (thus, according to the law,
only Reinhold came back for Beverly Hills III. See also Buddy Ac- she was not a bigamist). Jean Seberg had two husbands in the gold
tion Films. rush musical Paint Your Wagon (¡969), but that’s only because Lee
Marvin and Clint Eastwood bought her wifely services jointly at
Beverly Hills Cop (¡984); Beverly Hills Cop II (¡987); Beverly
Hills Cop III (¡994)
an auction. The movie bigamist with the most spouses was the
one found dead on the floor of a hotel room in the beginning of
¡5 Wives (¡934). Needless to say, there was no shortage of mur-
Bicycles der suspects.
Vittorio De Sica’s touching ¡949 Italian classic The Bicycle Thief ¡5 Wives (¡934); Don Juan Quilligan (¡945); Monsieur Verdoux
chronicled a poor man’s desperate search for the stolen bicycle on (¡947); Captain’s Paradise (¡953); The Bigamist (¡953); The Con-
which his family’s livelihood depended. Breaking Away (¡979) stant Husband (¡955); Autumn Leaves (¡956); Witness for the Prose-
and American Flyers (¡985), both written by cycling enthusiast cution (¡958); The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (¡959); Two Wives
Steve Tesich, dealt with amateur riders and their infatuation with at One Wedding (¡960); Decline and Fall of a Bird Watcher (aka De-
bike racing. Stockbroker Kevin Bacon dropped out of the rat race cline and Fall) (¡968); Paint Your Wagon (¡969); Co›ee, Tea or Me
(¡972 TVM); Handle with Care (aka Citizen’s Band) (¡977); Sweet
and became a bicycle messenger in Quicksilver (¡986). Many William (¡980); Child Bride of Short Creek (¡98¡ TVM); Having It
movies have featured bicycles in memorable scenes, including All (¡982 TVM); Micki and Maude (¡984); Double Standard (¡988
E.T., Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Wizard of Oz TVM); Near Misses (aka Near Mrs.) (¡990); Deceived (¡99¡); The
(Toto jumping o› the back of Miss Gulch’s two-wheeler). Man with Three Wives (¡993 TVM); She Led Two Lives (¡994
Six Day Bike Rider (¡934); A Boy, a Girl, and a Bike (¡947); TVM); Frequent Flyer (¡996 TVM)
The Bicycle Thief (¡949); Isn’t Life Wonderful? (¡952); Elephant Walk
(1954); Smiley (¡957); And Soon the Darkness (¡970); The Gang Bigfoot
That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (¡97¡); Breaking Away (¡979); BMX
Bandits (¡983); American Flyers (¡985); Pee Wee’s Big Adventure The Abominable Snowman’s North American cousin has been
(¡985); Quicksilver (¡986); Rad (¡986); Tracks of Glory (¡992); the subject of several bottom-of-the-barrel features, such as Big-
Tread: The Movie (¡994); Messenger (¡994) foot (¡969), Curse of Bigfoot (¡972), and Sasquatch (¡978). He was
26 BILLY JACK

portrayed as a lovable big guy in ¡987’s Harry and the Hendersons Billy the Kid Outlawed (¡940); Billy the Kid in Texas (¡940);
and in the same year’s made-for-TV feature Bigfoot. The pseudo- Billy the Kid’s Gun Justice (¡940); Billy the Kid’s Range War (¡94¡);
documentary The Legend of Boggy Creek (¡973) traced the exploits Billy the Kid’s Fighting Pals (¡94¡); Billy the Kid in Santa Fe (¡94¡);
Billy the Kid Wanted (¡94¡); Billy the Kid’s Roundup (¡94¡); Billy the
of a Bigfoot-like creature that roamed around Fouke, Arkansas.
Kid Trapped (¡942); Billy the Kid’s Smoking Guns (¡942); Law and
John Frankenheimer’s Prophecy (¡979) was about a Bigfoot rela- Order (aka Billy the Kid’s Law and Order) (¡942); Sheri› of Sage
tive, a gangling mutant monster created by chemical pollution. Valley (aka Billy the Kid, Sheri› of Sage Valley) (¡942); The Mysteri-
See also Abominable Snowman; Boggy Creek Series. ous Rider (aka Panhandle Trail) (¡942); The Kid Rides Again (¡943);
Bigfoot (aka Big Foot) (¡969); Curse of Bigfoot (¡972); Shriek of Fugitive of the Plains (aka Raiders of Red Rock) (¡943); Western Cy-
the Mutilated (¡974); The Mysterious Monsters (¡976); Creature clone (aka Frontier Fighters) (¡943); Cattle Stampede (¡943); The
from Black Lake (¡976); Sasquatch (¡978); Night of the Demon Renegade (¡943); Devil Riders (¡943); Frontier Outlaws (¡944);
(¡980); Harry and the Hendersons (aka Bigfoot and the Hendersons) Thundering Gunslingers (¡944); Valley of Vengeance (¡944); The
(¡987); Bigfoot (¡987 TVM); Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter Drifter (¡944); Fuzzy Settles Down (¡944); Blazing Frontier (¡944);
(¡995) Rustler’s Hideout (¡944); Wild Horse Phantom (¡944); Oath of
Vengeance (¡944); Lightning Raiders (¡945); His Brother’s Ghost
(¡945); Shadows of Death (¡945); Gangster’s Den (¡945); Stagecoach
Outlaws (¡945); Border Badmen (¡945); Fighting Bill Carson (¡945);
Billy Jack Prairie Rustlers (¡945); Gentlemen with Guns (¡946); Terrors on
Tom Laughlin’s peace-loving, half-breed, former Green Beret first Horseback (¡946); Ghost of Hidden Valley (¡946); Prairie Badmen
appeared in the ¡967 biker film Born Losers, in which he protected (¡946); Overland Riders (¡946); Outlaw of the Plains (¡946)
the innocent, defied ine›ective small-town police, and beat up
bad guys. He did basically the same things in Laughlin’s ¡97¡ fol- Birds
low-up Billy Jack, but this time moviegoers identified with his The mere word has a Hitchcockian ring to it now. But long be-
loner hero and made the picture a low-budget smash. The movie’s fore Hitch turned them into formidable little killers in ¡963, birds
simplistic politics and thematic inconsistencies (Billy Jack were making their cinematic presence known. In Britain, a pair
preaches peace, but doesn’t hesitate to use violence when neces- of rare birds disrupted a quiet hamlet in the quaint comedy Tawny
sary) dated it almost immediately. Laughlin’s overblown ¡974 se- Pipit (¡944). Scottish islanders created some rare birds with a lit-
quel The Trial of Billy Jack focused on government corruption, as tle paint in ¡957’s Mad Little Island, reasoning that such a dis-
did Billy Jack Goes to Washington (¡977). Allegedly, the latter was covery would block the construction of a government missile
a remake of Frank Capra’s classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. base. The establishment of bird sanctuaries provided the back-
Neither of the last two films came close to duplicating Billy Jack’s ground for another British picture Conflict of Wings (¡953) and
success, so the series mercifully died. Laughlin and wife/co-star an American romantic comedy Something for the Birds (¡952).
Delores Taylor produced, directed, and wrote most of the series Shirley Temple went looking for the blue bird of happiness in the
(often using the pseudonym T.C. Frank). colorful ¡940 fantasy The Blue Bird, her consolation prize for not
Born Losers (¡967); Billy Jack (¡97¡); The Trial of Billy Jack being loaned to MGM for The Wizard of Oz. A toucan spread a
(¡974); Billy Jack Goes to Washington (¡977) “happiness virus” throughout New York City in George (Miracle
on 34th Street) Seaton’s What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (¡968).
Billy the Kid/Billy Carson In contrast, giant birds of the horrific variety flew across the screen
This low-budget PRC studio series had little to do with the real in the Japanese import Rodan (¡956) and the inept U.S.-lensed
Billy the Kid. Its initial entry, ¡940’s Billy the Kid Outlawed, pre- The Giant Claw (¡957). A contemporary witch brought a threat-
sented Billy as a wronged hero, a victim of small-town corrup- ening stone eagle to life and sent it on a murderous mission in
tion. He even went on to become a lawman in the next film, Billy the ¡962 supernatural gem Burn, Witch, Burn. Norman Bates
the Kid in Texas. Veteran screen cowboy Bob Steele, one of the (Anthony Perkins) stu›ed birds for a hobby in Hitchcock’s Psy-
Three Mesquiteers (q.v.) in the ¡930s, played Billy in the first six cho (¡960), a film overloaded with bird symbolism. Its first mur-
films. Steele left after ¡94¡’s Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, though he der victim, Marion Crane, was first glimpsed in Phoenix, Arizona.
continued to appear in Westerns and eventually wound up as Hitch’s next picture was, naturally, The Birds (¡963), a vague, but
Trooper Du›y on TV’s F Troop (¡965–67). Serial star Buster exciting, thriller adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s short story.
(“Flash Gordon”) Crabbe replaced Steele in ¡94¡’s Billy the Kid There was nothing horrific or fantastic about ¡962’s Birdman of
Wanted and remained for the rest of the series. Al St. John played Alcatraz, an engrossing biography of convict-turned-bird-expert
Billy’s grizzly sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones, who was at least as popu- Robert Stroud (Burt Lancaster). However, cruel sorcerer Boris
lar as Billy (one film was even titled Fuzzy Settles Down). Sam Karlo› turned Peter Lorre into a black bird in ¡963’s amusing The
Newfield directed all the films using various pseudonyms (e.g., Raven. Akim Tamiro› transformed himself into a ridiculous-
Sherman Scott, Peter Stewart). Newfield’s real name was Neufeld looking bird/man in The Vulture (¡967), while fetching Michelle
and his brother, Sigmund, was the head of PRC. Newfield shot Pfei›er spent half her days as a hawk in the ¡985 sword-and-sor-
the Billy the Kid films in two or three days, using the same footage cery fantasy Ladyhawke. Roddy McDowall believed himself to be
for chases and gunfights repeatedly. In the late ¡940s, after the se- an extinct bird in human form in the oddball satire Lord Love a
ries ended, Eagle Lion re-edited (and drastically cut) some of the Duck (¡966). Army hospital schizophrenic Matthew Modine
films and released them with di›erent titles. Thus, the 65-minute wanted to become a bird in Birdy (¡984), while comic book writer
Western Cyclone became the 39-minute Frontier Fighters. See also Michael Crawford took flight — albeit briefly — as his own cre-
Outlaws (Real-Life Western). ation Condorman (¡98¡). Audrey Hepburn played Rima the Bird
 BLAXPLOITATION FILMS 27

Girl in the ¡959 adaptation of W.H. Hudson’s Green Mansions. cluded a profitable run in ¡949. Just two years later, Blackie
Hunky warrior Marc Singer communicated with birds (and other turned up on TV, with Kent Taylor replacing Morris. The Boston
animals) in ¡982’s The Beastmaster, yet another sword-and-sor- Blackie TV series ran for 58 episodes from ¡95¡ to ¡953. Morris
cery picture. A frigid woman could make love only to a man in starred in all of the following film entries.
a bird suit in Roger Vadim’s bizarre ¡980 film Night Games. Fi- Meet Boston Blackie (¡94¡); Confessions of Boston Blackie (¡94¡);
nally, Larry Cohen’s Q — The Winged Serpent (¡982) flew and lived Alias Boston Blackie (¡942); Boston Blackie Goes to Hollywood
in a nest, but was an Aztec god and not a bird at all. See also Bats. (¡942); After Midnight with Boston Blackie (¡943); The Chance of a
The Blue Bird (¡940); Tawny Pipit (¡944); Champagne for Cae- Lifetime (¡943); One Mysterious Night (¡944); Boston Blackie Booked
sar (¡950); Something for the Birds (¡952); Conflict of Wings (aka on Suspicion (¡945); Boston Blackie’s Rendezvous (¡945); A Close Call
Fuss Over Feathers) (¡953); Rodan (¡956); Mad Little Island (aka for Boston Blackie (¡946); The Phantom Thief (¡946); Boston Blackie
Rockets Galore!) (¡957); The Giant Claw (¡957); Green Mansions and the Law (¡947); Trapped by Boston Blackie (¡948); Boston
(¡959); Psycho (¡960); Burn, Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle) Blackie’s Chinese Venture (¡949)
(¡962); Birdman of Alcatraz (¡962); The Birds (¡963); The Raven
(¡963); Those Calloways (¡965); Lord Love a Duck (¡966); The Vul- Blackouts
ture (¡967); What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (¡968); Harpy (¡970
Films revolving around power blackouts include The Night the
TVM); Jonathan Livingston Seagull (¡973); The Blue Bird (¡976);
Night Games (¡980); Condorman (¡98¡); Clash of the Titans (¡98¡); City Screamed (¡980), The Trigger E›ect (¡996), Where Were You
The Beastmaster (¡982); Birdy (¡984); Ladyhawke (¡985); Sesame When the Lights Went Out? (¡968), and Blackout (¡978). The lat-
Street Presents Follow That Bird (¡985); Beaks: The Movie (¡987); ter two films were inspired by real-life power failures in New York
Where Pigeons Go to Die (¡990 TVM); The Dark Half (¡993); The City. The Doris Day vehicle Where Were You played the massive
Crow (¡994); The Pelican Brief (¡994); Fly Away Home (¡996); ¡965 blackout for forced laughs, while Blackout went for thrills
Paulie (¡998); Little Voice (¡998); Chicken Run (2000); Ghost Dog: in its tale of apartment tenants victimized by a gang during the
The Way of the Samurai (2000)
¡977 power failure. The same New York City blackout was de-
picted in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam (¡999). In other films: A
Black Cobra Series blackout allowed inmates to escape from an asylum in Alone in
With solid hits like Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem (both the Dark; Gregory Peck lost his memory during a blackout in Mi-
¡973), Fred “The Hammer” Williamson ranked as one of the rage; and the entire world su›ered a temporary blackout so
biggest action stars of the “blaxploitation” films (q.v.). Yet, by the Michael Rennie could make a point in The Day the Earth Stood
middle of the next decade, the 48-year-old Williamson’s audience Still.
had defected to newer action heroes like Chuck Norris, Sylvester The Day the Earth Stood Still (¡95¡); Mirage (¡964); Where
Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unwanted in his homeland, Were You When the Lights Went Out? (¡968); Blackout (¡978); The
Williamson headed to Europe to make movies like Eastwood and Night the City Screamed (¡980 TVM); Alone in the Dark (¡982);
Bronson before him. Unfortunately, Williamson’s foreign stint The Trigger E›ect (¡996); Summer of Sam (¡999)
did little for his career — the Black Cobra movies were released di-
rectly to videotape in the U.S. Lensed in Italy, though set in the Blane, Torchy
U.S., ¡986’s Black Cobra casts Williamson as a big city detective Short story writer Frederick Nebel’s ace reporter Torchy Blane had
named Robert Malone with a penchant for violence. The title ap- a knack for getting involved with murder cases, which she did in
pears to be an attempt to capitalize on Sylvester Stallone’s Cobra, nine B-movies churned out by Warner Bros. during ¡937–39.
which was released the same year. Black Cobra 2 (¡989) improved Glenda Farrell played Torchy in all but two films, getting sup-
on the original by sending detective Malone on an INTERPOL ex- port from Barton MacLane as her charmless boyfriend, police de-
change program to Manila (shades of Coogan’s Blu›). Once set- tective Steve McBride (Steve to Torchy: “You’re going to settle
tled in the Phillipines, he teams up with Nicholas Hammond down and marry me before I throw you in jail”). The two
(Spider-Man in the short-lived TV series) to find Hammond’s non–Farrell films starred Lola Lane (Torchy Blane in Panama) and
kidnapped daughter. In the following year’s Black Cobra III: The 25-year-old Jane Wyman (Torchy Plays with Dynamite). The se-
Manila Connection, INTERPOL calls in Malone when terrorists steal ries dates badly and Steve’s thoughtless attitude toward Torchy’s
an arsenal of high-tech weapons. The Black Cobra films o›er career, especially in the Farrell films, is almost o›ensive. Still, the
nothing to distinguish themselves from any of the other low-bud- Torchy series contained a few o›beat touches — such as the ap-
get, foreign-set action film series of the ¡980s (e.g., Bloodfist, Eye propriately-titled Jerome Kern tune “Why Do I Have to Sing a
of the Eagle, and No Retreat, No Surrender). Torch Song?” in Smart Blonde and the absence of a Chinatown
Black Cobra (aka Cobra Nero) (¡986); Black Cobra 2 (¡989); setting in Torchy Blane in Chinatown.
Black Cobra III: The Manila Connection (¡990)
Smart Blonde (¡937); Fly-Away Baby (¡937); The Adventurous
Blonde (¡937); Blondes at Work (¡938); Torchy Blane in Panama
Blackie, Boston (¡938); Torchy Gets Her Man (¡938); Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Jack Boyle’s thief-turned-detective has enjoyed a steady screen (¡939); Torchy Runs for Mayor (¡939); Torchy Plays with Dynamite
(¡939)
career, beginning with ¡9¡9’s Boston Blackie’s Little Pal. Bert Lytell,
Lionel Barrymore, and William Russell played Blackie in silent
films. However, Chester Morris kicked o› the “o‡cial” series Blaxploitation Films
with ¡94¡’s Meet Boston Blackie. Morris made an agreeable hero, The term “blaxploitation” was coined in the early ¡970s to de-
always willing to bend the law to crack a case, and the series con- scribe a rash of low-budget, action pictures that featured mostly
28 THE BLIND DEAD

black performers and typically played in black neighborhood the- writer Van Johnson in 23 Paces to Baker Street (¡956), reporter
aters. Many critics considered these movies o›ensive, charging Karl Malden in The Cat O’Nine Tails (¡97¡), and insurance in-
that they portrayed blacks as stereotyped private eyes, drug king- vestigator James Franciscus in Longstreet (¡970). Blind people have
pins, and prostitutes. While that may be true, these films never- been portrayed as musicians of startling talent in The Enchanted
theless kept some talented performers employed (e.g., Richard Cottage (¡945), Night Song (¡947), Goha (¡957), Blues for Lovers
Pryor in The Mack, Godfrey Cambridge in Cotton Comes to (¡964), and If You Could See What I Hear (¡982). The latter two
Harlem). A handful of action stars emerged, such as Tamara Dob- films were partially biographical, with Ray Charles playing him-
son (as Cleopatra Jones), karate champion Jim Kelly, and Richard self in Blues and Marc Singer as composer Tom Sullivan in If You
Roundtree (Shaft). However, their fame was fleeting and, by ¡975, Could See. Seven in Darkness (¡969) was a tense tale about a plane
they were relegated to supporting roles in more mainstream films. which crashed en route to a convention for the blind, thus strand-
A few blaxploitation films, such as Shaft and Blacula, broke the ing its seven sightless passengers in the wilderness. An alien-di-
typical mold, gained wider distribution, and evolved into sizable rected “meteorite shower” blinded most of the Earth’s population
hits. One Down, Two to Go (¡983) attempted to revive the genre. in the opening frames of John Wyndham’s Day of the Tri‡ds
Yet, despite a formidable cast headed by Jim Brown, it flopped (¡963). As for serious films about persons adjusting to the sud-
miserably. In ¡989, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who would later cre- den loss of their sight, few movies can match the emotional im-
ate TV’s In Living Color, produced a blaxploitation parody called pact of Bright Victory (¡95¡). Arthur Kennedy earned an Oscar
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka starring the likes of Eve Plumb (The nomination for his wrenching portrait of a blind ex-soldier who
Brady Bunch) and Clarence Williams III (The Mod Squad). See no longer knows his place in society. A labrador retriever seeing-
also Co‡n Ed and Grave Digger Jones; Shaft, John; Superfly. eye dog provided Elizabeth Montgomery with much needed sup-
Cotton Comes to Harlem (¡970); Shaft (¡97¡); Come Black, port in the superior TV movie Second Sight: A Love Story (¡984).
Charleston Blue (¡972); Cool Breeze (¡972); Top of the Heap (¡972); A blind couple desperately fought to adopt a child in the fact-
Melinda (¡972); Hammer (¡972); Hit Man (¡972); Slaughter (¡972); based ¡987 TV movie Eye on the Sparrow. Along more traditional
Shaft’s Big Score (¡972); Blacula (¡972); Superfly (¡972); Black Cae- lines, a playboy responsible for a woman’s blindness became a
sar (¡973); Cleopatra Jones (¡973); Co›y (ad line: “Co›y…she’ll surgeon so he could cure her in both versions of Lloyd C. Dou-
cream you!”) (¡973); Detroit 9000 (¡973); Ganja and Hess (¡973);
Hell Up in Harlem (¡973); The Mack (¡973); Scream, Blacula, glas’ tear-jerker Magnificent Obsession. Al Pacino won a Best Actor
Scream (¡973); Shaft in Africa (¡973); Slaughter’s Big Rip-O› Oscar for his portrayal of a blind retired army colonel in ¡992’s
(¡973); Superfly TNT (¡973); Blackenstein (aka Black Frankenstein) Scent of a Woman.
(¡973); Abby (¡974); Black Eye (¡974); Black Gunn (¡974); Foxy Orphans of the Storm (¡922); Thunder Below (¡932); Wings in
Brown (¡974); Hangup (aka Superdude) (¡974); Three the Hard Way the Dark (¡935); Magnificent Obsession (¡935); Bride of Frankenstein
(¡974); Truck Turner (¡974); T.N.T. Jackson (¡974); Bucktown (¡935); The Dark Angel (¡935); The Human Monster (aka Dark Eyes
(¡975); The Black Gestapo (¡975); Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of of London) (¡939); The Secret of Dr. Kildare (¡939); The Light That
Gold (¡975); Friday Foster (¡975); Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (aka The Failed (¡939); The Four Feathers (¡939); Eyes in the Night (¡942);
Watts Monster; Dr. Black and Mr. White) (¡976); Black Belt Jones Mr. Ske‡ngton (¡944); The Enchanted Cottage (¡945); Pride of the
(¡976); Black Fist (aka The Black Streetfighter) (¡976); Hot Potato Marines (aka Forever in Love) (¡945); The Hidden Eye (¡945); Night
(¡976); The Big Score (¡983); One Down, Two to Go (¡983) Song (¡947); Bright Victory (aka Lights Out) (¡95¡); Journey into
Light (¡95¡); On Dangerous Ground (¡95¡); The Green Scarf (¡954);
The Blind Dead Magnificent Obsession (¡954); 23 Paces to Baker Street (¡956); No
Road Back (¡957); Goha (¡957); Witness in the Dark (¡959); Faces in
A gory Spanish import, the Blind Dead series based its premise the Dark (¡960); The Miracle Worker (¡962); Day of the Tri‡ds
on legendary ¡3th-century Templarios Knights who were blinded (¡963); Blues for Lovers (aka Ballad in Blue) (¡964); A Patch of Blue
and then executed for their ritualistic killings of young women. (¡965); Cauldron of Blood (aka Blind Man’s Blu›) (¡967); Wait
In ¡972’s The Blind Dead, they were resurrected (as rotting, Until Dark (¡967); Seven in Darkness (¡969 TVM); How Awful
hooded ghouls) and promptly set about in search of more nubile About Allan (¡970 TVM); Longstreet (¡970 TVM); The Cat O’Nine
females. The film proved immensely popular in Europe and Tails (¡97¡); See No Evil (aka Blind Terror) (¡97¡); In Broad Day-
earned a small cult following in the U.S., chiefly due to its Bava- light (¡97¡ TVM); Butterflies Are Free (¡972); Blindman (¡972);
Journey from Darkness (¡975 TVM); Love’s Dark Side (¡978 TVM);
style atmosphere. Director Armando De Ossorio directed three Blind Rage (¡978); Ice Castles (¡979); The Miracle Worker (¡979
additional, similarly-plotted installments. TVM); To Race the Wind (¡980 TVM); If You Could See What I
The Blind Dead (aka Tombs of the Blind Dead; La Noche del Hear (¡982); Second Sight: A Love Story (¡984 TVM); Eye on the
Terror Ciego) (¡972); Return of the Blind Dead (aka El Ataque de los Sparrow (¡987 TVM); See No Evil, Hear No Evil (¡989); Blind Fury
Muertos sin Ojos; Attack of the Blind Dead) (¡973); Horror of the (¡989); Blind Witness (¡989 TVM); Blind Fear (¡989); Wild Hearts
Zombies (aka El Buque Maldito; Ghost Ships of the Blind Dead) Can’t Be Broken (¡99¡); Afraid of the Dark (¡99¡); Proof (¡992); Jen-
(¡974); Night of the Seagulls (aka La Noche de las Gaviotas; Night of nifer 8 (¡992); Scent of a Woman (¡992); Blindsided (¡993 TVM);
the Death Cult) (¡975) Blink (¡994); What Love Sees (¡996 TVM); Good Luck (¡997);
Touch (¡997); At First Sight (¡999); A Song from the Heart (¡999
Blindness TVM)
Although films dealing exclusively with blindness can be nar-
rowed to a select few, there have been a disproportionate num- Blondie
ber of films featuring blind characters in critical roles. Edward Probably more so than any other film series, Blondie established
Arnold played a blind detective in Eyes in the Night (¡942) and the format and style of the television “sitcom”—¡3 years before I
The Hidden Eye (¡945), while sleuths-by-chance have included Love Lucy. Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake starred as Chic
 BOARDING SCHOOLS 29

Young’s comic strip couple Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead in people’s favorite, however, and the Blue Demon eventually joined
an amazing 28 films spanning ¡2 years. Their supporting cast re- forces with him to create a potent tag team to battle vampires,
mained intact for most of the series, too, with Larry Simms as werewolves, witches, and other evil creatures in a series of lively,
Baby Dumpling, Jonathan Hale as Mr. Dithers, and Marjorie but ludicrous, films. See also Santo; Neutron (yet another Mex-
Kent as Cookie. In ¡950, long after most film series had expired, ican monster wrestler); Wrestling.
Blondie came to an end. Arthur Lake continued as Dagwood The Blue Demon (aka El Demonio Azul) (¡964); Blue Demon
(with Pamela Britton as Blondie) in a short-lived ¡957 television Against the Satanical Power (aka Blue Demon Contra el Poder Satan-
series. Meanwhile, Penny Singleton provided the voice for Jane icon) (¡964); The Shadow of the Bat (aka La Sombra del Murcielago)
during the original ¡962-63 run of the TV cartoon series The Jet- (¡966); Blue Demon vs. the Infernal Brains (aka Blue Demon Contra
sons. She later became a union activist and then returned to Cerebros Infernales; Cerebro Infernal) (¡968); Santo Against Blue
Demon in Atlantis (aka Santo Contra Blue Demon en la Atlántida)
Broadway in the ¡970s in No, No, Nanette. In ¡968, Patricia Harty (¡969); The World of the Dead (aka El Mundo de los Muertos) (¡969)
and Will Hutchins revived the Blondie and Dagwood characters (with Santo); Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (aka Santo y
for another TV series. It lasted but a half-season. Ironically, the Blue Demon Contra los Monstruós) (¡969); Blue Demon and the Se-
film series that inspired the TV sitcom genre never made it as a ductresses (aka Blue Demon Contra Las Invasoras) (¡969); The Mum-
successful sitcom itself. See also Comic Strip Characters. mies of Guanajuato (aka Las Momias de Guanajuato) (¡970) (with
Blondie (¡938); Blondie Brings Up Baby (¡939); Blondie Meets Santo); The Beasts of Terror (aka Las Bestias del Terror) (¡972) (with
the Boss (¡939); Blondie Takes a Vacation (¡939); Blondie Has Ser- Santo); Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man (aka
vant Trouble (¡940); Blondie on a Budget (¡940); Blondie Plays Santo y Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre Lobo) (¡972);
Cupid (¡940); Blondie Goes Latin (¡94¡); Blondie in Society (¡94¡); Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein (aka Santo y Blue
Blondie’s Blessed Event (¡942); Blondie for Victory (¡942); Blondie Demon Contra el Dr. Frankenstein) (¡973); Mystery in Bermuda (aka
Goes to College (¡942); Footlight Glamour (¡943); It’s a Great Life Misterio en las Bermudas) (¡977) (with Santo)
(¡943); Leave It to Blondie (¡945); Blondie Knows Best (¡946);
Blondie’s Lucky Day (¡946); Life with Blondie (¡946); Blondie’s An- Boarding Schools
niversary (¡947); Blondie’s Big Moment (¡947); Blondie’s Holiday
(¡947); Blondie in the Dough (¡947); Blondie’s Reward (¡948);
Boarding schools have provided atmospheric settings for a wide
Blondie’s Big Deal (¡949); Blondie Hits the Jackpot (¡949); Blondie’s variety of films — sentimental tales of dedicated teachers, satanic
Secret (¡949); Beware of Blondie (¡950); Blondie’s Hero (¡950) thrillers, mischievous comedies, and student revolutions. Jean
Vigo’s ¡933 surrealistic classic Zero for Conduct blended revolu-
Bloodfist Series tion with comedy in the story of mistreated students who rebel
Real-life World Karate Association champion Don “The Dragon” against a regimented boarding school run by a midget principal.
Wilson took a shot at “kung fu” stardom in this low-budget ac- British director Lindsay Anderson expanded on the same premise
tion series. Yet, despite fancy footwork, Wilson failed to dupli- in his ¡968 film If… (q.v.), in which defiant Malcolm McDow-
cate the mainstream success of rival martial arts star Jean-Claude ell and fellow students gun down the school’s faculty on Speech
Van Damme. In ¡989’s Bloodfist, Wilson’s character Jake treks o› Day (or is this massacre merely imagined by McDowell’s charac-
to Manila when his brother is murdered following a kickboxing ter?). The girls known as The Belles of St. Trinian’s (q.v.) (¡95¡)
match. Wilson returns as Jake in the following year’s sequel, were rebellious too, but never mounted a revolt since they pretty
Bloodfist II, which borrows much of its plot from Bruce Lee’s much ran the school anyway. Convent and church-run schools
¡973’s genre classic Enter the Dragon. It sends Jake back to Manila have been especially prone to attracting mischief-making stu-
after he accidentally kills a man in a kickboxing bout. After some dents, as evidenced by The Trouble with Angels (¡966) and Good-
close encounters in the city, Jake finds himself on an island fortress bye, Children (¡988). Dedicated teachers molded mischievous
ruled by a villain named Su. The third film in the series dispenses youths into mature students of life in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (¡939
with Jake altogether — Wilson plays another character named and ¡969) and Dead Poets Society (¡989). In contrast, schoolmas-
Jimmy Boland who finds himself fighting behind prison bars (a ter David Hemming’s students threatened to murder him — like
premise similar to Van Damme’s ¡990 picture Death Warrant). they did his predecessor — in Unman, Wittering and Zigo (¡98¡).
The remaining Bloodfirst films also feature Wilson as di›erent Clint Eastwood found himself in a worse situation as a virile male
characters who get involved with arms merchants (Bloodfist IV), hiding out in a girls’ school populated by lonely, jealous females
terrorists (Bloodfist VI), and kidnappers (Bloodfist VIII). For other in ¡97¡’s The Beguiled. Pamela Franklin entered a girl’s boarding
martial arts films, see American Ninja Series; Best of the Best school to investigate her sister’s suicide in the ¡973 TV movie
Series; The Karate Kid; Kickboxer Series and No Retreat, No Satan’s School for Girls. Despite its title, it turned out to be a nicer
Surrender Series. place than the demonic school run by a witches coven in Dario
Argento’s stylish Suspiria (¡976). Many films such as Jane Eyre
Bloodfist (¡989); Bloodfist II (¡990); Bloodfist III: Forced to
(¡944) and Oliver Twist (¡948) have been partially set in board-
Fight (¡99¡); Bloodfist IV: Die Trying (¡992); Bloodfist V: Human
Target (¡993); Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero (¡994); Bloodfist VII (aka ing schools. See also Military Academies; St. Trinian’s Series.
Manhunt) (¡995); Bloodfist VIII: Trained to Kill (¡996) Maedchun in Uniform (¡93¡); Zero for Conduct (aka Zero de
Conduite) (¡933); Girls’ Dormitory (¡936); Housemaster (¡938);
The Blue Demon Goodbye, Mr. Chips (¡939); Tom Brown’s School Days (aka Adventures
at Rugby) (¡940); The Happy Years (¡950); The Browning Version
This masked Mexican wrestler, known in his homeland as El De- (¡95¡); Tom Brown’s Schooldays (¡95¡); Her Twelve Men (¡954); The
monio Azul, briefly challenged fellow-wrestler Santo (q.v.) for Belles of St. Trinians (¡954); Les Diaboliques (aka Diabolique; The
the mid–¡960s monster-destroyer crown. Santo proved to be the Fiends) (¡955); Tea and Sympathy (¡956); The Ladies’ Man (¡96¡);
30 BODY CHEMISTRY SERIES

¡3 Frightened Girls (¡963); The Trouble with Angels (¡966); If… though in ¡8 Again, George Burns played a body-switching
(¡968); Goodbye, Mr. Chips (¡969); The House That Screamed (aka grandfather). The best of the three was Vice Versa, a semi-amus-
The Boarding School) (¡969); Walk a Crooked Path (¡969); The Be- ing, one-joke a›air benefiting from funny performances by Judge
guiled (¡97¡); Unman, Wittering and Zigo (¡97¡); Child’s Play
Reinhold and Fred Savage. Unfortunately, it was released late in
(¡972); Satan’s School for Girls (¡973 TVM); Our Time (aka Death
of Her Innocence) (¡974); Suspiria (¡976); Boarding School (aka The the cycle and faded quickly at the box-o‡ce. Even fewer people
Passion Flower Hotel) (¡977); Deadly Lessons (¡983 TVM); Goodbye, saw the ¡989 body switching comedy Dream a Little Dream, de-
Children (aka Au Revoir, Les Enfants) (¡988); Dead Poets Society spite a potentially interesting cast headed by Jason Robards. Of
(¡989); Courage Mountain (¡989); Flirting (¡99¡); Assault at West course, not all films have involved a transfer between parent and
Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whitaker (¡994 TVM); A Lit- child. Actually, the first body-switching comedy, ¡940’s Turn-
tle Princess (¡995); Diabolique (¡996) about, had a more risqué premise, with husband and wife Adolphe
Menjou and Carole Landis switching bodies (courtesy of a magic
Body Chemistry Series Buddha). The film, based on a story by Topper author Thorne
A film series about Glenn Close’s psycho stalker from Fatal At- Smith, served as the basis for a very short-lived ¡979 sitcom. The
traction? Surprisingly, that’s the basic idea behind Body Chemistry ¡986 Disney TV movie Hero in the Family altered the body
(¡990), an erotic thriller in which sex therapist Dr. Claire Archer switching premise slightly, with an astronaut finding himself in
(Lisa Pecsia) develops a fatal attraction for fellow researcher Tom a chimpanzee’s body. Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) trans-
Redding (Marc Singer). As in Close’s film, Claire Archer (possi- ferred a dying man’s soul into the body of his lover in ¡967’s
bly an in-joke reference to Fatal Attraction star Anne Archer) Frankenstein Created Woman. Technically, that’s not body switch-
threatens to expose her married lover’s adulterous exploits. In- ing since both souls resided in one body — but it’s certainly close.
deed, Tom’s wife eventually learns about the a›air and leaves her See also Brain Transplants.
husband. An enraged Tom confronts Claire and, after a brief Turnabout (¡940); Vice Versa (¡947); Freaky Friday (¡977);
struggle, Claire pulls a gun from her nightstand and shoots him. Hero in the Family (¡986 TVM); ¡8 Again (¡988); Vice Versa (¡988);
When the police arrive, Claire claims she was acting in self-de- Like Father, Like Son (¡988); Dream a Little Dream (¡989); Prelude
fense against a jilted lover who had turned violent. In a nifty to a Kiss (¡992); Freaky Friday (¡995 TVM); Dating the Enemy
switch from Fatal Attraction, she gets away with murder. Pecsia (¡996); Naked Souls (¡996); Wish Upon a Star (¡996); A Saintly
Switch (¡999 TVM); Dogmatic (1999 TVM)
reprised her role as Claire for Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a
Stranger (¡992). Now a radio talk show host, Claire gets involved
with a former police o‡cer (Gregory Harrison) trying to over- Bodybuilding
come his violent behavior. Unfortunately, Claire’s “therapy” only This mini-genre’s sole superstar, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has ap-
makes matters worse and the poor guy winds up being shot by peared in only two films about bodybuilding. He played a sup-
some of his cop friends. Shari Shattuck took over for Pescia in porting role in ¡976’s Stay Hungry, a Je› Bridges–Sally Field vehi-
Body Chemistry III: Point of Seduction (¡994), while erotic movie cle about a rich young man who becomes infatuated with the
veteran Shannon Tweed played Claire in Body Chemistry 4: Full flavorful characters he meets at a second-rate gym. Arnold’s first
Exposure (¡995). Neither of these films improved upon the first “starring” role was in the following year’s Pumping Iron, a popular
two installments, although both featured Andrew Stevens as documentary about bodybuilding competitions which also fea-
actor/producer. Stevens forged a profitable career in the erotic tured Lou (The Incredible Hulk) Ferrigno. A sequel of sorts, ¡985’s
thriller genre, having been in front or behind the camera for films Pumping Iron II: The Women, promoted Rachel McLish as the su-
such as Night Eyes (¡990), Scorned (¡994), and Victim of Desire perstar of female bodybuilders. She had already made a brief ap-
(¡995). He also managed to appear in the fourth film after Claire pearance in the ¡984 TV movie Getting Physical, in which Alexan-
killed him in the third one. Even if it was only a flashback, that’s dra Paul becomes obsessed with pumping iron after being mugged.
pretty good considering Claire’s homicidal track record. See also Like Schwarzenegger, McLish gradually transitioned into main-
Animal Instincts Series; Night Eyes Series; and Secret Games stream action films like ¡992’s Aces: Iron Eagle III. Another real-
Series. life bodybuilder, the late Jayne Mansfield’s husband Mickey Har-
Body Chemistry (¡990); Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a gitay, appeared as himself in ¡988’s Mr. Universe. On a lesser note,
Stranger (¡99¡); Body Chemistry III: Point of Seduction (¡994); Body Harry Grant — holder of the Mr. Southern California and Mr. Los
Chemistry 4: Full Exposure (¡995) Angeles titles — directed and starred in Flex 90. Finally, Bill Tra-
vers played the movies’ most charming bodybuilder: the scrawny
Body Switching Scottish lad who sends o› for a weightlifting program and be-
The most overworked premise of ¡988 was this one: A young comes an Olympic hammer thrower in Wee Geordie.
person’s soul magically changes places with an older person’s, so Wee Geordie (aka Geordie) (¡956); Muscle Beach Party (¡964);
that the youngster acts like an adult and the adult behaves like a Stay Hungry (¡976); Pumping Iron (¡977); The Hustler of Muscle
kid. Actually, the plotline dates back to Peter Ustinov’s then-orig- Beach (¡980 TVM); The Rainbow Serpent (¡983); Getting Physical
(¡984 TVM); Pumping Iron II: The Women (¡985); Echo Park
inal ¡947 fantasy Vice Versa, in which a magic stone caused stock- (¡986); Mr. Universe (¡988); Flex 90 (¡990); Léola (¡992)
broker Roger Livesey and school-aged son Anthony Newley to
temporarily switch bodies. Disney updated the plot and changed
the gender for ¡977’s Freaky Friday. It starred Barbara Harris and Bodyguards
Jodie Foster as the mother and daughter making the switch for a There are few films about professional bodyguards who make a
day. A trio of mediocre ¡988 releases revived the plotline (al- living protecting their clients. Still, these tough guys have been
 BOND HEROINES 31

played by a diverse group of actors that includes William Bendix Lion Hunters (¡95¡); African Treasure (¡952); Bomba and the Jungle
(The Glass Key), Lawrence Tierney (Bodyguard), Edmund O’Brien Girl (¡952); Safari Drums (¡953); The Golden Idol (¡954); Killer
(The Web), and Kevin Costner (The Bodyguard). Costner may Leopard (¡954); Lord of the Jungle (¡955)
have had the showiest role as the bodyguard assigned to protect
singer Whitney Houston. However, the most intellectual body- Bond, James
guard was surely the one played by Chazz Palminteri in Bullets With the release of ¡999’s The World Is Not Enough Ian Fleming’s
Over Broadway. When not protecting his mobster boss, he proved secret agent celebrated 37 years of silver screen success. Sean Con-
adept at writing plays. Secret Service agents have pulled body- nery debuted as Bond in ¡962’s Dr. No and now — four Bonds and
guard duty in a number of films, including Assassination (¡987), over a dozen movies later —007 is still going in the person of
In the Line of Fire (¡993), and Guarding Tess (¡994). Police o‡cer Pierce Brosnan. Interestingly, Connery was not Fleming’s first
Harrison Ford was assigned to protect a little boy who saw a mur- choice for Bond. The author envisioned an actor closer to Cary
der in Witness (¡988), while a female security o‡cer performed Grant. And technically, the first Bond was played by American
similar duties for a deaf man in His Bodyguard (¡998). A high Barry Nelson in an adaptation of Casino Royale that appeared on
school student besieged by bullies hired an alleged “killer” class- the TV anthology series Climax in the late ¡950s. The Bond
mate to protect him in the charming My Bodyguard (¡982). On movies, with the lead actor in parentheses, are listed below in
television, Robert Loggia played a cat burglar–turned-bodyguard chronological order. Casino Royale (¡967), a spoof starring David
in the short-lived ¡966 series T.H.E. Cat (his initials stood for Niven as an elder Bond, is not included since it was not part of
Thomas Hewitt Edward) and Pamela Anderson Lee made a most the Cubby Broccoli–produced series. Never Say Never Again
unlikely bodyguard in the ¡998 series V.I.P. (¡983), which was also not part of the “o‡cial” series, is included
The Glass Key (¡942); The Web (¡947); Bodyguard (¡948); As- because it starred Connery. As Bond trivia bu›s know, Never is
sassination (¡987); Man on Fire (¡987); Witness (¡988); The Body- actually a remake of Thunderball and was made only after a long
guard (¡992); Brain Smasher…A Love Story (¡993); In the Line of legal dispute. See also Bond Heroines; Bond Villains.
Fire (¡993); Guarding Tess (¡994); Bullets Over Broadway (¡994);
His Bodyguard (aka Silent Echoes) (¡998 TVM); Blackjack (¡998) Dr. No (¡962) (Sean Connery); From Russia with Love (¡963)
(Connery); Goldfinger (¡964) (Connery); Thunderball (¡965) (Con-
nery); You Only Live Twice (¡967) (Connery); On Her Majesty’s Se-
Boggy Creek Series cret Service (¡969) (George Lazenby); Diamonds Are Forever (¡97¡)
A “docudrama” about a Bigfoot-type beast glimpsed roaming (Connery); Live and Let Die (¡973) (Roger Moore); The Man with
around Fouke, Arkansas, ¡972’s The Legend of Boggy Creek peaked the Golden Gun (¡974) (Moore); The Spy Who Loved Me (¡977)
(Moore); Moonraker (¡979) (Moore); For Your Eyes Only (¡98¡)
enough interest to earn a tidy profit for exploitation producer
(Moore); Octopussy (¡983) (Moore); Never Say Never Again (¡983)
Charles B. Pierce. Sadly, Pierce’s extensive use of “reenactments” (Connery); A View to a Kill (¡985) (Moore); The Living Daylights
has become increasingly popular in television news programs. Re- (¡987) (Timothy Dalton); License to Kill (¡989) (Dalton); Golden-
turn to Boggy Creek (¡977) was not a sequel, but rather a children’s Eye (¡995) (Pierce Brosnan); Tomorrow Never Dies (¡997) (Bros-
film about a friendly monster helping out some lost kids. It co- nan); The World Is Not Enough (¡999) (Brosnan)
starred Dawn Wells, better known as Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Is-
land. In ¡985, Pierce returned to Boggy Creek by casting himself Bond Heroines
as an anthropology professor in The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek. The ladies who play opposite 007 are famous not only for their
See also Bigfoot. beauty, but also their outrageous names. Who can forget such
The Legend of Boggy Creek (¡972); Return to Boggy Creek memorable monikers as Pussy Galore, Ti›any Case, and Holly
(¡977); The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II (aka Boggy Creek
Goodhead? Even more interesting, though, is the fascinating trivia
II) (¡985)
surrounding the actresses. For instance, prior to portraying Ms.
Galore in ¡964’s Goldfinger, Honor Blackman played Patrick Mac-
Bomba, the Jungle Boy Nee’s sleuthing partner on the TV series The Avengers. Her pop-
After playing “Boy” for eight years, Johnny She‡eld must have ular Avengers replacement was Diana Riggs, who went on to play
expected to find meatier parts following his farewell Tarzan pic- Tracy (aka Mrs. Bond) in ¡969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
ture, ¡947’s Tarzan and the Huntress. But no one seemed inter- That same film featured a supporting performance by Joanna
ested in a ¡6-year-old star so strongly identified with one role. Lumley, who would later play Purdey, MacNee’s female sidekick
Then, Monogram producer Walter Mirisch came up with a fool- in The New Avengers TV series. Maud Adams is the only actress
proof series for She‡eld and signed the teen to play Bomba, a ju- to play in two Bond flicks — she was a supporting villain–turned-
nior Tarzan created by Roy Rockwood in the ¡920s. Bomba, the good in The Man with the Golden Gun, then graduated to the title
Jungle Boy (¡949) was a low-budget, backlot adventure that re- role in Octopussy. Claudine Auger and Kim Basinger played the
lied heavily on stock footage (from a ¡930 documentary called same character; Claudine played Domino in Thunderball and
Africa Speaks). The subsequent Bomba films were pretty routine, Kim was Domino in Never Say Never Again. The Bond movies,
though journeyman director Ford Beebe managed to make them the leading ladies, and the characters are as follows:
tolerable. The series ended in ¡955, the 24-year-old She‡eld Dr. No— Ursula Andress (Honeychile Rider); From Russia with
having outgrown the “jungle boy” look. Love— Daniela Bianchi (Tatiana Romanova); Goldfinger— Honor
Bomba, the Jungle Boy (¡949); Bomba on Panther Island (¡949); Blackman (Pussy Galore); Thunderball— Claudine Auger (Domino
The Lost Volcano (¡950); Bomba and the Hidden City (¡950); Bomba Vitali); You Only Live Twice— Mie Hama (Kissy Suzuki); On Her
and the Elephant Stampede (aka Elephant Stampede) (¡95¡); The Majesty’s Secret Service— Diana Rigg (Teresa [Tracy], the Countess
32 BOND VILLAINS

di Vicenzo); Diamonds Are Forever— Jill St. John (Ti›any Case); Michael Lonsdale (Hugo Drax); For Your Eyes Only —Julian Glover
Live and Let Die— Jane Seymour (Solitaire); The Man with the (Aris Kristatos); Octopussy —Louis Jourdan (Kamal Khan); Never
Golden Gun— Britt Ekland (Mary Goodnight); The Spy Who Loved Say Never Again —Klaus Maria Brandauer (Maximillian Largo); A
Me— Barbara Bach (Major Anya Amasova); Moonraker— Lois View to a Kill —Christopher Walken (Max Zorin); The Living Day-
Chiles (Holly Goodhead); For Your Eyes Only— Carole Bouquet lights —Joe Don Baker (Brad Whitaker); License to Kill —Robert
(Melina Havelock); Octopussy— Maud Adams (Octopussy); Never Davi (Franz Sanchez); GoldenEye —Sean Bean (Alec Trevelyan
Say Never Again— Kim Basinger (Domino); A View to a Kill— [Agent 006]); Tomorrow Never Dies —Jonathan Pryce (Elliot
Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton); The Living Daylights— Maryam Carver); The World Is Not Enough —Robert Carlyle (Renard)
D’Abo (Kara Milovy); License to Kill— Carey Lowell (Pam Bou-
vier); GoldenEye— Izabella Scorupco (Natalya Siminova); Tomorrow Bounty Hunters
Never Dies— Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin); The World Is Not Enough—
Denise Richards (Dr. Christmas Jones) What do disenchanted lawmen do when the system won’t let them
get their man? They become bounty hunters, of course. Thus,
Bond Villains Rutger Hauer played an ex-government agent turned modern-
day, high-tech bounty hunter in ¡987’s Wanted: Dead or Alive. In-
Joseph Wiseman established the prototype for Bond villains as Dr.
terestingly, Rutger’s character was supposed to be the grandson
No in the first 007 film. A veteran character actor, Wiseman pro-
of Josh Randall, the Western bounty hunter made famous by
jected power, confidence, and an overwhelming desire to win at
Steve McQueen in the ¡958–6¡ TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive.
all costs. The best Bond villains fit this mold — and they don’t take
McQueen played real-life bounty men in his last two films, ¡979’s
it lightly when they lose at anything. In Goldfinger, the fabu-
Tom Horn and ¡980’s The Hunter (based on the life of Ralph
lously wealthy Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) cheats at cards and
“Pappy” Thorson). Robert De Niro and Clint Eastwood played
golf. When he “loses” his mistress to Bond, he orders his hench-
skip tracers, contemporary bounty hunters specializing in bail
men to kill her by covering her body with gold paint. Still, these
jumpers, in the lighthearted adventures Midnight Run (¡988) and
self-assured Bond villains relish a worthy challenge and, of course,
Pink Cadillac (¡989). Westerns typically portray bounty hunters
007 always provides one. In The Man with the Golden Gun, Scara-
in a negative light. The Reward (¡965), for example, concerned a
manga, a superb pistol marksman, allows himself only one bul-
group of greedy bounty men who kill each other for a larger share
let when he stalks an armed Bond in a noisy funhouse. Max-
of the reward money. Kenny Rogers played a kinder, more gen-
imillian Largo challenges Bond to a 3-D video game called
tle, bounty hunter in the Western telefilm Rio Diablo. Sybil Dan-
Domination in Never Say Never Again. The stakes start small —
ning proved that women could do the job just as well as men in
Spain and $9,000— but escalate until the grand prize is the world.
¡989’s L.A. Bounty.
The best known Bond villain is probably Ernest Stavro Blofeld,
The Naked Spur (¡953); The Bounty Hunter (¡954); The
the head of the international criminal organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Bounty Killer (¡965); The Reward (¡965); The Shooting (¡966); Any
(Special Executor for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Gun Can Play (aka For a Few Bullets More) (¡967); The Bounty
and Extortion). Blofeld makes brief appearances, typically with Man (¡972 TVM); Joe Kidd (¡972); Santee (¡972); Manhunter
his white cat, in From Russia with Love, Thunderball, For Your Eyes (¡974 TVM); Truck Turner (¡974); Tom Horn (¡979); The Hunter
Only, and Never Say Never Again. However, he is the featured vil- (¡980); Rivkin: Bounty Hunter (¡98¡ TVM); Critters (¡986);
lain in three consecutive entries: You Only Live Twice, On Her Wanted: Dead or Alive (¡987); The Blue Iguana (¡988); Midnight
Majesty’s Secret Service, and Diamonds Are Forever. Unlike other Run (¡988); Pink Cadillac (¡989); The Bounty Hunter (¡989); L.A.
Bounty (¡989); Grim Prairie Tales (¡990); Into the Badlands (¡99¡
Bondian bad guys, Blofeld proves to be skillful at escaping when
TVM); Rio Diablo (¡993 TVM); It’s Nothing Personal (¡993 TVM);
his plans turn sour. His reappearance at the end of On Her Home for Christmas (aka Little Miss Millions) (¡993); Bounty Hunter
Majesty’s Secret Service proves devastating to 007 when Blofeld 2002 (aka 2002: The Rape of Eden) (¡994); Beverly Hills Cop III
murders Bond’s bride Tracy. Blofeld, as portrayed by Donald (¡994); The Awakening (¡995 TVM); The Huntress (2000 TVM)
Pleasance in You Only Live Twice, served as the inspiration for
Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers spy spoofs. In a few The Bowery Boys
Bond films, the villain’s chief henchman has almost overshad- The chronology of this popular, low-budget juvenile series spans
owed the man in charge. Richard Kiel’s physically imposing, steel- three decades, from the Dead End Kids in the ¡930s to the Lit-
mouthed henchman Jaws was so popular in The Spy Who Loved tle Tough Guys and the East Side Kids in the ¡940s to (finally)
Me that he returned for Moonraker. Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) the Bowery Boys in the ¡950s. It all began with ¡937’s The Dead
made spiked-toe shoes fashionable in From Russia with Love. And End, an adaptation of the sober ¡935 Broadway play about New
the silent but deadly Oddjob (Harold Sakata) almost stole York slum life. That film introduced teen performers Leo Gorcey
Goldfinger from Auric Goldfinger. The Bond movies, the actors, and Huntz Hall, an odd couple who would eventually form the
and the villainous characters are as follows: comedy core of all these movies. At Warner Bros., the Dead End
Dr. No —Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No); From Russia with Love — Kids appeared with major stars like James Cagney (¡938’s Angels
Vladek Sheybal (Kronsteen); Goldfinger —Gert Frobe (Auric with Dirty Faces) and John Garfield (¡939’s They Made Me a Crim-
Goldfinger); Thunderball —Aolfo Celi (Emilio Largo); You Only inal). These e›orts, though, did not constitute a series since they
Live Twice —Donald Pleasance (Ernst Stavro Blofeld); On Her
featured the Kids in changing roles. Some of the Kids (e.g., Billy
Majesty’s Secret Service —Telly Savalas (Ernst Stavro Blofield); Dia-
monds Are Forever —Charles Gray (Ernst Stavro Blofeld); Live and Halop, Huntz Hall) defected to Universal in ¡938 and made Lit-
Let Die —Yaphet Kotto (Dr. Kanaga [aka Mr. Big]); The Man with tle Tough Guy, a Dead End imitation with a downbeat ending
the Golden Gun —Christopher Lee (Francisco Scaramanga); The Spy (Halop goes to reform school). Additional Little Tough Guy
Who Loved Me —Curt Jurgens (Karl Stromberg); Moonraker — movies followed, although the cast and characters again changed
 BOXING 33

on a regular basis. Jackie Cooper even cropped up as the lead Lit- Fox, and Bill Murray. Matheson played a sensitive bowler in
tle Tough Guy in ¡938’s Newsboy’s Home. In the early ¡940s, en- ¡979’s Dreamer, a pale Rocky imitation that left plenty of
terprising producer Sam Katzman brought some of the boys, in- pins standing. Michael J. Fox portrayed a bowler who quit
cluding Gorcey and Halop, to Monogram Pictures and redubbed the tour to pursue a rich uncle’s money in Greedy (¡994). In
them the East Side Kids. Under Katzman’s guidance, the series the outrageous ¡996 comedy Kingpin, Bill Murray played an
gradually shifted from juvenile drama to broad comedy. Gorcey unscrupulous sequin-wearing bowler trying to beat Amish
and Hall also emerged as the principal stars. With their agent Jan rival Randy Quaid and his washed-up mentor Woody Har-
Grippo, they revamped the series in ¡946 and launched the Bow- relson. The o›beat Shakes the Clown (¡99¡) featured Julie
ery Boys pictures for Monogram. As Terence Alyosius Mahoney Brown as a former bowling champ and girlfriend to Bobcat
(Slip) and Horace Debussey Jones (Sach), Gorcey and Hall mugged Goldthwait’s title character. Finally, although not a profes-
their way through 48 Bowery Boy comedies. The humor frequently sional bowler, Janeane Garofalo played a would-be super
centered around hapless Sach acquiring some strange power. A hero called The Bowler in the ¡999 comedy Mystery Men. In
throat operation turned him into a great singer in Blues Busters. A contrast to these few films about bowlers, several movies have
punch in the nose gave him telepathic powers in Private Eyes. He employed a bowling alley setting (a rich source of eccentric
also became clairvoyant (Master Minds), acquired great physical characters). The wonderfully-titled films —¡982’s Dear Mr.
strength (No Holds Barred), and learned how to smell diamonds Wonderful and ¡993’s Mr. Wonderful— dealt with, respec-
(Jungle Gents). In the end, though, he always returned to normal, tively, a bowling alley manager and five blue-collar workers
inspiring Slip to slap him with his hat. Other Bowery Boys who who open their own lanes. Nicolas Cage and Sean Penn
appeared with some regularity were: Whitey (Billy Benedict), worked as pinspotters in a bowling alley circa ¡943 in Rac-
Chuck (Gorcey’s brother David), Gabe (Gabriel Dell), and Bobby ing with the Moon (¡984). Jack Nicholson has one of his best
(Bobby Jordan). The Boys hung out at Louie’s Sweet Shop, which roles in ¡970’s Five Easy Pieces, as a pianist-drifter who has
was run by Louie Dumbrowsky (Gorcey’s father Bernard), who was a brief a›air with a girl working in a bowling alley. In the
always sorry for listening to Slip and company. Bernard Gorcey Coen Brothers’ bizarre ¡998 comedy The Big Lebowski, the
died in ¡955, after completing Dig That Uranium. His father’s Dude ( Je› Bridges) and his pals spent way too much time
death and his own alcoholism caused Leo Gorcey to leave the se- at the bowling alley. The action film Collision Course (¡987)
ries after ¡956’s Crashing Las Vegas. Stanley Clements (Gloria Gra- showed that bowling alleys can be used for more than just
hame’s ex-husband) took over as Duke, the gang’s new leader, in bowling. Paul Muni’s Scarface (¡932) set the precedent for
the series’ final seven films. Post–Bowery Boy Huntz Hall contin- bowling alley violence when Boris Karlo› ’s rival gangster
ued to appear in movies in supporting roles. He and Gorcey had leader was gunned down during a game of ninepins. On a
a cameo together in the dismal ¡970 satire The Phynx. relatively lighter note, two righteous babes stole a bowling
THE EAST SIDE KIDS: East Side Kids (¡94¡); Boys of the City trophy — occupied by an evil imp — in the outlandish ¡988
(¡94¡); That Gang of Mine (¡94¡); Pride of the Bowery (¡94¡); Flying horror-comedy Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama.
Wild (¡94¡); Bowery Blitzkreig (¡94¡); Spooks Run Wild (¡94¡); Mr. Scarface (¡932); Five Easy Pieces (¡970); Dreamer (¡979); Dear
Wise Guy (¡942); Let’s Get Tough (¡942); Smart Alecks (¡942); Mr. Wonderful (¡982); Racing with the Moon (¡984); Collision
’Neath Brooklyn Bridge (¡942); Kid Dynamite (¡943); Clancy Street Course (¡987); Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (¡988);
Boys (¡943); Ghosts on the Loose (¡943); Mr. Muggs Steps Out Shakes the Clown (¡99¡); Mr. Wonderful (¡993); Greedy (¡994); The
(¡943); Million Dollar Kid (¡944); Follow the Leader (¡944); Block Flintstones (¡994); The Next Karate Kid (¡994); Kingpin (¡996);
Busters (¡944); Bowery Champs (¡944); Docks of New York (¡945); Dream with the Fishes (¡997); The Big Lebowski (¡998); Pleasantville
Mr. Muggs Rides Again (¡945); Come Out Fighting (¡945) (¡998); Bu›alo ’66 (¡998)
THE BOWERY BOYS: In Fast Company (¡946); Mr. Hex (¡946);
Spook Busters (¡946); Bowery Bombshell (¡946); Live Wires (¡946);
Hard-Boiled Mahoney (¡947); News Hounds (¡947); Bowery Boxing
Buckeroos (¡947); Angels’ Alley (¡947); Trouble Makers (¡948); Smug- Filmmakers have long been fascinated by the sweaty, brutal world
gler’s Cove (¡948); Jinx Money (¡948); Angels in Disguise (¡949); Hold
of boxing, making it by far the most popular sport in movies. Film
That Baby! (¡949); Fighting Fools (¡949); Master Minds (¡949);
Blonde Dynamite (¡950); Blues Busters (¡950); Lucky Losers (¡950); biographies have chronicled the careers of John L. Sullivan (The
Triple Trouble (¡950); Ghost Chasers (¡95¡); Crazy Over Horses Great John L.), Jim Corbett (Gentleman Jim), Jack Johnson (The
(¡95¡); Let’s Go Navy (¡95¡); Bowery Battalion (¡95¡); Hold That Great White Hope), Joe Louis (The Joe Louis Story), Rocky
Line (¡952); Feudin’ Fools (¡952); Here Come the Marines (¡952); No Graziano (Somebody Up There Likes Me), Jake La Motta (Raging
Holds Barred (¡952); Clipped Wings (¡953); Jalopy (¡953); Loose in Bull), Muhammad Ali (The Greatest), Jack Dempsey (Dempsey),
London (¡953); Private Eyes (¡953); Paris Playboys (¡954); Jungle Rocky Marciano (Marciano and Rocky Marciano), and Boom
Gents (¡954); The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (¡954); Bowery to
Boom Mancini (Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story).
Bagdad (¡955); High Society (¡955); Spy Chasers (¡955); Jail Busters
(¡955); Dig That Uranium (¡956); Crashing Las Vegas (¡956); Fight- Fictitious prizefighters have fared even better, with Rocky Bal-
ing Trouble (¡956) (first with Clements); Hot Shots (¡956); Hold boa (q.v.), Joe Palooka (q.v.), and Too Sweet (see Penitentiary)
That Hypnotist (¡957); Spook Chasers (¡957); Looking for Danger earning their own film series. Some movie boxers have hailed
(¡957); Up in Smoke (¡958); In the Money (¡958) from other, more unusual professions. John Derek was a young
minister who entered the ring to earn money for his congregation
Bowling in The Leather Saint (¡956). William Holden played a young man
Professional bowlers have been a screen oddity, although they forced to choose between prizefighting and a promising career as
have been played by the likes of Tim Matheson, Michael J. a violinist in Golden Boy (¡939). Almost every male comedy star
34 BOY SCOUTS

has included a boxing routine in one of his movies. Danny Kaye The Boxer (¡997); Snake Eyes (¡998); Rocky Marciano (¡999 TVM);
made an unlikely boxer in The Kid from Brooklyn (¡946), but he Fight Club (¡999); Knockout (¡999); Hurricane (¡999); Play It to the
looked pretty good compared to Donald O’Connor in Francis in Bone (¡999); Girlfight (2000); Ali: An American Hero (2000 TVM);
King of the World (2000 TVM)
the Navy (¡955), a hypnotized Jimmie Walker in Let’s Do It Again
(¡975), Don Knotts in The Prize Fighter (¡979), and Lou Costello
in Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (¡95¡). In the latter Boy Scouts
film, Costello’s boxing prowess was aided considerably — and hi- Comedy and sentimentality have dominated movies about Boy
lariously — by the presence of an invisible boxing chum. Serious Scouts. Clifton Webb played a grouchy kid-hater who wound up
fight films have tended to focus on the corruption within the leading a scout troop — and liking it — in the ¡953 comedy Mis-
sport. These include some of the genre’s finest films —The Champ ter Scoutmaster. In ¡949’s The Great Lover, scout leader Bob Hope
(¡93¡), Battling Bellhop (aka Kid Galahad) (¡937), Body and Soul had his hands full aboard a ship filled with his rowdy troupe, a
(¡94¡), Champion (¡949), The Set-Up (¡949), and Rod Serling’s murderer, and luscious Rhonda Fleming. On the sentimental side,
Requiem for a Heavyweight (¡962). The Set-Up has the added dis- Fred MacMurray portrayed a man who devoted his life to his
tinction of taking place in real time, as indicated by the clocks boys in the sticky-sweet Disney picture Follow Me, Boys! (¡966).
shown at the beginning and end of the film. Bare-fisted fighters The Wrong Guys was a ¡988 comedy about a Cub Scout reunion,
have been limited to backroom brawls, though Charles Bronson while the ¡989 Shelley Long vehicle Troop Beverly Hills gave equal
brought one to life memorably in Hard Times (¡975) and Clint time to some Girl Scouts. In the prologue to Indiana Jones and
Eastwood had one of his biggest box-o‡ce success as slugger the Last Crusade (¡989), young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix)
Philo Beddoe in Every Which Way But Loose (¡978). The most showed up in a scout’s uniform. Of course, not all scouts and
bizarre boxer has to be the spunky kangaroo in Matilda (¡978), scoutmasters have been portrayed as model citizens. Robert
though Elvis Presley rates a close second for his pugilist perfor- De Niro portrayed a scoutmaster with a drill sergeant attitude in
mance in Kid Galahad (¡962). See also Penitentiary Series; ¡993’s This Boy’s Life. Tim Robbins played a terrorist who once
Rocky; Wrestling. led a Junior Discoverer scout troop in the chilling Arlington Road
Battling Butler (¡926); Iron Man (¡93¡); The Champ (¡93¡); (¡999). And Rupert Everett battled a persistent group of flesh-eat-
Winner Take All (¡932); The Prizefighter and the Lady (aka Every ing boy scout ghouls in Cemetery Man (¡994). There were nei-
Woman’s Man) (¡933) (with real-life boxers Jack Dempsey and Max ther scoutmasters nor den mothers in ¡99¡’s The Last Boy Scout—
Baer); King for a Night (¡933); The Life of Jimmy Dolan (aka The only Bruce Willis as a rumpled private detective.
Kid’s Last Fight) (¡933); Cain and Mabel (¡936); Battling Bellhop (aka
Kid Galahad) (¡937); When’s Your Birthday? (¡937); Ex-Champ Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout (¡944); The Great Lover (¡949); Mis-
(¡939); Golden Boy (¡939); Invitation to Happiness (¡939); They Made ter Scoutmaster (¡953); It Happened to Jane (aka Twinkle and Shine)
Me a Criminal (¡939); Kid Nightingale (¡939); City for Conquest (¡959); Cuckoo Patrol (¡965); Follow Me, Boys! (¡966); Scout’s Honor
(¡940); Body and Soul (¡94¡); Here Comes Mr. Jordan (¡94¡); Knock- (¡980 TVM); The Wrong Guys (¡988); Troop Beverly Hills (¡989);
out (¡94¡); Ringside Maisie (aka Cash and Carry) (¡94¡); Gentleman Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989); Edge of Honor (¡99¡);
Jim (¡942); The Great John L. (aka A Man Called Sullivan) (¡945); This Boy’s Life (¡993); Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore; Of
The Kid from Brooklyn (¡946); Mr. Hex (¡946); Leather Gloves (¡948); Death and Love) (¡994); Arlington Road (¡999)
Whiplash (¡948); The Big Punch (¡948); Champion (¡949); The Set-
Up (¡949); The Golden Gloves Story (¡950); Right Cross (¡950); Abbott Brain Transplants
and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (¡95¡); The Fighter (¡95¡); Iron
Man (¡95¡); Flesh and Fury (¡952); The Ring (¡952); The Joe Louis Mad scientists have been obsessed with transplanting brains since
Story (¡953); Champ for a Day (¡953); Tennessee Champ (¡954); Fran- the days of silent films. Almost all Frankenstein films (q.v.), be-
cis in the Navy (¡955); Killer’s Kiss (¡955); The Leather Saint (¡956); ginning with Edison’s ¡9¡0 version, have dealt with brain trans-
The Harder They Fall (¡956); Somebody Up There Likes Me (¡956); planting of some fashion. In James Whale’s ¡93¡ Frankenstein, the
World in My Corner (¡956); Kid Galahad (¡962); Requiem for a doctor’s assistant Fritz stole a criminal’s brain from a medical lab,
Heavyweight (¡962); Confessions of Tom Harris (aka Childish Things)
(¡967); The Legendary Champions (¡968); AKA Cassius Clay (¡970);
thus explaining the Monster’s homicidal tendencies. Yet, the basic
The Great White Hope (¡970); Ripped O› (aka The Boxer) (¡97¡); Frankenstein operation — the implant of a spare brain into a non-
Jack Johnson (¡97¡); Fat City (¡972); The All-American Boy (¡973); living body — is but one kind of brain transplant. More interest-
Hard Times (¡975); Let’s Do It Again (¡975); Rocky (¡976); The ing films have involved the transplant of a brain from one living
Greatest (¡977); Every Which Way But Loose (¡978); Penitentiary creature to another. On Time (¡924) was a strange little adven-
(¡978); Ring of Passion (¡978 TVM); Matilda (¡978); Movie Movie ture film with a subplot about some thugs trying to replace the
(the “Dynamite Hands” segment) (¡978); The Main Event (¡979);
hero’s brain with a gorilla’s. The reversal of that plot describes
Marciano (¡979 TVM); The Champ (¡979); The Prize Fighter (¡979);
Any Which Way You Can (¡980); Raging Bull (¡980); Body and Soul ¡94¡’s The Monster and the Girl, in which the implanted brain of
(¡98¡); Honeyboy (¡982 TVM); Edith and Marcel (¡983); The Fighter a killer transformed an ape into the “Mangle Murderer.” Simi-
(¡983 TVM); The Last Fight (¡983); Dempsey (¡983 TVM); Heart of larly, John Carradine’s brain wound up in the skull of a missing
a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story (¡985 TVM); Streets of Gold link in ¡944’s Return of the Ape Man. In contrast to such silliness,
(¡986); Heart (¡987); Spike of Bensonhurst (¡988); Split Decisions the ¡986 TV movie Who Is Julia? was a serious a›air about a
(¡988); Triumph of the Spirit (¡989); Champions Forever (¡989); brain-dead mother (Mare Winningham) who receives new gray
Blonde Fist (¡99¡); Gladiator (¡992); Far and Away (¡992); Diggstown
(¡992); Night and the City (¡992); Percy and Thunder (¡993 TVM); cells courtesy of a recently-deceased model. Surprisingly, Terence
Pulp Fiction (¡994); Wind from Wyoming (aka Le Vent du Wyoming) Fisher’s Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (¡969) dispensed with the
(¡994); The Great White Hype (¡996); When We Were Kings (¡997); required gruesome monster and opted for a straightforward brain
Don King: Only in America (¡997 TVM); Twenty Four Seven (¡997); transplant plot. In this ironic tale, Frankenstein (Peter Cushing)
 BURIED ALIVE 35

“cures” a brain-damaged fellow scientist by transplanting the ¡984 (¡956); Brainwashed (¡96¡); The Manchurian Candidate
man’s brain into a new body. However, the scientist’s gratefulness (¡962); Thirty-Six Hours (¡964); The Ipcress File (¡965); On Her
turns to bitter hate when his wife spurns his new appearance — Majesty’s Secret Service (¡969); A Clockwork Orange (¡97¡); Hunter
(¡972 TVM); Telefon (¡977); Thirst (¡979); Simon (¡980); Ticket to
the face of a stranger. In ¡969’s Change of Mind, a dying white
Heaven (¡98¡); Split Image (¡982); Circle of Power (aka Mystique;
district attorney awakes one day to find his brain in the body of Brainwash; The Naked Weekend) (¡983); ¡984 (¡984); Patty Hearst
a black man, but, after the initial shock, it all ends happily. The (¡988); Total Recall (¡990); The Sleep Room (¡998); Disturbing Be-
funny side of brain switching has been explored by Abbott and havior (¡998); Holy Smoke (¡999)
Costello (A&C Meet Frankenstein), the Bowery Boys (Spook
Busters and Master Minds), and Steve Martin (The Man with Two Bullfights see Matadors/Bullfights
Brains). Martin’s delightful ¡983 film cast him as a brain surgeon
in love with a body-less brain (although he eventually finds a
happy home for it). Although it did not involve brain trans-
Buddy Action Films
planting, Hauser’s Memory (¡970) deserves special mention for its The “buddy action picture” requires careful definition. These films
plot about a man who injected himself with another’s brain fluid have existed for years, but were not accorded their own genre until
to learn a valuable secret. See also Body Switching. the late ¡980s. The prototypical buddy film pairs up two individ-
uals of the same sex — but opposite personalities — and throws
On Time (¡924); Frankenstein (¡93¡); The Man Who Lived
Again (aka The Man Who Changed His Mind) (¡936); Black Friday
them into a situation requiring them to work together. Of course,
(¡940); The Monster and the Girl (¡94¡); The Ghost of Frankenstein this formula can be traced back to much earlier films, such as ¡958’s
(¡942); Return of the Ape Man (¡944); Spook Busters (¡946); Abbott The Defiant Ones. Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis played the con-
and Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948); Master Minds (¡949); The victs, one black and one white, connected only by a pair of
Black Sleep (¡956); The Revenge of Frankenstein (¡958); The Head handcu›s and their mutual desire for freedom. In the end, they
(¡959); Monstrosity (aka The Atomic Brain) (¡964); Frankenstein gained respect for each other, and that’s the classical ending for all
Must Be Destroyed (¡969); Change of Mind (¡969); Blood of Ghastly buddy films. Actually, the buddies do not always have to be the
Horror (aka The Fiend with the Atomic Brain; Psycho a Go-Go!; The
Love Maniac; The Man with the Synthetic Brain; The Fiend with the
same sex. However, when one’s a woman and one’s a man, they
Electronic Brain) (¡972); Brainwaves (¡982); The Man with Two typically fall in love and the film becomes a romantic adventure.
Brains (¡983); Who Is Julia? (¡986 TVM) For example, The 39 Steps (¡935) is a romantic adventure because
the relationship between fugitives Robert Donat and Madeleine
Brainwashing Carroll eventually blossoms into romance. That’s significantly
By strict definition, brainwashing is the process by which a per- di›erent from the mutual admiration which develops between de-
son is forcibly induced to forsake political, religious, or social be- tective Clint Eastwood and Tyne Daly in ¡976’s The Enforcer (one
liefs in favor of contrasting views. Ticket to Heaven (¡98¡) and of the few male-female buddy films). The label “buddy picture”
Split Image (¡982) both explored how susceptible youths were may have been first used to describe ¡982’s 48 HRS, the Eddie
brainwashed by religious cults and then rescued and “depro- Murphy–Nick Nolte vehicle whose financial success guaranteed
grammed.” A loathsome punk named Alex (Malcolm McDow- plenty of Hollywood knock-o›s. By the end of the decade, movie-
ell) was brainwashed by Liberals with the “Ludovico technique” goers had encountered a variety of odd couples: black family
in Stanley Kubrick’s cult fantasy A Clockwork Orange (¡97¡). The man/cop Danny Glover and white out-of-control cop Mel Gib-
fact-based Patty Hearst (¡988) detailed how the famous heiress son in Lethal Weapon (q.v.); Chicago cop James Belushi and Russ-
was kidnapped and subsequently brainwashed into joining her ian cop Arnold Schwarzenegger in Red Heat; alien cop Kyle
terrorist captors. The Australian horror picture Thirst (¡979) MacLachlan and Earthling cop Michael Nouri in The Hidden; slob
o›ered an intriguing twist, whereby a secret society tried to cop Kurt Russell and neat cop Sylvester Stallone in Tango & Cash;
brainwash a young woman into becoming a vampire. Normal re- and, for a change of pace, down-on-his-luck private eye Bruce
bellious teens were brainwashed into robotic “perfect” children Willis and former football quarterback Damon Wayans in The Last
in the underrated Disturbing Behavior (¡998). Other movies have Boy Scout. Although Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were friends
altered the definition of “brainwashing” to include plots in which at the start of Thelma and Louise (and hence did not experience
a person is controlled subconsciously (usually by hypnosis) and the mandatory initial conflict), some critics labeled it a female
forced to perform uncharacteristic acts. A Robert Frost poem, de- buddy picture. The genre, and Lethal Weapon in particular, were
livered over the telephone, triggered nice folks into becoming au- spoofed unevenly in ¡993’s National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon ¡.
tonomous saboteurs in the thriller Telefon. The spy hero of The See also Beverly Hills Cop Series; Lethal Weapon Series.
Ipcress File (Michael Caine) used self-induced pain as a defense 48 HRS (¡982); Renegades (¡986); Lethal Weapon (¡987); The
Hidden (¡987); Collision Course (¡987); The Wild Pair (¡987); Red
against hi-tech brainwashing techniques. However, the most fa-
Heat (¡988); Midnight Run (¡988); Tango & Cash (¡989); The Rookie
mous film of this type remains John Frankenheimer’s contro- (¡990); Another 48 HRS (¡990); Pure Luck (¡99¡); The Last Boy Scout
versial classic The Manchurian Candidate (¡962). Laurence Har- (¡99¡); National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon ¡ (¡993); Money Train
vey starred as a patriotic soldier turned into a time-delayed (¡995); Bad Boys (¡995); Bulletproof (¡996); The Glimmer Man
assassin controlled by his own mother (Angela Lansbury). The (¡996); Gridlock’d (¡997); Rush Hour (¡998); Chill Factor (¡999)
only brainwashing comedy of note is Simon, a decidedly o›beat
tale in which a psychology professor (Alan Arkin) is brainwashed Buried Alive
into thinking he’s an alien from another world. See also Hyp- A plot staple in most film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe,
notists; Psychiatrists. the “buried alive” premise has been best used as a subplot.
36 BUSES

Nevertheless, it has been the focus of a few movies. In ¡958’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles (¡987); High Spirits (¡988); Wheels
Macabre, a doctor frantically searches for his little girl, whom of Terror (¡990 TVM); Defending Your Life (¡99¡); Love Field
some fiend had buried alive. Producer-director William Castle (¡992); They’ve Taken Our Children: The Chowchilla Kidnapping
(¡993 TVM); A Bronx Tale (¡993); Speed (¡994); The Adventures of
hyped it by o›ering viewers fright insurance. In The Screaming
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (¡994); Deadly Outbreak (¡996); Get
Woman (¡972), no one believed recently-released asylum resident on the Bus (¡996); Carla’s Song (¡996); Sudden Terror: The Hijacking
Olivia de Havilland when she told them she heard a voice in the of School Bus No. ¡7 (¡996 TVM); The Sweet Hereafter (¡997); Just
ground — but there was someone down there, all right. Kidnap- Write (¡997); The Siege (¡998); The Cruise (¡998); Ride (¡998)
pers buried their victim in a tiny underground compartment in
The Longest Night (¡972), a film which should have conveyed a Butchers
more claustrophobic feeling. In the made-for-cable Buried Alive, Thanks to Ernest Borgnine, butchers have avoided cinematic
Tim Matheson portrayed a man poisoned by his wife and stereotyping as psychotic killers who chop more than meat with
buried — only to recover from the nonlethal dose in his co‡n. A their sharp instruments. Borgnine earned a well-deserved Best
similar fate befell Ally Sheedy in the sequel Buried Alive II. Actor Oscar for his realistic portrayal of a lonely, likable butcher
Isle of the Dead (¡945); Macabre (¡958); The House of Usher in ¡955’s Marty. George Dzundza also played a sympathetic
(aka The Fall of the House of Usher) (¡960); The Premature Burial butcher — one befuddled by his bride’s clairvoyance — in The
(¡962); The Oblong Box (¡969); The Screaming Woman (¡972
TVM); The Longest Night (¡972 TVM); Buried Alive (¡990 TVM);
Butcher’s Wife (¡99¡). Other butchers, though, have displayed
83 Hours ‘Til Dawn (¡990 TVM); Buried Alive (aka Edgar Allan murderous tendencies. In ¡989’s Out Cold, butcher John Lithgow
Poe’s Buried Alive) (¡990); Haunting Fear (¡99¡); Guarding Tess mistakenly believes he has killed his partner when he finds a body
(¡994); Buried Alive II (¡997); Oxygen (¡999 TVM) in the freezer. Claude Chabrol’s psychological thriller Le Boucher
(¡969) mixes murder and love in an unusual tale of a lonely, mur-
derous butcher who finds romance with a quiet schoolteacher.
Buses Victor Buono, in a role he’d like to forget, played a more con-
The Big Bus (¡976) may be the only film which takes place almost ventional butcher-killer in ¡972’s Italian-lensed The Mad Butcher.
exclusively on a bus. A disaster movie spoof, it starred Joseph The murderer in the ¡98¡ Australian thriller Road Games may
Bologna, Lynn Redgrave, and Ruth Gordon as some of the pas- have been a butcher, but it’s hard to say. Rory Calhoun turned
sengers aboard the world’s first nuclear-powered bus during its people into sausage in ¡980’s Motel Hell, but he was not a butcher
maiden journey from New York to Denver. In ¡980’s Detour to by profession. Likewise, the deranged family in The Texas Chain-
Terror, O.J. Simpson played a driver whose tour bus is hijacked saw Massacre films (q.v.) consisted of former slaughterhouse em-
en route to Las Vegas by a group of terrorists. In the ¡994 box- ployees — so they were not technically butchers. On the lighter
o‡ce smash Speed, a bomb aboard a Los Angeles city bus was side, TV’s The Brady Bunch (¡969–74) featured Sam the butcher
rigged to explode if the bus’s speed dipped below 50 miles per as Alice the housekeeper’s boyfriend.
hour. Carl Betz and family set out aboard a restored bus to re-
Rationing (¡944); People Will Talk (¡95¡); Marty (¡955); Le
discover the U.S. in the ¡97¡ TV movie In Search of America. De- Boucher (aka The Butcher) (¡969); The Mad Butcher (aka Meat Is
spite their blue-collar reputation, buses have boasted their share Meat; Strangler of Vienna) (¡972); The Homecoming (¡973); Road
of pulchritudinous passengers. Joan Collins and Jayne Mansfield Games (¡98¡); The Cold Room (aka The Prisoner) (¡984 TVM); Big
took a ride on The Wayward Bus, adapted from a John Steinbeck Meat Eater (¡984); Out Cold (¡989); The Butcher’s Wife (¡99¡); So I
story, while Bus Stop featured Marilyn Monroe as a rodeo champ’s Married an Axe Murderer (¡993); A Man of No Importance (¡994);
reluctant girlfriend. Alfred Hitchcock considered the bus explo- The Man Who Knew Too Little (¡997)
sion in Sabotage one of his greatest mistakes, since it cruelly killed
the heroine’s innocent younger brother. The issue of forced bus- Butlers
ing to schools was examined in the ¡980 TV movie All God’s Chil- Stereotypically stu›y and very British, butlers have been cast as
dren. Karl Malden portrayed a heroic bus driver in the fact-based supporting characters for the most part. Even then, they have
¡993 TV movie They’ve Taken Our Children: The Chowchilla Kid- managed to upstage the principal stars, as exemplified by John
napping. A bus crash that killed 20 school children haunted a Gielgud’s scene-stealing performance in Arthur (¡98¡). Arthur
Canadian town in Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter (¡997). On Treacher practically made a career of playing butlers, his most fa-
the lighter side, a ghost drove a bus through the air in High Spir- mous portrayal being that of P.G. Wodehouse’s perfect butler
its (¡988) and John Candy led fellow bus passengers in singing Jeeves in ¡936’s Thank You, Jeeves and its ¡937 follow-up Step
TV songs (much to Steve Martin’s dismay) in ¡987’s Planes, Lively, Jeeves. Irrepressible Eric Blore made a very funny, very cyn-
Trains, and Automobiles. See also Automobiles; Truck Drivers. ical valet to Fred Astaire in Top Hat (¡935) and subsequently spe-
Friday the Thirteenth (¡933); Sabotage (aka A Woman Alone) cialized in butler roles, too. Although butler leads have been rare,
(¡936); Pardon My Sarong (¡942); Dead of Night (¡945); Mexican Charles Laughton and William Powell played them in two com-
Bus Ride (aka Ascent to Heaven; Subida Al Cielo) (¡95¡); The Run- edy classics. In ¡935’s Ruggles of Red Gap, Western millionaire
away Bus (¡954); Bus Stop (aka The Wrong Kind of Girl) (¡956); Charlie Ruggles won British butler Laughton in a poker game.
The Wayward Bus (¡957); Night of the Iguana (¡964); Where Angels The cultured butler’s clash with American customs provided much
Go, Trouble Follows (¡968); In Search of America (¡97¡ TVM); The
Magic Carpet (¡97¡ TVM); On the Buses (¡97¡); The Laughing Po- of the comedy, but his eventual understanding of American free-
liceman (¡974); The Big Bus (¡976); The Gauntlet (¡977); Long dom gave the film a surprisingly patriotic ending. Bob Hope
Journey Back (¡978 TVM); Lady on the Bus (¡978); Detour to Terror reprised the role in the loose ¡950 remake Fancy Pants. William
(¡980 TVM); All God’s Children (¡980 TVM); Bustin’ Loose (¡98¡); Powell played a millionaire mistaken by Carole Lombard for a
 CANNIBALISM 37

bum in My Man Godfrey (¡936). She undertakes it as a personal to take action until Emmy nominations were handled out to both
project to transform him into a proper butler. It was also remade Gless and Daly (who won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a
in ¡957 with David Niven and June Allyson. Niven, who had Drama Series). CBS renewed the show in ¡984 and it enjoyed a
played opposite Treacher in the first Jeeves film, played a butler successful four-year run, with Daly earning four additional Emmy
again in Disney’s Candleshoe (¡977). Other memorable butlers have awards and Gless two. Unlike other buddy-cop TV series like
been played by Dan Duryea, Ralph Richardson, Dirk Bogarde, and Starsky and Hutch, Cagney & Lacey focused on the characters’ per-
Anthony Hopkins. Duryea’s butler pretended to be the master of sonal lives as well as their detective work. During the series, Lacey
the house while his employer was on vacation in the ¡946 comedy had another child and Cagney battled alcoholism. A decade after
White Tie and Tails. In The Fallen Idol (¡948), a young boy idol- the show ended, Daly and Gless reunited for the TV movie Cagney
ized the family butler (Richardson) until murderous suspicions & Lacey: The Return. It found Lacey in retirement and Cagney
took their toll on the friendship. Bogarde played the screen’s creepi- married to a wealthy businessman and promoted to lieutenant.
est valet in Joseph Losey’s The Servant, a character study in which When Lacey’s husband has a heart attack, she seeks employment
a butler becomes master of his employer. Anthony Hopkins earned and winds up working with Cagney again. This reunion movie
a Best Actor Oscar nomination as a loyal, unbending head butler scored big ratings and prompted three follow-ups. Sadly,
in Remains of the Day (¡993). On television, the future stars of Dal- Cagney — who always had a di‡cult love life — gets divorced and
las and Knots Landing, Larry Hagman and Donna Mills, played an ends up single again. See also Television Series Reunion Films.
average American couple masquerading as a butler and cook for Cagney & Lacey (¡98¡ TVM); Cagey & Lacey: The Return
millionaire David Wayne in the ¡97¡-72 sitcom The Good Life. (¡994 TVM); Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling
See also Chau›eurs; Maids and Housekeepers. (¡995 TVM); Cagney & Lacey: Together Again (¡995 TVM); Cagney
The Old Dark House (¡932); Get O› My Foot (¡935); She & Lacey: True Convictions (¡995 TVM)
Married Her Boss (¡935); If You Could Only Cook (¡935); Ruggles of
Red Gap (¡935); My Man Godfrey (¡936); Thank You, Jeeves (¡936); Callahan, Harry see Dirty Harry
Step Lively, Jeeves (¡937); The Baroness and the Butler (¡938); Her
Man Gilbey (aka English Without Tears) (¡944); Nothing but Trouble
(¡944); White Tie and Tails (¡946); The Fallen Idol (¡948); Fancy
Camels
Pants (¡950); My Man Godfrey (¡957); Light Fingers (¡957); The Although steadily employed in desert epics, camels have failed to
Admirable Crichton (aka Paradise Lagoon) (¡957); The Servant land many starring roles. Indeed, the looney Western comedy
(¡963); The Adventures of Bullwhip Gri‡n (¡967); Fitzwilly (aka Hawmps (¡976) and its o›beat inspiration, ¡954’s Southwest Pas-
Fitzwilly Strikes Back) (¡967); Blue Blood (¡973); Candleshoe (¡977); sage, may be the only pictures expressly about camels. Passage was
Arthur (¡98¡); Clue (¡985); The Remains of the Day (¡993); The
a 3-D Western which had Rod Cameron experimenting with
Grotesque (¡995); Three Lives and Only One Death (¡996); Gentle-
men Don’t Eat Poets (¡997) using camels to transport settlers across the desert. Interestingly,
the Indians refrain from attacking the wagon train because they
La Cage aux Folles Series fear the strange-looking camels. Unfortunately, a camel dies and
the Indians get wise. The less-serious Hawmps! headlined James
The ¡978 film version of Jean Poiret’s French stage farce racked
Hampton (Dobbs on TV’s F Troop) as a cavalry o‡cer trying to
up an impressive $8 million in North America, making it the
convince the army to use camels instead of horses. In yet another
continent’s top all-time grossing foreign-language film at that
Western, Disney’s One Little Indian (¡973), James Garner played
time. Ugo Tognozzi and Michel Serrault played the gay couple
a cavalryman trudging through the desert with an Indian boy
who try to “clean up their act” when Tognozzi’s son brings his
and a trusty camel. Despite its promising title, ¡967’s Follow That
fiancée and her family over to dinner. Tognazzi and Serrault
Camel was nothing more than a Carry On (q.v.) spoof of Beau
teamed up again for two mild sequels, neither of which ap-
Geste. Two scene-stealing talking camels added some dry com-
proached the original’s raging success. However, La Cage aux
mentary to Hope and Crosby’s wacky Road to Morocco (¡942). An-
Folles was adapted into a smash Broadway musical headlining
other talking camel had a cameo in Yvonne de Carlo’s Slave Girl,
Gene Barry. It was also remade as the popular ¡996 Robin
while a blind camel had the best scene in the Dustin
Williams–Nathan Lane comedy The Birdcage.
Ho›man–Warren Beatty flop Ishtar (¡987). The Israeli film The
La Cage aux Folles (¡978); La Cage aux Folles II (¡980); La Flying Camela (¡994) was about a statue of a camel with wings.
Cage aux Folles III: The Wedding (¡985)
There was nary a camel in the ¡93¡ Charlie Chan mystery The
Black Camel, the title being derived from Charlie’s line: “Death
Cagney & Lacey is the black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate.”
Cast changes, cancellations, Emmys — the first “feminist detective Road to Morocco (¡942); Slave Girl (¡947); Southwest Passage
series” traveled a rocky road into television history. Detectives (aka Camels West) (¡954); Follow That Camel (aka Carry On Follow
Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey first surfaced in a ¡98¡ TV That Camel) (¡967); One Little Indian (¡973); Hawmps! (¡976);
movie, with Loretta Swit and Tyne Daly in the lead roles. When The Camel Boy (¡984); Ishtar (¡987); The Flying Camela (¡994);
CBS commissioned a regular series the following year, Swit was Arabian Nights (2000 TVM)
unavailable and the Cagney role was recast with Meg Foster. The
series drew poor ratings and Cagney was recast again, this time Cannibalism
with Sharon Gless whom CBS executives thought would show a Cannibalism, prior to the gore-explicit ¡970s, was restricted
softer side to Cagney. The ratings failed to improve, though, and mostly to jungle adventure films such as Cannibal Attack (¡954).
CBS axed the series in ¡983. Fans protested loudly, but CBS failed A pleasantly gruesome exception was the ¡936 film version of the
38 CANNON MOVIE TALES

old school melodrama Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet in the Street (aka Invasion of the Flesh Hunters) (¡982); Raw Force
Street. Tod Slaughter, a noted British ham, portrayed the title (¡982); C.H.U.D. (¡984); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (¡986);
character, who not only cut hair, but also cut up his customers Eat the Rich (¡987); Flesh Eating Mothers (¡988); Lucky Sti› (¡988);
Parents (¡989); Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death
and sold them in “meat” pies. The story also served as the basis
(¡989); C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (¡989); The Cook, the Thief,
for ¡970’s Bloodthirsty Butchers and Stephen Sondheim’s hit His Wife & Her Lover (¡989); Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Broadway musical Sweeney Todd. By the mid–¡960s, cannibalism (¡990); Fried Green Tomatoes (¡99¡); The Silence of the Lambs
had crept its way into exploitative, drive-in horror films. Often, (¡99¡); Delicatessen (¡99¡); The Donner Party (¡992); Alive (¡993);
the cannibalism was somewhat muted by the inclusion of fantas- Braindead (aka Dead/Alive) (¡993); Iron Horsemen (¡994); Canni-
tic elements. A man was barbecued and eaten in Two Thousand bal! The Musical (¡996); Ravenous (¡999); The ¡3th Warrior (¡999)
Maniacs (¡964), but the “cannibals” turned out to be ghosts. The
flesh-eaters in George Romero’s cult classic Night of the Living Cannon Movie Tales
Dead (¡968) were ghouls (q.v.), not normal humans. However, In the late ¡980s, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus tried to
the demented family in ¡964’s Spider Baby was physically normal. move their Cannon Group into the lucrative children’s film mar-
Its cannibalistic tendencies were a result of inbreeding. Three ket dominated by Disney. They developed a series of live-action
cannibal films were released in ¡972. Both The Folks at Red Wolf movies based on famous fairy tales. While these “Cannon Movie
Inn and Cannibal Girls played their grisly subject matter for Tales” lacked big budgets, they featured well-known performers
laughs with jokes about spare ribs and lady fingers. The latter film such as Morgan Fairchild (Sleeping Beauty), Rebecca DeMornay
starred SCTV alumni Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin and was (Beauty and the Beast), and Diana Rigg (Snow White). Still, the
directed by Ivan (Ghostbusters) Reitman. Raw Meat was an o›beat films failed to attract interest in the U.S. where the Cannon
chiller about descendants of people trapped in a London subway “brand” had become a trademark for mediocrity. The first Can-
tunnel who devour unsuspecting passers-by. Four other cannibal non Movie Tale, Rumpelstiltskin, is notable as a family a›air for
movies of the ¡970s and early ¡980s blossomed into cult hits. The star Amy Irving: It co-starred her mother and stepfather; her
most notorious was Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre brother, David Irving, directed and wrote the screenplay.
(¡974), a ghastly tale about a family of flesh-eaters. It was con- Rumpelstiltskin (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Rumpelstiltskin)
demned by critics for its violence, which was more implied than (¡987); Little Red Riding Hood (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Little Red
explicit. Ruggero Deodato’s pseudodocumentary Cannibal Holo- Riding Hood) (¡987); Hansel and Gretel (aka Cannon Movie Tales:
caust (¡979) is still considered one of the most gruesome films ever Hansel and Gretel) (¡987); The Emperor’s New Clothes (aka Cannon
made. Former cowboy star Rory Calhoun played Farmer Vincent, Movie Tales: The Emperor’s New Clothes) (¡987); Beauty and the
whose popular sausages were made from human meat, in ¡980’s Beast (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Beauty and the Beast) (¡987); Snow
Motel Hell (the “o” in Motel Hello having burned out). Canni- White (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Snow White (¡987); Sleeping
Beauty (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Sleeping Beauty) (¡987); Puss in
balism played a small but very significant role in Paul Bartel’s Boots (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Puss in Boots) (¡988); The Frog
Eating Raoul (¡982), a black comedy about a couple who hit upon Prince (aka Cannon Movie Tales: The Frog Prince) (¡988)
a way to finance their dream restaurant when they accidentally
commit murder. Survive! (¡976) was a nonhorror, Mexican im-
port about plane crash survivors who resorted to eating dead fel-
The Care Bears
low passengers to stay alive — a story told with better production Media-product tie-ins were the rage of the early ¡980s, with toy
values in ¡993’s Alive. The tragic, real-life story of the Donner companies eagerly licensing their best-selling items to TV cartoon
party, who turned to cannibalism to avoid starvation in the harsh producers and vice versa. Few products were more popular than
West, was whitewashed in the ¡978 TV movie Donner Pass: The the Care Bears, nice little pastel-colored bears with sentimental
Road to Survival, but recounted accurately in the ¡992 docu- names like Wish Bear, Bedtime Bear, and Tenderheart Bear. Just
mentary The Donner Party. Anthony Hopkins won a Best Actor for a touch of realism, there was also Grumpy Bear. The Care
Oscar for his portrayal of Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter in Bears, along with My Little Pony and He-Man, were big enough
Jonathan Demme’s ¡99¡ hit The Silence of the Lambs. Prior to cre- to attract the attention of movie producers, too. Indeed, the first
ating the popular animated TV series South Park, Trey Parker Care Bears film, a feature-length animated musical, did surpris-
and Matt Stone produced the little-seen Cannibal! The Musical ingly well at the box-o‡ce. However, the law of diminishing re-
(¡996). See also Ghouls; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series. turns and the short-lived nature of toy trends limited those nice,
The following list excludes jungle adventure films with cannibal little bears to two sequels. See also Animated Movies (Feature-
natives: Length); Bears.
The Care Bears Movie (¡985); The Care Bears Movie II: A New
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (aka The Generation (¡986); The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (¡987)
Demon Barber of Fleet Street) (¡936); Mondo Cane (aka It’s a Dog’s
Life) (¡963); Blood Feast (¡963); Spider Baby (aka Spider Baby, or
the Maddest Story Ever Told; The Liver Eaters; Cannibal Orgy) Carnosaur Series
(¡964); Do You Like Women? (¡964); The Undertaker and His Pals “Driven to extinction…back for revenge!” proclaimed the ads for
(¡967); Bloodthirsty Butchers (¡970); The Folks at Red Wolf Inn (aka
Carnosaur, a low-budget dinosaur film released in ¡993 to capi-
Terror at Red Wolf Inn; Terror House) (¡972); Cannibal Girls (¡972);
Raw Meat (aka Deathline) (¡973); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre talize on the impending release of Jurassic Park. Based on Harry
(¡974); Survive! (¡976); Desperate Living (¡977); Donner Pass: The Adam Knight’s novel, the plot involved genetically-engineered
Road to Survival (¡978); The Hills Have Eyes (¡978); Cannibal dinosaurs that, contrary to the film’s ads, showed no appetite
Holocaust (¡979); Motel Hell (¡980); Eating Raoul (¡982); Cannibals for revenge. They preferred simply to eat people as part of a
 CARTOON/LIVE ACTION FEATURES 39

well-balanced diet. Diane Ladd played Dr. Jane Tipton, the men- Camel (Carry On Follow That Camel) (¡967); Carry On Up the
tally-unbalanced scientist who schemes to destroy mankind with Khyber (¡968); Carry On Again Doctor (¡969); Carry On Camping
a deadly virus so her dinosaurs can rule the Earth. Although strictly (¡969); Carry On Henry (¡970); Carry On Loving (aka One Thing
on Top of Another) (¡970); Carry On Up the Jungle (aka Carry On
low-brow fare, Carnosaur benefits from some unexpected plot
Jungle Boy) (¡970); Carry On at Your Convenience (aka Carry On
turns. Tipton mixes the dinosaur’s DNA with humans — in fact, Round the Bend) (¡97¡); Carry On Abroad (¡972); Carry On Matron
she dies giving birth to a baby dino. And the heroes, a bright night (¡972); Carry On Girls (¡973); Carry On Dick (¡974) (as in Dick
watchman and a pretty ecologist, are killed by federal forces tasked Turpin, famed British outlaw); Carry On England (¡976); That’s
with eliminating all personnel in a quarantined area. Ladd over- Carry On! (¡977); Carry On Behind (¡978); Carry On Emmanuelle
acts outrageously as Tipton, but her casting is a movie trivia bu› ’s (¡978); Carry On Columbus (¡992)
dream since her real-life daughter, Laura Dern, starred in Jurassic (Note: ¡957’s Carry On Admiral was not a part of the series.)
Park. The two Carnosaur sequels owe more to Alien than to Juras-
sic Park. In both films, a small group of people is trapped in iso- Carson, Billy see Billy the Kid
lated locales (a uranium mine in the desert, a ship out to sea)
where they are devoured, one by one, by the clever, hungry dinos.
The humans eventually prevail in both pictures, although one of Carter, Nick
the mutant dinosaurs survives in Carnosaur 3, setting up a poten- Ormond C. Smith and John Russell Coryell created this turn-of-
tial fourth series entry that never materialized. See also Dinosaurs. the-century detective for New York Weekly. Yet, while Nick
Carnosaur (¡993); Carnosaur II (¡995); Carnosaur 3: Primal Carter seemed a sure bet for a long-running B-movie series, his
Species (¡996) screen career has been modest at best. Andre Liabel made four
French serials in ¡909–¡2, while both Edmund Lowe (a future
Carry On Series Philo Vance) and Thomas Corrigan appeared in Nick Carter short
features in the ¡920s. MGM launched an updated three-film se-
This lowbrow British comedy series made an inauspicious debut
ries in ¡939 with Walter Pidgeon in the lead. The series was
in ¡958 with Carry On Sergeant, a silly army farce littered with
dropped when Pidgeon went on to bigger roles in bigger movies
bad jokes (“Your rank, soldier!” “That’s a matter of opinion.”).
(e.g., ¡94¡’s How Green Was My Valley). Eddie Constantine, best
But while the critics scorched it, the public ate it up. Subsequent
known as tough detective Lemmy Caution (q.v.), played Carter
Carry On films were not sequels in a narrative sense, but they fea-
in France while Robert Conrad revived the character for Ameri-
tured the same cast members (Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey,
can audiences in the ¡972 TV movie The Adventures of Nick
Sid James) and the same vaudeville sense of humor. The series
Carter. The latter film was the pilot for a television series that
highlight was ¡959’s Carry On Nurse, which even earned re-
never materialized. The detective reappeared unexpectedly in
spectable reviews, although it is chiefly remembered for a scene
¡978’s Nick Carter in Prague (aka Dinner for Adele), a tongue-in-
in which distinguished Wilfred Hyde White gets a da›odil stuck
cheek Czech film that’s attracted a minor cult following in the
up his rear end. The series got progressively racier during the
U.S.
¡960s (Cleopatra to Caesar: “I have seen your bust.” Caesar: “I
wish I could say the same.”) and finally featured nudity for the Nick Carter, Master Detective (¡939) (Walter Pidgeon); Phan-
tom Raiders (¡940) (Pidgeon); Sky Murder (¡940) (Pidgeon); License
first time in ¡969’s Carry On Camping. The films also su›ered a
to Kill (aka Nick Carter and the Red Club; Nick Carter Va Tout
sharp decline in quality (what quality there was), although no one Casser) (¡964) (Eddie Constantine); The Adventures of Nick Carter
seemed to notice since the Carry On movies had become a British (¡972 TVM) (Robert Conrad); Nick Carter in Prague (aka Dinner
institution by then. To its credit, the Carry On gang considered for Adele; Adele Hasn’t Had Her Supper Yet) (¡978) (Michael Do-
nothing sacred and spoofed Cleopatra (Carry On Cleo), The Third colomansky)
Man (Carry On Spying), The Scarlet Pimpernel (Don’t Lose Your
Head), Beau Geste (Follow That Camel), and Anne of the Thou- Cartoon/Live Action Features
sand Days (Carry On Henry, which was memorably subtitled Anne
These films fall into two categories: Those which simply intercut
of a Thousand Lays). The series died in the late ¡970s after pro-
“live” footage and animated sequences (e.g., Allegro Non Troppo)
ducing 29 films — only to be revived unexpectedly in ¡992 with
and those which show live and animated characters in the same
Carry On Columbus, which found the famous explorer encoun-
frame, interacting together. The latter films are the more inter-
tering streetwise Indians with Brooklyn accents. The cast fea-
esting, typically relying on an expensive optical trick called a trav-
tured familiar faces from the Carry On troupe, such as Jim Dale,
elling matte. The use of mattes can be traced back to ¡925’s The
Jack Douglas, June Whitfield, and former–Dr. Who Jon Pertwee.
Lost World, in which special e›ects wizard Willis (King Kong)
The ¡977 compilation That’s Carry On! featured clips from pre-
O’Brien masked out the shape of a dinosaur in a crowd scene and
vious films hosted by series regulars Kenneth Williams and Bar-
then inserted footage of an animated model into that “optical
bara Windsor.
hole.” As one might expect, Walt Disney Productions has pro-
Carry On Sergeant (¡958); Carry On Nurse (¡959); Carry On duced the most cartoon/live action movies, featuring such mem-
Teacher (¡959); Carry On Constable (¡960); Carry On Regardless orable sequences as the carousel horse race in Mary Poppins and
(¡96¡); Carry On Cruising (¡962); Carry On Cabby (¡963); Carry
On Jack (aka Carry On Venus) (¡963); Carry On Cleo (¡964); Carry Roger Rabbit’s initial transition from cartoon-world to real-world
On Spying (¡964); Carry On Cowboy (¡965); Carry On Screaming in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? MGM, however, rates a close sec-
(¡966); Carry On Doctor (¡967); Don’t Lose Your Head (aka Carry ond with Anchors Aweigh (Tom and Jerry dancing with Gene
On Don’t Lose Your Head; Carry On Pimpernel) (¡967); Follow That Kelly), Dangerous When Wet (T & J swimming with Esther
40 CARTOONISTS

Williams) and Invitation to the Dance. At Warner Bros., Bugs budget and an updated storyline, Casper (¡995) proved the
Bunny showed up in a dream sequence in Doris Day’s My Dream friendly ghost could still charm audiences by grossing over $250
Is Yours (¡949). One of the most unique uses of animation was in million worldwide. Though more somber in tone than the car-
¡968’s The Charge of the Light Brigade, in which animated line toons, the film followed the proven Casper formula, with the
drawings were used to convey Britain’s political atmosphere. See amiable spirit (computer-generated, but voiced by Malachi Pear-
also Animated Features (Feature-Length). son) coming to the aid of teenage, motherless girl (Christina
Hollywood Party (¡934); Victory Through Air Power (¡943); Ricci). A second film, Casper: A Spirited Beginning (¡997), found
The Three Caballeros (¡945); Anchors Aweigh (¡945); Song of the the friendly ghost protecting Applegate Mansion from being de-
South (¡946); So Dear to My Heart (¡948); Two Guys from Texas molished while befriending a boy neglected by his father. It by-
(¡948); My Dream Is Yours (¡949); The Four-Poster (¡952); Danger- passed movie theaters and made its debut on videotape. Another
ous When Wet (¡953); The Girl Next Door (¡953); Invitation to the direct-to-video feature, Casper Meets Wendy (¡998) introduced
Dance (¡957); The Snow Queen (¡959); The Incredible Mr. Limpet
(¡964); Mary Poppins (¡964); The Daydreamer (¡966); The Charge Wendy, the “good little witch” who was also a Harvey cartoon
of the Light Brigade (¡968); The Phantom Tollbooth (¡969); The Pi- character. Hiliary Du› played Wendy and her three bewitching
casso Summer (¡969); Bedknobs and Broomsticks (¡97¡); Funnyman aunts included Teri Garr, Shelley Duvall, and Cathy Moriarty.
(¡97¡); Two Hundred Motels (¡97¡); Heavy Tra‡c (¡973); Monty Jeremy Foley provided the voice of Casper in both direct-to-
Python and the Holy Grail (¡975); Coonskin (aka Streetfight) (¡975); video features. See also Ghosts.
Allegro Non Troppo (¡976); Pete’s Dragon (¡977); Gulliver’s Travels Casper (¡995); Casper: A Spirited Beginning (¡997); Casper
(¡977); The Water Babies (¡978); 9 to 5 (¡980); Xanadu (¡980); Meets Wendy (¡998)
Pink Floyd — The Wall (¡982); One Crazy Summer (¡986); Who
Framed Roger Rabbit? (¡988); Fletch Lives (¡989); Cool World
(¡992); Stay Tuned (¡992); The Pagemaster (¡994); In Search of Dr. Cassidy, Hopalong
Seuss (¡994 TVM); Space Jam (¡996); James and the Giant Peach
(¡996); Run Lola Run (aka Lola Rentt) (1998); The Adventures of William Boyd, the undisputed king of B-movie Westerns, made
Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) 66 Hopalong Cassidy movies for Paramount and United Artists
between ¡935 and ¡948. Clarence E. Mulford created the charac-
Cartoonists ter in ¡9¡2 in a series of “old school” novels. But no one took an
interest in them until veteran Western producer Harry (Pop)
Dean Martin as a cartoonist? Only in a movie in which he steals
Sherman envisioned a profitable low-budget series for Paramount.
the ideas for his comic strips from Jerry Lewis’ telepathic
Many actors were considered for the lead role (including David
dreams — which was precisely the plot of ¡955’s Artists and Mod-
Niven, according to one source), but Sherman finally settled on
els. In the Bob Hope comedy That Certain Feeling, a “ghost artist”
Boyd. A popular silent actor, Boyd was a favorite of Cecil B. De-
drew a comic strip for a cartoonist who had lost his touch. James
Mille’s and appeared in such classics as King of Kings (¡927). A
Thurbers’ drawings and writings inspired ¡972’s The War Between
gambling scandal involving another William Boyd contributed to
Men and Women, which starred Jack Lemmon as a half-blind car-
his fading star status in the early ¡930s, so he welcomed the op-
toonist hassled by his wife’s ex-husband. Two years earlier, the
portunity to play Hopalong. Hop-A-Long Cassidy (the hyphens
same material had provided the basis for the William Windom
were later dropped) was a surprise hit for Paramount in ¡935 and
TV sitcom My World and Welcome to It. Michael Crawford played
no wonder — the Cassidy Westerns cost less than $¡00,000 and
a cartoonist who turned into his own comic book hero in the
usually grossed twice that amount. Screenwriter Doris Schroeder
¡98¡ Disney misfire Condorman.
whitewashed Mulford’s original character considerably, so that
Piccadilly Jim (¡936); The Girl Next Door (¡953); Artists and
the movies’ Hoppy never smoked nor drank liquor. The first films
Models (¡955); That Certain Feeling (¡956); How to Murder Your
Wife (¡965); The War Between Men and Women (¡972); Condorman sometimes ran as long as 88 minutes, but later ones lasted just over
(¡98¡); The Hand (¡98¡); One Crazy Summer (¡986); Slamdance an hour, which made for plenty of action. James Ellison played
(¡987); Brenda Starr (¡989); Funny About Love (¡990); Cool World Jimmy Nelson, Hoppy’s young sidekick at the Bar 20 ranch, with
(¡992); Chasing Amy (¡997) additional support by Gabby Hayes or Andy Clyde. After pro-
ducing 4¡ Hopalong films, Paramount sold the rights to United
Casper Artists in ¡942, which released 25 more entries. The last ¡2 UA
Created by Sy Reit and Joe Oriolo in ¡945, Casper made his film films were produced by Boyd’s own Hopalong Cassidy Produc-
debut in the Paramount cartoon “The Friendly Ghost.” Each tions. Boyd eventually pawned almost everything he owned and
Casper cartoon followed the same formula: Casper, a lonely ghost bought rights to all the Hopalong Cassidy Westerns. He sold
boy, would try to befriend humans — only to accidentally frighten these to television and, when the film series ended in ¡948, began
them until coming to the rescue of a person in trouble. Although making new episodes for his TV program. Edgar Buchanan played
Casper got his own comic book in ¡949, he never attained the Hoppy’s TV sidekick during the series’ ¡949–5¡ run.
popularity of Warner Bros. characters like Bugs Bunny and Da›y Hop-A-Long Cassidy (¡935); The Eagle’s Brood (¡935); Bar 20
Duck. In ¡958, Paramount sold its rights to the Casper charac- Rides Again (¡935); Call of the Prairie (¡936); Three on the Trail
ter and cartoons to Harvey Publishing. Harvey repackaged the (¡936); Heart of the West (¡936); Hopalong Cassidy Returns (¡936);
Trail Dust (¡936); Borderland (¡937); Hills of Old Wyoming (¡937);
cartoons, which aired first on ABC and then in syndication, where North of the Rio Grande (¡937); Rustler’s Valley (¡937); Hopalong
Casper enjoyed his greatest fame. In ¡990, Je›rey Montgomery, Rides Again (¡937); Texas Trail (¡937); Heart of Arizona (¡938); Bar
a Steven Spielberg associate, bought Harvey Entertainment so he 20 Justice (¡938); Pride of the West (¡938); In Old Mexico (¡938);
could produce a theatrical Casper movie. With a $50 million Sunset Trail (¡938); The Frontiersman (¡938); Partners of the Plains
 CAVE PEOPLE 41

(¡938); Cassidy of Bar 20 (¡938); Range War (¡939); Law of the Space (¡978); ›olkes (aka Assault Force) (¡980); Cat’s Eye (¡985);
Pampas (¡939); Silver on the Sage (¡939); The Renegade Trail (¡939); The Richest Cat in the World (¡986 TVM); Puss in Boots (aka Can-
Santa Fe Marshal (¡940); The Showdown (¡940); Hidden Gold non Movie Tales: Puss in Boots) (¡988); Oliver and Company (¡988);
(¡940); Stagecoach War (¡940); Three Men from Texas (¡940); The Adventures of Milo and Otis (¡989); Two Evil Eyes (aka Due
Doomed Caravan (¡94¡); In Old Colorado (¡94¡); Border Vigilantes Occhi Diabolic) (¡990); Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (¡990);
(¡94¡); Pirates on Horseback (¡94¡); Wide Open Town (¡94¡); Out- Strays (¡99¡ TVM); Tom and Jerry: The Movie (¡992); Homeward
laws of the Desert (¡94¡); Riders of the Timberline (¡94¡); Secret of the Bound: The Incredible Journey (¡993); Felidae (¡994); Homeward
Wastelands (¡94¡); Stick to Your Guns (¡94¡); Twilight on the Trail Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (¡996); When the Cat’s Away (¡996);
(¡94¡); Undercover Man (¡942); Lost Canyon (¡942); Colt Comrades Whiskers (¡996 TVM); That Darn Cat (¡997); Cats Don’t Dance
(¡943); Bar 20 (¡943); Hoppy Serves a Writ (¡943); Border Patrol (¡997); Murder, She Purred (aka Murder, She Purred: A Mrs. Mur-
(¡943); The Leather Burners (¡943); False Colors (¡943); Riders of the phy Mystery (1998 TVM); Alice in Wonderland (¡999 TVM); Stuart
Deadline (¡943); Mystery Man (¡944); Forty Thieves (¡944); Texas Little (1999)
Masquerade (¡944); Lumberjack (¡944); The Devil’s Playground
(¡946); Fool’s Gold (¡947); Hoppy’s Holiday (¡947); Marauders Caution, Lemmy
(¡947); Unexpected Guest (¡947); Dangerous Venture (¡947); Sinister
Journey (¡948); Silent Conflict (¡948); Strange Gamble (¡948); Bor- American actor Eddie Constantine played Peter Cheyney’s two-
rowed Trouble (¡948); The Dead Don’t Dream (¡948); False Paradise fisted pulp detective in a series of modest French mysteries, be-
(¡948) ginning in the early ¡950s and lasting through the mid–¡960s. A
bit player in American films, Constantine followed his dancer
Cats wife to Paris, where he achieved minor popularity as a singer. His
As befits their nature, felines have maintained a subtle screen first Caution film, ¡953’s Gun Moll, cost a paltry $50,000, but
profile. While dogs (q.v.) have panted their way through major earned impressive grosses. European audiences responded enthu-
film series (see Lassie and Rusty), cats have been content with a siastically to his man-of-action image, which naturally tran-
pawful of starring roles and a few choice parts. A frisky ginger cat scended language barriers. Interestingly, Constantine’s overseas
inherited a wretched baseball team in ¡95¡’s Rhubarb and turned stardom foreshadowed the ¡960s European successes of other
it into a winner (with a little help from motivational publicist Ray American actors such as Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and
Milland). A female cat narrated Disney’s The Three Lives of Lee Van Cleef. The hard-drinking, womanizing Caution made
Thomasina, a charming Scottish tale spanning but one-third of little impact in the U.S., although later e›orts such as Attack of
her nine lives. Other Disney feline features starred: Siamese cats the Robots (¡962) and Your Turn, Darling (¡963) eventually wound
(That Darn Cat! and Lady and the Tramp), alien cats (The Cat from up on American television. Acclaimed French director Jean-Luc
Outer Space), and animated cats (The Aristocats and Oliver and Godard cast Constantine as Lemmy Caution in his ba·ing, es-
Company). Gay Purr-ee was a non–Disney feature-length cartoon oteric, futuristic “thriller” Alphaville (¡965). It’s considered the
with the voices of Robert Goulet and Judy Garland. Tom, the an- best of the Caution pictures, although it is certainly not repre-
imated cat of Tom and Jerry fame, danced with Gene Kelly in An- sentative of the series. In ¡99¡, Godard directed Germany Year 90
chors Aweigh and swam with Esther Williams in Dangerous When Nine Zero, an hour-long follow-up with Constantine reprising his
Wet. For the best supporting feline performance, the nod goes to role as Lemmy Caution.
Art Carney’s co-star in ¡974’s Harry and Tonto. This bittersweet Gun Moll (aka La Mome Vert-de-Gris) (¡953); This Man Is
comedy about the travels of an elderly man and his cat earned Dangerous (aka Dangerous Agent; Cet Homme Est Dangereaux)
Carney a Best Actor Oscar. James Bond’s archnemesis Blofeld (¡953); Dames Don’t Care (aka Les Femmes s’en Balancent) (¡954);
You Dig? (aka Vous Pigez?) (¡956); Women Are Like That (aka Com-
had a white Persian kitty for a pet in some of the 007 films, most ment qu’elle Est!) (¡960); Attack of the Robots (aka Cards on the
notably ¡97¡’s Diamonds Are Forever. Gale Sondergaard played Table; Cartes sur la Table) (¡962); Lemmy and the Girls (aka Ladies’
Shirley Temple’s self-centered cat Tylette in the ¡940 adaptation Man; Lemmy Pour Les Dames) (¡962); Your Turn, Darling (aka
of the Oz-like fantasy The Blue Bird. Humans have transformed Lemmy Caution, FBI Agent; You Do It, Cuties; A Toi de Paire,
into cats (typically not the domestic variety) in the ¡942 and ¡982 Migonne) (¡963); Alphaville (aka Alphaville, Une Etrange Aventure
versions of The Cat People and Cat Girl (¡957). A dead girl’s soul de Lemmy Caution) (¡965); Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (aka Alle-
possessed a cat in ¡946’s The Cat Creeps, while an Egyptian cat magne Année 90 Neuf Zero) (¡99¡)
goddess possessed human victims in the ¡973 TV movie The Cat
Creature. The nastiest cats were the ones that unknowingly ate Cave People
human flesh in The Corpse Grinders (¡97¡) and decided they liked Cavewoman to caveman in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth:
the taste. See also Lions and Tigers. “N’dye krasta m’kan neecro tedak.” As any film bu› with a pre-
Alice in Wonderland (¡933); The Black Cat (¡934); The Blue historic dictionary knows, that translates to: “Come fast. Kill evil
Bird (¡940); The Black Cat (¡94¡); Anchors Aweigh (¡945); The Cat flying monster.” Those kinds of dialogue limitations have ham-
Creeps (¡946); Alice in Wonderland (¡950); Alice in Wonderland pered storylines for prehistoric people pictures. The genre’s best
(¡95¡); Rhubarb (¡95¡); Dangerous When Wet (¡953); Lady and the films have been visually arresting pieces with plots borrowed from
Tramp (¡955); Bell, Book, and Candle (¡958); The Shadow of the silent films and the added excitement of a dinosaur or two (sci-
Cat (¡96¡); Gay Purr-ee (¡963); The Incredible Journey (¡963); Cas- entific accuracy being a minor concern). Hal Roach’s ¡940 opus
sandra Cat (aka When the Cat Comes; The Cat) (¡963); The Three
Lives of Thomasina (¡964); That Darn Cat! (¡965); Eye of the Cat
One Million B.C. set the standard with its tale of forbidden love
(¡969); The Aristocats (¡970); The Corpse Grinders (¡97¡); Alice’s between Tumak (Victor Mature) of the violent Rock People and
Adventures in Wonderland (¡972); The Cat Creature (¡973 TVM); Loana (Carole Landis) of the peaceful Shell People. The dinosaurs
Harry and Tonto (¡974); The Blue Bird (¡976); The Cat from Outer were economically created by magnifying living lizards. Variety
42 CENTERFOLDS

called the picture “corny” at the time of release and, indeed, it in- two years later. Jamie Lee Curtis played Stratten in the TV movie
spired no ¡940s imitations. In ¡950, the low-budget Prehistoric Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, while Mariel
Women added a feminist angle and some narration (in addition Hemingway took the lead in Bob Fosse’s Star 80 (¡983). Other
to character grunts). Roger Corman’s Teenage Caveman (¡958) fact-based telefilms include ¡99¡’s Posing: Inspired by Three Real
was obviously targeted toward young adults, which partially ex- Stories and ¡983’s Policewoman Centerfold, the story of a lady cop
plains the rationale for the twist ending of revealing the past to who lost her job after posing for a nude layout. In a case of ideal
be the future. However, Britain’s Hammer Pictures deserves total casting, Playboy centerfold Erika Eleniak played a centerfold in
credit for turning cave people epics into profitably sturdy box- Steven Seagal’s Under Siege (¡992). Except for rarities like Man of
o‡ce performers. Its ¡966 remake One Million Years B.C. bril- the Year (¡995), the film industry has failed to exploit the plight
liantly paired a scantily-clad Raquel Welch with Ray Harry- of male nude models, once again confirming the industry’s chau-
hausen’s impressive stop-motion dinosaurs (q.v.), thus appealing vinistic tendencies toward women. See also Fashion Models;
to both older and younger male viewers. Hammer followed it Strippers.
with Prehistoric Women (¡967), When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth The Centerfold Girls (¡974); Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold
(¡970), and Creatures the World Forgot (¡97¡). The Tribe was a (¡978 TVM); Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story
¡974 TV movie along the same lines, only minus the nudity and (¡98¡ TVM); Star 80 (¡983); Policewoman Centerfold (¡983 TVM);
dinosaurs. Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach spoofed cave- I Married a Centerfold (¡984 TVM); Posing: Inspired by Three Real
man epics in the ¡98¡ hit comedy Caveman. Another ¡98¡ release, Stories (aka I Posed for Playboy) (¡99¡ TVM); Under Siege (¡992);
Man of the Year (¡995); Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (¡995); The
Quest for Fire was a big-budgeted “serious” e›ort, featuring a cave People vs. Larry Flynt (¡996); Hefner Unauthorized (1999 TVM)
people language devised by novelist Anthony (A Clockwork Or-
ange) Burgess. Clan of the Cave Bear (¡985) was a dismal flop de-
spite its best-seller origins and the presence of then-popular star Chainsaws
Daryl Hannah. Of course, not all cave people films have been set In addition to bit parts in lumberjack films (q.v.), chainsaws have
in prehistoric times. The contemporary caveman has been around made memorable appearances in a handful of horror movies — al-
since scientists discovered one roaming about modern-day Africa most expressly for purposes other than cutting wood. The can-
in the ¡927 silent comedy The Missing Link. Lightning revived a nibalistic killers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies (q.v.)
caveman in Dinosaurus (¡960), Joan Crawford discovered a miss- used them to prepare people for dinner. Bruce Campbell discov-
ing link hiding in an obscure cave in Trog (¡970), and scientist ered that chainsaws were ideal for decapitating demons in the
Timothy Hutton found a Neanderthal frozen in ice in Iceman second and third Evil Dead movies (q.v.). In fact, after severing
(¡984). The overanxious scientists in The Neanderthal Man (¡953) his own hand (it was possessed), Campbell attached a chainsaw
and Monster on the Campus (¡958) actually turned themselves into to his arm. Chainsaw duels were featured prominently in Motel
prehistoric men. In the former film, the serum that turned Robert Hell, Phantasm II, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and the sub-
Shayne into a Neanderthal also transformed his dog into a vicious tly-titled Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. The latter film featured
wolf. See also Dinosaurs. the catchy ad line: “They charge an arm and a leg.” It also starred
The Missing Link (¡927); One Million B.C. (aka Man and His Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame)
Mate; The Cave Dwellers) (¡940); Prehistoric Women (¡950); The as the cult leader of the chainsaw-toting prostitutes. See also The
Neanderthal Man (¡953); Monster on the Campus (¡958); Teenage Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series.
Caveman (aka Prehistoric World) (¡958); Dinosaurus (¡960); Valley The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (¡974); Motel Hell (¡980); Evil
of the Dragons (¡96¡); Eegah! (¡962); One Million Years B.C. (¡966); Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (aka Evil Dead 2) (¡987); The Running
The Oldest Profession in the World (aka The Oldest Profession) (¡967) Man (¡987); Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (¡988); Phantasm II
(“Prehistoric Era” sketch); Prehistoric Women (aka Slave Girls) (¡988); Army of Darkness (aka Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3)
(¡967); Trog (¡970); When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (¡970); When (¡993); Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (aka Phantasm III) (¡994);
Women Had Tails (¡970); Skullduggery (¡970); Creatures the World The Monster (¡994); Leprechaun 3 (¡995)
Forgot (¡97¡); Schlock (aka The Banana Monster) (¡97¡); The Creep-
ing Flesh (¡973); The Tribe (¡974 TVM); The People That Time
Forgot (¡977); Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (¡977); Caveman Chan, Charlie
(¡98¡); Quest for Fire (¡98¡); History of the World-Part I (¡98¡); Ice- Sherlock Holmes reigns as cinema’s busiest sleuth, but Charlie
man (¡984); Clan of the Cave Bear (¡985); Cavegirl (¡985); Link
Chan ranks a surprising — and very strong — second, with over
(¡986); Encino Man (¡992); Being Human (¡994) (segment); The
Flintstones (¡994); Encino Woman (¡996 TVM); Savage (¡996); The forty mysteries to his credit. Although Earl Derr Bigger’s novels
Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) were popular in the ¡920s, his Hawaiian police detective was rel-
egated to a strictly supporting role in his big-screen debut, ¡926’s
The House Without a Key. He fared better in subsequent outings,
Centerfolds but didn’t make an impact until Warner Oland made the part his
Life’s been tough for girls posing in the bu›. Kim Basinger played own in ¡93¡’s Charlie Chan Carries On. Although Swedish by
a model whose career went into a tailspin after appearing in a girlie birth, Oland specialized in Oriental roles and, at one point in his
magazine in Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (¡978). Apparently, the career, was playing detective Chan and villain Fu Manchu (q.v.)
film had little impact on Basinger, who eventually did pose in simultaneously. Oland brought warmth and deceiving wit to the
Playboy (but not as the centerfold). The sad real-life story of role, masterfully phrasing words of wisdom such as: “Alibi, like
Dorothy Stratten, a Playmate-turned-actress murdered by her dead fish, cannot stand test of time.” Keye Luke usually played
former lover, reached the small screen in ¡98¡ and the big screen Charlie’s #¡ son, providing youth appeal and comic support, as
 CHEERLEADERS 43

did other sons Benson Fong and Victor Sen Yung in later entries. Chau›eurs
The Oland Chan films are considered the best of the series, with Although they are privy to intimate auto conversations, chau›eurs
Charlie Chan at the Opera (co-starring Boris Karlo› and a young have never acquired a cinematic stature equal to butlers (q.v.) and
Ray Milland) as the highlight. When Oland died in ¡938, Amer- ladies-in-waiting. Perhaps it’s because they usually live over the
ican-born Sidney Toler assumed the role and continued the 20th garage, thereby missing the essential upstairs and downstairs ac-
Century–Fox series in capable fashion until ¡942: Toler returned tivities at the main house. Certainly, chau›eurs have fared poorly
as Chan in ¡944 for a series at Monogram. On his death in ¡947, when it comes to romance. Both Carlo Justini and Robert Shaw
he was replaced by Roland Winters, who made the last Mono- mistakenly believe their female employers are interested in them
gram entry in ¡949. Eight years later, Chan resurfaced in the form in, respectively, A Novel A›air and The Hireling. Jean Simmons
of J. Carrol Naish in a syndicated TV series called The New Ad- and chau›eur Robert Mitchum become romantically involved in
ventures of Charlie Chan. It lasted for only 39 half-hour episodes. Angel Face, but it’s an unhappy a›air that ends with a car zoom-
Ross Martin, best known as Artemus Gordon on TV’s The Wild ing over a cli›. Even chau›eur’s daughter Audrey Hepburn en-
Wild West, made an unlikely Chan in the ¡973 TV movie Hap- dures romantic entanglements when rich brothers William
piness Is a Warm Clue (aka The Return of Charlie Chan). Filmed Holden and Humphrey Bogart clash over her a›ections in Sab-
for U.S. television in ¡970, this attempt to revive Chan sat on the rina. Female limo drivers are rare in the movies, although Deb-
shelf for three years, showed up on British TV in ¡973, and finally orah Foreman played one in ¡986’s My Chau›eur. Jack Lenoir,
made its American debut on the late show in ¡979. At least, the who once was Ginger Rogers’ chau›eur, played her driver in Once
¡98¡ spoof Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen re- in Paris… (and earned better notices than Ginger). Morgan Free-
ceived a general release, though to little avail. Critics panned it man played the cinema’s best known chau›eur in ¡989’s Driving
and audiences proved that they greatly preferred Oland and Toler Miss Daisy. He earned a Best Actor nomination for his perfor-
to a feebly unfunny Peter Ustinov. The Chan character was much mance as Hoke, Miss Daisy’s ( Jessica Tandy) loyal driver and
better parodied in Neil Simon’s Murder by Death (¡976). Two of steadfast friend. See also Automobiles; Butlers; Maids and
the most potentially interesting Chan films were never made. In Housekeepers; Taxi Drivers.
The Four Star Murder Case, Charlie would have teamed up with
Passion Flower (¡930); Downstairs (¡932); Merrily We Live
Philo Vance, Mr. Moto, and Michael Shayne to solve one mighty (¡938); Mr. Muggs Steps Out (¡943); Native Son (¡950); Angel Face
tough case. Charlie Chan at College would have cast the Oriental (¡953); Sabrina (aka Sabrina Fair) (¡954); A Novel A›air (aka The
detective as a visiting professor demonstrating the finer aspects of Passionate Stranger) (¡957); Endless Night (aka Agatha Christie’s
crime-solving to his students. Endless Night) (¡97¡); The Hireling (¡973); Law and Disorder
The House Without a Key (¡926) (George Kuwa); The Chinese (¡974); Once in Paris… (¡978); Arthur (¡98¡); Sunset Limousine
Parrot (¡928) (Sojin); Behind That Curtain (¡929) (E.L. Park); (¡983 TVM); Native Son (¡986); My Chau›eur (¡986); Cookie
Charlie Chan Carries On (¡93¡) (Warner Oland); The Black Camel (¡989); Driving Miss Daisy (¡989); This Can’t Be Love (¡994 TVM);
(¡93¡) (Oland); Charlie Chan’s Chance (¡932) (Oland); Charlie Sabrina (¡995); Strange Days (¡995)
Chan’s Greatest Case (¡932) (Oland); Charlie Chan’s Courage (¡934)
(Oland); Charlie Chan in London (¡934) (Oland); Charlie Chan in Cheerleaders
Egypt (¡935) (Oland); Charlie Chan in Shanghai (¡935) (Oland);
Charlie Chan in Paris (¡935) (Oland); Charlie Chan at the Circus When relegated to supporting roles in football (q.v.) movies and
(¡936) (Oland); Charlie Chan at the Opera (¡936) (Oland); Charlie campus comedies, cheerleaders have been typically stereotyped as
Chan at the Race Track (¡936) (Oland); Charlie Chan’s Secret (¡936) shallow, image-conscious individuals. Thus, one would think that
(Oland); Charlie Chan on Broadway (¡937) (Oland); Charlie Chan cheerleader movies would tend to paint more positive views of the
at the Olympics (¡937) (Oland); Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo primary promoters of school spirit. Instead, the post–¡970 cheer-
(¡938) (Oland); Charlie Chan in Honolulu (¡938) (Sidney Toler); leader era has consisted primarily of sex comedies, slasher films,
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (¡939) (Toler); Charlie Chan in
Reno (¡939) (Toler); Charlie Chan in the City of Darkness (¡939) and bizarre true stories. The sex “comedies” include such noto-
(Toler); Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (¡940) (Toler); Charlie rious fare as The Cheerleaders (originally rated X, but since down-
Chan’s Murder Cruise (¡940) (Toler); Murder Over New York (¡940) graded to an R) and the infamous XXX-rated Debbie Does Dal-
(Toler); Charlie Chan in Panama (¡940) (Toler); Charlie Chan in las. When not removing their clothes, cinematic cheerleaders
Rio (¡94¡) (Toler); Dead Men Tell (¡94¡) (Toler); Castle in the Desert often find themselves coping with killers in bloody pictures such
(¡942) (Toler); Charlie Chan in Black Magic (aka Charlie Chan in as Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend and Cheerleader Camp (which
Meeting at Midnight; Charlie Chan at Midnight; Black Magic) boasts the memorable alternate title Bloody Pom-Poms). Even the
(¡944) (Toler); Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (¡944) (Toler);
The Chinese Cat (¡944) (Toler); The Jade Mask (¡945) (Toler); The slasher film spoof Pandemonium (¡982) was set appropriately in
Red Dragon (¡945) (Toler); The Scarlet Clue (¡945) (Toler); The a school for cheerleaders. Made-for-television movies have opted
Shanghai Cobra (¡945) (Toler); Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money to present “true stories” about cheerleaders. The unexpected pop-
(aka Dangerous Money) (¡946) (Toler); Dark Alibi (¡946) (Toler); ularity of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders was examined in two
Shadows Over Chinatown (¡946) (Toler); The Trap (¡947) (Toler); highly-rated films. However, viewers showed far less interest in
The Chinese Ring (¡947) (Roland Winters); Charlie Chan and the the Los Angeles Lakers’ cheering squad. And a high school cheer-
Golden Eye (aka The Golden Eye; Mystery of the Golden Eye) (¡948) leader’s mother plotted murder in Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheer-
(Winters); Docks of News Orleans (¡948) (Winters); The Feathered
Serpent (¡948) (Winters); The Shanghai Chest (¡948) (Winters); Sky leader Story, an exploitative TV drama torn from the headlines.
Dragon (¡949) (Winters); Happiness Is a Warm Clue (aka The Re- The same fact-based incident served as the basis for HBO’s dark
turn of Charlie Chan) (¡973 TVM) (Ross Martin); Charlie Chan comedy The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheer-
and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (¡98¡) (Peter Ustinov) leader-Murdering Mom. Finally, Olivia Newton-John played a
44 CHESS

nice, wholesome cheerleader in Grease, but she ditched her pom- on custody of her daughter. Another variation cropped up in
poms for black leather in order to keep boyfriend John Travolta. ¡974’s Unwed Father, in which a young man tries to gain custody
Given the fate of other movie cheerleaders, it was probably a wise of his illegitimate daughter. Post-Kramer films include the sensi-
decision. See also Basketball; Football. tive Australian import Careful, He Might Hear You (¡983) and
The Cheerleaders (¡972); The Pom-Pom Girls (¡976); Satan’s Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (¡984). The latter real-life
Cheerleaders (¡977); Debbie Does Dallas (¡978); Grease (¡978); Dal- story dealt with Kovacs’ e›orts to retrieve his two daughters, who
las Cowboy Cheerleaders (¡979 TVM); Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were kidnapped by their mother after a child custody dispute. The
II (¡980 TVM); Pandemonium (¡982); Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend television networks acquired a taste for fact-based child custody
(¡985); Cheerleader Camp (aka Bloody Pom-Poms) (¡987); Laker cases in the ¡990s, broadcasting numerous films such as Locked
Girls (¡990 TVM); Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story
(¡992 TVM); The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Up: A Mother’s Rage (¡99¡), A Mother’s Right: The Elizabeth Mor-
Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (¡993 TVM); Flesh Gordon 2: Flesh gan Story (¡992), Because Mommy Works (¡994), and Two Moth-
Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (¡993); A Friend to Die For ers for Zachary (¡996). Overly-cute Drew Barrymore sued parents
(¡994); Jailbreakers (¡994 TVM); Pretty Poison (¡996 TVM); But Shelley Long and Ryan O’Neal for custody of herself in ¡984’s Ir-
I’m a Cheerleader (2000); Bring It On (2000) reconcilable Di›erences. That same plot took on real-life implica-
tions in two ¡993 telefilms, Gregory K and A Place to Be Loved,
Chess which recounted the actual case of a ¡2-year-old who sued to ter-
The game’s intensity has been best captured by Dangerous Moves, minate his parents’ custodial rights.
¡985’s Best Foreign Film about how two brilliant players eventu- Bright Eyes (¡934); The Great Man Votes (¡939); My Heart Be-
ally become manipulated by their own obsessions. Christopher longs to Daddy (¡942); Trouble Along the Way (¡953); The Divided
Heart (¡954); Man on Fire (¡957); One Potato, Two Potato (¡964);
Lambert played a chess player who becomes a murder suspect in Unwed Father (¡974 TVM); Kramer vs. Kramer (¡979); Mark, I Love
¡992’s Knight Moves. Searching for Bobby Fischer (¡993) recounted You (¡980 TVM); Little Gloria…Happy at Last (¡982 TVM); Care-
the story of seven-year-old chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin. Several ful, He Might Hear You (¡983); Irreconcilable Di›erences (¡984);
movies have featured memorable chess games. Max Von Sydow Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (¡984 TVM); This Child Is Mine
played chess with Death in Ingmar Bergman’s symbolic The Sev- (¡985 TVM); A Question of Love (¡987 TVM); Over the Top (¡987);
enth Seal (¡957). Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway practically After the Promise (¡987 TVM); The Good Father (¡987); The Good
made love over a game board in The Thomas Crown A›air (¡968), Mother (¡988); In the Best Interest of the Child (¡990 TVM); Locked
Up: A Mother’s Rage (¡99¡ TVM); In the Best Interest of the Children
a scene later spoofed in Austin Powers: The Spy That Shagged Me (¡992 TVM); Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted (¡992 TVM); A
(¡999). Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) used people as chess Mother’s Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story (¡992 TVM); Gregory K
pieces to solve the puzzle of the Musgrave Ritual in ¡943’s Sher- (¡993 TVM); Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story (¡993
lock Holmes Faces Death. Philo Vance (Rathbone again) clashed TVM); A Place to Be Loved (¡993 TVM); A Matter of Justice (¡993
with a devious murderer who left a chess piece and Mother Goose TVM); Moment of Truth: A Child Too Many (¡993 TVM); Scattered
rhymes as clues in S.S. Van Dine’s The Bishop Murder Case (¡930). Dreams: The Kathryn Messenger Story (¡993 TVM); For the Love of
Along similar lines, jewel thief Ryan O’Neal played a chess game Aaron (¡993 TVM); In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride and
Madness (¡994 TVM); A Simple Twist of Fate (¡994); The Yarn
with the police in ¡973’s The Thief Who Came to Dinner. Princess (¡994 TVM); Someone Else’s Child (¡994 TVM); Because
The Bishop Murder Case (¡930); Sherlock Holmes Faces Death Mommy Works (¡994 TVM); Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLin-
(¡943); Scared Sti› (aka Treasure of Fear) (¡945); The Seventh Seal den Story (¡994 TVM); Whose Daughter Is She? (¡995 TVM); Two
(¡957); From Russia with Love (¡963); The Thomas Crown A›air Mothers for Zachary (¡996 TVM); Hollow Reed (¡997); A Father for
(¡968); The Thief Who Came to Dinner (¡973); The Chess Players Brittany (¡998 TVM); Two Babies: Switched at Birth (1999 TVM)
(¡977); Dangerous Moves (¡985); The King of Chess (aka Kei Wong)
(¡99¡); Knight Moves (aka Face to Face) (¡992); Searching for Bobby
Fischer (¡993); The Joy Luck Club (¡993); Fresh (¡994); The Chess Children of the Bride Series
Game (aka La Partie D’Echecs) (¡994); Angus (¡995); Austin Powers:
The saga of the Becker and Hix families proved that television
The Spy That Shagged Me (¡999)
viewers — if not theatrical moviegoers — still had a soft spot for
schmaltzy drama in the early ¡990s. The focus of this TV movie
Child Custody Disputes series is Margaret Becker (Rue McClanahan), a middle-aged di-
The commercial success of ¡979’s Kramer vs. Kramer brought the vorcee‚ who falls in love with, and eventually marries, younger
bitter struggles over child custody into close focus and undoubt- man John Hix. In Children of the Bride (¡990), Margaret’s four
edly contributed to public awareness. However, earlier movies adult o›spring experience di‡culties coping with this unexpected
periodically visited the same subject, often just as e›ectively. An development in their mother’s life. Naturally, they eventually dis-
obscure ¡942 Paramount film, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, fea- cover that John is a swell guy. In the ¡99¡ follow-up Baby of the
tured Martha O’Driscoll as a dancer fighting her in-laws, who Bride, Margaret becomes pregnant unexpectedly and each of her
maintain that her profession is unsuitable for raising her baby. children must cope with their own problems: Mary has to adjust
Bing Crosby gave his best non-singing performance as a father to life as a single parent; Dennis has a fling with his female boss;
fighting desperately to keep his son in ¡957’s Man on Fire. As in twice-divorced Anne gets romanced by Nick, a charming police-
Kramer, Man on Fire painfully depicts a no-win situation, with man); and Andrew “kidnaps” his children from his ex-wife. A tidy
a young boy caught in the middle. One Potato, Two Potato (¡964) conclusion resolves everything and the Beckers and Hixes enjoy
injected intriguing controversy, with Barbara Barrie as a woman two years of non-televised bliss. Then, with ¡993’s Mother of the
who marries a black man and then clashes with her ex-husband Bride, Anne and Nick decide to get married, Margaret’s
 A CHINESE GHOST STORY SERIES 45

ex-husband Richard (Paul Dooley) shows up suddenly, and Mary tation starring the charismatic child actor Sabu (who made a ca-
becomes attracted to a motorcycle-riding construction worker reer of similar roles). The Disney Studios turned Kipling’s book
named Ken. Throughout the series, much of the cast remained into both a ¡967 cartoon musical and a handsome ¡994 live action
the same: McClanahan as Margaret, Kristy McNichol as Mary, feature starring Jason Scott Lee. The life of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s
Anne Bobby as Anne, and Connor O’Farrell as Andrew. Patrick Tarzan (q.v.) has been detailed in many films, although his child-
Du›y played John Hix in the first film, with Ted Shackleford re- hood among the apes was best portrayed in ¡984’s Greystoke: The
placing him in the two sequels. Interestingly, Du›y and Shack- Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. François Tru›aut’s The Wild
leford played brothers Bobby and Gary Ewing on TV’s Dallas. Child (¡969) was a fact-based story about a boy who raised him-
Kristy McNichol must have seemed a natural for her role, hav- self in the woods and the doctor dedicated to “civilizing” him. The
ing spent four seasons on the TV series Family. ¡976 TV movie Stalk the Wild Child was a thinly-disguised Amer-
Children of the Bride (¡990 TVM); Baby of the Bride (¡99¡ ican version about a boy raised by wolves. It was followed by a sec-
TVM); Mother of the Bride (¡993 TVM) ond TV movie called Lucan, in which a former “wolf child” sets
out to find his parents and his own identity. It served as the pilot
Children of the Corn Series for the ¡977-78 Lucan TV series. Howie Mandel played a man
Film adaptations of Stephen King’s literary works have ranged from raised by wolves in the dismal ¡987 comedy Walk Like a Man. A
the sublime (The Dead Zone) to the mundane (Pet Sematary). The parentless youth raised himself and lived in the sewers in another
original film version of Children of the Corn (¡984) falls somewhere best-forgotten satire, ¡987’s Wild Thing. See also Tarzan.
in between. Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton star as a couple dri- The Jungle Book (¡942); Zamba (¡949); Duel of the Titans
ving cross-country who stop in rural Gatlin, Nebraska, when they (¡96¡); The Jungle Book (¡967); The Wild Child (¡969); Stalk the
run over a boy’s dead body. Gatlin is not a typical midwestern Wild Child (¡976 TVM); Lucan (¡977 TVM); Greystoke: The Legend
of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (¡984); Walk Like a Man (¡987); The
town — there are no adults, only children led by a young “prophet” Jungle Book (¡994); The Flintstones (¡994); Rudyard Kipling’s The
named Isaac who serves a god called He Who Walks Behind the Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (aka Jungle Book Two) (¡997)
Rows. The stranded couple soon learns that they’re next in line to
be sacrificed to the mysterious corn-god. With apologies to King, Child’s Play Series
the plot borrows elements from superior fare like Village of the
Director Tom Holland, who fashioned an e›ective vampire chiller
Damned (where children rule a town) and The Wicker Man (where
with Fright Night (¡985), tackled a di‡cult challenge with ¡988’s
people are sacrificed to a fertility god). Still, Children of the Corn
Child’s Play. Holland burdened himself with a preposterous
benefits from its likable leads, who were on the verge of minor star-
premise and then set about to make his audience believe it. His
dom: Hamilton made a splash in the same year’s The Terminator
film opens with a shootout in which killer Charlie Lee Ray (Brad
and Horton would make his mark in ¡987 in the TV series thir-
Dourif ) takes refuge in a toy store. A dying Ray grabs an inno-
tysomething. Neither actor appeared in the belated sequels that
cent-looking doll and transfers his soul to it. Shortly thereafter,
started with ¡993’s Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice,
a thoughtful mother (Catherine Hicks) buys the doll for her son
which picks up the story eight years later with the Gatlin children
Andy (Alex Vincent). Andy quickly realizes that this murderous
being placed in foster homes in a nearby town. Not surprisingly,
doll has a life of its own, but, as usual, the adults don’t believe
the town’s adult residents start to die, often in bizarre ways (e.g., a
him until it’s almost too late. To his credit, Holland manufactures
woman gets crushed under her own house). The rest of the series
some legitimate thrills and almost makes Chucky the doll be-
entries follow the same formula with the children worshippers of
lievable. Since Child’s Play turned into a sleeper hit, there had to
He Who Walks Behind the Rows harassing adults and even caus-
be a sequel (it’s the law according to money-minded producers).
ing havoc in high schools (Children of the Corn III). Incidentally,
Child’s Play 2 plucks traumatized Andy into a foster home while
the original Stephen King short story appeared in his anthology
his mother recovers in an institution. Naturally, Chucky shows
Night Shift. See also Sometimes They Come Back… Series
up at Andy’s new home, despite being thoroughly mangled at the
Children of the Corn (aka Stephen King’s Children of the Corn) end of the first film. Alex Vincent reprised his role as Andy and
(¡984); Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (¡993); Children
of the Corn III (aka Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest) (¡994); Brad Dourif provided the voice again for Chucky, but John Lafia
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (¡996); Children of the Corn replaced Holland as director. To prove you can’t keep a good vil-
V: Field of Terror (¡998); Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return lain down, Chucky came back for Child’s Play 3 (¡99¡) and Bride
(¡999) of Chucky (¡998). The third installment shifted the setting to a
military academy (q.v.) and featuted Justin Whalin as an older
Children Raised by Animals Andy. The more imaginative — and preposterous —Bride of
This theme dates back to the Roman myth about twin brothers Chucky paired Chucky (still voiced by Brad Dourif ) with a mur-
Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned in the woods as infants derous female doll (voiced by Jennifer Tilly). It boasted the catchy
and left to die, only to be found and nursed by a she-wolf. Un- ad line: “Chucky gets lucky.” See also Dolls.
fortunately, this splendid legend was recounted in perfunctory Child’s Play (¡988); Child’s Play 2 (¡990); Child’s Play 3 (¡99¡);
terms in its only major screen version, the ¡96¡ Italian costume epic Bride of Chucky (¡998)
Duel of the Titans. Wolves were parents again in Rudyard Kipling’s
Jungle Book, in which the young boy Mowgli joined a wolfpack A Chinese Ghost Story Series
after a vicious tiger separated him from his parents. Alexander This wildly stylish, Hong Kong–lensed supernatural series
Korda produced ¡942’s The Jungle Book, a lavish live action adap- features such memorable “monsters” as the Tree Devil (with his
46 CHRISTIAN, DR. (PAUL)

disgustingly long tongue) and the lumbering Mountain Devil. It duced Christmas fare, mostly made-for-TV movies, has diluted
also mixes romance, humor, and spectacular special e›ects for a the holiday marketplace and sent the “lesser knowns” back into
unique film experience. Indeed, New York Times film critic Wal- the film vaults. No fewer than 3¡ Christmas-oriented TV movies
ter Goodman described ¡987’s A Chinese Ghost Story as “98 min- were broadcast by the major networks between ¡977 and ¡992.
utes of bounding and bouncing, flying and flailing, slashing and Nine theatricals were also released during the same period. Iron-
slaying.” The plot revolves around two travelers who take refuge ically, the networks’ heaping servings of Christmas sentiment were
from a storm in a haunted temple. During the night, they en- undoubtedly inspired by the lasting popularity of holiday clas-
counter a beautiful, seductive ghost and the aforementioned Tree sics like It’s a Wonderful Life (which was remade for TV as ¡977’s
Devil. The equally imaginative sequel, A Chinese Ghost Story II It Happened One Christmas). As one would expect, Charles Dick-
(¡990), featured a delirious mix of mistaken identities, reincar- ens’ A Christmas Carol has provided the source material for the
nation, and unexpected magic. Leslie Cheung starred in the first most yuletide films: A Christmas Carol (¡938) with Reginald
two films, which racked up big box-o‡ce grosses in Hong Kong. Owen as Scrooge, A Christmas Carol (¡95¡) with Alastair Sim, the
The third installment did not fare quite as well as its predeces- musical Scrooge (¡970) with Albert Finney, An American Christ-
sors. It featured Tony Leung Chiu-wai as a di›erent lead charac- mas Carol with Henry Winkler (¡979 TVM), A Christmas Carol
ter and took place a century later — still within the confines of a with George C. Scott (¡984 TVM), the ¡988 contemporary take-
haunted temple. Cult horror film director Tsui Hark served as ex- o› Scrooged with Bill Murray, The Muppet Christmas Carol (¡992),
ecutive producer and co-wrote the screenplays. In ¡997, Hark re- and others (not to mention the famous cartoon short “Mr.
made the original film as an animated feature. See also Ghosts. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”). Santa Claus has appeared rather less
A Chinese Ghost Story (aka Qian Nu Youhun; Sinnui Yauman) than one would think, notching appearances in Babes in Toyland
(¡987); A Chinese Ghost Story II (aka Sinnui Yauman II) (¡990); A (¡96¡), Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (¡964), The Christmas
Chinese Ghost Story III (aka Sinnui Yauman III: Do Do Do) (¡99¡); That Almost Wasn’t (¡966), Santa Claus: The Movie (¡985), Ernest
A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (aka Xiaoqian) Saves Christmas (¡988), and The Santa Clause (¡994). Art Carney
(¡997) played St. Nick in The Night They Saved Christmas (¡984), a part
he knew well as a result of his ¡960 appearance in the touching
Christian, Dr. (Paul) “Night of the Meek” episode of the TV show The Twilight Zone.
Prior to his screen debut as paternal country doctor Paul Chris- He starred as a drunken department store Santa who loses his job,
tian, Jean Hersholt had already provided the character’s radio only to find a magic bag of toys and become the real St. Nick. Of
voice and starred in a similar role in three 20th Century–Fox course, not everyone in a Santa suit experiences that kind of
films. Daryl Zanuck was the man behind Fox’s The Country Doc- magic. Christopher Plummer played an unstable murderer who
tor (¡936), a family drama based on the birth of the Dionne Quin- robbed a bank disguised as Santa in The Silent Partner (¡978). A
tuplets (and featuring a brief appearance by star-to-be Tyrone psychotic killer sported a Santa suit in the tasteless ¡984 slasher
Power). Hersholt scored as the family’s rural physician and ap- film Silent Night, Deadly Night (q.v.).
peared in two sequels: Reunion (¡936) and Five of a Kind (¡938).
A Christmas Carol (¡938); Beyond Tomorrow (¡940); Holiday
A year later, Hersholt moved to RKO and initiated a new series Inn (¡942); Christmas Holiday (¡944); The Cheaters (aka The Cast-
with Meet Dr. Christian. Christian was the Marcus Welby of his away) (¡945); Christmas in Connecticut (aka Indiscretion) (¡945); It’s
era and, in the span of an hour, could cure an epidemic of spinal a Wonderful Life (¡946); The Bishop’s Wife (¡947); Christmas Eve
meningitis and solve a handful of personal crises for his patients. (aka Sinner’s Holiday) (¡947); Miracle on 34th Street (aka The Big
True to character, Hersholt was a great humanitarian himself and Heart) (¡947); Holiday A›air (¡949); A Christmas Carol (aka
received two special Academy Awards for work with the Motion Scrooge) (¡95¡); The Lemon Drop Kid (¡95¡); The Holly and the Ivy
Picture Relief Fund. In ¡956, the year of his death, the Academy (¡952); White Christmas (¡954); Babes in Toyland (¡96¡); Santa
Claus Conquers the Martians (¡964); The Christmas That Almost
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created an annual humani-
Wasn’t (¡966); The Christmas Tree (aka When Wolves Cry) (¡969);
tarian award to be given in his name. Other Christian series reg- Scrooge (¡970); The Homecoming — A Christmas Story (¡97¡ TVM);
ulars included Dorothy Lovett as the doctor’s faithful nurse and Home for the Holidays (¡972 TVM); Tales from the Crypt (¡972)
Robert Baldwin as her boyfriend, the town druggist. Ring Lard- (the segment “All Through the House”); A Dream for Christmas
ner, Jr., wrote several of the scripts. In ¡956, MacDonald Carey (¡973 TVM); Miracle on 34th Street (¡973 TVM); Silent Night,
played the title role in the syndicated TV series Dr. Christian. The Bloody Night (¡973); Black Christmas (aka Silent Night, Evil Night;
Dionne Quintuplets, minus Dr. Christian, were the subjects of Stranger in the House) (¡975); Young Pioneers’ Christmas (¡976
TVM); Sunshine Christmas (¡977 TVM); Christmas Miracle in
the fact-based ¡994 TV movie Million Dollar Babies.
Caufield, U.S.A. (aka the Christmas Coal Mine Miracle) (¡977
Meet Dr. Christian (¡939); The Courageous Dr. Christian TVM); The Gathering (¡977 TVM); It Happened One Christmas
(¡940); Dr. Christian Meets the Women (¡940); Remedy for Riches (¡977 TVM); A Christmas to Remember (¡978 TVM); The Gift of
(¡940); Melody for Three (¡94¡); They Meet Again (¡94¡) Love (¡978 TVM); An American Christmas Carol (¡979 TVM);
Christmas Lilies of the Field (¡979 TVM); The Gathering, Part II
Christmas (¡979 TVM); The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (¡979 TVM); A
Christmas Without Snow (¡980 TVM); You Better Watch Out (aka
There was a time when the coming of the yuletide season
Christmas Evil; Terror in Toyland) (¡980); The Gift of Love: A
promised that lesser-known holiday favorites, such as The Cheaters Christmas Story (¡983 TVM); A Christmas Story (¡983); A Christ-
and the ¡95¡ A Christmas Carol, would be pulled from the vaults mas Carol (¡984 TVM); It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (¡984
to air alongside annual classics like The Bishop’s Wife, It’s a Won- TVM); The Night They Saved Christmas (¡984 TVM); Silent Night,
derful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street. But a glut of recently-pro- Deadly Night (¡984); One Magic Christmas (¡985); Santa Claus: The
 CIRCUSES 47

Movie (aka Santa Claus) (¡985); Christmas Eve (¡986 TVM); The Adventure (¡958); How the West Was Won (¡962); The Wonderful
Christmas Gift (¡986 TVM); The Christmas Star (¡986 TVM); World of the Brothers Grimm (¡962); It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad
Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (¡987 TVM); The Christmas Visi- World (¡963); Circus World (¡963); The Best of Cinerama (¡964);
tor (aka Bushfire Moon) (¡987 TVM); I’ll Be Home for Christmas Battle of the Bulge (¡965); Grand Prix (¡966); 200¡: A Space Odyssey
(¡988 TVM); Ernest Saves Christmas (¡988); Scrooged (¡988); A Very (¡968); Ice Station Zebra (¡968); Custer of the West (¡968); Kraka-
Brady Christmas (¡988 TVM); The Christmas Wife (¡988 TVM); toa, East of Java (aka Volcano) (¡969)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (¡989); Prancer (¡989);
Guess Who’s Coming for Christmas? (¡990 TVM); The Kid Who Circuses
Loved Christmas (¡990 TVM); Home Alone (¡990); In the Nick of
The allure of the big top setting faded in the ¡970s, but for four
Time (¡99¡ TVM); All I Want for Christmas (¡99¡); Yes, Virgina,
There Is a Santa Claus (¡99¡ TVM); Christmas on Division Street decades, it was an ideal place to find high-wire dramatics, fero-
(¡99¡ TVM); Miracle in the Wilderness (¡99¡ TVM); Christmas in cious beasts, incognito killers, and perhaps a troupe of vampires.
Connecticut (¡992 TVM); The Man Upstairs (¡992 TVM); The Laughs, too, as evidenced by the number of comedies set against
Muppet Christmas Carol (¡992); To Grandmother’s House We Go a circus backdrop. W.C. Fields played a ringmaster in You Can’t
(¡992 TVM); Home Alone 2 (¡992); Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Cheat an Honest Man (¡939), the Marx Brothers saved a big top
Before Christmas (aka The Nightmare Before Christmas) (¡993); from bankruptcy in At the Circus (¡939), and even Dean Martin
Home for Christmas (aka Little Miss Millions) (¡993); Home of An-
and Jerry Lewis got into the act with Three Ring Circus (¡954).
gels (¡994); Mixed Nuts (¡994); Miracle on 34th Street (¡994); The
Santa Clause (¡994); Trapped in Paradise (¡994); One Christmas Movie murderers have also exhibited a special fondness for cir-
(¡994 TVM); A Christmas Romance (¡994 TVM); The Christmas cuses, as evidenced in Charlie Chan at the Circus (¡936), Circus
Box (¡995 TVM); Ebbie (¡995 TVM); Reckless (¡995); Jingle All the of Horrors (¡960), Psycho Circus (¡967), and Berserk (¡968). On a
Way (¡996); The Preacher’s Wife (¡996); Breathing Room (¡996); classier level, James Stewart played a murder suspect hiding out
Mrs. Santa Claus (¡996 TVM); A Di›erent Kind of Christmas (¡996 as a mild-mannered clown in Cecil DeMille’s ¡952 extravaganza
TVM); I’ll Be Home for Christmas (¡997 TVM); Holiday in Your The Greatest Show on Earth. This multicharacter melodrama gar-
Heart (¡997 TVM); On the 2nd Day of Christmas (¡997 TVM); nered a Best Picture Oscar and tallied record box-o‡ce figures for
Borrowed Hearts: A Holiday Romance (¡997 TVM); Ms. Scrooge
(¡997 TVM); I’ll Be Home for Christmas (¡998); Secret of Giving
Paramount. The film’s successful behind-the-scenes formula was
(¡999 TVM); Santa and Pete (1999 TVM); A Christmas Carol more or less copied in The Big Circus (¡959), The Big Show (¡96¡),
(1999 TVM); Reindeer Games (2000) and Circus World (¡964). The life of the world’s greatest circus
showman was chronicled in ¡934’s The Mighty Barnum and ¡986’s
Cinerama Barnum, with Wallace Beery and Burt Lancaster in the title roles,
respectively. Serious European directors have used circuses for
Former Paramount special e›ects technician Fred Waller invented
symbolic purposes, as in Ingmar Bergman’s Sawdust and Tinsel
this widescreen process, which produces a ¡65-degree curved
(¡953), Federico Fellini’s La Strada (¡954), and Wim Wenders’
image, in the early ¡950s. It evolved from an earlier Waller sys-
Wings of Desire (¡987). Four Disney pictures have taken place at
tem called Vitarama, which used eleven synchronized projectors
least partially under the big top: Dumbo (¡94¡), Toby Tyler (¡960),
to create an illusion of vastness and motion on a curved theater
A Tiger Walks (¡964), and The Three Lives of Thomasina (¡964).
screen. Vitarama was a big hit at the ¡937 World’s Fair, but its
Lady in the Dark (¡944) had a musical dream sequence set in a
expense and technical requirements made it impractical for com-
circus, while Rodgers and Hart’s Billy Rose’s Jumbo (¡962) re-
mon use. Waller refined it over the next two decades and intro-
volved around a circus owned by Doris Day. The circus in ¡96¡’s
duced a new version in ¡952 with the travelogue film This Is Cin-
Gorgo featured a dinosaur as its main attraction. Unfortunately,
erama. The Cinerama process required a film to be shot with
it turned out to be a baby with a mad mother in hot pursuit. See
three cameras, one facing straight ahead and the other two slightly
also Fairs and Carnivals.
to the left and right of the middle camera. Three synchronized
projectors then projected all three films on a curved screen si- He Who Gets Slapped (¡924); The Circus (¡928); Dangerous
Curves (¡929); Freaks (aka Nature’s Mistakes) (¡932); Rain or Shine
multaneously. Like This Is Cinerama, the early films shown in the (¡930); Polly of the Circus (¡932); The Big Cage (¡933); The Mighty
process focused on spectacular visual e›ects — breathtaking roller- Barnum (¡934); Circus Clown (¡934); Charlie Chan at the Circus
coaster rides and soaring plane flights over the Grand Canyon. (¡936); At the Circus (¡939); You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man
Unlike 3-D, Cinerama survived the ¡950s, perhaps because its (¡939); Chad Hanna (¡940); Dumbo (¡94¡); Road Show (¡94¡);
equipment restrictions limited the number of theaters that could Sunny (¡94¡); The Wagons Roll at Night (¡94¡); The Dark Tower
show Cinerama films and elevated the process to special event sta- (¡943); Lady in the Dark (¡944) (dream sequence); Dual Alibi
tus. The first nontravelogue was ¡962’s How the West Was Won. (¡947); Caged Fury (¡948); The Fat Man (¡95¡); Encore (¡952) (seg-
ment); The Greatest Show on Earth (¡952); Sawdust and Tinsel (aka
Occasional films continued to be made in Cinerama throughout The Naked Night) (¡953); Man on a Tightrope (¡953); Three Ring
the ¡960s. However, technical di‡culties, specifically problems Circus (aka Jerrico, the Wonder Clown) (¡954); La Strada (aka The
with keeping the projectors synchronized, drove the development Road) (¡954); Carnival Story (¡954); Ring of Fear (¡954); Trapeze
of a one-projector Cinerama process. The “new” Cinerama (¡956); Invitation to the Dance (¡957); Merry Andrew (¡958); The
amounted to little more than projecting a 70mm image on a Big Circus (¡959); The Flying Fontaines (¡959); Circus of Horrors
curved screen. It was abandoned in the ¡970s, though expositions (¡960); Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (¡960); The Big Show
(¡96¡); Gorgo (¡96¡); Hippodrome (¡96¡); Bimbo the Great (¡96¡);
and amusement parks continue to exhibit popular Cinerama-like
Billy Rose’s Jumbo (aka Jumbo) (¡962); The Main Attraction (¡962);
projection systems. See also 3-D; Gimmicks. Circus World (aka The Magnificent Showman) (¡964); A Tiger Walks
This Is Cinerama (¡952); Cinerama Holiday (¡955); Seven (¡964); The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964); The Three Lives of
Wonders of the World (¡956); Search for Paradise (¡957); South Seas Thomasina (¡964); Rings Around the World (¡967); Psycho Circus
48 CISCO KID

(aka Circus of Fear) (¡967); Berserk (¡968); Vampire Circus (¡97¡); (Roland); Riding the California Trail (¡947) (Roland); Robin Hood
The Clowns (¡97¡); Parade (¡974); Punch and Jody (¡974 TVM); of Monterey (¡947) (Roland); The Valiant Hombre (¡949) (Renaldo);
The Last Circus Show (aka The Balloon Vendor) (¡974); The Great The Daring Caballero (¡949) (Renaldo); The Gay Amigo (¡949)
Wallendas (¡978 TVM); When the Circus Comes to Town (¡98¡ (Renaldo); Satan’s Cradle (¡949) (Renaldo); The Girl from San
TVM); Side Show (¡98¡ TVM); Octopussy (¡983); Barnum (¡986 Lorenzo (¡950) (Renaldo); The Cisco Kid (¡994 TVM) ( Jimmy
TVM); Wings of Desire (aka Der Himmel über Berlin) (¡987); Big Smits)
Top Pee Wee (¡988); Shadows and Fog (¡992); Freaked (¡993); When
Night Is Falling (¡995); Rudyard Kipling’s The Second Jungle Book: Clairvoyants and Fortunetellers
Mowgli and Baloo (aka Jungle Book Two) (¡997); P.T. Barnum (¡999
TVM) The ability to predict the future has been a liability as often as a
blessing in the movies. Claude Rains played a phony fortune-teller
Cisco Kid in ¡935’s The Clairvoyant who discovers that his predictions — in-
The origins of the Cisco Kid separate him from his many rival cluding one of his death — are coming true. A similar fate befell
B-movie Western heroes. The Kid’s sound debut was ¡929’s In Akim Tamiro› in The Great Gambini (¡937) and Edward G.
Old Arizona, which had the triple distinction of being based on Robinson in Night Has a Thousand Eyes (¡948). Five years earlier,
an O. Henry short story, featuring an Oscar-winning turn by Robinson played a man fatally obsessed with a palm reader’s un-
Warner Baxter as Cisco, and introducing the popular song “My canny predictions in the eeriest tale in Julien Duvivier’s anthol-
Tonia” (recorded by Nic Lucas). The film was a sizable hit for Fox, ogy Flesh and Fantasy. Mr. Big forcibly employed the clairvoyant
chiefly due to the expert direction of Western specialist Raoul Solitaire ( Jane Seymour) in the ¡973 Bond adventure Live and Let
Walsh. Baxter starred in the ¡930 semi-sequel The Arizona Kid Die. Alas, 007 put an end to Solitaire’s prophetic powers, since
before o‡cially reprising his Robin Hood–like Mexican outlaw they were somehow tied to her virginity. Clairvoyants capable of
in ¡93¡’s The Cisco Kid. In Old Arizona alumnus Edmund Lowe predicting murders aided the police in The Eyes of Charles Sand
also returned as the dedicated Texas Ranger bent on capturing (¡972), Man on a Swing (¡974) and Eyes of Laura Mars (¡978). The
Cisco. After this second Cisco film, Baxter strove to avoid type- ¡97¡ TV movie Sweet, Sweet Rachel spun o› the short-lived ¡972
casting and appeared in musicals (42nd Street), biographical dra- series The Sixth Sense, which starred Gary Collins as a psychic pri-
mas (Prisoner of Shark Island), and comedies (Daddy Long Legs). vate investigator. Traditional gypsy and roadside fortune tellers
However, by ¡936, his popularity was declining and he appeared have had brief, but memorable, scenes in The Wizard of Oz, The
in the Cisco-like Robin Hood of El Dorado. Three years later, 20th Wolf Man, and The Leopard Man. The finest clairvoyant comedy,
Century–Fox hailed his comeback in The Return of the Cisco Kid. Rene Clair’s It Happened Tomorrow (¡944), featured Dick Powell
Yet, unlike the earlier films in the series, Return was a program- as a reporter who gets tomorrow’s newspaper delivered a day early.
mer, running just 70 minutes and co-starring young performers Other lighthearted fortune-telling tales include Eddie Cantor’s
like Cesar Romero. In fact, Romero stepped up into the lead role Palmy Days (¡932) and Ealing’s The Oracle (¡952). See also Medi-
in the follow-up The Cisco Kid and the Lady and five subsequent ums and Seances.
films. Fox dumped the series in ¡94¡, but four years later, Mono- The Hole in the Wall (¡929); Palmy Days (¡932); The Clairvoy-
gram picked it up and installed former Three Mesquiteers (q.v.) ant (aka The Evil Mind) (¡935); The Great Gambini (¡937); The
Wizard of Oz (¡939); The Wolf Man (¡94¡); The Crystal Ball (¡943);
supporting player Duncan Renaldo as Cisco. Renaldo starred in
Flesh and Fantasy (¡943); The Leopard Man (¡943); It Happened To-
three films, beginning with ¡945’s The Cisco Kid Returns, before morrow (¡944); Inner Sanctum (¡948); Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Monogram replaced him with Gilbert Roland, the only Latin (¡948); The Oracle (¡952); Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (¡965);
actor to portray the Kid. An a›able, sturdy performer, Roland Sweet, Sweet Rachel (¡97¡ TVM); The Eyes of Charles Sand (¡972
made six modestly entertaining Cisco entries before Monogram TVM); Visions… (aka Visions of Death) (¡972 TVM); Ba·ed (¡972
ended its series. Surprisingly, United Artists revived the series in TVM); Live and Let Die (¡973); Man on a Swing (¡974); From Be-
¡949 and recalled Renaldo to reprise the Mexican bandit hero. Re- yond the Grave (aka Creatures from Beyond the Grave) (¡974); The
Premonition (¡976); Eyes of Laura Mars (¡978); Mind Over Murder
naldo made five entries, assisted by Leo Carillo as his sidekick
(¡979 TVM); The Dead Zone (¡983); The Clairvoyant (¡985); Sec-
Pancho. In late ¡950, Renaldo and Carillo transitioned from hour- ond Sight (¡989); Black Rainbow (¡989); The Butcher’s Wife (¡99¡);
long theatrical features to a half-hour syndicated TV series. The Psychic (¡992 TVM); Nostradamus (¡994); Dead on Sight (¡994);
Cisco Kid quickly became the biggest non-network hit of the Eyes of Terror (¡994 TVM); The Haunting of Lisa (¡995 TVM); Yes-
¡950s. Its ¡56-episode run concluded in ¡956, although it is still terday’s Target (¡996 TVM); You Lucky Dog (¡998 TVM)
shown on television today (since the producers were smart enough
to film in color). In ¡994, Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin played Class Reunions
Cisco and Pancho in the TV movie The Cisco Kid. Class reunions have reunited former sweethearts and provided a
In Old Arizona (¡929) (Warner Baxter); The Cisco Kid (¡93¡) convenient grouping of classmates for revenge-minded killers.
(Baxter); The Return of the Cisco Kid (¡939) (Baxter); The Cisco Kid Betty Hutton and Dana Andrews played former classmates who
and the Lady (¡939) (Cesar Romero); The Gay Caballero (¡940) discover love again ¡5 years after college in Spring Reunion (¡957).
(Romero); Lucky Cisco Kid (¡940) (Romero); Viva Cisco Kid (¡940) In Class of ’63, a college reunion convinces Cli› Gorman that wife
(Romero); Romance of the Rio Grande (¡94¡) (Romero); Ride On,
Joan Hackett is still in love with former flame James Brolin. And,
Vaquero (¡94¡) (Romero); The Cisco Kid Returns (¡945) (Duncan
Renaldo); In Old Mexico (aka The Cisco Kid in Old Mexico) (¡945) in ¡980’s Reunion, Kevin Dobson finds himself attracted to both
(Renaldo); South of the Rio Grande (¡945) (Renaldo); The Gay Cav- his former high school sweetheart and her ¡7-year-old daughter.
alier (¡946) (Gilbert Roland); South of Monterey (¡946) (Roland); His predicament, although fraught with complexities, seems
Beauty and the Bandit (¡946) (Roland); King of the Bandits (¡947) minor compared to those facing the potential slasher victims in
 COFFIN ED JOHNSON AND GRAVE DIGGER JONES 49

Slaughter High (¡986) and Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (¡992). Watch & Everything and its ¡98¡ sequel. Several movies, such
National Lampoon’s Class Reunion (¡982) played the classmate- as High Noon (¡952) and Nick of Time (¡995), have used
killer angle for laughs (which were in short supply). John Cusack clocks to emphasize the passing of time. The Set-Up (¡949)
portrayed a hit man who kills an assailant with a ballpoint pen at featured opening and closing shots of a clock to remind view-
his high school reunion in Grosse Pointe Blank (¡997). In addi- ers that the boxing yarn took place over real time. The
tion to class reunions, there have been a number of films about Wicked Witch of the West flipped over an hourglass to count
high school or college friends getting together after several years: down the time remaining to Dorothy’s demise in The Wiz-
The Return of the Secaucus 7 (¡980), Over Forty (aka Beyond Forty) ard of Oz. That’s neither a clock nor watch, but certainly a
(¡982), The Big Chill (¡983), Windy City (¡984), Peter’s Friends time-telling device worthy of an honorable mention. See also
(¡993), and Indian Summer (¡993). Time Travel.
Tales of Manhattan (¡942); Spring Reunion (¡957); Class of ’63 The Times Are Out of Joint (¡9¡0); Safety Last (¡923); The
(¡973 TVM); Reunion (¡980 TVM); National Lampoon’s Class Re- Wizard of Oz (¡939); Pinocchio (¡940); Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
union (¡982); Peggy Sue Got Married (¡986); Something Wild (¡943); My Learned Friend (¡943); Laura (¡944); The Stranger
(¡986); Slaughter High (¡986); Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (¡992 (¡946); The Big Clock (¡948); Peter Pan (¡953); The Solid Gold
TVM); Parallel Lives (¡994 TVM); The Favor (¡994); Grosse Pointe Cadillac (¡956); The Green Man (¡956); Wild Strawberries (¡957);
Blank (¡997); Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (¡997); Since The Time Machine (¡960); Our Man Flint (¡966); The Clockmaker
You’ve Been Gone (¡998) (aka L’Horloger de St. Paul; The Watchmaker) (¡973); Live and Let
Die (¡973); The Thirty-Nine Steps (¡978); The Girl, the Gold Watch
& Everything (¡980 TVM); The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
Clocks and Watches (¡98¡ TVM); Back to the Future (¡985); Drowning by Numbers
The image of Harold Lloyd hanging by the hands of a giant (¡987); Radium City (¡987); Dick Tracy (¡990); Golden Braid
clock in ¡923’s Safety Last ranks as the clock’s finest hour. (¡990); Timebomb (¡99¡); Beauty and the Beast (¡99¡); Amityville
¡992: It’s About Time (¡992); The Hudsucker Proxy (¡994); Pulp Fic-
Still, other filmmakers have devised inventive uses for clocks
tion (¡994); The Little Riders (¡996 TVM); Clockmaker (¡998)
and watches. The murderer in Laura (¡944) hid his shotgun
in his would-be victim’s grandfather clock. A fifteenth-cen-
tury mantel clock caused several murders in Amityville ¡992:
Clones see Lookalikes
It’s About Time. Clocks also played major roles in murder
mysteries such as The Big Clock (¡948) and Sherlock Holmes Co‡n Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones
Faces Death (¡943). In the Holmes picture, a clock in the “You steal money from white folks — that’s your business; you
tower of the Musgrave mansion sounded ¡3 ominous chimes steal money from blacks, that’s MY business,” warns detective
just before the death of a family member. Orson Welles’s Co‡n Ed Johnson as he shakes down a black con artist in ¡970’s
Nazi war criminal met his demise atop a clock tower in ¡946’s Cotton Comes to Harlem. This trend-setting adaptation of Chester
The Stranger. The intricate clock tower depicted in The Hud- Himes’ detective novel mixed violence, humor, nudity, and racial
sucker Proxy provided the setting for a symbolic fight be- satire to predictably mixed results. The humor works best, with
tween good and evil. Ingmar Bergman employed a symbolic most of it being provided by tough, cynical Harlem detectives
clock without hands in ¡957’s Wild Strawberries. And Peter Co‡n Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques) and Grave Digger Jones
Greenaway used clock faces to depict some of the mysteri- (Godfrey Cambridge). As they search for a mysterious bale of
ous numerals “hidden” throughout ¡987’s Drowning by cotton, Co‡n Ed and Grave Digger administer their own type
Numbers. On a lighter note, a small clock company caused of justice — exposing a crooked black evangelist, dealing with stu-
major problems for an incompetent board of directors in the pid white cops, and finally working out a deal with a Mafia king-
¡957 Judy Holliday comedy The Solid Gold Cadillac. The pin. But through it all, they maintain their personal ethics (Co‡n
cinema’s only walking, talking (and very courteous) mantel Ed reminds a violent mob: “We may have broken some heads, but
clock was voiced by David Ogden Stiers in Disney’s Beauty we never broke no promises.”). The film has serious flaws, in-
and the Beast. Clocks playing supporting roles in two other cluding a mismatched music score and a rambling pace, but its
Disney animated films. In Peter Pan (¡953), a ticking clock popular success contributed substantially to the beginning of the
consumed by an alligator kept Captain Hook apprised of “blaxploitation” (q.v.) film cycle of the ¡970s. St. Jacques and
the reptile’s whereabouts. Geppetto, the woodcarver, boasted Cambridge reprised their roles for the ¡972 follow-up Come Back,
a collection of unique clocks in ¡940’s Pinocchio (as did H.G. Charleston Blue. Based on Himes’ novel The Heat’s On, the sto-
Wells’s time-traveling hero in ¡960’s The Time Machine). In ryline finds Grave Digger and Co‡n Ed involved with a series of
contrast to stately clocks, most watches have been utilized for gruesome murders, missing razor blades, the Harlem drug trade,
their gimmickry. Warren Beatty communicated via a two- and a Mafia chief. This sequel failed to duplicate the first film’s
way radio wristwatch in ¡990’s Dick Tracy. James Bond success and the series apparently came to a quick conclusion.
(Roger Moore) escaped from the clutches of archvillain Then, ¡9 years later, another Himes novel hit the screens. A Rage
Kanaga (Yaphet Kotto) by employing a watch with a super in Harlem is primarily the tale of a naive undertaker (Forest
magnet in ¡973’s Live and Let Die. Rival secret agent Derek Whitaker) who falls under the spell of a provocative femme fa-
Flint ( James Coburn) used a nifty watch to bring himself out tale (Robin Givens). She’s involved with some heavy-hitting gang-
of a deep sleep resembling death in the ¡966 spy spoof Our sters and a pair of relentless detectives: Co‡n Ed Johnson (Stack
Man Flint. An even more fantastical watch — capable of stop- Pierce) and Grave Digger Jones (George Wallace). Although rel-
ping time — provided the premise for both The Girl, the Gold egated to supporting roles, Co‡n Ed and Grave Digger lend a
50 THE COHENS AND THE KELLYS

boost to this entertaining action-comedy. Sadly, A Rage in Harlem Romero’s Martin, a would-be teen vampire has black and white
failed to catch on with either moviegoers or videotape renters. See dreams of his earlier life as a bloodsucker.
also Blaxploitation Films. Dixiana (¡930); Kid Millions (¡934); Victoria the Great (¡937);
Cotton Comes to Harlem (¡970); Come Back, Charleston Blue The Wizard of Oz (¡939); The Blue Bird (¡940); The Moon and Six-
(¡972); A Rage in Harlem (¡99¡) pence (¡942); Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter of Life and Death)
(¡946); Portrait of Jennie (¡948); I’ll Never Forget You (¡95¡); Jack
and the Beanstalk (¡952); The Solid Gold Cadillac (¡956); The Tin-
The Cohens and the Kellys gler (¡959); The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (¡960); A Man and a
The Jewish Cohens and the Irish Kellys were feuding families in Woman (¡966); If… (¡968); Putney Swope (¡969); And Now My
a series of seven Universal comedies that spanned the transition Love (¡975); Martin (¡978); Movie Movie (¡978); Stalker (¡979);
from silent to talking pictures. The Cohens and the Kellys (¡926), Zelig (¡983); ¡9/¡9 (¡985); Kiss of the Spider Woman (¡985);
was based on Aaron Ho›man’s play Two Blocks Away, although Mishima (¡985); She’s Gotta Have It (¡986); Night of the Creeps
the obvious similarities to Anne Nichols’ Broadway hit Abie’s Irish (¡986); Made in Heaven (¡987); Radium City (¡987); Wings of De-
sire (aka Der Himmel über Berlin) (¡987); D.O.A. (¡988); The Nav-
Rose resulted in a lawsuit. This first picture established the frame- igator: A Medieval Odyssey (aka The Navigator) (¡988); Transylvania
work for the series, with the families being drawn together by the Twist (¡989); Truth or Dare (aka In Bed with Madonna; Truth or
romance between the Kellys’ son and the Cohens’ daughter and Dare: In Bed with Madonna) (¡99¡); Dead Again (¡99¡); Kaf ka
the inheritance of a fortune. Jewish shopkeeper Cohen initially (¡99¡); Eclipse (¡994); Pleasantville (¡998); Space Cowboys (2000)
inherited the money, only to discover that it actually belonged to
Irish cop Kelly. In the end, they became partners, setting the stage Columbo, Lieutenant
for a series of wild adventures in Africa (buying elephant tusks The trench coat-clad Lieutenant Columbo made his first TV ap-
for a piano company), Scotland (entering the tartan business), and pearance in an episode of the ¡960-6¡ anthology The Chevy Mys-
even Atlantic City. In most of the films, George Sidney and Vera tery Show and was played by Bert Freed. William Link and
Gorden played the Cohens with Charlie Murray and Kate Price Richard Levinson, who created the rumpled but sharp police de-
as the Kellys. The Cohens and Kellys in Scotland is considered the tective, cast Thomas Mitchell as Columbo for their Broadway
best of the series, although Hollywood featured guest bits by Tom play Prescription: Murder. When Link and Levinson adapted their
Mix, Boris Karlo›, and Lew Ayres. Almost forty years after the play as a TV movie, they tried to convince Bing Crosby to take
last Cohen-Kelly movie, the premise of feuding Jewish and Irish the role. When Crosby refused, Peter Falk was cast in the role that
families popped up again in the TV series Bridget Loves Bernie. would make him a household name. The ¡968 TV movie Pre-
The Cohens and the Kellys (¡926); The Cohens and the Kellys in scription: Murder costarred Gene Barry as a physician convinced
Paris (¡928); The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City (¡929); The Co- he had committed the perfect murder. The film established what
hens and Kellys in Scotland (¡930); The Cohens and Kellys in Africa would become the Columbo formula: A murder would be shown
(¡930); The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (¡933); The Cohens and
Kellys in Trouble (¡933) in its entirety to the audience, then the seemingly slow-witted
Columbo would enter and cleverly trap the murderer. Three years
Color/B&W Features later, Levinson and Link produced a follow-up, Ransom for a
Dead Man, that served as a pilot for a TV series. Lee Grant played
The dramatic use of color in black and white films (and vice
the murderer, giving a performance that earned her an Emmy
versa) attracted little interest until ¡939’s The Wizard of Oz, which
nomination. That same year, a Columbo TV series debuted as the
transported Dorothy from monochrome Kansas into exciting,
most successful element of the The NBC Mystery Movie. Over the
colorful Oz. The same trick was repeated in The Blue Bird (¡940),
next six years, Falk starred in almost forty 90-minute and two-
a similar fantasy in which a black and white prologue gave way
hour Columbo TV episodes. When NBC cancelled The NBC Mys-
to a lengthy color dream sequence. The idea of filming reality in
tery Movie in ¡977, Falk continued to play Columbo in several
black and white and fantasy in color was neatly reversed in ¡946’s
¡977 and ¡978 TV movies. In ¡989, ABC launched its own Mys-
Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter of Life and Death). It starred
tery Movie TV series and added Columbo to the rotating ele-
David Niven as a wounded pilot destined to die, but so deter-
ments. A year later, the series was axed — though Columbo again
mined to live that he argues his case in a celestial trial. Because
lived on in periodic made-for-TV films. The most interesting
he wants to continue his existence in this world, the earthly seg-
Columbo TV movie was probably Ashes to Ashes, because it paired
ments are shown in color, while the scenes in Heaven are in black
Falk with Patrick McGoohan (as a murderer) for the fourth time.
and white. Forty-one years later, Heaven reverts to color and re-
McGoohan won Emmys in ¡974 and ¡990 for his guest appear-
ality to B&W in the opening of Made in Heaven (later in the
ances on the Columbo TV series. For the record, Columbo’s first
movie, the earthly scenes acquire color, too). In Pleasantville
name has never been revealed. The list below includes the TV
(¡998), two teens magically “entered” the world of a black and
movies only, not episodes broadcast on the NBC and ABC tele-
white television series and literally colorized it. Less elaborate
vision series. See also Television Series Reunion Films.
uses of color are displayed in Portrait of Jennie, The Picture of Do-
rian Gray, and The Moon and Sixpence, three B&W films in which Prescription: Murder (aka Columbo: Prescription Murder (¡968
TVM); Ransom for a Dead Man (¡97¡ TVM); Try and Catch Me
paintings appear in color. In other films: Judy Holliday drove
(¡977 TVM); Murder Under Glass (¡978 TVM); Make Me a Perfect
away in a gold auto in the original B&W print of The Solid Gold Murder (¡978 TVM); How to Dial a Murder (¡978 TVM); The
Cadillac. In William Castle’s gimmicky The Tingler, there’s a Conspirators (¡978 TVM); Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (¡978
brief-but highly e›ective sequence in which bright red blood TVM); Columbo Goes to College (¡990 TVM); Death Hits the Jack-
splashes out of a B&W bathroom sink faucet. And in George pot (¡99¡ TVM); Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your
 COMIC STRIP CHARACTERS 51

Health (¡99¡ TVM); Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (¡99¡ warrior who pushes his son around in an armed baby cart. Comic
TVM); No Time to Die (¡992 TVM); A Bird in the Hand… (¡992 books, as a literature form, acquired a serious adult following in
TVM); It’s All in the Game (¡993 TVM); Butterfly in Shades of Grey the ¡980s, a trend that ultimately led to the ¡989 brooding block-
(¡994 TVM); Undercover (¡994 TVM); Strange Bedfellows (¡995
buster version of Batman and its sequels. The success of Batman
TVM); A Trace of Murder (¡997 TVM); Ashes to Ashes (¡998
TVM); Murder with Too Many Notes (¡998 TVM) ushered in a whole new era of films based on comic books. Pro-
ducers mounted adaptations of old comic books (Captain Amer-
ica), dark comic books (The Crow), and cult comic books (Tank
Coma Girl). See also Batman; The Incredible Hulk; Lone Wolf and
The frightening side e›ects of unusual comas provided the Cub; Lupin III; Superman; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
premise for two exceptionally clever films, ¡970’s The Mind of Mr.
Superman and the Mole Men (¡95¡); Prince Valiant (¡954); Bat-
Soames and ¡983’s The Dead Zone. Both films e›ectively balanced man (¡966); Danger: Diabolik (aka Diabolik) (¡968); The Adventures
science fiction, horror, and reality by concentrating on the per- of Barry McKenzie (¡972); Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
sonal traumas of the coma victims. The Dead Zone, adapted from (aka Kozure Ôkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru; Sword of
Stephen King’s best seller, starred Christopher Walken as an ac- Vengeance) (¡972); Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (¡974); Wonder
cident victim who emerges from a five-year coma with the abil- Woman (¡974 TVM); Lightning Swords of Death (¡974); The New
ity to foresee the future of those he touches. This apparent gift Original Wonder Woman (¡975 TVM); The Incredible Hulk (¡977
TVM); Spider-Man (¡977 TVM); Dr. Strange (¡978 TVM); Super-
drives him to commit murder to prevent a disaster. In The Mind
man (¡978); Captain America (¡979 TVM); Mandrake (¡979
of Mr. Soames, a scientist revives a man from a 30-year coma — TVM); Swamp Thing (¡982); Howard the Duck (¡986); The Spirit
which began with his birth. Thus, he is “born” as an adult with (¡987 TVM); Return of the Swamp Thing (¡989); Batman (¡989);
the mind of a baby. More mainstream pictures include ¡978’s The Punisher (¡989); The Dark Avenger (¡990 TVM); Teenage Mu-
Coma, with Genevieve Bujold as a dedicated doctor who discov- tant Ninja Turtles (¡990); The Rocketeer (¡99¡); The Guyver (¡99¡);
ers that the body parts of comatose patients are being auctioned Dr. Giggles (¡992); Captain America (¡992); Cemetery Man (aka
in an organ blackmarket. Patrick (¡978) was a telekinetic teen, á Dellamorte Dellamore; Of Death and Love) (¡994); The Crow (¡994);
Richie Rich (¡994); The Mask (¡994); Judge Dredd (¡995); Tank Girl
la Carrie, who wrecked havoc while in a comatose state. Seizure:
(¡995); Barb Wire (¡996); Generation X (¡996 TVM); The Crow:
The Story of Kathy Morris (¡980) was the real-life story of a singer’s City of Angels (¡996); Spawn (¡997); Steel (¡997); Men in Black
struggle to recover from a coma. See also Suspended Animation. (¡997); Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (¡998 TVM); Mystery Men
The Clay Pigeon (¡949); The Mind of Mr. Soames (¡970); Coma (¡999); Witchblade (2000 TVM); X-Men (2000)
(¡978); Patrick (¡978); Seizure: The Story of Kathy Morris (¡980
TVM); Brimstone and Treacle (¡982); The Dead Zone (¡983); Bad Comic Book–Style Movies
Dreams (¡988); Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out!
There have been sporadic attempts to recreate the content and
(¡989); Hard to Kill (¡990); Awakenings (¡990); Reversal of Fortune
(¡990); Absolute Strangers (¡99¡ TVM); Prom Night IV: Deliver Us look of the old EC horror comics on the silver screen. Amicus Pro-
from Evil (¡99¡); She Woke Up (¡992 TVM); That Eye, the Sky ductions, which specialized in horror anthologies in the late ¡960s
(¡994); Past Tense (¡994 TVM); While You Were Sleeping (¡995); and early ¡970s, produced two comic book–style anthologies:
Savage (¡996); Commandments (¡997); Forever Love (¡998 TVM); Tales from the Crypt (¡972) and Vault of Horror (¡973). The tales
The Cell (2000) mixed horror and dark humor with middling results. For exam-
ple, the “Midnight Mess” story in Vault of Horror had vampires
Comets see Asteriods, Comets, and drinking from a tap inserted into an upside-down victim’s neck.
In ¡982, Stephen King teamed with director George Romero on
Meteors Creepshow, a more successful clone of the EC Comics, complete
with animated introductions. Unfortunately, the ¡987 Creepshow
Comic Book Characters 2 was an unimpressive bargain basement sequel. In ¡989, HBO
With the notable exceptions of Superman and Batman (qq.v.), few launched the popular cable TV series Tales from the Crypt. Two
comic book characters have encountered significant success in feature films were produced under the Tales from the Crypt ban-
feature films. During the ¡940s, they thrived in action-packed se- ner: Demon Knight (¡995) and Bordello of Blood (¡996). Neither
rials like Columbia’s Batman and Captain America. A young of those films were anothologies, although they maintained the
Robert Wagner brought Prince Valiant to life in a ¡954 film, and tongue-in-cheek approach of the TV series.
the briefly popular ¡966–68 TV series Batman spawned a campy Tales from the Crypt (¡972); Vault of Horror (aka Tales from the
feature-length theatrical film. Both movies were intended for ju- Crypt 2) (¡973); Creepshow (¡982); Creepshow 2 (¡987)
venile audiences and no sequels followed. In the mid–¡970s,
comic book superheroes achieved minor popularity in the form Comic Strip Characters
of made-for-TV movies (both The New Original Wonder Woman Comic strips have provided a rich source of film material, serv-
and The Incredible Hulk led to TV series). And then in ¡978, the ing as the basis for several popular film series. The most influen-
big-budgeted Superman caught the public’s fancy and three pro- tial was undoubtedly Chic Young’s “Blondie” (q.v.) strip, which
gressively less interesting, but still profitable, sequels appeared was adapted into a 27-film series that lasted from ¡938 to ¡95¡.
over the next decade. Meanwhile, a pair of Japanese samurai im- No other comic strip favorite has matched that level of success,
ports, based on the Lone Wolf and Cub comic book series, acquired although Dick Tracy, Jiggs and Maggie, Jungle Jim, Red Ryder,
a cult following in the U.S. The films were Lightning Swords of Dick Barton, and the Peanuts Gang (qq.v.) also earned their own
Death and Shogun Assassin and they traced the exploits of a hunted film series. Dick Tracy and Dennis the Menace reached mass
52 COMPILATION FILMS (FICTIONAL)

audiences as big-budget theatrical films in ¡990 and ¡993, re- to attract the younger audiences which flocked to the contempo-
spectively. However, other famous funnies’ characters have rary hit Flashdance (¡983). Although Youngson and Haley’s com-
floundered on the screen. Even an earlier Dennis the Menace pilations are the most fondly remembered, other filmmakers have
movie debuted as a throwaway ¡987 telefilm. A similar fate be- utilized the format e›ectively. Warner Bros. compiled its best
fell Brenda Starr (¡976), Archie: To Riverdale and Back (¡990), Looney Tunes cartoons and released them into the theatres in
and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (¡979), although the latter features such as Bug Bunny, Superstar (¡975), The Great Ameri-
made-for-TV movie actually received a theatrical distribution. can Chase (¡979), and Da›y Duck’s Movie: Fantastic Island (¡983).
The exploits of Li’l Abner and Little Orphan Annie were adapted The funniest segments from Sid Caesar’s classic TV series Your
into splashy, overblown musicals which sadly lost sight of their Show of Shows surfaced in the ¡973 compilation Ten from Your
characters’ charms. Film versions of adult comic strips have been Show of Shows (¡973). A year earlier, skits from British televi-
scarce, consisting mostly of a couple of sexy heroines (Barbarella, sion’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus came stateside as And Now for
Modesty Blaise) and sex-obsessed cats (Fritz the Cat). See also Something Completely Di›erent. Science fiction and horror film
Blondie; Jiggs and Maggie; Jungle Jim; Peanuts Series; Ryder, retrospectives have reached the screen as It Came from Hollywood
Red; Tracy, Dick. (¡982) and Terror in the Aisles (¡984). It’s Showtime (¡976) was an
Ella Cinders (¡926); Skippy (¡93¡); Sooky (¡93¡); Little Orphan enjoyable compilation of animal movie clips, highlighted by a
Annie (¡932); Joe Palooka (aka Palooka) (¡934); L’il Abner (¡940); canine rendition of “Singin’ in the Rain.” See also That’s Enter-
Reg’lar Fellows (¡94¡); Prince Valiant (¡954); The Sad Sack (¡957); tainment Series.
Li’l Abner (¡959); Dondi (¡96¡); Modesty Blaise (¡966); Barbarella Charlie Chaplin Carnival (¡938); Charlie Chaplin Cavalcade
(aka Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy) (¡968); Danger: Diabolik (aka (¡938); Charlie Chaplin Festival (¡938); The Golden Age of Comedy
Diabolik) (¡968); Fritz the Cat (¡972); The Nine Lives of Fritz the (¡957); The Chaplin Revue (¡958); When Comedy Was King (¡959);
Cat (¡975); Friday Foster (¡975); Brenda Starr (¡976 TVM); Piedone The Days of Thrills and Laughter (¡96¡); Harold Lloyd’s World of
l’africano (¡977); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (¡979); Flash Comedy (¡962); Harold Lloyd’s Funny Side of Life (¡963); Laugh
Gordon (¡980); Annie (¡982); The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land with Max Linder (¡963); Thirty Years of Fun (¡963); The Great
of the Yik Yak (¡984); Dennis the Menace (¡987 TVM); Brenda Starr Chase (¡963); Marilyn (¡963); MGM’s Big Parade of Comedy (¡964);
(¡989); Dick Tracy (¡990); Archie: To Riverdale and Back (¡990 The Love Goddesses (¡965); The World of Abbott and Costello (¡965);
TVM); Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (¡992); Dennis the Laurel and Hardy’s Laughing 20’s (¡965); The Further Perils of Lau-
Menace (¡993); The Phantom (¡996) rel and Hardy (¡967); The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy (¡967);
Four Clowns (¡970); And Now for Something Completely Di›erent
Compilation Films (Fictional) (¡972); Ten from Your Show of Shows (¡973); That’s Entertainment
The birth of the “compilation film” can be traced to its widespread (¡974); Bugs Bunny, Superstar (¡975); It’s Showtime (¡976); America
at the Movies (¡976); Gizmo (¡976); The Great American Chase (aka
use by documentary filmmakers during the two World Wars. The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Movie) (¡979); Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie:
Gifted filmmakers such as Frank Capra edited selected newsreel ¡00¡ Rabbit Tales (¡982); It Came from Hollywood (¡982); Da›y
footage to produce historical time capsules and e›ective propa- Duck’s Movie: Fantastic Island (¡983); Terror in the Aisles (¡984);
ganda pieces. In the late ¡950s, former Pathé News employee The Puppetoon Movie (¡987); Da›y Duck’s Quackbusters (¡989)
Robert Youngson, who had directed the ¡950 newsreel compila-
tion Fifty Years Before Your Eyes, turned the compilation movie Composers (Classical)
into a tool for preserving — and reviving —fictional films. His Hollywood-produced biographies, supplemented by a handful of
¡957 compilation The Golden Age of Comedy featured choice clips imports, have glossed over the history of classical music by fo-
of silent classics starring Laurel and Hardy, Will Rogers, and cusing almost exclusively on a select number of composers. A
Harry Langdon. It revived interest in the great silent comedians, French director ( Julien Duvivier) made Hollywood’s first major
prompting Charlie Chaplin to release The Chaplin Revue (¡958), composer biography of the sound era with ¡938’s The Great Waltz,
which was simply three shorts strung together with some behind- the story of Johann Strauss (the Younger) and his unforgettable
the-scenes footage (actually, earlier Chaplin shorts had been pack- “The Blue Danube.” Co-star/soprano Miliza Korjus and lyricist
aged together as far back as ¡938). The following year, Youngson Oscar Hammerstein II turned two Strauss melodies into the pop-
returned with another superior silent comedy compilation, When ular hits “I’m in Love with Vienna” and “One Day When We
Comedy Was King. In the ¡960s, he raided the studios’ vaults and Were Young.” Despite the film’s success, seven years elapsed be-
produced The Days of Thrills and Laughter (¡96¡), Thirty Years of fore the Chopin biography A Song to Remember (¡945) made a star
Fun (¡963), MGM’s Big Parade of Comedy (¡964), Laurel and of Cornel Wilde and inspired a trio of imitations. Stewart Granger
Hardy’s Laughing 20’s (¡965), The Further Perils of Laurel and played violinist virtuoso/composer Niccolo Paganini in The Magic
Hardy (¡967), and Four Clowns (¡970). Youngson died in ¡974, Bow (¡947). Song of Love (¡947) cast Katharine Hepburn and Paul
the same year in which Jack Haley, Jr., produced the highly-suc- Henried as Clara and Robert Schumann and Robert Walker as
cessful MGM musical compilation That’s Entertainment. Haley’s their friend Johannes Brahms. Jean-Pierre Aumont played Rim-
film was a financial bonanza for MGM, costing next to nothing sky-Korsakov in ¡947’s campy Song of Scheherezade, which dealt
and providing glamorous publicity for the studio’s 50th anniver- primarily with the composer’s infatuation with a Spanish-Mo-
sary. The inevitable sequel That’s Entertainment Part 2 appeared roccan dancer (Yvonne De Carlo). Occasional films about classi-
in ¡976, this one combining the musical clips with “straight” cal composers continued to appear during the next two decades.
scenes (e.g., Garbo playing Camille). Haley added a belated third However, a new trend did not emerge until Ken Russell intro-
installment to his MGM compilation series with ¡985’s That’s duced his unconventional biographies in the early ¡970s.
Dancing. Despite a marvelous selection of dance footage, it failed Russell made his mark on British television in the ¡960s with
 COMPUTERS 53

critically-acclaimed documentaries and biographies of Wagner, Ball); Rhapsody in Blue (¡945) (George Gershwin); Night and Day
Debussy, and Elgar. His theatrical films have been greeted less en- (¡945) (Cole Porter); Till the Clouds Roll by (¡946) ( Jerome Kern);
thusiastically due to his penchant for excess (the descriptive pub- I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (¡947) ( Joe Howard); Words and
Music (¡948) (Rodgers and Hart); Oh, You Beautiful Doll (¡949)
licity line for his ¡97¡ Tchaikovsky biography The Music Lovers
(Fred Fisher); Three Little Words (¡950) (Bert Kalmar and Harry
was: “The story of a homosexual who married a nymphomaniac”). Ruby); I Dream of Jeannie (¡952) (Stephen Foster); I’ll See You in
Russell’s rollercoaster style has managed to confuse his critics for My Dreams (¡952) (Gus Kahn); Stars and Stripes Forever (¡953)
years. His ¡974 biopic Mahler earned praise for its intelligence and ( John Philip Sousa); St. Louis Blues (¡958) (W.C. Handy); Bound
restraint, but the director’s excesses were on display again in the for Glory (¡976) (Woody Guthrie); Scott Joplin (¡977); If You Could
following year’s Lisztomania, a rock version of Liszt’s life starring See What I Hear (¡982) (Tom Sullivan); Thelonious Monk: Straight,
The Who’s Roger Daltrey. In the post-Russell era, Czech direc- No Chaser (¡989); Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (¡99¡)
tor Milos Forman has made the biggest impact with his splendid
¡984 Best Picture Amadeus. Peter Sha›er adapted the film from Computers
his own play about the conflict between Mozart contemporary
The fact that the HAL 9000 remains the best-remembered char-
Salieri and the Master himself.
acter from 200¡: A Space Odyssey is a testament to the dramatic
Beethoven (aka Un Grand Amour de Beethoven; The Life and potential of movie computers. Given a speaking voice and a
Loves of Beethoven) (¡936); The Great Waltz (¡938) ( Johann
significant role, the computer can e›ectively dominate its human
Strauss); The Great Victor Herbert (¡939); Melody Master (¡94¡)
(Franz Schubert); The Great Mr. Handel (¡942); A Song to Remem- co-stars in interesting science fiction films like The Forbin Project
ber (¡945) (Frederic Chopin); The Magic Bow (¡947) (Niccolo Pa- (¡970). However, the early film appearances of computers showed
ganini); Song of Love (¡947) (Robert and Clara Schumann); Song of little sign of their potential. A nuclear brain called Novac took
Scheherazade (¡947) (Rimsky-Korsakov); The Great Gilbert and control of a secret subterranean laboratory in ¡954’s Gog. Unfor-
Sullivan (aka The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan) (¡953); Deep in My tunately, the computer’s “artificial intelligence” turned out to be
Heart (¡954) (Sigmund Romberg); Magic Fire (¡956) (Richard enemy agent programming. Humans manipulated the comput-
Wagner); Song Without End (¡960) (Franz Liszt); The Magnificent
ers in Desk Set (¡957) and The Honeymoon Machine (¡96¡) for
Rebel (¡962) (Ludwig van Beethoven); The Waltz King (¡963) ( Jo-
hann Strauss); Song of Norway (¡970) (Edvard Grieg); The Music comedic purposes. Then in ¡965, the computer took a giant step
Lovers (¡97¡) (Peter Tchaikovsky); The Great Waltz (¡972) ( Johann forward with Jean-Luc Godard’s dense, futuristic thriller Al-
Strauss); Mahler (¡974); Lisztomania (¡975) (Liszt); Wagner (¡983) phaville. Godard presented a bleak world of emotionless people
(Richard Wagner); Amadeus (¡984) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart controlled by a super-computer. Stanley Kubrick made HAL more
and Antonio Salieri); Spring Symphony (¡984) (Clara Schumann); human-like in ¡968’s 200¡, giving the computer a warm person-
Testimony (¡988) (Dmitri Shostakovich); Impromptu (¡99¡) ality and a friendly voice (“Everything’s under control, Dave”).
(Chopin and Liszt); Tous les Matins de Monde (¡99¡) (Sainte
But HAL nevertheless took a turn for the worse and sought to
Columbe and Marin Marais); Immortal Beloved (¡994)
(Beethoven); Carl, My Childhood Symphony (aka Min Fynske Barn- eliminate his human colleagues to gain control of a spaceship. The
dom) (¡994) (Carl Nielsen); Topsy-Turvy (¡999) (W.S. Gilbert and super-computer in The Forbin Project displayed larger-scale am-
Arthur Sullivan) bitions, setting its sights on world domination. It achieved that
goal, too, by linking up with its Soviet counterpart and thus con-
Composers (Popular) trolling the defense systems for both the U.S. and the Soviet
Union. Proteus IV, the computer in ¡977’s Demon Seed, was more
Few popular composers have lived long enough (or been famous
concerned with propagating itself than with controlling the world.
enough) to see their life stories reach the screen. However, there
To that end, it trapped its creator’s wife ( Julie Christie) in her
have been some noteworthy exceptions: Richard Rodgers was in
house and “raped” her. Another computer, named Edgar, did not
his prime when ¡948’s Words and Music was released and Cole
go that far, but it too found itself attracted to his owner’s love in-
Porter was still composing when Cary Grant played him in Night
terest in ¡984’s Electric Dreams. Less interesting computers have
and Day (¡945). Jerome Kern died during the filming of Till the
played small parts in many movies. College students used a com-
Clouds Roll By (¡946) and George M. Cohan passed away the year
puter to create a line of credit for an imaginary man in the ¡97¡
that Yankee Doodle Dandy was released (¡942). Turn-of-the-cen-
TV movie Paper Man. An electrical accident dumped a com-
tury songwriters have proven to be popular film subjects, with
puter’s memory banks into college student Kurt Russell’s brain in
Twentieth Century–Fox specializing in them in the ¡940s. Vic-
Disney’s The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (¡969). George Segal
tor Mature played Gay ’90s Broadway composer Paul Dresser in
had a small computer surgically implanted into his brain, with
My Gal Sal (¡942); singer Dick Haymes was songwriter Ernest R.
horrifying results, in ¡974’s The Terminal Man. Two teens showed
Ball in Damon Runyon’s Irish Eyes Are Smiling; and Mark Stevens
the power of the personal computer when they used one to cre-
played Joseph E. Howard in I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now
ate gorgeous Kelly LeBrock in ¡985’s Weird Science. See also An-
(¡947). Some fields of music are represented by merely a movie
droids and Cyborgs; Robots.
or two, as evidenced by the biographies of folk songwriter Woody
Guthrie (Bound for Glory), minstrel man Dan Emmett (Dixie), Gog (¡954); Desk Set (aka His Other Woman) (¡957); The In-
and marching band composer John Philip Sousa (Stars and Stripes visible Boy (¡957); The Honeymoon Machine (¡96¡); Alphaville (aka
Alphaville, Une Etrange Aventure de Lemmy Caution) (¡965); Billion
Forever). See also Pop, Rock, and Country Singer Biographies. Dollar Brain (¡967); 200¡: A Space Odyssey (¡968); Hot Millions
Swanee River (¡939) (Stephen Foster); My Gal Sal (¡942) (Paul (¡968); The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (¡969); The Forbin Project
Dresser); Yankee Doodle Dandy (¡942) (George M. Cohan); Dixie (aka Colossus: The Forbin Project) (¡970); Paper Man (¡97¡ TVM);
(¡943) (Dan Emmett); Irish Eyes Are Smiling (¡944) (Ernest R. The Terminal Man (¡974); Dark Star (¡975); Demon Seed (¡977);
54 CONCERT MOVIES

Institute for Revenge (¡979 TVM); Alien (¡979); Tron (¡982); Confessions of a Window Cleaner (¡973); Confessions of a Pop
WarGames (¡983); Electric Dreams (¡984); Deadly Impact (¡985); Singer (¡975); Confessions of a Driving Instructor (¡976); Confessions
Weird Science (¡985); Jumpin’ Jack Flash (¡986); The Rachel Papers from a Holiday Camp (¡977)
(¡989); The Lawnmower Man (¡992); Journey to the Center of the
Earth (¡993 TVM); Jackpot (aka Cybereden) (¡993); Ghost in the
Machine (¡993); Hackers (¡995); Virtuosity (¡995); Lawnmower Corman’s Poe Series
Man: Beyond Cyberspace (¡996); The Net (¡996); Dream House (¡998 In his ¡990 autobiography, low-budget auteur Roger Corman
TVM); Fatal Error (¡999 TVM); Pirates of Silicon Valley (¡999 wrote: “I felt that Poe and Freud were working in di›erent ways
TVM); The Matrix (¡999); Universal Soldier: The Return (¡999) toward a concept of the unconscious mind, so I tried to use
Freud’s theories to interpret the work of Poe.” Such literate aspi-
Concert Movies rations may not come across in the finished films, but Corman’s
The filmed rock ’n’ roll concert came into vogue in the early Poe adaptations nonetheless exemplify quality, low-budget film-
¡970s, though technically ¡969’s Monterey Pop ushered in the new making. The series began with ¡960’s House of Usher, a moody
genre with lively performances by the Mamas and the Papas, Janis mixture of Poe themes produced in two weeks for a measly
Joplin, and others. Woodstock and Gimme Shelter are the best $270,000. The film introduced the distinguishing features of
known concert films, both for their music and social commen- most of Corman’s Poe movies: a crazed performance by Vincent
tary. The Rolling Stones have starred in more movies than any Price, Daniel Haller’s atmospheric period sets, Floyd Crosby’s
other rock act, with Gimme Shelter, Let’s Spend the Night Together, florid color photography, and a well-crafted screenplay. Indeed,
The T.A.M.I. Show, and Ladies & Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones. all but one script were penned, in part, by either Richard Math-
Surprisingly, the genre has acquired a certain appeal for well- eson (Duel) or Charles Beaumont, both Twilight Zone veterans.
known, contemporary directors — Martin Scorese directed a doc- The lone exception was the final series entry, ¡964’s Tomb of Ligea,
umentary about The Band called The Last Waltz, while Jonathan written by Robert Towne (an Oscar winner for Chinatown). Cor-
Demme helmed the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (¡984). man followed up Usher with ¡96¡’s The Pit and the Pendulum, a
The latter film was one of only a handful made during the ¡980s, clever reworking of Poe themes featuring a lively torture dungeon
signalling that young rock fans preferred the free footage provided climax. Ray Milland replaced Vincent Price as the flat lead in
by MTV. Nevertheless, concert films still appear occasionally, as ¡962’s The Premature Burial, the series’ weakest entry. However,
evidenced by U2 ¡988’s release Rattle and Hum. Rob Reiner’s Price was back for good in Corman’s follow-up, the ¡962 an-
This Is Spinal Tap tells the history of a fictitious group and is a thology Tales of Terror, which also featured veteran stars Peter
hilarious parody of rock documentaries and concert films. See Lorre and Basil Rathbone. Lorre joined Price and Boris Karlo›
also Pop, Rock, and Country Singer Biographies. for The Raven, a silly but entertaining comedy bearing no rela-
Jazz on a Summer Day (¡959); The T.A.M.I. Show (¡964); The tion to Poe’s poem (the plot introduces Lorre as a raven — a vic-
Big T.N.T. Show (¡966); Don’t Look Back (¡967); Monterey Pop tim of warlock Karlo› ’s magic). The Haunted Palace includes a
(¡969); Woodstock (¡970); Gimme Shelter (¡970); Popcorn (¡970); fragment of the title poem, but it’s really a straightforward adap-
Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (¡970); Mad Dogs and tation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
Englishman (aka Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs and Englishman) (¡97¡); Corman produced his last two Poe films in ¡964, with The Masque
Medicine Ball Caravan (¡97¡); Celebration at Big Sur (¡97¡); This Is
Elvis! (¡97¡); Soul to Soul (¡97¡); Fillmore (¡972); Concert for of the Red Death emerging as a critical favorite. Shot in England
Bangladesh (¡972); Let the Good Times Roll (¡973); Ladies and Gen- with a bigger budget than its predecessors (and using leftover sets
tlemen, the Rolling Stones (¡975); The Song Remains the Same (¡976) from Beckett), Masque attracted attention chiefly due to Nicholas
(Led Zeppelin); The Last Waltz (¡977); The Punk Rock Movie Roeg’s stylish photography. Roeg, who replaced Corman’s regu-
(¡978); Rust Never Sleeps (¡979) (Neil Young); Divine Madness lar cameraman Crosby, went on to direct Don’t Look Now (¡973)
(¡980) (Bette Midler); Rockshow (¡980) (Paul McCartney); No and The Man Who Fell to Earth (¡976). Corman concluded his
Nukes (aka The Muse Concert: No Nukes) (¡980); Heartland Reggae Poe series after Tomb of Ligea because he felt (rightly so) that the
(¡980) (Haile Selassie); Emerson, Lake and Palmer in Concert (¡98¡);
D.O.A. (¡98¡); Let’s Spend the Night Together (¡982); Gospel (¡982); films were becoming repetitive. Nevertheless, his Concorde Films
Stop Making Sense (¡984) (The Talking Heads); Bring on the Night tried to initiate a new Poe series over two decades later with
(¡985) (Sting); Home of the Brave (¡986) (Laurie Anderson); Hail! Masque of the Red Death (¡989) and The Haunting of Morella
Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll (aka Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll) (¡987); (¡990). Corman did not direct these later Poe adaptations.
Rattle and Hum (¡988) (U2); Big Time (¡988) (Tom Waits); Depeche House of Usher (¡960); The Pit and the Pendulum (¡96¡); The
Mode ¡0¡ (¡989); Year of the Horse (¡997) (Neil Young); Spice World Premature Burial (¡962); Tales of Terror (¡962); The Raven (¡963);
(¡997) (The Spice Girls); Wild Man Blues (¡998) (Woody Allen) The Haunted Palace (¡963); The Masque of the Red Death (¡964);
The Tomb of Ligea (¡964)
Confessions… Series
Only the first of this feeble series of British sex farces was released Cotton Comes to Harlem see Co‡n Ed
in the U.S. Reviews were unkind, with the New York Times com-
menting that Confessions of a Window Cleaner “reeks of some- Johnson and Grave Digger Jones
thing…once called Swinging London.” Still, the movies eventu-
ally showed up on pay-cable as “adults-only” features. Actor Country Singer Biographies see Pop,
Robin Askwith was the principal series regular. Sadly, the films
also featured faded British stars like Diana Dors (Confessions of a Rock, and Country Singer Biogra-
Driving Instructor). phies
 THE CRIME DOCTOR 55

Courts-Martial fisherman sagas (High Tide at Noon), and even a Doris Day com-
Several fine courtroom dramas have revolved around military edy (It Happened to Jane).
courts-martial. Stanley Kubrick’s chilling Paths of Glory detailed Port Sinister (aka The Beast of Paradise Island) (¡952); Attack of
the plight of three French soldiers tried for cowardice during the Crab Monsters (¡957); High Tide at Noon (¡957); Teenagers from
Outer Space (¡959); It Happened to Jane (aka Twinkle and Shine)
World War I after their doomed mission failed. In terms of emo- (¡959); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); The Lost Continent (¡968); Multi-
tional power, its only rival is the incisive ¡979 Australian picture ple Maniacs (¡970); Annie Hall (¡977); King Crab (¡980 TVM);
Breaker Morant. This potent drama, set during the Boer War, Night of the Claw (aka Island Claws) (¡982); Lobster Man from Mars
also concerned three soldiers facing court-martial as scapegoats. (¡989); The Little Mermaid (¡989); Simply Irresistible (¡999)
Tom Courtenay played court-martial defendants in Private Pot-
ter (¡962) and King and Country (¡964). In the first film, he por- Crane, Bill
trayed a soldier, accused of cowardice, who claimed to have seen Universal made three Crane mysteries in the late ¡930s as part of
God. In the World War I–set King and Country, Dirk Bogarde its “Crime Club” series. The intent was to develop B-movies from
defended Courtenay of a desertion charge. Richard Basehart and popular, but lesser-known, detectives. Author Jonathan Latimer’s
Lee Marvin gave strong performances as soldiers facing courts- Bill Crane certainly fit the bill. A private eye with a drinking
martial during the Korean War in Time Limit (¡957) and Sergeant problem, Crane wandered through a downbeat world layered
Ryker (¡968), respectively. Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize–winning with cynicism. Such an existence would make Sam Spade and
novel The Caine Mutiny (¡954) climaxed in a court-martial, with Philip Marlowe genre legends in later movies. The mysteries in-
Van Johnson and Robert Francis as the naval o‡cers who rebelled volved cases such as a missing corpse and a murder in a locked
against Humphrey Bogart’s neurotic Captain Queeg. The fact- room (a subject explored previously by Philo Vance in ¡929’s The
based Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force (¡978) chronicled Canary Murder Case). Preston Foster played Crane.
a homosexual serviceman’s struggle to remain in the military. The The Westland Case (¡937); The Lady in the Morgue (Corpse in
British o‡cers stationed in India in Conduct Unbecoming (¡975) the Morgue; Case of the Missing Blonde) (¡938); The Last Warning
conducted their own court-martial when they suspected one of (¡938)
the group of perverse acts. Bryan Brown, who played one of the
defendants in Breaker Morant, played the prosecuting o‡cer in The Creature from the Black Lagoon
¡990’s Blood Oath. Bradford Dillman and Peter Graves starred in The Gill Man (as he’s fondly known) was the brainchild of pro-
a ¡966 TV series called Court-Martial set during World War II. ducer William Alland, who was inspired by a vague South Amer-
Although not technically a court-martial, The Winslow Boy (¡950) ican legend about a prehistoric monster that roamed the swamps.
o›ered a fascinating fact-based account of the fight for a young Universal Pictures spared no expense on ¡954’s Creature from the
boy’s right to a trial after expulsion from a British military acad- Black Lagoon, shooting the film in 3-D (q.v.) and investing
emy. See also Judges. $¡2,000 in the creature suit. The story, another reworking of
The Winslow Boy (¡950); The Caine Mutiny (¡954); Court “Beauty and the Beast,” sends a scientific expedition down the
Martial (aka Carrington, V.C.) (¡954); The Court-Martial of Billy Amazon where it discovers a man/fish creature with a fondness
Mitchell (¡955); The Rack (¡956); Paths of Glory (¡957); Time Limit
(¡957); Sergeant Rutledge (¡960); The Court-Martial of Major Keller for human women. Like Kong, the Creature was a sympathetic
(¡96¡); Private Potter (¡962); Billy Budd (¡962); King and Country monster, who simply asked to be left alone. But Universal had
(¡964); The Man in the Middle (¡964); Sergeant Ryker (¡968); Con- other ideas. The Gill Man was back in ¡955’s The Revenge of the
duct Unbecoming (¡975); Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force Creature, in which he’s captured and transported to a Florida
(¡978 TVM); Breaker Morant (¡979); A Rumor of War (¡980 aquarium before female trouble again causes his demise. The
TVM); The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (¡988 TVM); The Court- worst was yet to come. He becomes a land mammal — thanks to
Martial of Jackie Robinson (¡990 TVM); Blood Oath (¡990); Pris- unwanted surgery — in ¡956’s The Creature Walks Among Us, the
oner of Honor (¡99¡ TVM); A Few Good Men (¡992); Assault at West
Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whitaker (¡994 TVM); The final film in the trilogy. In the movie’s closing scene, the Gill
Winslow Boy (¡999); Rules of Engagement (2000) Man walks into the ocean, apparently aware that he will drown
in the water that was once his home. Ricou Browning played the
Crabs and Lobsters Creature in all three movies, although Ben Chapman handled
Most movie crabs have probably appeared on dinner plates, but the land scenes in the first film and Don Megowan was the “trans-
there have been a few exceptions. A giant pink crab, animated by formed” Creature in the last. A puppet version of the Gill Man
special e›ects wizard Ray Harryhausen, had a choice scene in made an appearance in the children’s musical Mad Monster Party?
¡96¡’s Mysterious Island. Yet, even it was killed, boiled, and de- (¡967). And a generic Creature (looking suspiciously like a Black
voured. The title creatures of Attack of the Crab Monsters (¡957) Lagoon resident) surfaced in ¡987’s juvenile adventure The Mon-
ate human heads which enabled them to telepathically lure more ster Squad.
human prey for supper entrees. Still another giant crab washed Creature from the Black Lagoon (¡954); The Revenge of the
ashore in ¡982’s Night of the Claw (aka Island Claws). The shadow Creature (¡955); The Creature Walks Among Us (¡956); Mad Mon-
of an alien crab-like creature accompanied the title visitors to ster Party? (¡967); The Monster Squad (¡987)
Earth in ¡959’s Teenagers from Outer Space. Sebastian the Crab
sang the Oscar-winning song “Under the Sea” in Disney’s The Lit- The Crime Doctor
tle Mermaid. Edible, normal-sized crabs and lobsters have been Despite a past clouded by amnesia, Dr. Robert Ordway became
the subjects of restaurant business dramas (King Crab), lobster a leading criminal psychologist — only to discover that he was
56 CRITTERS SERIES

once a criminal himself. Armed with “insider knowledge” of how (Peter O’Toole) and manservant Friday (Richard Roundtree). De-
the criminal minds works, Ordway repaid society by bringing spite its promising premise, the film deteriorated into an un-
villains to justice. Such was the premise for this series of slightly pleasant a›air. A more successful twist was displayed in ¡964’s
o›beat detective films starring Warner Baxter as Ordway. The se- Robinson Crusoe on Mars, a colorful adventure which substituted
ries originated from Max Marcin’s long-running radio program a barren planet for the typical remote island. It was remade as
and resulted in ten films over a six-year period. Baxter, an Oscar Enemy Mine in ¡986 with Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett, Jr.
winner as the Cisco Kid (q.v.) in ¡929’s In Old Arizona, was the ¡989’s Crusoe was a return to Defoe’s original, though Aidan
only actor ever to play the Crime Doctor. Quinn’s hero was younger than his predecessors. Many films, such
The Crime Doctor (¡943); The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case as Swept Away (¡975) and Castaway (¡987), have borrowed the
(¡943); Shadows in the Night (¡944); The Crime Doctor’s Courage shipwrecked plot. Indeed, Defoe’s original even predated Wyss’s
(¡945); The Crime Doctor’s Warning (¡945); The Crime Doctor’s The Swiss Family Robinson and thus indirectly influenced film and
Manhunt (¡946); Just Before Dawn (¡946); The Millerson Case TV variations of that novel — to include Gilligan’s Island. See also
(¡947); The Crime Doctor’s Gamble (¡948); The Crime Doctor’s Islands.
Diary (¡949)
Mr. Robinson Crusoe (¡932); Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
(aka Robinson Crusoe) (¡952); Miss Robin Crusoe (¡954); Robinson
Critters Series Crusoe on Mars (¡964); Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN (¡966); Swept Away
If you were a little, furry, fanged alien who had just hijacked a … By an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (aka Swept
spaceship after escaping from a prison asteroid, where would you Away) (¡975); Man Friday (¡976); Enemy Mine (¡986); Castaway
go? To Kansas, of course! The sleepy rural town of Grovers Bend, (¡987); Crusoe (¡989)
to be exact. That’s the premise behind ¡986’s Critters, an easygo-
ing science fiction/comedy which mixed predictable characters Curse Series
with a quirky sense of humor. For example, the bounty hunters The four films comprising this “series” are connected in name
who pursue the escaped “Krites” assume Earthling form: One only. Actor David Keith (An O‡cer and a Gentleman) directed
takes on the appearance of a video rock star and the other a dead ¡987’s The Curse, a straightforward adaptation of an H.P. Love-
deputy with fresh wounds — neither one blends very well with the craft tale (“The Colour Out of Space”) about a fallen meteorite
local folks. As for the Krites, they mumble a lot (their dialogue which causes mutations. In ¡989’s Curse II: The Bite, a man is bit-
is subtitled) and seem to exist to eat (humans being a favorite ten by a snake, given the wrong antidote, and exposed to radia-
food). However, their intelligence level is questionable, since one tion. As one would expect, his arm turns into a snake’s head.
unwisely eats a stick of explosive with a burning fuse. The resi- Christopher Lee starred in Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (¡990), a con-
dents of Grovers Bend eventually outwit the Critters, only to be ventional voodoo film originally titled Panga. In Curse IV: The Ul-
harassed by their hatched o›spring in the disappointing ¡988 fol- timate Sacrifice, a demon is unleashed from the catacombs be-
low-up Critters 2: The Main Course. A second sequel, ¡99¡’s Crit- neath a church.
ters 3, found the furry aliens wrecking havoc in a downtown apart- The Curse (aka The Farm) (¡987); Curse II: The Bite (¡989);
ment complex. The fourth installment began as an Aliens spoof Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (aka Panga) (¡990); Curse IV: The Ulti-
with Charlie the bounty hunter (series regular Don Opper) and mate Sacrifice (¡993)
the last two Krites leaving behind Kansas and hurdling into space
while in suspended animation (q.v.). Years later, a group of space Cyborg Cop Series
salvagers discover Charlie and the Krites and revive them aboard The first two films in this low-budget action series starred David
a space station. The film contains little humor (the “hero” dies Bradley as D.E.A. agent Jack Ryan (no relation to Tom Clancy’s
and a nice character turns cruel) and the Critters have little screen hero). Ryan is not a cyborg nor technically a cop — but he does
time. Still, the series must have its fans or the law of diminishing work in law enforcement and helps his brother battle a mad sci-
returns would have killed it long before this third sequel. entist who turns humans into cyborgs. Bradley specialized in these
Critters (¡986); Critters 2: The Main Course (¡988); Critters 3 types of roles in the ¡990s, having previously taken over for
(¡99¡); Critters 4 (aka Critters 4: They’re Invading Your Space) Michael Dudiko› in the American Ninja films (q.v.). Cyborg Cop
(¡992) 3 bears no relation to the first two films. It’s about a reporter in-
vestigating a company called Delta Tech that manufactures cy-
Crusoe, Robinson borgs. See also Androids and Cyborgs.
Daniel Defoe’s classic novel about a man’s struggle for survival Cyborg Cop (¡993); Cyborg Cop 2 (aka Cyborg Soldier) (¡994);
on an isolated island influenced so many books and films that lit- Cyborg Cop 3 (aka Terminal Impact) (¡995)
erary critics created a term for the genre: Robinsonnade. Spanish
surrealist director Luis Buñuel made the best screen version, a re- Cyborg Series
markably straightforward, lyrical ¡952 film starring Dan O’Her- The surprising success of the low-budget Cyborg (¡989) played a
lihy. Douglas Fairbanks updated the tale as a gent whose island critical role in propelling Jean-Claude Van Damme from B-
existence was the result of a bet in ¡932’s Mr. Robinson Crusoe. movies to major studio pictures such as Universal Soldier and
Amanda Blake played the title role in ¡954’s Miss Robin Crusoe, Hard Target. Yet, while Van Damme’s star status quickly faded,
an unexceptional female variation, and Dick Van Dyke updated Cyborg gained minor prominence as an influential film. In retro-
the story for children in Disney’s Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN (¡966). spect, it inspired its own “mini-genre” consisting of similar-
Man Friday (¡976) gradually reversed the roles of master Crusoe themed, low-budget android/cyborg action pictures such as
 DARK SHADOWS SERIES 57

Robo-C.H.I.C. (¡990), Cybernator (¡99¡), Project: Shadowchaser desert, loner hero Wade Wilson (Williams) looks and acts like he
(¡992), Nemesis (¡993), Cyborg Cop (¡993), and Cyber Tracker stepped out of a Western revenge picture. Interestingly, the se-
(¡994). On its own, Cyborg is a modestly entertaining film in ries’ third entry even involves a Western subplot, in which Reaper
which Van Damme fights to protect a cyborg programmed with and his gang search for gold hidden by Quantrill’s Raiders dur-
a cure for a post-apocalytic plague. The film’s highlights are Van ing the Civil War. The first two films were released directly to
Damme’s flashy martial arts moves and an extended chase se- video, while Danger Zone III received a theatrical distribution.
quence in a sewer. A belated ¡993 sequel, Cyborg 2, includes some Danger Zone IV (¡992) combined recycled footage from previous
stock footage of Van Damme, but otherwise bears no relation to entries with a ludicrous plot about scantily-clad, revenge-minded
the original film. Cyborg 3: The Recycler (¡995) has nothing to do biker girls.
with the two previous films — except that it’s about cyborgs, one Danger Zone (¡987); Danger Zone II: Reaper’s Revenge (¡988);
of whom mates with a human and has a cyborg baby. See also An- Danger Zone III: Steel Horse War (¡990); Danger Zone IV: Mad
droids and Cyborgs. Girls, Bad Girls (aka Mad Girls, Bad Girls) (¡992)
Cyborg (¡989); Cyborg 2 (aka Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow) (¡993);
Cyborg 3: The Recycler (¡995) Daninsky, Waldemar (El Hombre Lobo)
Paul Naschy, Spain’s number one film star of the ¡970s, created
Cyclops and portrayed the Polish werewolf Waldemar Daninsky — better
These one-eyed mythological Titans who forged thunderbolts for known in his homeland as El Hombre Lobo. Naschy’s films, like
Zeus have been largely misrepresented in their few film appear- the better Mexican horror movies of the ¡960s, stressed atmos-
ances. Kirk Douglas fought one as Ulysses (¡955) and special phere at the expense of logic. Additionally, Naschy believed in the
e›ects genius Ray Harryhausen brought one to life with thrilling Mexican adage that horror can be multiplied by increasing the
results in his classic fantasy The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (¡958). number of monsters. El Hombre Lobo encountered vampires in
However, the title creature in Bert I. Gordon’s contemporary sci- Mark of the Werewolf, Jekyll/Hyde in Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf,
fi feature Cyclops (¡957) was just a 50-foot-tall man (Dean and aliens, a mummy, the Frankenstein Monster, and Dracula in
Parkins) with a flap of skin covering one eye. Parkins played a sim- the monster all-star epic The Man Who Came from Ummo. De-
ilar creature in Gordon’s War of the Colossal Beast (¡958). Just to spite his European popularity, Naschy (real name Jacinto Molina)
confuse matters, this latter film bore no relation to Cyclops (al- has found little fame in the U.S. For its American release, ¡968’s
though the creatures look quite similar), but it was a sequel to 3-D Mark of the Werewolf was typically shown in 2-D under the
Gordon’s non–Cyclopean picture The Amazing Colossal Man misleading title Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror and minus 45 min-
(¡957). A gentle Cyclops warrior, considerably shorter (at about utes of footage. See also Werewolves.
eight feet), aided Ken Marshall on a quest to save his beloved Mark of the Werewolf (aka La Marca del Hombre Lobo;
princess in Krull (¡983). Albert Dekker played the devious Dr. Cy- Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror; Hell’s Creatures) (¡968); Nights of the
clops (¡940), a mad scientist obsessed with shrinking humans. Werewolf (aka Las Noches del Hombre Lobo) (¡969); The Werewolf ’s
The film featured nary a Cyclops, its title being simply a refer- Shadow (aka La Noche de Walpurgis; The Werewolf vs. the Vampire
Women) (¡970); The Man Who Came from Ummo (aka El Hombre
ence to the doctor’s poor eyesight. See also Giants; Gorgons;
Que Vino de Ummo; Assignment Terror; Los Monstruos Del Terror;
Unicorns. Dracula vs. Frankenstein) (¡970); Fury of the Wolfman (aka La Furia
Ulysses (¡955); Cyclops (¡957); The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad del Hombre Lobo) (¡970); Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (aka Dr. Jekyll
(¡958); War of the Colossal Beast (¡958); Atlas Against the Cyclops y el Hombre Lobo) (¡97¡); Curse of the Devil (aka El Retorno de la
(aka Monster from the Unknown World; Maciste nella Terror dei Ci- Walpurgis) (¡973); The Werewolf and the Yeti (aka La Maldicion de
clopi) (¡96¡); Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (aka Santo y la Bestia; Night of the Howling Beast) (¡976); Return of the Wolfman
Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos) (¡969); Krull (¡983) (aka El Retorno del Hombre Lobo; The Craving) (¡980); The Were-
wolf and the Samurais (aka La Bestia y la Espada Magica; La Bestia y
Los Samurais) (¡983); Howl of the Devil (aka El Aullido del Diablo)
Dancer, Joe (¡987)
Three years after his “Baretta” series went o› the air, Robert Blake
returned to star as rugged private detective Joe Dancer in the ¡98¡
TV movie The Big Black Pill, a pilot for a new show. The movie
Dark Shadows Series
drew insu‡cient ratings to warrant a series, but Blake refused to Producer-director Dan Curtis has milked a lot of mileage out of
give up. He played Dancer in two additional films. The e›ort his ¡966–7¡ supernatural daytime soap Dark Shadows, turning it
proved fruitless, however, for a regular series still failed to mate- into two theatrical films, a two-part television movie, and a
rialize. prime-time series revival. The original Gothic TV series owed
most of its popularity to Jonathan Frid’s compelling portrayal of
The Big Black Pill (aka Joe Dancer) (¡98¡ TVM); The Monkey
Mission (¡98¡ TVM); Murder ¡, Dancer 0 (¡983 TVM) New England vampire Barnabus Collins. His story formed the
basis for House of Dark Shadows, a low-budget ¡970 feature which
also starred TV regulars Joan Bennett (Elizabeth Collins), Grayson
Danger Zone Series Hall ( Julia Ho›man), and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans).
Flesh Gordon alumnus Jason Williams produced, cowrote, and In the film’s bloody climax, Barnabus encountered a fatal stake
starred in this series about an ex-cop hunting down the nasty through the heart fired with a crossbow. His absence in the ¡97¡
biker (appropriately named Grim Reaper) who killed his girl- sequel Night of Dark Shadows shifted the emphasis to witchcraft
friend. Mounted aboard his own chopper as he treks across the and hauntings. However, audiences showed little interest in a
58 DARKMAN

Dark Shadow movie sans Barnabus. Thus, the film series — like The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Series
its TV counterpart — died. Amazingly, the TV series found an When fur trapper Buddy Ebsen suddenly needs a “family” to hold
afterlife in syndication and on videotape. Meanwhile, Dan Cur- on to his homestead, he hires a prostitute, a thief, and a pick-
tis, after directing The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, pocket to pose as his daughters. Karen Valentine, Lesley Ann
mounted a TV movie revival starring Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire) Warren, and Sandra Dee played the original Daughters of Joshua
as Barnabus. It was followed by a short-lived prime-time series Cabe in this unexpectedly popular ¡972 “ABC Movie of the
also featuring Jean Simmons and Roy Thinnes. See also Vam- Week.” Two subpar sequels followed, each featuring entirely
pires. di›erent casts.
House of Dark Shadows (¡970); Night of Dark Shadows (¡97¡);
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (¡972 TVM); The Daughters of
Dark Shadows (¡99¡ TVM)
Joshua Cabe Return (¡975 TVM); New Daughters of Joshua Cabe
(¡976 TVM)
Darkman
Sam Raimi’s inventive, stylish ode to comic-book superheroes The Dead End Kids see The Bowery Boys
somehow fell short of both box-o‡ce gold and cult movie status.
Still, it remains an exciting and even touching tale of a brooding Deafness
hero unable to recapture the life he lost. Liam Neeson hits all the The world of the deaf has received little attention in film. Like
right notes as scientist Peyton Westlake, who should have died in blindness (q.v.), it has been misused as a plot gimmick in syrupy
a laboratory explosion meant for his lawyer girlfriend Julie (Frances romances. Opera star Mario Lanza found love with a deaf girl in
McDormand in an understated pre–Fargo role). Disfigured by the the massively sentimental For the First Time. Loretta Young played
flames and mentally unbalanced due to experimental pain therapy, a deaf socialite in love with poor physician Alan Ladd in the ¡944
Peyton finds temporary salvation in the form of his lab-developed romance And Now Tomorrow. Five years earlier, Young had por-
artificial skin. He can use his artificial skin to assume the identity trayed a deaf person with more conviction in The Story of Alexan-
of anyone, but there’s a catch — the stu› melts away in 99 min- der Graham Bell. Johnny Belinda (¡948) hinted at the unjust prej-
utes. This flaw in his creation causes significant problems as he tries udice experienced by deaf people. The ¡952 British film The Crash
to rekindle his relationship with Julie and wreak his revenge on the of Silence opened new vistas with its touching, semidocumentary
criminals responsible for his injuries. While the story lacks origi- look into the world of a deaf girl. Few films about deafness have
nality, Raimi propels it with several breathtaking set pieces (the matched its power. Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story (¡979)
highlight being a sequence in which Darkman hangs from a speed- was an inspirational real-life account of a deaf woman who be-
ing helicopter). Neeson and McDormand provide the emotional came a successful stunt person (q.v.). The Emmy Award-winning
depth that lifts the film above a series of incredible action scenes. Love Is Never Silent (¡985) co-starred Phyllis Frelich and Ed Wa-
Raimi even includes some unexpected cameos for sharp-eyed film terstreet, acclaimed performers from the National Theatre for the
bu›s (e.g., John Landis, Bruce Campbell, cult film director Deaf. Deaf actress Marlee Matlin won a Best Actress Oscar for
William Lustig). After Darkman and Army of Darkness (see The ¡986’s Children of a Lesser God, an unsentimental story of the love
Evil Dead), Raimi graduated to star-driven vehicles like The Quick between an independent-minded deaf woman and a teacher of the
and the Dead (¡995). Thus, he turned over the directorial reins to deaf (William Hurt). Despite its exploitative title, ¡975’s Deaf-
Bradford May for two Darkman sequels released directly to video- ula was merely the famous vampire story told in sign language.
tape in the mid–¡990s. May, a cinematographer, does a decent job The Man Who Played God (aka The Silent Voice) (¡932);
despite lower budgets and Arnold Vosloo subbing for Liam Nee- Beethoven (aka Un Grand Amour de Beethoven; The Life and Loves of
son. In fact, both Darkman sequels are entertaining B-movies, al- Beethoven) (¡936); The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (aka The
though the villains become more interesting than Peyton Westlake. Modern Miracle) (¡939); And Now Tomorrow (¡944); Johnny Be-
A scene in Darkman III— where a disguised Peyton tries to escape linda (¡948); The Crash of Silence (aka Mandy) (¡952); Flesh and
from a surprise birthday party before his face melts — rivals Raimi’s Fury (¡952); Sincerely Yours (¡955); No Road Back (¡957); Man of a
best work. It’s too bad the Darkman did not extend beyond the Thousand Faces (¡957); For the First Time (¡959); The Miracle
Worker (¡962); Gigot (¡962); The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (¡965);
third installment. See also Disguises. Psych-Out (¡968); Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears (aka Los Amigos)
Darkman (¡990); Darkman II: The Return of Durant (¡995); (¡973); Deafula (¡975); Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story (¡979
Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (¡996) TVM); And Your Name Is Jonah (¡979 TVM); The Miracle Worker
(¡979 TVM); Voices (¡979); Dummy (¡979 TVM); Amy (aka Amy
on the Lips) (¡98¡ TVM); Johnny Belinda (¡982 TVM); Hear No
Dates in Title Evil (¡982 TVM); Love Is Never Silent (¡985 TVM); Children of a
In addition to the Friday the ¡3th films (q.v.), other “date films” Lesser God (¡986); Crazy Moon (¡986); Bridge to Silence (¡989
include Saturday the ¡4th, The Night of January ¡6th, and Sep- TVM); See No Evil, Hear No Evil (¡989); Hear No Evil (¡993); The
tember 30, ¡955. The latter film dealt with how James Dean’s River Wild (¡994); Mr. Holland’s Opus (¡995); Dead Silence (¡997
death (on that date) a›ected a fanatical fan (Richard Thomas). TVM); His Bodyguard (¡998 TVM); The Break Up (1998); Where
the Truth Lies (aka Ninety Days at Hollyridge) (¡999 TVM)
See also Year in Title.
The Night of January ¡6th (¡94¡); D-Day the Sixth of June (¡956);
September 30, ¡955 (aka 9/30/55; 24 Hours of the Rebel) (¡978); Friday
Dear Ruth Series
the ¡3th (¡980); Saturday the ¡4th (¡98¡); The 32nd of December A teenage girl pens passionate love letters to a soldier and encloses
(¡988); Saturday the ¡4th Strikes Back (¡988); October 32nd (¡992) her older sister’s photograph. When his leave comes due, he
 DELTA FORCE SERIES 59

decides to pay her a visit. The casting of William Holden (the sol- ilantism. He later appealed to CBS to not broadcast the film in
dier), Joan Caulfield (the older sister), and Mona Freeman (the prime time (which it did). Despite the controversy, Death Wish was
younger sister) propelled the routinely-plotted Dear Ruth into a blockbuster and some tabloids even claimed that it briefly low-
one of Paramount’s biggest hits of ¡947. In the belated sequel, ered the crime rate in New York City. Still, Bronson and director
Dear Wife (¡949), newlyweds Caulfield and Holden encounter Michael Winner avoided making a sequel for eight years. They
family problems when troublesome Freeman sets up Holden as a should have kept it that way. Death Wish II was an embarrassing
rival Senatorial candidate to the girls’ father (Edward Arnold). rehash of the original, transplanted to Los Angeles. The additional
Freeman had the spotlight to herself in ¡95¡’s Dear Brat. Holden Bronson sequels were not much better. See also Vigilantes.
had gone on to bigger parts (Sunset Boulevard) and Caulfield to Death Wish (¡974); Death Wish II (¡982); Death Wish III
television briefly (¡953’s My Favorite Husband) and then semire- (¡985); Death Wish IV: The Crackdown (¡987); Death Wish V: The
tirement. See also Letters. Face of Death (¡994)
Dear Ruth (¡947); Dear Wife (¡949); Dear Brat (¡95¡)
Deathstalker
Death Incarnate “Can you imagine what it would be like to change into Barbi Ben-
The personification of Death has been portrayed in various ways, ton in two minutes?” pondered drive-in movie critic Joe Bob
as a lonely romantic, a beautiful temptress, and a hideous skele- Briggs after viewing ¡984’s Deathstalker. Joe Bob was referring to
ton-creature greedy for souls. Fredric March played a curious a hilarious scene in this sword-and-sorcery (q.v.) mishmash in
Death anxious to understand why humans cling so desperately to which an evil wizard transforms his ugly henchman into buxom
life in Death Takes a Holiday (¡934). He takes a vacation to in- Playmate Benton. Unfortunately, this inspired piece of uninten-
vestigate the phenomenon and falls in love, while the world su›ers tional camp turned out to be the best part of this Argentina-
during his leave of absence — for dying people can no longer die. lensed Conan rip-o›. Still, the combination of muscular men and
That interesting twist is nowhere to be found in the ¡998 remake half-naked women appealed to action-oriented videotape renters.
Meet Joe Black, which starred Brad Pitt as Death. Feisty Lionel A ¡987 sequel starring former Penthouse Pet Monique Gabrielle
Barrymore proved more than a match for Cedric Hardwicke’s was released directly to video. Its typical genre plot cast Gabrielle
Mr. Brink (aka Death), by literally chasing Death up a tree in the as a princess trying to regain her throne with the help of hunky
¡939 comedy On Borrowed Time. In Ingmar Bergman’s The Sev- John Terlesky. After a third installment with John Allen Nelson
enth Seal (¡956), Max Von Sydow played a ¡4th century knight in the lead, Rick Hill — the original Deathstalker — returned for
who matches wits with Death in a game of chess. That scene was ¡99¡’s Deathstalker IV: Match of the Titans. Surprisingly, Hill’s
parodied in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (¡99¡), with the two Cal- acting ability apparently improved during his absence from the
ifornia dudes playing “His Royal Deathness” in Clue, Twister, and series. After all, it takes some definite thespian skill to deliver, with
Battleship. Death was among the uninvited guests at evil Prince a straight face, dialogue like: “I should have known — I’m always
Prospero’s (Vincent Price) masquerade ball in Roger Corman’s getting mixed up with princesses.” See also Sword and Sorcery.
stylish Masque of the Red Death (¡964). Jessica Lange made an el- Deathstalker (¡984); Deathstalker II (aka Deathstalker II: Duel
egant Death in Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz, while a dreadful de- of the Titans) (¡987); Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell
(¡989); Deathstalker IV: Match of the Titans (aka Deathstalker IV)
caying Death swarmed anxiously about John Neville whenever he
(¡99¡)
was about to give up on life in The Adventures of Baron Mun-
chausen. On television, Robert Redford played Mr. Death in the Delta Force Series
memorable ¡962 “Nothing in the Dark” episode of The Twilight
After a superior outing in ¡985’s Code of Silence, action star Chuck
Zone.
Norris appeared poised to take his place beside genre stalwarts
Death Takes a Holiday (¡934); On Borrowed Time (¡939); Or-
Eastwood and Bronson. The following year’s Delta Force was in-
pheus (¡949); The Seventh Seal (¡956); Masque of the Red Death
(¡964); The Devil’s Bride (aka The Devil Rides Out) (¡968); Death tended as his final stepping stone — it featured an Academy
Takes a Holiday (¡97¡ TVM); All That Jazz (¡979); Monty Python’s Award–winning co-star, decent production values, and a plot
The Meaning of Life (¡983); The Adventures of Baron Munchausen torn from the headlines. Unfortunately, even though it earned a
(¡989); Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death (¡989); Bill and profit and spawned two sequels, Delta Force sealed Norris’s fate
Ted’s Bogus Journey (¡99¡); The Detective and Death (aka El Detec- as a performer who had reached his potential and could advance
tive Y La Muerte) (¡994); Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore; no further. Delta Force cast Norris as Colonel Scott McCoy, whose
Of Death and Love) (¡994); Meet Joe Black (¡998)
special forces unit receives a mission to rescue a planeload of pas-
sengers held captive by Middle East terrorists. Lee Marvin (the
Death Wish Series aforementioned Oscar winner) plays Norris’ special forces side-
Charles Bronson’s biggest hit cast him as a mild-mannered archi- kick, while the supporting cast includes familiar TV faces such
tect transformed into an emotionless vigilante after a gang of punks as Joey Bishop, Robert Forster, Susan Strasberg, and Robert
attacked his wife and daughter. Some critics condemned the film’s Vaughn. Both script and execution were by-the-numbers, mak-
questionable ethics, with New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby ing Delta Force a painfully obvious action picture with a sti›
writing: “The movie seems to have been made for no reason ex- lead performance, even by Norris’s standards. Still, it’s superior
cept to exploit its audiences’ urban paranoia and vestigial fascina- to the ¡990 follow-up, Delta Force 2, which pits Norris against
tion with violence for its own sake.” Even writer Brian Garfield, ruthless South American drug lords. Sadly, five people were
who wrote the original novel, attacked the film for advocating vig- killed in a helicopter crash during this film’s production in the
60 DENTISTS

Phillipines. Chuck bowed out of the third installment, forcing Robert Vaughn, and Robert Foxworth. The series’ premise was
Norris fans to settle for son Mike. The Fred Williamson films simple enough: After McCall guns down David Warner and a
Delta Force Commando (¡987) and Delta Force Commando Two half-dozen other baddies in the first film, understanding marshal
(¡99¡) are not a part of the Norris series. Pernell Roberts gives the would-be gunfighter a chance to clear
Delta Force (¡986); Delta Force 2 (aka Delta Force 2: The his name. However, Roberts points out that McCall will be a
Colombian Connection; Delta Force 2: Stranglehold; Delta Force 2: fugitive from justice. So, just like David Jansen, TV’s original
Operation Stranglehold) (¡990); Delta Force 3: The Killing Game “Fugitive,” McCall travels from town to town, helping out nice
(¡99¡) folks along the way. Mystery author Elmore Leonard wrote the
screenplay for ¡987’s Desperado and, yes, the Eagles’ hit song of
Dentists the same name was featured prominently. Interestingly, although
The movie dentist has experienced a checkered career since his ex- NBC never picked up Desperado as a TV series, ABC launched
travagant ¡924 debut in Erich von Stroheim’s nine-hour marathon the similar Young Riders as an hour series and enjoyed minor suc-
silent movie Greed. Gibson Gowland played von Stroheim’s lead, cess for a couple of seasons. As for star Alex McArthur, he even-
an appropriately greedy lower-class dentist with an illegal prac- tually got a TV series, but not as a cowboy. He played a spy with
tice (a fellow dentist is called “Painless” Potter). However, the amnesia in the short-lived ¡992 NBC series The Fifth Corner.
bad side of dentistry is better represented by murderer Ralph Bel- Desperado (¡987 TVM); The Return of Desperado (¡988
lamy in Footsteps in the Dark, Nazi torture specialist Laurence TVM); Desperado: Avalanche at Devil’s Ridge (¡988 TVM); Desper-
Olivier (who drills holes in healthy teeth) in Marathon Man, and ado: Legacy (¡989 TVM); Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (¡989
TVM)
wacko Corbin Bernsen in The Dentist. Sadistic dentists have been
played for laughs in both the ¡960 and ¡986 versions of The Lit-
tle Shop of Horrors. Jack Nicholson was a masochistic patient in
Deth, Jack see Trancers
the former, while Steve Martin enthusiastically sang “I’m a Den-
tist” in the latter. Bob Hope played a dentist who accidentally be- The Devil
came a gunslinging Western hero in ¡948’s The Paleface. It Mr. Scratch, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Lucifer, Satan — the
spawned the Hope sequel Son of Paleface (¡952) and the Don Devil has been known by many names throughout history. And
Knotts remake The Shakiest Gun in the West (¡968). The murder on the screen, he has been portrayed in many guises by a diverse
of a playboy dentist set the mystery into motion in ¡985’s light- group of performers. Walter Huston played a cunning, though
hearted a›air Compromising Positions. Government agent Peter admittedly likable, Mr. Scratch in ¡94¡’s All That Money Can
Falk drafted dentist Alan Arkin into the spy business in The In- Buy, adapted from Stephen Vincent Benet’s ¡9th century New
Laws (¡979). Daniel Day-Lewis was a traveling dentist in the England variation of Faust. Although ultimately outwitted by
o›beat Eversmile, New Jersey (¡989). And W.C. Fields portrayed lawyer Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold), Scratch displayed a
cinema’s most perverse dentist in his hilarious pre–Hays Code sharp talent for turning the tables. When Webster demanded an
short The Dentist (¡932). His struggle to pull a tooth results in American jury for his client, Scratch produced ¡2 of history’s
some very compromising — and funny — positions with a female worst criminals and then made the point: “Dastard, liar, traitor,
patient. Raquel Welch played a skydiving dental assistant in knave…Americans all.” Peter Cook’s George Spiggot (aka The
Fathom (¡967), although her occupation had nothing to do with Devil) proved equally adept at crafty tricks in ¡967’s Bedazzled,
the plot. an hilarious updating of Faust with Dudley Moore as the woeful
Greed (¡924); The Dentist (¡932); One Sunday Afternoon short-order cook who sells his soul for seven wishes. At one point,
(¡933); Silly Billies (¡936); Hotel Haywire (¡937); Aren’t Men Beasts! Moore’s inability to be specific with his wishes results in his trans-
(¡937); Footsteps in the Dark (¡94¡); The Strawberry Blonde (¡94¡); formation into a nun (i.e., he wishes to be in love with a woman
The Great Moment (¡944); One Sunday Afternoon (¡948); The Pale- in a place where no men are around). The Devil has been played
face (¡948); The Fat Man (¡95¡); Son of Paleface (¡952); Bells Are for comedy in less memorable films as well, by Vincent Price in
Ringing (¡960); Dentist in the Chair (¡960); Come Dance with Me The Story of Mankind (¡957), Christopher Lee in Poor Devil
(¡960); The Little Shop of Horrors (¡960); Get on with It (aka Den-
(¡973), Bill Cosby in The Devil and Max Devlin (¡98¡), and
tist on the Job; Carry on TV) (¡96¡); Fathom (¡967); The Shakiest
Gun in the West (¡968); Cactus Flower (¡969); Marathon Man George Burns (in both title roles) in Oh God, You Devil! (¡984).
(¡976); The In-Laws (¡979); Ten (¡979); Straight Through the Heart The Devil, as the incarnation of evil, has taken a back seat to his
(¡983); Compromising Positions (¡985); The Little Shop of Horrors disciples in most horror films. Still, Robert De Niro made an
(¡986); Rocket to the Moon (¡986 TVM); Fight for Life (¡987 eerie villain — one Mr. Lou Cipher — in the moody horror/mys-
TVM); Eversmile New Jersey (¡989); Serial Mom (¡994); Captives tery Angel Heart (¡987). Soap star Susan Lucci proved that the
(¡994); Houseguest (¡995); Waiting for Gu›man (¡997); The Dentist Devil could easily be a woman in the ¡984 TV movie Invitation
(¡996); Jitters (¡997 TVM); The Dentist II (aka The Dentist 2: Brace
to Hell. Viggo Mortensen’s Lucifer turned out to be an unlikely
Yourself) (¡998); The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
ally of the good guys fighting the dark angel Gabriel in The
Prophecy (¡994). Victor Buono made an unexpected appearance
Desperado Series as the Devil beneath a possessed house in ¡978’s The Evil. His
NBC sought to revive the TV Western with these cliché-ridden scenes were cut from some prints, indicating that the filmmakers
television “movies” revolving around a young loner named Mc- were as confused as the audience in regard to his sudden presence
Call (Alex McArthur). Actually, each film played like an unsold in a haunted house movie. Nigel Kneale’s intriguing ¡967 sci-
TV pilot, complete with reliable guest stars like Pernell Roberts, fi/fantasy Five Million Years to Earth (see Quatermass) suggested
 DIRIGIBLES 61

that the Devil’s origins were extraterrestrial. The Devil’s son — ers have resorted to alternate methods for creating dinosaurs. In
the Antichrist —first gained prominence in ¡976’s The Omen ¡940’s One Million B.C., live lizards were photographed on minia-
(q.v.). See also Hell; The Omen Series. ture sets. The e›ect was convincing enough to warrant use of
The Sorrows of Satan (¡927); All That Money Can Buy (aka that footage in countless low-budget features. In the ¡950s, Japan’s
The Devil and Daniel Webster) (¡94¡); Cabin in the Sky (¡943); special e›ects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya perfected the man-in-a-mon-
Heaven Can Wait (¡943); Angel on My Shoulder (¡946); Alias Nick ster suit approach with Toho’s Godzilla films (see separate entries
Beal (¡949); Meet Mr. Lucifer (¡953); The Story of Mankind (¡957); for Japanese monsters Godzilla, Ghidrah, Rodan, Mothra, and
Damn Yankees (¡958); The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (¡960); Gamera). Director Steven Spielberg used puppets, models, com-
Bedazzled (¡967); Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and
the Pit) (¡967); Torture Garden (¡967); The Devil’s Bride (aka The puter technology, and $65 million to create the impressive pre-
Devil Rides Out) (¡968); Doctor Faustus (¡968); The Devil in Love historic beasts of ¡993’s Jurassic Park. Finally, animated dinosaurs
(¡968); The Devil’s Daughter (¡972 TVM); Poor Devil (¡973 TVM); have appeared in Fantasia (the creation of the world segment)
The Sentinel (¡977); The Evil (¡978); The Devil and Max Devlin and The Land Before Time, a children’s film about lost baby dinos
(¡98¡); Invitation to Hell (¡984 TVM); Oh God, You Devil! (¡984); searching for their parents. See also Carnosaur Series; Cave Peo-
Crossroads (¡986); Angel Heart (¡987); Hunk (¡987); Prince of ple; Dragons; The Land Before Time Series; Prehysteria Se-
Darkness (¡987); Mr. Frost (¡990); Girlfriend from Hell (¡990); ries.
Switch (¡99¡); Speak of the Devil (¡99¡); Needful Things (¡993); The
Prophecy (aka God’s Army) (¡995); Devil’s Food (¡996 TVM); Her- The Lost World (¡925); The Savage (¡926); King Kong (¡933);
cules (¡997); The Devil’s Advocate (¡997); South Park: Bigger, Longer One Million B.C. (¡940); Fantasia (¡940); Two Lost Worlds (¡950);
& Uncut (¡999); End of Days (¡999); H-E Double Hockey Sticks Unknown World (¡95¡); The Lost Continent (¡95¡); The Beast from
(¡999 TVM); Bedazzled (2000) 20,000 Fathoms (¡953); King Dinosaur (¡955); The Animal World
(¡956); The Beast of Hollow Mountain (¡956); The Giant Behemoth
ANTICHRIST: The Omen (¡976); The Chosen (aka Holocaust (¡959); The Lost World (¡960); Dinosaurus (¡960); Gorgo (¡96¡);
2000) (¡978); The Visitor (¡979); Fear No Evil (¡98¡); Child of Reptilicus (¡962); One Million Years B.C. (¡966); When Dinosaurs
Light, Child of Darkness (¡99¡ TVM); Servants of Twilight (¡99¡ Ruled the Earth (¡970); The Valley of Gwangi (¡969); The Last Di-
TVM) nosaur (¡977 TVM); The Crater Lake Monster (¡977); Where Time
Began (aka Trip to the Centre of the Earth) (¡978); Caveman (¡98¡);
Dinosaurs Baby…Secret of the Lost Legend (¡985); My Science Project (¡985);
The evolution of the cinematic dinosaur begins and ends with The Land Before Time (¡988); Adventures in Dinosaur City (¡99¡);
Steel Justice (¡992 TVM) (a robotic dinosaur); The Lost World
Willis O’Brien. A master of special e›ects photography, O’Brien
(¡992); Return to the Lost World (¡992); Carnosaur (¡993); Super
perfected the stop-motion animation technique used in nearly all Mario Bros. (¡993); Jurassic Park (¡993); Prehysteria (¡993); Di-
the memorable dinosaur sequences. After stints as a cowboy, prize nosaur Island (¡994); Theodore Rex (¡996); The Lost World: Jurassic
fighter, and sculptor, O’Brien made his first dinosaur film in ¡9¡7, Park (¡997); Gargantua (¡998 TVM); Barney’s Great Adventure:
a short called The Dinosaur and the Missing Link. He filmed his The Movie (¡998); Dinosaur (2000)
brontosaurus (a jointed wooden skeleton covered by clay) one
frame at a time, moving the model slightly between each picture The Dionne Quintuplets see Christian,
to create an illusion of motion. O’Brien continued making other
shorts (e.g., The Ghost of Slumber Mountain) and eventually Dr. (Paul)
landed the job of special e›ects creator for The Lost World (¡925),
an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel about a journey into Dirigibles
a prehistoric land. O’Brien’s brilliant e›ects shine even today, es- The motorized gas-filled aircraft known as dirigibles, airships,
pecially the final sequence in which an escaped brontosaurus zeppelins, and blimps have made irregular screen appearances
wrecks havoc in London. O’Brien went on to create his master- since airplanes replaced them in the ¡930s. Howard Hughes’
piece in ¡933’s King Kong (q.v.), which featured a dynamic strug- World War I aerial spectacular Hell’s Angels (¡930) confirmed the
gle between Kong and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. In ¡949, he finally birth and signalled the death of the movie dirigible. The zeppelin
won an Oscar for Mighty Joe Young, another giant ape opus. How- raid over London, although elaborately staged, paled in compar-
ever, his most cherished projects were never realized. These in- ison to the film’s classic airplane dogfights. Dirigible crashes oc-
cluded two cowboy/dinosaur scripts called Creation and Gwangi. curred at the climaxes of The Lost Zeppelin (¡929), Madam Satan
O’Brien eventually sold the idea for the former film, which sadly (¡930), Dirigible, (¡93¡) and Murder in the Air (¡940). The lat-
made it to the screen as the forgotten, low-budget feature The ter film, which starred Ronald Reagan as secret service agent
Beast of Hollow Mountain (¡956). However, O’Brien protégé Ray Brass Bancroft (q.v.), was built around actual footage, obtained
Harryhausen created some superb animation sequences for the by industrious producer Bryan Foy, of a dirigible crashing into
¡969 dinosaur Western The Valley of Gwangi. Harryhausen, who the ocean. The airship disaster in Madame Satan was preceded
dominated stop-action animation for decades, was also responsi- by a wild onboard party and followed by a happy ending. Over
ble for the dinosaur that trashed the amusement park in The Beast two decades later, a madman named Robur (Vincent Price) set
from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953) and the pterodactyl that snatched out to conquer the world from his flying airship fortress, The Al-
Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. Of Harryhausen’s rivals, batross, in the ¡96¡ Jules Verne fantasy Master of the World. The
Jim Danforth and David Allen have received the highest marks year ¡97¡ featured two realistic films about dirigibles. Zeppelin
for their lifelike creatures in, respectively, When Dinosaurs Ruled was a World War I tale of intrigue about an attempt to steal se-
the Earth (¡970) and Caveman (¡98¡). The high cost of stop-mo- crets from a German zeppelin factory. The fact-based The Red
tion photography has limited its use over the years and filmmak- Tent chronicled a disastrous ¡928 airship flight over the North
62 THE DIRTY DOZEN

Pole (a plot reminiscent of ¡929’s The Lost Zeppelin). Another the series’ weakest entry, Sudden Impact, introduced Harry’s in-
fact-based drama, ¡975’s The Hindenberg, was about the ¡937 famous quote: “Go ahead…Make my day.” Imitators, such as
New York dirigible explosion that claimed the lives of almost half Jack Palance in One Man Jury (¡978), Sylvester Stallone in ¡986’s
the passengers and crew. Its weak narrative lead up to a chilling Cobra and Steven Seagal in ¡988’s Above the Law, have failed to
climax featuring actual newsreel of the Hindenberg. The famil- duplicate Eastwood’s success — perhaps because they lack his gri-
iar sight of a blimp hovering over the Super Bowl was played for macing humor.
suspense in ¡977’s Black Sunday, a presidential assassination Dirty Harry (¡97¡); Magnum Force (¡973); The Enforcer
thriller. James Bond grappled with a villain aboard an airship over (¡976); Sudden Impact (¡983); The Dead Pool (¡988)
the Golden Gate Bridge in A View to a Kill (¡985), while Indi-
ana Jones and his father hijacked a Nazi airplane attached to an Disaster Movies
airborne dirigible in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989).
Films climaxing in disasters date back to the ¡930s — with the
See also Airplanes; Balloons, Hot Air.
earthquake that rocked Gable and Tracy in San Francisco, the
Zeppelin Attack on New York (¡9¡7); The Lost Zeppelin (¡929); storm sequence in Hurricane, and the locusts that stripped the
Hell’s Angels (¡930); Madame Satan (¡930); Dirigible (¡93¡); Murder
in the Air (¡940); The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (¡958); The
fields in The Good Earth. All these were grand spectacles, but
Fabulous Baron Munchausen (¡96¡); Master of the World (¡96¡); The mere movie subplots. The disaster film, as a genre, came into
Stolen Dirigible (aka Two Years Holiday) (¡966); The Assassination vogue in the early ¡970s with the releases of Airport and The Po-
Bureau (¡968); Zeppelin (¡97¡); The Red Tent (¡97¡); Island at the seidon Adventure. A canny producer named Irwin Allen exploited
Top of the World (¡974); The Hindenberg (¡975); Black Sunday the latter film, a tale of an upside-down ocean liner, into a box-
(¡977); A View to a Kill (¡985); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade o‡ce smash (“Who will survive?” ads asked) and quickly became
(¡989); The Rocketeer (¡99¡); Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumber- known as the King of Disaster Films. He followed it with the fiery
land (¡992); The Dirigible (¡994)
all-star opus The Towering Inferno and suddenly disaster films
were all the rage. Cheap rip-o›s and foreign imports filled Amer-
The Dirty Dozen ica’s screens with avalanches, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves.
Robert Aldrich’s ¡967 original was a solid World War II action Then Allen’s lavish disaster epic about killer bees, ¡978’s The
film about ¡2 ruthless criminals o›ered parole in return for par- Swarm, crashed at the box-o‡ce and the fate of the genre went
ticipating in a deadly mission behind German lines. Lee Marvin down with it. Allen’s follow-ups, including a Poseidon sequel and
played the tough major who whipped the gang into top-notch sol- three made-for-TV films, generated little interest. By the time
diers. For the record, the original dozen were played by: John ¡979’s Meteor came hurling toward Earth, moviegoers treated it
Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Charles like a real disaster — avoiding it like the plague while flocking to
Bronson, Trini Lopez, Tom Busby, Colin Maitland, Al Mancini, the parody Airplane! Other disaster movie spoofs include The Big
Stuart Cooper, Ben Carruthers, and Clint Walker. Although the Bus (¡976), a movie-within-a-movie in Drive-In, and the “That’s
film became MGM’s number one grosser of the year, a sequel did Armaggedon!” segment in Kentucky Fried Movie (¡977). See also
not appear until ¡8 years later — and then as a TV movie. Prob- Airport Series; Asteriods, Comets, and Meteors; Earthquakes;
ably inspired by the runaway success of ¡985’s Rambo, NBC tele- Floods; Hurricanes and Tornadoes; Volcanoes.
cast The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission later that year. Lee Mar- Airport (¡970); The Poseidon Adventure (¡972); Earthquake
vin reprised his role as the Dozen’s leader and Ernest Borgnine (¡974); The Towering Inferno (¡974); The Hindenberg (¡975); Tidal
and Richard Jaeckel returned in their original supporting roles. Wave (¡975); The Big Bus (¡976); Irwin Allen’s Flood (aka Flood!)
Telly Savalas starred in two more TV movie sequels before the Fox (¡976 TVM); Irwin Allen’s Fire (aka Fire!) (¡977 TVM); The Cas-
sandra Crossing (¡977); Avalanche (¡978); Gray Lady Down (¡978);
television network introduced the very short-lived Dirty Dozen
The Swarm (¡978); Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (¡979); Meteor
TV series. Interestingly, although the original Dirty Dozen (¡979); City on Fire (¡979); Airplane! (¡980); When Time Ran
spawned a host of imitators in the late ¡960s (e.g., The Devil’s Out… (aka Earth’s Final Fury) (¡980); Airplane 2: The Sequel
Brigade, A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die), the plot was borrowed (¡982); The Night the Bridge Fell Down (¡983 TVM)
from Roger Corman’s ¡964 quickie The Secret Invasion. See also
Television Movie Sequels to Theatrical Films. Disguises
The Dirty Dozen (¡967); The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission The cinema’s most renowned master of disguises was probably the
(¡985 TVM); The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (¡987 TVM);
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (¡988 TVM)
murderer in John Huston’s stylish murder mystery The List of
Adrian Messenger. The film employed an interesting gimmick too,
in that the crafty criminal (Kirk Douglas) was flanked by four
Dirty Harry heavily-disguised, heavyweight performers (Frank Sinatra, Tony
Clint Eastwood created San Francisco police inspector Harry Curtis, Robert Mitchum, and Burt Lancaster). Rod Steiger wore
Callahan, a ruthless distributor of justice, in Don Siegel’s influen- all the disguises himself as the psychotic murderer in No Way to
tial ¡97¡ action picture Dirty Harry. Armed with his trademark Treat a Lady, while Tony Curtis played a nice guy — and a real-
.44 magnum pistol, Eastwood/Callahan became the perfect anti- life disguise specialist — in ¡960’s The Great Impostor. Several per-
hero for the ¡970s, reassuring the public that criminals above the formers have disguised themselves as the opposite sex for extended
law could — and would — be punished. Not surprisingly, the char- periods. Ginger Rogers tried to pass for a boy to save on train fare
acter mellowed as the series progressed, with Harry even teaming in The Major and the Minor (¡942), while Barbra Streisand did it
up with a female partner (Tyne Daly) in The Enforcer. Ironically, to get an education in Yentl (¡983). Her charade ran into several
 DOGS 63

complications when she became engaged to Amy Irving and fell and ever-dependable Kenneth More. But character actor James
in love with best friend Mandy Patinkin. Liv Ullmann experi- Robertson Justice, as the blusterous chief surgeon Sir Lancelot
enced a worse fate, however, when her male disguise was revealed Spratt, stole the show from them all. Bogarde and Justice teamed
in Pope Joan (¡972). As for male performers, Jack Lemmon and again in the follow-up, ¡955’s Doctor at Sea, which cast Dirk as
Tony Curtis (again) donned skirts, wigs, and high heels and joined a young ship’s physician romancing Brigitte Bardot while toler-
an all-girls’ band to elude gangsters in Billy Wilder’s Some Like ating the endless tirades of Captain Hogg ( Justice). The third
It Hot. Dustin Ho›man played an unemployed actor who became film, Doctor at Large (¡957), gave Justice (as Spratt again) more
a popular soap opera actress in Tootsie (¡982). Several performers screen time and set the pattern for the rest of the series. Whether
have disguised themselves as Charley’s Aunt in the various screen the handsome male lead was Bogarde, Leslie Phillips, or Michael
versions of Brandon Thomas’ play. In the Jungle Jim movie Mark Craig, the real star was always Justice. He consistently made the
of the Gorilla (¡950), Nazis hunting for gold disguised themselves Doctor films diverting entertainment. The ¡970 British TV series
as apes! Movie characters noted for their disguises include Sher- Doctor in the House lasted for three seasons. See also Hospitals.
lock Holmes (q.v.), Inspector Neilson ( John Barrymore) in the Doctor in the House (¡954); Doctor at Sea (¡955); Doctor at
Bulldog Drummond films (q.v.), and bumbling Inspector Large (¡957); Doctor in Love (¡960); Doctor in Distress (¡963); Doc-
Clouseau (see Pink Panther series). It is di‡cult to single out a tor in Clover (¡966); Doctor in Trouble (¡970)
best disguise, but Marlene Dietrich was hardly recognizable in a
key scene in Witness for the Prosecution (¡958) and Debra Winger Doctor Who see Who, Doctor
fooled a lot of movie-goers playing a male angel named Emmett
in ¡987’s Made in Heaven, going unbilled for her performance.
See also Darkman; Plastic Surgery. Dogs
Sylvia Scarlett (¡935); The Phantom Strikes Again (aka The Man’s best friend has enjoyed a long and prosperous film career,
Gaunt Stranger) (¡938); Hold That Co-ed (aka Hold That Girl) both as a supporting player and a major star. A German Shep-
(¡938); Charley’s Big-Hearted Aunt (¡940); Charley’s Aunt (aka herd named Rin Tin Tin became the first canine box-o‡ce at-
Charley’s American Aunt) (¡94¡); The Major and the Minor (¡942); I traction in silent films such as The Clash of the Wolves (¡924) and
Was a Mail War Bride (¡949); Mark of the Gorilla (¡950); The A Dog of the Regiment (¡930). He died in ¡932, although two of
Ringer (¡952); Where’s Charley? (¡952); Witness for the Prosecution
(¡958); Some Like It Hot (¡959); The Great Impostor (¡960); The his descendants went on to play the lead in the ¡954–59 TV se-
List of Adrian Messenger (¡963); No Way to Treat a Lady (¡968); ries The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Lassie (q.v.) eventually re-
Pope Joan (aka The Devil’s Impostor) (¡972); Sleuth (¡972); Triple placed Rinty as Hollywood’s top dog, but other canines have also
Echo (¡973); Toma (¡973 TVM); Tootsie (¡982); Yentl (¡983); Her starred in their own film series, including Rusty (q.v.) and Benji
Life as a Man (¡984 TVM); Just One of the Guys (¡985); Fletch (q.v.). Nick and Nora Charles’s little dog Asta stole her share of
(¡985); Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam (¡986); Soul scenes in The Thin Man (q.v.) films, as did Daisy in the Blondie
Man (¡986); He’s My Girl (¡987); Too Outrageous! (¡987); Darkman (q.v.) movies. Walt Disney Productions seemed to specialize in
(¡990); Little Sister (¡992); Mrs. Doubtfire (¡993); All Men Are Liars
(¡995); Twelfth Night: Or What You Will (¡996); The Saint (¡997); dog films in the late ¡950s and early ¡960s. Animated tales paired
Mulan (¡998); Big Momma’s House (2000) two unlikely dog lovers in ¡955’s Lady and the Tramp and let
loose the cinema’s biggest litter in ¡96¡’s ¡0¡ Dalmatians (although
District Attorney, Mr. technically, the two Dalmatian parents adopted most of those
puppies). Mouseketeer Tommy Kirk starred in the sentimental
Like many film series of the ¡940s, this one was adapted from a
boy-and-dog story Old Yeller (¡957) and its more upbeat sequel
hit radio show. However, Republic Pictures’ movies never
Savage Sam (¡962). Other Disney dogs include the Irish setter in
matched the popularity of the radio programs, which were based
Big Red (¡962), the three dogs (two good and one mean) in The
on the career of New York D.A. (and future presidential candi-
Incredible Journey (¡963), The Ugly Dachshund (¡966), and the an-
date) Thomas E. Dewey. Dennis O’Keefe played young P. Cad-
imated sni›er in The Fox and the Hound (¡98¡). Some of the
wallader Jones in ¡94¡’s Mr. District Attorney, which co-starred
screen’s most memorable dog pictures were derived from classic
Peter Lorre. James Ellison replaced O’Keefe in ¡94¡’s The Carter
canine books like Jack London’s Call of the Wild (¡935), Ouida’s
Case and John Hubbard played the role in ¡943’s Secrets of the Un-
A Dog of Flanders (¡959), Albert Peyton Terhune’s Lad: A Dog
derground. Although the series failed to catch on, O’Keefe re-
(¡962), Richard Adams’s The Plague Dogs (¡982), and, of course,
vived the role (though the character was now named Steve Ben-
Eric Knight’s venerable Lassie Come Home (¡943). Mongrels eas-
nett) in ¡946’s Mr. District Attorney. Following its failure, radio
ily outnumber any breed as the most popular dogs in the cinema.
show creator Edward C. Byron set his sights on television and pro-
Still, there have been a lot of German Shepherds — the Rin Tin
duced the ¡95¡-52 small-screen series Mr. District Attorney star-
Tin movies, the Rusty series, The Littlest Hobo, Kelly and Me, Won
ring Jay Jostyn. Following its cancellation, a ¡954 syndicated se-
Ton Ton, K-9, and We Think the World of You. And Doberman
ries with David Brian ran for a single season.
pinschers unexpectedly became the trendy dogs of the early ¡970s,
Mr. District Attorney (¡94¡); The Carter Case (¡94¡); Secrets of appearing in movies like They Only Kill Their Masters (¡972), The
the Underground (¡943); Mr. District Attorney (¡946)
Doberman Gang (¡972), The Daring Dobermans (¡973), and The
Amazing Dobermans (¡976). Not all dogs have been portrayed as
Doctor in the House Series man’s best friend. Cujo (¡983) was about a rabid Saint Bernard
This well-done, lightweight ¡954 comedy about British medical dead set on devouring Dee Wallace, while Dogs (¡976) and The
students featured rising star Dirk Bogarde, lovely Kay Kendall, Pack (¡977) were remarkably similar thrillers about humans being
64 DOINEL, ANTOINE

stalked by wild dogs. James Brolin played a man stranded Journey (¡993); Call of the Wild (¡993 TVM); To Dance with the
overnight in a department store — and at the mercy of vicious se- White Dog (¡993 TVM); Look Who’s Talking Now (¡993); Home-
curity dogs — in the ¡973 TV movie Trapped. Devil Dog: The ward Bound: The Incredible Journey (¡993); White Fang 2: Myth of
the White Wolf (¡994); Iron Will (¡994); Clean Slate (¡994); Eyes of
Hound of Hell (¡978) featured an evil, possessed pooch, while a
an Angel (aka The Tender) (¡994); Lassie (¡994); Far from Home:
vampire dog distinguished Dracula’s Dog (¡977). David Warner The Adventures of Yellow Dog (¡995); Babe (¡995); Balto (¡995);
may have encountered the most frightening of all movie dogs Fluke (¡995); Top Dog (¡995); ¡0¡ Dalmatians (¡996); All Dogs Go to
when he threatened the safety of the Antichrist in ¡976’s The Heaven 2 (¡996); Bad Moon (¡996); The Truth About Cats and Dogs
Omen. Canine fantasies have opted for a lighter tone. An ancient (¡996); Zeus and Roxanne (¡997); The Call of the Wild (¡997
spell periodically turned Tommy Kirk into a lovable sheepdog in TVM); Shiloh (¡997); Air Bud (¡997); Air Bud: Golden Receiver
¡959’s The Shaggy Dog. Dean Jones experienced a similar problem (¡998); You Lucky Dog (¡998 TVM); In the Doghouse (¡998 TVM);
Atomic Dog (¡998 TVM); My Magic Dog (¡998); Babe: Pig in the
in the ¡976 sequel The Shaggy D.A. A murdered German Shepard City (¡998); Soccer Dog: The Movie (¡998); Murder, She Purred (aka
returned to Earth as private eye Rex Shepard (Dick Powell) to find Murder, She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (1998 TVM); Lost and
his killer in ¡95¡’s hilarious You Never Can Tell. Oh, Heavenly Dog! Found (¡999); Bowfinger (¡999); Dog Park (¡999); A Dog of Flanders
(¡980) reversed the premise and lost the laughs, despite the pres- (¡999); Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (¡999); Dogmatic (1999 TVM); The
ence of Chevy Chase and Benji. A cast of humans portrayed the Duke (1999); My Dog Skip (1999); Ghost Dog: The Way of the
anxious dogs awaiting either new homes or death in Robert Samurai (2000)
Downey’s o›-the-wall satire Pound (¡970). A crafty pup named
Blood communicated telepathetically with his dense human com- Doinel, Antoine
panion (Don Johnson) in the post-apocalypse satire A Boy and His French director François Tru›aut introduced his cinematic alter
Dog (¡975). And henpecked husband Walter Abel found solace ego as an imaginative, troublemaking adolescent in ¡959’s The
with a talking dog in The Fabulous Joe (¡947). See also Benji; 400 Blows. The film also marked Tru›aut’s feature film debut —
Lassie; Rusty; The Shaggy Dog Series; Watchers Series. an impressive one that earned him a Grand Prix for direction at
The Clash of the Wolves (¡924); A Dog of the Regiment (¡930); the Cannes Film Festival and contributed much to the success of
Skippy (¡93¡); Lucky Dog (¡933); The Kennel Murder Case (¡933); the French “New Wave” films of the ¡960s. Jean-Pierre Leaud
Call of the Wild (¡935); The Voice of Bugle Ann (¡936); Storm in a played Antoine, a ¡4-year-old who steals and lies in defiance of
Teacup (¡936); The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡939); The Biscuit adults, particularly his neglectful parents. He is finally sent to a
Eater (¡940); Lassie Come Home (¡943); It Shouldn’t Happen to a reform school for his theft of a typewriter, but manages to escape.
Dog (¡946); The Tender Years (¡947); The Fabulous Joe (¡947); The However, Tru›aut and Leaud brought Antoine back and gave
Emperor’s Waltz (¡948); You Never Can Tell (¡95¡); Behave Yourself!
(¡95¡); Bloodhounds of Broadway (¡952); Lady and the Tramp him his first girlfriend in the “Antoine and Colette” episode in the
(¡955); It’s a Dog’s Life (aka Bar Sinister) (¡955); Goodbye My Lady ¡962 anthology Love at Twenty. In ¡968’s Stolen Kisses, Antoine
(¡956); Kelly and Me (¡957); Old Yeller (¡957); The Man Who gets kicked out of the Army, becomes a night watchman, gets
Wagged His Tail (¡957); The Littlest Hobo (¡958); A Dog of Flanders fired, and joins a detective agency. More importantly, he falls in
(¡959); The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡959); The Shaggy Dog love with Christine, who rejects him until he becomes interested
(¡959); The Silent Call (¡96¡); Greyfriars Bobby (¡96¡); ¡0¡ Dalma- in an older woman. Their subsequent marriage comes apart, de-
tians (¡96¡); Big Red (¡962); Savage Sam (¡962); Lad: A Dog (¡962);
spite the birth of a son, in ¡970’s Bed and Board. They are divorced
Wild and Wonderful (¡963); The Incredible Journey (¡963); Git
(¡965); The Ugly Dachshund (¡966); The Spy with a Cold Nose at the beginning of ¡979’s Love on the Run, a reflective closing
(¡966); Alexander (¡968); Pound (¡970); The Aristocats (¡970); They episode combining new footage with clips from the four previ-
Only Kill Their Masters (¡972); Call of the Wild (¡972); Sounder ous films. Leaud was the only actor to portray Antoine Doinel.
(¡972); White Fang (¡972); The Doberman Gang (¡972); The Dar- The 400 Blows (aka Les Quatre Cents Coups) (¡959); Love at
ing Dobermans (¡973); Trapped (¡973 TVM); Where the Red Fern Twenty (aka L’Amour À Vingt Ans) (¡962); Stolen Kisses (aka Baiser
Grows (¡974); Digby-The Biggest Dog in the World (¡974); A Boy Volés) (¡968); Bed and Board (aka Domicile Conjugal) (¡970); Love
and His Dog (¡975); The Great Adventure (¡975); Dogpound Shu·e on the Run (aka L’Amour En Fuite) (¡979)
(aka Spot) (¡975); The Omen (¡976); Call of the Wild (¡976 TVM);
Dogs (¡976); Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (¡976);
The Amazing Dobermans (¡976); The Shaggy D.A. (¡976); The Pack Dolls
(aka The Long Dark Night) (¡977); Dracula’s Dog (aka Zoltan, Horror and fantasy filmmakers have found the most imaginative
Hound of Hell) (¡977); Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (¡978 TVM); uses for dolls. A dying killer transferred his soul into a happy-
C.H.O.M.P.S. (¡979); The Black Marble (¡980); Oh, Heavenly Dog! looking “Chucky” doll in Tom Holland’s ¡988 sleeper hit Child’s
(¡980); The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (aka Kavik, the Wolf
Play (q.v.). Amazingly, the film’s characters — and the movie-
Dog) (¡980); The Fox and the Hound (¡98¡); Rottweiler (aka Dogs of
Hell) (¡98¡); The Plague Dogs (¡982); Hear No Evil (¡982 TVM); going public — readily took to the idea of a little doll running
Skeezer (¡982 TVM); White Dog (¡982); Cujo (¡983); Second Sight: around an apartment wielding a knife and shouting profanities.
A Love Story (¡984 TVM); Love Leads the Way (¡984 TVM); Ham- A living doll also harassed Karen Black in the most chilling seg-
bone and Hillie (¡984); Gus Brown and Midnight Brewster (¡985 ment of ¡975’s Trilogy of Terror. Other murder-minded dolls
TVM); A Cry in the Dark (¡988); Oliver and Company (¡988); stalked human prey in Cathy’s Curse, a ¡977 Exorcist clone about
Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw (¡988); Watchers (¡988); a possessed rag doll, and in cult director Stuart Gordon’s Dolls
K-9 (¡989); We Think the World of You (¡989); Turner and Hooch
(¡987). Voodoo dolls have cropped up in several films, though
(¡989); The Adventures of Milo and Otis (¡989); All Dogs Go to
Heaven (¡989); Watchers 2 (¡990); Chips, the War Dog (¡990 none to better e›ect than in ¡962’s Burn, Witch, Burn. Teen nerds
TVM); Baxter (¡990); White Fang (¡99¡); Rover Dangerfield (¡99¡); Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith turned a Barbie
Bingo (¡99¡); Beethoven (¡992); Homeward Bound: The Incredible doll into fetching Kelly LeBrock in the ¡985 comedy Weird
 DRACULA 65

Science. The title murderer in The Psychopath (¡966) left dolls as prints were destroyed. In ¡930, Universal and Tod Browning
a calling card at the scene of his crimes. In non-horror films, dolls signed horror great Lon Chaney for the title role in a film version
have been used as unlikely hiding places. Narcotic drugs were of John Balderston and Hamilton Deane’s popular stage play.
hidden in dolls in the movie version of the Broadway play Wait However, Chaney died unexpectedly and the role went to Bela
Until Dark (¡967) and in the ¡96¡ drive-in picture Wild Youth. Lugosi, a screen unknown who had played Count Dracula on
In one of his best performances, Robert Mitchum pursued two stage. Lugosi’s compelling presence and Browning’s moody di-
children and a doll filled with money in ¡955’s The Night of the rection made Dracula a great success (it has dated rather poorly).
Hunter, Charles Laughton’s haunting fable of good vs. evil. De- Interestingly, a Spanish-language version was filmed concurrently
spite its title, the dolls in Tod Browning’s The Devil-Doll (¡936) on the same sets. It starred Carlos Villarias and ran 29 minutes
were really shrunken people. The most bizarre doll film was also longer. Although Universal followed Browning’s Dracula with
one of the first, ¡907’s The Doll’s Revenge. It was about a little boy several popular horror films (Frankenstein, etc.), a sequel did not
who destroys his sister’s doll, only to have the parts reassemble appear until ¡936’s Dracula’s Daughter. An o›beat love story with
themselves. The doll then grew to an “alarming” size, was joined some fine performances, this sequel attracted little attention and
by another doll, and the two of them pulled the wicked boy apart was Universal’s last attempt at a first-class vampire film. Seven
and devoured him. Both The Incredible Shrinking Man (¡957) years later, Lon Chaney, Jr., turned up as Count Alucard (spell it
and The Incredible Shrinking Woman (¡98¡) used doll houses for backwards) in Robert Siodmak’s lively programmer Son of Drac-
temporary residences. See also Child’s Play Series; Puppets. ula. Despite Chaney’s miscasting, this unusual entry had its share
The Doll’s Revenge (¡907); Black Doll (¡938); Night of the of memorable moments — notably Dracula’s transformation into
Hunter (¡955); Wild Youth (aka Naked Youth) (¡96¡); Burn, Witch, mist as his co‡n floated toward the surface in a swamp. The
Burn (aka Night of the Eagle) (¡962); Jack the Giant Killer (¡962); Count’s Universal career ended with bit parts in ¡944’s House of
The Doll (¡963); The Psychopath (¡966); Wait Until Dark (¡967); Frankenstein, ¡945’s House of Dracula (played by John Carradine
Trilogy of Terror (¡975 TVM); Cathy’s Curse (aka Cauchemares) in both), and ¡948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (in
(¡977); The Dollmaker (¡984 TVM); Weird Science (¡985); River’s
Edge (¡986); Dolls (¡987); Child’s Play (¡988); Dolly Dearest (¡99¡); which Lugosi reprised his interpretation). Except for the ¡953
The Tommyknockers (¡993 TVM); The Baby Doll Murders (¡993); Turkish film Dracula Istanbulda, Dracula lay dormant for almost
Secrets in the Attic (¡993); The Inkwell (¡994); Toy Story (¡995); a decade. Then, Hammer Films resurrected him with style with
Amityville Dollhouse (¡996); Blood Dolls (¡999); Toy Story 2 (¡999); their ¡958 classic Horror of Dracula. As embodied by tall, im-
Life Size (2000 TVM) posing Christopher Lee, Dracula was a vicious, powerful, hand-
some vampire whose cunning was matched only by his brilliant
Dolphins adversary Van Helsing (superbly played by Peter Cushing). The
Flipper, the biggest dolphin star, made the theatrical features Hammer version was a smash, but Lee (and the Count himself )
Flipper (¡963) and Flipper’s New Adventure (¡964) before settling were oddly missing from the equally-memorable sequel Brides of
into a ¡964–68 TV series. Mitzi the Dolphin (who died of a heart Dracula (¡960). Lee was back in ¡966’s Dracula, Prince of Dark-
attack in ¡97¡ at the age of 22) played Flipper on the big screen. ness, but his role was brief and, amazingly, he had no dialogue.
Suzy the Dolphin replaced her in the TV version. A Flipper re- Except for the atmospheric Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
make surfaced in ¡996, no doubt inspired by the success of the (¡968), the subsequent Hammer Dracula films were run-of-the-
previous year’s killer whale family film Free Willy. It featured Luke mill vampire features. Technically, the last was ¡974’s Legend of
Halpin, who appeared in the earlier Flipper movies and the TV the Seven Golden Vampires (aka The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula),
series, in a cameo as a fisherman. In ¡973’s Day of the Dolphin, but Lee’s absence and an emphasis on martial arts made this
George C. Scott and wife Trish Van Devere taught dolphins how hardly seem like a Dracula picture. In between the Hammer en-
to speak rudimentary English (“Fa loves pa!”). Don Knotts played tries, Lee also appeared as Dracula in Jesus Franco’s Count Drac-
a meek bookkeeper who becomes an animated dolphin and joins ula (¡97¡), a fairly literal adaptation of Stoker’s book, and a French
the Navy in the charmless ¡964 fantasy The Incredible Mr. Limpet. comedy Dracula and Son (¡976). Although Lee and Lugosi were
A deep sea diver jilted Rosanna Arquette for a pair of playful dol- the screen’s most famous Draculas, a host of other actors have es-
phins in ¡988’s The Big Blue. Zeus the dog befriended Roxanne sayed the role. The usually vicious Jack Palance emphasized the
the dolphin in the ¡997 family film Zeus and Roxanne. See also Count’s sympathetic side in Dan Curtis’ handsome ¡973 TV
Fish; Sharks; Whales. movie. PBS’s Count Dracula (¡978) featured Louis Jourdan in an
Boy on a Dolphin (¡957); Flipper (¡963); Flipper’s New Adven- aristocratic, sensual interpretation. Klaus Kinski was disturbing
ture (¡964); The Incredible Mr. Limpet (¡964); Island of the Blue (and quite “unsensual”) in Werner Herzog’s ¡978 remake of Nos-
Dolphins (¡964); Day of the Dolphin (¡973); The Big Blue (¡988); feratu, while Frank Langella was surprisingly forgettable recreat-
Splash Too (¡988 TVM); Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (¡994); Flipper ing his Broadway performance in ¡979’s big-budgeted Dracula.
(¡996); Zeus and Roxanne (¡997) In ¡992, Francis Ford Coppola mounted the stylish Bram Stoker’s
Dracula, which restored much of the novel’s plot, although the
Dracula Dracula-Mina romance would have shocked Stoker. Mel Brooks
Although Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire novel was published crafted a funny, but belated spoof three years later with Dracula:
in ¡897, a film version was not attempted until F.W. Murnau’s Dead and Loving It. On television, Michael Nouri played the
Nosferatu appeared in ¡922. To avoid royalty payments, Murnau Count in the “The Curse of Dracula” segment of the NBC series
never mentioned Dracula by name. Stoker’s widow nevertheless Cli›hangers and Geordie Johnson played him in the syndicated
sued on the grounds of copyright infringement and some of the Dracula: The Series. See also Vampires.
66 DRAGONS

UNIVERSAL’S DRACULA FILMS: Dracula (¡93¡) (Bela Lugosi); on a dragon-slaying scam. The film’s Oscar-nominated special
Dracula’s Daughter (¡936) (Gloria Holden as the daughter); Son of e›ects provided Draco the dragon with an impressive emotional
Dracula (¡943) (Lon Chaney, Jr.); House of Dracula (¡945) ( John range. Pete’s Dragon, a ¡977 live action/animation film, also
Carradine); House of Frankenstein (aka Chamber of Horrors) (¡944)
starred a friendly dragon (animated) who helps a young boy (live
(Carradine); Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948) (Lugosi)
action) find a loving home. The dragon Elliott, a rather plump
HAMMER’S DRACULA FILMS: Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula)
creature with tiny wings, could make himself invisible — a rare
(¡958) (Christopher Lee); Brides of Dracula (¡960) (actually, the
Count is never seen); Dracula, Prince of Darkness (¡964) (Lee); trait for his species. In contrast to likable Elliott, Disney’s Drag-
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (¡968) (Lee); Taste the Blood of onslayer (¡98¡) featured a hideous, fire-breathing dragon appeased
Dracula (¡970) (Lee); Scars of Dracula (¡970) (Lee); Dracula A.D. only by human sacrifice. The special e›ects, also Oscar-nomi-
¡972 (aka Dracula Today) (¡972) (Lee); The Satanic Rites of Dracula nated, compare favorably with Dragonheart and are enhanced by
(aka Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride; Count Dracula Is Alive imaginative set design (especially the dragon’s lair) and a grim
and Well and Living in London) (¡973) (Lee); The Legend of the fairy tale atomosphere. In terms of sheer opulence, Dragonslayer
Seven Golden Vampires (aka The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula)
rates as the dragon’s finest hour. As for contemporary dragons,
(¡974) ( John Forbes Robertson)
there really are none. One could argue that Q the Winged Serpent
OTHER DRACULA FILMS: Nosferatu (¡922) (Max Schreck); (¡982) had many dragon-like qualities, but technically he was the
Spanish Dracula (¡93¡) (Carlos Villarias); Dracula Istanbulda (¡953)
(Atif Kaptan); Curse of Dracula (aka Return of Dracula; The Fantas- ancient bird-god Quetzalcoatl. Likewise, the Japanese monster
tic Disappearing Man) (¡958) (Francis Lederer); Billy the Kid vs. Ghidrah (q.v.) boasted three heads, breathed fire, and flew. But
Dracula (¡965) (Carradine); Mad Monster Party? (¡967) (puppet); whether he or any of his Japanese monster companions were drag-
Santo and Dracula’s Treasure (aka Santo en el Tesoro de Drácula; El ons or unidentified dinosaurs remains a source of debate. The
Vampiro y el Sexo) (¡968) (Aldo Monti); The Man Who Came from Philo Vance (q.v.) murder mystery The Dragon Murder Case
Ummo (aka El Hombre Que Vino de Ummo; Assignment Terror; Los (¡934) revolved around a “dragon” pool where a swimmer mys-
Monstruos Del Terror; Dracula vs. Frankenstein) (¡970) (Angel del teriously disappeared. Despite the presence of unusual claw prints
Pozo); Count Dracula (¡97¡) (Christopher Lee); Dracula vs.
Frankenstein (aka Blood of Frankenstein; The Revenge of Dracula; and much talk about dragons, Vance exposed a human murderer.
They’re Coming to Get You) (¡97¡) (Zandor Vorkov); Blacula (¡972) The medieval dragon in ¡986’s Star Knight turned out to be an
(Charles Macaulay); Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the alien spaceship. See also Dinosaurs; Sea Serpents.
Wolf Man (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre The Niebelungen (¡924); The Reluctant Dragon (¡94¡); The
Lobo) (¡972) (Aldo Monti); Dracula’s Great Love (aka El Grande Sword and the Dragon (aka Ilya Mourometz) (¡956); The Seventh
Amore del Conde Dracula) (¡972) (Paul Naschy); Lake of Dracula Voyage of Sinbad (¡958); Sleeping Beauty (¡959); Goliath and the
(aka Choisu Me) (¡972) (Mori Kishida); Dracula (¡973 TVM) Dragon (¡960); Jack the Giant Killer (¡962); The Magic Sword
( Jack Palance); Lady Dracula (aka Legendary Curse of Lemora; (¡962); The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (¡962); Captain
Lemora, the Lady Dracula) (¡973) (Leslie Gilb); Blood for Dracula Sinbad (¡963); Jason and the Argonauts (¡963); Ghidrah the Three-
(aka Andy Warhol’s Dracula) (¡974) (Udo Kier); Vampira (aka Old Headed Monster (aka The Greatest Battle on Earth; Sandai Kaiju
Dracula) (¡975) (David Niven); Dracula and Son (¡976) (Lee); Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) (¡965); Pete’s Dragon (¡977); Jabberwocky
Nocturna (¡978) (Carradine); Nosferatu (¡978) (Klaus Kinski); (¡977); Dragonslayer (¡98¡); The NeverEnding Story (aka Die Un-
Count Dracula (¡978 TVM) (Louis Jourdan); Dracula (¡979) endliche Geschichte) (¡984); Star Knight (aka The Knight of the
(Frank Langella); The True Life of Dracula (¡979) (Stefan Sileanu); Dragon) (¡986); Erik the Viking (¡989); The Pagemaster (¡994);
Dracula’s Last Rites (¡980) (Gerald Fielding); The Monster Club Dragonworld (¡994); Dragonheart (¡996); Merlin (¡998 TVM);
(¡987) (Duncan Regehr); Waxwork (¡988) (Miles O’Kee›e); Bram Mulan (¡998); Arabian Nights (2000 TVM)
Stoker’s Dracula (¡992) (Gary Oldham); Dracula Rising (¡993)
(Christopher Atkins); Nadja (¡994) (Peter Fonda); Dracula: Dead
and Loving It (¡995) (Leslie Nielsen); The Creeps (¡997) (Phil Fon- Dreams
dacaro) Nightmares, daydreams, dreams that come true —filmmakers have
used dreams in a variety of ways in musicals, comedies, thrillers,
Dragons and horror films. Musical dream sequences range from the ballet
The dragon has made little impact as a cinematic monster, being number in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Tales of
relegated principally to supporting roles. A splendid animated Ho›man (¡95¡) to the Jeanette McDonald–Nelson Eddy duets in
dragon dominated the fiery climax of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty I Married an Angel (¡942). Comedy films tend to favor daydream
(¡959), but his screen time was all too short. The same can be said sequences as evidenced by Sherlock, Jr. (¡924), The Secret Life of
of The Reluctant Dragon (¡94¡), a documentary about the Disney Walter Mitty (¡947), Dream Girl (¡948), and A Christmas Story
Studios which featured a short cartoon version of Kenneth Gra- (¡983). The Alfred Hitchcock suspense film Spellbound (¡945)
hame’s story. Special e›ects genius Ray Harryhausen devised very contains a bizarre dream sequence that was partially designed by
life-like dragons for ¡958’s The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and artist Salvador Dali. Other thrillers with memorable dream scenes
¡963’s Jason and the Argonauts. After Jason slew the seven-headed include the Peter Lorre mystery Stranger on the Third Floor (¡939),
hydra in the latter film, its teeth turned into skeleton warriors Fear in the Night (¡947), and In Dreams (¡999). In the latter film,
which promptly attacked the mythological hero. A year earlier, Annette Bening played a woman whose dreams come true — a
fairy-tale protagonist Jack battled a sorcerer-turned-dragon in problem that also plagued dreamers in Dead of Night (¡945), In-
the Harryhausen-inspired fantasy Jack the Giant Killer. Only three vaders from Mars (¡953), The Night My Number Came Up (¡955),
films have given dragons what could be called leading roles. Drag- and The Lathe of Heaven (¡980). Sleeping people have had their
onheart (¡996) featured a lonely dragon (voiced by Sean Con- dreams inhabited by unwanted guests in Dreamscape (¡984),
nery) who partners with an out-of-work knight (Dennis Quaid) Dream Demon (¡988), and the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.
 DRUMMOND, BULLDOG 67

In the one-of-a-kind French fantasy The City of Lost Children vorites as manipulated addicts. Not surprisingly, the track record
(¡995), an evil scientist who cannot dream tries to “steal” the of earlier drug addiction pictures has been riddled with similar
dreams of children. Finally, movies that consist almost entirely of failures. The Cocaine Fiends (¡936) was ignored upon its initial re-
one extended dream sequence include The Wizard of Oz (¡939), lease and promoted as camp in the early ¡970s along with Reefer
The Woman in the Window (¡944), The Horn Blows at Midnight Madness (¡936). Yet, Cocaine Fiends contained little material that
(¡945), Dead of Night (¡945), Invaders from Mars (¡953), and The was even unintentionally funny, being a bleak tale of a young girl
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (¡953). Of course, sometimes it can be whose boyfriend hooks her, and eventually her brother too, on
di‡cult to tell where the dream ends and reality begins, a ques- dope. Almost two decades later, producer-director Otto Pre-
tion posed in intriguing films such as The Deadly Dream (¡97¡), minger tumbled censorship barriers with his powerful, highly
Phantasm (¡979) and The Company of Wolves (¡985). See also successful The Man with the Golden Arm (¡955). Frank Sinatra,
Nightmare on Elm Street Series. in his finest performance, played Frankie Machine, a drummer
Sherlock, Jr. (¡924); Delicious (¡93¡); Bulldog Drummond’s Se- who turns to drugs to escape pressure. A scene of Sinatra “shoot-
cret Police (¡939); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); Stranger on the Third ing up” was deleted when the film was originally shown in Mary-
Floor (¡940); I Married an Angel (¡942); The Crime Doctor’s land (a court ruling eventually restored it). In the wake of Golden
Strangest Case (¡943); Two Girls and a Sailor (¡944); The Woman in Arm, smaller anti-drug films were released, but with little impact.
the Window (¡944); The Horn Blows at Midnight (¡945); Spellbound Cameron Mitchell played boxer-turned-addict Barney Ross in
(¡945); Dead of Night (¡945); Fear in the Night (¡947); The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty (¡947); Dream Girl (¡948); The Young and the Monkey on My Back (¡957). Teen heartthrob James Darren fell in
Damned (aka Los Olvidados) (¡950); Tales of Ho›man (¡95¡); Glen with the wrong crowd south of the border in The Tijuana Story
or Glenda? (aka I Changed My Sex; I Led Two Lives; He or She?) (¡957). And Peter Graves battled narcotics use among truckers in
(¡953); Invaders from Mars (¡953); The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T Death in Small Doses (¡957). Another wave of addiction movies
(¡953); Oklahoma! (¡955); Artists and Models (¡955); The Night My began in the early ¡970s, following the gradual decline of drug
Number Came Up (¡955); Freud (¡962); Shock Corridor (¡963); The culture hits like Roger Corman’s The Trip (¡967). The most e›ec-
Night Walker (¡964); Nightmare (¡964); Finnegans Wake (¡965); tive was probably The Panic in Needle Park (¡97¡) which starred
The Projectionist (¡97¡); The Deadly Dream (¡97¡ TVM); Phantasm
(¡979); The Lathe of Heaven (¡980 TVM); The Sender (¡982); a pre-Godfather Al Pacino as a heroin addict. Although drug ad-
Echoes (¡983); A Christmas Story (¡983); Dreamscape (¡984); Night- diction would seem to have little appeal as a comedy subject, cult
mare on Elm Street (¡984); The Company of Wolves (¡985); Dream director Larry Cohen broached the subject in The Stu› (¡985),
Lover (¡986); Dream Demon (¡988); Paperhouse (¡989); Little Nemo: an uncomfortable satire about an addictive food. Stand-up comic
Adventures of Slumberland (¡992); Dream Lover (¡994); The City of Richard Pryor discussed his near-death after freebasing in his
Lost Children (¡995); Tall Tale (¡995); In Dreams (¡999) ¡982 concert film Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip. A fiction-
alized version of the incident also came into play in Pryor’s semi-
Drew, Nancy autobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (¡986). See
Teenage sleuth Nancy Drew has appeared in countless books by also Alcoholism.
“Carolyn Keene” (a pseudonym for numerous authors who The Cocaine Fiends (¡936); Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Chil-
worked for supervising writers Edward Stratemeyer and daugh- dren; The Burning Question; The Dope Addict; Doped Youth; Love
ter Harriet Adams). Yet, her screen career was a surprisingly brief Madness) (¡936); The Man with the Golden Arm (¡955); A Hatful of
one, with Bonita Granville playing her in four formula B-films. Rain (¡957); Death in Small Doses (¡957); Monkey on My Back
Pamela Sue Martin starred in the ¡977-78 TV series The Nancy (¡957); The Tijuana Story (¡957); The Gene Krupa Story (¡959);
Corridors of Blood (aka The Doctor from Seven Dials) (¡958); Believe
Drew Mysteries and Janet Louise Johnson took over the role when
in Me (¡97¡); Dusty and Sweets McGee (¡97¡); The Panic in Needle
that show merged into The Hardy Boys Mysteries during the ¡978- Park (¡97¡); Born to Win (¡97¡); Go Ask Alice (¡973 TVM); The
79 season. Death of Richie (aka Richie) (¡977 TVM); A Hero Ain’t Nothing but
Nancy Drew, Detective (¡938); Nancy Drew and the Hidden a Sandwich (¡978); A Cry for Love (¡980 TVM); Angel Dusted (¡98¡
Staircase (¡939); Nancy Drew-Reporter (¡939); Nancy Drew-Trou- TVM); I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (¡982); Desperate Lives (¡982
bleshooter (¡939) TVM); Scarface (¡983); Cocaine: One Man’s Seduction (¡983
TVM); Torchlight (¡984); The Stu› (¡985); Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life
Drug Addiction Is Calling (¡986); Cracked Up (¡987 TVM); Less Than Zero (¡987);
The Boost (¡988); Clean and Sober (¡988); Bright Lights, Big City
The United States’ e›orts to curb its drug addiction problems in (¡988); Bird (¡988); Drugstore Cowboy (¡989); Jumpin’ at the Bone-
the late ¡980s brought the subject unprecedented attention in the yard (¡99¡); Seeds of Tragedy (¡99¡ TVM); Rush (¡99¡); Naked
cinema. No fewer than six major ¡987-88 films portrayed the Lunch (¡99¡); Light Sleeper (¡992); Darkness Before Dawn (¡993
dangers of cocaine, crack, and other narcotics. Comedian Michael TVM); Blind Spot (¡993 TVM); Sweet Nothing (¡995); Chasing the
Keaton turned serious as a successful businessman forced to enter Dragon (¡996 TVM); Her Last Chance (¡996 TVM); Trainspotting
(¡996); Normal Life (¡996); A Brother’s Kiss (¡997); Playing God
a clinic for treatment in Clean and Sober (¡988). James Woods
(¡997); Dream with the Fishes (¡997); Gridlock’d (¡997); Permanent
tackled a similar role, with his typical intensity, in the same year’s Midnight (¡998)
The Boost. Even Michael J. Fox played against type as a nice guy
turned druggie in Bright Lights, Big City (¡988). Yet, despite the
presence of these big-name stars, all three films crashed at the box- Drummond, Bulldog
o‡ce, as did Less Than Zero (¡987) and Bird (¡988). Faced with Although not a detective by trade, Captain Hugh “Bulldog”
grim nightly newscasts of drug-related crimes, it’s likely that Drummond was always more than willing to crack a mystery,
American moviegoers preferred to avoid seeing their screen fa- particularly if a young attractive woman was involved. The
68 DUPREE, PAULA (THE APE WOMAN)

novels (and a play) were written by H.C. (Sapper) McNeile in the Paula became jealous when Milburn Stone (Doc on Gunsmoke)
¡920s. Carlyle Blackwell and Jack Buchanan portrayed Drum- failed to return her a›ections. That’s when she turned into a mur-
mond in the first screen adaptations in ¡922 and ¡925, respec- derous half-ape/half-woman (again, the plotline owes much to
tively. But the ideal Drummond proved to be Ronald Colman, Cat People and even the earlier Island of Lost Souls). Paula gets
who played the gentleman detective in ¡929’s Bulldog Drummond gunned down during a circus stampede, but she nevertheless ap-
(adapted from the play) and ¡934’s Bulldog Drummond Strikes peared in two sequels, played by Acquanetta again in Jungle
Back. The impeccable Colman brought flair and a sense of fun to Woman (¡944) and by Vicky Lane in Jungle Captive (¡945). Nei-
the part, and was ably assisted by Claud Allister or Charles But- ther matched the tone of the original, one of Edward Dmytryk’s
terworth as Drummond’s chum Algy. Other notable actors (e.g., last B-films before he made his mark with ¡944’s Murder, My
Ray Milland and Ralph Richardson) played Drummond on their Sweet. Sadly, Universal never paired Paula Dupree with the Wolf
way to stardom, but an o‡cial series did not get underway until Man — they would have made an interesting couple. See also Apes
¡937. During the next three years, American John Howard made and Monkeys; Humanimals.
seven fast-moving, but undistinguished series entries with Regi- Captive Wild Woman (¡943); Jungle Woman (¡944); Jungle
nald Denny as Algy and E. E. Clive as his butler. The first three Captive (¡945)
Howard films also featured John Barrymore, whose career was
floundering, as a Scotland Yard inspector who specialized in dis- Durango Kid
guises. The Howard series ended with Hugh’s marriage to his
Charles Startlett portrayed this mysterious masked rider in a long-
longtime fiancée Phyllis in Bulldog Drummond’s Bride. Still,
running “B” Western series for Columbia. Often described as a
Drummond showed up as a bachelor eight years later in pictures
Robin Hood of the West, the Durango Kid used his guns more
starring Ron Randell and Tom Conway (both detective movie
often than his guitar — thus distinguishing himself from his con-
veterans). Walter Pidgeon played a middle-aged Drummond with
temporaries, singing cowboys like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and
a prized pig in ¡95¡’s Calling Bulldog Drummond. And in ¡967,
Tex Ritter. Prior to acting, Startlett played football at Dartmouth,
dashing Richard Johnson updated the character in the Bondian
where he appeared as an extra in the ¡926 Richard Dix film The
adventure Deadlier Than the Male. Johnson’s Drummond bore lit-
Quarterback. The Durango Kid series ended when Startlett retired
tle resemblance to McNeile’s original but the movie did well
in ¡953.
enough to warrant a ¡97¡ sequel Some Girls Do. It performed
poorly at the box-o‡ce and killed o› the series. However, Bull- The Durango Kid (¡940); Return of the Durango Kid (¡945);
Both Barrels Blazing (¡945); Rustlers of the Badlands (¡945); Blazing
shot, an unexpected British spoof, surfaced in ¡982. Its hero, Cap-
the Western Trail (¡945); Outlaws of the Rockies (¡945); Lawless Em-
tain Hugh “Bullshot” Crummond, was played by Alan Shearman, pire (¡945); Frontier Gun Law (¡946); Roaring Rangers (¡946); Gun-
who co-adapted his own stage play. ning for Vengeance (¡946); Galloping Thunder (¡946); Two-Fisted
Bulldog Drummond (¡929) (Ronald Colman); Temple Tower Stranger (¡946); The Desert Horseman (¡946); Heading West (¡946);
(¡930) (Kenneth McKenna); Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back Landrush (¡946); Terror Trail (¡946); The Fighting Frontiersman
(¡934) (Colman); The Return of Bulldog Drummond (¡934) (Ralph (¡946); South of the Chisholm Trail (¡947); The Lone Hand Texan
Richardson); Bulldog Jack (aka Alias Bulldog Drummond) (¡935) (¡947); West of Dodge City (¡947); Law of the Canyon (¡947);
(Atholl Fleming); Bulldog Drummond at Bay (¡937) ( John Lodge); Prairie Raiders (¡947); The Stranger from Ponca City (¡947); Riders
Bulldog Drummond Escapes (¡937) (Ray Milland); Bulldog Drum- of the Lone Star (¡947); Buckaroo from Powder River (¡947); Last
mond Comes Back (¡937) ( John Howard); Bulldog Drummond’s Re- Days of Boot Hill (¡947); Six Gun Law (¡948); Phantom Valley
venge (¡937) (Howard); Arrest Bulldog Drummond (¡938) (¡948); West of Sonora (¡948); Whirlwind Raiders (¡948); Blazing
(Howard); Bulldog Drummond in Africa (¡938) (Howard); Bulldog Across the Pecos (¡948); Trail to Laredo (¡948); El Dorado Pass
Drummond’s Peril (¡938) (Howard); Bulldog Drummond’s Bride (¡948); Quick on the Trigger (¡948); Challenge of the Range (¡949);
(¡939) (Howard); Bulldog Drummond’s Secret Police (¡939) Laramie (¡949); The Blazing Trail (¡949); South of Death Valley
(Howard); Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (¡947) (Ron Randell); (¡949); Bandits of Eldorado (¡949); Desert Vigilante (¡949); Horse-
Bulldog Drummond at Bay (¡947) (Randell); The Challenge (¡948) men of the Sierras (¡949); Renegades of the Sage (¡949); Trail of the
(Tom Conway); Thirteen Lead Solders (¡948) (Conway); Calling Rustlers (¡950); Outcast of Black Mesa (¡950); Texas Dynamo (¡950);
Bulldog Drummond (¡95¡) (Walter Pidgeon); Deadlier Than the Streets of Ghost Town (¡950); Across the Badlands (¡950); Raiders of
Male (¡967) (Richard Johnson); Some Girls Do (¡97¡) ( Johnson); Tomahawk Creek (¡950); Lightning Guns (¡950); Frontier Outpost
Bullshot (¡982) (Alan Shearman) (¡950); Prairie Roundup (¡95¡); Ridin’ the Outlaw Trail (¡95¡); Fort
Savage Raiders (¡95¡); Snake River Desperadoes (¡95¡); Bonanza
Town (¡95¡); Cyclone Fury (¡95¡); The Kid from Amarillo (1951);
Dupree, Paula (The Ape Woman) Pecos River (1951); Smoky Canyon (1952); The Hawk of Wild River
(1952); Laramie Mountains (1952); The Rough Tough West (1952);
After the Wolf Man’s debut in ¡94¡, Universal had gone two years Junction City (1952); The Kid from Broken Gun (1952)
without introducing a new addition to its gallery of monsters
which included Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster and the In-
visible Man (all q.v.). Thus, the studio was anxious to come up Earthquakes
with a creature of equal popularity. Perhaps inspired by the suc- The climactic crumble experienced by Spencer Tracy and Clark
cess of Val Lewton’s The Cat People (¡942), Universal opted for a Gable in ¡936’s San Francisco ranks highest on the cinematic scale
female monster — an ape woman. So, in ¡943’s Captive Wild for impact. However, the California quake in ¡974’s all-star
Woman, that formidable mad scientist John Carradine employed Earthquake was significantly louder, since it was accompanied by
gland transplants to change Cheela the orangutan into sultry Paula a rumbling sound system dubbed “Sensurround.” The most stun-
Dupree (Acquanetta). The operation was quite a success until ning footage probably belongs the ¡990 TV movie After the Shock,
 ELEVATORS (OR LIFTS) 69

since it includes actual news film from the ¡989 San Fran- merous three-ring circuses. Starring roles have been relatively
cisco–Oakland earthquake. Aerial photographers Jackie Cooper scarce, but almost always memorable. Elephants sporting tutus
and Cleavon Little could not convince townsfolk that an earth- participated in an animated ballet in the “Dance of the Hours”
quake was on the way in ¡974’s The Day the Earth Moved. Dana segment in Disney’s Fantasia (¡940). The following year, Disney
Andrews could not figure out how to stop the monstrous quake introduced the world’s first flying elephant in the children’s clas-
he initiated with missile tests in Crack in the World (¡965). And sic Dumbo. Bill Murray inherited an elephant and took it on an
scientists could not figure out what to do with the giant insect interesting road trip in Larger Than Life (¡996). In his only star-
released by an Arctic earthquake in The Deadly Mantis (¡957). ring role without Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy played a doctor who
Fortunately, Superman knew how to stop an earthquake from treated — and then couldn’t get rid of— a chummy elephant in
dropping California into the Pacific and did so quite e›ectively Zenobia (¡939). Two elephants appeared in the ¡942 Lupe Velez
in ¡978’s Superman. See also Disaster Movies. vehicle Mexican Spitfire’s Elephant (see also Mexican Spitfire).
San Francisco (¡936); The Sisters (¡938); The Rains Came The first was a toy elephant stu›ed with valuable jewels, while the
(¡939); Flame of the Barbary Coast (¡945); Green Dolphin Street second was a live pink one with green polka dots. Unfortunately,
(¡947); The Rains of Ranchipur (¡955); The Deadly Mantis (¡957); the movie was filmed in black and white. The Italian comedy
In Search of the Castaways (¡962); The Night the World Exploded Hello, Elephant (¡952) was about a schoolteacher who receives an
(¡964); Crack in the World (¡965); Short Walk to Daylight (¡972 elephant as a gift from an Indian prince. Few viewers found it
TVM); The Neptune Factor (¡973); Earthquake (¡974); The Day the
Earth Moved (¡974 TVM); Bug (¡975); Superman (¡978); Prisoners funny, although the film’s alternate title —Pardon My Trunk— still
of the Lost Universe (¡983 TVM); After the Shock (¡990 TVM); The has its admirers. Sabu, who played the Indian prince, starred ¡5
Big One: The Los Angeles Earthquake (¡990 TVM); Life on the Edge years earlier as the Elephant Boy. Other children-and-elephant
(¡992); Miracle on I-880 (¡993 TVM); Savage (¡996); Aftershock: movies include The Bashful Elephant, Ta›y and the Jungle Hunter,
Earthquake in New York (¡999 TVM) and Maya with Jay (“Dennis the Menace”) North. On the seri-
ous side, Trevor Howard embarked on a crusade to save African
Earth’s Core elephants from greedy ivory hunters in John Huston’s The Roots
Science fiction filmmakers have tended to ignore the fact that the of Heaven (¡958). A smashing elephant stampede played a criti-
earth’s core actually consists of molten lava. In ¡95¡’s Unknown cal part in reuniting estranged couple Peter Finch and Elizabeth
World, a group of scientists used a submarine-tank (called a cy- Taylor in ¡954’s Elephant Walk. Burt Reynolds and Sally Field
clotram) to burrow their way ¡,600 miles beneath the earth’s sur- transported a pregnant elephant cross-country in the feeble ¡980
face. Their goal was to find a safe haven from atomic bomb war- comedy Smokey and the Bandit II. Jean de Brunho› ’s beloved
fare, but instead they found a world where the human race could children’s character Babar, the King of the Elephants, made his
not reproduce. On their Journey to the Center of the Earth (¡959), big-screen debut in animated form in ¡989’s Babar: The Movie.
James Mason and friends uncovered a forest of mushrooms, a Chang (¡927); Elephant Boy (¡937); Zenobia (¡939); Fantasia
crystal cavern, a salt vortex, prehistoric monsters, an underground (¡940); Dumbo (¡94¡); Mexican Spitfire’s Elephant (¡942); Elephant
sea, and a lost city. It was a marvelous showcase for the Jules Stampede (aka Bomba and the Elephant Stampede) (¡95¡); Hello, Ele-
Verne story, especially compared to the cut-rate ¡978 Spanish ver- phant (aka Pardon My Trunk) (¡952); Elephant Walk (¡954);
Jupiter’s Darling (¡955); The Roots of Heaven (¡958); Elephant Gun
sion Where Time Began. Peter Cushing played another scientist (¡959); Hannibal (¡960); The Bashful Elephant (¡962); Billy Rose’s
with a drilling machine in ¡976’s At the Earth’s Core, adapted Jumbo (aka Jumbo) (¡962); Ta›y and the Jungle Hunter (¡965);
from an Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy. Battle Beneath the Earth Maya (¡966); Hannibal Brooks (¡969); An Elephant Called Slowly
(¡967) did not take place at the earth’s core, but it was neverthe- (¡970); The African Elephant (aka King of the Elephants) (¡972);
less set far below the surface. Its imaginative premise concerned Journey Back to Oz (¡974); Smokey and the Bandit II (¡980); Babar:
a Chinese plot to burrow tunnels from Hawaii to underneath the The Movie (¡989); The Last Elephant (aka Ivory Hunters) (¡990
continental U.S. for the purpose of planting atomic bombs. The TVM); White Hunter, Black Heart (¡990); Madhouse (¡990); Ava’s
Magical Adventure (¡994); Operation Dumbo Drop (aka The Dumbo
Mole People (¡956) also featured extensive underground footage, Drop) (¡995); The Great Elephant Escape (¡995); Jumanji (¡995);
but did not involve the earth’s core. Dana Andrews set o› an Larger Than Life (¡996); George of the Jungle (¡997)
atomic bomb near the earth’s core, causing Crack in the World
(¡965). The Bunker Palace Hotel (¡989) was a concrete and mar-
ble political hideaway located at the core. See also Tunnels. Elevators (or Lifts)
Unknown World (¡95¡); Journey to the Center of the Earth “Take the stairs! Take the stairs! For God’s sake, take the stairs!”
(¡959); Adventure at the Center of the Earth (¡964); Crack in the proclaimed the ad line to ¡984’s The Lift. In general, that’s ad-
World (¡965); Battle Beneath the Earth (¡967); At the Earth’s Core vice that should be heeded by most film characters. Angie Dick-
(¡976); Where Time Began (aka Trip to the Centre of the Earth) inson played a housewife that was brutally murdered in an ele-
(¡978); Bunker Palace Hotel (¡989); Journey to the Center of the vator in Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (¡980). In another
Earth (¡993 TVM); Journey to the Center of the Earth (¡999 TVM) psychological thriller, the inferior Scissors (¡99¡), Sharon Stone
survived an elevator attack. The killer in The List of Adrian Mes-
East Side Kids see The Bowery Boys senger (¡963) successfully booby trapped an elevator before the
opening credits even rolled. In The Lift, an elevator with a mind
Elephants of its own (well, courtesy of an experimental computer chip),
Elephants have been steadily employed bit players, having stam- bumped o› apartment dwellers in imaginative, gory ways. Even
peded through dozens of jungle pictures and pranced around nu- Steve Martin’s wacky comedy The Man with Two Brains (¡983)
70 EMMANUELLE

featured a mysterious villain known as the Elevator Killer. Mal- six films comprise the “o‡cial” Emmanuelle series, but there have
functioning elevators have stranded their passengers between been many similarly-titled imitations. In fact, Laura Gemser
floors in films such as Ingmar Bergman’s Secrets of Women (¡952), starred in so many rip-o›s that these films could be treated as an-
The Elevator (¡974), Out of Order (¡984), and Downtime (¡997). other series. The Gemser titles include: Emmanuelle the Queen
Olivia de Havilland played a wealthy invalid trapped in her home (¡975), Emmanuelle in the Country (¡978), Emmanuelle’s Daugh-
elevator and threatened by psychotic teens in Lady in a Cage ter (¡979), and many others. The British Carry On (q.v.) gang
(¡964). Another psycho, played by Dennis Hopper, threatened to spoofed the Emmanuelle pictures with ¡978’s raunchy Carry On
blow up passengers stuck in a high-rise elevator at the beginning Emmanuelle.
of Speed (¡994). Michael Rennie was the only passenger that Emmanuelle (¡974); Emmanuelle — The Joys of a Woman
plunged to his death aboard a malfunctioning elevator in Hotel (¡976); Goodbye Emmanuelle (¡979); Emmanuelle 4 (¡984); Em-
(¡967). Rennie fared far better as the alien Klaatu in The Day the manuelle 5 (¡987); Emmanuelle 6 (¡988)
Earth Stood Still (¡95¡). When an elevator abruptly stops between
floors, he explains to a frightened Patricia Neal why he has “neu- End of the World/Post-Apocalypse
tralized” the Earth’s electricity. In more fantastical films, eleva- Pessimism sells few movie tickets, thus making the total destruc-
tors have been used to travel between planets (Dream One), travel tion of the Earth an unpopular film subject. Nevertheless, planet
through time (Time at the Top), and fly through the air (the Earth was wiped out by a streaking star in ¡95¡’s When Worlds Col-
“Wonkavator” in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). Many lide, with only a few survivors escaping to a sister planet to con-
film characters, such as Bruce Willis’ police detective in Die Hard tinue the human race. An atomic bomb blew the Earth into dust
(¡988), have used elevator shafts as shortcuts in large buildings. particles in ¡970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Although no
Johnny Depp spent a lot of time traveling in glass elevators in Nick one escaped during that film’s climax, the crafty sequel, ¡97¡’s Es-
of Time (¡995) and Sean Connery as James Bond looked very styl- cape from the Planet of the Apes, revealed that a trio of intelligent
ish standing atop an exterior, moving elevator in Diamonds Are apes had hijacked a rocket and avoided the explosion. The world’s
Forever (¡970). A woman had a child resulting from an elevator fate was left up in the air in the final scene of The Day the Earth
encounter in Between Heaven and Earth (¡992), while a nude Caught Fire (¡962). Two newspapers awaited a final verdict be-
woman unexpectedly exited from a lift in Allen Funt’s What Do fore distribution, one with a headline reading “World Saved: H-
You Say to a Naked Lady? (¡970). Elevator operators have been rel- bomb Blasts Succeed,” the other declaring “World Doomed: H-
egated to supporting roles in most films, although they played bomb Blasts Fail.” Several films such as On the Beach (¡959) and
significant roles in Jimmy Boy (¡935), Don’t Bother to Knock (¡952), Testament (¡983) have ended with the human race facing ultimate
Confessions of Felix Krull (¡957), and Living Out Loud (¡998). See extinction as a result of radioactive fallout. In contrast, the “post-
also Apartments; Hotels; Stairs. apocalypse” genre consists of films in which a handful of humans
Jimmy Boy (¡935); The Day the Earth Stood Still (¡95¡); Secrets have survived a near-catastrophic event and built a new world.
of Women (aka Waiting Women) (¡952); Don’t Bother to Knock Former radio writer Arch Oboler pioneered this type of film with
(¡952); Confessions of Felix Krull (¡957); The List of Adrian Messen- ¡95¡’s Five, a talky tale of conflict among the last five people on
ger (¡963); Lady in a Cage (¡964); Hotel (¡967); What Do You Say to Earth. Seen today, it’s hard to gauge the film’s impact, but at the
a Naked Lady? (¡970); Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory time of its release, Variety called it “intriguing…but depressing
(¡97¡); The Elevator (¡974 TVM); Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso;
Dripping Deep Red) (1975); Dressed to Kill (¡980); The Man with in its assumption.” The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (¡959)
Two Brains (¡983); Dream One (aka Nemo) (¡984); The Lift (¡984); added gloss to the same theme, but is chiefly remembered for
Out of Order (aka Abwärts) (¡984); Die Hard (¡988); Scissors (¡99¡); turning Manhattan into a ghost town. Similar post-apocalypse
Between Heaven and Earth (¡992); Speed (¡994); Downtime (¡997); character dramas include Roger Corman’s The Day the World
Living Out Loud (¡998); Time at the Top (¡999) Ended (¡956), the underrated vampire-plague film The Last Man
on Earth (¡964), and the TV movie Where Have All the People
Emmanuelle Gone? (¡974). Later low-budget films such as A Boy and His Dog
One of the few softcore features to attract a mainstream audience, and The Ultimate Warrior (both ¡975) injected heavy action ele-
¡974’s French import Emmanuelle cast Sylvia Kristel as the bored ments into their post-apocalypse plotlines. These led to the run-
wife of an embassy o‡cial stationed in Thailand. The young away success of ¡982’s The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2), which
bride is initially shocked when her free-thinking husband en- resulted in a slew of repetitive action films set in the barren waste-
courages her to explore her sexuality with other men and women. lands of the future. More original views of the post-apocalypse
But she quickly proves willing to try anything once. This soft- are featured in The War Game (¡967) and The Bed Sitting Room
focus adaptation of Emmanuelle Arsan’s scandalous ¡957 novel (¡969). A bleak favorite at antinuke film showings, The War Game
lacked sizzle — its success probably a product of its lush look and employs a vivid documentary style to show the devastating af-
clever marketing campaign (“X was never like this,” proclaimed tere›ects of an atomic blast on London. On the other hand, The
the ad). Kristel reprised the lead role in Emmanuelle — The Joys Bed Sitting Room makes its point with satire by showing nuclear
of a Woman and Goodbye Emmanuelle. She appears briefly in survivors turning into furniture and pet birds. Many science
¡984’s Emmanuelle 4 before her character undergoes plastic fiction films have shown the Earth surviving a brush with total
surgery and emerges with a di›erent face and body (Mia Nygren). apocalypse, although, in a Biblical sense, none can match the
Centerfold Monique Gabrielle, a veteran of the Deathstalker (q.v.) close call detailed in ¡988’s The Seventh Sign. See also Mad Max.
series, starred in ¡987’s Emmanuelle 5, but then gave way to When Worlds Collide (¡95¡); Five (¡95¡); The Day the World
Nathalie Uher in the following year’s Emmanuelle 6. These Ended (¡956); The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (¡959); On the
 THE EVIL DEAD SERIES 71

Beach (¡959); The Day the Earth Caught Fire (¡962); Creation of the on the Amazon (¡948), an elderly woman took on the appearance
Humanoids (¡962); The Last Man on Earth (¡964); The End of Au- of a 25-year-old after a frightening encounter with a panther.
gust at the Hotel Ozone (aka The End of the World at the Hotel Industrious individuals have sought everlasting youth through
Ozone) (¡965); The War Game (¡967); The Bed Sitting Room (¡969);
medical means in The Man in Half-Moon Street (¡944), its remake
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (¡970); Glen and Randa (¡97¡);
Doomsday Machine (¡973); Where Have All the People Gone? (¡974 The Man Who Could Cheat Death (¡959), The Leech Woman
TVM); Last Days of Planet Earth (aka Catastrophe ¡999: The (¡960), The Wasp Woman (¡960), and The Night Strangler (¡972).
Prophecies of Nostradamus) (¡974); A Boy and His Dog (¡975); The Alas, the rejuvenation methods employed in these films required
Ultimate Warrior (¡975); Damnation Alley (¡977); Wizards (¡977); their users to obtain fluids, glands, or body parts from living hu-
Mad Max (¡979); Quintet (¡979); Virus (¡980); Testament (¡983); mans. Ingrid Pitt experienced a similar problem as Countess Drac-
The Day After (¡983 TVM); Warlords of the 2¡st Century (aka Bat- ula (¡972), who retained her youth by bathing in the blood of vir-
tletruck) (¡983); Warriors of the Wasteland (¡983); Stryker (¡983);
gins. This gruesome tale was actually based on the life of
Threads (¡984 TVM); The Final Combat (aka Le Dernier Combat)
(¡984); Def-Con 4 (¡985); The Quiet Earth (¡985); Warriors of the murderess Elisabeth Bathory. On a lighter note, children flew to
Apocalypse (¡985); Wired to Kill (¡986); Radioactive Dreams (¡986); Never-Never Land to avoid adulthood in Peter Pan (¡953), while
Survivor (¡987); Steel Dawn (¡987); Warlords (¡988); World Gone a group of old-timers went to another planet to elude death in
Wild (¡988); Badlands 2000 (¡988 TVM); Cherry 2000 (¡988); Cocoon (¡985). Ponce de Leon never found the Fountain of Youth,
Miracle Mile (¡989); Cyborg (¡989); Hardware (¡990); The Blood of but Tarzan did in ¡949’s Tarzan’s Magic Fountain. It rejuvenated
Heroes (aka Salute of the Jugger) (¡990); The Rapture (¡99¡); Dune Cheetah into a baby chimp. Another chimpanzee caused mix-
Warriors (¡99¡); Omega Doom (¡997); Last Night (¡998); Dogma
ups in Monkey Business (¡952) when he poured Cary Grant’s ex-
(1999); End of Days (1999); On the Beach (2000 TVM)
perimental rejuvenation formula into a water cooler. Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s classic Fountain of Youth short story “Dr. Heideg-
Episode Films see Anthologies gar’s Experiment” reached the screen in ¡963 as a segment of Twice
Told Tales.
Ernest The Elixir of Life (¡9¡¡); She (¡935); Lost Horizon (¡937); The
“Know what I mean, Vern?” asked Ernest P. Worrell in hundreds Corpse Vanishes (¡942); The Man in Half-Moon Street (¡944); The
of television commercials in the ¡980s. The character with the Picture of Dorian Gray (¡945); Angel on the Amazon (aka Drums
bulging eyes, gaping mouth, and baseball cap was created by Along the Amazon) (¡948); Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (¡949); Hurri-
Nashville advertising executive John R. Cherry III for a series of cane Island (¡95¡); Monkey Business (¡952); Peter Pan (¡953); Jungle
Moon Men (¡955); The Man Who Could Cheat Death (¡959); The
dairy commercials. But much of the character’s success belongs Wasp Woman (¡960); The Leech Woman (¡960); Atom Age Vampire
to Jim Varney, a rubber-faced television comedian who brought (¡96¡); Twice Told Tales (¡963); The Fat Spy (¡965); She (¡965); The
Ernest to life in regional commercials that made the obnoxious Immortal (¡969 TVM); Satanik (¡969); Flesh Feast (¡970); The
know-it-all a household name. Cherry directed and cowrote Night Strangler (¡972 TVM); Baron Blood (aka The Torture Cham-
¡987’s Ernest Goes to Camp, a juvenile comedy which gave Var- ber of Baron Blood) (¡972); Countess Dracula (¡972); Lost Horizon
ney a chance to make Ernest more sympathetic than his com- (¡973); The Thirsty Dead (¡975); Tuck Everlasting (¡980); Cocoon
mercial incarnation — but just as klutzy. Disney’s Touchstone (¡985); Evil Spawn (¡987); The Rejuvenator (aka Rejuvenatrix)
(¡988); Cocoon: The Return (¡988); Metamorphosis (¡989); The
banner picked up the independently-produced film and walked Spring (¡990); Hook (¡99¡); Death Becomes Her (¡992); Orlando
away with a sleeper summer hit. The resulting series featured (¡992); Jonny’s Golden Quest (¡993 TVM); Star Trek: Insurrection
Ernest helping Santa Claus on Christmas Eve (Ernest Saves Christ- (¡998); Code Name: Phoenix (2000 TVM)
mas), going to prison in place of an evil lookalike (q.v.) (Ernest
Goes to Jail), battling a pesky troll on Halloween night (Ernest
Scared Stupid), and getting involved in other lowbrow hijinks. The Evil Dead Series
Ernest Goes to Camp (¡987); Ernest Saves Christmas (¡988); Sam Raimi was a ¡9-year-old amateur filmmaker when he and two
Ernest Goes to Jail (¡990); Ernest Scared Stupid (¡99¡); Ernest Rides friends decided to enter the movie industry by making a low-bud-
Again (¡993); Ernest Goes to School (¡994); Slam Dunk Ernest get horror picture in Michigan. In ¡979, they shot Within the
(¡995); Ernest Goes to Africa (¡997); Ernest in the Army (¡998); Woods, a Super 8mm chiller which thrust some stupid teens into
Ernest the Pirate (¡999) an isolated cabin where they unleash vengeful demons. Raimi and
company, armed with this sample product, convinced doctors
Eternal Youth/Rejuvenation and lawyers to invest $90,000 in an expanded version of the Super
The search for eternal youth has sparked movie explorations into 8mm movie. The resulting feature film, ¡983’s The Evil Dead, be-
fantastic lands as well as medically-questionable scientific exper- came an instant drive-in classic. It also earned a cult reputation
iments. In ¡937’s Lost Horizon, Ronald Colman and his fellow in Great Britain, where copies of the videotape were seized and
plane crash survivors found Shangri-La, James Hilton’s utopia of destroyed (although it played without censorship problems at the
eternal youth, quite by accident. H. Rider Haggard’s oft-filmed London Film Festival). Plotwise, The Evil Dead o›ers a highly de-
She concerned an ageless queen obsessed with exposing her rein- rivative tale in which the aforementioned teens discover the Book
carnated lover to the Flame of Eternal Life. Unfortunately, when of Dead and then play an audio tape containing incantations
she re-entered the flame with him, her age caught up with her in which summon the demons. The lone survivor, Ash (Bruce
a hurry. Oscar Wilde’s aristocratic protagonist Dorian Gray sold Campbell), becomes the hero by default. Raimi’s stylish direction
his soul so that his portrait could age — while he retained his and a surprisingly humorous undertone elevated The Evil Dead
youth — in The Picture of Dorian Gray (¡945). In the o›beat Angel from other low-budget horror pictures. However, the ¡987 sequel
72 THE EXORCIST SERIES

Evil Dead 2 proved to be a superior outing, a delirious blend of died. Despite respectable box-o‡ce earnings, Exorcist III appar-
suspense and Three Stooges slapstick. It sends Ash into the woods ently closed the door on additional series entries. See also The
again — where he naturally encounters more demons. When his Devil.
hand becomes possessed (an absurdly funny scene), he severs it The Exorcist (¡973); Exorcist II: The Heretic (¡977); Exorcist III
and connects a chainsaw (q.v.) to his arm. He winds up in a time (aka Exorcist III: Legion) (¡990)
warp at the film’s climax and lands in the medieval ages. Army of
Darkness (¡993) picks up with Ash’s capture by a band of bewil- Eye of the Eagle Series
dered knights. The plot evolves into a campy, fairly entertaining The three Eye of the Eagle films contain few similarities: a Viet-
mixture of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Night nam (q.v.) setting, low budgets, and a common supporting actor
of the Living Dead (q.v.). The original ending, shown at the ¡992 in two of the three entries. The ¡987 original involves a female
Sitges Film Festival, had our hero warp into the 2¡st century newshound (Cec Verrell) who hooks up with a hunky soldier
where he finds the planet in ruins. However, for its U.S. release, (Bret Clark) to investigate stories about a vigilante-like “lost com-
the ending was re-shot with Ash working in a hardware store — mand” made up of POWs and MIAs. It’s a far more interesting
where he has another showdown with the Evil Dead! See also plot than the revenge tale featured in Eye of the Eagle II: Inside the
Chainsaws; Time Travel. Enemy. William Field stars as the only soldier to survive an at-
The Evil Dead (¡983); Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (aka Evil tack when his unit’s commanding o‡cer deserts his troops. Field
Dead 2) (¡987); Army of Darkness (aka Army of Darkness: Evil Dead later learns that the same o‡cer is a black marketeer, drug pusher,
3) (¡993) and pimp — so naturally Field plots his vengeance. In both the
first and second films, Mike Monty has a supporting role as
The Exorcist Series Colonel Stark. The third film went for a big name star, but wound
Although divergent in their approach to horror, Rosemary’s Baby up with Steve Kanaly (Ray on TV’s long-running Dallas). See also
and The Exorcist reign jointly as the most important horror films Vietnam.
of the ¡960s and ¡970s. The Exorcist drew huge audiences to a Eye of the Eagle (¡987); Eye of the Eagle II: Inside the Enemy
well-mounted exercise in intense, unsubtle, and sometimes purely (aka Killed in Action; K.I.A.) (¡989); Eye of the Eagle 3 (aka Last
visual horror. It spawned countless imitations, with the most suc- Stand at Lang Mei) (¡992)
cessful being the ¡974 rip-o› Beyond the Door and the chilling
¡976 box-o‡ce hit The Omen (q.v.). Adapted by William Peter Fairs and Carnivals
Blatty from his best seller, The Exorcist pits two priests — one who Fairs on film have evoked a nostalgic atmosphere of Americana,
questions his faith — against the Devil in an all-out war over a as typified by the three film versions of State Fair. Will Rogers
young girl’s soul. It’s a straightforward story (a point overlooked starred in the original ¡933 film about a family’s adventures at the
by its sequels) and benefits from a fine cast: Max Von Sydow as Iowa State Fair, but the ¡945 version, boasting Rodgers and Ham-
the exorcist Father Merrin, playwright Jason Miller as his guilt- merstein’s only film score, remains the best remembered. The
su›ering assistant Father Karras, Linda Blair as ¡2-year-old Regan, turn-of-the-century musical Meet Me in St. Louis (¡944) ended
and Mercedes McCambridge as the voice of the Devil within with the opening of the ¡903 World’s Fair and also provided Judy
Regan. However, the true stars are William Friedkin’s gripping Garland with one of her biggest hits: “Have Yourself a Merry Lit-
direction and the special makeup e›ects by Dick Smith and Rick tle Christmas.” Elvis Presley attended the Seattle World’s Fair in
Baker. Blatty won an Oscar for his screenplay. Naturally, The Ex- ¡963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair. A belly dancer caused quite
orcist begot a sequel, ¡977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic, which unex- a sensation at the ¡890’s Chicago Fair in Little Egypt (¡95¡). Jean
pectedly crashed at the box-o‡ce — dead on arrival. It has ac- Simmons’ brother mysteriously disappeared without a trace at
quired an undeserved reputation as a laughable turkey. Although the ¡889 Paris Exposition in the intriguing mystery So Long at the
certainly not a good film, it tries to maneuver the story into a Fair (¡950). And The World of Tomorrow (¡984) provided a ret-
di›erent interesting direction. The plot picks up four years after rospective look at the ¡939 New York World’s Fair. Fairs on a
the original exorcism, with the “cured” Regan (Blair) still under- smaller scale provided the settings for comedy in Ma and Pa Ket-
going psychiatric treatment. Regan’s newly-acquired healing pow- tle at the Fair (¡952) and romance in the Dan Dailey musical Meet
ers bring her to the attention of Father Lamont (Richard Burton), Me at the Fair (¡953). In contrast to frivolous fairs, carnival films
a priest investigating Father Merrin’s death. Lamont discovers have tended to o›er a darker view of life. Spencer Tracy played a
that the “Locust God” (not the Devil) still wants control of the ruthless carnival promoter who has visions of Hell in the ¡935
girl. In the confusing climax, Regan splits into two people and a curio Dante’s Inferno. Tyrone Power, in a change-of-pace role, was
horde of locusts attack Lamont and her. They survive in the orig- a heartless carny hustler who hits the big time in the spiritualism
inal ending, but, in a hastily re-shot alternate ending, Father La- racket in Nightmare Alley (¡947). He gets his comeuppance, how-
mont dies. Most available prints include director John Boorman’s ever, and eventually winds up as a sideshow freak. Linda Lawson
first, more optimistic, ending. The “series” probably would have played a sideshow mermaid (q.v.) who actually believed herself to
died if author Blatty had not written a fairly-successful sequel be a descendant of the murderous Sea People in Curtis Harring-
novel. He wrote the screenplay and directed ¡990’s Exorcist III, ton’s minor cult favorite Night Tide (¡96¡). A spooky carnival run
an interesting, but overly complex, possession tale. George C. by the mysterious Mr. Dark invaded a quiet, Midwestern town
Scott stars as Kinderman, a wily detective investigating a series in the underrated ¡983 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s chilling
of murders bearing the trademark of a killer executed ¡5 years ear- Something Wicked This Way Comes. Stupid teenagers got them-
lier at the exact same time in which Father Karras (Miller again) selves killed one by one after hiding out in a funhouse filled with
 THE FALCON 73

wackos in Tobe Hooper’s dreary ¡98¡ slasher picture The Fun- pled boy for real. Burt Lancaster’s con man/evangelist had no
house. Less human monsters seem to prefer amusement parks over such doubts in Elmer Gantry (¡960), but his partner (played by
carnivals. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953) was toying with Jean Simmons) came to believe that she possessed healing pow-
the Coney Island Cyclone rollercoaster when Lee Van Cleef shot ers. In Touch (¡997), adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, a
him up with radioactive isotope. Godzilla (q.v.) battled his arch- con man tries to exploit a former Franciscan monk who restores
nemesis Ghidrah (q.v.), along with several other creatures, in a a woman’s eyesight. Along similar lines, a gangster on the lam dis-
children’s amusement park in Godzilla on Monster Island (¡97¡), covers a faith healer that can cure the crippled in both versions
one of Toho’s sillier pictures. The amusement park in Gorilla at of The Miracle Man (¡9¡9 and ¡932). Interestingly, the two most
Large (¡954) featured a murderous ape who turned out to be Anne provocative films about faith healers were released in ¡980. Har-
Bancroft (!) in a gorilla suit. George Segal tracked a madman spe- lequin starred Robert Powell as a mysterious modern-day
cializing in sabotaging rollercoasters throughout the nation in Rasputin who heals the child of a powerful politician. In Resur-
¡977’s Rollercoaster. It was filmed in real amusement parks (e.g., rection, Ellen Burstyn received a Best Actress Oscar nomination
King’s Dominion in Virginia) and presented in “Sensurround,” a for her portrayal of a woman who “returns” from a near-death ex-
sound system which simulated rumbling vibrations during key perience with healing powers. The film focuses on her attempts
scenes. Alfred Hitchcock’s ¡95¡ classic Strangers on a Train fea- to understand her newfound gift. Dana Delany played the same
tured several amusement park scenes, including the thrilling role in a ¡999 TV movie remake. Young Bernadette Soubirous
merry-go-round climax. Likewise, the famous hall of mirrors ( Jennifer Jones) could not cure people in The Song of Bernadette
showdown in Orson Welles’ Lady from Shanghai took place in an (¡943), but she did find the spring that produced the healing holy
amusement park crazy house. The cinema’s most famous amuse- water. Madeleine Potter played the daughter of a faith healer in
ment park is Coney Island, which provided the setting for Sin- The Bostonians (¡984), although her father’s occupation had lit-
ner’s Holiday (¡930), Coney Island (¡943), its remake Wabash Av- tle to do with the love triangle involving Potter, Vanessa Red-
enue (¡950), Little Fugitive (¡953) and the aforementioned Beast grave, and Christopher Reeve. See also Angels; Jesus.
from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953). The Third Man featured a tense con- The Miracle Man (¡9¡9); The Miracle Man (¡932); Elmer
versation between Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles atop a ferris Gantry (¡960); Harlequin (aka Dark Forces) (¡980); Resurrection
wheel, while Luv opted for an awkward ferris wheel love scene. (¡980); The Bostonians (¡984); Leap of Faith (¡992); Touch (¡997);
The rollercoaster rumbles in Rollercoaster may have been deafen- Resurrection (¡999 TVM); The Green Mile (1999); A Touch of Hope
ing, but the most stomach-churning rollercoaster footage still be- (1999 TVM)
longs to ¡952’s This Is Cinerama (see Cinerama), which projected
its speeding dives and turns on a ¡65-degree curved movie screen. The Falcon
See also Circuses. Rarely has a film series been spawned from so little and turned
Sinner’s Holiday (¡930); The Half Naked Truth (¡932); Take a out so di›erent. The Falcon’s only appearance in literature was
Chance (¡933); State Fair (¡933); Whirlpool (¡934); Dante’s Inferno Michael Arlen’s “Gay Falcon,” a short story about Gay Lawrence,
(¡935); Strike Me Pink (¡936); Road Show (¡94¡); Coney Island a hardboiled detective (“Lady, be calm…I don’t want to get tough
(¡943); Meet Me in St. Louis (¡944); State Fair (aka It Happened with you”). Yet, by the time the Falcon hit the screen in ¡94¡ in
One Summer) (¡945); Nightmare Alley (¡947); Lady from Shanghai the guise of George Sanders, he had become a charming, debonair
(¡948); Are You with It? (¡948); The Third Man (¡949); Wabash Av-
enue (¡950); So Long at the Fair (¡950); Texas Carnival (¡95¡);
rascal — very similar to the Saint (q.v.). The transformation was
Strangers on a Train (¡95¡); Little Egypt (¡95¡); Ma and Pa Kettle at a practical one, since Sanders had just completed a series of five
the Fair (¡952); Lili (¡953); Meet Me at the Fair (¡953); The Beast successful Saint features (ironically, RKO made both the Saint and
from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953); Little Fugitive (¡953); Gorilla at Falcon series). Sometimes, it was di‡cult to tell if Sanders was
Large (¡954); The Glass Tomb (aka The Glass Cage) (¡955); Dance supposed to be the Saint or the Falcon — in ¡94¡, he made one of
with Me, Henry (¡956); All at Sea (¡958); Night Tide (¡96¡); State each (The Saint in Palm Springs and The Gay Falcon). Saint cre-
Fair (¡962); It Happened at the World’s Fair (¡963); Roustabout ator Leslie Charteris also took note of the Falcon/Saint similari-
(¡964); Luv (¡967); She Freak (aka Alley of Nightmares) (¡967);
Godzilla on Monster Island (aka Godzilla vs. Gigan; Gojira tai
ties and threatened RKO with a lawsuit. But the series still con-
Gaigan) (¡97¡); Rollercoaster (¡977); Kiss Meets the Phantom of the tinued with fairly enjoyable programmers like The Falcon Takes
Park (¡978 TVM); Carny (¡980); The Funhouse (¡98¡); Something Over, which has the distinction of being the first screen version
Wicked This Way Comes (¡983); The World of Tomorrow (¡984); of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe (q.v.) novel Farewell, My
Slayground (¡984); Breaking All the Rules (¡985); Funland (¡986); Lovely. Yet, after his third Falcon film, Sanders decided he’d had
Ghoulies II (¡987); Two-Moon Junction (¡988); Kansas (¡989); enough of the B-movie detective life. RKO was determined to
Howling VI: The Freaks (¡99¡); Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken (¡99¡); save a profitable series, though, and chose to kill o› Sanders’ char-
Beverly Hills Cop III (¡994); Mighty Joe Young (¡998)
acter and replace him with his brother. Such was the plot of ¡942’s
The Falcon’s Brother, in which Tom Conway — who really was
Faith Healers Sanders’ brother — played the title role. Conway slipped so
Evangelists, ex-monks, and “dead” people have possessed — or smoothly into the role that the series never skipped a beat. De-
thought they did — the ability to heal people with a touch of the spite suave, British good looks and a Colmanesque voice, Con-
hand. In Leap of Faith (¡992), Steve Martin played a con way never made the leap to stardom. Yet, he made a stalwart
man/evangelist who duped townspeople into believing he could B-movie hero and his Falcon films were a notch above their com-
cure the sick and crippled through faith. In the end, though, he petitors, with The Falcon and the Co-eds rating as a snappy mys-
winds up questioning himself when he apparently heals a crip- tery by any standard. Set in a girls’ boarding school by a seaside
74 FAMILY OF COPS SERIES

cli›, it evoked a haunting atmosphere which was neatly balanced FANTÔMAS FILMS: Fantômas (¡93¡) ( Jean Galland); Fantômas
by low-key humor (pleasantly provided by three young girls in- (¡946) (Marcel Herrand); Fantômas Contre Fantômas (¡949) (Mau-
stead of the typical wisecracking female reporter). Conway left the rice Teynac); Fantômas (¡964) ( Jean Marsais); Fantômas Strikes
Back (aka Fantômas se Déchaîne) (¡965) (Marsais); Fantômas Against
series in ¡948 and was replaced by John Calvert in three additional
Scotland Yard (aka Fantômas Contre Scotland Yard) (¡966) (Mar-
entries. Meanwhile, Conway struggled with alcoholism in the sais); L’Echafaud magique (¡979 TVM) (Helmut Berger); L’Etriente
¡950s and died of a liver ailment in ¡964. Charles McGraw starred du diable (¡979 TVM) (Berger); Le Mort Qui Tue (¡979 TVM)
in the ¡954 TV series The Adventures of the Falcon, which myste- (Berger); Le Tramway Fantôme (¡979 TVM) (Berger)
riously changed the Falcon’s name to Mike Waring.
The Gay Falcon (¡94¡) (George Sanders); A Date with the Fal- Fashion Models
con (¡94¡) (Sanders); The Falcon Takes Over (¡942) (Sanders); The Although models have fared better in the movies than centerfolds
Falcon’s Brother (¡942) (George Sanders and Tom Conway); The (q.v.), they still rank among the favorite targets of psychotic
Falcon and the Co-eds (¡943) (Conway); The Falcon in Danger killers, leering males, and mutant aliens. Models were stalked by
(¡943) (Conway); The Falcon Strikes Back (¡943) (Conway); The
Falcon in Hollywood (¡944) (Conway); The Falcon in Mexico (¡944) murderers in Blood and Black Lace, Cover Girl Killer, She’s Dressed
(Conway); The Falcon in San Francisco (¡945) (Conway); The Fal- to Kill, Lies of the Twins, Mind Over Murder, and Eyes of Laura
con Out West (¡946) (Conway); The Falcon’s Adventure (¡946) Mars. In Mind Over Murder (¡979), model Deborah Ra‡n has
(Conway); The Falcon’s Alibi (¡946) (Conway); The Devil’s Cargo premonitions about her would-be killer, while Eyes of Laura Mars
(¡948) ( John Calvert); Appointment with Murder (¡948) (Calvert); (¡978) features Faye Dunaway as a fashion photographer who
Search for Danger (¡949) (Calvert) “sees” through the eyes of a murderer. Plastic surgeon Albert
Finney begins his own investigation when his model clients began
Family of Cops Series dying rather suddenly in Michael Crichton’s Looker (¡98¡). The
Title tells all in this TV movie trilogy starring Charles Bronson most tasteless model-killer film must surely be Ray Dennis Steck-
as Inspector Paul Fein, the father of a detective, a patrol o‡cer, ler’s Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher (¡979), which
a criminal lawyer, and — by the second film — a police academy was retitled for its video release as — quite aptly —The Model
trainee. Their cases ranged from a love triangle homicide involv- Killer. When not being stalked, models often find themselves ex-
ing one of their own to an encounter with the Russian mob in ploited by men interested only in their outer beauty, as in cheesy
Milwaukee. Bronson, Sebastian Spence (as son Eddie), and Bar- drive-in movies such as The Yum-Yum Girls (¡976) and Game
bara Williams (as daughter Kate) appeared in all three films. Dur- Show Models (¡977). In ¡966’s Blood Beast from Outer Space, a
ing the same period, Williams also played Robert Urich’s love in- lecherous alien placed ads in Bikini Girl magazine to attract
terest, Susan Silverman, in the Spenser TV movies (q.v.). shapely models to populate his dying planet. Fortunately, some
Family of Cops (¡995 TVM); Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II models have used their looks to their advantage. Julie Christie
(¡997 TVM); Family of Cops III (¡999 TVM) won a Best Actress Oscar as a model who becomes a lady of means
in ¡965’s Darling. Fred Astaire transforms shy Audrey Hepburn
Fantômas into a glamourous model in ¡957’s Funny Face, and they fall in
Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain created the super criminal love along the way. Faye Dunaway, who photographed models in
Fantômas in ¡9¡¡ for the French magazine Arthème Fayard. The the aforementioned Eyes of Laura Mars, played one in the oddly-
duo wrote 32 novels over a two-year period, with Allain penning titled Puzzle of a Downfall Child (¡970). Finally, Jon-Eric Hexum
several more after Souvestre’s death in ¡9¡4. Their creation is a reversed stereotypical roles in the ¡983 TV movie, The Making of
master of disguises that runs a criminal organization specializing a Male Model, which co-starred Joan Collins as his mentor and
in chilling crimes, such as substituting sulfuric acid for perfume lover. Kurt Russell played a male model, too, in ¡980’s Amber
in a department store. Director Louis Feuillade first brought Fan- Waves, but it was set in a Midwestern farming town as opposed
tômas to the screen with five popular serials produced between to the fashion world. See also Centerfolds; Photographers.
¡9¡3 and ¡9¡4. A feature-length film starring Jean Galland ap- Vogues (¡937); The Powers Girl (aka Hello Beautiful) (¡942);
peared in ¡93¡, but made little impression. The same can be said The Girl from Manhattan (¡948); A Life of Her Own (¡950); The
Model and the Marriage Broker (¡95¡); Foxiest Girl in Paris (¡956);
for two post–World War II e›orts —Fantômas (¡946) and Fantô-
Funny Face (¡957); Cover Girl Killer (¡959); Blood and Black Lace
mas Contre Fantômas (¡949)— although the former film featured (aka Sei Donne per L’assassino; Fashion House of Death; Six Women
Simone Signoret in one of her early roles. Between ¡964 and ¡966, for the Murderer) (¡964); Darling (¡965); Blood Beast from Outer
Andre Hunebelle directed a trilogy of Fantômas films starring Space; (aka The Night Caller; The Night Caller from Outer Space)
Jean Marsais as both the archvillain and Fandor, the journalist try- (¡966); Corruption (¡967); The Model Shop (¡969); Puzzle of a
ing to help Inspector Juve capture Fantômas. These films fea- Downfall Child (¡970); Love Hate Love (¡970 TVM); Two People
tured a lighthearted tone and stylish sets, especially the elaborate (¡973); Cover Girl Models (aka The Models) (¡975); The Yum-Yum
Girls (¡976); Lipstick (¡976); Cover Girls (¡977 TVM); The Sentinel
volcano hideout in Fantômas Strikes Back. Finally, in ¡979, Claude
(¡977); Game Show Models (¡977); Eyes of Laura Mars (¡978); She’s
Chabrol and Juan Luis Buñuel (son of Luis) made a series of four Dressed to Kill (aka Someone’s Killing the World’s Greatest Models)
90-minute Fantômas TV movies starring Helmut Berger. (¡979 TVM); Mind Over Murder (¡979 TVM); Hollywood Strangler
THE FEUILLADE SERIALS: Fantômas (¡9¡3) (René Navarre); Juve Meets the Skid Row Slasher (aka The Model Killer) (¡979); For the
versus Fantômas (aka Juve Contre Fantômas ) (¡9¡3) (Navarre); The Love of It (¡980 TVM); Amber Waves (¡980 TVM); Looker (¡98¡);
Murderous Corpse (aka Le Mort Qui Tue) (¡9¡3) (Navarre); Fantô- Tattoo (¡98¡); Paper Dolls (¡982 TVM); Born Beautiful (¡982
mas Contre Fantômas (¡9¡4) (Navarre); The False Judge (aka Le Faux TVM); Exposed (¡983); The Making of a Male Model (¡983 TVM);
Magistrat) (¡9¡4) (Navarre) Jungle Warriors (¡984); Double Deal (¡984); Covergirl (¡984); Swim-
 FILM AND THEATER CRITICS 75

suit (¡989 TVM); Lies of the Twins (¡99¡ TVM); Bikini Island Foster won a Best Actress Oscar as special agent Clarice Starling.
(¡99¡); Hired to Kill (¡99¡); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Still, the most famous female agent is Dana Scully (Gillian An-
Wicked Wives (¡993 TVM); Hexed (¡993); The New Age (¡994); Red derson), who made the leap from television to the silver screen
(¡994); French Silk (¡994 TVM); Ready to Wear (aka Pret-a-Porter)
with partner (David Duchovny) in The X-Files (¡998). Keanu
(¡994); Three Colors: Red (¡994); Model By Day (¡994 TVM); Pri-
vate Obsession (¡995); Unzipped (¡995); The Truth About Cats and Reeves played the screen’s only surfing FBI agent in ¡99¡’s Point
Dogs (¡996); Gia (¡998 TVM); Model Behavior (2000 TVM) Break. See also Gangsters (Real-Life); In the Line of Duty Se-
ries; Persons in Hiding Series.
Fassbinder’s Women Trilogy “G” Men (¡935); Let ’Em Have It (¡935); FBI 99 (¡945); I Was
a Communist for the FBI (¡95¡); FBI Girl (¡95¡); Walk East on Bea-
Between ¡978 and ¡982, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder made con (aka The Crime of the Century) (¡952); Down Three Dark Streets
three films about women set in post–World War II Germany. Al- (¡954); Security Risk (¡954); Big House, U.S.A. (¡955); The FBI
though sometimes referred to as a trilogy, the time period and the Story (¡959); Experiment in Terror (¡962); That Darn Cat (¡965);
fact that each film focuses on a female character is all that con- Who? (¡974); The FBI Story — Alvin Karpis (aka The FBI Story —
nects the movies. In The Marriage of Maria Braun (¡978), the title The FBI versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One) (¡974
character rises from poverty to wealth while enduring separations TVM); Melvin Purvis: G-Man (aka The Legend of Machine Gun
from her husband. Although its plot sounds likes a Joan Craw- Kelly) (¡974 TVM); The Kansas City Massacre (¡975 TVM); Attack
on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (¡975 TVM); The Private
ford vehicle from the ¡940s, the film evokes the atmosphere of a Files of J. Edgar Hoover (¡977); Undercover with the KKK (aka The
country in transition and its matter-of-fact ending is a shocker. Freedom Riders; My Undercover Years with the KKK) (¡979 TVM);
Lola (¡982) centers on the complex relationships between a pros- Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI (aka Johnnie Gibson: F.B.I.) (¡986 TVM);
titute, a corrupt small town businessman, and a naïve building Manhunter (¡986); The Wild Pair (¡987); J. Edgar Hoover (¡987
commissioner. The third in the trilogy, Veronika Voss (¡982) tells TVM); Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (¡987
the story of a faded film actress addicted to morphine. Although TVM); The Hidden (¡987); Feds (¡988); Mississippi Burning (¡988);
considered essential Fassbinder viewing, it lacks the sterling rep- Betrayed (¡988); The House on Carroll Street (¡988); In the Line of
Duty: The FBI Murders (¡988 TVM); Mr. Hoover and I (¡989); My
utation of The Marriage of Maria Braun and Lola. Fassbinder died Blue Heaven (¡990); Flashback (¡990); The Silence of the Lambs
the year that Veronika Voss was released; he was 36. (¡99¡); Point Break (¡99¡); Thunderheart (¡992); Incident at Oglala
The Marriage of Eva Braun (aka Die Ehe der Maria Braun) (¡992); Twins Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (¡993); Golden Gate (¡994);
(¡978); Lola (¡982); Veronika Voss (aka Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Betrayed By Love (¡994 TVM); The Rock (¡996); No Way Back
Voss) (¡982) (¡996); Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy (¡996 TVM); Donnie
Brasco (¡997); Face/O› (¡997); Dead Silence (¡997 TVM); Clay Pi-
geons (¡998); Mercury Rising (¡998); The X-Files (aka The X-Files:
FBI Fight the Future) (¡998); The Siege (¡998); The Cell (2000)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has figured into the
plotlines of dozens of movies. However, there have been rela- Feuds see Backwoods Feuds
tively few films focusing specifically on the organization and its
employees. Prior to the ¡970s, filmmakers portrayed the FBI as
an all-powerful, incorruptible, crimefighting machine. Some Film and Theater Critics
films, such as I Was a Communist for the FBI (¡95¡), Walk East on With two notable exceptions, filmmakers have painted less than
Beacon (¡952), and The FBI Story (¡959), were produced in a doc- flattering portraits of critics in their films. Perhaps, it’s a subtle
umentary-like style which gave them an air of noble authentic- case of unconscious revenge for bad film reviews. A Shakespearean
ity. This attitude carried over into television, where Efrem Zim- actor skewered by drama critics attained his revenge by murder-
balist, Jr., played the never-ru·ed Inspector Erskine in the ing them in the stylish Theater of Blood (¡973). At least, he had
popular ¡965–74 TV series The F.B.I. However, by the late ¡970s, the class to kill them by recreating murders from famous plays.
films began to reflect a less whitewashed view of the Bureau. Larry William H. Macy played a cable TV film critic who almost got
Cohen’s The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (¡977) o›ered a very away with homicide in A Slight Case of Murder (¡999). Alas, he
unflattering portrait of the former FBI director. Johnnie Mae Gib- made the fatal mistake of starting an a›air with an investigating
son: FBI (¡986) was a fact-based account of the tribulations ex- police detective’s wife. The McGu‡n (¡985) featured Charles
perienced by the Bureau’s first black female agent. Sam Shepard Dance as a film critic who thinks he’s witnessed a murder. Ob-
played an FBI agent who tries to cover up a murder on an Indian viously, the man had never seen Hitchcock’s Rear Window. In
reservation in ¡992’s Thunderheart (¡992). Interestingly, Thun- Critic’s Choice (¡963), one of Bob Hope’s weakest outings, he
derheart director Michael Apted made a documentary, Incident at played a theater critic stuck in the unenviable position of re-
Oglala, about the event that inspired his fictional film. Other fact- viewing his wife’s play. Doris Day suspected her theater critic
based FBI films include: Melvin Purvis: G-Man (¡974) and its se- husband, David Niven, of having an a›air in the comedy Please
quel The Kansas City Massacre (¡975), Undercover with the KKK Don’t Eat the Daisies (¡960). To be fair, other critics have also
(¡979), and In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders (¡988). The TV fared poorly as film characters, as evidenced by the art critics
movie Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (¡975) and bumped o› in House of Horrors (¡946). The notable exceptions
the theatrical film Mississippi Burning (¡988) were based on the to the mistreatment of critics are Citizen Kane (¡94¡) and All
same real-life case. In addition to the aforementioned Johnnie About Eve (¡950). In the latter film, George Sanders won a Best
Mae Gibson: FBI, female agents took charge in FBI Girl (¡95¡), Supporting Actor Oscar for his delightful turn as acid-tongued
Feds (¡988), and The Silence of the Lambs (¡99¡), in which Jodie theater critic Addison DeWitt. Joseph Cotton gave one of his
76 FILM STAR BIOGRAPHIES

finest performances as the drama critic for the New York Enquirer of a Thousand Faces (¡957) (Lon Chaney); Jeanne Eagels (¡957); Too
in Citizen Kane. His critic loses his job after writing a scathing Much Too Soon (¡958) (Diana Barrymore); The George Raft Story
(but honest) review of a dreadful operatic performance by Charles (aka Spin of a Coin) (¡96¡); Harlow (¡965); Harlow (¡965); Funny
Girl (¡968) (Fanny Brice); The Legend of Valentino (¡975 TVM);
Foster Kane’s wife.
Funny Lady (¡975) (Brice); Gable and Lombard (¡976); W.C. Fields
Citizen Kane (¡94¡); All About Eve (¡950); Please Don’t Eat the and Me (¡976); Goodbye, Norma Jean (¡976) (Marilyn Monroe);
Daisies (¡960); Critic’s Choice (¡963); Theater of Blood (¡973); The Valentino (¡977); Bud and Lou (¡978 TVM) (Abbott and Costello);
McGu‡n (¡985); A Slight Case of Murder (¡999 TVM) Rainbow (¡978 TVM) ( Judy Garland); Elvis! (¡979 TVM) (Elvis
Presley); Bogie — The Last Hero (aka Bogie) (¡980 TVM)
Film Star Biographies (Humphrey Bogart); Haywire (¡980 TVM) (Margaret Sullavan and
Leland Hayward); The Jayne Mansfield Story (¡980 TVM); Marilyn:
The cinema’s relative youth is largely responsible for the scarcity
The Untold Story (¡980 TVM) (Monroe); Sophia Loren: Her Own
of pre–¡975 movie star screen biographies. Many of the per- Story (¡980 TVM); The Silent Lovers (¡980 TVM) (Greta Garbo
formers that dominated the ¡930s and ¡940s were still making and John Gilbert); This Year’s Blonde (aka The Secret Love of Mari-
films in the ¡950s and ¡960s. Thus, early screen biographies fo- lyn Monroe) (¡980 TVM); The Patricia Neal Story (¡98¡ TVM);
cused on silent film greats like Rudolph Valentino, Will Rogers, Mommie Dearest (¡98¡) ( Joan Crawford); Mae West (¡982 TVM);
Buster Keaton, Jeanne Eagels, and Lon Chaney (Man of a Thou- Frances (¡982) (Frances Farmer); Grace Kelly (¡983 TVM); Will
sand Faces). An interesting exception was ¡955’s To Hell and Back, There Ever Be a Morning? (¡983 TVM) (Farmer); My Wicked,
Wicked Ways…The Legend of Errol Flynn (¡985 TVM); Out on a
in which then-current star Audie Murphy played himself. The
Limb (¡987 TVM) (Shirley MacLaine); The Ann Jillian Story (¡988
film, though, ignored Murphy’s Hollywood career in favor of his TVM); Rock Hudson (¡990 TVM); Call Me Anna (¡990 TVM)
World War II adventures as the U.S. Army’s most-decorated sol- (Patty Duke); Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter (¡99¡ TVM) (Lu-
dier. Diana Barrymore’s screen career consisted of six mediocre cille Ball and Desi Arnaz); Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story
films made in the early ¡940s. But her life story warranted a ¡958 (¡99¡ TVM); White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd
big-screen treatment when her autobiography Too Much Too Soon (¡99¡ TVM); Marilyn and Me (¡99¡ TVM) (Monroe); Keeping Se-
shot up the best-seller charts. The film version dwelled on the sen- crets (¡99¡ TVM) (Suzanne Somers); Sinatra (¡992 TVM); Chaplin
(¡992); Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (¡993); Marilyn and Bobby:
sationalistic aspects of Ms. Barrymore’s book (e.g., her struggle
Her Final A›air (¡993 TVM) (Monroe and Kennedy); Roseanne &
with alcoholism) and, in many ways, set the pattern for the ex- Tom: Behind the Scenes (¡994 TVM) (Roseanne and Tom Arnold);
ploitative biographical tomes of the ¡980s. There was little ex- Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography (¡994 TVM); Tears and
ploitative — or interesting — about the two ¡965 films called Har- Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (¡994 TVM); A Dream
low, in which Jean Harlow was played by Carroll Baker and Carol Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (¡995
Lynley. However, the ¡975 TV movie Valentino, while strictly a TVM); Flynn (1996) (Errol Flynn); The Rat Pack (¡998 TVM)
fan magazine portrait, revived interest in the lives of movie stars. (Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford,
and Joey Bishop); Michael Landon: The Father I Knew (¡999
Over the next two years, three movie star biographies reached the
TVM); Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (¡999 TVM); The Audrey
theaters: Gable and Lombard (¡976), W.C. Fields and Me (¡976), Hepburn Story (2000 TVM); The Three Stooges (2000 TVM)
and Valentino (¡977). All three hit with a thud, chiefly due to mis-
casting in the principal roles (e.g., James Brolin as Gable, Rod
Steiger as W.C. Fields). Concurrently, made-for-TV films con- Fires and Firefighters
tinued to thrive, thanks to well-chosen subjects and some gen- Crackling flames of fate have provided a central premise, an ini-
uine craftsmanship. Horror film director John Carpenter and for- tiating spark, or a climactic turn of events for dozens of films.
mer child star Kurt Russell combined to produce a highly-rated Chronicles of historical fires have detailed the facts behind the
biography of Elvis! (¡979). Loni Anderson and Arnold ¡666 Great Fire of London (The Glorious Adventure), the Great
Schwarzenegger certainly brought the right physical qualities to Chicago Fire (In Old Chicago), and the deadly turn-of-the-cen-
their roles of Jayne Mansfield and her husband Mickey Hargitay tury New York City blaze which changed factory fire regulations
in ¡980’s The Jayne Mansfield Story. Garson Kanin’s nostalgic book forever (The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal). Producer Irwin Allen
Moviola inspired biographies of Marilyn Monroe (This Year’s mounted a pair of large-scale fictional films built around out-of-
Blonde) and Greta Garbo and John Gilbert (The Silent Lovers). control flames. The Towering Inferno (¡974) merged the plots of
The trend burned out quickly, however, and came to an end with two similar books (The Tower and The Glass Inferno) into a tense
Mommie Dearest, the ¡98¡ theatrical version of Christina Craw- tale of a burning skyscraper occupied by an all-star cast led by Paul
ford’s shocking best-seller about her mother Joan, and two early Newman and Steve McQueen. Allen transposed the plot to an
¡980s films about Frances Farmer (Will There Ever Be a Morning? outdoor setting for his TV movie Fire! (¡977), leaving the char-
and Frances). Performers who have played themselves in film bi- acter vignette structure intact. Another TV movie, ¡974’s Terror
ographies include Audie Murphy, Sophia Loren (Sophia Loren: on the 40th Floor, duplicated The Towering Inferno’s fiery sky-
Her Own Story), Shirley MacLaine (Out on a Limb), Ann Jillian scraper plotline to less e›ect. Ravaging forest fires cut a path of
(The Ann Jillian Story), Patty Duke (Call Me Anna), Suzanne smoldering destruction in The Blazing Forest and Red Skies of
Somers (Keeping Secrets), and Joan and Melissa Rivers (Tears and Montana (both ¡952), while providing fiery climaxes to Ring of
Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story). See also Autobio- Fire and, most memorably, Bambi. An oil blaze required four men
graphical Films; Movies About Movies. to drive two trucks of nitroglycerin over dangerous mountain
The Jolson Story (¡946) (Al Jolson); Valentino (¡95¡); The Story roads in the classic ¡952 French thriller The Wages of Fear. Less
of Will Rogers (¡952); The Eddie Cantor Story (¡954); To Hell and intense dramas focusing on oil firefighters include the John Wayne
Back (¡955) (Audie Murphy); The Buster Keaton Story (¡957); Man picture Hellfighters (¡969) and the concisely-titled Oil (¡977).
 FLAGG AND QUIRT 77

Firefighting of a more general variety has provided the back- lowing boats, and even a pair of prehistoric fish. It is one of these
ground for slapstick farce (Fireman Save My Child), romantic latter fish that proved particularly troublesome for college pro-
comedy (Roxanne), family drama (The Quinns and Backdraft), a fessor Arthur Franz in Monster on the Campus (¡958). Any animal
mediocre TV series pilot (Firehouse), and a fact-based biography coming into contact with the dead fish’s fluid reversed its evolu-
(Firefighter, the story of the L.A.F.D.’s first female member). Oscar tion process — Franz’s dog became a wolf-like creature and the
Werner played a futuristic fireman who burned books in François professor turned to a homicidal Neanderthal man. A living, stan-
Tru›aut’s ¡966 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 45¡ (the dard-issue prehistoric fish ate vacationers in the Jaws-inspired Up
best temperature for book-incinerating). Other firestarters have from the Depths (¡979). No one questioned the age of the giant
set plots ablaze in Violent Playground (¡958), She Played with Fire fish that swallowed Baron Munchausen and his mates in The Ad-
(¡957), Pyro (¡964), and Playing with Fire (¡985). Even Paul New- ventures of Baron Munchausen (¡989). But judging from the con-
man played a character with a reputation for barn-burning in tents of its “stomach,” it must have been a pretty old fish. Oddly
Martin Ritt’s The Long, Hot Summer (¡958). Drew Barrymore enough, the cinema’s most celebrated horror movie fish is neither
played the title role in Stephen King’s Firestarter (¡984), a fanci- oversized nor prehistoric. In fact, the piranha looks rather wimp-
ful thriller about a little girl who inherited the power to will fires ish, but its sharp teeth and carnivorous appetite have made him
to begin. Most movie dragons (q.v.) have possessed flame-induc- a popular villain’s pet. Director Joe Dante made it a star with
ing breath, with the most impressive scorcher being the creature ¡978’s Piranha, a spoof strictly for horror film bu›s and drive-in
Vertithrax from Disney’s ¡98¡ fantasy Dragonslayer. Large-scale fanatics. The Italian-Brazilian coproduction Killer Fish featured
fires have climaxed too many movies to mention and yet it’s im- a bizarre cast worthy of being fish food: Lee Majors, Karen Black,
possible to leave out the elaborately-staged burning of Atlanta in Margaux Hemingway, James Franciscus, and Marisa Berenson.
Gone with the Wind (¡939). Likewise, the burning of Rome, best Prior to hitting the big time with ¡984’s The Terminator, direc-
displayed in ¡95¡’s Quo Vadis?, deserves honorable mention. On tor James Cameron fashioned the ¡98¡ in-name-only sequel Pi-
the science fiction/fantasy front, ¡958’s The Flame Barrier intro- ranha II: The Spawning. Kevin Kline won a Best Supporting Actor
duced an alien protoplasm which could melt human flesh. Quest Oscar as Otto, the inept thief and raw fish eater in the ¡988 com-
for Fire (¡98¡) sent three cave people (q.v.) in search of replace- edy hit A Fish Called Wanda. In Disney’s The Sword in the Stone,
ment flames when a wolf attack extinguished their only campfire. magician Merlin turned himself and young King Arthur into fish.
Ursula Andress lost her eternal youth (q.v.) when she stepped See also Dolphins; Sharks; Whales.
into the cold Flame of Eternal Life for the second time in She Maid’s Night Out (¡938); Fantasia (¡940); Monster on the
(¡965). The fate of the world was undecided at the conclusion of Campus (¡958); The Sword in the Stone (¡963); The Day the Fish
¡962’s The Day the Earth Caught Fire, with our planet hurtling Came Out (¡967); Barracuda (aka The Lucifer Project) (¡978); Pi-
toward the sun for an incinerating destiny. ranha (¡978); Killer Fish (aka Deadly Treasure of the Piranha)
(¡979); Screamers (aka Isle of the Fishmen; Something Waits in the
The Glorious Adventure (¡92¡); Soup to Nuts (¡930); Fireman Dark) (¡979); Up from the Depths (¡979); Piranha II: The Spawning
Save My Child (¡932); She Loved a Fireman (¡937); In Old Chicago (¡98¡); A Fish Called Wanda (¡988); The Adventures of Baron Mun-
(¡938); The Shining Hour (¡938); Gone with the Wind (¡939); The chausen (¡989); Next Stop Wonderland (¡998)
Forest Rangers (¡942); Fires Were Started (aka I Was a Fireman)
(¡942); The Blazing Forest (¡952); Red Skies of Montana (aka Smoke
Jumpers) (¡952); The Wages of Fear (¡952); Inferno (¡953); Fireman Five Little Peppers
Save My Child (¡954); She Played with Fire (aka Fortune Is a Woman) The Peppers, another wholesome family in the Hardy Family
(¡957); The Flame Barrier (¡958); Maracaibo (¡958); Violent Play-
(q.v.) mold, were the subject of a brief Columbia film series. Five
ground (¡958); The Long, Hot Summer (¡958); Ring of Fire (¡96¡);
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (¡962); Pyro (¡964); Circus World (aka Little Peppers and How They Grew, which opened in ¡939 to
The Magnificent Showman) (¡964); Harvey Middleman, Fireman promising reviews, set the flimsy premise: Mrs. Pepper worked
(¡965); Fahrenheit 45¡ (¡966); The Fireman’s Ball (¡968); Hellfighters at a factory while her oldest daughter Polly attended the other four
(¡969); The Firechasers (¡970); Firehouse (¡972 TVM); The Towering little Peppers. Subsequent movies attracted little attention and
Inferno (¡974); Terror on the 40th Floor (¡974 TVM); Bug (¡975); the series came to an abrupt end after four entries. Dorothy Pe-
Fire! (¡977 TVM); The Quinns (¡977 TVM); Pine Canyon Is Burning terson starred as Mrs. Pepper and her five o›spring were played
(¡977 TVM); The Storyteller (¡977 TVM); Oil (¡977); The Triangle
by Edith Fellows (Polly), Charles Peck (Ben), Tommy Bond
Factory Fire Scandal (¡979 TVM); City on Fire (¡979); Don’t Go in
the House (¡980); Quest for Fire (¡98¡); Code Red (¡98¡ TVM); Un- ( Joey), Bobbie Larson (Dave) and Dorothy Ann Seese (Phronsie).
common Valor (¡983 TVM); Firestarter (¡984); The Burning Bed Ronald Sinclair played the Pepper kids’ rich friend Jasper with vet-
(¡984 TVM); The Long, Hot Summer (¡985 TVM); Playing with Fire eran character actor Clarence Kolb as his grandfather.
(¡985 TVM); Firefighter (¡986 TVM); On Fire (¡987 TVM); Nice Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (¡939); Out West with
Girls Don’t Explode (¡987); Roxanne (¡987); Always (¡989); Sponta- the Peppers (¡940); Five Little Peppers at Home (¡940); Five Little
neous Combustion (¡990); Backdraft (¡99¡); Barton Fink (¡99¡); Fire! Peppers in Trouble (¡940)
Trapped on the 37th Floor (¡99¡ TVM); Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oak-
land (¡993 TVM); Torch Song (¡993 TVM); Wilder Napalm (¡993);
Flashfire (¡994); Backfire (¡995); In the Line of Duty: Smoke Jumpers Flagg and Quirt
(¡996 TVM); Firestorm (¡998); Frequency (2000) Brawling, patriotic Marines Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt
first clashed with one another in ¡926’s What Price Glory? A silent
Fish screen adaptation of the Maxwell Anderson–Laurence Stallings
The movies have been stocked with a small, but diverse, catch of play. Romantic lead Edmund Lowe played against type as the
fish — little ones with very sharp teeth, big ones capable of swal- roughneck Quirt, with Victor McLaglen more than his match as
78 FLOODS

Flagg. Set in France during World War I, this deft mixture of rau- not work as a horror film because the “monster” elicits more
cous comedy and realistic adventure found the two Marines at odds sympathy than terror — and there’s no villain. The Return of the
over the charms of an irresistible girl named Charmaine. The chem- Fly (¡959) introduced some bad guys, but the basic plot re-
istry between the stars and the nonstop action (expertly directed mained the same except for an upbeat ending. The ¡965 made-
by Raoul Walsh) made the film immensely popular. McLaglen and in-England Curse of the Fly dealt with a matter transmission de-
Lowe returned as Flagg and Quirt in three lighthearted follow-ups, vice, but otherwise bore little resemblance to the first two films.
all directed by Walsh. Whether they were running liquor in South In ¡986, Canadian director David Cronenberg directed a styl-
America (Hot Pepper) or soldiering in Sweden (Women of All Na- ish rethinking of The Fly, with Je› Goldblum as a scientist who
tions), Flagg and Quirt were almost always quarreling over a mutates himself and dreams of creating a new species. It was fol-
woman. John Ford remade What Price Glory? in ¡952 with James lowed by The Fly II, a ¡989 sequel which found son Eric Stolz
Cagney as Flagg and Dan Dailey as Quirt. The ¡942 McLaglen- experiencing mutation problems before discovering how to re-
Lowe vehicle Call Out the Marines is sometimes erroneously listed verse the process. See also Insects; Teleportation.
as a Flagg and Quirt film. Actually, the two stars played characters The Fly (¡958); The Return of the Fly (¡959); The Curse of the
named McGinnis and Curtis and the setting was World War II. Fly (¡965); The Fly (¡986); The Fly II (¡989)
What Price Glory? (¡926); The Cockeyed World (¡929); Women
of All Nations (¡93¡); Hot Pepper (¡933); What Price Glory? (¡952) Flying People
Flying humans have become all but extinct in the cinema. Su-
Floods perman, and to a lesser extent Supergirl, were common air-bound
Floods have appeared less frequently than other motion picture sights in the late ¡970s and early ¡980s — but both of them were
disasters (see Earthquakes; Volcanoes), despite the increased technically aliens since they hailed from the planet Krypton.
likelihood of their natural occurrence. The biggest flood, in terms Thus, the only major films in the past two decades to feature
of scope, was the biblical one that set Noah’s Ark afloat in ¡929. flying Earthlings have been Condorman (¡98¡), The Boy Who
The potential love a›air between Indian aristocrat Tyrone Power Could Fly (¡986), and The Rocketeer (¡99¡). Michael Crawford,
and English socialite Myrna Loy was disrupted by floods, earth- prior to becoming a Broadway sensation as The Phantom of the
quakes, and plague in ¡939’s The Rains Came. In A Cry in the Opera, played a cartoonist-turned-superhero who attempted a
Wilderness (¡974), George Kennedy had himself locked inside a winged flight over Paris in Condorman, a dismal Disney secret
barn after being bit by a rabid skunk — and then learns a flood is agent spoof produced during the studio’s low point. Nick Cas-
on the way. Not all floods are caused by rain. The gravitational tle’s The Boy Who Could Fly was a tender fantasy about an ap-
pull of another planet flooded metropolitan cities all over the parently autistic teen who yearned to fly — and eventually soared
world — including Manhattan — in When Worlds Collide (¡95¡). into the clouds. Pre-¡97¡ flights of fantasy have featured a unique
Enterprising (and cheap) New World Pictures re-edited a ¡973 brand of eccentricity. Bud Cort played a lad obsessed with don-
Japanese film called The Submersion of Japan into the ¡975 disas- ning his homemade wings and taking a flight around the As-
ter-drama Tidal Wave. See also Disaster Movies. trodome in Robert Altman’s erratic satire Brewster McCloud
Metropolis (¡925); The Johnstown Flood (¡926); Noah’s Ark (¡970). The French fantasy Fifi la Plume (¡964) concerned a thief
(¡929); Postal Inspector (¡936); The Rains Came (¡939); When who joined a circus as a “bird-man” and actually learned to fly.
Worlds Collide (¡95¡); Heidi and Peter (¡955); The Rains of Comedian Soupy Sales starred as a “minuscule molecular parti-
Ranchipur (¡955); Floods of Fear (¡958); Wild River (¡960); In cle surveillance monitor” (i.e., a janitor) who took to the air after
Search of the Castaways (¡962); Mister Moses (¡965); The Little Ark
becoming “ionized” in ¡966’s Birds Do It. A decade earlier, the
(¡972); A Cry in the Wilderness (¡974 TVM); Irwin Allen’s Flood!
(aka Flood!) (¡976 TVM); The River (¡984); The Flood: Who Will Disney folks brought literature’s most famous flying boy to the
Save Our Children? (¡993 TVM); The Flood (aka Navodneniye) screen in the animated Peter Pan (¡953). Schizophrenic Vietnam
(¡994); Jumanji (¡995); Flood: A River’s Rampage (¡997 TVM); vet Matthew Modine longed to be a bird and take to the air in
First-Time Felon (¡997 TVM); Old Man (¡997 TVM); Hard Rain ¡984’s Birdy. A boy believed his long lost father could fly in ¡995’s
(aka Flood) (¡998); Terror in the Mall (¡998 TVM) The Flying Dutchman. Floating, not flying, people have also ap-
peared in a handful of films like Mary Poppins (¡964) and The Fury
The Fly Series (¡978). See also Superman.
Before Shogun, there was The Fly. Long before his novels made Peter Pan (¡953); Fifi la Plume (¡964); Birds Do It (¡966);
him a best-selling author, James Clavell penned this ¡958 cult Brewster McCloud (¡970); Superman (¡978); Condorman (¡98¡); Su-
favorite about a scientist who transforms himself into a man/fly pergirl (¡984); The Boy Who Could Fly (¡986); The Rocketeer (¡99¡);
mutation. Al (David) Hedison played the inventor of an exper- Hook (¡99¡)
imental device that broke matter into molecules, transported
them from one terminal to another, and then reconstructed the Football
original object. Hedison’s obsession with his invention caused Baseball may be the national pastime, but football outranks it eas-
him to transport himself— unaware that a house fly had buzzed ily as the movies’ favorite team sport. Yet, unlike baseball, foot-
into the terminal with him. The device merged the human and ball has enshrined few of its legends. Its movie hall of fame has
fly molecules, the result being a man with a fly’s head and “arm” covered the careers of players Jim Thorpe (Jim Thorpe-All Amer-
(and a fly with the appropriate human parts). The rest of the ican), Brian Piccolo (Brian’s Song), Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch
film focused on the trauma experienced by Hedison’s wife (Pa- (Crazylegs), Rocky Bleier (Fighting Back) and others. To their
tricia Owens). Although consistently interesting, The Fly does credit, football-oriented filmmakers have shown equal respect for
 FOREIGN LEGION 79

the men on the sidelines, with profiles of real-life collegiate coach- bling’s White Tiger (¡98¡ TVM); The Oklahoma City Dolls (¡982
ing greats Knute Rockne (Knute Rockne, All American), Bear TVM); All the Right Moves (¡983); Quarterback Princess (¡983
Bryant (The Bear), and Eddie Robinson (Grambling’s White TVM); O› Sides (¡984 TVM); The Bear (¡984); The Best of Times
(¡986); Wildcats (¡986); Everybody’s All-American (¡988); Johnny Be
Tiger). On the fictional front, the movies have left no football field
Good (¡988); Glory Days (¡988 TVM); Triumph of the Heart: The
untouched. Tom Cruise, Anthony Michael Hall, and Gary Busey Ricky Bell Story (¡99¡ TVM); Necessary Roughness (¡99¡); Backfield
played high school gridiron stars in, respectively, All the Right in Motion (¡99¡ TVM); School Ties (¡992); The Program (¡993);
Moves, Johnny Be Good, and Blood Sport. The replaying of a 20- Rudy (¡993); Forrest Gump (¡994); Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd
year-old high school game was the subject of the Robin Williams Story (¡994 TVM); Little Giants (¡994); Jerry Maguire (¡996); Good
comedy The Best of Times (¡986). However, the majority of foot- Luck (¡997); Angels in the Endzone (¡997 TVM); The Waterboy
ball pictures have dealt with the college game, often on a comic (¡998); The Garbage-Picking, Field-Goal Kicking, Philadelphia Phe-
nomenon (¡998 TVM); Varsity Blues (¡999); Any Given Sunday
or musical level. Harold Lloyd starred as a clutzy student trans-
(¡999); The Replacements (2000)
formed into an unlikely football hero in his ¡925 classic The Fresh-
man. The Marx Brothers’ hilarious Horse Feathers (¡932) pitted
their Huxley College team against archrival Darwin U. in one of
Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy
the screen’s more bizarre climactic games. Jack Oakie was the Director John Ford’s sentimental homage to the U.S. Cavalry
team’s star and Bing Crosby a crooning college professor in the qualifies as a series only in the broadest sense. All three films share
¡933 musical College Humor. Another gridiron musical, ¡936’s common themes, take place out West after the Civil War, and star
Pigskin Parade, co-starred Judy Garland (in her film debut) and John Wayne (and other Ford favorites such as Ward Bond and
Jack Haley three years before The Wizard of Oz. Fictional pro Victor McLaglen). However, Henry Fonda got the juicy role in
players have experienced more stressful careers. In ¡974’s The Fort Apache (¡948), which resembles Custer’s final days, although
Longest Yard, former quarterback Burt Reynolds found himself in it was based on James Warner Bellah’s story “Massacre.” Fonda
prison leading a bunch of fellow convicts against the warden’s plays Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday, a Civil War general
team. Charlton Heston was another quarterback, fighting to stay who has been demoted and shipped to a desert command post.
in the game despite his age, in ¡969’s Number One. A similar He is a harsh disciplinarian who fails to understand his daugh-
problem plagued injury-prone Nick Nolte in North Dallas Forty ter, his soldiers, and the Indians. When Thursday’s blunders re-
(¡979), a perceptive seriocomedy that also addressed the business sult in a Cavalry massacre — and his own death — patriotic Cap-
end of the sport. The most enjoyable film about the realities of tain Kirby York (Wayne) covers up for his superior and paints a
professional football was probably Paper Lion (¡968), based on gallant portrait of the dead o‡cer. It’s an odd ending to an oth-
writer George Plimpton’s best-seller about his undercover stint as erwise straightforward, albeit well-done, Western. Shirley Tem-
a rookie for the Detroit Lions. Unpleasant pro games were fea- ple had one of her better adult roles as Fonda’s daughter Philadel-
tured in Black Sunday (terrorists planted a bomb in the blimp), phia, and her then-husband John Agar played her love interest.
Two Minute Warning (a sniper in the stadium), and Superdome Wayne dominates the second film, ¡949’s She Wore a Yellow Rib-
(another killer on the loose). Two TV movies about the Dallas bon, which was based on two other Bellah stories: “War Party”
Cowboy Cheerleaders treated women with minimal respect. How- and “Big Hunt.” He plays Captain Nathan Brittles, a retiring
ever, tough-minded ladies took to the football field in The Ok- Cavalryman preparing to pass his command to young Lieutenant
lahoma City Dolls (¡98¡), Quarterback Princess (¡983), and Flint Cahill ( John Agar again). But before Brittles can step down
Backfield in Motion (¡99¡). The cinema’s most unlikely gridiron from his responsibilities, he must intercede to thwart a war with
stars include the quarterbacking chimp in Bonzo Goes to College the Indians. Again, the plot takes a backseat to Ford’s compas-
(¡952) and the field-goal kicking mule Gus (¡976). See also Cheer- sion for his characters and his breathtaking portrait of the West-
leaders. ern frontier (as filmed by Oscar-winner Winston Hoch in Mon-
ument Valley). The trilogy’s final chapter, ¡950’s Rio Grande, casts
The Freshman (¡925); Good News (¡930); Horse Feathers Wayne as a cavalry o‡cer facing conflicts with a new recruit: the
(¡932); Saturday’s Millions (¡933); College Coach (¡933); College
son he never knew. Maureen O’Hara and Victor McLaglen (who
Humor (¡933); Fighting Youth (¡935); Pigskin Parade (¡936); Hold
’Em Navy (¡937); Navy Blue and Gold (¡937); $¡,000 a Touchdown appeared in all three films) turn in fine supporting performances
(¡939); Knute Rockne, All American (¡940); Rise and Shine (¡94¡); in the most underrated — and least shown — of the three films. Its
Pardon My Stripe (¡942); The Iron Major (¡943); Good News (¡947); songs were performed by the Sons of the Pioneers, which included
The Spirit of West Point (¡947); Easy Living (¡949); Father Was a future actor Ken Curtis, best known as Festus on the long-run-
Fullback (¡949); Saturday’s Hero (aka Idols in the Dust) (¡95¡); The ning TV series Gunsmoke (q.v.).
Guy Who Came Back (¡95¡); Jim Thorpe — All American (aka Man
Fort Apache (¡948); She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (¡949); Rio
of Bronze) (¡95¡); The Rose Bowl Story (¡952); Bonzo Goes to College
Grande (¡950)
(¡952); The All-American (¡953); Trouble Along the Way (¡953);
Crazylegs (aka Crazylegs, All American) (¡953); Son of Flubber
(¡963); The Fortune Cookie (¡966); Paper Lion (¡968); Number One Foreign Legion
(¡969); M*A*S*H (¡970); Brian’s Song (¡970 TVM); Footsteps (aka P.C. Wren’s ¡925 adventure novel Beau Geste established a much-
Footsteps: Nice Guys Finish Last) (¡972 TVM); A Fan’s Notes (¡972); copied formula for desert tales of derring-do among soldiers in
Blood Sport (¡973 TVM); The Longest Yard (¡974); Gus (¡976); Two
Minute Warning (¡976); Something for Joey (¡977 TVM); Black
the French Foreign Legion. It was first filmed as a silent in ¡926
Sunday (¡977); Semi-Tough (¡977); Heaven Can Wait (¡978); Su- with an all-star cast of Ronald Colman, Victor McLaglen, and
perdome (¡978 TVM); North Dallas Forty (¡979); H.O.T.S. (¡979); William Powell. This exciting story of three honor-bound broth-
Coach of the Year (¡980 TVM); Fighting Back (¡980 TVM); Gram- ers and a ruthless sergeant struck box-o‡ce gold for Paramount,
80 FOUR DAUGHTERS SERIES

who released a hurried sequel two years later. Beau Sabreur was ters in all three films. Claude Rains co-starred with them, while
based on a Wren novel which took place within the framework Eddie Albert appeared in the last two entries.
of Beau Geste. Yet, despite the presence of William Powell and Four Daughters (¡938); Four Wives (¡939); Four Mothers (¡94¡)
newcomer Gary Cooper, it failed to repeat its predecessor’s suc-
cess. Still, it fared better than another Wren-based sequel, ¡93¡’s
Beau Ideal. Colman and McLaglen returned as Foreign Legion ri-
Francis, the Talking Mule
vals in ¡936’s Under Two Flags, with aristocratic Rosalind Russell Chill Wills was the voice behind the mule and Donald O’Con-
and commoner Claudette Colbert as the women vying for Col- nor played the straight man in all but one entry in this popular
man’s love. Its pre–Geste source novel had been filmed earlier in Universal comedy series. The relationship between the bumbling,
¡9¡6 and ¡922. Thirteen years after the release of Colman’s ¡926 sincere human and the crafty (occasionally cruel) mule was es-
Beau Geste, Paramount mounted a lavish scene-for-scene remake tablished when they met in the Army in ¡950’s Francis. The run-
starring Beau Sabreur alumnus Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and ning gag of the series — Francis would talk only to O’Connor, so
Robert Preston as the brothers. Brian Donlevy outshone the leads, that Donald always wound up looking crazy — naturally wore
however, earning an Oscar nomination for his sadistic sergeant. thin as the series progressed. But O’Connor, an underrated co-
Telly Savalas played that role in Universal’s best-forgotten ¡966 median, and Wills maintained a delightful rapport. The script
Beau Geste, which trimmed the number of brothers to two (Guy writers gave them a fair share of decent material as well, with the
Stockwell and Doug McClure) and tacked on a happy ending. For funniest bit being when Francis psychoanalyzed an unmotivated
a change of pace, Dick Powell played a contemporary American race horse in Francis Goes to the Races (¡95¡). The series began to
agent who joins the Foreign Legion to track down Nazis in the show signs of wear when Wills showed up in a human support-
World War II adventure Rogue’s Regiment (¡948). Foreign Legion ing role in Francis Joins the WACs (¡954) and O’Connor played a
films in general — and Beau Geste in particular — have been double role in Francis in the Navy (¡955). The latter film turned
spoofed by Laurel and Hardy (The Flying Deuces), Abbott and out to be the final one for O’Connor and Wills. But Universal
Costello (A&C in the Foreign Legion), and the Carry On Gang was not ready to end its last profitable series. Paul Frees spoke for
(Follow That Camel). Marty Feldman’s The Last Remake of Beau Francis and Mickey Rooney played the mule’s sidekick in ¡956’s
Geste (¡977) was an uneven a›air, basically a one-joke movie best-forgotten Francis in the Haunted House. It ended the series
about unlikely twin brothers (!) Feldman and Michael York. That on a down note. However, just five years later, veteran Francis di-
same year saw the release of March or Die, an awkward combi- rector Arthur Lubin proved that talking animals could still be
nation of traditional Foreign Legion adventure and ¡970s-style vi- funny when he introduced television audiences to that famous
olence. It died a swift box-o‡ce death. Jean-Claude Van Damme talking horse —Mr. Ed. See also Talking Animals.
played a guy who deserted the Foreign Legion and became a Francis (¡950); Francis Goes to the Races (¡95¡); Francis Goes to
streetfighter in Lionheart (¡990). Then, in Legionnaire (¡999), he West Point (¡952); Francis Covers the Big Town (¡953); Francis Joins
the WACs (¡954); Francis in the Navy (¡955); Francis in the Haunted
played a boxer on the run who joined the Foreign Legion. For-
House (¡956)
eign Legion recruiters probably preferred the latter film.
Beau Geste (¡926); Beau Sabreur (¡928); Morocco (¡930); Rene-
gades (¡930); Beau Ideal (¡93¡); Le Grand Jeu (¡934); Under Two Frankenstein/The Monster
Flags (¡936); Beau Geste (¡939); The Flying Deuces (aka Flying Aces) The cinema’s favorite mad scientist, Mary Shelley’s Victor
(¡939); Rogue’s Regiment (¡948); Outpost in Malaya (¡949); Abbott Frankenstein, has spent most of his film career in the shadow of
and Costello in the Foreign Legion (¡950); Ten Tall Men (¡95¡); Flesh his creation: the Frankenstein Monster. Indeed, when most peo-
and the Woman (¡953); Desert Legion (¡953); Legion of the Doomed
ple talk about Frankenstein, they are referring to the Monster —
(¡958); Desert Hell (¡958); Beau Geste (¡966); Follow That Camel
(aka Carry On Follow That Camel) (¡967); Man of Legend (¡97¡); not the man. Yet, both the doctor and his creation rank as two
The Last Remake of Beau Geste (¡977); March or Die (¡977); Rene- of the movies’ most enduring characters. Thomas Edison’s film
gades (¡982 TVM); Lionheart (aka A.W.O.L.; Wrong Bet) (¡990); company produced the first version of Shelley’s classic, ¡9¡0’s
Savior (¡998); Legionnaire (¡999) Frankenstein, featuring contract player Charles Ogle as a shaggy,
clawed monster. Two other silent versions followed, Life Without
Four Daughters Series a Soul (¡9¡5) and an obscure Italian picture The Monster of
Fanny Hurst’s story “Sister Act” reached the screen in ¡938 as Frankenstein (¡920). A decade later, Universal Studios made
Four Daughters, a vehicle designed to spotlight the Lane Sisters. Frankenstein a household name with the release of James Whale’s
The movie was a popular and artistic smash, but the sensation ¡93¡ horror classic. In Whale’s version, Colin Clive played Henry
turned out to be a young actor named John Garfield who played Frankenstein as an intelligent, but definitely irrational, man of sci-
Priscilla Lane’s erratic suitor and eventual husband. Unfortu- ence (the name change — from Victor to Henry — has never been
nately, Garfield’s character committed suicide, so that he was lim- satisfactorily explained). Boris Karlo› ’s man-made creature
ited to a flashback role in the ¡939 follow-up Four Wives. Un- elicited both terror and sympathy, giving him a depth of charac-
daunted, Warner Bros. paired Garfield and Lane (along with ter rare for a movie monster. Director Whale exploited these as-
Claude Rains who had played her father) in an unrelated but very sets to even greater e›ect with his ¡935 sequel The Bride of
similar picture called Daughters Courageous (¡94¡). The studio Frankenstein, considered by many critics as the finest of all
then picked up with the original series, now Garfield-less and Frankensteins. It also holds the distinction of being the only film
losing momentum, with ¡94¡’s Four Mothers. Priscilla, Rosemary, in the Universal series in which the Monster spoke with his own
and Lola Lane, along with Gale Page, played the four Lemp sis- voice. After Bride, Whale and Clive bowed out of the series.
 FREE WILLY SERIES 81

Nevertheless, ¡939’s Son of Frankenstein remained a superior out- (Karlo›/Glenn Strange); House of Dracula (¡945) (Onslow
ing in which Henry’s son Wolf (Basil Rathbone) revives the Mon- Stevens/Strange); Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948)
ster (Karlo› ) much to the delight of the mad shepherd Ygor (Bela (Lugosi as Dracula/Strange)
Lugosi). These first three entries were “A” pictures in every re- HAMMER SERIES: Curse of Frankenstein (¡957) (Peter Cush-
spect, but the series succumbed to the “B” level with ¡942’s The ing/Christopher Lee); Revenge of Frankenstein (¡958) (Cushing/
Michael Gwynn); Evil of Frankenstein (¡964) (Cushing/Kiwi
Ghost of Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi was still around as the dis-
Kingston); Frankenstein Created Woman (¡967) (Cushing/Susan
turbing Ygor, but Lon Chaney, Jr., made a mediocre monster Denberg); Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (¡969) (Cushing/Freddie
and even reliable Cedric Hardwicke seemed uninspired as Henry’s Jones); Horror of Frankenstein (¡970) (Ralph Bates/Dave Prowse);
other son Ludwig. Universal subsequently paired the Monster Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (¡973) (Cushing/Prowse)
with other creatures in its gallery, resulting in ¡943’s Frankenstein OTHER FRANKENSTEIN FILMS: Frankenstein (¡9¡0) (Augustus
Meets the Wolf Man and the monster rallies House of Frankenstein Phillips/Charles Ogle); Life Without Soul (¡9¡5) (William
(¡944) and House of Dracula (¡945). The Universal series ended Cohill/Percy Standing); The Monster of Frankenstein (¡920) (Lu-
with its self-spoof Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948). ciano Albertini/Umberto Guarracino); I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
However, Britain’s Hammer Films revived the Frankenstein name (¡957) (Whit Bissell/Gary Conway); Frankenstein’s Daughter (¡958)
(Donald Murphy/Uncredited); Frankenstein ¡970 (¡958) (Boris
in ¡957 with its colorful, gory (for the time) adaptation Curse of
Karlo›/Mike Lane); How to Make a Monster (¡960) (Gary Conway
Frankenstein. The Hammer series wisely shifted its focus from the as actor in Monster make-up); Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
Monster to the doctor. In a stroke of casting genius, Peter Cush- (¡964) ( James Karen/Robert Reilly); Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s
ing was chosen to play Victor Frankenstein and his crisp, ener- Daughter (¡966) (Narda Onyx/Cal Bolder); Frankenstein Conquers
getic performance brought him well-deserved fame. As the series the World (¡966) (Koji Furuhata as the Monster); Munster, Go
continued, Cushing developed his character, gradually becoming Home! (¡966) (Fred Gwynne as Monster-lookalike Herman Mun-
more ruthless, but always managing to evoke a measure of pity. ster); Mad Monster Party? (¡967) (puppet); Casino Royale (¡967)
(Dave Prowse has a cameo as the Monster); Santo and Blue Demon
The lone Hammer picture to star another actor was the ill-fated vs. the Monsters (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruós)
¡970 satire Horror of Frankenstein, which presented Ralph Bates (¡969) (Manuel Leal as the Monster); Dr. Frankenstein on Campus
as a younger, more sexually-active Victor. Although Hammer re- (aka Flick) (¡970) (Robin Ward as doctor who was the Monster);
tired its series in ¡974, the Frankenstein myth continued to thrive The Man Who Came from Ummo (aka El Hombre Que Vino de
on film. Paul Morrissey directed a ¡973 3-D version under the Ummo; Assignment Terror; Los Monstruos Del Terror; Dracula vs.
auspices of Andy Warhol called Flesh for Frankenstein (aka Andy Frankenstein) (¡970) (Paul Naschy); Lady Frankenstein (aka La Figlia
Warhol’s Frankenstein). The success of ¡972’s Blacula guaranteed di Frankenstein) (¡97¡) ( Joseph Cotten as Dr. Frankenstein); Drac-
ula vs. Frankenstein (aka Blood of Frankenstein; The Revenge of Drac-
the making of a “blaxploitation” Frankenstein. However, when ula; They’re Coming to Get You) (¡97¡) ( J. Carrol Naish/John
Blackenstein appeared the following year, it lacked the style and Bloom); Frankenstein (¡973 TVM) (Robert Foxworth/Bo Svenson);
polish of its vampire predecessor and vanished quietly. The most Blackenstein (aka Black Frankenstein) (¡973) ( John Hart/Joe DiSue);
literate adaptations were probably the ¡973 TV movie Franken- Flesh for Frankenstein (aka Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein) (¡973) (Udo
stein: The True Story and the overly stylish Kenneth Branagh ver- Kier/Srojan Zelenovic); Spirit of the Beehive (¡973); Frankenstein:
sion Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (¡994). Both films featured The True Story (¡973 TVM) (Leonard Whiting/Michael Sarrazin);
Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein (Santo y Blue Demon
human-looking monsters, with Robert De Niro projecting both
Contra el Dr. Frankenstein) (¡973) ( Jorge Russek as Dr. Irving
sympathy and evil as the monster in the Branagh movie. Franken- Frankenstein); Young Frankenstein (¡974) (Gene Wilder/Peter
stein: The True Story also featured a rare female monster ( Jane Boyle); Death Race 2000 (¡975); Frankenstein-Italian Style (¡977)
Seymour), as did Bride of Frankenstein (Elsa Lanchester), (Gianrico Tedeschi/Aldo Maccione); Victor Frankenstein (aka Terror
Frankenstein Created Woman (Susan Denberg), and The Bride of Frankenstein) (¡977) (Leon Vitali/Pers Oscarsson); Dr. Franken
( Jennifer Beals). There was no real monster in ¡973’s Spirit of the (¡980 TVM) (Robert Vaughn/Robert Perault); The Bride (¡985)
Beehive, a Spanish film about a child deeply disturbed from (Sting/Clancy Brown and Jennifer Beals); Gothic (¡986); The Vindi-
cator (aka Frankenstein ’88) (¡986) (Richard Cox/David McIl-
watching Whale’s original. David Carradine played a futuristic
wraith); The Monster Squad (¡987) (Tom Noonan as the Monster);
race car driver named Frankenstein in Paul Bartel’s o›beat satire Haunted Summer (¡988); Frankenhooker (¡990) ( James Lorinz as
Death Race 2000 (¡975). Gothic (¡986) and Haunted Summer Je›rey Franken/Patty Mullen as Elizabeth, the Monster); Franken-
(¡988) dealt with the incidents surrounding Mary Shelley’s writ- stein Unbound (aka Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound) (¡990)
ing of her novel. Ian McKellan portrayed James Whale in Gods (Raul Julia/Nick Brimble); Frankenstein: The College Years (¡99¡
and Monsters, a ¡998 biography that cleverly mixed fact and TVM) (Vincent Hammond as the Monster); Waxwork II: Lost in
fiction. It featured clips from Bride of Frankenstein, as well as fan- Time (¡99¡) (Martin Kemp/Stefanos Miltsakakis); Frankenstein
(¡993 TVM) (Patrick Bergin/Randy Quaid); Mary Shelley’s
tasy sequences in which Whale turned up as both Dr. Franken- Frankenstein (¡994) (Kenneth Branagh/Robert De Niro); Here Come
stein and his monster. In the following list, the doctor, or his re- the Munsters (¡995 TVM) (Edward Herrmann as Herman Munster);
placement mad scientist, is listed prior to the monster in Monster Mash: The Movie (aka Frankenstein Sings) (¡995) (Bobby
parentheses after the film’s title: Pickett as Dr. Frankenstein); House of Frankenstein ¡997 (¡997
TVM) (Peter Crombie as the Monster); The Creeps (¡997) (Thomas
UNIVERSAL SERIES: Frankenstein (¡93¡) (Colin Clive/Boris Wellington as the Monster); Gods and Monsters (¡998)
Karlo› ); Bride of Frankenstein (¡935) (Clive/Karlo› and Elsa Lan-
chester); Son of Frankenstein (¡939) (Basil Rathbone/Karlo› ); The
Ghost of Frankenstein (¡942) (Cedric Hardwicke/Lon Chaney, Jr.);
Free Willy Series
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (¡943) (Patric Knowles/Bela Lu- Young viewers embraced Free Willy, making this story of a boy
gosi); House of Frankenstein (aka Chamber of Horrors) (¡944) and his killer whale friend the sleeper hit of the summer of ¡993.
82 FRIDAY THE 13TH SERIES

Jason James Richter played Jesse, a former runaway who lives Walt Disney brought Kenneth Grahame’s classic The Wind in the
with foster parents, but who experiences di‡culties with fitting Willows to the screen in animated form in the two-part feature
into his new surroundings. He finds a needed friend in Willy, who Ichabod and Mr. Toad (¡949). The wildly eccentric Mr. Toad
performs at an amusement park. When the whale’s safety be- came to life sharply as a result of superb animation and Eric
comes threatened, Jesse helps the orca escape. Michael Jackson Blore’s marvelous comedic voice. (Oddly, the first half of Icha-
had a hit with the film’s theme song “Will You Be There?” Two bod and Mr. Toad was an unrelated animated adaptation of “The
less successful sequels followed, both starring Richter. In Free Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”) Although frogs and toads such as
Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Jesse and his reunited younger Kermit, Freddie, and Mr. Toad can be charming, these green am-
brother help save whales from an oil spill. In Free Willy 3: The phibians also have a dark side. The environmentally-minded hor-
Rescue, Jesse and Willy encounter villains hunting endangered ror film Frogs (¡972) carried this ominous ad line: “Millions of
whales. The true star of all three films was Keiko, the killer whale slimy bodies everywhere — millions of gaping mouths!” Actually,
(although many of his more dangerous tricks were “performed” the frogs were not very frightening, though Ray Milland seemed
by an animatronic double). Keiko’s real-life story garnered a lot to take o›ense to them. Additionally, the frogs made a strong po-
of attention throughout the mid–¡990s. When the media revealed litical statement about how humans wreak havoc on the ecology.
that Keiko lived in a small tank in Mexico, animal right activists The “frog monster” in ¡953’s The Maze generated more sympa-
became interested in his plight. The nonprofit Free Willy Keiko thy than horror. He was actually a mutant human resembling a
Foundation eventually bought the killer whale and temporarily giant frog, who hid all day in a gloomy castle and hopped around
relocated him to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. In ¡998, the Foun- at night in a giant maze. This bizarre film featured 3-D photog-
dation returned Keiko to his natural waters o› the coast of Ice- raphy (q.v.) and delightfully weird sets designed by director
land, where the 9,000-pound whale could swim in a football William Cameron Menzies. A mutant tadpole surfaced briefly in
field–sized floating pen. See also Whales. Prophechy (¡975), while the mutants in Hell Comes to Frogtown
Free Willy (¡993); Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (aka Free were unpleasant-looking, frog-like humanoids. See also Frog-
Willy 2) (¡995); Free Willy 3: The Rescue (¡997) town Series, The Muppets.
Ichabod and Mr. Toad (¡949); The Maze (¡953); Frogs (¡972);
Friday the ¡3th Series Prophecy (¡975); The Muppet Movie (¡979); Hell Comes to Frogtown
This modest ¡980 Halloween (q.v.) clone has a lot to answer for — (¡987); The Frog Prince (aka Cannon Movie Tales: The Frog Prince)
(¡988); Freddie as F.R.O.7 (aka Freddie the Frog) (¡992); The Swan
chiefly for inspiring the most successful film series of the ¡980s. Princess (¡994); The Wind in the Willows (aka Mr. Toad’s Wild
Who would have thought that watching teens get bumped o› Ride) (¡996)
during summer camp would be so popular? Actually, the series’
survival can be attributed to two clever ideas. It capitalized on
¡982’s 3-D craze with the gut-wrenching Friday the ¡3th Part 3.
Frogtown Series
Then, after finally disposing of the indestructible killer Jason in Set in the wake of a nuclear war, Hell Comes to Frogtown (¡987)
Friday the ¡3th — The Final Chapter, it had another character as- depicts a world where 68 percent of the male population has been
sume Jason’s identity. The series appeared to have run its course killed and many of the survivors are sterile. A provisional gov-
after the meager returns posted by ¡989’s eighth installment. ernment has established an agency, Medtech, dedicated to finding
However, New Line Cinema — the home of the Freddy Kreuger males with high sperm counts that can impregnate the female
franchise — tried to revive the series with ¡993’s disappointing population. Medtech pardons criminal Sam Hell (Roddy Piper)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. The popular syndicated TV when it learns of his sexual prowess and sends him into the “waste-
series Friday the ¡3th ran from ¡987 to ¡990, but it bore no re- lands” to rescue fertile women held captive by frog-like mutants.
semblance to the movies. It focused on the e›orts of two teenaged Hell’s journey leads him to Frogtown, a chilling industrial ghost
cousins to recover cursed antiques (e.g., a doll, a quill pen, a town inhabited by “greeners”— humans who inexplicably became
teacup) sold by their uncle as part of a pact with the Devil. See part frog as a result of the nuclear war. Herded into reservations,
also Slasher Movies; Summer Camps. the greeners have established their own society ruled by Com-
Friday the ¡3th (¡980); Friday the ¡3th Part 2 (¡98¡); Friday the mander Toty (Brian Frank). Toty’s soldiers promptly capture Hell
¡3th Part 3 (¡982); Friday the ¡3th — The Final Chapter (¡984); Fri- and his female partner, forcing her to perform the amusing
day the ¡3th Part V: A New Beginning (¡985); Friday the ¡3th Part “Dance of the Three Snakes.” With the help of a greener exotic
VI: Jason Lives (¡986); Friday the ¡3th Part VII — The New Blood dancer, Hell escapes and rescues the human women held captive
(¡988); Friday the ¡3th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (¡989); in Toty’s harem. Sadly, Hell Comes to Frogtown features some in-
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (¡993) triguing ideas that never get fully developed. Both societies use
racial slurs against each other (the greeners refer to the “normal”
Frogs humans as “flat lips”). The “normal” human society is portrayed
As Kermit the Frog once sang: “It ain’t easy being green.” That as cruel and self-serving. After all, it forced the greeners to live
goes double for the movie business where frogs and toads have in the equivalent of ghetto slums, instead of trying to help them.
been all but forgotten (as opposed to fairy tale literature where And Medtech takes its population mission to extremes — in one
frogs get some respect). The only true frog star is Kermit, who scene, a frightened girl is drugged so Hell can impregnate her.
has shared top billing with Miss Piggy in all the Muppet Movies Though A Boy and His Dog explored the post-apocalypse infer-
(q.v.). Ben Kingsley voiced the title role in ¡992’s Freddie as tility theme with much greater success, Hell Comes to Frogtown
F.R.O.7, an animated yarn about an amphibious secret agent. has built enough of a fan base to warrant two belated sequels:
 GAMBLING 83

Frogtown II (¡993) and Toad Warrior (¡996). Director Donald G. The Gambler (aka Kenny Rogers as The Gambler) (¡980 TVM);
Jackson, who co-wrote the original story, helmed all three films. The Gambler — The Adventure Continues (aka Kenny Rogers as The
Former wrestler Roddy Piper skipped the sequels, but went on to Gambler — The Adventure Continues) (¡983 TVM); The Gambler
III, the Legend Continues (¡987 TVM); The Gambler IV: Luck of the
score his biggest role in John Carpenter’s sci-fi action film They
Draw (¡99¡ TVM); The Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (¡994 TVM)
Live (¡989). See also Frogs; Humanimals.
Hell Comes to Frogtown (¡987); Frogtown II (aka Return to
Frogtown) (¡993); Toad Warrior (aka Frogtown III) (¡996)
Gambling
With the roll of a die or the flip of a card, gambling has made
fortunes, wrecked relationships, shattered reputations, and led to
Fu Manchu cold-blooded murder. The most powerful films on the subject are
Warner Oland, best known as Charlie Chan, portrayed Sax those dealing with compulsive gamblers. Earnest writer Gregory
Rohmer’s evil Oriental mastermind in three early talkies: The Peck rescued Ava Gardner from the perils of gambling — only to
Mysterious Fu Manchu, The Return of Fu Manchu, and Daughter catch the fever himself— in ¡949’s The Great Sinner. That same
of the Dragon (as well as a cameo in the all-star revue Paramount year’s The Lady Gambles was described by one critic as “a kind of
on Parade). Boris Karlo› took over in ¡932’s Mask of Fu Manchu, Lost Weekend of the gaming tables.” Barbara Stanwyck played the
with Myrna Loy as his equally-dastardly daughter. Republic Pic- woman who sacrificed everything, including husband Robert Pre-
tures produced the ¡5-chapter serial The Drums of Fu Machu in ston, after falling under the spell of a roulette table. She never-
¡940 with Henry Brandon in the title role. It was also edited into theless managed to pull o› a happy ending. The gambling ad-
a 69-minute movie version released in ¡943. Two decades later, dicts of the ¡970s were less fortunate. Robert Altman’s California
producer Harry Alan Towers launched a new film series with Split was a depressing comedy about a pair of hopeless losers
Face of Fu Manchu. This entertaining debut entry starred played convincingly by George Segal and Elliott Gould (the film’s
Christopher Lee as Fu and Nigel Green as intrepid archnemesis title is slang for cutthroat high-low poker). The Gambler (¡975)
Nayland Smith. Towers followed it with four additional entries presented the same premise, less one character and minus the
with Lee. Unfortunately, these modest e›orts were hampered by humor that made California Split tolerable. Ladies fared even
poor production values and increasingly dreadful scripts. Tow- worse in made-for-TV movies, with bored housewife Shirley
ers also made a movie version of Sax Rohmer’s The Million Eyes Jones catching gambling fever in Winner Take All (¡975) and
of Su-Muru (¡967) and a sequel Rio 70. Both films starred lonely med student’s wife Valerie Bertinelli following suit in The
Goldfinger beauty Shirley Eaton as a female Fu called Su-muru. Seduction of Gina (¡984). In contrast to compulsive players un-
In ¡978, Peter Sellers played both Fu and Nayland Smith in the able to control their fate, professional gamblers know when to
dismal spoof The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. Sadly, it turned quit — usually. Pro poker player Steve McQueen had “The Man”
out to be Sellers’ swan song. A syndicated TV series, The Ad- (Edward G. Robinson) on the ropes in the marathon stud poker
ventures of Fu Manchu starring Glen Gordon, ran briefly in the game that climaxed ¡965’s The Cincinnati Kid. But The Kid
mid–¡950s. played his cards wrong and wound up with nothing (except a
The Mysterious Fu Manchu (¡929) (Warner Oland); The Re- $5,000 debt). Tony Curtis and Matt Dillon knew when to trash
turn of Fu Manchu (¡930) (Oland); Paramount on Parade (¡930) the cards and pocket the dice in Mister Cory (¡957) and The Big
(Oland appears in a skit); Daughter of the Dragon (¡93¡) (Oland);
Town (¡987), respectively. However, neither of them hulled in
Mask of Fu Manchu (¡932) (Boris Karlo› ); The Drums of Fu
Manchu (¡943) (Henry Brandon); Face of Fu Manchu (¡965) winnings comparable to the loot accumulated by unlikely card
(Christopher Lee); Bride of Fu Manchu (¡966) (Lee); Blood of Fu shark/con artist Joanne Woodward in Big Hand for the Little Lady
Manchu (aka Kiss and Kill) (¡968) (Lee); Castle of Fu Manchu (aka (¡966). Dozens of other movies have featured professional gam-
Assignment: Istanbul) (¡968) (Lee); Vengeance of Fu Manchu (¡968) blers, though their occupation has not always been of primary im-
(Lee); The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (¡978) (Peter Sellers) portance to the plot. Several films not exclusively about gam-
bling have integrated it cleverly into their plots. A crooked card
The Gambler Series game and a subsequent lynching provoked a series of murders in
Country singer Kenny Rogers wisely banked on his easygoing the mystery/Western Five Card Stud (¡968). Vacationing married
charm to carry ¡980’s The Gambler, a TV movie western inspired couple Julie Haggerty and Albert Brooks stopped in Las Vegas
by his hit song. The minimal plot starred Rogers as crafty gam- long enough for Haggerty to lose their “nest egg” in the savagely
bler Brady Hawkes who teams up with a cowpoke (Bruce Boxleit- funny Lost in America (¡985). The scene in which the frantic
ner) on the road to lighthearted adventures. Linda Evans joined Brooks tries to convince casino owner Garry Marshall to return
them for a ¡983 sequel and Linda Gray signed on for a third film. the money is a delight. It’s almost as funny as the gin rummy game
The fourth entry featured TV Western heroes Wyatt Earp (Hugh between bubble-headed Judy Holliday and gru› gangster Brod-
O’Brien), Bat Masterson (Gene Barry), and the Rifleman (Chuck erick Crawford in Born Yesterday (¡950).
Connors). A final series entry, The Gambler V: Playing for Keeps Gambling Lady (¡934); The Man Who Broke the Bank at
(¡994), found Brady looking for his teenage son and getting mixed Monte Carlo (¡935); Lady Luck (¡946); The Lady Gambles (¡949);
The Great Sinner (¡949); The Queen of Spades (¡949); Gambling
up with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. All five Gambler
House (¡950); The Lady Pays O› (¡95¡); The Gambler and the Lady
films scored well in the TV ratings, as did another song-inspired (¡952); Mississippi Gambler (¡953); Mister Cory (¡957); Queen of
Rogers hit Coward of the County (¡98¡ TVM). However, movie- Spades (¡960); King of the Roaring 20’s-The Story of Arnold Rothstein
goers seemed less impressed with Rogers, brushing o› his ¡982 (aka The Big Bankroll) (¡96¡); Who’s Got the Action? (¡962); Bay of
theatrical feature Six Pack and sending it to the flop pile. Angels (¡962); The Cincinnati Kid (¡965); Big Hand for the Little
84 GAME SHOWS

Lady (aka Big Deal at Dodge City) (¡966); Five Card Stud (¡968); Gamera (aka Gamera, the Invincible; Gammera; Daikaiju
The Gamblers (¡969); California Split (¡974); Thursday’s Game Gamera) (¡965); Gamera vs. Barugon (aka War of the Monsters;
(¡974 TVM); The Gambler (¡975); Winner Take All (¡975 TVM); Gamera tai Barugon) (¡966); Gamera vs. Gyaos (aka Return of the
The Gambler (aka Kenny Rogers as The Gambler) (¡980 TVM); Giant Monsters; Gamera tai Gyaos) (¡967); Gamera vs. Outer-Space
Casino (¡980 TVM); Lookin’ to Get Out (¡982); Stacy’s Knights Monster Virus (aka Destroy All Planets; Gamera tai Viras) (¡968);
(¡983); The Seduction of Gina (¡984 TVM); Lost in America (¡985); Gamera vs. Guiron (aka Attack of the Monsters; Gamera tai Guiron)
Fever Pitch (¡985); The Big Town (¡987); House of Games (¡987); (¡969); Gamera vs. Jiger (aka Gamera vs. Monster X; Gamera tai
Let It Ride (¡989); Family Prayers (¡993); A Dreamscape: Gambling Daimaju Jaiga) (¡970); Gamera vs. Zigra (aka Gamera vs. the Deep
in America (¡994); Maverick (¡994); Hard Eight (¡997); Rounders Sea Monster Zigra; Gamera tai Shinkai Kaiju Jigura) (¡97¡); Gam-
(¡998); Croupier (2000) era, Super Monster (aka Uchu Kaijû Gamera; Space Monster Gamera;
Super Monster Gamera (¡980); Gamera: The Guardian of the Uni-
Game Shows verse (aka Gamera: Giant Monster Midair Showdown; Gamera
Daikaijû Kuchu Kessen) (¡995); Gamera 2: Assault of the Legion (aka
The quintessential game show movie remains ¡950’s Champagne Gamera 2: Region Shurai) (¡996); Gamera 3: The Awakening of Iris
for Caesar, a wry satire starring Ronald Colman as a genius who (aka Gamera 3: Iris Kakusei) (¡999)
practically bankrupts quiz show sponsor Vincent Price. Art Link-
letter, an ideal choice, played the show’s (“Masquerade for
Money”) obnoxious host. Mary Steenburgen appeared on a quiz Gangsters (Real Life)
show in Melvin and Howard, while Diane Keaton competed on Although gangsters have been a prominent screen fixture since the
the “TV Tube of Knowledge” in The Lemon Sisters. Arnold ¡930s, the genre’s early films focused almost exclusively on ficti-
Schwarzenegger was an unwilling contestant on a futuristic game tious bad guys. The first major picture to borrow its plot from
show in The Running Man (a variation on the government-spon- the nation’s headlines was careful to change names and slightly
sored hunt in ¡965’s The Tenth Victim). Shock Treatment (¡98¡), alter the facts. Nevertheless, everyone — including the censors —
the seldom-seen sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was an recognized that Howard Hawks’ Scarface (¡932) was the story of
appropriately bizarre satire on television quiz programs. Radio Al Capone. In contrast, Paramount promoted the fact-based as-
contests were the subject of Christmas in July (in which Dick Pow- pects of its Persons in Hiding series (q.v.), which was based on a
ell spends the money thinking he’s won the cash), The Jackpot best-seller written by J. Edgar Hoover. This series of four B-
(contest winner James Stewart finds his life changing for the movies introduced to moviegoers the blood-splattered crime ca-
worse), and Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation. And in Woody Allen’s reers of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow (¡939’s Persons in Hid-
Radio Days, burglars emptying out a house answer a radio quiz ing) and Ma Barker (¡940’s Queen of the Mob). Four years later,
show question and win the homeowners new furniture. See also Twentieth Century–Fox produced Roger Touhy, Gangster starring
Television. Preston Foster as Capone’s henchman. Fox hyped the fact that it
Take It or Leave It (¡944); Blondie Hits the Jackpot (¡949); was made in cooperation with the FBI and partially filmed at the
Champagne for Caesar (¡950); Game Show Models (¡977); Three on Illinois State Penitentiary. The following year, poverty row studio
a Date (¡978 TVM); Melvin and Howard (¡980); Shock Treatment Monogram mounted one of its finest films, Dillinger, a slick biog-
(¡98¡); For Love or Money (¡984 TVM); National Lampoon’s Euro- raphy starring Lawrence Tierney as the ¡930’s most popular gang-
pean Vacation (¡985); The Running Man (¡987); Death Row Game ster. In a way, Dillinger established the gangster biopic formula for
Show (¡987); The Lemon Sisters (¡990); Stay Tuned (¡992); Quiz a wave of late ¡950s films chronicling the careers of Machine Gun
Show (¡994); Reckless (¡995)
Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie Parker, and Pretty Boy Floyd.
Fact-based gangster movies declined in popularity in the
Gamera mid–¡960s, but shot back with a vengeance with Arthur Penn’s
Daiei Studios created this giant, flying, fanged, fire-breathing ¡967 blockbuster Bonnie and Clyde. The success of ¡972’s The God-
turtle to compete with rival Toho’s Godzilla film series (q.v.). father further fueled interest in gangster films of any type. Subse-
Like Godzilla, Gamera started his career as a bad guy, but turned quently, television jumped into the genre with a quartet of snappy
good in later installments. He was also discovered in a similar pictures based on the careers of the ¡930’s most famous gangsters.
fashion, when a plane containing an atomic bomb crashed in the Dale Robertson played FBI agent Melvin Purvis in two of these
Arctic. The giant turtle’s initial appearance was not a total sur- films, battling Machine Gun Kelly in Melvin Purvis: G-Man (¡974)
prise, however, as a scientist in the dubbed version of ¡965’s Gam- and then the Dillinger gang in The Kansas City Massacre (¡975).
era confessed: “I heard there were giant turtles that lived on the The ¡970s gangster film cycle ended with the theatrical box-o‡ce
Arctic continent.” Gamera flew by withdrawing into his shell and bomb Capone (¡975). However, real-life gangster films were on
rotating like a flying saucer. The original seven film series ended the rise again in the late ¡980s, thanks to the blockbuster hit The
in ¡97¡. An eighth installment, Gamera, Super Monster, appeared Untouchables (¡987) and the publicity surrounding the opening of
a decade later, but it was composed mostly of stock footage. Then, Al Capone’s secret vault (alas, the contents turned out to be rather
in ¡995, following on the heels of the successful Godzilla (q.v.) dull). The most popular real-life gangsters on films are: Al Capone
revival, Gamera came out of retirement for Gamera: The Guardian (Scarface, The Scarface Mob, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,
of the Universe (¡995). It earned surprisingly good reviews and Capone, The Untouchables, The Revenge of Al Capone, The Lost
launched a new series. Film critic Roger Ebert once noted: “Gam- Capone); John Dillinger (Dillinger, Young Dillinger, Dillinger, The
era … has never attained the stardom of Godzilla, perhaps because Lady in Red, the TV movie Dillinger); Pretty Boy Floyd (Pretty
of speciesism, which prejudices us to prefer dinosaurs to turtles.” Boy Floyd, A Bullet for Pretty Boy, The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd);
See also Turtles. Ma Barker (Queen of the Mob, Ma Barker’s Killer Brood,
 GHOSTS 85

Bloody Mama); and Bonnie Parker (Persons in Hiding, The Bon- Thief of Bagdad (¡924); Thief of Bagdad (¡940); A Thousand
nie Parker Story, Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie and Clyde: The True and One Nights (¡945); Where Do We Go from Here? (¡945); Bowery
Story). See also FBI; Persons in Hiding Series. to Bagdad (¡955); The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (¡958); The Boy and
the Pirates (¡960); The Wizard of Baghdad (¡960); The Wonders of
Scarface (aka Scarface, the Shame of a Nation) (¡932); Persons Aladdin (¡96¡); The Brass Bottle (¡964); A Thousand and One Nights
in Hiding (¡939); Queen of the Mob (¡940); Roger Touhy, Gangster (¡968); Aladdin (¡98¡); I Dream of Jeannie: ¡5 Years Later (¡985
(¡944); Dillinger (¡945); Baby Face Nelson (¡957); Machine Gun TVM); The Outing (¡987); Wildest Dreams (¡987); Priceless Beauty
Kelly (¡958); The Bonnie Parker Story (¡958); The Scarface Mob (¡988); Bernard and the Genie (¡99¡ TVM); Aladdin (¡992); Wish
(¡958); The FBI Story (¡959); Pretty Boy Floyd (¡960); The Rise and Me Luck (¡994); Kazaam (¡996); Wishmaster (¡997); Wishmaster 2
Fall of Legs Diamond (¡960); Ma Barker’s Killer Brood (¡960); Por- (aka Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies) (¡999); Arabian Nights (2000
trait of a Mobster (¡96¡); Mad Dog Coll (¡96¡); King of the Roaring TVM)
20’s — The Story of Arnold Rothstein (aka The Big Bankroll) (¡96¡);
Young Dillinger (¡965); Bonnie and Clyde (¡967); The St. Valentine
Day’s Massacre (¡967); Bloody Mama (¡970); A Bullet for Pretty Boy Ghidrah
(¡97¡); The Valachi Papers (¡972); Dillinger (¡973); The FBI Story — A giant, winged dragon with three (count ’em) fire-breathing
Alvin Karpis (aka The FBI Story — The FBI versus Alvin Karpis,
heads, Ghidrah was “hatched” when a meteorite exploded in
Public Enemy Number One) (¡974 TVM); Melvin Purvis: G-Man
(aka The Legend of Machine Gun Kelly) (¡974 TVM); Crazy Joe Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (¡965). He has been the most
(¡974); The Virginia Hill Story (¡974 TVM) (Bugsy Siegel’s moll); consistently vicious Japanese monster and a formidable oppo-
The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd (aka Pretty Boy Floyd) (¡974 TVM); nent — his three heads can battle Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra
Lepke (¡975); The Kansas City Massacre (¡975 TVM); Capone simultaneously. He earned his best reviews for Godzilla vs. King
(¡975); The Lady in Red (¡979); The Untouchables (¡987); Verne Ghidrah, one of the Godzilla (q.v.) revival films in the ¡990s. It
Miller (¡987); Nitti (¡988 TVM); The Revenge of Al Capone (¡989 also featured Mecha-King Ghidrah, a robot version of the three-
TVM); The Lost Capone (¡990 TVM); Dillinger (¡99¡ TVM); Mob-
headed monster.
sters (¡99¡) (Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and
Richard Costello); Billy Bathgate (¡99¡) (Dutch Schultz); Bugsy Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (aka The Greatest Battle on
(¡99¡); Mad Dog Coll (¡992); Hit the Dutchman (¡992) (Dutch Earth; Sandai Kaiju Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) (¡965); Monster Zero
Schultz); Bonnie and Clyde: The True Story (¡992 TVM); Hoodlum (aka Invasion of the Astro-Monsters; Kaiju Daisenso) (¡965); Destroy
(¡997) (Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson); The Newton Boys (¡998) All Monsters (aka Operation Monsterland; Kaiju Soshingeki) (¡968);
(Willis, Joe, Jess, and Dock Newton); The General (¡998) (Martin Godzilla on Monster Island (aka Godzilla vs. Gigan; Gojira tai
Cahill); Witness to the Mob (¡998 TVM) ( John Gotti); Lanksy Gaigan) (¡97¡); Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah (aka Godzilla vs. King
(¡999 TVM) (Meyer Lanksy, Bugsy Siegel, and Lucky Luciano) Ghidorah; Gojira vs. Kingugidora) (¡992)

Genies Ghosts
Genies have been common fixtures in Arabian Nights fantasy- ad- Although ghost films have never been in short supply, serious
ventures, such as Thief of Bagdad (¡940), The Wonders of Aladdin ghostly dramas have been few and far between. The ghost, un-
(¡96¡), A Thousand and One Nights (¡968), and Aladdin (¡992). like his supernatural peers the vampire (q.v.) and the werewolf
Rex Ingram still rates as the cinema’s most intimidating genie for (q.v.), became strongly associated with comedy early in his career.
Thief of Bagdad. However, Robin Williams, who voiced the genie This resulted in a stigma that has been hard to erase. Neverthe-
for Disney’s Aladdin (q.v.), comes a close second in terms of re- less, several of those comedies have served the ghost well, result-
sourcefulness and dependability. Surprisingly, genies and magic ing in semi-classics like The Ghost Goes West (¡936), Topper (¡937),
lamps have also found their way into contemporary-set films. In and The Ghost Breakers (¡940). Robert Donat played the title role
the ¡945 musical Where Do We Go from Here? Army reject Fred in The Ghost Goes West, in which gravel-voiced Eugene Pallette
MacMurray found a magic lamp and asked its bumbling genie purchased a castle and, unknowingly, the spirit doomed to haunt
(Gene Sheldon) to get him into the armed forces. The genie com- it. Cary Grant and Constance Bennett starred as the ghostly, fun-
plied, but somehow kept putting Fred into the wrong army — in loving Kerby couple in ¡937’s Topper (q.v.). They became quite
Valley Forge with Washington, on the Santa Maria with Colum- a headache for meek banker Cosmos Topper (Roland Young),
bus. Eric Blore was a grumpy genie in ¡955’s Bowery to Bagdad, who also grappled with ghosts in two sequels. A haunted house
but who wouldn’t be with those overaged Bowery Boys Sach and voodoo trappings provided the atmospheric setting for The
(Huntz Hall) and Slip (Leo Gorcey) around to cause trouble? Ghost Breakers, a successful stage play transformed into one of Bob
Burl Ives donned the genie attire for ¡964’s The Brass Bottle, which Hope’s finest vehicles. Most comedy teams have encountered real
co-starred Tony Randall and Barbara Eden. Eden went on to be- or would-be ghosts, including Olsen and Johnson in Ghost Catch-
come the most famous of all genies in the ¡965–70 TV sitcom I ers (¡944), Martin and Lewis in Scared Sti› (a ¡953 remake of The
Dream of Jeannie and its ¡985 made-for-TV reunion movie I Ghost Breakers), the Bowery Boys in Ghost Chasers (¡95¡), and
Dream of Jeannie: ¡5 Years Later. Not all genies are nice — the evil Abbott and Costello in The Time of Their Lives (¡946). The lat-
one in ¡987’s The Outing was out to get some teens trapped in a ter film proved to be one of Abbott and Costello’s best, with Lou
museum overnight. The most interesting wish granted by a genie and Marjorie Reynolds as a pair of frustrated Revolutionary ghosts
was in the ¡963 “I Dream of Genie” episode of TV’s The Twilight and Bud as a mortal who tries to help them escape their earthly
Zone, in which a man given only one wish wishes to become a prison. The popularity of ghostly comedies has remained sur-
genie. A bowling trophy housed a mischievous imp in the mem- prisingly steady over the years. In the ¡980s, for example, box-
orably-titled Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (¡988). o‡ce duds like Kiss Me Goodbye (¡982) and High Spirits (¡988)
See also Aladdin Series. were counterbalanced and overshadowed by unexpected hits like
86 GHOULIES SERIES

Ghostbusters (¡984) and Beetlejuice (¡988). Alas, serious ghost films Love House (¡976 TVM); Empire of Passion (¡978); The Ghost of
have not fared nearly as well. The Scoundrel (¡935) remains an ob- Flight 40¡ (¡978 TVM); Child of Glass (¡978 TVM); Dominique
scure melodrama, despite the magnetic presence of Noel Coward (aka Dominique Is Dead) (¡978); The Changeling (¡979); An Ameri-
can Christmas Carol (¡979 TVM); The Shining (¡980); Beyond Evil
as a cynical writer who returns to Earth after his death. (Its lack
(¡980); Ghost Story (¡98¡); Poltergeist (¡982); Don’t Go to Sleep (¡982
of success may have inspired Coward’s sophisticated ghostly farce TVM); O’Hara’s Wife (¡982); Kiss Me Goodbye (¡982); The House
Blithe Spirit, which appeared first as a ¡94¡ stage play and then a Where Evil Dwells (¡982); The Entity (¡983); The Haunting Passion
¡945 movie). In the ¡940s, Hollywood made a rare excursion into (¡983 TVM); Somewhere Tomorrow (¡983); Ghostbusters (¡984);
ghostly horror with The Uninvited (¡944). It featured Ray Mil- Haunted Honeyman (¡986); A Chinese Ghost Story (aka Qian Nu
land, a creepy house overlooking rhythmic waves, a haunting Youhun) (¡987); Ghost Fever (¡987); Beetlejuice (¡988); Lady in
theme by Victor Young, and a strange odor of mimosa. Oddly, it White (¡988); Ghost Town (¡988); High Spirits (¡988); Field of
Dreams (¡989); Ghostbusters II (¡989); She’s Back (¡989); Ghost
turned out to be an isolated success (there was nary a ghost in (¡990); Ghost Dad (¡990); The Sleeping Car (¡990); Heart
Paramount ¡945’s follow-up The Unseen). Sixteen years later, Condition (¡990); Ghosts Can’t Do It (¡990); Cello (¡990); Escape
British director Jack Clayton ushered in the era of the intellec- (¡990); Truly Madly Deeply (¡99¡); And You Thought Your Parents
tual ghost film with The Innocents (¡96¡), a chilling adaptation of Were Weird (¡99¡); Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (¡992
Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. This eerie tale of an unsta- TVM); Love Can Be Murder (¡992 TVM); Bedevil (¡993); Cooper-
ble governess and her manipulative charges left its ghostly element stown (¡993 TVM); Ghost Mom (¡993 TVM); Charlie’s Ghost Story
(¡994); The Haunting of Seacli› Inn (¡994 TVM); The Haunting of
up to the viewer’s imagination. One could e›ectively argue that Helen (¡995 TVM); Casper (¡995); The Canterville Ghost (¡996
Deborah Kerr’s governess was a little insane from the beginning TVM); Forest Warrior (¡996); The Frighteners (¡996); Fatally Yours
or that she was driven to madness by a ghost. This same type of (¡996); Spirit Lost (¡997); The Sixth Man (¡997); Beloved (¡998);
ambiguity could also be applied to Robert Wise’s The Haunting Giving Up the Ghost (¡998); The Haunting (¡999); The Sixth Sense
and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (¡980). The Legend of Hell (¡999); Stir of Echoes (¡999); What Lies Beneath (2000)
House (¡973) was a more conventional horror film, but neverthe-
less a scary yarn about a nasty spirit harassing parapsychologists Ghoulies Series
investigating a spooky house. The Entity (¡983) claimed to be a Although considered a rip-o› of Gremlins (¡984), the original
fact-based story of a woman sexually assaulted repeatedly by a Ghoulies (¡985) di›ers substantially in plot and tone — which does
ghost. On a more pleasant note, mortal/ghost romances have been not necessarily make it original nor even interesting. It tells the
the subject of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Sandcastles, Kiss Me Good- story of Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis), a college student who
bye, and the blockbuster hit Ghost. That master of gimmicks, drops out to renovate his deceased parents’ old mansion. Unbe-
William Castle, also produced a ghost movie. During the the- knownst to Jonathan, his father practiced black magic and
atrical run of ¡960’s ¡3 Ghosts, viewers were given cardboard sacrificed Jonathan’s mother. The teenager discovers his father’s
glasses which allowed them to see “invisible” ghosts in the film. books and falls under the spell of their power — to the point that
The ever-industrious Castle dubbed this gimmick “Illusion-O.” he summons the title characters (little slimy demons which ad-
Naturally, many ghost movies have settled for logical explanations mittedly resemble Gremlins). Jonathan unknowingly revives his
in lieu of supernatural ones. The Ghost of St. Michael’s (¡94¡), for father, who orders the ghoulies to kill most of Jonathan’s friends
example, turned out to be a very mortal enemy agent. See also and announces to his son that he wants to steal the boy’s youth.
Amityville Series; Casper; A Chinese Ghost Story Series; Medi- The film is neither scary nor humorous; it’s also fairly light on
ums and Seances; Poltergeist Series; Witchboard Series. blood and gore, as evidenced by its PG-¡3 rating. The support-
The Ghost Train (¡927); The Ghost Train (¡93¡); The Scoundrel ing cast features some interesting faces — such as Jack (Eraser-
(¡935); The Return of Peter Grimm (¡935); The Ghost Goes West head) Nance, cult actress Bobbie Bresee, and Mariska Hargitay
(¡936); Topper (¡937); A Christmas Carol (¡938); Happy Landing ( Jayne Mansfield’s daughter)— but they have little to do. The
(¡938); The Ghost Breakers (¡940); Earthbound (¡940); The Ghost of ¡987 sequel, Ghoulies II, continued the first film’s mediocrity de-
St. Michael’s (¡94¡); Hold That Ghost (¡94¡); The Ghost Train spite a promising setting: a carnival house of horrors called Satan’s
(¡94¡); The Remarkable Andrew (¡942); The Man in the Trunk
(¡942); A Guy Named Joe (¡943); The Canterville Ghost (¡944); Den, which is about to go out of business. The series’ third entry,
Ghost Catchers (¡944); The Uninvited (¡944); A Place of One’s Own ¡989’s Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College, added some recogniz-
(¡944); Don’t Take It to Heart (¡945); Wonder Man (¡945); Blithe able talent: Kevin (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) McCarthy and
Spirit (¡945); The Time of Their Lives (¡946); The Ghost and Mrs. Gri‡n O’Neal (Ryan’s son). McCarthy plays crusty Professor
Muir (¡947); The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (¡947); The Cockeyed Ragnor, who summons the ghoulies to teach the campus youth
Miracle (¡948); Cardboard Cavalier (¡949); A Christmas Carol (aka a lesson. Ghoulies IV (¡994) picks up the original film’s plot eight
Scrooge) (¡95¡); Ghost Chasers (¡95¡); Ghost Ship (¡952); Scared Sti›
years later, with Jonathan Graves (Liapis again) as a cop battling
(¡953); Brigadoon (¡954); The Headless Ghost (¡958); The Ghost of
Dragstrip Hollow (¡959); The Invisible Creature (aka The House on the dark forces of magic. The ghoulies play a strictly supporting
Marsh Road) (¡959); ¡3 Ghosts (¡960); Tormented (¡960); The Inno- role.
cents (¡96¡); House of Mystery (¡96¡); The Haunting (¡963); The Ghoulies (¡985); Ghoulies II (¡987); Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go
Ghost and Mr. Chicken (¡966); The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini to College (aka Ghoulies III) (¡989); Ghoulies IV (¡994)
(¡966); Blackbeard’s Ghost (¡968); Ghosts — Italian Style (¡969); The
Extraordinary Seaman (¡969); Sole Survivor (¡970 TVM); The Ghouls
Amazing Mr. Blunden (¡972); Sandcastles (¡972 TVM); The Legend
of Hell House (¡973); Madhouse Mansion (aka Ghost Story) (¡974); According to Muslim folklore, a ghoul is an evil spirit that robs
Celine and Julie Go Boating (¡974); Reflections of Murder (¡974 graves and feasts upon dead flesh. Horror movies have modified
TVM); The Haunting of Julia (aka Full Circle) (¡976); Death at that definition over the years and produced a loose variation of
 GILDERSLEEVE, THE GREAT 87

the term, defining a ghoul as a dead person who eats the flesh of Giants
the living. (For a discussion of noncarnivorous living dead, see Bigger has not meant better for humans of gigantic proportions.
Zombies.) Though less well-known than vampires and were- In the science fiction genre, hardly anyone has grown big because
wolves, ghouls have been around for awhile. Boris Karlo› starred they wanted to. The Amazing Colossal Man was a victim of a plu-
in the once-lost ¡933 British film The Ghoul. Yet, while he rose tonium explosion, while an alien caused the Attack of the 50-Foot
from the dead to recover a stolen jewel, he was not technically a Woman. Neither of those title characters dealt with their new-
ghoul. Ten years later, The Mad Ghoul cast the delightful George found size very well and both eventually went crazy. A major
Zucco as a mad scientist whose experiments with an ancient gas problem that plagued them, along with The 30 Foot Bride of
turn his nice assistant, David Bruce, into a creature who feeds on Candy Rock (¡958), was their wardrobe. Embarrassingly, the
fresh human hearts. However, George Romero’s ¡968 cult shocker Colossal Man wound up wearing big diapers, while the 30 Foot
Night of the Living Dead (q.v.) set the gory standard by which most Bride made a nice-looking toga out of a parachute. Producer-di-
ghoul movies are judged. Shot near Pittsburgh for under rector Bert I. Gordon, a major proponent of rear-screen projec-
$¡00,000, Romero’s downbeat chiller centered around seven peo- tion, specialized in giant people movies. In addition to The Amaz-
ple trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by hungry resurrected ing Colossal Man (¡957), he produced its sequel War of the Colossal
dead people. It made little impact on its initial release, but by the Beast (¡958), the very similar Cyclops (¡957), and Village of the Gi-
early ¡970s, it had emerged as a midnight movie staple and a crit- ants (¡965). The latter film, a very loose adaptation of H.G. Wells’
ics’ favorite. A trio of interesting ghoulish pictures appeared be- Food of the Gods, starred little Ronnie Howard as a whiz kid who
tween ¡972 and ¡974, but only a few drive-in patrons saw them. turns a bunch of teenagers into rowdy giants. Buddy Baer (whose
Bob Clark (A Christmas Story) directed ¡972’s Deathdream, a re- nephew Max Jr. played Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies) por-
working of “The Monkey’s Paw” in which a dead Vietnam sol- trayed a gigantic conquistador in ¡958’s Giant from the Unknown
dier returned home to eat his loved ones. The year after they pro- and Abbott and Costello’s oversized nemesis in ¡952’s Jack and
duced American Gra‡ti, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck made the Bean Stalk. In Costello’s only film sans Abbott, he turned his
¡974’s Dead People, which was reissued as Return of the Living girlfriend Dorothy Provine into the aforementioned 30 Foot Bride
Dead to capitalize on Romero’s film. Italy’s Don’t Open the Win- of Candy Rock. Richard Kiel — Jaws in the James Bond films —
dow was an intriguing variation whereby a government device to played the title role in The Giant of Thunder Mountain (¡99¡), a
kill insects transformed the dead into ghouls. By ¡979, Romero wholesome family drama. But he and basketball player Gheorghe
had found the capital to make his long-awaited sequel Dawn of Muresan, who costarred in the Billy Crystal film My Giant (¡998),
the Dead. This lengthy, gory, overly symbolic tale made a profit just played really tall people. See also Little People.
in the U.S. (where it was unrated), but performed exceptionally Alice in Wonderland (¡95¡); Jack and the Bean Stalk (¡952);
well overseas. Italian director Lucio Fulci subsequently made two Cyclops (¡957); The Amazing Colossal Man (¡957); War of the Colos-
Romero-inspired rip-o›s: ¡979’s Zombie and ¡980’s City of the sal Beast (¡958); Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (¡958); Giant from
Living Dead. Meanwhile, Night of the Living Dead cowriter John the Unknown (¡958); The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (¡959); Vil-
Russo clashed with Romero on the rights to a Living Dead sequel. lage of the Giants (¡965); The Giant of Thunder Mountain (¡99¡);
The two settled out of court, allowing Russo to make his ¡985 Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (¡992); Attack of the 50-Foot Woman
(¡993 TVM); The Pagemaster (¡994); Attack of the 60 Foot Center-
ghoul satire Return of the Living Dead. Its surprise box-o‡ce suc- fold (¡995); Gulliver’s Travels (¡996 TVM); My Giant (¡998)
cess overshadowed Romero’s Day of the Dead (¡985), which, prior
to its commercial and critical failure, was intended as the final
chapter of Romero’s ghoul trilogy. Romero has since produced a
Gidget
remake of the original and indicated another chapter might be on The original beach party teen was played by Sandra Dee in the
the drawing board. Bill Hinzman, who played the first ghoul in ¡959 eponymous opus. This first Gidget was semi-serious, with
Romero’s Living Dead original, made an amateurish ¡989 tribute the teenager getting somewhat involved with an older man, a
dubbed Revenge of the Living Zombies. See also Cannibalism; beachcomber played by Cli› Robertson. The follow-ups were
Night of the Living Dead Series; Return of the Living Dead more lighthearted, with the spunky teen being portrayed by five
Series; Zombies. di›erent actresses. However, the only one to capitalize on her
Gidget exposure was Deborah Walley, who went on to star in
The Mad Ghoul (¡943); Night of the Living Dead (¡968); Death- several Beach Party movies. The films spawned two TV series:
dream (aka The Night Walk; Dead of Night) (¡972); Children Shouldn’t
Sally Field’s ¡965-66 version and a syndicated series that cropped
Play with Dead Things (¡973); Dead People (aka Return of the Living
Dead; Messiah of Evil; Revenge of the Screaming Dead) (¡974); Don’t up in the mid–¡980s. See also Beach Party Series.
Open the Window (aka Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue) (¡974); Gidget (¡959) (Sandra Dee); Gidget Goes Hawaiian (¡96¡)
Dawn of the Dead (aka Zombie) (¡979); Zombie (aka Zombie 2; Zom- (Deborah Walley); Gidget Goes to Rome (¡963) (Cindy Carol); Gid-
bie Flesh-Eaters) (¡979); Bloodeaters (¡980); City of the Living Dead get Grows Up (¡969 TVM) (Karen Valentine); Gidget Gets Married
(aka Gates of Hell) (¡980); Night of the Zombies (¡983); City of the (¡972 TVM) (Monie Ellis); Gidget’s Summer Reunion (¡985 TVM)
Walking Dead (aka Nightmare City) (¡983); Return of the Living Dead (Caryn Richman)
(¡985); Day of the Dead (¡985); Return of the Living Dead II (¡988);
Zombie Brigade (¡988); Redneck Zombies (¡989); Revenge of the Living Gildersleeve, The Great
Zombies (¡989); The Chilling (¡989); Chopper Chicks in Zombietown
(¡990); Waxwork II: Lost in Time (¡99¡); Braindead (aka Dead/Alive) Portly, baritone-voiced comedian Harold Peary played Throck-
(¡992); Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore; Of Death and Love) morton P. Gildersleeve (“Gildy”) in this short-lived RKO series
(¡994); I, Zombie (aka I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain) (2000) inspired by a hit radio show. The character first appeared in the
88 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND SERIES

¡94¡ comedy Look Who’s Laughing, which brought together radio simply a skeleton on a wire which projectionists dropped over un-
favorites Bergen and McCarthy and Fibber McGee and Molly. suspecting viewers during the film’s big shock scene. The Tingler
After additional appearances as Gildy in Here We Go Again and followed the same year and if there’s a classic gimmick, this is it.
Seven Days Leave (both ¡942), Peary launched his own series with Price stars again, this time as a doctor who discovers a crustacean-
¡943’s The Great Gildersleeve. He played the unlikely “custodian” like creature that grows at the base of the spine during moments
of his teenage niece Margie (Nancy Gates) and enterprising of intense fright. When one screams, the creature reduces in size
nephew Leroy (Freddie Mercer). Jane Darwell, just three years and becomes harmless. However, if a person is too afraid to
after winning an Oscar as Ma Joad in ¡939’s The Grapes of Wrath, scream, the Tingler snaps the spine, causing instant death. At the
provided maternal support as Aunt Emma. The movies never highlight of the film, Price surgically removes a Tingler, which
rose above program filler and usually cast Gildy as an unlikely subsequently escapes to a movie theatre below him. The screen
hero — clashing with gangsters, avoiding marriage-minded spin- goes black and Price urges the real movie audience to: “Scream!
sters, and encountering ghostly ancestors. When Gildy got into Scream for your lives!” To heighten the e›ect, some patrons at se-
a jam (e.g., zipped in a sleeping bag with a cat and dog), he typ- lected movie theatres received mild electric shocks (yes, Castle had
ically responded with a bellowing “Oh, Leeeeroy!” When things actually wired some of the seats!). Castle’s next two gimmicks
were going well, though, one could count on hearing his trade- were far less elaborate. For ¡3 Ghosts (¡960), he provided viewers
mark giggle. with filtered glasses which allowed them to see the movie’s “in-
Look Who’s Laughing (¡94¡); Here We Go Again (¡942); Seven visible” ghosts (he called this “Illusion-O”). And in his ¡96¡ psy-
Days Leave (¡942); The Great Gildersleeve (¡943); Gildersleeve’s Bad cho thriller Homicidal, he interrupted the film with a “fright
Day (¡943); Gildersleeve on Broadway (¡943); Gildersleeve’s Ghost break,” which told viewers that “all those too timid to take the
(¡944) climax will be welcomed to the Coward’s Corner.” Director Joe
Dante paid homage to Castle with Matinee (¡993), a nostalgic tale
Gilligan’s Island Series of a horror film producer ( John Goodman) who employs elabo-
During its original ¡964–66 telecasts, Gilligan’s Island scored rea- rately-named gimmicks like “Atomo-Vision.” On a smaller scale,
sonably well in the ratings opposite The Lawrence Welk Show and the ¡99¡ horror-comedy Popcorn also spoofed Castle-type gim-
then The Donna Reed Show. But the series’ juvenile audience even- micks. Although William Castle was the King of Gimmicks, oth-
tually spelled its doom on network television. Ironically, those ers have resorted to similar tactics to draw audiences. See also 3-
same viewers turned the syndicated reruns of Gilligan’s Island into D; Cinerama. Some of the more memorable gimmicks:
a very profitable money-making machine. The series gradually Scent of Mystery (¡960) In selected theatres, over 30 aromas
built a large broad-based following which persuaded NBC to re- were piped in via plastic tubes. This was dubbed “Smell-O-Vi-
unite the cast members for ¡978’s Rescue from Gilligan’s Island. sion”; Psycho (¡960) During first run, theaters refused to admit pa-
With the exception of Tina Louise as Ginger, all the original cast- trons once the film started; Ten Little Indians (¡965) Featured a
aways returned. Time had not been kind to some of the per- “murder minute” at the climax, informing viewers they had all the
clues — and sixty seconds — to solve the mystery; Chamber of Hor-
formers, but the show’s fans still enjoyed watching the Minnow’s rors (¡966) Sounded the “horror horn” and showed the “fear
passengers finally get home — only to go on a reunion cruise and flasher” before every murder; Wicked, Wicked (¡973) The entire
land back on the island. The movie performed very well in the movie was shown in a split-screen process the producers touted as
ratings and there was talk of reviving the series. However, dwin- “Duovision”; Earthquake (¡974) First of the “Sensurround” movies,
dling audiences for two additional films put that idea to rest. See whereby the soundtrack was amplified in certain scenes to cause a
also Islands; Television Series Reunion Films. rumbling sensation. It also caused headaches. Other “Sensurround”
movies were Midway (¡976) and Rollercoaster (¡977); The Beast
Rescue from Gilligan’s Island (¡978 TVM); The Castaways on
Must Die (¡974) A “werewolf break” gave viewers time to guess the
Gilligan’s Island (¡979 TVM); The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilli-
werewolf ’s identity; Polyester (¡98¡) “Odorama” provided patrons
gan’s Island (¡98¡ TVM)
with scratch-and-sni› cards with instructions on when to scratch
during the flick; Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (¡982) Steve Martin
Gimmicks “acted” with stars from Hollywood’s golden days by intercutting
When television entered American homes in the early ¡950s, Hol- footage from famous films; Clue (¡985) Released with three end-
lywood panicked. Convinced that families would stay at home to ings, each one identifying a di›erent character as the murderer;
Drowning by Numbers (¡987) The numerals ¡–¡00 appear sequen-
watch the small screen, filmmakers sought innovative ideas to
tially throughout the film, sometimes in expected places (e.g.,
make theatrical films di›erent. 3-D was revived (see separate clock faces) and sometimes in unexpected places (e.g., on a dead
entry), widescreen processes were introduced, and William Cas- cow); Million Dollar Mystery (¡987) Viewers could win a million
tle lured moviegoers with gimmicks that would make a carny dollars themselves by piecing together clues provided in the film;
barker jealous. A prolific B-movie director from ¡943, Castle Time Code (2000) The frame was divided into four parts, each
made his first horror feature in ¡958. Macabre was a decent low- showing a different perspective of the story.
budget picture about a man trying to find his kidnapped daugh-
ter, who had been buried alive (q.v.). However, Castle turned it Ginger Series
into a surprise money-maker by issuing viewers a $¡,000 life in- Cheri Ca›aro, who once won a Brigitte Bardot lookalike contest,
surance policy from Lloyds of London — in case anyone died of played the lead role in this violent, sex-laden series about a blonde
fright while watching the movie. Castle followed up with ¡958’s crimefighter. As Ginger McAllister, she broke up a vice ring in
House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price and a gimmick Ginger, freed cheerleaders from white slavery racketeers in The Ab-
called “emergo.” Not quite as clever as its name, “emergo” was ductors, and went undercover in the Virgin Islands in Girls Are
 GODZILLA 89

for Loving. In addition to plenty of gratuitous nudity (both male picture’s lengthy ¡6¡ minutes. Only Andy Garcia, as Michael’s
and female), the Ginger films also featured lesbian love scenes, a cocky nephew (and obvious successor), brought a fresh intensity
castration-with-a-piano-wire scene, rapes, and bondage. William to his role. The Godfather Part III earned a Best Picture nomina-
Granville played fellow crimefighter Jason Varone in all three se- tion and middling box-o‡ce results — both chiefly on the mer-
ries entries. Ca›aro’s husband Don Schain wrote and directed its of the earlier films. In ¡993, Coppola edited all three films to-
the films. Ca›aro and Schain also teamed up for non–Ginger gether (and added still more “new footage”) to create the epic
films such as A Place Called Today (¡972) and Too Hot to Handle videotape The Godfather Trilogy: ¡90¡–¡980.
(¡976), which featured Ca›aro as a Ginger-like character called The Godfather (¡972); The Godfather Part II (¡974); The God-
Samantha Fox. father Part III (¡990)
Ginger (¡97¡); The Abductors (¡972); Girls Are for Loving (¡973)
Godzilla
Japan’s biggest star, both literally (400 feet tall, 2 million tons)
The Godfather Trilogy and in terms of popularity, Godzilla has starred in over 20 films
Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s epic saga of the Corleone since his ¡954 debut. The first, and best, was Godzilla, King of
family spans three generations of Mafia gangsters from the turn- the Monsters, in which H-bomb tests revive the prehistoric crea-
of-the-century to ¡980. The first two films chalked up some im- ture and equip him with radioactive breath. He leaves his native
pressive honors — each won Best Picture — but The Godfather Part Oto island and topples most of Tokyo before an “oxygen de-
III slipped into film history as little more than a postscript. The stroyer” spells his doom. The film was a smash hit in Japan and
Godfather (¡972), adapted from Puzo’s best-seller and starring fared very well when imported to the U.S. in ¡956. It costarred
Marlon Brando in the title role, was a “film event” from the be- Raymond Burr as a wheelchair-ridden reporter (shades of Iron-
ginning. The principal action takes place between ¡945 and ¡955, side) named Steve Martin. Its sequel, Godzilla Raids Again (¡955),
during the final days of Don Vito’s (Brando) reign as head of the has caused infinite nightmares for film historians. Besides sport-
powerful Corleone family. The Corleones struggle toward social ing the alternate titles Godzilla’s Counterattack and The Return of
and financial respectability, even as they destroy their rivals to en- Godzilla, it was released in the U.S. as Gigantis, the Fire Monster.
sure control of their “business.” It’s easy to guess which son will Confusingly, the title monster was not a Godzilla rival, but the
inherit his father’s throne: college-educated Michael (Al Pacino), Big G himself. After two more movies as a baddie, Godzilla
who wants no part of his inheritance; the violent, hot-tempered turned good monster in ¡965’s Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Mon-
Sonny ( James Caan); or the simple-minded Fredo ( John Cazale). ster. He continued to soften as the series progressed: He was a sin-
Yet, Michael’s gradual transition into a strong-willed, ruthless- gle parent in Son of Godzilla and taught a human boy about
when-necessary gangster is the most engrossing plotline in the courage in Godzilla’s Revenge. By the early ¡970s, he was a shadow
film. Coppola’s sister Talia Shire (Adrienne in the Rocky films) of his ruthless self and the series appeared to end with Terror of
plays Don Vito’s only daughter Connie; Robert Duvall is the fam- Godzilla (aka Terror of Mechagodzilla). Toho Studios tried to re-
ily’s rational attorney Tom Hagen; and Diane Keaton plays vive Godzilla as a villain in Godzilla ¡985, a semiremake of the
Michael’s eventual wife Kay Adams. The Godfather Part II (¡974), original, but it was a tremendous flop in the U.S. However, four
also based on Puzo’s novel, tells two parallel stories: Michael Cor- years later, the Big G mounted a successful comeback in his home-
leone’s attempt to take control of Las Vegas in the late ¡950s and land with ¡989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante, which pitted him against
Vito Corleone’s (Robert De Niro) immigration to America and a nice plant monster. After five follow-up films, Toho “retired”
his rise to Mafia power in ¡9¡7 New York. Although Pacino and Godzilla again — until Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin came
other principals from the original film reprise their roles, De Niro calling. Fresh from their box-o‡ce smash Independence Day
dominates the screen in a star-making turn for which he won a (¡996), Emmerich and Devlin secured the rights to produce an
Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Film critics disagreed sharply on the epic scale Godzilla with digital special e›ects and a redesigned
merits of The Godfather Part II. Some of them found the film’s creature. The resulting film bore little resemblance to earlier
divergent structure intriguing, while others echoed the views of Godzilla films; in one shocking twist, the Big Guy turned out to
Vincent Canby of The New York Times: “I can’t readily imagine be capable of reproducing by himself! Although Godzilla earned
what Mr. Coppola and Mr. Puzo were trying to do, except to turn over $¡00 million in the U.S. alone, most film industry insiders
their first film into a long parenthesis that would fit between the expected it to perform better and the media quickly dubbed the
halves of the new movie.” Coppola must have read that quote, film a “disappointment.” Still, Toho was impressed enough to
because he did just that seven years later with Godfather — The start making their own Godzilla films again.
Complete Epic, ¡902–¡958, a 386-minute chronological version of Godzilla, King of the Monster (aka Godzilla; Gojira) (¡954);
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II (with ¡5 minutes of Gigantis, the Fire Monster (The Return of Godzilla; Godzilla Raids
“never-before-seen” footage). This special edition, which played Again; Godzilla’s Counterattack; Gojira no Gyakushu) (¡955); King
on network television and videotape, appeared to be the end of Kong vs. Godzilla (aka Kingukongu tai Gojira) (¡963); Godzilla vs.
the saga. However, after a string of disappointing films and finan- The Thing (aka Godzilla vs. Mothra; Godzilla tai Mothra) (¡964);
cial troubles, Coppola returned to his biggest hit with ¡990’s The Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (aka The Greatest Battle on
Earth; Sandai Kaiju Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) (¡965); Monster Zero
Godfather Part III. This stale rehash of the first two films brought (aka Invasion of the Astro-Monsters; Kaiju Daisenso) (¡965); Godzilla
back Pacino as Don Michael Corleone, but neglected to surround vs. the Sea Monster (aka Ebriah-Terror of the Deep; Nankai no Dai
him with an interesting story. Diane Keaton and Talia Shire, also Ketto) (¡966); Son of Godzilla (aka Gojira no Musuko) (¡967); De-
veterans of I and II, looked concerned and bored for most of the stroy All Monsters (aka Operation Monsterland; Kaiju Soshingeki)
90 GOLF

(¡968); Godzilla’s Revenge (aka Ord Kaiju Daishingeki) (¡969); death at the hands of Perseus (he used a reflecting shield and a
Godzilla on Monster Island (aka Godzilla vs. Gigan; Gojira tai decapitating sword). Hammer Studios, Britain’s “House of Hor-
Gaigan) (¡97¡); Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (aka Gojira tai He- ror” (and never one to worry about tradition), added a fourth sis-
dora) (¡97¡); Godzilla vs. Megalon (aka Gojira tai Megaro) (¡973);
ter named Magaera in its ¡964 chiller The Gorgon. Medusa,
Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster (aka Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster;
Gojira tai Meka-Gojira) (¡974); Terror of Godzilla (aka Terror of though, still reigns as cinema’s most noteworthy gorgon. Ray
Mechagodzilla; Meka-Gojira no Gyakusyu) (¡975); Godzilla ¡985 Harryhausen brought her to life via stop-motion animation in
(¡985); Godzilla vs. Biollante (¡989); Waxwork II: Lost in Time ¡98¡’s Clash of the Titans. Tony Randall played Medusa, along
(¡99¡) (cameo); Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah (aka Godzilla vs. King with several other characters, in George Pal’s juvenile fantasy The
Ghidorah) (¡992); Godzilla vs. Mothra (aja Gojira vs. Mosura; Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964). And she made a brief, and very
Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth) (¡992); Godzilla vs. fakey, appearance in the ¡962 sand-and-sandal epic Medusa vs. the
Mechagodzilla (aka Gojira vs. Mekagojira) (¡993); Godzilla vs. Space
Son of Hercules (which had nothing to do with Hercules, since the
Godzilla (aka Gojira vs. Supesugojira) (¡994); Gozdilla vs. Destroyer
(aka Gojira vs. Desutoria) (¡995); Godzilla (¡998); Godzilla 2000 hero was Perseus). The syndicated TV series Swamp Thing fea-
(aka Godzilla 2000: Millenium) (2000) tured a contemporary gorgon in its “Heart of Stone” episode. See
(Note: Godzilla’s foot also appears in the memorable ani- also Cyclops; Unicorns.
mated short Bambi Meets Godzilla and Bob Goldthwait dons a Medusa vs. the Son of Hercules (aka Perseo l’invincibile) (¡962);
Godzilla suit and blunders through a miniature city in ¡986’s One The Gorgon (¡964); The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964); Clash of the
Crazy Summer.) Titans (¡98¡)

Golf Governesses and Nannies

Golf seldom ranks with its peers as a television sport — the ball Deborah Kerr heads an impressive group of actresses who have
being too small to follow and the game devoid of blue-collar sus- played governesses. She matched wits with the King of Siam (Yul
pense. That same handicap applies to its big screen career, re- Brynner) in The King and I (¡956), fought would-be ghosts while
sulting in but a handful of golf films. The ¡967 Banning exam- losing her grip on sanity in The Innocents (¡96¡), and “cured”
ined (somewhat superficially) the country club set obsessed with troublesome teen Hayley Mills in The Chalk Garden (¡964). How-
golfing. It starred Robert Wagner as a washed-up pro who regains ever, references being what they are (and the Innocents episode
his self-respect and teaches the snobs a lesson. In a similar vein, being rather disturbing), one must recommend Julie Andrews
Kevin Costner played a has-been golfer who sets his sights on over Ms. Kerr for employment as a governess. Andrews was a
winning the U.S. Open in Tin Cup (¡996). And Adam Sandler cheery, lyrical nanny who brought out the best in her charges in
portrayed a hockey player who trades his stick for a club to be- both Mary Poppins (¡964) and The Sound of Music (¡965). Bette
come a professional golfer in Happy Gilmore (¡996). One of the Davis also proved capable in All This and Heaven Too (¡940), but
stories in Dead of Night (¡945) concerned a pair of golfing bud- she was at her nastiest as The Nanny (¡965). Other notable ac-
dies who make a wager — with one of them winding up a ghost. tresses to perform nanny duties include Ingrid Bergman (Adam
In ¡964’s Goldfinger, James Bond introduced himself to villain Had Four Sons) and Katharine Hepburn (Flame Over India). Dis-
Auric Goldfinger by cheating in a golf game. The President was ney’s animated Peter Pan (¡953) featured the immortal Nana, the
kidnapped on a golf course in the spy spoof In Like Flint (¡967), St. Bernard nanny. Wrestler Hulk Hogan played the title role in
while Shirley MacLaine portrayed a presidential widow who ¡993’s Mr. Nanny. Juliet Mills (Hayley’s sister) portrayed a gov-
played golf in frigid temperatures in Guarding Tess (¡994). Bing erness with a magic touch in the ¡970-7¡ TV series Nanny and
Crosby and Bob Hope engaged in their favorite pastime in a the Professor. See also Babysitters.
sketch for ¡947’s Paramount all-star extravaganza Variety Girl. We Are Not Alone (¡939); All This and Heaven Too (¡940);
The only real-life golfers to have their stories reach the screen were Adam Had Four Sons (¡94¡); Jane Eyre (¡944); The Unseen (¡945);
Ben Hogan in Follow the Sun (¡95¡) and Tiger Woods in The Anna and the King of Siam (¡946); Blanche Fury (¡948); Peter Pan
Tiger Woods Story (¡998). (¡953); The King and I (¡956); Flame Over India (aka Northwest
Frontier) (¡959); The Innocents (¡96¡); The Chalk Garden (¡964);
The Cohens and Kellys in Scotland (¡930); You’re Telling Me
Mary Poppins (¡964); The Sound of Music (¡965); East of Sudan
(¡934); Carefree (¡938); Going My Way (¡944); Dead of Night
(¡964); The Nanny (¡965); Jane Eyre (¡970 TVM); The Nightcomers
(¡945); My Favorite Brunette (¡947); Variety Girl (¡947); Follow the
(¡97¡); Every Little Crook and Nanny (¡972); Blue Blood (¡973);
Sun (¡95¡); Pat and Mike (¡952); The Caddy (¡953); Goldfinger
Miss Mary (¡986); The Haunting of Morella (¡990); The Guardian
(¡964); Banning (¡967 TVM); In Like Flint (¡967); Once You Kiss a
(¡990); The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (¡992); Midnight’s Child
Stranger (¡969); Enter the Dragon (¡973); Caddyshack (¡980); Cad-
(¡992 TVM); Mr. Nanny (¡993); Mrs. Doubtfire (¡993); Lily in
dyshack II (¡988); Dead Solid Perfect (¡988 TVM); Blades (¡989);
Winter (¡994 TVM); Martha & Ethel (¡994); The Crazysitter
Coneheads (¡993); Falling Down (¡993); Guarding Tess (¡994); Pre-
(¡995); Jack and Sarah (¡995); Harriet the Spy (¡996); Firelight
hysteria 3 (¡995); Happy Gilmore (¡996); Tin Cup (¡996); The Tiger
(¡997); The Governess (¡998); Baby Monitor: The Sound of Fear
Woods Story (¡998 TVM); Miracle on the 17th Green (1999 TVM);
(¡998 TVM); Talk of Angels (¡998); The King and I (¡999); Au Pair
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
(¡999 TVM); Anna and the King (¡999); Invisible Child (¡999)
Gorgons
In Greek mythology, the gorgons were female creatures who had Grave Robbers
snakes for hair and eyes which could turn men into stone. There The grisly real-life duo of William Burke and William Hare have
were three sisters: Stheno and Euryale, who were immortal, and been the subject of four films. These ¡9th-century Edinburgh
Medusa, their well-known sibling, whose fame stems from her grave robbers sold cadavers to medical students for purposes of
 HALLOWEEN SERIES 91

dissection. When the supply of fresh corpses dried up, Burke and Gypsies
Hare turned to murder. Burke was accused of over a dozen mur- The victims of movie stereotyping, gypsies have too often been
ders and was hanged in ¡829. Hare, who had testified against his portrayed as ominous fortunetellers or hot-blooded vagabonds.
partner, served a prison term and was later freed. On the screen, Maria Ouspenskaya created the most famous celluloid gypsy, as
Burke was first portrayed by Boris Karlo› (though the character Maleva the fortuneteller who first informs Lon Chaney, Jr.: “Even
was called Gray) in Val Lewton’s ¡945 adaptation of Robert Louis a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, can be-
Stevenson’s The Body Snatcher. Fifteen years later, Burke returned, come a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the autumn moon
with Hare this time, in The Flesh and the Fiends, a Hammer-style is bright.” Alas, that’s exactly what happened to Lon in ¡94¡’s The
horror picture starring Peter Cushing. Burke and Hare (¡97¡) el- Wolf Man, following a bite from Maleva’s gypsy-werewolf son
evated the gruesome twosome from supporting to principal char- (Bela Lugosi). Although father Claude Rains put his werewolf
acters, but lacked the style of Freddie Francis’ handsome ¡985 ver- son out of his misery, both the Wolf Man and Maleva the gypsy
sion The Doctor and the Devils. Other grave diggers have turned returned two years later for Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. The
up frequently in horror films, most notably James Whale’s orig- talented Ouspenskaya lost her Russian nationality in gypsy guise,
inal Frankenstein. Jacques Tourneur’s ¡964 horror spoof A Com- but other performers have looked downright out of place. The in-
edy of Terrors starred Vincent Price and Peter Lorre as budget- tentional miscasting was part of the fun in ¡936’s The Bohemian
minded morticians who dug up graves to recover their co‡ns. In Girl, which featured Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as unlikely
Invisible Invaders, creatures from outer space occupied the dead gypsies. However, Jane Russell made a silly gypsy temptress in Hot
bodies of Earthlings and then dug themselves out of their graves. Blood (¡955), while Marlene Dietrich chewed the scenery (in en-
Frankenstein (¡93¡); The Body Snatcher (¡945); The Greed of tertaining fashion) in Golden Earrings (¡947). Frank Sinatra, in
William Hart (¡948); The Abductors (¡957); Invisible Invaders (¡959); heavy makeup and sporting an earring, had a gypsy cameo in
The Flesh and the Fiends (aka Mania) (¡960); The Anatomist (¡96¡);
Mr. Sardonicus (¡96¡); Corridors of Blood (aka The Doctor from Seven John Huston’s gimmicky ¡963 mystery The List of Adrian Mes-
Dials) (¡962); A Comedy of Terrors (¡964); Burke and Hare (¡97¡); Dr. senger. Few films have focused on the plight of present-day gyp-
Jekyll and Sister Hyde (¡972); The Doctor and the Devils (¡985) sies. One that did was ¡978’s King of the Gypsies, an adaptation
of Peter Maas’ best seller about a dying gypsy ruler (Sterling Hay-
The Great Gildersleeve see Gildersleeve, den) who passes the tribe’s leadership to his grandson (Eric
The Great Roberts), ignoring the birth rights of his son ( Judd Hirsch). Actor
Robert Duvall directed Angelo, My Love (¡983), a curious mixture
of fact and fiction set in New York City and starring a former
Gunsmoke Series gypsy child (Angelo Evans). See Hunchbacks for the various ver-
Four made-for-television movies followed the demise of the sions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame featuring the gypsy Es-
¡955–¡975 CBS TV series. Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (¡987) meralda.
qualifies as an o‡cial TV series reunion movie (q.v.), with Mar- Caravan (¡934); Vanessa, Her Love Story (¡935); The Bohemian
shal Matt Dillon ( James Arness) and Miss Kitty Russell (Amanda Girl (¡936); Wings of the Morning (¡937); The Hunchback of Notre
Blake) meeting up in Dodge City ¡2 years later. Other series reg- Dame (¡939); The Wolf Man (¡94¡); Frankenstein Meets the Wolf
ulars on-hand included Buck Taylor as gunsmith Newly O’Brien Man (¡943); Gypsy Wildcat (¡944); Cry of the Werewolf (¡944);
and Fran Ryan as Miss Hannah, who ran the Longbranch Saloon House of Dracula (¡945); Caravan (¡946); Madonna of the Seven
Moons (¡946); Golden Earrings (¡947); Jassy (¡947); The Loves of
after Miss Kitty left Dodge. This TV movie scored well in the rat-
Carmen (¡948); Gypsy Fury (¡95¡); Charge of the Lancers (¡954); Hot
ings and prompted a ¡990 sequel, Gunsmoke: The Last Apache, Blood (¡955); The Gypsy and the Gentleman (¡957); Babes in Toy-
which bears a passing resemblance to John Ford’s ¡956 classic The land (¡96¡); Los Tarantos (¡962); The List of Adrian Messenger
Searchers. Matt receives a letter from an old flame (Michael (¡963); From Russia with Love (¡963); Gypsy Girl (aka Sky West and
Learned) whose daughter Amanda (Amy Stock-Poyton) has been Crooked) (¡965); The Virgin and the Gypsy (¡970); The Art of Crime
kidnapped by Indians. Matt agrees to help and, in the process, (¡975 TVM); Alex and the Gypsy (¡976); King of the Gypsies (¡978);
learns that Amanda is his daughter, too. In ¡992’s Gunsmoke: To Angelo, My Love (¡983); Time of the Gypsies (¡989); Monkey Trouble
(¡994); The Whipping Boy (¡994 TVM ); Thinner (¡996); Traveller
the Last Man, Matt, Amanda (Stock-Poyton), and her Eastern-
(¡997)
born boyfriend fight some narrow-minded vigilantes. The re-
maining two entries focused more on Matt, although Gunsmoke:
The Long Ride also featured Ali MacGraw as a reformed prosti-
Halloween Series
tute the marshal meets along the trail. Arness makes these latter The most influential horror film of the late ¡970s, this well-made
films watchable (especially for Gunsmoke fans), but the script psycho thriller inspired a rash of “slasher” movies (q.v.). Unfor-
writers seem to have forgotten what made the TV series so suc- tunately, its imitators failed to realize that Halloween (¡978)
cessful: a large well-defined cast of supporting characters and the worked because of its suspense — not gore. The thin plot con-
willingness to focus the stories on guest stars. In its later years, cerned a babysitter and her friends, who are terrorized by an emo-
the TV series Gunsmoke rarely built stories solely around Matt. tionless psychopath on Halloween night in a small Illinois town.
See also Television Series Reunion Films. The film boasted e›ective performances, particularly Jamie Lee
Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (¡987 TVM); Gunsmoke: The Last
Curtis as teenage heroine Laurie Strode and Donald Pleasance as
Apache (¡990 TVM); Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (¡992 TVM); psycho-hunter Dr. Sam Loomis (a character not unlike Van Hels-
Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (¡993 TVM); Gunsmoke: One Man’s Jus- ing in the Dracula films). But the true star of Halloween was John
tice (¡994 TVM) Carpenter, whose tour-de-force direction created some classic
92 HAMMER, MIKE

frights. Carpenter co-produced, but did not direct, ¡98¡’s pallid (¡963) (Mickey Spillane); Mickey Spillane’s Margin for Murder (¡98¡
sequel Halloween II. Its plot picks up with the original film’s clos- TVM) (Kevin Dobson); I, the Jury (¡982) (Armand Assante); Mur-
ing scenes, with Laurie (Curtis again) being taken to a hospital der Me, Murder You (¡983 TVM) (Stacy Keach); The Return of
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (¡986 TVM) (Keach); Murder
where the killer — who didn’t die after all — pursues her through
Takes All (¡989 TVM) (Keach); Come Die with Me: A Mickey
many dark corridors until Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) comes to her Spillane’s Mike Hammer Mystery (¡994 TVM) (Rob Estes)
rescue. This chapter’s chief contribution to the series is the rev-
elation that the killer is Laurie’s brother Michael Myers. Neither
Happy Hooker Series
Michael nor Laurie were in Halloween III: Season of the Witch
(¡983), an in name–only entry that ignored the plots of the ear- Xaviera Hollander’s best seller about her experiences as New York
lier films and opted for a clever tale about a diabolical Halloween City’s premiere madam served as the inspiration for three ill-con-
mask manufacturer. It bombed with critics and moviegoers. Five ceived features. The original The Happy Hooker (¡975) had pre-
years later, the series resumed with Halloween IV: The Return of tensions of being a sly, naughty satire. But a leaden script and a mis-
Michael Myers (¡988), Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers cast, red-headed Lynn Redgrave resulted in a major misfire. Blonde
(¡989), and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (¡995), Joey Heatherton replaced Redgrave in The Happy Hooker Goes to
non–Carpenter entries with Pleasance returning to confront the Washington (¡977), a sex-and-politics comedy that was sexually
original killer. They ignored the second and third films and picked boring and politically unfunny. Brunette Martine Beswicke finished
up where the original Halloween left o›. Then, in ¡998, Jamie Lee the series with The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (¡980). The Brits
Curtis made an unexpected return to the series in Halloween H20: proved that a funny movie could be made from the confessions of
Twenty Years Later. Kevin Williamson, who had revived the teen a real-life madam with ¡987’s Personal Services, an honest, sharply-
horror genre two years earlier with Scream, masterminded this in- etched portrait of Cynthia Payne (played by Julie Walters).
stallment which ignored all series entries after Halloween II. Most The Happy Hooker (¡975); The Happy Hooker Goes to Wash-
of the action takes place at a California boarding school run by ington (¡977); The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood (¡980)
Laurie Strode, who has become a divorced, alcoholic, paranoid
mother of a ¡7-year-old son. When brother Michael makes an un- Hardy, Andy
expected visit on Halloween night, Laurie takes matters in her For a decade, the Hardys reigned as America’s favorite family and
own hands and — in an attempt to end the bloodshed once and Mickey Rooney, as Andy Hardy, captured the public’s a›ection
for all — decapitates her homicidal brother. One would think that as had no other teenager. His growing pains were chronicled in
even Michael Myers could not survive such a fate. But after sev- ¡5 highly successful films released during ¡937–¡946. The MGM
eral unexpected returns during the 20-year film series, who series made a modest debut with A Family A›air, Louis Mayer’s
knows? See also Slasher Movies. attempt to duplicate the popularity of Eugene O’Neill’s family
Halloween (¡978); Halloween II (¡98¡); Halloween III: Season comedy-drama Ah, Wilderness. Mayer even reunited three stars
of the Witch (¡983); Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers from the ¡935 film version of O’Neill’s play: Lionel Barrymore,
(¡988); Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers (¡989); Hal- Cecilia Parker, and ¡7-year-old Mickey Rooney. To MGM’s sur-
loween: The Curse of Michael Myers (¡995); Halloween H20: Twenty prise, A Family A›air was a solid hit, prompting an immediate
Years Later (aka Halloween H20) (¡998) sequel. In You’re Only Young Once, Lewis Stone replaced Lionel
Barrymore, with Rooney and Parker (as Andy’s older sister Mar-
Hammer, Mike ian) remaining as the Hardy children. Other series regulars in-
Mickey Spillane’s rough and tough private eye has had a check- cluded British actress Fay Holden as Ma, Sara Haden as Aunt Mil-
ered screen career. Bi› Elliott played the movies’ first Hammer lie, and Ann Rutherford as Andy’s sometime girlfriend. The cast
in the ¡953 3-D flick I, the Jury, a pedestrian adaptation of clicked immediately, especially the chemistry between stern, but
Spillane’s ¡946 best seller. Ralph Meeker also missed the mark as understanding, Judge Hardy and his unpredictable son Andy.
Hammer in Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly (¡955), but the pic- The popularity of Rooney’s character became evident in the third
ture nevertheless remains a stylish film noir with a loyal cult fol- film, ¡938’s Judge Hardy’s Children, and the series shifted its focus
lowing. Spillane took a shot at the role himself in ¡963’s The Girl to Andy. The plots typically centered on Andy’s love life and this
Hunters, but he quickly abandoned his acting career to return to a›orded MGM the opportunity to build up rising stars like Judy
writing. To date, the most successful Hammer has been Stacy Garland, Donna Reed, Lana Turner, Esther Williams, and
Keach, who played the private eye in the ¡983 TV movie Murder Kathryn Grayson. The series lost momentum during World War
Me, Murder You, the TV series Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer II, with its star in the Army, and never fully recovered. Mickey
(later retitled The New Mike Hammer), and two follow-up films. was growing up, too — he was 24 when college student Andy en-
Five years after Keach’s last film, Rob Estes, a former regular on countered a pair of vivacious twins in Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trou-
the sultry detective series Silk Stalkings, starred in another TV ble. The series apparently ended in style with ¡946’s Love Laughs
movie Come Die with Me: A Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer Mys- at Andy Hardy. However, ¡2 years later, Andy Hardy Comes Home
tery. It also starred Pamela Anderson Lee as Hammer’s volup- tried to turn Rooney into an understanding father figure. This
tuous secretary Velma. In the earlier days of television, Darren one-time revival didn’t work, due to the absence of Lewis Stone
McGavin starred in a ¡957-58 syndicated TV series called Mickey (he died in ¡953) and the growing popularity of television fam-
Spillane’s Mike Hammer. ily comedies. In ¡998, Austrian filmmaker Martin Arnold made
I, the Jury (¡953) (Bi› Elliott); Kiss Me Deadly (¡955) (Ralph a ¡5-minute short film called Alone — Life Wastes Andy Hardy, in
Meeker); My Gun Is Quick (¡957) (Robert Bray); The Girl Hunters which Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland are cloned.
 HEIST/CAPER FILMS 93

A Family A›air (¡937); You’re Only Young Once (¡938); Judge Ted’s Bogus Journey (¡99¡); A Life Less Ordinary (¡997); What
Hardy’s Children (¡938); Love Finds Andy Hardy (¡938); Out West Dreams May Come (¡998); After Life (¡999)
with the Hardys (¡938); The Hardys Ride High (¡939); Judge Hardy
and Son (¡939); Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (¡939); Andy Hardy Heist/Caper Films
Meets Debutante (¡940); Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (¡94¡); Life
Begins for Andy Hardy (¡94¡); Andy Hardy’s Double Life (¡942); The Jewelry stores, museums, banks, casinos, and trains have been the
Courtship of Andy Hardy (¡942); Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble most frequent targets of elaborately-planned heists. Jules Dassin
(¡944); Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (¡946); Andy Hardy Comes directed the two most famous jewel heist films: Rififi (¡954) and
Home (¡958) Topkapi (¡964). In Rififi, a violent ex-con recruits three special-
ists to stage the “perfect” heist of a jewelry store. The classic bur-
Having Babies Series glary sequence lasts almost thirty nail-biting minutes, with nei-
Title tells all in this TV movie series about couples experiencing ther dialogue nor music. Dassin lightened the tone, but not the
childbirth. The second film introduced Susan Sullivan as Dr. Julie suspense, with Topkapi, in which the thieves set their sights on a
Farr, who became the principal character in the third film. Sul- jeweled dagger in an Istanbul museum. Although the heist se-
livan subsequently starred in a ¡978 TV series known both as quence formed the film’s centerpiece again, Peter Ustinov earned
Having Babies and Julie Farr, M.D. Less than three years after the a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his nervous performance.
show’s demise, Ms. Sullivan showed up as Maggie on the long- Though far less renowned, ¡968’s Grand Slam has its fans, who
running soap opera Falcon Crest. See also Babies. admire the $¡0 million diamond heist as well as Edward G. Robin-
Having Babies (aka Giving Birth) (¡976 TVM); Having Babies son’s charming performance as the professor who masterminds the
II (¡977 TVM); Having Babies III (¡978 TVM) intricate scheme. It’s interesting to note that these three films, like
many of their imitators, feature European settings and interna-
Heaven tional casts. However, John Huston’s seminal heist picture, ¡950’s
The cinema’s view of heaven has tended to rely on soft focus and The Asphalt Jungle, takes place in the American Midwest and in-
swirling mist. The most visually arresting conception along these cludes a “perfect crime” which falls apart completely. It’s been re-
lines is probably Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Stair- made in various guises as the Western The Badlanders (¡958),
way to Heaven (¡946), with its neverending staircase projecting Cairo (¡963), and Cool Breeze (¡972). Other jewel heist films in-
itself from colorful Earth to black-and-white heaven. On the clude Caper of the Golden Bulls (¡967), the two versions of Happy
other hand, heaven looked very much like this world in Made in New Year (¡973 and ¡987), ¡¡ Harrowhouse (¡974), and The Hot
Heaven. In ¡985’s The Heavenly Kid, it was an ugly place filled Rock (¡972) with Robert Redford. Although jewelry thefts repre-
with crowded trains and angels in frumpy clothes — no wonder sent the upper class side of the heist movie genre, carefully-plot-
the title character returned to Earth. The Adding Machine (¡968) ted bank robberies have generated a proportionate amount of sus-
o›ered a bleak view of heaven with hellish overtones. It sent a pense. The legendary ¡950 Brinks robbery served as the basis for
clerk, who had murdered his boss after being replaced by a ma- Six Bridges to Cross (¡955), Brinks: The Great Robbery (¡976), and
chine, to a heaven where he worked constantly with a similar ma- The Brinks Job (¡978). Meek bank clerk Alec Guinness hatched a
chine. More humane heavenly activities have included celestial plan to rob a truck of gold bullion in the ¡95¡ British comedy The
trials (Stairway to Heaven, Defending Your Life, and The Story of Lavender Hill Mob. In another British picture, ¡960’s The League
Mankind), plans for armageddon (The Horn Blows at Midnight), of Gentlemen, ex–army colonel Jack Hawkins recruits some of his
and preparation of children about to be born (The Blue Bird and former soldiers to execute a bank heist. Along similar lines, Peter
Made in Heaven). Some of the most prominent heavenly author- Falk and two Korean War buddies scheme to stage a complex
ity figures include Rex Ingram’s “de Lawd” in The Green Pastures bank robbery in ¡97¡’s A Step Out of Line. George C. Scott and
(¡936), Lionel Barrymore’s “Heavenly General” in A Guy Named cohorts didn’t rob the bank–they just stole the entire building in
Joe (¡943), and Abraham Sofaer as the judge in Stairway to ¡974’s Bank Shot (a sequel to The Hot Rock with Scott playing
Heaven. Peter Cook as the Devil went to heaven to tell God he Redford’s character!). Jim Hutton, Milton Berle, and Joey Bishop
had won the battle for souls in the irreverent comedy Bedazzled broke into the U.S. mint in Who’s Minding the Mint (¡967), but
(¡967). Actress Diane Keaton edited movie clips and interviews their mission was to replace money which had been burned acci-
into her o›beat documentary Heaven (¡987). Purgatory has been dentally. And, as the title would indicate, the bank robbers in The
glimpsed in Between Two Worlds (¡944), Impure Thoughts (¡985), Doberman Gang (¡972), were strictly of the canine variety. In ad-
In Between (¡992), Purgatory (¡999), and, depending on one’s in- dition to banks, other attractive sources of large amounts of
terpretation, ¡99¡’s The Rapture. See also Angels. money include casino and trains. Casino robberies have been
Liliom (¡930); The Green Pastures (¡936); The Blue Bird staged in Bob Le Flambeur (¡955), 5 Against the House (¡955),
(¡940); Here Comes Mr. Jordan (¡94¡); A Guy Named Joe (¡943); Ocean’s Eleven (¡960), and They Came to Rob Las Vegas (¡968)
Heaven Can Wait (¡943); The Horn Blows at Midnight (¡945); and Reindeer Games (2000). The popularity of train robberies in
That’s the Spirit (¡945); Down to Earth (¡947); Ziegfeld Follies films can be traced back to ¡903’s The Great Train Robbery. How-
(¡946); The Cockeyed Miracle (aka Mr. Griggs Returns) (¡946); ever, only a handful of these movies qualify as heist/caper films,
Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter of Life and Death) (¡946); The
such as The Great British Train Robbery (¡967), The Great Train
Bad Lord Byron (¡948); You Never Can Tell (¡95¡); Carousel (¡956);
The Story of Mankind (¡957); The Flight That Disappeared (¡96¡); Robbery (¡979), and Buster (¡988). See also Jewel Thieves; Trains.
Bedazzled (¡967); The Adding Machine (¡968); Heaven Can Wait The Asphalt Jungle (¡950); The Lavender Hill Mob (¡95¡); The
(¡978); Resurrection (¡980); The Heavenly Kid (¡985); Made in Great Diamond Robbery (¡953); Rififi (¡954); Six Bridges to Cross
Heaven (¡987); Heaven (¡987); Defending Your Life (¡99¡); Bill and (¡955); Bob Le Flambeur (¡955); 5 Against the House (¡955); The
94 HELICOPTERS

Killing (¡956); The Big Caper (¡957); The Badlanders (¡958); The a striking ¡0-minute sequence of writhing souls in ¡935’s Dante’s
League of Gentlemen (¡960); Ocean’s Eleven (¡960); It Takes a Thief Inferno. Italian horror specialist Mario Bava created an atmos-
(aka The Challenge) (¡960); Seven Thieves (¡960); Rififi in Tokyo pheric Hades for ¡96¡’s Hercules in the Haunted World (apparently,
(¡963); Cairo (¡963); Topkapi (¡964); Gambit (¡966); Assault on a
the producers decided against Hercules in Hell). Christopher Lee,
Queen (¡966); How to Steal a Million (¡966); Who’s Minding the
Mint? (¡967); Robbery (¡967); The Great British Train Robbery as one of Pluto’s disciples, kept the seas of lava flowing and the
(¡967); Caper of the Golden Bulls (aka Carnival of Thieves) (¡967); naked girls chained. Surprisingly, the ¡972 TV movie Haunts of
Grand Slam (¡968); Diamonds for Breakfast (¡968); They Came to the Very Rich o›ered an interesting variation, whereby seven peo-
Rob Las Vegas (¡968); The Thomas Crown A›air (¡968); The Sicilian ple trapped on a paradise island come to realize they are in hell.
Clan (¡969); The Italian Job (¡969); Perfect Friday (¡970); A Step See also The Devil.
Out of Line (¡97¡ TVM); $ (Dollars) (¡97¡); Cool Breeze (¡972); The
Dante’s Inferno (¡935); Heaven Can Wait (¡943); Angel on My
Doberman Gang (¡972); The Hot Rock (aka How to Steal a Diamond
Shoulder (¡946); Huis Clos (¡954); Hercules in the Haunted World
in Four Uneasy Lessons) (¡972); The Heist (¡972 TVM); Snow Job
(aka Hercules vs. the Vampires; Hercules at the Center of the Earth;
(¡972); Happy New Year (aka The Happy New Year Caper) (¡973);
Ercole al Centro Delle Terra) (¡96¡); Haunts of the Very Rich (¡972
Bank Shot (¡974); ¡¡ Harrowhouse (aka Anything for Love; Fast For-
TVM); The Sentinel (¡977); Invitation to Hell (¡984 TVM); The
tune) (¡974); The Great Ice Rip-O› (¡974 TVM); Thunderbolt and
Gate (¡987); Hellbound: Hellraiser II (¡988); Bill and Ted’s Bogus
Lightfoot (¡974); Live a Little, Steal a Lot (aka Murph the Surf; You
Journey (¡99¡); Highway to Hell (¡992); Stay Tuned (¡992); Hercules
Can’t Steal Love) (¡975); Diamonds (¡975); Target Risk (¡975 TVM);
(¡997); What Dreams May Come (¡998); South Park: Bigger, Longer
Brinks: The Great Robbery (¡976 TVM); The Brinks Job (¡978); The
& Uncut (¡999)
Great Train Robbery (aka The First Great Train Robbery) (¡979); A
Man, a Woman and a Bank (aka A Very Big Withdrawal) (¡979);
The Great Bank Hoax (¡979); Happy New Year (¡987); Bellman and
True (¡988); Buster (¡988); Family Business (¡989); Why Me? (¡990);
Hellraiser Series
Sneakers (¡992); The Diamond Fleece (¡992 TVM); Reservoir Dogs Clive Barker’s novella “The Hellbound Heart” provided the basis
(¡992); The Real McCoy (¡993); Dead Presidents (¡995); Jackie Brown for ¡987’s Hellraiser, a grisly horror tale described by its author
(¡997); Out of Sight (¡998); The Split (¡998); The Thomas Crown as a perverse love story. In the opening reel, Frank Cotton (Sean
A›air (¡999); Entrapment (¡999); Reindeer Games (2000) Chapman) unlocks the secret to a mysterious, Rubik Cube–like
puzzle box called the Lamont Configuration. With its solution re-
Helicopters vealed, the box summons forth the Cenobites, a race of vile-look-
The cinema’s love a›air with airplanes (q.v.) has never extended to ing, hellish creatures that torture Frank to death. However, the
helicopters. Though the airplane features a stronger historical back- dead Frank, now hideously disfigured, shows up at his brother
ground, the helicopter’s airborne maneuverability would seem to Larry’s house. He convinces his former mistress, Larry’s wife Julia
make it an ideal vehicle for visually exciting chase thrillers. Televi- (Clare Higgins), to obtain human flesh for his dinner so that he
sion filmmakers have exploited that genre with a quartet of fast- can regain his human form. This blatant exercise in visual hor-
paced features: Birds of Prey (¡972), Sky Heist (¡975) Deadly En- ror is distinguished by a subtle thematic twist: A woman — not a
counter (¡982), and The Chase (¡99¡). The helicopter hit the big man — lures and mutilates the victims (however, unlike her typ-
time, in terms of budget, with the ¡983 theatrical release Blue ical male counterparts, Julia kills out of love). The two sequels
Thunder. Yet, despite a strong cast headed by Roy Scheider and dispensed with such thematic concerns and raised the gore quo-
Malcolm McDowell, this cartoonish tale of a super-helicopter never tient to appeal to hardcore horror aficionados. Variety called ¡988’s
generated the thrills of its small screen counterparts (ironically, it Hellbound: Hellraiser II a “maggotty carnival of mayhem, muta-
later spawned a TV series). James Bond took to the air in helicopters tion, and dismemberment.” The plot follows Larry’s daughter
built-for-one in You Only Live Twice (¡967) and For Your Eyes Only Kristy (Ashley Laurence) as she journeys to Hell to save her fa-
(¡98¡). Woody Allen invented a self-powered, single-seat helicopter ther from the Cenobites and Leviathan, Lord of Hell’s Labyrinth.
in A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (¡982), while Bruce Spence pi- Her clever, albeit grisly, escape gives new meaning to the phrase
loted another single-seater through a post-apocalyptic desert in “putting on another face.” As with the first two films, Hellraiser
¡98¡’s The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2). See also Airplanes; Bal- III (¡992) also features a female protagonist, a TV news reporter
loons, Hot Air; Dirigibles. named Jody (Terry Farrell). In her dreams, Jody encounters the
ghost of a British military o‡cer, whose experiments first un-
Up Goes Maisie (aka She Goes Up) (¡945); Battle Taxi (¡955);
Flight from Ashiya (¡964); You Only Live Twice (¡967); Birds of Prey leashed the Cenobites. Concurrently, a heinous nightclub owner
(¡972 TVM); Sky Heist (¡975 TVM); For Your Eyes Only (¡98¡); buys a sculpture that introduces him to Pinhead, the leader of the
The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (¡98¡); Deadly Encounter (¡982 Cenobites. Predictably, the finale pits Jody against Pinhead. A
TVM); A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (¡982); Blue Thunder fourth film, Hellraiser: Bloodline, alternates confusingly between
(¡983); Getting Even (aka Hostage: Dallas) (¡986); Defense Play a 2¡th century space station (with Pinhead aboard) and flash-
(¡988); Fire Birds (¡990); The Chase (¡99¡ TVM); Cli›hanger backs to the ¡8th century that show the Lamont Configuration’s
(¡993); Firehawk (¡993); True Lies (¡994); The Chase (¡994); Pie in origin. The film’s director Kevin Yagher, who helmed the origi-
the Sky (¡995); Courage Under Fire (¡996); Mission: Impossible
(¡996); Escape from L.A. (¡996); Gridlock (¡996 TVM) nal Hellraiser, had his named removed from the credits. In terms
of originality, the series seems to have run its course — although
that has never hampered other long-running horror series like
Hell Friday the ¡3th, The Howling, and Nightmare on Elm Street (qq.v.).
No one wants to go to hell — and filmmakers have been no ex- Hellraiser (¡987); Hellbound: Hellraiser II (¡988); Hellraiser III:
ception. Director Harry Lachman o›ered the most elaborate view, Hell on Earth (¡992); Hellraiser: Bloodline (aka Hellraiser IV) (¡996)
 HERCULES 95

Helm, Matt cules— with wife Jayne Mansfield in support in a double role!
In Donald Hamilton’s books, secret agent Matt Helm “worked” None of these cheap programmers were particularly distinguished,
as a freelance writer/photographer and drove an old pickup truck. although horror director Mario Bava’s Hercules in the Haunted
In the movies, though, Dean Martin played him as a third-rate World presented an atmospheric view of Hell. In ¡994, five Her-
James Bond. Martin fumbled his way through four Helm pictures, cules TV movies were shown as part of a syndication package
all made between ¡966–69 and co-starring Stella Stevens, Ann- called the Universal Action Pack. The films were very tongue-in-
Margaret, Senta Berger, and Elke Sommer. Tony Franciosa cheek and Kevin Sorbo played a di›erent kind of Hercules —
reprised the role for the ¡975 TV movie Matt Helm and a short- good-looking, athletic, but minus the typical mounds of muscles.
lived series. Franciosa’s Helm was a private eye, though, instead These TV movies spawned a highly successul weekly TV series,
of a secret agent. also starring Sorbo, called Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. At the
peak of Sorbo’s popularity, Disney released an animated musical
The Silencers (¡966); Murderer’s Row (¡967); The Ambushers
(¡968); The Wrecking Crew (¡969); Matt Helm (¡975 TVM)
version of Hercules (¡997) that took a tongue-in-cheek approach,
too. Although Hercules is the most famous mythical strong man,
his film success, particularly in the ¡960s, inspired a number of
Henry Series muscle man clones. Maciste (q.v.) and Goliath both had their
Character actor Raymond Walburn played Henry Latham, a ras- own series, though it was often di‡cult to tell who was who.
cally cheapskate with good intentions, in this minor Monogram Maciste e la Regina di Samar wound up as Hercules Against the
series. The plots frequently hinged on Henry’s outraged reactions Moonmen when shown on American TV. Of course, it can often
to rising prices. In Father Makes Good, he bought a cow to avoid be dangerous to judge a film by its title. The ¡993 Australian
a milk tax. He refused to pay the butcher and took up hunting comedy Hercules Returns was about theater owners forced to pro-
in Father’s Wild Game. In other series entries, Henry bumbled vide their own dubbing when a Hercules film arrives with no En-
routine jobs (e.g., accidentally burned up a toll bridge), but some- glish dialogue. The ¡974 United Artists release Hercules vs. Kung
how managed to straighten things out in the end. Walter Catlett Fu (aka Mr. Hercules Against Karate) had nothing to do with Her-
was Henry’s pal Mayor Colton. cules, being just another Kung Fu school “chop socky” picture.
Henry the Rainmaker (¡949); Leave It to Henry (¡949); Father See also Maciste.
Makes Good (¡950); Father’s Wild Game (¡95¡); Father Takes the Air
Hercules (aka The Labors of Hercules; Le Fatiche di Ercole)
(¡95¡)
(¡959) (Steve Reeves); Hercules Unchained (aka Ercole e la Regina di
Lidia) (¡960) (Reeves); The Loves of Hercules (aka Hercules and the
Herbie, the Love Bug Hydra) (¡960) (Mickey Hargitay); Ulysses Against Hercules (aka
Disney’s longest-running film series starred a lovable Volkswagen Hercules vs. Ulysses; Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules; Ulisse contro
Beetle with a mind of its own. The Love Bug and Herbie Rides Ercole) (¡96¡) (Georges Marchal); Hercules in the Haunted World
Again did brisk business, but the later Herbie movies were re- (aka Hercules vs. the Vampires; Hercules at the Center of the Earth;
Ercole al Centro Delle Terra) (¡96¡) (Reg Park); Alakazam the Great
leased when Disney Productions was struggling to recapture its
(¡96¡) (animated); The Fury of Hercules (aka La Furia di Ercole)
youthful audience. Dean Jones played Herbie’s human sidekick (¡96¡) (Brad Harris); Hercules in the Vale of Woe (aka Maciste
in the first and third films and revived his role for the hour-long(!) Against Hercules in the Vale of Woe; Maciste Contro Ercole Nella
CBS television series Herbie, the Love Bug. It lasted just one month Valle Dei Guai) (¡962) (Kirk Morris); The Three Stooges Meet Her-
before being cancelled. In ¡997, Disney produced a TV movie re- cules (¡962) (Samson Burke); Hercules and the Captive Women (aka
make of The Love Bug starring Bruce Campbell of The Evil Dead Hercules and the Haunted Women; Ercole alla Conquista della At-
series (q.v.). The plot pitted Herbie against a mean Volkswagen lantide) (¡963) (Park); Hercules, the Invincible (aka Ercole l’Invinci-
Beetle called Horace. Dean Jones had a cameo as Jim Douglas, bile) (¡963) (Dan Vadis); Jason and the Argonauts (¡963) (Nigel
Green); Conquest of Mycene (aka Hercules Attacks; Hercules vs.
his character from the original Love Bug film. See also Auto Rac- Moloch; Ercole contro Moloch) (¡963) (Gordon Scott); Hercules vs.
ing. the Giant Warriors (aka Triumph of Hercules; Hercules and the Ten
The Love Bug (¡969); Herbie Rides Again (¡974); Herbie Goes Avengers; Il Trionfoldi Ercole) (¡964) (Vadis); Hercules Against Rome
to Monte Carlo (¡977); Herbie Goes Bananas (¡980); The Love Bug (aka Ercole contro Roma) (¡964) (Alan Steel); Samson and the
(¡997 TVM) Mighty Challenge (aka Hercules, Maciste, Samson, and Urus vs. the
Universe; Ercole, Sansone, Maciste, Ursus gli Invincili) (¡964) (Steel);
Hercules Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun (Ercole contro i Figli del Sole)
(¡964) (Mark Forest); Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (aka Er-
Super distributor Joseph E. Levine transformed Hercules, a mod- cole contro i Tiranni di Babilonia) (¡964) (Rock Stevens, also cred-
est Italian sword-and-sandal epic, into one of the biggest inter- ited as Peter Lupus); Hercules of the Desert (aka La Valle dell’Eco
national hits of ¡957. Steve Reeves, a former Mr. World and Mr. Tonante) (¡964) (Morris); Hercules, Samson, and Ulysses (aka Ercole
Universe, starred as the mythical muscle man who undertakes a Sfida Sansone) (¡966) (Morris); Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (aka Terror
series of perilous quests to win the hand of a beautiful princess of the Kirghiz) (¡967) (Park); Hercules in New York (aka Hercules:
(the worthy Sylva Koscina). Reeves repeated the role in the se- The Movie; Hercules Goes Bananas) (¡970) (Arnold Schwarzeneg-
ger); Hercules (¡983) (Lou Ferrigno); Hercules II (aka The Adven-
quel Hercules Unchained, but bowed out after that. Since then, a
tures of Hercules) (¡985) (Ferrigno); Hercules and the Amazon
succession of muscular hunks have essayed the role: Reg Park, Women (¡994 TVM) (Kevin Sorbo); Hercules and the Circle of Fire
Mark Forest, Alan Steel (real name Sergio Ciani), Gordon Scott, (¡994 TVM) (Sorbo); Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (¡994 TVM)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Lou (Incredible Hulk) Ferrigno. Even (Sorbo); Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (¡994 TVM)
muscle builder Mickey Hargitay played Herc in The Loves of Her- (Sorbo); Hercules in the Underworld (¡994 TVM) (Sorbo); Hercules
96 HICKOK, WILD BILL, SERIES

(¡997) (animated — voiced by Tate Donovan); Young Hercules (¡998 lege, wound up spending several years as the Skipper on Gilligan’s
TVM) (Ian Bohen); Hercules and Xena — The Animated Movie: The Island. If the series’ movies featured dull, stereotypical plots (a big
Battle for Mount Olympus (¡998) (animated — voiced by Kevin football game, class elections, etc.), the music made up for it. In
Sorbo); Jason and the Argonauts (2000 TVM) (Brian Thompson) addition to boasting o›beat tunes like “Jungle Rhumba” and
“Sherwood’s Forest,” the High Schoolers captured captivating
Hickok, Wild Bill, Series performances by bands like the Gene Krupa Orchestra.
Frontier marshal James Butler Hickok, aka Wild Bill, has been High School Hero (¡946); Junior Prom (¡946); Sarge Goes to
portrayed by many actors, but only one was popular enough to College (¡947); Vacation Days (¡947); Campus Sleuth (¡948); Smart
borrow his nickname permanently. Gordon Elliott became Wild Politics (¡948)
Bill Elliott after trail blazing his way to fame in Columbia’s ¡938
serial The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. Two years later, Highlander
Columbia resurrected Wild Bill as Wild Bill and produced an “There can only be one!”explains Connor MacLeod after lopping
eight film Hickok series. The series came to an end when Elliott o› the head of a man with a sword in a New York City parking
signed with Republic in ¡943 and went on to achieve his great- garage. In the intriguing action fantasy Highlander (¡986), view-
est success as Red Ryder (q.v.). ers learn through flashbacks that MacLeod belongs to a race of
Prairie Schooner (aka Through the Storm) (¡940); Beyond the immortal warriors who must battle among themselves until one
Sacramento (aka The Power of Justice) (¡94¡); The Wildcats of Tucson remains. The premise itself is a paradox — the immortals are not
(aka Promise Unfulfilled) (¡94¡); Across the Sierras (aka Welcome really immortal since they can kill each other. Logic aside, the film
Stranger) (¡94¡); North from the Lone Star (¡94¡); Hands Across the
Rockies (¡94¡); Lone Star Vigilantes (aka The Devil’s Price) (¡942); benefits from its flashback structure, alternating between
Bullets for Bandits (¡942) MacLeod’s modern-day life as an antique dealer who carries a
concealed sword and his early life in Scotland where his mentor
Ramirez trained him for combat. Christopher Lambert gives
The Higgins Family MacLeod an appropriately mysterious quality, but Sean Connery
With MGM’s Hardy Family (q.v.) and Twenteith Century–Fox’s steals the film as the charismatic Ramirez. Clancy Brown plays
Jones Family (q.v.) riding high in the late ¡930s, it was inevitable Kurgan, a one-dimensional, but undeniably evil, villain. In the
that low-budget Republic Pictures would initiate its own family U.S., Highlander garnered lukewarm reviews and earned back
a›air. Thus, the Higgins Family series was born. For the first only $5 million of its then-hefty $¡6 million budget. Still, it per-
seven films, it was indeed a family a›air with James, Lucille, and formed well overseas (where Lambert was a bankable star) and
son Russell Gleason portraying Joe, Lillian, and Sidney Higgins. gradually earned cult status in the U.S. when released on video.
The early entries centered on conflicts between Joe and Lillian. Lambert, Connery, and director Russell Mulcahy reteamed for the
They wound up in divorce court in The Higgins Family, but a ¡99¡ sequel Highlander II: The Quickening. It’s a confusing e›ort
happy ending prevailed. However, they were at odds again in set in the future that features too little of Connery and — worst
Should Husbands Work? with Lillian taking over Joe’s job and of all — changes the original premise by revealing that immortals
leaving him the housework. The Gleasons, along with Harry like MacLeod come from a planet called Ziest. A director’s cut
Davenport as Grandpa, bowed out of the series after ¡940’s subtitled “The Renegrade Version” was released in the U.S. on
Grandpa Goes to Town. Roscoe Karns ( Joe), Ruth Donnelly (Lil), laserdisc in ¡997. It runs ¡9 minutes longer and deletes the planet
George Ernest (Sidney), and Spencer Charters (Grandpa) took Ziest storyline. The film series might have ended after The Quick-
over the roles for the last two films. Interestingly, George Ernest ening if not for the surprising success of Highlander: The Series, a
and Russell Gleason both appeared in the Jones Family (q.v.) weekly one-hour syndicated TV show. It starred Adrian Paul as
series. Ernest played young Roger Jones, while Gleason was Bon- Duncan MacLeod, one of Connor’s clansmen and a fellow im-
nie Jones’s boyfriend and eventual husband Herbert Thompson. mortal. Christopher Lambert appeared as Connor MacLeod in the
Russell Gleason’s acting career ended suddenly when he fell from TV series episode “The Gathering.” It was later combined with
a hotel window in ¡945. He was 37. another episode and released to videotape as Highlander: The
The Higgins Family (¡938); The Covered Trailer (¡939); Money Gathering (¡992). In ¡994, the popularity of the TV series inspired
to Burn (¡939); My Wife’s Relations (¡939); Should Husbands Work? a third theatrical film with Lambert called Highlander: The Final
(¡939); Earl of Puddlestone (¡940); Grandpa Goes to Town (¡940);
Dimension. It pitted Connor against an evil magician named Kane
Meet the Missus (¡940); Petticoat Politics (¡94¡)
(Mario Van Peebles) who killed one of Connor’s teachers 400
years earlier. The film posted a lackluster worldwide gross of $36
The High Schoolers Series million. Meanwhile, Highlander: The Series continued to thrive
The forerunner of AIP’s Beach Party movies (q.v.), this Monogram until Adrian Paul decided to bow out in ¡997. The show was re-
series mixed energetic teens with popular music. Freddie Stewart vamped the following year as Highlander: The Raven and focused
and June Preisser played the main characters, bland high school on Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen), a female immortal introduced in
lovers Freddie Trimball and Dodie Rogers. However, the series is the Adrian Paul series. In ¡999, Dimension Films announced
best remembered for featuring supporting performers which TV plans to film Highlander: Endgame, a fourth theatrical film star-
would turn into familiar faces. Fellow student Noel Neill went on ring both Lambert and Paul.
to become Lois Lane in the hit Superman TV series. College pro- Highlander (¡986); Highlander II: The Quickening (¡99¡);
fessor Frank Cady became Sam Drucker on Green Acres. And Alan Highlander: The Gathering (¡992); Highlander: The Final Dimen-
Hale, Jr., the Marine-turned-student in ¡947’s Sarge Goes to Col- sion (aka Highland III: The Sorcerer) (¡994)
 HOLMES, SHERLOCK 97

Hitchhiking the Last Crusade (¡989), while Woody Allen’s Zelig (¡983) turned
Hitchhiking has come into play in dozens of “road” movies, such up in newsreel footage with the German dictator. Mel Brooks’
as ¡985’s The Sure Thing and, most memorably, ¡934’s It Happened The Producers (¡968) featured a stage musical called Springtime for
One Night. The latter featured the now-classic scene in which Hitler.
Clark Gable, after trying futilely to attract a ride via the tradi- The Great Dictator (¡940); Man Hunt (¡94¡); To Be or Not To
tional thumb method, receives instruction from Claudette Col- Be (¡942); Hitler — Dead or Alive (¡943); The Strange Death of Adolf
Hitler (¡943); The Hitler Gang (¡944); The Magic Face (¡95¡); Ca-
bert on how to use one’s legs to better e›ect. The dangers of pick- naris Master Spy (¡954); The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (¡955); Jack-
ing up hitchhikers have been explored in subtle thrillers like boot Mutiny (¡955); The Last Ten Days (aka The Last Ten Days of
Hitchhike! and gory horror pictures like The Hitcher. The horror Adolf Hitler) (¡956); Hitler (¡962); The Black Fox (¡962); They
anthology Creepshow 2 spawned the most memorable hitchhik- Saved Hitler’s Brain (aka Madmen of Mandoras) (¡963); The Pro-
ing line, with a walking corpse following Lois Chiles around and ducers (¡968); Flesh Feast (¡970); Adolf Hitler: My Part in His
moaning repeatedly: “Thanks for the ride, lady!” The ¡972 Downfall (¡972); Hitler: The Last Ten Days (¡973); Undercovers
Thumb Tripping rates the most hitchhiking scenes per movie with Hero (aka Soft Beds and Hard Battles; Soft Beds, Hard Battles)
(¡973); Rogue Male (¡976 TVM); The Boys from Brazil (¡978); The
its plot about two hippies (Michael Burns and Meg Foster) hitch- Lucifer Complex (¡978); Our Hitler, a Film from Germany (¡980);
ing across the country. Many movies have revolved around char- The Bunker (¡98¡ TVM); Inside the Third Reich (¡982 TVM); To
acters picked up from the roadside, including Detour (¡945), Be or Not To Be (¡983); Zelig (¡983); Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait in Evil
Three into Two Won’t Go (¡969), and Ginger in the Morning (¡973). (¡985 TVM); Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (¡985 TVM); Indiana
It Happened One Night (¡934); The Devil Thumbs a Ride Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989); Elves (¡989); The Plot to Kill
(¡947); The Hitch-Hiker (¡953); The Notorious Mr. Monks (¡958); Hitler (¡990 TVM); Hitler’s Daughter (¡990 TVM); Highway to
Knife in the Water (¡962); Nightmare in the Sun (¡964); Thumb Hell (¡992)
Tripping (¡972); Hitchhike! (¡974 TVM); Nightmare in Badham
County (aka Nightmare) (¡976 TVM); Diary of a Hitchhiker (¡979 Hockey
TVM); Road Games (¡98¡); Vagabond (¡985); The Hitcher (¡986);
Creepshow 2 (¡987); The Drifter (¡988); Alligator Eyes (¡990); Dust This game’s reputation for violence would seem to make it ideal
Devil: The Final Cut (¡993); Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (¡994); subject matter for a movie. But even during the bloody ¡970s,
Ruby Jean and Joe (¡996 TVM); Freeway (¡996); Western (¡997); when The Longest Yard (¡974) and Rollerball (¡975) glorified sports
Welcome to Woop-Woop (¡997) violence, hockey made little impact. Its big shot at stardom came
with ¡977’s Slap Shot, which cast Paul Newman as the desperate
Hitler coach of a bush-league hockey team. The film fared well at the
box-o‡ce, but its returns failed to inspire even a B-movie rip-
The role of Adolf Hitler has frustrated more than one good actor.
o›. ABC capitalized on the game’s temporary popularity follow-
Alec Guinness gave one of his lesser performances as the Nazi
ing the USA team’s stunning upset of the Russians in the ¡980
dictator in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (¡973). Anthony Hopkins
Olympics by producing a movie version titled Miracle on Ice. Five
overplayed the part (but nevertheless won an Emmy) in the ¡98¡
years later, Michael Keaton and Rob Lowe took to the ice in
TV movie The Bunker. Even reliable Richard Basehart could not
Touch and Go and Youngblood, respectively. Keaton’s film sat on
overcome his basic miscasting in the low-key ¡962 biography
the shelf for over a year and then barely got released. Lowe’s pic-
Hitler. Derek Jacobi probably gave the best star turn as Hitler in
ture fizzled as well, signalling either a lack of public interest in
the epic two-part TV movie Inside the Third Reich (¡982). In the
hockey or the game’s inability to attract serious filmmakers.
¡940s, character actor Robert Watson specialized in playing
Hockey also played a minor role in Love Story— Oliver (Ryan
Hitler. In addition to starring in ¡944’s The Hitler Gang, he did
O’Neal) had a passion for playing it. Mel Gibson chased some
cameos as Hitler in The Devil with Hitler (¡942), The Miracle of
thugs across the ice during a Los Angeles Kings hockey game in
Morgan’s Creek (¡944), The Story of Mankind (¡957), and many
¡992’s Lethal Weapon 3. Friday the ¡3th’s popular killer Jason made
others. Plots to assassinate Hitler provided the premise for: Man
hockey masks fashionable for psychopaths. See also The Mighty
Hunt (¡94¡), its remake Rogue Male (¡976), Hitler — Dead or Alive
Ducks.
(¡943), The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (¡943), The Plot to As-
King of Hockey (¡936); It’s a Pleasure (¡945); Love Story (¡970);
sassinate Hitler (¡955), the fact-based Jackboot Mutiny (¡955), The
Paperback Hero (¡973); Gross Misconduct (¡973 TVM); Slap Shot
Plot to Kill Hitler (¡990), and as a subplot in The Night of the Gen- (¡977); The Deadliest Season (¡977 TVM); The Boy Who Drank Too
erals (¡967). Luther Adler played an impersonator who did kill Much (¡980 TVM); Miracle on Ice (¡98¡ TVM); Hockey Night
Hitler and take his place in ¡95¡’s fanciful The Magic Face. Veron- (¡984); Generation (¡985 TVM); Touch and Go (¡986); Youngblood
ica Lake played a mad scientist who dumps a swarm of maggots (¡986); The Running Man (¡987); The Cutting Edge (¡992); Lethal
on Hitler’s face in the obscure gorefest Flesh Feast (¡970). Another Weapon 3 (¡992); The Mighty Ducks (¡992); Sudden Death (¡995);
deranged scientist managed to keep Hitler’s head alive atop a table Happy Gilmore (¡996); Mystery, Alaska (¡999); H-E Double Hockey
Sticks (¡999 TVM)
in ¡963’s dreadful They Saved Hitler’s Brain. Ira Levin fashioned
an ingenious plot about Hitler cloning in ¡978’s The Boys from
Brazil. The same year’s The Lucifer Complex found Robert Vaughn Holmes, Sherlock
investigating another Hitler cloning plot. Charlie Chaplin treated Literature’s most renowned detective is certainly one of the
Hitler comically in his topical farce The Great Dictator (¡940). Co- screen’s busiest. Only Charlie Chan rivals him in number of film
median Gilbert Gottfried cameoed as Hitler in ¡992’s Highway appearances in the sound era and, even at that, the Baker Street
to Hell. Indiana Jones got Hitler’s autograph in Indiana Jones and sleuth has been played by more actors than any detective. The first
98 HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS SERIES

recorded screen appearance of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional on PBS’s Mystery! Author A. Conan Doyle has also appeared as a
mastermind was in a ¡903 silent short (very short, about a minute) character in movies such as Fairy Tale: A True Story (¡997) and
called Sherlock Holmes Ba·ed. The Conan Doyle mysteries made Houdini (¡998 TVM).
popular silent film subjects, but a definitive Holmes interpreta- RATHBONE/BRUCE: The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡939); The
tion did not emerge until William Gillette made Sherlock Holmes Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (¡939); Sherlock Holmes and the Voice
in ¡9¡6. The screenplay was based on Gillette’s own stage play, of Terror (¡942); Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (¡942);
originally performed in ¡899. Ellie Norwood was the most prolific Sherlock Holmes in Washington (¡943); Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
silent Holmes, appearing in seven films between ¡92¡ and ¡923. (¡943); Crazy House (¡943) (cameo appearance); The Scarlet Claw
(¡944); Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman (aka Spider Woman)
British screen veteran Clive Brook introduced Holmes to the (¡944); The House of Fear (¡945); The Woman in Green (¡945); Pur-
“talkies” in ¡929’s The Return of Sherlock Holmes, an updated mys- suit to Algiers (¡945); Terror by Night (¡946); Dressed to Kill (aka
tery about a retired Holmes lured into detecting again by Wat- Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code) (¡946)
son’s grown daughter (!). Four other actors played Conan Doyle’s OTHERS: The Return of Sherlock Holmes (¡929) (Clive Brook);
sleuth from ¡93¡–¡937, with Arthur Wontner garnering the most Paramount on Parade (¡930) (Brook appears in a skit); Sherlock
praise. Already in his mid-fifties, Wontner played an older Holmes’ Fatal Hour (aka The Sleeping Cardinal) (¡93¡) (Arthur
Holmes, ably assisted by Ian Fleming (not the author) as Dr. Wontner); The Speckled Band (¡93¡) (Raymond Massey); The
Watson in all but one case (The Sign of Four with Ian Hunter). Hound of the Baskervilles (¡93¡) (Robert Rendel); The Missing Rem-
It’s interesting to note that the five Wontner films were based on brandt (¡932) (Wontner); The Sign of Four (¡932) (Wontner); Sher-
lock Holmes (¡932) (Brook); A Study in Scarlet (¡933) (Reginald
Conan Doyle works. Despite his success, Wontner’s Holmes in- Owen); The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (¡935) (Wontner); Silver
terpretation was eclipsed in ¡939, when, in a stroke of casting ge- Blaze (¡937) (Wontner); The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡959) (Peter
nius, Basil Rathbone was signed to play Holmes in 20th Cen- Cushing); Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (¡962)
tury–Fox’s lavish The Hound of the Baskervilles. Rathbone’s crisp, (Christopher Lee); A Study in Terror (¡965) ( John Neville); The
energetic performance was delightfully balanced by Nigel Bruce’s Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (¡970) (Robert Stephens); The
bumbling, but endearing, Watson (who in no way resembled Hound of the Baskervilles (¡972 TVM) (Stewart Granger); The Ad-
Conan Doyle’s intelligent physician/companion). The Hound was ventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (¡975) (Douglas
Wilmer, with Gene Wilder as the brother); Sherlock Holmes in New
a rousing success and Fox quickly followed it with The Adventures York (¡976 TVM) (Roger Moore); The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
of Sherlock Holmes, pitting Holmes against archvillain Professor (¡976) (Nicol Williamson); Murder by Decree (¡979) (Christopher
Moriarty (superbly played by the menacing George Zucco). It Plummer); The Sign of Four (¡983) (Ian Richardson); The Hound of
rates as the finest of all Holmes films. Unfortunately, Fox let the the Baskervilles (¡983) (Ian Richardson); Sherlock Holmes and the
series die and when Rathbone and Bruce reappeared as Holmes Masks of Death (aka The Masks of Death) (¡984 TVM) (Peter
and Watson, it was for budget-minded Universal. Consisting of Cushing); Young Sherlock Holmes (aka Sherlock Holmes and the
¡2 movies shot between ¡942 and ¡946, the Universal series Pyramid of Fear) (¡985) (Nicholas Rowe); The Return of Sherlock
Holmes (¡987 TVM) (Michael Pennington); Without a Clue (¡988)
boasted updated story lines and shorter running times. Holmes (Michael Caine as Reginald Kincaid as Holmes); Hands of a Mur-
battled Nazis, spies, and famous murderers with sinister names derer (aka Sherlock Holmes and the Prince of Crime) (¡990 TVM)
like The Creeper. The series peaked with The Scarlet Claw, an (Edward Woodward); The Crucifer of Blood (¡99¡ TVM) (Charlton
eerie, atmospheric puzzler featuring a marsh phantom and a mur- Heston); Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls (¡99¡ TVM)
derous master of disguises. Roy William Neill produced and di- (Christopher Lee); Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (¡99¡
rected most of the entries and series regulars included Dennis TVM) (Lee); Sherlock Holmes in Caracas (¡992) ( Jean Manuel
Hoey as a frustrated Inspector Lestrade and Mary Gordon as the Montesinos); ¡994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns (aka Sher-
lock Holmes Returns) (¡993 TVM) (Anthony Higgins); The Hound
kindly housekeeper Mrs. Hudson. When Rathbone put his vio- of London (¡993 TVM) (Patrick Macnee); (Note: George C. Scott
lin case away for good in ¡946, other actors were hesitant to take portrayed a man who believed himself to be Sherlock Holmes in
up the role. Then in ¡959, Hammer Films — England’s foremost ¡97¡’s They Might Be Giants. His psychiatrist, played by Joanne
horror film factory — starred Peter Cushing in a colorful adapta- Woodward, was naturally named Dr. Watson. The plot was re-
tion of The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was more violent than its worked in a ¡976 TV movie The Return of the World’s Greatest De-
predecessors, but handsomely mounted and boasting an excellent tective); The Great Mouse Detective (¡986) featured an animated
Watson in Andre Morell. Hammer could not secure rights for fu- Holmes-inspired rodent.
ture films, although Cushing went on to play Holmes again on
British television. With the Rathbone barrier broken, Holmes Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Series
became a popular screen fixture again. John Neville played a dash- Rick Moranis starred as absent-minded scientist Wayne Szalin-
ing Holmes who encountered Jack the Ripper in A Study in Ter- ski in this three-film series from the Disney studios. The first and
ror (¡965), a film produced in association with Conan Doyle’s son best entry, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, earned a surprising $¡00
Adrian. Robert Stephens o›ered a complex, o›beat portrait in million at the U.S. box-o‡ce en route to becoming one of ¡989’s
Billy Wilder’s sly satire The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (¡970). biggest hits. The simple plot has two of the Szalinski children and
Jack the Ripper reappeared to match wits with Christopher Plum- their friends accidentally activating Dad’s experimental minia-
mer’s sleuth in Murder by Decree (¡979). The ¡988 Without a Clue turization ray. After being shrunk to microscopic size, the kids get
proposed the novel twist that Watson (Ben Kingsley) was the dumped — with the trash — into the backyard. They spend the
brains behind the duo and that Holmes was just an actor hired rest of the movie experiencing unexpected adventures (e.g., a
to play a part. On television, many performers have essayed the delirious flight aboard a bumblebee) as they try to return to their
role, including Jeremy Brett, whose long-running series appears house. At its best, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids harks back to classic
 HORSE RACING/EQUITATION 99

Disney live action comedies like The Absent Minded Professor produced from ¡938–¡940. Hans Priwin originally created the
(¡96¡). It’s hard to believe the story was cowritten by Stuart Gor- detectives for his “Monday Night at Eight” radio series. Although
don, the man responsible for the outrageous, gory horror-com- rarely shown on television today, the Hornleigh mysteries hold up
edy Re-Animator (¡985). Moranis and most of the original cast well, mixing humor and thrills with an almost Hitchcockian flair.
returned for the ¡992 sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. Despite a That should come as no surprise since two of the three films were
cute premise — Wayne accidentally enlarges his three-year-old co-written by Frank Launder, who penned the screenplay to
son to gigantic proportions — the film lacked the charm of its Hitch’s The Lady Vanishes (¡938) with Sidney Gilliat (who also
predecessor. Its disappointing box-o‡ce returns contributed to worked on Inspector Hornleigh On Holiday). Like The Lady Van-
Disney’s decision to release the third installment, Honey, We ishes, Launder’s Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (¡940) climaxes on
Shrunk Ourselves (¡997), directly to video. Moranis headlined this a train (q.v.). After three stints as Hornleigh’s sidekick, Alastair
entry, too, as Wayne, his wife, and two friends get reduced in size. Sim graduated to chief detective roles in the British classics Green
The same year, Disney launched a syndicated one-hour TV se- for Danger (¡946), co-written and directed by Gilliat, and An In-
ries called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show with Peter Sco- spector Calls (¡954).
lari as Wayne Szalinski. There is also a 3-D attraction at Dis- Inspector Hornleigh (¡938); Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday
neyland called Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which features (¡939); Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (aka Mail Train) (¡940)
Moranis in a 23-minute short. See also Giants; Little People.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (¡989); Honey, I Blew Up the Kid Horse Racing/Equitation
(¡992); Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (¡997) Mickey Rooney is the undisputed champ of horse racing sagas
with a track career spanning half a century. He played the son of
Hood, Robin a disgraced jockey in Down the Stretch (¡936), Wallace Beery’s
Although five silent films appeared between ¡909 and ¡9¡3, this leg- jockey protégé in Stablemates (¡938), a young jockey involved
endary outlaw did not become a hot movie property until Dou- with crooks (and teamed with Judy Garland for the first time) in
glas Fairbanks portrayed him in ¡922. Since then, Robin Hood has Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (¡937), Elizabeth Taylor’s young men-
never gone a decade without being featured in at least one movie. tor in National Velvet (¡944), the trainer of The Black Stallion
Errol Flynn was the definitive Robin in the ¡938 classic The Ad- (¡979), and a horse owner in Lightning, the White Stallion (¡986).
ventures of Robin Hood. Apparently to avoid comparison with Flynn, Surprisingly, Rooney never made a race track comedy. However,
no other major actor essayed the role until Richard Todd in Dis- horse racing hijinks seem to be a requirement for most comedi-
ney’s ¡952 The Story of Robin Hood. In the meantime, John Derek, ans. The Marx Brothers produced the most memorable, ¡937’s A
Cornel Wilde, and June Laverick played the outlaw’s o›spring in, Day at the Races, which featured Groucho at his best as horse
respectively, Rogues of Sherwood Forest, Bandits of Sherwood Forest, doctor Hugo Z. Hackenbush. Abbott and Costello raced a steed
and Son of Robin Hood (actually daughter). Richard Greene leapt named Tea Biscuit in It Ain’t Hay (¡943). It was called Money for
from his successful ¡955–58 Adventures of Robin Hood TV series Jam in Great Britain, which one shouldn’t confuse with Money
into a big-screen version, ¡960’s The Sword of Sherwood Forest. A from Home (¡953), another stateside horse race comedy with Dean
few years later, Disney o›ered an animated Robin Hood, depicting Martin and Jerry Lewis. Hope and Crosby never raced horses in
the characters as animals (Robin was a fox). Sean Connery appeared the Road movies, but Bob gambled on them in Sorrowful Jones
as an older, wearier outlaw opposite Audrey Hepburn’s Maid Mar- (¡949) and The Lemon Drop Kid (¡95¡), while Bing backed one
ian in the “realist” version Robin and Marian. Robin Hood: Prince in Frank Capra’s Riding High (¡950). Donald O’Connor and his
of Thieves (¡99¡) was part adventure, part camp — but a miscast talking mule sidekick Francis could have made a fortune in Fran-
Kevin Costner still attracted enough fans to make it a big hit. Frank cis Goes to the Races (¡95¡), since the race horses told Francis that
Sinatra and Bing Crosby headed an all-star cast in a musical gang- they always determined the winner before the race even began. A
ster variation called Robin and the Seven Hoods (¡964). Robin has little boy’s ability to predict horse race results with amazing ac-
been parodied in Time Bandits (¡98¡), The Zany Adventures of Robin curacy ended in tragedy in The Rocking Horse Winner, a ¡949
Hood (¡984), and in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men in Tights (¡993). adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence short story. Filmmakers have
The latter film was inspired by Brooks’ short-lived ¡975 TV series deemed few real-life horse racing champions worthy of film bi-
When Things Were Rotten. ographies. The exceptions include the exceptional horses in The
Robin Hood (¡922); The Adventures of Robin Hood (¡938); Story of Seabiscuit (¡949), The Great Dan Patch (¡949), and Phar
Bandits of Sherwood Forest (¡946); The Prince of Thieves (¡948); Lap (¡983), the latter being Australia’s most famous racing champ.
Rogues of Sherwood Forest (¡950); Tales of Robin Hood (¡95¡); The Although most horse races are of the thoroughbred variety, a
Story of Robin Hood (¡952); Ivanhoe (¡952); Men of Sherwood Forest handful have explored other horse racing events: Elizabeth Tay-
(¡954); Son of Robin Hood (¡959); Sword of Sherwood Forest (¡960);
lor entered “The Pie” in the Grand National Steeplechase in Na-
A Challenge for Robin Hood (¡968); Robin Hood (¡973); Robin and
Marian (¡976); Time Bandits (¡98¡); The Zany Adventures of Robin tional Velvet; father and daughter Charles Coburn and Peggy
Hood (¡984 TVM); Robin Hood and the Sorcerer (¡984 TVM); Cummins raced trotting horses in The Green Grass of Wyoming
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (¡99¡); Robin Hood (¡99¡ TVM); (¡948); Tatum O’Neal and Melissa Gilbert set their sights on
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (¡993) equestrian championships in, respectively, International Velvet
(¡978) and Sylvester (¡985); and Gene Hackman and James
Hornleigh, Inspector Coburn were two of the riders in the grueling cross-country horse
Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim played Inspector Hornleigh and race in Bite the Bullet (¡975). Non–horse racing films with mem-
Sergeant Bingham in a trio of lively British comedy-mysteries orable sequences include My Fair Lady (¡964) and the carousel
100 HORSES

horse race in Mary Poppins (¡964). Film critics have pondered for Anna Sewell’s children’s classic Black Beauty was told from the
years whether the title of Million Dollar Legs (¡939) refers to the horse’s perspective. The Appaloosa (¡966) was a horse film for
film’s race horse or its star Betty Grable. See also Horses. adults, with brooding Marlon Brando stalking the bandits that
Sporting Blood (¡93¡); Broadway Bill (aka Strictly Confidential) stole his steed. The only horse in The Horse Without a Head (¡963)
(¡934); Little Miss Marker (aka The Girl in Pawn) (¡934); Down the was a toy one hiding stolen loot. The most colorful nag was the
Stretch (¡936); Three Men on a Horse (¡936); Charlie Chan at the famous Horse of a Di›erent Color that pranced around the Emer-
Race Track (¡936); A Day at the Races (¡937); Thoroughbreds Don’t ald City in ¡939’s The Wizard of Oz. Pegasus, the mythological
Cry (¡937); Racing Lady (¡937); Saratoga (¡937); Sing You Sinners winged horse, took to the air with Harry Hamlin aboard in the
(¡938); Stablemates (¡938); Come on George (¡939); Million Dollar
Legs (¡939); The Lady’s from Kentucky (¡939); It Ain’t Hay (aka ¡98¡ fantasy Clash of the Titans. Special e›ects artist Ray Harry-
Money for Jam) (¡943); National Velvet (¡944); Home in Indiana hausen created the cinema’s tiniest horse in ¡969’s Valley of
(¡944); The Great Mike (¡944); She Went to the Races (¡945); My Gwangi. Finally, for the record, the most famous cowboy horses
Brother Talks to Horses (¡946); The Homestretch (¡947); Black Gold were: Trigger (Roy Rogers), Buttermilk (Dale Evans), Champion
(¡947); The Green Grass of Wyoming (¡948); The Story of Seabiscuit (Gene Autry), Topper (Hopalong Cassidy), White Flash (Tex Rit-
(aka Pride of Kentucky) (¡949); The Great Dan Patch (¡949); Sor- ter), Fritz (William S. Hart), Tarzan (Ken Maynard), and Black-
rowful Jones (¡949); Under My Skin (¡949); The Rocking Horse Win- jack (Allan Lane). Lane, in his post-cowboy days, provided the
ner (¡949); Boy from Indiana (¡950); The Pride of Maryland (¡950);
Blue Grass of Kentucky (¡950); Riding High (¡950); Francis Goes to voice for TV’s famous talking horse Mr. Ed (¡96¡–65). See also
the Races (¡95¡); Blue Blood (¡95¡); The Galloping Major (¡95¡); The Horse Racing/Equitation; Unicorns.
Lemon Drop Kid (¡95¡); The Rainbow Jacket (¡95¡); Boots Malone Just Tony (¡922); Kentucky (¡938); Sergeant Murphy (¡938);
(¡952); Four Against Fate (aka Derby Day) (¡952); A Girl in Every Konga, the Wild Stallion (¡939); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); Florian
Port (¡952); Money from Home (¡953); Fast Company (¡953); Pride (¡940); My Friend Flicka (¡943); Thunderhead — Son of Flicka
of the Blue Grass (¡954); The Fighting Chance (¡955); Dry Rot (¡945); Smoky (¡946); Black Beauty (¡946); The Red Stallion (¡947);
(¡956); Glory (¡956); The Killing (¡956); Photo Finish (¡957); Just King of the Wild Horses (¡947); Stallion Road (¡947); The Red Pony
My Luck (¡957); The Sad Horse (¡959); Mary Poppins (¡964); My (¡949); You Never Can Tell (¡95¡); Flame of Araby (¡95¡); The Lion
Fair Lady (¡964); The Reivers (aka The Yellow Winton Flyer) (¡969); and the Horse (¡952); Gypsy Colt (¡954); Black Horse Canyon (¡954);
Bite the Bullet (¡975); International Velvet (¡978); Casey’s Shadow The Courage of Black Beauty (¡957); Tonka (aka A Horse Named Co-
(¡978); Run for the Roses (aka Thoroughbred) (¡978); My Old Man manche) (¡958); King of the Wild Stallions (¡959); The Misfits
(¡979 TVM); The Black Stallion (¡979); Little Miss Marker (¡980); (¡96¡); Misty (¡96¡); The Horse Without a Head (¡963); The Miracle
On the Right Track (¡98¡); Phar Lap (¡983); Sylvester (¡985); The of the White Stallions (¡963); Mary Poppins (¡964); Indian Paint
Longshot (¡986); Lightning, the White Stallion (¡986); Hot to Trot (¡964); The Appaloosa (aka Southwest to Sonora) (¡966); Smoky
(¡988); Let It Ride (¡989) (¡966); The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (¡968); Valley of Gwangi
(¡969); Run Wild, Run Free (aka Philip) (¡969); Black Beauty
(¡97¡); The Red Pony (¡973 TVM); Running Wild (¡973); Mustang
Horses Country (¡976); The Littlest Horse Thieves (aka Escape from the
The horse has been a favorite film subject since Eadweard Muy- Dark) (¡976); Equus (¡977); The Black Stallion (¡979); Eagle’s Wing
bridge used photography to study a horse in motion (allegedly to (¡979); The Electric Horseman (¡979); Wild Horse Hank (¡979);
settle a $5,000 bet) in ¡872. Early horse roles were principally sup- Clash of the Titans (¡98¡); A Rare Breed (¡98¡); The Man from
porting ones, though Tom Mix’s horse Tony attracted enough Snowy River (¡982); Danger Down Under (¡988 TVM); Wild Hearts
admirers to star in his own film, ¡922’s Just Tony. However, most Can’t Be Broken (¡99¡); The Girl Who Came Late (¡99¡); Dark Horse
(¡992); Into the West (¡993); Black Beauty (¡994); A Horse for
early talkies either relegated horses to a mere means of trans- Danny (¡995 TVM); Tall Tale (¡995); Two-Bits and Pepper (¡996);
portation for cowboys or revolved around horse racing (see sep- The Horse Whisperer (¡998); Running Free (2000)
arate entry for a detailed discussion and list). Kentucky (¡938)
strayed from the race track long enough to o›er a story of rival
horse-breeding families. Yet, it lacked the horse appeal inherent Hospitals
in My Friend Flicka (¡943), a heartwarming tale of the love be- Film series about the medical profession, particularly the Dr. Kil-
tween a young boy (Roddy McDowall) and a mare with madness dare (q.v.) movies and the British Doctor (q.v.) comedies, have
in her bloodline (“flicka” is the Swedish word for girl). McDowall made extensive use of hospital settings. Non-series hospital dra-
and cast returned two years later with Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, mas reached their peak during the ¡960s, their production fueled
a picturesque sequel in which McDowall set his horse free at the by the success of popular TV programs like Dr. Kildare and Ben
end. The following year, the same studio, 20th–Century Fox also Casey. However, by the early ¡970s, filmmakers had begun to
released Smoky, Will James’ classic horse story about the friend- view hospitals with increasing cynicism. Peter Sellers played a
ship between a wild stallion and a drifting cowboy (Fred Mac- money-minded hospital administrator in the smutty comedy
Murray). Smoky and Flicka turned out to be highly influential Where Does It Hurt? (¡972). It lacked the bite of Paddy Chayef-
films, establishing the pattern for other non-racing, person-loves- sky’s The Hospital, a black comedy about a metropolitan medical
horse plots. Even John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony (¡949) o›ered establishment run by incompetents and housing a killer. Still, ei-
only a minor variation, giving equal time to a purely human sub- ther of those was easier to digest than Frederick Wiseman’s po-
plot about a boy confused over love for his father and a›ection tent documentary Hospital (¡970). A decade later, director Lin-
for a hired hand. Two superior children-and-horse films, Misty day Anderson ripped into the British medical community with
(¡96¡) and The Black Stallion (¡979), were set partially on islands his irreverent hit-and-miss satire Britannia Hospital (¡982). Other
and adapted from popular juvenile novels (by Marguerite Henry hospital-set comedies have been less ambitious, preferring to gen-
and Walter Farley, respectively). The touching ¡994 adaptation of erate medical gags instead of social commentary. Nevertheless, the
 HOUSE PARTY SERIES 101

sight of the Carry On (q.v.) Gang carousing through a hospital is Shining (¡980), Horror Hotel (¡960), and Motel Hell (¡980). Jean
almost as frightening as it is funny. The hospital, as a setting for Simmons’ brother — and his hotel room — mysteriously disap-
fright films, has been employed in Halloween II (¡982), Visiting peared in ¡950’s So Long at the Fair. Jean’s frustration increased
Hours (¡982), and Terminal Choice (¡985). The hospital in Hal- significantly when the hotel sta› refused to acknowledge exis-
loween II rates as the creepiest — a cheap administrator’s dream tence of the room or her brother. More pleasant hotels have pro-
come true, where the sta› is virtually nonexistent and the lights vided the settings for musicals and comedies. Bing Crosby’s Hol-
are turned o› at every opportunity. In ¡958’s Revenge of Franken- iday Inn (¡942) opened only on holidays, but still attracted quite
stein, Dr. Frankenstein ran a clinic for the poor (which allowed a crowd due to Bing’s crooning, Fred Astaire’s dancing, and Irv-
him to amass spare body parts). Genevieve Bujold discovered a ing Berlin’s catchy tunes. Bing and Danny Kaye put on a big
scheme in which patients were killed and their body parts sold in show to save their old Army general’s hotel in ¡954’s White Christ-
Michael Crichton’s hospital thriller Coma (¡978). Alastair Sim, as mas. Groucho played a desk clerk who had to deal with rowdy
the witty, droll Inspector Cockrill, investigated multiple murders guests like Chico and Harpo in the ¡929 Marx Brothers comedy
in a World War II hospital in the delightful ¡946 mystery Green The Cocoanuts. Nine years later, Room Service found Groucho
for Danger. See also Doctor in the House Series; Nurses Series. and the boys sidestepping eviction from their hotel suite, while
Green for Danger (¡946); The Sleeping City (¡950); White Cor- desperately trying to salvage a stage play. See also Apartments;
ridors (¡95¡); Emergency Hospital (¡956); Behind the Mask (¡958); Restaurants; Simon’s Suites Series.
Carry On Nurse (¡960); The Young Doctors (¡96¡); The Interns The Cocoanuts (¡929); Grand Hotel (¡932); International House
(¡962); A Stitch in Time (¡963); The New Interns (¡964); U.M.C. (¡933); Hollywood Hotel (¡937); Hotel Haywire (¡937); Room Service
(aka Operation Heartbeat) (¡969 TVM); Hospital (¡970); The Hos- (¡938); Hotel for Women (aka Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women)
pital (¡97¡); The Carey Treatment (¡972); Where Does It Hurt? (¡939); Holiday Inn (¡942); Five Graves to Cairo (¡943); Hotel Re-
(¡972); The Young Nurses (aka Emergency Nurses) (¡973); The Heal- serve (¡944); Step Lively (¡944); Escape in the Desert (¡945); Hotel
ers (¡974 TVM); Medical Story (¡975); One of Our Own (¡975); Berlin (¡945); Weekend at the Waldorf (¡945); So Long at the Fair
Coma (¡978); Doctors’ Private Lives (¡978); House Calls (¡978); (¡950); Hotel Sahara (¡95¡); White Christmas (¡954); The Girl Rush
Halloween II (¡982); Visiting Hours (¡982); Young Doctors in Love (¡955); The Green Man (¡957); Separate Tables (¡958); The Bellboy
(¡982); Britannia Hospital (¡982); Hospital Massacre (¡982); Emer- (¡960); Psycho (¡960); Horror Hotel (aka The City of the Dead)
gency Room (¡983 TVM); Terminal Choice (¡985); Critical Condi- (¡960); Wake Me When It’s Over (¡960); Man at the Carlton Tower
tion (¡987); Paper Mask (¡990); Deliver Them from Evil: The Taking (¡96¡); The Inn on the River (¡962); Tiara Tahiti (¡962); Honey-
of Alta View (¡992 TVM); Article 99 (¡992); State of Emergency moon Hotel (¡964); The Moon-Spinners (¡964); The End of August at
(¡994 TVM); Mortal Fear (aka Robin Cook’s Mortal Fear) (¡994 the Hotel Ozone (aka The End of the World at the Hotel Ozone)
TVM); Nothing Lasts Forever (¡995 TVM); Terminal (¡996 TVM); (¡965); Hotel (¡967); Nightmare Hotel (¡970); Plaza Suite (¡97¡);
Extreme Measures (¡996); Cosi (¡997); Desperate Measures (¡998) Snowball Express (¡972); Private Parts (¡972); Inn of the Damned
(¡974); Motel Hell (¡980); The Shining (¡980); Somewhere in Time
(¡980); Experience Preferred…But Not Essential (¡983 TVM); Pink
Hotels Motel (¡983); The Hotel New Hampshire (¡984); The Rosebud Beach
The hotel setting has registered as a favorite among filmmakers Hotel (aka The Big Lobby) (¡984); Private Resort (¡985); Bates Motel
ever since Grand Hotel’s impressive guest roster made multichar- (¡987 TVM); Puppet Master (¡989); Mystery Train (¡989); The
acter dramas fashionable. This ¡932 Best Picture, set in a Berlin Witches (¡990); Blame It on the Bellboy (¡99¡); Desire and Hell at
Sunset Motel (¡992); Dragon Inn (¡992); Bed and Breakfast (¡992);
hotel, featured Greta Garbo as a lonely ballerina, John Barry- Hotel Room (¡993 TVM); For Love or Money (¡993); King of the
more as a down-on-his-luck thief, Wallace Beery as a cold-hearted Hill (¡993); Bank Robber (¡993); Mario and the Magician (¡994);
businessman, Lionel Barrymore as a dying man, and Joan Craw- The Haunting of Seacli› Inn (¡994 TVM); Nick of Time (¡995);
ford as an ambitious secretary. It was o‡cially remade with an Daisies in December (¡995 TVM); Four Rooms (¡995); Dunston
American setting as ¡945’s Weekend at the Waldorf, but dozens of Checks In (¡996); Hotel de Love (¡996); I Still Know What You Did
uno‡cial copies have borrowed the format. Hotel Berlin (¡945), Last Summer (¡998); Psycho (¡998); The Big Kahuna (2000)
based on a novel by Grand Hotel author Vicki Baum, was a thinly-
disguised reworking bolstered by an all-star Warner Bros. cast. House Party Series
Separate Tables (¡958) was set at a seaside resort and earned Os- Rap duo Kid ’n Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin)
cars for Best Actor David Niven and Best Supporting Actress made their film debut in House Party, a winning ¡990 teen com-
Wendy Hiller. The ¡933 International House brought an eclectic edy that Roger Ebert described as “silly and high-spirited…and
group of comedians (W.C. Fields, Burns and Allen, etc.) together that is just as it should be.” The story takes place during a single
at an Oriental hotel in a wild plot about early television. Other night as Kid, who has been grounded by his stern father (Robin
all-star hotel pictures have included Arthur Hailey’s Hotel (¡967) Harris), tries to figure out how to get to Play’s big party (“a super
and the Neil Simon comedies Plaza Suite (¡97¡) and California def throwdown”). Before the evening ends, Kid has created a dance
Suite (¡978). Deserts seem like unsuitable locations for hotels, step, escaped from a vicious gang, found a girlfriend, and landed
but Field Marshal Rommel (Erich Von Stroheim) visited one in in jail. Writer-director Reginald Hudlin, who based House Party
Billy Wilder’s Five Graves to Cairo (¡943) and Yvonne DeCarlo on a short film made at Harvard, peppers his script with warm
operated one in Hotel Sahara (¡95¡). Despite the scorching sun, humor and clever in-jokes. For example, Kid — who sports a high,
those hotels boasted great life-saving o›ers that you just can’t cone-shaped hairdo — gets harassed by cops who call him Eraser-
find at cheaper, horrorific places like the Bates Motel of Psycho head. Neither Reginald Hudlin nor his producer-brother War-
fame. While the Bates has a corner on the terror motel market, rington were involved with House Party 2, an agreeable sequel in
it has received some competition from the Overlook Hotel in The which Kid loses the $¡0,000 raised by his church’s congregation
102 HOUSE SERIES

to send him to college. Several original cast members returned, pouches). The tongue-in-cheek premise strove to prove that were-
including Martin Lawrence as Kid and Play’s friend Bilal. Un- wolves are people, too. It even featured a defected Russian balle-
fortunately, Robin Harris, who had earned strong notices as Pops rina who transforms into a werewolf while on stage. Howling IV
in the original, died prior to filming House Party 2. A belated (¡988), lensed on a shoestring budget in South Africa, rehashed
third entry, House Party 3, revolved around Kid’s engagement and the first film by sending an emotionally unstable novelist to a re-
bachelor party. Neither fans nor critics received it favorably and treat once again populated by werewolves. Howling V: The Rebirth
any plans for future installments were scrapped. Christopher Reid (¡989) resembled Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, only with
and Christopher Martin played essentially the same roles in ¡990 a werewolf for a murderer. Howling VI: The Freaks (¡99¡) found
children’s animated TV series Kid ’n Play. a lyncanthrope working in a carnival sideshow run by a vampire.
House Party (¡990); House Party 2 (¡99¡); House Party 3 (¡994) In the last series entry, The Howling: New Moon Rising (¡994), res-
idents of a small town suspected an Australian drifter of being a
House Series werewolf when a series of murders begins. See also Werewolves.
This quirky series, saddled with an incongruent third entry, has The Howling (¡98¡); The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf
(¡984); The Howling III: The Marsupials (¡987); Howling IV…The
juggled horror and humor with very uneven results. The original Original Nightmare (¡988); Howling V: The Rebirth (¡989); Howl-
House (¡986) starred William Katt as a depressed horror writer ing VI: The Freaks (¡99¡); The Howling: New Moon Rising (¡994)
who moves into the title abode after his aunt vacates it via sui-
cide. He is soon assailed by a variety of nightmarish apparitions
as well as nosy neighbor George Wendt (Norm on TV’s Cheers).
Huggetts Family
House II: The Second Story (¡987) substituted Arye Gross as the Described by film critic Leslie Halliwell as “Britain’s answer to the
new owner, but otherwise followed a similar structure. It even fea- Hardys,” the Huggetts appeared in four features for Gainsbor-
tured John Ratzenberger (Cli› on Cheers) in a memorable cameo ough. They were not even top-billed in their debut film, ¡947’s
as an electrician/adventurer. As indicated by the presence of the Holiday Camp ( Jack Warner as Mr. Huggett was listed third in
Cheers regulars, neither House nor House II harbored any preten- the cast). This charming comedy-drama, set at a highly-regi-
sions as straight horror films. However, the third entry, The Hor- mented holiday resort, interwove the story of several characters.
ror Show (¡989) went straight for the jugular with a slasher film But British moviegoers favored the Huggetts and they were given
plot devoid of humor. It was written by the infamous Alan their own vehicle with ¡948’s Here Come the Huggetts. The next
Smithee (q.v.) and released outside the U.S. as House III. The year, they became involved in politics and then concluded the se-
humor was still missing in House IV (¡992), a direct-to-videotape ries with a trip to Africa and an encounter with smugglers. Jack
release. William Katt appeared briefly as a character with the Warner and Kathleen Harrison, who played parents Joe and Ethel
same name as the one he played in House. However, it does not Huggett, continued to make films together (e.g., ¡95¡’s A Christ-
appear to be the same character. At any rate, he is killed in the mas Carol). Hazel Court played their widowed daughter Joan in
opening reel, leaving his wife (Terri Treas) the task of battling su- Holiday Camp. Other Huggett children included Susan Shaw as
pernatural creatures as well as dastardly human bad guys. See also Susan and ¡5-year-old Petula Clark as Pet. Diana Dors and David
Amityville Series; Ghosts. Tomlinson, who both became familiar faces to British film fans,
also appeared in supporting roles.
House (¡986); House II: The Second Story (¡987); The Horror
Show (aka House III) (¡989); House IV (¡992) Holiday Camp (¡947); Here Come the Huggetts (¡948); Vote for
Huggett (¡948); The Huggetts Abroad (¡949)

The Howling Series

Hulot, Monsieur
This loosely-connected werewolf series continued the ¡980s trend
Writer-director Jacques Tati introduced his alter-ego in ¡953’s
of milking a decent horror film for as many sequels as possible
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, a highly visual comedy about a mid-
(see also Halloween Series, Friday the ¡3th Series, and Night-
dle-aged bachelor with a knack for unintentionally causing dis-
mare on Elm Street Series). Joe (Gremlins) Dante directed ¡98¡’s
ruptions at a summer resort. The film featured minimal dialogue,
The Howling, an a›ectionate mixture of gruesome horror and
inviting critics to compare Hulot to Chaplin’s Tramp. Tati’s later
dark humor (peppered with inside jokes). Dee Wallace played
films expanded on his theme of man trapped in a technology-
the television newscaster who encounters a werewolf, su›ers
heavy, time-conscious world. A combination of financial problems
trauma, and goes to a retreat to recover. Alas, the place turns out
and Tati’s pursuit of perfection has severely limited his output.
to be crawling with bloodthirsty werewolves and Wallace un-
In addition to the four Hulot movies, he has produced only one
willingly joins the pack. The Wallace character (played by another
other feature-length film, ¡949’s Jour de Fête. Tati did a cameo as
actress) appeared fleetingly in ¡984’s The Howling II: Your Sister
Mr. Hulot in François Tru›aut’s Bed and Board (¡970).
Is a Werewolf, a U.S.-European coproduction. This cheap-look-
ing sequel featured a tasteless werewolf lovemaking session and Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (¡953); Mon Oncle (¡958); Playtime
(¡967); Tra‡c (aka Trafic) (¡97¡)
excessive footage of Sybil Danning’s cleavage. Wit, style, and ad-
equate werewolf makeup were conspicuously missing. The re-
maining films in the series bore even less resemblance to the orig- Humanimals
inal. The best of the bunch was Philippe Mora’s The Howling III, Not quite human, not quite animal, and not just a werewolf—
which shifted the locale to Down Under and introduced two that’s an apt description of a humanimal. The phrase was coined
tribes of Aussie “werewolves” (who carry their o›spring in in the ¡95¡ comedy-fantasy You Never Can Tell to describe
 HURRICANES AND TORNADOES 103

animals reincarnated as humans (Dick Powell played ex-dog Rex (¡972); Terror in the Wax Museum (¡973); Captain Kronos: Vampire
Shepard). More loosely defined, “humanimal” includes all crea- Hunter (aka Kronos) (¡974); Young Frankenstein (¡974); Mr. Quilp
tures that are animal-turned-human, human-turned-animal, or (aka The Old Curiosity Shop) (¡975); The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(¡975); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (¡98¡ TVM); Alsino and the
a combination of species (see Werewolves entry for lycanthropes
Condor (¡982); Jean de Florette (¡986); The Name of the Rose (¡986);
and were-cats). In Island of Lost Souls (¡933), the first adaptation The Secret Garden (¡987 TVM); Big Man on Campus (¡990); The
of H.G. Wells’ Island of Dr. Moreau, Charles Laughton played a Ballad of the Sad Café (¡99¡); The Secret Garden (¡993); The
mad scientist who medically transformed animals into men. It was Hunchback of Notre Dame (¡996); The Hunchback (¡997 TVM)
obviously not a pleasant process, as the animal-men referred to
the operating room as the House of Pain. Another mad scientist Hunting Parties
( John Carradine) turned a female ape into a beautiful woman in A favorite pastime of the movies’ idle rich, hunting parties served
¡943’s Captive Wild Woman (see Dupree, Paula), while George as social allegories in The Shooting Party (¡984) and Jean Renoir’s
Zucco tried a monkey-to-man experiment in ¡942’s Dr. Renault’s The Rules of the Game (¡939). In Renoir’s masterpiece, a rabbit
Secret. Malcolm McDowell accidentally discovered a pig-man in hunt involving wealthy guests at a French chateau forms the cen-
an experimental hospital in the ¡973 satire O Lucky Man! Simi- ter of the movie’s structure. The hunters wait patiently, rifles in
lar medical experiments yielded disappointing results in bottom- hand, for servants to beat the brush and scare rabbits from their
of-the-barrel horror pictures like Terror Is a Man and Twilight Peo- hiding place. Then, they take part in a cruel, vivid massacre of
ple. Not all humanimals were produced by science or dozens of rabbits. The death of these innocent animals — by a so-
reincarnation. Puppet boy Pinocchio fell in with a crowd of ciety they cannot comprehend — is mirrored later in the film by
naughty kids on Pleasure Island and they were all transformed the accidental murder of a naive romantic. The death of a young
into donkeys in Disney’s version of the famous fairy tale. John boy during a fox hunt in ¡988’s A Handful of Dust signals the dis-
Sayles’ charming The Secret of Roan Inish (¡994) recounts the leg- integration of his a·uent parents’ marriage. Bored European aris-
end of “selkies,” seals who can transform into humans. Two chil- tocrats Brigitte Bardot and Stephen Boyd visited the American
dren had the power to transform themselves into bears at night West to mount a hunting expedition in Louis L’Amour’s Shalako
in the o›beat fable The Two Little Bears (¡96¡). See also Dupree, (¡969). They found little game, but a lot of restless Apaches and
Paula; Frogtown Series; The Shaggy Dog Series; Werewolves. an unlikely cowboy hero in Sean Connery. Errol Flynn saved an
A Blind Bargain (¡922); Island of Lost Souls (¡933); Pinocchio Indian chieftain during a tiger hunt in The Charge of the Light
(¡940); Dr. Renault’s Secret (¡942); The Mad Monster (¡942); Cap- Brigade (¡936) and lived to regret it. John Huston’s gimmicky
tive Wild Woman (¡943); You Never Can Tell (¡95¡); Terror Is a mystery The List of Adrian Messenger (¡963) opened and closed
Man (aka Blood Creature) (¡959); The Two Little Bears (¡96¡); At-
with a fox hunt. The film’s murderer, a master of disguises, plots
lantis, the Lost Continent (¡96¡); The Incredible Mr. Limpet (¡964);
The Reptile (¡966); The Vulture (¡967); Twilight People (¡972); O a young boy’s death, but meets his own demise in the heat of the
Lucky Man! (¡973); The Island of Dr. Moreau (¡977); Oh, Heavenly climactic hunt. Hunting parties of a di›erent kind, led by men
Dog! (¡980); Ladyhawke (¡985); Kiss of the Beast (aka Meridian) obsessed, comprised the plots to Moby Dick (¡930, ¡956), The
(¡989); Nightbreed (¡990); The Secret of Roan Inish (¡994); Fluke White Bu›alo (¡977, and The Perfect Storm (2000).
(¡995); Whiskers (¡996 TVM); The Island of Dr. Moreau (¡996) Moby Dick (¡930); The Charge of the Light Brigade (¡936); The
Rules of the Game (¡939); Moby Dick (¡956); The List of Adrian Mes-
senger (¡963); The Hunt (¡966); Shalako (¡969); The White Bu›alo
Hunchbacks (¡977); Moonraker (¡979); The Shooting Party (¡984); A Handful of
The most famous, of course, is that charismatic bellringer Qua- Dust (¡988); Shoot to Kill (¡988); The Perfect Storm (2000)
simodo, created by Victor Hugo in his classic The Hunchback of
Notre Dame and portrayed on the screen by a bevy of fine actors, Hurricanes and Tornadoes
most notably: Lon Chaney, Sr. (¡923), Charles Laughton (¡939), Tornadoes have reigned over hurricanes as the cinema’s wind
Anthony Quinn (¡957), Anthony Hopkins (¡98¡), and Mandy storm of choice and it’s easy to see why. The tornado’s dark, omi-
Patinkin (¡997). Quasimodo’s only rival for film popularity has nous funnel provides a strong visual presence and its sudden fury
been Ygor, the hunchbacked once-hanged shepherd immortalized adds an explosive dramatic element. The most famous tornado —
by Bela Lugosi in Son of Frankenstein (¡939) and The Ghost of the twister in the ¡939 Wizard of Oz— made a rather brief ap-
Frankenstein (¡942) and parodied by Marty Feldman in Young pearance. But it made a lasting impression (e.g., the sight of Miss
Frankenstein (¡974). John Mills won a Best Supporting Actor Gulch morphing into the Wicked Witch inside the funnel) and
Oscar as the hunchbacked village idiot in David Lean’s epic ro- provided Dorothy with transportation to Oz. However, in terms
mance Ryan’s Daughter (¡970). Gérard Depardieu gave one of his of big budget special e›ects, Twister (¡996) rates as the tornado’s
finest performance as the struggling hunchbacked farmer in Jean finest hour. Although its melodramatic story of two feuding tor-
de Florette (¡986). nado chasers lacked interest, most moviegoers cherished its visual
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (¡923); Son of Frankenstein spectacles — such as a cow flying in the wind currents. In the wake
(¡939); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (¡939); The Ghost of of Twister, the ¡996 TV movies Tornado! and Night of the Twister
Frankenstein (¡942); House of Frankenstein (aka Chamber of tried to stage similar visual treats, but lacked the necessary bud-
Horrors) (¡944); House of Dracula (¡945); The Secret Garden (¡949);
Phantom from Space (¡953); Richard III (¡956); The Hunchback of
gets. Though Pecos Bill was not an o‡cial tornado chaser, he
Notre Dame (¡957); Revenge of Frankenstein (¡958); The Hunchback proved adept at lassoing them in Tall Tale (¡995). One of the
of Rome (aka Il Gobbo) (¡960); Mad Monster Party? (¡967); Candy weapons sported by the superheroes in Mystery Men (¡999) was a
(¡968); Ryan’s Daughter (¡970); The Hunchback of the Morgue “tornado in a can.” Aim the can, pop the top, and watch your
104 HYPNOTISTS

adversary get swept up in a funnel cloud! While tornadoes have Murphy (¡956), Spell of the Hypnotist (¡956) and the Barbra
appeared in a variety of films, hurricanes have been limited mostly Streisand musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (¡970). See
to island romances and seafaring adventures. Granted, it’s not an also Brainwashing; Mabuse, Dr.
intentional slight by filmmakers since hurricanes are restricted to The Criminal Hypnotist (¡909); The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
oceanic settings. The Charles Nordho›–James Norman Hall (¡9¡9); Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (aka The Great Gambler-Image of
novel Hurricane reached the silver screen in ¡937 and ¡979, with a Generation) (¡92¡); Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime (aka Inferno-People
film bu›s favoring the early version with Dorothy Lamour and of a Generation) (¡922); Running Wild (¡927); Svengali (¡93¡); Hyp-
Jon Hall as South Pacific lovers. The destructive power of hurri- notized (¡933); The Garden Murder Case (¡936); Night Monster (aka
House of Mystery) (¡942); Calling Dr. Death (¡943); Shadows in the
canes, even on land, was displayed in the TV movies The Death Night (¡944); The Frozen Ghost (¡945); The Woman in Green
of Ocean View Park (¡979) and Condominium (¡980). The former (¡945); Bewitched (¡945); The Seventh Veil (¡945); The Mask of
film blended footage from an actual hurricane that hit an amuse- Dijon (¡946); Mr. Hex (¡946); Fear in the Night (¡947); Road to Rio
ment park in Norfolk, Virginia. The fact-based TV movie Tri- (¡947); Whirlpool (¡949); Invasion U.S.A. (¡953); Svengali (¡954);
umph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story (¡993) chroni- The Hypnotist (¡956); Nightmare (¡956); The Search for Bridey
cled the devastating storm that caused over two dozen deaths and Murphy (¡956); Spell of the Hypnotist (aka Fright) (¡956); The She
$25 billion worth of damage along the southern coast of the U.S. Creature (¡957); Hold That Hypnotist (¡957); I Was a Teenage Were-
wolf (¡957); Blood of Dracula (¡957); Curse of the Demon (aka Night
See also Disaster Movies; Lightning. of the Demon) (¡958); The Hypnotic Eye (¡960); Hypnosis (aka
Compromise (¡925); Steamboat Bill, Jr. (¡928); Last of the Pa- Dummy of Death) (¡963); The Evil of Frankenstein (¡964); The Mis-
gans (¡936); The Hurricane (¡937); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); Tor- adventures of Merlin Jones (¡964); Creature of Destruction (¡968);
nado (¡943); Slattery’s Hurricane (¡949); Hurricane Island (¡959); On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (¡970); The Hot Rock (aka
The Killer Shrews (¡959); The Passionate Summer (¡959); S.O.S. How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons) (1972); Let’s Do It
Pacific (¡960); Hurricane (aka Hurricane Hunters) (¡974 TVM); Again (¡975); Svengali (¡983 TVM); The Element of Crime (¡984);
The Death of Ocean View Park (¡979 TVM); Hurricane (aka For- Two Evil Eyes (aka Due Occhi Diabolic) (¡990); The Shadow (¡994);
bidden Paradise) (¡979); Condominium (¡980 TVM); Something Jack Be Nimble (¡994); Murder or Memory: A Moment of Truth
Wicked This Way Comes (¡983); Tai-Pan (¡986); Twister (¡988); Movie (¡994 TVM); Stir of Echoes (¡999)
Shipwrecked (¡990); Tall Tale (¡995); Night of the Twisters (¡996
TVM); Tornado! (¡996 TVM); Twister (¡996); Commandments
(¡997); Gone Fishin’ (¡997); Gummo (¡997) (set in town that never
I Love a Mystery Series
recovered from tornado); The Meeting Place (¡998); Storm Chasers: Columbia Pictures produced this belated entry into the detective
Revenge of the Twister (¡998 TVM); The Gingerbread Man (¡998); series sweepstakes of the ¡940s. Based on Carleton E. Morse’s hit
Storm (¡999 TVM); Mystery Men (¡999); Where the Heart Is radio show, the I Love a Mystery trilogy starred Jim Bannon as in-
(2000); The Perfect Storm (2000) vestigator Jack Packard and Barton Yarborough as his crony Doc
Long. Their ¡946 debut film was also their best, a strange little
Hypnotists mystery about a secret Oriental society intent on securing a busi-
The hypnotist’s unnerving stare, his piercing eyes aglow with nessman’s head because he resembles their dead founder. The
flaming intensity, has been a trademark shot in almost all movies story had been previously produced on the radio program as “The
involving hypnosis. In ¡909, film pioneer D.W. Gri‡th made Head of Jonathan Monk.” Despite o›beat plotlines, the film se-
The Criminal Hypnotist, one of the first movies in which hypno- ries failed to catch on and ended in ¡945. Universal Pictures tried
sis played a key role. A decade later, German director Robert to revive the series with the made-for-TV film I Love a Mystery,
Wiene made the highly expressionistic The Cabinet of Dr. Cali- which featured Les Crane as Packard and David Hartman as
gari, a macabre tale about a hypnotist who sends a somnambu- Long. A campy spoof of the radio series, it sat on the studio’s shelf
list to commit murders. Two years later, fellow countryman Fritz for six years before being televised in ¡973.
Lang introduced Dr. Mabuse (q.v.), a criminal mastermind and I Love a Mystery (¡945); The Devil’s Mask (¡946); The Un-
hypnotist extraordinaire. The Mabuse character appeared in eight known (¡946); I Love a Mystery (¡973 TVM)
additional films, making him the screen’s most enduring hypno-
tist. His fame has been equalled only by George du Maurier’s Ice Cream
Svengali, a mad Russian hypnotist whose mind-controlling eyes Ice cream has figured prominently in a handful of films ranging
turned the beautiful, but untalented, Trilby into a singing sensa- from comedy to action to horror. In Bill Forsyth’s engaging Scot-
tion. Du Maurier’s story has been filmed at least six times, with tish comedy Comfort and Joy (¡984), a lonely disc jockey becomes
the ¡93¡ version starring John Barrymore generally considered the a negotiator between two rival ice cream companies, Mr. Bunny
finest. Jose Ferrer used hypnosis to manipulate Gene Tierney and and Mr. McCool. The experience changes his life, for as he ex-
implicate her in murder in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (¡949). A plains to a friend: “My life was the wrong flavor. I was raspberry
mesmerist employed it to control the Frankenstein Monster in The when I should have been vanilla.” Ice cream fell from the sky
Evil of Frankenstein (¡964). In ¡953’s Invasion U.S.A., a man in- courtesy of a magical lamp in the animated Duck Tales: The Movie-
duced mass hypnosis on the patrons of a neighborhood bar so they Treasure of the Lost Lamp (¡990). The Eddie Cantor musical com-
could experience the e›ects of a Communist invasion. Count edy Kid Millions (¡934) included a scene in an ice cream factory.
Dracula (q.v.) used a hypnotic look to great advantage in many In Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams (¡98¡), the comics sold mari-
of his films, although much of the e›ect could be attributed to juana from their ice cream truck. Jack Carson played the title
his vampire charms. Hypnotism has played a major role in sev- character in The Good Humor Man, a ¡950 film that mixed com-
eral reincarnation (q.v.) films, most notably The Search for Bridey edy (a lot) and murder (a little). Killing was more commonplace
 ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS 105

in Chill Factor, a ¡999 action film in which Skeet Ulrich hijacked One in a Million (¡936); Thin Ice (¡938); My Lucky Star
Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s, ice cream truck. His reason was a good one: (¡938); Second Fiddle (¡939); Ice Follies (aka Ice Follies of ¡939)
He needed to transport a deadly chemical compound that deto- (¡939); Sun Valley Serenade (¡94¡); Ice Capades (¡94¡); The People
vs. Dr. Kildare (aka My Life Is Yours) (¡94¡); Ice Capades Revue
nated once it reached 50 degrees Fahrenheit. A supposedly dead
(¡942); Iceland (¡942); Wintertime (¡943); Silver Skates (¡943); Hit
killer dwarf was stored in an ice cream truck in the cult horror the Ice (¡943); Lake Placid Serenade (¡944); It’s a Pleasure (¡945);
film Phantasm (¡979). Homicidal sellers of ice cream gave the Suspense (¡946); The Bishop’s Wife (¡947); Snow White and the
business a bad name in Ice Cream Man (¡995) and Mr. Ice Cream Three Stooges (¡96¡); Ice Castles (¡979); Champions: A Love Story
Man (¡996). Soda jerks who dish out ice cream treats have been (¡979 TVM); For Your Eyes Only (¡98¡); Skate! (¡987); Blades of
played by many performers such as James Stewart (It’s a Wonder- Courage (¡988); On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story (¡990
ful Life), Jackie Gleason (Larceny, Inc.), and Je› Daniels (Pleas- TVM); The Cutting Edge (¡992); Tonya and Nancy: The Inside
Story (¡994 TVM); A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story (¡994
antville). In Larry Cohen’s horror satire The Stu› (¡985), ice
TVM); A Brother’s Promise: The Dan Jansen Story (¡996 TVM);
cream company executives hired an industrial spy to uncover the Ronin (¡998)
secret ingredients of an addictive (literally) new dessert. In Ray
Bradbury’s ¡998 fantasy The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, the title
If… Series
garment’s name was derived from its vanilla color.
If… (¡968), O Lucky Man! (¡973), and Britannia Hospital (¡982)
Kid Millions (¡934); It’s a Wonderful Life (¡948); The Good
Humor Man (¡950); Phantasm (¡979); Cheech and Chong’s Nice
comprise director Lindsay Anderson’s loosely-connected, savagely
Dreams (¡98¡); Comfort and Joy (¡984); Duck Tales: The Movie- satirical trilogy about rebellions against society. In If…, the most
Treasure of the Lost Lamp (¡990); Ice Cream Man (¡995); Mr. Ice critically acclaimed of the trilogy, three boys revolt against their
Cream Man (¡996); Pleasantville (¡998); Chill Factor (¡999); Ghost highly-structured, often cruel, British public school. Yet, unlike
Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000) Jean Vigo’s ¡933 classic Zero for Conduct, this rebellion goes to
the extreme, complete with Malcolm McDowell and his fellow
Ice Skating revolters gunning down authority figures in attendance at Speech
Ice skating movies fall into two categories: those starring Sonja Day. The film’s surrealistic tones — is it real or fantasy?— is height-
Henie and all others. Henie won the world figure skating cham- ened by Anderson’s alternating use of color and black & white (an
pionship as a ¡5-year-old Norweigan. At 26, after three success- economical necessity according to him). O Lucky Man! narrowed
ful Olympics, she began her 20th Century–Fox film career op- the focus to one individual, an ambitious young co›ee salesman
posite Don Ameche and the Ritz Brothers in ¡936’s One in a (McDowell again), trying to fit into society — to be wealthy, suc-
Million. Henie enjoyed a decade of popularity, skating in films cessful, and powerful. But he is manipulated by his own ambi-
such as Thin Ice (¡938), Second Fiddle (¡939), Sun Valley Serenade tion and by those he aspires to be like. His wealthy employer
(¡94¡), and Wintertime (¡943). Other ice skating champions have frames him for a crime, he goes to prison, gets re-educated and
ventured into films as well, although none can compare to Henie. released, tries to “help” others as he was, gets mugged by un-
Spunky Lynn-Holly Johnson gave a credible performance as a grateful tramps, and finally does something because he wants to
promising ice skater who goes blind in the sappy, but e›ective, do it. This, too, becomes an act of rebellion against a society of
Ice Castles (¡979). She skated briefly in the James Bond adventure manipulators. The third film, Britannia Hospital, opted for a
For Your Eyes Only (¡98¡), but abandoned her blades to deal with broader view and a more obvious target in one of society’s stan-
unseen forces in The Watcher in the Woods (¡980). British ice skat- dard institutions. McDowell and other alumni from the first two
ing star Belita (real name Gladys Jepson Turner) starred in a hand- films appeared in brief roles, but Britannia Hospital’s heavily-
ful of Hollywood films, such as Ice Capades (¡94¡), Silver Skates episodic structure made it very hit-or-miss. It has failed to achieve
(¡943), and Suspense (¡946). Champion skater Carol Heiss’s ca- the faithful followings of If… and O Lucky Man!
reer fared less well, her lone screen appearance being opposite If… (¡968); O Lucky Man! (¡973); Britannia Hospital (¡982)
Moe, Larry, and Joe in ¡96¡’s Snow White and the Three Stooges.
Katarina Witt had a small role as (what else?) an ice skater in Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS
Ronin (¡998). Olympian Tai Babilonia never made a movie, but Dyanne Thorpe starred in this trash trilogy which acquired a no-
her life and career with partner Randy Garner formed the basis torious reputation for its S&M content in the mid–¡970s. In Ilsa,
for the ¡990 TV movie On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story. She Wolf of the SS, the title character is a Nazi medical camp war-
Made-for-TV films have also been made about Olympic figure den who tortures and kills female prisoners with glee. She forces
skating champion Oksana Baiul (A Promise Kept: The Oksana the male prisoners to make love to her, then kills them brutally
Baiul Story), speed skater Dan Jansen (A Brother’s Promise: The when none can satisfy her sexual desires. The basic premise bears
Dan Jansen Story), and Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding (Tonya a passing resemblance to ¡974’s The Night Porter, in which Dirk
and Nancy: The Inside Story). Fictitious skaters have overcome Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling portrayed, respectively, a for-
drastic odds — and often found romance — in features such as mer Nazi torturer and his victim, who resume their S&M rela-
Champions: A Love Story (¡979 TVM), Skate! (¡987), Blades of tionship years later. That film may have had some social value.
Courage (¡988), and The Cutting Edge (¡992). Angel Cary Grant Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a reprehensible picture, which would
taught Loretta Young and cabbie Paul Gleason to ice skate in the have faded into obscurity if critics had not rebuked it so openly.
¡947 fantasy The Bishop’s Wife. Finally, Abbott and Costello set Instead, the producers promptly mounted two dreadful sequels
all-time low marks for figure skating in ¡943’s Hit the Ice. See also with Thorpe returning as Ilsa. The Thorpe film Wanda, the
Roller Skating. Wicked Warden (¡977) was later retitled as both Ilsa, the Wicked
106 IN SEARCH OF...SERIES

Warden and Ilsa — Absolute Power. Despite obvious similarities, it’s due to the Los Angeles riots. In the Line of Duty: Ambush at Waco
not a part of the Ilsa series. (¡993) covered ground similar to Siege at Marion, only this time
Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (¡974); Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil the subject was religious cult leader David Koresh. NBC rushed
Sheiks (¡976); Ilsa, Tigress of Siberia (¡976) the film into production — it appeared within months of the
bloody shootout (but it did not cover the subsequent compound
In Search of… Series explosion and death of Koresh). Although variable in quality, the
In the Line of Duty films provided a sharp realistic contrast to es-
Budget-minded film company Sunn Classics pioneered the
capist TV detective shows of the same period, such as Murder, She
pseudo-documentary with this brief ¡970s series. Its first release
Wrote and Matlock. However, one suspects that NBC decided an
was its best, a faithful adaptation of Erich Von Daniken’s best-
occasional jolt of realism was enough — thus, its decision to go
seller Chariots of the Gods? (¡974). Actually, the film had been
with a film series as opposed to a weekly TV series. See also FBI.
made in Germany in ¡969 and excerpts had been aired on Amer-
In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders (¡988 TVM); In the Line
ican TV as the one-hour TV special In Search of Ancient Astro-
of Duty: Howard Beach, Making a Case for Murder (¡989 TVM); In
nauts. Sunn picked the film up in ¡974 and marketed it using a the Line of Duty: A Cop for the Killing (¡990 TVM); In the Line of
system called “four walling.” This consisted of saturating the mar- Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas (¡99¡ TVM); In the Line of Duty:
ket with TV previews, renting theaters for limited runs (one or Siege at Marion (¡992 TVM); In the Line of Duty: Street War (¡992
two weeks), and then keeping all box-o‡ce receipts. The system TVM); In the Line of Duty: Ambush at Waco (¡993 TVM); In the
worked amazingly well, with Sunn receiving large returns on min- Line of Duty: Price of Vengeance (¡994 TVM); In the Line of Duty:
imal investments. Subsequently, it produced “documentaries” Hunt for Justice (¡995 TVM); In the Line of Duty: Kidnapped (¡995
TVM); In the Line of Duty: Smoke Jumpers (¡996 TVM); In the
about Noah’s Ark, the Shroud of Turin, mysterious “monsters”
Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (¡997 TVM)
like the Yeti and Nessie, and life and death. “Real” footage was
frequently intercut with fictional reenactments. And one could al-
ways count on the narrator to add some sensationalism (“Would The Incident Series
you like to see what it’s like to enter that region between life and Walter Matthau made his TV movie debut as easygoing lawyer
death?”). In Search of Dracula (¡97¡) was produced by another Harmon Cobb in ¡990’s Emmy-winning The Incident. Set in Col-
company, though it was very much in the Sunn-style. Leonard orado during World War II, the story focused on Cobb’s attempts
Nimoy hosted a syndicated television program along the same to defend a German prisoner of war accused of murder. His court-
lines. Dubbed In Search of…, it consisted of ¡44 episodes broad- room adversary, Judge Stoddard Bell (Harry Morgan), became
cast during ¡976–82. his law partner when Cobb and his widowed daughter-in-law
Chariots of the Gods? (¡974); In Search of Noah’s Ark (¡976); moved to Maryland in ¡992’s Against Her Will: An Incident in Bal-
The Mysterious Monsters (¡976); Beyond and Back (¡978); In Search timore. This unexceptional sequel found Cobb and Stoddard in-
of Historic Jesus (¡979) volved in a ¡947 court case to release an immigrant girl wrongly
imprisoned in a mental institution. It lacked the personal drama
In the Line of Duty Series that distinguished its predecessor. That oversight was corrected
in the third installment, ¡994’s Incident in a Small Town. It picked
NBC initiated this series of fact-based films about law enforce-
up six years later, with Cobb and Bell trekking to Plainfield, Illi-
ment o‡cers after scoring big ratings with ¡988’s In the Line of
nois, where Bell’s estranged daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist) even-
Duty: The FBI Murders. Former TV nice guys Michael Gross
tually wound up accused of murdering her illegitimate ¡3-year-
(Family Ties) and David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) played against
old son’s father. The film benefited from a flavorful ¡950s
type as a pair of vicious murderers tracked down by special agent
atmosphere and a›ecting performances (including Nick Stahl
David Sheehan. Their ultimate confrontation in Miami in ¡986
who turned in a memorable performance as the teenaged pro-
resulted in the bloodiest shootout in FBI history (and one of the
tagonist in ¡993’s The Man Without a Face). However, the iden-
most violent in TV movie annals). The “sequels,” beginning with
tity of the true murderer was never in doubt. Viewers did not
¡989’s In the Line of Duty: Howard Beach, Making a Case for Mur-
seem to care, though, for Incident in a Small Town garnered strong
der bore no resemblance to the original or each other in terms of
ratings. The series might have continued, except that Matthau and
plot or characters. However, they all maintained the same gritty
Morgan appeared content to leave it as a trilogy.
focus and behind-the-scenes attention to detail. In A Cop for the
The Incident (¡990 TVM); Against Her Will: An Incident in
Killing, Stephen Weber becomes an unstable cop after his part-
Baltimore (¡992 TVM); Incident in a Small Town (¡994 TVM)
ner is murdered. Michael Gross, an FBI agent this time, goes after
white supremacist/murderer Gordon Rahl (Rod Steiger) in ¡99¡’s
Manhunt in the Dakotas. Dennis Franz and Ed Begley, Jr., head- The Incredible Hulk
lined the next installment, Siege at Marion (¡992), which dealt Comic book legend Stan Lee created the Incredible Hulk, an in-
with an FBI confrontation with a group of armed religious fa- teresting Jekyll and Hyde (q.v.) variant, in ¡962. Lee’s protago-
natics. In the Line of Duty: Street War (¡992) shifted the focus back nist was Dr. Bruce Banner, a scientist accidentally altered by a
to the cop on the beat. Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City) starred massive dosage of radiation. The outcome was that, when over-
as a New York City Housing Authority policeman who seeks re- come with anger, the normally reserved Banner transformed into
venge when his partner is killed while patrolling their drug-rid- a greenish, super-strong Hulk with the dimensions of a Mr. Uni-
den childhood neighborhood. It was originally scheduled to be verse. Eventually, the Hulk would change back to Banner, who
broadcast in May ¡992, but was delayed until the following fall would remember nothing about his alter ego’s activities. CBS
 INSURANCE INVESTIGATORS 107

brought the comic book character to TV in ¡977 first in a cou- Certainly, the destructive side of ants was displayed in The Naked
ple of pilot movies and then as a Fugitive-styled series with a Jungle, It Happened at Lakewood Manor, and Legion of Fire: Killer
clever casting twist. Mild mannered Bill Bixby played Banner, Ants. But there have also been cute computer-animated ants (A
with bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno replacing him as the Hulk. The Bug’s Life and Antz) and intelligent ants seeking to breed humans
show enjoyed a modest four-year run on the basis of its juvenile to create a new super race in Phase IV. In other notable insect-
audience. There have been three revival movies, the first one pair- related features: The Devil (Peter Cook) turned Dudley Moore
ing the Hulk with Thor, another comic book superhero. See also into a fly in one of the episodes of Bedazzled; the Academy
Comic Book Characters; Television Series Reunion Films. Award–winning pseudodocumentary The Hellstrom Chronicle ex-
The Incredible Hulk (¡977 TVM); The Return of the Incredible plored the premise that insects will inherit the Earth one day; a
Hulk (aka The Return of the Hulk) (¡977 TVM); The Incredible government device designed to kill insects raised dead humans in
Hulk Returns (¡988 TVM); The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (¡989 Don’t Open the Window and turned them into flesh-eating ghouls;
TVM); The Death of the Incredible Hulk (¡990 TVM) the moon’s inhabitants were discovered to be the insect-like Se-
lenites in First Men in the Moon; and a nice wholesome family
Inner Sanctum Series turned out to be roaches in disguise in Meet The Applegates.
Lon Chaney, Jr., starred in this generally undistinguished low- Burgess Meredith provided the voice for a talking horsefly in Hot
budget mystery film series, which occasionally hinted at horror. to Trot (¡988). The best six-legged singing insect was undoubt-
The highlights were ¡944’s Weird Woman, the first film version of edly Jiminy Cricket of Pinocchio fame. See also The Fly Series.
Fritz Leiber’s Conjure Wife (later remade as the superior Burn, The Good Earth (¡937); Pinocchio (¡940); Hoppity Goes to
Witch, Burn) and an intriguing little puzzler titled Calling Dr. Town (aka Mr. Bug Goes to Town) (¡94¡); Once Upon a Time
Death. In the latter film, Chaney plays a neurologist who uses (¡944); Them! (¡954); The Naked Jungle (¡954); The Deadly Mantis
hypnotism to determine if he unconsciously murdered his un- (¡957); The Cosmic Monster (aka The Strange World of Planet X)
faithful wife. Inspired by a hit radio series, each movie was pre- (¡957); Secrets of Life (¡957); The Beginning of the End (¡957); The
Fly (¡958); The Wasp Woman (¡960); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); First
ceded by a warped head in a crystal ball who welcomed viewers Men in the Moon (¡964); The Deadly Bees (¡967); Bedazzled (¡967);
to the Inner Sanctum (a mild version of The Twilight Zone). The Hellstrom Chronicle (¡97¡); The Abominable Dr. Phibes (¡97¡);
Strange Confession (¡945) is frequently confused with Julien Du- Invasion of the Bee Girls (¡973); Phase IV (¡974); Don’t Open the
vivier’s ¡944 film of the same title, which is known as The Im- Window (aka Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue) (¡974); Killer Bees
postor. Oddly enough, the ¡948 feature Inner Sanctum was not (¡974 TVM); Locusts (¡974 TVM); Bug (¡975); The Savage Bees
part of this series. In ¡992, Victoria Principal starred in Seduc- (¡976 TVM); Empire of the Ants (¡977); Damnation Alley (¡977);
tion: Three Tales from the Inner Sanctum, a ¡992 TV movie an- Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (¡977); It Happened at Lakewood
Manor (aka Panic at Lakewood Manor; Ants) (¡977 TVM); The Ex-
thology based on the radio series. orcist II: The Heretic (¡977); Terror Out of the Sky (¡978 TVM); The
Calling Dr. Death (¡943); Dead Man’s Eyes (¡944); Weird Bees (¡978); The Swarm (¡978); The Beast Within (¡982); Creepshow
Woman (¡944); The Frozen Ghost (¡945); Pillow of Death (¡945); (¡982); Creepers (¡985); The Nest (¡988); Hot to Trot (¡988); Honey,
Strange Confession (¡945); Seduction: Three Tales from the Inner I Shrunk the Kids (¡989); Meet The Applegates (aka The Applegates)
Sanctum (¡992 TVM) (¡990); Whispers (¡990); Popcorn (¡99¡) (the movie-within-a-movie
“Mosquito”); Naked Lunch (¡99¡); Matinee (¡993) (the movie-
Insects within-a-movie “Mant!”); Skeeter (¡994); Ticks (¡994); Jumanji
(¡995); Jonny Quest vs. the Cyber Insects (¡995 TVM); Angels and
Be they little specks or large enough to crush a man, insects have Insects (¡996); James and the Giant Peach (¡996); Microcosmos
long been a big screen pest. A plague of locusts stripped the wheat (¡996); Joe’s Apartment (¡996); Ulee’s Gold (¡997); Mimic (¡997);
fields in the climax to The Good Earth (an e›ect achieved by su- Starship Troopers (¡997); Legion of Fire: Killer Ants (¡998 TVM);
perimposing co›ee grounds over oil-covered wheat). An army of Antz (¡998); A Bug’s Life (¡998); The Mummy (¡999); The 4th Floor
soldier ants destroyed a South American plantation in ¡954’s The (2000); They Nest (2000 TVM)
Naked Jungle, although the crisis served to mend Charlton Hes-
ton and Eleanor Parker’s shaky marriage. That same year intro- Insurance Investigators
duced a colony of ¡2-foot-high ants in Them!, the finest giant in- The cinema has shown little respect for insurance investigators,
sect picture ever made. It was also the first to imply that nature typically portraying them as private eyes without steady work, or
was rebelling against man’s misuse of radiation. Imitations quickly as crafty con artists. Certainly, the investigators in Mystery in
followed, featuring giant grasshoppers (The Beginning of the End) Mexico, Banacek, and Coopersmith could have passed for private
and a preying mantis (The Deadly Mantis). A single, regular-sized eyes if we hadn’t been told they were insurance men. At least, they
fly proved the culprit in ¡958’s The Fly (q.v.) when it interrupted were on the right side of the law. The insurance investigators in
an experiment and merged atomic particles with an a›able sci- Roadblock (¡95¡) and She Played with Fire (¡957)— as well as in-
entist. Nine years later, The Deadly Bees started an insect film surance agent Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity (¡944)—
subgenre with its lively shock scenes of swarming bees stinging turned crooked due to the influences of money-hungry women.
nice people to death. The number of bee films increased over the George Kennedy played a family-oriented investigator scheming
next decade, amid real-life reports of killer bees flying up from to defraud the insurance company to provide money for his loved
South America. A popular TV movie, The Savage Bees, was fol- ones in Zigzag. Laurence Harvey tried to swindle an insurance
lowed by The Bees, Irwin Allen’s big-budget bust The Swarm, and company, too, by faking his death in ¡963’s The Running Man,
Terror Out of the Sky. While bees have been portrayed as danger- but he did not fool insurance man Alan Bates. The TV movie
ous killers, filmmakers have taken a more lenient view of ants. Longstreet (¡970) served as a pilot for a TV show, as did the
108 INVASIONS/TAKEOVERS OF THE U.S.

aforementioned Coopersmith (¡992) and Banacek (¡972). Two of unwraps the bandages covering his face — only to reveal an ap-
the three produced regular TV series, with George Peppard as a parently headless man? Employing double exposure and masked
freelance insurance investigator in Banacek (¡972–74) and James negatives, Fulton displayed his superb invisibility e›ects in six
Franciscus as a blind investigator in Longstreet (¡97¡–72). other Universal films (denoted below with *). Although no one
The Amazing Mr. Forrest (aka The Gang’s All Here) (¡939); has surpassed Fulton’s trickwork, invisibility has shown up in
Double Indemnity (¡944); Mystery in Mexico (¡948); Pitfall (¡948); movies with regularity since the late ¡950s. The otherwise for-
Roadblock (¡95¡); Duel in the Jungle (¡954); Timetable (¡956); She gettable Phantom from Space (¡953) introduced an invisible alien,
Played with Fire (aka Fortune Is a Woman) (¡957); Backfire (¡96¡); a premise explored with more imagination in Fiend Without a
The Running Man (¡963); The Thomas Crown A›air (¡968); Zigzag Face (¡958) and Invisible Invaders (¡959). The murderous crea-
(¡970); Longstreet (¡970 TVM); The Movie Murderer (¡970 TVM);
The Firechasers (¡970); Banacek (aka Detour to Nowhere) (¡972 ture in ¡956’s Forbidden Planet could not be seen with the naked
TVM); Lady Ice (¡973); Sunburn (¡979); The Pursuit of D.B. eye either. However, its invisibility status remains in question,
Cooper (¡98¡); Coopersmith (¡992 TVM); Frauds (¡993); Bitter since it turned out to be a “mental force” generated by Walter Pid-
Vengeance (¡994 TVM); In the Mouth of Madness (¡995); Fatal Pur- geon. Invisible criminals proliferated in the ¡960s with Edgar G.
suit (¡998); Entrapment (¡999); The Thomas Crown A›air (¡999) Ulmer’s The Amazing Transparent Man (¡960) and the German
series entry The Invisible Dr. Mabuse (¡96¡). But gradually, invis-
Invasions/Takeovers of the U.S. ibility became nothing more than a comedy gimmick in films
The cinema has rarely dealt with the end of U.S. democracy, like Disney’s Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (¡972), the 3-D
viewing it as a sobering premise with limited commercial appeal. Man Who Wasn’t There (¡983), and The Invisible Kid (¡988). Two
Arch Oboler’s Strange Holiday was about a businessman (Claude TV movies served as pilots for “serious” series. David McCallum
Rains) who returns from an isolated vacation spot to discover played an invisible scientist on the run in ¡975’s The Invisible
that American Nazis have gained control of the country. The film Man and its subsequent ¡975-76 series. NBC cancelled the show
was originally produced in ¡940 for General Motors employees. after half a season, but still had faith in the concept. So, another
GM shelved it, however, and later sold it to MGM. The film sat pilot film Gemini Man was made with Ben Murphy as a govern-
in MGM’s vaults until Rains and Oboler bought it back and re- ment agent who could turn invisible for ¡5 minutes a day. The
leased it in ¡945 through a small independent company. After show debuted in September ¡976 and went o› in the air in one
Strange Holiday’s fate, it’s easy to see why the enemy invasion in month. An earlier TV series of The Invisible Man ran on CBS dur-
¡953’s Invasion U.S.A. was framed by a plot device explaining its ing ¡958–60. The actor playing the lead role was never revealed.
events as being induced by mass hypnosis. Still, the film’s open- *The Invisible Man (¡933); *The Invisible Man Returns (¡940);
ing scene is undeniably powerful, with a television broadcaster re- The Body Disappears (¡94¡); *The Invisible Woman (¡94¡); *Invisible
porting that an enemy task force has taken over Alaska and set Agent (¡942); *The Invisible Man’s Revenge (¡944); *Abbott and
o› atomic bombs in Washington state. Rod Serling’s Seven Days Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948) (cameo); *Abbott & Costello Meet
the Invisible Man (¡95¡); Phantom from Space (¡953); Forbidden
in May (¡964) internalized the takeover attempt, focusing on a Planet (¡956); The Invisible Boy (¡957); The New Invisible Man
military coup to oust the U.S. president. The Russians seized an (aka H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man) (¡957); Fiend Without a Face
Alasakan pipeline in retaliation for a U.S. grain embargo in the (¡958); The Invisible Avenger (aka Bourbon Street Shadows) (¡958);
two-part TV movie World War III (¡982). John Milius’s Red Invisible Invaders (¡959); The Amazing Transparent Man (¡960);
Dawn (¡984) was a pre-Glasnost adventure about a successful The Invisible Dr. Mabuse (aka Die Unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr.
Communist invasion of the U.S. and a subsequent guerilla coun- Mabuse; The Invisible Horror) (¡96¡); The Wonderful World of the
terattack staged by patriotic teenagers. The ¡987 television minis- Brothers Grimm (¡962); The Invisible Terror (¡963); Mad Monster
Party? (¡967); Mr. Superinvisible (aka The Invincible Invisible Man)
eries Amerika expanded the same premise into a week’s worth of (¡967); Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (¡972); The Invisible
TV viewing. The villainous Kryptonians of Superman II (¡98¡) Man (¡975 TVM); Invisible Strangler (¡976); Gemini Man (aka
humbled the president and thrashed the White House before re- Code Name: Minus One) (¡976 TVM); The Invisible Woman (¡983
ceiving their comeuppance from the Man of Steel. Along similar TVM); The Man Who Wasn’t There (¡983); The Invisible Kid
lines, the aliens in Independence Day (¡996) blew up the White (¡988); The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (¡990); The In-
House, although the president refused to surrender. On the visible Maniac (¡990); Alice (¡990); Memoirs of an Invisible Man
lighter side, the accidental grounding of a Russian submarine in (¡992); Sleepwalkers (¡992); Mandroid (¡993); Invisible: The Chron-
icles of Benjamin Knight (¡994); The Shadow (¡994); Invisible Mom
New England triggered invasion rumors in the ¡966 cold-war (¡995); Invisible Dad (¡997); The Avengers (¡998); Hollow Man
comedy The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (2000)
Strange Holiday (¡945); Invasion U.S.A. (¡953); Seven Days in
May (¡964); The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
(¡966); Superman II (¡98¡); World War III (¡982 TVM); Red Dawn Iron Eagle Series
(¡984); The Enemy Within (¡994 TVM); Independence Day (¡996) This modest action series has persevered solely on the strength of
star Lou Gossett, Jr. The original Iron Eagle (¡986) introduced
Invisibility Gossett as retired Air Force colonel Charles “Chappy” Sinclair.
The father of movie invisibility was John P. Fulton, a special Chappy teams up with an ¡8-year-old hotshot pilot for a fighter
e›ects photographer who engineered the ingenious optical tricks jet rescue when the kid’s dad is wrongly imprisoned in the Mid-
in Universal’s Invisible Man series. The original ¡933 film set a dle East. Critics found the film hokey, but it nevertheless ap-
standard that was di‡cult even for Fulton to better. How can any- pealed to the same moviegoers who made Top Gun a box-o‡ce
one forget the eerie scene in which Jack Gri‡n (Claude Rains) smash the same year. In ¡988’s glasnost-oriented Iron Eagle II,
 JACK THE RIPPER 109

Chappy — now a general — leads U.S. and Soviet pilots on a joint (¡953); The Beachcomber (¡954); The Admirable Crichton (aka Par-
mission to destroy a nuclear weapons base in a fictional Middle adise Lagoon) (¡957); Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (¡957); Island in
East country. The third entry, Aces: Iron Eagle III stole its plot the Sun (¡957); Attack of the Crab Monsters (¡957); Enchanted Island
(¡958); South Pacific (¡958); SOS Pacific (¡959); Wake Me When It’s
from ¡990’s Delta Force 2 (apparently, there is no honor among
Over (¡960); Swiss Family Robinson (¡960); Atlantis, the Lost Conti-
rival B-movie action series). Gossett, bodybuilder Rachel McLish, nent (¡96¡); The Mysterious Island (¡96¡); No Man Is an Island (aka
and Magnificent Seven (q.v.) alumnus Horst Buchholz lead a team Island Escape) (¡962); The Island (¡962); Donovan’s Reef (¡963);
of pilots flying vintage World War II planes on a mission to de- Lord of the Flies (¡963); Island of the Blue Dolphins (¡964); Father
stroy a South American cocaine factory. In Iron Eagle IV (¡995), Goose (¡964); Island of Terror (¡966); Hawaii (¡966); Island of the
a retired Chappy opens a flight school for juvenile delinquents. Burning Doomed (aka Island of the Burning Damned) (¡967); The
Writer Kevin Elder had a hand in the scripts of the first three Iron Challenge (¡970 TVM); Godzilla on Monster Island (aka Godzilla vs.
Gigan; Gojira tai Gaigan) (¡97¡); Papillon (¡973); Terminal Island
Eagle films. Interestingly, spy movie veteran Sidney J. Furie (The
(¡973); Enter the Dragon (¡973); The Wicker Man (¡973); Conrack
Ipcress File) directed the first, second, and fourth entries, while for- (¡974); The Savage Is Loose (¡974); Islands in the Stream (¡976); The
mer James Bond (q.v.) director John Glen helmed the third one. Island of Dr. Moreau (¡977); Rescue from Gilligan’s Island (¡978
See also Airplanes. TVM); The Blue Lagoon (¡980); The Island (¡980); Tempest (¡982);
Iron Eagle (¡986); Iron Eagle II (¡988); Aces: Iron Eagle III (aka Club Paradise (¡986); Pascali’s Island (¡988); Trouble in Paradise
Iron Eagle III) (¡992); Iron Eagle IV (¡995) (¡989 TVM); Bare Essentials (¡990 TVM); Shipwrecked (¡990); And
the Sea Will Tell (¡99¡ TVM); Return to the Blue Lagoon (¡99¡);
Islands Danger Island (¡992 TVM); Jurassic Park (¡993); Rapa Nui (¡994);
Exile (¡994); Exit to Eden (¡994); No Escape (¡994); The Pagemaster
Tropical islands have long been a favorite movie setting — and (¡994); The Secret of Roan Inish (¡995); Cutthroat Island (¡995); Es-
with good reason. Where else is one apt to find cannibals, wild cape from L.A. (¡996); Six Days, Seven Nights (¡998); The Governess
jungle animals, pirates, buried treasure, and erupting volcanoes? (¡998); The New Swiss Family Robinson (¡999 TVM)
Monsters, too. King Kong lived on Skull Island, Godzilla visited
Monster Island, Japan’s favorite giant caterpillar, Mothra, was It’s Alive Series
hatched on Infant Island, and an oversized pink crab harassed
Larry Cohen’s ¡974 low-budget shocker about a killer baby has
hungry humans on The Mysterious Island. Human monsters have
attracted a strong cult following, chiefly due to its dual-sided
inhabited islands, too, with Count Zaro› hunting human prey
view of modern morals. When his wife gives birth to a murder-
in The Most Dangerous Game and Dr. Moreau creating disfigured
ous mutant baby, John Ryan embarks on a personal crusade to de-
humans out of innocent animals in Island of Lost Souls. On the
stroy the creature. His wife pleads for the life of their “child,” but
other hand, islands have also brought unlikely lovers together, as
Ryan feels socially responsible for all the deaths caused by it.
in The Blue Lagoon, Her Jungle Love, Return to Paradise, Mutiny
However, when he finally confronts his son, he realizes that “it”
on the Bounty and Six Days, Seven Nights. Island politics, as es-
is an innocent. He watches helplessly as the police brutally mur-
tablished by shipwrecked victims, are usually pretty simple, as
der it. In the ¡978 sequel It Lives Again, Ryan’s character has
portrayed in Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, and Tempest.
evolved into an obsessed man fighting against a closed society
But they can also get wildly out of hand, as in Lord of the Flies,
that’s unwilling to accept anything it cannot understand (e.g., the
William Golding’s political parable about young shipwrecked
mutant children). Ryan dies, but converted parent Frederic For-
boys who create their own civilization. Some of the more unique
rest carries on the crusade. Cohen returned to the theme nine
uses of island settings occur in the following: And Then There
years later in the barely-released It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive.
Were None (¡945), Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit about nine
A reworking of the second film, it once again portrayed the chil-
guests trapped in an island mansion with a murderer; The Chal-
dren as helpless victims of a cruel, prejudiced society. See also Ba-
lenge (¡970), which pits two men, each representing his country,
bies.
against one another to fight World War III on an island; and Val
It’s Alive (¡974); It Lives Again (aka It’s Alive II) (¡978); It’s
Lewton’s Isle of the Dead (¡945), an eerie horror tale about pas-
Alive III: Island of the Alive (¡987)
sengers quarantined on a Greek island where a dead woman seems
to be alive. One unique aspect to island-set films is that they can
end without warning. You never know when a volcano (Atlantis, Jack the Ripper
the Lost Continent) or a tropical storm (Hurricane) is going to This unidentified murderer of at least five prostitutes in London’s
wipe out the whole place. See also Crusoe, Robinson; Gilligan’s Whitechapel district in ¡888, the Ripper has been a screen fixture
Island Series. since the ¡920s. He appeared briefly in a nightmare sequence in
The Most Dangerous Game (¡932); Island of Lost Souls (¡933); Waxworks (¡924), in which his wax figure comes to life. And in
King Kong (¡933); We’re Not Dressing (¡934); Isle of Fury (¡936); G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box, he popped up at the film’s climax to
Hurricane (¡937); Ebb Tide (aka Adventure Island) (¡937); The Edge deal retribution to a sinner. However, the first movie to feature
of the World (¡937); Her Jungle Love (¡938); Road to Singapore Jack in a starring role was Alfred Hitchcock’s ¡926 adaptation of
(¡940); Aloma of the South Seas (¡94¡); Song of the Islands (¡942); Marie Belloc Lowndes’s chilling novel The Lodger. Unfortunately,
The Tuttles of Tahiti (¡942); Beyond the Blue Horizon (¡942); I when matinee idol Ivor Novello was cast in the title role, the end-
Walked with a Zombie (¡943); Isle of the Dead (¡945); And Then
There Were None (¡945); A Game of Death (¡946); Adventure Island ing was altered so that the Lodger turned out not to be the Rip-
(¡947); On an Island with You (¡948); The Blue Lagoon (¡949); per after all. The film was remade twice, in ¡932 with Novello re-
Tight Little Island (aka Whiskey Galore) (¡949); Hurricane Smith peating his role (this version aka The Phantom Fiend) and in ¡944
(¡952); Return to Paradise (¡953); The Girls of Pleasure Island with Laird Cregar. The latter film was a gripping, atmospheric
110 JANEK, FRANK

yarn, faithful to the book, and sporting a fine, frenzied perfor- Jaws Series
mance from Cregar. (In fact, its success resulted in Cregar play- Despite a hefty (at one time) $¡2 million price tag and produc-
ing a psychotic murderer again in ¡945’s Hangover Square.) Over tion di‡culties, ¡975’s Jaws was pegged for blockbuster status
the next decades, the Ripper continued to appear in B-films such from the start. Audiences had been carefully primed by Peter
as The Curse of the Wraydons (¡946) and Room to Let (¡950). How- Benchley’s thrilling best seller and a publicity campaign that
ever, the Terror of Whitechapel regained the spotlight with the beached a Great White shark on the cover of Time magazine. The
release of ¡959’s Jack the Ripper. Scripted by horror veteran Jimmy simple story of an East Coast resort transformed into a hunting
Sangster (who also wrote Room to Let), this ordinary thriller ground for an insatiable shark went on to gross $¡33 million.
o›ered no new variations. Yet, in the hands of super-producer Discounting ticket inflation, that made it the box-o‡ce champ
Joseph E. Levine, it was exploited into a sensational worldwide of all time until Star Wars (and eventually many other films) dis-
hit that paved the way for more serious “psycho” films like Peep- placed it. The inevitable sequel, Jaws 2, followed in ¡978, with
ing Tom and Psycho. Six years later, Jack encountered Sherlock local police chief Roy Scheider, his wife Lorraine Gary, and mayor
Holmes in the stylish pastiche A Study in Terror. It was based on Murray Hamilton returning from the original. Journeyman di-
the short story “Fog,” which was written by Conan Doyle’s son rector Jeannot Szwarc replaced Spielberg as helmer in what was
Adrian. A similar fictional confrontation occurred in ¡979’s Time basically a rehash of the original. The shark was a female this
After Time, in which the Ripper (memorably played by David time (spouse of the first one), but she was scary enough to earn
Warner) steals H.G. Wells’ time machine and escapes to present- $82.5 million in domestic rentals. No one seemed interested in
day San Francisco, where his acts of violence fit right in. In ¡988’s making a second sequel, though a National Lampoon–style spoof
underrated Jack’s Back, a modern-day killer replicated the Rip- Jaws 3 People 0 sat on the drawing boards for awhile. Finally, in
per’s crimes in honor of Jack’s ¡00th anniversary. The original ¡983, at the height of the 3-D craze (q.v.), Universal released Jaws
Star Trek TV series featured a memorable episode called “Wolf in 3-D. A sequel in name only, it pitted Sea World sta›ers Dennis
the Fold” about the spirit of Jack the Ripper. Quaid and Bess Armstrong against another human-devouring
The Lodger (¡926); The Lodger (aka The Phantom Field) shark. The 3-D e›ects were excellent, but the profit figures were
(¡932); The Lodger (¡944); The Curse of the Wraydons (¡946); Room disappointing and apparently ended the series. Unfortunately,
to Let (¡950); Man in the Attic (¡953); Jack the Ripper (¡958) (four-
part anthology with one episode about the Ripper); Jack the Ripper however, Jaws: The Revenge unexpectedly surfaced in ¡987. Lor-
(¡959); A Study in Terror (¡965); Hands of the Ripper (¡972) ( Jack’s raine Gary returned as Roy Scheider’s widow, who has become
daughter); The Ruling Class (¡972); Knife for the Ladies (¡973) (a convinced that another shark (the son of the first one?) has a per-
Western variation); Black the Ripper (¡975); Jack the Ripper (¡976); sonal vendetta against her family. It was nonsense from start to
Murder by Decree (¡979) ( Jack meets Holmes again); Time After finish with the entire cast, including Michael Caine, looking thor-
Time (¡979); Bridge Across Time (aka Arizona Ripper) (¡985 TVM); oughly embarrassed. No one went to see it, either, hopefully end-
The Ripper (¡985); Jack’s Back (¡988); Jack the Ripper (¡988 TVM); ing the series for good. See also Sharks.
Edge of Sanity (¡989); Waxwork II: Lost in Time (¡99¡)
Jaws (¡975); Jaws 2 (¡978); Jaws 3 (aka Jaws 3-D) (¡983);
Jaws: The Revenge (¡987)
Janek, Frank
William Bayer’s mystery best seller Switch provided the basis for
the ¡985 TV movie Doubletake, a grisly two-part mystery that in-
Jekyll, Dr. Henry, and Mr. Hyde
troduced Richard Crenna as middle-aged NYC detective Lieu- Robert Louis Stevenson’s dual-sided doctor has been one of the
tenant Frank Janek. The plot, revolving around two decapitated most active characters in cinema. Undoubtedly, much of his pop-
murder victims whose heads are switched, served as a backdrop ularity stems from the challenge the double role a›ords actors, al-
for a character study of a likable, divorced, occasionally lute-play- lowing them to run the gamut from good Dr. Jekyll to vile Mr.
ing detective. After Janek finally commits to a relationship with Hyde. Prior to ¡920, no fewer than ¡2 silent versions appeared,
younger woman Beverly D’Angelo, she observes: “You’re so smart ranging from Gene Gauntier’s ¡908 film to the comedy Dr. Jekyll
about everything else, Janek, why do you have this blind spot and Mr. Hyde Done to a Frazzle (¡9¡4) to the o›beat Miss Jekyll
about women?” Indeed, Janek’s love life does not fare well in this and Madame Hyde (¡9¡5). Sheldon Lewis received good reviews
detective film series. Although he and Diahann Carroll obviously as Jekyll/Hyde in a ¡920 version for Louis B. Mayer. However,
feel a strong attraction toward each other in Murder in Black and that same year, he was eclipsed by John Barrymore, whose flam-
White (¡990), Janek backs away — to avoid professional conflict — boyant performance would remain the standard for the next
after a single kiss. When engrossed in a case, Janek works closely decade. Barrymore’s interpretation took a back seat, though, to
with dependable colleague and friend Aaron Greenberg (series Frederic March’s Oscar-winning portrayal in Rouben Mamou-
regular Cli› Gorman). Novelist Bayer penned an original screen- lian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡932). This remains the definitive
play for ¡988’s Internal A›airs, which like Doubletake, was broad- adaptation of Stevenson’s work, with March still the only per-
cast originally as a two-part four-hour movie. The other films former to win an Academy Award for a horror film. Spencer Tracy
filled typical two-hour time slots. wore minimal makeup in MGM’s lavish ¡94¡ version, trying to
emphasize Jekyll’s emotional (as opposed to physical) transfor-
Doubletake (¡985 TVM); Internal A›airs (¡988 TVM); Mur-
der in Black and White (¡990 TVM); Murder Times Seven (¡990 mation into Hyde. Tracy and the film received mixed reviews,
TVM); Terror on Track 9 (aka Janek: The Grand Central Murders) inviting less-than-favorable comparisons to the March version.
(¡992 TVM); A Silent Betrayal (¡994 TVM); The Forget-Me-Not Subsequently, a major Jekyll/Hyde film was not made until Jean
Murders (¡994 TVM) Renoir’s French variation The Testament of Dr. Cordelier (¡959).
 JEWEL THIEVES 111

Nevertheless, Jekyll remained a popular character in lesser films. dubbed it I Was a Teenage Jesus. George Stevens recruited solemn
Abbott and Costello met the good doctor (as played by Boris Swedish actor Max Von Sydow to play Jesus in his excessively
Karlo› ) in ¡95¡. In the film’s funniest scene, Lou drinks Jekyll’s lavish production of The Greatest Story Ever Told (¡965). Origi-
potion and is transformed into a giant talking mouse. Louis Hay- nally released at over four hours in length, it was cut to ¡4¡ min-
ward played Jekyll’s son and Gloria Talbott his daughter in a pair utes — but still flopped. However, it did receive Harvard Lam-
of unexceptional B-horror films (although Talbott’s movie con- poon’s Please-Don’t-Put-Us-Through-DeMille-Again Award for
fused matters by making Jekyll a werewolf!). Hammer Films re- being the movie “which best embodied the pretensions, extrava-
made Stevenson’s tale as ¡960’s House of Fright (aka The Two Faces gance and blundering ine›ectiveness of the traditional screen
of Dr. Jekyll). Naturally, the British studio stressed the story’s sex- spectacular.” The following year, Marxist filmmaker Pier Paolo
ual elements, but it also included a refreshing twist, presenting Pasolini received the praise of both film critics and Roman
Henry Jekyll as a dull wimp and Hyde as a dashing, handsome Catholic leaders for his low-key, amateur-cast The Gospel Ac-
devil. Hammer also deserves credit for another interesting varia- cording to St. Matthew. Other straightforward, reverent versions
tion, ¡972’s Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, in which Ralph Bates drinks of Christ’s life include Franco Ze‡relli’s two-part, 6∂ hour TV
the serum and turns into Martine Beswick. A female character movie Jesus of Nazareth (¡977), the Israeli-made Jesus (¡979), and
also figures prominently in Mary Reilly (¡996), since it’s the another TV movie The Day Christ Died (¡980). In ¡973, the pop-
Jekyll/Hyde story shown from Jekyll’s housemaid’s point of view. ular stage musicals Jesus Christ, Superstar and Godspell reached
Kirk Douglas starred in a ¡973 musical version for television, the screen, but neither found an eager audience. The ¡979 In
which predated the hit Broadway musical by 24 years. Dozens of Search of Historic Jesus purported to be a documentary about the
movies have featured dual-personality themes or paid homage to Shroud of Turin, but was less than enlightening. Two films of
Stevenson’s story, such as ¡942’s Before I Hang, The Nutty Profes- significantly greater interest surfaced in ¡988. The Seventh Sign
sor, Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (which featured two characters mixed elements of mystery and fantasy into its plot about Jesus’
named Jekyll and Hyde), and Ken Russell’s Altered States (¡980). ( Jurgen Prochnow) return to Earth to prepare the human race for
See also Multiple Personalities. the forthcoming Apocalypse. Despite an intriguing theme, it at-
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡920) (Sheldon Lewis); Dr. Jekyll and tracted little attention, especially when compared to the exagger-
Mr. Hyde (¡920) ( John Barrymore); Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride ated controversy surrounding Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temp-
(¡925) (parody with Stan Laurel); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡932) tation of Christ. Fundamentalist groups tried to stop — sight
(Fredric March); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡94¡) (Spencer Tracy); unseen — this adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel, chiefly due
Son of Dr. Jekyll (¡95¡) (Louis Hayward as the son); Abbott and to a dream sequence where Jesus (Willem Dafoe) was tempted by
Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡953) (Boris Karlo› );
Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (¡957) (Gloria Talbott as the daughter); The desires of the flesh. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (¡979) incurred
Testament of Dr. Cordelier (aka The Doctor’s Horrible Experiment) less wrath, despite presenting a satirical tale about a poor bloke
(¡959) ( Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Cordelier); House of Fright (aka who is mistaken for Jesus and crucified (it ends with a song-and-
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll) (¡960) (Paul Massie); Mad Monster dance number on the cross). Christ’s life has been told in alle-
Party? (¡967) (puppet); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (aka The Strange gorical terms in a number of films, such as El Topo (¡97¡) and
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) (¡968) ( Jack Palance); Dr. Jekyll Greaser’s Palace (¡972). Peter O’Toole and Peter Boyle played lu-
and the Werewolf (aka Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo) (¡97¡) ( Jack natics who believed they were Christ in, respectively, The Ruling
Taylor); I, Monster (¡97¡) (Christopher Lee as Dr. Charles Mar-
lowe); Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (¡972) (Ralph Bates as Dr. Jekyll Class (¡97¡) and The Dream Team (¡989).
and Martine Beswick as Sister Hyde); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Intolerance (¡9¡6); King of Kings (¡927); Ben-Hur (¡959); King
(¡973 TVM) (Kirk Douglas); Twisted Brain (aka Horror High) of Kings (¡96¡); Barabbas (¡962); The Greatest Story Ever Told
(¡974) (Pat Cardi as Vernon Potts); Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (aka The (¡965); The Gospel According to St. Matthew (¡966); The Milky Way
Watts Monster; Dr. Black and Mr. White) (¡976) (Bernie Casey as (¡969); Godspell (¡973); The Gospel Road (¡973); Jesus Christ, Su-
Dr. Henry Pride); Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (¡980) (Oliver Reed as perstar (¡973); The Passover Plot (¡976); Jesus of Nazareth (¡977
Dr. Heckyl); Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again (¡982) (Mark TVM); In Search of Historic Jesus (¡979); Jesus (¡979); The Day
Blankfield); Edge of Sanity (¡989) (Anthony Perkins); Jekyll and Christ Died (¡980 TVM); The Inquiry (¡987); The Last Temptation
Hyde (¡990 TVM) (Michael Caine); Waxwork II: Lost in Time of Christ (¡988); The Seventh Sign (¡988); Jesus of Montreal (¡989);
(¡99¡) (Michael Viela); The Pagemaster (¡994) (animated, voiced by Child of Light, Child of Darkness (¡99¡ TVM); The Return (aka
Leonard Nimoy); Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (¡995) (Timothy Daly as Jesus Vender Tilbage) (¡992); Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999 TVM);
Dr. Richard Jacks and Sean Young as Helen Hyde); The Nutty Pro- Jesus (2000 TVM)
fessor (¡996) (Eddie Murphy as Sherman Klump); Mary Reilly
(¡996) ( John Malkovich) Jewel Thieves
The classiest of criminals, jewel thieves have long enjoyed a pop-
Jesus ularity rarely accorded to other lawbreakers. This cinematic le-
The film industry’s concern for reverence and its aversion to con- niency can be traced to two key points: (¡) Most jewel thieves are
troversy have severely limited screen portraits of Jesus. In many suave, witty, and good-looking (as played by David Niven, Cary
biblical films, Christ’s hand is shown or his voice is heard (as in Grant, etc.); and (2) jewel thieves typically steal from rich peo-
¡959’s Ben-Hur), but full figure shots are carefully avoided. Cecil ple or museums, so that the lost property is certain to be insured
B. DeMille mounted a tasteful story of Jesus’ life with ¡927’s King by large corporations which already “steal” money from the mid-
of Kings, starring H. B. Warner in the title role. Nicholas Ray re- dle class. The concept of the “gentleman thief ” owes much to
made it to less e›ect in ¡96¡ with 36-year-old (but still youthful- E. W. Horung’s book The Amateur Cracksman, which has been
looking) Je›rey Hunter as Christ. Unkind critics promptly filmed as Ra·es in ¡9¡7 (with John Barrymore), ¡925 (House
112 JIGGS AND MAGGIE

Peters), ¡930 (Ronald Colman), and ¡940 (David Niven). Barry- O’Malley and Agnes Moorehead also played the couple on a ¡94¡
more played gentlemanly jewel thieves again in the ¡932 films radio program. See also Comic Strip Characters.
Arsene Lupin (q.v.) and Grand Hotel. Niven continued to display Bringing Up Father (¡928); Bringing Up Father (¡946); Jiggs
an a›ection for other people’s diamonds in The Pink Panther and Maggie in Court (¡948); Jiggs and Maggie in Society (¡949); Jiggs
(¡964) and Rough Cut (¡980). Warren Williams and several other and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters (aka Jackpot Jitters) (¡949); Jiggs and
actors played The Lone Wolf (q.v.), a jewel-thief-turned-detective Maggie Out West (¡950)
in a film series spanning the ¡930s and ¡940s. George Hamilton
hid his tan lines under a black turtleneck in ¡967’s Jack of Dia- Johnson, Co‡n Ed see Co‡n Ed Johnson
monds. However, the cinema’s most charming gentleman thief and Grave Digger Jones
has to be Cary Grant, who portrayed a retired cat burglar chas-
ing a copycat criminal (and Grace Kelly) in Hitchcock’s To Catch
a Thief. Hitchcock also dealt with jewel thieves, though less e›ec- Jones, Grave Digger see Co‡n Ed Johnson
tively, in his earlier Number Seventeen (¡932). Female jewel thieves and Grave Digger Jones
proved themselves just as e›ective as their male counterparts in I
Was an Adventuress (¡940), the aforementioned To Catch a Thief,
and Lubitsch’s sophisticated comedy Trouble in Paradise (¡932).
The Jones Family
A cat burglar called The Phantom stole the Pink Panther dia- While the Hardys (q.v.) are still fondly remembered, the Jones’
mond — but also encountered the ever-bumbling Inspector have been all but forgotten. Yet, 20th Century–Fox’s Jones Family
Clouseau — in The Pink Panther (¡964) and The Return of the Pink series actually came first and set the pattern for the wholesome
Panther (¡975). Clever thieves implemented elaborate schemes to family comedy/dramas of the late ¡930s and ¡940s. For the first
steal the crown jewels in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (¡939), film, ¡936’s Every Saturday Night, the family’s last name was Evers.
Traitor’s Gate (¡965), and The Jokers (¡966). For a discussion of It switched to Jones that same year in Educating Father, the entry
movies in which the heists form the central plot, see Heist/Caper that set the tone for the rest of the series by putting Pa Jones in the
Films. See also The Lone Wolf; Lupin, Arsene; Lupin III (The spotlight. This emphasis on a none-too-perfect father figure is what
Wolf ); The Pink Panther Series. distinguishes the Jones comedies from the Hardy pictures, which
clearly belong to teenager Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney). Veteran
Ra·es (¡930); Jewel Robbery (¡932); Trouble in Paradise
(¡932); Grand Hotel (¡932); Number Seventeen (¡932); Arsene Lupin character actor Jed Prouty played bespectacled Pa Jones and Spring
(¡932); Now and Forever (¡934); The Mystery of Mr. X (¡934); The Byington, who made a career of maternal roles, was Ma. Florence
Lone Wolf Returns (¡935); I Am a Thief (¡935); The Return of So- Roberts provided additional adult supervision as Granny Jones.
phie Lange (¡936); This Man Is News (¡938); Stolen Heaven (¡938); June Lang portrayed Bonnie, the oldest daughter in the first film,
The Amazing Mr. Forrest (aka The Gang’s All Here) (¡939); The Ad- but was replaced by Shirley Deane. The rest of the Jones kids were
ventures of Sherlock Holmes (¡939); Ra·es (¡940); Adventure in Di- played by Kenneth Howell ( Jack), George Ernest (Roger), June
amonds (¡940); I Was an Adventuress (¡940); They Met in Bombay
Carlson (Lucy), and Billy Mahan (Bobby). Bonnie Jones married
(¡94¡); The Peterville Diamond (¡94¡); A Gentleman After Dark
(¡942); The Great Jewel Robber (¡950); To Catch a Thief (¡955); her boyfriend Herbert Thompson (Russell Gleason) and became a
The Man Inside (¡958); The Greengage Summer (aka Loss of Inno- mother in ¡938’s Love on a Budget. But stagestruck little sister Lucy
cence) (¡96¡); The Pink Panther (¡964); Traitor’s Gate (¡965); The remains the best remembered of the children, stealing scenes with
Jokers (¡966); That Riviera Touch (¡966); Jack of Diamonds (¡967); her impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and Greta Garbo. Typ-
Deadfall (¡968); The Thief Who Came to Dinner (¡973); The Return ical plots involved Pa’s candidacy for mayor (Hot Water), a family
of the Pink Panther (¡975); Rough Cut (¡980); The Great Muppet vacation in Yosemite (Back to Nature), and an oil swindle (Big Busi-
Caper (¡98¡); Thief of Hearts (¡984); Oddball Hall (¡990); Hudson
ness). Despite its modest popularity, the Jones Family series ended
Hawk (¡99¡); Ice (¡994); Blood and Wine (¡997); Absolute Power
(¡997) in ¡940, while the Hardys lasted well into the decade. Many of the
cast members, though, continued in similar movies, with Russell
Jiggs and Maggie Gleason even appearing in the rival Higgins Family series (q.v.).
George McManus created this comic strip in ¡9¡6 about a nou- Veronica Lake, who was acting under the name of Constance
veau riche Irish couple with social aspirations. Comedian Johnny Keane, had a small role in As Young as You Feel.
Ray played Jiggs in a series of silent two-reelers produced by Pathé Every Saturday Night (¡936); Educating Father (¡936); Back to
Studios. The characters also appeared in a successful ¡92¡ stage Nature (¡936); O› to the Races (¡937); Big Business (aka The Jones
Family in Big Business) (¡937); Hot Water (¡937); Borrowing Trouble
play called Bringing Up Father. That play served as the basis for (¡937); Love on a Budget (¡938); A Trip to Paris (¡938); Safety in
a ¡928 MGM film starring J. Farrell McDonald as the badgered Numbers (¡938); Down on the Farm (¡938); Everybody’s Baby
Jiggs and Marie Dressler as society-minded Maggie. However, a (¡939); The Jones Family in Hollywood (¡939); Quick Millions (aka
series did not appear until budget-conscious Monogram reintro- The Jones Family in Quick Millions) (¡939); Too Busy to Work
duced the characters in ¡946 with another version of Bringing Up (¡939); Young as You Feel (¡940); On Their Own (¡940)
Father. Joe Yule (Mickey Rooney’s father) and Renie Riano starred
as Jiggs and Maggie in that film and four subsequent entries. Yule Jones, Indiana
died in ¡950, shortly after completing Jiggs and Maggie Out West. Steven Spielberg on Raiders of the Lost Ark: “The film’s like pop-
For sheer silliness, Jiggs and Maggie in Society rates as the series corn, it doesn’t fill you and it’s easy to digest and it melts in your
highlight, with Maggie taking dancing lessons from Arthur mouth and it’s the kind of thing you can just go and chow down
Murray and Jiggs learning etiquette from Dale Carnegie. Neil over and over again.” That’s precisely what moviegoers did with
 JUNGLE JIM 113

¡98¡’s blockbuster homage to the days of serial thrills. Director ber (¡98¡). The latter film, based on a play predating Sandra Day
Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas (who cowrote the O’Connor’s appointment, cast Clayburgh as the first woman on
story) received most of the credit, with the witty screenplay by the Supreme Court. Arthur Hill may have played the screen’s
Lawrence Kasdan (pre–Big Chill) being largely ignored. Harrison most courageous judge, as the real-life o‡cial who battled a
Ford, playing a part not dissimilar from Han Solo in the Star racially-prejudiced town in Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
Wars (q.v.) films, created the whip-carrying archaeologist/adven- (¡976), a vivid account of the trial of nine blacks accused of rap-
turer who battled Nazis for the Ark of the Covenant circa ¡936. ing a white woman. As Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy series
For some reason, the ¡984 follow-up Indiana Jones and the Tem- (q.v.), stern but fair Lewis Stone played a judge more often than
ple of Doom, turned out to be a prequel (q.v.) set three years be- any other performer. See also Courts-Martial.
fore Raiders. The plot sent Indiana to India to fetch a magical Ann Vickers (¡933); Judge Priest (¡934); The Westerner (¡940);
jewel and rescue some enslaved children. The film made tons of Design for Scandal (¡94¡); Steppin’ in Society (¡945); And Then
money, but incurred a surprising amount of wrath. It was criti- There Were None (¡945); Angel on My Shoulder (¡946); Cass Tim-
cized for being racist toward Indians, anti-feminist, and overly vi- berlane (¡947); The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (aka Bachelor
olent for the young members of its audience. The last complaint Knight) (¡947); Behind Locked Doors (¡948); The Man from Col-
orado (¡948); An Act of Murder (aka Live for Tomorrow) (¡948); The
contributed to the Motion Picture Association of America’s cre- Judge Steps Out (¡949); Judgment at Nuremberg (¡96¡); The Chalk
ation of a PG-¡3 film rating. Spielberg and Lucas set the series Garden (¡964); The Judge and Jake Wyler (¡972 TVM); The Life
on track with what they claimed would be the final entry, ¡989’s and Times of Judge Roy Bean (¡972); Judge Dee and the Monastery
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Although Batman eclipsed it Murders (¡974 TVM); Jury of One (aka The Verdict) (¡974); The
as the year’s top money-maker, the Last Crusade received an over- Judge and the Assassin (¡975); Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
whelming thumbs up from both critics and the public. The team- (¡976 TVM); All God’s Children (¡980 TVM); First Monday in Oc-
ing of Ford and Sean Connery as his father turned out to be pure tober (¡98¡); The Star Chamber (¡983); Crime of Innocence (¡985
TVM); Penalty Phase (¡986 TVM); Suspect (¡987); Double Standard
magic, which set the rumor mill about a fourth film into motion. (¡988 TVM); Naked Lie (¡989 TVM); Nothing But Trouble (¡99¡);
Ford also appeared in a ¡993 episode of the Young Indiana Jones Hitz (aka Judgment) (¡992); Crimebroker (¡993); Judicial Consent
Chronicles TV series starring Sean Patrick Flanery as a ¡6-year- (¡994); The Pelican Brief (¡994); Three Colors: Red (¡994); Broken
old Indy. Four made-for-television films, also with Flanery, fol- Trust (¡995 TVM); Eye of the Stalker: A Moment of Truth Movie
lowed the short-lived ¡992-93 TV series. (¡995 TVM); Head Above Water (¡996); The Crucible (¡996);
Raiders of the Lost Ark (¡98¡); Indiana Jones and the Temple of Nightmare in Big Sky Country (¡998); Swing Vote (¡999 TVM);
Doom (¡984); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989); Young In- Strange Justice (¡999 TVM)
diana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (¡994 TVM); Young Indiana
Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye (¡995 TVM); Young Indi- Jungle Jim
ana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen (¡996 TVM); Young Indi- Johnny Weissmuller hung up his loincloth after ¡948’s Tarzan and
ana Jones and Travels with Father (¡996 TVM) the Mermaids, but he didn’t stay out of the jungle for long. That
same year, he moved from RKO to Columbia and kicked o› a se-
Josser, Jimmy ries of low-budget action pictures for producer Sam Katzman.
British vaudeville comedian Ernie Lotinga played the “much put Weissmuller’s Jungle Jim, although based on a comic strip and
upon” Jimmy Josser on the stage and in a series of shorts before radio program, was clearly inspired by Tarzan (q.v.). Sure, Jungle
making the transition to feature-length films. P.C. Josser (¡93¡), Jim wore clothes and spoke in complete sentences (most of the
an adaptation of Lotinga’s play The Police Force, was a minor com- time), but the fast-paced plots (which got progressively sillier)
edy about Josser’s attempts to regain his job as a policeman. It were pure Burroughs. In the first film, Jim had a pet crow and a
pretty much set the pattern for the rest of the series, which briefly little dog. These “unjungle” denizens were later traded for a trusty
enjoyed minor popularity in its native country. chimp sidekick. The Jungle Jim films never rose above the level
P.C. Josser (¡93¡); Dr. Josser KC (¡93¡); Josser Joins the Navy of backlot juvenile features, but the supporting cast sometimes in-
(¡932); Josser on the River (¡932); Josser in the Army (¡932); Josser on cluded a surprising face or two, such as B-movie faves Buster
the Farm (¡934) Crabbe and Ray “Crash” Corrigan. The outrageousness of the
plots deserves special mention, too. Jim battled “man monsters”
Judges (Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land), pesky pygmies (Jungle Moon
While lawyers have garnered most of the courtroom limelight, Men), and Nazis (Voodoo Tiger). In the last three films, Weiss-
judges have proven themselves to be more versatile outside the muller dropped the Jungle Jim moniker and went by his real name.
typical legal settings. In The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean When the series ended in ¡955, he moved to television and made
(¡972), the legendary Western judge (Paul Newman) appointed the half-hour Jungle Jim syndicated series. It lasted for 26 episodes
himself to his post and heard cases in the local saloon. The judges and co-starred Martin Huston. See also Comic Strip Charac-
in ¡983’s The Star Chamber moonlighted as vigilantes who exe- ters.
cuted criminals that avoided sentencing due to legal loopholes. Jungle Jim (¡948); The Lost Tribe (¡949); Captive Girl (¡950);
Robert Van Gulick’s Judge Dee, a seventh-century oriental de- Mark of the Gorilla (¡950); Pygmy Island (¡950); Fury of the Congo
(¡95¡); Jungle Manhunt (¡95¡); Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land
tective, solved his only celluloid case in the engaging ¡974 TV
(¡952); Voodoo Tiger (¡952); Killer Ape (¡953); Savage Mutiny (¡953);
movie Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders. Female judges have Valley of the Headhunters (¡953); Jungle Maneaters (¡954); As Johnny
been represented by Susan Hayward in The Bachelor and the Weissmuller (but still considered part of Jungle Jim series): Cannibal
Bobby-Soxer (¡947) and Jill Clayburgh in First Monday in Octo- Attack (¡954); Devil Goddess (¡955); Jungle Moon Men (¡955)
114 THE KARATE KID

The Karate Kid rising star, played Lance in The Patient in Room ¡8. Jane Darwell,
Critics dubbed it a junior-league Rocky, but the ¡984 sleeper hit a good choice for the spinsterish detective, played Nurse Keats
The Karate Kid had its own winning formula built around the (not Keate) in 20th Century–Fox’s The Great Hospital Mystery
friendship between a gawky teen (Ralph Macchio) and a jani- (¡937). Although Eberhart’s Nurse Keate books resulted in strictly
tor/philosopher/martial artist (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita). Okay, it B-movies, she enjoyed a fine career as a mystery writer. The Mys-
was directed by Rocky veteran John Avildsen and did climax with tery Writers of America gave her the prestigious Grand Master
a dramatic fight in the ring — but there were no characters named award in ¡970. See also Hospitals.
Adrienne, Mick, or Apollo. In ¡986, The Karate Kid Part II took While the Patient Slept (¡935) (Aline MacMahon); The Murder
Morita and Macchio to the Orient with predictable results, being of Dr. Harrigan (¡936) (Kay Linaker as Sally Keating); Murder by
an Aristocrat (¡936) (Marguerite Churchill as Sally Keating); The
notable only for spawning Peter Cetera’s number one song “The Great Hospital Mystery (¡937) ( Jane Darwell as Nurse Keats); The
Glory of Love.” Audiences snubbed a third installment, released Patient in Room ¡8 (¡938) (Ann Sheridan); Mystery House (¡938)
in ¡989, which basically rehashed the original. Still, in ¡994, Co- (Ann Sheridan)
lumbia Pictures tried to breathe new life in the franchise by cast-
ing Hilary Swank as The Next Karate Kid. Despite another en- Keating, Sally see Keates, Nurse Sarah
gaging performance by Morita as Mr. Miyagi, the film adhered
too close to a tiresome formula and put an end to the series. For
other martial arts films, see American Ninja Series, Best of the Kettle, Ma and Pa
Best Series; Bloodfist Series; Kickboxer Series; and No Re- Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride made their debut as Ma and
treat, No Surrender Series. Pa Kettle in the ¡947 Universal comedy The Egg and I. Adapted
The Karate Kid (¡984); The Karate Kid Part II (¡986); The from Betty McDonald’s bestseller, the picture featured Claudette
Karate Kid Part III (¡989); The Next Karate Kid (¡994) Colbert as a Bostonian lass introduced to chicken farming by new
hubby Fred MacMurray. The Kettles were merely supporting
Karnstein Trilogy characters, but they were responsible for the film’s funniest scenes.
Universal reteamed Main and Kilbride the following year in the
Hammer Films, the “House of Horror” in the ¡960s, saw its once-
cornpone Donald O’Connor comedy Feudin’, Fussin’ and A-
loyal audience dwindling rapidly in the early ¡970s. To attract new
Fightin’ and then turned them into stars with ¡949’s Ma and Pa
horror fans, it updated its Christopher Lee Dracula (q.v.) films
Kettle. Produced for $200,000 to $400,000 each, the Kettle
and introduced a new series about lesbian vampire Mircalla Karn-
movies earned tidy profits for Universal through the mid–¡950s.
stein. Based on Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel Carmilla, ¡970’s The
The simple series formula usually found lazy, laidback Pa getting
Vampire Lovers pitted veteran vampire hunter Peter Cushing
into unintentional mischief, while Ma ruled the Kettle brood of
against buxom Ingrid Pitt as Mircalla. In the end, she lost her head
¡5 kids. Several entries derived humor by moving the Kettles
and was staked as well. She was resurrected in the form of Yutte
(temporarily) to big cities. Thus, the Kettle clan visited New York
Stensgaard for ¡97¡’s Lust for a Vampire, a lively sequel directed
(Go to Town), Paris (Vacation), and Hawaii (Waikiki). Richard
by horror veteran Jimmy Sangster. The series concluded with
Long played Tom, the Kettles’ oldest son, and other children in-
¡972’s Twins of Evil, in which Mircalla (now played by Katya
cluded Lori Nelson (Rosie) and Brett Halsey (Elwin). Pa’s Indian
Keith) takes a back seat to a tale about twin village girls — one an
cohort Crowbar was played by four actors: Vic Potel, Chief
innocent and one a vicious vampire. Again, Peter Cushing was
Yowlachie, Teddy Hart, and Zachary Charles. After seven films
around to provide the necessary heroics, although his character
in as many years, Percy Kilbride quit the series. There was no Pa
died in the process. Hammer was gasping for its dying breath, too.
Kettle in ¡956’s The Kettles in the Ozarks, although Arthur Hun-
It produced its last theatrical film in ¡974. See also Vampires.
nicutt’s Uncle Sedge was mighty similar. Pa was back, though, in
The Vampire Lovers (¡970); Lust for a Vampire (aka To Love a the guise of character actor Parker Fennelly in ¡957’s The Kettles
Vampire) (¡97¡); Twins of Evil (¡972)
on Old MacDonald’s Farm. It turned out not only to be the last
Kettle film, but also Marjorie Main’s final screen role. She retired
Keate, Nurse Sarah [Sally Keating] from acting and died in ¡975.
Mignon G. Eberhart’s medically-minded detective never made a The Egg and I (¡947); Ma and Pa Kettle (¡949); Ma and Pa
successful transition from page to screen in the ¡930s. In Eber- Kettle Go to Town (¡950); Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
hart’s novels, Sarah Keate was a middle-aged nurse who solved (¡95¡); Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (¡952); Ma and Pa Kettle on
mysteries with the assistance of young police detective Lance Vacation (¡953); Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (¡954); Ma and Pa Ket-
O’Leary. Aline MacMahon played a thirtyish Nurse Keate in tle at Waikiki (¡955); The Kettles in the Ozarks (¡956); The Kettles
¡935’s While the Patient Slept, a Warner Bros. adaptation of a on Old MacDonald’s Farm (¡957)
popular Eberhart novel. Guy Kibbee, who was 53, portrayed
Lance as a character altogether di›erent from the one in Eberhart’s Kickboxer Series
books and stories. Warner Bros. subsequently used the Keate se- Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme clinched his niche
ries as a training ground for promising actresses: Kay Linaker in the ¡990s action movie field with ¡989’s Kickboxer. The plot,
(The Murder of Dr. Harrigan), Marguerite Churchill (Murder by instantly recognizable to any martial arts film enthusiast, has Van
an Aristocrat), and Ann Sheridan (The Patient in Room ¡8 and Damme swearing vengeance against a vicious Thai fighter who
Mystery House). In the Linaker and Churchill movies, the hero- crippled his older brother, a world kickboxing champion. How-
ine’s name was changed to Sally Keating. Patric Knowles, another ever, to beat his adversary, Van Damme must master Muay-Thai
 KING KONG 115

fighting, which he can learn only from the elusive Dennis Chan Kill) (¡943) (Barrymore); Between Two Women (¡944) (Barrymore);
(Xian Chow). The outcome is never in doubt, of course, and Three Men in White (¡944) (Barrymore); Dark Delusion (aka Cyn-
Kickboxer fails to register the emotional uplift generated by Rocky thia’s Secret) (¡947) (Barrymore)
or even The Karate Kid. Still, the film’s popular success warranted
a sequel — without the charismatic Van Damme, unfortunately. Killer Tomatoes Series
Sasha Mitchell, best-known as J.R. Ewing’s illegitimate son on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (¡979) established its reputation as
TV’s Dallas, toplined ¡990’s Kickboxer 2: The Road Back. An odd one of the “worst films of all-time” in a remarkably short period.
choice, Mitchell did boast prior film fighting credentials, having Indeed, that status may have been the filmmakers’ aim when they
played a boxer in the ¡989 comedy-drama Spike of Bensonhurst. produced this sophomoric ode to low-budget, sci-fi camp. It’s
In Kickboxer 2, Mitchell plays Van Damme’s younger brother, not as bad as one would hope — the inane title song is downright
who attracts the attention of gangsters after getting behind on his funny and a Japanese character dubbed out-of-sync makes an
gym’s mortgage payments. Mitchell appeared in two more en- amusing tribute to sci-fi imports. The ¡988 sequel, Return of the
tries, Kickboxer 3: The Art of War and Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor. Killer Tomatoes, starred Anthony Starke as a pizza delivery boy
Mark Dacascos headlined Kickboxer 5: The Redemption (¡996), an who develops a crush on scientist John Astin’s daughter — only to
in-name only series entry. Xian Chow played martial arts master discover that she’s a tomato converted into a woman! Astin re-
Dennis Chan in the first three films. For other martial arts films, turned as Professor Gangreen in the next two films. A Saturday
see American Ninja; Best of the Best Series; Bloodfist Series; morning animated series followed on the Fox TV network. See
The Karate Kid; and No Retreat, No Surrender Series (in which also Plants.
an unknown Van Damme appears briefly). Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (¡979); Return of the Killer Toma-
Kickboxer (¡989); Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (¡990); Kick- toes (¡988); Killer Tomatoes Strike Back (¡990); Killer Tomatoes Eat
boxer 3: The Art of War (¡992); Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (¡994); France! (¡99¡)
Kickboxer 5: The Redemption (¡996)
King Kong
Kildare, Dr. James “The Eighth Wonder of the World,” as showman Carl Denham
The year after Joel McCrea introduced Dr. James Kildare in Para- proclaimed Kong in the ¡933 original, was actually a three-foot
mount’s Interns Can’t Take Money (¡937), MGM launched an im- model brought to life by master stop-motion animator Willis
mensely popular Kildare film series starring Lew Ayres. The sup- O’Brien. The marvelous O’Brien had previously performed his
porting cast at Blair General Hospital was a potent one, featuring camera trickery on the dinosaurs (q.v.) in ¡925’s The Lost World.
wheelchair-bound Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie, Laraine His post–Kong work included some excellent e›ects in the seldom-
Day as Mary Lamont, and Nell Craig as Nurse Parker. Ayres and shown ¡933 sequel Son of Kong and another giant friendly ape
company made nine movies, dealing e‡ciently with daily med- opus, ¡949’s Mighty Joe Young. But O’Brien’s contribution accounts
ical crises and topical subjects like insulin shock. Then, in ¡94¡, for just part — albeit a crucial one — of King Kong’s enduring suc-
the series stunned moviegoers with Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day, in cess. The other critical ingredients are the film’s simplistic beauty-
which Day’s character was killed o›. That same year, Ayres and-the-beast theme and its capability to make Kong a character
elicited a wave of bad publicity by refusing to enter the army on audiences can identify with. Subsequent Kong films have
the grounds he was a conscientious objector. MGM promptly floundered drastically on both counts. Japan monster moviemaker
dropped Ayres from the Kildare series, although the actor even- Inoshira Honda revived Kong after a 29-year hiatus for “the colos-
tually enlisted and served in combat. Rather than casting a new sal clash of all time,” ¡963’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. Featuring a
Kildare, MGM shifted the series focus to Barrymore with ¡942’s man in an ape suit as Kong, it was a dull a›air, of interest only in
Calling Dr. Gillespie. Later that year, Van Johnson was introduced that Kong won the fight in U.S. prints and Godzilla won in the
as Dr. Gillespie’s New Assistant, a role he continued in four of the Japanese version. Honda mounted a sequel of sorts with ¡968’s
final five Gillespie pictures. Throughout the Kildare/Gillespie se- King Kong Escapes, which pitted the giant ape against a robotic
ries, MGM introduced up-and-coming stars like future Marcus replica called Mechani-Kong. At least, Honda did not dare com-
Welby Robert Young, Donna Reed, and child star Margaret pare it to the original Kong. Unfortunately, Dino De Laurentiis did
O’Brien. Dr. Kildare came to television in ¡96¡ with Richard just that with his $24 million man-in-ape-suit ¡976 remake. Va-
Chamberlain in the lead and Raymond Massey as Dr. Gillespie. riety dubbed it “a brilliant remake,” but most critics drubbed it and
It enjoyed high ratings and a five-year run. A half-hour syndicated plans for an immediate sequel were temporarily scrapped. How-
program, Young Dr. Kildare, lasted for 24 episodes in ¡972. See ever, that sequel finally reached the screen in ¡986 as King Kong
also Hospitals. Lives. Kong, it turns out, had survived his fall from the World
Interns Can’t Take Money (aka You Can’t Take Money) (¡937) Trade Center, but required a blood transfusion. Enter Mrs. Kong.
( Joel McCrea); Young Dr. Kildare (¡938) (Lew Ayres); Calling Dr. This ludicrous picture turned the giant ape into a giant turkey at
Kildare (¡939) (Ayres); The Secret of Dr. Kildare (¡939) (Ayres); Dr. the box-o‡ce. Nevertheless, it introduced star Linda Hamilton to
Kildare Goes Home (¡940) (Ayres); Dr. Kildare’s Crisis (¡940) the beauty and the beast angle — excellent training for her ¡987 TV
(Ayres); Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case (¡940) (Ayres); The People vs. Dr.
Kildare (aka My Life Is Yours) (¡94¡) (Ayres); Dr. Kildare’s Wedding
series Beauty and the Beast. See also Apes and Monkeys.
Day (aka Mary Names the Day) (¡94¡) (Ayres); Dr. Kildare’s Victory King Kong (¡933); Son of Kong (¡933); King Kong vs. Godzilla
(¡94¡) (aka The Debutante and the Doctor) (Ayres); Calling Dr. (aka Kingukongu tai Gojira) (¡963); King Kong Escapes (aka
Gillespie (¡942) (Lionel Barrymore); Dr. Gillespie’s New Assistant Kingukongu No Gyakushu) (¡968); King Kong (¡976); King Kong
(¡942) (Barrymore); Dr. Gillespie’s Criminal Case (aka Crazy to Lives (¡986)
116 KOJAK, THEO

Kojak, Theo Sergeant Ryker (¡968). With exceptions like the latter film, Korean
¡973’s fact-based The Marcus-Nelson Murders introduced bald, War pictures became increasingly scarce after Gregory Peck closed
lollipop-licking police lieutenant Theo Kojak to TV audiences. out the ¡950s with the frightening, realistic Pork Chop Hill. The
The film was adapted from Selwyn Rabb’s book Justice in the Back ¡963 Kirk Douglas picture The Hook was a brutally e›ective por-
Room, an account of the ¡963 Wylie-Ho›ert murders which trait of combat. John Frankenheimer’s political thriller The
played a major role in the Supreme Court’s Miranda decision. Manchurian Candidate (¡962) turned a Korean vet into a brain-
Savalas’s Emmy-nominated portrayal resulted in the popular washed assassin. Robert Altman’s film version of M*A*S*H (¡970)
¡973–78 Kojak TV series. After a vacation from the role, Savalas showed battlefield physicians acting crazy in order to maintain
revived Kojak in two TV movies before returning on a regular their sanity in face of war’s atrocities. It made a successful transi-
basis as a revolving character in ¡989 on The ABC Saturday Mys- tion to television in ¡972, where it enjoyed an ¡¡-year run.
tery. See also Television Series Reunion Films. Fixed Bayonets (¡95¡); I Want You (¡95¡); The Steel Helmet
(¡95¡); A Yank in Korea (¡95¡); Battle Circus (¡952); Battle Zone
The Marcus-Nelson Murders (aka Kojak and the Marcus-Nelson (¡952); One Minute to Zero (¡952); Retreat, Hell! (¡952); Mission Over
Murders) (¡973 TVM); Kojak: The Belarus Files (¡985 TVM); Korea (¡953); Combat Squad (¡953); The Glory Brigade (¡953); Sabre
Kojak: The Price of Justice (¡987 TVM) Jet (¡953); Torpedo Alley (¡953); Take the High Ground (¡953); Bridges
at Toko-Ri (¡954); Dragonfly Squadron (¡954); Flight Nurse (¡954);
Men of the Fighting Lady (¡954); Prisoner of War (¡954); Battle Taxi
Korean War (¡955); Hell’s Horizon (¡955); Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
If not for the escapades of TV’s Hawkeye Pierce and the rest of (¡955); Target Zero (¡955); Hell in Korea (aka A Hill in Korea) (¡956);
the M*A*S*H unit, the Korean War might have slipped into rel- Hold Back the Night (¡956); The Rack (¡956); Strange Intruder (¡956);
ative obscurity. And yet, during the days when American forces Men in War (¡957); Time Limit (¡957); The Hunters (¡958); Jet At-
fought in Korea, the war was a popular film subject. Significantly, tack (¡958); Pork Chop Hill (¡959); Battle Flame (¡959); All the Young
Men (¡960); Marines, Let’s Go! (¡96¡); Sniper’s Ridge (¡96¡); War Hunt
these war films of the ¡950s di›ered in tone from their World War
(¡96¡); The Manchurian Candidate (¡962); The Nun and the Sergeant
II counterparts of the ¡940s. While escapist entertainment and (¡962); War Is Hell (¡963); The Hook (¡963); Sergeant Ryker (¡968);
glossy romances still drew crowds, many of these new pictures M*A*S*H (¡970); The Reluctant Heroes (¡97¡ TVM); Collision Course
were grim, realistic adventures uninterested in glorifying war. Cult (¡975 TVM); Inchon (¡982)
movie favorite Samuel Fuller produced two violent, powerful Ko-
rean War adventures in ¡95¡: The Steel Helmet and Fixed Bayonets. Ku Klux Klan and Other White
The first film dealt with the war’s brutal ironies, beginning with Supremacists
a sergeant whose unit is wiped out, while he alone survives be- Controversy has stalked the KKK from its inception and has nat-
cause of his helmet. The horror of war dominated Fixed Bayonets, urally overflowed into its sporadic film appearances. D.W.
as evidenced by a chilling scene where soldiers put their feet to- Gri‡th’s landmark ¡9¡5 film Birth of a Nation continues to incur
gether to avoid frostbite — and one foot, already without feeling, the wrath of racial rights groups for its glorification of the KKK.
is left out. Similar tough-minded films like Retreat, Hell! (¡952) Based on Thomas Dixon, Jr.’s The Clansmen, Gri‡th’s film ends
and Men in War (¡957) substituted sturdy stars (e.g., Frank Love- with a Southern family being rescued from marauding black men
joy, Robert Ryan) for big-name draws. Nevertheless, Hollywood by heroic members of the KKK. The National Association for the
favorites like Humphrey Bogart (Battle Circus) and Robert Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) mounted an e›ective
Mitchum (One Minute to Zero) donned fatigues long enough to boycott of the film on its initial release. That inspired Gri‡th to
fight a skirmish or two. William Holden starred as a jet pilot in write a defense of his film, a pamphlet entitled “The Rise and Fall
love with Grace Kelly in the popular hit Bridges at Toko-Ri (¡954) of Free Speech in America.” The ¡936 Black Legion never referred
and then romanced Jennifer Jones in Hong Kong during the war to the KKK, but the racist organization which recruited
in Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (¡955). Lower-budgeted Ko- Humphrey Bogart was obviously patterned after the Ku Klux
rean War pictures provided roles for an impressive crop of rising Klan. The Texans (¡938), a post–Civil War Western, featured a
young stars, such as Lee Marvin (The Glory Brigade), Charles subplot involving the KKK. It was not until ¡950’s Storm Warn-
Bronson (Target Zero), Robert Redford (War Hunt), and Michael ing that another film dealt exclusively — and frankly — with the
Caine and Robert Shaw (both in Hell in Korea). Future best-sell- Ku Klux Klan. Ginger Rogers starred as a woman who sought help
ing author Tom Tryon (Harvest Home) played a soldier on shore from liberal D.A. Ronald Reagan after learning that her sister
leave from Korea in Marines, Let Go! (¡96¡). Veteran Western char- (Doris Day) has married a racist, and possibly murderous, Klans-
acter actor L.Q. Jones and Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimble on Green man. It was far superior to the ¡974 fiasco The Klansman, an un-
Acres) had supporting roles in, respectively, Target Zero and The likely all-star mishmash starring Richard Burton, Lee Marvin,
Glory Brigade. Two decades later, these two would team to pro- O.J. Simpson, and Linda Evans. The ¡979 TV movie Attack on
duce and direct the science fiction cult hit A Boy and His Dog Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan was an engrossing fact-based
(¡975). The e›ects of the Korean War back home in the states was drama about the murder of three civil rights workers in Missis-
a rare film subject, although ¡95¡’s I Want You dealt with it sen- sippi in ¡964. The same case provided the basis for another fine
sitively. On the other hand, ¡953’s Take the High Ground was a film, ¡988’s Oscar-nominated picture Mississippi Burning. Other
routine boot camp picture about soldiers undergoing intensive fact-based films about white supremist groups include: In the
training prior to being shipped to Korea. The horror of war lasted Line of Fire: Manhunt in the Dakotas (¡99¡), Ghosts of Mississippi
beyond the battlefield for the soldiers tried for treason in gripping (¡996), and Rosewood (¡997). Fried Green Tomatoes (¡992) and
court-martial dramas like The Rack (¡956), Time Limit (¡957), and Sommersby (¡993) featured subplots involving the KKK.
 LASSIE 117

Birth of a Nation (¡9¡5); Black Legion (¡936); The Texans (Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were executive producers)
(¡938); Storm Warning (¡950); The FBI Story (¡959); The Black and its release was perfectly timed to benefit from a “dinosaur
Klansman (¡966); The Klansman (¡974); Attack on Terror: The FBI craze” among U.S. youngsters. The premise owes a lot to Bambi—
vs. the Ku Klux Klan (¡975 TVM); Brotherhood of Death (¡976);
the film opens with the death of a young brontosaurus’ mother.
Undercover with the KKK (aka The Freedom Riders; My Undercover
Years with the KKK) (¡979 TVM); In the Homeland (¡987 TVM); Littlefoot, the little dino, goes in search of the Great Valley, a land
Betrayed (¡988); Mississippi Burning (¡988); Unconquered (¡989 of peace described by his mother. Along the way, he befriends
TVM); Dead-Bang (¡989); Cross of Fire (¡989 TVM); Murder in other young dinosaurs who join his quest: Cera, a triceratops;
Mississippi (¡990 TVM); Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story (¡99¡ Ducky, an anatosaurus; Petrie, a pterodactyl; and Spike, a
TVM); In the Line of Fire: Manhunt in the Dakotas (¡99¡ TVM); stegosaurus. This simple tale scored big at the box-o‡ce, al-
Fried Green Tomatoes (¡992); Romper Stomper (¡992); Sommersby though its success was eclipsed a year later when Disney revived
(¡993); Highway of Heartache (¡994); Sophie & the Moonhanger
its fortunes with The Little Mermaid. Bluth continued to make
(¡995); A Time to Kill (¡996); The Chamber (¡996); Ghosts of Mis-
sissippi (¡996); Divided by Hate (¡997 TVM); Rosewood (¡997); animated films throughout the ¡990s, but he never again mounted
Ambushed (¡998); American History X (¡998) a serious challenge against Disney. In ¡994, MCA Home Enter-
tainment released The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Ad-
Labor Unions and Strikes venture directly to videotape. It did well enough to warrant ad-
ditional series entries, though none of these videotapes captured
The sight of defiant workers and waving picket signs can form
the rich color and detail of the original film. See also Animated
powerful images capable of transcending the themes of even
Films (Feature Length); Dinosaurs.
mediocre films. In the hands of a Sergei Eisenstein, the result can
be chilling, as was the case with Strike (¡924), the famed direc- The Land Before Time (¡988); The Land Before Time II: The Great
Valley Adventure (¡994); The Land Before Time III: The Time of the
tor’s gripping account of a ¡9¡2 revolt against working conditions Great Giving (¡995); The Land Before Time IV: The Journey Through
in Czarist Russia. Equally compelling was John Sayles’ Matewan the Mists (¡996); The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island
(¡987), the fact-based story of a West Virginia coal mine labor (¡997); The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (¡998)
dispute circa ¡920 which erupted into violence and bloodletting.
British films, such as ¡944’s The Agitator and ¡960’s The Angry Si-
lence, have best explored the roles played by powerful individu-
Lassie
als on both sides of the picket fence. The latter film concerned a The caring collie made her debut in ¡943’s Lassie, Come Home,
worker ostracized by his peers for refusing to join the walkout. one of the finest of all dog (q.v.) movies. Eric Knight wrote the
The British even satirized its labor problems with ¡960’s cunning original novel about a family forced to part with its cherished col-
farce I’m All Right, Jack. It was much more adroitly handled than lie, which manages to overcome all obstacles and return to them.
¡958’s Never Steal Anything Small, an uncomfortable American The MGM cast was an exceptional one: established child star
musical starring James Cagney as a crooked labor leader. In ¡992, Roddy McDowell, promising ¡¡-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, plus
Jack Nicholson and James Woods starred in, respectively, the adults Donald Crisp, Nigel Bruce, and Elsa Lanchester. Pal, a
union leader biographies Ho›a and Teamster Boss: The Jackie male collie, played Lassie. Donald Crisp, Nigel Bruce, and Pal re-
Presser Story. turned in the ¡945 follow-up Son of Lassie, with Peter Lawford
and June Lockhart (shades of foreshadowing) playing adult ver-
Strike (¡924); Metropolis (¡925); The Guns of Loos (¡927); The
Revolt of the Fishermen (¡934); Black Fury (¡935); The Agitator sions of McDowell and Taylor. Elizabeth Taylor was back, how-
(¡944); The Whistle at Eaton Falls (aka Richer than the Earth) ever, for the following year’s Courage of Lassie, a confusing entry
(¡95¡); Salt of the Earth (¡953); Inside Detroit (¡955); The Garment in which the dog (played by Pal again) was actually called Bill,
Jungle (¡957); The Pajama Game (¡957); Chicago Confidential not Lassie. Fortunately, Lassie was Lassie in ¡948’s The Hills of
(¡957); Never Steal Anything Small (¡958); The Big Operator (aka Home, a colorful entry that reunited Crisp and the collie and fea-
Anatomy of a Syndicate) (¡959); The Angry Silence (¡960); I’m All tured the always enjoyable Edmund Gwenn and a young Janet
Right, Jack (¡960); Men of Brazil (¡960); Flame in the Streets (¡96¡);
Leigh. MGM’s last three Lassie entries were unremarkable pro-
Jessica (¡962); Adalen 3¡ (¡969); Ramparts of Clay (¡97¡); Harlan
County, U.S.A. (¡977); Sleeping Dogs (¡977); Blue Collar (¡978); grammers, although ¡949’s The Sun Comes Up was notable as
F.I.S.T. (¡978); Norma Rae (¡979); Keeping On (¡98¡); Power (¡980 Jeanette MacDonald’s final film appearance. In ¡954, Lassie em-
TVM); The River (¡984); A Matter of Sex (¡984 TVM); The Killing barked on a long-running, immensely popular TV series. Dur-
Floor (¡984 TVM); Matewan (¡987); Last Exit to Brooklyn (¡989); ing the original ¡954–7¡ Lassie run, the collie was paired with an
American Dream (¡989); Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story assortment of owners, including Je› (Tommy Rettig), Timmy
(¡992 TVM); Ho›a (¡992); The Replacements (2000) and his Mom ( Jon Provost and June Lockhart), and Corey the
forest ranger (Robert Bray). Several TV series episodes were edited
The Land Before Time Series together for a theatrical feature called Lassie’s Great Adventure
During the ¡980s, Don Bluth challenged the Disney studios as (¡963). The Magic of Lassie (¡978) and Lassie (¡994) attempted to
the leading producer of quality theatrical animated films. While revive the courageous collie’s career. But despite good casts, in-
Disney struggled temporarily with less-than-stellar e›orts like cluding James Stewart and Richard Farnsworth, these modest
The Black Cauldron and Oliver & Company, Bluth scored three family films attracted little interest. See also Dogs.
critical and popular hits. Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH (¡982) and Lassie, Come Home (¡943); Son of Lassie (¡945); Courage of
An American Tail (¡986) o›ered charming tales of mice families, Lassie (¡946); The Hills of Home (¡948); Challenge for Lassie (¡949);
while The Land Before Time (¡988) tackled a far bigger subject The Sun Comes Up (¡949); The Painted Hills (¡95¡); Lassie’s Great
with its adorable dinosaurs. The film boasted a strong pedigree Adventure (¡963); The Magic of Lassie (¡978); Lassie (¡994)
118 LEMON POPSICLE SERIES

Lemon Popsicle Series in the white, single, and dangerously short-fused Martin Riggs
Former Cannon Films moguls Menahem Golan and Yorum (Mel Gibson). As they bicker their way through the inevitable
Globus produced this Israeli series of nostalgic teen sex comedies. shoot-outs and explosions, Murtaugh and Riggs acquire mutual
The films proved to be immensely popular in Europe, inspiring respect for one another. It’s a classic buddy action film (q.v.)
Cannon to produce an Americanized version in ¡98¡, appropri- premise. The formula was altered for ¡989’s Lethal Weapon 2,
ately titled The Last American Virgin. Boaz Davidson directed which stressed character development and humor, while still
this variation as well as the first four Popsicle films. maintaining enough fist fights and gunplay to please action fans.
Joe Pesci provided most of the laughs, with a hyperactive turn as
Lemon Popsicle (aka Eskimo Limon) (¡978); Lemon Popsicle II
(aka Yotz im Kavua; Greasy Kids Stu›; Going Steady) (¡979); Lemon
Leo Getz, a money-laundering bank accountant requiring witness
Popsicle III: Let’s Go to Paris (aka Shifshuf Naim; Hot Bubblegum) protection from the detective odd couple. Pesci popped up again
(¡980); The Last American Virgin (¡98¡); Lemon Popsicle IV (aka in Lethal Weapon 3 (¡992), which introduced Rene Russo as a
Sapihes; Private Popsicle) (¡982); Lemon Popsicle V (aka Roman karate-kicking internal a›airs investigator who catches Riggs’ eye.
Za’ir; Baby Love) (¡983); Lemon Popsicle VI (aka Ha-Rimu Ogen; Their unusual romance, Glover’s easygoing charm, and Pesci’s
Up Your Anchor) (¡984); Lemon Popsicle VII (aka Ahava Tzeira; comic outbursts generated $80 million in North American box-
Young Love) (¡987) o‡ce rentals. The whole gang — Gibson, Glover, Pesci, and
Russo — returned six years later for Lethal Weapon 4. Despite the
Leprechaun Series addition of sharp-tongued comedian Chris Rock and martial
Writer-director Mark Jones deserves credit for a novel idea, if artist Jet Li, this formulaic entry lacked the box-o‡ce sizzle of its
nothing else. In ¡993’s Leprechaun, he transformed one of the predecessors. The Lethal Weapon films were spoofed, with
Irish pranksters into a wise-cracking killer from the Freddy mediocre results, in ¡993’s National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon ¡.
Krueger school of slasher movie villains. Warwick Davis head- See also Buddy Action Films.
lined as a 600-year-old leprechaun who travels to North Dakota Lethal Weapon (¡987); Lethal Weapon 2 (¡989); Lethal Weapon
in a suitcase in search of his stolen gold coins. He kills several peo- 3 (¡992); Lethal Weapon 4 (¡998)
ple in supposedly humorous ways (e.g., after dispatching a coin
collector with a pogo stick, the leprechaun quips: “He’ll bounce Letters
back in no time”). He meets his end when a young boy shoots a Letters have brought lovers together, torn marriages apart, in-
four-leaf clover wrapped around a piece of gum in the lep- criminated the innocent, blackmailed the guilty, and caused end-
rechaun’s mouth. Apparently, moviegoers found the idea of a less misunderstandings. Pen pals James Stewart and Margaret
nasty leprechaun amusing, for Leprechaun turned into a sleeper Sullavan fell in love through their letters, not realizing they were
hit. It also introduced viewers to Jennifer Aniston, who would find coworkers in The Shop Around the Corner (¡940). A little girl sent
far greater fame a year later on the TV series Friends. The re- her mother’s photo to her lonely soldier pen pal in Never Say
maining films in the Leprechaun series neither boasted famous Goodbye (¡946), never suspecting that he would come visiting.
alumni nor qualified as sleeper hits. Instead, they followed the first Similar pen pal deceptions occurred in ¡945’s A Letter for Evie and
film’s formula, with the leprechaun either seeking a bride or try- the ¡947 hit comedy Dear Ruth (q.v.). One cannot always be cer-
ing to recover his gold. As with the Nightmare on Elm Street se- tain of the identity of a letter’s author. Cyrano de Bergerac ( Jose
ries (q.v.), the emphasis on humor increased with each entry — Ferrer) wrote poignant love letters to the beautiful Roxanne, but
in Leprechaun 3, the Irish prankster even encounters an unlucky signed the name of his hapless friend Christian in the ¡950 adap-
Elvis impersonator. The three-feet, four-inch Davis played the tation of Edmund Rostand’s celebrated play. Jennifer Jones
title character in all four films. Davis is probably best-known for su›ered amnesia in Love Letters (¡945) after learning that her
his role as Willow Ufgood in Ron Howard’s ¡988 fantasy Willow. wartime love letters were not written by her fiancé. The deceiv-
See also Little People. ing letters penned by the devious Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn
Leprechaun (¡993); Leprechaun 2 (aka One Wedding and a Lot Close) in Dangerous Liaisons (¡988) eventually led to the death of
of Funerals) (¡994); Leprechaun 3 (¡995); Leprechaun 4 in Space her lover ( John Malkovich). Celeste Holm provided the voice of
(aka Leprechaun 4) (¡997); A Very Unlucky Leprechaun (¡998); Lep- the authoress of A Letter to Three Wives (¡949), in which three
rechaun in the Hood (2000) ladies learn that one of their husbands has run o› with Holm’s
character. Paul Lukas played a converted Nazi incriminated by
L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies see Malibu Express false letters sent by a former friend in Address Unknown (¡944).
Loretta Young tried to retrieve another incriminating letter, one
Lethal Weapon Series framing her for murder, in ¡95¡’s Cause for Alarm. Pat Boone was
The continuing popularity of a film series almost always hinges similarly panic-stricken over a hard-to-retrieve letter in the British
on its ability to evolve over time. Even the Bond films modified comedy Never Put It in Writing (¡964). An unsigned love note
their popular formula by emphasizing gadgetry and humor dropped into a high school locker revealed numerous hidden feel-
significantly more as the series progressed. On a smaller scale, the ings in the pleasant ¡985 comedy Secret Admirer. Misdirected let-
four Lethal Weapons films have evolved from their original intent. ters reaching their destination after a year-long delay provided the
That may explain why they have thrived at the box-o‡ce, while premise for the three-part TV movie The Letters and its sequel
a 48 HRS. sequel received a series-killing, lukewarm reception. Letters from Three Lovers (both ¡973). 84 Charing Cross Road
In the first Lethal Weapon (¡987), detective Roger Murtaugh (¡987) traced the charming 20-year letter-writing relationship
(Danny Glover), a stable, black family man, gets a new partner between a New York book lover (Anne Bancroft) and a British
 LIGHTNING 119

book dealer (Anthony Hopkins). See also Dear Ruth Series; man with a crush on librarian Jean Simmons and a bizarre desire
Postal Workers. to become a tree.
The Strong Man (¡926); Poison Pen (¡939); The Shop Around Scandal Street (¡938); Adventure (¡945); Good News (¡947);
the Corner (¡940); The Letter (¡940); Le Corbeau (aka The Raven) Katie Did It (¡95¡); Elephant Walk (¡954); Storm Center (¡956);
(¡943); Address Unknown (¡944); Love Letters (¡945); A Letter for Desk Set (aka His Other Woman) (¡957); The Music Man (¡962);
Evie (¡945); Never Say Goodbye (¡946); The Captive Heart (¡946); Only Two Can Play (¡962); The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964);
Dear Ruth (¡947); The Lost Moment (¡947); Letter from an Un- Goodbye, Columbus (¡969); Mr. Sycamore (¡974); Celine and Julie
known Woman (¡948); A Letter to Three Wives (¡949); Cyrano de Go Boating (¡974); Something Wicked This Way Comes (¡983); O›
Bergerac (¡950); Cause for Alarm (¡95¡); The ¡3th Letter (¡95¡); De- Beat (¡986); The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag (¡992); Tale of a
moniaque (¡958); Fate Takes a Hand (¡96¡); Never Put It in Writing Vampire (¡993); The Pagemaster (¡994); Daisies in December (¡995
(¡964); Dear Brigitte (¡965); The Go-Between (¡97¡); The Letters TVM); The Sphinx (aka Le Sphinx) (¡995); Necronomicon: Book of
(¡973 TVM); Letters from Three Lovers (¡973 TVM); No Sex Please, the Dead (¡996); The Mummy (¡999); Where the Heart Is (2000)
We’re British (¡973); Dirty Tricks (¡980); Touched by Love (aka To
Elvis, with Love) (¡980); The Letter (¡982 TVM); Love Letters (aka
My Love Letters) (¡983); A Letter to Three Wives (¡985 TVM); Se-
Lighthouses
cret Admirer (¡985); 84 Charing Cross Road (¡987); Dear America: Not surprisingly, horror and fantasy films have made the best use
Letters Home from Vietnam (¡987 TVM); Dangerous Liaisons of lighthouse settings. The Rhedosaurus in The Beast from 20,000
(¡988); The Anonymous Letter (aka El Anonimo) (¡990); The Love Fathoms (¡953) attacked a lighthouse in a sequence adapted from
She Sought (¡990 TVM); Dear God (¡996); The Daytrippers (¡996); Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Foghorn.” Adrienne Barbeau
Central Station (¡998); The Love Letter (¡998 TVM); Message in a operated a lighthouse radio station in John Carpenter’s The Fog
Bottle (¡999); Love Letters (¡999 TVM); The Love Letter (¡999);
Sealed with a Kiss (¡999 TVM); Mermaid (2000 TVM); Reindeer
(¡980)— at least until pirate ghosts with grappling hooks forced
Games (2000) her to abandon the broadcast booth and seek refuge on the top
of the cylindrical structure. People-eating plants harassed light-
Levinson’s Baltimore Series house resident Janette Scott in ¡963’s Day of the Tri‡ds. She dis-
covered that, like most plants, tri‡ds don’t care for salt water. In
Writer-director Barry Levinson has made four films set in his
fantasy films, a lighthouse played a prominent role during the
hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, during the ¡950s and ¡960s.
climactic storm in Portrait of Jennie (¡948) and Michael Red-
Although connected only by their shared setting and time period,
grave’s life changed for the better after experiencing ghostly vi-
the quartet of films are often referred to as a series. Diner (¡982),
sions in his lighthouse home in Thunder Rock (¡942). The dull
which marked Levinson’s debut as a writer-director, focused on
side of lighthouse living was displayed in The Light at the Edge of
the lives of five young men contemplating life and a Baltimore
the World (¡97¡), in which lighthouse keeper Kirk Douglas fights
Colts football championship during the final week of December
boring pirates (led by Yul Brynner) for the a›ections of boring
¡959. The title characters in Tin Men (¡987) were two rival alu-
Samantha Eggar. The sweet side found Shirley Temple brighten-
minum siding salesmen (Danny DeVito and Richard Dreyfuss)
ing up lighthouse-keeper Guy Kibbee’s life in Captain January
who sold their products in Baltimore in ¡963. The semiautobio-
(¡936).
graphical Avalon (¡990) spanned several decades of a family’s life
Lighthouse by the Sea (¡925); Captain January (¡936); Sh! The
in Baltimore, although much of it took place during the ¡950s and
Octopus (¡938); Thunder Rock (¡942); Seven Miles from Alcatraz
revolved around a family business that capitalized on the grow- (¡942); A Stolen Life (¡946); Portrait of Jennie (¡948); The Beast
ing sales of television sets. Finally, Liberty Heights (¡999) focused from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953); The Monster of Piedras Blancas (¡958);
on a Jewish family in Baltimore in ¡954 that dealt with race and A Summer Place (¡959); Tormented (¡960); Day of the Tri‡ds
religious issues. (¡963); Sandy the Seal (¡969); The Light at the Edge of the World
Diner (¡984); Tin Men (¡987); Avalon (¡990); Liberty Heights (¡97¡); Pete’s Dragon (¡977); The Fog (¡980); Eye of the Needle
(¡999) (¡98¡); Final Analysis (¡992); Dead of Night (aka Lighthouse) (¡999)

Librarians Lightning
It’s been di‡cult for movie librarians to move away from their The most common uses of lightning in the cinema have been to
stereotyped image as shy, conservative bookworms. Despite their restore life and destroy life. In the former category, James Whales’
star power, Greer Garson (Adventure), June Allyson (Good News), Frankenstein (¡93¡) serves as the best example of a film where a
Shirley Jones (The Music Man), and Barbara Eden (The Seven mad scientist used lightning to create a “monster.” The Ghost of
Faces of Dr. Lao) did little to alter the stereotyping. In contrast, Frankenstein (¡942), a routine entry in the same Frankenstein se-
Bette Davis portrayed a fiery librarian fired for her refusal to cen- ries (q.v.), warrants mention for a truly bizarre scene of the mon-
sor a book on communism in ¡956’s Storm Center. Jewish college ster enjoying himself as lightning strikes his electrodes repeatedly.
dropout–turned-librarian Richard Benjamin ignored social con- Lightning restored life to an evil Spanish conquistador in Giant
ventions in his pursuit of country club heiress Ali MacGraw in from the Unknown (¡958), a friendly caveman in Dinosaurus!
the film version of Philip Roth’s frank best-seller Goodbye, Colum- (¡960), and even that famous hockey-masked killer in Friday the
bus (¡969). Meek librarian Jason Robards, Jr., turned out to be ¡3th, Part VI: Jason Lives (¡986). It also struck a nice little robot
the only person in town with enough courage and will power to and brought it to life in Short Circuit (¡986). Lightning even
confront the mysterious Mr. Dark in Ray Bradbury’s chilling, played a key role in somehow transferring a serial killer’s soul into
turn-of-the-century fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes a mainframe computer in Ghost in the Machine (¡993). In con-
(¡983). In the ¡974 oddity Mr. Sycamore, Robards played a mail- trast, several films have used lightning for lethal purposes. In Scars
120 LIONS AND TIGERS

of Dracula (¡970), the vampire count (Christopher Lee) is struck stalking their prey. Escaped animals in urban settings have proven
by lightning (and set ablaze) when he pulls a poorly-thrown iron to be a continuing problem ever since a black leopard slipped
stake from his stomach. A sudden bolt provides quite a jolt at the away from Jean Brooks during a publicity stunt in ¡943’s The
climax of The Bad Seed (¡956). A young man with mysterious Leopard Man. Films employing a similar premise include ¡964’s
powers loses his mother to a stroke of lightning and becomes a A Tiger Walks and two ¡978 TV movies, Maneaters are Loose! and
human lightning rod himself in Powder (¡995). Lightning hit the The Beasts are on the Streets. The ¡953 jungle adventure Bwana
cockpit of a Boeing 747 in Panic in the Skies (¡996) and an air- Devil introduced the cinema’s first 3-D cat and promised to “put
borne dirigible in Cecil B. DeMille’s Madame Satan (¡930). Of a lion in your lap.” Stop-action animator Ray Harryhausen cre-
course, lightning has not always been used for life and death pur- ated a saber-toothed tiger for his colorful fantasy Sinbad and the
poses. In Just Imagine (¡930), a man is struck by lighting in ¡930 Eye of the Tiger (¡977). No discussion of big cats would be com-
and awakens to find himself in ¡980. In contrast, a lightning bolt plete without mentioning the animated pencil-thin panther with
sends Tyrone Power into the past in the romantic I’ll Never Forget the pink skin that hams his way through the opening credits of
You (¡95¡). Christopher Lambert played the Lightning God, Lord Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther (q.v.) films. See also Cats.
Rayden, in the film version of the video game Mortal Kombat The Extra Girl (¡923); Sequoia (aka Malibu) (¡934); East of
(¡995). Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) cut his “Wonderboy” bat Java (¡935); Bringing Up Baby (¡938); The Wizard of Oz (¡939);
from a tree struck by lightning in the baseball parable The Nat- The Jungle Book (¡942); The Leopard Man (¡943); Maneater of Ku-
ural (¡984). Aidan Quinn played a man who was hit by lightning maon (¡948); Samson and Delilah (¡949); Androcles and the Lion
after questioning God in Commandments (¡997). Several traveling (¡952); Fearless Fagan (¡952); The Lion and the Horse (¡952); Track
of the Cat (¡954); The African Lion (¡955); Cat Girl (¡957); The
salesmen have sold lightning rods in movies such as The Rainmaker Flute and the Arrow (¡957); Harry Black and the Tiger (aka Harry
(¡956) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (¡983). Peter Green- Black) (¡958); Jungle Cat (¡960); Ursus in the Valley of Lions (¡96¡);
away’s 25-minute documentary Act of God (¡980) was about peo- The Lion (¡962); Rampage (¡963); A Tiger Walks (¡964); Flu›y
ple struck by lightning. See also Hurricanes and Tornadoes. (¡965); Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (¡965); Born Free (¡966); The
Madame Satan (¡930); Just Imagine (¡930); Frankenstein Cat (aka Cat!) (¡966); The Jungle Book (¡967); Charlie, the Lone-
(¡93¡); The Ghost of Frankenstein (¡942); I’ll Never Forget You (aka some Cougar (¡968); Living Free (¡972); Napoleon and Samantha
The House in the Square) (¡95¡); The Bad Seed (¡956); Giant from (¡972); Maneater (¡973 TVM); When the North Wind Blows (¡974);
the Unknown (¡958); Dinosaurus! (¡960); Scars of Dracula (¡970); Christian the Lion (¡976); Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (¡977);
The Natural (¡984); Friday the ¡3th, Part VI: Jason Lives (¡986); Maneaters are Loose! (¡978 TVM); The Beasts are on the Streets
Short Circuit (¡986); Lightning Field (aka The Lightning Incident) (¡978 TVM); Night Creature (aka Out of the Darkness) (¡978); Sav-
(¡99¡ TVM); Ghost in the Machine (¡993); Mortal Kombat (¡995); age Harvest (¡98¡); The White Lions (¡98¡); Cheetah and Friends
Powder (¡995); Panic in the Skies (¡996 TVM); Commandments (aka Cheetah) (¡989); Running Wild (¡992); The Lion King (¡994);
(¡997) Jumanji (¡995); The Ghost and the Darkness (¡996); The Leopard
Son (¡996); Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (¡997); The Lion King:
Simba’s Pride (¡998)
Lions and Tigers
The big cats have alternated e›ectively between roles as cuddly, Little House on the Prairie Series
playful felines and vicious, merciless maneaters. In the former Michael Landon executive produced and starred in the ¡974 TV
category, one must begin with Bert Lahr’s lovable Cowardly Lion movie Little House on the Prairie, a wholesome drama about a pi-
from The Wizard of Oz (¡939), who was too afraid to be ferocious oneer family based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The
(“I’m just a dandy lion”). In the wonderful screwball comedy telefilm spawned a very successful ¡974–83 TV series which fea-
Bringing Up Baby (¡938), Katharine Hepburn “lost” Baby, her tured Landon as Charles Ingalls, Karen Grassle as his wife Caro-
pet leopard. This required Cary Grant and her to roam through line, and Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson as daughters
the woods singing the big cat’s favorite tune: “I can’t give you any- Laura and Mary. Twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush alter-
thing but love, Baby.” Flu›y and Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion nated as the youngest child Carrie. The show’s characters evolved
(both ¡965) were harmless pets, too, though their tendency to significantly over the years (e.g., Mary went blind; daughter Grace
frighten strangers provided much of the films’ humor. Clarence was born) and Landon left the series in ¡982 (the title changing
was even popular enough to warrant his own ¡966–69 TV series, to Little House: A New Beginning). Without Landon, the series
Daktari. However, as its title suggests, the series devoted more folded — only to be revived in the form of three TV movie “spe-
time to Clarence’s veterinarian (q.v.) owner Marshall Thompson. cials.” Landon directed and appeared in the first and third post-
Lions have been the frequent subjects of both live-action and an- series pictures. The town of Walnut Grove was blown up in The
imated Disney films, to include: The Jungle Book (¡967), Char- Last Farewell, leaving Landon free to play an angel in his High-
lie, the Lonesome Cougar (¡968), Napoleon and Samantha (¡972), way to Heaven series. See also Television Series Reunion Films.
and its ¡993 blockbuster The Lion King. Real-life lions probably Little House on the Prairie (¡974 TVM); Little House on the
peaked in popularity with the release of ¡966’s family hit Born Prairie: Look Back to Yesterday (¡983 TVM); Little House: Bless All
Free, the engrossing true story of a husband and wife’s e›orts to the Dear Children (¡984 TVM); Little House: The Last Farewell
train their domesticated lioness to fend for herself in the wilds of (¡984 TVM)
Africa. A belated sequel, Living Free, followed in ¡972, accom-
panied two years later by a short-lived Born Free TV series. In Little People
contrast to these friendly lions, other features, such as ¡98¡’s Sav- They come in all sizes — they may be as minute as an atom or as
age Harvest, have portrayed big cats as powerful, silent killers tall as four feet. So, in that aspect, little people is a pretty big
 LONE WOLF AND CUB 121

category. The tiniest person was probably The Incredible Shrink- courtesy of Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Livingston
ing Man. At the conclusion of Richard Matheson’s philosophical played Rocky Cameron, also known as The Lone Rider — an odd
¡957 sci-fi film, the hero continues to shrink until he can liter- nom de plume since he was always accompanied by Al St. John as
ally see atomic particles. In both Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace, his sidekick Fuzzy. Rocky and Fuzzy battled Nazi agents (Wild
people are reduced in size until they can be injected into the Horse Rustlers), a crooked sheri› (Law of the Saddle), and various
bloodstreams of normal-sized folks. Considerably bigger, say outlaws during this brief B-western series.
around three or four inches in height, are the scientists in Dr. Cy- Overland Stagecoach (¡942); Wolves of the Range (¡943); Wild
clops, the Liliputians in film adaptations of Gulliver’s Travels, and Horse Rustlers (¡943); Raiders of Red Gap (¡944); Law of the Saddle
the title character in tom thumb. Dr. Cyclops has evolved into (¡944); Death Rides the Plains (¡944)
something of a cult classic, being the first picture in which little
people are harassed by a cat, a chicken, raindrops, and the like. The Lone Wolf
Finally, there are the “little people” of folklore : leprechauns, Michael Lanyard, better known as The Lone Wolf, was a jewel
gnomes, and mischievous dwarfs. They have appeared in nu- thief–turned-detective created by Louis Joseph Vance in ¡9¡4.
merous movies, typically in charming, playful roles. Of course, The character led a lively screen life, being played by eight actors
not all movies involving little people are fantastic in nature. In over a span of 29 years. Bert Lytell (a one-time Boston Blackie)
The Tin Drum, a child injures himself (becoming a dwarf ) so that starred as Lanyard in five silent films, starting with ¡9¡7’s The
he can never grow up. Dwarf-sized killers figure prominently in Lone Wolf. Other actors followed in his footsteps, including Jack
Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and David Cronenberg’s bizarre Holt and Henry B. Walthall. However, it was Lytell who returned
chiller The Brood. See also The Alilenas; Giants; Honey, I to the role one last time for the first Lone Wolf “talkie,” ¡930’s
Shrunk the Kids Series; Leprechaun Series; Phantasm Series. Last of the Lone Wolf. Five years later, Melvyn Douglas made a
MICROSCOPIC PEOPLE: Fantastic Voyage (¡966); Innerspace (¡987) promising debut as Lanyard in Columbia’s The Lone Wolf Re-
UNDER TWELVE INCHES: The Devil Doll (¡936); Gulliver’s Trav- turns. With Douglas too much in demand for other roles, Czech
els (¡939); Dr. Cyclops (¡940); Peter Pan (¡953); Girl in His Pocket import Francis Lederer took over for ¡938’s The Lone Wolf in
(¡957); The Incredible Shrinking Man (¡957); Attack of the Puppet Paris. He was replaced the following year by Warren William in
People (¡958); The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (¡958); tom thumb The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt. William, a veteran “gentleman detec-
(¡958); The Three Worlds of Gulliver (¡960); Babes in Toyland (¡96¡); tive,” had previously played both Philo Vance (q.v.) and Perry
Mothra (aka Mosura) (¡962); Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (aka
The Greatest Battle on Earth; Sandai Kaiju Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) Mason (q.v.). He was an actor in search of a role to call his own —
(¡965); Help! (¡965); The Borrowers (¡973 TVM); Don’t Be Afraid of and he found it with Michael Lanyard. William made nine Lone
the Dark (¡973 TVM); Gulliver’s Travels (¡977); The Incredible Wolf films, with Eric Blore providing reliable comedy relief as his
Shrinking Woman (¡98¡); Here Come the Littles (¡985); Honey, I valet/sidekick. The series was a showcase for promising Colum-
Shrunk the Kids (¡989); Dollman (¡99¡); FernGully…The Last Rain- bia starlets and William’s leading ladies included Rita Hayworth
forest (aka FernGully) (¡992); The Pagemaster (¡994); Hans Christian and Ida Lupino. William retired from the series after ¡943’s Pass-
Andersen’s Thumbelina (¡994); Gulliver’s Travels (¡996 TVM); Fairy port to Suez. Gerald Mohr played Lanyard in three films during
Tale: A True Story (¡997); LEPRECHAUNS AND GNOMES: The Luck of
the Irish (¡948); Darby O’Gill and the Little People (¡959); Jack the ¡946–47 and ex–Bulldog Drummond (q.v.) Ron Randell starred
Giant Killer (¡962); The Gnomemobile (¡967); Even Dwarfs Started in the series finale, ¡949’s The Lone Wolf and His Lady. Like most
Small (¡968); Finian’s Rainbow (¡968); Getting Lucky (¡990); Lep- B-movie detectives, the Lone Wolf found a home on television,
rechaun (¡993); A Gnome Named Gnorm (¡994); Leapin’ Leprechauns! where Louis Hayward played him in a 39-episode ¡953 series
(¡995); Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns (¡996); DWARFS AND known as both The Lone Wolf and Streets of Danger. See also Jewel
MIDGETS; The Unholy Three (¡925); The Unholy Three (¡930); Freaks Thieves.
(¡932); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (¡937); The Terror of Tiny
Town (¡938); It’s a Small World (¡950); Ship of Fools (¡965); Don’t Look The Lone Wolf (¡9¡7) (Bert Lytell); False Faces (¡9¡9) (Lytell);
Now (¡973); Little Cigars (¡973); The Brood (¡979); The Tin Drum The Lone Wolf Returns (¡926) (Lytell); Alias the Lone Wolf (¡927)
(¡979); Phantasm (¡979); Under the Rainbow (¡98¡); Time Bandits (Lytell); The Lone Wolf ’s Daughter (¡929) (Lytell); Last of the Lone
(¡98¡); Dance of the Dwarfs (aka Jungle Heat) (¡983); The Sign of Four Wolf (¡930) (Lytell); Cheaters at Play (¡932) (Thomas Meighan);
(¡983); Rumpelstiltskin (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Rumpelstiltskin) The Lone Wolf Returns (¡935) (Melvin Douglas); The Lone Wolf in
(¡987); Snow White (aka Cannon Movie Tales: Snow White) (¡987); Paris (¡938) (Francis Lederer); The Lone Wolf ’s Spy Hunt (¡939)
Willow (¡988); I Don’t Want to Talk About It (¡994); Frankie Starlight (Warren William); The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (¡940) (William);
(¡995); Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (¡999) The Lone Wolf Strikes (¡940) (William); The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
(¡94¡) (William); The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (¡94¡) (William);
Secrets of the Lone Wolf (¡94¡) (William); Counter-Espionage (¡942)
(William); One Dangerous Night (¡943) (William); Passport to Suez
The Little Tough Guys see The Bowery Boys (¡943) (William); The Notorious Lone Wolf (¡946) (Gerald Mohr);
The Lone Wolf in London (¡947) (Mohr); The Lone Wolf in Mexico
(¡947) (Mohr); The Lone Wolf and His Lady (¡949) (Ron Randell)
The Living Dead see Ghouls; Night of the
Living Dead Series Lone Wolf and Cub
A samurai-for-hire that pushes around his son in a baby cart
The Lone Rider rigged with hidden weapons? That’s the premise of this acclaimed
After years of playing Stony in The Three Mesquiteers movies Japanese film series, based on the popular manga ( Japanese comic
(q.v.), veteran cowboy actor Robert Livingston got his own series books) written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima
122 LONG RUNNING TIMES

in the ¡970s. The first film Sword of Vengeance introduces Tomis- minutes in ¡939. Despite GWTW’s success, Hollywood refrained
aburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto, the o‡cial executioner of the from overwhelming wartime audiences with lengthy films. Short
Tokugawa Shogunate. Unfortunately, the evil Yagyu Clan covets features cost less and made tidy profits. The studios’ perspective
Ogami’s position as second-in-command to the Shogun. The changed, though, in the ¡950s when television was seen as a grow-
Yagyu frame the samurai as a traitor and kill his family — except ing threat to theatrical movies. Gimmicks such as 3-D (q.v.) and
for infant son Daigoro. Ogami becomes a “ronin,” a samurai with- Cinemascope came into vogue, and so did lengthy theatrical epics.
out a master, willing to kill anyone for 500 pieces of gold. He also In ¡956 alone, The Ten Commandants, Giant, and War and Peace
seeks vengeance against the Yagyu as he journeys throughout were released. If a viewer watched them on a triple feature (thank-
Japan, pushing his son in a booby-trapped baby cart. Sword of fully they were never billed together), he’d be watching movies for
Vengeance is a stylish, very bloody samurai epic that provides the over ten hours! This trend of long running times continued
foundation for the rest of the series, particularly in a key father- through the mid–¡960s, with an average of two or three epic films
son scene where Ogami has Daigoro choose between a ball and a being released yearly. No one genre dominated the releases,
sword. If the boy selects the ball, then he dies — joining his mother though Biblical pictures like The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur,
in the “Void.” If he selects the sword, then he joins his father in and The Greatest Story Ever Told seemed to hold an edge. Still,
a life of killing. Fans of the Lone Wolf and Cub series generally there were long war films (The Longest Day), long comedies (It’s
consider the second film, Baby Cart at the River Styx, to be the a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), and long musicals (Star!). The
best. It pits Ogami against a clan of lethal female ninja and three number of lengthy releases gradually decreased through the ¡970s
martial arts masters known as the Gods of Death (some fans be- and ¡980s, as budget-minded theater owners realized longer
lieve these latter villains provided the inspiration for the Three movies meant fewer showings and therefore less profit. Television’s
Storms in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China). For their ability to broadcast multiple-part movies on successive nights
U.S. release in the early ¡980s, the six Lone Wolf and Cub films also made it a desirable viewer alternative to sitting in a movie
were edited into two dubbed features: Shogun Assassin and Light- theatre for over three hours. Thus, as the miniseries thrived, the
ning Swords of Death. The films featured narration by little Daig- long movies faded. A final note: Many long films were trimmed
oro to cover plot holes created by the editing process. The six orig- after preview showings or their original releases and thus now
inal films were finally released in the U.S. on videotape in ¡997. exist in multiple versions. Various cuts of ¡970’s Ryan’s Daughter
See also Comic Book Characters. run 206 minutes, ¡92 minutes, and ¡76 minutes. Only the orig-
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (aka Kozure Ôkami: inal running times are listed below:
Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru; Sword of Vengeance) (¡972); Lone Greed (¡924) 570m (approximately); Napoleon (¡927) 235m;
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (aka Kozure Ôkami: The Wedding March (¡928) ¡96m; Olympia (aka Olympische Spiele)
Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma; Sword of Vengeance II) (¡972); Lone (¡936) 225m; The Great Ziegfeld (¡936) ¡79m; Gone with the Wind
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (aka Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni (¡939) 220m; Children of Paradise (¡944) ¡95m; Aan (aka Savage
mukau ubaguruma; Baby Cart to Hades; Sword of Vengeance III) Princess) (¡952) ¡90m; The Seven Samurai (¡954) 200m; A Star Is
(¡972); Lone Wolf and Cub: In Peril (aka Kozure Ôkami: Oya no Born (¡954) ¡8¡m; The Ten Commandments (¡956) 220m; Giant
kokoro ko no kokoro; Baby Cart in Peril; Sword of Vengeance IV) (¡956) 20¡m; War and Peace (¡956) 208m; Raintree County (¡957)
(¡972); Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (aka ¡87m; Les Miserables (¡957) 2¡0m; Ben-Hur (¡959) 2¡2m; The Big
Kozure Ôkami: Meifumando; Baby Cart in the Land of Demons; Fisherman (¡959) ¡80m; The Alamo (¡960) ¡92m; Knights of the
Sword of Vengeance V) (¡973); Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Teutonic Order (¡960) ¡80m; Exodus (¡960) 2¡3m; Pepe (¡960)
Hell (aka Kozure Ôkami: Jigoku e ikuzo! Daigoro; Baby Cart 6: Go ¡95m; Rocco and His Brothers (¡960) ¡80m; Spartacus (¡960) ¡96m;
to Hell, Daigoro!; Sword of Vengeance VI) (¡974) El Cid (¡96¡) ¡84m; Judgment at Nuremberg (¡96¡) ¡90m; The
Longest Day (¡962) ¡80m; Mutiny on the Bounty (¡962) ¡85m;
Long Running Times Cleopatra (¡962) 243m; Lawrence of Arabia (¡962) 222m; It’s a
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (¡963) ¡92m; The Leopard (¡963)
United States–released theatrical features with running times ¡95m; The Fall of the Roman Empire (¡964) ¡87m; The Greatest
longer than three hours have been rare, especially prior to the Story Ever Told (¡965) 225m; Dr. Zhivago (¡965) ¡80m; Hawaii
¡950s. Erich Von Stroheim’s original, unreleased version of his (¡966) ¡89m; The Sand Pebbles (¡966) ¡93m; Camelot (¡967) ¡80m;
¡924 silent classic Greed fitted onto 42 reels (approximately nine Star! (¡968) ¡94m; War and Peace (¡968) 373m; Ryan’s Daughter
hours worth of film). MGM production head Irving Thalberg in- (¡970) 206m; Nicholas and Alexander (¡97¡) ¡83m; Fiddler on the
sisted on cuts and Von Stroheim and friend Rex Ingram deleted Roof (¡97¡) ¡8¡m; Ludwig (¡972) 246m; The Iceman Cometh (¡973)
six reels of footage. Still not satisfied, Thalberg hired June Mathis 239m; The Godfather Part II (¡974) 200m; Barry Lyndon (¡975)
¡83m; The Memory of Justice (¡976) 278m; The Sorrow and the Pity
to cut eight more reels. By the time it was released, Greed boasted (¡976) 260m; ¡900 (¡977) 243m (restored to 3¡¡m in ¡99¡); Mo-
a scant ¡50 minutes. Existing prints run even shorter at ¡¡0 min- hammed, Messenger of God (aka The Message) (¡977) ¡80m; Renaldo
utes. Amazingly, just four years later, Von Stroheim made The and Clara (¡978) 232m; The Deer Hunter (¡978) ¡83m; Heaven’s
Wedding March, which clocked in at ¡96 minutes. It was released Gate (¡980) 225m; Reds (¡98¡) ¡99m; Gandhi (¡982) ¡88m; Fanny
in two parts and failed miserably at the box-o‡ce. Leni Riefen- and Alexander (¡983) ¡97m; The Right Stu› (¡983) ¡93m; Once
stahl’s Olympia, an epic documentary of the ¡936 Olympic Games Upon a Time in America (¡984) 227m; Shoah (¡985) 570m; Little
in Berlin, was also released in two parts (¡¡8 minutes and ¡07 Dorrit (¡988) 360m (Nobody’s Fault ¡82m/Little Dorrit’s Story
¡78m); Dances with Wolves (¡990) (¡83m); At Play in the Fields of
minutes). However, MGM released all ¡79 minutes of ¡936’s The the Lord (¡99¡) ¡87m; JFK (¡99¡) (¡88m); Idiot (¡992) (¡85m); Get-
Great Ziegfeld in one lump sum. This biopic of legendary show- tysburg (¡993) 254m; Short Cuts (¡993) ¡89m; Schindler’s List
man Flo Ziegfeld ranked as Hollywood’s longest talkie film until (¡993) ¡85m; Wyatt Earp (¡994) ¡89m; My Sex Life…(Or How I
Gone with the Wind (yet another MGM release) topped it by 4¡ Got into an Argument) (aka Comment Je Me Suis Dispute…Ma Vie
 LOOK WHO’S TALKING SERIES 123

Sexuelle) (¡996) ¡78m; Hamlet (¡996) 238m; The Postman (¡997) Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (¡982); A Joke of Destiny in Wait
¡78m; Titanic (¡997) ¡94m; Meet Joe Black (¡998) ¡80m; The Last Around the Corner Like a Bandit (aka A Joke of Destiny) (¡983);
Emperor (¡998 director’s cut of ¡987 original release) 2¡9m; The Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes, and Scent of Basil
Green Mile (¡999) (¡87 m) (aka Summer Night) (¡987); The Return of the Six Million Dollar
Man and the Bionic Woman (¡987 TVM); The Decline of Western
Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (¡988); The Search for Signs of
Long Titles Intelligent Life in the Universe (¡99¡); I Can Make You Love Me: The
Long movie titles (ten words or more) have posed nightmarish Stalking of Laura Black (¡993 TVM); Don’t Be a Menace to South
problems to film publicists and theater owners. Imagine trying to Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood (¡995); A Dream Is a
get the complete 24-word title to Peter Brooks’s Marat/Sade on Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (¡995 TVM);
Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye (¡995
a marquee at a multiscreen complex! To solve this obvious TVM)
dilemma, most long-titled films have been given shorter alternate
names. Thus, Lina Wertmuller’s Swept Away…by an unusual des-
tiny in the blue sea of August (¡975) is more commonly referred to
Longstocking, Pippi
as simply Swept Away. Indeed, Wertmuller fans may be the only Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren introduced Pippi Long-
ones who know the film’s full title. Not surprisingly, the reasons stocking, a rather unconventional nine-year-old orphan, in a ¡945
behind most long titles remain an ambiguous mystery. However, novel. In all, she wrote three books about the pig-tailed, red-
schlockmeister Roger Corman o›ers a simple explanation for the headed Pippi, who possesses superhuman strength, defies adults,
first ¡6-word American film title, ¡957’s The Saga of the Viking and tells tall tales which may or may not be true (her father sup-
Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent. He posedly lives on an island as a “cannibal king”). Swedish director
claims that he came up with “the longest title in the history of Olle Hellbron brought Pippi to the screen in the early ¡970s in a
motion pictures” because he was unable to think up a one or two four-film series starring Inger Nilsson. These movies rank as the
word title to describe his film’s plot. Corman’s attitude toward the most irritating and obnoxious children’s films in cinema history.
title was very tongue-in-cheek. He opened his film with a shot However, if viewed from the perspective of a pseudointellectual
of a book’s front page reading “The Saga of the Viking Women, film critic, the Pippi pictures can be at least be appreciated as po-
etc.” If Corman pioneered the long title, Stanley Kubrick made litical statements on the advantages of anarchy. The Hellbron-
it fashionable by subtitling ¡964’s Dr. Strangelove as Or, How I Nilsson films were shot in ¡969, but released over several years.
Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Subsequently, alter- A new, bigger-budgeted version appeared in ¡988, complete with
nate titles appeared on major studio pictures like Roman Polan- a publicized talent hunt for a new Pippi (Tami Erin). Despite en-
ski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers (¡967) and Those Magnificent ergetic musical numbers and some familiar performers (e.g.,
Men in Their Flying Machines (¡969). The banner year for long Eileen Brennan), the new Pippi was not much of an improvement
titles was ¡967, with three lengthy ones averaging out to ¡7.7 over the old Pippi. An animated version with Pippi voiced by
words each. Long titles have been scarce since Lina Wertmuller Melissa Altro attracted little interest when released in ¡997.
turned more conventional in the late ¡970s. Pippi Longstocking (¡969); Pippi in the South Seas (¡970); Pippi
on the Run (¡970); Pippi Goes on Board (¡97¡); The New Adventures
The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of Pippi Longstocking (¡988); Pippi Longstocking (¡997)
of the Great Sea Serpent (aka The Viking Women and the Sea
Serpent) (¡957); The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Liv-
ing and Became Mixed Up Zombies (aka The Teenage Psycho Meets Look Who’s Talking Series
Bloody Mary) (¡963); Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Between Grease (¡978) and Pulp Fiction (¡994), John Travolta ex-
Worrying and Love the Bomb (¡964); A Funny Thing Happened on perienced his share of box-o‡ce failures. One notable exception
the Way to the Forum (¡966); The Fearless Vampire Killers; or Pardon was ¡989’s Look Who’s Talking, a one-joke movie in which the au-
Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (¡967); Oh Dad, Poor Dad,
Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad (¡967); The dience — but not the characters — could hear the thoughts of a
Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the cute, smart-alecky baby. Actually, the gimmick distracted slightly
Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Mar- from the sweet romance between Kirstie Alley’s single mom and
quis de Sade (aka Marat/Sade) (¡967); Those Magnificent Men in John Travolta’s good-natured cabbie. Still, Baby Mikey’s quips as
Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 voiced by Bruce Willis were sometimes amusing. Surprisingly, the
Hours ¡¡ Minutes (aka Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Ma- basic premise — a baby talking as an adult — was explored 29 years
chines) (¡969); Why Would Anyone Want to Kill a Nice Girl Like earlier in the British comedy Bobbikins. Travolta, Alley, and Willis
You? (¡969); Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humpe and
Find True Happiness? (¡969); Gas-s-s-s (aka Gas-s-s-s…Or, It May returned for Look Who’s Talking Too (¡990), a redundant sequel
be Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It) (¡970); Who Is that introduces Mikey’s new sister Julie (voiced by Roseanne Barr).
Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Despite poor reviews, a third entry, Look Who’s Talking Now
Me? (¡97¡); You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose the (¡993), added “talking” dogs (voiced by Danny DeVito and Diane
Beat (¡97¡); Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Keaton) to Travolta and Alley’s family. It was Travolta’s last film
Were Afraid to Ask) (¡972); The E›ect of Gamma Rays on Man-in- before his comeback in Pulp Fiction. In ¡99¡, ABC tried to adapt
the-Moon Marigolds (¡972); I Could Never Have Sex with Anyone Look Who’s Talking into a sitcom called Baby Talk. The series was
Who Has So Little Respect for My Husband (¡973); Swept Away…by
an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August (aka Swept Away) revamped almost as soon as it hit the air, with Julia Du›y replac-
(¡975); Bu›alo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson ing Mary Page Keller as Mikey’s mother. Tony Danza provided the
(¡976); The End of the World in Our Usual Bed in a Night Full of voice of Mikey. The TV series also featured George Clooney long
Rain (aka A Night Full of Rain) (¡978); Come Back to the 5 & before his fame on ER. See also Babies.
124 LOOKALIKES

Look Who’s Talking (¡989); Look Who’s Talking Too (¡99¡); don My Past (¡945); Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) (¡948); The
Look Who’s Talking Now (¡993) Forbidden Street (aka Britannia Mews) (¡948); Callaway Went That-
away (¡95¡); My Favorite Spy (¡95¡); The Man with My Face (¡95¡);
On the Riviera (¡95¡); The Prisoner of Zenda (¡952); The Brigand
Lookalikes (¡952); Stolen Face (¡952); The Four-Sided Triangle (¡953); Flesh
Although very similar to twins (q.v.), this category addresses and the Woman (¡953); The Most Wanted Man in the World (aka
movies with characters that look alike, but remain distinctly un- The Most Wanted Man) (¡953); Mad About Men (¡954); Francis in
related. The two most famous sets of movie lookalikes were the Navy (¡955); Invasion of the Body Snatchers (¡956); I Was
Monty’s Double (¡958); The Square Peg (¡958); The Scapegoat
adapted from Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda and Mark
(¡959); On the Double (¡96¡); A Coming-Out Party (aka Very Im-
Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. In the oft-filmed Prisoner of portant Person) (¡96¡); The Double Man (¡967); Spirits of the Dead
Zenda, a gallant gentleman — a dead ringer for a recently kid- (the segment “William Wilson”) (¡968); It’s Your Move (¡968); Jour-
napped king — impersonates the monarch in order to save Ruri- ney to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelgänger) (¡969); The Man
tania. The ¡988 Moon Over Parador borrowed the plot and up- Who Haunted Himself (¡970); Diamonds Are Forever (¡97¡); The As-
dated it to contemporary Latin America. Twain’s tale of a young tronaut (¡972 TVM); The Stranger (¡973 TVM); Royal Flash
prince who playfully trades places with a lookalike pauper has (¡975); Obsession (¡976); Casanova and Co. (¡976); The Eagle Has
Landed (¡977); End of the World (¡977); Crossed Swords (¡978); The
been filmed many times. The best adaptation was the rousing
Boys from Brazil (¡978); Parts: The Clonus Horror (¡978); The Clone
¡937 Errol Flynn version, but Disney fashioned an adequate re- Master (¡978 TVM); The Darker Side of Terror (¡979); The Wild,
make and an all-star rendition appeared in ¡978 under the de- Wild West Revisited (¡979 TVM); The Prisoner of Zenda (¡979);
ceiving title of Crossed Swords. In other films, lookalikes have Anna to the Infinite Power (¡983); Dark Mansions (¡986 TVM);
been played for laughs or as part of devious espionage plots. Double Switch (¡987 TVM); Julia and Julia (¡987); Moon Over
Danny Kaye played lookalikes in both On the Double and On the Parador (¡988); Bullseye! (¡989); Ernest Goes to Jail (¡990);The
Riviera, while Bob Hope was the spitting image of a clever secret Lookalike (¡990 TVM); The Double Life of Veronique (¡99¡); Double
Edge (¡992 TVM); Army of Darkness (aka Army of Darkness: Evil
agent in My Favorite Spy. Yul Brynner had dual roles in the overly-
Dead 3) (¡993); Dave (¡993); The Dark Half (¡993); Doppelgänger
complicated thriller The Double Man, playing an East German (¡993); Dark Side of Genius (¡994); It Takes Two (¡995); Multiplic-
mole who underwent plastic surgery (q.v.) and special grooming ity (¡996); The Assignment (¡997); Cloned (¡997 TVM); The
to replace a CIA agent. Sometimes, the government convinces ac- Avengers (¡998); Mr. Murder (¡999 TVM)
tors (or ordinary lookalikes) to double for VIPs. Thus, the real
Winston Churchill was not assassinated in The Eagle Has Landed
and an actor was persuaded to pose as General Montgomery for
Lottery
diversion purposes in the World War II action picture I Was Lottery tickets have brought lovers together, torn friends apart,
Monty’s Double. That’s also how space o‡cials tried to cover up and led to contemplations of murder. Strangers Ronald Colman
the death of an astronaut in the ¡972 TV Movie The Astronaut. and Ginger Rogers purchased a ticket together in ¡940’s Lucky
An interesting variation on the lookalike premise is the doppel- Partners and, after a court dispute, wound up confessing their
gänger. Literally translated from the German as “double-goer,” a love to each other. David Niven played a film star who agreed to
doppelgänger is often a ghostly double of a living person. In the be a lottery prize in ¡953’s The Love Lottery (¡953), as did Jeanette
“William Wilson” segment of ¡968’s Spirits of the Dead, the pro- MacDonald in ¡930’s The Lottery Bride. Misplaced or stolen lot-
tagonist murders the mysterious stranger who has been following tery tickets caused frantic confusion of the comedy kind in Up-
him — only to find out it was himself. In the ¡969 science fiction town Saturday Night (¡974) and Rene Clair’s Le Million (¡93¡). In
puzzler, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, Roy Thinnes played an Babette’s Feast (¡987), cook extraordinaire Stephane Audran used
an astronaut who landed on a parallel Earth and thereby ex- lottery winnings to show her gratitude to her employers for giv-
changed places with an exact duplicate of himself (see also Par- ing her a home. She spent all the money on a lavish feast, which
allel Worlds). Timothy Hutton and Bruce Campbell “split” into also provided her with a final chance to practice her culinary art.
two people in, respectively, The Dark Half and Army of Darkness In the ¡966 black comedy The Wrong Box, John Mills and family
(both ¡993). While doppelgängers may be lookalikes who are the sought to murder Ralph Richardson, thereby winning a tontine,
same person, clones are lookalikes derived from the same genes a form of lottery in which the surviving player receives all the
but nonetheless separate entities. Laurence Olivier tracked down money. A whole town tries to swindle lottery o‡cials when a
little Hitler clones in Ira Levin’s ingenious The Boys from Brazil. town resident wins the jackpot and then promptly dies in the
Robert Forster cloned himself and ran into all kinds of trouble in Irish comedy Waking Ned Divine (¡998). Michael Keaton uncov-
The Darker Side of Terror. Additional clones turned up in The ered a crooked lottery run by John Davidson in the ¡987 flop The
Clone Master (¡978), Anna to the Infinite Power (¡983), and Mr. Squeeze. 29th Street (¡99¡) told the true story of actor Frank Pesce,
Murder (¡999). Kim Novak played a lookalike in Hitchcock’s Ver- who won the first New York State Lottery in ¡976. Chloe Webb
tigo who turned out not to be a lookalike after all. Contrary to played a mentally retarded young woman who wins a lottery in
its title, The Lookalike (¡990) was actually a twin and therefore ¡99¡’s Lucky Day. Deep Impact (¡998) featured a lottery in which
does not belong in this category. See also Twins. the winner received something more valuable than money — a
chance to survive a comet hurtling toward Earth.
The Phantom President (¡932); All the King’s Horses (¡934);
The Whole Town’s Talking (¡935); Honolulu (¡937); The Prince and The Lottery Bride (¡930); Le Million (¡93¡); La Belle Equipe
the Pauper (¡937); The Prisoner of Zenda (¡937); So You Won’t Talk (¡936); Love from a Stranger (aka A Night of Terror) (¡937); Lucky
(¡940); The Saint’s Double Trouble (¡940); Berlin Correspondent Partners (¡940); Three Strangers (¡945); Dual Alibi (¡947); The Love
(¡942); Assignment in Brittany (¡943); The Bullfighters (¡945); Par- Lottery (¡953); The Wrong Box (¡966); Uptown Saturday Night (¡974);
 LYNCHING 125

Fox and His Friends (aka Fist Right of Freedom) (¡975); Dragonslayer with Lupin III. And Zenigata Keibu, a dedicated police o‡cer,
(¡98¡); Lots of Luck (¡985 TVM); Babette’s Feast (¡987); The pursued the Lupin Gang with little success. The comic book ad-
Squeeze (¡987); 29th Street (¡99¡); Lucky Day (¡99¡ TVM); Loser ventures of these colorful characters eventually inspired three an-
(¡99¡); Yankee Zulu (¡993); It Could Happen to You (¡994); The
imated TV series, a live action theatrical film, six animated the-
Lottery (aka Wariko, Le Gros Lot) (¡994); Just Your Luck (aka
Whiskey Down) (¡996); The Lottery (¡996 TVM); The Ticket (¡997 atrical films, and a continuing series of made-for-TV movies. The
TVM); Deep Impact (¡998); Waking Ned Devine (¡998) first TV series ran from ¡97¡ to ¡972 and consisted of only 23
episodes. However, Lupin III fans consider it the closest in spirit
Lumberjacks to the original Monkey Punch stories. The second TV series, The
New Lupin III (¡977–80), lightened the tone and earned a faith-
With the trademark crack of falling trees and shouts of “timber!”
ful following among Japanese animation (or anime) fans. A third
films about the rugged men who run lumber camps have tended
TV series lasted for 50 episodes in ¡984. On the big screen, a now-
toward sprawling outdoor melodrama. Howard Hawks and
obscure live action film, Lupin III: Strange Psycho-kinetic Strategy,
William Wyler fashioned a reliable formula with ¡936’s Come and
made little impact in ¡974. However, four years later, Lupin III:
Get It, Edna Ferber’s tale of conflict between lumber tycoon Ed-
The Mystery of Mamo initiated a successful series of anime films
ward Arnold, his son Joel McCrea, and the woman they both loved
featuring imaginative plots. In the most popular entry, Castle of
(Frances Farmer). The ¡938 Valley of the Giants o›ered the now-
Cagliostro (¡979), Lupin robs a casino only to discover his loot is
familiar tale about a ruthless lumber man attempting to strip Cal-
counterfeit. He traces the fake bills to the principality of
ifornia of its redwood forests. The same story was previously filmed
Cagliostro, where he falls in love with the evil Count of
in ¡9¡9 and ¡927 and remade as the ¡952 Kirk Douglas vehicle The
Cagliostro’s bride-to-be. With high-speed car chases, lethal lasers,
Big Trees. Wayne Morris, the man who thwarted Charles Bickford
and a castle fortress, Castle of Cagliostro comes o› as a cross be-
in Valley of the Giants, fought to save a lumber camp in ¡950’s The
tween an Indiana Jones movie and a James Bond film. The made-
Tougher They Come. Paul Newman’s Sometimes a Great Notion fo-
for-TV films, starting with Lupin III: Bye Bye Liberty — Begin
cused on the hardships endured by a family of lumberjacks after
Emergency (¡989), represented a drop in quality although some of
they defied a local strike. Fire in the Sky (¡993) recounted real-life
the plots remained intriguing (e.g., the Statue of Liberty is stolen).
lumberjack Travis Walton’s claims that he was “probed” by aliens.
Interestingly, the Lupin III character is often referred to as Rupin
Come and Get It (aka Roaring Timber) (¡936); God’s Country or The Wolf because of copyright problems. When Katou
and the Woman (¡936); Valley of the Giants (¡938); Moon Over Burma
(¡940); Lumberjack (¡944); The Tougher They Come (¡950); The Kazuhiko first created his thief-hero, he did not secure permission
Blazing Forest (¡952); The Big Trees (¡952); Timberjack (¡955); Spoil- from the copyright owners of the original Arsene Lupin. To avoid
ers of the Forest (¡957); Girl in the Woods (¡958); Guns of the Timber- potential legal action, the name was changed to Rupin in the
land (aka Stampeded) (¡960); Freckles (¡960); Sometimes a Great No- films — although fans still referred to their idol as Lupin III. See
tion (aka Never Give an Inch) (¡97¡); And Now For Something also Comic Book Characters; Jewel Thieves; Lupin, Arsene.
Completely Di›erent (¡972); Trouble in High Timber Country (¡980
Lupin III: Strange Psycho-kinetic Strategy (aka Rupan Sansei:
TVM); The Journey of Natty Gann (¡985); Fire in the Sky (¡993)
Nenriki Chin Sakusen) (¡974); Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo (aka
Rupan Sansei: Mamo Karen Chousen; Mamo’s ¡st Copy) (¡978); Lupin
Lupin, Arsene III: Castle of Cagliostro (aka Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro)
In Maurice Leblanc’s short stories, this French jewel thief (q.v.) (¡979); Lupin III: The Golden Legend of Babylon (aka Rupan Sansei:
was a product of the Parisian streets. However, he became quite Babiron No Ogon Densetsu; Legend of the Gold of Babylon) (¡985);
Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy (aka Rupan Sansei: Fûma Ichizoku No
a polished gentleman on the screen, especially as portrayed by Inbô; Plot of the Fuma Clan) (¡987); Lupin III: Bye Bye Liberty—Begin
John Barrymore in ¡932’s Arsene Lupin. Brother Lionel Barrymore Emergency (aka Bye Bye Liberty—Kiki Ippatsu) (¡989 TVM); Lupin
starred as Lupin’s detective nemesis and Karen Mortley turned up III: The Hemingway Papers (aka Hemingway Paper no Nazo) (¡990
naked in Lupin’s bed (pre–Hays Code) as an undercover police TVM); Lupin III: Napoleon’s Dictionary (aka Napolean no Jishou o
agent. Melvyn Douglas played Lupin in the belated MGM sequel, Ubae; Lupin III: The Theft of Napoleon’s Dictionary) (¡99¡ TVM);
¡938’s entertaining Arsene Lupin Returns. Interestingly, both Dou- Lupin III: From Russia with Love (aka Russia Yori Ai o Komete) (¡992
glas and co-star Warren William also played thief-turned-detec- TVM); Lupin III: Orders to Assassinate Lupin (aka Rupan Sansei:
Rupan Ansatsu Shirei; Dark Order of Assassination) (¡993 TVM);
tive The Lone Wolf (q.v.). Although a Lupin film series never ma- Lupin III: The Mighty Sword That Can Cut Steel (aka Moe-yo Zantet-
terialized, a French television program did appear in the ¡970s. suken; Lupin III: Zantetsu Sword is Burning) (¡994 TVM); Lupin III:
See also Jewel Thieves; Lupin III (aka The Wolf). The Hunt for Harimao’s Treasure (aka Harimao no Zaiho o oe!) (¡995
Arsene Lupin (¡932); Arsene Lupin Returns (¡938); Enter Arsene TVM); Lupin III: Die! Nostradamus (aka Rupan Sansei: Kutabare!
Lupin (¡944); The Adventures of Arsene Lupin (¡957) Nostradamus; To Hell with Nostradamas) (¡995); Lupin III: Dead or
Alive (¡996); Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini (aka Twilight
Lupin III (The Wolf ) Jemini no Himitu) (¡996 TVM); Lupin III: Walther P38 (¡997) (aka
Rupan Sansei: Walther P38) (¡997 TVM); Lupin III: Tokyo Crisis (aka
Under the pseudonym “Monkey Punch,” Katou Kazuhiko intro- Rupan Sansei: Honô No Kioku Tokyo Crisis) (¡998 TVM)
duced Arsene Lupin III in ¡967 in Manga Action Weekly, a Japan-
ese comic book. The grandson of the famous French gentleman
thief Arsene Lupin (q.v.), Lupin III carried on the family trade Lynching
with aplomb. He was assisted in his larcenous exploits by Jigen Fritz Lang’s Fury (¡936) rattled Depression Era moviegoers with
Daisuke, a hitman, and Ishigawa Goemon, a modern day samu- its powerful depiction of contemporary mob violence. Spencer
rai. Mine Fujiko, a voluptuous rival thief, frequently crossed paths Tracy portrayed the innocent stranger locked up in a small jail
126 MABUSE, DR.

after being charged with kidnapping a young girl. When an in- Crime (aka Inferno-People of a Generation; Inferno-Menschen der
censed mob’s lynching e›ort fails, it burns the jail. However, Zeit) (¡922); The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (aka The Last Will of Dr.
Tracy’s character escapes unseen and lives to administer his own Mabuse; The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse; Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse)
(¡932); The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (aka Eyes of Evil; Die
justice/revenge. William Wellman’s The Ox-Bow Incident (¡943),
Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse) (¡960); The Invisible Dr. Mabuse
based on Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s Western novel, shifted the (aka Die Unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse; The Invisible Horror)
emphasis from the victim to the lynchers. Again, a mob (in this (¡96¡); The Return of Dr. Mabuse (aka Phantom Fiend; Im Stahlnetz
case, a posse) passes judgment based on weak circumstantial ev- des Dr. Mabuse) (¡96¡); The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (aka The Ter-
idence. However, those who oppose the lynching, like drifters ror of Dr. Mabuse; Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse) (¡962); Dr.
Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan, are too passive to make their Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard (aka Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse;
arguments convincing. Despite these fine films, the most power- Scotland Yard Jagt Dr. Mabuse) (¡963); The Secret of Dr. Mabuse
(aka Dr. Mabuse’s Ray of Death; Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse;
ful statement against mob violence remains ¡950’s underrated
The Diabolical Dr. Mabuse) (¡964); Dr. M (aka Club Extinction)
The Sound of Fury. Based on Joe Pagano’s novel The Condemned, (¡990)
it followed the first half of Fury’s plotline before developing into
a chilling morality tale. In this case, the accused — Frank Love-
joy and Lloyd Bridges — really are guilty. In fact, Bridge’s char-
Maciste
acter murdered a boy in cold blood. But after whipping the A muscular Italian hero in the Hercules (q.v.) mold, Maciste re-
townspeople into a frenzy, even journalist Richard Carlson is mains anonymous in this country although over a dozen films
shocked to see the two criminals hanged in the town square. about him have received U.S. release. The culprits behind this un-
Other films about lynching lack the conviction of these three, al- intentional conspiracy have been American distributors, which
though The Hanging Tree (¡959) e›ectively proposes that greed changed the original Maciste titles (and subsequently dubbed the
can quench even the bloodthirstiest mob. Of course, not all lynch- dialogue) to misrepresent the films’ hero as more widely-known
ings result in deaths, as evidenced by Clint Eastwood surviving musclemen like Hercules, Goliath, or Samson. Thus, Maciste alla
his own hanging and setting out on a path of revenge in the ¡968 Corte del Genghis Khan became Samson and the Seven Miracles of
Western Hang ’Em High. the World, while Maciste e la Regina di Samar became Hercules
Against the Moon Men. One of the few imports to retain Maciste
Fury (¡936); Young Mr. Lincoln (¡939); The Ox-Bow Incident
in its title was ¡964’s sand-and-sandal spoof Maciste Against Her-
(¡943); Intruder in the Dust (¡949); The Sound of Fury (aka Try and
Get Me) (¡950); The Woman They Almost Lynched (¡953); A Man cules in the Vale of Woe. Not suprisingly, that film was later reti-
Alone (¡955); The Young Land (¡957); The Hanging Tree (¡959); tled Hercules in the Vale of Woe, thus dropping Maciste into
Johnny Reno (¡966); The Violent Ones (¡967); Five Card Stud anonymity again. Just to confuse matters even further, brawny ac-
(¡968); Hang ’Em High (¡968); Border Shootout (¡990); Grim tors Mark Forest, Reg Park, Kirk Morris, and Alan Steel (aka Ser-
Prairie Tales (¡990) gio Ciani) all played Hercules as well as Maciste.
Maciste in Hell (aka Maciste all’Inferno) (¡926) (Umberto
Mabuse, Dr. Guarracino); Son of Samson (aka Maciste the Mighty; Maciste nella
Norbert Jacques’ criminal mastermind was the subject of three mo- Valle dei Re) (¡960) (Mark Forest); The Witch’s Curse (aka Maciste
all’Inferno) (¡960) (Kirk Morris); Molemen vs. the Son of Hercules
tion picture classics and an o›beat, low-budget film series. Famed (aka The Strongest Man in the World; Maciste l’Uomo Piu Forte del
director Fritz Lang and his screenwriter wife Thea Von Harbou in- Mondo) (¡96¡) (Forest); Atlas Against the Cyclops (aka Monster from
troduced Mabuse to German audiences in ¡92¡ with Dr. Mabuse, the Unknown World; Maciste nella Terror dei Ciclopi) (¡96¡)
the Gambler. Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Von Harbou’s ex-husband, (Mitchell Gordon); Colossus and the Headhunters (aka Maciste Con-
starred as the crazed genius and master hypnotist bent on world tro i Cacciatori de Teste) (¡962) (Morris); Death in the Arena (aka
domination. The same team completed a “second part,” titled Dr. Colossus of the Arena; Maciste il Gladiatore Pi — Forte del Mondo)
Mabuse, King of Crime, the following year. The two parts were in- (¡962) (Forest); Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (aka Colos-
sus of the Stone Age; Maciste Contro i Monstri) (¡962) (Reg Park);
tended to be shown on consecutive evenings and are frequently Triumph of the Sons of Hercules (aka El Trionfo di Maciste) (¡962)
listed as one film. For their ¡927 U.S. release, the films were heav- (Morris); Goliath and the Sins of Babylon (aka Maciste l’Eroe Pi —
ily cut and edited into a single feature, The Fatal Passions. Lang and Grande del Mondo) (¡963) (Forest); Samson and the Slave Queen (aka
Von Harbou resurrected Mabuse for ¡932’s The Testament of Dr. Zorro Contro Maciste) (¡963) (Alan Steel); Samson vs. the Giant King
Mabuse, which was banned for its anti–Hitler statements. Lang (aka Giant of the Lost Tomb; Maciste alla Corte dello Zar) (¡963)
subsequently left Germany, while Von Harbou stayed behind. Fol- (Morris); Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (aka Maciste
lowing a successful career in the U.S., Lang returned to Germany alla Corte del Gran Khan) (¡963) (Gordon Scott); Goliath and the
Vampires (aka The Vampires; Maciste Contro il Vampiro) (¡964)
(West Germany) in ¡960 to make The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, (Scott); Hercules in the Vale of Woe (aka Maciste Against Hercules in
his directorial swan song, for producer Artur Brauner. Even with- the Vale of Woe; Maciste Contro Ercole Nella Valle Dei Guai) (¡964);
out Lang, Brauner continued the series for five more films starring Maciste, Spartan Gladiator (aka Maciste, Gladiatore di Sparta) (¡964)
Wolfgang Preiss as Mabuse. In ¡990, director Claude Chabrol made (Forest); Hercules of the Desert (aka La Valle dell’Eco Tonante) (¡964)
Dr. M, whose villain Dr. Marsfelt (Alan Bates) and plot were “in- (Morris); Samson and the Mighty Challenge (aka Hercules, Maciste,
spired by Norbert Jacques’ novel Mabuse der Spieler.” The Mabu- Samson, and Ursus Against the Universe; Ercole, Sansone, Maciste,
sian storyline has Dr. M causing Berlin residents to commit sui- Ursus: gli Invincibli) (¡964); Samson in King Solomon’s Mines (aka
Maciste nelle Miniere de Re Salomone) (¡964) (Park); Hercules Against
cide by sending out subliminal messages on TV. the Moon Men (aka Maciste Contro gli Uomini Della Luna; Maciste e
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (aka The Great Gambler-Image of a la Regina di Samar) (¡964) (Steel); Hercules Against the Barbarians
Generation; Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) (¡92¡); Dr. Mabuse, King of (aka Maciste nell’Inferno di Genghis Khan) (¡964) (Forest)
 MAIDS AND HOUSEKEEPERS 127

Mad Max series. Neither Laurel and Hardy nor Jerry Lewis could mix magic
and comedy to much e›ect in, respectively, A-Haunting We Will
The Australian-imported Mad Max movies not only made a star
Will Go (¡942) and The Geisha Boy (¡958). However, Tommy
of Mel Gibson, but they also managed to make the near-impos-
Smothers had some amusing scenes in Get to Know Your Rabbit
sible transition from drive-in cult status into mainstream major
(¡972) and Woody Allen lost his mother at a magic show in his
hits. The ¡979 Mad Max starred Gibson as the title character, a
New York Stories segment (¡989). The famous magician/escape
futuristic cop who patrols a post-apocalyptic world populated
artist Harry Houdini has been played by Tony Curtis (Houdini),
with motorcycle gangs and other ri›-ra›. When his partner and
Paul Michael Glaser (The Great Houdinis), and Johnathon
family are murdered, Max becomes a one-man vigilante force and
Schaech (Houdini). Ingmar Bergman explored the mystical side
wipes out the “Glory Riders.” From the beginning, director/co-
of magic in The Magician (¡958), a haunting tale about an illu-
writer George Miller’s film found favor with science fiction and
sionist detained by villagers unconvinced by his magical powers.
action fans, but it attracted little critical attention. Undoubtedly,
the release of some dubbed prints (in which even Gibson spoke Conjuring a Lady at the Robert Houdin’s (aka The Vanishing
Lady) (¡896); The Phantom of Paris (¡93¡); Chandu, the Magician
with someone else’s voice) limited its appeal. That all changed (¡932); Lady in Distress (aka A Window in London) (¡939); Eternally
with the superior sequel, ¡98¡’s The Road Warrior in which Gib- Yours (¡939); A-Haunting We Will Go (¡942); Having Wonderful
son and Miller transformed Max into a mythic warrior. Critics Crime (¡945); The Great Mystic (¡945); The Strange Mr. Gregory
jumped on the bandwagon (“Apocalypse Pow!” proclaimed Time) (¡946); Houdini (¡953); The Mad Magician (¡954); Curse of the
and Gibson’s career began to ascend rapidly. He was an established Demon (aka Night of the Demon) (¡958); The Geisha Boy (¡958);
star when he returned to his homeland for ¡985’s Mad Max Be- The Magician (¡958); Two on a Guillotine (¡965); The Mysterious
yond Thunderdome. This slick rehash of Road Warrior, bolstered Magician (¡965); The Magus (¡968); Escape (¡970 TVM); Get to
Know Your Rabbit (¡972); The Magician (¡973 TVM); The Golden
by the presence of rock queen Tina Turner, racked up impressive Voyage of Sinbad (¡974); Celine and Julie Go Boating (¡974); The
box-o‡ce figures — but nevertheless lacked the enduring popu- Great Houdinis (¡976 TVM); The Magician of Lublin (¡979); Man-
larity of Road Warrior. In ¡999, Miller announced plans to shoot drake (¡979 TVM); The Escape Artist (¡982); Bagdad Cafe (¡988);
a fourth Mad Max film, with a younger actor replacing Gibson New York Stories (¡989); Waiting for the Light (¡990); Cthulhu
(whose escalating salary probably a›ected the decision to go with Mansion (aka Black Magic Mansion) (¡99¡); Shadows and Fog
a lesser-known performer). See also End of the World/Post- (¡992); Mario and the Magician (¡994); Lord of Illusions (¡995);
Apocalypse. Leprechaun 3 (¡995); Rough Magic (¡995); Fairy Tale: A True Story
(¡997); Houdini (¡998 TVM)
Mad Max (¡979); The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (¡98¡);
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (¡985) The Magnificent Seven
John Sturges’ ¡960 remake of the Japanese classic Seven Samurai
Magicians has grown in popularity over the years, becoming — according to
Even though its running time was a scant two minutes, ¡896’s TV Guide— one of the most frequently shown movies on televi-
Conjuring a Lady at the Robert-Houdin’s holds a unique double sion. The original seven gunfighters hired to protect a Mexican
distinction among magician films. In addition to containing one village were (and this is a great “list” question in its own right):
of the first filmed magic tricks, it spotlighted the moviemaking Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn,
talents of former conjuror and cinema pioneer Georges Méliès. Charles Bronson, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz. Only Yul re-
Unlike this landmark work, other magician movies have often for- turned for the first sequel Return of the Seven (¡966). But Elmer
gotten that the cinema is a magical medium. They have been Bernstein’s great music score (best known as the Marlboro theme)
largely content to pass o› the magician as a devious trickster or was used in all four Seven films. The original plot has been recy-
bland do-gooder. In ¡946’s The Strange Mr. Gregory, Edmund cled extensively and transplanted to contemporary Arizona (the
Lowe played a magician/hypnotist who pretended to be dead to ¡985 TVM Command 5), the Middle East (¡968’s The Invincible
win the a›ections of Jean Rogers. Vincent Price was a ¡9th cen- Six), outer space (¡980’s Battle Beyond the Stars) and an ant colony
tury illusionist who went mad in the well-titled The Mad Magi- (¡998’s A Bug’s Life). The Adventures of the Magnificent 6∂ (¡988)
cian (¡954). He sought revenge on his cheating wife (Eva Gabor) was a children’s variation. A Magnificent Seven television series,
and other magicians by murdering them with his famous tricks with Michael Biehn as the group’s leader, surfaced on CBS in
(the imaginative murder angle was repeated in later Price films like ¡998.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Theatre of Blood). Satanic cult The Magnificent Seven (¡960); Return of the Seven (¡966); Guns
leader Niall MacGinnis performed Halloween magic shows for the of the Magnificent Seven (¡969); The Magnificent Seven Ride (¡972)
kiddies in the classic Curse of the Demon (¡958) and then ex-
plained to Dana Andrews the critical distinctions between black Maids and Housekeepers
and white magic. On the other hand, heroic magicians have been Although they typically form the backbone of celluloid domestic
far less interesting. Chandu the Magician, culled from a ¡932 se- sta›s, maids and housekeepers have labored in the shadow of but-
rial, sent Edmund Lowe (again) against Bela Lugosi’s evil Roxor lers. For example, while the ¡930s featured prime butler roles in
(oddly, Bela showed up as Chandu two years later in another se- Ruggles of Red Gap (¡935) and My Man Godfrey (¡936), maids
rial). In TV movies, Christopher George’s escape artist in Escape and housekeepers were relegated to minor — albeit essential —
(¡970) and Bill Bixby’s illusionist in The Magician (¡973) both roles in the ¡939 releases Rules of the Game, The Cat and the Ca-
helped people in trouble — that’s TV talk for detective work. nary, and Gone with the Wind. Of course, Hattie McDaniel won
Bixby’s film served as the pilot for a shortlived ¡973-74 TV a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mammy in
128 MAIL ORDER BRIDES

GWTW (an honor not bestowed on a performer playing a butler spouse — but she wasn’t — in The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico
until John Gielgud’s Best Supporting Actor award for ¡98¡’s County (¡970). And in Zandy’s Bride (¡974), rancher Gene Hack-
Arthur). Gale Sondergaard created the prototype for sinister do- man and mail order bride Liv Ullman started out hating each
mestics in The Cat and the Canary. However, Judith Anderson other and wound up as loving spouses and parents. In contrast to
refined the evil housekeeper role with her chilling portrayal of Westerns, contemporary movies about mail order brides have
Mrs. Danvers in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (¡940). Anderson re- dealt with diverse topics such as airplane disasters (The High and
ceived a well-deserved Oscar nomination, but lost to Jane Dar- the Mighty), investigative reporting (I Was a Mail Order Bride),
well’s good-natured Ma in The Grapes of Wrath. Loretta Young and cultural di›erences between the spouses (90 Days). Several
won a Best Actress Oscar for ¡947’s The Farmer’s Daughter, in movies, while not about mail order brides, certainly warrant a
which she played a Swedish maid who falls in love with her em- mention. Women answered newspaper ads to become wives in
ployer and then runs against him in Congress. Other maids who Mississippi Mermaid (¡969) and Sarah, Plain and Tall (¡99¡).
married, or had a›airs with, their employers were featured in Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker were married by proxy in
Common Clay (¡930), Jassy (¡947), and Houseboat (¡958). In the The Naked Jungle (¡954). Brides were bought in East Is West (¡930)
latter film, Sophia Loren was a socialite posing as a housekeeper and Paint Your Wagon (¡969). Finally, young Japanese girls were
for Cary Grant. Likewise, Ally Sheedy was a spoiled rich girl contracted to marry Japanese men working in Hawaii in the crit-
working as a domestic in ¡987’s Maid to Order. In contrast, That ically-acclaimed Picture Bride (¡995). See also Marriage Brokers
Funny Feeling (¡965) cast Sandra Dee as a maid intent on hiding and Dating Services; Personal Ads; Sarah, Plain and Tall Se-
her occupation from her new boyfriend. She moves into her em- ries.
ployer’s swank apartment — not realizing that her boyfriend is her The Peace of Roaring River (¡9¡9); A Lady to Love (¡930); The
employer. Men have taken their turns as maids, although not too Purchase Price (¡932); The Harvey Girls (¡946); Westward the
successfully, in movies such as ¡982’s Maid in America (with Alex Women (¡95¡); The High and the Mighty (¡954); Mail Order Bride
Karras) and ¡990’s The Maid (with Martin Sheen). Maids have (aka West of Montana) (¡964); The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico
fared extremely well on television in the series Hazel (¡96¡–66), County (aka A Woman for Charley) (¡970); Blindman (¡972);
Zandy’s Bride (aka For Better, For Worse) (¡974); I Was a Mail Order
Grindl (¡963–64), The Good Life (¡97¡–72), and, most memo- Bride (¡982 TVM); Mail Order Bride (¡984); 90 Days (¡986); Kiss-
rably, Upstairs, Downstairs (¡97¡–75). Although there was never ing Miranda (¡995)
a film series about a maid, Maisie (q.v.) worked as one in Maisie
Was a Lady (¡940) and Mary Gordon cleaned up after Sherlock Maisie
Holmes (q.v.) in the Rathbone/Bruce film series. See also But-
The year ¡939 was a banner year for MGM, featuring the releases
lers; Chau›eurs.
of Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Goodbye, Mr.
Common Clay (¡930); Downstairs (¡932); Servants’ Entrance Chips. So it’s no wonder that no one remembers it as the year Ann
(¡934); If You Could Only Cook (¡935); Private Number (¡936);
Sothern made her debut as Maisie, a tough, spunky girl with a
Maid’s Night Out (¡938); Rules of the Game (¡939); The Cat and the
Canary (¡939); Gone with the Wind (¡939); Rebecca (¡940); Maisie heart of gold. At age 30, Sothern was already a B-movie veteran,
Was a Lady (¡940); His Butler’s Sister (¡943); Standing Room Only having played similar roles for both Columbia and RKO. Robert
(¡944); Mrs. Parkington (¡944); Diary of a Chambermaid (¡946); Young (as a ranch hand!) co-starred with her in the first series
The Farmer’s Daughter (¡947); Jassy (¡947); Footsteps in the Fog entry, Maisie. A few months later, Sothern was back in Congo
(¡955); Papa, Mama, the Maid and I (¡956); Houseboat (¡958); Up- Maisie, a revamped version of the Clark Gable–Jean Harlow siz-
stairs and Downstairs (¡959); ¡3 Ghosts (¡960); Diary of a Chamber- zler Red Dust. Eight more Maisie adventures appeared between
maid (¡964); That Funny Feeling (¡965); For Love of Ivy (¡968);
¡940 and ¡947, making the title character the busiest single
Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? (¡969); The Maids (¡975); A
Matter of Time (¡976); That Obscure Object of Desire (¡977); Heart- woman in the movies. She was a maid in Maisie was a Lady, a po-
land (¡980); Private Lessons (¡98¡); Maid in America (¡982 TVM); lice detective in Undercover Maisie, and an aircraft factory worker
In the White City (¡983); Loyalties (¡986); A Judgment in Stone (aka in Swing Shift Maisie. Sothern’s film career slacked o› during the
The Housekeeper) (¡986); Maid to Order (¡987); The Maid (¡990); ¡950s and she turned to television, experiencing modest success
Maid for Each Other (¡992 TVM); The Remains of the Day (¡993); with Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show.
Corrina, Corrina (¡994); Dolores Claiborne (¡995); La Cérémonie
Maisie (¡939); Congo Maise (¡939); Gold Rush Maisie (¡940);
(aka A Judgment in Stone) (¡995); Mary Reilly (¡996); Gods and
Maisie Was a Lady (¡940); Ringside Maisie (aka Cash and Carry)
Monsters (¡998)
(¡94¡); Maisie Gets Her Man (aka She Got Her Man) (¡942); Swing-
shift Maisie (aka The Girl in Overalls) (¡943); Maisie Goes to Reno
Mail Order Brides (aka You Can’t Do That to Me) (¡944); Up Goes Maisie (aka Up She
Unlikely romances set in the American West have comprised the Goes) (¡945); Undercover Maisie (¡947)
majority of films about mail order brides. Robert Taylor led a
wagon train of mail order brides to meet their husbands in West- Majin
ward the Women (¡95¡). Likewise, in the Spaghetti Western Blind- A stone statue comes to life to battle an evil Japanese warlord in
man (¡972), blind gunslinger Tony Anthony escorted a group of Majin, Monster of Terror (¡966), a minor cult classic set in the ¡8th
future wives —fifty, in fact — until his partner doublecrossed him century. The film’s first half resembles samurai epics like The Seven
and sold the women to a bandit. Lawman Buddy Ebsen played Samurai in which peaceful villagers seek protection from oppres-
matchmaker for Keir Dullea and mail order bride Lois Nettleton sion. When the warlord Samanosuke (Yutaro Gomi) enslaves vil-
in the unimaginatively-titled Mail Order Bride (¡964). Black- lagers to build a fortress, they pray to the stone idol Majin for free-
smith Dan Blocker thought Nanette Fabray was a mail order dom. To squelch any remaining morale, the warlord kills the local
 THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. 129

priestess and dispatches his henchmen to drive a spike into the ries’ first installment, ¡985’s Malibu Express (the title being the
statue’s head. However, they flee in terror when the spike draws name of Cody’s yacht). Set in Hawaii, it o›set poor thesping with
blood from the stone idol! Majin the stone warrior promptly some lively action footage staged by Andy, a former Emmy-win-
comes to life and wreaks havoc on the bad guys — stomping them ning director for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Ronn Moss took
into the ground, destroying Samanosuke’s castle, and pinning the over as cousin Rowdy Abilene in the ¡987 follow-up Hard Ticket
warlord to a wall with the aforementioned spike. Majin then de- to Hawaii and former soap star Steve Bond played enforcement
cides to annihilate the village, too. Fortunately, the tears of a girl agent Travis Abilene in Picasso Trigger (¡988). Although they both
cause him to disintegrate (temporarily, as evidenced by the se- made bland leads, former Playboy Playmates Dona Speir and
quels). The story bears a strong resemblance to The Golem films, Hope Marie Carlton attracted attention as Donna and Taryn, a
which were based on a Jewish myth about a giant man of clay who pair of freelance flyers. Their supporting characters received a
protects persecuted Jews. As in Majin, a young girl destroys the hefty amount of screen time and went on to headline ¡989’s Sav-
Golem (by removing the Star of David from the statue’s chest). age Beach, which featured a meatier story and less gratuitous nu-
The two Majin sequels followed the same formula as the first dity. Carlton bowed out after this installment. Thus, Speir
film, although The Return of Majin features a remarkable scene sported a new partner, Roberta Vasquez as Nicole, in ¡990’s Guns,
where the stone idol — which has been blown to bits — emerges which had the distinction of casting Erik Estrada as a baddie.
from the sea to punish evil again. The three films are sometimes Speir, Vasquez, and Estrada returned for ¡99¡’s Do or Die, al-
known as the Daimajin Trilogy. See also Statues Come to Life. though Estrada played a di›erent character (a good guy). The
Majin, Monster of Terror (aka Majin, the Hideous Monster; Karate Kid’s former mentor, Pat Morita, took over as villain. The
Daimajin; The Devil Got Angry) (¡966); The Return of Majin (aka principal villains in ¡992’s Hard Hunted were played by movie star
The Return of Giant Majin; Daimajin Ikaru) (¡966); Majin Strikes o›spring R.J. Moore (Roger’s son) and Tony Peck (Gregory’s son).
Again (aka Daimajin Gyakushu) (¡968) Speir and Vasquez made their final appearances as Donna and
Nicole in ¡993’s Fit to Kill. Suzi Simpson took over the lead fe-
Major League Series male role as Becky Midnite in Enemy Gold (¡994), but she gen-
In the wake of Bull Durham (¡988), Paramount released Major erated far less interest than former Penthouse Pet Julie Strain in a
League, a formulaic comedy about a bunch of baseball misfits who supporting henchman role. Strain earned star billing in the next
somehow transform themselves into a winning Cleveland Indi- series entry, The Dallas Connection, which introduced her as hero-
ans team. Like the Police Academy (q.v.) movies, Major League gets ine Willow Black, head of L.E.T.H.A.L. (Legion to Ensure Total
most of its laughs by focusing on an ensemble of colorful char- Harmony and Law). Her cohorts in espionage included a bevy of
acters: a has-been catcher (Tom Berenger); an erratic fastball former centerfolds: Shae Marks as Tiger; Julie K. Smith as Cobra;
pitcher nicknamed Wild Thing (Charlie Sheen); a voodoo prac- and Tammy Parks as Scorpion. Wrestler Marcus Bagwell played
ticing slugger (Dennis Haysbert); a third baseman more interested the title villain in ¡996’s Day of the Warrior, only to reform and
in his stock portfolio than baseball (Corbin Bernsen); a base join the L.E.T.H.A.L. team in Return to Savage Beach (¡998)— a
stealer named Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes); and an owner smart choice given the obvious fringe benefits.
(Margaret Whitton) who tries to ruin the team so attendance will Malibu Express (¡985); Hard Ticket to Hawaii (¡987); Picasso
drop and she can move it to the livelier city of Miami. Written Trigger (¡988); Savage Beach (¡989); Guns (¡990); Do or Die (¡99¡);
and directed by David S. Ward, Major League performed solidly Hard Hunted (¡992); Fit to Kill (¡993); Enemy Gold (¡994); The
at the box-o‡ce, but paled in comparison to Bull Durham Dallas Connection (¡994); Day of the Warrior (aka L.E.T.H.A.L.
(though both featured over-the-hill catchers and wild pitchers). Ladies: Day of the Warrior) (¡996); Return to Savage Beach (¡998)
Ward directed a sequel in ¡994 that reassembled most of the orig-
inal cast: Berenger, Sheen, Bernsen, and Haysbert. It also re- A Man Called Horse Series
hashed the original plot by having the Indians play poorly at first Richard Harris starred in this o›beat Western about an English
so they could evolve into a good team by the end. The film was aristocrat captured by Sioux Indians in ¡825. He su›ers torture,
retitled Wild Thing II for some overseas markets to capitalize on learns to live with his captors, grows to understand them, and be-
the popularity of Charlie Sheen in the Far East. Sheen, Berenger, comes their leader. It was based on Dorothy M. Johnson’s ¡950
and Ward were missing from Major League: Back to the Minors, a Collier’s story and featured the harrowing Sun Vow ritual, which
third entry focusing on a Minnesota Twins farm team consisting required Indian males to be suspended by clamps inserted in their
of— surprise!— a bunch of misfits. The film flopped quickly, likely pectoral muscles. Although Harris’ character returned to civi-
ending the series. Bernsen, Haysbert, and Bob Uecker starred in lization at the film’s end, he came back to help his Indian friends
all three films. See also Baseball. in ¡976’s The Return of a Man Called Horse. This sequel lacked
Major League (¡989); Major League II (aka Wild Thing II) the box-o‡ce zip of its predecessor, but that did not deter the
(¡994); Major League: Back to the Minors (aka Major League III) belated release of a third film, ¡983’s Triumphs of a Man Called
(¡998) Horse, which starred Harris and Michael Beck as his son.
A Man Called Horse (¡970); The Return of a Man Called Horse
Malibu Express Series (¡976); Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (¡983)
Husband-and-wife team Andy and Arlene Sidaris masterminded
this B-movie series, an R-rated variation of Charlie’s Angels fea- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
turing one less female lead, but much more flesh. Hunky Darby NBC introduced the lighthearted spy TV series The Man from
Hinton starred as Texan troubleshooter Cody Abilene in the se- U.N.C.L.E. in ¡964, shortly after the third James Bond thriller,
130 THE MAN WITH NO NAME

Goldfinger, struck the mother lode at the national box-o‡ce. heavy Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence has a Santeria priest revive
U.N.C.L.E. stood for United Network Command for Law and Cordell who tries to make a brain-dead cop his “bride.” The film
Enforcement and was run by gru›, fatherly Mr. Waverly (Leo G. shows signs of tampering with producer Joel Soisson being cred-
Carroll). The agency’s top two agents were American Napoleon ited with “additional scenes.” Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, makes a
Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David Mc- brief appearance as a TV reporter.
Callum). (The fact that Americans and Russians were fighting to- Maniac Cop (¡988); Maniac Cop 2 (¡99¡); Maniac Cop 3:
gether for world peace makes The Man from U.N.C.L.E. the first Badge of Silence (¡993)
glasnost TV series.) The show was an immediate hit, especially
with the younger set, and inspired MGM to release a big-screen Marlowe, Philip
feature, To Trap a Spy, in ¡965. Actually, it had been originally The screen exploits of Raymond Chandler’s tough, cynical pri-
shown as a ¡964 TV episode called “The Vulcan A›air,” but fans vate eye make for fascinating trivia. The first adaptation of a Mar-
didn’t seem to mind that they had seen it before. Seven addi- lowe mystery (Farewell, My Lovely) was tailored for George
tional movies were released between ¡965 and ¡968. Meanwhile, Sanders as ¡942’s The Falcon Takes Over, an entry in the long-run-
the television edition spun o› the short-lived series The Girl from ning Falcon (q.v.) film series. That same year, the Philip Marlowe
U.N.C.L.E. (starring Stefanie Powers) and dropped in the ratings novel The High Window was adapted for detective Michael Shayne
after peaking at No. ¡3 for the year in the ¡965-66 season. The (q.v.) as Time to Kill. Two years later, Marlowe finally reached the
series was cancelled in January ¡968 and replaced by Rowan and screen in the guise of Dick Powell, who made the switch from
Martin’s Laugh-in. A reunion TV movie, The Return of the Man crooner to tough guy in Murder, My Sweet, another version of
from U.N.C.L.E., surfaced in ¡983. See also Television Series Re- Farewell, My Lovely. Powell was terrific as Marlowe, setting a stan-
union Films. dard that even Bogart couldn’t surpass in ¡946’s The Big Sleep.
To Trap a Spy (¡965); One of Our Spies Is Missing (¡966); One Later that year, actor-director Robert Montgomery filmed The
Spy Too Many (¡966); The Spy with My Face (¡966); The Karate Lady in the Lake in first-person, showing audiences everything as
Killers (¡967); The Spy in the Green Hat (¡967); The Helicopter Spies Marlowe saw it. It was a novel experiment (e.g., kisses filled the
(¡968); How to Steal the World (¡968); The Return of the Man from screen, the camera rocked back after a punch to Marlowe’s face),
U.N.C.L.E. (¡983 TVM)
but ultimately it was more irritating than interesting. George
Montgomery (no relation to Robert) played Marlowe in ¡947’s
The Man with No Name The Brasher Doubloon, the second version of Chandler’s The High
Clint Eastwood first portrayed this laconic gunslinger in ¡964’s Window. There were no Marlowe films in the ¡950s, but James
A Fistful of Dollars, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western version of Garner played the part in ¡969’s Marlowe (which featured Bruce
Akira Kurosawa’s samurai epic Yojimbo. Although it’s not actu- Lee as a minor villain). Elliott Gould played an unrecognizable
ally specified, Eastwood apparently played the same character in Marlowe in Robert Altman’s ¡973 The Long Goodbye. And in the
Leone’s follow-ups For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the late ¡970s, a weary-looking Robert Mitchum played the detec-
Bad, and the Ugly (Clint was the Good, Lee Van Cleef the Bad, tive in Farewell, My Lovely (set in the ’40s) and The Big Sleep (up-
and Eli Wallach the Ugly). Clint may have played the role in dated to the present). James Caan played an older Marlowe in the
other Westerns, too (e.g., High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider). Given made-for-cable Poodle Springs (¡998). It was adapted from an
his subtle acting style, it’s sometimes hard to tell. unfinished Chandler novel completed by mystery writer Robert
A Fistful of Dollars (¡964); For a Few Dollars More (¡965); The Parker. Ironically, the only Marlowe novel never filmed was Play-
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (¡967) back, which was originally an unsold Chandler screenplay.
Murder, My Sweet (¡944); The Big Sleep (¡946); The Lady in
Maniac Cop Series the Lake (¡946); The Brasher Doubloon (¡947); Marlowe (¡969); The
“You have the right to remain silent…forever!” proclaimed the ad Long Goodbye (¡973); Farewell, My Lovely (¡975); The Big Sleep
for Maniac Cop (¡988), an exploitation thriller from B-movie vet- (¡978); Poodle Springs (¡998 TVM)
erans Larry Cohen and William Lustig. Producer/screenwriter
Cohen, the low-budget auteur responsible for the It’s Alive films, Marple, Miss Jane
fashioned a clever premise in which a series of gruesome New Agatha Christie introduced Miss Jane Marple, a 70-year-old am-
York City murders appear to be the work of a policeman. It’s ateur detective, in the ¡930 novel The Murder at the Vicarage.
chilling when a potential victim expresses relief at the appearance Living in the small town of St. Mary Mead, the inquisitive spin-
of a police o‡cer — only to discover that he’s the killer! Unfor- ster divided her time between her passions of gardening and solv-
tunately, director Lustig (Maniac) lacked the style and budget to ing murders. Miss Marple enjoyed modest success in the ¡960s
embellish the film with su‡cient atmosphere and tension. The when Margaret Rutherford’s Murder, She Said sparked a four-
cast is a “who’s who” of B-movies: Richard Roundtree as the film series. Rutherford also made a cameo appearance as Miss
mayor; Bruce Campbell as a falsely accused cop; Tom Atkins as Marple opposite Tony Randall’s Hercule Poirot (q.v.) in ¡966’s
a puzzled detective; and William Smith and Sheree North. Evil The Alphabet Murders. Despite the popularity of the Rutherford
Dead director Sam Raimi and ex-boxer Jake LaMotta show up in films, Agatha Christie readers complained that the actress was
cameos. Cohen and Lustig reteamed for both of the unexcep- miscast and that her films downplayed the mysteries in favor of
tional sequels. In Maniac Cop 2 (¡99¡), killer cop Matt Cordell light comedy. Angela Lansbury (pre–Murder, She Wrote) fared
(Robert Z’Dar) rises from the dead and pairs up with another much better in The Mirror Crack’d (¡980), but sadly did not re-
murderer to make the streets of NYC unsafe again. The plot- turn for an encore. That made it possible for Helen Hayes to star
 MASON, PERRY 131

as Miss Marple in a pair of entertaining, if easily forgotten, made- upset with this arrangement, but eventually agrees to be the child’s
for-TV mysteries. However, most critics and Christie readers godfather. After two years at sea, Marius returns and wants Fanny
agree that Joan Hickson did the best job of recreating Jane Marple and the child. Panisse won’t give the child up and Fanny, although
for a British TV series that first aired in the U.S. in the ¡980s on she still loves Marius, again sacrifices her own happiness — this
Mystery! Ironically, Hickson had a small role opposite Margaret time for her son. Pagnol wrote an original screenplay and directed
Rutherford in Murder, She Said. the final installment, ¡936’s Cesar. Set ¡7 years later, it opens with
Murder, She Said (¡962) (Margaret Rutherford); Murder at the the death of Panisse. Fanny tells her ¡8-year-old son Cesariot that
Gallop (¡963) (Rutherford); Murder Ahoy! (¡964) (Rutherford); Marius, not Panisse, was his father. With Cesar’s help, Cesariot
Murder Most Foul (¡965) (Rutherford); The Mirror Crack’d (¡980) seeks out his father and eventually reunites Fanny, Marius, and
(Angela Lansbury); A Caribbean Mystery (¡983 TVM) (Helen Cesar. While film critics preferred the first and last films, Fanny
Hayes); Murder with Mirrors (¡985 TVM) (Hayes) attained the greatest popularity at the time of its release. It was
remade in Italy in ¡933, in Germany in ¡934 (with Emil Jan-
Marriage Brokers and Dating Services nings), and in the U.S. in ¡938 as Port of Seven Seas. The latter
The arrangement of marriages is a dangerous profession that re- film made little impression despite a solid cast of Wallace Beery,
quires an understanding of love and compatibility to ensure suc- Frank Morgan, and Maureen O’Sullivan. In ¡96¡, producer
cess. As a result, it’s a rare occupation both in real life and in film. Joshua Logan condensed the trilogy into Fanny, a colorful, but
Still, the cinema has featured a handful of marriage brokers, such overlong reworking. It reunited Gigi stars Leslie Caron (as Fanny)
as Thelma Ritter who played Cupid for X-ray technician Scott and Maurice Chevalier (as Panisse) and added Charles Boyer
Brady and model Jeanne Crain in The Model and the Marriage (Cesar) and Horst Buchholz (Marius). Unfortunately, Logan’s
Broker. Shirley Booth and Barbra Streisand each played the grand ownership of the rights to Fanny prevented Pagnol’s trilogy from
dame of marriage brokers — Miss Dolly Levi — in, respectively, being shown outside France for several years. Jacques Demy’s
The Matchmaker and its musical remake Hello Dolly! Charles charming musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (¡964) borrowed
Boyer proved that men could be matchmakers (though not suc- and updated Fanny’s plot.
cessful ones, apparently) in ¡963’s Love Is a Ball. His attempts to Marius (¡93¡); Fanny (¡932); Fanny (¡933) (Italian remake);
use Glenn Ford to push Hope Lange into Ricardo Montalban’s Fanny (¡934) (German remake); Cesar (¡936); Port of Seven Seas
arms resulted in a Ford-Lange romance. Michael Callan and Paula (¡938); Fanny (¡96¡)
Prentiss played marriage brokers who discover they have un-
knowingly arranged a series of illegal marriages in the ¡969 TV Marsh, Abel
movie comedy In Name Only. Dating services, not marriage bro- Lane Slate wrote a theatrical film and two made-for-TV movies
kers, paired unlikely couples in Promise Him Anything (¡974), featuring contemporary small-town sheri› Abel Marsh. James
The Love Tapes (¡980), Lonely Hearts (¡983) and The Whole Truth Garner played Marsh on the big screen in ¡972’s They Only Kill
(¡992). See also Mail Order Brides. Their Masters, a sly mystery about a Doberman with apparently
The Model and the Marriage Broker (¡95¡); The Matchmaker murderous tendencies. The film emphasized o›beat humor and
(¡958); Love Is a Ball (aka All This and Money Too) (¡963); Hello, Garner’s laidback charm over action or suspense. It made little im-
Dolly! (¡969); In Name Only (¡969 TVM); Fiddler on the Roof pact at the box-o‡ce. However, five years later, Slate resurrected
(¡97¡); Promise Him Anything (¡974 TVM); The Love Tapes (¡980 Abel Marsh in the form of Andy Gri‡th, who played the plaid-
TVM); Lonely Hearts (¡983); Crossing Delancey (¡988); The Whole shirted detective in two TV movies: The Girl in the Empty Grave
Truth (¡992); Ladykiller (¡992 TVM); Emma (¡996); The Match- (¡977) and Deadly Game (¡977). The purpose of these films was
maker (¡997)
to launch an Abel Marsh TV series for Gri‡th, but further Marsh
mysteries never materialized. Interestingly, Gri‡th starred in an
The Marseilles Trilogy earlier TV movie, ¡974’s Winter Kill, which was “inspired” by
The characters of Marcel Pagnol’s French trilogy of Marius, Fanny, They Only Kill Their Masters. Although not written by Slate, Win-
and Cesar have maintained universal appeal ever since their first ter Kill featured Gri‡th as a ski resort sheri› (named Sam McNeill)
appearances. Thus, in addition to the trilogy, they have appeared investigating mysterious murders. It was also a failed pilot for a
(sometimes under di›erent names) in German, Italian, and Amer- TV series. Gri‡th, of course, finally turned in his sheri› ’s badge
ican features based on Pagnol’s works. Pagnol was a rising French and found TV series success in ¡986 as a lawyer in Matlock.
playwright when Paramount expressed interest in filming his ¡929 They Only Kill Their Masters (¡972); The Girl in the Empty
hit play Marius. The movie version, with Alexander Korda di- Grave (¡977 TVM); Deadly Game (¡977 TVM)
recting from a Pagnol screenplay, was released in ¡93¡. Pierre Fres-
nay played Marius, who dreams of a life at sea although he has Mason, Perry
fallen in love with Fanny (Orane Demazis). Fanny tries to make Raymond Burr will always be Perry Mason for millions of mys-
Marius jealous by flirting with the rich, middle-aged Panisse, a tery fans, but Erle Stanley Gardner’s lawyer/detective hit the big
friend of Marius’ father Cesar (Raimu). Eventually, she and Mar- screen twenty years before the long-running TV series. Warren
ius make love, but even that cannot cure Marius’ wanderlust. William was a sharp-witted, gourmet-minded Mason in four
Fanny sacrifices her own happiness and Marius leaves for the sea. Warner Bros. films, beginning with ¡934’s The Case of the Howl-
Marc Allegret directed the second chapter, ¡932’s Fanny, which ing Dog. William seemed a natural for the part, having already
Pagnol again adapted from his play. Fanny, who has become preg- played that urbane sleuth Philo Vance (q.v.) and destined to play
nant with Marius’ child, agrees to marry Panisse. Cesar becomes the Lone Wolf (q.v.), a jewel thief and detective. In fact, William’s
132 MATADORS/BULLFIGHTS

Mason did so much detection that it was easy to forget he was a The Case of the Tell-Tale Talk Show Host (¡993 TVM); A Perry
lawyer and some entries were devoid of courtroom scenes. Two Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives (¡993 TVM) (Paul
of William’s films are of special interest. The Case of the Curious Sorvino as Anthony Caruso); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of
the Lethal Lifestyle (¡994 TVM) (Hal Holbrook as “Wild Bill”
Bride featured superstar-to-be Errol Flynn as a murder victim
McKenzie); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Gov-
and Donald Woods, a future Perry Mason, in another support- ernor (¡995 TVM) (Holbrook); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of
ing role. The Case of the Velvet Claws found Mason and secretary the Jealous Jokester (¡995 TVM) (Holbrook)
Della Street (Claire Dodd) married and trying to take a honey-
moon! Comic actor Allen Jenkins played Perry’s detective assis-
tant Spudsy (not Paul) Drake. In ¡936, former Sam Spade Ricardo
Matadors/Bullfights
Cortez replaced Williams in The Case of the Black Cat and Don- Blood and Sand reigns as the best-remembered bullfight film,
ald Woods finished the Warner series with ¡937’s The Case of the chiefly because the ¡922 and ¡94¡ versions provided screen fa-
Stuttering Bishop. The Perry Mason TV series debuted in ¡957 vorites Rudolph Valentino and Tyrone Power with one of their
and enjoyed a nine-year run on CBS. Burr played the lead, of best roles. Vicente Blanco Ibáñez wrote the original story in
course, with Barbara Hale as Della Street, William Hopper as de- ¡908 and Tom Cushing adapted it for the stage in ¡92¡. The fol-
tective Paul Drake, William Talman as prosecuting attorney lowing year, Valentino starred as the young matador who rises
Hamilton Burger, and Ray Collins as police Lieutenant Arthur from poverty to stardom in the bullring, only to fall victim to
Tragg (Collins died prior to the ¡965-66 season). In ¡973, CBS the charms of an irresistible temptress (Nita Naldi). The mata-
revived the show as The New Adventures of Perry Mason starring dor died in the Ibáñez story, but the Valentino version was al-
Monte Markham, but it folded after half a season. Then, in ¡985, tered so that his faithful wife nursed him to recovery from near-
NBC brought back Burr in the TV movie Perry Mason Returns, death. The Tyrone Power remake followed the original closely
reuniting him with Hale and introducing William Katt (Hale’s (with Rita Hayworth as the seducer), but restored the climactic
real-life son) as Paul Drake’s son. The film’s ratings went through death scene in the bullring. Ex-matador Budd Boetticher, a
the roof and a series of equally high-rated made-for-TV movies technical advisor on the Power film, subsequently became a di-
quickly evolved. NBC broadcast two to four Mason films annu- rector and made three films about the perils of the bullring and
ally for the next eight years. William Katt bowed out after the the lifestyles of those who enter it. His semiautobiographical The
¡988 season, with William R. Moses coming aboard as new pri- Bullfighter and the Lady (¡95¡) starred Robert Stack as an Amer-
vate eye Ken Malansky. Following Burr’s death from kidney can- ican (like Boetticher) in Mexico who convinces a famous mata-
cer in ¡993, NBC produced four Perry Mason Mysteries that starred dor (Gilbert Roland) to help him become a bullfighter. Boet-
either Paul Sorvino or Hal Holbrook as Mason-like lawyers. Bar- ticher followed it with ¡955’s The Magnificent Matador, which
bara Hale and William R. Moses continued as series regulars. cast Anthony Quinn as an aging matador who trains his illegit-
With a total of 29 films, the NBC Perry Mason films reign as the imate son for the ring despite premonitions of death. Boetticher
longest TV movie series in broadcast history. See also Television left Hollywood in ¡960 to make a documentary in Mexico about
Series Reunion Films. the legendary bullfighter Carlos Arruza. The venture proved
THEATRICAL FILMS: The Case of the Howling Dog (¡934)
disastrous, with the producer-director facing endless personal
(Warren William); The Case of the Curious Bride (¡935) and production problems. The film was finally completed in
(William); The Case of the Lucky Legs (¡935) (William); The Case ¡967 and released in ¡972 as Arruza. Not surprisingly, bullfight-
of the Velvet Claws (¡936) (William); The Case of the Black Cat ing has been played for laughs in a number of films. In the ¡945
(¡936) (Ricardo Cortez); The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (¡937) comedy The Bullfighters, bumbling detectives Laurel and Hardy
(Donald Woods) discover that Stan resembles a famous matador. Naturally, he
RAYMOND BURR TV MOVIES: Perry Mason Returns (¡985 winds up facing an unpleasant-looking bull in the ring. A sim-
TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun (¡986 TVM); ilar fate befell Lou Costello in the ¡948 Abbott and Costello
Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star (¡986 TVM); Perry comedy Mexican Hayride. In ¡956’s Around the World in Eighty
Mason and the Case of the Sinister Spirit (¡987 TVM); Perry Mason:
The Case of the Lost Love (¡987 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the
Days, Cantilfas entered the bullring so he and David Niven
Murdered Madam (¡987 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Scan- could borrow Gilbert Roland’s yacht. In one of the livelier scenes
dalous Scoundrel (¡987 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Aveng- in ¡957’s The Sun Also Rises, Errol Flynn and Eddie Albert played
ing Ace (¡988 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake rompish drunks who posed the dangerous question: “Bully,
(¡988 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin (¡989 bully, where’s the bull?” Tony Franciosa tried to interrogate
TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson (¡989 TVM); Raquel Welch about a stolen jewel as an angry bull chased her
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder (¡989 TVM); Perry around the bullring in Fathom (¡967). Esther Williams (!) played
Mason: The Case of the Poison Pen (¡990 TVM); Perry Mason: The
Case of the Silenced Singer (¡990 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of
an unlikely-looking female matador in the ¡947 musical Fiesta.
the Desperate Deception (¡990 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Still, she looked at ease with the role compared to the Volk-
Defiant Daughter (¡990 TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruth- swagen-turned-matador in Herbie Goes Bananas.
less Reporter (¡99¡ TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned
Mobster (¡99¡ TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Co‡n Blood and Sand (¡922); The Kid from Spain (¡932); The Trum-
(¡99¡ TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion (¡99¡ pet Blows (¡934); Blood and Sand (¡94¡); The Bullfighters (¡945);
TVM); Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing (¡992 TVM); Masquerade in Mexico (¡945); Fiesta (¡947); Mexican Hayride
Perry Mason: The Case of the Reckless Romeo (¡992 TVM); Perry (¡948); The Bullfighter and the Lady (¡95¡); The Brave Bulls (¡95¡);
Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride (¡992 TVM); Perry The Magnificent Matador (aka The Brave and the Beautiful) (¡955);
Mason: The Case of Skin Deep Scandal (¡993 TVM); Perry Mason: Around the World in Eighty Days (¡956); The Sun Also Rises (¡957);
 MEXICAN SPITFIRE 133

Alakazam the Great (¡96¡); Fun in Acapulco (¡963); The Bobo (¡967); Mermaids
Fathom (¡967); Arruza (¡972); Herbie Goes Bananas (¡980); Bolero
(¡984); Matador (¡986); Blood and Sand (aka Sangre y Arena) (¡989); Mermaid movies seem to come in waves, with ¡947’s Miranda
Jamon Jamon (¡993); Only the Brave (aka Romance de Valentía) (¡994) sparking the first volley. It starred Glynis Johns as a comely mer-
maid who rescues a drowning physician on a Cornwall holiday.
Matchmakers see Marriage Brokers/Dating To show his gratitude, the doctor takes the mermaid back to Lon-
don, where she moves in with him and his wife and decides that
Services she prefers the sophisticated land-life. This light comedic con-
coction inspired a ¡954 sequel, Mad About Men, in which mer-
Meatballs Series maid Johns trades places with a lookalike (q.v.) human. In the
Five years before ¡984’s Ghostbusters lined their pockets with gold, meantime, producer-writer Nunnally Johnson mounted an Amer-
comedian Bill Murray and director Ivan Reitman made this Cana- ican imitation of Miranda with ¡948’s Mr. Peabody and the Mer-
dian sleeper about life in a summer camp. Despite an abundance maid. William Powell played a man in the midst of a midlife cri-
of teen comedy stereotypes, it was raunchy, occasionally sis who hooks mermaid Ann Blyth while on a fishing trip.
schmaltzy, and pretty funny when Murray was around. Wisely, Complications ensue when he takes her back and deposits her into
Murray went on to bigger roles and avoided further association a fish pond near his beach house. A gap of five years separated Mad
with Camp Sasquatch in Meatballs II, Meatballs III, and Meat- About Men from the next group of mermaid movies. Mermaids
balls 4. John Laroquette, Sally Kellerman, Patrick Dempsey, and and Sea Robbers (¡959), a Japanese import, and The Mermaids of
Corey Feldman were not as selective. See also Summer Camps. Tiburon (¡962) were low-grade fantasies with no redeeming traits.
Meatballs (¡979); Meatball II (¡983); Meatballs III (¡987); Curtis Harrington’s Night Tide (¡96¡) was an atmospheric yarn
Meatballs 4 (¡992) about a sailor (Dennis Hopper) who meets an odd girl (Linda
Lawson) who plays a mermaid in a carnival sideshow. She claims
Mediums and Seances to be a descendant of the “sea people,” who must kill during a full
moon. Far less compelling was ¡965’s Beach Blanket Bingo, which
The movies have treated mediums with both respect and disdain.
featured a subplot involving a mermaid played by Marta Kristen
Sadly, in movies where they get the most footage, mediums are
(the oldest daughter in TV’s Lost in Space). Almost 20 years later,
typically portrayed as charlatans. In ¡947’s Nightmare Alley, Ty-
a mermaid subplot in Bill Forsyth’s charming Scottish fantasy
rone Power gave one of his best performances as a sideshow hus-
Local Hero (¡983) initiated another round of mermaid movies.
tler who becomes a financially successful spiritualist through
The following year’s Splash was a solid sleeper hit about a young
trickery and deceit. He is eventually exposed as a fraud and winds
man (Tom Hanks) reunited with the fetching mermaid (Daryl
up back in the carnival as “the geek.” Along similar lines, Turhan
Hannah) who rescued him from drowning as a boy. Ariel the
Bey played The Amazing Mr. X (¡948), a fake spiritualist who plots
mermaid also fell in love with the human prince she rescued in
with a “dead man” to dupe the man’s wife. And in Seance on a
Disney’s ¡989 animated version of The Little Mermaid. Cher
Wet Afternoon (¡964), an unbalanced medium (Kim Stanley)
donned flippers to attend a costume party in ¡990’s Mermaids.
hatches a plot to kidnap a child and then hold a seance which will
Miranda (¡947); Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (¡948); Hans
reveal the child’s whereabouts. Real-life magician (q.v.) Harry
Christian Andersen (the “Little Mermaid” sequence) (¡952); Peter
Houdini spent the latter portion of his life exposing fake spiritu- Pan (¡953); Mad About Men (¡954); Mermaids and Sea Robbers
alists, a pastime explored briefly in ¡953’s Houdini. In the ¡990 (¡959); Don’t Give Up the Ship (¡959); Night Tide (¡96¡); The Mer-
box-o‡ce smash Ghost, Whoopi Goldberg won a Best Support- maids of Tiburon (aka The Aqua Sex) (¡962); Beach Blanket Bingo
ing Actress Oscar as a fake medium who becomes a real one when (¡965); Local Hero (¡983); Splash (¡984); Splash Too (¡988 TVM);
Patrick Swayze’s spirit returns to protect his wife Demi Moore. The Little Mermaid (¡989); Hook (¡99¡)
Margaret Rutherford played an eccentric — but legitimate —
medium in Blithe Spirit (¡945), as did spunky Zelda Rubinstein Meteors see Asteriods, Comets, and
in ¡982’s Poltergeist (q.v.). Claire Bloom was a psychic and Julie Meteors
Harris a lonely spinster in ¡963’s eerie classic The Haunting, but
one (or both?) of them seemed to attract (or cause?) supernatural Mexican Spitfire
happenings in an old mansion. Seances have played minor parts By the time she was 30, spicy Latin American actress Lupe Velez
in many ghost (q.v.) movies, with some of the most memorable had experienced a flirtation with stardom (opposite Douglas Fair-
ones appearing in The Uninvited, Curse of the Demon, and Abbott banks in ¡927’s The Gaucho), a scandalous romance with Gary
and Costello’s The Time of Their Lives. See also Clairvoyants and Cooper, and an unhappy marriage to Johnny Weissmuller. Her
Fortunetellers; Ghosts. career was in a slow tailspin when she made a lightweight ¡939
Palmy Days (¡932); Miracles for Sale (¡939); The Spell of Amy comedy called The Girl from Mexico. Donald Woods starred as a
Nugent (aka Spellbound; Passing Clouds) (¡940); The Uninvited young advertising executive who falls for a fiery Latin entertainer
(¡944); Blithe Spirit (¡945); The Time of Their Lives (¡946); Night- (Velez), while dealing with his own devious Uncle Matt (Leon
mare Alley (¡947); The Amazing Mr. X (aka The Spiritualist) (¡948); Errol). To everyone’s surprise, the movie’s success spawned a Mex-
The Medium (¡95¡); Houdini (¡953); Curse of the Demon (aka Night
of the Demon) (¡958); ¡3 Ghosts (¡960); The Haunting (¡963); ican Spitfire series. Although Velez was the star, Errol stole the
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (¡964); The Legend of Hell House (¡973); show at every turn-playing both Uncle Matt and a delightful
Family Plot (¡976); The Manitou (¡978); Poltergeist (¡982); Grave drunken Englishman named Lord Epping. Sometimes, the antics
Secrets (¡989); Ghost (¡990); The Haunting (¡999) got a wee silly — one entry featured a live pink elephant with
134 THE MIGHTY DUCKS

green polka dots. Sadly, the series ended abruptly in ¡944 with as a Man. (Ironically, Sorority Girl, a female version of the same
Velez’s elaborately staged sleeping-pill suicide. novel, was also released in ¡957.) In ¡98¡’s Taps, Timothy Hut-
The Girl from Mexico (¡939); Mexican Spitfire (¡939); Mexican ton led a group of fellow cadets, including Sean Penn and Tom
Spitfire Out West (¡940); Mexican Spitfire at Sea (¡94¡); Mexican Cruise, in a revolt against school o‡cials trying to turn their
Spitfire’s Baby (¡94¡); Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (¡942); Mexican beloved academy into a condominium. David Keith battled mod-
Spitfire’s Elephant (¡942); Mexican Spitfire’s Blessed Event (¡943) ern-day prejudice at a Southern military academy in ¡983’s The
(Note: Although both Velez and Errol appeared in ¡94¡’s Six Lords of Discipline. The most unlikely military school is the one
Lessons from Madame La Zonga, it was not a Spitfire entry.) run by an order of nuns in the Charlton Heston picture The Pri-
vate War of Major Benson. See also Boarding Schools.
Mice see Rodents Tom Brown of Culver (¡932); Flirtation Walk (¡934); Dinky
(¡935); Navy Blue and Gold (¡937); The Duke of West Point (¡938);
The Mighty Ducks Lord Je› (¡938); Spirit of Culver (¡939); Brother Rat (¡940); They
This uninspired hockey variation of The Bad News Bears (q.v.) Died with Their Boots On (¡94¡); Ten Gentlemen from West Point
(¡942); Best Foot Forward (¡943); The Spirit of West Point (¡947);
proved that a good formula could yield box-o‡ce gold regardless
Beyond Glory (¡948); West Point Story (aka Fine and Dandy) (¡950);
of its ingredients. Emilio Estevez starred as Gordon Bombay, a About Face (¡952); Francis Goes to West Point (¡952); The Long Gray
yuppie lawyer arrested for a DUI and sentenced to community Line (¡955); The Private War of Major Benson (¡955); The Strange
service. He winds up coaching a Pee Wee hockey team of misfits One (aka End as a Man) (¡957); The Silence (¡975 TVM); Women
called the Mighty Ducks. Building upon every cliché imagin- of West Point (¡979 TVM); Up the Academy (¡980); Taps (¡98¡);
able, Gordon falls in love with the mother of a troubled player, Evilspeak (¡982); The Lords of Discipline (¡983); Hard Knox (¡984
turns the Ducks into a championship-caliber team, and earns TVM); Dress Gray (¡986 TVM); Combat High (¡986 TVM);
Child’s Play 3 (¡99¡)
self-respect by facing the hockey coach who ridiculed Gordon
when he played as a boy. In D2: The Mighty Ducks, Bombay (Es-
tevez) returns to coach Team USA, comprised of several former
Mirrors
Ducks, for the Junior Goodwill Games (a plot similar to The Bad Employed principally in fantasy films, mirrors have also been used
News Bears Go to Japan). Estevez makes a brief appearance in D3: e›ectively in comic sequences and climactic confrontations. An
The Mighty Ducks, which sends several Duck players to snobby imaginary mirror was the gimmick in Duck Soup, in which Harpo
Eden Hall on hockey scholarships. Joshua Jackson, who played Marx posed as Groucho’s reflection, mimicking perfectly his
Duck player Charlie Conway in all three films, became a teen brother’s every movement. Errol Flynn and Donald Woods, both
heartthrob as Pacey in the ¡997 TV series Dawson’s Creek. An an- attired in Santa suits, repeated the “no mirror” trick in ¡946’s
imated series appeared in ¡996, with the hockey players fighting Never Say Goodbye (as did Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx in TV’s
criminals in their spare time. When the Disney studios acquired I Love Lucy). A man’s reflection stepped out of a mirror to o›er
a National Hockey League franchise in Anaheim, California, in advice to his owner in the ¡936 comedy The Man in the Mirror.
¡993, it dubbed the team the Mighty Ducks. See also Ice Hockey. And a magician’s trick mirror saved Woody Allen from the stran-
gler in ¡992’s Shadows and Fog. Orson Welles confronted mur-
The Mighty Ducks (¡992); D2: The Mighty Ducks (¡994); D3:
The Mighty Ducks (¡996) deress Rita Hayworth in a carnival hall of mirrors in the gripping
climax of Welles’ Lady from Shanghai (¡948). In a similar fash-
Military Academies ion, Bruce Lee outdueled villain Shih Kien in a chamber of mir-
As one would expect, the United States Military Academy — bet- rors in the ¡973 martial arts classic Enter the Dragon. However,
ter known as West Point — has provided the bulk of military fantasy films have used mirrors most imaginatively, beginning
school settings. West Point stories have ranged from inspirational with the Wicked Witch’s magic mirror in Disney’s Snow White
sport sagas (The Spirit of West Point) to musical revues (West Point and the Seven Dwarfs (¡937). In ¡945’s Dead of Night, an antique
Story) to true-life dramas (The Silence and Dress Gray). Ask any mirror haunted a happy husband by reflecting the room of its pre-
cadet about his favorite West Point film and he will probably an- vious owner: a jealous gent who strangled his wife. Another old
swer The Long Gray Line, a sentimental tale about an athletic mirror allowed Bradford Dillman to return from the dead to visit
trainer (Tyrone Power) and his wife (Maureen O’Hara) who be- fiancée Linda Day George in the ¡969 TV Movie Fear No Evil.
come an institution at the school. West Point comedies have been On a more intellectual scale, a mirror provided the door between
rare, though Francis the Talking Mule tutored Donald O’Con- Earth and the Zone (a sort of Heaven/Hell) in Jean Cocteau’s eerie
nor in ¡952’s Francis Goes to West Point and females invaded the classic Orpheus (¡949). For the most bizarre use of mirrors, it’s
academy in the ¡979 TV movie Women of West Point. An “ille- hard to beat The Boogeyman, a ¡980 sleeper about a shard of a bro-
gal” woman caused Eddie Albert quite a bit of trouble at the Vir- ken mirror which turned people into killers. Finally, mirrors have
ginia Military Institute in the ¡940 comedy Brother Rat. The exposed quite a few vampires, for those smart enough to know
woman turned out to be his pregnant wife ( Jane Bryan)— a fact that the bloodsuckers cast no reflection.
he had hidden from school o‡cials who did not accept married Duck Soup (¡933); The Man in the Mirror (¡936); Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs (¡937); Kitty Foyle (¡940); Dead of Night
cadets. It was remade as the musical About Face with Eddie
(¡945); Beauty and the Beast (¡946); Never Say Goodbye (¡946); Fear
Bracken in ¡952. Not surprisingly, controversial dramas have in the Night (¡947); Lady from Shanghai (¡948); Orpheus (¡949);
taken place in fictitious military schools. Ben Gazarra played a Nightmare (¡956); The Witch’s Mirror (¡960); The Devil’s Bride (aka
sadistic cadet with a dominating hold over classmates in ¡957’s The Devil Rides Out) (¡968); Fear No Evil (¡969 TVM); Vampire
The Strange One, adapted from Calder Willingham’s novel End Circus (¡97¡); Enter the Dragon (¡973); The Boogeyman (aka The
 MOMENT OF TRUTH SERIES 135

Boogey Man) (¡980); The Mirror Crack’d (¡980); Come Back to the 5 in Cry Danger, but their place of residence had little to do with
& Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (¡982); Something Wicked This the plot. The same can be said of mobile home dwellers Jamie Lee
Way Comes (¡983); Big Business (¡988); Fright Night 2 (¡989); Curse Curtis (Grandview, U.S.A.), John Travolta and Debra Winger
of the Blue Lights (¡989); Mirror, Mirror (¡990); Shadows and Fog
(Urban Cowboy), Bette Midler (Jinxed), and Holly Hunter and
(¡992); Candyman (¡992); Amityville: A New Generation (¡993);
Mirror Mirror 2: Raven Dance (aka Mirror Mirror) (¡994) Nicolas Cage (Raising Arizona). The first half of ¡984’s delight-
ful The Last Starfighter took place in an atmospheric trailer park
where an ugly alien tried to liquidate a teen video game expert.
Missing in Action Series Two memorable comedies have dealt with couples who have taken
This ¡984 Chuck Norris action picture cashed in on the public’s their trailers on the road. In The Long, Long Trailer (¡954), Lu-
“new patriotism” and shot to the top of the box-o‡ce charts. In cille Ball and Desi Arnaz went on their honeymoon in a particu-
many ways, it paved the way for ¡985’s Rambo: First Blood Part larly troublesome trailer. Yuppies Albert Brooks and Julie Hag-
II, with a plot that sent Colonel Norris back into Vietnam to res- gerty gave up the “rat race” for an enlightening life on the road
cue some buddies imprisoned in a P.O.W. camp. It was followed in Lost in America (¡985). However, they didn’t count on Hag-
by a prequel and then a sequel. Missing in Action 2: The Begin- gerty losing their nest egg on their first stop — at a casino in Las
ning (¡985), which was actually filmed before the earlier film, fo- Vegas.
cused on Norris’ P.O.W. escape. Braddock: Missing in Action III Cry Danger (¡95¡); The Long, Long Trailer (¡954); Anatomy of
(¡988) had Norris returning to Vietnam again, this time to save a Murder (¡959); Pretty Poison (¡968); Pink Flamingos (¡972);
his own son. Neither of these two films matched the popularity Urban Cowboy (¡980); Jinxed! (¡982); Grandview, U.S.A. (¡984);
of the original. See also Prisoners of War; Vietnam. The Last Starfighter (¡984); Lost in America (¡985); Raising Arizona
Missing in Action (¡984); Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (¡987); Pals (¡987 TVM); Little Vegas (¡990); Gas, Food, Lodging
(¡985); Braddock: Missing in Action III (¡988) (¡992); Wilder Napalm (¡993); Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (¡993);
Showgirls (¡995); Touch (¡997); Wild Things (¡998); Ringmaster
(¡998)
Mr. Vampire Series
Hopping vampires? They abound in this Asian comedy-horror se- Models see Fashion Models
ries starring Lam Ching Ying as a Taoist vampire killer. A popu-
lar explanation for the “hopping” mode of travel is that rigor mor-
Moment of Truth Series
tis prevents the vampires from walking normally. They still
manage to get around nicely and kill people, although — unlike When NBC launched this long-running series of made-for-TV
Western vampires — they don’t suck blood. In the original Mr. films in ¡993, its goal was simple: capture an audience composed
Vampire (¡985), Lam Ching Ying’s “one eyebrow priest” (so of female viewers aged ¡8–49, a cherished demographic for tele-
named because his eyesbrows meet) teams with his two bumbling vision networks. The films featured no recurring characters, but
assistants to fight a vampire outbreak caused when a corpse is re- were similar in that they usually featured strong female charac-
buried. One assistant (Ricky Hui) gets bitten by a vampire and ters and focused on family issues such as child custody (A Child
begins to transform into one of the undead. The other assistant Too Many), adoption (The Other Mother), and teenage eating dis-
(Chin Siu-Ho) falls in love with a beautiful ghost. The film orders (A Secret Between Friends). Still, a couple of the films did
earned a host of nominations, including best picture, at the Fifth not seem to fit the formula, such as Caught in the Crossfire, which
Annual Hong King Film Awards and turned a big profit at the starred Dennis Franz as a reporter accused of extortion. NBC
box-o‡ce. It also made an Asian superstar of Lam Ching Ying, ended the film series’ five-year run in ¡999. By then, the network
who starred in all the entries except New Mr. Vampire (¡986) and had replaced its Monday night movies with sitcoms and had
Mr. Vampire 4 (¡990). Lam Ching Ying, who died in ¡997, had shifted its focus to a more general audience with its Sunday night
a long, prosperous film career, working with major Asian stars movies. With its 2¡ entries, the Moment of Truth films ranks as
such as Bruce Lee, Sammo Hung, and Michelle Yeoh. Sammo the second longest TV movie series. Top honors belong to Ray-
Hung’s ¡98¡ Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind pioneered the mond Burr’s Perry Mason TV films (q.v.), which also aired on
Hong Kong comedy-horror formula and heavily influenced the NBC.
Mr. Vampire films. For the record, Magic Cop, a ¡989 Lam Ching Moment of Truth: A Child Too Many (¡993 TVM); Moment of
Ying film also called Mr. Vampire 5, is not part of the Mr. Vam- Truth: Stalking Back (¡993 TVM); Moment of Truth: Why My
Daughter? (¡993 TVM); Moment of Truth: A Mother’s Deception
pire series. See also Vampires. (¡994 TVM); Moment of Truth: Broken Pledges (¡994 TVM); Mo-
Mr. Vampire (aka Geung Si Sin Sang) (¡985); Mr. Vampire 2 ment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire (¡994 TVM); Moment of
(aka Geung Si Sin Sang Juk Jaap) (¡986); New Mr. Vampire (aka Truth: Cradle of Conspiracy (¡994 TVM); Moment of Truth: To
Geung Si Faan Sang; Kung Fu Vampire Buster) (¡986); Mr. Vampire Walk Again (¡994 TVM); Murder or Memory: A Moment of Truth
3 (aka Ling Waan Sin Sang) (¡987); New Mr. Vampire 2 (aka One Movie (¡995 TVM); Eye of the Stalker: A Moment of Truth Movie
Eyebrow Priest) (¡989); Mr. Vampire 4 (aka Geung Si Suk Suk; Mr. (¡995 TVM); The Other Mother: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡995
Vampire Saga) (¡990); Mr. Vampire ¡992 (aka San Geung Si Sin TVM); A Secret Between Friends: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡996
Sang; Mr. Vampire 5; Vampire vs. Vampire) (¡99¡) TVM); Justice for Annie: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡996 TVM);
Abduction of Innocence: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡996 TVM);
Stand Against Fear: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡996 TVM); The
Mobile Homes Accident: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡997 TVM); Into the Arms of
Not many movie residents have lived in mobile home parks. Dick Danger: A Moment of Truth Movie (¡997 TVM); Playing to Win: A
Powell and Rhonda Fleming called the Clover Trailer Park home Moment of Truth Movie (¡998 TVM); Someone to Love Me: A
136 MONKS

Moment of Truth Movie (¡998 TVM); Race Against Fear: A Moment the Thing, in which the radioactive “King of Monsters” destroyed
of Truth Movie (¡998 TVM); A Champion’s Fight: A Moment of the giant caterpillar. However, an egg hatched to unleash two
Truth Movie (¡998 TVM) baby giant caterpillars which wove a web of silk around Godzilla
and rendered him helpless. Thus, the Mothras that appear in sub-
Monks sequent films are either children or grandchildren of the original
In comparison to priests and nuns, monks have been poorly rep- Mothra — it’s never made clear. The giant caterpillar’s film ap-
resented in films. The only ones to achieve celebrity status have pearances decreased after Godzilla made the switch from bad guy
been Friar Tuck of Robin Hood (q.v.) fame and Rasputin, the to good in ¡965’s Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. However,
Russian monk whose alleged healing powers gained him influence she staged a comeback along with Godzilla in the ¡990s. See also
over the Imperial family. This colorful character has attracted The Alilenas.
many performers, most notably Christopher Lee (Rasputin — the Mothra (aka Mosura) (¡962); Godzilla vs. the Thing (aka
Mad Monk), Tom Baker (Nicholas and Alexandra), Edmund Pur- Godzilla vs. Mothra; Gojira tai Mothra) (¡964); Ghidrah the Three-
dom (Nights of Rasputin), Alan Rickman (Rasputin), and, in the Headed Monster (aka The Greatest Battle on Earth; Sandai Kaiju
definitive performance, Lionel Barrymore (Rasputin and the Em- Chikyu Saidai No Kessen) (¡965); Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (aka
press). The portly frame of Friar Tuck has been inhabited by even Ebriah-Terror of the Deep; Nankai no Dai Ketto) (¡966); Destroy All
more actors, though Eugene Pallette’s portrayal in ¡938’s The Ad- Monsters (aka Operation Monsterland; Kaiju Soshingeki) (¡968);
Godzilla’s Revenge (aka Ord Kaiju Daishingeki) (¡969); Godzilla vs.
ventures of Robin Hood outshines all others. With the exception Mothra (aka Gojira vs. Mothra) (¡992); Mothra (aka Mosura)(¡996);
of Rasputin, other film biographies of monks have been of the Mothra 2 (aka Mosura 2 — Kaitei No Daikessen; Mothra 2 — Show-
saintly variety. Both Franco Ze‡relli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon down Beneath the Sea) (¡997)
(¡973) and the earlier Francis of Assisi (¡96¡) told how St. Francis
of Assisi founded the Franciscan order of monks. The ¡974 Luther Moto, Mr.
was a straightforward adaptation of John Osborne’s play about the J.P. Marquand’s Japanese sleuth was a brilliant thinker, a master
leader of Protestant Reformation. In fictional films, Harrison Ford of disguises, and a martial arts expert. That description does not
and Sean Connery encountered an ancient monk who guarded the exactly bring Peter Lorre to mind, but he nevertheless made a fine
Holy Grail in the ¡989 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last movie Moto. He made eight films in a two-year period, begin-
Crusade. Three years earlier, Connery solved devious murders in ning with ¡937’s Think Fast, Mr. Moto. The series ended abruptly
a ¡3th century Italian monastery in The Name of the Rose. It was in ¡939, its demise usually attributed to the U.S.’s growing dis-
not, however, the first monastery mystery. That distinction be- enchantment with Japan’s World War II activities. In ¡965, an un-
longs to the o›beat ¡974 TV movie Judge Dee and the Monastery expected update, The Return of Mr. Moto, appeared with movie
Murders, which was set in seventh century China. Another Chi- heavy Henry Silva as Moto. This new Moto bore little resem-
nese monastery appeared briefly in another TV movie, ¡972’s blance to Marquand’s detective and the movie died at the box-
Kung Fu, the pilot for the ¡972–75 series about a fugitive Bud- o‡ce. The only other “actor” to play Mr. Moto was Porky Pig in
dhist monk in the American West. The most unusual monks have the ¡939 cartoon “Porky’s Movie Mystery.”
been played by Charles Boyer (opposite Marlene Dietrich in The
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (¡937); Mr. Moto’s Gamble (¡938); Mr.
Garden of Allah), Marty Feldman (In God We Trust), and Edward Moto Takes a Chance (¡938); The Mysterious Mr. Moto (¡938);
G. Robinson (as a gangster who reforms in Brother Orchid). Con- Thank You, Mr. Moto (¡938); Mr. Moto on Danger Island (¡939);
trary to its title, the ¡969 TV movie The Monk had nothing to do Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (¡939); Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (¡939);
with monks. George Maharis played a private eye named Gus The Return of Mr. Moto (¡965)
Monk. See also Nuns; Popes and Cardinals.
Rasputin and the Empress (¡932); The Garden of Allah (¡936); Motorcycle Gangs
The Adventures of Robin Hood (¡938); Brother Orchid (¡940); Letters Sheri› ’s daughter to motorcycle gang leader Marlon Brando:
from My Windmill (¡954); Nights of Rasputin (¡960); Francis of As- “What are you rebelling against?” Brando: “What ya got?” That
sisi (¡96¡); Rasputin-the Mad Monk (¡966); I Killed Rasputin (¡967); simple line of dialogue from ¡953’s The Wild One summarizes the
Nicholas and Alexandra (¡97¡); Kung Fu (¡972 TVM); Brother Son,
Sister Moon (¡973); Luther (¡974); Judge Dee and the Monastery attitude of pointless rebellion that would eventually spark the
Murders (¡974 TVM); In God We Trust (¡980); The Name of the motorcycle gang films of the late ¡960s and early ¡970s. Consid-
Rose (¡986); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989); Little Bud- ering the popularity of Brando’s film with youth audiences of the
dha (¡993); Temptation of a Monk (aka You Seng) (¡994); Rasputin ¡950s, it’s amazing that the genre was not born earlier. In all like-
(¡996 TVM); Anastasia (¡997) lihood, however, audiences were not yet prepared to accept anti-
establishment criminals as their idols. Thus, the teen bikers in
Mothra ¡957’s Motorcycle Gang were presented as a “bad crowd” to be
Toho Studios, the home of Godzilla, introduced this giant female avoided by nice teens. Likewise, Oliver Reed and his fellow
caterpillar (and occasional moth) in ¡962. Her debut film marked “Teddy Boys” had no redeeming features in Joseph Losey’s sci-
a turning point in the studio’s Japanese monster series: It was the ence fiction cult film These Are the Damned (¡962). Harvey Lem-
first movie to be shot in color and feature a sympathetic creature. beck brought a little humanity — and a disarming ridiculous-
Of course, Mothra wreaked plenty of havoc, just like her prede- ness — to his role of gang leader Eric Von Zipper in ¡963’s Beach
cessors Godzilla (q.v.) and Rodan (q.v.). However, the carnage was Party (q.v.) and its subsequent sequels. Three years later, the biker
a justified response to the kidnapping of two fairies from Mothra’s antihero roared onto the screen in the guise of leather-clad, joint-
home island. Mothra’s next appearance was in ¡964’s Godzilla vs. smoking, Hell’s Angel leader Peter Fonda in Roger Corman’s The
 MOUNTIES 137

Wild Angels about which Hollis Alpert of The Saturday Review Riders (¡990); Beyond the Law (¡992); Iron Horsemen (¡994); Motor-
wrote: It “strings together such incidents as the invasion of a hos- cycle Gang (¡994 TVM)
pital and the rape of a Negro nurse, a gang fight, and an orgy in
a church…the film is faulty, and in a sense, irresponsible.” Still, Mountain Climbing
many mid–¡960s teenagers identified with the angry, ultimately
No fictional film has been able to match ¡953’s Conquest of Everest
pessimistic attitudes of Fonda’s Heavenly Blues and Bruce Dern’s
in terms of portraying the awesome beauty and never-ending dan-
Loser. Cheaper, cruder biker films filled drive-in screens in the
ger of mountain climbing. Sadly, this gripping chronicle of Edmund
wake of Wild Angels’ success. At their best, these exploitation
Hillary’s Everest expedition lost the Best Documentary Oscar to
films provided steady work for rising talents like Jack Nicholson
Disney’s The Living Desert. On the dramatic front, Glenn Ford led
(Hell’s Angels on Wheels, Rebel Rousers), Harry Dean Stanton (The
a group of climbers intent on scaling the Swiss Alps in The White
Miniskirt Mob), Tyne Daly (Angel Unchained), Bruce Dern (The
Tower (¡950). In Cli›hanger (¡993), Sylvester Stallone flexed his
Cycle Savages, Rebel Rousers), and disc jockey Casey Kasem (Wild
muscles as a Rocky Mountain Rescue pro who grapples with a gang
Wheels). The worst films were the ones that capitalized on re-
of money-hungry villains. James MacArthur played a young man
turning Vietnam veterans, such as Angels from Hell and The Angry
intent on conquering a peak called the Citadel (actually the Mat-
Breed. An interesting exception was ¡967’s Born Losers, which in-
terhorn) in the ¡958 Disney adventure Third Man on the Mountain.
troduced a peace-loving, former Green Beret named Billy Jack
Five Days One Summer and The Mountain ended with mountain
(Tom Laughlin). Four years later, Laughlin revived the character
climbing tragedies. In the latter film, Spencer Tracy followed greedy
for the influential, nonbiker sleeper hit Billy Jack (q.v.). Still, few
brother Robert Wagner up the slopes to prevent the looting of plane
motorcycle gang films strayed from the Wild Angels’ violence-
wreckage. The Ascent (¡994), based on a true story, had Italian POWs
drugs-orgy formula, although female bikers took charge e›ec-
challenging their British captors to a race to the top of Mount Kenya.
tively in The Miniskirt Mob, She-Devils on Wheels, and Angels’
Everest (¡998), a 44-minute documentary, presented the wonders of
Wild Women, and supernatural twists livened up Werewolves on
the world’s highest peak on a huge ¡.44:¡ aspect ratio IMAX screen.
Wheels and Psychomania (the latter concerning bikers revived from
Numerous films have boasted extensive mountain climbing footage,
the dead). In ¡973, the motorcycle gang movie craze gave way to
ranging from the scaling of the German fortress in The Guns of
other blossoming, low-budget genres like the martial arts im-
Navarone to the Clint Eastwood spy adventure The Eiger Sanction
ports and blaxploitation (q.v.) pictures. Ironically, the most
to the James Bond picture For Your Eyes Only.
influential biker film of the ¡966–72 period turned out to be
The White Tower (¡950); Conquest of Everest (¡953); The
Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s ¡967 sleeper smash Easy Rider—
Mountain (¡956); The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (aka
and it was not about motorcycle gangs. Post-¡972 film appear- Abominable Snowman) (¡957); Third Man on the Mountain (¡959);
ances by biker gangs have been rare. A hapless gang incurred the The Guns of Navarone (¡96¡); Climb an Angry Mountain (¡972
wrath of Clint Eastwood in his comedy hit Every Which Way But TVM); The Eiger Sanction (¡975); High Ice (¡980 TVM); The Con-
Loose. Don Murray reunited his old gang to get rid of some con- stant Factor (¡980); For Your Eyes Only (¡98¡); Five Days One Sum-
temporary punks in the ¡98¡ TV movie Return of the Rebels. Ed mer (¡982); A Breed Apart (¡984); Storm and Sorrow (¡990 TVM);
Harris played King Arthur to a travelling group of jousting bik- Dreams (¡990) (“The Blizzard” segment); Scream of Stone (¡99¡);
K2 (¡992); Cli›hanger (¡993); The Ascent (¡994); Everest (¡998);
ers in George Romero’s heavyhanded parable Knightriders (¡98¡).
Mission: Impossible 2 (aka Mission Impossible II) (2000)
On television, Monty Python’s Flying Circus presented a hilarious
skit about a gang of vicious, motorcycle-riding grannies. Motor-
cycles — without the gangs — are featured in movies such as Evel Mounties
Knievel (¡972), I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (¡990), and Mur- Television has treated the Royal Canadian Mounted Police far
dercycle (¡999). more generously than the cinema. Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
The Wild One (¡953); Motorcycle Gang (¡957); These Are the and Dudley Doright may have done little for Mountie prestige, but
Damned (aka The Damned) (¡962); Beach Party (¡963); Motor Psy- they still accounted for some brief popularity. On the big screen,
cho (¡965); The Wild Angels (¡966); Born Losers (¡967); Hell’s Angels Mountie musicals and a handful of modest adventures have at-
on Wheels (¡967); Rebel Rousers (¡967); The Glory Stompers (¡967); tracted minimal attention. Cecil DeMille saluted the Royal
Angels from Hell (¡968); Girl on a Motorcycle (aka Naked Under Mounted with his lavish Northwest Mounted Police (¡940), star-
Leather) (¡968); The Miniskirt Mob (¡968); She-Devils on Wheels ring Gary Cooper and Robert Preston. Critic Otis Ferguson called
(¡968); The Savage Seven (¡968); The Angry Breed (¡969); The Cycle it “two hours of colour, killing, kindness and magnificent coun-
Savages (¡969); Wild Wheels (¡969); Angels Die Hard (¡970); Hell’s
Bloody Angels (aka The Fakers; Smashing the Crime Syndicate) try” (Oregon and Hollywood, not Canada). Despite racking up
(¡970); Angel Unchained (¡970); The Black Angels (¡970); C.C. and Paramount’s biggest grosses of the year, DeMille’s film inspired
Company (¡97¡); Chrome and Hot Leather (¡97¡); Psychomania no imitations. Instead, Warner Bros. o›ered Errol Flynn as a con-
(¡97¡); The Hard Ride (¡97¡); The Peace Killers (¡97¡); The Jesus temporary Mountie tracking a Nazi across Canada in Northern
Trip (¡97¡); Werewolves on Wheels (¡97¡); Angels’ Wild Women Pursuit (¡943). Death Hunt (¡98¡) followed a similar plotline,
(¡972); The Dirt Gang (¡972); Hex (¡973); The Northville Cemetery with Mountie Lee Marvin hunting down trapper-murder suspect
Massacre (¡976); Every Which Way But Loose (¡978); Dawn of the Charles Bronson. The gentle side of married Mountie life was
Dead (aka Zombie) (¡979); Hog Wild (¡980); Return of the Rebels
(¡98¡ TVM); The Loveless (¡98¡); Knightriders (¡98¡); Hear No Evil covered in the ¡949 Dick Powell–Evelyn Keyes vehicle Mrs. Mike.
(¡982 TVM); Hell’s Angels Forever (¡983); Mask (¡985); Eye of the The only true Mountie musical remains Rose Marie, which was
Tiger (¡986); Nam Angels (¡989); Easy Wheels (¡989); Chopper first filmed without the music as a ¡928 silent picture. In ¡936,
Chicks in Zombietown (¡990); Masters of Menace (¡990); The Last Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald lent their voices to the
138 MOVIE THEATERS

operatic songs and enjoyed one of their biggest hits. Howard Keel (¡996); drive-in owner Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter) specialized
and Ann Blyth remade Rose Marie, with less success, in ¡954. Lit- in showing esoteric triple-features in John Waters’ campy Poly-
tle Shirley Temple sang a bit as Susannah of the Mounties (¡939) ester (¡98¡); and villain Will Patton showed The Sound of Music
and B-movie series Mountie Renfrew (q.v.) could always be over and over to his soldiers at a make-shift outdoor theater in
counted on for a song if the bad guys were behind bars. The ¡994 The Postman (¡997). The following films are either about movie
TV movie Due South, about a contemporary Mountie in Chicago, theaters or feature key scenes set in movie theaters:
served as the pilot for a ¡994–97 TV series. The most o›beat Sherlock Jr. (¡924); The Good Fairy (¡935); Sabotage (aka A
casting for a Mountie belongs to Tom Smothers, who played one Woman Alone) (¡936); One Rainy Afternoon (¡936); This Way Please
in the Friday the ¡3th spoof Pandemonium (¡982). Jean-Claude (¡937); Contraband (aka Blackout) (¡940); Merton of the Movies
Van Damme made an unlikely Mountie who goes undercover as (¡947); White Heat (¡949); Singin’ in the Rain (¡952); The Smallest
a prison inmate in ¡990’s Death Warrant. See also Renfrew of the Show on Earth (aka Big Time Operators) (¡957); The Blob (¡958);
The Tingler (¡959); Crime Does Not Pay (aka The Gentle Art of
Mounties. Murder) (¡962); Targets (¡968); The Last Picture Show (¡97¡); The
Rose Marie (¡936); King of the Royal Mounted (¡936); O’Malley Projectionist (¡97¡); Drive-in (¡976); One Summer Love (aka
of the Mounted (¡936); Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (¡937); The Dragonfly) (¡976); Drive-In Massacre (¡976); Ruby (¡977); The Pic-
Girl of the Golden West (¡938); Susannah of the Mounties (¡939); ture Show Man (¡977); Grease (¡978); The Meateater (¡978); Some-
Northwest Mounted Police (¡940); Northern Pursuit (¡943); R.C.M.P. thing Short of Paradise (¡979); Polyester (¡98¡); Night of the Comet
and the Treasure of Genghis Khan (¡948); Mrs. Mike (¡949); Pony (¡984); Demons (¡985); The Purple Rose of Cairo (¡985); Desperately
Soldier (aka MacDonald of the Canadian Mounted) (¡952); Fort Seeking Susan (¡985); Coming Up Roses (¡986); Dead End Drive-In
Vengeance (¡953); Missile Base at Taniak (aka Canadian Mounties (¡986); Anguish (¡987); American Drive-in (¡987); Who Framed
vs. Atomic Invaders) (¡953); Rose Marie (¡954); Yukon Vengeance Roger Rabbit (¡988); Invasion Earth: The Aliens Are Here (¡988);
(¡954); The Canadians (¡96¡); Alien Thunder (aka Dan Candy’s Cinema Paradiso (¡989); Apartment Zero (¡989); Gremlins 2: The
Law) (¡973); Death Hunt (¡98¡); Pandemonium (¡982); Death War- New Batch (¡990); Popcorn (¡99¡); Scenes from a Mall (¡99¡); The
rant (¡990); Conspiracy of Silence (¡99¡ TVM); Due South (¡994 Hard Way (¡99¡); Into the West (¡993); Matinee (¡993); Last Action
TVM); Dudley Do-Right (¡999) Hero (¡993); Movie Days (¡994); Twister (¡996); The Postman
(¡997); Scream 2 (¡997); Scary Movie (2000)
Movie Theaters
Films about movie theaters fall into three general categories: cin- Movies About Movies
emas, projectionists, and drive-ins. Cinemas have been the prin- The film industry’s love a›air with itself has been a long-term re-
cipal subject of only a handful of films. A young couple inherits, lationship, though frequently a stormy one. The inhabitants of
and subsequently manages, a run-down theater in the ¡957 British Tinseltown have stereotypically portrayed themselves as ruthless
comedy The Smallest Show on Earth. The ¡989 Oscar winner Cin- producers, crazed directors, alcoholic actors, and ambitious star-
ema Paradiso lovingly depicts a young boy’s obsession with the lets. Still, the best of these movies have provided an entertaining
only movie theater in his small Italian village. A projectionist and behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking and/or the gossip scene. An
a concession girl try to save a closed theater by raising mush- occasional film has actually delved into the psyche of moviemak-
rooms in it and selling them in Coming Up Roses (¡986). Movie ers. The first talking picture to seriously tackle the subject was
characters come to life — and walk o› the screen — in The Purple ¡932’s What Price Hollywood?, George Cukor’s tragic tale of a di-
Rose of Cairo (¡985) and Last Action Hero (¡993). Woody Allen rector who transforms a waitress into a star while he slides into
and Bette Midler made out in a movie theater showing the solemn alcoholism. The same plot, with Fredric March as an established
Salaam Bombay in Scenes from a Mall (¡99¡). The Hard Way (¡99¡) star and Janet Gaynor as a promising newcomer, surfaced in ¡937
features a climactic shootout in a theater showing one of star as the now-classic A Star Is Born. Joel McCrea played a film di-
Michael J. Fox’s movies. In Lamberto Bava’s Demons (¡985), a rector who felt he had lost touch with his audience, so he set out
movie prop on display in the lobby unleashes a horde of nasty to learn about them in Preston Sturges’ seriocomic Sullivan’s Trav-
demons on a theater of unsuspecting patrons. Along similar lines, els (¡94¡). World War II kept the movies about movies light-
some mischievous gremlins invade a movie theater briefly in hearted, leaving it to the ¡950s to introduce a bitter view of Hol-
¡990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch. The men that show the movies lywood. Gloria Swanson was overpowering as a faded star
have been the subject of Merton of the Movies (¡947), The Projec- desperate for public adoration in Billy Wilder’s wry Sunset Boule-
tionist (¡97¡), The Picture Show Man (¡977), and Buster Keaton’s vard (¡950). Kirk Douglas portrayed an ambitious producer with
classic Sherlock Jr. (¡924). In the latter film, Buster runs down the a bad habit of stepping on people in Vincente Minnelli’s hugely
aisle in one scene and steps into the movie on the screen, obvi- entertaining The Bad and the Beautiful (¡952). Still, even Holly-
ously serving as the inspiration for Woody Allen’s reverse trick in wood insiders liked the film, honoring it with five Oscars, in-
Purple Rose. Drive-in theaters served as the principal setting for cluding Best Supporting Actress for Gloria Grahame. The ¡954
two cult favorites: Targets (¡968) and Dead End Drive-In (¡986). remake of A Star Is Born was even more e›ective than the origi-
The low-budget Targets starred Boris Karlo› as a has-been hor- nal, thanks to James Mason’s searing performance as a washed-
ror star promoting his latest picture at a drive-in where a men- up star. The Goddess, a downbeat, thinly-disguised ¡958 biogra-
tally unstable sniper begins randomly killing moviegoers. The phy of Marilyn Monroe, signalled the continuation of “realistic”
Australian oddity Dead End Drive-In takes place at a futuristic films about Hollywood, a trend which blossomed in the ¡960s.
drive-in where patrons are not allowed to leave once they enter. That decade produced a line of trashy, but often enjoyable, fare
Their tires are stolen during the movies. In other films about about filmmaking: Two Weeks in Another Town (¡962) with Kirk
drive-ins: A tornado annihilated an outdoor theater in Twister Douglas again, The Carpetbaggers (¡964), The Oscar (¡966), and
 MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES 139

The Movie-Maker (¡967 TVM). “Serious” movies about the in- Playmaker (¡994); Paint Cans (¡994); Dangerous Game (¡994); Liv-
dustry decreased over the next two decades, though even satiric ing in Oblivion (¡995); Boogie Nights (¡997); Gods and Monsters
features like The Stunt Man (¡980) and S.O.B. (¡98¡) o›ered (¡998); Bowfinger (¡999); The Blair Witch Project (¡999); American
Movie (¡999); Scream 3 (¡999); RKO 28¡ (¡999 TVM); Catch a
darkly cynical views of Hollywood. More mainstream comedies
Falling Star (2000 TVM); Best Actress (2000 TVM); Cecil B. De-
have poked gentle fun at the people behind the movies. A host mented (2000); Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
of deft comedians have employed film studio settings, including:
Buster Keaton in Movie Crazy (¡932), Olsen and Johnson in Hel- Movies Without Dialogue
lzapoppin (¡94¡), Red Skelton in Merton of the Movies (¡947), Bud
Since the advent of “talkies,” movies without dialogue have been
and Lou in Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (¡955), and
screen oddities. Charlie Chaplin, who felt uncomfortable with di-
Jerry Lewis in The Errand Boy. Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of
alogue, resisted making a talking picture until ¡940’s The Great
Cairo (¡985) was about a movie character who stepped o› the
Dictator. Thus, his two classic comedies of the ¡930s, City Lights
screen and caused all kinds of complications. The early days of
and Modern Times, were both sans dialogue, their soundtracks
filmmaking were remembered fondly in Singin’ in the Rain (¡952)
consisting solely of sounds and music. Given Chaplin’s success as
and Nickelodeon (¡976). On the other side of the Atlantic, En-
a silent filmmaker, these “nontalkies” were taken in stride. That
gland produced The Magic Box (¡95¡), an all-star biography of
was not the case with ¡952’s The Thief, an unusual mainstream
film pioneer William Friese-Greene. Joseph Losey’s Finger of Guilt
experiment devised by producer Clarence Greene and director
(¡956) o›ered a rare look inside a British film studio. French New
Russell Rouse. This dialogueless film cast Ray Milland as an
Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Tru›aut paid
enemy spy pursued by the FBI. Initially intriguing, The Thief’s
homage to their craft with Contempt (¡963) and Day for Night
gimmick grows tiresome and becomes a forced irritation. A sim-
(¡973). Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical 8∂ (¡963) ex-
ilar fate befell Gene Kelly’s Invitation to the Dance (¡957), an am-
plored the mind of fantasy-ridden director Marcello Mastroianni.
bitious attempt to tell three stories completely in dance. Obvi-
The title was a reference to the number of movies Fellini had pre-
ously, the movie puzzled MGM’s head brass, who delayed its
viously made. See also Film Star Biographies; Stunt People.
release for five years. A handful of foreign films have bypassed all
The Studio Murder Mystery (¡929); Movie Crazy (¡932); What
language barriers by telling their plots completely in visuals.
Price Hollywood? (¡932); Once in a Lifetime (¡932); Bombshell (aka
Blonde Bombshell) (¡933); The Death Kiss (¡933); A Star Is Born French director-writer-star Jacques Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
(¡937); Stand-In (¡937); Hollywood Cavalcade (¡939); The Bank (¡953) continues to charm international audiences with its win-
Dick (aka The Bank Detective) (¡940); Sullivan’s Travels (¡94¡); Hel- ning visual humor. Poetic visual splendor replaced dialogue in
lzapoppin (¡94¡); The Reluctant Dragon (¡94¡); World Premiere Kaneto Shindo’s The Island (¡962), the low-key story of a soli-
(¡94¡); Crazy House (¡943); The Falcon in Hollywood (¡944); Merton tary family inhabiting a tiny isle. Le Bal (¡982) told the story of
of the Movies (¡947); It’s a Great Feeling (¡949); You’re My Every- a ballroom through fifty years of dancing. Back in the U.S., Mel
thing (¡949); Sunset Boulevard (¡950); The Magic Box (¡95¡); Holly-
wood Story (¡95¡); The Bad and the Beautiful (¡952); Singin’ in the Brooks spoofed Hollywood of the ¡920s in his wacky ¡976 com-
Rain (¡952); The Star (¡952); A Star Is Born (¡954); Susan Slept edy Silent Movie (in which mime Marcel Marceau had the film’s
Here (¡954); Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (¡955); Fin- single line of dialogue). Eleanor Antin directed The Last Night of
ger of Guilt (aka The Intimate Stranger) (¡956); The Goddess (¡958); Rasputin (¡989) and The Man Without a World (¡992), which
Paradise Alley (aka Stars in the Back Yard) (¡96¡); The Errand Boy both look like vintage black and white silent films. Many movies
(¡96¡); Two Weeks in Another Town (¡962); Contempt (¡963); 8∂ have employed minimal dialogue to great e›ect, such as Cornel
(¡963); The Carpetbaggers (¡964); Inside Daisy Clover (¡965); The Wilde’s thrilling adventure film The Naked Prey (¡966).
Oscar (¡966); After the Fox (¡966); The Movie Maker (¡967 TVM);
Everything for Sale (¡968); The Legend of Lylah Clare (¡968); David City Lights (¡93¡); Modern Times (¡936); The Thief (¡952);
Holzman’s Diary (¡968); Alex in Wonderland (¡970); Bombay Talkie Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (aka Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday) (¡953); Invita-
(¡970); The Movie Murderer (¡970 TVM); The Last Movie (aka tion to the Dance (¡957); The Island (aka Hadaka no Shima) (¡962);
Chinchero) (¡97¡); Day for Night (¡973); The Sex Symbol (¡974 Silent Movie (¡976); Le Bal (¡982); The Final Combat (aka Le
TVM); Day of the Locust (¡975); Hollywood Boulevard (¡976); The Dernier Combat) (¡984); Sidewalk Stories (¡987); Missing Link
Last Tycoon (¡976); Nickelodeon (¡976); The World’s Great Lover (¡989); The Last Night of Rasputin (¡989); The Man Without a
(¡977); Evening in Byzantium (¡978 TVM); The Users (¡978); An World (¡992)
Almost Perfect A›air (¡979); The Stunt Man (¡980); The Dream
Merchants (¡980 TVM); Loose Shoes (aka Coming Attractions) Multiple Personalities
(¡980); S.O.B. (¡98¡); Burden of Dreams (¡982); Passion (¡982); Schizophrenia resulting in multiple personalities has enabled sev-
Strangers Kiss (¡983); Love Scenes (¡984); Special E›ects (¡984); The
Last Horror Film (¡984); The Purple Rose of Cairo (¡985); Means eral fine performers to display their acting versatility. Ronald Col-
and Ends (¡985); Malice in Wonderland (¡985 TVM); I Hate Actors man won his only Oscar as a psychologically unstable Shake-
(¡986); Overnight (¡986); Smart Alec (aka The Movie Maker) spearean actor who begins to play Othello for real in ¡947’s A
(¡986); Sweet Liberty (¡986); Good Morning, Babylon (¡987); The Double Life. Joanne Woodward also won an Oscar for her career-
Big Picture (¡989); Sexbomb (¡989); Stardumb (¡990); Twisted Ob- breakthrough performance as a woman with three personalities
session (¡990); Postcards from the Edge (¡990); Barton Fink (¡99¡); in ¡957’s The Three Faces of Eve. Almost two decades later, Wood-
The Inner Circle (¡99¡); The Player (¡992); Mistress (¡992); Double ward played the psychiatrist to Sally Field’s Sybil in the fact-based
Threat (¡992); A Woman, Her Men and Her Futon (¡992); Matinee
(¡993); Torch Song (¡993 TVM); Last Action Hero (¡993); My Life’s story of a young woman plagued by ¡7 distinct personalities. The
in Turnaround (¡993); The Pickle (¡993); Visions of Light (¡993); Ed film also provided Field with her acting breakthrough, proving
Wood (¡994); Midnight Movie (¡994); The Film Thief (aka Ladri di her TV days as The Flying Nun were behind her. Hitchcock’s Psy-
Cinema) (¡994); I’ll Do Anything (¡994); The Buddy Factor (¡994); cho (¡960) ended with the once-shocking revelation that
140 MULTIPLE ROLES

Norman Bates was also his mother. In the seldom-shown ¡945 (¡988) (Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall); Joe vs. the Volcano (¡990)
thriller Bewitched, Phyllis Thaxter murdered a man as one per- (Meg Ryan); Seduction: Three Tales from the Inner Sanctum (¡992
sonality, but remembered nothing about it as her other self. And TVM) (Victoria Principal and John Terry); Being Human (¡994)
(Robin Williams); From Dusk Till Dawn (¡996) (Cheech Marin);
in Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt (¡964), three neurotics hired an
The Nutty Professor (¡996) (Eddie Murphy); Austin Powers: The Spy
unemployed actor to visit a psychiatrist for them. When he acts Who Shagged Me (¡999) (Mike Myers); Nutty Professor II: The
out all their neuroses, the psychiatrist diagnoses him as a victim Klumps (2000) (Eddie Murphy); Sunshine (2000) (Ralph Fiennes)
of multiple personalities! See also Jekyll, Dr., and Mr. Hyde;
Psychiatrists.
Bewitched (¡945); A Double Life (¡947); Half Angel (¡95¡);
The Mummy
Lizzie (¡957); The Three Faces of Eve (¡957); Psycho (¡960); Three With facial features swathed in bandages (or wrinkles) and a vo-
Nuts in Search of a Bolt (¡964); The Boston Strangler (¡968); Sybil cabulary limited to growls, the Mummy lacked the personality of
(¡976 TVM); The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (¡977 TVM); his cinematic peers: Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and the
The Five of Me (¡98¡ TVM); Loose Cannons (¡990); Voices Within: Wolf Man (qq.v.). For most of his career, he has been used as a
The Lives of Truddie Chase (¡990 TVM); Femme Fatale (¡99¡); Rais-
slow-moving killing machine. He did not start out that way,
ing Cain (¡992); Voices from Within (¡994 TVM); Fight Club
(¡999); Me, Myself and Irene (2000) though. Karl Freund’s The Mummy (¡932) was a haunting film
about reincarnation and eternal love. As the mummified priest
Imhotep, Boris Karlo› appeared only briefly in Jack Pierce’s fa-
Multiple Roles mous Mummy makeup. He spent most of the film in his rein-
The challenge of playing three or more roles in the same film has carnated form, playing a menacing Egyptian archaeologist. In a
appealed to very few performers. It is also likely that the profes- fitting climax, he was reduced to dust when the heroine calls upon
sion’s more serious actors have viewed the ploy as mere gim- the ancient god Isis. Oddly, the Mummy was not revived until
mickry. For whichever reason, it has been a rare screen occurrence. ¡940, when former cowboy star Tom Tyler replaced Karlo› in The
Peter Sellers has played at least three roles in each of three movies. Mummy’s Hand, the first of a low-budget series. Lon Chaney, Jr.,
He first performed the trick for the ¡959 comedy sleeper The took over the role (the Mummy having undergone a name change,
Mouse That Roared, appearing as the picture’s hero, a count, and from Imhotep to Kharis) for three additional installments. None
the Grand Duchess of Fenwick. Five years later, he landed his of these films rose above the routine, although The Mummy’s
most famous triple role as U.S. President Mu›ey, Captain Man- Curse o›ered a di›erent setting (the Louisiana Bayou) and the
drake, and Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove in Stanley Kubrick’s heroine actually turned into a mummy in The Mummy’s Ghost.
cold war satire Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worry- The o‡cial Universal series ended in ¡944, although the studio
ing and Love the Bomb (¡964). In the twilight of his career, Sell- brought back the Gauzed One (played by Eddie Powell) for one
ers took on six roles in the barely-released comedy Undercovers final fling in ¡955’s Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, one of
Hero (¡975). Second to Sellers is America’s own Jerry Lewis, who the comedy duo’s last e›orts. After laying dormant for a couple
must have decided he was ready for bigger numbers after his dou- years, the Mummy turned up in Mexico and Britain almost si-
ble role in The Nutty Professor (¡963). Lewis played five roles in multaneously. Like most Mexican horror films of the late ¡950s,
¡966’s Three on a Couch and seven roles in ¡965’s The Family Jew- Rafael Portillo’s The Aztec Mummy (¡957) boasted fine black-and-
els. The latter film was obviously patterned after the droll British white photography and, despite an absurd plot, recalled the eerie
classic Kind Hearts and Coronets (¡949), which featured marvelous atmosphere of Universal’s ¡940s features. The title mummy,
Alec Guinness as eight murder victims. Except for Malcolm Mc- named Popoca, did well enough to inspire a series of Aztec
Dowell, the principal cast of the sparkling British satire O Lucky Mummy movies, which still crop up on television today. Mean-
Man! (¡973) appeared in multiple roles. In a similar vein, the while, fresh on the heels of its Dracula success, Britain’s Hammer
members of the Monty Python comedy troupe have essayed a va- Studios produced a colorful remake of The Mummy (¡959). Trans-
riety of roles in their pictures, particularly Monty Python and the planting the story to England in ¡895, this version profited from
Holy Grail (¡975) and The Life of Brian (¡979). Peter Cushing’s steady performance as an intrepid archaeologist
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (¡942) (Leon Errol); Kind Hearts and Christopher Lee’s imposing presence as the movies’ quick-
and Coronets (¡949) (Alec Guinness); Watch the Birdie (¡950) (Red est-footed Mummy. Despite good notices, Hammer waited five
Skelton); The Mouse That Roared (¡959) (Peter Sellers); Dr. years before continuing the series. It was hardly worth the e›ort,
Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb since two of the three sequels were cheap programmers. The
(¡964) (Peter Sellers); The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964) (Tony
Randall); The Family Jewels (¡965) ( Jerry Lewis); Three on a Couch other, however, was ¡972’s Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, an
(¡966) ( Jerry Lewis); Press for Time (¡966) (Norman Wisdom); adaptation of Bram Stoker’s story “Jewel of the Seven Stars” and
Arabella (¡969) (Terry-Thomas); O Lucky Man! (¡973); Blazing a welcome return to the literate approach of Freund’s original
Saddles (¡974) (Mel Brooks); Monty Python and the Holy Grail film. The same story served as the basis for The Awakening (¡980),
(¡975); Undercovers Hero (aka Soft Beds and Hard Battles; Soft Beds, with Charlton Heston and Stephanie Zimbalist, and The Legend
Hard Battles) (¡975) (Peter Sellers); Which Way Is Up? (¡977) of the Mummy (¡997) starring Louis Gossett, Jr. Two years after
(Richard Pryor); Circle of Iron (aka The Silent Flute) (¡978) (David the former film, Universal released The Mummy, a loose, Indiana
Carradine); Hot Lead and Cold Feet (¡978) ( Jim Dale); The Man
in the Santa Claus Suit (¡979 TVM) (Fred Astaire); The Life of Jones–style remake of the Karlo› film with Arnold Vosloo as
Brian (¡979) (Monty Python Troupe); Cracking Up (aka Smorgas- Imhotep. Vosloo spent little time hidden under bandages, which
bord) (¡983) ( Jerry Lewis); Cheech and Chong’s Corsican Brothers was ironic considering that he twice played Darkman (q.v.). Span-
(¡984) (Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong); Coming to America ish horror star Paul Naschy, who has played more monsters than
 THE NAKED GUN SERIES 141

anybody, took his turn in the bandages for The Mummy’s Revenge in each film, but that seems irrelevant considering that Hope acted
(¡973). And in ¡982’s ridiculous Timewalker, a nasty mummy is pretty much the same in all his movies (although there were ex-
revealed to be a misunderstood alien who just wanted to go ceptions such as ¡957’s Beau James). The series’ premise has Bob
home — shades of E.T. See also Reincarnation. encountering mysterious women who get him involved in murder
UNIVERSAL’S MUMMY: The Mummy (¡932); The Mummy’s mysteries and spy intrigue. In My Favorite Blonde, he meets
Hand (¡940); The Mummy’s Tomb (¡942); The Mummy’s Curse Madeleine Carroll (already a spy movie veteran after ¡935’s The
(¡944); The Mummy’s Ghost (¡944); Abbott and Costello Meet the 39 Steps) on a train and winds up helping her elude Nazi agents.
Mummy (¡955) My Favorite Brunette turned out to be Bob’s Road movie (q.v.) co-
THE AZTEC MUMMY: The Aztec Mummy (aka La Momia; La star Dorothy Lamour. She lures him into a hilarious mystery spoof
Momia Azteca) (¡957); Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (aka La Momia revolving around a photo taken by Bob’s “keyhole camera.” The
Azteca Contra el Robot Humano) (¡959); Curse of the Aztec Mummy supporting cast includes an amusing Peter Lorre and a cameo by
(aka La Maldicion de la Momia Azteca) (¡959); Wrestling Women vs.
the Aztec Mummy (aka La Luchadoras Contra la Momia) (¡964)
Bing Crosby as a prison executioner. This entry also features one
of Hope’s funniest scenes, in which the villains administer truth
HAMMER’S MUMMY: The Mummy (¡959); Curse of the
Mummy’s Tomb (¡964); The Mummy’s Shroud (¡967); Blood from the
serum to him. The final series entry was ¡95¡’s My Favorite Spy,
Mummy’s Tomb (¡972) which paired him with the gorgeous Hedy Lamarr in a spy spoof
casting Bob as a comedian posing as a tough secret agent. The My
OTHERS: The Egyptian Mummy (¡9¡4); Eyes of the Mummy
(¡9¡8); The Pharaoh’s Curse (¡956); Curse of the Faceless Man (¡958) Favorite… films hold up very well despite numerous in-jokes cer-
(very Mummy-like); Attack of the Mayan Mummy (¡963); Mad tain to be lost on many contemporary viewers.
Monster Party? (¡967); Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (aka My Favorite Blonde (¡942); My Favorite Brunette (¡947); My
Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos) (¡969); The Man Who Favorite Spy (¡95¡)
Came from Ummo (aka El Hombre Que Vino de Ummo; Assignment
Terror; Dracula vs. Frankenstein) (¡970); Santo in the Mummy’s Re- The Naked Gun Series
venge (aka Santo en la Venganza de la Momia) (¡970); The Mummies
of Guanajuato (aka Las Momias de Guanajuato) (¡970); The Riding the success of their box-o‡ce hit Airplane (¡980), Jerry
Mummy’s Revenge (¡973); The Awakening (¡980); Dawn of the Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker created Police Squad! a
Mummy (¡98¡); Timewalker (¡982); The Monster Squad (¡987); ¡982 TV series featuring the same kind of nonstop joke-a-minute
Waxwork (¡988); Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (¡990); Legend humor. The show starred Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling, incom-
of the Mummy (aka Bram Stoker’s The Mummy) (¡997); The Creeps petent detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin with Alan North as his
(¡997); Talos the Mummy (aka Russell Mulcahy’s Talos the Mummy) superior Captain Ed Hocken and Peter Lupus as slow-witted
(¡998); The Mummy (¡999)
O‡cer Nordberg. Despite good press, ABC Television cancelled
Police Squad! after just six episodes. Although the TV series at-
The Muppets tracted a cult following over the next six years, it still came as a sur-
Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were established television stars prise when Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker mounted a theatrical
and pop icons when they and their furry friends made the leap to version called The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (¡988).
the big screen in ¡979’s The Muppet Movie. Film industry watch- Nielsen returned as Frank Drebin, but — in an e›ort to add some
ers expected a guaranteed audience of loyal children, but the film’s familiar faces to the nonstar cast — George Kennedy took over as
widespread success surprised even them. The ¡98¡ sequel The Captain Hocken and O.J. Simpson played Nordberg. This time,
Great Muppet Caper pitted the gang against jewel thieves (q.v.) the wacky humor clicked with audiences and critics, prompting
who had stolen the Fabulous Baseball Diamond. It performed even Roger Ebert to observe: “The Naked Gun is an utterly goofy
even better than its predecessor at the domestic box-o‡ce. Mup- movie and a lot of fun, and don’t let anyone tell you all the jokes
pet creator Jim Henson interrupted the series in ¡982 to produce before you go.” Sample gag: When the villain falls to his death in
The Dark Crystal, a more conventional “quest fantasy” with pup- a baseball stadium, his body is crushed by a bus, flattened by a
pets. He returned to the Muppets with ¡984’s The Muppets Take steamroller, and then trampled on by a marching band. The plots
Manhattan, in which Kermit took his college musical to the Great in the Naked Gun movies naturally take a backseat to the sight
White Way. Its box-o‡ce receipts were disappointing and another gags, puns, and slapstick, but they provide an amusing framework
theatrical feature did not appear until ¡992’s The Muppet Christ- for the comedy. In the first film, Frank protects Queen Elizabeth
mas Carol. In interim, Jim Henson had died and his son Brian from being assassinated by a brainwashed baseball player (shades
had taken over as producer. Muppet Treasure Island (¡996) fea- of The Manchurian Candidate). The Naked Gun 2∂: The Smell of
tured Tim Curry as Long John Silver, and Muppets from Space Fear (¡99¡) pits Frank against evil industrialists who kidnap a sci-
(¡999) revealed that Gonzo is an alien. Jim Henson coined the entist to block publication of an ecology report. Frank comes out
phrase “muppet” in the ¡950s to describe a combination of “mar- of retirement in The Naked Gun 33Ω: The Final Insult (¡994) to
ionette” and “puppet.” See also Puppets. battle a terrorist — and winds up disrupting the Academy Awards.
The Muppet Movie (¡979); The Great Muppet Caper (¡98¡); In addition to Kennedy and Simpson, other series regulars included
The Muppets Take Manhattan (¡984); The Muppet Christmas Carol Priscilla Presley as Frank’s love interest Jane Spencer and Ed
(¡992); Muppet Treasure Island (¡996); Muppets from Space (¡999) Williams as scientist Ted Olsen (a role he also played on the TV
series). See also Theatrical Films Based on TV Series.
My Favorite… Series The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (¡988); The
Bob Hope made the three My Favorite… films during the peak of Naked Gun 2∂: The Smell of Fear (¡99¡); The Naked Gun 33Ω:
his Paramount career. Technically, he played a di›erent character The Final Insult (¡994)
142 NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION SERIES

National Lampoon’s Vacation Series capes from the cyborgs by traveling back in time to ¡980. She dies,
but her daughter Alex (Sue Price) survives. Twenty years later, a
The leisure-time exploits of the Griswold Family have formed
cyborg named Nebula arrives to destroy Alex. The last two en-
the basis for three Vacation films cowritten by prolific producer-
tries trace the further exploits of Alex, with Sue Price reprising
writer John Hughes (Home Alone). Hughes based the first film
the role. Albert Pyum, best known for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s
(loosely, one hopes) on his magazine article “Vacation ’56,” a
Cyborg (¡989) directed all four films. Tim Thomerson from the
satirical remembrance of a family trip. The plot sends the Gris-
Trancers (q.v.) movies played the cyborg villain Farnsworth in the
wolds on a wild, sometimes wacky, odyssey across the U.S. in
first and third films. See also Androids and Cyborgs.
search of the theme park Wally World. The family consists of par-
ents Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), son Nemesis (¡993); Nemesis 2: Nebula (aka Nemesis 2) (¡995);
Nemesis 3: Time Lapse (aka Nemesis 3: Prey Harder) (¡996); Nemesis
Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall), and daughter Audrey (Dana Bar- 4: Death Angel (aka Nemesis 4) (¡996)
ron). They meet other relatives, including uncouth cousin Eddie
(Randy Quaid), along the way. Capitalizing on Chase’s silly Sat-
urday Night Live persona, National Lampoon’s Vacation signalled
Neutron
Hughes’ arrival as a producer with a midas touch (he followed up Neutron was one of three Mexican wrestler superheroes to enjoy
this hit with Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club). However, South-of-the-Border popularity in the ¡960s. The silver-masked
critics and moviegoers were unkind to the dreadful ¡985 sequel, Santo (q.v.) was the undisputed king, but Neutron held his own
National Lampoon’s European Vacation, which had the Gris- against latecomer rival The Blue Demon (q.v.). Mexico’s Amer-
wolds — dressed as pigs — winning a transcontinental vacation on ica Studios shot the first three Neutron films in ¡960, starting with
the TV quiz show Pig in a Poke. Chase and D’Angelo returned as Neutron, the Black Masked. This introductory e›ort pitted the
the parents, but Jason Lively took over as Rusty and Dana Hill wrestler against evil Dr. Caronte and his neutron bomb. Caronte
as Audrey. The Griswolds fared much better by staying home for returned in both Neutron vs. the Amazing Dr. Caronte and Neu-
the holidays in ¡989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. tron Against the Robots. In the U.S., the films were released out of
This second sequel mixed a little sentiment with the irreverent order and sometimes shown as serials. This latter oddity occurred
humor — most of which was supplied by the unexpected arrival because the films were originally made in three parts and edited
of cousin Eddie (Quaid again). Chase and D’Angelo returned together later. This was a necessity for the filmmakers, since Mex-
again, with their children being played by Johnny Galecki and ican labor agreements allowed America Studios to produce short
Juliette Lewis (two years away from her Oscar-nominated per- features only. See also Blue Demon; Santo; Wrestling.
formance in Cape Fear). Although Christmas Vacation was the Neutron, the Black Masked (aka Neutron el Enmascarado Negro)
most successful series entry, a follow-up did not appear for eight (¡960); Neutron vs. the Amazing Dr. Caronte (aka Neutron Contra el
Doctor Caronte) (¡960); Neutron Against the Death Robots (aka Los
years. National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation was released quietly in
Automatas de la Muerte) (¡96¡); Neutron Battles the Karate Assassins
¡997 and died softly at the box-o‡ce. It featured Chase, D’An- (¡962); Neutron vs. the Maniac (aka Neutron and the Cosmic Bomb)
gelo, and Quaid once more, with the Griswold children played (¡962); Neutron Traps the Invisible Killers (¡963)
by Ethan Embry and Marisol Nichols.
National Lampoon’s Vacation (¡983); National Lampoon’s Euro- The NeverEnding Story Series
pean Vacation (¡985); National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
(¡989); National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation (¡997)
After directing the acclaimed World War II submarine drama Das
Boot (¡98¡), Wolfgang Petersen changed course completely by
choosing a children’s fantasy for his next film. Adapted from
Nemesis Series Michael Ende’s popular ¡979 German novel, The NeverEnding
This highly derivative sci-fi series combined elements of Blade Story focuses on a lonely ¡0-year-old named Bastion who escapes
Runner (¡982), Robocop (¡987), and Escape from New York (¡98¡) his dreary life by reading a magical book. He reads about the ex-
with mediocre results. The initial installment, ¡993’s Nemesis, ploits of Atreyu, a young warrior who must save the kingdom of
starred French martial artist Olivier Gruner as cyborg Alex Rain, Fantasia from the Nothingness. As Bastion becomes more in-
who works for the L.A.P.D. in the year 2027. An interesting po- volved with the story, he realizes he is becoming a character in it —
litical scenario — a merger between the U.S. and Japan — serves and that he must take action to save Fantasia. Although author
merely as a backdrop to a battle between bad cyborgs that want Ende disowned it, The NeverEnding Story became a hit in Europe
to eliminate the human race and good cyborgs that want to pro- and a more modest success in the U.S. Its popularity received a
tect mankind. Alex, who starts out as 86.5 percent human, spends boost by the film’s title track, sung by Limhal, which became a
most of the film trying to figure out if a group of “terrorists” #¡7 hit in ¡985 on the Billboard Top 40 chart. Petersen and youth
called the Red Army Hammerheads are behind the cyborg con- stars Barret Oliver (Bastion) and Noah Hathaway (Atreyu) steered
spiracy. He doesn’t have much time once the baddies insert a time clear of the two inferior sequels released in ¡990 and ¡994. In The
bomb in his chest. Gruner takes o› his shirt a lot, Deborah Shel- NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, Bastion ( Jonathan Bran-
ton has a topless scene, and there are lots of shootouts (the cy- dis) returns to Fantasia to save it from an evil sorceress. In The
borgs are very bad shots). The film ends with Alex pledging to NeverEnding Story III, Bastion (Free Willy star Jason James
destroy all the evil cyborgs. The ¡995 sequel, Nemesis 2: Nebula, Richter) becomes trapped in Fanastia after the magical book is
is a Terminator rip-o› set 73 years later. The cyborgs rule the stolen by school bullies. Variety dubbed it “Bastian Goes to High
world and the humans’ only hope is a DNA strain that could de- School.” An animated series followed in ¡996 and a videotape was
stroy the evil cyborgs. A woman injected with the DNA strain es- released containing three episodes from that series.
 NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET SERIES 143

The NeverEnding Story (aka Die Unendliche Geschichte) (¡984); Kinkade played Angela in all three entries, although she was billed
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (aka Die Unendliche as Amelia Kinkade in the latter two installments.
Geschichte 2) (¡990); The NeverEnding Story III (aka The
Night of the Demons (aka Halloween Party) (¡987); Night of the
NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia; Die Unendliche
Demons 2 (¡994); Night of the Demons 3 (aka Demon House) (¡997)
Geschichte III — Rettung aus Phantasien) (¡994)

Night Eyes Series Night of the Living Dead Series

The most popular direct-to-video genre of the ¡990s was the On commenting on the scenes of “ghouls” devouring human flesh
“erotic thriller,” a term used loosely to define a film that combined in ¡968’s Night of the Living Dead, director George Romero once
crimes of passion, obvious plot twists, and softcore sex. The wrote: “I was delighted when one of our investors, who happened
movie that pioneered this genre was Night Eyes (¡990), a mediocre to be in the meat packing business, turned up on the set one day
mystery cowritten by Andrew Stevens. He also starred as Will with a sackful of animal innards which made the sequences seem
Gri‡th, a security surveillance expert who becomes involved with so real.” The film was shot outside of Pittsburgh over a span of
a wealthy femme fatale (Tanya Roberts) and ends up killing her nine months for the rock-bottom price of $¡¡8,000. Night was
husband. The film would have attracted little attention if not for panned by the few critics who saw it during its original ¡968 re-
the sex scenes between the two stars. The tape was released in R- lease. However, Romero and the film gained some recognition
rated and “unrated” versions, the latter showing tantalizing after a glowing Village Voice review in ¡969 and a ¡970 screening
footage that approached softcore territory. The film’s surprising at the Museum of Modern Art. Theaters began showing it as a
success resulted in an immediate sequel and a slew of imitators, midnight feature in ¡97¡ and its status as a cult classic grew
often starring Stevens (Victim of Desire, Body Chemistry III) or quickly. Romero’s subsequent films made little money and he ex-
Roberts (Inner Sanctum, Sins of Desire). Stevens wrote the story perienced di‡culty in financing a sequel. However, with the help
for Night Eyes 2 and reprised his role of Will Gri‡th. In this sec- of Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento, he produced ¡979’s
ond outing, Will gets involved with another femme fatale (former Dawn of the Dead. Not surprisingly, the film was hailed by some
Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed) with similar results. Both critics as a brilliant analogy of our times and condemned by oth-
Stevens and Tweed returned for Night Eyes 3, with Stevens adding ers as a violent, pretentious time waster. Both Night and Dawn
director to his credits and Tracy Tweed joining her sister. Stevens dealt with the resurrection of dead people who feed upon the
produced Night Eyes 4, but his character spent most of the film flesh of the living. The former film confined the action to seven
in a coma after being shot. That left protégé Steve Caldwell ( Je› people trapped in an isolated farmhouse. They all die. Dawn
Trachta) to romance shapely psychologist Angela Cross (played began in an urban setting before moving its four central charac-
by O.J. Simpson’s one-time girlfriend Paula Barbieri). By the ters to an abandoned shopping mall (the scene of many obvious
fourth installment, though, the series had long run out of steam analogies). Although Dawn of the Dead was released without a rat-
(and steamy sex scenes)— the result of repetitive plotting and ing (Romero feared it would be given an “X”), it performed well
more risqué erotic thrillers. See also Animal Instincts Series; both in the U.S. and abroad (interestingly, as part of their deal,
Body Chemistry Series; and Secret Games Series. Argento re-cut the film for its European release). Romero’s long-
Night Eyes (aka Hidden View; Hidden Vision) (¡990); Night awaited final installment, Day of the Dead, appeared in ¡985 and
Eyes 2 (¡99¡); Night Eyes 3 (¡993); Night Eyes 4 (aka Night was greeted with much disappointment. Rather than concluding
Eyes…Fatal Passion) (¡995) the trilogy (either plotwise or thematically), it opted for a ¡950s-
style story of understanding scientists trying to prevent the mil-
Night of the Demons Series itary from killing all the ghouls. It naturally left plenty of room
for a fourth Dead picture. Meanwhile, Romero produced a ¡990
This low-budget, three-film series bears no relation to the ¡958
color remake of the original Night of the Living Dead, with
British classic Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon). In-
makeup expert Tom Savini handling the directing chores. See
stead, it borrows heavily from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series (q.v.)
also Ghouls; Return of the Living Dead Series.
and that’s not necessarily bad. The first film takes place on Hal-
loween night with teenaged Angela (Mimi Kinkade) throwing a Night of the Living Dead (¡968); Dawn of the Dead (aka Zom-
bie) (¡979); Day of the Dead (¡985); Night of the Living Dead
party for her friends at Hull House, an abandoned funeral home.
(¡990)
What the kids don’t know is that Hull House was the scene of a
family massacre many years earlier. Angela becomes possessed by
the demonic spirit of the killer and proceeds to uninvite — per- Nightmare on Elm Street Series
manently — her party guests. In Night of the Demons 2 (¡994), An- With a black felt hat, a red-and-green striped sweater, and a
gela’s sister Mouse (Merle Kennedy) and some of her friends un- right-hand glove with steel “finger knives,” Freddy Kreuger can
expectedly wind up in Hull House on Halloween night — which hardly be considered a stylish dresser. Still, that has not deterred
is unfortunate because an occult bu› has raised Angela’s spirit. him from overtaking Jason (see Friday the ¡3th) as the ¡980s most
Like Evil Dead 2, the second Night of the Demons emphasized popular killer of teens. The ¡984 Nightmare on Elm Street intro-
humor more than its predecessor (e.g. holy water is shot out of duced Mr. Kreuger (Robert Englund), a janitor at Springwood
super-soaker water cannons). Most critics considered it an im- High with a special interest in kidnapping and murdering teens.
provement on the original. Sadly, the final installment, Night of The law finally caught up with him, but a court freed him on a
the Demons 3, converted to formula with a gang of young crim- technicality. This inspired some vigilante parents to track him
inals choosing the wrong place, Hull House, as a hideout. down and fry him in a boiler room. In revenge, he invades the
144 9∂ WEEKS SERIES

dreams of the parents’ children and dispenses with them in ghastly fold in reverse chronological order. That is, each succeeding film
fashion. In a Time interview, director Wes Craven o›ered his ex- goes further back in time to reveal incidents in the characters’
planation for the film’s unexpected popularity among teens: pasts. The first installment, ¡9¡8, introduces Horace Robedaux
“Freddy is the most ruthless primal father. The adult who wants (William Converse-Roberts), his wife Elizabeth (Hallie Foote),
to slash down the next generation.” The films’ flippant humor and their baby, who live in the little town of Harrison, Texas,
may have also contributed to “Freddymania.” In one scene, where Horace runs a dry-cleaning store. The plot consists of sev-
Freddy bashes an aspiring teen actress’s head into a TV set and eral touching vignettes, which climax with a subplot about an epi-
then quips: “This is it, Jennifer, your big break in TV.” Englund demic which brings tragedy to the townspeople. The second film,
has been the only performer to appear in all seven entries, though On Valentine’s Day, takes place in ¡9¡7, a year after Horace and
Heather Langenkamp played the heroine in the first, third, and Elizabeth’s elopement — an event which results in the silent treat-
seventh films. The sixth entry, ¡99¡’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final ment from her parents. The final entry, Convicts, takes place on
Nightmare, boasted a ten-minute finale shown in 3-D (q.v.). The a sugar plantation in ¡902, with a young Horace (Lukas Haas) be-
last entry, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (¡994), was a heady mix friending the chain gang laborers. All three movies were produced
of reality and fantasy devised by Craven. He and Langenkamp in association with PBS’ American Playhouse. In fact, ¡9¡8 and On
play themselves in a wild plot in which they must make a new Valentine’s Day were broadcast together as Story of a Marriage. The
Nightmare film to defeat the demonic force manifested into the three movies were based on Foote’s autobiographical nine-play
fictional Freddy Kreuger. A syndicated hour-long TV anthology cycle An Orphan’s Home. Hallie Foote is Horton’s daughter.
dubbed Freddy’s Nightmares ran for a few seasons in the late ¡980s. Matthew Broderick played her rakish brother, strictly in a sup-
Englund introduced the stories and occasionally appeared in them porting role, in the first two films.
(including the first, a prequel to the original film, directed by ¡9¡8 (¡984); On Valentine’s Day (¡986); Convicts (¡99¡)
Tobe Hooper). Finally, Freddy’s hand made a cameo appearance
at the climax of ¡993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. See
also Dreams; Slasher Movies.
No Retreat, No Surrender Series
Frequently described as a Karate Kid/Rocky IV hybrid rip-o›,
Nightmare on Elm Street (¡984); Nightmare on Elm Street II:
Freddy’s Revenge (¡986); Nightmare on Elm Street III: The Dream War-
¡985’s No Retreat, No Surrender stars Kurt McKinney as Jason, a
riors (¡987); Nightmare on Elm Street IV: The Dream Master (¡988); young Seattle lad who must battle a ruthless Russian in a martial
Nightmare on Elm Street V: The Dream Child (¡989); Freddy’s Dead: arts showdown. Our hero is bright enough to know he needs a
The Final Nightmare (¡99¡); Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (¡994) good coach to prepare him for the big fight, but, sadly, Pat Morita
(the Karate Kid’s mentor) is nowhere to be found. Luckily, Bruce
9∂ Weeks Series Lee’s ghost has the time to give the kid some pointers. In front of
The value of a brand name — no matter how bad the product — a meager crowd (in what appears to be a school gym), Kurt out-
is the only logical explanation for the existence of this series. The kicks and punches his Russian opponent, who turns out to be fu-
original 9∂ Weeks (¡986) was neither a critical hit nor a popular ture martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. Understandably,
success. But it did garner a lot of attention with its allegedly the belated ¡989 sequel dispensed with Jason altogether and
provocative depiction of Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger en- shifted the action to Bangkok. This time, Loren Avedon plays the
gaging in kinky sexual situations. Despite the hoopla, moviego- lead character, a nice guy named Scott who gets really mad when
ers found nothing steamy (or even interesting) about Mickey his Vietnamese girlfriend is kidnapped by some of her father’s en-
Rourke’s uses for whipped cream. Director Adrian Lyne claimed emies. Scott recruits a couple of friends (including the
the censors destroyed a serious film, but a subsequent unrated ver- then–Queen of Kung Fu Cynthia Rothrock) and mounts a res-
sion on videotape did not support his contention. Four years later, cue in which he winds up challenging Russian killer Matthias
Rourke made the similar Wild Orchid (¡990), in which he and Hues (this “Soviet bad guy” angle is apparently the thematic link
costar Carrie Otis allegedly had intercourse during one of the to the original film). Avedon returned for ¡990’s No Retreat, No
film’s sex scenes. Given Rourke’s track record, a 9∂ Weeks sequel Surrender III: Blood Brothers, in which he and his bickering
was inevitable and the first one appeared in ¡997. In Another 9∂ brother (Keith Vitali) go their separate ways as they avenge their
Weeks, Rourke reprised his role of financier John Gray, who has father’s death at the hands of terrorists. Although the two latter
become obsessed with finding Elizabeth (Basinger’s character from films are slightly better than the first, this subpar action series will
the first film). Elizabeth turns out to be dead, but Gray starts a best be remembered for introducing Van Damme to American au-
sexual a›air with her friend Lea (Angie Everhart). He eventually diences. For other martial arts films, see American Ninja Series;
becomes bored with kinky perversions and he leaves Lea in the Best of the Best Series; Bloodfist Series; The Karate Kid; and
end. The next installment was an in name-only sequel, The First Kickboxer Series.
9∂ Weeks (¡998), starring Paul Mercurio, who fared far better in No Retreat, No Surrender (¡985); No Retreat, No Surrender II
the Australian comedy Strictly Ballroom. (¡989); No Retreat, No Surrender III: Blood Brothers (¡990)
9∂ Weeks (¡986); Another 9∂ Weeks (aka Another Nine and a
Half Weeks) (¡997); The First 9∂ Weeks (¡998) North Pole/South Pole
The North Pole may be best known as Santa’s home, but, in
¡9¡8 Trilogy movies, it’s been home to a variety of unpleasant creatures. An
Playwright Horton Foote (Tender Mercies, The Trip to Bountiful) atomic explosion in the Arctic awoke The Beast from 20,000 Fath-
wrote these three understated films, in which the storylines un- oms. Both Frankenstein: The True Story and the Swedish Victor
 NURSES SERIES 145

Frankenstein (aka Terror of Frankenstein) restored the original end- ventional nuns have dealt with more humane problems: Rosalind
ing of Mary Shelley’s novel, in which the Monster was stranded Russell played the real-life nurse who initiated treatment for polio
in the frozen wastelands. And in Howard Hawks’ ¡95¡ sci-fi clas- in Sister Kenny (¡946); Celeste Holm and Loretta Young earned
sic The Thing (from Another World), an unfriendly alien tried to Oscar nominations as French nuns trying to build a children’s
devour a group of scientists at an Arctic research station. On the hospital in Come to the Stable (¡949); and Bonnie Franklin
plus side, the North Pole was also where Superman built his per- founded a home for women prison parolees in Sister Margaret
sonal fortress (and “honeymooned” with Lois Lane) in Superman and the Saturday Night Ladies (¡987). Movie nuns have been often
II. The South Pole, despite having a continental advantage in paired with unruly types, whom they typically reform. These un-
terms of mass, has been the setting for fewer movies. Scott of the likely pairings include nun Deborah Kerr and soldier Robert
Antarctic chronicled the exploits of real-life explorer Robert Scott. Mitchum in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (¡957), Robert Webber
George Maharis and Bobby Morse explored ways to get women and Anna Sten in The Nun and the Sergeant (¡962), detective
to their isolated residence in Quick Before It Melts. John Carpen- David Janssen and Susannah York in The Golden Gate Murders
ter transplanted his ¡982 remake of The Thing from the North (¡979), and gunfighter Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine in
Pole to the South Pole. Only two scientists survived in this ver- Two Mules for Sister Sara (¡970). In the latter film, however,
sion, with the fate of the alien (he may be one of the survivors) MacLaine turned out to be a prostitute disguised as a nun. Al-
heavily in doubt. though not disguised, Dudley Moore wound up in a nun’s habit
NORTH: S.O.S. Iceberg (¡933); She (¡935); The Thing (from in the fiendishly funny Faust spoof Bedazzled (¡967). Tricked by
Another World) (¡95¡); The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (¡953); The the Devil (Peter Cook), Moore was transformed into a sister in
Perfect Furlough (aka Strictly for Pleasure) (¡958); The Atomic Sub- the Order of the Leaping Nuns. The serious side of being a nun
marine (¡959); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (¡96¡); Ice Station has been examined vividly by Fred Zinnemann in The Nun’s Story
Zebra (¡968); Frankenstein: The True Story (¡973 TVM); Island at (¡959) and French director Alain Cavalier in Therese (¡986). The
the Top of the World (¡974); Victor Frankenstein (aka Terror of
most troubled nun was the one played by Meg Tilly in Agnes of
Frankenstein) (¡977); Superman II (¡98¡); Cook and Peary: The Race
to the Pole (¡983 TVM); Santa Claus, the Movie (¡985); Ordeal in God (¡985), the story of a young nun accused of killing a child
the Arctic (¡993 TVM) she claims was immaculately conceived. See also Monks; Popes
SOUTH: The Secret Land (¡948); Scott of the Antarctic (¡948); and Cardinals.
The Land Unknown (¡957); Quick Before It Melts (¡964); Cry of the The White Sister (¡933); Song of Bernadette (¡943); Till We
Penguins (aka Mr. Forbush and the Penguins) (¡97¡); The Thing Meet Again (¡944); The Bells of St. Mary’s (¡945); Black Narcissus
(¡982); Antarctica (¡983); The X-Files (aka The X-Files: Fight the (¡946); Sister Kenny (¡946); Come to the Stable (¡949); Thunder on
Future) (¡998); Sometimes They Come Back…For More (aka Frozen; the Hill (aka Bonaventure) (¡95¡); Appointment with Danger (¡95¡);
Ice Station Erebus) (¡999) Anna (¡95¡); Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (¡957); Sea Wife (¡957);
The Miracle (¡959); The Nun’s Story (¡959); Conspiracy of Hearts
(¡960); The Devil and the Nun (aka Mother Joan of the Angels)
Nostradamus (¡960); Viridiana (¡96¡); The Nun and the Sergeant (¡962); Lilies of
Mexican horror movie veteran German Robles played a descen- the Field (¡963); The Little Nuns (¡965); The Nun (¡965); The
dant of the prophet Nostradamus (now a vampire) in a ten-part Sound of Music (¡965); The Singing Nun (¡966); The Trouble with
South-of-the-Border serial. In the U.S., it was edited into four Angels (¡966); Bedazzled (¡967); Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows
feature films, dubbed in English, and released directly to televi- (¡968); Change of Habit (¡969); Two Mules for Sister Sara (¡970);
Weekend of Terror (¡970 TVM); Madron (¡970); The Lady of Monza
sion. The prophecies of the original Nostradamus reached the
(aka The Nun of Monza) (¡970); The Devils (¡97¡); The Weekend
screen in exploitative splendor with the ¡974 Japanese import Nun (aka Matter of the Heart) (¡972 TVM); Airport ¡975 (¡974); In
The Last Days of Planet Earth (aka Prophecies of Nostradamus: Cat- This House of Brede (¡975 TVM); Nasty Habits (¡976); Changing
astrophe ¡999). Habits (¡997); The Golden Gate Murders (aka Specter on the Bridge)
Blood of Nostradamus (aka La Sangre de Nostradamus) (¡960); (¡979 TVM); The Runner Stumbles (¡979); Dixie: Changing Habits
Curse of Nostradamus (aka La Maldición de Nostradamus) (¡960); (¡983 TVM); Choices of the Heart (aka In December the Roses Will
The Monster Demolisher (aka Nostradamus y el Destructor de Mon- Bloom Again) (¡983 TVM); Dark Habits (¡983); September Gun
struos) (¡960); The Genii of Darkness (aka Nostradamus, el Genio de (¡983 TVM); Shattered Vows (¡984 TVM); Agnes of God (¡985);
las Tinieblas) (¡960) Sacred Hearts (¡985); Therese (¡986); Sister Margaret and the Satur-
day Night Ladies (¡987 TVM); Angel in Green (¡987); Nuns on the
Run (¡990); Child of Light, Child of Darkness (¡99¡ TVM); Hudson
Nuns Hawk (¡99¡); Freejack (¡992); Sister Act (¡992); The Nun and the
The call of the convent and life within its walls have provided Bandit (¡992); Walls and Bridges (¡992); Quam Mirabilis (¡994);
filmmakers with a wealth of varied plotlines. Young would-be Night of the Demons 2 (¡994); Knocks at My Door (aka Golpes en Mi
nuns have been frequently forced to choose between the convent Puerta) (¡994); Dead Man Walking (¡995); Sins of Silence (¡996
and the man they love, a problem confronted by Helen Hayes in TVM); Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (¡996); The
Staircase (¡998 TVM); All About My Mothers (¡999)
The White Sister (¡933), Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
(¡965), and Mary Tyler Moore in Change of Habit (¡969). Deb-
orah Kerr and her fellow nuns faced a crisis of faith at a remote Nurses Series
Himalayan mission in Powell and Pressburger’s hypnotic Black B-movie mogul Roger Corman developed this “R”-rated,
Narcissus (¡946). Vanessa Redgrave’s deranged nun in Ken Rus- loosely-connected film series for the drive-in crowd. After leav-
sell’s The Devils (¡97¡) provided the testimony necessary to burn ing American International Pictures in the late ¡960s, Corman
outspoken priest Oliver Reed for practicing witchcraft. More con- started his own production/distribution company, New World
146 OCTOPUSES AND SQUIDS

Pictures. He served as executive producer on New World’s first (¡977). This gentle, uplifting fantasy blossomed into a substan-
movie, ¡970’s The Student Nurses. Directed by drive-in cult fa- tial hit and ultimately begot two sequels. Oh, God! Book II (¡980)
vorite Stephanie Rothman, this surprisingly unexploitative pic- rehashed the original film and added a little girl and globs of sen-
ture featured strong female characters and even some topical is- timent. The ¡984 Oh God! You Devil was a contemporary version
sues (e.g., abortion). One of its stars, Elaine Giftos, used it as a of Faust with Ted Wass as a singer who sells his soul and Burns
stepping stone for the ¡970-7¡ TV series The Interns. Neither in a dual role as God and the Devil (q.v.).
Corman nor Rothman had a hand in the other series films, which Oh, God! (¡977); Oh, God! Book II (¡980); Oh God! You Devil
dealt with nothing more topical than waterbeds. The casts (aka Oh, God! Book III) (¡984)
changed from film to film, although Corman movie veteran Dick
Miller appeared in the last three entries. Future Oscar nominee Oil Wells
Sally (Anna) Kirkland starred in The Young Nurses. See also Hos- The sight of thick, black fluid gushing forth from the ground was
pitals. a familiar one on the theater screens of the ¡950s. How can any-
The Student Nurses (¡970); Private Duty Nurses (¡972); Night one forget the classic scene where ecstatic, oil-soaked James Dean
Call Nurses (¡972); The Young Nurses (aka Emergency Nurses) strikes black gold in ¡956’s Giant? Yet, even before Giant, view-
(¡973); Candy Stripe Nurses (¡974) ers in the ¡950s had the option of pulling for nice guy James
Stewart to strike oil o› the Louisiana Coast (Thunder Bay), hoot-
Octopuses and Squids ing against oily villains like Gene Barry (The Houston Story), or
The first octopus film of note, ¡938’s Sh! The Octopus, was iron- simply pondering what former elephant-boy Sabu was even doing
ically an adaptation of the stage play The Gorilla. That typifies on an oil field (Jaguar). Pre-¡950s fare o›ered more typical wild-
the lack of respect shown to these homely creatures throughout catter heroes in the guise of Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable (both in
most of their screen careers. A giant squid made a memorable Boom Town) and Richard Arlen (Wildcat). A notable exception
splash in Cecil B. DeMille’s Reap the Wild Wind (¡942). Twelve was ¡937’s High, Wide, and Handsome, a nostalgic Hammerstein-
years later, an even bigger squid attacked the submarine Nautilus Kern musical with Randolph Scott as an oil driller. Oil women
during an intense storm sequence in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues have been scarce, though Faye Dunaway (with a little help from
Under the Sea. This was the squid’s finest hour, its memorable George C. Scott) proved more than tough enough to handle nasty
death coming at the hands of Kirk Douglas (who harpooned it in Jack Palance in ¡973’s Oklahoma Crude. John Wayne fought oil
the eye). Deep sea diver Bob Hope wrestled an oversized squid fires for a living in The Hellfighters (¡969), as did Cornel Wilde
for laughs in The Road to Bali (¡952). Special e›ects wizard Ray in Maracaibo (¡958). A blazing oil fire sends four drifters on a
Harryhausen created a giant “octopus” for It Came from Beneath deadly journey over mountainous roads in trucks carrying nitro-
the Sea. Due to budget constraints, Harryhausen trimmed o› two glycerine in Henri Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear (¡952) and its re-
tentacles and subsequently dubbed his creation a “sexopus.” The make Sorcerer (¡977). An oil drilling team headed by Bruce Willis
submarine Seaview electrocuted another giant octopus in Voyage saved the world from a collision with an asteroid in Armageddon
to the Bottom of the Sea. Killer whales rescued a seaside resort from (¡998).
a similar menace in ¡976’s low-budget, Jaws-inspired rip-o› Ten- Flaming Gold (¡933); Oil for the Lamps of China (¡935); High,
tacles. Lovely Maud Adams kept a venomous octopus for a pet in Wide, and Handsome (¡937); Boom Town (¡940); Flowing Gold
the ¡983 James Bond adventure Octopussy, while Esther Williams (¡940); Wildcat (¡942); Black Gold (¡947); Tulsa (¡949); The Big
swam an underwater ballet with an animated octopus in ¡953’s Gusher (¡95¡); Superman and the Mole Men (¡95¡); The Wages of
Dangerous When Wet. Ghosts brought a cardboard squid to life Fear (¡952); Thunder Bay (¡953); Blowing Wild (¡953); Lucy Gal-
lant (¡955); The Houston Story (¡956); Giant (¡956); Jaguar (¡956);
in a hotel in ¡988’s High Spirits, while a fake octopus caused prob- The Magnificent Roughnecks (¡956); Joe Dakota (¡957); Maracaibo
lems for the inept filmmakers in Ed Wood (¡994). The human- (¡958); Black Gold (¡963); The Hellfighters (¡969); Five Easy Pieces
devouring, tentacled creature in Deep Rising (¡998) was neither (¡970); Oklahoma Crude (¡973); Oceans of Fire (¡976 TVM); Oil
octopus nor squid, but it must have been a close relation. (¡977); Sorcerer (¡977); Roughnecks (¡980 TVM); The Intruder
Sh! The Octopus (¡938); Reap the Wild Wind (¡942); The Road Within (¡98¡ TVM); Dallas: The Early Years (¡986); On Deadly
to Bali (¡952); The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (aka Sadlow) (¡952); Be- Ground (¡994); Armageddon (¡998)
neath the Twelve Mile Reef (¡953); Dangerous When Wet (¡953);
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (¡954); Monster from the Ocean Floor Olympics
(¡954); It Came from Beneath the Sea (¡955); The Bride of the Mon- Documentaries, fact-based dramas, and fictitious tales of inspir-
ster (¡956); The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (¡958); Don’t Give Up ing athletic feats have revolved around the greatest event in in-
the Ship (¡959); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea (¡96¡); King Kong vs. Godzilla (aka Kingukongu tai Gojira) ternational sports. Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia (¡936), a vivid
(¡963); Octaman (¡97¡); Tentacles (¡976); Warlords of Atlantis record of the ¡936 Berlin games, remains an unparalleled tribute
(¡978); Octopussy (¡983); The Little Mermaid (¡989); High Spirits to the athletes and the spirit of the games — all this despite an un-
(¡988); Ed Wood (¡994); The Pagemaster (¡994); The Beast (¡996 derlying theme praising Nazism. Kon Ichikawa’s mesmerizing
TVM); Deep Rising (¡998); Sphere (¡998) Tokyo Olympiad (¡966) was trimmed from ¡70 minutes to 93 for
its U.S. release, though the shortened version still included the
Oh, God Series dynamic volleyball match between the women of Japan and the
It took George Burns 8¡ years to find the role he will best be re- Soviet Union. Visions of Eight (¡973) featured segments by eight
membered for, but it was a heavenly part as the unlikely incar- international directors (including Ichikawa again). Most critics
nation (complete with trademark cigar) of the Deity in Oh, God! found it disappointing, except for John Schlesinger’s dramatic
 ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA SERIES 147

feature on the grueling marathon. Film biographies of inspira- in politics. However, ten years later, the TV movie Omen IV:
tional Olympic athletes have been devoted to athletes such as: de- The Awakening introduced the hellish adopted daughter of a
cathlete Bob Mathias (The Bob Mathias Story); track star Wilma politician. See also The Devil.
Rudolph (Wilma); the ¡980 U.S. hockey team (Miracle on Ice); The Omen (¡976); Damien — Omen II (¡978); The Final
gymnast Nadia Comaneci (Nadia); ice skater Oksana Baiul (A Conflict (¡98¡); Omen IV: The Awakening (¡99¡ TVM)
Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story); and runners Billy Mills
(Running Brave), Jesse Owens (The Jesse Owens Story), and Gail
Devers (Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story). The ¡976 TV
Once Upon a Time in China Series
movie 2¡ Hours at Munich recreated the tragic terrorist killings Tsui Hark produced this colorful, exciting series that chronicles
that cast a dark cloud over the ¡972 Olympics. Another TV the exploits of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung. The opening
movie, The First Olympics — Athens ¡896 (¡984), chronicled the installment, set in Canton in ¡875, introduces Master Wong Fei-
events that led up to the first modern-day games. It Happened in hung ( Jet Li) as a martial artist/physician faced with the chal-
Athens (¡962) o›ered a fictitious view of the same events, placing lenges of his country’s changing political landscape. Hark portrays
special emphasis on Jayne Mansfield as an actress who agrees to the once powerful Qing Dynasty as a government in decline (the
marry the winner of the marathon. Earl Derr Bigger’s proverb- dynasty would end in ¡9¡2). The influence of Western Civiliza-
quoting detective Charlie Chan (q.v.) uncovered a murder plot tion and the e›ect of internal uprisings play prominent roles
at the Berlin Games in ¡937’s Charlie Chan at the Olympics. Char- throughout the series. The first film packs a lot of plot — and
lie’s No. ¡ son (Keye Luke) was even a member of the U.S. swim- elaborate martial arts fights — into its ¡34-minute running time:
ming team. Jim Hutton played an Olympic walker in the ¡966 Wong Fei-hung’s clinic gets burned down; an American “busi-
romantic comedy Walk, Don’t Run, which found him in over- nessman” lures Chinese men into slave labor; British soldiers mis-
crowded Tokyo sharing an apartment with Samantha Eggar and takenly kill a Chinese “lion dancer”; and Master Wong finds him-
matchmaker Cary Grant. A 90-pound weakling sent o› for a self attracted to Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan), a young woman
weight-lifting program and grew up to be a muscular Olympic whose overseas experiences have “Westernized” her. Once Upon a
hammer-thrower in ¡956’s charming British film Wee Geordie. Time in China was a huge success in Asia, where it established the
The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (¡980) found an already-popular Jet Li as a box-o‡ce superstar and earned Hark
American decathlete (David Keith) falling in love with a Russian the best director nod at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Many fans
gymnast (Stephanie Zimbalist) at the ¡980 Moscow Games — of the series, however, prefer the ¡992 sequel Once Upon a Time
which the U.S. boycotted after this TV movie was made. The in China 2. Set 20 years later, it pits Wong Fei-hung against the
¡978 Special Olympics was a heartwarming story of a mentally re- White Lotus cult, a radical group that wants to end British
tarded youngster who finds fulfillment playing sports and enters influence through violent means. The climactic fight sequences
the Special Olympics. may rank as the series’ most impressive martial arts display, with
Master Wong killing one adversary with a bamboo splinter. After
Million Dollar Legs (¡932); Olympia (aka Olympische Spiele)
(¡936); One in a Million (¡936); Charlie Chan at the Olympics the third installment, director Hark and star Li went their sepa-
(¡937); Jim Thorpe-All American (aka Man of Bronze) (¡95¡); The rate ways. Hark continued the series by casting Chiu Man-Cheuk
Bob Mathias Story (aka The Flaming Torch) (¡954); Wee Geordie (aka Lao Wen Zhiou) in the lead role for the fourth and fifth
(aka Geordie) (¡956); It Happened in Athens (¡962); Tokyo Olympiad films. Meanwhile, Jet Li portrayed Wong Fei-hung in a rival stu-
(¡966); Walk, Don’t Run (¡966); Downhill Racer (¡969; The Games dio’s Last Hero in China. Neither Hark’s nor Li’s films could com-
(¡970); Visions of Eight (¡973); 2¡ Hours at Munich (¡976 TVM); pete against another Wong Fei-hung film: Jackie Chan’s popular
The Loneliest Runner (¡976 TVM); Wilma (¡977 TVM); Special
¡994 kung fu comedy Drunken Master II. So they resolved their
Olympics (aka A Special Kind of Love) (¡978 TVM); Animalympics
(¡979); The Top of the Hill (¡980 TVM); Swan Song (¡980 TVM); di›erences and teamed again for Once Upon a Time in China and
The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (¡980); Miracle on Ice America (¡997), a decidedly o›beat attempt to transplant Master
(¡98¡ TVM); Personal Best (¡982); Running Brave (¡983); Nadia Wong into the American Wild West. Despite mixed reviews, it
(¡984 TVM); The Jesse Owens Story (¡984 TVM); The First scored at the Hong Kong box-o‡ce, placing second only to an-
Olympics-Athens ¡896 (¡984 TVM); Going for the Gold: The Bill other Jackie Chan film (Mr. Nice Guy) during its opening week.
Johnson Story (¡985 TVM); ¡6 Days of Glory (¡986); On Thin Ice: Hark produced all the Once Upon a Time in China films. He di-
The Tai Babilonia Story (¡990 TVM); Reach for the Sky (¡99¡); Alex
rected the first three entries and the sixth, as well as contributing
(¡993); A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story (¡994 TVM); A
Brother’s Promise: The Dan Jansen Story (¡996 TVM); Run for the to the screenplays. Rosamund Kwan played Aunt Yee in all the
Dream: The Gail Devers Story (¡996 TVM); Prefontaine (¡997); entries except the fourth, in which she was replaced by Jean Wang.
Without Limits (¡998) The real life Master Wong Fei-hung (aka Huang Fei-Hong) died
in ¡924. He has been the subject of many Asian films, though few
The Omen Series can rival the pageantry of Hark’s series.
This ¡976 movie about the coming of the “antichrist” was a slick, Once Upon a Time in China (aka Wong Fei-hung) (¡99¡); Once
well-done chiller, bolstered by crisp performances by Gregory Upon a Time in China 2 (aka Wong Fei-hung ji yi: Naam yi dong ji
Peck and David Warner. Yet, despite its merits and box-o‡ce keung; Wong Fei-hung 2: Man Should Be Self Su‡cient) (¡992);
Once Upon a Time in China 3 (aka Wong Fei-hung tsi sam: Siwong
popularity, it hardly warranted a series — even a short-lived one. tsangba; Wong Fei-hung 3: Lion King Struggle for Supremacy) (¡993);
Damien — Omen II was a predictable follow-up, showing Damien Once Upon a Time in China IV (aka Wong Fei-hung zhi sei: Wang
coping with teen problems by killing people. The series appar- zhe zhi feng) (¡993); Once Upon a Time in China V (aka Wong Fei-
ently ended with The Final Conflict, which had Damien dabbling hung zhi wu: Long cheng jian ba; Wong Fei-hung 5: Dragon City’s
148 OUTLAWS (REAL-LIFE WESTERN)

Exterminator Tyrant) (¡994); Once Upon a Time in China and with the James’ in other pictures as well, such as The Great Mis-
America (aka Wong Fei-hung chi saiwik hung si; Once Upon a Time souri Raid (¡950) and The Intruders (¡970). It’s interesting to note
in China VI; Wong Fei-hung: West Territory Mighty Lion) (¡997) that Audie Murphy is the only actor to have played both Billy the
Kid and Jesse James and he did it in the same year, starring in
Outlaws (Real-Life Western) ¡950’s The Kid from Texas and Kansas Raiders. Belle Starr, the only
Jesse James and Billy the Kid easily outdistance their peers as the female outlaw to achieve notoriety, has been portrayed by Gene
most oft-filmed outlaws in American cinema. In James’ case, his Tierney (Belle Starr, ¡94¡), Jane Russell (Montana Belle), and Eliz-
celluloid fame is deserved, since his legendary exploits are backed abeth Montgomery (Belle Starr, ¡980). Paul Newman and Robert
up with the famous ill-fated Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery. Redford brought fame to a couple of minor outlaws with their
Billy the Kid, however, was a minor bandit gunned down in an am- ¡969 smash Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. William Katt and
bush at the age of 2¡. His real name was Henry McCarty, though Tom Berenger starred in a ¡979 prequel Butch and Sundance: The
he was also known as William H. Bonney. On the screen, Billy has Early Days. In made-for-TV movies, the Sundance Kid’s woman
been portrayed as a wronged hero, a psychopath, and a vampire was played by Elizabeth Montgomery in ¡974’s Mrs. Sundance and
killer. Western veteran Johnny Mack Brown starred as the talkies’ Katharine Ross (recreating her role from the Newman-Redford
first Kid in ¡930’s Billy the Kid, a lavish MGM production origi- picture) in ¡976’s Wanted: The Sundance Woman. Other outlaw
nally shown in 70mm. It was remade a decade later in Technicolor gangs appearing in multiple features include the Clantons (Law
with Robert Taylor, dumping his romantic image, in the title role. and Order, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Hour of the Gun) and the
In contrast to these big-budget e›orts, Billy was also the subject of Daltons (The Last Day, The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang). On the
a minor ¡939 Roy Rogers picture (Billy the Kid Returns) and ¡940’s small screen, Clu Gulager played Billy the Kid opposite Barry Sul-
Billy the Kid Outlawed, the first of a PRC series starring Bob Steele livan’s Pat Garrett in the ¡960–62 series The Tall Man, while
and later Buster Crabbe. Jane Russell’s cleavage overshadowed Christopher Jones starred in ¡965-66’s The Legend of Jesse James. In
Billy’s story in Howard Hughes’ much-publicized, long-delayed the following, the outlaw’s name is listed in parentheses unless
The Outlaw (¡943). It was the Kid’s last prestigious picture until specified in the title. See also Billy the Kid/Billy Carson.
Paul Newman played him in Arthur Penn’s psychological Western Billy the Kid (aka The Highwayman Rides) (¡930); Law and
The Left-Handed Gun (¡958), based on a TV play by Gore Vidal Order (¡932) (Clantons); Jesse James (¡939); Billy the Kid Returns
(which was remade for cable TV in ¡989). Billy the Kid’s subse- (¡939); Billy the Kid (¡940); Billy the Kid Outlawed (¡940); When
quent film appearances have ranged from ambitious to awful. Sam the Daltons Rode (¡940); The Return of Frank James (¡940); Belle
Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (¡973) promised to ex- Starr (¡94¡); The Outlaw (¡943) (Billy the Kid); My Darling
Clementine (¡946) (Clantons); Belle Starr’s Daughter (¡947); Fight-
amine the relationship between lawman Garrett and ex-crony Billy. ing Man of the Plains (¡949) ( Jesse James); The Younger Brothers
However, miscasting (Kris Kristo›erson as Billy) and an overem- (¡949); I Shot Jesse James (¡949); The Kid from Texas (¡950) (Billy
phasis on violence spelled box-o‡ce failure and critical doom. Billy the Kid); Kansas Raiders (¡950) ( Jesse James); The Great Missouri
discovered his girlfriend’s uncle ( John Carradine) was a vampire in Raid (¡950) ( James and Younger Brothers); Best of the Badmen
Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (¡966), a movie not as dreadful as its title— (¡95¡) ( Je› Clanton); Montana Belle (¡952) (Belle Starr); The Great
but close. Emilio Estevez made Billy a romantic antihero in the ¡988 Jesse James Raid (¡953); Jesse James vs. the Daltons (¡954); Jesse
“brat pack” Western Young Guns, which drew audiences despite an James’ Women (¡954); The Law vs. Billy the Kid (¡954); The Parson
and the Outlaw (¡955) (Billy the Kid); The True Story of Jesse James
abundance of critical pans. Yet, despite these frequent appearances, (¡956); Hell’s Crossroad (¡957) ( Jesse James); Gunfight at the OK
Billy still rates second to Jesse James in number of films. James’ ca- Corral (¡957) (Clantons); The Dalton Girls (¡957); Badman’s Coun-
reer first received the lavish treatment with 20th Century–Fox’s try (¡958) (Butch Cassidy); The Left-Handed Gun (¡958) (Billy the
colorful Jesse James (¡939), starring Tyrone Power as Jesse and Henry Kid); Alias Jesse James (¡959); Young Jesse James (¡960); Billy the Kid
Fonda as brother Frank. Fonda reprised his role in Fritz Lang’s su- vs. Dracula (¡966); Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (¡966);
perior ¡940 sequel The Return of Frank James, one of the finest out- Hour of the Gun (¡967) (Clantons); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
law pictures. Jesse was a common fixture in the programmer West- Kid (¡969); The Intruders (¡970 TVM) ( James and Youngers);
Chisum (¡970) (Billy the Kid); Doc (¡97¡) (Clantons); Dirty Little
erns of the ¡950s. He was portrayed by Dale Robertson (Fighting Billy (¡972); The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid (¡972) ( James
Man of the Plains), Audie Murphy (Kansas Raiders), Willard Parker and Youngers); Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (¡973); Mrs. Sundance
(The Great Jesse James Raid), Robert Wagner (The True Story of Jesse (¡974 TVM); The Last Day (¡975 TVM) (Daltons); Wanted: The
James), Ray Stricklyn (Young Jesse James), and others. Even Bob Sundance Woman (aka Mrs. Sundance Rides Again) (¡976 TVM);
Hope was mistaken for the famous outlaw in Alias Jesse James Go West, Young Girl (¡978 TVM) (Billy the Kid); Butch and Sun-
(¡959), one of his funniest comedies. In ¡966, while Billy fought dance: The Early Days (¡979); The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang
(¡979 TVM); Cattle Annie and Little Britches (¡980) (Daltons); The
Dracula on one half of a double bill, Jesse saw a pal turned into a
Long Riders (¡980) ( James and Youngers); Belle Starr (¡980 TVM);
bald monster in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter. Writer- The Grey Fox (¡982) (Bill Miner); The Last Days of Frank and Jesse
director Philip Kaufman stressed factual detail over interesting nar- James (¡986 TVM); Young Guns (¡988) (Billy the Kid); Billy the
rative in ¡972’s The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid, which fea- Kid (aka Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid) (¡989 TVM); Young Guns II
tured Robert Duvall as Jesse and Cli› Robertson as Cole Younger. (¡990) (Billy the Kid); Tombstone (¡993) (The Clanton Gang);
Both characters also appeared in Walter Hill’s stylish outlaw saga Wyatt Earp (¡994) (The Clanton Gang)
The Long Riders (¡980), a family a›air starring: Stacy and James
Keach as Jesse and Frank James; David, Keith, and Robert Carra- Painted People
dine as the Younger Brothers; and Dennis and Randy Quaid as the Covering one’s body with paint is not exactly a healthy thing to
lesser-known Mills Brothers. The Younger Brothers were paired do. In fact, it resulted in the death of one of the asylum inmates
 PALMER, HARRY 149

in Bedlam (¡946), though the institution’s vicious director (Boris Rembrandt (¡936); The Moon and Sixpence (¡942) (Paul Gau-
Karlo› ) seemed rather undisturbed. Bond villain Auric Goldfinger gin); Kitty (¡945) (Cecil Kellaway as Gainsborough in bit role);
killed 007’s girlfriend (Shirley Eaton) by covering her in his trade- Moulin Rouge (¡953) (Toulouse-Lautrec); The Mystery of Picasso
(¡955); Lust for Life (¡956) (Van Gogh and Gaugin); The Lovers of
mark gold in ¡964’s Goldfinger. In contrast, partially painted peo-
Montparnasse (aka Montparnasse ¡9) (¡957) (Modigliani); The
ple have led healthier lives. Marlene Dietrich sported a pair of Naked Maja (¡959) (Francisco Goya); The Agony and the Ecstasy
painted legs for her famous dance scene in Kismet (¡944). On the (¡965) (Michaelangelo); El Greco (¡966); The Picasso Summer
kinkier side, Britt Ekland exposed her painted breasts in Scandal (¡969); Savage Messiah (¡972) (Henri Gautier); The Adventures of
(¡989), while jungle natives dipped Bo Derek in an ugly shade of Picasso (¡978); Gaugin the Savage (¡980 TVM); The Rothko Con-
o›-white in Tarzan, the Ape Man (¡98¡). See also Tattoos. spiracy (¡983 TVM) (Mark Rothko); Carravaggio (¡986); Wolf at
the Door (¡987) (Paul Gaugin); Vincent— The Life and Death of
Kismet (aka Oriental Dream) (¡944); Bedlam (¡946); Mondo
Vincent Van Gogh (aka Vincent) (¡987); Vincent (¡988); My Left
Cane (¡963); Goldfinger (¡964); The Swinger (¡966); Slave of the
Foot (¡989) (Christy Brown); Vincent and Theo (¡990 TVM) (Van
Cannibal God (¡977); Tarzan, the Ape Man (¡98¡); Scandal (¡989)
Gogh); Dreams (¡990) (“Crows” segment; features Vincent Van
Gogh); A Season of Giants (¡99¡ TVM) (Raphael, Michaelangelo,
Painters Da Vinci); Van Gogh (¡99¡); The Van Gogh Wake (aka La Passion
The post–Impressionists of the late ¡9th century dominate film Van Gogh) (¡993); Zorn (¡994) (Anders Zorn); Carrington (¡995);
biographies of painters, primarily due to the influences of Vin- Basquiat (¡996); I Shot Andy Warhol (¡996); Surviving Picasso
cent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin. The ¡956 Lust for Life, based (¡996); Artemisia (¡997) (Gentileschi); Ever After (¡998) (Da Vinci)
on an Irving Stone book, was a colorful portrait of Van Gogh’s
tormented life. Kirk Douglas played the Dutch painter, with An- Paintings
thony Quinn earning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as his friend Canvases have figured prominently in an odd assortment of hor-
Gaugin. The unusual ¡987 Australian tribute, Vincent, consisted ror films, fantasies, mysteries, and comedies. At least three films
mostly of Van Gogh’s paintings accompanied by John Hurt’s have been based on Oscar Wilde’s wickedly clever The Picture of
a›ective readings of his letters. Gaugin’s life provided Somerset Dorian Gray, the story of a vile Victorian rake whose portrait
Maugham with the basis for his novel The Moon and Sixpence, ages while he retains his youth. The ¡945 version remains the
which was filmed in ¡942. George Sanders played the stockbro- best-remembered, with the portrait appearing in color in an oth-
ker who left his family to pursue painting and wound up dying erwise black-and-white film. Joseph Cotten played a struggling
of leprosy on a South Seas island. The Hays O‡ce, the film in- artist who paints a masterpiece after falling in love with a ghost
dustry’s censorship watchdog, required that some of the film’s in the marvelous ¡948 fantasy Portrait of Jennie. Again, the film
nude paintings be toned down by adding leaves or flowers to cover reverted to color for the closing shot of Cotten’s painting. Dana
appropriate body parts. Two Gaugin biographies surfaced in the Andrews fell in love with the portrait of Gene Tierney hanging
¡980s. The ¡980 TV movie Gaugin, the Savage boasted fine pro- over her mantle in Otto Preminger’s stylish ¡944 mystery Laura.
duction values, including on-location footage of France and That perceptive sleuth Sherlock Holmes cracked the case of The
Tahiti, but a miscast David Carradine doomed the venture. Don- Hound of the Baskervilles by examining a painting of Sir Hugo
ald Sutherland made an appropriately passionate Gaugin in ¡987’s Baskerville and deducing that an unlikely suspect was actually a
Wolf at the Door, a slow-moving account of Gaugin’s brief return murderous relative. A theft of a painting provided the excuse for
from Tahiti. Aside from Gaugin and Van Gogh, biographies of the ¡930 Marx Brothers romp Animal Crackers. In the ¡942 British
painters have been scarce and sporadic. Alexander Korda pro- comedy Much Too Shy, George Formby played an unfortunate
duced ¡936’s Rembrandt, an opulent version of the Dutch painter’s handyman whose paintings of his clients wound up at an adver-
life featuring a classic Charles Laughton performance. John Hus- tising agency — with nude bodies added to them. A demonic por-
ton’s Moulin Rouge (¡953) fictionalized the life of dwarfish French trait hanging in a museum required New York City to call for Bill
painter Toulouse-Lautrec ( Jose Ferrer). Yet, the film remains Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis in ¡989’s blockbuster
fondly remembered for its atmospheric ¡9th century Montmartre comedy Ghostbusters II. See also Painters.
setting and an elaborate can-can sequence. Anthony Hopkins Animal Crackers (¡930); The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡939)
played Pablo Picasso in ¡996’s Surviving Picasso, although the Cu- (see Sherlock Holmes for other versions); Much Too Shy (¡942);
bist painter inspired earlier films. Picasso created a canvas on Laura (¡944); The Picture of Dorian Gray (¡945); Portrait of Jennie
screen for French director Henri-Georges Clouzot in the ¡955 (¡948); The Golden Madonna (¡949); The Fake (¡958); Vertigo
(¡958); Color Me Blood Red (¡965); Now You See It, Now You Don’t
documentary The Mystery of Picasso. The Picasso Summer in ¡969
(¡967 TVM); Night Gallery (¡969 TVM); The Picture of Dorian
starred Albert Finney and Yvette Mimieux as a vacationing cou- Gray (¡973 TVM); Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures
ple who set o› in search of the famous artist. It sat on the studio (¡979 TVM); The Sins of Dorian Gray (¡983 TVM); A Month in
shelf for some time before debuting in the U.S. as a late-night net- the Country (¡987); Hot Paint (¡988 TVM); Ghostbusters II (¡989);
work movie. In addition to providing biographical material for The Portrait (¡973 TVM); Two If by Sea (¡996); What Dreams May
filmmakers, painters have contributed to the behind-the-scenes Come (¡998); The Haunting (¡999); The Thomas Crown A›air
art of cinema. Spanish artist Salvador Dali designed a haunting, (¡999); Mickey Blue Eyes (¡999)
surrealistic dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound
(¡945). The special e›ects crew of ¡947’s The Private A›airs of Bel Palmer, Harry
Ami claimed that Van Gogh’s canvas The Garden of the Vicarage Michael Caine played Len Deighton’s Cockney thief-turned-dis-
at Nuenen gave them the idea of using plastic to create “dry rain.” enchanted spy five times, beginning with ¡965’s The Ipcress File.
See also Paintings. While other spy movies strove to imitate the Bond films (q.v.),
150 PARALLEL WORLDS

the Palmer series played up its di›erences. Harry wore thick gether,” which peaked at #8 in Billboard in ¡96¡. Since Susan and
glasses, enjoyed cooking, and complained about his dirty profes- Sharon sang the song as a duet in the movie, the single lists the
sion. However, like 007, he had a weak spot for the ladies. Guy performers as Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills. Surprisingly, Dis-
Doleman played Palmer’s blackmailing superior, while Oscar Ho- ney waited 25 years to make a sequel — and even then, it was a
molka was memorable as a Russian o‡cer in the second and third made-for-cable feature. In Parent Trap II, Hayley Mills reprises
films. The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin (¡966) were excep- her roles as Sharon, now a single mother, and Susan. The plot
tional spy films, but Billion Dollar Brain (¡967)— directed by centers on Sharon’s daughter Nikki, who (with help from Aunt
maverick director Ken Russell — was an overblown, jumbled Susan) tries to play matchmaker for her mother. Mills also starred
a›air. The series appeared to end with this installment, only to in two additional TV movies: Parent Trap III (in which Susan
return after a 20-year hiatus in the form of two ¡997 made-for- marries a single father with triplets!) and Parent Trap: Hawaiian
cable features. Palmer comes out of retirement to recover a stolen Honeymoon. In ¡998, Disney produced a pleasant remake with
virus called the Red Death in Bullet to Beijing and tries to stop a Lindsay Lohan as the twins (now named Hallie and Annie). It fea-
nuclear war in Midnight in St. Petersburg. Neither film made much tured some clever references to the Disney original: Lohan sings
of an impression, although Caine was still convincing as the droll a bit of “Let’s Get Together” in one scene and Joanna Barnes plays
and world-weary Palmer. Interestingly, Len Deighton’s character the mother of the scheming fiancée she played in the ¡96¡ version.
remained nameless in the novels. In addition to The Parent Trap movies, Kästner’s children’s novel
The Ipcress File (¡965); Funeral in Berlin (¡966); Billion Dollar has been filmed as Das Doppelte Lottchen (¡950), Twice Upon a
Brain (¡967); Bullet to Beijing (¡997 TVM); Midnight in St. Peters- Time (¡953), and Charlie & Louise — Das Doppelte Lottchen (¡993).
burg (¡997 TVM) Not surprisingly, none of the films dwell on the cruel, selfish as-
pects of the parents’ actions — it seems pretty inhumane to keep
Parallel Worlds twins in the dark about each other’s existence. See also Twins.
Few filmmakers have been attracted to the complex concept of a The Parent Trap (¡96¡); Parent Trap II (¡986 TVM); Parent
character floating back and forth between two mirrored worlds. Trap III (¡989 TVM); Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon (¡989
Astronaut Roy Thinnes discovered a twin Earth on his Journey to TVM); The Parent Trap (¡998)
the Far Side of the Sun (¡969). It took him awhile to figure out
that he had exchanged places with his exact duplicate. The ¡973 Pasolini’s Trilogy of Life
TV movie The Stranger was an uno‡cial remake with Glenn Cor- Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini’s three medieval-set an-
bett as the ba·ed astronaut. Kathleen Turner’s trips between two thology films are considered to be his most cheerful and most ac-
parallel worlds left her so confused that she murdered the wrong cessible works. Like most of the Pasolini oeuvre, the most preva-
man in ¡987’s Julia and Julia. Gwyneth Paltrow fared much bet- lent themes intermingle religion and sex. The Decameron (¡970),
ter in Sliding Doors (¡998), finding romance after she missed a adapted from Giovanni Boccaccio’s ¡4th-century book, contains
train in one reality and caught it in another. Tom Bell’s journey eight raunchy tales linked by the director in a framing story. The
into another dimension, courtesy of an explosion, enabled him most representative tale involves nuns eager to have sex with a deaf
to save a dying girl’s life in Quest for Love (¡97¡). A more com- mute who can tell no one of their sins. The irony is that the man
mon variation on the parallel world theme incorporates time can actually hear and speak — he is taking advantage of the nuns.
travel, as when Lindsay Wagner transported herself into another The Decameron was an artistic and commercial triumph for Pa-
age whenever she put on an old dress in ¡979’s The Two Worlds solini, who quite logically turned to Geo›rey Chaucer for his fol-
of Jennie Logan. See also Lookalikes; Time Travel. low-up. The Canterbury Tales (¡97¡) starred Pasolini as Chaucer,
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelganger) (¡969); who introduces several tales focusing on sex, brutality, and human
Quest for Love (¡97¡); The Stranger (¡973 TVM); The Two Worlds of waste. Despite winning the prestigious Golden Bear at Berlin
Jennie Logan (¡979 TVM); Julia and Julia (¡987); Paperhouse Film Festival, The Canterbury Tales did not duplicate the critical
(¡988); Cool World (¡992); Super Mario Bros. (¡993); Sliding Doors success of The Decameron. The trilogy’s third film, Arabian Nights
(¡998); Shattered Image (¡998); Twice Upon a Time (¡998 TVM) (¡974), ended the series on a high note. Ines Pellegrini starred as
the slave girl who disguises herself as man, takes a wife, and be-
The Parent Trap Series comes a king. Her story serves as a frame for other erotic tales tak-
This ¡96¡ adaptation of Erich Kästner’s novel Das Doppelte ing place in exotic locations like India and Nepal. It won the
Lottchen proved to be one of Disney’s most successful live-action Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and became a pop-
films. It was tailor-made for ¡5-year-old Hayley Mills, whose ular arthouse picture. Pasolini was murdered after completing his
popularity had soared after the previous year’s Pollyanna. In The next and final film Salo (¡975).
Parent Trap, Mills plays twins Sharon and Susan, who are unaware The Decameron (aka Il Decameron) (¡970); The Canterbury
of each other’s existence until they meet at a summer camp. The Tales (aka I Racconi di Canterbury) (¡97¡); Arabian Nights (aka Il
twins figure out that when their parents divorced, they were di- Fiore elle mille e una notte; A Thousand and One Nights) (¡974)
vided up with the rest of the property. Naturally, Sharon and
Susan plot to reunite their parents by switching places. Mills does Peanuts Series
a fine job portraying both the cultured, Boston-bred Sharon and Charles Schulz’s lovable Peanuts characters leapt from the comic
the more liberated California-raised Susan. She also gets great pages to theater screens with ¡969’s A Boy Named Charlie Brown,
support from Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith as the perplexed a full-length animated feature with songs by Rod McKuen. After
parents. The film even spawned a hit song called “Let’s Get To- three more films, Charlie, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and the rest of
 PERSONS IN HIDING SERIES 151

the gang gave up their screen careers and concentrated on their played a mad, crippled Vietnam veteran who tracked down a
long-running, apparently neverending series of TV specials. See harmless couple trapped on his island in To Kill a Clown. In the
also Animated Movies (Feature-Length); Comic Strip Char- ¡973 TV movie Maneater, Richard Basehart portrayed a deranged
acters. animal trainer who unleashed two hungry tigers on four visitors.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (¡969); Snoopy, Come Home One of the more interesting variations on Connell’s plot has peo-
(¡972); Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (¡977); Bon Voyage, Char- ple stalking each other as part of a socially acceptable pastime, a
lie Brown (and Don’t Come Back) (¡980) twist featured in The Tenth Victim (¡965) and Stephen King’s The
Running Man (¡987). Perhaps the finest film about people hunters
Penitentiary Series was Cornel Wilde’s gripping ¡966 adventure The Naked Prey. Di-
The ¡979 film Penitentiary was the first installment in the saga of rector Wilde played a safari guide, the only survivor of a native
Too Sweet, an unjustly imprisoned black convict reformed by ambush, who is freed by his captors and then methodically
boxing. Written, produced, and directed by Jamaa Fanaka, the tracked down. No other film matches this one for showing how
film earned a reputation as a minor league Rocky (q.v.), although self-survival can force a man to evolve into a killer as brutal as his
its gritty approach was praised. Fanaka and star Leon Isaac pursuers.
Kennedy continued with two disappointing sequels, Penitentiary The Most Dangerous Game (¡932); A Game of Death (¡946);
2 (¡982) and Penitentiary 3 (¡987). The Rocky similarities became Johnny Allegro (¡949); Run for the Sun (¡956); The Tenth Victim
blatant in these films, right down to the presence of Rocky III (¡965); The Naked Prey (¡966); Blood Lust (¡966); Woman Hunt
(¡972); To Kill a Clown (¡972); Maneater (¡973 TVM); Open Sea-
alumnus Mr. T in Penitentiary 2. Kennedy and his then-wife, son (¡974); Savages (¡974 TVM); Escape 2000 (aka Turkey Shoot)
sportscaster/model Jayne Kennedy, also made a ¡98¡ remake of the (¡98¡); The Running Man (¡987); Predator (¡987); Lethal Woman
¡947 boxing classic Body and Soul. See also Boxing; Prisons. (¡989); High Desert Kill (¡989 TVM); Deadly Game (¡99¡ TVM);
Penitentiary (¡979); Penitentiary 2 (¡982); Penitentiary 3 (¡987) Do or Die (¡99¡); Hard Target (¡993); Final Round (¡993); Surviv-
ing the Game (¡994); Dominion (¡995); The Hunted (¡998 TVM)
Penrod Personal Ads
Booth Tarkington wrote three books about Penrod Schofield, “The
Filmmakers have typically used personal ad columns to bring un-
Worst Boy in Town,” who consistently stirred up trouble in a
likely lovers together. After reading the personals and su›ering
quiet, Midwestern town circa ¡9¡4. Gordon Gri‡th appeared in
amnesia, bored yuppie housewife Rosanna Arquette wound up
a ¡922 version and Ben Alexander took over as Penrod in the fol-
with practical projectionist Aidan Quinn in Desperately Seeking
lowing year’s Penrod and Sam. The latter film was remade by
Susan (¡985). Recently-divorced Bill Schuppert thought he had
Warner Bros. in ¡93¡ with Leon Janney in the lead and Dorothy
found the perfect companion in ¡98¡’s The Personals— until she
Peterson (later Mrs. Pepper in the Five Little Peppers) as his mother.
turned out to be married. In ¡98¡’s I Sent a Letter to My Love, a
However, Warner’s o‡cial Penrod series began in ¡937 with the
lonely woman discovered romance by taking up correspondence
third version of Penrod and Sam, with Bobby Mauch as a much
with a man listed in the personals. In a bittersweet twist, he turns
nicer boy. This movie also updated the setting, making Penrod the
out to be her paralyzed brother. A serial murderer used the per-
head of a Junior G-Men Club (which met in a barn just like Our
sonals to attract victims in the ¡989 thriller Sea of Love.
Gang). Bobby’s twin brother, Billy, joined the cast for the last two
films: Penrod and His Twin Brother and Penrod’s Double Trouble Snares (aka Personal Column; Plèges) (¡939); The Personals
(¡98¡); I Sent a Letter to My Love (¡98¡); Desperately Seeking Susan
(both ¡938). The Mauch Twins, who had their greatest success in
(¡985); The Perfect Match (¡987); Classified Love (¡987 TVM); Sea
Errol Flynn’s The Prince and the Pauper (¡937), virtually disap- of Love (¡989); Personals (¡990 TVM); Single White Female (¡992);
peared from films in the ¡940s. However, Penrod showed up Dying to Love You (¡993 TVM); Wacko (aka Parano) (¡994); Sweet-
again — in diluted form — in two Doris Day musicals: Moonlight hearts (¡996); Unmade Beds (¡997); Kiss Me, Guido (¡997); Next
Bay (¡95¡) and By the Light of the Silvery Moon (¡953). These films Stop Wonderland (¡998); The Personals (aka Zhenghun Qishi) (¡999)
restored the earlier setting, but relegated Penrod to a supporting
character and changed his name to Wesley. He was played by Billy Persons in Hiding Series
Gray, best known as Bud on TV’s Father Knows Best. J. Edgar Hoover’s nonfiction best-seller Persons in Hiding provided
Penrod (¡922); Penrod and Sam (¡923); Penrod and Sam (¡93¡); the basis for this modest Paramount four-film gangster series. Ac-
Penrod and Sam (¡937); Penrod and His Twin Brother (¡938); Pen- tually, Courtney Riley Cooper ghostwrote the book, but the FBI
rod’s Double Trouble (¡938); Moonlight Bay (¡95¡); By the Light of director’s name sold the copies and gave the series what marquee
the Silvery Moon (¡953)
value it possessed. The best entries were the first and last, tight
thrillers featuring a potent combination of rising and veteran stars
People Hunters/Human Prey (e.g., Richard Denning, William Frawley, J. Carrol Naish, Robert
The premise of hunting human prey for sport was explored vividly Ryan, Ralph Bellamy, Jack Carson, and Hedda Hopper). The
in Richard Connell’s famous short story “The Most Dangerous ¡939 Persons in Hiding traced the exploits of Bonnie Parker (later
Game.” Connell’s story about ruthless hunter Count Zaro› has of Bonnie and Clyde fame), while ¡940’s Queen of the Mob
been filmed “o‡cially” as The Most Dangerous Game (¡932), A was based on the career of Ma Barker. See also Gangsters (Real
Game of Death (¡946), Run for the Sun (¡956), and Blood Lust Life).
(¡966). The ¡932 version is best remembered, chiefly for Leslie Persons in Hiding (¡939); Undercover Doctor (¡939); Parole
Banks’ campy, despicable villain. Future nice guy Alan Alda Fixer (¡940); Queen of the Mob (¡940)
152 PEYTON PLACE SERIES

Peyton Place Series Photographers

Grace Metalious’s cynical small town exposé made quite an im- News photographers, army photographers, fashion photogra-
pact when released in ¡957. Its ¡96¡ sequel, Return to Peyton Place, phers, amateur shutterbugs — photography is a wide field that has
was a more conventional soap opera, but it did well enough to interested filmmakers on a regular basis. Photo journalists in
inspire a television series. The show premiered in ¡964 and be- volatile environments played key supporting roles in the ¡983
came an immediate runaway hit. It ran two or three times weekly films Under Fire and The Year of Living Dangerously. The latter
for five years, thanks largely to an all-star cast featuring Dorothy film featured Linda Hunt in a Best Supporting Oscar perfor-
Malone, Mia Farrow, Ryan O’Neal, and Ruth Warrick (pre–All mance as a philosophizing male photographer in ¡965 Indonesia.
My Children). Murder in Peyton Place, a ¡977 made-for-TV movie, Nick Nolte played a photojournalist in contemporary Nicaragua
killed o› Allison MacKenzie and Rodney Harrington (Farrow in Under Fire, while ¡986’s Salvador starred James Woods as a cyn-
and O’Neal), but reunited regulars Malone and Ed Nelson. Pey- ical freelance photographer unable to distance himself from his
ton Place: The Next Generation (¡985), another TV movie, was a subjects. The title of 84 Charlie Mopic is the Army job
feeble attempt to drum up interest for a new series. classification for a motion picture cameramen. This ¡989 film
Peyton Place (¡957); Return to Peyton Place (¡96¡); Murder in Pey- showed viewers the Vietnam War through the soldier’s — or
ton Place (¡977 TVM); Peyton Place: The Next Generation (¡985 TVM) rather, his camera. The photographer is glimpsed only when he
hands his camera to someone else to engage in a little horseplay.
Phantasm Series Most female camera clickers in the movies have been fashion pho-
tographers, such as Faye Dunaway in Eyes of Laura Mars and Pam
Lethal flying spheres. Killer dwarfs that bleed yellow ooze. A dis-
Grier in Friday Foster. Photographer Claudette Colbert unex-
membered living finger that turns into an insect-like creature. It’s
pectedly fell in love with subway digger Fred MacMurray in the
no wonder that viewers of Don Coscarelli’s ¡979 cult classic Phan-
¡943 comedy No Time for Love. In other comic escapades, Buster
tasm nod their heads when one of the film’s characters muses aloud:
Keaton starred in the classic ¡928 comedy The Cameraman. It
“I can’t figure this thing out.” If one ignores the dream vs. reality
was remade, much less e›ectively, with Red Skelton as ¡950’s
ending, the plot has something to do with a Tall Man (Angus
Watch the Birdie. Allegedly, an uncredited Keaton supervised
Scrimm) who turns dead people into dwarfs, stores them in bar-
many of the gags. Bob Hope played a photographer-turned-de-
rels, and then tosses them through a portal to another planet to
tective in My Favorite Brunette (which was Dorothy Lamour, of
be used as slave labor. The fate of the world rests in the hands of
course). The source of Bob’s trouble was not Dorothy, but a valu-
an apparently unemployed musician named Jody (Bill Thorn-
able picture taken with his “keyhole camera.” Photographers have
bury), his teenage brother Michael (Michael Baldwin), and their
not fared well in horror films. David Warner was one of the first
friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister), who drives an ice cream truck.
to realize that little Damien was not an angelic child in ¡976’s The
Though silly at times and burdened with uneven acting, Phantasm
Omen. Unfortunately, that knowledge lost him his head in the
is a surreal, genuinely creepy film filled with haunting images. To
film’s goriest sequence. In Michael Powell’s cult classic Peeping
stretch his miniscule budget, the 2¡-year-old Coscarelli wrote, di-
Tom (¡960), Carl Boehm played a deranged photographer ob-
rected, photographed, and edited Phantasm. Over the next nine
sessed with capturing his murder victims on film at the precise
years, Coscarelli made one movie, The Beastmaster (q.v), and
moment of their deaths. Scientist Robert Stephens invented a
worked on the Stephen King werewolf picture Silver Bullet. When
camera that could capture one’s spirit as it leaves the body in
he finally decided to make Phastasm II, Universal Pictures gave him
¡972’s intriguing The Asphyx. Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up
a $3 million budget and guidance to produce a more traditionally
(¡966) remains the most overrated movie about a photographer.
structured film. The latter decision hurts Phantasm II, which is far
It took a promising premise (David Hemmings unintentionally
less hypnotic and interesting than the original. The story picks up
photographs what may be a murder) and burdened it with heavy-
with Michael (now played by James LeGros) leaving a mental hos-
handed symbolism. See also Centerfolds; Fashion Models.
pital after admitting that the events of the first film were not real.
Michael still believes they happened, however, and he teams up The Cameraman (¡928); Picture Snatcher (¡933); Murder in
again with Reggie to fight the Tall Man. The series improved with Greenwich Village (¡937); Dust Be My Destiny (¡939); China Girl
the next two installments, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (¡994) (¡942); Escape from Crime (¡942); Hit the Ice (¡943); No Time for
Love (¡943); Double Exposure (¡944); Lover Come Back (aka When
and Phantasm: Oblivion (¡998). The third picture finds the orig-
Lovers Meet) (¡946); My Favorite Brunette (¡947); Watch the Birdie
inal film’s heroic trio in dire straits: The dead Jody (Thornbury) (¡950); I Love Melvin (¡953); Rear Window (¡954); Joe Butterfly
is a spirit that resides in one of the flying spheres; Michael (Bald- (¡957); Funny Face (¡957); Peeping Tom (¡960); A Girl Named
win) gets kidnapped by the Tall Man; and Reggie (Bannister) must Tamiko (¡962); If a Man Answers (¡962); Blow-Up (¡966); Negatives
contend with hoodlums that have nothing to do with killer dwarfs (¡968); Live a Little, Love a Little (¡968); La Prisonniere (¡969);
and yellow ooze. Finally, in Phantasm: Oblivion, Jody’s spirit be- Little Murders (¡97¡); Private Parts (¡972); The Asphyx (¡972); Fri-
comes evil, Michael gets the bad end of an encounter with the Tall day Foster (¡975); The Omen (¡976); Eyes of Laura Mars (¡978);
Man, and Reggie has to save the day. Coscarelli wrote and di- Girlfriends (¡978); Georgia, Georgia (¡982); Under Fire (¡983);
The Year of Living Dangerously (¡983); No Small A›air (¡984); Sal-
rected all the sequels. In ¡999, Entertainment Weekly listed the first vador (¡986); The Fantasist (¡986); The Girl in the Picture (¡986);
Phantasm as the seventeenth scariest film in cinema history. Double Exposure (¡989); 84 Charlie Mopic (¡989); Margaret Bourke-
Phantasm (¡979); Phantasm II (¡988); Phantasm III: Lord of White (¡989 TVM); Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture (¡990
the Dead (aka Phantasm III) (¡994); Phantasm: Oblivion (aka Phan- TVM); Curiosity Kills (¡990 TVM); Two Evil Eyes (aka Due
tasm IV: Oblivion; Phantasm: OblIVion) (¡998) Occhi Diabolic) (¡990); In the Cold of the Night (¡990); Drop Dead
 PIGS 153

Gorgeous (¡99¡ TVM); The Public Eye (¡992); Proof (¡992); Lethal Kiss (¡95¡); Strange Fascination (¡952); The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
Exposure (¡993 TVM); Calendar (¡993); Seduce Me (aka The (¡953); Torch Song (¡953); Rhapsody (¡954); Sincerely Yours (¡955);
Pamela Principle 2) (¡994); At Risk (¡994); Of Love and Shadows The Eddy Duchin Story (¡956); Julie (¡956); Shoot the Piano Player
(¡994); Dazzle (¡995 TVM); Beyond Rangoon (¡995); The Bridges of (aka Shoot the Pianist) (¡960); Tormented (¡960); The Hands of
Madison County (¡995); Temptress (¡995); Out There (¡995); Ad- Orlac (aka Hands of the Strangler) (¡960); The World of Henry Ori-
dicted to Love (¡997); Wild America (¡997); Fools Rush In (¡997); ent (¡964); Blues for Lovers (aka Ballad in Blue) (¡964); The Battle of
The Edge (¡997); Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss (¡998); Stepmom the Villa Fiorita (aka A›air at the Villa Fiorita) (¡964); 30 Is a
(¡998); Pecker (¡998); The Deep End of the Ocean (¡999); Guinevere Dangerous Age, Cynthia (¡968); The Story of a Woman (¡969); Five
(¡999); Striking Poses (¡999) Easy Pieces (¡970); The Mephisto Waltz (¡97¡); The Abominable Dr.
Phibes (¡97¡) (an organist actually); Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso;
Dripping Deep Red) (¡975); Autumn Sonata (¡978); Fingers (¡978);
Pianists Practice Makes Perfect (¡978); The Competition (¡980); Copacabana
While movie violinists (q.v.) have been limited to classical settings (¡985 TVM); Ghost of a Chance (¡987 TVM); Madame Sousatzka
and trumpet players (q.v.) to jazz scenes, movie pianists have (¡988); Running on Empty (¡988); Liberace (¡988 TVM); Great
Balls of Fire! (¡989); Matters of the Heart (¡990 TVM); The Fabu-
crossed all musical boundaries. The film appearances of a diver-
lous Baker Boys (¡990); The Winter in Lisbon (¡990); The Pianist
gent group of real-life musicians confirms this point: Ignace Jan (¡99¡); The Accompanist (aka L’Accompagnatrice) (¡992); The Piano
Paderewski and Liberace played the classics in, respectively, Moon- (¡993); Twenty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould (¡994); Shine
light Sonata (¡937) and Sincerely Yours (¡955); Ray Charles opted (¡996); Love Walked In (¡998); A Song from the Heart (¡999 TVM)
for the blues in Blues for Lovers (¡964); and contemporary
singer/pianist Charles Aznavour mixed jazz and popular music in Pickpockets
Shoot the Piano Player (¡960), as did Barry Manilow in Copaca-
The colorful pickpockets of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist have
bana (¡985). A wide variety of physical impairments and emo-
reached the screen in five o‡cial adaptations, with David Lean’s
tional problems have plagued pianists. Liberace went deaf in Sin-
¡948 version and Carol Reed’s ¡968 musical attracting the most
cerely Yours, while blind piano players were the subject of Night
admirers. George C. Scott played Fagin in the ¡982 TV movie.
Song (¡947), Torch Song (¡953), and Charles’ Blues for Lovers.
Coincidentally, Scott’s one-time wife Trish Van Devere played one
Geo›rey Rush won a Best Actor Oscar for playing emotionally
of master pickpocket James Coburn’s new recruits in ¡973’s Harry
fragile concert piantist David Helfgott in Shine (¡996). Jack
in Your Pocket. Ginger Rogers played another lady pickpocket in
Nicholson abandoned a promising career as a concert pianist to
the ¡946 comedy Heartbeat, while Thick as Thieves (¡99¡) featured
become an aimless drifter in Five Easy Pieces (¡970). The pianists
a brother-and-sister pickpocket team who unwisely select an un-
in Shoot the Piano Player and Fingers— the first a washed-up con-
dercover cop as their target. A movie extra disrupts pickpocket
cert performer, the second a promising star — both became in-
Ben Gazzara’s plans in the Italian-made comedy The Passionate
volved with gangsters. A dying concert pianist tried to possess
Thief (¡960). Pickpocket Richard Widmark inadvertently thwarts
Alan Alda’s body in the Satanic thriller The Mephisto Waltz (¡97¡).
enemy spies by stealing valuable microfilm in Samuel Fuller’s
That was a mild problem, however, compared to Peter Lorre’s
Pickup on South Street (¡953). Martial artist Jean-Claude Van
struggles with the severed hand of a piano player in The Beast with
Damme made an unlikely NYC pickpocket in The Quest (¡996).
Five Fingers (¡946). Still, the incredibly weird Dr. Seuss fantasy
Finally, French director Robert Bresson produced the cinema’s
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (¡953) rates as the most terrifying pi-
most philosophical essay on the subject with ¡959’s Pickpocket.
anist film. Little Tommy Rettig starred as a boy who dreams that
his vicious piano teacher has imprisoned him and 499 other boys Oliver Twist (¡922); Oliver Twist (¡933); Main Street After
Dark (¡944); Heartbeat (¡946); Oliver Twist (¡948); Pickup on South
in a castle where they play a giant piano all day long. In com- Street (¡953); Pickpocket (¡959); The Passionate Thief (¡960); Oliver!
parison, the troubled young piano players of Madame Sousatzka (¡968); The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (¡972 TVM); Harry in Your
and Running on Empty (both ¡988) had it easy. Richard Dreyfuss Pocket (¡973); Oliver Twist (¡982 TVM); Thick as Thieves (¡99¡);
and Amy Irving played young adults going for the same career- Life with Mikey (¡993); Pigalle (¡994); The City of Lost Children
making prize, while falling in love in The Competition (¡980). (¡995); The Quest (¡996); On the 2nd Day of Christmas (¡997 TVM)
Two teenage groupies stalked pianist Peter Sellers wherever he
went in The World of Henry Orient (¡964). No discussion of piano Pigs
players would be complete without at least mentioning Dooley Leading roles for pigs have been few and far between. Dick King-
Wilson as Sam in Casablanca (¡942). Although they were not pi- Smith’s children’s novel The Sheep-Pig provided the basis for Babe
anists, Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia danced out a catchy ren- (¡995), the cinema’s most famous oinker. The principal charac-
dition of “Chopsticks” on a giant piano in Big (¡988). See also ters in the ¡955 British adaptation of George Orwell’s satire An-
Trumpet Players; Violinists. imal Farm were two pigs named Napoleon and Snowball. E.B.
Mad Love (¡935); Moonlight Sonata (¡937); Stolen Heaven White’s children’s classic Charlotte’s Web (¡973) focused on a
(¡938); When Tomorrow Comes (¡939); The Great Lie (¡94¡); That friendship between a matronly spider and a shy pig. A little porker
Uncertain Feeling (¡94¡); Dangerous Moonlight (aka Suicide in Gordy (¡995) tries to save his family from being turned into
Squadron) (¡94¡); Casablanca (¡942); The Constant Nymph (¡943); bacon. In supporting roles, real-life pigs have stolen their fair
Love Story (aka A Lady Surrenders) (¡944); A Voice in the Wind
(¡944); The Seventh Veil (¡945); Detour (¡945); Deception (¡946); share of scenes. A frolicking contraband porker upstaged Maggie
The Beast with Five Fingers (¡946); Carnegie Hall (¡947); Night Song Smith and Michael Palin in the deft food-rationing comedy A Pri-
(¡947); Letter from an Unknown Woman (¡948); A Kiss in the Dark vate Function (¡985). Michael J. Fox acquired a pet pig named Jas-
(¡949); Quartet (¡949) (“The Alien Corn” segment); Too Young to mine in ¡99¡’s Doc Hollywood. A talking pig popped up opposite
154 PINBALL/VIDEO GAMES

Pee Wee Herman in ¡988’s Big Top Pee Wee. In the horror genre, ing to steal the famous Pink Panther diamond. It starred David
a giant killer pig stalked the Australian countryside in ¡984’s Ra- Niven, Claudia Cardinale, Robert Wagner, and introduced Peter
zorback, while an ad for ¡982’s Pigs proclaimed: “They’ll eat any- Sellers as that classic bumbling detective Inspector Clouseau.
thing so she had the perfect method to dispose of her victims.” Thanks to Sellers’ hilarious performance, the movie was a hit and
The da›y and dangerous Annie Wilks (Kathy Bates) named her he and Edwards reteamed for the ¡964 sequel A Shot in the Dark.
pet pig after her favorite romance novel heroine in Stephen King’s It’s the best of all Clouseau movies and marked the debuts of
Misery (¡990). Bizarre man/pig love relationships were explored eventual series regulars Herbert Lom (as Clouseau’s boss/neme-
in Futz and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Pigsty (both ¡969). People were sis) and Burt Kwouk (as the kung fu–minded valet Kato). Sur-
transformed into pigs in Ulysses (¡955), O Lucky Man! (¡973), prisingly, another Sellers/Clouseau comedy did not appear for a
and Elvira — Mistress of the Dark (¡988). Hugh “Bulldog” Drum- decade. In the meantime, Alan Arkin starred in Inspector
mond (Walter Pidgeon) retired from sleuthing to raise pigs in Clouseau, a ¡968 flop not directed by Edwards. Fortunately for
¡95¡’s Calling Bulldog Drummond. Animated shorts have featured Clouseau fans, Sellers and Edwards revived both their careers
Pooh’s friend Piglet and that world-famous stuttering pig Porky. with The Return of the Pink Panther, the surprise hit of summer
There’s a ¡9¡¡ silent short boasting the interesting title The Elec- ¡975. After two more popular entries, Sellers died in ¡980. Nev-
trified Pig. Television introduced Miss Piggy and Arnold Zi›el of ertheless, outtakes of him were edited into the shoddily-con-
Green Acres fame. See also The Muppets. structed Trail of the Pink Panther. It was a well-deserved box-
Calling Bulldog Drummond (¡95¡); Animal Farm (¡955); Ulysses o‡ce disaster, as was Curse of the Pink Panther with Ted Wass
(¡955); Pigsty (aka Pig Pen; Porcile) (¡969); Futz (¡969); Charlotte’s following in Sellers’ footsteps. The persistent Edwards tried to
Web (¡973); O Lucky Man! (¡973); The Muppet Movie (¡979); Pigs resurrect the series a decade later with ¡993’s Son of the Pink
(¡982); Evilspeak (¡982); Razorback (¡984); A Private Function Panther, which starred Italian comedian Roberto Benigni as
(¡985); Elvira-Mistress of the Dark (¡988); The Milagro Beanfield War Clouseau’s bumbling, illegitimate son. See also Jewel Thieves.
(¡988); Big Top Pee Wee (¡988); Return to Green Acres (¡990 TVM);
Misery (¡990); Doc Hollywood (¡99¡); Leon the Pig Farmer (¡992); The Pink Panther (¡964); A Shot in the Dark (¡964); The Re-
The Advocate (aka Hour of the Pig) (¡993); Babe (¡995); Gordy turn of the Pink Panther (¡975); The Pink Panthers Strikes Again
(¡995); Babe: Pig in the City (¡998); Animal Farm (¡999 TVM) (¡976); The Revenge of the Pink Panther (¡978); The Trail of the
Pink Panther (¡982); The Curse of the Pink Panther (¡983); Son of
the Pink Panther (¡993)
Pinball/Video Games
Brooke Shields as a pinball player? The movie was ¡978’s Tilt and
Shields, age ¡3, played a wandering pinball wizard who mounted
Pirates
a challenge against champ Charles Durning. The “tension-filled” The jolly roger has been a screen fixture since before Douglas
pinball matches bore no resemblance to Paul Newman’s pool Fairbanks, Sr., took to the high seas in ¡926’s colorful The Black
scenes in The Hustler or Steve McQueen’s poker games in The Pirate. In fact, Robert Louis Stevenson’s immortal pirate Long
Cincinnati Kid. Three years prior to Tilt, flamboyant director Ken John Silver appeared in an adaptation of Treasure Island six years
Russell brought The Who’s rock opera Tommy to the screen. The earlier. In the talking film era, Errol Flynn probably logged the
rock group’s lead singer Roger Daltry recreated his stage role as most appearances as a pirate. He played Rafael Sabatini’s gentle-
“the deaf, dumb, and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball.” manly buccaneer in ¡935’s Captain Blood— the role that made
Elton John appeared as his opponent, the Pinball Wizard. The him an overnight star. Flynn also played a queen’s privateer in The
ultimate video game movie was Disney’s Tron (¡982), a visually Sea Hawk, a British spy among pirates in Against All Flags, and a
marvelous, but dramatically empty, hi-tech adventure. Je› Scottish nobleman–turned–temporary pirate in The Master of
Bridges starred as a computer genius sucked into a computer and Ballantrae. Long John Silver easily outdistances his closest rival,
forced to play a “real” video game for his survival. Cocky video Sabatini’s Peter Blood, as the screen’s busiest pirate. He has been
gamemaster Emilio Estevez also wound up inside a video game portrayed most memorably by Wallace Beery (¡934), Robert New-
in one of the segments of the ¡983 horror anthology Nightmares. ton (¡950 and ¡954), and Orson Welles (¡972). Female pirates
In ¡984’s The Last Starfighter, aliens used an Earth-bound video have been scarce, but Maureen O’Hara proved a fiery match for
game to test fighter-pilot skills to assist in recruiting warriors to Flynn in Against All Flags. Other lady pirate captains were fea-
save their dying planet. Jennifer Jason Leigh played a game de- tured in Anne of the Indies, The Pirate Queen, Queen of the Pirates,
signer who creates a virutal reality game that can be “plugged and Cutthroat Island. Pirate musicals have proven to be dismal
into” the human body in David Cronenburg’s eXistenZ (¡999). See box-o‡ce failures, despite the presence of some heavyweight tal-
also Theatrical Films Based on Video Games. ent. RKO’s Dancing Pirate (¡936) was an early Technicolor film
(as was the aforementioned Black Pirate) featuring a music score
Sensations (aka Sensations of ¡945) (¡944); Tommy (¡975); Tilt
(¡978); Pick-up Summer (aka Pinball Summer; Pinball Pick-up) by Rodgers and Hart. The ¡948 Gene Kelly–Judy Garland mu-
(¡98¡); Tron (¡982); Nightmares (¡983); Joysticks (aka Video sical The Pirate is fondly remembered for its fancy footwork (cour-
Madness) (¡983); Never Say Never Again (¡983); The Last Starfighter tesy of Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers) and catchy tunes like “Be
(¡984); The Wizard (¡989); Brainscan (¡994); Arcade (¡994); eXis- a Clown.” The Pirate Movie (¡982) was an inept rip-o› of Gilbert
tenZ (¡999) and Sullivan’s operetta The Pirates of Penzance, which reached the
screen itself the following year. To the astonishment of music
The Pink Panther Series lovers, it fared little better financially than its predecessor. Pirate
Blake Edwards’ ¡964 comedy The Pink Panther was a mildly comedies have included the obvious (Abbott and Costello Meet
amusing all-star farce about a jewel thief called the Phantom try- Captain Kidd), the o›beat (Blackbeard’s Ghost) and the inane
 PLANTS 155

(Yellowbeard). Modern-day pirates harassed Michael Caine in The circle and ends where Planet of the Apes began. A year later, an
Island and futuristic pirates sought water, not treasure, in Ice Pi- hour-long TV series was launched, with McDowall repeating his
rates. original role. It bombed in the ratings and became a midseason
The Black Pirate (¡926); Old Ironsides (¡926); Treasure Island casualty, although the pilot episode, Back to the Planet of the Apes,
(¡934); Captain Blood (¡935); The Dancing Pirate (¡936); The Buc- was later released as a TV movie. A Saturday morning cartoon ver-
caneer (¡938); The Sea Hawk (¡940); The Black Swan (¡942); The sion also surfaced during the ¡975-76 TV season. See also Apes
Princess and the Pirate (¡944); Captain Kidd (¡945); The Spanish and Monkeys.
Main (¡945); Pirates of Monterey (¡947); The Pirate (¡948); Old
Mother Riley’s Jungle Treasure (¡949); Buccaneer’s Girl (¡950); For- Planet of the Apes (¡968); Beneath the Planet of the Apes (¡970);
tunes of Captain Blood (¡950); Last of the Buccaneers (¡950); Trea- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (¡97¡); Conquest of the Planet of
sure Island (¡950); Anne of the Indies (¡95¡); Double Crossbones the Apes (¡972); Battle for the Planet of the Apes (¡973); Back to the
(¡95¡); The Pirate Queen (¡95¡); Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Planet of the Apes (¡974 TVM); Forgotten City of the Planet of the
Kidd (¡952); Against All Flags (¡952); Blackbeard the Pirate (¡952); Apes (¡974 TVM culled from series episodes); Farewell to the Planet
Captain Pirate (¡952); Caribbean (Caribbean Gold) (¡952); The of the Apes (¡974 TVM culled from series episodes)
Crimson Pirate (¡952); Yankee Buccaneer (¡952); Peter Pan (¡953);
The Master of Ballantrae (¡953); Prince of Pirates (¡953); Raiders of Plants
the Seven Seas (¡953); Yankee Pasha (¡954); His Majesty O’Keefe
(¡954); Long John Silver (¡954); Pirates of Tripoli (¡955); The Buc-
Perhaps because of their decorative and unthinking nature, plants
caneer (¡958); Queen of the Pirates (¡960); The Boy and the Pirates have been greatly ignored by filmmakers. In fact, prior to the
(¡960); Morgan the Pirate (¡96¡); The Pirate and Slave Girl (¡96¡); ¡950s, they were restricted to bit roles–nothing they could really
Pirates of Tortuga (¡96¡); The Son of Captain Blood (¡962); Tiger of sink their roots into. A rare flower, which bloomed only in the
the Seven Seas (¡962); Pirates of Blood River (¡962); Hero’s Island moonlight, was featured prominently in ¡935’s Werewolf of Lon-
(¡962); Fury at Smugglers Bay (¡963); Devil-Ship Pirates (¡964); A don. Called the marifesa, it could cure lycanthropy, but ironically
High Wind in Jamaica (¡965); The King’s Pirate (¡967); The Rover Henry Hull was bitten by a werewolf while searching for the
(¡967); Blackbeard’s Ghost (¡968); When Eight Bells Toll (¡97¡);
Treasure Island (¡972); Ghost in the Noonday Sun (¡973); Scalawag
flower. In the ¡940s, Egyptian high priests used a brew made from
(¡973); Swashbuckler (aka The Scarlet Buccaneer) (¡976); The Island tana leaves to periodically revive the Mummy (q.v.). But the first
(¡980); The Pirate Movie (¡982); Pirates of Penzance (¡983); Yellow- abnormal plants of note appeared in The Wizard of Oz (¡939), in
beard (¡983); Ice Pirates (¡984); Pirates (¡986); The Princess Bride which Dorothy and the Scarecrow encountered a grove of apple
(¡987); Shipwrecked (¡990); Treasure Island (¡990 TVM); Hook trees who didn’t like their fruit to be picked. Later in the film,
(¡99¡); George’s Island (¡99¡); Captain Ron (¡992); The Pirate they experienced the e›ects of sleep-inducing poppies. Arguably,
(¡994); Cutthroat Island (¡995); Muppet Treasure Island (¡996); the most renowned plant movie is ¡95¡’s The Thing from Another
Ernest the Pirate (¡999)
World (subsequently shortened to The Thing). It starred an alien
frequently described (even in the movie) as a giant carrot (actu-
Planet of the Apes Series ally, his shape seemed inspired by the Frankenstein Monster). He
In its ¡968 review, Variety called Planet of the Apes an “intriguing was electrocuted — one could say “cooked”— at the film’s climax.
blend of chilling satire, a sometimes ludicrous juxtaposition of Alien pods invaded a small California community and systemat-
human and ape mores, optimism and pessimism.” It’s a fitting de- ically replaced its residents with lookalikes (q.v.) in Don Siegel’s
scription for an unusual series that featured both brilliant plot Invasion of the Body Snatchers (¡956). Less memorable vegetation
twists and incredibly dull science fiction. Rod Serling wrote the movies of the ¡950s included From Hell It Came, in which radi-
original film, adapting Pierre (Bridge Over the River Kwai) Boulle’s ation created a silly-looking tree monster, and Voodoo Island,
satirical novel. Charlton Heston starred as an astronaut hurled which featured a “woman-eating cobra plant.” B-movie mogul
into a time warp and landing on a planet where intelligent apes Roger Corman gave the screen its most charismatic plant with his
are masters over men. In the film’s climactic closing scene, Hes- campy cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors (¡960). It was a about
ton finds the remains of the Statue of Liberty and realizes that he a nerd named Seymour Krelboined who nurtured a mysterious
has seen man’s future on planet Earth. Critics raved over Serling’s plant that grows to human size and periodically craves people for
witty screenplay, but most of the publicity centered on John dinner, screaming: “Feed me! Feed me! I’m hungry!” It spawned
Chambers’ brilliant ape makeup (which won a special Oscar). an O›-Broadway musical in ¡982 and a big-budget remake in
Two years later, a dull sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, ended ¡986. The plants in John Wyndham’s The Day of the Tri‡ds
with the detonation of an atomic bomb which destroyed the couldn’t talk, but they could communicate via shrill sounds. In
world — and apparently the series. However, when it scored at the many ways, Tri‡ds is the ultimate plant movie. At a height of ¡0
box-o‡ce, producer Arthur P. Jacobs and screenwriter Paul Dehn feet, the poisonous, people-eating Tri‡ds were a menacing crop,
revived the series with a crafty twist. Escape from the Planet of the indeed. And unlike in other plant pictures, there wasn’t just one
Apes revealed that two nice apes (Roddy McDowall and Kim monster in Tri‡ds— it was a large-scale invasion. Talking trees ap-
Hunter) escaped from the exploding Earth in a spaceship and en- peared in Babes in Toyland (¡96¡) and Monty Python and the Holy
tered into the same time warp that Heston encountered. They Grail (¡975). A meteorite caused Stephen King to turn into a
land on Earth circa ¡97¡ and run afoul of human prejudice. How- plant in ¡982’s Creepshow. And a mad scientist crossbred humans
ever, before they are murdered, they smuggle their infant son to and plants to create The Mutations (¡973). See also Killer Toma-
safety. He grows up and, in the fourth film Conquest of the Planet toes.
of the Apes, leads an ape revolt. In the final series entry, ¡973’s The Werewolf of London (¡935); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); The
mediocre Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the timeline comes full Thing (¡95¡); Fury of the Congo (¡95¡); Invasion of the Body Snatchers
156 PLASTIC SURGERY

(¡956); From Hell It Came (¡957); Voodoo Island (¡957); The Woman was not discovered until Peter Ustinov made the role his own, be-
Eater (¡959); The Little Shop of Horrors (¡960); Babes in Toyland ginning with ¡978’s Death on the Nile. Sadly, the quality of the
(¡96¡); The Day of the Tri‡ds (¡963); Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors Ustinov/Poirot films declined gradually after his second film Evil
(¡965); Maneater of Hydra (aka Island of the Doomed) (¡966); Navy
Under the Sun (¡982). But Ustinov remained entertaining in spite
vs. the Night Monsters (¡966); Please Don’t Eat My Mother (¡972);
The Mutations (¡973); Mr. Sycamore (¡974); Monty Python and the of the progressively worse conditions. Hercule Poirot was also
Holy Grail (¡975); The Kirlian Witness (aka The Plants Are among the many detectives spoofed in Neil Simon’s Murder by
Watching) (¡978); Nick Carter in Prague (aka Dinner for Adele; Adele Death (¡976). On television, David Suchet played Poirot in a
Hasn’t Had Her Supper Yet) (¡978); Invasion of the Body Snatchers popular series that first aired in the U.S. on Mystery! in ¡989.
(¡978); Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (¡978); Creepshow (¡982); The Alibi (¡93¡) (Austin Trevor); Black Co›ee (¡93¡) (Trevor); Lord
Little Shop of Horrors (¡986); Godzilla vs. Biollante (¡989); The Edgware Dies (¡934) (Trevor); The Alphabet Murders (aka The ABC
Guardian (¡990); Dreams (¡990) (“The Peach Orchard” segment); Murders) (¡966) (Tony Randall); Murder on the Orient Express
Jumanji (¡995) (man-eating plants); The Balloon Farm (¡999 TVM) (¡974) (Albert Finney); Death on the Nile (¡978) (Peter Ustinov);
Evil Under the Sun (¡982) (Ustinov); Thirteen at Dinner (¡985
Plastic Surgery TVM) (Ustinov); Dead Man’s Folly (¡986 TVM) (Ustinov); Murder
Movie surgeons have wasted little time on routine facelifts and in Three Acts (¡986 TVM) (Ustinov); Appointment with Death
(¡988) (Ustinov)
nose jobs (though Steve Martin pleaded for a nose alteration in
¡987’s Roxanne). Instead, they have concentrated far more on ex-
tensive plastic surgery, frequently resulting in horror movie plots. Poison Ivy Series
In ¡935’s The Raven, Bela Lugosi played a Poe-reciting surgeon Drew Barrymore gave one of her best teenage performances as a
who turned gangster Boris Karlo› ’s face into a hideous mass of psychotic vamp in ¡992’s Poison Ivy. She brought the right amount
scar tissue. Karlo› exacted his revenge by escorting Lugosi to the of sex appeal, danger, and subtle vulnerability to the role of Ivy,
torture chamber in the film’s climax. However, the most common a mysterious teen intent on insinuating herself into the Cooper
plastic surgery plot involves the scientist who murders innocent family. She befriends Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert), seduces
bystanders in order to rebuild the facial features of a loved one. Sylvie’s father (Tom Skerritt), and causes Mrs. Cooper (Cheryl
Georges Franju’s chilling The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus is Ladd) to fall from a window to her death. It soon becomes ap-
considered the classic example of this type. Rock Hudson prob- parent that Ivy’s goal is to assume the sister/mother role in the
ably underwent the most elaborate makeover in John Franken- family at all costs. The film enjoyed a modest theatrical run, but
heimer’s Seconds. He played an elderly millionaire who emerged performed well as a videotape rental, inspiring two minor follow-
from high-tech surgery as a new, younger man — only to find out ups. Former TV child star Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss?) as-
later that the price was too steep. The Girl Most Likely to… un- sumed the lead role for Poison Ivy 2: Lily. Its only connection to
covered a vein of dark humor in its story of a mistreated ugly the first film is Ivy’s diary, which the sexually-repressed Lily finds
duckling (Stockard Channing) transformed into a revenge- and uses as a basis for a minor makeover (i.e., she dresses more
minded beauty. A car accident, plastic surgery, and a mean mother provocatively and finally makes love to her boyfriend). Compared
kept lovers Kathleen Quinlan and Stephen Collins apart in The to the original Ivy, Lily’s character comes across as very tame —
Promise, a rare change-of-face romance. and also boring. Poison Ivy: The Seduction returned the series to
The Raven (¡935); A Woman’s Face (¡94¡); Black Dragons its roots, with Ivy’s sister Violet ( Jaime Pressly) seducing her best
(¡942); First Yank into Tokyo (¡945); Dark Passage (¡948); The Sec- friend’s father and her boyfriend. Despite the plot’s similarities
ond Face (¡950); A Stolen Face (¡952); Jail Bait (¡954); The Mirror to the first film, its emphasis on nudity and sex owes more to
Has Two Faces (aka Le Miroir a Deux Faces) (¡958); The Face of Ter- “erotic thrillers” like Secret Games and Body Chemistry (both q.v.).
ror (¡959); Circus of Horrors (¡960); The Awful Dr. Orlo› (¡96¡); Poison Ivy (¡992); Poison Ivy 2: Lily (¡996); Poison Ivy: The Se-
The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus (aka Eyes Without a Face) duction (¡997)
(¡962); Seconds (¡966); Corruption (¡968); The Groundstar Conspir-
acy (¡972); The Girl Most Likely to… (¡973 TVM); Ash Wednesday
(¡973); Who? (¡974); Scalpel (aka False Face) (¡976); Rabid (¡977); Police Academy Series
The Promise (¡978); Mirror, Mirror (¡979 TVM); The Man with An unexpected commercial success, the Police Academy series
Bogart’s Face (aka Sam Marlowe, Private Eye) (¡980); Looker (¡98¡);
proved to be the ¡980s answer to Britain’s Carry On comedies
The Jigsaw Man (¡984); Why Me (¡984 TVM); Emmanuelle 4
(¡984); Batman (¡989); Johnny Handsome (¡989); Doc Hollywood (q.v.) of the ¡960s. Both series manufactured low-brow humor
(¡99¡); Shattered (¡99¡); Death Becomes Her (¡992); Face/O› (¡997) which moviegoers thrived on and critics found distasteful. The
¡984 Police Academy naturally set the tone for the rest, focusing
on a class of unlikely police recruits led by smart guy Steve Gut-
Poe, Edgar Allan see Corman’s Poe Series tenberg, former football player Bubba Smith, and human noise
machine Michael Winslow. Unpredictable stand-up comic Bob-
Poirot, Hercule cat Goldthwait joined the series for the third and fourth entries.
Agatha Christie’s Belgian sleuth was brought to the screen in the After the fourth film, Guttenberg graduated to bigger roles (¡987’s
guise of British actor Austin Trevor in the early ¡930s in myster- monster hit Three Men and a Baby) and Smith bowed out tem-
ies like Alibi and Lord Edgware Dies. Decades later, Tony Ran- porarily. Only Winslow remained for all seven entries. The Po-
dall (The Alphabet Murders) and Albert Finney (Murder on the lice Academy movies spawned a ¡988 Saturday morning cartoon
Orient Express) took shots at playing Poirot. However, Christie series and an hour-long ¡997 live-action sitcom called Police Acad-
fans quibbled with those interpretations and an acceptable Poirot emy: The Series starring Winslow and Matt Borlenghi.
 POP, ROCK, AND COUNTRY SINGER BIOGRAPHIES 157

Police Academy (¡984); Police Academy 2 (¡985); Police Acad- rock ’n’ roll, singers such as British teen idol Tommy Steele and
emy 3: Back in Training (¡986); Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol Bill Haley were popular enough to warrant film biographies in
(¡987); Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (¡988); Police which they played themselves. However, the first significant rock
Academy 6: City Under Siege (¡989); Policy Academy: Mission to singer biography did not appear until The Buddy Holly Story in
Moscow (¡994)
¡978. Gary Busey’s Oscar-nominated performance as Holly and
a carefully crafted feel-good ending turned the film into a sleeper
Police Story Series
hit. The following year, Bette Midler also earned an Oscar nom-
The four Police Story films, featuring martial arts stylist Jackie ination for The Rose, the depressing story of a Janis Joplin–like
Chan, bear no relation to the ¡973–77 U.S. television anthology singer. After a dry spell in the early ¡980s, the unexpected suc-
series (nor the TV movies based on it). Instead, the Chan films cess of ¡987’s La Bamba renewed interest in rock ’n’ roll biogra-
are fast-paced action pictures, emphasizing their star’s athletic phies. Lou Diamond Phillips’s earnest performance breathed life
prowess, comic touch, and incredible stunts. Chan once said: into the story of Ritchie Valens, who had only two Top 40 hits
“The audience comes in the theater to see Jackie Chan — not the in the late ¡950s before dying in the same plane crash that killed
double. That’s why I do my own stunts.” His daredevil antics are Buddy Holly. Ironically, the movie accomplished what Valens
legendary. In one sequence in Police Story II, Chan jumps o› a never did — its soundtrack featured a cover version of “La Bamba”
building onto a fast-moving truck, leaps over to a passing bus, by Los Lobos that reached No. ¡ on the Billboard music chart.
and then dives into a second-story window. No insurance com- Spurred by the success of La Bamba, the next ten years saw the
pany will issue him a policy, especially after a fall in Armor of God release of film biographies on Jerry Lee Lewis, the Doors, Tina
resulted in a cracked skull requiring extensive surgery. In addi- Turner, and Latin singer Selena. Even the Beatles were not im-
tion to acting and choreographing the action scenes, Chan di- mune to the biographical treatment as Backbeat (¡993) told the
rected the first two Police Story films. Tony Kwei Lai (aka Stanley story of Stuart Sutcli›e, the “fifth Beatle.” In the ¡990s, televi-
Tong) took over for the third entry, which paired Chan with a no- sion turned to rock ’n’ roll and made TV movies based on the lives
nonsense female partner played by Michelle Yeoh (who would of Sonny and Cher, the Temptations, and Ricky Nelson. The lat-
make an international splash opposite James Bond in ¡997’s To- ter film, Ricky Nelson: Teen Idol, was produced by the cable net-
morrow Never Dies). Despite superb action scenes and clever bits work VH¡ as part of a continuing series of made-for-TV rock bi-
of humor, Chan’s films never scored with American audiences ographies. Compared to rock stars, country singers have been
until Rumble in the Bronx was released in the U.S. in ¡996. virtually ignored, although Coal Miner’s Daughter— the story of
Police Story (aka Jackie Chan’s Police Story; Police Force; Ging Loretta Lynn — accomplished something no rock bio has ever
Chaat Goo Si) (¡985); Police Story II (aka Ging Chaat Goo Si Juk done: It earned a Best Actress Oscar for leading lady Sissy Spacek.
Jaap) (¡988); Police Story III: Supercop (aka Jing Cha Gu Shi III: The lives of country legend Hank Williams and his son Hank,
Chao Ji Jing Cha; Supercop) (¡992); First Strike (aka Jing Cha Gu
Shi IV: Jian Dan Ren Wu; Police Story 4; Jackie Chan’s First Strike)
Jr., were profiled in, respectively, Your Cheatin’ Heart (¡964) and
(¡996) Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr., Story (¡983). And Annette
O’Toole played Tammy Wynette in the ¡98¡ TV movie Stand By
Your Man. On the pop music front, Larry Parks played Al Jolson
Pool in both The Jolson Story (¡946) and its sequel Jolson Sings Again
Paul Newman’s second tour through the world of smoke-filled (¡949). Although Ann Blyth played the lead role in The Helen
pool halls finally resulted in his first Academy Award, as Best Actor Morgan Story (¡959), Gogi Grant dubbed her voice when it came
for ¡986’s The Color of Money. Newman played Eddie Felson, a to performing the ¡920s torch singer’s hits. Doris Day provided
smooth veteran pool shark he introduced as an ambitious youth her own vocals as ¡930s torch singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or
fifteen years earlier in The Hustler. Eddie’s match against the leg- Leave Me (¡955), but it was James Cagney who earned an Oscar
endary Minnesota Fats ( Jackie Gleason) in the ¡96¡ picture easily nomination as her mobster promoter. Diana Ross also received an
ranks as pool’s finest moment in the movies. But other actors have Oscar nomination as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (¡972).
also taken their shot at the eight ball: James Coburn in The Bal- Barbra Streisand won an Academy Award for her performance as
timore Bullet, Whoopi Goldberg in Kiss Shot, and Johnny Cash in Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (¡968), a role she later repeated for the
The Baron and the Kid, a TV movie inspired by his country hit less successful Funny Lady (¡975). Finally, the life of Frank Sina-
“The Baron.” W.C. Fields played pool in movies such as Six of a tra has been explored in the TV movies Sinatra (¡992) and The
Kind and Follow the Boys. But Timothy Carey played the most Rat Pack (¡999). Several fictional films are considered to be thinly-
bizarre pool player, South Dakota Slim, in the Beach Party (q.v.) veiled biographies. The Idolmaker (¡980) appears to be based on
movies. The creepy Slim, who called everyone “booby,” tried to the life of rock producer Bob Marcucci and his “discovery” Fabian
saw Linda Evans in half in Beach Blanket Bingo (¡965). and The Five Heartbearts (¡99¡) strongly resemble the rhythm and
Six of a Kind (¡934); Follow the Boys (¡944); The Hustler blues group the Dells. See also Composers (Popular); Concert
(¡96¡); The Baltimore Bullet (¡980); The Baron and the Kid (¡984 Movies; Presley, Elvis.
TVM); The Color of Money (¡986); Kiss Shot (¡989 TVM)
The Jolson Story (¡946) (Al Jolson); Jolson Sings Again (¡949)
( Jolson); With a Song in My Heart (¡952) (loosely based on the life
Pop, Rock, and Country Singer of Jane Froman); Love Me or Leave Me (¡955) (Ruth Etting); Rock
Around the Clock (¡956) (Bill Haley and the Comets); Rock Around
Biographies the World (aka The Tommy Steele Story) (¡957); The Helen Morgan
The life stories of pop and rock singers of the ¡950s and ¡960s Story (¡959); Your Cheatin’ Heart (¡964) (Hank Williams); The
have dominated musical biographies. Even in the early days of Sound of Music (¡965) (The Von Trapp Family); Funny Girl (¡968)
158 POPES AND CARDINALS

(Fanny Brice); Lady Sings the Blues (¡972) (Billie Holiday); Piaf Porky’s Series
(¡974) (Edith Piaf ); Funny Lady (¡975) (Brice); Bound for Glory
(¡976) (Woody Guthrie); Leadbelly (¡976) (Huddie Ledbetter); The Shortly before he made the delightful family favorite A Christmas
Buddy Holly Story (¡978); Rainbow (¡978 TVM) ( Judy Garland); Story, director Bob Clark filmed this ¡982 Canadian-made com-
The Rose (¡979) (loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin); Coal edy smash about horny teens in Florida circa ¡954. The majority
Miner’s Daughter (¡980) (Loretta Lynn); Stand by Your Man (¡98¡ of the action centered around the title establishment, a bar/brothel
TVM) (Tammy Wynette); Side by Side: The True Story of the Os- located just across the county line. Most critics called Porky’s
mond Family (¡982 TVM); Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. smutty and pointless, but a lot of teens saw it. Perhaps it was the
Story (¡983 TVM); John and Yoko: A Love Story (¡985) ( John
timing, for the ¡983 sequel, Porky’s II: The Next Day, lacked the
Lennon and Yoko Ono); Sid and Nancy (¡986) (Sid Vicious and
girlfriend Nancy Spungen); La Bamba (¡987) (Ritchie Valens); box-o‡ce fire despite reteaming teen leads Dan Monahan, Mark
Great Balls of Fire! (¡989) ( Jerry Lee Lewis); The Doors (¡99¡); The Herrier, and Wyatt Knight. The same trio showed up in a third
Jacksons: An American Dream (¡992 TVM); Sinatra (¡992 TVM); installment which attracted little attention.
What’s Love Got to Do with It (¡993) (Tina Turner); Backbeat Porky’s (¡982); Porky’s II: The Next Day (¡983); Porky’s Revenge
(¡993) (The Beatles); Naomi and Wynonna: Love Can Build a (¡985)
Bridge (¡995 TVM) (The Judds); Selena (¡997) (Selena Quin-
tanilla); The Rat Pack (¡998 TVM) (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Postal Workers
Sammy Davis, Jr., plus non-singers Joey Bishop and Peter Law-
ford); The Temptations (¡998 TVM); And the Beat Goes On: The Just as librarians (q.v.) have been stereotyped as drabbily-dressed
Sonny and Cher Story (¡999 TVM); Sweetwater: A True Rock Story spinsters, postal carriers have struggled with their cliched por-
(¡999 TVM); Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol (¡999 TVM); Come trayals as mild-mannered unmarried men. However, in those rare
On Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story (¡999 TVM); The Beach films in which postal characters have been given major roles, they
Boys: An American Family (2000 TVM); The David Cassidy Story have proven themselves to be an eclectic lot — rarely mild-man-
(2000 TVM); Take Me Home: The John Denver Story (2000 TVM); nered and sometimes downright peculiar. The pleasant Mr. Potts
Little Richard (2000 TVM); The Linda McCartney Story (2000
turned out to be a devious murderer who almost outwitted Sher-
TVM); Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story (2000); Meat Loaf:
To Hell and Back (2000 TVM) lock Holmes in ¡944’s The Scarlet Claw. Of course, Potts was ac-
tually an actor named Ramson who killed the real postman and
assumed his identity (nonetheless, Ramson/Potts delivered the
Popes and Cardinals mail, making him a postal carrier). In another murder mystery,
Cardinal Richelieu, who virtually ruled France from ¡624 to ¡642, the British Green for Danger, a postman provided a critical clue
has been the cinema’s most prominent senior church figure. George in uncovering an operating room killer. Alan Ladd played a postal
Arliss portrayed him as an unscrupulous scoundrel in Cardinal inspector in Appointment with Danger (¡95¡), while Eli Wallach
Richelieu (¡935), while others who have donned the red robe in- played a postman-turned-kidnapper in the ¡967 satire The Tiger
clude Nigel du Brulier in The Three Musketeers (¡935) and The Makes Out. French comedian Jacques Tati, best known for his Mr.
Man in the Iron Mask (¡939), Raymond Massey in Under the Red Hulot (q.v.) movies, played a mailman in ¡949’s delightful Jour
Robe (¡937), Christopher Logue in The Devils (¡97¡), and Charl- de Fete. Kevin Costner posed as a mail carrier and then really be-
ton Heston in The Three Musketeers (¡974) and The Four Muske- come one in the post-acpocalytic epic The Postman (¡997). In
teers (¡975). Guilty of Treason (¡949) was a fact-based account of EDtv (¡999), Jenna Elfman was not a postal carrier, but still de-
the trial of Cardinal Mindszenty, while The Cardinal (¡963) o›ered livered packages — for UPS. On a more bizarre level, postman
a fictitious tale of a young American’s (Tom Tryon) rise to promi- Jason Robards, Jr., turned into a tree in ¡974’s Mr. Sycamore! A
nence within the church. Few actors have portrayed popes, al- family of cannibals devoured the mailman in the o›beat horror-
though Albert Finney had the lead in the ¡984 TV movie Pope John comedy Spider Baby (¡964). Finally, no discussion of postal car-
Paul II and Anthony Quinn ruled from the Vatican in Shoes of a riers would be complete without mentioning Cli› Clavin ( John
Fisherman (¡968). The ¡964 documentary A Man Named John Ratzenberger), the bar-bound know-it-all on the ¡982–93 TV se-
traced the accomplishments of Pope John XXIII. A plot to assassi- ries Cheers. See also Letters.
nate the Pope lurked behind the comedy bits in Chevy Chase’s Foul Postal Inspector (¡936); Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Play (¡978). Finally, Liv Ullmann disguised herself as a man to (¡939); The Scarlet Claw (¡944); Green for Danger (¡946); Jour de
reach the papacy in ¡972’s Pope Joan. See also Monks; Nuns. Fete (aka The Big Day) (¡949); Side Street (¡950); The Barefoot
Mailman (¡95¡); Appointment with Danger (¡95¡); Postman’s Knock
Cardinal Richelieu (¡935); The Three Musketeers (¡935); Under
(¡96¡); Spider Baby (aka Spider Baby, or the Maddest Story Ever Told;
the Red Robe (¡937); The Man in the Iron Mask (¡939); Guilty of
The Liver Eaters; Cannibal Orgy) (¡964); Happiness (¡965); The
Treason (¡949); Never Take No for an Answer (¡95¡); The Prisoner
Tiger Makes Out (¡967); Mr. Sycamore (¡974); Queen of the Stardust
(¡955); The Cardinal (¡963); A Man Named John (¡964); Becket
Ballroom (¡975 TVM); Harry’s War (¡98¡); Stepfather II (aka Step-
(¡964); The Agony and the Ecstasy (¡965); And There Came a Man
father II: Make Room for Daddy) (¡989); The Tommyknockers (¡993
(¡965); Shoes of a Fisherman (¡968); The Devils (¡97¡); Pope Joan
TVM); Second Best (¡994); Il Postino (aka The Postman) (¡994); La
(aka The Devil’s Impostor) (¡972); Brother Sun, Sister Moon (¡973);
Cérémonie (aka A Judgment in Stone) (¡995); Dear God (¡996); The
The Abdication (¡974); The Three Musketeers (aka The Three Mus-
Postman (¡997); Dear Claudia (¡999); EDtv (¡999); The Minus
keteers: The Queen’s Diamonds) (¡974); The Four Musketeers (aka
Man (¡999)
The Four Musketeers: The Revenge of Milady) (¡975); Foul Play
(¡978); From a Far Country: Pope John Paul II (¡98¡ TVM); Mon-
signor (¡982); Pope John Paul II (¡984 TVM); Saving Grace (¡986);
Prehysteria Series
The Godfather Part III (¡990); The Pope Must Die (aka The Pope Charles Band, the ¡990s equivalent of Roger Corman, produced
Must Diet) (¡99¡); Sister Act (¡992); Stigmata (¡999); Dogma (¡999) and directed Prehysteria (¡993), a low-budget, family-oriented
 PRESIDENTS (U.S.) 159

comedy about five “pygmy dinosaurs.” The film opens with a The Golem: How He Came to Be (aka Der Golem, Wie Er in
slimy antiques dealer stealing five dinosaur eggs from a South die Welt Kam) (¡920)—The Golem: Monster of Fate (aka Der Golem)
American temple. However, the stolen eggs soon fall into the (¡9¡4); Beau Sabreur (¡928)—Beau Geste (¡926); Beau Ideal
(¡93¡)—Beau Geste (¡926); Another Part of the Forest (¡948)—The
hands of a widower and his family when their dog unknowingly
Little Foxes (¡94¡); The Fortunes of Captain Blood (¡950)—Captain
picks up the wrong cooler. When the eggs hatch, they reveal Blood (¡935); Nevada Smith (¡966)—The Carpetbaggers (¡964); The
mini-versions of a brachiosaur, a ceratops, a pterodactyl, a Nightcomers (¡972)—The Innocents (¡96¡); Butch and Sundance: The
stegosaur, and tyrannosaurus rex (which the kids name Elvis). Early Days (¡979)—Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (¡969);
The plot — the bad guys naturally want the little dinos back — Zulu Dawn (¡979)—Zulu (¡964); The Getting of Wisdom (¡977)—
takes a back seat to David Allen’s entertaining special e›ects. Rhapsody (¡954); Bálint Fábián’s Encounter with God (¡980)—Hun-
Allen performed similar work on earlier Band pictures, including garians (¡979); Amityville II: The Possession (¡982)—The Amityville
Horror (¡979); Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (¡984)—
the Puppet Master series (q.v.). Prehysteria performed well as a di- Raiders of the Lost Ark (¡98¡); Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
rect-to-video release, thanks largely to Allen’s dinos and good (¡985)—Missing in Action (¡984); On Valentine’s Day (¡986)—¡9¡8
timing: Star Austin O’Brien had landed the teen lead opposite (¡984); The Rainbow (¡989)—Women in Love (¡970); A Better To-
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero (¡993), and Jurassic morrow III (aka Love and Death in Saigon) (¡989)—A Better Tomor-
Park (¡993), with its big dinosuars, was a huge hit. Two Prehys- row (¡986); Psycho IV: The Beginning (¡990 TVM)—Psycho (¡960);
teria sequels followed. The quintet of little dinosaurs brought a Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge (¡99¡)—Puppet Master (¡989);
Wide Sargasso Sea (¡993)—Jane Eyre (¡944; ¡97¡); Rudyard Kipling’s
lonely boy and his father together in Prehysteria 2 (¡994). And in
The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (aka Jungle Book Two)
Prehysteria 3 (¡995), they played a pivotal role in the success of a (¡997)—The Jungle Book (¡994); Bartok the Magnificent (¡999)—
miniature golf course! See also Dinosaurs. Anastasia (¡997); The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)—The
Prehysteria (¡993); Prehysteria 2 (¡994); Prehysteria 3 (¡995) Flintstones (¡994)

Prequels Presidents (U.S.)

A prequel is the opposite of a sequel, in that its narrative takes place The cinema has not treated all presidents equally, but then nei-
earlier than the original film. For example, German filmmaker ther has American history. Abraham Lincoln, according to Guin-
Paul Wegener destroyed the Golem, a stone statue brought to life, ness, has appeared as a character in over ¡50 films, far more than
in ¡9¡4’s The Golem: Monster of Fate. However, six years later, We- any other president. Actor Frank McGlynn specialized in por-
gener went back and told the story of the Golem’s origin in The traying Lincoln for most of his career, beginning with ¡9¡5’s The
Golem: How He Came to Be. The ¡926 Foreign Legion classic Beau Life of Abraham Lincoln and continuing in bit roles in films like
Geste inspired two partial prequels, as the plots of Beau Sabreur The Littlest Rebel (¡935), The Prisoner of Shark Island (¡936), and
(¡928) and Beau Ideal (¡93¡) took place in the same time frame The Plainsman (¡937). Most Lincoln biographies have been rev-
as — instead of prior to — the original film. However, the first Hol- erent sagas starring distinguished performers such as Walter Hus-
lywood prequel was ¡948’s Another Part of the Forest, which de- ton (¡930’s Abraham Lincoln), Henry Fonda (Young Abe Lincoln),
picted the early days of the ruthless Hubbard family first intro- and Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois). In ¡95¡, The Tall
duced in ¡94¡’s The Little Foxes. Dan Duryea (as Leo Hubbard) was Target o›ered a suspenseful change of pace, with Dick Powell as
the only holdover from the original film’s cast. Sporadic prequels a detective (named John Kennedy!) trying to thwart an ¡86¡ as-
(e.g., ¡966’s Nevada Smith) and “partial prequels” (e.g., ¡950’s The sassination attempt on Lincoln. In an even greater fictional elab-
Fortunes of Captain Blood) appeared throughout the ¡950s and oration, The Lincoln Conspiracy (¡977) proposed that assassin
¡960s. However, it was not until the sequel-crazy early ¡980s that John Wilkes Booth was conspiring with members of the U.S.
the prequel attracted much attention. Even then, however, pre- Senate. Ronald Reagan ranks second to Lincoln in number of film
quels typically performed poorly at the box-o‡ce, as evidenced appearances — but only because he really was an actor. More le-
by flops such as Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (¡979). A gitimate screen appearances have been logged by Andrew Jack-
noteworthy exception, of course, was Indiana Jones and the Tem- son and John F. Kennedy, both of whom have been the subjects
ple of Doom (¡984), a blockbuster prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark of several film biographies. Jackson’s exploits in the War of ¡8¡2
(¡98¡). The longest gap between prequel and original is the 30 years played a major role in both versions of The Buccaneer (¡938 and
that separated the ¡990 TV movie Psycho IV: The Beginning from ¡958). The scandal surrounding his alleged adulterous a›air with
Alfred Hitchcock’s ¡960 original. Anthony Perkins played Norman future-wife Rachel Robards formed the basis for The Gorgeous
Bates in both films and Joseph Stefano wrote the screenplays. Hussy (¡936) and The President’s Lady (¡953). Interestingly, Charl-
Sometimes, the distinction between prequel and original becomes ton Heston played Jackson in both The President’s Lady and The
a bit confusing. The Chuck Norris action picture Missing in Ac- Buccaneer (¡958). William Holden befriended Jackson’s ghost in
tion 2: The Beginning (¡985) was actually filmed before Missing in the unremarkable ¡942 fantasy The Remarkable Andrew.
Action (¡984). It became a prequel only when the producers de- Kennedy’s pre-presidential adventures as a patrol torpedo boat
cided to release the second film first. (Note: The ¡986 TV movie commander were played for escapist entertainment in ¡963’s PT
Dallas: The Early Years was similar to a prequel, in that it took place ¡09, with Cli› Robertson in the lead. The ¡977 TV movie Johnny,
chronologically prior to the television series Dallas. And the ¡992 We Hardly Knew Ye dealt with Kennedy’s first try for public o‡ce,
theatrical feature Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was a prequel to while ¡984’s Prince Jack was an inconsequential chronicle about
the ¡990-9¡ TV series Twin Peaks.) In the following list, the pre- the Kennedy clan. Other Kennedy-related pictures include the
quel is listed first, followed by the original film. documentary John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums
160 PRESLEY, ELVIS

(¡966), the assassination thriller Executive Action (¡973), Jacque- (¡99¡ TVM) (Lincoln); JFK (¡99¡); Running Mates (¡992 TVM);
line Bouvier Kennedy (¡982), Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Dave (¡993); Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (¡993 TVM);
Civil War (¡987), and Oliver Stone’s conspiracy drama JFK (¡99¡). In the Line of Fire (¡993); The War Room (¡993) (Clinton); Clear
and Present Danger (¡994); Forrest Gump (¡994) ( JFK, LBJ, Nixon);
In ¡99¡’s Point Break, bankrobbers calling themselves the Presi-
The Pelican Brief (¡994); Guarding Tess (¡994); The American Presi-
dent Gang wore rubber masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and dent (¡995); Truman (¡995 TVM); Je›erson in Paris (¡995); Nixon
Johnson. Fictional presidents have been portrayed in many films, (¡995); My Fellow Americans (¡996); Independence Day (¡996); Mars
several of which have cast our nation’s leader into intriguing sit- Attacks! (¡996); First Kid (¡996); Elvis Meets Nixon (¡997 TVM);
uations. President Henry Fonda ordered the destruction of New Absolute Power (¡997); Shadow Conspiracy (¡997); Rough Riders
York City in order to avoid a war with the Soviet Union in ¡964’s (¡997 TVM) (Theodore Roosevelt); Murder at ¡600 (¡997); Air
Fail Safe. That same year, military o‡cer Burt Lancaster plotted Force One (¡997); Amistad (¡997) ( John Quincy Adams); Wag the
Dog (¡997); Deep Impact (¡998); The Day Lincoln Was Shot (¡998
a coup to overthrow President Fredric March in Seven Days in
TVM); Primary Colors (¡998) (Clinton, indirectly); Dick (¡999)
May. In ¡97¡ TV movies, a top presidential advisor disappeared (Nixon); First Daughter (¡999 TVM); Deterrence (¡999); Sally Hem-
in Vanished, which more or less prepared viewers for The Presi- ings: An American Scandal (2000 TVM) ( Je›erson)
dent’s Plane Is Missing. The President has also been kidnapped by
lethal ladies (In Like Flint), terrorists (The Kidnapping of the Pres- Presley, Elvis
ident), and futuristic New York City convicts (Escape from New
It used to be that the cinema endured a waiting period before
York). If those films portrayed the president as a helpless victim,
spinning o› biographical films about deceased personalities. The
then Independence Day and Air Force One proved that the presi-
FDR biography Sunrise at Campobello (¡960) did not appear until
dents could also be a man of action. Polly Bergen played the
fifteen years after the former president’s death. Evidently, the film
country’s first female commander-in-chief in the ¡964 comedy
industry deemed Elvis Presley’s life more marketable. Less than
Kisses for My President. James Earl Jones portrayed a black sena-
two years after Presley’s death, ABC ushered in Elvis, the made-
tor thrust into the Oval O‡ce when the president is killed in The
for-TV story of his life. Over the next ten years, five additional
Man (¡972). The following list includes only films specifically
Presley-related films appeared amid rumors that the “King” still
about presidents or featuring them in prominent roles (for in-
lived. None of these films surpassed ABC’s Elvis, a solid picture
stance, although George Washington has been a minor character
directed by talented horror specialist John Carpenter and starring
in over a dozen movies, those films are not listed). The president’s
an e›ective Kurt Russell in the title role. North Carolina film-
name is shown in parentheses if it is not apparent from the title;
maker Earl Owensby’s Living Legend (¡980) made no claims about
some are about fictitious presidents.
being based on Elvis’ life. But the plot similarities and the pres-
Abraham Lincoln (¡930); The Phantom President (¡932); ence of Elvis’ last girlfriend, Ginger Alden, left little doubt as to
Gabriel Over the White House (¡933); The Gorgeous Hussy (¡936)
( Jackson); First Lady (¡937); This Is My A›air (aka His A›air)
the picture’s intent. The same year’s Touched by Love was a fact-
(¡937) (McKinley); The Buccaneer (¡938) ( Jackson); Joe and Ethel based story about the pen-pal relationship between a young girl
Turp Call on the President (¡939); Young Mr. Lincoln (¡939); Abe with cerebral palsy and Presley. The made-for-cable “mocku-
Lincoln in Illinois (¡940); Tennessee Johnson (aka The Man on Amer- mentary” Elvis Meets Nixon (¡997) was based on an actual ¡970
ica’s Conscience) (¡942) (Andrew Johnson); The Remarkable Andrew Presley visit to the White House. Don Johnson made an unlikely
(¡942) ( Jackson); Wilson (¡944); Magnificent Doll (¡946) (Madison); Elvis in the ¡98¡ TV movie Elvis and the Beauty Queen, the story
The Tall Target (¡95¡) (Lincoln); The President’s Lady (¡953) ( Jack- of Presley’s five-year relationship with Linda Thompson
son); Suddenly (¡954); The Buccaneer (¡958) ( Jackson); Sunrise at
Campobello (¡960) (Franklin Roosevelt); Advise and Consent (¡962);
(Stephanie Zimbalist). Elvis’ only wife, Priscilla Presley, executive-
PT ¡09 (¡963) (Kennedy); The Best Man (¡964); Kisses for My Presi- produced ¡988’s Elvis and Me, the TV version of her best-seller.
dent (¡964); Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and David Keith was Elvis in ¡989’s box-o‡ce bomb Heartbreak
Love the Bomb (¡964); Seven Days in May (¡964); Fail Safe (¡964); Hotel, a light-hearted, fictionalized account of Presley’s friendship
The Eleanor Roosevelt Story (¡965); John F. Kennedy: Years of Light- with a teenaged boy. Presley also played himself in his final two
ning, Day of Drums (¡966); In Like Flint (¡967); The President’s An- screen appearances: the behind-the-scenes documentary Elvis:
alyst (¡967); The Virgin President (¡968) (Fillmore spoof ); The Great That’s the Way It Is (¡970) and the concert film Elvis on Tour
Man’s Whiskers (¡97¡) (Lincoln); Vanished (¡97¡ TVM); The Presi-
dent’s Plane Is Missing (¡97¡ TVM); The Man (¡972); Hail to the
(¡972). Elvis was glimpsed briefly in Great Balls of Fire (¡989) and
Chief (aka Hail; Washington, B.C.) (¡973); Executive Action (¡973) Forrest Gump (¡994). Finally, Honeymoon in Vegas (¡992) featured
(Kennedy); Collision Course (¡975 TVM) (Truman); Give ’Em Hell, a troupe of flashily-dressed skydivers called the Flying Elvises.
Harry! (¡975) (Truman); The Wind and the Lion (¡975) (Theodore See also Pop, Rock, and Country Singer Biographies.
Roosevelt); Eleanor and Franklin (¡976 TVM) (Franklin Roosevelt); Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (¡970); Elvis on Tour (¡972); Elvis
The Lincoln Conspiracy (¡977); Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (¡977 (¡979 TVM); Living Legend (¡980); Touched by Love (aka To Elvis,
TVM) (Kennedy); F.D.R.— The Last Year (¡980 TVM); First Family with Love) (¡980); Elvis and the Beauty Queen (¡98¡ TVM); Elvis
(¡980); The Kidnapping of the President (¡980); Escape from New and Me (¡988 TVM); Heartbreak Hotel (¡989); Great Balls of Fire
York (¡98¡); Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (¡982 TVM); World War III (¡989); Honeymoon in Vegas (¡992); Elvis and the Colonel: The Un-
(¡982 TVM); Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the World (¡982 told Story (¡993 TVM); The Woman Who Loved Elvis (¡993 TVM);
TVM); The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt (¡983); Prince Jack (¡984) Forrest Gump (¡994); Elvis Meets Nixon (¡997 TVM)
(Kennedy); Secret Honor: The Last Testament of Richard M. Nixon
(¡984 TVM); The Betty Ford Story (¡987 TVM); Assassination
(¡987); Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (¡987 TVM);
Prisoners of War
LBJ: The Early Years (¡987 TVM); Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (¡988 POW films fall into three basic camps: German, Japanese, and
TVM); The Final Days (¡989 TVM) (Nixon); The Perfect Tribute Vietnamese. Each of these groups features an Oscar winner of
 PRISONS 161

some sort. William Holden won a Best Actor Oscar for his por- TVM); Opposing Force (aka Hellcamp) (¡986); P.O.W. The Escape
trayal of a cynical prisoner wrongly tagged an informer in Billy (aka Behind Enemy Lines) (¡986); Empire of the Sun (¡987); The
Wilder’s Stalag ¡7 (¡953). Although not among the first POW Hanoi Hilton (¡987); The Last P.O.W.?: The Bobby Garwood Story
(¡993 TVM); A Hero’s Life (aka La Vie d’un Heros) (¡994); The As-
films, Wilder’s movie combined humor, suspense, and an assort-
cent (¡994); Paradise Road (¡997)
ment of motley characters to create a much-imitated formula. The
Password Is Courage, one of several mid–¡960s POW pictures, was
based on the real-life exploits of Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, Prisons
who made a military career out of escaping from German camps. The most engrossing accounts of life behind bars are those based
Von Ryan’s Express (¡965) opened in a POW camp, but expanded on real-life exploits. Robert Stroud, a prisoner who became a
into a perilous train journey through Nazi-occupied territory. Al- leading ornithologist, was portrayed in Oscar-nominated fashion
lied prisoners escaped during a climactic soccer game with a Nazi by Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (¡962) and by Art Car-
team in Victory (¡98¡), while less athletic prisoners built a glider ney in Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (¡980). The appeals to
in the ¡97¡ TV movie Birdmen. The Great Escape (¡963) made a prevent the execution of Caryl Chessman, a rapist/murderer
star of Steve McQueen, while rolling up enough ticket receipts to known as the “Lover’s Lane Bandit,” were the subject of ¡955’s
make it the most profitable POW film of the last four decades. It Cell 2455, Death Row and ¡977’s Kill Me If You Can. Papillon
was co-written by James (Shogun) Clavell, whose novel King Rat chronicled Henri Charrière’s thrilling escape from Devil’s Island.
reached the screen in ¡965. Set in a Japanese POW camp, it chron- Escape from Alcatraz (¡979) was inspired by a daring ¡962 break-
icled the rise and fall of a manipulating con artist (George Segal). out engineered by convict Frank Norris (Clint Eastwood). As one
However, the best-remembered Japanese-set POW film remains might expect, Alcatraz rates as the cinema’s busiest real-life prison.
David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (¡957). It earned Os- Other actual penitentiaries which have provided movie settings
cars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, the latter hon- include Sing Sing (20,000 Years in Sing Sing, Castle on the Hud-
oring Alec Guinness’s portrayal of a stubborn, manipulated British son), San Quentin (Du›y of San Quentin, Women of San Quentin),
o‡cer. Other Japanese prison camp films include The Purple Heart and Folsom (Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison). Foreign prisons
(¡944), Escape to Mindinao (¡968), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence have proven to be harrowing places, especially as depicted in Mid-
(¡983), and Empire of the Sun (¡987). The Deer Hunter, the ¡978 night Express (¡978), Kiss of the Spider Woman (¡985), Jacobo
Oscar winner for Best Picture, was partially set in a Vietnamese Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number
POW camp where prisoners were subjected to a chilling game of (¡983), and Dadah Is Death (¡988). Not all movie prisons have
Russian roulette. When Hell Was in Session (¡979) was a grim ac- been surrounded by four walls. Futuristic New York City was en-
count of a Navy o‡cer held prisoner for seven years in North visioned as a prison in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York
Vietnam. However, Missing in Action 2 (¡985), P.O.W. The Escape (¡98¡). A similar premise was explored earlier in ¡973’s Terminal
(¡986), and The Hanoi Hilton (¡987) used Vietnamese prison Island, which was set in a futuristic coed penal colony o› the
camps strictly for their topical exploitation value. A handful of coast of California. The prison in the ¡993 Australian film Fortress
films have dealt with female POW camps, most notably Two Thou- was built 30 stories underground. An entire planet was used as a
sand Women (¡944), Three Came Home (¡950), A Town Like Alice prison in ¡985’s Space Rage. Caged (¡950) set the standard for
(¡956), Women of Valor (¡986), and Paradise Road (¡997). Although women prison pictures, although its most disturbing scene (a
most movie POWs seem to be American or British, there have been prisoner gets her head shaved) seems tame by today’s standards.
exceptions. Jean Renoir’s anti-war classic Grand Illusion (¡937) fo- Since Jonathan Demme’s drive-in feature Caged Heat earned crit-
cused on French prisoners during World War I. Until Hell Is Frozen ical kudos in ¡974, exploitative “women in prison” films have
(¡960) was set in a Russian camp and The McKenzie Break (¡970) proliferated. Linda Blair was lusted after by both fellow female
had captured Germans escaping from a Scottish POW camp! Tele- inmates and male guards in Chained Heat (¡983) after being sex-
vision introduced the infamous POW camp sitcom Hogan’s He- ually assaulted with a broom handle in the ¡974 made-for-TV
roes in ¡965. It enjoyed a six-year network run and a profitable film Born Innocent. Other women prison movies include The
after-life in syndication. See also Prisons. Weak and the Wicked (¡953), School for Unclaimed Girls (¡969),
Everything Is Thunder (¡936); Grand Illusion (aka La Grande The Concrete Jungle (¡982) and Reform School Girls (¡986). Al-
Illusion) (¡937); The Cross of Lorraine (¡943); Two Thousand though most inmates have concentrated solely on escaping from
Women (¡944); The Purple Heart (¡944); The Captive Heart (¡946); prison, Peter Sellers was concerned with how to break out and
Act of Violence (¡949); The Wooden Soldier (¡950); Three Came then back into one in the ¡960 comedy Two Way Stretch. Convict
Home (¡950); Stalag ¡7 (¡953); Break to Freedom (aka Albert RN) Noël Coward led a luxurious prison life — and even masterminded
(¡953); The Bamboo Prison (¡954); Prisoner of War (¡954); A Town
elaborate crimes — in ¡969’s The Italian Job. See also Peniten-
Like Alice (aka Rape of Malaya) (¡956); The Bridge on the River
Kwai (¡957); The Colditz Story (¡957); The Camp on Blood Island tiary Series; Prisoners of War.
(¡958); Breakout (aka Danger Within) (¡958); Until Hell Is Frozen The Big House (¡930); Ladies of the Big House (¡93¡); The
(¡960); A Coming-Out Party (aka A Very Important Person) (¡96¡); Criminal Code (¡93¡); The Last Mile (¡932); Hold ’Em Jail (¡932);
The Manchurian Candidate (¡962); The Great Escape (¡963); The 20,000 Years in Sing-Sing (¡933); Ladies They Talk About (¡933);
Password Is Courage (¡963); Von Ryan’s Express (¡965); King Rat San Quentin (¡937); Alcatraz Island (¡937); King of Alcatraz (¡938);
(¡965); Escape to Mindinao (¡968); The McKenzie Break (¡970); Blackwell’s Island (¡939); The Big Guy (¡939); Castle on the Hudson
Birdmen (aka Escape of the Birdmen) (¡97¡ TVM); The Deer Hunter (aka Years Without Days) (¡940); San Quentin (¡946); Brute Force
(¡978); Escape to Athena (¡979); When Hell Was in Session (¡979 (¡947); Prison Warden (¡949); White Heat (¡949); Caged (¡950); In-
TVM); Victory (¡98¡); Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (¡983); Miss- side the Walls of Folsom Prison (¡95¡); Hellgate (¡952); The Weak
ing in Action 2: The Beginning (¡985); Women of Valor (¡986 and the Wicked (¡953); Riot in Cell Block Eleven (¡954); The Steel
162 PROBLEM CHILD SERIES

Cage (¡954); Du›y of San Quentin (¡954); Betrayed Women (¡955); The film grossed only half as much as its predecessor — which
Cell 2455, Death Row (¡955); Women’s Prison (¡955); Gang Busters undoubtedly was one of the reasons Problem Child 3 skipped the-
(¡955); Hold Back Tomorrow (¡955); Unchained (¡955); Behind the atrical release to premiere on television. William Katt replaced
High Wall (¡956); Girls in Prison (¡956); Jailhouse Rock (¡957); Es-
John Ritter, with Justin Chapman taking over as Junior. An an-
cape from San Quentin (¡957); The Last Mile (¡958); Two Way
Stretch (¡960); Birdman of Alcatraz (¡962); The Concrete Jungle (aka imated TV series also appeared in ¡993. Gilbert Gottfried, who
The Criminal) (¡962); Convicts Four (aka Reprieve) (¡962); House of played adoption agent Mr. Peabody in the first two films, pro-
Women (¡962); The Hill (¡965); Cool Hand Luke (¡967); 99 Women vided the voice for his character.
(¡969); School for Unclaimed Girls (aka The Smashing Birds I Used Problem Child (¡990); Problem Child 2 (¡99¡); Problem Child 3
to Know; House of Unclaimed Women) (¡969); Riot (¡969); Breakout (aka Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (¡993 TVM)
(¡970); There Was a Crooked Man (¡970); The Glass House (aka
Truman Capote’s The Glass House) (¡972 TVM); The Hot Box
(¡972); Sweet Sugar (aka Chaingang Girls) (¡972); Papillon (¡973); Project: Shadowchaser see Shadowchaser
Terminal Island (¡973); Caged Heat (aka Renegade Girls) (¡974);
Breakout (¡975); Short Eyes (aka Slammer) (¡977); Kill Me If You Series
Can (¡977 TVM); Midnight Express (¡978); Escape from Alcatraz
(¡979); Penitentiary (¡979); Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story
(¡980 TVM); Attica (¡980 TVM); Brubaker (¡980); Stir Crazy
Prom Night Series
(¡980); Inmates: A Love Story (¡98¡ TVM); Escape from New York The original entry in this slasher film series toplined the scream
(¡98¡); The Concrete Jungle (¡982); Love Child (¡982); Dangerous queen of the early ¡980s: Jamie Lee Curtis. Like many slasher
Company (¡982 TVM); Bad Boys (¡983); Women of San Quentin films, it featured a killer seeking revenge for an earlier crime (in
(¡983 TVM); Chained Heat (¡983); Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner this case, the death of Jamie Lee’s little sister). Despite above-av-
Without a Name, Cell Without a Number (aka Prisoner Without a
erage acting for this genre, Prom Night hardly warranted a sequel.
Name, Cell Without a Number) (¡983 TVM); Beyond the Walls
(¡984); Mrs. So›el (¡984); Kiss of the Spider Woman (¡985); Space However, the popularity of horror videotapes toward the end of
Rage (¡985); Doin’ Time (¡985); Star Slammer: The Escape (aka the decade sent low-budget producers clamoring for recognizable
Prison Ship) (¡986); Vendetta (¡986); The Naked Cage (¡986); Re- titles. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (¡987) lifted its plot shame-
form School Girls (¡986); Prison for Children (¡987 TVM); Prison on lessly from Stephen King’s Carrie. At her ¡957 high school prom,
Fire (aka Gaam Yuk Fung Wan) (¡987); Weeds (¡987); Prison (¡988); senior class party girl Mary Lou gets mysteriously elected prom
Dadah Is Death (¡988 TVM); Lock Up (¡989); Caged Fury (¡989); queen. Alas, a good time does not await her — she winds up burn-
Prison Stories: Women on the Inside (¡990 TVM); Ernest Goes to Jail
ing in flames on the dance floor. Thirty years later, her vengeful
(¡990); Death Warrant (¡990); Club Fed (¡990); Prison on Fire II
(aka Tao Fan) (¡99¡); Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight (¡992); Alien3 spirit returns and the student body of Hamilton High quickly be-
(¡992); American Me (¡992); Fortress (¡993); Last Light (¡993 comes less populous. A second sequel covers similar ground with
TVM); New Crime City: Los Angeles 2020 (¡994); Against Their Mary Lou popping up again to possess another teen. The fourth
Will: Women in Prison (¡994 TVM); Everynight…Everynight installment dropped Mary Lou in favor of a vengeful male spirit,
(¡994); Girls in Prison (¡994 TVM); Reform School Girl (¡994 making it a series entry in name only. See also Slasher Movies.
TVM); The Shawshank Redemption (¡994); Against the Wall (¡994
Prom Night (¡980); Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (¡987);
TVM); No Escape (¡994); Captives (¡994); Convict Cowboy (¡995);
Prom Night: The Last Kiss (¡989); Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from
Dead Man Walking (¡995); The Rock (¡996); Last Dance (¡996);
Evil (¡99¡)
Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars (¡996); Killer: A Journal of
Murder (¡996); Prison of Secrets (¡997 TVM); Slam (¡998); Life
(¡999); The Green Mile (¡999) Psychiatrists
Sympathetic, homicidal, crazy — psychiatrists and the occasional
Problem Child Series psychologist have run the gamut of screen characters. Michael
Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were bound Caine played a murderous shrink in desperate need of psychiatric
to encounter some career bumps along the road from Beyond Our help himself in Dressed to Kill. Surprisingly, women psychiatrists
Control, a youth television show co-written by Larry, to the duo’s have proven even more adept at murder. Psychology professor
critically acclaimed films Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt Loretta Young accidentally killed a student and then covered up
(¡996). The irony is that one of those bumps — the sophomoric her crime in ¡949’s The Accused. Manipulated psychiatrist Lind-
comedy Problem Child— made lots of money and inspired two se- say Crouse went over the edge in the final scene of House of Games
quels and an animated TV series. The premise, a comic twist on (¡987) and unexpectedly shot Joe Mantegna. In Hitchcock’s Spell-
The Bad Seed, shows promise at the outset. But midway through bound, Gregory Peck played an amnesiac who thought he was a
Problem Child, it becomes apparent that seven-year-old orphan prominent psychiatrist. Dan Aykroyd was a patient masquerad-
Junior isn’t an incarnation of juvenile evil, but rather an extremely ing as a radio talk show psychiatrist in The Couch Trip. The
bratty child that needs to be loved. His fate then becomes obvi- world’s most famous psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, had his life
ous and the movie becomes nothing more than a collection of Ju- chronicled in ¡962’s Freud (with Montgomery Clift in the lead
nior’s tasteless pranks (e.g., he puts firecrackers on a birthday role). Alan Arkin played Freud to Nicol Williamson’s Sherlock
cake). Michael Oliver starred as Junior, with John Ritter and Amy Holmes in the stylish ¡976 adaptation of Nicholas Meyers’ The
Yasbeck as his new parents. All three returned for the ¡99¡ sequel, Seven-Per-Cent Solution. And Alec Guinness took his turn as
although Yasbeck played a di›erent character. The new wrinkle Freud, having imaginary conversations with contemporary psy-
in Problem Child 2, also written by Alexander and Karaszewski, chiatrist Dudley Moore in Lovesick. Fred Astaire made a most un-
is that Junior must cope with a little girl as devilish as himself. likely psychiatrist in the Astaire-Rogers musical Carefree. Brian
 PUPPET MASTER SERIES 163

Cox and Anthony Hopkins each played the cinema’s creepiest (¡969), Hitchcock resisted a Psycho sequel. Yet, just three years
psychologist, the cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter, in the movies after Hitchcock’s death, the inevitable Psycho II was released. In
Manhunter (¡986) and The Silence of the Lambs (¡99¡). James an attempt to out-twist its predecessor, this sequel revealed that,
Coburn and Billy Crystal portrayed shrinks stuck with clients despite dual personalities, alleged murderer Norman Bates
they didn’t want — Coburn was The President’s Analyst, while (Perkins) was not as mad as most people thought. Perkins di-
Crystal had gangster Robert De Niro for a patient (a premise also rected and starred in the ¡986 follow-up Psycho III, which proved
explored in the made-for-cable TV series The Sopranos). Robin to be an uneasy mixture of dark humor and studio-inserted gore.
Williams won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing a sen- The ¡987 TV movie Bates Motel strove for a lighter touch, but
sitive psychiatrist in Good Will Hunting (¡997). John Vernon had failed to find one. It starred Bud Cort (Harold in Harold and
the best line as a psychiatrist in ¡982’s Airplane II: The Sequel. Maude) as a former mental patient who inherited the motel from
When a lawyer asked him to give his impression of the defendant, fellow ex-inmate Norman Bates. A second TV Movie, ¡990’s Psy-
he replied: “I’m sorry, I don’t do impressions. My expertise is in cho IV: The Beginning, starred former E.T. youngster Henry
psychiatry.” See also Asylums; Hypnotists; Multiple Personal- Thomas as a young Norman. In ¡998, director Gus Van Zant fol-
ities. lowed up his acclaimed hit Good Will Hunting with an unex-
Carefree (¡938); The Cat People (¡942); Lady in a Jam (¡942); pected remake of the original Psycho. Van Zant virtually recreated
Spellbound (¡945); She Wouldn’t Say Yes (¡945); Shock (¡946); The the original film scene by scene with the addition of color and,
Dark Past (¡948); The Accused (¡949); The Astonished Heart (¡950); of course, a di›erent cast (headed by Vince Vaughn as Norman).
Tony Draws a Horse (¡950); Bedtime for Bonzo (¡95¡); Teresa (¡95¡); It found little favor with critics (who wondered what the point
Sleeping Tiger (¡954); The Cobweb (¡955); The Three Faces of Eve of such a faithful remake was) and flopped miserably at the box-
(¡957); The Undead (¡957); Oh Men! Oh Women! (¡957); Psycho
(¡960); Stop Me Before I Kill! (aka The Full Treatment) (¡96¡); Mix o‡ce amid an onslaught of holiday releases. See also Hotels.
Me a Person (¡96¡); The Couch (¡962); Pressure Point (¡962); Freud Psycho (¡960); Psycho II (¡983); Psycho III (¡986); Bates Motel
(¡962); David and Lisa (¡962); Tender Is the Night (¡962); Captain (¡987 TVM); Psycho IV: The Beginning (¡990 TVM); Psycho (¡998)
Newman, M.D. (¡963); Sex and the Single Girl (¡964); Blindfold
(¡965); Three on a Couch (¡966); The President’s Analyst (¡967); The Puppet Master Series
Impossible Years (¡968); Coming Apart (¡969); Dial Hot Line (¡969 Following on the heels of ¡987’s Dolls, ¡989’s Puppet Master (¡989)
TVM); The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children (aka Children of the tried to generate terror by transforming harmless toys into mur-
Lotus Eater) (¡970 TVM); They Might Be Giants (¡97¡); Klute
(¡97¡); Dark Places (¡972); Diagnosis: Murder (¡975); One Flew Over derous little monsters. The film’s prologue opens in ¡939 at the
the Cuckoo’s Nest (¡975); The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (¡976); Sybil Bodega Bay Inn (an apparent reference to Hitchcock’s The Birds).
(¡976 TVM); Face to Face (¡976); Equus (¡977); High Anxiety Elderly puppeteer Andre Toulon (William Hickey) has discovered
(¡977); Dressed to Kill (¡980); Simon (¡980); Ordinary People (¡980); an ancient secret for breathing life into inanimate objects. How-
Phobia (¡980); Still of the Night (¡982); Zelig (¡983); Lovesick (¡983); ever, fearing that his discovery will be exploited for evil, Toulon
Private Sessions (¡985 TVM); Manhunter (¡986); Beyond Therapy hides his work and commits suicide. Fifty years later, four psy-
(¡987); A Di›erent A›air (¡987 TVM); House of Games (¡987); The chics journey to the now-isolated hotel to investigate the death of
Couch Trip (¡988); Jack’s Back (¡988); The Dream Team (¡989); The
Last Best Year (¡990 TVM); Disturbed (¡99¡); The Silence of the a colleague who had been obsessed with Toulon. Shortly thereafter,
Lambs (¡99¡); Victim of Love (¡99¡ TVM); What About Bob? (¡99¡); a quartet of homicidal puppets — with colorful names like Pin-
Red Wind (¡99¡ TVM); Love Kills (¡99¡ TVM); The Prince of Tides head, Tunneler, and Ms. Leech — begin bumping o› the psychics
(¡99¡); Final Analysis (¡992); Whispers in the Dark (¡992); Raising in gruesome fashion. Despite its predictability and overemphasis
Cain (¡992); Loving Lulu (¡992); Relentless: Mind of a Killer (¡993 on gore, horror aficionados made Puppet Master a popular video-
TVM); House of Cards (¡993); Mr. Jones (¡993); Betrayal of Trust tape rental. A ¡990 sequel rehashed most of the original’s elements,
(¡994); Web of Deception (¡994 TVM); Blindfold: Acts of Obsession although it was enlivened by a mysterious stranger wrapped in
(¡994 TVM); Silent Fall (¡994); Color of Night (¡994); Batman For-
ever (¡995); Never Talk to Strangers (¡995); A Holiday to Remember gauze and sporting sunglasses à la Claude Rains in The Invisible
(¡995 TVM); Don Juan DeMarco (¡995); Good Will Hunting (¡997); Man. The series then took an unexpected turn by producing a
The Ugly (¡997); Analyze This (¡999); The Sixth Sense (¡999); The cleverly-plotted prequel (q.v.). Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge
Cell (2000) (¡99¡) essentially turns the killer-puppets into heroes by pitting
them against the ruthless Nazis responsible for the murder of
Psycho Series Andre Toulon’s wife. As with the earlier films, the special e›ects
In François Tru›aut’s ¡967 interview book Hitchcock, Hitch are somewhat interesting. However, the puppets never really gen-
o›ered this explanation for making Psycho: “I think that the thing erate terror — they can be outmaneuvered and kicked out of the
that appealed to me and made me decide to do the picture was way too easily. The next two series entries, shot back to back, re-
the suddenness of the murder in the shower, coming, as it were, turn to present day and continue to portray the puppets as good
out of the blue. That was about all.” Shot on a backlot with guys. In both films, Pinhead and his cohorts assist young inven-
Hitchcock’s TV series crew, Psycho was a clever shocker about tor Rick Myers (Gordon Currie) in a battle against the demon
meek hotel owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who peri- lord Sutek, who has sent the Totems (doll-sized evil creatures) to
odically assumed his dead mother’s identity and became a jeal- retrieve the reanimating elixir stolen by Toulon. Although Puppet
ous murderess. This inexpensive picture made its famed director Master 5 was subitled The Final Chapter, the series resumed in
a wealthy man and eventually became Hitch’s best-known film to ¡998 with Curse of the Puppet Master, which pitted the puppets
a generation of baby boomers. Yet, even when his film career against Dr. Magrew, a mad scientist intent on creating a race of
began to decline after failures like Torn Curtain (¡966) and Topaz “puppet people.” The ¡994 movie Robert Heinlein’s The Puppet
164 PUPPETS

Masters is not part of this series, but is an adaptation of Hein- Alvin Purple (¡973); Alvin Rides Again (¡974); Melvin, Son of
lein’s ¡95¡ novel about alien parasites. See also Puppets. Alvin (¡984)
Puppet Master (¡989); Puppet Master II (¡990); Puppet Master
III: Toulon’s Revenge (¡99¡); Puppet Master 4 (¡993); Puppet Master Quatermass, Professor Bernard
5: The Final Chapter (¡994); Curse of the Puppet Master (aka Curse The intrepid, brilliant, sometimes eccentric scientist Bernard
of the Puppet Master: The Human Experiment; Puppet Master 6) Quatermass made his initial appearance on TV in Nigel Kneale’s
(¡998); Retro Puppet Master (¡999)
¡954 three-hour BBC serial The Quatermass Experiment. The pro-
gram, about an astronaut who returns to Earth and evolves into
Puppets a “vegetable monster,” was phenomenally successful. A big-screen
Puppetry, as the sole means of telling a story, has garnered little version was naturally in order and it came in ¡955, courtesy of a
interest in the cinema. Except for Jiri Trnka’s A Midsummer Night’s struggling studio called Hammer Films. Hammer promptly re-
Dream (¡958), most all-puppet features have been aimed strictly placed Reginald Tate, TV’s Quatermass, with American Brian
at juveniles. Early e›orts, such as Willy McBean and His Magic Donlevy — the biggest star it could a›ord — and dubbed the film
Machine (¡965) and Mad Monster Party? (¡967), were viewed as The Creeping Unknown for its American showings. Despite Don-
low-cost alternatives to animation. The James Bond–style ¡966 levy’s lackluster performance, the movie was a hit and a sequel,
British TV puppet series Thunderbirds attracted a more sophis- Enemy from Space (aka Quatermass II), was released in ¡957. It was
ticated audience. It inspired two theatrical features, Thunderbirds also based on a Kneale TV serial and Donlevy again ousted the
Are Go (¡966) and Thunderbird 6 (¡968). American puppeteer Jim small-screen lead ( John Robinson). A ten-year hiatus followed,
Henson hit box-o‡ce gold in the early ¡980s with movies using then Hammer revived the series in grand fashion with ¡967’s Five
characters from his television series The Muppet Show (q.v.). How- Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit). A unique
ever, his elaborate ¡983 non–Muppet, puppet fantasy The Dark blend of science fiction and gothic horror, it boasted a fine lead
Crystal ba·ed Miss Piggy fans and was only modestly successful. performance by Scottish actor Andrew Keir and an ingenious
Charming puppet sequences have graced a handful of films, most premise (“As far as anybody is,” concludes Quatermass emphat-
notably the Cary Grant–Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy ically, “we’re the Martians.”). Quatermass’s next and final ap-
Holiday (¡938) and the family musicals The Sound of Music (¡965) pearance was in the ¡979 serial Quatermass. Distinguished actor
and Lili (¡953). In the latter film, Leslie Caron sang “Hi Lili, Hi John Mills took his turn as the heroic scientist, whose demise at
Lo” with a quartet of puppets and later danced a semi-ballet with the end of the film signalled an end to the series. This 200-minute
life-size puppet replicas. In the ¡93¡ Marx Brothers comedy Mon- TV miniseries was trimmed to ¡07 minutes and given a limited
key Business, Harpo pretended to be a puppet. A good fairy trans- theatrical release as The Quatermass Conclusion.
formed a puppet-boy into a real boy in Disney’s classic Pinocchio The Creeping Unknown (aka The Quatermass Experiment; The
(¡940). The TV movie Special People (¡984) told the true-life Quatermass Xperiment) (¡956); Enemy from Space (aka Quatermass
story of a puppet troupe composed of mentally handicapped II) (¡957); Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit)
young people. Master mime Marcel Marceau played a puppeteer (¡967); The Quatermass Conclusion (aka Quatermass) (¡979)
who could revive the dead in the disturbing ¡974 fantasy Shanks.
Murderous puppeteers have appeared in The Falcon Strikes Back Queen, Ellery
(¡943) and Bluebeard (¡944). A crazy scientist reduced humans to A unique literary creation, Ellery Queen is famous as both a
puppet size in schlockmeister Bert I. Gordon’s Attack of the Pup- fictional detective and a best-selling “author” (as a pseudonym for
pet People (¡958). See also Dolls; The Muppets; Puppet Master cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee). His film career,
Series. however, has been an unequivocal disaster. Donald Cook made
Monkey Business (¡93¡); Holiday (¡938); Pinocchio (¡940); The an uninspired Queen in ¡935’s The Spanish Cape Mystery. A year
Falcon Strikes Back (¡943); Bluebeard (¡944); The Forbidden Street later, he was followed by comedian Eddie Quillan in The Man-
(aka Britannia Mews) (¡948); Lili (¡953); tom thumb (¡958); A darin Mystery. Columbia launched an o‡cial series in ¡940 by
Midsummer Night’s Dream (¡958); The Sound of Music (¡965); casting Ralph Bellamy as Ellery Queen, Master Detective. Charley
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (¡965); Thunderbirds Are Go
(¡966); Mad Monster Party? (¡967); Thunderbird 6 (¡968); Shanks Grapewin played Ellery’s police inspector father, Richard Queen.
(¡974); Side Show (¡98¡ TVM); The Dark Crystal (¡983); Special These movies relied heavily on comic relief, and Bellamy’s clumsy
People (¡984 TVM); Puppet Master (¡989); The Adventures of Pinoc- detective resembled the literary Queen in name only. After four
chio (¡996); Pinocchio’s Revenge (¡996); Still Breathing (¡998); A mysteries, sturdy William Gargan replaced Bellamy for three ad-
Rat’s Tale (¡998); Being John Malkovich (¡999); Geppetto (2000 ditional films. In the ¡950s, four actors played Queen on televi-
TVM) sion. Richard Hart was Ellery in ¡950’s The Adventures of Ellery
Queen. He died in ¡95¡ and was replaced by Lee Bowman until
Purple, Alvin the series was cancelled in ¡952. In ¡954, Hugh Marlowe starred
Australian playwright Alan Hopgood created Alvin Purple, a in a syndicated TV series also titled The Adventures of Ellery Queen
homely chap with inexplicable sex appeal — women simply can- (aka Mystery Is My Business). George Nader popped up as Queen
not stay away from him. Graeme Blundell played Alvin in two in a ¡958-59 series called The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
popular ¡970s feature film comedies and a ¡976 TV series. He also (aka Ellery Queen). Peter Lawford made the screen’s worst Queen
reprised the role for Melvin, Son of Alvin (¡984), which starred in the ¡97¡ TV movie Ellery Queen: Don’t Look Behind You, while
Gerry Sont as Alvin’s ¡8-year-old son, who — like his dad — is a Jim Hutton and David Wayne played Ellery and Inspector
“babe magnet.” Queen, respectively, in another made-for-TV mystery, ¡975’s
 RAMBO 165

Ellery Queen (aka Too Many Suspects). Hutton’s film evolved into murders in the Abbott and Costello comedy Who Done It? (¡942)
a fairly entertaining weekly series that lasted a year. Queen’s story and the Claude Rains vehicle The Unsuspected (¡947). Few films
“Ten Days Wonder” (which did not feature Queen as the detec- have been principally about radio stations. Paul Newman played
tive) was made into a ¡972 film starring Orson Welles and An- a drifter-turned-DJ who gains fame broadcasting on the right-
thony Perkins. wing radio station WUSA (¡970). A rock station’s management
The Spanish Cape Mystery (¡935) (Donald Cook); The Man- rebelled against its uptight parent company in the ¡978 satire FM,
darin Mystery (¡936) (Eddie Quillan); Ellery Queen, Master Detec- which laid the groundwork for the broader ¡978–82 TV sitcom
tive (¡940) (Ralph Bellamy); Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring WKRP in Cincinnati. Disc jockeys have appeared as principal
(¡94¡) (Bellamy); Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (¡94¡) (Bel- characters in the guise of Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me),
lamy); Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery (¡94¡) (Bellamy); A Close Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), Wolfman Jack (American Gra‡ti),
Call for Ellery Queen (¡942) (William Gargan); Enemy Agents Meet
Ellery Queen (¡942) (Gargan); A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen and Bill Paterson (Comfort and Joy). Real life DJs have been played
(¡942) (Gargan); Ellery Queen: Don’t Look Behind You (¡97¡ TVM) by Robin Williams (as Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning, Viet-
(Peter Lawford); Ellery Queen (aka Too Many Suspects) (¡975 TVM) nam), Tim McIntire (as rock legend Alan Freed in American Hot
( Jim Hutton) Wax), and Howard Stern (as himself in Private Parts). Oliver
Stone’s Talk Radio (¡988) was practically a one-man show about
Rabbits a controversial radio talk show host, but it was not the first film
Despite their ability to reproduce in massive numbers, bunnies on the subject. Call-in radio programs were integral to the plots
have been pretty scarce in the cinema. The Disney children’s clas- of Jack Nicholson’s The King of Marvin Gardens (¡972) and
sic Bambi made a star out of Thumper the rabbit. Another ani- George Romero’s vampire chiller Martin (¡978). Of course, not
mated feature, ¡978’s Watership Down, o›ered a literary fable all radio broadcasts have originated from Earth. Orpheus (¡949)
about a warren of rabbits seeking a new home. Bugs Bunny, the and Christine (¡983) both featured cars equipped with radios that
cinema’s only Oscar-winning rabbit, has a few theatrical cartoon picked up otherworldly signals. Celestial broadcasts were the sub-
compilations (q.v.) to his name. And, naturally, one must not ject of Red Planet Mars (¡952) and The Next Voice You Hear (¡950),
forget James Stewart’s six-foot, invisible rabbit chum in Harvey. which co-starred Nancy Davis Reagan. Both these films conveyed
A ¡965 spy spoof called The Nasty Rabbit featured the unforget- optimistic religious messages, although their heavyhanded ap-
table song “The Jackrabbit Shu·e.” The picture’s plot revolved proach limited their showings. Radio’s subtler influence on its lis-
around virus-carrying rabbits. Still, they were bunnies without tening audience was explored in Music Hath Charms (¡935) and
malice, unlike the nasty ones — standing four feet tall and weigh- Woody Allen’s Radio Days (¡987). The former film showed how
ing ¡50 pounds — that terrorized Janet Leigh in ¡972’s Night of a dance band’s music played di›erent roles in the lives of those
the Lepus (surely a movie she’d like to forget). In The Lemon Sis- listening to it. In contrast, radio’s ability to incite hysteria was
ters (¡990), Elliott Gould created “ta‡ts”— ta›y rabbits — but powerfully displayed in ¡975’s The Night That Panicked America,
found few buyers. Rabbit Run, The Rabbit Trap, Bunny Lake Is a fact-based drama about Orson Welles’ ¡938 “War of the Worlds”
Missing, and Bunny O’Hare were rabbit films in name only. Ditto broadcast.
for A Bunny’s Tale, which was about Gloria Steinem’s undercover The Big Broadcast (¡932); Death at Broadcasting House (¡934);
stint as a Playboy bunny. Music Hath Charms (¡935); Two Against the World (aka One Fatal
Hour; The Case of Mrs. Pembroke) (¡936); Love Is on the Air
Alice in Wonderland (¡933); Rules of the Game (¡939); Bambi (¡937); The Great American Broadcast (¡940); Wake Up and Live
(¡942); Song of the South (with Brer Rabbit) (¡946); Harvey (¡950); (¡942); Who Done It? (¡942); Appointment in Berlin (¡943); I’ll Tell
Alice in Wonderland (¡95¡); The Nasty Rabbit (aka Spies a Go Go) the World (¡945); The Falcon’s Alibi (¡946); The Hucksters (¡947);
(¡965); Get to Know Your Rabbit (¡972); Night of the Lepus (¡972); Where There’s Life (¡947); The Unsuspected (¡947); Orpheus (¡949);
Coonskin (aka Streetfight) (¡975); Monty Python and the Holy Grail The Next Voice You Hear (¡950); Red Planet Mars (¡952); WUSA
(¡975); Bugs Bunny, Superstar (¡975); Watership Down (¡978); The (¡970); Play Misty for Me (¡97¡); The King of Marvin Gardens
Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Movie (¡979); The Adventures of the Ameri- (¡972); Slipstream (¡974); The Night That Panicked America (¡975
can Rabbit (¡986); Jean de Florette (¡986); Who Framed Roger Rab- TVM); American Hot Wax (¡978); FM (¡978); Martin (¡978); On
bit (¡988); Celia (aka Celia: Child of Terror) (¡989) the Air Live with Captain Midnight (aka Captain Midnight)
(¡979); Radio On (¡979); The Fog (¡980); Christine (¡983); Com-
Racing see Auto Racing; Horse Racing fort and Joy (¡984); Radio Days (¡987); Good Morning, Vietnam
(¡987); Talk Radio (¡988); Pump Up the Volume (¡990); Straight
Talk (¡992); Bad Channels (¡992); Loose Screws (aka La Folie
Radio Douce) (¡994); Airheads (¡994); Radioland Murders (¡994); The
During the Great Depression, movies ranked as the second most Truth About Cats and Dogs (¡996); Power 98 (¡996); Grosse Point
popular form of entertainment–with radio firmly entrenched in Blank (¡997); Private Parts (¡997); Lovesick on Nana Street (¡997);
the number one position. Surprisingly, the film industry pro- Winchell (¡998 TVM); Frequency (2000)
moted its rival, with dozens of films set behind the scenes of radio
programs. Many of these films were built around the era’s big Rambo
radio singing stars, such as Dick Powell in Twenty Million Sweet- Rambo named after a poet? University of Iowa professor David
hearts (¡934) and Bing Crosby in the series-inspiring The Big Morrell, who created one-man army John Rambo in his novel
Broadcast (¡932). On the dramatic side, Two Against the World First Blood, claims that he derived his hero’s name from ¡9th cen-
(¡936) starred Humphrey Bogart as a moralistic radio station tury symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud. But when Morrell sold the
manager. Mystery radio shows provided the background for real film rights to his book for $90,000, it’s doubtful if he envisioned
166 THE RANGE BUSTERS

bare-chested, muscle-rippling Sylvester Stallone as his character. Daughters), some were direct remakes (Confessions of a Sorority
Stallone, though, was anxious to break away from his Rocky (q.v.) Girl), and others used the old titles only (Dragstrip Girl).
image when he was o›ered the chance to do First Blood. The ¡982 Confessions of a Sorority Girl (¡993 TVM) (remake of Sorority
film introduced Rambo as a misunderstood drifter, a former Girl); Cool and the Crazy (¡994 TVM); Dragstrip Girl (¡994
Green Beret, who runs afoul of a redneck sheri› in a small town. TVM); Girls in Prison (¡994 TVM); Jailbreakers (¡994 TVM); Mo-
Despite substituting explosions for punches, Rambo and Rocky are torcycle Gang (¡994 TVM); Reform School Girl (¡994 TVM); Road-
very much alike — two underdogs fighting apparently insur- racers (¡994 TVM); Runaway Daughters (¡994 TVM); Shake, Rat-
tle, and Rock! (¡994 TVM)
mountable odds to make a point. The picture proved to be Stal-
lone’s first non–Rocky hit. His ¡985 sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part
II, sent its hunky hero into Camdodia in search of POWs. Stal- Reincarnation
lone brilliantly capitalized on a new wave of patriotism and the The definitive film on this intriguing subject has yet to be made.
sequel’s grosses went through the roof. Again, the actor portrayed In the past, reincarnation has been chiefly employed in comedies
Rambo as a soldier betrayed at every turn and yet still patriotic and low-budget e›orts that emphasized its sensationalistic values.
to his country. That tone changed with ¡988’s Rambo III, which The first of these latter films was ¡956’s The Search for Bridey
paired Rambo with his trusty ex-commander (Richard Crenna) Murphy, an adaptation of Morey Bernstein’s allegedly fact-based
and made him less of a loner fighting the establishment. The best-seller about a housewife who reveals under hypnosis that she
public noticed the di›erence. It made a lot of quick cash, but led another life 200 years earlier. This dreary, uninvolving tale
failed to follow the highly profitable path of its predecessors. captured the public’s fancy and imitations followed in rapid suc-
First Blood (¡982); Rambo: First Blood Part II (¡985); Rambo cession. Spell of the Hypnotist (¡956), Roger Corman’s The Undead
III (¡988) (¡957), and the Bowery Boys’ Hold That Hypnotist (¡957) all con-
cerned people who learned of previous existences through hyp-
The Range Busters notism. Corman’s movie, shot in a refurbished supermarket, was
Monogram Pictures launched this low-budget Western series in the best of the bunch, mixing witch trials and time travel elements
an e›ort to duplicate rival Republic’s successful Three Mesquiteers with its reincarnation plot. Hypnotism also played a prominent
(q.v.) films. John “Dusty” King joined former Mesquiteers Ray role in the only reincarnation musical comedy, Barbra Streisand’s
“Crash” Corrigan and Max Terhune to form Monogram’s cow- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Men were reincarnated as
boy trio. Their adventures followed the Mesquiteers closely, even women in Goodbye, Charlie (¡964), Cleo/Leo (¡989), and Switch
to the point of mixing Old West stories with contemporary ad- (¡99¡). Finally, no discussion on celebrity reincarnation would be
ventures (e.g., the boys clashed with Nazis in ¡943’s Cowboy Com- complete without mentioning Shirley MacLaine, who espoused
mandos and the Japanese in Texas to Bataan). A more interesting her beliefs in Out on a Limb, a TV movie based on her autobio-
series might have focused on the stars’ varied backgrounds: Cor- graphical best-seller. In Defending Your Life (¡99¡), Shirley in-
rigan was a stunt daredevil, Terhune a former ventriloquist, and troduced people to their past lives at the heavenly Past Lives Pavil-
King a band vocalist. ion. See also The Mummy.
The Range Busters (¡940); Trailing Double Trouble (¡940); West She (¡935); Corridor of Mirrors (¡948); You Never Can Tell
of Pinto Basin (¡940); Trail of the Silver Spurs (¡94¡); The Kid’s Last (¡95¡); The Search for Bridey Murphy (¡956); Spell of the Hypnotist
Ride (¡94¡); Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona (¡94¡); Wrangler’s Roost (aka Fright) (¡956); I’ve Lived Before (¡956); Hold That Hypnotist
(¡94¡); Fugitive Valley (¡94¡); Saddle Mountain Roundup (¡94¡); (¡957); The She Creature (¡957); The Undead (¡957); Curse of the
Tonto Basin Outlaws (¡94¡); Underground Rustlers (¡94¡); Thunder Faceless Man (¡958); Goodbye, Charlie (¡964); She (¡965); On a
River Feud (¡942); Boot Hill Bandits (¡942); Texas Trouble Shooters Clear Day You Can See Forever (¡970); Night of Dark Shadows
(¡942); Texas to Bataan (¡942); Trail Riders (¡942); Two Fisted Jus- (¡97¡); The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (¡975); Audrey Rose (¡977);
tice (¡943); The Haunted Ranch (¡943); Land of Hunted Men Oh, Heavenly Dog! (¡980); All of Me (¡984); Déjà Vu (¡985); Out on
(¡943); Cowboy Commandos (¡943); Black Market Business (¡943); a Limb (¡987 TVM); Chances Are (¡989); Manika: The Girl Who
Bullets and Saddles (¡943) Lived Twice (¡989); Cleo/Leo (¡989); Identity Crisis (¡990); Switch
(¡99¡); Defending Your Life (¡99¡); Hi Honey, I’m Dead (¡99¡
TVM); Dead Again (¡99¡); Dying to Remember (¡993 TVM); Fa-
Rats see Rodents tally Yours (¡996); The Demolitionist (¡996); Kundun (¡997); I’ve
Been Waiting for You (¡998 TVM)
Rebel Highway Series
The Showtime cable network launched this TV movie series con- Relentless Series
sisting of remakes of B-films produced by American-International Leo Rossi played Los Angeles police detective Sam Dietz in four
Pictures in the ¡950s. The filmmakers boasted impressive resumes, movies pitting him against homicidal psychopaths. His quarries
many of them moonlighting from their theatrical film careers. included once-promising performers such as Judd Nelson as the
William Friedkin (The Exorcist) directed the cheerleader-hood- “Sunset Killer” (Relentless) and Ray Sharkey as a murderous FBI
lum movie Jailbreakers. The juvenile crime drama Girls in Prison agent (Dead On: Relentless 2). William Forsythe portrayed the
was directed by John McNaughton (Wild Things) and written by killer in the third film, which most critics consider the best in the
Sam Fuller and his wife Christa Lang. Animator Ralph Baskin series. Rossi also produced Relentless IV (¡994), a grisly final out-
(Fritz the Cat) wrote and directed Cool and the Crazy. And Robert ing in which the murderer recreated di›erent sacrifical rituals.
Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn) directed and co-wrote Road- Relentless (¡989); Dead On: Relentless 2 (¡99¡); Relentless III
racers. Some of the films spoofed the originals (like Runaway (¡993); Relentless IV: Ashes to Ashes (¡994)
 RENFREW OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED 167

Remakes of Foreign Films (¡938); Scarlet Street (¡945)—La Chienne (¡93¡); The Unfinished
Dance (¡947)—Ballerina (¡938); The Long Night (¡947 )—Le Jour se
The problems inherent in remaking foreign films into English- Lève (aka Daybreak) (¡939); Midnight Episode (¡95¡)—Monsieur le
language pictures have both intrigued and frustrated filmmakers. Souris (aka Midnight in Paris) (¡947); The Thirteenth Letter
No rule of thumb has met with steady success. John Sturges trans- (¡95¡)—Le Corbeau (aka The Raven) (¡948); Human Desire
lated Akiro Kurosawa’s classic The Seven Samurai (¡954) into the (¡954)—La Bête Humaine (aka The Human Beast; Judas Was a
enduringly popular American western The Magnificent Seven Woman) (¡938); The Magnificent Seven (¡960)—The Seven Samurai
(¡960). Likewise, Italian “spaghetti Western” king Sergio Leone (aka Shichi-nin no Samurai) (¡954); The Outrage (¡964)—
also exploited the samurai/Western link and turned Kurosawa’s Rashomon (¡95¡); A Fistful of Dollars (¡964)—Yojimbo (¡96¡);
Yojimbo (¡96¡) into Clint Eastwood’s breakthrough film, A Fist- Games (¡967)—Les Diaboliques (aka Diabolique) (¡955); Cop-Out
(¡968)—Les Inconnus dans la Maison (aka Strangers in the House)
ful of Dollars (¡964). But Martin Ritt’s The Outrage (¡964), a
(¡949); Sweet Charity (¡969)—Nights of Cabiria (aka Le Notti di
philosophical Western remake of Kurosawa’s Rashomon (¡95¡), Cabiria) (¡957); Another Man, Another Chance (¡977)—A Man and
missed the tone of the Japanese original and bored audiences and a Woman (aka Un Homme et une Femme) (¡966); Sorcerer (¡977)—
critics equally. Although Kurosawa’s films have been popular tar- The Wages of Fear (aka La Salaire de la Peur) (¡952); Which Way Is
gets for remakes, American and British filmmakers have shown a Up? (¡977)—The Seduction of Mimi (aka Mimi Metallurgico Ferito
special fondness for the French cinema. Julien Duvivier’s Pépé Le nell’Onore) (¡974); A Little Night Music (¡978)—Smiles of a Summer
Moko (¡937) was remade as Algiers just a year after its release. The Night (aka Sommarnattens Leende) (¡955); Dear Detective (¡979
remake incorporated the same setting and plot and even cast a TVM)—Dear Detective (aka Tendre Poulet; Dear Inspector) (¡978);
Frenchman in the lead — Charles Boyer as the charming gangster Willie and Phil (¡980)—Jules and Jim (aka Jules et Jim) (¡96¡);
Buddy, Buddy (¡98¡)—A Pain in the A- (aka L’Emmerdeur) (¡974);
originally created by Jean Gabin. French thrillers from the ¡940s Kiss Me Goodbye (¡982)—Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (aka
and ¡950s have been turned into little films (Midnight Episode) Dona Flor e Seurs Dois Maridos) (¡977); The Toy (¡982)—Le Jouet
and costly bombs (Sorcerer). The popularity of French light come- (¡976); Breathless (¡983)—À Bout de Sou·e (aka Breathless) (¡960);
dies in the ¡970s and ¡980s inspired a slew of Americanized ver- The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck (aka Act of Passion) (¡984 TVM)—
sions. Most of these stateside remakes compared poorly with their The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (aka Die Verlorene Ehre der
continental counterparts and fizzled at the box-o‡ce. Big name Katharina Blum) (¡975); Crackers (¡984)—Big Deal on Madonna
stars did not help either. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon Street (aka I Soliti Ignoti) (¡958); The Woman in Red (¡984)—Par-
looked out of place in Buddy, Buddy (¡98¡), while Richard Pryor don Mon A›aire (aka Un Elephant ca Troupe Enormement) (¡976);
Blame It on Rio (¡984)—One Wild Moment (¡977); The Man with
floundered in The Toy (¡982). However, the surprise successes of
One Red Shoe (¡985)—The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
¡986’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills, ¡987’s Three Men and a (¡972); Down and Out in Beverly Hills (¡986)—Boudu Saved from
Baby and, to a lesser degree, ¡989’s Cousins, have ensured that the Drowning (aka Boudu Sauvé des Eaux) (¡932); Happy New Year
French cinema will continue to be raided for remake properties. (¡987)—Happy New Year (aka La Nonne Ann; The Happy New Year
Occasionally, the original director has even helmed the English- Caper) (¡973); Three Men and a Baby (¡987)—Three Men and a
language version, as did Francis Veber (Les Fugitifs; Three Fugi- Cradle (aka Trois Hommes et un Cou‡n) (¡985); Dangerous Liaisons
tives), Roger Vadim (And God Created Woman), and George (¡988)—Les Liaisons Dangereueses (aka Dangerous Meetings) (¡959);
Sluizer (The Vanishing). Interestingly, not all remakes have gone And God Created Woman (¡988)—Et Dieu…Crea La Femme (aka
the direct route of foreign film into English-language film. And God Created Woman) (¡957); Three Fugitives (¡989)—Les Fugi-
tifs (¡986); Cousins (¡989)—Cousin, Cousine (¡975); Baby Cakes
Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night (¡955) and Fellini’s Nights of
(¡989 TVM)—Zuckerbaby (aka Sugarbaby) (¡985); Men Don’t Leave
Cabiria (¡957) stopped at Broadway long enough to be trans- (¡990)—Continue (aka Life Goes On) (¡98¡); Paradise (¡99¡)—The
formed into the hit musicals A Little Night Music and Sweet Char- Big Road (aka Le Grand Chemin; The Grand Highway) (¡987); Pure
ity. Thus, the film versions of these musicals are indirect remakes Luck (¡99¡)—Le Chevre (aka The Goat) (¡98¡); Scent of a Woman
of the original movies. Along similar lines, one could argue that (¡992)—Profumo di Donna (¡974); Sommersby (¡993)—The Return
Fritz Lang’s Human Desire (¡954) was based solely on Emile Zola’s of Martin Guerre (¡982); The Vanishing (¡993)—The Vanishing
novel La Bête Humaine and not on Jean Renoir’s ¡938 adaptation (¡988); Point of No Return (¡993)—La Femme Nikita (aka Nikita)
of Zola’s book. Occasionally, this question of whether a film is or (¡99¡); Intersection (¡994)—Les Choses de la Vie (¡970); My Father,
is not a remake becomes a matter of opinion. Many critics con- the Hero (¡994)—Mon Pere, Ce Heros (¡99¡); Mixed Nuts (¡994)—
Le Pere Noel Est Une Ordure (¡992); ¡2 Monkeys (¡995)—The Jetty
sider Curtis Harrington’s Games (¡967) a remake of Clouzot’s Les (aka La Jette; The Pier) (¡963); The Associate (¡996)—L’Associe
Diaboliques, although the films di›er substantially in setting and (¡979); Diabolique (¡996)—Diabolique (¡955); The Birdcage
premise (perhaps, it’s more a variation than a remake). Likewise, (¡996)—La Cage aux Folles (¡978); War of the Buttons (¡996)—La
Claude Lelouch’s Another Man, Another Chance (¡977) is often Guerre Des Boutons (aka War of the Buttons) (¡96¡); Head Above
listed as a western remake of his own contemporary romance A Water (¡996)—Pathfinder (¡987); Last Man Standing (¡996)—Yo-
Man and a Woman (¡966) since the plots of both films are about jimbo (¡96¡); Father’s Day (¡997)—Les Compères (¡983); Jungle 2
a widow and widower falling in love. That’s a pretty common Jungle (¡997)—Little Indian, Big City (aka Un Indien dans La Ville)
plot, allowing one to argue that ¡968’s With Six You Get Eggroll (¡994); City of Angels (¡998)—Wings of Desire (aka Der Himmel
über Berlin (¡988); Nightwatch (¡998)—Nattevagten (¡995); EDtv
was an earlier remake of Lelouch’s original. Occasionally, foreign
(¡999)—Louis ¡9, Le Roi des Ondes (¡994); The Talented Mr. Ripley
countries have remade American films, as in the case of ¡957’s The (¡999)—Plein Soleil (aka Purple Noon) (¡960)
Burglar and ¡97¡’s La Casse (aka The Burglars). In the following
list, the remakes are listed chronologically first, followed by the
original films. Renfrew of the Royal Mounted
Port of Seven Seas (¡938)—Fanny (¡932); Algiers (¡938)—Pépé Renfrew the singing Mountie had already appeared in Laurie York
Le Moko (¡937); A Woman’s Face (¡94¡)—En Kvinnas Ansikte Erskine’s books and on the radio before Monogram gave him his
168 RESTAURANTS

own film series. James Newill, a singer on the Burns and Allen Oscars for their performances. Judy Garland sang the Oscar-win-
radio show, played Sergeant Renfrew and always found time to ning song “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” as a wait-
sing a sturdy tune or two like “Mounted Men.” Lightning the Dog ress in The Harvey Girls. Surprisingly, films about chefs often take
accompanied him on his first trek, but Dave O’Brien became place outside of restaurants as evidenced by: Under Siege (Steven
Renfrew’s regular sidekick Kelly beginning with ¡939’s Crashing Seagal cooks aboard a ship), Mr. Nice Guy ( Jackie Chan as a TV
Thru. The plots were naturally action-oriented and somewhat chef ), Babette’s Feast (a former chef cooks and keeps house for two
lacking in plausibility (in Sky Bandits, the bad guys hijacked a sisters in ¡9th century Denmark), and Who Is Killing the Great
plane carrying an experimental death ray). Newill later became Chefs of Europe? Along similar lines, not all eating establishments
one of the Texas Rangers (q.v.), creating the role that Tex Ritter fit the typical definition of restaurant, such as the mobile grill
would later play. See also Mounties. housed aboard The Van (¡996) and dining cars in train movies like
Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (¡937); On the Great White Trail The Lady Vanishes (¡938). Finally, several movies have featured no-
(aka Renfrew of the Royal Mounted on the Great White Trail; Ren- table scenes in restaurants, to include: Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm
frew on the Great White Trail) (¡938); Crashing Thru (¡939); Fight- in When Harry Met Sally… (¡989); the “how to tip” discussion in
ing Mad (¡939); Danger Ahead (¡940); Yukon Flight (¡940); Murder Reservoir Dogs (¡992); the assassination scenes in La Femme Nikita
on the Yukon (¡940); The Sky Bandits (¡940) (¡990) and its American remake Point of No Return (¡993); the
stylish shootout in John Woo’s Hard-Boiled (¡992); Samuel Jack-
Restaurants son’s “Kung Fu” speech in Pulp Fiction (¡994); Jack Nicholson or-
Dozens of films have revolved around eating establishments and dering toast in Five Easy Pieces (¡970); and the obese man who
their employees, although few movies have taken place predom- ate one wafer-thin mint too many in Monty Python’s The Mean-
inantly within the confines of a restaurant. Among those that ing of Life (¡983). See also Hotels.
have taken maximum advantage of the restaurant setting are the Bordertown (¡935); Ruggles of Red Gap (¡935); The Petrified
talkative My Dinner with Andre (¡98¡), the classic screen adapta- Forest (¡936); The Lady Vanishes (¡938); Hi’ya Chum (¡943);
tion of Robert E. Sherwood’s The Petrified Forest (¡936), the Casablanca (¡943); Mildred Pierce (¡945); The Harvey Girls (¡946);
hostage drama When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? (¡979), and the The Postman Always Rings Twice (¡946); The Time of Your Life
stylish, but unpleasant, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (¡948); Carrie (¡952); The Undertaker and His Pals (¡966); Bedaz-
zled (¡967); Alice’s Restaurant (¡969); Five Easy Pieces (¡970); Road
(¡989). In the latter film, each room in the restaurant is bathed to Salina (¡97¡); American Gra‡ti (¡973); Cannibal Girls (¡973);
in a single dominant color — even the characters’ clothes change Return of the Dragon (aka Way of the Dragon) (¡973); Dying Room
color when they enter a room. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Only (¡973 TVM); Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (¡974); Six-
Her Lover also features a grisly scene in which one of the restau- Pack Annie (¡975); When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? (¡979);
rant’s patrons is served as a dish to the gangster that killed him. Lunch Wagon (aka Lunch Wagon Girls) (¡980); My Dinner with
Other eateries with people on the menu were the subject of Can- Andre (¡98¡); Waitress (¡98¡); Diner (¡982); Eating Raoul (¡982);
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (¡983); Over the Brooklyn
nibal Girls (¡973), Eating Raoul (¡982), and Eat the Rich (¡987).
Bridge (¡984); Tampopo (¡986); Babette’s Feast (¡987); Eat the Rich
Connoisseurs of fine food would also be advised to avoid the (¡987); Mystic Pizza (¡988); Tequila Sunrise (¡988); Bagdad Café
roadside diner in Dying Room Only (Cloris Leachman’s husband (aka Out of Rosenheim) (¡988); Do the Right Thing (¡989); The
disappears mysteriously) and the Chinese restaurant in Return of Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (¡989); When Harry Met
the Dragon (it’s harassed by gangsters until diner employee Bruce Sally… (¡989); La Femme Nikita (¡990); Perfectly Normal (¡990);
Lee beats them all up). In contrast to such violence, other cellu- Fried Green Tomatoes (¡99¡); The Linguini Incident (¡99¡); Frankie
loid restaurants have been used as a pleasant place for friends to and Johnny (¡99¡); Under Siege (¡992); Hard-Boiled (¡992); Combi-
nation Platter (¡993); Untamed Heart (¡993); Carlito’s Way (¡993);
“hang out” in movies such as American Gra‡ti (¡973), Diner
Point of No Return (¡993); Chungking Express (¡994); Eat Drink
(¡982), Swingers (¡996), and even Mystery Men (¡999). Restaurants Man Woman (¡994); It Could Happen to You (¡994); Pulp Fiction
have also provided the setting for stories of love and friendship (¡994); Grumpier Old Men (¡995); Bikini Bistro (¡995); The Spitfire
in Bagdad Café (¡988), Frankie and Johnny (¡99¡), and Untamed Grill (¡996); The Van (¡996); Big Night (¡996); American Strays
Heart (¡993). Michelle Pfei›er, who was a waitress in Frankie (¡996); Heavy (¡996); As Good as It Gets (¡997); Mr. Nice Guy
and Johnny, played a restaurant owner in Tequila Sunrise (¡988). (¡997); My Best Friend’s Wedding (¡997) ( Julia Roberts as a restau-
Other restaurant owners have been played by Charles Laughton rant critic); Good Burger (¡997); A Chef in Love (¡997); Down in the
Delta (¡998); Lost & Found (¡999); Simply Irresistible (¡999); Not-
(Ruggles of Red Gap), Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), Danny
ting Hill (¡999); Deterrence (¡999)
Aiello (Do the Right Thing), Mary Stuart Masterton (Fried Green
Tomatoes), David Finch (Lost & Found), Sarah Michelle Gellar
(Simply Irresistible), and Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci in Big Return of the Living Dead Series
Night. Sometimes, it’s hard to di›erentiate between a restaurant Although Alien screenwriter Dan O’Bannon wrote and directed
and a nightclub that serves food — but, to be on the safe side, one Return of the Living Dead (¡985), John Russo deserves credit for
ought to include establishment owners Al Pacino in Carlito’s Way making the film a reality. Russo, who cowrote Night of the Liv-
and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (his place is called Rick’s ing Dead (¡968) with George Romero, shared rights to the orig-
Café Americain). Laurence Olivier managed a posh restaurant, inal story. That work provided the premise for O’Bannon’s script
but didn’t own it, in Carrie (¡952). On the non-management about people-eating ghouls. Most of the similarities between
side, restaurant waitresses and waiters have been portrayed by nu- O’Bannon’s film and Romero’s Dead trilogy end there. In Return
merous actors, with Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any- of the Living Dead, employees at Uneeda Medical Supply acci-
more) and Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets) earning Best Actress dentally release a secret government chemical that revives the
 ROAD MOVIES 169

dead. When a cadaver comes to life, they take it to a nearby Riley, Dexter
morgue and burn the body — releasing the mysterious gas into the Kurt Russell played this energetic, quick-thinking college stu-
atmosphere. When it rains, the gas condenses, soaks into the soil, dent in a trilogy of Disney comedies produced in the ¡970s. In
and turns a bunch of buried corpses into flesh-eating zombies each film, the easygoing Dexter acquired some superhuman trait
craving human brains. Gory and funny, Return of the Living Dead while enjoying campus life at Medfield College. An electrical ac-
clicked at the box-o‡ce. Ironically, it stole much of the thunder cident gave him super intelligence in The Computer Wore Tennis
from Day of the Dead (¡985), Romero’s highly anticipated (but Shoes. He accidentally discovered an invisibility potion in Now
disappointing) conclusion to his Night of the Living Dead trilogy You See Him, Now You Don’t. A lab experiment gave him incred-
(q.v.). Return of the Living Dead Part II, a ¡988 sequel written and ible strength in The Strongest Man in the World. Other series reg-
directed by Ken Wiederhorn, basically reprised the first film. Crit- ulars included: Joe Flynn as Dexter’s nemesis Dean Higgins; Cesar
ics and fans preferred Return of the Living Dead 3 (¡993), a clever Romero as gangster A. J. Arno (who wants to steal the inventions);
little picture in which a teenager uses the mysterious gas to res- and William Schallert as nice Professor Quigley. Interestingly,
urrect his dead girlfriend out of love. Like the same year’s Body Dexter bears a strong resemblance to an earlier Disney campus
Snatchers, the film makes excellent use of its military base setting, hero, Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk), who appeared in The Misad-
drawing subtle parallels between government o‡cials and ghouls. ventures of Merlin Jones (¡964) and The Monkey’s Uncle (¡965).
The ¡974 film Return of the Living Dead is not a part of this se- Kirk Cameron played Dexter Riley in a ¡995 TV movie remake
ries nor Romero’s Dead trilogy. It is an alternate title for Dead Peo- of The Computer Wore Tennis Shows.
ple, a horror film produced by American Gra‡ti writers Willard
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (¡969); Now You See Him,
Huyck and Gloria Katz. See also Ghouls; Night of the Living Now You Don’t (¡972); The Strongest Man in the World (¡975); The
Dead Series. Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (¡995 TVM)
Return of the Living Dead (¡985); Return of the Living Dead
Part II (¡988); Return of the Living Dead 3 (¡993)
Riley, Old Mother
Revenge of the Nerds Series Donning a gray wig, a frumpy dress, and a plaid-colored shaw,
In a clever bit of role reversal, the Nerd films portray nerdism as British comedian Arthur Lucan transformed himself into Old
cool and yuppiedom as bogus. Unfortunately, most of the series’ Mother Riley, a spunky Irish washerwoman, in ¡5 features be-
good ideas can be found in the first film, a likable ¡984 comedy tween ¡937 and ¡952. Katie MacShane, Lucan’s wife, played Old
about a nerd fraternity formed by friends Lewis (Robert Carra- Mother Riley’s daughter. The two had created the characters in
dine), Gilbert (Anthony Edwards), and Booger (Curtis Arm- a vaudeville sketch called “Bridget’s Night Out.” Despite their
strong). The ¡987 sequel followed Lewis and Booger to Fort popularity in Britain, the movies never caught on in the U.S., al-
Lauderdale for some bland hijinks at a United Fraternity Con- though ¡952’s My Son, the Vampire (aka Old Mother Riley Meets
ference. Edwards appeared briefly as Gilbert. A belated third in- the Vampire) finally showed up on American screens in ¡963. By
stallment, the made-for-TV Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next then, Lucan had been dead for nine years and co-star Bela Lu-
Generation (¡992), squandered a promising premise. Set several gosi for seven.
years later, it reveals that Lewis has become a yuppie, right down Old Mother Riley (aka The Original Old Mother Riley; The Re-
to the BMW with the LEWSTER license plate. Fortunately, he turn of Old Mother Riley) (¡937); Old Mother Riley in Paris (¡938);
Old Mother Riley Joins Up (¡938); Old Mother Riley MP (¡939); Old
reverts to his old self when his nerdish nephew Harold encoun- Mother Riley in Business (¡940); Old Mother Riley’s Ghosts (¡940);
ters yuppie trouble at Adams College. In a second TV movie, Re- Old Mother Riley’s Circus (¡94¡); Old Mother Riley in Society (¡942);
venge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love, Booger gets married — an Old Mother Riley Detective (¡943); Old Mother Riley Overseas
event originally broadcast in 3-D as part of a ratings stunt. Car- (¡943); Old Mother Riley at Home (¡944); Old Mother Riley Head-
radine and Armstrong appeared in all four Nerds films. mistress (¡945); Old Mother Riley’s New Venture (aka Old Mother
Revenge of the Nerds (¡984); Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Riley’s New Look) (¡947); Old Mother Riley’s Jungle Treasure (aka
Paradise (¡987); Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (¡992 Jungle Treasure) (¡949); My Son, the Vampire (aka Old Mother Riley
TVM); Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (¡994 TVM) Meets the Vampire; Vampires Over London) (¡952)

Revere, Johnny Road Movies

John Paul ( Johnny) Revere was another sturdy Western hero in The Road to Singapore was originally written for George Burns and
the typical Republic Pictures mold. Eddie Dew played him in the Gracie Allen. When they turned it down, it was revamped as a
first two films, getting comic support from Gene Autry’s usual “buddy comedy” for Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. But prior
sidekick Smiley Burnette. Robert Mitchum played a bit part in commitments kept MacMurray and Oakie tied up, so Para-
¡943’s Beyond the Last Frontier, but Dew’s second entry, Raiders mount — in a stroke of casting magic — paired Bing Crosby and
of Sunset Pass, was much more interesting. A sort of feminist West- Bob Hope for their musical comedy debut. Their initial Road
ern, it pitted a group of tough ladies (dubbed the Women’s Army picture (Singapore) was a huge success, but, when seen today, it
of the Plains, or WAPs) against some male rustlers during World clearly lacks the wacky humor that made the series memorable.
War II. Western series veteran Bob Livingston (see The Three Everyone has their favorite Road picture, but it’s hard to top the
Mesquiteers) replaced Dew in the final two entries. bizarre Alaskan outing, Road to Utopia–which featured animated
Beyond the Last Frontier (¡943); Raiders of Sunset Pass (¡943); fish, the Paramount mountain, and the only ending in which Bob
Pride of the Plains (¡944); Beneath Western Skies (¡944) got the girl (well, sort of ). Dorothy Lamour co-starred in all but
170 ROBOCOP

Road to Hong Kong, in which she made only a cameo appearance, dom. The robot’s relative anonymity finally ended with ¡95¡’s The
leaving the female lead to a young Joan Collins. Day the Earth Stood Still. This superior science fiction saga worked
Road to Singapore (¡940); Road to Zanzibar (¡94¡); Road to on many levels, but remains fondly remembered for introducing
Morocco (¡942); Road to Utopia (¡945); Road to Rio (¡947); Road to the first robot “star”: Gort. Standing ¡2-feet tall with no facial fea-
Bali (¡952); Road to Hong Kong (¡962) tures nor visible joints, Gort was a rather imposing “mechanical
man,” especially when he opened his visor and unleashed his dis-
Robin Hood see Hood, Robin integration ray on a helpless tank. Gort could not talk, however,
and that certainly placed some constraints on his personality.
RoboCop MGM corrected that quirk with its contribution to the robotic
race, the ever-helpful — and talking — Robby the Robot. After
Director Paul Verhoeven’s slick, ultraviolent approach masks the
his popular debut in ¡956’s Forbidden Planet, Robby turned up
emotional core that separates RoboCop (¡987) from its sequels and
again in a larger role in The Invisible Boy (¡957), in which a com-
imitators. The film’s central premise is a man’s search to regain
puter temporarily converted him to evil. Except for guest ap-
his identity — a theme Verhoeven would explore again in Total Re-
pearances, Robby retired after The Invisible Boy, although a robot
call (¡990). Set in Detroit in the near future, RoboCop presents
bearing an amazing resemblance to him later joined the cast of
an urban world where crime has taken a stronghold and a private
TV’s ¡965–68 Lost in Space series. No other robotic stars emerged
corporation called Omni Consumer Products (OCP) runs the
until ¡977, when George Lucas’ Star Wars introduced that charis-
police force. When police o‡cer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller)
matic robotic pair: C3PO and R2D2. Their skyrocketing popu-
barely survives a brutal gangland execution, OCP “erases” his
larity, especially among the younger set, revitalized interest in ro-
memory and converts him into a cyborg crimefighter dubbed
bots and accounted for their major supporting roles in films like
RoboCop. OCP programs RoboCop with three prime directives:
The Black Hole and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (both ¡979).
(¡) Serve the public trust; (2) Protect the innocent; and (3) Up-
In other robot films of interest: The robot “drones” Huey, Dewey,
hold the law. A fourth classified directive plays a critical role in
and Louie in ¡97¡’s Silent Running appear to be the conceptual
the film’s climax. Although Verhoeven stages some amazing ac-
forerunners to R2D2. Lightning struck a meek little robot, No.
tion scenes and hits the mark with some clever satire, the film
5, and brought him “alive” in Short Circuit (¡986). Both King
never loses its grip on RoboCop’s struggle to regain at least part
Kong (q.v.) and Godzilla (q.v.) fought robot versions of them-
of his identity. At one point, he explains to his partner (Nancy
selves in, respectively, King Kong Escapes (¡968) and The Terror of
Allen) that he can feel his family, but cannot remember them.
Godzilla (¡975). Tobor, the Great (¡954) had the catchiest robot
RoboCop 2 (¡990) dispenses with such weighty matters for a more
name (spell it backwards). See also Androids and Cyborgs; Com-
conventional tale about violent crime, corporate corruption, and
puters.
cyborg law enforcers that malfunction. The film earned the wrath
of many critics for its inclusion of a young criminal who spews The Electric Servant (¡909); The Day the Earth Stood Still
(¡95¡); Robot Monster (¡953); Gog (¡954); Target Earth (¡954); Tobor
profanity, deals in large-scale drug distribution, and kills with-
the Great (¡954); Forbidden Planet (¡956); The Invisible Boy (¡957);
out remorse. Director Irvin Kershner fared far better with his Attack of the Robots (aka Cards on the Table; Cartes sur la Table)
Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back (¡98¡). Peter Weller (¡962); King Kong Escapes (¡968); Silent Running (¡97¡); Terror of
bowed out of the series after #2, with Robert Burke replacing Godzilla (aka Terror of Mechagodzilla) (¡975); Star Wars (¡977);
him in RoboCop 3. Filmed in ¡990 but unreleased in the U.S. until Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (¡979); The Black Hole (¡979);
¡993, its plot had RoboCop rebelling against OCP when the cor- C.H.O.M.P.S. (¡979); Runaway (¡984); Chopping Mall (aka Killbots)
poration tried to evict innocent homeowners. Despite the disap- (¡986); Short Circuit (¡986); Space Camp (¡986); Robot Holocaust
(¡987); Too Much (¡987); Short Circuit 2 (¡988); Robot Jox (¡990);
pointing returns for the third film, the syndicated RoboCop: The
And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird (¡99¡); Steel Justice (¡992
Series appeared on television in ¡994. Richard Eden played the cy- TVM); Apex (¡994); W.E.I.R.D. World (¡995 TVM); Robo Warriors
borg hero in these less violent weekly outings. An animated se- (¡996); Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (¡997); Flubber (¡997); Lost in
ries appeared the same year. See also Androids and Cyborgs. Space (¡998); The Iron Giant (¡999); Bicentennial Man (¡999)
RoboCop (¡987); RoboCop 2 (¡990); RoboCop 3 (¡993)
Rock Singer Biographies see Pop, Rock,
Robots and Country Singer Biographies
For purposes of categorization, robots are defined as machines re-
quiring guidance to function and which look distinctively
di›erent from humans. Human-like machines capable of inde- Rockford, Jim
pendent thought are discussed under the Androids and Cyborgs By the time James Garner appeared in the TV movie pilot The
entry. Although it is a di‡cult distinction to draw, there are ob- Rockford Files in ¡974, he had forged a modestly successful film
vious di›erences between Forbidden Planet’s Robbie the Robot career and starred in TV series that were hits (Maverick) and
and the androids played by Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah in misses (Nichols). The expectations for The Rockford Files were
Blade Runner. The robot’s origin in film can be traced back to modest, but the results — a top ¡5 show in its first year — were a
early silent films like The Electric Servant (¡909). Yet, while the pleasant surprise for NBC. The easy-going Garner seemed born
Golem thrived in the early ¡920s and the Frankenstein Monster to play Jim Rockford, a private detective who had served time in
ruled in the ¡930s, robots were restricted to sporadic appearances prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Rockford’s colorful sup-
in serials such as The Phantom Empire and The Undersea King- porting characters included his former cellmate Angel Martin
 RODENTS 171

(Stuart Margolin) and his retired father Rocky (played by Robert the popularity of Godzilla (q.v.) or even Mothra (q.v.) and was
Donley in the pilot and Noah Beery, Jr., in the TV series). The quickly relegated to a supporting player in the mid–¡960s Japan-
series ran from ¡974 to ¡980 and ended when Garner decided to ese “monsteramas.” One of the reasons for Rodan’s lesser fame
call it quits. After a ¡4-year hiatus, Garner revived his detective might have been his weapon arsenal. While Godzilla boasted fiery
for The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A., a TV movie costarring breath and Mothra a cocoon-producing fluid, Rodan dispensed
Margolin and Joanna Cassidy as Rockford’s ex-wife. Its rating with foes (and buildings) by simply flapping his gigantic wings.
success led to a series of Rockford TV movies. See also Televi- Rodan (¡956); Monster Zero (aka Invasion of the Astro-Mon-
sion Series Reunion Films. sters; Kaiju Daisenso) (¡965); Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster
The Rockford Files (¡974 TVM); The Rockford Files: I Still Love (aka the Greatest Battle on Earth; Sandai Kaiju Chikyu Saidai No
L.A. (¡994 TVM); The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise (¡995 Kessen) (¡965); Destroy All Monsters (aka Operation Monsterland;
TVM); The Rockford Files: Crime and Punishment (¡996 TVM); Kaiju Soshingeki) (¡968)
The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play (¡996 TVM); The Rock-
ford Files: Godfather Knows Best (¡996); The Rockford Files: If the Rodents
Frame Fits… (¡996 TVM); The Rockford Files: Murder and Misde-
meanors (¡997 TVM); The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds…It Leads Rats have had an image problem in the movies, typically being
(¡999 TVM) pictured as untrustworthy. There have been exceptions, of course,
such as the lovable rat family in the animated feature The Secret
Rocky of NIMH (¡982). And technically, the people-killing rats in
Willard (¡97¡) and Ben (¡972) did not dispose of anyone who
In ¡976, an unknown character actor named Sylvester Stallone
didn’t deserve it. In fact, Ben was basically a heartwarming story
wrote a script (in three-and-a-half days, reportedly) about a
of the friendship between a boy and his rat (and, lest we forget,
mediocre, small-time boxer who gets a shot at the world champi-
this film featured Michael Jackson’s popular hit “Ben”). Giant
onship. Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Charto› o›ered Stal-
rats have populated horror films such as Food of the Gods (¡976)
lone $300,000 for the screenplay, but the actor held out for
and Deadly Eyes (¡982). Sondra Locke’s Ratboy (¡986) was a sym-
$75,000, a percentage of the profits, and the lead role. He got what
pathetic film about a disfigured boy who resembled a rat, while
he wanted — and the rest is history. A simple picture, Rocky boasted
the Russian import The Redeemer (¡977) was about rat people
a memorable cast: Talia Shire as Rocky’s shy girlfriend, Burt Young
disguising themselves in order to infiltrate the human race. Chuck
as her obnoxious, hustling brother, Burgess Meredith as Rocky’s
Norris killed a rat with his teeth in Missing in Action 2 — The Be-
grizzled manager, and Carl Weathers as cocky heavyweight cham-
ginning (¡985), while people have tramped through rat-infested
pion Apollo Creed. Rocky lost the title bout (in a split decision),
chambers in Inferno (¡978) and Indiana Jones and Last Crusade
but audiences loved the film’s old-fashioned emotion. It went on
(¡989). On the other hand, mice on film have been portrayed as
to gross $55 million and win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
cute, charming creatures, especially in animated form. Thought-
Subsequently, Stallone tried his hand at other movies, but none ap-
ful mice helped Cinderella get ready for the ball in Disney’s ¡950
proached the success of Rocky. Thus, the inevitable sequel, Rocky
version of the fairy tale. Adventurous mice formed the Mouse
II, appeared in ¡979. A rehash of the original, it had Rocky win-
Rescue Aid Society in The Rescuers (¡977). A sleuthing mouse re-
ning a rematch with Creed and almost losing his wife due to med-
sembling Sherlock Holmes matched wits with a devious rat (Pro-
ical complications. Although it was a box-o‡ce smash, Stallone
fessor Ratigan) in ¡986’s The Great Mouse Detective. One of the
vowed it would be the last Rocky picture. Nevertheless, no one was
biggest holiday hits of ¡986, An American Tail, concerned the
surprised when Rocky III was released in ¡982. Probably the clever-
plight of two immigrant mice children in turn-of-the-century
est film in the series, it traced Rocky’s decline as a champion,
New York City. Finally, people have been turned into mice in Ab-
capped by a humiliating defeat at the hands of ruthless Clubber
bott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (¡953) and Roald
Lang (Mr. T) and the death of faithful manager Meredith. En-
Dahl’s delightful children’s fantasy The Witches (¡990).
couraged by former opponent and new-found friend Apollo Creed,
Cinderella (¡950); Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Rocky recaptured that “eye of the tiger” and beat Clubber into a
Hyde (¡953); Lady and the Tramp (¡955); The Pied Piper of Hamlin
pulp. Again, Stallone insisted this was the last of the series, but the (¡957 TVM); The Aristocats (¡970); Willard (¡97¡); The Abominable
box-o‡ce receipts led him to a di›erent decision. The dismal Dr. Phibes (¡97¡); The Rats Are Coming, the Werewolves Are Here
Rocky IV followed in ¡985, with Rocky avenging Creed’s death at (¡972); Ben (¡972); The Pied Piper (¡972); Charlotte’s Web (¡973);
the hands of a heartless Russian “fighting machine” (Dolph Lund- The Missing Are Deadly (¡974 TVM); Food of the Gods (¡976); The
gren). Critics panned it, but audiences made it another hit, thereby Mouse and His Child (¡977); The Redeemer (¡977); The Rescuers
leaving the door open for Rocky V (¡990). Even audiences avoided (¡977); Inferno (¡978); Rock ’n’ Roll High School (¡979); Deadly Eyes
(aka The Rats) (¡982); The Secret of NIMH (¡982); Of Unknown
this fifth outing, which found a retired Rocky training a young
Origin (¡983); Nightmares (¡983); El Norte (¡983); Missing in Action
boxer. In ¡999, MGM and Sylvester Stallone briefly discussed 2: The Beginning (¡985); An American Tail (¡986); Ratboy (¡986);
making a Rocky VI. See also Boxing. The Great Mouse Detective (aka The Adventures of the Great Mouse
Rocky (¡976); Rocky II (¡979); Rocky III (¡982); Rocky IV Detective) (¡986); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (¡989); Gnaw:
(¡985); Rocky V (¡990) Food of the Gods II (¡989); The Witches (¡990); Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles (¡990); The Rescuers Down Under (¡990); An American
Tail: Fievel Goes West (¡99¡); Babe (¡995); Mouse Hunt (¡997); The
Rodan Wind in the Willows (¡997); A Rat’s Tale (¡998); The Phantom of the
This pterodactyl-like creature with supersonic wing speed made Opera (¡998); Stuart Little (¡999); The Green Mile (¡999); The Bone
an illustrious debut in ¡956’s Rodan. However, he never achieved Collector (¡999); Flowers for Algernon (2000 TVM)
172 RODEOS

Rodeos a proverb from Rimbaud: “Ah, let the season start/ When fancy
takes the heart.” See also Rohmer’s Moral Tales; Rohmer’s Tales
Few filmmakers seemed interested in the rodeo setting prior to
of the Four Seasons.
the ¡970s. A handful of B-films, including the 3-D e›ort Arena,
emerged in the ¡950s. However, the rodeo gained more exposure The Aviator’s Wife (aka La Femme de l’Aviateur) (¡980); The
Perfect Marriage (aka Le Beau Marriage) (¡982); Pauline at the
through a bit part in ¡956’s Bus Stop, in which Don Murray played Beach (aka Pauline à la Plage) (¡982); Full Moon in Paris (aka Les
a naive rodeo star visiting the big city for the first time and strug- Nuits de la Pleine Lune) (¡984); Summer (aka Le Rayon Vert; The
gling to understand urban conventions. Thirteen years later, The Green Ray) (¡986); Boyfriends and Girlfriends (aka L’Ami de Mon
Wild Bunch, and its theme of the aging cowboy as a symbol of Amie; My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend) (¡988)
social change, revived interest in the contemporary cowboy. Sub-
sequently, four features about aging rodeo stars appeared in ¡972, Rohmer’s Moral Tales
all starring veteran performers well into their forties or older: Eric Rohmer was best known as a writer and editor for the pres-
Richard Widmark (age 58 in When the Legends Die), Cli› Robert- tigious cinema journal Cahiers du Cinema when he set out to
son (47 in J.W. Coop), James Coburn (44 in The Honkers), and make a series of films linked by a common theme. His initial
Steve McQueen (42 in Junior Bonner). The latter film was made e›ort, the ¡962 short La Boulangère de Monceau, established the
by Wild Bunch director Sam Peckinpah. The plight of the younger premise for what would eventually comprise a six-film series. A
rodeo wrangler was explored in Riding Tall, yet another ¡972 re- young man about to commit to one woman meets a second
lease. It starred Andrew Prine as a rodeo rider coping with con- woman who causes him to question his original choice. Rohmer
ventional love problems. The ¡980 TV movie Rodeo Girl was the expanded on that premise in ¡963’s hour-long Suzanne’s Profes-
true story of world champion rodeo star Sue Pirtle. Luke Perry sion, but the series attracted little attention until his fourth entry,
played real-life bull riding champion Lane Frost in 8 Seconds ¡969’s My Night at Maud’s, garnered international raves. Rohmer
(¡994), the title referring to the amount of time a rider must stay completed his “Six Moral Tales” in ¡972 with Chloe in the After-
on the bull. Documentaries include Colorado Cowboy: The Bruce noon. In the ¡980s, he embarked on his “Comedies and Proverbs”
Ford Story (¡995) and The Great American Cowboy (¡974), the life (also referred to as “Parables”) series. See also Rohmer’s Come-
of rodeo legend Larry Mahan. Scott Glenn, who rode a mechan- dies and Proverbs; Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons.
ical bull in Urban Cowboy (¡98¡), encountered a mean rodeo bull
La Boulangère de Monceau (¡962); Suzanne’s Profession (aka La
named Thunderbolt in My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys Carriere de Suzanne) (¡963); La Collectioneuse (¡967); My Night at
(¡99¡). Maud’s (aka Ma Nuit chez Maud) (¡969); Claire’s Knee (aka Le
The Cowboy and the Lady (¡938); A Lady Takes a Chance (aka Genou de Claire) (¡970); Chloe in the Afternoon (aka L’Amour,
The Cowboy and the Girl) (¡943); Rodeo (¡952); The Lusty Men l’apres-midi; Love in the Afternoon) (¡972)
(¡952); Bronco Buster (¡952); Arena (¡953); Bus Stop (aka The
Wrong Kind of Girl) (¡956); Born Reckless (¡959); Stay Away Joe Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons
(¡968); Black Rodeo (¡97¡); The Honkers (¡972); Junior Bonner
(¡972); J.W. Coop (¡972); When the Legends Die (¡972); Riding Tall Love and the choices we make in life are the central themes in Eric
(aka Squares) (¡972); Cotter (¡973); The Great American Cowboy Rohmer’s four-film series revolving around the four seasons. A
(¡974); Mustang Country (¡976); Goldenrod (¡977 TVM); Rodeo young girl tries to play matchmaker for her father and a high
Girl (¡980 TVM); My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (¡99¡); school teacher in A Tale of Springtime. In Autumn Tale, a widow
The Cowboy Way (¡994); 8 Seconds (¡994); F.T.W. (¡994); Colorado must contend with two matchmakers eager to pair her up with
Cowboy: The Bruce Ford Story (¡995); Convict Cowboy (¡995 their ideas of Mr. Right. A Summer’s Tale finds a young student
TVM); Ruby Jean & Joe (¡996)
torn between three women. The most bittersweet entry, A Tale of
Winter, focuses on a young woman named Felicie who has a pas-
Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs sionate a›air with a cook, Charles, at a beach resort. When her
Eric Rohmer initiated this new series in ¡980 after completing his vacation ends, she loses contact with her lover and therefore can-
“Six Moral Tales” (q.v.) and two nonseries excursions, The Mar- not tell him that she has become pregnant. Five years later, in
quise of O and Perceval. Although less thematically linked than the wintertime Paris, Felicie is wooed by two suitors and haunted by
“Moral Tales,” Rohmer’s “Comedies and Proverbs” extended the the memory of Charles and the life they could have had together.
filmmaker’s views on love, loneliness, and irony. In The Aviator’s See also Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs; Rohmer’s Moral
Wife (¡980), a man pining for the title character forgets her after Tales.
falling for an attractive student — whom he later discovers in the A Tale of Springtime (aka Conte de Printemps) (¡989); A Tale of
arms of another man as well. In The Perfect Marriage (¡982), a Winter (aka Conte d’hive) (¡992); A Summer’s Tale (aka Conte d’été)
woman tries to persuade a man that she will make the perfect wife (¡996); Autumn Tale (aka Conte d’automn) (¡998)
and he will make the perfect husband — only to find out the man
has been engaged to another all along. As with his “Moral Tales” Roller Blade Seven Series
series, critics ignored the early entries, while heaping praise on Producer-director Donald G. Jackson (Hell Comes to Frogtown)
later ones like the international hit Pauline at the Beach (¡982), and martial artist Scott Shaw teamed up for this would-be series.
Boyfriends and Girlfriends (¡988), and Summer (¡986). The orig- Actually, the third film, The Legend of the Roller Blade Seven, is
inal title of the latter film Le Rayon Vert actually translates as The an edited combination of the first two. Jackson shot The Roller
Green Ray, referring to a “flash of green” seen in rare sunsets in Blade Seven and Return of the Roller Blade back-to-back in the
Southern climates. Keeping with the series’ theme, it opened with early ¡990s for a total budget of $¡00,000. Both features starred
 RUNNING 173

Shaw as Hawk, a long-haired martial artist/swordsmen sent on a man’s mistress. Laurence Harvey played Joe Lampton, the work-
rescue mission by B-movie veteran William Smith. The cast also ing-class lad determined to get to the top at all costs — even the
included Frank Stallone (Sly’s brother), Karen Black, and cable death of his lover. Harvey returned to the role in ¡965’s Life at
TV late movie hostess Rhonda Shear. Jackson claims he and Shaw the Top, his character’s ambition now replaced by disillusion. Ken-
shot the films without a script — an improvisational technique he neth Haigh starred as Lampton in a popular ¡97¡–73 British TV
dubbed “Zen filmmaking.” Jackson alleges that executive pro- series called Man at the Top. It subsequently led to a third film,
ducer Tanya York re-edited the films without his consent. Jack- ¡975’s Man at the Top, the dramatics now transformed into big
son also made the earlier unrelated pictures Roller Blade (¡985) business soap opera. John Braine wrote the original novel.
and Roller Blade Warriors: Taken By Force (¡989) and he was Room at the Top (¡958); Life at the Top (¡965); Man at the Top
the man behind the Frogtown trilogy (q.v.). See also Roller (¡975)
Skating/Skateboards.
The Roller Blade Seven (¡99¡); The Legend of the Roller Blade The Rough Riders
Seven (¡992); Return of the Roller Blade Seven (¡993) Despite its title, this Monogram series had nothing to do with the
early days of Teddy Roosevelt. Instead, it was just another West-
Roller Skating/Skateboards ern series starring veteran screen cowboy Buck Jones. Jones had
On the silver screen, roller skating has never enjoyed the popu- been Universal’s major Western hero in the ¡930s, but he was
larity of ice skating, although trendy filmmakers have tried to cap- fading when Monogram cast him with Tim McCoy and Ray-
italize on both roller derby and roller disco fads. At the height of mond Hatton as the Rough Riders. The trio played U.S. marshals
the roller derby craze in the early ¡970s, Raquel Welch donned with a penchant for infiltrating outlaw gangs. The series ended
knee pads and a helmet for her rough-and-tumble title role in abruptly in ¡942 when Jones died in the Cocoanut Grove night-
Kansas City Bomber (¡972), the saga of a derby queen. A more en- club fire while on a U.S. Savings Bonds campaign. Jones had ac-
lightening look at those roller skating ladies was provided in the tually escaped from the building, but was overcome by the flames
previous year’s documentary Derby. James Caan participated in when he returned to help others.
a futuristic, and even more violent, variation of roller derby in Arizona Bound (¡94¡); The Man from Bodie (¡94¡); Forbidden
Rollerball (¡975). The most unlikely champion roller skater was Trails (¡94¡); Below the Border (¡942); Ghost Town Law (¡942);
Down Texas Way (¡942); Riders of the West (¡942); West of the Law
probably Mickey Rooney, who strapped on skates for ¡950’s The (¡942)
Fireball. The most graceful skaters were Fred Astaire and Ginger
Rogers, who performed a roller skate dance number to “Let’s Call Running
the Whole Thing O› ” in ¡937’s Shall We Dance. Later dancers
The melodic strains of the Chariots of Fire theme automatically
have naturally lacked their polish. Scott Baio and Dorothy Strat-
bring to mind the vision of barefoot runners gliding across a
ten took to the disco dance floor on roller skates in Skatetown,
sandy beach. That, plus the fact it won the ¡98¡ Best Picture
U.S.A., as did Linda Blair in Roller Boogie (¡979). Mercifully, both
Oscar, makes Chariots the most well-known running film, but
movies slid out of theaters in no time. More interesting uses of
other pictures have covered the sport with equal depth. The ¡962
roller skates can be found in Return to Oz (¡985) and Solarbabies.
Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner made Tom Courtenay a
In the former film, a gang of skating humanoids called the Wheel-
star for his portrayal of a lonely lad who finds solace in pound-
ers pestered Dorothy. The futuristic teens in Solarbabies (¡986)
ing a cross-country course. See How She Runs (¡978), Running
used skates as their primary means of transportation. Movies fea-
(¡979), and On the Edge (¡985) were more conventional exami-
turing skateboards include Skateboard, Thrashin’, Gleaming the
nations of the runner’s psyche, dealing with the obsession and
Cube, and even Back to the Future. Bill Murray’s Loose Shoes in-
motivation that make some athletes push themselves to the limit.
cluded a trailer for the make-believe movie “Skateboarders from
Olympic runners have been profiled in documentaries such as Vi-
Hell.” See also Back to the Future Series; Ice Skating; Roller
sions of Eight and in the following fact-based biographies: Run-
Blade Seven.
ning Brave (Billy Mills), Babe (Babe Didrikson), The Jesse Owens
Shall We Dance (¡937); The Fireball (¡950); It’s Always Fair
Story, Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story, Prefontaine (Steve
Weather (¡955); Derby (¡97¡); Kansas City Bomber (¡972); Unholy
Rollers (¡972); Roll, Freddy, Roll (¡974 TVM); Rollerball (¡975); Prefontaine), Without Limits (Prefontaine again), and Endurance
Rollerbabies (¡976); Skateboard (¡977); Skatetown U.S.A. (¡977); (Haile Gebrsellasie). Fictional features about Olympic runners
Roller Boogie (¡979); Xanadu (¡980); Loose Shoes (aka Coming At- include The Loneliest Runner, The Games, Goldengirl, and Per-
tractions) (¡980); The Personals (¡98¡); Return to Oz (¡985); Back to sonal Best.
the Future (¡985); Roller Blade (¡986); Solarbabies (¡986); Thrashin’ Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (¡962); Billie (¡965);
(¡986); Madame Sousatzka (¡988); Gleaming the Cube (¡989); Roller The Games (¡970); Visions of Eight (¡973); Babe (¡975 TVM);
Blade Warriors (¡989); Hook (¡99¡); Prayer of the Rollerboys (¡99¡); Marathon Man (¡976); The Loneliest Runner (¡976 TVM); See How
Airborne (¡993); Brink! (¡998 TVM); Blade Squad (¡998 TVM); She Runs (¡978 TVM); Goldengirl (¡979); Running (¡979); The
Dogma (¡999); Big Daddy (¡999) Jericho Mile (¡979 TVM); Three Hundred Miles for Stephanie (¡980
TVM); Chariots of Fire (¡98¡); Personal Best (¡982); Running Brave
Room at the Top Series (¡983); The Terry Fox Story (¡983 TVM); Courage (aka Raw
Courage) (¡984); The Jesse Owens Story (¡984 TVM); On the Edge
This dour ¡958 drama is best remembered for its frank attitude (¡985); China Run (¡987); Forrest Gump (¡994); Run for the Dream:
toward sex, its depressing northern England setting, and Simone The Gail Devers Story (¡996 TVM); Prefontaine (¡997); Without
Signoret’s Oscar-winning performance as an ambitious young Limits (¡998); Endurance (¡999)
174 RUSTY

Rusty he was eventually dropped, allowing young Bobby Blake (Robert

Rusty was Columbia’s answer to canine rival Lassie in this a›able Blake of TV’s Baretta) to assume the sidekick role as the Indian
boy-and-dog series of the late ¡940s. Al Martin wrote the series boy Little Beaver. After ¡6 films, Republic promoted Elliott to
opener, ¡945’s Adventures of Rusty, which introduced Ted Don- bigger pictures and signed Allan “Rocky” Lane to play Red. Lane
aldson as young Danny Mitchell and Rusty as his faithful Ger- had been a contract player since ¡929 at Fox, Warners, and RKO
man Shepherd, a former police dog. John Litel, best known as before joining Republic as a serial star in ¡940. His transition into
Henry Aldrich’s (q.v.) dad, played Danny’s father in the first three the Ryder films went smoothly, assisted by Blake who provided
films before being replaced by Tom Powers. Ann Doran was continuity as Little Beaver. Lane played Red seven times before
Danny’s stepmother. The stories usually centered on Danny’s per- the Ryder series moved to Eagle Lion in ¡949. After his acting ca-
sonal problems (e.g., misunderstandings with Dad in For the Love reer ended in ¡96¡, Lane provided the voice of TV’s Mr. Ed. The
of Rusty), but it was Rusty who consistently saved the day. See also Eagle Lion pictures starred Jim Bannon, best-known as detective
Dogs. Jack Packard in Columbia’s short-lived I Love a Mystery (q.v.) se-
ries. Don Reynolds co-starred as Little Beaver. Plagued by legal
Adventures of Rusty (¡945); The Return of Rusty (¡946); Son of
Rusty (¡947); For the Love of Rusty (¡948); My Dog Rusty (¡948);
problems involving rights to the source comic strip, the Eagle
Rusty Leads the Way (¡948); Rusty Saves a Life (¡949); Rusty’s Birth- Lion Red Ryder series folded within a year. See also Comic Strip
day (¡950) Characters.
Tucson Raiders (¡944) (Bill Elliott); Marshal of Reno (¡944)
Ryan, Jack (Elliott); Vigilantes of Dodge City (¡944) (Elliott); Cheyenne Wild-
cat (¡944) (Elliott); The San Antonio Kid (¡944) (Elliott); Sheri›
In Tom Clancy’s bestselling novels, former Marine Jack Ryan of Las Vegas (¡944) (Elliott); Marshal of Laredo (¡945) (Elliott);
gradually progressed from a CIA analyst (The Hunt for Red Oc- Lone Texas Ranger (¡945) (Elliott); The Great Stagecoach Robbery
tober) to deputy director of the CIA (The Sum of All Fears) to vice- (¡945) (Elliott); Phantom of the Plains (¡945) (Elliott); Colorado
president (Debt of Honor) to president (Executive Orders). On the Pioneers (¡945) (Elliott); Wagon Wheels Westward (¡945) (Elliott);
silver screen, Ryan’s career has not yet progressed to the Oval Sun Valley Cyclone (¡946) (Elliott); Sheri› of Redwood Valley
O‡ce, but he has still been the subject of three hugely success- (¡946) (Elliott); California Gold Rush (¡946) (Elliott); Conquest of
Cheyenne (¡946) (Elliott); Santa Fe Uprising (¡946) (Allan Lane);
ful films. Alec Baldwin, in his first lead role, brought a youthful Stagecoach to Denver (¡946) (Lane); Homesteaders of Paradise Val-
professionalism to the role of Ryan in The Hunt for Red October. ley (¡947) (Lane); Rustlers of Devil’s Canyon (¡947) (Lane); Vigi-
To bolster the film’s star power, Sean Connery was cast as the lantes of Boom Town (¡947) (Lane); Marshal of Cripple Creek
Russian submarine commander who may be a defector. The film’s (¡947) (Lane); Oregon Trail Scouts (¡947) (Lane); The Fighting
box-o‡ce success convinced Paramount that it had a potential Redhead (¡949) ( Jim Bannon); The Cowboy and the Prizefighter
franchise of Bondian proportions. The studio tried to sign Bald- (¡949) (Bannon); Roll, Thunder, Roll (¡949) (Bannon); Ride,
win for a series of Jack Ryan movies, but the actor chose art over Ryder, Ride (¡949) (Bannon)
money and headed to the Broadway stage. Flustered, Paramount
opted to go with a proven star and cast Harrison Ford as Ryan in Sabata
Patriot Games. Some of Clancy’s readers claimed that Ford —¡9
When Clint Eastwood abandoned the Italian “spaghetti West-
years older than the Ryan character — was miscast. But the
erns” that made him an international star in the ¡960s, Lee Van
moviegoing public found him to be a convincing hero and made
Cleef stepped right into his boots. Van Cleef had the necessary
the picture a hit. Ford returned for Clear and Present Danger,
credentials — he had played opposite Eastwood in two of the three
which reteamed him with director Phillip Noyce and Anne Archer
“Man with No Name” (q.v.) films: For a Few Dollars More (¡965)
as Ryan’s wife Catherine. Plans for a fourth film stalled until ¡999
and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (¡967). Furthermore, Van
when Paramount announced plans to make The Sum of All Fears
Cleef made the perfect anti-hero and his well-groomed mustache
with Ford. The Harrison Ford movie Air Force One has been com-
and classy duds contrasted nicely with Eastwood’s scru›y char-
pared with the Ryan films, since Ford plays the U.S. president and
acter. Thus, by all accounts, ¡970’s Sabata should have made Van
Jack becomes president in the Clancy novels.
Cleef a superstar. However, that never occurred, although Sabata
The Hunt for Red October (¡990); Patriot Games (¡992); Clear enhanced Van Cleef ’s popularity among European moviegoers.
and Present Danger (¡994)
His character — a friendly variation of his earlier bad guys — gam-
bled freely, shot people without remorse, and broke the law if it
Ryder, Red suited his purpose. He also carried gimmicky guns (e.g., a der-
Republic Pictures first brought Fred Harmon’s comic strip West- ringer that fires an extra bullet from the handle). The year after
ern hero to the screen in the ¡940 serial The Adventures of Red Sabata was released, a film called Adios, Sabata appeared in the-
Ryder. Star Don Barry took the nickname “Red” and kept it for aters. At first glance, it looks like a sequel with Yul Brynner re-
the rest of his career — but he was not Republic’s choice to head- placing Van Cleef in the title role. However, it’s actually a com-
line a Red Ryder film series. That distinction went to Wild Bill pletely di›erent film also known as Indigo Black. Its producers
Elliott, a veteran B-Western star Republic lured away from Co- redubbed the film, changing the name of Brynner’s character from
lumbia in ¡943. Elliott had acquired his nickname “Wild Bill” Black to Sabata. This is confusing, to say the least, since Yul
while playing Wild Bill Hickock (q.v.) in an earlier serial and se- wears a black outfit (including an unbuttoned shirt which would
ries. Gabby Hayes played Elliott’s grizzled sidekick in the first two never be found in Sabata’s wardrobe). Interestingly, Van Cleef
Ryder pictures: ¡944’s Tucson Raiders and Marshal of Reno. But and Eastwood pursued a character named Indio in For a Few
 SAMURAI TRILOGY 175

Dollars More. As for the real Sabata, Van Cleef came back to play hiding place.” Launder and Gilliat produced two additional lack-
him in ¡972’s The Return of Sabata. Gianfranco Parolini, a director luster entries without Sim. The series apparently ended with
with a fetish for quick zooms, helmed all three films, and Ignazio ¡966’s The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery. However, Launder
Spalla played supporting roles. returned to the school ¡4 years later for The Wildcats of St. Trin-
Sabata (aka Ehi Amico… C’è Sabata, Hai Chiuso!) (¡970); ian’s, a time-capsule comedy that failed to find an audience.
Adios, Sabata (aka Indigo Black; Indio Black Sai Che to Dico: Sei Un Gilliat served as a production consultant, but did not have an ac-
Gran Giglio…) (¡97¡); The Return of Sabata (aka È tornato tive role in the writing chores. Launder and Gilliat broke into the
Sabata… Hai Chiuso Un’altra Volta) (¡972) movies as writers in the ¡930s. They penned the screenplay for
Hitchcock’s classic The Lady Vanishes (¡937) as well some of the
The Saint Inspector Hornleigh (q.v.) films. See also Boarding Schools.
Leslie Charteris’ dapper adventurer Simon Templar walked a thin The Belles of St. Trinian’s (¡954); Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s
line between crime and the law. His moniker, The Saint, was de- (¡958); The Pure Hell of St. Trinian’s (¡96¡); The Great St. Trinian’s
Train Robbery (¡966); The Wildcats of St. Trinian’s (¡980)
rived from his initials S.T. and his calling card featured a stick
figure with a halo. The movies never alluded to the Saint’s crim-
inal tendencies — he was strictly a good guy with a mischievous
Samurai Trilogy
streak. George Sanders was the screen’s busiest Saint, although Hiroshi Inagaki adapted Eiji Yoshikawa’s acclaimed novel Musashi
Louis Hayward and Hugh Sinclair each starred in two movies. in ¡94¡— only to return to the same literary source in ¡954 with
Jean Marais played the class-conscious sleuth on the French Miyamoto Musashi. This remake, the first part of an epic trilogy,
screen. In the ¡960s, Roger Moore made the role his own with a eclipsed the original in presenting the legend of the ¡7th century
highly successful TV series, which even spawned a theatrical film Japanese samurai/philosopher. It won an honorary Academy
(composed of two episodes). Although Moore’s show ended in Award as best foreign film of ¡955 (the category for Best Foreign
¡969, fellow Brit Ian Ogilvy starred in a short-lived revival series, Language Film was created the following year). Miyamoto Musashi
The Return of the Saint, nine years later. In ¡997, Paramount tried opens with the young man Takezo (Toshiro Mifune) and his best
unsuccesfully to launch a new franchise with The Saint starring friend Matahachi (Rentaro Mikuni) leaving the village of
Val Kilmer as Simon Templar. Kilmer seemed like a good choice Miyamoto with dreams of becoming great warriors. After sur-
for Templar based on his easy-going charm as Bruce Wayne in viving the bloody Battle of Sekigahara, they encounter Oku (Mit-
Batman Forever. But The Saint saddled him with a glum charac- suko Mito) and her daughter Akemi (Mariko Okada). When
ter (not at all like the one Charteris created) and a tired plot about Matahachi becomes Oku’s lover, Takezo returns to Miyamoto
a formula for cold fusion. alone and explains what happened to his friend’s family and be-
trothed, Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa). Matahachi’s angry parents
The Saint in New York (¡938) (Louis Hayward); The Saint in
London (¡939) (George Sanders); The Saint Strikes Back (¡939) refuse to believe their son would dishonor them and Otsu. When
(Sanders); The Saint’s Double Trouble (¡940) (Sanders); The Saint they demand that Takezo be arrested for treason, he seeks sanc-
Takes Over (¡940) (Sanders); The Saint in Palm Springs (¡94¡) tuary in Priest Takuan’s temple. In an unlikely turn of events,
(Sanders); The Saint Meets the Tiger (¡94¡) (Hugh Sinclair); The Takezo and Otsu fall in love. He studies to become a samurai and
Saint’s Vacation (¡94¡) (Sinclair); The Saint’s Girl Friday (aka The takes the name Musashi. At the film’s conclusion, he leaves Otsu
Saint Returns) (¡953) (Hayward); The Fiction-Makers (¡968 TVM) behind — temporarily one hopes — to seek enlightenment.
(Roger Moore); The Saint and the Brave Goose (¡98¡ TVM) (Ian
Miyamoto Musashi is less a traditional samurai film than a char-
Ogilvy); The Saint (¡997) (Val Kilmer)
acter study and love story enhanced by Jun Yasumoto’s stunning
color photography. When released in the U.S., it included nar-
St. Trinian’s Series ration by William Holden, apparently to clarify story points for
An unruly girls’ school where young ladies spent more time study- Western audiences. In the second part of the trilogy, Duel at Ichi-
ing betting sheets than history, St. Trinian’s provided the setting joji Temple (¡955), Musashi earns a reputation as a master swords-
for a popular series of British farces spanning 26 years. The di- man — his accomplishments attracting the attention of a young
rector-writing team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat created samurai named Kojira Saski (Koji Tsuruta). Both Otsu and Akemi
the series, but it was droll comic genius Alastair Sim who made wait for Mushashi. However, when Mushashi declares his love for
the first entries consistently entertaining. Actually, Launder, Otsu in a violent fashion, he dishonors her and leaves in disgrace.
Gilliat, and Sim had teamed up earlier for ¡950’s The Happiest In the final installment, Duel at Ganryu Island (¡956), Mushashi
Days of Your Life, a riotous comedy about a girls’ school (St. leaves behind his samurai days and becomes a farmer. When ban-
Swithin) which was accidentally “displaced” into a boys’ school dits threaten the village, though, he takes up his sword to pro-
(Nutbourne). Sim and Margaret Rutherford played the respective tect its residents. He also declares his love for Otsu, who, along
heads of the schools, but they generously devoted screen time to with Akemi, has followed him. The film ends with a spectacular
their youthful, mischievous co-stars. The Belles of St. Trinian’s sunset duel on the beach between Musashi and Kojira Saski. The
(¡954) initiated the series proper and introduced a swarm of re- second and third films, while always interesting, lack the emo-
bellious girls which made St. Swithin’s look like a charm school. tional impact of the first, which devotes the most time to the
Sim was doubly delightful as both the headmistress (in drag, of Musashi-Otsu love story. Additionally, the subplot involving the
course) and her brother. Sim also appeared, albeit too briefly, in village and the bandits in Duel at Ganryu Island seems lifted from
¡958’s follow-up Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s, in which a jewel The Seven Samurai (¡954). Director Hiroshi Inagaki also made
thief on the lam wishes he had never stumbled into the “perfect Kojira (¡967), which naturally focused on the life of Musashi’s
176 SANDERS, COMMISSIONER HARRY

Ganryu Island opponent. The real-life Musashi wrote many ings, culminating in the Mexican monster extravaganza Santo and
books, including The Book of Five Rings, an essay on samurai Blue Demon vs. the Monsters, which pitted the tag team against
strategy that business executives of the 20th century adopted as three vampires, a mummy, a cyclops, a Frankenstein monster, a
a guide on e›ective management techniques. mad doctor, and a robot double of the Blue Demon. Between
Samurai ¡: Miyamoto Musashi (aka Miyamoto Musashi; The ¡963 and ¡974, Santo often made several films a year while con-
Legend of Musashi; Master Swordsman) (¡954); Samurai 2: Duel at tinuing to make live appearances in the ring. However, the pop-
Ichijoji Temple (aka Ichijoji No Ketto; Samurai 2: Ichijoji No Ketto; ularity of wrestling movies in Mexico declined quickly in the
Zoku Miyamoto Musashi) (¡955); Samurai 3: Duel at Ganryu Island mid–¡970s. By the early ¡980s, El Santo — who was now in his six-
(aka Ketto Ganryu Jima; Samurai 3: Ketto Ganryu Jima; Miyamoto ties — retired from acting and wrestling. One of his final film ap-
Musashi Yori: Ketto Ganryu Jima) (¡956)
pearances was a cameo in ¡98¡’s Chanoc y el Hijo del Santo vs. Los
Vampiros Asesinos (Chanoc and The Son of Santo vs. the Killer Vam-
Sanders, Commissioner Harry pires) in which he introduced his son El Hijo del Santo as his heir
Prolific mystery writer Edgar Wallace created Commissioner apparent. Three years later, Rodolfo Guzman Huerta, the man be-
Sanders, a stern administrator stationed in Africa, with ¡9¡¡’s hind the silver mask, died of a heart attack. In ¡992, El Hijo del
Sanders of the River. However, in their lavish ¡935 film version, Santo made Santo: La Leyenda del Enmascarado de Plata (Santo:
Alexander and Zoltan Korda made Sanders a more mellow char- The Legend of the Silver-Masked One), in which Daniel Garcia
acter and relegated him to a supporting role. Paul Robeson took played the role of younger Santo’s father. Interestingly, the Santo
top billing as Bosambo, a native chief loyal to the British and a films remained relatively unknown in the U.S. until cable net-
friend of Sanders (Leslie Banks). The plot pitted Sanders against works gave them new exposure in the ¡980s. Even then, Santo
ruthless traders, while Bosambo confronts a rebellious rival chief. faced an identity crisis since some dubbed prints referred to him
The film is remembered chiefly for its striking on-location pho- as Samson. See also Blue Demon; Neutron; Wrestling. In the fol-
tography and its unintentionally depressing view of British colo- lowing list, the dates refer to when the films were produced, since
nialism. Although the film did not spawn a sequel, Francis Ger- release dates could not be confirmed.
ard penned the novel Return of Sanders of the River in ¡939. Three The Brain of Evil (aka El Cerebro del Mal) (¡958); Santo vs. the
decades later, British actor Richard Todd starred as Sanders in two Infernal Men (aka Santo Contra Hombres Infernales) (¡958); Santo
inexpensive B-pictures. The first Todd film, ¡963’s Sanders of the vs. the Zombies (aka Invasion of the Zombies; Santo Contra los Zom-
River, was a loose adaptation that found Sanders investigating a bies) (¡96¡); Santo vs. the King of Crime (aka Santo Contra el Rey de
murder in an African hospital. The ¡964 follow-up, Coast of Skele- Crimen) (¡96¡); Santo in the Hotel of the Dead (aka Santo en el Hotel
tons, found Sanders encountering a gang of diamond-seeking de la Muerte) (¡96¡); Santo Against the Diabolical Brain (aka Santo
heavies in southwest Africa. Sanders’ creator Edgar Wallace wrote Contra el Cerebro Diabólico) (¡96¡); Samson vs. the Vampire Women
over ¡70 novels during his career, many of which were adapted (aka Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiras) (¡962); Samson in the Wax
Museum (aka Santo in the Wax Museum; Santo en el Museo de Cera)
by German filmmakers in the ¡950s. Wallace also wrote the orig- (¡963); Santo vs. the Strangler (aka Santo Contra el Estrangulador)
inal story for the ¡933 classic King Kong (q.v.). (¡963); The Ghost of the Strangler (aka Espectro del Estrangulador;
Sanders of the River (aka Bosambo) (¡935); Sanders of the River Santo Contra el Espectro) (¡963); Santo Attacks the Witches (aka The
(aka Death Drums Along the River) (¡963); Coast of Skeletons (¡964) Witches Attack; Santo Ataca a las Brujas; Atacan las Brujas) (¡964);
The Diabolical Hatchet (aka El Hacha Diabólica (¡964); Grave Rob-
El Santo bers (aka Profanadores de Tumbas) (¡965); Santo vs. Baron Brakola
(aka Santro Contra el Barón Brakola) (¡965); Santo vs. the Martian
Mexican wrestler El Santo, whose trademark silver mask covered Invasion (aka Santo Contra Invasión de los Marcianos) (¡966); Santo
his head, achieved fame in the ring long before he became a film vs. The Villains of the Ring (aka Santo el Enmascarado de Plata vs.
star. The wrestler, whose real name was Rodolfo Guzman Huerta, Los Villanos del Ring) (¡966); Operation 67 (aka Operación 67)
had fought under other names, but fame eluded him until he cre- (¡966); The Treasure of Montezuma (aka El Tesoro de Montezuma)
ated his El Santo (The Saint) persona in ¡942. A year later, he won (¡966); Santo and Dracula’s Treasure (aka Santo en el Tesoro de
the first of several national Mexican titles, becoming famous for Drácula; El Vampiro y el Sexo) (¡968); Santo vs. Capulina (¡968);
his “la de a caballo” (arm camel clutch) finishing move and for Santo Against Blue Demon in Atlantis (aka Santo Contra Blue
wearing the silver mask (which he never removed). El Santo was Demon en la Atlántida) (¡969); Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Mon-
sters (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruós) (¡969); The
a national celebrity and comic book hero when he made the World of the Dead (aka El Mundo de los Muertos) (¡969); Santo vs.
Cuban-produced wrestling movie The Brain of Evil (aka El Cere- the Head Hunters (aka Santo Contra los Cazadores de Cabezas)
bro del Mal) (¡958). He eventually signed with Mexican producer (¡969); Santo Faces Death (aka Santo Frente a la Muerte) (¡969);
Alberto Lopez and starred in Santo vs. the Zombies (¡96¡). This film Santo vs. the Riders of Terror (aka Santo Contra los Jinetes del Terror)
laid the groundwork for other Santo films that portrayed the Sil- (¡970); Santo in the Revenge of the Vampire Women (aka Santo en la
ver Masked One as a wrestler-crimefighter. These wild, action- Venganza de las Mujeres Vampiras) (¡970); Santo vs. the Vice Mafia
packed films peaked in popularity during the ¡960s, a decade in (aka Santo Contra la Mafia del Vicio) (¡970); Santo in the Mummy’s
which the silver-masked wrestler fought a plethora of vampires, Revenge (aka Santo en la Venganza de la Momia) (¡970); The Mum-
mies of Guanajuato (aka Las Momias de Guanajuato) (¡970); Santo
zombies, witches, man-made monsters, and other wrestlers. Rival
Against the Daughter of Frankenstein (aka The Daughter of Franken-
wrestlers the Blue Demon (q.v.) and Neutron (q.v.) were intro- stein; Santo Contra la Hija de Frankenstein) (¡97¡); Suicide Mission
duced in the mid–¡960s. Neutron made little impact, but the Blue (aka Misión Suicida) (¡97¡); Murderers from Other Worlds (aka As-
Demon eventually costarred with Santo in ¡969’s Santo Against esinos de Otros Mundos; Killers from Other Worlds) (¡97¡); The Royal
Blue Demon in Atlantis. Its success led to additional wrestler pair- Eagle (aka El Águila Real; Santo y la Tigresa en el Águila) (¡97¡);
 THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL 177

Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man (aka Santo y with a new title (Sartana’s Blood at Sundown) and promoted as one
Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre Lobo) (¡972); Santo versus of the Sartana films. Despite their popularity in Europe, the Sar-
the Kidnappers (aka Santo Contras Los Secuestradores) (¡972); Santo tana films never achieved the American success of the Sergio
Against the Black Magic (aka Santo Contra la Magia Negra) (¡972); Leone–Clint Eastwood Man with No Name movies (q.v.) nor the
The Beasts of Terror (aka Las Bestias del Terror) (¡972); Santo vs. the
later Trinity series (q.v.).
She Wolves (aka Santo vs. Las Lobas) (¡972); Anonymous Death
Threat (aka Anónimo Mortal) (¡972); Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Sartana (aka Se Incontri Sartana Prega per la Tua Morte; If You
Frankenstein (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra el Dr. Frankenstein) Meet Sartana…Pray for Your Death; Gunfighters Die Harder) (¡968)
(¡973); Santo vs. the Dr. Death (aka Santo Contra el Dr. Muerte; ( John Garko); I Am Sartana…Your Angel of Death (aka Sono Sar-
Masked Man Strikes Again) (¡973); Santo in the Mystery of the Black tana, il Vostro Becchino; Sartana and the Gravedigger) (¡969)
Pearl (aka Santo en el Misterio de la Perla Negra) (¡974); Santo and (Garko); Sartana Kills Them All (aka Lo Irritarono…e Sartana Fece
Mantequilla in The Vengeance of the Crying Woman (aka Santa y Piazza Pulita) (¡970) (Garko); Light the Fuze…Sartana Is Coming
Mantequilla en la Venganza de la Llorona) (¡974); Santo in Black (aka Una Nuvola di Porvere…un Grido di Morte Arriva Sartana)
Gold (aka La Noche de San Juan; Santo en Oro Negro; Night of San (¡97¡) (Garko); Have a Good Funeral, My Friend…Sartana Will Pay
Juan) (¡975); Mystery in Bermuda (aka Misterio en las Bermudas) (aka Buon Funerale, Amigos…Paga Sartana) (¡97¡) (Garko); I Am
(¡977); Santo on the Border of Terror (aka Santo en la Frontera del Sartana…Trade Your Guns for a Co‡n (aka Ce Sartana, Vendi la
Terror) (¡979); Santo vs. the TV Killer (aka Santo Contra el Asesino Pistola e Comprati la Bara) (¡972) (George Hilton)
de la T.V.) (¡98¡); Chanoc and the Son of Santo vs. the Killer Vam-
pires (aka Chanoc y el Hijo del Santo vs. Los Vampiros Asesinos) Scanners Series
(¡98¡); The Fist of Death (aka El Puño de la Muerte) (¡982); The A marketing campaign emphasizing its eye-popping visual e›ects
Fury of the Karate Experts (aka La Furia de los Karatecas) (¡982); turned ¡98¡’s Scanners into a modest mainstream hit for Canadian
Santo: The Legend of the Silver-Masked One (aka Santo: La Leyenda cult director David Cronenberg. Thematically, this science fiction
del Enmascarado de Plata) (¡992)
thriller di›ers little from Cronenberg’s previous and subsequent
works — all of which revolve around human metamorphosis (e.g.,
Sarah, Plain and Tall Series an operation turns a woman into a blood-seeking killer in ¡977’s
Patricia MacLachlan’s award-winning novel Sarah, Plain and Tall Rabid, an experiment transforms a man into a mutant in ¡986’s
reached television in ¡99¡ as a presentation of the Hallmark Hall The Fly). In Scanners, a drug has created a race of humans with
of Fame. Set in the early ¡900s, it starred Glenn Close as Sarah telekinetic powers who roam as social outcasts through a city of
Wheaton, a Maine spinster who answers a newspaper ad placed the near-future. There are good scanners and bad ones, and two
by widower father Jacob Witting (Christopher Walken). Sarah, opposing brothers engage in a climactic telekinetic showdown
who describes herself as “plain and tall,” journeys to the Witting’s that results in eyeballs spurting out of their sockets. Despite such
prairie home to see if she can “make a di›erence” during a 30- occasional descents into visual gore, Scanners emerged as a styl-
day trial period. Viewers responded warmly to the slow-building ish film with a sound following. Yet, as Cronenberg progressed
relationship between Sarah and Jacob, making Sarah, Plain and to bigger-budgeted films, the likelihood of a Scanners sequel ap-
Tall one of the most successful TV movies of ¡99¡. Television au- peared to fade forever. However, in the early ¡990s, executive
diences also embraced Skylark, the ¡993 sequel written by producer Pierre David mounted a modest four-film series built
MacLachlan and again starring Close and Walken. It pitted the around Cronenberg’s original premise. Scanners II: The New
now-married couple against a severe drought that threatened their Order (¡99¡) sacrificed original storytelling for visual flair. Once
farm. Close earned Emmy nominations for Best Actress in a Spe- again, a good scanner tracks down a bad one and saves other
cial or Miniseries for both films. In a third installment, Sarah, scanners from a power-hungry “normal” human. The only new
Plain and Tall: Winter’s End (¡999), Jack Palance joined Close and element was a drug addiction theme (we learn that scanners can
Walken as Jacob’s father who returns home to make peace with be controlled by an addictive drug that relieves their mental pain).
his son. See also Mail Order Brides. Scanners III: The Takeover (¡992) featured an evil female scanner
Sarah, Plain and Tall (¡99¡ TVM); Skylark (aka Skylark: The who learns that she can “scan” normal humans via television.
Sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall) (¡993 TVM); Sarah, Plain and David produced, directed, and cowrote a fourth entry, Scanner
Tall: Winter’s End (¡999 TVM) Cop (¡994), about an LAPD rookie (Daniel Quinn) who uses his
scanning powers to thwart a mad scientist turning innocent peo-
Sartana ple into cop killers. Quinn returned for the following year’s Scan-
While most spaghetti Western gunfighters killed for revenge or ner Cop 2, which pitted his police hero against a scanner-killing
profit, Sartana served a higher justice as an “Angel of Death.” scanner. See also Telekinesis.
Sometimes, he pitted evil against evil, giving men of greed just Scanners (¡98¡); Scanners II: The New Order (¡99¡); Scanners
enough rope to hang themselves. However, he typically rendered III: The Takeover (¡992); Scanner Cop (¡994); Scanner Cop 2 (aka
his final verdict with his deadly aim. John (Gianni) Garko played Scanner Cop 2: Volkin’s Revenge; Scanners: The Showdown) (¡995)
the Western vigilante in five films, with George Hilton taking over
for a final entry. Spaghetti Western enthusiasts recognize the six The Scarlet Pimpernel
Garko/Hilton films as the “o‡cial” series. However, there were Emma Magdalena Rosalia Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy — better
many other Italian-made Westerns featuring a character named known as Baroness Orczy — created one of the cinema’s most
Sartana. To make matters more confusing, Garko played a memorable swashbucklers in her ¡905 novel The Scarlet Pimper-
di›erent character named Sartana in the ¡967 movie One Thou- nel. Set during the French Revolution, Orczy’s tale centers on Sir
sand Dollars on the Black. That film was released two years later Percy Blakeney, an English gentleman who leads a double life. In
178 SCREAM SERIES

England, he plays the part of a fop described as “the sleepiest, Scream Series
dullest, most British Britisher that had ever set a pretty woman Kevin Williamson’s smart screenplay and an energetic young cast
yawning.” In France, though, he assumes the guise of the gallant propelled Scream into a huge sleeper hit in late ¡996. Williamson
Scarlet Pimpernel, who stages daring rescues to spare aristocrats deftly satirized slasher movie conventions while simultaneously de-
from the bloody blade of the guillotine. Orczy’s novel, first pub- livering legitimate slasher movie thrills. For example, the opening
lished as a play, was a huge success and spawned a series of Pim- scene in Scream pays subtle homage to Psycho while borrowing its
pernel books. Its inevitable transition to the silver screen first oc- set-up from When a Stranger Calls. Yet, its most chilling moment
curred in ¡9¡7 with an obscure version produced by Fox. Three relies on the audience’s knowledge of slasher pictures: A character
other silent films followed, all based on Orczy novels: Cecil dies because she thought Jason—not his mother—was the killer in
Humphreys played the title role in The Elusive Pimpernel (¡920); the original Friday the ¡3th. The cast consisted of a “who’s who” of
Holmes Herbert played the lead in I Will Repay (¡923); and Math- young talent: Neve Campbell (as heroine Sidney Prescott), David
eson Lang was Sir Percy in The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel Arquette (as Deputy Dewey Riley), Courtney Cox (as newshound
(¡928). In ¡934, producer Alexander Korda mounted the most fa- Gale Weathers), plus Drew Barrymore, Jamie Kennedy, Liev
mous version of Orczy’s novel, with Leslie Howard excelling as Schreiber, Rose McGowan, and Skeet Ulrich. Campbell, Arquette,
both the dandyish gentleman and the cavalier Pimpernel. Merle and Cox returned for two sequels. In Scream 2 (¡997), Sidney
Oberon sparkled as Percy’s puzzled wife Marguerite and Raymond Prescott, having survived the brutal murders in the first film, en-
Massey oozed venom as the villain Chauvelin. Still, the film be- rolls in college—where the killings start all over again. Again, the
longed to Howard, who tossed o› the classic movie line: “They film’s opening is its cleverest set piece: A young woman is murdered
seek him here, they seek him there / Those Frenchies seek him in a movie theater while watching Stab, a movie based on the inci-
everywhere / Is he in Heaven? Is he in Hell? / That damned elu- dents detailed in the first Scream. The making of a Stab sequel pro-
sive Pimpernel!” Korda co-produced a less-successful ¡938 sequel, vided the plot for Scream 3 (¡999), which transferred the setting and
The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, with Barry Barnes replacing the killings to Hollywood. Written by Ehren Kruger, instead of
the incomparable Howard. Three years later, Howard produced, Williamson, its movie-within-a-movie structure bears a slight re-
directed, and starred in Pimpernel Smith, which updated the ac- semblance to Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (¡997). That’s not too
tion to World War II and cast Howard as an apparently absent- surprising, considering that Wes Craven directed all three Scream
minded professor who rescued refugees from the Nazis. The ¡950 movies. The 2000 comedy Scary Movie spoofed the slasher movie
Swedish film Pimpernel Svesson featured a similar plot with Edvard genre and the Scream Films in particular. See also Slasher Movies.
Persson going behind the Iron Curtain. The ¡945 film Paris Un- Scream (¡996); Scream 2 (¡997); Scream 3 (¡999)
derground (aka Madame Pimpernel) also takes place during World
War II, but it’s a Pimpernel movie in name only. Constance Ben- Sea Serpents
nett and Gracie Fields starred in the fact-based story of two women
Judging from their reluctance to be photographed, one might as-
who smuggle Allied aviators out of Nazi-occupied France. Korda
sume that sea serpents are shy creatures. Filmmakers have certainly
returned to Orczy’s novel in ¡953 when he convinced Michael
honored the creatures’ privacy. The Secret of the Loch, a mild ¡934
Powell and Emeric Pressberger to make The Elusive Pimpernel star-
British comedy, and ¡982’s The Loch Ness Horror may be the only
ring David Niven. Occasionally conceived as a musical, the film
feature films exclusively about the Loch Ness Monster. Holmes en-
featured plenty of style (e.g., animated stars represent a sneeze),
countered “Nessie” in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (¡970),
but oddly lacked charm — perhaps because Powell never wanted
but he revealed “the serpent” to be a mechanical trick. Nessie was
to make it. In the ¡960s, the Carry On (q.v.) movies spoofed the
one of The Mysterious Monsters (¡976) addressed in the exploitative
Pimpernel with Don’t Lose Your Head (¡967). An unexpectedly lav-
Sunn Classics “documentary.” And a tiny fish grew into Nessie in
ish TV movie surfaced in ¡982 with Anthony Andrews as a dash-
one of the magical moments in George Pal’s ¡964 fantasy The Seven
ing Pimpernel, Jane Seymour as a beautiful and intelligent Mar- Faces of Dr. Lao. Some of the suspects in The Dragon Murder Case
guerite, and brooding Ian McClellan as Chauvelin. In ¡999, (¡934) pointed to murder evidence which suggested a sea serpent,
Richard E. Grant took his turn as Sir Percy in the A&E cable net- but Philo Vance knew better and later identified a human culprit.
work’s adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Sir Percy’s first ap- Quests for sea serpents opened 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (¡954),
pearance on television was in the form of Marius Goring who The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (¡957), and, quite naturally,
starred in The Scarlet Pimpernel, a ¡958 syndicated TV series. A The Quest (¡986). Timothy Bottoms and Ray Milland found what
Broadway musical of The Scarlet Pimpernel, written by Frank they were looking for in The Sea Serpent (¡986), a film they would
Wildhorn and Nan Knighton, opened in ¡997. Though panned surely like to forget. See also Dragons.
by many critics, it blossomed into a moderate hit, thanks to the
The Secret of the Loch (¡934); The Dragon Murder Case (¡934);
popularity of star Douglas Sills. The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (¡957); The Seven Faces of
The Scarlet Pimpernel (¡9¡7); The Elusive Pimpernel (¡920); I Dr. Lao (¡964); The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (¡970); The
Will Repay (¡923); The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (¡928); The Mysterious Monsters (¡976); The Loch Ness Horror (¡982); The Sea
Scarlet Pimpernel (¡934); Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (¡938); Serpent (¡986); The Quest (¡986); Freddie as F.R.O.7 (¡992)
Pimpernel Smith (aka Mister V; The Fighting Pimpernel) (¡94¡);
Pimpernel Svensson (¡950); The Elusive Pimpernel (aka The Fighting
Pimpernel) (¡953); Don’t Lose Your Head (aka Carry On Don’t Lose
Seals and Sea Lions
Your Head; Carry On Pimpernel) (¡967); The Scarlet Pimpernel With their dog-like muzzles, charismatic flippers, and friendly
(¡982 TVM); The Scarlet Pimpernel (¡999 TVM) barks, seals and sea lions have specialized in children’s films such
 SERIALS INTO FEATURES 179

as: Sammy the Way Out Seal (¡962), Sandy the Seal (¡969), Salty Chandu on Magic Island. In a unique reversal, Burroughs–Tarzan
(¡974), The Golden Seal (¡983); Andre (¡994), and Slappy and the Enterprises edited its ¡935 feature film The New Adventures of
Stinkers (¡998). The plots of these films often revolve around pro- Tarzan (aka Tarzan and the Green Goddess) into a ¡2-chapter se-
tecting the sea mammals from cruel poachers. In The Sea Spoil- rial in a desperate attempt to compete with MGM’s Tarzan se-
ers (¡936), John Wayne played a Coast Guard skipper who bat- ries (q.v.). The company reasoned that theater owners uninter-
tles seal poachers. Suzanne Somers portrayed a lawyer trying to ested in showing the feature version might be induced to play the
stop the slaughtering of baby seals in Nothing Personal (¡980). In serial version. The ploy did not work. In ¡936, Universal released
stark contrast, Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn played seal its first Flash Gordon serial, an expensive ($350,000 according to
hunters in the ¡850s nautical adventure The World in His Arms most sources) space opera that earned a fervent following. Inspired
(¡952). The most memorable seal movie is undoubtedly John by Orson Welles’ famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast and
Sayles’ mystical The Secret of Roan Inish (¡995), which concerns the success of the serial sequel Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars, Uni-
the Irish legend of “selkies.” These mysterious sea creatures could versal released two Flash Gordon feature versions in ¡938. Trip to
transform themselves from seals into humans. Finally, it must be Mars was condensed into Mars Attacks the World, while the orig-
pointed out that many seals are played by sea lions in movies. In inal Flash Gordon became Rocketship. Confusingly, the footage
Andre, the fact-based story of a grey harbor seal, the title charac- from these serials, a third Flash Gordon entry, and a Buck Rogers
ter was actually played by a California sea lion. serial have been re-edited into other feature versions as well. For
The Sea Spoilers (¡936); The World in His Arms (¡952); Sammy example, Trip to Mars can be viewed as the 99-minute Deadly Ray
the Way Out Seal (¡962); Sandy the Seal (¡969); Salty (¡974); Noth- from Mars in addition to the aforementioned ¡0¡-minute Mars At-
ing Personal (¡980); The Golden Seal (¡983); Andre (¡994); The Se- tacks the World. Although Universal encountered great success
cret of Roan Inish (¡995); Slappy and the Stinkers (¡998) with its Flash Gordon serials, little Republic Pictures eventually
became the most popular producer of serials. Throughout the
Secret Games Series ¡940s and midway through the ¡950s, Republic filled matinee
Luis Buñuel’s classic Belle de Jour served as the apparent inspira- screens with exciting chapters of Spy Smasher (¡942), Captain
tion for this series of “erotic thrillers” about a bored housewife America (¡944), and Panther Girl of the Kongo (¡955). The tele-
who becomes a prostitute. In lieu of Catherine Deneuve, Secret vision series format contributed greatly to the death of theatrical
Games presents Michelle Brin as Julianne, who resents being ne- serials in the mid–¡950s. However, in ¡965, Columbia revived in-
glected by her architect husband (Billy Drago) and joins a high- terest in serials by mounting a limited release of its ¡943 Batman
class brothel. She finds sexual liberation in the arms of Eric (Mar- serial. This, along with the ¡966 Batman TV series, inspired Re-
tin Hewitt), a mysterious client who becomes obsessed with public to condense 26 of its best serials and release them directly
Julianne. Good sex turns into a bad time when Eric tries to black- to television. In the following list, the serials are listed chrono-
mail, and eventually murder, Julianne’s husband. As erotic logically first, followed by the feature versions shown on the right.
thrillers go, it’s neither erotic nor thrilling. Still, there’s plenty of The Three Musketeers (¡933)—Desert Command
nudity in the R-rated version and even more in the unrated one The Return of Chandu (¡934)—The Return of Chandu
(which stops shy of showing explicit footage). The videotape’s Chandu on Magic Island
The New Adventures of Tarzan (¡935)—The New Adventures
minor popularity resulted in two unrelated sequels. In Secret of Tarzan
Games 2: The Escort, Martin Hewitt plays a cheating husband Darkest Africa (¡936)—Batmen of Africa (aka King of Jungle
who gets involved with two other women. Secret Games 3 is ba- land)
sically a remake of the first film with May Karasun as the neglected Undersea Kingdom (¡936)—Sharad of Atlantis
housewife. Gregory Hippolyte, who directed all three films, spe- Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (¡936)—Robinson Crusoe of
cialized in making erotic thrillers in the ¡990s. See also Animal Mystery Island
Flash Gordon (¡936)—Rocketship
Instincts Series; Body Chemistry Series; and Night Eyes Series.
Spaceship to the Unknown
Secret Games (¡992); Secret Games 2: The Escort (¡993); Secret Space Soldiers
Games 3 (¡994) Atomic Rocketship
Zorro Rides Again (¡937)—Zorro Rides Again
Secret Service Series see Bancroft, Brass Fighting Devil Dogs (¡938)—Torpedo of Doom
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (¡938)—Mars Attacks the World
Deadly Ray from Mars
Serials into Features Hawk of the Wilderness (¡938)—Lost Island of Kioga
Buck Rogers (¡939)—Planet Outlaws
The practice of condensing movie serials into feature films was Destination Saturn
pioneered in the ¡930s by a small company called Mascot Pictures. Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (¡940)—Purple Death from
A major producer of early serials, Mascot discovered it could get Outer Space
twice the value out of its serials by also re-releasing highlights as Perils from the Planet Mongo
feature films. Thus, the ¡933 John Wayne Western serial The Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe
Three Musketeers was recut and released as Desert Command. A The Mysterious Dr. Satan (¡940)—Dr. Satan’s Robot
Spy Smasher (¡940)—Spy Smasher Returns
rival studio, Principal, squeezed two feature films out of its Bela
The Perils of Nyoka (¡942)—Nyoka and the Lost Secrets of Hip
Lugosi serial The Return of Chandu (¡934). The first four chap- pocrates
ters were condensed into the film The Return of Chandu, while G-Men vs. the Black Dragon (¡943)—Black Dragon of Man
the last eight chapters were edited into another feature called zanar
180 SEWERS

The Masked Marvel (¡943)—Sakima and the Masked Marvel Sex Change
The Tiger Woman (¡944)—Jungle Gold
Manhunt of Mystery Island (¡945)—Captain Mephisto and the Exploitation films have frequently tackled subjects considered taboo
Transformation Machine even by serious filmmakers. Thus, it is not surprising that the first
Federal Operator 99 (¡945)—FBI 99 films to address men undergoing surgical operations to become
The Purple Monster Strikes (¡945)—D-Day on Mars women (and vice versa) were drive-in second features. Edward D.
The Crimson Ghost (¡946)—Cyclotrode “X” Wood, Jr., director of the infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space,
The Black Widow (¡947)—Sombra, the Spider Woman broached the subject back in ¡953 with Glen or Glenda? A shod-
G-Men Never Forget (¡948)—Code 645
Dangers of the Canadian Mounted (¡948)— R.C.M.P. and the dily-constructed film (like most of Wood’s), it told the stories of
Treasure of Genghis Khan transvestite Glen and ex-marine Alan who becomes Ann. Although
Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc. (¡948)—Golden Hands of undoubtedly inept, the film was nevertheless ahead of its time in
Kurigal terms of subject matter. Seventeen years later, United Artists re-
King of the Rocket Men (¡949)—Lost Planet Airmen leased the low-budget filler The Christine Jorgensen Story (¡970), the
The Invisible Monster (¡950)—Slaves of the Invisible Monster alleged facts behind “the world’s first sex change operation.” That
Flying Disc Man from Mars (¡95¡)—Missile Monsters
Radar Men from the Moon (¡952)—Retik, the Moon Menace
same year, Gore Vidal’s satiric sex-change novel Myra Breckinridge
Zombies of the Stratosphere (¡952)—Satan’s Satellites reached the screen, with film critic Rex Reed as Myron who be-
Jungle Drums of Africa (¡952)—U-238 and the Witch comes surgically transformed into Raquel Welch as Myra! The film
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders (¡953)—Missile Base at drowned in its own tastelessness despite a memorable cast and a de-
Taniak cent budget. The obscure British picture I Want What I Want
Trader Tom of the China Seas (¡954)—Target: Sea of China (¡972) treated the subject with much greater respect. Both critics
Panther Girl of the Kongo (¡955)—The Claw Monsters
and audiences responded well to ¡975’s Dog Day Afternoon, the
story of a man who stages a bank robbery to pay for his male lover’s
Sewers sex-change operation. Karen Black shocked her diner companions
Until olfactory films can be refined (see “Smellovision” under by revealing she was once a man in Come Back to the 5 & Dime,
Gimmicks), sewer settings will be underappreciated. Still, the Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (¡982). The ¡986 TV movie Second Serve
dark catacombs that lurk beneath urban areas have served the was the biography of surgeon Richard Raskins who became tennis
horror film well, providing an atmospheric retreat for people-shy player Renee Richards (Vanessa Redgrave played both roles). Two
monsters. The Phantom of the Opera played piano and plotted other movies have dealt with non-surgical change of sexes. Young
murder in his tastefully-decorated sewer lair. To his dismay, Dr. Jekyll (Ralph Bates) downed his formula and transformed into
Christine, the unwilling object of his a›ections, found it a loath- an evil woman (Martine Beswicke) in Hammer Films’ sly ¡972
some place. Rats are a common sight in sewers, so naturally ¡972’s variation Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. A ¡4-year-old girl wished to be-
Ben, a tale about a misunderstood rodent and his young human come a boy — and did — in the ¡986 fantasy Something Special.
friend, featured extensive sewer footage. Other more horrific sewer Glen or Glenda? (aka I Changed My Sex; I Led Two Lives; He or
residents include the giant ants in Them! (¡954), the killer baby She?) (¡953); Homicidal (¡96¡); The Christine Jorgensen Story (¡970);
in It’s Alive! (¡974), and the title creatures in Alligator (¡980) and Myra Breckinridge (¡970); I Want What I Want (¡972); Dr. Jekyll
the ¡988 remake of The Blob. The ¡984 C.H.U.D. (that’s Canni- and Sister Hyde (¡972); Dog Day Afternoon (¡975); Let Me Die a
balistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) was about a mutant Woman (¡979); The Woman Inside (¡98¡); Come Back to the 5 &
Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (¡982); The World According to
race that lived in the sewers by day and sought surface victims at Garp (¡982); Shadey (¡985); Second Serve (¡986 TVM); Something
night. It was obviously inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft short story Special (aka Willy/Milly; I Was a Teenage Boy) (¡986); Night of the
“Pickman’s Model,” which was adapted into a chilling segment Living Babes (¡987); Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (¡988);
on Rod Serling’s ¡970–73 TV series Night Gallery. The Third Cleo/Leo (¡989); The Crew (¡994)
Man (¡949) featured a memorable scene in which Harry Lime
(Orson Welles) is chased through a Vienna sewer. Lex Luthor’s
sewer lair in Superman (¡978) looked very posh, possibly setting
The Shadow
a new standard for screen supervillains. And a band of Christians “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” The Shadow
trekked through the Caesar Augustus Memorial Sewer in Monty knew, and this mysterious do-gooder dealt out his own brand of
Python’s Life of Brian (¡979). justice in a series of immensely popular pulp novels, a radio pro-
gram, and a handful of films. Created by Maxwell Grant (real
Les Miserables (¡935); The Phantom of the Opera (¡943); The
Third Man (¡949); Them! (¡954); Kanal (aka They Loved Life;
name Walter Gibson) in ¡93¡, the Shadow sent his agents into the
Sewer) (¡956); Who’s Minding the Mint? (¡967); Ben (¡972); It’s underworld to infiltrate the ganglords. When they got into trou-
Alive! (¡974); 99 and 44/¡00% Dead (aka Call Harry Crown) ble, the Shadow — revolvers blazing at his side — came out of the
(¡974); Superman (¡978); Life of Brian (¡979); Alligator (¡980); The darkness to rescue them. Grant established in an early novel that
Blues Brothers (¡980); C.H.U.D. (¡984); Underworld (aka Transmu- the Shadow was not wealthy socialite Lamont Cranston. Never-
tations) (¡985); The Vindicator (aka Frankenstein ’88) (¡986); Wild theless, both on radio and in the movies, Cranston and the
Thing (¡987); Something Is Out There (¡988 TVM); The Blob Shadow were synonymous. Former silent film star Rod La Rocque
(¡988); Cyborg (¡989); Ghostbusters II (¡989); Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles (¡990); The Rainbow Thief (¡990); It (¡990 TVM); Jonny’s
brought the Shadow to the screen in ¡937’s The Shadow Strikes
Golden Quest (¡993 TVM); Super Mario Bros. (¡993); Judgment and ¡938’s International Crime. La Rocque retired from acting in
Night (¡993); Demolition Man (¡993); The Punisher (¡994); Escape the early ¡940s and entered into a successful real estate career.
from L.A. (¡996); Mimic (¡997) Monogram Pictures revived the Shadow for a ¡946 three-film
 SHAYNE, MICHAEL 181

series starring serial star Kane (“Spy Smasher”) Richmond. Re- Shaft (¡97¡); Shaft’s Big Score (¡972); Shaft in Africa (¡973);
public Pictures revived the Shadow in ¡958 with The Invisible Shaft (2000)
Avenger, a New Orleans–set mystery starring Richard Derr, which
was re-released in ¡962 as Bourbon Street Shadows. In ¡994, di- The Shaggy Dog Series
rector Russell (Highlander) Mulcahy directed The Shadow, an in- An ancient curse and a magical ring made Tommy Kirk his own
teresting box-o‡ce failure praised for its lavish sets and criticized best friend as the boy-turned-dog in ¡959’s The Shaggy Dog. This
for its trite story. Alec Baldwin played Lamont Cranston/The amusing variation on the werewolf theme established a juvenile
Shadow, with John Lone as archvillain Shiwan Khan (one of formula that worked very well for Disney during the ¡960s (e.g.,
Genghis Khan’s last ancestors). Son of Flubber, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones). The film also
The Shadow Strikes (¡937) (Rod La Rocque); International provided major roles for future ¡960s teen superstars Annette Fu-
Crime (¡938) (La Rocque); Behind the Mask (¡946) (Kane Rich- nicello and Tommy Kirk, while co-starring Fred MacMurray and
mond); The Shadow Returns (¡946) (Richmond); The Missing Lady
Tim Considine a year before My Three Sons. Dean Jones por-
(¡946) (Richmond); The Invisible Avenger (aka Bourbon Street Shad-
ows) (¡958) (Richard Derr); The Shadow (¡994) (Alec Baldwin) trayed Kirk’s character as an adult in ¡976’s The Shaggy D.A. The
¡987 TV movie The Return of the Shaggy Dog ignored the second
film, being a direct sequel to the ¡959 original. Disney also aired
Shadowchaser Series a TV movie remake of the original film in ¡994. See also Dogs;
Villainous androids run rampant in this run-of-the-mill, deriv- Humanimals.
ative action series. Project: Shadowchaser (¡992) combines ele- The Shaggy Dog (¡959); The Shaggy D.A. (¡976); The Return of
ments of Die Hard and The Terminator with its plot of a sinis- the Shaggy Dog (¡987 TVM); The Shaggy Dog (¡994 TVM)
ter android who holds the president’s daughter hostage in a
high-rise hospital. The ¡994 sequel, Night Siege Project, shifts the Sharks
action to a nuclear research facility where more nasty androids Except for bit parts, sharks had a hard time finding movie roles
plot to steal a $400 million bomb. Project: Shadowchaser 3000 prior to ¡975’s Jaws (q.v.). Killer Shark (¡950) put Roddy Mc-
(¡995), which cribs its plot from Alien, places a murderous an- Dowell aboard a shark-hunting vessel, but o›ered little excite-
droid aboard an isolated spaceship. B-movie veteran Frank Za- ment. Victor Mature became concerned about the way sharks
garino played the muscular android lead in all three films; John gobbled up Navy flyers in ¡956’s The Sharkfighters. He eventually
Eyres directed all three entries. Zagarino also starred in Alien devised a shark repellent, derived from octopus ink, that turned
Chaser (¡996), a film sometimes billed as Project Shadowchaser 4. away even the hungriest underwater predator. Blue Water, White
However, Zagarino played an alien — not an android — so it’s Death was a striking ¡97¡ documentary about the Great White
not included as part of the Shadowchaser series. See also An- shark. It failed to find an audience until four years later, after the
droids and Cyborgs. release of Jaws. Naturally, the phenomenal success of Steven Spiel-
Project: Shadowchaser (¡992); Night Siege Project: Shadowchaser berg’s blockbuster inspired a host of imitators. The ¡982 Great
2 (aka Shadowchaser II; Armed and Deadly) (¡994); Project: Shadow- White was so similar to Jaws that Universal Pictures went to court
chaser 3000 (¡995) and acquired an injunction to remove the rip-o› from circula-
tion. Two films o›ering interesting variations on the Jaws story
Shaft, John include Deep Blue Sea (¡999), which introduced genetically-en-
gineered, intelligent killer sharks, and Mako: The Jaws of Death,
A slick, violent action picture about a supercool black private with Richard Jaeckel as a man trying to protect sharks from peo-
eye, ¡97¡’s Shaft ignited the “blaxploitation” craze while enjoy- ple who would exploit them. See also Dolphins; Fish; Jaws Se-
ing its own mainstream success. Ernest Tidyman’s screenplay ries; Whales.
practically turned John Shaft into a black male stereotype (a
Killer Shark (¡950); The Sharkfighters (¡956); Tiko and the
tough dude described in the theme song as a “sex machine”). Shark (¡965); Let’s Kill Uncle (¡966); Shark! (aka Maneater) (¡969);
But Richard Roundtree’s rugged performance and Gordon Blue Water, White Death (¡97¡); Shark’s Treasure (¡974); Jaws
Park’s gritty direction gave the film a new look much copied by (¡975); Mako: The Jaws of Death (aka The Jaws of Death) (¡976);
other black filmmakers. Isaac Hayes’ hit theme won an Oscar Shark Kill (¡976 TVM); Tintorera-Bloody Waters (¡977); Great
(despite having minimal words) and eventually landed him a White (¡982); Mission of the Shark (¡99¡ TVM); Deep Blue Sea
starring role in the ¡974 movie Truck Turner. Roundtree ap- (¡999); Shark Attack (¡999)
peared in both Shaft sequels and then made the jump to tele-
vision. His 90-minute Shaft TV series rotated with The CBS Shayne, Michael
Tuesday Night Movie and a James Stewart lawyer show called Brett Halliday’s two-fisted private eye made his film debut with
Hawkins. The TV version whitewashed the Shaft character (less ¡94¡’s Michael Shayne, Detective. Lloyd Nolan, a veteran tough
violence, no sex) and caught the cancellation axe after one sea- guy, starred as Shayne in seven films in ¡94¡ and ¡942. Hugh
son. Almost three decades after the original Shaft, Samuel Jack- Beaumont, best known as Ward Cleaver on TV’s Leave It to
son headlined a big budget remake. However, instead of tak- Beaver, reprised Shayne for five additional features in ¡946 and
ing over Roundtree’s signature role, Jackson played Shaft’s ¡947. Although these fast-paced mysteries never rose above the
nephew. Roundtree appeared briefly as Uncle John and Isaac programmer level, they paved the way for more serious private eye
Hayes reworked his classic song for the opening credits. See films, such as the ¡944 Philip Marlowe vehicle Murder, My Sweet.
also Blaxploitation Films. Ironically, the Shayne movie Time to Kill was based on the
182 SHOES

Marlowe novel The High Window. Richard Denning starred in the ing soldiers’ boots in war-torn Rome. In the World War I clas-
Michael Shayne TV series in ¡960-6¡. sic All Quiet on the Western Front (¡925), soldiers keep passing
Michael Shayne, Detective (¡94¡) (Lloyd Nolan); Blue, White, the same pair of boots around — whoever wears them gets killed.
and Perfect (¡94¡) (Nolan); Dressed to Kill (¡94¡) (Nolan); Sleepers West An inspirational scene in Glory (¡989) occurs when the black
(¡94¡) (Nolan); Just O› Broadway (¡942) (Nolan); The Man Who Union soldiers are finally issued military boots.
Would Not Die (¡942) (Nolan); Time to Kill (¡942) (Nolan); Blonde
for a Day (¡946) (Hugh Beaumont); Larceny in Her Heart (¡946) The Gold Rush (¡925); Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (¡926); All Quiet
(Beaumont); Murder Is My Business (¡946) (Beaumont); Three on a on the Western Front (¡930); The Hound of the Baskervilles (¡939);
Ticket (¡947) (Beaumont); Too Many Winners (¡947) (Beaumont) The Wizard of Oz (¡939); Tight Shoes (¡94¡); Shoeshine (¡946); The
Red Shoes (¡948); Cinderella (¡950); Hobson’s Choice (¡954); The
Glass Slipper (¡955); Son of Flubber (¡963); From Russa with Love
Shoes (¡963); See No Evil (aka Blind Terror) (¡97¡); The Tall Blond Man
While clothing and most accessories have rarely been film sub- with One Black Shoe (¡972); On the Right Track (¡98¡); The Man
with One Red Shoe (¡985); Things Change (¡988); Glory (¡989); Get
jects, shoes have at least made a minor impression. Charlie Chap-
Smart, Again! (¡989 TVM); London Kills Me (¡99¡); I Don’t Buy
lin ate his shoes — the laces substituting for spaghetti — in the Kisses Anymore (¡992); Johnny Suede (¡992); Benny & Joon (¡993);
silent comedy classic The Gold Rush (¡925). He also stabbed bread Nick of Time (¡995); Slam Dunk Ernest (¡995); Cannibal! The Mu-
rolls with two forks and did an impressive table-top soft shoe with sical (¡996); Mimic (¡997); Flubber (¡997); The Shoe (¡998); Ever
his food. Johnny Depp paid homage to the latter scene in a restau- After (¡998); Children of Heaven (aka Bacheha-Ye aseman) (¡999)
rant in ¡993’s Benny & Joon— but he didn’t eat his shoes. How-
ever, men do just that in order to survive in the outrageous Can- Shopping Malls see Stores
nibal! The Musical (¡996). A surprising number of extraordinary
shoes have graced the feet of film characters. Dorothy used her
famous ruby slippers (they were silver in the book) to get back Silent Night, Deadly Night Series
home in The Wizard of Oz (¡939). Fred MacMurray and Robin Film ads showing a murderous Santa Claus created a minor con-
Williams both attached “flubber” to the bottom of their shoes troversy when Silent Night, Deadly Night was released in ¡984. Ac-
in, respectively, Son of Flubber (¡963) and its remake Flubber tually, this low-budget slasher picture did not depict Santa as a
(¡998). The flubber soles enabled their college athletic teams to killer — the knife-wielding murderer turned out to be just a psy-
bound to amazing physical feats. Magical shoes transformed cho dressed up like St. Nick. Still, the ploy generated plenty of
Ernest P. Worrell into an unlikely basketball star in Slam Dunk free publicity for a film which otherwise would have sunk into
Ernest (¡995). Secret agent Maxwell Smart used a shoe phone to obscurity. Instead, it spawned a series. The ¡987 Silent Night,
communicate with his superiors in the Get Smart! TV series and Deadly Night Part II recycled a large chunk of the original’s
the ¡989 TV movie Get Smart, Again! Secret agent James Bond footage before setting up the first killer’s baby brother, Ricky, as
(Sean Connery) barely avoided the point of the knife blade pro- another Santa-dressed slasher. Ricky emerges from a six-year coma
truding from Lotte Lenya’s shoe in a memorable fight scene in in Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out! (¡989).
From Russia with Love (¡963). The classic ballet film The Red It’s considered the highlight of the series (though not necessarily
Shoes (¡948) contains a dancing sequence based on Hans Chris- a good film), chiefly due to the e›orts of once-promising direc-
tian Andersen’s fairy tale about a girl with magical shoes that tor Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop). The films Silent Night,
won’t let her stop dancing. In another fairy tale, Cinderella left Bloody Night (¡972) and Silent Night, Evil Night (¡974) are not a
behind one of her glass slippers at the Prince’s ball in films such part of this series. See also Slasher Movies.
as Disney’s animated Cinderella (¡950), The Glass Slipper (¡955), Silent Night, Deadly Night (¡984); Silent Night, Deadly Night
and Ever After (¡998). Shoes are used to identify people in other Part II (¡987); Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch
films as well. An ordinary citizen is selected as a spy decoy in Out! (¡989); Silent Night, Deadly Night IV: Initiation (¡990); Silent
Night, Deadly Night V: The Toymaker (¡99¡)
the French film The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (¡972)
and its American remake The Man with One Red Shoe (¡985).
Mia Farrow played a blind woman trapped with a killer — Simon’s Suites Series
identified to the audience only by his boots — in the ¡97¡ thriller Neil Simon’s successful ¡968 Broadway comedy Plaza Suite con-
See No Evil. In Jason and the Argonauts (¡963), Pelias (Douglas sisted of three one-act plays set in the same suite at the famous New
Wilmer) is warned that a one-sandaled man will be his down- York City Plaza Hotel: “Visitors from Mamaroneck”; “Visitors
fall. A murderer steals a pair of boots so a vicious dog can at- from Hollywood”; and “Visitors from Forest Hills.” Simon
tack the right victim in the oft-filmed Sherlock Holmes mystery dropped a potential fourth segment, which he later developed into
The Hound of the Baskervilles. Shoemakers have been played by the Jack Lemmon–Sandy Dennis film The Out-of-Towners (¡970).
actors such as Charles Laughton (Hobson’s Choice) and Don In the stage version of Plaza Suite, George C. Scott and Maureen
Ameche (Things Change). Joan Crawford played the daughter of Stapleton played all three couples. However, when Simon adapted
a shoe manufacturer in the silent comedy Tramp, Tramp, Tramp his play for a ¡97¡ film version, Walter Matthau replaced Scott and
(¡926). Shoe stores figured prominently in Tight Shoes (¡94¡) his three female leads were played by Stapleton, Barbara Harris,
and I Don’t Buy Kisses Anymore (¡992), while shoe shiners were and Lee Grant. California Suite (¡978), also adapted from a pop-
integral to the plots of On the Right Track (¡98¡), Nick of Time ular Simon play, shifted the locale to a West Coast hotel and fea-
(¡995), and Mimic (¡998). Vittorio De Sica’s haunting Shoeshine tured four stories. The highlights are Matthau as a husband whose
(¡946) told the story of two boys who scratch out a living shin- wife interrupts his rendezvous with a prostitute and Maggie Smith
 SKIING 183

as a British actress who loses an Academy Award. In real life, Smith mechanical devices.” The end result was a superhero — part
won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her incisive performance human, part machine (but not nearly as interesting as Robocop).
in California Suite. Simon concluded his stage trilogy with Lon- He acquired a bionic girlfriend in ¡975, when tennis pro Jaime
don Suite, an O›-Broadway play that lacked the acclaim of its Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) met with a sky-diving accident. She
predecessors. NBC produced a TV movie version in ¡996 as a proved too popular for just one man, so she got her own show,
showcase for several of its sitcom stars (e.g. Kelsey Grammer, Julia The Bionic Woman, in ¡976. It went o› the air in ¡978, a few
Louis-Dreyfus, and Kristen Johnson). A TV movie version of Plaza months after the final telecast of The Six Million Dollar Man.
Suite also appeared in ¡987. It starred Carol Burnett and Dabney However, just to show you can’t keep a bionic pair down for
Coleman. See also Hotels. good — and in the wake of the hit movie RoboCop— Steve and
Plaza Suite (¡97¡); California Suite (¡978); Plaza Suite (¡987 Jaime were reunited for ¡987’s The Return of the Six Million Dol-
TVM); London Suite (¡996 TVM) lar Man and the Bionic Woman. It proved to be a ratings hit, thus
inspiring two more post–TV series movies featuring the popular
cyborgs. See also Androids and Cyborgs; Television Series Re-
Sinbad the Sailor union Films.
This Arabian Nights adventurer owes his film fame to producer
The Six Million Dollar Man (¡973 TVM); The Return of the
Charles Schneer and special e›ects creator Ray Harryhausen, who Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (¡987 TVM); Bionic
made Sinbad the subject of a colorful movie trilogy. The first of Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman
the three films, ¡958’s The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, was a (¡989 TVM); Bionic Ever After? (¡994 TVM)
marvelous fantasy, though its plot must have confused Sinbad
purists. It combined Sinbad’s encounter with a two-headed roc Skiing
(which actually occurred on the sailor’s second voyage) with his Fictional Olympic skiers have been portrayed in the movies as ob-
climactic clash with a cyclops (the subject of his third voyage).
sessive, self-centered types, as evidenced by Robert Redford’s
Naturally, none of this bothered filmgoers enraptured with Har-
character in Downhill Racer (¡969) and Wayne Rogers in The Top
ryhausen’s spectacular special e›ect: a fire-breathing dragon, a
of the Hill (¡980). Real-life Olympic skiers-turned-actors have
four-armed siren, and a classic swordfight between Sinbad and a
chosen more likable roles, though that’s done little to extend their
skeleton. Surprisingly, although The Seventh Voyage turned an im-
brief film careers. Olympic great Jean-Claude Killy starred in the
pressive profit, Schneer and Harryhausen waited ¡6 years to
¡972 heist film Snow Job, earning high marks for his slalom skills
mount a sequel. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was a stylish rehash
and low ones for his thesping. Suzy (“Chapstick”) Cha›ee’s role
featuring a new Sinbad ( John Phillip Law replacing Kerwin
was strictly a supporting one in the ¡978 TV movie Ski Lift to
Matthews) and a bevy of eye-popping special e›ects. Although
Death. Non-Olympic real-life skiers have appeared in the docu-
Harryhausen failed to top his earlier skeleton swordfight, he still
mentaries Last of the Ski Bums (¡969) and The Man Who Skied
wove visual magic with a six-armed statue come-to-life (q.v.) and
Down Everest (¡976). The latter film, which chronicled the ex-
a clash between a centaur and a gri‡n. The Golden Voyage’s warm
ploits of Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura, won an Oscar for Best
reception resulted in ¡977’s Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, which
Documentary. Ski Bums was a less serious a›air about the joys of
was, in comparison to its predecessors, a disappointment. Patrick
skiing, produced by the makers of the classic surfing documen-
Wayne played a leaden Sinbad and Harryhausen’s creatures were
tary The Endless Summer. The James Bond spy thrillers have ex-
less fantastic (e.g., a saber-toothed tiger, a walrus, and a chess-
hibited a special flair for ski scenes. A lengthy, breathtaking ski
playing baboon). It turned out to be Schneer and Harryhausen’s
sequence, among the finest chases in the entire series, forms the
last Sinbad voyage. There have been other celluloid Sinbads, of
centerpiece of ¡969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. A shorter
course, including Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.’s, entertaining Sinbad the
chase opened ¡977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, ending with Bond
Sailor, ¡963’s Captain Sinbad with Guy Williams (Disney’s TV
skiing o› a cli› and releasing a parachute. Bond was back on the
Zorro), and Sinbad and the Seven Seas with Lou Ferrigno (the
slopes in ¡985’s A View to a Kill and ¡999’s The World Is Not
green half of TV’s The Incredible Hulk). Gene Kelly danced with
Enough. The fact-based drama Going for the Gold: The Bill John-
Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters in the “Sinbad” segment of
son Story (¡985) chronicled the life of the ¡984 Olympic down-
¡957’s Invitation to the Dance. A tongue-in-cheek syndicated tele-
hill champion. A skiing accident proved to be the turning point
vision series, The Adventures of Sinbad, aired in ¡996.
in a weekend among friends in Alan Alda’s ¡98¡ comedy-drama
Arabian Nights (¡942); Sinbad the Sailor (¡947); Thief of Dam- The Four Seasons. A life-threatening accident ended the career of
ascas (¡952); Son of Sinbad (¡955); Invitation to the Dance (¡957);
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (¡958); Captain Sinbad (¡963); The ¡956 Olympic hopeful Jill Kilnmont in the fact-based The Other
Golden Voyage of Sinbad (¡974); Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger Side of the Mountain (¡975). And a skiing accident turns out to
(¡977); Sinbad and the Seven Seas (¡990); Sinbad: The Battle of the be murder in Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound. On a cheerier note,
Dark Knights (¡998) the Beatles frolicked on the slopes to the tune of “Ticket to Ride”
in Richard Lester’s hectic ¡965 farce Help!
The Six Million Dollar Man Series The Man Who Knew Too Much (¡934); I Met Him in Paris
(¡937); Everything Happens at Night (¡939); Two-Faced Woman
Martin Caidin’s novel Cyborg inspired the ¡973 TV movie and (¡94¡); Sun Valley Serenade (¡94¡); Spellbound (¡945); The Duchess
subsequent ¡974–78 TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Lee of Idaho (¡950); Ski Troop Attack (¡960); The Pink Panther (¡964);
Majors starred as Steve Austin, a critically injured astronaut who Help! (¡965); Ski Party (¡965); Winter a Go Go (¡965); Wild, Wild
had certain body parts replaced by “atomic-powered electro- Winter (¡966); Caprice (¡967); The Double Man (¡967); Ski on the
184 SKYDIVING

Wild Side (¡967); Last of the Ski Bums (¡969); On Her Majesty’s Se- ¡980, Sean S. Cunningham exploited a routine thriller called Fri-
cret Service (¡969); Ski Fever (¡969); Downhill Racer (¡969); The Ski day the ¡3th (q.v.) into a box-o‡ce smash. (Nine years earlier,
Bum (¡97¡); The Ski Raiders (¡972); Snow Job (¡972); Snowball Ex- Cunningham had produced the infamous shocker Last House on
press (¡972); The Other Side of the Mountain (aka A Window to the
the Left.) Unlike Carpenter’s movie, Friday the ¡3th garnered few
Sky) (¡975); The Man Who Skied Down Everest (¡976); The Spy
Who Loved Me (¡977); The Deadly Triangle (aka Crisis in Sun favorable reviews, but its lucrative grosses did not go unnoticed
Valley) (¡977 TVM); Ski Lift to Death (¡978 TVM); Lost and by low-budget filmmakers. Slasher films flooded the nation’s
Found (¡979); The Top of the Hill (¡980 TVM); Swan Song (¡980 screens during ¡98¡, exhibiting a special fondness for titles in-
TVM); The Four Seasons (¡98¡); Hot Dog…The Movie (¡984); Just volving special occasions: Graduation Day, Happy Birthday to Me,
the Way You Are (¡984); Better O› Dead (¡985); A View to a Kill My Bloody Valentine, and New Year’s Evil. Yet, with the exception
(¡985); Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story (¡985 TVM); Fire of the Friday the ¡3th series, slasher films began to fade temporarily
and Ice (¡987); Striker’s Mountain (¡987); Ski Patrol (¡990); Ski
by ¡983, primarily a victim of their own lack of originality. The
School (¡990); Born to Ski (¡99¡); Ski School 2 (¡994); Fire on the
Mountain (¡996); Downhill Willie (¡997); Silverwolf (¡999); The genre was practically dead in its grave when Wes Craven (who di-
World Is Not Enough (¡999) rected Last House on the Left) introduced a razor-fingered killer
named Freddy Krueger in ¡984’s Nightmare on Elm Street (q.v.).
Skydiving The Elm Street and Friday the ¡3th series maintained their core au-
By strict definition, skydiving is the sport of parachuting from air- diences into the early ¡990s, spawning television series and nu-
planes and performing various body maneuvers before pulling merous imitations along the way. However, even those stalwart
the ripcord. Legitimate cinema skydivers include an odd assort- franchises were generating anemic box-o‡ce returns by ¡994.
ment of performers, ranging from Raquel Welch to Burt Lancaster Yet, two years later, Craven — with assistance from first-time
to Keanu Reeves to Frankie and Annette. In Fathom, skydiver screenwriter Kevin Williamson — revived the slasher genre again
Welch landed in the midst of a lighthearted spy caper. John with Scream. Williamson’s clever script paid homage to slasher
Frankenheimer’s The Gypsy Moths took a more serious view al- film cliches while still generating legitimate chills. Its unexpected
though it occasionally dipped into soap opera despite the pres- popularity started another slasher film cycle that included
ence of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. Unlikely FBI agent Williamson’s more conventional I Know What You Did Last Sum-
Keanu Reeves jumped from a plane on a dare from thrill- mer (¡997) and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (¡998). See
seeker/bank robber Patrick Swayze in Point Break. Even Frankie also Friday the ¡3th Series; Halloween Series; Nightmare on
Avalon and Annette Funicello took the plunge in Beach Blanket Elm Street Series; Prom Night Series; Scream Series; Silent
Bingo (in the same film, Linda Evans took credit for someone Night, Deadly Night Series; Sleepaway Camp Series; Slumber
else’s jump). However, the most unlikely group of skydivers were Party Massacre Series.
probably the Flying Elvises — and non–Elvis Nicolas Cage — who Halloween (¡978); The Driller Killer (¡979); Friday the ¡3th
landed just outside the Bally Casino in the climax to Honeymoon (¡980); Mother’s Day (¡980); Prom Night (¡980); Silent Scream
in Vegas. Technically, James Bond (Roger Moore) was not para- (¡980); Terror Train (¡980); The Burning (¡98¡); Final Exam (¡98¡);
The Final Terror (¡98¡); Funhouse (¡98¡); Graduation Day (¡98¡);
chuting for the fun of it in Moonraker’s pre-title sequence. How-
Happy Birthday to Me (¡98¡); My Bloody Valentine (¡98¡); New
ever, his freefall fight with Jaws (Richard Kiel) certainly deserves Year’s Evil (¡98¡); Night School (¡98¡); Road Games (¡98¡); Student
an honorable mention. Likewise, parachuting (not skydiving) Bodies (¡98¡); Slumber Party Massacre (¡982); Death Valley (¡982);
played a significant role in the Jerry Lewis–Dean Martin comedy The House on Sorority Row (¡983); Deadly Lessons (¡983 TVM);
Jumping Jacks and has been featured briefly in other military Silent Night, Deadly Night (¡984); Nightmare on Elm Street (¡984);
movies such as Objective Burma, Where Eagles Dare, and Red Splatter University (¡985); Slaughter High (¡986); April Fool’s Day
Dawn. Poor Eddie Albert spent most of The Longest Day hang- (¡986); Cheerleader Camp (aka Bloody Pom Poms) (¡987); Bad
Dreams (¡988); Shocker (¡989); Cutting Class (¡989); Darkroom
ing from a parachute stuck in a tree. See also Airplanes.
(¡990); There’s Nothing Out There (¡99¡); Scream (¡996); I Know
Jumping Jacks (¡952); Beach Blanket Bingo (¡965); Fathom What You Did Last Summer (¡997); Scary Movie (2000)
(¡967); Thin Air (aka The Body Stealers; Invasion of the Body
Stealers) (¡968); The Gypsy Moths (¡969); Moonraker (¡979); Fan-
dango (¡985); Point Break (¡99¡); Honeymoon in Vegas (¡992); Drop Sleepaway Camp Series
Zone (¡994); Terminal Velocity (¡994); The Big Fall (¡997) In the wake of the Friday the ¡3th (q.v.) films, ¡983’s Sleepaway
Camp emerged as a weak carbon copy about another bloody killer
Slasher Movies running amok among teenage campers. However, when its sequels
A subgenre of the psycho thriller, the slasher movie enjoyed appeared five years later, they shifted the emphasis from gore to
tremendous popularity among young adults during the ¡978–83 black humor. Shot back to back, Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy
period. John Carpenter’s Halloween (¡978) is generally considered Campers (¡988) and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland both
the prototype, introducing what would become the mandatory starred Pamela Springsteen (Bruce’s sister) as the murder-minded
ingredients: sexually active teenage protagonists, a conspicuous camp counselor. Just in case any viewers had actually seen the
absence of adults, gory murders (the higher the body count, the original — in which the stalker was a man —Unhappy Campers ex-
better), and a seemingly indestructible killer. Despite a low bud- plained that the killer had undergone a sex change (q.v.) opera-
get and frail storyline, Carpenter’s incredibly tense direction tion. The transformation gave the murderer a much-needed sense
brought Halloween (q.v.) critical acclaim as well as box-o‡ce mil- of humor, as she dispatched one-liners along with the inhabitants
lions. Amazingly, imitations were slow to follow (although the of Camp New Horizons. In addition to Springsteen, these
grisly-titled Driller Killer was released the next year). Then in sequels featured other interesting casting choices. Michael J.
 SNAILS AND SLUGS 185

Pollard, an Oscar nominee for Bonnie and Clyde, played the loony II: Land’s End (¡994 TVM) (director: Rick Rosenthal); Gypsy An-
head counselor in Unhappy Campers. Tracy Gri‡th, Melanie’s sis- gels (¡994) (director unknown); Heat— TV version (¡995) (direc-
ter, turned up as a camper in that film, while Renee Estevez, tor: Michael Mann); Raging Angels (¡995) (director unknown);
Hellraiser: Bloodline (¡996) (director: Kevin Yagher); An Alan
Emilio’s sister, had a supporting role in Teenage Wasteland. See
Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn (¡997) (director: Arthur
also Slasher Movies; Summer Camps. Hiller); Sub Down (¡997) (director: Gregg Champion)
Sleepaway Camp (¡983); Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers
(¡988); Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (¡989)
Smokey and the Bandit
Slumber Party Massacre Series Burt Reynolds’ star power peaked with this ¡977 road comedy in
Feminist author Rita Mae Brown penned the script for ¡982’s which he, then-girlfriend Sally Field, and Jackie Gleason seem to
Slumber Party Massacre, an unexceptional slasher film (q.v.) fea- be having more fun than the audience. Burt played a bootlegger
turing a driller killer. Amy Jones, fresh from studying film at who spends the entire film eluding redneck sheri› Gleason, while
M.I.T., rescued Brown’s screenplay (originally titled Don’t Open having a good ol’ time with chum Jerry Reed and perky passen-
the Door) from the file cabinets of Roger Corman’s New World ger Field. The humor was so tongue-in-cheek that Burt almost
Pictures. Yet, despite its female author and director, Slumber Party seemed to be winking at the audience after every line. The for-
Massacre exploited young girls in true stereotypical slasher film mula provided more of the same with ¡980’s Smokey and the Ban-
fashion. Nevertheless, it still managed to turn a nifty profit dur- dit II, only this time it tasted a little stale, despite the presence of
ing the genre’s low period. Five years later, on the heels of ¡986’s a baby elephant. Smokey and the Bandit III (¡983) was a mis-
similar Sorority House Massacre, a Slumber Party Massacre sequel guided attempt to make a Burt Reynolds film without Burt. Ini-
appeared, featuring Crystal Bernard of the TV series Wings in a tially, Jackie Gleason played a double role, as the pursued and the
major role. It found a niche in home video rentals and paved the pursuer. When this confused preview audiences, it was reshot
way for a third installment starring Brittain Frye as Ken the killer with sheri› Gleason chasing Jerry Reed. By that point, no one re-
and, in a minor role, former Playboy playmate Hope Marie Carl- ally cared either way. Brian Bloom played the Bandit in five ¡994
ton of Malibu Express (q.v.) fame. See also Slasher Movies. syndicated TV movies, starting with Bandit. Hal Needham, who
helmed the first two Reynolds entries, directed all of the televi-
Slumber Party Massacre (¡982); Slumber Party Massacre II
sion features.
(¡987); Slumber Party Massacre III (¡990)
Smokey and the Bandit (¡977); Smokey and the Bandit II (¡980);
Smokey and the Bandit III (¡983); Bandit (¡994 TVM); Bandit,
Smithee, Allen/Alan Bandit (¡994 TVM); Beauty and the Bandit (¡994 TVM); Bandit’s
When a director or writer wishes his name to be withdrawn from Silver Angel (¡994 TVM); Bandit Goes Country (¡994 TVM)
a movie (for whatever reason), he must petition the Director’s or
Writer’s Guild of America (providing he’s a member, of course). Snails and Slugs
If the Guild grants his request, his credit is assigned to a fictitious
Snails and slugs, which are both classified as gastropods, have
person named Allen (or Alan) Smithee. At least, this has been the
come in all shapes and sizes on the silver screen. According to the
standard practice since ¡967, when Smithee “replaced” Robert
¡974 Japanese film Last Days of Planet Earth, Nostradamus proph-
Totten and Don Siegel as directors of Death of a Gunfighter. In
esized that the first sign of the apocalypse would be the appear-
that instance, both Totten and Siegel alleged that star Richard
ance of giant slugs. Alas, as soon as the movie introduces the
Widmark had interfered with their creative control of the picture.
slugs, the Japanese army destroys them with flame-throwers. Some
Prior to the “Smithee rule,” George Cukor had his name removed
critics have incorrectly identified The Monster That Challenged
from ¡947’s Desire Me. Its credits simply did not list a director.
the World as a caterpillar. The title creature may look somewhat
Death of a Gunfighter (¡967) (directors: Robert Totten and like a caterpillar, but it’s clearly a gastropod — enlarged by radi-
Don Siegel); Fade-in (¡968) (director: Jud Taylor); The Challenge
(¡970 TVM) (director unknown); City in Fear (¡980 TVM) (direc-
ation exposure — that secretes a sticky white substance. In terms
tor: Jud Taylor); Fun and Games (¡980 TVM) (director: Paul Bog- of size, though, the biggest gastropod is the Pink Snail sought by
art); Student Bodies (¡98¡) (producer: Michael Ritchie); Moonlight Rex Harrison and friends in Doctor Doolittle (¡967). Ironically, the
(¡982 TVM) (directors: Jackie Cooper and Rod Holcomb); nastiest gastropods are the normal-sized slugs transformed by
Dune— TV version (¡984) (director: David Lynch); Stitches (¡985) toxic waste into flesh-eaters in the Spanish horror film Slugs
(director: Rod Holcomb); Appointment with Fear (¡985) (director: (¡987). On the gentler side, a scene in Microcosmos (¡996) shows
Ramzi Thomas); Let’s Get Harry (¡986) (director: Stuart Rosen- snails mating to the accompaniment of opera music. Other mu-
berg); Dalton: Code of Vengeance II (¡986 TVM) (director un-
known); I Love N.Y. (¡987) (director: Gioanni Bozzacchi); Ghost
sically-minded gastropods appeared in The Little Mermaid (¡989).
Fever (¡987) (director unknown); Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home In the lavish production number “Under the Sea,” Sebastian the
(¡987) (director: Paul Aaron); Riviera (¡987 TVM) (director: John Crab sang about “two little slugs here, cutting a rug here” and
Frankenheimer); The Horror Show (aka House III) (¡989) (writer “two little snails here, know how to wail here, under the sea.” Al-
unknown); The Shrimp on the Barbie (¡990) (director: Michael though snails and slugs have a reputation for being slow, a little
Gottlieb); Starfire (aka Solar Crisis; Crisis 2050) (¡990) (director: man rode a “racing snail” in The NeverEnding Story (¡984).
Richard Sarafian); Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (¡99¡) (di-
rector unknown); Fatal Charm (¡992 TVM) (director: Fritz Kier- The Monster That Challenged the World (¡957); Doctor Doolit-
sch); Thunderheart— TV version (¡992) (director: Michael Apted); tle (¡967); Last Days of Planet Earth (aka Catastrophe ¡999: The
Rudy— TV version (¡993) (director: David Anspaugh); The Birds Prophecies of Nostradamus) (¡974); Slugs (¡987); The NeverEnding
Story (¡984); The Little Mermaid (¡989); Microcosmos (¡996)
186 SNAKEEATER SERIES

SnakeEater Series Soap Operas

Jack “Soldier” Kelly (Lorenzo Lamas) was, according to a police Daytime dramas, a potentially rich source for satire, have been
detective crony, the “rebellious type, doesn’t like authority underutilized by big screen scripters. Still, soap opera settings
figures.” So naturally, this former Marine and undercover agent have provided two fine performers, Beryl Reid and Dustin
had trouble battling criminals within the confines of the law — Ho›man, with meaty parts. The Killing of Sister George (¡968) cast
especially when some crazed hillbillies murdered his parents and Reid as an aging actress who suspects that her once-popular soap
kidnapped his sister. The inaugural film in this Canadian-lensed opera character is about to be dropped permanently from the se-
series started out as a tongue-in-cheek action picture, but quickly ries. The film, based on Frank Marcus’ play, dealt frankly with
degenerated into an uninteresting revenge tale. Lamas displayed the main character’s lesbianism — it was rated “X” originally. It
his athletic talents, but not his acting ones. He did sport a catchy also provided American viewers with a rare glimpse behind the
belt buckle depicting a snake (a SnakeEater, one character ex- scenes of British television (where soaps such as Coronation Street
plains, is a special type of elite Marine). The ¡99¡ sequel opened thrived). Compared to Sister George, Tootsie (¡982) generated far
with Soldier in a mental hospital, where he was sent for exami- less controversy, although Ho›man’s character spends most of the
nation following his violent vigilante acts. He soon escaped, film disguised as a woman so he can act on a soap (which cer-
however, and set out to combat a drug kingpin. As evidenced by tainly provides an interesting subtext). The comedy misfire Deliri-
his delight in demolishing a biker gang in SnakeEater III, Sol- ous (¡99¡) wasted a witty premise: Soap writer John Candy bumps
dier Kelly still needs to find more sedate ways to express him- his head and winds up in his own fictional daytime drama (com-
self. plete with veteran soap actress Emma Samms). Peter Falk played
SnakeEater (¡989); SnakeEater II — The Drug Buster (¡99¡); a writer of radio daytime drama in ¡990’s Tune in Tomorrow….
SnakeEater III…His Law (¡992) Mary McDonnell portrayed a soap star who becomes paralyzed
in ¡992’s Passion Fish, while clairvoyant Demi Moore provided ad-
Snakes vice to a soap star in The Butcher’s Wife (¡99¡). Several real-life
Snakes have led a charismatic screen existence, often stealing pic- soap stars, including Demi Moore and Janine Turner of General
tures on the basis of a scene or two. A wispy snake made a brief Hospital, had cameos in the lame ¡982 comedy Young Doctors in
guest appearance in the ¡93¡ Sherlock Holmes mystery The Speck- Love. On the flip side, Peyton Place (¡96¡) (q.v.), a big screen all-
led Band, but the picture nevertheless remained named after the star soap, spawned two television versions: the nighttime serial
viper. Likewise, the snake pit scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark Peyton Place (¡964–69) and the daytime drama Return to Peyton
(¡98¡) made a lasting impression despite its brevity. A solitary Place (¡972–74). See also Television.
snake, such as the Black Mambo in Venom (¡982), has wreaked Ph›ft! (¡954); The Killing of Sister George (¡968); Tootsie
as much havoc as a slew of them slithering rampantly through- (¡982); Tune in Tomorrow… (¡990); The Butcher’s Wife (¡99¡);
out a submarine, as in Fer-de-Lance (¡974). A shy teenager con- Delirious (¡99¡); Soapdish (¡99¡); Passion Fish (¡992); Naked in New
jured up giant snakes to kill her thoughtless classmates in ¡978’s York (¡994); Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (¡995 TVM);
The Real Blonde (¡997); 54 (¡998)
Jennifer. The 40-foot slithering killer in Anaconda swallowed
snake hunter Jon Voight whole and then regurgitated him. Stan-
ley (¡972) used his influence on regular-sized snakes, with just as Soccer
much e›ect. A Mayan curse turned a Cornish lass into a snake- Probably the most popular sport worldwide, soccer has only re-
woman in ¡966’s The Reptile, while Strother Martin’s experiments cently made strides in endearing itself to American athletes and
slowly transformed Dirk Benedict into a king cobra in ¡973’s fans. The shortage of English-language soccer films reflects the
Sssssss (“Don’t say it, hiss it!” said the ads). Amanda Donohoe game’s relative obscurity in the U.S. prior to the ¡980s. Great
boasted some ugly-looking fangs in Lair of the White Worm Britain produced soccer films like The Winning Goal (¡920) and
(¡988), but the film’s real monster turned out to be the hideous The Ball of Fortune (¡926) in the days of silent cinema. In ¡942’s
snake god she worshiped. The only one of The Seven Faces of Dr. One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, one of the bomber’s crewmembers
Lao (¡964) not played by Tony Randall was the animated serpent. was a famous fictitious soccer player. A few other scattered British
However, Bob Fosse did play a hissing snake in the ¡974 fantasy releases also surfaced in the ¡930s and ¡950s. However, in coun-
The Little Prince. tries like Czechoslovakia and Brazil, where soccer reigns supreme,
The Speckled Band (¡93¡); The Lady Eve (¡94¡); Cobra Woman a flood of soccer films reached the public in the decades follow-
(¡944); The Shanghai Cobra (¡945); Cult of the Cobra (¡955); The ing World War II. None of these films received a major U.S. re-
Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (¡964); The Reptile (¡966); The Jungle Book lease. However, the game gained some American exposure when
(¡967); Snake People (aka Isle of the Snake People; Cult of the Dead) Sylvester Stallone headed an all-star cast, including former soc-
(¡968); Stanley (¡972); Sssssss (¡973); Night of the Cobra Woman cer great Pele, in the ¡98¡ POW/soccer adventure Victory. That
(¡974); The Little Prince (¡974); Fer-de-Lance (¡974 TVM); Jen- same year saw the release of Bill Forsyth’s charming Scottish com-
nifer (aka Jennifer, the Snake Goddess) (¡978); Raiders of the Lost Ark
edy Gregory’s Girl, in which an incompetent goalie pursues a hot-
(¡98¡); Venom (¡982); Jaws of Satan (aka King Cobra) (¡982);
Spasms (¡983); Hard Ticket to Hawaii (¡987); Lair of the White shot female soccer teammate. An animated animal soccer game
Worm (¡988); Fair Game (¡989); The Fifth Monkey (¡990); Green was played in the Disney ¡97¡ fantasy Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Snake (aka Ching Se) (¡993); Anaconda (¡997); Rudyard Kipling’s The Winning Goal (¡920); The Ball of Fortune (¡926); The
The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (aka Jungle Book Two) Great Arsenal Stadium Mystery (¡939); One of Our Aircraft Is Miss-
(¡997); Soldier (¡998); Silent Predators (¡999 TVM); King Cobra ing (¡942); Four Ways Out (¡95¡); The Great Game (¡953); Small
(aka Seth) (¡999); Road Trip (2000) Town Story (¡953); Bloomfield (¡969); The Goalie’s Anxiety at the
 SPIDERS 187

Penalty Kick (¡97¡); Bedknobs and Broomsticks (¡97¡); The Hero presence as a consultant for the TV series. Although the series folded
(¡972); Yesterday’s Hero (¡979); Victory (aka Escape to Victory) in ¡988, ABC premiered a spin-o›, A Man Called Hawk, the fol-
(¡98¡); Gregory’s Girl (¡98¡); Hotshot (¡987); Ladybugs (¡992); The lowing year. Avery Brooks continued in his role as the literate, vi-
Golden Ball (¡994); The Big Green (¡995); Soccer Dog: The Movie
olent Hawk, who had moved from Boston to Washington—but the
(¡998); Fever Pitch (¡999); Switching Goals (2000)
series lasted only half a season. Four years later, though, Brooks and
Urich reteamed for a series of four made-for-TV Spenser films. Bar-
Sometimes They Come Back… Series
bara Williams played Susan in the first two films, with Wendy Crew-
Stephen King’s short story “Sometimes They Come Back,” from son replacing her for the last two. The A&E cable network tried to
his ¡978 anthology Night Shift, provided the inspiration for this launch its own Spenser film series in ¡999. Author Parker adapted
in-name-only film series. The ¡99¡ TV movie Sometimes They his own novel for Spenser: Small Vices which starred Joe Mantegna
Come Back at least resembled King’s story with a plot about a as Spenser, Shiek Mahmud-Bey as Hawk, and Marcia Gay Harden
school teacher (Tim Matheson) who returns to his town home — as Susan. The source novel was Parker’s 24th featuring Spenser. See
only to be haunted by the ghosts of teenage delinquents killed 30 also Television Series Reunion Films.
years earlier. A ¡996 direct-to-video follow-up was more of a re-
Spenser: Ceremony (¡993 TVM); Spenser: Pale Kings and
make than a sequel. Michael Gross played single father Jon Porter, Princes (¡993 TVM); Spenser: The Judas Goat (¡994 TVM); Spenser:
who returns home and encounters an old nemesis named Tony A Savage Place (¡995 TVM); Spenser: Small Vices (¡999 TVM)
Reno (Alexis Arquette). The problem is that Jon accidentally
killed Tony several years earlier and now the back-from-the-dead Spiders
Tony wants revenge. Another direct-to-video release, ¡999’s Some-
Is it their shape? Their four pairs of eyes? The fact that some are
times They Come Back…More Than Once strayed even further
deadly poisonous? It’s hard to figure out why the movies have
from the original premise by moving the action to Antarctica. It
cast good-natured spiders as vile henchmen or oversized people-
was co-written by Adam Grossman, who wrote and directed the
eaters. Nevertheless, silly-looking giant spiders appeared in The
second film. None of the three films featured the same characters.
Spider (¡958), The Lost World (¡960), Son of Godzilla (¡967), and
Other short stories from King’s Night Shift collection also reached
Giant Spider Invasion (¡975). Jungle Jim (q.v.) chased a big one
the silver screen as Children of the Corn (¡984), The Lawnmower
which produced a valuable drug in ¡95¡’s Fury of the Congo.
Man (¡992), and The Mangler (¡995). See also Children of the
Raquel Welch ran in the opposite direction of another giant web-
Corn Series.
spinner, created with precision by special e›ects expert Ray Har-
Sometimes They Come Back (aka Stephen King’s Sometimes They
ryhausen in One Million Years B.C. (¡966). Scientist Leo G. Car-
Come Back) (¡99¡ TVM); Sometimes They Come Back…Again
(¡996); Sometimes They Come Back…More Than Once (aka Frozen; roll’s artificial food was responsible for creating the most famous
Ice Station Erebus) (¡999) oversized spider in ¡955’s Tarantula. The spider killed by Grant
Williams with a straight pin in The Incredible Shrinking Man runs
Somewhere Series a close second, even though it was not really giant (but certainly
appeared that way to the incredibly small Williams). Man/fly
War-weary British audiences of the ¡940s found the Somewhere
David Hedison also encountered a little spider that probably
films agreeably silly in spite of their nonexistent plots and sloppy
looked big to him in ¡958’s The Fly. Unfortunately, he did not
production values. The movies consisted mostly of old, loosely-
have access to a handy pin. Normal-sized spiders have been used
connected vaudeville sketches performed by dancehall veterans
for evil purposes by satanists (The Devil’s Bride) and crafty mur-
like Frank Randle, Harry Korris, and Robbie Vincent. The low-
derers. Indeed, Gale Sondergaard employed spiders to make her
brow humor frequently bordered on tasteless, making the Some-
murders look like suicides in ¡944’s Spider Woman. She might
where films the forerunners of the Carry On (q.v.) comedies of the
have escaped detection if not for the presence of that master sleuth
late ¡950s and ¡960s. Ironically, Randle made a ¡949 non–Some-
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone). Interestingly, Sondergaard
where film called What a Carry On.
also starred in a ¡946 film called The Spider Woman Strikes Back—
Somewhere in England (¡940); Somewhere in Camp (¡942); but she played a di›erent character and there were no spiders!
Somewhere on Leave (¡942); Somewhere in Civvies (¡943); Some-
where in Politics (¡949) Meanwhile, Holmes (Peter Cushing this time) saved Henry
Baskerville from a deadly tarantula in ¡959’s The Hound of the
Baskervilles. For the most part, though, a solitary little spider has
South Pole see North Pole/South Pole posed little trouble. A thousand or more? That’s a di›erent story
altogether, as evidenced by the invasions detailed in Kingdom of
Spenser the Spiders (¡977), Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (¡977 TVM), and
Mystery writer Robert B. Parker introduced his Boston-based sleuth Arachnophobia (¡990). Tom Selleck met up with a robot spider
Spenser (first name unknown) in the ¡973 novel The Godwulf Man- in the ¡982 sci-fi thriller Runaway and Will Smith encountered
uscript. Written in first-person, the books revealed only snippets an 80-foot steam-powered tarantula in Wild Wild West (¡999).
about the private detective’s past as a Vietnam soldier, boxer, and And — at last — nice spiders got starring roles in the adaptations
policeman. A modestly successful TV series, Spenser: For Hire, de- of the children’s classics Charlotte’s Web and James and the Giant
buted on ABC in ¡985. It starred Robert Urich as Spenser with Peach. See also The Fly Series; Insects.
Avery Brooks as his mysterious cohort Hawk. Barbara Stock played Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (¡943); Spider Woman (aka Sherlock
Spenser’s love interest, Susan Silverman, a school guidance coun- Holmes and the Spider Woman) (¡944); Sombra, the Spider Woman
selor. Urich’s performance divided fans of the novels, despite Parker’s (aka The Black Widow) (¡947); Fury of the Congo (¡95¡); Tarantula
188 STAIRS

(¡955); The Incredible Shrinking Man (¡957); The Spider (aka Earth with both revolvers blazing in both A Better Tomorrow II (¡988)
vs. the Spider) (¡958); The Fly (¡958); The Hound of the Baskervilles and Hard-Boiled (¡992). Al Pacino used an escalator for his
(¡959); The Lost World (¡960); One Million Years B.C. (¡966); Son shootout in Carlito’s Way (¡993). In Wes Craven’s horror picture
of Godzilla (aka Gojira no Musuko) (¡967); The Devil’s Bride (aka
The People Under the Stairs (¡99¡), the title characters were kid-
The Devil Rides Out) (¡968); Charlotte’s Web (¡973); Giant Spider
Invasion (¡975); Kingdom of the Spiders (¡977); Spider-Man (¡977 napped boys who didn’t fit into a “perfect family.” On television’s
TVM); Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (¡977 TVM); Runaway The Munsters, the family’s pet dragon Spot lived under the stairs.
(¡982); Arachnophobia (¡990); An American Tail: Fievel Goes West Finally, in the fact-based ¡998 TV movie The Staircase, William
(¡99¡); James and the Giant Peach (¡996); A Bug’s Life (¡998); Wild Petersen played a carpenter who built a one-of-a-kind church
Wild West (¡999) staircase for nun Barbara Hershey. See also Elevators (or Lifts).
Potemkin (aka Battleship Potemkin) (¡925); Before Dawn (¡93¡);
Stairs The Little Colonel (¡935); Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, was also the master of (¡939); Suspicion (¡94¡); Leave Her to Heaven (¡945); The Spiral
memorable staircase sequences. James Stewart’s inability to climb Staircase (¡946); Notorious (¡946); Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter
the stairs of a Spanish mission proved integral to the plot of Ver- of Life and Death) (¡946); Kiss of Death (¡947); Shield for Murder
tigo (¡958). Cary Grant carried a glowing glass of milk up the stairs (¡954); The Incredible Shrinking Man (¡957); Vertigo (¡958); Psycho
in Suspicion (¡94¡), then carried an ailing Ingrid Bergman down (¡960); Barefoot in the Park (¡967); Staircase (¡969); Don’t Be Afraid
of the Dark (¡973 TVM); The Spiral Staircase (¡975); Rocky (¡976);
the stairs in the tense climax to Notorious (¡946). Martin Balsam
High Anxiety (¡977); Deadly Friend (¡986); The Untouchables (¡987);
encountered a knife-wielding killer at the top of the stairs in the A Better Tomorrow II (¡988); The People Under the Stairs (¡99¡);
Bates house in Psycho (¡960). Ironically, Hitchcock’s film version Hard-Boiled (¡992); Carlito’s Way (¡993); Naked Gun 33Ω: The
of The 39 Steps (¡935) omitted the elaborate stairs to the beach Final Insult (¡994); The Staircase (¡998 TVM)
described in John Buchan’s spy novel. Despite Hitchcock’s im-
pressive use of stairs, none of his sequences has achieved the fame
of Sergei Eisenstein’s “Odessa Steps” scene in the classic Russian
Star Trek Series
silent film Potemkin (¡925). Considered by many critics as one of The road from cancelled TV series to phenomenally-successful film
the famous sequences ever put on film, it starts with Czarist sol- series is a bizarre one travelled only by the starship Enterprise. Gene
diers marching down a long flight of steps and firing on fleeing Roddenberry’s science fiction TV series debuted on NBC in ¡966.
citizens. In the midst of this massive carnage, a mother is killed Sci-fi fans embraced it, but it was a consistent ratings loser oppo-
and the baby carriage containing her child tumbles down the site veteran series like My Three Sons and Bewitched. An enthusias-
many steps. Brian De Palma paid homage to the Odessa Steps se- tic write-in campaign saved it from cancellation after its second sea-
quence in the exciting train station shootout in The Untouchables son, but the series was axed after its third year in ¡969. Shortly
(¡987)— a scene that was spoofed seven years later in Naked Gun thereafter, its 78 episodes went into syndication and began play-
33Ω: The Final Insult. Despite the impact of the Odessa Steps, ing almost daily on local TV stations. By ¡974, the show had de-
the most visually stunning staircase was the moving one that veloped a dizzying loyal cult following (dubbed “trekkies”), who
transported souls from the Earthly world to the celestial one in honored stars William Shatner (Kirk) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock)
the classic fantasy Stairway to Heaven (¡946). Boxer Rocky Bal- at national conventions and urged Roddenberry to revive the se-
boa (Sylvester Stallone) trained for his heavyweight championship ries. Roddenberry tried just that. He had laid the groundwork for
bout in Rocky (¡976) by running up and down the steep stairs of a “Star Trek” made-for-TV movie (and pilot for a new series) when
the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In a greater athletic endeavor, George Lucas’ Star Wars went through the box-o‡ce roof in ¡977.
the tiny hero of The Incredible Shrinking Man (¡957) tried to Eager to duplicate Star Wars’ receipts, Paramount decided to turn
climb the stairs out of his basement using a thread and a straight its Star Trek movie into a lavish theatrical space opera. The $40
pin as a rope and grappling hook. Several musical numbers have million Star Trek — The Motion Picture was rushed into theaters
taken place on stairs, though few can compare to the classic rou- just in time for Christmas ¡979. Trekkies made it a hit, but the re-
tine performed by Shirley Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson views were mixed, with critics and fans complaining of an overem-
in The Little Colonel (¡935). On the darker side, stairs have also phasis on special e›ects. However, best-selling writer-turned-di-
been used for homicidal purposes. In Kiss of Death (¡947), Richard rector Nicholas Meyer set the film series on track with the ¡982
Widmark’s psychotic killer gleefully pushed a wheelchair-bound sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Jack Soward’s script resur-
woman down a flight of stairs. Nasty cop Edmund O’Brien mur- rected super-villain Khan (Ricardo Montalban) from the TV
dered a blind man in a similar manner in Shield for Murder (¡954). episode “Space Seed” and climaxed with Spock’s “death.” Leonard
Neither of those cold-blooded killers can compare with Gene Nimoy took over the directing reins for Star Trek III: The Search
Tierney’s obsessive wife portrayal in Leave Her to Heaven (¡946). for Spock (¡984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (¡986), both
Unwilling to share husband Cornel Wilde with anyone, she hurled of which were praised for capturing the flavor of the series. After
herself down the stairs upon learning of her pregnancy. People helming the non–Trek smash Three Men and a Baby (¡987), Nimoy
have fallen or been pushed down staircases in many other films handed over Star Trek directing chores to his co-star. William Shat-
such as Before Dawn (¡93¡), Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (¡973), ner directed and co-wrote the story for ¡989’s Star Trek V: The
and Deadly Friend (¡986). A homicidal psychopath met his fate Final Frontier, which opened strongly enough to temporarily oust
when Ethel Barrymore, Dorothy McGuire, and George Brent Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade from number one on Variety’s
converged on the title structure in the climax of The Spiral Stair- box-o‡ce charts. Its popularity was short-lived however, as even
case (¡946). Chow Yun Fat proved adept at sliding down stairs faithful fans found it a plodding, unexciting trek with old friends.
 STEPFATHER SERIES 189

The Enterprise crew returned two years later with the satisfying, footage (as well as improved technical elements like digitally re-
though unremarkable, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Its mastered sound). These re-releases, Stars Wars in particular, per-
sentimental ending served as a farewell for most of the original cast. formed exceptionally well at the box-o‡ce and whetted the pub-
Back on the small screen, Roddenberry and producer Rick Berman lic’s appetite for the heavily-hyped Star Wars Episode I: The
launched Star Trek: The Next Generation, a syndicated TV series Phantom Menace (¡999). This prequel, the first of three films lead-
with a cast of newcomers, in ¡987. Set 78 years after the original ing up to Star Wars, was met with mixed critical reactions. An
Star Trek, it introduced a whole new crew headed by Patrick Stew- eager moviegoing public nevertheless made it an instant block-
art as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Brent Spiner as the android buster.
Data (the equivalent of Spock). Over the next seven years, The Star Wars (¡977); The Star Wars Holiday Special (¡978 TVM);
Next Generation built its own following, eventually becoming the The Empire Strikes Back (¡980); Return of the Jedi (¡983); The Ewok
top-rated non-network drama series on television. In ¡994, Berman Adventure (¡984 TVM); Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (¡985 TVM);
surprisingly halted production of the TV program so he could Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (¡999)
launch a film series with The Next Generation characters. Star Trek:
Generations (¡994) was an awkward attempt to transition from the Statues Come to Life
old to the new, with Captain Pickard meeting up with Captain German director/actor Paul Wegener gave the cinema its first liv-
Kirk. However, The Next Generation crew found its own groove ing statue with his ¡9¡4 horror classic The Golem: Monster of Fate
with the ¡996 follow-up Star Trek: First Contact, which featured the and its ¡920 prequel The Golem: How He Came to Be. These films
popular Borgs from the TV series. See also Theatrical Films Based were based on a Jewish myth about a Rabbi who brought to life
on TV Series; Teleportation. a giant man of clay to protect persecuted Jews. However, when
Star Trek-The Motion Picture (¡979); Star Trek II: The Wrath the Rabbi lost control of his creation, a young girl destroyed it by
of Khan (¡982); Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (¡984); Star Trek removing the Star of David from its chest. The same story served
IV: The Voyage Home (¡986); Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (¡989); as the basis for Julian Duvivier’s Golem (¡936), the French tele-
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (¡99¡); Star Trek: Genera- vision film Le Golem (¡966), and an updated British version called
tions (¡994); Star Trek: First Contact (¡996); Star Trek: Insurrection
It (¡966) starring Roddy McDowall. An interesting Japanese vari-
(¡998)
ation, Majin, Monster of Terror (¡966) told the story of a giant
stone god summoned to wreak vengeance on those who displaced
Star Wars Series a kingdom’s rightful rulers. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and
George Lucas’ tremendously popular space adventure series has Harold Ramis used “positive slime” to bring the Statue of Lib-
developed its own mythos in an amazingly short period of time. erty to life to battle evil in ¡989’s Ghostbusters II. Not all living
When Variety predicted a “huge outlook” for Star Wars back in statues have been of the giant variety nor have they been neces-
¡977, it turned out to be the venerable trade paper’s grossest un- sarily human-like. Ava Gardner played a storefront statue of
derstatement. But the film’s greatest impact was not in dollars, but Venus who became a living mortal in ¡948’s One Touch of Venus.
in influencing the near-future of American cinema. Like another Yet another Venus statue came to life in the form of game show
late ¡970s hit, Halloween (q.v.), Star Wars fostered dozens of im- hostess Vanna White in the ¡988 TV movie The Goddess of Love.
itations, such as Battle Beyond the Stars (¡980), Spacehunter (¡983), A contemporary witch sent a giant stone eagle to dispense with a
The Ice Pirates (¡984), and the Mel Brooks spoof Spaceballs (¡986). college professor and his wife in the intelligent ¡962 fantasy Burn,
However, whereas Halloween impacted on a specific genre, Lucas’ Witch, Burn. Statues turned into people and people into statues
mixture of adventure and morals carried over into non–science in Jean Cocteau’s stylized Blood of a Poet (¡930). See Gorgons for
fiction films — most notably his and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana other movies where people have been transformed into statues.
Jones (q.v.) movies. Curiously, Lucas’ interest in the Star Wars See also Majin.
films seemed to diminish as the series progressed. He turned over
The Golem: Monster of Fate (aka Der Golem) (¡9¡4); The
the directing reins to Irvin Kershner on ¡980’s The Empire Strikes Golem: How He Came to Be (aka Der Golem, Wie Er in die Welt
Back (arguably the best) and to Richard Marquand on ¡983’s Re- Kam) (¡920); Blood of a Poet (aka Le Sang d’un Poete) (¡930); One
turn of the Jedi. Despite insisting that the original trilogy was the Touch of Venus (¡948); The Miracle (¡959); Burn, Witch, Burn (aka
middle three chapters of a longer series, Lucas initially showed lit- Night of the Eagle) (¡962); Jason and the Argonauts (¡963); It (¡966);
tle interest in making the framing films. However, he did give the Majin, Monster of Terror (aka Majin, the Hideous Monster; Daima-
furry little friendly Ewoks (introduced in Return) two TV movie jin) (¡966); The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (¡974); Mannequin
(¡987); Creepshow 2 (¡987); The Goddess of Love (¡988 TVM);
adventures. Although oriented toward the juvenile audience, these
Ghostbusters II (¡989); Leprechaun 3 (¡995); The Haunting (¡999)
small-screen sequels boasted the usual excellent production val-
ues and a reasonable amount of charm. The major theatrical
stars — Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher — were natu- The Stepfather Series
rally missing. They did appear in the earlier Star Wars Holiday One good movie does not make a good series. The Stepfather
Special, a two-hour movie that aired on CBS in ¡978. This rare (¡987) was an e›ective sleeper featuring an outstanding perfor-
TV movie about Chewbacca’s e›orts to get home to his family mance from Terry O’Quinn as a psychopath. The film starts with
on Kashyyyk has never been rebroadcast nor released to video. Al- a family squabble which results in the father’s massacre of the rest
legedly, Lucas, who had little to do with the project, disowned of the family. It seems that Dad (O’Quinn) wants a perfect fam-
it. In ¡997, Lucas and 20th Century–Fox released back-to-back ily and will settle for nothing less. He departs calmly for another
“special editions” of the theatrical films that contained new city where he romances a young mother and takes on a new
190 THE STEPFORD WIVES

family — complete with suspicious stepdaughter. The unnecessary Gunmen of Ave Maria) (¡967); Boot Hill (aka La Collina degli Sti-
¡989 sequel revealed that O’Quinn’s character had survived the first vali) (¡969)
film, only to be imprisoned in an asylum. He promptly escapes, sets
up business as a marriage counselor (of all things!), and begins ro- Stores
mancing another young widow. Wisely, O’Quinn bowed out of the Where would you shop for a vicious dog, flesh-eating ghoul, or
series after this installment. Robert Wightman replaced him for the a mannequin-come-to-life? If you lived in a movie, you could
¡992 made-for-cable Stepfather III, in which the killer undergoes walk down to the nearest department store and find these unusual
plastic surgery (thus explaining the new face) and pursues Priscilla items and more. Stores have provided colorful background set-
Barnes. As with the second film, it o›ered no new deviations from tings for a number of films. Few movies, however, have confined
the original idea. Unfortunately, that’s not always a prerequisite for themselves to a store setting for the bulk of their running times.
ending a film series as evidenced by the plethora of low-budget se- In ¡973’s Trapped, James Brolin recovered from a mugging to find
ries such as Sleepaway Camp and Silent Night, Deadly Night (qq.v.). himself locked overnight in a department store — in the company
See also Television Movie Sequels to Theatrical Films. of a nasty, people-eating security dog. Still, that sounds prefer-
The Stepfather (¡987); Stepfather II (aka Stepfather II: Make able to the shopping mall in ¡979’s Dawn of the Dead, which was
Room for Daddy) (¡989); Stepfather III (¡992 TVM) populated by flesh-eating ghouls (q.v.) and a gang of crazy bik-
ers. Other mall-bound movies feature similar horrific elements:
killer security robots in Chopping Mall (¡986) and inept dialogue
The Stepford Wives between Woody Allen and Bette Midler in Scenes from a Mall
A dark satire disguised as a horror film, ¡975’s The Stepford Wives (¡99¡). Movies less confined to their store settings have induced
took male chauvinism to outrageous extremes. Katharine Ross an impressive list of Hollywood stars to step behind the counters:
starred as a young wife who accompanies her husband to their new James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan (The Shop Around the Cor-
home in the quiet suburban town of Stepford, Connecticut. It’s ner), Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker), Ginger Rogers (Bachelor
not long before Ross begins to notice something odd about her Mother), and Gene Hackman (All Night Long). The Marx Broth-
fellow females. Slowly, she discovers that the husbands of Step- ers and Jerry Lewis wreaked havoc on department stores in, re-
ford are “trading in” their human wives for obedient robotic repli- spectively, The Big Store and Who’s Minding the Store? Rock Hud-
cas. Unlike another adaptation of an Ira Levin novel, Rosemary’s son, in one of his first roles, played a store detective in ¡950’s I
Baby (¡968), The Stepford Wives did not burn up the box-o‡ce. Was a Shoplifter. Bob Hoskins played a pet shop owner who
However, like Rosemary’s Baby, it did spawn a made-for-TV se- moonlighted as a private detective in Shattered (¡99¡). Talia Shire
quel. In Revenge of the Stepford Wives (¡980), Sharon Gless played also worked in a pet store before she married Sylvester Stallone
a TV reporter who uncovers another dark suburban secret about in Rocky (¡976), while Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren met in a pet
Stepford. Apparently, no one listened to her, for Don Murray shop at the beginning of The Birds (¡963). However, the most fa-
moved his family there in another TV movie sequel, ¡987’s The mous specialty store probably remains Mr. Mushnik’s flower shop,
Stepford Children. In this slight variation, the Stepford men seek better known as The Little Shop of Horrors (¡960). It gained fame
to replace their troublesome kids with well-behaved robots. It as the home of the Audrey II, the world’s most famous people-
took nine years for the wives and children of Stepford to get the devouring plant.
male population under control — but they did in The Stepford
It (¡927); Our Blushing Brides (¡930); Shop Angel (¡932);
Husbands, another TV movie. Fortunately, the series ended be- Sweepings (¡933); Employees’ Entrance (¡933); Many Happy Returns
fore the Stepford pets could be replaced. See also Androids and (¡934); The Nitwits (¡935); Bachelor Mother (¡939); The Shop
Cyborgs; Television Movie Sequels to Theatrical Films. Around the Corner (¡940); The Big Store (¡94¡); The Devil and Miss
The Stepford Wives (¡975); Revenge of the Stepford Wives (¡980 Jones (¡94¡); Miracle on 34th Street (aka The Big Heart) (¡947); One
TVM); The Stepford Children (¡987 TVM); The Stepford Husbands Touch of Venus (¡948); I Was a Shoplifter (¡950); Trouble in Store
(¡996 TVM) (¡953); Bundle of Joy (¡956); The Little Shop of Horrors (¡960);
Who’s Minding the Store? (¡963); The Shop on Main Street (aka The
Shop on High Street) (¡965); The Pawnbroker (¡965); Trapped (¡973
Stevens, Cat TVM); Fire Sale (¡977); The Girls in the O‡ce (¡979 TVM); Dawn
Not to be confused with the same-named singer, this double- of the Dead (aka Zombie) (¡979); All Night Long (¡98¡); Come Back
crossing con artist and gunfighter appeared in a spaghetti West- to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (¡982); Chopping Mall
(aka Killbots) (¡986); The Little Shop of Horrors (¡986); Mannequin
ern trilogy directed by Giuseppe Colizzi. Terrence Hill (real name (¡987); Lady Beware (¡987); Big (¡988); Scenes from a Mall (¡99¡);
Mario Girotti) played Cat in all three entries, although he would Career Opportunities (¡99¡); To Be the Best (¡992 TVM); Clerks
later find far greater fame and fortune as the lead in the Trinity (¡994); Miracle on 34th Street (¡994); Mallrats (¡995); Terror in the
series (q.v.). The first Cat Stevens entry, ¡966’s God Forgives, I Mall (¡998 TVM); You’ve Got Mail (¡998); GO (¡999); Where the
Don’t, is notable for pairing the handsome Hill with gru›, burly Heart Is (2000)
Bud Spencer (real name Carlo Pedersoli). Hill and Spencer would
go on to enjoy great success as an Italian odd couple, starring to- Strippers
gether in all three Cat Stevens entries, the two best Trinity films, Strippers have appeared in the background of many films, but
and even contemporary action comedies such as All the Way, Boys have been the subject of few. Celebrated stripper/actress/author
(¡973) and Watch Out, We’re Mad (¡974). See also Trinity. Gypsy Rose Lee had a hand in four films about strippers. Her
God Forgives, I Don’t (aka Dio Perdona…Io No!; Blood River) mystery novel The G-String Murders was adapted for the screen
(¡966); Ace High (I Quattro dell’Ave Maria; Revenge at El Paso; Four as the ¡943 Barbara Stanwyck vehicle Lady of Burlesque. This
 SUBMARINES 191

potentially grisly story about a backstage strangler wisely mixed vacation — and romancing Connie Stevens — in ¡963’s Palm
in comedy elements. In Britain, it sported the more exploitative Springs Weekend. Two years later, the rock band the Dave Clark
title Striptease Lady. Lee’s play Doll Face, about a burlesque queen Five appeared as fun-loving stuntmen in Having a Wild Week-
with Broadway ambitions, was turned into the same-titled ¡945 end. The casting of these rock ’n’ rollers as stunt men is not as
film. Likewise, her autobiography Gypsy spawned a hit Broadway odd as it sounds — Dave Clark actually performed stunts in over
musical and a ¡962 movie version. Finally, she appeared in a sup- forty films. On television, Lee Majors played a stuntman who
porting role in ¡963’s The Stripper. Based on William Inge’s play tracked down bail jumpers on the side in The Fall Guy. See also
A Loss of Roses, it starred a miscast Joanne Woodward as a former Movies About Movies.
stripper seeking a new life and becoming involved with a ¡9-year- Lucky Devils (¡932); Miss Tatlock’s Millions (¡948); Palm
old. Danish actress Britt Ekland played an Amish girl-turned- Springs Weekend (¡963); Having a Wild Weekend (Catch Us If You
stripper in William Friedkin’s fond homage to old-time burlesque Can) (¡965); Stuntman (¡968); Night Moves (¡975); Hollywood
The Night They Raided Minsky’s (¡968). Other actresses who have Boulevard (¡976); Stunts (aka Who Is Killing the Stuntmen?) (¡977);
played strippers include Goldie Hawn (CrissCross), Melanie Hooper (¡978); Texas Detour (¡978); Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil
Story (¡979 TVM); Stunt Seven (¡979 TVM); Stunts Unlimited
Gri‡th (Fear City), Demi Moore (Striptease), Sherilyn Fenn (¡980 TVM); The Stunt Man (¡980); Safari 3000 (¡982); The End
(Ruby), and Elizabeth Berkley (in the notorious flop Showgirls). of Violence (¡997)
The serious side of striptease was explored in ¡986’s Stripper, a sur-
prisingly straightforward, non-exploitative documentary about
three professional strippers entering a Las Vegas contest. Natu- Submarines
rally, B-movie directors have exploited striptease for its cheese- Tense war melodramas and fanciful science fiction adventures
cake value. Drive-in filler of this kind has ranged from disgust- have made the most e›ective use of submarine settings. The ¡938
ing tripe like ¡987’s Stripped to Kill to modestly amusing fodder Submarine Patrol was a routine World War I actioner that un-
like Stephanie Rothman’s The Working Girls. The latter film, a knowingly paved the way for later World War II star-studded
pay-TV favorite, featured Cassandra Petersen (TV horror host- e›orts. In ¡943 alone: Cary Grant navigated a submarine into
ess Elvira) as a part-time stripper. Male strippers have not received Japanese waters in Destination Tokyo; Humphrey Bogart took on
equal time, although Christopher Atkins played one in ¡983’s the Germans in Action in the North Atlantic; John Mills helmed
best-forgotten A Night in Heaven. His leading lady was Lesley Ann a British sub in We Dive at Dawn; and Tyrone Power clashed with
Warren, an ecdysiast herself in ¡982’s Portrait of a Stripper. See Dana Andrews in Crash Dive. The popularity of sub war dramas
also Centerfolds. decreased in the ¡950s, but big name stars still kept them afloat
Lady of Burlesque (aka Striptease Lady) (¡943); Delightfully at the box-o‡ce. Sub o‡cers Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster en-
Dangerous (¡945); Lady Godiva Rides Again (¡95¡); Sex Kittens Go gaged in a bitter conflict in ¡958’s Run Silent, Run Deep. That
to College (aka The Beauty and the Robot) (¡960); A Cold Wind in same year, Glenn Ford was given a mission to destroy a Japanese
August (¡96¡); Danger by My Side (¡962); Gypsy (¡962); The Stripper ship carrying his family in Torpedo Run. The only World War II
(aka Woman of Summer) (¡963); Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (¡966); films to survive into the ¡960s were epic-scale features like The
The Night They Raided Minsky’s (¡968); The Working Girls (¡973); Longest Day (¡962) and Battle of the Bulge (¡965). The submarine
Portrait of a Stripper (¡982 TVM); A Night in Heaven (¡983); Fear
war film disappeared into obscurity until the German-made Das
City (¡984); Little Treasure (¡985); Stripper (¡986); Kandyland
(¡987); Stripped to Kill (¡987); Ladykillers (¡988 TVM); Dance of Boot (The Boat) unexpectedly surfaced to wow art-house audi-
the Damned (¡988); Stripped to Kill 2 (¡989); Blaze (¡989); Criss- ences in ¡98¡. An incredibly tense, claustrophobic thriller, it
Cross (¡992); Ruby (¡992); Somebody’s Daughter (¡992 TVM); traced the final days of a doomed German submarine during
Candy the Stripper (¡993); Twenty Bucks (¡993); Carlito’s Way World War II. In contrast to the realism of war, futuristic sub-
(¡993); Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (¡993); Gypsy Angels (¡994); marines have appeared principally in escapist entertainment. Two
The Smile (aka Le Sourire) (¡994); Exotica (¡994); Showgirls (¡995); Jules Verne novels have provided the basis for the best-known
The Sphinx (aka Le Sphinx) (¡995); Independence Day (¡996);
submarine fantasies. Disney’s ¡954 adaptation of 20,000 Leagues
Striptease (¡996); Dangerous Ground (¡997); The Full Monty (¡997);
The Players Club (¡998) Under the Sea remains a splendid spectacle for children of all ages,
highlighted by a thrilling attack by a giant squid. Verne’s sequel
Mysterious Island has been filmed twice, first as a loose adaptation
Stunt People in ¡929 and later as a compact ¡96¡ adventure (which actually con-
Films about stunt people naturally tend to emphasize action over tained little footage of the famous submarine Nautilus). Irwin
intellect, as in ¡978’s Hooper, an easy-going Burt Reynolds vehi- Allen, in his pre–disaster movie days, produced ¡96¡’s Voyage to
cle about an aging stuntman contemplating one last death-defy- the Bottom of Sea, which starred Walter Pidgeon as commander
ing feat. In both Stunt Seven (¡979) and Stunts Unlimited (¡980), of the submarine Seaview. The wild plot pitted the Seaview against
the government sent stunt experts on top-secret rescue missions. a giant octopus, on-board saboteurs, and a radiation belt threat-
No one bothered to question the logic behind substituting Hol- ening to burn the Earth to a crisp. The Seaview, with Richard
lywood union men for military-trained specialists. The engross- Basehart replacing Pidgeon, made the move to television in the
ing real-life story of a deaf stuntwoman was the subject of Silent ¡964–68 series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The most elabo-
Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story (¡979). In ¡980, The Stunt Man rate submarine was probably the supership featured in the ¡963
o›ered a thought-provoking yarn about a desperate fugitive (Steve Japanese fantasy Atragon— it could travel underwater, on land, or
Railsback) hired by a crazy film director (Peter O’Toole) to per- in the air! Animated Beatles sailed aboard ¡968’s Yellow Subma-
form dangerously real stunts. Ty Hardin played a stunt man on rine (which is where they all lived). In ¡966’s Batman, the
192 SUBSPECIES SERIES

Penguin, the Riddler, the Joker, and the Cat Woman plotted mis- the latter film and the second and fourth Subspecies installments.
chief from within a penguin-shaped submarine. James Bond used See also Vampires.
a minisub in Thunderball (¡965), while a full-size submarine was Subspecies (¡99¡); Bloodstone: Subspecies II (¡993); Bloodlust:
stolen in the ¡977 Bond adventure The Spy Who Loved Me. Subspecies III (¡994); Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (¡998)
Herpephobes should try to avoid Fer-de-Lance, a ¡974 TV
movie about snakes slithering rampantly about a damaged sub- Subways
marine.
Underground trains have been underutilized as film settings, prin-
Mysterious Island (¡929); The Devil and the Deep (¡932); Hell
cipally because their frequent stops and passenger turnover pro-
Below (¡933); Submarine D-¡ (¡937); Submarine Patrol (¡938); Es-
cape to Glory (aka Submarine Zone) (¡940); Crash Dive (¡943); Des- hibit the development of an involved plot. Nevertheless, French
tination Tokyo (¡943); We Dive at Dawn (¡943); Action in the North director Luc Besson fashioned a stylish tale about contemporary
Atlantic (¡943); The Damned (¡947); Operation Disaster (aka Morn- underground denizens in ¡985’s Subway. The underrated horror
ing Departure) (¡950); Hell and High Water (¡954); 20,000 Leagues film Raw Meat was about the trapped survivors of a London sub-
Under the Sea (¡954); Above Us the Waves (¡956); The Deep Six way disaster and their descendants — who evolved into cannibals.
(¡958); Run Silent, Run Deep (¡958); The Silent Enemy (¡958); Tor- Vicious Robert Shaw and cronies hijacked an NYC subway and
pedo Run (¡958); Atomic Submarine (¡959); On the Beach (¡959);
held the passengers for ransom in the ¡974 thriller The Taking of
Operation Petticoat (¡959); Up Periscope (¡959); Atlantis, the Lost
Continent (¡96¡); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); Voyage to the Bottom of Pelham One Two Three. Exciting subway chase sequences appeared
the Sea (¡96¡); Mystery Submarine (aka Decoy) (¡962); Atragon in Predator 2, Highlander 2: The Quickening, Eve of Destruction,
(¡963); The Bedford Incident (¡965); Around the World Under the Lethal Weapon 3, and Speed. The di‡culties of getting a seat on
Sea (¡966); The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! the morning subway were explored in the ¡950 comedy Pretty
(¡966); Batman (¡966); Assault on the Wayne (¡966 TVM); Yellow Baby. Youth gangs harassed subway passengers in The Warriors
Submarine (¡968); Submarine X-¡ (¡968); Nobody’s Perfect (¡968); (¡979) and We’re Fighting Back (¡98¡). Subway workers figured
Ice Station Zebra (¡968); Latitude Zero (¡969); The Land That Time
prominently in the plots of No Time for Love (¡943) and Sugarbaby
Forgot (¡974); Fer-de-Lance (¡974 TVM); The Spy Who Loved Me
(¡977); Gray Lady Down (¡978); Das Boot (aka The Boat) (¡98¡); (¡985). The remains of an alien spaceship were unearthed during
The Fifth Missile (¡986); The Abyss (¡989); The Hunt for Red Octo- a subway station excavation in the clever sci-fi fantasy Five Mil-
ber (¡990); Full Fathom Five (¡990); Endless Descent (¡99¡); Crimson lion Years to Earth (¡967). See also Trains.
Tide (¡995); Down Periscope (¡996); Escape from L.A. (¡996); Up No Time for Love (¡943); Pretty Baby (¡950); Dutchman
Periscope (¡996); Crash Dive (¡997); Hostile Waters (¡997); Sub (¡966); Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit)
Down (¡997); The Hunley (¡999 TVM); The World Is Not Enough (¡967); The Incident (¡967); Short Walk to Daylight (¡972 TVM);
(¡999); Phantom, the Submarine (¡999); U-57¡ (2000) Raw Meat (aka Deathline) (¡973); The Taking of Pelham One Two
Three (¡974); The Warriors (¡979); We’re Fighting Back (¡98¡); Sub-
way (¡985); Sugar Baby (¡985); Predator 2 (¡990); Highlander 2:
Subspecies Series The Quickening (¡99¡); Eve of Destruction (¡99¡); Lethal Weapon 3
Full Moon Pictures produced this direct-to-video vampire series (¡992); Speed (¡994); Angel Dust (aka Tenshi No Kuzu) (¡994);
that stretched its modest budget by making excellent use of its Ro- Money Train (¡995); While You Were Sleeping (¡995); Extreme Mea-
sures (¡996); Mimic (¡997); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
manian locations. Anders Hove and Michael Watson, who both
(¡998 TVM); The Bone Collector (¡999)
appeared in the TV soap opera General Hospital, play the sons of
vampire ruler Vlad. The evil Radu (Hove) kills his father and
steals the Bloodstone, a relic that oozes the blood of saints. The Suicide
good Stefan (Watson), who has fallen in love with a pretty tourist Although suicide has played an integral role in dozens of features,
named Michelle (Laura Tate), tries to destroy his brother. He films expressly about it fall into two general categories. The first
eventually succeeds, but not before Michelle has become a vam- includes movies in which someone attempts to thwart a poten-
pire, too. Hove, decked out in long hair and grotesque makeup, tial suicide. In ¡95¡’s Fourteen Hours, Richard Basehart spent the
overacts as the villainous bloodsucker. The brooding, intense better part of a day on a skyscraper’s ledge as likable policeman
Watson fares much better and keeps the film from straying into Paul Douglas and others (including Grace Kelly) tried to talk him
camp. Unfortunately, a resurrected Radu (Hove again) destroys out of taking the plunge. While Basehart’s character fell into a net
Stefan at the beginning of Bloodstone: Subspecies II (¡993). How- and lived, Sissy Spacek succeeded in killing herself in ¡986’s
ever, Michelle (Denise Du› ) steals the Bloodstone, escapes from ’Night, Mother, despite desperate pleas from parent Anne Ban-
Radu, and contacts her sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner, William croft. An angel named Clarence dissuaded James Stewart from
Shatner’s daughter). Both Subspecies II and Bloodlust: Subspecies suicide in Frank Capra’s perennial holiday o›ering It’s a Wonder-
III (¡994) deal with Radu’s plans to make Michelle his vampiric ful Life (¡946). Paralyzed Richard Dreyfuss fought a hospital sta›
bride and Rebecca’s attempts to save her sister. The fourth in- for his right to die in the powerful Whose Life Is It Anyway? (¡98¡).
stallment, Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (¡998), adds a few new twists. The second category of suicide films revolves around how a loved
Michelle, still being pursued by Radu, meets a physician who one’s suicide a›ects the living. Families and friends dealt with
claims he can cure her vampirism. Meanwhile, Radu must cope devastating teenage suicides in Silence of the Heart (¡984), Sur-
with a young ambitious vampire named Ash ( Jonathan Morris). viving (¡985), and Permanent Record (¡988). Angie Dickinson
The vampire Ash was the subject of Vampire Journals, a ¡997 Full played a woman trying to rebuild her life after her husband took
Moon production also starring Morris. Ted Nicolaou directed all his in The Suicide’s Wife (¡979). On the lighter side, suicide has
four Subspecies entries as well as Vampire Journals. He also wrote been played for laughs in a handful of o›beat comedies. After
 SUPERMAN 193

tightening a noose around his neck in Reuben, Reuben, poet Tom Parent Trap (¡96¡); Please Sir (¡97¡); Poison Ivy (¡975 TVM); Race
Conti changed his mind — only to have a dog burst into the room for Your Life, Charlie Brown (¡977); Piranha (¡978); Meatballs
and knock his chair out from under him. Bud Cort delighted in (¡979); Friday the ¡3th (¡980); Little Darlings (¡980); G.O.R.P.
(¡980); The Burning (¡98¡); The Acorn People (¡98¡ TVM); Odd-
staging elaborate fake suicides in the cult classic Harold and
balls (¡983); Sleepaway Camp (¡983); Mask (¡985); Party Camp
Maude (¡97¡). In ¡978’s The End, a dying man unable to commit (¡986); Ernest Goes to Camp (¡987); Summer Camp Nightmare (aka
suicide decides he needs professional help with his death. Would- The Butterfly Revolution) (¡987); Camp Cucamonga (¡990 TVM);
be suicide victims met and fell in love in Paris in Spring (¡935) Princes in Exile (¡99¡ TVM); Indian Summer (¡993); The Flood:
and Tulips (¡98¡). And four middle-aged men decided to commit Who Will Save Our Children? (¡993 TVM); Camp Nowhere (¡994);
group suicide by eating themselves to death in the French farce Camp Stories (¡997); The Parent Trap (¡998); Down Will Come
La Grande Bou›e (¡973). Several films have climaxed in shock- Baby (¡999 TVM)
ing suicides. Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (¡980) ended
with the bizarre mass suicide staged in the late ¡970s by the Rev. Superfly
Jones and his cult followers. A murderess ( Jean Simmons) re- One of the most successful blaxploitation (q.v.) films of the early
jected by her lover (Robert Mitchum) backed their car o› a cli› ¡970s, Superfly remains a morally ambiguous tale about a black
in Otto Preminger’s Angel Face (¡953). In ¡948’s The Red Shoes, drug dealer who doublecrosses his cronies, goes “straight,” and jets
a ballerina confronted with choosing between art and love plunges o› to Italy. Youngblood Priest (Ron O’Neal) dresses sharply and
to her death. Ship steward Edmund Gwenn explained the ulti- always acts cool. He’s a charming drug lord, especially compared
mate fate of suicide victims to the dead passengers aboard his to the scum surrounding him (this apparently justifies his ac-
ship in Between Two Worlds (¡944). tions). Despite its questionable social values, the film clicked at
Dangerous Corner (¡934); Paris in Spring (aka Paris Love Song) the box-o‡ce and with critics who admired its hip style. Com-
(¡935); Between Two Worlds (¡944); It’s a Wonderful Life (¡946); poser Curtis Mayfield scored two top ten singles with “Freddie’s
The Red Shoes (¡948); Fourteen Hours (¡95¡); Angel Face (¡953); The Dead” and “Superfly.” O’Neal took the directorial reins for the
Slender Thread (¡965); The Art of Love (¡965); Harold and Maude inevitable sequel, ¡973’s Superfly T.N.T. This meandering fol-
(¡97¡); La Grande Bou›e (¡973); The End (¡978); Leap into the Void low-up found a disenchanted Priest getting involved with run-
(¡979); The Suicide’s Wife (aka A New Life) (¡979 TVM); Guyana
ning guns to help an oppressed African country. It faded quickly
Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (¡980 TVM); Tulips (¡98¡); Whose
Life Is It Anyway? (¡98¡); The Eyes, the Mouth (¡982); Reuben, at theaters and relegated O’Neal to supporting roles. A third entry,
Reuben (¡983); Right of Way (¡983 TVM); Silence of the Heart The Return of Superfly, unexpectedly surfaced in ¡990. Nathan
(¡984 TVM); A Reason to Live (¡985 TVM); Mishima (¡985); Sur- Purdee took over as Priest, who returns from exile in Paris to get
viving (¡985 TVM); ’Night Mother (¡986); Permanent Record even with his old gang. Mayfield completed the music score
(¡988); Retribution (¡988); Last Wish (¡992 TVM); Woman on the shortly before his death. See also Blaxploitation Films.
Ledge (¡993 TVM); After Jimmy (¡996 TVM); One True Thing
Superfly (¡972); Superfly T.N.T. (¡973); The Return of Superfly
(¡998); Soft Toilet Seats (¡999); The Virgin Suicides (2000)
(¡990)

Summer Camps Superman

Summer camp settings seem to foster rivalries, love a›airs, and “You’ll believe a man can fly!” proclaimed the ads when Super-
pranks among their teen residents. Rivals Kristy McNichol and man was released in ¡978. Millions of moviegoers did just that,
Tatum O’Neal wagered each other on who would lose her vir- making the Man of Steel’s celebrated screen return the first of a
ginity first at the summer camp in Little Darlings (¡980). On a profitable series. Actually, Superman made his first feature-length
broader scale, the boys and girls of Camp Sasquatch challenged movie appearance in ¡95¡ in the guise of stocky George Reeves.
the rich kids’ camp across the river to an absurd athletic contest Superman and the Mole Men (¡95¡) was a low-budget independent
in Meatballs (q.v.) (¡979). And the Peanuts Gang (q.v.) got in- feature aimed at the juvenile trade. It would have likely remained
volved in a river race in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (¡977). a B-movie oddity, except that its minor success resulted in a phe-
Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon found summer camp love in nomenal, syndicated TV series The Adventures of Superman. In all,
the ¡975 TV movie comedy Poison Ivy. A more honest relation- ¡04 half-hour episodes were broadcast originally between ¡952
ship, between a disfigured teenage boy and a blind girl, took place and ¡957. Reeves starred as Clark Kent/Superman, with Phyllis
at the summer camp in Mask (¡985). The ¡987 Ernest Goes to Coates and later Noel Neill as Lois Lane, Jack Larson as Jimmy
Camp dispensed with any pretensions of plot and focused on the Olsen, and John Hamilton as Perry White. Despite obvious bud-
antics of a bumbling counselor and his practical joke-prone get limitations, the series made the most of its special e›ects.
charges. Hayley Mills played a pair of twins who meet acciden- Later episodes were even filmed in color, a television rarity in the
tally at a summer camp and wind up reuniting their divorced ¡950s. Sadly, Reeves became typecast by the role and had di‡culty
parents in The Parent Trap (¡96¡). The Acorn People (¡98¡) was a finding work, a fact that may have attributed to his alleged ¡959
heartwarming story about a camp for severely handicapped suicide. The Superman character, created by writer Jerry Siegel
youngsters. Murders galore took place at the isolated summer and artist Joe Shuster, first appeared in comic book form in ¡939.
camps in the Friday the ¡3th films (q.v.), The Burning (¡98¡), and Bud Collyer provided the voice of Superman for a ¡940–5¡ radio
Summer Camp Nightmare (¡987). See also Friday the ¡3th Series; series. Kirk Allyn also played the Man of Steel in ¡948 and ¡950
Sleepaway Camp. serials. He can be glimpsed as Lois Lane’s father in the TV-ex-
Make a Wish (¡937); The Under-Pup (¡939); There’s Magic in panded version of ¡978’s Superman. That box-o‡ce smash starred
Music (¡94¡); Summer Love (¡958); Beware of Children (¡96¡); The Christopher Reeve, who made the superman role his own for a
194 SURFING

generation of comic book lovers. Much of the ¡98¡ sequel Super- Einstein inventing the first surf board and riding a few waves in
man II was filmed simultaneously with the first film, partially ac- the o›beat ¡989 comedy Young Einstein.
counting for the original’s $55 million price tag. Whereas Super- Ride the Wild Surf (¡964); The Endless Summer (¡966); Pacific
man dealt with the Man of Steel’s origin and introduced the Vibrations (¡97¡); Big Wednesday (aka Summer of Innocence) (¡978);
supporting characters, Superman II promptly pitted our hero Shimmering Light (¡978 TVM); California Dreaming (¡979); Some
against three vicious outlaws from his own planet. The romance Kind of Miracle (¡979 TVM); North Shore (¡987); Back to the Beach
between Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and Clark Kent/Superman (¡987); Surf Nazis Must Die (¡987); Aloha Summer (¡988); Under
the Boardwalk (¡988); Young Einstein (¡989); Red Surf (¡990); Point
was also developed, to the extent that they consummated their re- Break (¡990); The Endless Summer 2 (¡994); Blue Juice (¡995); Es-
lationship. The series took an inexplicable turn for the worse with cape from L.A. (¡996); In God’s Hands (¡998)
¡983’s Superman III, which boasted the additional marquee value
of Richard Pryor. Margot Kidder made a brief appearance as Lois
Lane, but Superman’s love interest was old flame Lana Lang (An- Surrogate Motherhood
nette O’Toole). Reeve balked at starring in a fourth film, so ex- Television movies have frequently borrowed their stories from the
ecutive producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind brought Supergirl headlines, with no better example than the four films about sur-
to the screen in ¡984. Casting an unknown (as they did with rogate motherhood broadcast between ¡979 and ¡988. The cele-
Reeve), the Salkinds failed to create another star in girl-next-door brated case of Baby M garnered the most attention, but earlier
Helen Slater. The silly plot and Faye Dunaway’s hammy villain- e›orts explored the same territory with less fanfare. In fact, The
ess were a far cry from Superman II. The only cast holdover from Seeding of Sarah Burns (¡979) was a fictional drama with re-
the Superman films was Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen. The fail- markable similarities to Baby M. Kay Lenz played the woman
ure of Supergirl apparently ended the series. However, Cannon who undergoes an embryo transplant and then has second
Films acquired distribution rights from Warner Bros. and lured thoughts about giving up the baby. Two ¡982 TV movies cov-
Reeve back into the fold. The actor wrote the story and directed ered the same ground, with Susan Dey and Stephanie Zimbalist
some scenes in ¡987’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Despite as the surrogate mothers in The Gift of Life and Tomorrow’s Child.
the presence of Gene Hackman (returning as Lex Luthor) and a The ¡984 theatrical release The Surrogate dispensed with emo-
token appearance by Kidder, Superman IV was a victim of shoddy tional crises in favor of a whodunit plot. Private Practices: The
special e›ects and a pretentious plot. The franchise lay dormant Story of a Sex Surrogate (¡986) was a detailed documentary on the
for almost nine years, although the character enjoyed modest suc- subject. Along similar lines, a sterile wife and her spouse hired a
cess with the ¡993–97 TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adven- young woman to conceive a child with the husband in ¡970’s The
tures of Superman. Then, in ¡998, Warner Bros. announced plans Baby Maker. See also Babies.
to film Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. The Baby Maker (¡970); The Seeding of Sarah Burns (¡979
Tim Burton (Batman) signed on as director, but script and sched- TVM); Paternity (¡98¡); Tomorrow’s Child (aka Genesis) (¡982
uling problems kept the project from getting o› the ground. TVM); The Gift of Life (¡982 TVM); The Surrogate (¡984); Private
Meanwhile, the popular Superman animated TV series resulted Practices: The Story of a Sex Surrogate (¡986); Baby M (¡988 TVM);
Waiting (¡990); The Handmaid’s Tale (¡990); Moment of Truth: A
in the made-for-TV feature The Batman/Superman Movie. See Child Too Many (¡993 TVM); The Surrogate (¡995 TVM)
also Comic Book Characters.
Superman and the Mole Men (¡95¡); Superman (¡978); Superman
II (¡98¡); Superman III (¡983); Supergirl (¡984); Superman IV: The Suspended Animation
Quest for Peace (¡987); The Batman/Superman Movie (¡998 TVM) If one is to believe science fiction cinema, the most popular method
for inducing suspended animation is to freeze living cells. The
Frankenstein Monster was discovered frozen in ice, and subse-
Surfing quently revived to full strength, in both House of Frankenstein
The quest for the Big Wave was a constant teenage concern in the (¡944) and The Evil of Frankenstein (¡964). Likewise, a Neanderthal
lightweight Gidget (q.v.) and Beach Party (q.v.) movies of the Man encased in ice was thawed in Fred Schepisi’s heavyhanded so-
¡960s. However, serious surfers had little opportunity to pro- cial parable Iceman (¡984). Warped scientist Dana Andrews tried
mote their sport prior to Bruce Brown’s ¡966 documentary The to bring back frozen Nazis in ¡967’s The Frozen Dead. And a man
Endless Summer. This lyrical homage to the beauties and dangers frozen through cryogenic means returned to life as a killer in Wes
of surfing earned critical raves and a loyal cult following. Dra- Craven’s o›beat ¡985 TV movie Chiller. Star Trek creator Gene
matic films have been far less interesting. The ¡978 Big Wednes- Roddenberry produced three TV pilot films about a 20th century
day traced the lives of surfing buddies Jan-Michael Vincent, man awakened from suspended animation to find himself in the
William Katt, and Gary Busey from the mid–¡960s to the late future. Alex Cord starred in Genesis II (¡973), with John Saxon
¡970s. Shimmering Light (¡978) sent Beau Bridges to Australia in playing the lead in both Planet Earth (¡974) and Strange New World
search of the Big Wave. North Shore (¡987) starred Matt Adler as (¡975). None of these TV movies resulted in a weekly series. Ac-
a cocky surfer eager to challenge the famed Oahu waves in tually, the ¡939 Buck Rogers serial was probably the first “film” to
Hawaii. David Dukes played a man permanently paralyzed by a use suspended animation as a means of placing contemporary man
surfing accident in the ¡979 TV movie Some Kind of Miracle. The into the future. It was re-edited into two feature films (¡953’s Planet
¡987 Beach Party reunion film Back to the Beach featured Frankie Outlaws and ¡965’s Destination Saturn) and later remade as ¡979’s
Avalon staging a surfing duel against a wonderfully tacky rear- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Woody Allen borrowed the basic
screen wave. Australian filmmaker-star Yahoo Serious had Albert premise for comedic purposes in ¡973’s Sleeper. Other interesting
 SWORD AND SORCERY 195

uses of suspended animation have appeared in This Island Earth monds; Cruel Swamp) (¡955); Lure of the Swamp (¡957); Attack of
(¡954) and In Like Flint (¡967). The aliens in the former film were the Giant Leeches (aka The Giant Leeches) (¡959); Curse of the
among the first to use suspended animation as a method for en- Swamp Creature (¡966); Frogs (¡972); Live and Let Die (¡973);
Gator Bait (¡976); The Rescuers (¡977); Southern Comfort (¡98¡);
abling living beings to endure unbearably long space voyages. The
Swamp Thing (¡982); Rearview Mirror (¡984 TVM); No Mercy
villains in Flint suspended a golf game long enough to replace the (¡986); Down by Law (¡986); Shy People (¡987); Return of the
real president with a lookalike substitute. On television, the ¡967- Swamp Thing (¡989); Ridicule (¡996); Old Man (¡997 TVM)
68 sitcom The Second Hundred Years was about a 33-year-old man
who was frozen in a glacier in ¡900, only to thaw out 67 years later
and encounter his now elderly son. See also Coma.
The Swan Princess Series
Richard Rich, who helmed Disney’s The Fox and the Hound (¡98¡)
The Man with Nine Lives (¡940); House of Frankenstein (aka
Chamber of Horrors) (¡944); This Island Earth (¡954); Dinosaurus
and The Black Cauldron (¡985), co-wrote and directed this col-
(¡960); Frozen Alive (¡964); The Evil of Frankenstein (¡964); Kiss the orful non–Disney animated musical. Partially inspired by the
Girls and Make Them Die (¡966); In Like Flint (¡967); The Frozen Swan Lake ballet, The Swan Princess (¡994) recounts the tale of
Dead (¡967); Sleeper (¡973); Genesis II (¡973 TVM); Planet Earth Princess Odette, who has been turned into a swan by the evil
(¡974 TVM); Live Again, Die Again (¡974 TVM); Strange New Rothbart and becomes a young woman again only when the moon
World (¡975 TVM); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (¡979); Iceman casts its rays upon the lake. Although lacking the lyrical quality
(¡984); Chiller (¡985 TVM); Aliens (¡986); The Chilling (¡989); of Beauty and the Beast (¡99¡), The Swan Princess nevertheless cap-
Late for Dinner (¡99¡); Critters 4 (aka Critters 4: They’re Invading
Your Space) (¡992); Forever Young (¡992); ¡994 Baker Street: Sherlock
tures the essence of Disney’s ¡990s formula: a spunky female hero-
Holmes Returns (aka Sherlock Holmes Returns) (¡993 TVM) (An- ine, charming supporting characters, and Broadway-style musi-
thony Higgins); Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (¡997) cal numbers including the Golden Globe–nominated “Far Longer
Than Forever.” Unfortunately, despite good reviews, The Swan
Swamps Princess failed to attract an audience during its theatrical release.
It performed significantly better as a videotape release, inspiring
Sun-baked bodies trudging slowly through murky waters. Blood-
two belated sequels courtesy of Rich and his co-writer Brian Nis-
sucking leeches clinging to human flesh. The crisp snap of an
sen. Despite repeating the same formula, these second and third
alligator’s jaws. These are familiar sights and sounds in movie
entries faded quickly into obscurity. See also Animated Movies
swamps, which have been used chiefly as convenient hideouts,
(Feature-Length).
treacherous shortcuts, and unlikely long-term residences. In Jean
Renoir’s Swamp Water (¡94¡), Dana Andrews chased his dog into The Swan Princess (¡994); The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle
Mountain (aka The Swan Princess: The Secret of the Castle) (¡997);
a Georgia swamp and discovered the secret hiding place of an al- The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (¡998)
leged murderer (Walter Brennan). He also discovered Brennan’s
lonely daughter Ann Baxter and, eventually, the real murderers
(who met their fate in a pit of quicksand). Brennan repeated his Sword and Sorcery
role for the ¡952 remake Lure of the Wilderness. Richard Gere and Although its literary basis dates back to the ¡930s, the sword and
Kim Basinger took a short-cut through the Louisiana swamps to sorcery genre of the ¡980s probably owes its cinematic inspira-
elude pursuers in ¡986’s No Mercy. In contrast, Michael Beck and tion to George Lucas’ Star Wars (¡977) and The Empire Strikes
hostage Lee Remick took a Carolina swamp route to avoid the law Back (¡980). Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, while lacking the
in the ¡984 TV movie Rearview Mirror. Barbara Hershey won a physical attributes of muscular heroes, together form the basic
Cannes Best Actress Award in ¡987’s Shy People as a Bayou widow mold of an ironic adventurer sent forth on a preordained quest.
whose life is disrupted by an unexpected visit from city relative However, the genre proper — complete with muscle-bulging
Jill Clayburgh. Hershey’s swampy residence reflected her charac- hunks and heavy swords — began with ¡982’s Conan the Barbar-
ter’s internal strength and emotional isolation. No hidden mean- ian. Robert E. Howard wrote ¡7 Conan stories, which appeared
ings were behind the swamp setting in Gator Bait, a drive-in in Weird Tales pulp magazine between ¡932–36 (four others were
quickie about a Cajun girl (former Playmate Claudia Jennings) published posthumously). John Milius’ film version o›ered little
navigating a zippy launch to avoid lusty Bayou males. Nine Na- more than a straightforward telling of Conan’s beginnings, but it
tional Guardsmen wound up fighting unfriendly Cajuns in the made a star of Arnold Schwarzenegger and inspired a sequel as
Deliverance-inspired Southern Comfort (¡98¡). The Mouse Rescue well as a rash of imitators. One rip-o›, The Sword and the Sor-
Aid Society ventured into a threatening swamp to find a helpless cerer, starring TV stars-to-be Lee Horsley (Matt Houston) and
child mouse in Disney’s ¡977 animated feature The Rescuers. The Kathleen Beller (Dynasty), actually beat Conan to the theaters.
¡982 Swamp Thing, based on a cult comic book, was about a More typical imitations included an ineptly-made Italian series
good scientist transformed into a half-man, half-plant monstros- starring former Tarzan Miles O’Keefe as a silly beefcake hero
ity. He ventured out of the marshy waters to periodically rescue named Ator (q.v.). Despite attempts to infuse the genre with
girlfriend Adrienne Barbeau from the clutches of evil scientist good-natured camp (Don Coscarelli’s Beastmaster) or elaborate
Louis Jourdan. The plot was essentially repeated in the ¡989 se- production design (Peter Yate’s Krull), the sword and sorcery craze
quel Return of the Swamp Thing, with Jourdan returning as the died softly in ¡985 with Red Sonja, a box-o‡ce failure despite the
villain and Heather Locklear replacing Barbeau. potentially potent pairing of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte
Swamp Water (aka The Man Who Came Back) (¡94¡); Strangler Nielsen. See also Ator; Beastmaster; Deathstalker.
of the Swamp (¡946); Swamp Fire (¡946); Lure of the Wilderness Hawk the Slayer (¡980); The Sword and the Sorcerer (¡982);
(¡952); Cry of the Hunted (¡953); Swamp Women (aka Swamp Dia- Conan the Barbarian (¡982); Sorceress (¡982); Beastmaster (¡982);
196 TALKING ANIMALS

Krull (¡983); Yor-the Hunter from the Future (¡983); Ator the Fight- conceived character changes, gross miscastings, and cheap-look-
ing Eagle (¡983); Conan the Destroyer (¡984); Red Sonja (¡985); ing backlot jungles. Elmo Lincoln, a D.W. Gri‡th player who had
Amazons (¡986); Iron Warrior (¡987); The Barbarians (¡987); Wiz- appeared in Birth of a Nation, was the first actor to don the loin-
ard of the Lost Kingdom II (¡989); Wizards of the Demon Sword
cloth in ¡9¡8’s Tarzan of the Apes. From the beginning, Burroughs
(¡99¡); October 32nd (¡992)
stressed that he wanted the film to be a faithful adaptation. Yet,
despite his presence during filming, the plot strayed slightly from
Talking Animals the book — a problem that would plague Burroughs on a much
Talking animals have been a screen oddity, with the exceptions of larger scale in future Tarzan pictures. The movie performed well
Francis the Talking Mule (q.v.) and various animated critters. at the box-o‡ce and a less successful sequel, Romance of Tarzan,
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope’s wacky Road comedies featured a came out later that year. Burroughs reaped little profit o› these
talking fish and bear in Road to Utopia and a pair of conversing films and sold the rights to subsequent novels to other produc-
camels in Road to Morocco. Another talking camel made a cameo ers. During the silent era: Goldwyn distributed The Revenge of
in the adventure spoof Slave Girl (¡947). Walter Abel had a talk- Tarzan (¡920); National Film Corporation turned the novel Son
ing dog in The Fabulous Joe (¡947), Mickey Rooney a conversant of Tarzan into a ¡92¡ serial; Elmo Lincoln reprised the role for an-
duck in Everything’s Ducky (¡96¡), and Pee Wee Herman a prose- other serial The Adventures of Tarzan (¡92¡); and Film Booking
producing pig in Big Top Pee Wee (¡988). Bob Goldthwait con- O‡ces (later RKO Radio) released Tarzan and the Golden Lion
versed with a horse in ¡988’s Hot to Trot (which also featured a (¡927). The star of the latter picture, Jim Pierce, married Bur-
chattering horsefly), while another talking horse named Renaldo roughs’ daughter Joan and they later played Tarzan and Jane in a
had a brief scene in High Spirits (¡988). But the most famous talk- radio series. Following two more Tarzan serials in the early ¡930s,
ing animal is probably the sheep-pig in Babe (¡995), although the Irving Thalberg acquired series rights for MGM. Tarzan, the Ape
film is a controversial choice for this category. Unlike the afore- Man (¡932) was a lavish jungle epic. It made a film star of for-
mentioned talking animal movies, the critters and the humans in mer Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller, but also
Babe do not understand each other. Don Johnson understood unfortunately dispensed with Burroughs’ conception of Tarzan as
his dog Blood, although the two could only communicate an educated man. Weissmuller’s Tarzan spoke in broken English
telepathically in Harlan Ellison’s science fiction satire A Boy and (“Tarzan — Jane”) and strayed from his beloved jungle only once
His Dog (¡975). No discussion of talking animals would be com- in the MGM series. Still, audiences loved the wild animal thrills
plete without mentioning TV’s famous talking horse Mr. Ed. See and the romance between primitive Tarzan and civilized Jane
also Francis the Talking Mule; Humanimals. (Maureen O’Sullivan). MGM mounted an even more impressive
Road to Morocco (¡942); Road to Utopia (¡945); Slave Girl (¡947); sequel in ¡934’s Tarzan and His Mate, which most critics consider
The Faboulous Joe (¡947); Francis (¡949); Everything’s Ducky (¡96¡); A Weissmuller’s finest Tarzan epic. MGM produced four more
Boy and His Dog (¡975); Hot to Trot (¡988); Big Top Pee Wee (¡988); Tarzan entries, introducing Johnny She‡eld as Boy in ¡939’s
High Spirits (¡988); Naked Lunch (¡99¡); Babe (¡995); Gordy (¡995); Tarzan Finds a Son and concluding the series with ¡942’s Tarzan’s
Two-Bits and Pepper (¡996); Aaron’s Magic Village (¡997); Paulie
New York Adventure. Although the MGM Tarzan films domi-
(¡998); Doctor Doolittle (¡998); Babe: Pig in the City (¡998)
nated the ¡930s, other independent e›orts competed against
them. Sol Lesser, who had acquired an option from Burroughs
Tammy through a third party, signed Buster Crabbe for Tarzan the Fear-
A wholesome backwoods teenager, Tammy managed to charm the less (¡933). It was edited into two di›erent versions, so theater
socks o› of everyone she met. Her adventures were mild, to say owners could show it as a 7¡-minute feature or as a serial. The
the least, but nevertheless influential. They set the stage for sim- same fate befell ¡935’s The New Adventures of Tarzan. This his-
ilar fodder such as Gidget (q.v.) and thus proved there was a lu- toric oddity was produced by Burroughs’ own company, thus en-
crative market for teen-oriented, nonhorror pictures (a fact ex- suring that Tarzan acted like an educated man. Herman Brix,
ploited by AIP’s Beach Party series). Twenty-five-year-old Debbie later known as Bruce Bennett, played the lead. Initially available
Reynolds, already an established star, created the role in ¡957’s as a feature or serial, the film was recut again in ¡938 and released
Tammy and the Bachelor. She also sang the memorable title tune, with a new title Tarzan and the Green Goddess. A third non–MGM
which hit #¡ on Billboard’s pop chart in July ¡957. Sandra Dee, e›ort, ¡938’s Tarzan’s Revenge, o›ered minimal backlot thrills
after introducing Gidget two years earlier, played Tammy in two and a lackluster hero as played by Glenn Morris. MGM may have
sequels, with John Gavin and Peter Fonda as her love interests. felt these low-budget rivals weakened the box-o‡ce attraction of
A half-hour sitcom starring Debbie Watson debuted in Septem- their films. However, RKO did not hesitate to grab Weissmuller
ber ¡965 and lasted a single season. Four of its episodes were and launch its own Tarzan series in ¡943. Johnny She‡eld ac-
edited into an 87-minute movie and released theatrically as companied Weissmuller to RKO, but Maureen O’Sullivan bowed
Tammy and the Millionaire. out as Jane. There was no Jane — but lots of Nazis — in RKO’s first
Tammy and the Bachelor (aka Tammy) (¡957) (Debbie Reynolds); entry Tarzan Triumphs. The film marked Sol Lesser’s return as a
Tammy Tell Me True (¡96¡) (Sandra Dee); Tammy and the Doctor Tarzan producer and he eventually installed Brenda Joyce as the
(¡963) (Dee); Tammy and the Millionaire (¡967) (Debbie Watson) series’ new Jane. Although relying heavily on stock footage, the
RKO films drew steady business. Johnny She‡eld, who had out-
Tarzan grown his role as Boy, left the series after ¡947’s Tarzan and the
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ muscular jungle hero has shown remark- Huntress. Monogram subsequently signed him to play Bomba,
able endurance since his film debut in ¡9¡8. He has survived ill- the Jungle Boy (q.v.). Weissmuller turned in his loincloth the
 TAXI DRIVERS 197

following year, after Lesser refused to give him a percentage of muller); Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (¡94¡) (Weissmuller); Tarzan’s New
the profits. Producer Sam Katzman grabbed Weissmuller for the York Adventure (¡942) (Weissmuller); Tarzan Triumphs (¡943)
lead in his Jungle Jim (q.v.) series. Bland Lex Barker replaced (Weissmuller); Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (¡943) (Weissmuller); Tarzan
and the Amazons (¡945) (Weissmuller); Tarzan and the Leopard
Weissmuller for the five remaining RKO pictures, beginning with
Woman (¡946) (Weissmuller); Tarzan and the Huntress (¡947)
¡949’s Tarzan’s Magic Fountain. When Barker balked at signing (Weissmuller); Tarzan and the Mermaids (¡948) (Weissmuller);
a multi-picture contract, Lesser dropped him in favor of muscu- Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (¡949) (Lex Barker); Tarzan and the Slave
lar Gordon Scott, a former lifeguard with no acting experience. Girl (¡950) (Barker); Tarzan’s Peril (aka Tarzan and the Jungle
Scott’s first Tarzan picture, Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (¡955) was Queen) (¡95¡) (Barker); Tarzan’s Savage Fury (¡952) (Barker);
RKO’s last. Unperturbed, industrious producer Lesser took Scott Tarzan and the She-Devil (¡953) (Barker); Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle
and the series to MGM and unleashed the first Technicolor Tarzan (¡955) (Gordon Scott); Tarzan and the Lost Safari (¡957) (Scott);
adventure with ¡957’s Tarzan and the Lost Safari. Lesser and Scott Tarzan’s Fight for Life (¡958) (Scott); Tarzan and the Trappers
(¡958) (Scott); Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (¡959) (Scott); Tarzan,
also did Tarzan’s Fight for Life (¡958) for MGM and then made the Ape Man (¡959) (Denny Miller); Tarzan the Magnificent (¡960)
three TV pilots which were edited into Tarzan and the Trappers (Scott); Tarzan Goes to India (¡962) ( Jock Mahoney); Tarzan’s
(¡958). The latter films fared poorly and Lesser sold his film and Three Challenges (¡963) (Mahoney); Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
TV series rights to Sy Weintraub in ¡959. Weintraub produced (¡966) (Mike Henry); Tarzan and the Great River (¡967) (Henry);
four superior Tarzan films, the first two starring Scott and the last Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (¡968) (Henry); Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion
two introducing stunt man and veteran actor Jock Mahoney. The (¡970) (Ron Ely); Tarzan’s Deadly Silence (¡970) (Ely); Shame of the
Mahoney films featured exotic locales, vibrant colors, and a lit- Jungle (¡975) (voiced by Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.); Tarzan, the Ape
Man (¡98¡) (Miles O’Keefe); Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord
erate interpretation by the star. Unfortunately, Mahoney stepped of the Apes (¡984) (Christopher Lambert); Tarzan in Manhattan
aside after his second film and the Weintraub series took a turn (¡989 TVM) ( Joe Lara); Tarzan Returns (¡996 TVM) (Lara);
for the worse. Mahoney’s replacement, former Rams linebacker Tarzan and the Lost City (¡998) (Casper Van Dien); Tarzan (¡999)
Mike Henry, had the right physique, but his performance doomed (voiced by Tony Goldwyn)
¡966’s Tarzan and the Valley of Gold and two sequels. Henry turned
down Weintraub’s TV series, allowing Ron Ely to became the Tattoos
small screen’s first Tarzan. The series debuted in ¡966 and enjoyed The most tattooed characters in cinema history are probably The
a two-year run. In ¡970, unsuspecting moviegoers were lured to Illustrated Man (¡969) and Queequeg of Moby Dick (¡956) fame.
the theaters to see Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion and Tarzan’s Deadly Si- As to which of these has the most tattoos, well, that’s di‡cult to
lence, two features compiled from TV series episodes. Except for determine, although Queequeg may get the edge on the basis of
an “R”-rated cartoon spoof Shame of the Jungle (¡975), the ¡970s his tattooed face. Still, one could make an argument in favor of
was a quiet decade for Tarzan. In ¡98¡, John and Bo Derek pro- the Illustrated Man. His face may have been unmarked, but his
duced the unintentionally funny Tarzan, the Ape Man, devoting tattoos did move and tell stories. In other films: Burt Lancaster
more screen time to Bo’s frequently nude Jane than to Miles O’- sported The Rose Tattoo (¡955) on his chest, symbolizing his “sex-
Keefe’s hunky Tarzan. In contrast, ¡984’s Greystoke: The Legend of ual prowess” and also reminding widow Anna Magnani of her de-
Tarzan, Lord of the Apes made a legitimate stab at transferring Bur- ceased husband. Bruce Dern played a wacko artist in ¡98¡’s Tat-
roughs’ novel to the screen intact. Tarzan’s childhood in the jun- too who kidnaps Maud Adams so he can tattoo her entire body.
gle was depicted splendidly, but his eventual trip to England It was written by Joyce Buñuel, Luis’ daughter. Tattoos have been
brought the picture to a standstill. Christopher Lambert made a used less dramatically for concealing treasure maps, as in The
fine Tarzan, while Andie McDowell’s voice as Jane was dubbed by Stranger and the Gunfighter (¡976). See also Painted People.
actress Glenn Close. Five years later, Tarzan unexpectedly reap-
The Rose Tattoo (¡955); Moby Dick (¡956); The Illustrated Man
peared in Tarzan in Manhattan, an ill-conceived TV movie with (¡969); The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (¡974); Get Charlie Tully
Jane as a taxi driver. It starred Joe Lara, who played the ape man (¡976); The Stranger and the Gunfighter (¡976); Tattoo (¡98¡); Octo-
again seven years later in the TV movie Tarzan Returns, which pussy (¡983); Lust in the Dust (¡985); Double Exposure (¡989); Cape
served as the pilot for the syndicated television series Tarzan: The Fear (¡99¡); The Piano (¡993); The Son-in-Law (¡993); Skin Art
Epic Adventures. After fighting bug-like aliens in Starship Troopers (¡994); Teresa’s Tattoo (¡994); Love and a .45 (¡994); Blue Tiger
(¡997), Casper Van Dien put on a loincloth for the quickly-for- (¡994); Snapdragon (¡994); Cyber Bandits (¡995); The Pillow Book
(¡997)
gotten Tarzan and the Lost City (¡998). The following year, Dis-
ney produced a lavish animated Tarzan with songs by Phil Collins.
Jimmy Durante spoofed Tarzan (and Johnny Weissmuller in par- Taxi Drivers
ticular) by playing “Schnarzan” in the ¡934 musical comedy Hol- Colorful cabbies have appeared as memorable supporting char-
lywood Party. See also Children Raised by Animals. acters in dozens of movies and have been played by an impres-
Tarzan of the Apes (¡9¡8) (Elmo Lincoln); Romance of Tarzan sive group of veteran character actors. James Gleason drove
(¡9¡8) (Lincoln); The Revenge of Tarzan (¡920) (Gene Pollar); Loretta Young and angel Cary Grant to a frozen lake in The
Tarzan and the Golden Lion (¡927) ( Jim Pierce); Tarzan, the Ape Bishop’s Wife (¡947) and wound up ice skating with them. Street-
Man (¡932) ( Johnny Weissmuller); Tarzan the Fearless (¡933) wise cabbie Ernest Borgnine navigated Kurt Russell through the
(Buster Crabbe); Tarzan and His Mate (¡934) (Weissmuller); The
New Adventures of Tarzan (aka Tarzan’s New Adventure; re-edited hazardous ruins of futuristic Manhattan in the sci-fi adventure Es-
in ¡938 as Tarzan and the Green Goddess) (¡935) (Herman Brix, aka cape from New York (¡98¡). Yaphet Kotto played the unfortunate
Bruce Bennett); Tarzan Escapes (¡936) (Weissmuller); Tarzan’s Re- cab driver stuck with taking self-confessed murderer David
venge (¡938) (Glenn Morris); Tarzan Finds a Son! (¡939) (Weiss- Janssen to Mexico in the suspense-drama Night Chase (¡970).
198 TEEN APOCALYPSE TRILOGY

Ricardo Cortez was one of the first actors to play a taxi driver in The final film in the trilogy, Nowhere (¡997), returned to the teen
a leading role, starring opposite Barbara Stanwyck in ¡93¡’s Ten alienation theme explored in the first film. This time, amidst the
Cents a Dance (a rare directorial e›ort by Lionel Barrymore). sex, drugs, and lengthy dialogues, Araki injected some o›beat
Other star performers who have played cabbies include George humor by having some of the alienated youths abducted by aliens.
Raft (Pick-up), Red Skelton (The Yellow Cab Man), Fred Astaire Lead actor Duval appeared in all three films.
(The Purple Taxi), Bruce Willis (The Fifth Element), Whoopi Totally F***ed Up (¡993); The Doom Generation (¡995);
Goldberg (Eddie), and Mel Gibson (Conspiracy Theory). In the re- Nowhere (¡997)
spective box-o‡ce bombs Rhinestone (¡984) and Die Laughing
(¡980), Sylvester Stallone and Robby Benson proved that taxi dri-
vers can’t sing professionally. Stallone played a cabbie again in
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Daylight (¡996), although this disaster drama focused more on his This quartet of karate-chopping, pizza-eating, turtle do-gooders
previous job as an Emergency Medical Services chief. Lady cab- first appeared in Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman’s underground
bies have been represented on-screen by Beulah Bondi in She’s a comic books (q.v.) in ¡984. They were media stars and popular
Soldier Too (¡944) and Sophia Loren in Aurora (¡984). In the ¡989 toy characters long before their film debut in ¡990. However, few
TV movie Tarzan in Manhattan, Jane turned out to be a cab dri- film industry analysts predicted that their self-titled film opus
ver! Britain’s long-running Carry On comedy film series (q.v.) would earn over $¡00 million in the U.S. alone. The origin of the
featured the appropriately-titled entry Carry On Cabby (¡963). turtles goes like this: They were flushed down the toilet and dis-
The ¡98¡ animated feature Heavy Metal included a segment about covered in the sewer (q.v.) by an exiled ninja master named Splin-
a futuristic NYC cab driver. Total Recall (¡990) featured both a ter. When a toxic slime seeps into the sewer system, the turtles
murderous mutant cab driver and a robotic “Johnnycab.” D.C. mutate into “half-teens” and Splinter becomes a rat. He teaches
Cab (¡983) was an episodic comedy about a cab company, obvi- them martial arts (they learn to devour pizza and ice cream on
ously inspired by the ¡978–83 Taxi TV series. The best-remem- their own) so they can battle the evil Foot Clan. The turtles are
bered cabbie performance remains Robert De Niro’s splendid named after Renaissance artists Raphael, Leonardo, Michaelan-
portrait of unbalanced Vietnam vet Travis Bickle in Martin Scor- gelo, and Donatello. Although an animated film was planned at
sese’s Taxi Driver (¡976). See also Automobiles; Chau›eurs. one time, the turtles’ screen debut was a live-action film in which
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop designed the costumes. Judith Hoag
Taxi (¡932); Pick-up (¡933); The Big City (aka Skyscraper
Wilderness) (¡937); She’s a Soldier Too (¡944); Two O’Clock Courage
co-starred as TV reporter April O’Neil, who befriends the tur-
(¡945); Two Guys from Milwaukee (¡946); The Bishop’s Wife (¡947); tles (but proves that humans are boring compared to turtle teens).
The Yellow Cab Man (¡950); Taxi (¡953); 99 River Street (¡953); Paige Turco replaced Hoag for the ¡99¡ sequel, which also fea-
The Catered A›air (aka Wedding Breakfast) (¡956); Carry On Cabby tured David Warner as the scientist who created the ooze. Turco
(¡963); Night Chase (aka The Man in the Back Seat) (¡970); Pigeons and the Turtle Quartet traveled back in time to feudal Japan in
(aka The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker) (¡97¡); Law and Dis- ¡993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Mark Caso, as Leonardo,
order (¡974); For Pete’s Sake (¡974); Taxi Driver (¡976); Adventures is the only actor to play a Turtle in all three films. The Turtles
of a Taxi Driver (¡976); The Purple Taxi (¡977); Love in a Taxi
(¡980); Die Laughing (¡980); The Princess and the Cabbie (¡98¡ made a cameo appearance in the ¡993 buddy cop spoof National
TVM); Escape from New York (¡98¡); Heavy Metal (¡98¡); Chan Is Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon ¡. See also Comic Book Characters;
Missing (¡982); Hit and Run (aka Revenge Squad) (¡982); D.C. Cab Turtles.
(¡983); Signal 7 (¡983); Rhinestone (¡984); Aurora (¡984 TVM); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (¡990); Teenage Mutant Ninja
Walls of Glass (¡985); I-Man (¡986 TVM); Graveyard Shift (¡987); Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (¡99¡); Teenage Mutant Ninja Tur-
Ernest Saves Christmas (¡988); Tarzan in Manhattan (¡989 TVM); tles III (aka Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Turtles Are
Wired (¡989); Look Who’s Talking (¡989); Total Recall (¡990); Back…In Time) (¡993)
Breathing Under Water (¡99¡); Baby on Board (¡99¡); The Tune
(¡992); Night on Earth (¡992); My Life’s in Turnaround (¡993);
Night Taxi (¡993); The Abadamis (aka Abadani-Ha) (¡994); Illu- Telekinesis [Psychokinesis, or PK]
sions (¡994); Daylight (¡996); Eddie (¡996); The Fifth Element Movie teenagers have displayed a special knack for acquiring
(¡997); Conspiracy Theory (¡997); Chicago Cab (aka Hellcab)
telekinesis, the power to move objects with the mind. Sissy Spacek
(¡998); My Son the Fanatic (¡998); The Bone Collector (¡999)
showed just how much havoc a mistreated, revenge-minded, tele-
kinetic teen could wreak in the ¡976 adaptation of Stephen King’s
Teen Apocalypse Trilogy Carrie. She veered cars o› course, sent knives flying through the
Entertainment Weekly described writer-director Gregg Araki’s tril- air, and demolished a high school gym with a fire hose. Imitations
ogy as three films about “lost Los Angeles young people with too were bound to follow and Brian De Palma produced an interest-
much time, money, and consumer product on their hands.” To- ing one with ¡978’s The Fury, which o›ered two telekinetic teens—
tally F***ed Up focused on a group of gay friends who talk ex- one good (Amy Irving) and one gone bad (Andrew Stevens). In
tensively about sex, music, and astrology. More than one critic contrast, the telekinetic teen comedy Zapped! (¡982) o›ered a trite
described it as a gay, darker version of John Hughes’ high school plot about a horny guy (Willie Aames) who takes a perverse inter-
talkfest The Breakfast Club. The second film, The Doom Genera- est in friend Scott Baio’s newly-acquired talent. A young boy and
tion, boasted the accurate ad line: “Sex. Mayhem. Whatever.” It a teenage girl used their telekinetic powers to battle a demon and
painted an unflattering portrait of two troubled teens ( James the hockey-masked Jason, respectively, in the ¡988 films Cameron’s
Duval and Rose McGowan) who team up with a violent drifter Closet and Friday the ¡3th Part VII — The New Blood. And in Roald
( Johnathon Schaech) for a blood-soaked cross-country odyssey. Dahl’s children’s fantasy Matilda (¡996), a young girl (Mara
 TELEVISION 199

Wilson) used telekinesis to save her classmates from a cruel prin- 6-5000 (¡985); The Stepfather (¡987); Call Me (¡988); The Tele-
cipal. As for adults, some playful gods endowed meek Roland phone (¡988); Out of the Dark (¡988); I Saw What You Did (¡988
Young with temporary telekinetic powers in the H.G. Wells fan- TVM); 976-EVIL (¡989); Party Line (¡989); Dial: Help (¡989); Bill
and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (¡989); Murder on Line One (aka
tasy The Man Who Could Work Miracles. In George Pal’s under-
Helpline) (¡990); Lisa (¡990); Julia Has Two Lovers (¡99¡); Intimate
rated ¡968 thriller The Power, scientist George Hamilton tracked Stranger (¡99¡); The Phone Call (¡99¡); Danzón (¡99¡); Short Cuts
down a mysterious telekinetic killer capable of changing his ap- (¡993); Mixed Nuts (¡994); Erotique (¡995); Girl 6 (¡996); Waking
pearance by controlling people’s minds (which made him devilishly Ned Devine (¡998); Happiness (¡998)
di‡cult to find). Chevy Chase explored the frivolous side of
telekinesis as an air tra‡c controller in the mild ¡98¡ comedy Mod-
ern Problems. Richard Burton played the most destructive — and
Teleportation
lazy — telekinetic villain by causing all sorts of disasters from his Science fiction bu›s have defined teleportation as the process of
hospital bed in The Medusa Touch (¡978). See also Scanners Se- almost instantaneously transmitting matter from one place to an-
ries. other. This is usually accomplished by breaking down an animal
or object into its molecules, transporting the molecules through
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (¡936); The Power (¡968);
Carrie (¡976); The Man with the Power (¡977 TVM); The Fury
space, and then reassembling them. Edward Page Mitchell may
(¡978); The Medusa Touch (¡978); Patrick (¡979); Modern Problems have been the first writer to decribe the process in his ¡877 short
(¡98¡); Scanners (¡98¡); Zapped! (¡982); Firestarter (¡984); story “The Man Without a Body.” In the Star Trek (q.v.) TV se-
Cameron’s Closet (¡988); Friday the ¡3th Part VII-The New Blood ries and films, the crew of the starship Enterprise used a teleporter
(¡988); Firehead (¡99¡); The Lawnmower Man (¡992); Matilda as a routine mode of travel. The Delambre and Brundle families
(¡996); Phenomenon (¡996); Yesterday’s Target (¡996 TVM); Sphere had a terrible time with teleportation experiments in The Fly (q.v.)
(¡998); Dark City (¡998); The Rage: Carrie 2 (¡999); X-Men (2000) movies. Andre Delambre initiated the problems by unknowingly
allowing a fly to sneak into the teleportation booth with him.
Telephones Their molecules merged, resulting in a disgusting combination of
Although telephones have played bit parts in thousands of movies, man/fly (and also fly/man). Bryant Halliday encountered a
a few particularly memorable roles are called to mind. A foreign slightly di›erent problem in ¡966’s The Projected Man. His “pro-
agent used the telephone (and a Robert Frost poem) to activate jection device” transported him successfully, but it also charred
brainwashed killers in Telefon. A party line brought Doris Day and half his face and endowed him with a deadly electric touch. Alien
Rock Hudson together in Pillow Talk. Judy Holliday ran a tele- Tommy Kirk had no trouble teleporting between Mars and the
phone answering service called Susanswerphone in the otherwise Earthly beach occupied by Annette Funicello in Pajama Party
forgettable musical comedy Bells Are Ringing. Barbara Stanwyck (¡964). See also The Fly Series; Star Trek Series.
inadvertantly learned of her own proposed murder via the phone The Fly (¡958); Pajama Party (¡964); The Projected Man
in Sorry, Wrong Number. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Theresa Ran- (¡966); Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (¡97¡); Star Trek-The
dle played phone-sex operators in, respectively, Short Cuts and Motion Picture (¡979); Galaxy Quest (¡999)
Girl 6. Telephone numbers have been played for drama in the
fact-based Call Northside 777 and for strained chuckles in the
Television
goofy Transylvania 6-5000. Telephones were employed as spur-
of-the-moment murder weapons in The Naked Kiss and The Step- Even before television’s success threatened the popularity of the-
father. Clever premeditated murderers found ingenious uses for atrical movies, the big screen all but ignored the little screen. The
phones in The Invisible Killer and Murder by Phone. Devious Vin- ¡933 comedy International House used an early television exper-
cent Price bumped o› a victim with a spiked telephone receiver iment as the premise for jamming an all-star cast into a Chinese
in Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Finally, phone booths have played hotel. The stars included W.C. Fields, George Burns and Gracie
prominent roles in several movies: James Coburn was almost Allen, Bela Lugosi, and — appearing in a TV broadcast — Rudy
killed in one in The Carey Treatment; somebody did die in a phone Vallee and Cab Calloway. On a smaller scale, comedians operated
booth in a funny scene from Waking Ned Devine; Tippi Hedren a pirate TV station out of a castle in ¡939’s Band Waggon, which
sought safety from a bird attack in a booth in The Birds; and was inspired by a hit British radio series. Amazingly, this light-
Christopher Reeve used them for dressing rooms in the Superman hearted comedy was considerably ahead of its time, for pirate TV
movies. broadcasts were not further explored until ¡983’s Videodrome and
¡986’s Riders of the Storm. During the ¡950s, the early days of net-
Ladies Should Listen (¡934); Party Wire (¡935); The Invisible
Killer (¡940); Detour (¡945); Call Northside 777 (aka Calling work TV provided the setting for flu›y comedies like Two Gals
Northside 777) (¡948); For the Love of Mary (¡948); Sorry, Wrong and a Guy and Simon and Laura. A noteworthy exception was
Number (¡948); Southside ¡-¡000 (¡950); Chicago Calling (¡95¡); ¡956’s The Great Man, a scathing look at a much-loved TV per-
Dial M for Murder (¡954); Pillow Talk (¡959); Bells Are Ringing sonality revealed by Jose Ferrer to have been an unscrupulous,
(¡960); The Birds (¡963); The Naked Kiss (¡964); I Saw What You egotistical heel. The decade also produced Arch Obler’s The
Did (¡965); The Slender Thread (¡965); Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Twonky (¡953), a bizarre satire that remains an oddity after sev-
Number! (¡966); Dial Hot Line (¡969 TVM); The Day the Hot Line eral decades. The title creature was a futuristic robot which be-
Got Hot (¡969); Dr. Phibes Rises Again (¡972); When Michael Calls
(¡972 TVM); The Secret Night Caller (¡975 TVM); Telefon (¡977); gins running Hans Conried’s life after becoming accidentally
When a Stranger Calls (¡979); Don’t Answer the Phone (¡980); Mur- trapped inside the man’s TV set. The sarcastic Variety review
der by Phone (aka Bells) (¡980); Dial M for Murder (¡98¡ TVM); commented that the “thought is posed that Twonky can reduce
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (¡982); Hotline (¡982 TVM); Transylvania mankind to automatons”— a charge television is still facing today.
200 TELEVISION-EXPANDED FILMS

Indeed, by the mid–¡970s, television was ingrained as an integral (¡994 TVM); Natural Born Killers (¡994); Quiz Show (¡994); Real-
part of American society, prompting renewed interest in movies ity Bites (¡994); The Barefoot Executive (¡995 TVM); The Cable
about TV. The Groove Tube (¡974) was the first of several movies Guy (¡996); Open Season (¡996); Up Close and Personal (¡996); Meet
Wally Sparks (¡997); The Truman Show (¡998); Pleasantville (¡998);
consisting of loosely-connected comedy sketches built around
Holy Man (¡998); Ringmaster (¡998); EDtv (¡999); The Insider
television. The Front (¡976) and My Favorite Year (¡982) evoked (¡999); Galaxy Quest (¡999)
nostalgia toward the early days of television. The former film
skillfully covered a dark period in TV history: the blacklisting of Television-Expanded Films
writers accused of Communist activities. Ethics in the television
Television has long practiced the “art” of dicing up theatrical films
industry have been addressed principally in films about network
to fit a specified time period or to delete material its censors
TV news. News broadcasts were packaged as entertainment in
deemed unacceptable. However, the equally o›ensive practice of
¡976’s Network, while news reporter William Hurt faked an emo-
expanding theatrical films for television showings did not gain
tional tear for the camera in ¡987’s Broadcast News. The ¡983 TV
widespread popularity with the networks until the mid–¡970s.
movie Special Bulletin looked just like a news broadcast, with an-
That’s when network executives realized that it was cheaper to add
chors Ed Flanders and Kathryn Walker keeping viewers informed
leftover footage to an existing film than to pay for new program-
about a terrorist group threatening to destroy Charleston, S.C.,
ming. Thus, instead of one night of Superman, they could add
with a nuclear bomb. The film simulated the feel of a real broad-
enough footage to stretch its impressive ratings over two nights.
cast so well that the final outcome carried a shattering, terrifying
In the case of Superman, the new scenes did allow film bu›s to
jolt. Horror filmmakers have used television to temporarily house
glimpse Kirk Allyn (Superman in the movie serials) and Noel
transient ghosts, demons, and extraterrestrials in Poltergeist,
Neill (Lois in the TV series) as Lois Lane’s parents. However,
Demons 2, and Terrorvision, respectively. None of those was nearly
other TV expansions have been less thoughtful. The James Bond
as frightening as David Cronenburg’s powerful horror/satire
adventure On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was expanded by sim-
Videodrome, which cast James Woods as a broadcast executive
ply tacking the climactic ski chase onto the front of the film,
metamorphosed into a television/man (at one point, he slips a
adding a voiceover, and repeating the same scene (in its proper
videotape into a newly-formed slot in his stomach). This
sequence) later in the broadcast. Director Gene Palmer shot al-
overly complex film (was it all a hallucination?) disgusted many
most an hour of new footage, complete with new cast, for the net-
moviegoers and died quickly at the box-o‡ce. The ¡985 Explor-
work TV broadcast of the already-inflated Two Minute Warning.
ers, while not a movie about television, featured aliens who
Alas, one cannot blame the networks alone. Director David Lynch
learned everything they knew about humans from watching Earth
had his name removed from the credits of Dune when the movie
TV — a frightening premise when one thinks about it. The ¡985
was lengthened for its syndicated showing. On the other hand,
comedy-drama Static was about a young man who claimed to
Francis Ford Coppola played a central role in altering his Godfa-
have invented a television capable of tuning in Heaven. The Tru-
ther films for a special television broadcast. He intercut scenes
man Show (¡998) was about a man whose life was secretly filmed
from the ¡75-minute The Godfather (¡972) and 200-minute The
and then broadcast as a TV series to everyone else. A similar
Godfather Part II (¡974), added footage from the cutting room
premise was explored earlier in Paul Bartel’s ¡969 short film Se-
floor, and produced the mammoth 475-minute The Godfather
cret Cinema. In EDtv (¡999), Matthew McConaughey played a
Saga. In addition to expanding movies for television, distributors
video store clerk who willingly agreed to have his life filmed for
have begun to release alternate versions of the same film in lim-
television. Two teenagers found themselves magically transported
ited theatrical releases and on videotape/laserdisc/DVD. This
into a ¡950s black and white family sitcom in Pleasantville (¡998).
practice is nothing new — Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of
See also Game Shows; Soap Operas.
the Third Kind — The Special Edition followed his original ¡977
International House (¡933); Murder by Television (¡935); Band version three years later. Recent alternate versions include Blade
Waggon (¡939); Two Gals and a Guy (¡95¡); The Twonky (¡953); Runner, JFK, The Abyss and Basic Instinct.
Meet Mr. Lucifer (¡953); The Glass Web (¡953); Simon and Laura Requiem for a Heavyweight (¡962); Secret Ceremony (¡968); The
(¡955); The Great Man (¡956); A Face in the Crowd (¡957); The Evil of Frankenstein (¡964); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (¡969);
Gazebo (¡959); The Thrill of It All (¡963); Panic Button (¡964); The They Might Be Giants (¡97¡); Jeremy (¡973); Earthquake (¡974);
Barefoot Executive (¡97¡); The Love Machine (¡97¡); The Groove Two Minute Warning (¡976); The Godfather Saga (¡977); The Deep
Tube (¡974); The Front (¡976); Network (¡976); Tunnelvision (¡977); The Concorde: Airport ’77 (Airport ’77) (¡977); Superman
(¡976); Telethon (¡977 TVM); KGOD (aka Pray TV) (¡980); (¡978); When Time Ran Out… (aka Earth’s Final Fury) (¡980);
Deathwatch (¡980); Agency (aka Mind Games) (¡980); Shock Treat- Dune (¡984); Cry Freedom (¡987); Born in East L.A. (¡987); Sea of
ment (¡98¡); My Favorite Year (¡982); This is…Kate Bennett (¡982 Love (¡989); Dances with Wolves (¡990); Far and Away (¡992);
TVM); Wrong Is Right (¡982); Poltergeist (¡982); Videodrome Needful Things (¡993) (expanded version shown as More Needful
(¡983); Special Bulletin (¡983 TVM); The Record (¡984); The Rat- Things); Waterworld (¡995); Phenomenon (¡996)
ings Game (¡984 TVM); Static (¡985); Reckless Disregard (¡985
TVM); Ginger and Fred (¡985); America (¡986); News at Eleven
(¡986 TVM); Terrorvision (¡986); Riders of the Storm (aka The
American Way) (¡986); Broadcast News (¡987); Pass the Ammo Television Movie Sequels to
(¡988); Switching Channels (¡988); Demons 2 (¡988); The Brain Theatrical Films
(¡988); UHF (¡989); Shocker (¡989); Instant Karma (¡990); Avalon
(¡990); Soapdish (¡99¡); Wayne’s World (¡992); Secrets (¡992 TVM); ABC-TV pioneered the concept of the television movie sequel
Stay Tuned (¡992); Exclusive (¡992 TVM); Kika (¡993); I’ll Do Any- with ¡974’s Mrs. Sundance, a small-screen continuation of ¡969’s
thing (¡994); Witness to the Execution (¡994); Without Warning Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Elizabeth Montgomery
 TELEVISION SERIES REUNION FILMS 201

replaced Katharine Ross in the role of Etta Place, the Sundance TVM)—If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium (¡969); The Return of
Kid’s widow and the new quarry of ruthless bounty hunters. Al- the Shaggy Dog (¡987 TVM)—The Shaggy Dog (¡959); The Great
though produced by 20th Century–Fox, who made the original, Escape II: The Untold Story (¡988 TVM)—The Great Escape (¡963);
Amityville: The Evil Escapes (¡989 TVM)—Amityville 3-D (aka
Mrs. Sundance caused no confusion in regard to its origin — it
Amityville: The Demon) (¡983); Clarence (¡990 TVM)—It’s a Won-
looked and played like a made-for-TV movie, right down to the derful Life (¡946); Omen IV: The Awakening (¡99¡ TVM)—The
perfectly-timed commercial breaks. Interestingly, just two years Final Conflict (¡98¡); Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation
later, 20th Century–Fox convinced Katharine Ross to recreate (¡992 TVM)—Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (¡987);
the role for Wanted: The Sundance Woman, another TV sequel. When a Stranger Calls Back (¡993 TVM)—When a Stranger Calls
This version ignored Mrs. Sundance (which no doubt confused (¡979); Bandit (¡994 TVM)—Smokey and the Bandit II (¡980);
some meticulous viewers) and involved Etta with Mexican rebel Midnight Runaround (¡994 TVM)—Midnight Run (¡988); The
Birds II: Land’s End (¡994 TVM)—The Birds (¡963); Annie: A
Pancho Villa. Ross is one of a handful of performers to play the
Royal Adventure (¡995 TVM)—Annie (¡982); Problem Child 3 (aka
same role in both a theatrical film and its TV movie sequel. Problem Child 3: Junior in Love) (¡995 TVM)—Problem Child 2
George C. Scott repeated his Oscar-winning ¡970 portrayal of (¡99¡); Encino Woman (¡996 TVM)—Encino Man (¡992); To Sir
General George Patton for the ¡986 TV film The Last Days of Pat- with Love II (¡996 TVM)—To Sir with Love (¡967); Angels in the
ton. Lee Marvin returned as the leader of The Dirty Dozen in The Endzone (¡997 TVM)—Angels in the Outfield (¡994); Bullet to Bei-
Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission. Carol Kane and Robert Carradine jing (¡997 TVM)—Billion Dollar Brain (¡967); Universal Soldier II:
repeated their theatrical roles in, respectively, When a Stranger Brothers in Arms (¡998 TVM)—Universal Soldier (¡992); The Day
After the Miracle (¡998 TVM)—The Miracle Worker (¡962)
Calls Back (¡993) and Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Genera-
tion (¡992). And Barry Newman played lawyer Tony Petrocelli on Note: The ¡989 TV movie Get Smart, Again! was obviously
intended as a television series reunion movie (q.v.) and thus is not
the big screen in The Lawyer (¡970) and on the small screen in listed as a sequel to ¡980’s The Nude Bomb (aka The Return of
Night Games (¡974). The latter served as a pilot for Newman’s Maxwell Smart).
short-lived TV series Petrocelli. Other TV movie sequels have
also doubled as pilots for prospective series, such as Matt Helm,
Nevada Smith, True Grit, and Our Man Flint: Dead on Target. In Television Series Reunion Films
some of these features, the only connection with the original fea- A wave of nostalgia washed over television viewers of the ¡980s,
ture was the name of the main character. Dean Martin’s Matt making small screen movies based on old television series the
Helm was a boozing super secret agent, while Tony Franciosa’s TV most significant TV movie trend of the decade. The nostalgia
incarnation was a wisecracking private eye with a steady girl- went beyond mere revival of a TV show’s premise, for, in almost
friend. The longest gap between a theatrical film and its made- all cases, the made-for-TV movies reunited some of the series’s
for-TV sequel is 44 years-from ¡946’s It’s a Wonderful Life to original cast members. The ¡969 Dragnet could lay claim to being
¡990’s Clarence. The Dirty Dozen has spawned the most TV se- the first TV series reunion film. It was based on the then-running
quels: three and still counting. See also The Dirty Dozen; The ¡967–70 Dragnet series which was an updated revival of the orig-
Stepford Wives. In the following list, the TV movies are listed inal ¡952–59 Dragnet. Jack Webb starred as police sergeant Joe
chronologically first followed by theatrical film (if a theatrical se- Friday in the movie and both runs of the series. The New Mav-
ries, the last series entry is shown): erick (¡978) reunited James Garner and Jack Kelly as free-wheel-
Mrs. Sundance (¡974 TVM)—Butch Cassidy and the Sundance ing brothers Bret and Bart Maverick, roles they originated in the
Kid (¡969); Sidekicks (¡974 TVM)—Skin Game (¡97¡); Night popular ¡957–62 Western series. However, the purpose of the
Games (¡974 TVM)—The Lawyer (¡970); Nick and Nora (¡975 ¡978 TV movie was to launch a new show starring Charles Frank
TVM)—Song of the Thin Man (¡947); Matt Helm (¡975 TVM)— as their nephew Ben (the series Young Maverick ran very briefly
The Wrecking Crew (¡969); Nevada Smith (¡975 TVM)—Nevada in ¡979). On the other hand, ¡977’s Father Knows Best Reunion
Smith (¡966); Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby (aka Rose-
and ¡978’s Rescue from Gilligan’s Island o›ered nothing new, just
mary’s Baby II) (¡976 TVM)—Rosemary’s Baby (¡968); Wanted: The
Sundance Woman (aka Mrs. Sundance Rides Again) (¡976 TVM)— pure nostalgia with the original cast members returning (except
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (¡969); Our Man Flint: Dead for Tina Louise as Ginger Grant in the latter film). Their suc-
on Target (¡976 TVM)—Our Man Flint (¡966); Serpico: The Deadly cessful ratings (Gilligan resulted in two sequels) initiated a steady
Game (¡976 TVM)—Serpico (¡973); A Matter of Wife…and Death growth in the number of TV series reunion films. Interestingly,
(¡976 TVM)— Shamus (¡973); The Girl in the Empty Grave (¡977 the Gilligan’s Island TV series was only a modest hit during its
TVM)—They Only Kill Their Masters (¡972); Murder in Peyton ¡964–67 run, cracking the top twenty shows only once. The se-
Place (¡977 TVM)—Return to Peyton Place (¡96¡); True Grit (¡978
TVM)—True Grit (¡969); A Real American Hero (¡978 TVM)—
ries gained tremendous popularity, especially among young view-
Final Chapter-Walking Tall (¡977); Christmas Lilies of the Field ers, through syndicated repeats running on local stations. Subse-
(¡979 TVM)—Lilies of the Field (¡963); High Noon II: The Return quently, syndication success became a criteria for determining if
of Will Kane (¡980 TVM)—High Noon (¡952); Revenge of the Step- a series had potential as a reunion film, thus accounting for TV
ford Wives (¡980 TVM)—The Stepford Wives (¡975); Trackdown: movies based on The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, and I Dream of
Finding the Goodbar Killer (¡983 TVM)—Looking for Mr. Goodbar Jeannie. Indeed, hit series have not always resulted in hit movies.
(¡977); The Jerk Too (¡984 TVM)—The Jerk (¡979); The Dirty The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (¡98¡) was a painful reunion
Dozen: The Next Mission (¡985 TVM)—The Dirty Dozen (¡967);
Popeye Doyle (¡986 TVM)—The French Connection II (¡975); The highlighted by the absence of series regulars Irene Ryan (Granny),
Parent Trap II (¡986 TVM)—The Parent Trap (¡96¡); The Last Days Max Baer, Jr. ( Jethro), and Raymond Bailey (Mr. Drysdale).
of Patton (¡986 TVM)—Patton (¡970); Bates Motel (¡987 TVM)— Without the ¡960s spy movie genre to spoof, ¡983’s The Return
Psycho III (¡986); If It’s Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium (¡987 of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. came across as dry and dated, despite
202 TENNIS

the presence of stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. In Tennis

contrast, Raymond Burr’s triumphant Perry Mason Returns (¡985) Tennis and golf (q.v.) have failed to interest many filmmakers,
was a well-conceived update that inaugurated a series of highly- perhaps because the two sports were once viewed as leisure ac-
rated Perry Mason (q.v.) TV movies. The longest gap between a tivities reserved for the country club set. Director Ida Lupino lent
series’ last year and its reunion film is the 28 years separating the a feminist slant to ¡95¡’s Hard, Fast and Beautiful, an overwrought
¡959–63 series The Untouchables from ¡99¡’s The Return of Eliot drama about a domineering mother who pushed her daughter to-
Ness. Twenty-seven years separated the series Peter Gunn from ward tennis stardom. The ¡978 TV biography Little Mo told the
the ¡989 TV movie — however, the TV movie Peter Gunn was a story of teen Grand Slam champion Maureen Connelly, who died
reunion only in that Blake Edwards produced and directed both after a long struggle with cancer. Two theatrical tennis movies
movie and show. Peter Strauss and an all new cast replaced Craig were released the following year and both flopped badly. Racquet
Stevens and the other series regulars. Michael Landon, Jr., was the starred Bert Convey as a tennis pro who used sex to get what he
only link between his father’s Bonanza series and ¡988’s Bonanza: wanted, while Players featured Dean Paul Martin as a promising
The Next Generation. The ¡987 Police Story: The Freeway Killing player forced to choose between the game and a woman (Ali Mac-
was an oddity — a revival of an anthology TV show. In the fol- Graw). Real-life tennis stars Pancho Gonzalez (Players) and Bobby
lowing list, only the first reunion film is shown (e.g., see Gilli- Riggs (Racquet) lent the movies a touch of credibility. ¡983’s
gan’s Island for a list of other movies based on the series). See Spring Fever (¡983) simply recruited a real player to play the lead
also Columbo, Lieutenant; Gunsmoke Series; The Incredible role, but teenaged Carling Bassett showed no promise as an ac-
Hulk; Kojak, Theo; Little House on the Prairie Series; The tress (of course, neither did the rest of the cast, which included
Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Mason, Perry; Rockford, Jim; The Six Susan Anton as the girl’s mother). The ¡986 Second Serve exam-
Million Dollar Man Series; Spenser; Theatrical Films Based on ined the fascinating real-life saga of Richard Raskins, the male
Television Series; The Waltons; Welby, Marcus. surgeon who underwent a sex-change operation and became ten-
Dragnet (¡969 TVM); Father Knows Best Reunion (¡977 nis player Renee Richards. Tennis games have served as memo-
TVM); The New Maverick (¡978 TVM); Rescue from Gilligan’s Is- rable set pieces in several movies. Monsieur Hulot (q.v.) experi-
land (¡978 TVM); The Return of the Mod Squad (¡979 TVM); The enced a great deal of trouble with the game in one of the funniest
Wild, Wild West Revisited (¡979 TVM); The Return of Frank Can-
scenes in Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday. A troupe of mimics played an
non (¡980 TVM); The Brady Girls Get Married (¡98¡ TVM); The
Munsters’ Revenge (¡98¡ TVM); The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies imaginary game of tennis in the symbolic denouement of Blow-
(¡98¡ TVM); A Wedding on Walton’s Mountain (¡982 TVM); The Up. And in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, tennis player
Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (¡983 TVM); Still the Beaver Farley Granger rushes through a big match so he can thwart psy-
(¡983 TVM); The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. (¡984 TVM); I chopath Robert Walker from framing him for murder.
Dream of Jeannie: ¡5 Years Later (¡985 TVM); Kojack: The Belarus You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (¡939) (table tennis); Come to
File (¡985 TVM); Perry Mason Returns (¡985 TVM); Kung Fu: The the Stable (¡949); Quartet (¡949) (“The Facts of Life” segment);
Movie (¡986 TVM); Return to Mayberry (¡986 TVM); Eight Is Hard, Fast and Beautiful (¡95¡); Strangers on a Train (¡95¡); Mon-
Enough: A Family Reunion (¡987 TVM); Gunsmoke: Return to sieur Hulot’s Holiday (¡953); Dial M for Murder (¡954); The Chalk
Dodge (¡987 TVM); The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and Garden (¡964); Blow-Up (¡966); The High Commissioner (aka No-
the Bionic Woman (¡987 TVM); Police Story: The Freeway Killing body Runs Forever) (¡968); The Christian Licorice Store (¡97¡); Little
(¡987 TVM); Still Crazy Like a Fox (¡987 TVM); Bonanza: The Mo (¡978 TVM); Racquet (¡979); Players (¡979); Spring Fever
Next Generation (¡988 TVM); Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (¡983); Second Serve (¡986 TVM); Jocks (aka Road Trip) (¡987);
(¡988 TVM); The Incredible Hulk Returns (¡988 TVM); The Return Nobody’s Perfect (¡990); The Smile (aka Le Sourire) (¡994); Ever
of Ben Casey (¡988 TVM); Get Smart, Again! (¡989 TVM); Peter After (¡998)
Gunn (¡989 TVM); The Return of Sam McCloud (¡989 TVM); The
Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage (¡990 TVM); Return to Green Acres The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series
(¡990 TVM); Knight Rider 2000 (¡99¡ TVM); The Return of Eliot
Ness (¡99¡ TVM); Dynasty: The Reunion (¡99¡ TVM); I Still Dream This gruesome ¡974 shocker was loosely based on the case of real-
of Jeannie (¡99¡ TVM); Back on the Streets of San Francisco (¡992 life Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, whose exploits also pro-
TVM); Jonny’s Golden Quest (¡993 TVM); The Return of Ironside vided the basis for Psycho (¡960) and Deranged (¡974). Shot on a
(¡993 TVM); Spenser: Ceremony (¡993 TVM); Hart to Hart Returns tight budget in Texas, the film traces the plight of a group of
(¡993 TVM); Bonanza: The Return (¡993 TVM); Wyatt Earp: Re- young people stranded near an isolated farmhouse run by three
turn to Tombstone (¡994 TVM); Young Indiana Jones and the Holly- crazy cannibalistic brothers and their all-but-dead grandfather. As
wood Follies (¡994 TVM); Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (¡994 directed by Tobe Hooper, Chainsaw Massacre turned into a de-
TVM); Simon & Simon: In Trouble Again (¡994 TVM); MacGyver: rivative exercise in shock, recalling Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Two
Lost Treasure of Atlantis (¡994 TVM); Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Thousand Maniacs (¡964) and George Romero’s Night of the Liv-
Las Vegas (¡994 TVM); I Spy Returns (¡994 TVM); The Rockford ing Dead (¡968). Still, the film attracted a faithful cult following
Files: I Still Love L.A. (¡994 TVM); Cagney & Lacey: The Return
and eventually provided Hooper with a ticket to mainstream Hol-
(¡994 TVM); Alien Nation: Millenium (¡995 TVM); Here Come the
lywood (e.g., ¡982’s Poltergeist). After flirting with the big time,
Munsters (¡995 TVM); The Invaders (¡995 TVM); Project: ALF
(¡996 TVM); CHiPs ’99 (¡998 TVM); The Patti Duke Show: Still Hooper returned belatedly to his Texan roots for ¡986’s Texas
Rockin’ in Brooklyn Heights (¡999 TVM); Dr. Quinn, Medicine Chainsaw Massacre II. Jim Siedow reprised his role as one of the
Woman: The Movie (¡999 TVM); The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard crazy Sawyer brothers, but Bill Moseley replaced fan favorite Gun-
in Hollywood (2000 TVM); Homicide: The Movie (2000 TVM); nar Hansen as the chainsaw-wielding brother Leatherface. As if
Mary & Rhoda (2000 TVM) to compensate, Dennis Hopper joined the cast as Lefty Enright,
 THEATRICAL FILMS BASED ON TV SERIES 203

a Texas Ranger who carries a chainsaw in his holster. Despite its compilation film, That’s Entertainment! III (¡994), garnered good
attempts at black humor, the film found little favor with horror reviews, though it attracted little attention. Critics and film bu›s
fans. Nevertheless, New Line Cinema rolled out a third install- were less kind to the direct-to-video That’s More Entertainment!
ment, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, four years later. (¡995), a collection of less-than-stellar footage. See also Compi-
Je› Burr replaced Hooper as director and R. A. Mihailo› played lation Films (Fictional).
the title role. It too faded quickly at the box-o‡ce. Kim Henkel, That’s Entertainment! (¡974); That’s Entertainment Part 2
who penned the original film, wrote and directed a fourth in- (¡976); That’s Dancing (¡985); That’s Entertainment! III (¡994);
stallment, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in ¡993. That’s More Entertainment! (¡995)
Distribution problems plagued the film, which was reedited and
retitled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. By the
time it was released with little fanfare in ¡997, its unknown stars,
Theatrical Films Based on TV Series
Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey, had become fa- The reasons why some TV series have been developed into the-
miliar faces courtesy of Jerry Maguire (¡996) and A Time to Kill atrical films, while others have not, defies logic. Surprisingly, tele-
(¡996), respectively. See also Cannibalism; Chainsaws. vision ratings have rarely been used as criteria. The ¡964–66 sit-
com The Munsters was hardly a ratings hit, but that did not deter
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (¡974); The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre II (¡986); Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (¡990); Universal from releasing a ¡966 theatrical version dubbed Mun-
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (aka The Texas Chain- ster, Go Home. Likewise, the Saturday morning kiddie show H.R.
saw Massacre: The Next Generation) (¡997) Pufnstuf seemed an odd choice for a big-screen musical when
¡970’s Pufnstuf appeared in theaters. Ironically, both the Pufnstuf
and Munsters TV series were cancelled almost simultaneously with
The Texas Rangers the release of their feature film versions. Cult television shows
This was another routine Western series (once again built around have fared far better as theatrical films. The gothic soap opera
three lawmen) until Tex Ritter joined the cast in ¡944. The orig- Dark Shadows had a built-in audience of loyal fans when the
inal lineup consisted of Dave O’Brien, Guy Wilkerson, and James movie House of Dark Shadows premiered in ¡967. It did well
Newill, best known as the singing Mountie of the Renfrew series enough to inspire a second picture, ¡97¡’s Night of Dark Shadows.
(q.v.). Ritter replaced Newill after Brand of the Devil and distin- The classic TV series Star Trek performed dismally in the ratings
guished the films with his familiar voice. Ironically, Ritter’s biggest (ranking 52 in its best season) during its original ¡966–69 run.
hit song occurred in a Western in which he did not star —¡952’s However, by the time an expensive big-screen version was
High Noon. Eagle Lion reissued the Texas Ranger pictures, with mounted in ¡979, the show had turned into a national phenom-
di›erent titles, in the late ¡940s. enon thanks to syndicated showings on local TV stations. The
Rangers Take Over (¡943); Bad Men of Thunder Gap (aka Star Trek (q.v.) film series initiated by Star Trek — The Motion
Thundergap Outlaws) (¡943); West of Texas (aka Shootin’ Irons) Picture easily outdistances all other TV series–inspired films in
(¡943); Border Buckaroos (¡943); Fighting Valley (¡943); Trail of
Terror (¡944); The Return of the Rangers (¡944); Boss of the Rawhide terms of both box-o‡ce and popularity. Its closest competition
(¡944); Gunsmoke Mesa (¡944); Outlaw Roundup (¡944); Guns of comes from Jim Henson’s Muppets (q.v.), which used the syndi-
the Law (¡944); The Pinto Bandit (¡944); Spook Town (¡944); Brand cated Muppet Show as a springboard for several theatrical features
of the Devil (¡944); Gangsters of the Frontier (¡944); Dead or Alive beginning with ¡979’s The Muppet Movie. The Star Trek and Mup-
(¡944); The Whispering Skull (¡944); Marked for Murder (¡945); pet movies exemplify the principal reason for making a film based
Enemy of the Law (¡945); Three in the Saddle (¡945); Frontier Fugi- on a TV series: Loyal fans will follow their shows from the little
tives (¡945); Flaming Bullets (¡945)
screen to the big screen. Although this rationale works in most
cases, there are some puzzling exceptions. It’s doubtful that many
That’s Entertainment Series teens who watched Steve Martin in the ¡996 theatrical version of
Jack Haley, Jr., provided the driving force behind the highly-suc- Sgt. Bilko had even heard of the ¡955–59 Phil Silvers Show that
cessful That’s Entertainment! (¡976), a compilation film featuring inspired it. Likewise, one suspects the Wild Wild West (¡999) was
clips from MGM’s best musicals. The film showcased such gems not made with the TV series fans in mind — Will Smith’s Jim
as: Gene Kelly’s energetic dance in the rain in Singin’ in the Rain; West bore little resemblance to Robert Conrad’s portrayal. Sur-
Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceilings in Royal Wedding; prisingly, the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live has in-
and the barn-raising musical number from Seven Brides for Seven spired the most theatrical films, to include: The Blues Brothers
Brothers. It also featured classic scenes from many other favorites (¡980), Wayne’s World (¡992), Coneheads (¡993), It’s Pat (¡994),
like The Wizard Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, and An American in Stuart Saves His Family (¡995), and A Night at the Roxbury (¡998).
Paris. MGM’s ¡976 follow-up That’s Entertainment Part 2 added The longest span between a series’ last season and its theatrical
clips from nonmusical films such as A Tale of Two Cities, Adam’s version was the 37 years that separated the aforementioned Sgt.
Rib, and Boom Town. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, who co-hosted Bilko from The Phil Silvers Show. The most successful movie based
the first That’s Entertainment, introduced the new clips — and also on a television flop was ¡988’s The Naked Gun, which evolved
danced together as well. Nine years later, Haley compiled an im- from the very short-lived comedy series Police Squad (¡982). The
pressive collection of dance scenes for That’s Dancing, a celebra- Man from U.N.C.L.E. movies (q.v.) were not “new” theatrical
tion of fancy footwork on celluloid. The highlight was probably films, but merely episodes of the TV series edited together. See
the never-before-seen extended version of Ray Bolger’s acrobatic also Dark Shadows Series; The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; The
“If I Only Had a Brain” routine from The Wizard of Oz. A fourth Muppets; The Naked Gun Series; Star Trek Series.
204 THEATRICAL FILMS BASED ON VIDEO GAMES

Here Come the Nelsons (¡952); Our Miss Brooks (¡956); Foreign The Thin Man Series
Intrigue (¡956); The Lone Ranger (¡956); The Creeping Unknown
(aka The Quatermass Experiment; The Quatermass Xperiment) In the ¡930s and ¡940s, one detective film series stood above all
(¡956); The Lineup (¡958) (based on the TV series San Francisco the others. With two big stars in the leads and plenty of MGM
Beat); McHale’s Navy (¡964); Munster, Go Home (¡966); A Man gloss, the six Thin Man mysteries clearly separated themselves
Called Flintstone (¡966); Batman (¡966); Gunn (¡967); House of from their B-movie competitors. These were “A” e›orts and mar-
Dark Shadows (¡967); Pufnstuf (¡970); On the Buses (¡97¡) (from a keted as such, with new entries released only at two or three-year
British series); Dad’s Army (¡97¡) (from a British series); intervals. The first film, based on Dashiell Hammett’s novel, cast
Doomwatch (¡972) (from a British series); Callan (¡974) (from a
William Powell and Myrna Loy as wealthy, amateur detectives
British series); Sweeney! (¡976) (from a British series); Wombling
Free (¡977) (from a British TV series); Doing Time (¡979) (from a Nick and Nora Charles. Powell already had extensive detective
British series); Star Trek — The Motion Picture (¡979); The Muppet film experience, having played Philo Vance (q.v.) in four films for
Movie (¡979); The Blues Brothers (¡980) (from the TV series Satur- Paramount and Warner Bros. But unlike the urbane Vance, Nick
day Night Live); The Gong Show Movie (¡980); The Nude Bomb Charles a›orded Powell the opportunity to display his gift for
(aka The Return of Maxwell Smart) (¡980); Twilight Zone — The light comedy. Myrna Loy provided the perfect foil, becoming a
Movie (¡983); Smurfs and the Magic Flute (¡984); Sesame Street Pre- role model for spunky film heroines. The third family member
sents Follow That Bird (¡985); Dragnet (¡987); Masters of the Uni-
was Asta, Nick and Nora’s faithful, and mischievous, fox terrier.
verse (¡987); The Naked Gun (¡988); Tales from the Dark Side: The
Movie (¡990); Jetsons: The Movie (¡990); Duck Tales: The Movie- Nick Jr. made his series debut in the third entry, Another Thin
Treasure of the Lost Lamp (¡990); The Addams Family (¡99¡); Man (actually the title made little sense since the “thin man” was
Wayne’s World (¡992) (from the TV series Saturday Night Live); a murder victim played by Edward Ellis in the first film). The
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (¡992); Coneheads (¡993) (from the quality of the mysteries declined as the series progressed, but the
TV series Saturday Night Live); The Fugitive (¡993); Batman: Mask films remained popular due to the Charles’ sophisticated rela-
of the Phantasm (¡993); Maverick (¡994); The Flintstones (¡994); tionship, a natural blend of good-natured insults and honest a›ec-
Police Rescue (¡994) (from an Australian TV series); It’s Pat (¡994)
tion. As with the Hardy series (q.v.), MGM used the Thin Man
(from the TV series Saturday Night Live); Car 54, Where Are You?
(¡994); The Brady Bunch Movie (¡995); Stuart Saves His Family films as a training ground for its brightest acting prospects: James
(¡995) (from the TV series Saturday Night Live); Mighty Morphin Stewart (playing against type) in After the Thin Man, Donna Reed
Power Rangers: The Movie (¡995); Tales from the Crypt Presents in Shadow of the Thin Man, and Gloria Grahame and Dean Stock-
Demon Knight (¡995); Mission: Impossible (¡996); Beavis and well (as Nick Jr.) in Song of the Thin Man. Peter Lawford and
Butthead Do America (¡996); Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Phyllis Kirk played Nick and Nora on television, enjoying a mod-
Movie (¡996); Sgt. Bilko (¡996); Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of est two-year run with their ¡957 series The Thin Man. Craig
Blood (¡996); McHale’s Navy (¡997); George of the Jungle (¡997);
Stevens (TV’s Peter Gunn) and Jo Ann Pflug tried to update the
Leave It to Beaver (¡997); Bean (¡997); Barney’s Great Adventure:
The Movie (¡998); The X Files (aka The X Files: Fight the Future) characters in the charmless ¡975 TV movie Nick and Nora. The
(¡998); Lost in Space (¡998); The Avengers (¡998); The Rugrats Charleses were among the detectives spoofed in Neil Simon’s Mur-
Movie (¡998); A Night at the Roxbury (¡998) (from the TV series der by Death (¡976).
Saturday Night Live); My Favorite Martian (¡999); Inspector Gadget The Thin Man (¡934); After the Thin Man (¡936); Another
(¡999); Doug’s ¡st Movie (¡999); The Mod Squad (¡999); South Thin Man (¡939); Shadow of the Thin Man (¡94¡); The Thin Man
Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (¡999); Wild Wild West (¡999); Dud- Goes Home (¡944); Song of the Thin Man (¡947); Nick and Nora
ley Do-Right (¡999); Superstar (¡999) (from the TV series Saturday (¡975 TVM)
Night Live); The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (¡999); The Ad-
ventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)
Three Colors Trilogy (Liberty, Equality,
Theatrical Films Based on Video Games Fraternity)
Despite their built-in appeal, especially for teenaged males, films Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski directed this acclaimed
based on popular video games have often fared poorly. The suc- three-film series about life in contemporary Europe. The titles —
cess stories are Street Fighter (a modest hit), Mortal Kombat (which Blue, White, and Red— represent the colors of the French flag and
grossed over $70 million in the U.S.), and the Japanese-made each film uses as its theme part of the French national motto “lib-
Pokémon (¡998). In contrast, Super Mario Bros. (¡993) boasted erty, equality, and fraternity.” The films also take place in three
plenty of special e›ects, but lacked the charm of its source video di›erent European countries: France (Blue), Poland (White), and
game. Double Dragon (¡994) was barely released and generated a Switzerland (Red). In Three Colors: Blue (¡993), a young woman
puny $2.4 million at the U.S. box-o‡ce. And Wing Commander ( Juliette Binoche) travels a long road to emotional recovery after
(¡999) failed to capitalize on the popularity of Freddie Prinze, Jr., losing her husband and five-year-old daughter in a car accident.
whose previous films included hits like She’s All That (¡998) and The “liberty” she seeks is freedom from humanity and her painful
I Know What You Did Last Summer (¡997). Still, the popularity memories (at one point, she attempts suicide). Three Colors: White
of the lively martial arts/special e›ects extravaganza Mortal Kom- (¡994) addresses the “equality,” or lack thereof, between husband
bat and its ¡997 sequel prove that the genre has potential. See also and wife. Karl (Zbigniew Zamachowski) loves his wife Do-
Pinball/Video Games. minique ( Julie Delpy) passionately, but she divorces him because
Super Mario Bros. (¡993); Double Dragon (¡994); Street Fighter he cannot consummate their marriage. But that’s just the begin-
(¡994); Mortal Kombat (¡995); Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (aka ning of a series of unusual events — Karl stalks Dominique, she
Mortal Kombat 2) (¡997); Pokémon: The First Movie (¡998); Wing burns down his hair salon, he travels to Poland in a trunk. Even-
Commander (¡999); Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (¡999) tually, Karl becomes a wealthy businessman and tries to win back
 THE THREE MESQUITEERS 205

his ex-wife. The concluding film in the trilogy, Three Colors: Red (¡953); Kiss Me Kate (¡953); Man in the Dark (¡953); Miss Sadie
(¡994), deals with “fraternity” in the form of a relationship that Thompson (¡953); The Maze (¡953); Outlaw Territory (aka Hannah
blossoms between a melancholy fashion model (Irene Jacobs) and Lee) (¡953); Robot Monster (¡953); Sangaree (¡953); Wings of the
Hawk (¡953); Second Chance (¡953); The Stranger Wore a Gun
an older, cynical retired judge ( Jean-Louis Trintignant). Its un- (¡953); Cat Women of the Moon (aka Rocket to the Moon) (¡954);
expected ending brings closure to the trilogy by featuring brief Creature from the Black Lagoon (¡954); Dial M for Murder (¡954);
appearances of characters from Blue (Binoche) and White (Za- Drums of Tahiti (¡954); The French Line (¡954); Gog (¡954); Gorilla
machowski and Delpy). After completing Red, Kieslowski an- at Large (¡954); The Mad Magician (¡954); Phantom of the Rue
nounced it was his final film; he died two years later of a heart Morgue (¡954); Taza, Son of Cochise (¡954); Son of Sinbad (¡955);
attack. Eyes of Hell (aka The Mask) (¡96¡); The Bubble (aka Fantastic Invasion
of Planet Earth) (¡966); The Mark of the Werewolf (aka Frankenstein’s
Three Colors: Blue (aka Trois couleurs: Bleu; Trzy kolory: Bloody Terror) (¡968); The Stewardesses (¡969); Three Dimensions of
Niebieski) (¡993); Three Colors: White (aka Trois couleurs: Blanc; Greta (¡972); The Flesh and Blood Show (aka Asylum of the Insane)
Trzy kolory: Bialy) (¡994); Three Colors: Red (aka Trois couleurs: (¡972); Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein (aka Flesh for Frankenstein)
Rouge; Trzy kolory: Czerwony) (¡994) (¡973); The Playmates (¡973); A*P*E (¡976); The Surfer Girls (¡980);
Comin’ at Ya! (¡98¡); Rottweiler (aka Dogs of Hell) (¡98¡); Friday the
¡3th Part 3 (¡982); Treasure of the Four Crowns (¡982); Parasite
3-D (¡982); Jaws 3 (aka Jaws 3-D) (¡983); The Man Who Wasn’t There
Three-dimensional, or stereoscopic, films create an illusion of (¡983); Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (¡983); Spacehunter:
depth by separating each eye’s field of view. This is usually ac- Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (¡983); Tales of the Third Dimension
(¡984); Silent Madness (aka Omega Factor; Night Killer) (¡984); Hit
complished by requiring viewers to wear cardboard glasses with the Road Running (¡984); Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (¡985);
clear polarized lenses or lenses tinted red and blue-green (the lat- Blonde Emmanuelle in 3-D (¡990); Freddy’s Dead: The Final Night-
ter process is called anaglyphic 3-D). Although experimental 3- mare (¡99¡); Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (¡994 TVM) (the
D films date back to ¡9¡5, the depth process was largely ignored wedding climax only); Encounters in the Third Dimension (¡999)
until the early ¡950s. Faced with the growing popularity of tele-
vision, movie moguls felt that something new was needed to lure The Three Mesquiteers
patrons back to the theaters. The astonishing success of Arch Popular Western novelist William Colt MacDonald created these
Obler’s low-budget, three-dimensional jungle adventure Bwana three Dumas-inspired do-gooders: Stony Brooke, the trio’s hot-
Devil (“A lion in your lap!” proclaimed the poster) convinced Hol- tempered leader; Tucson Smith, his more rational friend and fre-
lywood that 3-D was the answer to its problems. Over 30 stereo- quent romantic rival; and Lullaby Joslin, the easy-going come-
scopic films were released between ¡953 and ¡954. Arguably, the dian of the group. Law of the 45’s (¡935) was the first Mesquiteer
finest was ¡953’s House of Wax, which launched Vincent Price’s novel to reach the screen, but it did not feature all three
horror career by casting him as a mad sculptor who makes wax Mesquiteers. That distinction belongs to RKO’s Powdersmoke
figures from his murder victims. Unfortunately, quality e›orts like Range (¡935), which starred Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, and Big
House of Wax and It Came from Outer Space were quickly over- Boy Williams as, respectively, Tucson, Stony, and Lullaby. The
shadowed by technically inept, let’s-make-a-buck features like following year, little Republic Pictures snatched up the property
Robot Monster and Cat Women of the Moon. By ¡955, the 3-D craze and launched the o‡cial Three Mesquiteers series. Republic’s
had ended, brought to an early death by the popularity of less ex- original Mesquiteer line-up featured Ray “Crash” Corrigan as
pensive wide-screen processes like Cinemascope (which also o›ered Tucson, Robert Livingston as Stony, and Syd Saylor as Lullaby.
something TV couldn’t). Attempts to revive 3-D proved fruitless Max Terhune replaced Saylor in the second film and it’s this
for almost two decades. Then, in ¡969, the unexpected success of cast — Corrigan, Livingston, and Terhune — that’s best remem-
The Stewardesses, a low-budget sex picture, inspired a fleeting in- bered. Other performers, though, also spent time in the saddle.
terest in 3-D again. However, as in the ¡950s, poor quality 3-D Ralph Temp temporarily replaced Livingston and an upcoming
movies flooded the market and snu›ed out the chances of a big actor named John Wayne played Stony for awhile. A cowboy
comeback. But just to prove you can’t keep a good idea down, 3- singer named Dick Weston had a musical number in ¡937’s Wild
D surfaced once more in the early ¡980s with the release of a ludi- Horse Rodeo. Weston later became a Western star in his own
crous Italian Western dubbed Comin’ at Ya. This time, the major right — after changing his name to Roy Rogers. Duncan Renaldo,
studios jumped on the bandwagon and produced big-budget fea- best known as the Cisco Kid (q.v.), joined the cast in ¡939 for a
tures like Jaws 3 and Metalstorm. Despite a few legitimate hits (e.g., brief stint as a new character named Rico. Meanwhile, Corrigan,
Friday the ¡3th Part 3), 3-D never really captured the public’s fancy Livingston, and Terhune moved to other studios and launched
and 3-D faded within a year. Nevertheless, the ¡980s craze did new series. Corrigan and Terhune joined John “Dusty” King to
produce the first 3-D feature-length cartoon, ¡985’s Starchaser: The form the Range Busters (q.v.) for Monogram. Livingston teamed
Legend of Orin. The climax to ¡99¡’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final Night- up with Al “Fuzzy” St. John in PRC’s Lone Rider movies (q.v.).
mare was shown in Freddyvision — a catchy term for 3-D. The 40- These series and many similar ones owe much to the “Western
minute IMAX feature Encounters in the Third Dimension (¡999) was trio” premise fostered by the first Mesquiteer pictures.
a 3-D movie about 3-D. See also Cinerama; Gimmicks. Law of the 45’s (¡935); Powdersmoke Range (¡935); The Three
Bwana Devil (¡952); Arena (¡953); The Charge at Feather River Mesquiteers (¡936); Ghost Town Gold (¡936); Roarin’ Lead (¡936);
(¡953); Devil’s Canyon (¡953); Fatal Desire (¡953); Money from Home Riders of the Whistling Skull (¡937); Hit the Saddle (¡937); Gun-
(¡953); The Moonlighter (¡953); Fort Ti (¡953); Flight to Tangier smoke Ranch (¡937); Come on, Cowboys (¡937); Range Defenders
(¡953); Hondo (¡953); House of Wax (¡953); I, the Jury (¡953); It (¡937); Heart of the Rockies (¡937); The Trigger Trio (¡937); Wild
Came from Outer Space (¡953); Invaders from Mars (¡953); Inferno Horse Rodeo (¡937); The Purple Vigilantes (¡938); Call the
206 THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Mesquiteers (¡938); Outlaws of Sonora (¡938); Riders of the Black Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Oliver Platt — trade papers
Hills (¡938); Heroes of the Hills (¡938); Pals of the Saddle (¡938); dubbed it “Young Guns in Tights.” Five years later, Leonardo Di-
Overland Stage Raiders (¡938); Santa Fe Stampede (¡938); Red River Caprio’s post–Titanic popularity made a hit out of a mediocre
Range (¡938); The Night Riders (¡939); Three Texas Steers (¡939);
version of The Man in the Iron Mask.
Wyoming Outlaws (¡939); New Frontier (¡939); The Kansas Terrors
(¡939); Cowboys from Texas (¡939); Heroes of the Saddle (¡940); Pio- The Three Musketeers (¡92¡); The Iron Mask (¡929); The Three
neers of the West (¡940); Covered Wagon Days (¡940); Rocky Moun- Musketeers (¡935); The Three Musketeers (¡939); The Man in the
tain Rangers (¡940); Oklahoma Renegades (¡940); Under Texas Skies Iron Mask (¡939); The Three Musketeers (¡948); Lady in the Iron
(¡940); The Trail Blazers (¡940); Lone Star Raiders (¡940); Prairie Mask (¡952); At Sword’s Point (¡952); Sword of D’Artagnan (¡952);
Pioneers (¡94¡); Saddlemates (¡94¡); Gangs of Sonora (¡94¡); Outlaws The Three Musketeers (aka Les Trois Mousquetaires) (¡953); Count of
of the Cherokee Trail (¡94¡); Gauchos of El Dorado (¡94¡); West of Bragelonne (aka The Last Musketeer; Le Vicomte de Bragelonne)
Cimarron (¡94¡); Code of the Outlaw (¡942); Raiders of the Range (¡954); The Three Musketeers (¡96¡); The Secret Mark of D’Artagnan
(¡942); Westward Ho (¡942); The Phantom Plainsmen (¡942); Shad- (¡962); The Three Musketeers (aka The Three Musketeers: The
ows on the Sage (¡942); Valley of Hunted Men (¡942); Thundering Queen’s Diamonds) (¡974); The Four Musketeers (aka The Four Mus-
Trails (¡943); The Blocked Trail (¡943); Santa Fe Scouts (¡943); Rid- keteers: The Revenge of Milady) (¡975); The Man in the Iron Mask
ers of the Rio Grande (¡943) (¡977 TVM); The Fifth Musketeer (¡979); The Return of the Muske-
teers (¡989); The Three Musketeers (¡993); Ring of the Musketeers
The Three Musketeers (¡993); The Daughter of D’Artagnan (aka La Fille de D’Artagnan;
Revenge of the Musketeers) (¡994); The Man in the Iron Mask (¡998)
Alexandre Dumas’ novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years
After, and The Man in the Iron Mask have provided rich sources
for cinematic swashbucklers. Silent versions of The Three Muske- 3 Ninjas Series
teers appeared in ¡9¡¡, ¡9¡3, ¡9¡4, and ¡92¡. The latter adaptation In industry slang, 3 Ninjas was a Disney “pick up,” a movie pro-
starred Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., in one of his most memorable duced by another company and released to fill in the gap between
roles as D’Artagnan. It was so successful that Fairbanks took an- major releases. Undoubtedly, Disney’s low expectations were
other turn as D’Artagnan in ¡929’s The Iron Mask. Other actors pleasantly exceeded when 3 Ninjas blossomed into a modest ¡992
have donned the hot-headed Gascon’s sword, but none have made hit. Its success should have been more obvious, given its ingredi-
a lasting impression. Character actor Walter Abel was miscast in ents: three cute brothers, wholesome family values, and some
¡935’s The Three Musketeers. Don Ameche’s ¡939 version was lively martial arts action. The formulaic plot pits the ninja-trained
played for laughs, with the Ritz Brothers as the trio of Athos, brothers Tum Tum (Chad Power), Colt (Max Elliott Slade), and
Porthos, and Aramis. Gene Kelly gave an energetic performance Rocky (Michael Treanor), ages 7–¡2, against a crime czar being
in the lavish ¡948 adaptation, but he lacked the necessary pursued by their FBI agent father. There’s never any doubt that
charisma. Warren William and Michael York may be the best the boys will triumph over their adversaries, especially with the
post–Fairbanks D’Artagnans due to their di›erent interpreta- help of ninja master Grandpa Mori (Victor Wong). Tri-Star re-
tions. In ¡939’s The Man in the Iron Mask, William portrayed leased the less-successful sequels out of order, creating some con-
D’Artagnan as a middle-aged swordsman, while York made him fusing cast changes. For example, 3 Ninjas Kick Back (¡994) fea-
an awkward youth anxious to be a musketeer in Richard Lester’s tured Sean Fox and Evan Bonifant as Rocky and Tum Tum,
The Three Musketeers (¡974). Interestingly, a number of coinci- respectively. However, the original cast members were back a year
dences surround the directors and performers in the Musketeer later for 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up. In 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega
movies. There’s a Frankenstein connection between James Whale’s Mountain (¡998), the chop-socky trio were played by all new ac-
The Man in the Iron Mask (¡939) and Rowland V. Lee’s The Three tors: Matthew Botuchis (Rocky), Michael O’Laskey (Colt) and
Musketeers (¡935). Whale directed Boris Karlo› in Frankenstein John Paul Roeske (Tum Tum). Victor Wong provided continu-
and The Bride of Frankenstein, while Lee directed Karlo› ’s last ap- ity in the series, his Grandpa Mori role coming across as a sillier
pearance as the Monster in Son of Frankenstein. Louis Hayward version of Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid (q.v.) films.
played the lead role in the ¡939 Man in the Iron Mask, but 3 Ninjas (¡992); 3 Ninjas Kick Back (¡994); 3 Ninjas Knuckle
switched to the part of D’Artagnan for Lady in the Iron Mask Up (¡995); 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (¡998)
(¡952). Eugene Pallette, who played the musketeer Aramis in the
¡92¡ Three Musketeers, is best remembered as Friar Tuck in Errol
Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. One of his co-stars in that Three Smart Girls Series
film was Alan Hale, Sr. (as Little John), who played the muske- Teen star Deanna Durbin made her feature film debut in ¡936’s
teer Porthos in Whale’s The Three Musketeers. His son, Alan Hale, Three Smart Girls, a sentimental comedy about the e›orts of three
Jr., played Porthos in Lady in the Iron Mask and The Fifth Mus- sisters to reunite their separated parents. Nan Grey and Barbara
keteer and the son of Porthos in At Sword’s Point. That same film Read played the other two sisters. Helen Parrish replaced Read in
featured Cornel Wilde as D’Artagnan’s son, Dan O’Herlihy as the ¡939 follow-up Three Smart Girls Grow Up, which focused on
Aramis’ son, and Maureen O’Hara as Athos’ daughter. Richard Deanna’s plans to marry o› her older sisters. This flu›y sequel
Lester filmed his The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers gave the ¡8-year-old Durbin one of her biggest recording hits
in ¡973, but they were released in ¡974 and ¡975 respectively. with “Because.” She reprised the Penelope Craig character one
The same cast reunited ¡5 years later for ¡989’s Return of the Mus- more time, as an adult, in the more serious World War II romance
keteers. It played theatrically in Europe, but debuted in the U.S. Hers to Hold (¡943).
on a cable network two years later. In ¡993, Disney cast its ver- Three Smart Girls (¡936); Three Smart Girls Grow Up (¡939);
sion of The Three Musketeers with young performers like Kiefer Hers to Hold (¡943)
 TITANIC 207

Tibbs, Virgil (¡933); Time Flies (¡944); Fiddlers Three (¡944); Where Do We Go
from Here? (¡945); Repeat Performance (¡947); A Connecticut Yankee
An urbane black detective from Philadelphia, Tibbs first appeared in King Arthur’s Court (¡949); I’ll Never Forget You (aka The House
as a fish out of water in the ¡967 Best Picture In the Heat of the in the Square) (¡95¡); The Atomic Man (aka Timeslip) (¡956); World
Night, a mystery set in a racially prejudiced Southern town. Rod Without End (¡956); The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (¡959); Be-
Steiger won a Best Actor Oscar as the town’s sheri›, but it was yond the Time Barrier (¡960); The Time Machine (¡960); The Jetty
Tibbs, as portrayed by Sidney Poitier, who came back for a sequel. (aka La Jetée; The Pier) (¡963); The Time Travelers (¡964); Dr. Who
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs (¡970) sent Tibbs to San Francisco and the Daleks (¡965); Willy McBean and His Magic Machine
to solve a homicide. He was still there in ¡97¡, working with a vig- (¡965); Cyborg 2087 (¡966); Daleks-Invasion Earth 2¡50 A.D. (aka
Invasion Earth 2¡50 A.D.) (¡966); Journey to the Center of Time
ilante group to crack a drug ring in The Organization. That was (¡967); The Planet of the Apes (¡968); A Witch Without a Broom
the last Tibbs film, except for a ¡988 TV version (and series pilot) (¡968); Hu-Man (¡975); Time Travelers (¡976); The Time Machine
of In the Heat of the Night starring Howard Rollins as Virgil Tibbs. (¡978 TVM); Jubilee (¡978); Time After Time (¡979); Unidentified
In the Heat of the Night (¡967); They Call Me MISTER Tibbs Flying Oddball (aka A Spaceman in King Arthur’s Court) (¡979);
(¡970); The Organization (¡97¡); In the Heat of the Night (¡988 The Day Time Ended (aka Time Warp) (¡980); The Final Count-
TVM) down (¡980); Somewhere in Time (¡980); Time Bandits (¡98¡);
Through the Magic Pyramid (¡98¡ TVM); Timerider (¡983); The
Philadelphia Experiment (¡984); The Terminator (¡984); The Cold
Time Travel Room (aka The Prisoner) (¡984 TVM); Arthur the King (¡985
The subject of time has long fascinated filmmakers, as evidenced TVM); The Blue Yonder (aka Time Flyer) (¡985 TVM); Trancers
by ¡9¡0’s The Times Are Out of Joint, an obscure sci-fi feature (aka Future Cop) (¡985); My Science Project (¡985); Back to the Fu-
ture (¡985); Biggles: Adventures in Time (aka Biggles) (¡986); Peggy
about a clock that manipulates time by accelerating motion. Gen- Sue Got Married (¡986); Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (¡986); The
erally, however, movies about time travel fall into three categories: Time Guardian (¡987); Timestalkers (¡987 TVM); Out of Time
traveling into the past, traveling into the future, and traveling (¡988 TVM); Light Years (¡988); Earth*Star Voyager (¡988 TVM);
from the future back to present day. The first category is by far The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (aka The Navigator) (¡988); Bill
the most common, dating back to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (¡989); Quantum Leap (¡989 TVM);
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Twain’s novel alone has been filmed Time Trackers (¡989); Millennium (¡989); Turn Back the Clock
numerous times, to include a silent version, a Will Rogers com- (¡989 TVM); Frankenstein Unbound (aka Roger Corman’s Franken-
stein Unbound) (¡990); Running Against Time (¡990 TVM); Spirit
edy, a Bing Crosby musical, and a Disney feature (mysteriously
of ’76 (¡99¡); Warlock (¡99¡); Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of
titled Unidentified Flying Oddball). Leslie Howard traveled back Time (¡99¡); Waxwork II: Lost in Time (¡99¡); The Visitors (¡993);
to ¡8th century England in Berkeley Square, as did Tyrone Power Timecop (¡994); A.P.E.X. (¡994); ¡2 Monkeys (¡995); Nemesis 2:
in the remake I’ll Never Forget You, while Christopher Reeve willed Nebula (aka Nemesis 2) (¡995); W.E.I.R.D. World (¡995 TVM);
himself back to turn-of-the-century America in Somewhere in Doctor Who (¡996 TVM); Star Trek: First Contact (¡996); Yesterday’s
Time. All three fell in love with beautiful ladies, lost them tem- Target (¡996 TVM); When Time Expires (¡997); Lost in Space
porarily, and then were reunited in one way or another. Space- (¡998); The Corridors of Time: The Visitors II (¡998); A Knight in
crafts accidentally stumbled through time warps in World With- Camelot (¡998 TVM); Phantasm: Oblivion (aka Phantasm IV:
Oblivion; Phantasm: oblIVion) (¡998); Retroactive (¡998); Clock-
out End (¡956) and Planet of the Apes (¡968). In ¡986’s Star Trek
maker (¡998); Time at the Top (¡999); Austin Powers: The Spy Who
IV: The Voyage Home, the Enterprise used warp speed to go back Shagged Me (¡999); The TimeShifters (¡999 TVM)
in time to save some whales. Curious scientists have naturally
preferred to travel to the future, as in The Time Travelers (¡964)
and George Pal’s ¡960 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Ma- Titanic
chine. A cornered Jack the Ripper used Wells’ time machine to The ¡9¡2 luxury liner disaster was a popular film subject long be-
make a quick escape to modern-day San Francisco in Nicholas fore James Cameron’s Oscar-winning ¡999 epic shattered box-
Meyer’s stylish thriller Time After Time (¡979). Finally, inhabi- o‡ce records. Twentieth Century–Fox’s ¡953 version boasted that
tants of the future have sought to change their course of events it was “Titanic in emotion…in spectacle…in climax…in cast!”
by traveling back to present day in Cyborg 2087 (¡966), its par- Indeed, the cast was impressive — with Clifton Webb, Barbara
tial remake The Terminator (¡984), and Trancers (¡985). Cyborg Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, and Thelma Ritter — but the film was
2087, an underrated cheapie, cast Michael Rennie as a cyborg as- strictly stolid Hollywood gloss. The ¡958 adaptation of Walter
signed to stop the creation of his own “race.” Other time-related Lord’s book A Night to Remember took a semi-documentary ap-
movies of interest include : It Happened Tomorrow (¡944), in proach and earned kudos for its authenticity and emotional
which a reporter acquires tomorrow’s newspaper today (a premise drama. Debbie Reynolds played one of Titanic’s survivors in the
that inspired the ¡996–99 TV series Early Edition); in Repeat Per- glossy musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown (¡964). On a smaller
formance (¡947) and its ¡989 TV movie remake Turn Back the scale, S.O.S. Titanic (¡979) was a made-for-TV rehash, while
Clock, two people live a year over again; a scientist in ¡956’s The Raise the Titanic! (¡980) was a dull adaptation of Clive Cussler’s
Atomic Man could move 7.5 seconds ahead of everyone else; and best seller about salvaging the sunken ship. The Titanic returned
in The Jetty (¡963) and its semi-remake ¡2 Monkeys (¡995), a man as a ghost ship, complete with spooky passengers, in ¡989’s Ghost-
remembers his own future death. See also Back to the Future Se- busters II. Peter Gallagher starred in the ¡996 two-part television
ries; Clocks and Watches; Trancers Series. movie Titanic. It was quickly eclipsed a year later by Cameron’s
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (¡92¡); A Con- Titanic, which featured a 775-foot long, nearly full-size exterior
necticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (¡93¡); Berkeley Square set of the ship. Still, Cameron’s mammoth spectacle is better
208 TNT BIBLE STORIES

remembered for its fictitious romance between fateful lovers Jack directed by Yoji Yamada. The popularity of the films can be traced
(Leonard DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet). to the lovable title character, Tora-san (a colloquial reference to
Titanic (¡953); A Night to Remember (¡958); The Unsinkable Torajiro Kuruma), whom Variety once described as “a none-too-
Molly Brown (¡964); S.O.S. Titanic (¡979 TVM); Raise the Titanic! bright, bumbling but streetwise peddler who most often fouls up
(¡980); Ghostbusters II (¡989); Titanic (¡996 TVM); No Greater the plot and lets the woman get away.” A middle-aged bachelor,
Love (¡996); Titanic (¡997) Tora-san travels throughout Japan when not living with his aunt
and uncle. He also spends time with his sister’s family, especially
TNT Bible Stories nephew Mitsuo (Hidetaka Yoshioka). As a teenager, Mitsuo’s re-
Turner Network Television (TNT) launched its ambitious series of lationship with Tora-san became a focal point of later series en-
Old Testament biblical epics in ¡994 with Abraham. This first tries — a development credited with introducing the films to a
made-for-television film established the formula for all other en- wider, more youthful audience in the late ¡980s. Star Kiyoshi At-
tries: veteran big screen performers (Richard Harris and Barbara sumi was 42 when the series’ debut entry, Tora-san, Our Lovable
Hershey); on-location filming in exotic locales like Morocco; and Tramp (Otoko wa tsurai yo), was released in ¡969. He appeared in
long running times. Joseph (¡995), which starred Ben Kingsley an average of two Tora-san films annually from ¡969 to ¡987, be-
(Gandhi) in the title role, won an Emmy for Best Miniseries. How- fore the production pace decreased to one per year. According to
ever, in terms of epic scope, David (¡997) towers above the rest of some sources, he outranked the Emperor as the most recogniz-
the series, with an elaborate battle scene involving 600 extras. Ger- able face in Japan. The Tora-san series ended when Atsumi died
man and Italian companies co-produced the films with TNT, with of lung cancer in ¡996 at the age of 68. The Associated Press re-
the network retaining exclusive broadcast rights in the U.S. ported that 2¡,000 people attended Atsumi’s memorial service. At
Abraham (aka Abraham: A TNT Bible Story) (¡994 TVM); one time, the Guinness Book listed the Tora-san entries as the
Jacob (aka Jacob: A TNT Bible Story) (¡994 TVM); Joseph (aka world’s longest-running film series with the same star.
Joseph: A TNT Bible Story) (¡995 TVM); Moses (aka Moses: A TNT
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo) (¡969);
Bible Story) (¡996 TVM); Samson and Delilah (aka Samson and
Tora-san’s Cherished Mother (aka Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo) (¡969);
Delilah: A TNT Bible Story) (¡996 TVM); David (aka David: A
Tora-san: His Tender Love (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Fuuten no Tora)
TNT Bible Story) (¡997 TVM)
(¡970); Tora-san’s Grand Scheme (aka Shin otoko wa tsurai yo)
(¡970); Tora-san’s Runaway (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Boukyou hen)
Topper (¡970); Tora-san’s Shattered Romance (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Junjo
George and Marion Kerby were a fun-loving couple until a car hen) (¡97¡); Tora-san, the Good Samaritan (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo:
Funto hen) (¡97¡); Tora-san’s Love Call (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo:
crash put a premature end to their earthly existence. Required to Torajiro koiuta) (¡97¡); Tora-san’s Dear Old Home (aka Otoko wa
perform a good deed to earn admittance into Heaven, the ghostly tsurai yo: Shibamata bojo) (¡972); Tora-san’s Dream-Come-True (aka
Kerbys turned their attention to meek banker Cosmo Topper. Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro yumemakura) (¡972); Tora-san’s Forget-
Cosmo’s subsequent problems with George and Marion generated Me-Not (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wasurenagusa) (¡973);
most of the laughs in ¡937’s Topper. The film was a guaranteed Tora-san Loves an Artist (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Watashi no tora-
success, with Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, and Roland Young san) (¡973); Tora-san’s Lovesick (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro
in the principal roles. Bennett and Young returned for the ¡939 koiyatsure) (¡974); Tora-san’s Lullaby (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Tora-
jiro komoriuta) (¡974); Tora-san’s Rise and Fall (aka Otoko wa tsurai
sequel Topper Takes a Trip, which found Marion badgering Cosmo yo: Torajiro aiaigasa) (¡975); Tora-san, the Intellectual (aka Otoko
on his Riviera vacation. Only Young (and Billie Burke as Mrs. wa tsurai yo: Katsushika risshihen) (¡975); Tora-san’s Sunrise and
Topper) remained for ¡94¡’s Topper Returns. It drew poor com- Sunset (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro yuuyake koyake) (¡976);
parisons with the first two films, but has since come to be regarded Tora-san’s Pure Love (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro junjoshishu)
as a first-rate haunted house comedy. It also gave Burke a chance (¡976); Tora-san Meets His Lordship (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Tora-
to shine with some wacky dialogue: “My, my, it’s strange how it’s jiro to tonosama) (¡977); Tora-san Plays Cupid (aka Otoko wa tsurai
always cold in the winter and warm in the summer, isn’t it?” Leo yo: Torajiro gambare!) (¡977); Stage-Struck Tora-san (aka Otoko wa
tsurai yo: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku) (¡978); Talk-of-the-Town
G. Carroll played Cosmo in the ¡953–56 TV series Topper, with Tora-san (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku)
Robert Sterling and Anne Je›reys as the Kerbys. Kate Jackson (¡978); Tora-san, the Matchmaker (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Tonderu
and then-husband Andrew Stevens produced and starred (as the torajiro) (¡979); Tora-san’s Dream of Spring (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo:
Kerbys) in a lackluster ¡979 TV movie, co-starring Jack Warden Torajiro haru no yume) (¡979); Tora-san’s Tropical Fever (aka Otoko
as Cosmo Topper. In ¡983’s Somewhere Tomorrow, a lonely teenage wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana) (¡980); Foster Daddy,
girl watched Topper, bumped her head, and then met a boy ghost. Tora-san (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kamome uta) (¡980);
See also Ghosts. Tora-san’s Love in Osaka (aka Tora-san’s Many-Splintered Love;
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Naniwa no koino torajiro) (¡98¡); Tora-san’s
Topper (¡937); Topper Takes a Trip (¡939); Topper Returns Promise (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kamifusen) (¡98¡); Hearts
(¡94¡); Topper (¡979 TVM) and Flowers for Tora-san (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro ajisai no
koi) (¡982); Tora-san, the Expert (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Hana mo
Tora-san arashi mo Torajiro) (¡982); Tora-san’s Song of Love (aka Otoko wa
The most popular film series in Japan remains virtually unknown tsurai yo: Tabi to onna to Torajiro) (¡983); Tora-san Goes Religious
(aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Kuchibue wo fuku Torajiro) (¡983); Mar-
to English-language moviegoers. Yet, the Tora-san films have ap- riage Counselor Tora-san (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Yogiri ni musebu
pealed to their faithful Japanese fans for over 20 years and 45 torajiro) (¡984); Tora-san’s Forbidden Love (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo:
episodes. Amazingly, the title character has always been played by Torajiro shinjitsu ichiro) (¡984); Tora-san, the Go-Between (aka
the same actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi, and almost all the entries were Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro renaijuku) (¡985); Tora-san’s Island
 TRAINS 209

Encounter (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shibamata yori ai wo komete) orful villains: Mike Mazurki’s Spitface (Dick Tracy), Dick Wessel’s
(¡985); Tora-san’s Bluebird Fantasy (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shi- Cueball, Jack Lambert’s The Claw (Dick Tracy’s Dilemma), and
awase no aoi tori) (¡986); Tora-san Goes North (aka Otoko wa tsurai Boris Karlo› ’s Gruesome. In ¡990, Warren Beatty mounted a col-
yo: Shiretoko bojo) (¡987); Tora-san Plays Daddy (aka Otoko wa
orful screen adaptation, but — despite Madonna as a femme fatale
tsurai yo: Torajiro monogatari) (¡987); Tora-san’s Salad Date Memo-
rial (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro sarada kinenbi) (¡988); Tora- and some catchy Stephen Sondheim songs — it was a rather dull
san Goes to Vienna (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kokoro no a›air. See also Comic Strip Characters.
tabiji) (¡989); Tora-san, My Uncle (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Boku no Dick Tracy (aka Spitface) (¡946); Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (¡947);
ojisan) (¡989); Tora-san Takes a Vacation (aka Otoko wa tsurai yo: Dick Tracy’s Dilemma (aka Mark of the Claw) (¡947); Dick Tracy
Torajiro no kyuujitsu) (¡990); Tora-san Confesses (aka Otoko wa Meets Gruesome (aka Dick Tracy’s Amazing Adventure) (¡947); Dick
tsurai yo: Torajiro no kokuhaku) (¡99¡); Tora-san Makes Excuses (aka Tracy (¡990)
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no seishun) (¡992); Otoko wa tsurai yo:
Torajiro no endan (¡993); Otoko wa tsurai yo: Haikei, Kuruma Tora-
jiro sama (¡994); Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kurenai no hana The Trail Blazers
(¡995) Monogram Pictures was the home of the B-Western in the ¡940s.
The budget-minded studio was already producing the Rough
Tornadoes see Hurricanes and Tornadoes Riders (q.v.) and the Range Busters (q.v.) films when it introduced
the Trail Blazers series in ¡943. Monogram signed the three biggest
The Toxic Avenger names available (at budget price) and wound up with cowboy
greats Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard, and Bob Steele. Gibson and
Melvin Ferd, Tromaville’s town “nerd,” worked as a janitor at the
Maynard had retired in the ¡930s, but Monogram lured them
local health club. He regularly incurred the ridicule of the club’s
back to the screen even though they were 5¡ and 48, respectively.
snobbish clientele and, after a particularly degrading experience
After just seven pictures, the series came to an end and Gibson
he jumped out a second-story window and landed in a vat of
and Maynard closed out their film careers except for occasional
chemical toxins. This accident transformed meek Melvin into a
appearances.
muscular, green, disfigured superhero (resembling Swamp Thing).
All this happened in the first twenty minutes of ¡985’s The Toxic Blazing Guns (¡943); The Law Rides Again (¡943); Wild Horse
Stampede (¡943); Arizona Whirlwind (¡944); Death Valley Rangers
Avenger, a hopeless comedy that found a video audience and
(¡944); Outlaw Trail (¡944); Westward Bound (¡944)
evolved into a campy, low-budget series. The rest of the first pic-
ture found the Toxic Avenger, janitor’s mop in hand, beating up
bad guys and falling in love with a blind blonde named Sara. Trailers see Mobile Homes
Mark Torgi played Melvin, while Mitchell Cohen took over as
Toxie (with Kenneth Kessler providing the voice). The Troma Trains
Team (yes, the studio named the film’s town after itself ), waited Trains have long been a favorite setting for tense dramas and mys-
four years to produce The Toxic Avenger Part II. The gap between teries, primarily since the close confines force character interac-
installments must have confused the Troma sta›, for in Part II, tion by restricting movement beyond a limited area. Mysteries
Melvin’s last name had changed to Junko and Sara (still blonde that take place almost entirely on trains include the Basil Rath-
and blind) had become Claire. The plot sent Toxie to Tokyo to bone Sherlock Holmes entry Terror by Night and the ¡974 all-star
find his father, while the evil Apocalypse, Inc. took over Tro- adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Two
maville. Ron Fazio and John Altamura teamed up as Toxie. They of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous works are set aboard trains: A
also headlined the same year’s The Toxic Avenger Part III: The little old lady who’s really a spy (Dame May Whitty) gets kid-
Last Temptation of Toxie, an e›ort described by Variety as a “toxic napped in The Lady Vanishes, while Robert Walker thinks he and
stew that, in no particular order, mixes lots of entrails, half-naked Farley Granger swap murders in a chilling scene in Strangers on a
women and sound e›ects plucked from the Three Stooges.” Train. Trains are hijacked and used as getaway vehicles in Run-
The Toxic Avenger (¡985); The Toxic Avenger Part II (¡989); away Train ( Jon Voight and Eric Roberts as convicts) and Von
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (¡989) Ryan’s Express (with Frank Sinatra and fellow escaped POWs
speeding through Germany to freedom). A thawed-out primeval
Tracy, Dick monster and a demented Cossack (Telly Savalas) wreaked havoc
Chester Gould’s comic strip police detective had been the subject aboard the Horror Express— thank heavens, sturdy hero Peter
of four ¡937–4¡ Republic serials before RKO decided he had po- Cushing was a passenger! However, that’s nothing compared to
tential as a B-film series hero. Former tough guy Morgan Conway the deadly virus threatening Sophia Loren and Burt Lancaster as
brought Tracy alive in ¡946’s Dick Tracy and ¡947’s Dick Tracy vs. they raced through Europe in The Cassandra Crossing. Other po-
Cueball, a pair of lively action pictures balanced nicely by a sense tentially deadly trains include the ones used to transport atomic
of humor. The scripts stayed close to the comic strip characters, bombs in Detonator, Broken Arrow, and Atomic Train. It’s enough
with Anne Je›reys as Tess Truehart, Esther Howard as Filthy Flora to make one revel in flu‡er (and far more entertaining) outings
of the Dripping Dagger Inn, and Ian Keith as Vitamin Flintheart. like the Gene Wilder–Richard Pryor action-comedy The Silver
Ralph Byrd, who had played the detective for Republic, took over Streak. See also Subways. The following movies either take place
the role in the last two films in the series. Since they appeared when on trains or feature memorable train scenes:
film series were declining in popularity, the Tracy films are all but The Iron Horse (¡924); Number Seventeen (¡932); The Phantom
forgotten today. That’s a shame, for they featured some very col- Express (¡932); Shanghai Express (¡932); Rome Express (¡932); Union
210 TRANCERS SERIES

Depot (¡932); The Silver Streak (¡934); Twentieth Century (¡934); one from the future (Megan Ward). The third installment, ¡992’s
Streamline Express (¡935); Florida Special (¡936); Night Mail Trancers III (¡992), explained how trancers were first created (by
(¡936); California Straight Ahead (¡937); La Bête Humaine (The a drug invented by Colonel “Daddy” Muthuh). It also ended
Human Beast) (¡938); The Lady Vanishes (¡938); Union Pacific
Deth’s marriage with his present-day wife. However, its primary
(¡939); Night Train to Munich (aka Night Train) (¡940); Inspector
Hornleigh Goes to It (aka Mail Train) (¡940); Broadway Limited purpose was to set up further entries in the series. In its closing
(¡94¡); Lady on a Train (¡945); One Way to Love (¡945); Terror by scene, the high council appointed Deth “peace-keeping emissary
Night (¡946); Sleeping Car to Trieste (¡948); Berlin Express (¡948); of time and space”— a job he kept for the final two entries of the
Train of Events (¡949); Peking Express (¡95¡); Strangers on a Train Trancer series. See also Time Travel.
(¡95¡); Diplomatic Courier (¡952); The Narrow Margin (¡952); Ter- Trancers (aka Future Cop) (¡985); Trancers II (aka Trancers II:
ror on a Train (aka Time Bomb) (¡952); The Titfield Thunderbolt The Return of Jack Deth) (¡99¡); Trancers III (aka Trancers III: Deth
(¡953); The Paris Express (aka The Man Who Watched the Trains Go Lives) (¡992); Trancers 4: Jack of Swords (¡993); Trancers 5: Sudden
By) (¡953); Human Desire (¡954); The Great Locomotive Chase (aka Deth (¡994)
Andrews’ Raiders) (¡956); Flame Over India (aka Northwest Frontier)
(¡959); North by Northwest (¡959); Night Train (¡959); Train Rob-
bery Confidential (¡962); From Russia with Love (the most memo- Traveling Salespersons
rable of several James Bond train scenes) (¡963); Stop Train 349 The exploits of those who earn their living selling door-to-door
(¡964); Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (¡965); The Sleeping Car Mur- have been played mostly for laughs. Lady vendors have proven to
ders (¡965); The Train (¡965); Von Ryan’s Express (¡965); Trans-Eu- be far more adept than their male counterparts at peddling prod-
rope Express (¡966); Closely Watched Trains (¡966); The Great St.
ucts: Joan Blondell sold booze-flavored toothpaste in The Trav-
Trinian’s Train Robbery (¡966); The Great British Train Robbery
(¡967); Istanbul Express (¡968); The French Connection (¡97¡); Box- eling Saleslady (¡935); Joan Davis tried to convince Westerners
car Bertha (¡972); Horror Express (aka Panic on the Trans-Siberian they needed soap in The Traveling Saleswoman (¡950); Ginger
Express) (¡972); Emperor of the North (aka Emperor of the North Rogers marketed girdles in The First Travelling Saleslady (¡956);
Pole) (¡973); The Train Robbers (¡973); Hijack (¡973 TVM); Run- Phyllis Diller pushed pianolas in Did You Hear the One About the
away! (aka The Runaway Train) (¡973 TVM); Murder on the Orient Traveling Saleslady? (¡968); and Lucille Ball specialized in cos-
Express (¡974); Breakheart Pass (¡976); The Silver Streak (¡976); The metics as The Fuller Brush Girl (¡950). Red Skelton had one of
Cassandra Crossing (¡977); The Stationmaster’s Wife (¡977); Julia
his best roles as The Fuller Brush Man (¡948), the hit which in-
(¡977); The Great Train Robbery (aka The First Great Train
Robbery) (¡979); The Lady Vanishes (¡979); Avalanche Express spired Ball’s similarly-titled sequel. Lou Costello played an in-
(¡979); Disaster on the Coastliner (¡979 TVM); Hanging by a competent vacuum cleaner salesman in ¡946’s Little Giant, as did
Thread (¡979 TVM); Cafe Express (¡980); Terror Train (¡980); Jimmy Durante and Phil Silvers in You’re in the Army Now (¡94¡).
Chattanooga Choo Choo (¡984); Romance on the Orient Express Both comedies featured the patented scene in which dirt is
(¡985 TVM); Runaway Train (¡985); Stand by Me (¡986); Planes, dumped on a clean carpet for an unsuccessful vacuum demon-
Trains, and Automobiles (¡987); Throw Momma from the Train stration. Serious films about traveling salesmen include the ¡95¡
(¡987); The Sleeping Car (¡990); Back to the Future III (¡990); Nar-
and ¡985 adaptations of Arthur Miller’s searing stage play Death
row Margin (¡990); The Railway Station Man (¡992 TVM); Death
Train (aka Detonator) (¡993 TVM); Weird Tales (aka Strane Storie) of a Salesman. The ¡960 Never Let Go was about a salesman vic-
(¡994); Desire in Motion (¡994); Tall Tale (¡995); Under Siege 2: timized by car thieves. Steve Martin played a Depression-era
Dark Territory (¡995); Night Watch (aka Detonator 2: Night Watch) sheet-music salesman in the o›beat dramatic musical Pennies from
(¡995 TVM); Before Sunrise (¡995); Broken Arrow (¡996); Riding Heaven (¡98¡).
the Rails (¡997); Train of Life (¡998); Atomic Train (¡999 TVM); The Traveling Saleslady (¡935); You’re in the Army Now (¡94¡);
Wild Wild West (¡999); Final Run (¡999 TVM); Thomas and the The Boogie Man Will Get You (¡942); Little Giant (aka On the Car-
Magic Railroad (2000) pet) (¡946); The Emperor Waltz (¡948); The Fuller Brush Man (aka
That Mad Mr. Jones) (¡948); The Traveling Saleswoman (¡950); The
Trancers Series Fuller Brush Girl (aka The A›airs of Sally) (¡950); Death of a Sales-
man (¡95¡); The Bigamist (¡953); The First Traveling Saleslady
The law of diminishing returns applies to this low-budget series (¡956); Never Let Go (¡960); The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
which got o› to a promising — if derivative — beginning. Trancers (¡960); Dear Heart (¡964); Salesman (¡969); Did You Hear the One
(¡985) starred Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth, a 24th-century about the Traveling Saleslady? (¡968); The Strange Vengeance of Ros-
hardboiled cop (shades of Harrison Ford in Blade Runner) who alie (¡972); O Lucky Man! (¡973); Paper Moon (¡973); Naughty
chases a villain back through time to prevent him from killing the Wives (¡974); Pennies from Heaven (¡98¡); Death of a Salesman
father of a future government leader (shades of the previous year’s (¡985 TVM); Tin Men (¡987); Traveling Man (¡989 TVM); Three
Terminator). Deth’s task is complicated by the title creatures, zom- Lives and Only One Death (¡996); Western (¡997)
bie-like humans with extraordinary strength and the ability to
withstand a handful of bullets at close range (usually four or five Trinity
shots can down a trancer). The film has its admirers, chiefly due Terrence Hill (aka Mario Girotti) had established himself as a
to its light touch and quick pace. Director Charles Band tried to rising Italian star by the late ¡960s. After promising support-
mount a follow-up as a segment in the three-part feature Pulse ing roles in quality dramas like Visconti’s The Leopard (¡963),
Pounders, but the project was never completed. Instead, Thomer- Hill switched to leading roles in spaghetti Westerns such as the
son encored as Deth in ¡99¡’s Trancers II, an unsurprising sequel Cat Stevens (q.v.) films, which paired him with Bud Spencer
featuring perennial bad guy Richard Lynch as the brother of the (aka Carlo Pedersoli). The blonde, handsome Hill and dark-
original film’s villain. The film’s saving grace is Deth’s attempts haired, burly Spencer quickly became the Odd Couple of
to deal with two wives — one from the present (Helen Hunt) and spaghetti Westerns. Their reputations were sealed with the
 TUNNELS 211

international success of ¡970’s They Call Me Trinity, a spirited Quick Millions (¡93¡); St. Louis Kid (¡934); California Straight
romp featuring Hill as a lazy, quick-drawing rascal named Trin- Ahead (¡937); They Drive by Night (aka The Road to Frisco) (¡940);
ity and Spencer as his surly, cattle-thief-turned-sheri› brother Desperate (¡947); Speed to Spare (¡948); Thieves’ Highway (¡949);
The Wages of Fear (¡952); The Rose Tattoo (¡955); Death in Small
Bambino. The ¡972 sequel, Trinity Is Still My Name, was fun-
Doses (¡957); Hell Drivers (aka Hard Drivers) (¡957); The Long
nier and also bigger at the box-o‡ce, especially in Italy where Haul (¡957); The Big Gamble (¡960); Moonfire (¡970); Duel (¡97¡
it was a huge hit. Oddly, these were the only Trinity pictures TVM); Deadhead Miles (¡972); In Tandem (aka Movin’ On) (¡974
featuring the Hill-Spencer team, although they made several TVM); White Line Fever (¡975); The Great Smokey Roadblock (aka
other movies together. Without Spencer, Hill made ¡97¡’s Trin- The Last of the Cowboys) (¡976); Breaker! Breaker! (¡977); Handle
ity Sees Red, but it was a humorless Western which bore no re- with Care (aka Citizen’s Band) (¡977); Sorcerer (¡977); F.I.S.T.
semblance to the other Trinity movies. In the final “o‡cial” se- (¡978); High-Ballin’ (¡978); Steel Cowboy (¡978 TVM); Convoy
(¡978); B.J. and the Bear (¡978 TVM); Every Which Way But Loose
ries entry, Trinity Plus the Clown and a Guitar, George Hilton
(¡978); Flatbed Annie and Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers (aka Flatbed
replaced Hill in the lead role. There are several other spaghetti Annie) (¡979 TVM); Willa (¡979); Coast to Coast (¡980); Road
Westerns with heroes named Trinity, but they do not appear Games (¡98¡); Brothers-in-Law (¡985 TVM); Big Trouble in Little
to be the Trinity. Hill played a Trinity-like character in the China (¡986); Killing Machine (¡986); Maximum Overdrive (¡986);
¡974 Henry Fonda Western My Name Is Nobody. He remains a Tampopo (¡986); Rolling Vengeance (¡987); Over the Top (¡987);
popular star in his homeland. In ¡99¡, Hill directed and starred Driving Force (¡989); Think Big (¡990); Close to Eden (aka Urga)
in Lucky Luke, a Western comedy along the same lines as the (¡99¡); Unhook the Stars (¡996); …first do no harm (¡997 TVM);
Breakdown (¡997); Trucks (¡997); Black Dog (¡998); Chill Factor
Trinity films. Enzo Barboni, who directed the first two Trinity
(¡999)
films, tried to revive the series in ¡995 with the TV movie Trin-
ity and Bambino: The Legend Lives On. It starred Heath Kizzier
and Keith Neubert as, respectively, Trinity Jr. and Bambino Jr.
Trumpet Players
See also Stevens, Cat. Young trumpet players have been portrayed as brash, compulsive
musicians by Kirk Douglas in Young Man with a Horn (¡950) and
They Call Me Trinity (aka Lo Chiamavano Trinita) (¡970)
Steve McQueen in Love with the Proper Stranger (¡953). Burt
(Terrence Hill); Trinity Sees Red (aka La Collera del Vento; Trinita
Voit Rouge) (¡97¡) (Hill); Trinity Is Still My Name (aka Continua- Young was a down-on-his-luck trumpeteer who befriended a ter-
vano a Chiamarlo Trinita) (¡972) (Hill); Trinity Plus the Clown and minally-ill youth in the maudlin Uncle Joe Shannon (¡978). Ca-
a Guitar (aka Prima Ti Suono e Poi Ti Sparo; First I Play role Lombarde rescued Fred MacMurray from the skids in ¡937’s
You…Then I Shoot You) (¡975) (George Hilton); Trinity & Bam- Swing High, Swing Low. Danny Kaye played real-life band-
bino: The Legend Lives On (aka Son of Trinity) (¡995 TVM) (Heath leader/trumpet player Red Nichols in The Five Pennies. He even
Kizzier as Trinity, Jr.) played a duet with Louis Armstrong, whose story reached the TV
screen in ¡976’s Louis Armstrong — Chicago Style. Ben Vereen
Truck Drivers starred as “Satchmo.” See also Pianists; Violinists.
Truckers have been stereotyped as macho men of action, particu- Swing High, Swing Low (¡937); Syncopation (¡942); Orchestra
larly during the ¡970s. Typical roles featured country singer Jerry Wives (¡942); Young Man with a Horn (¡950); The Five Pennies
(¡959); Love with the Proper Stranger (¡963); Dr. Terror’s House of
Reed playing a good ole boy trucker in High-Ballin’ (¡978), Claude
Horrors (¡965); A Man Called Adam (¡966); Louis Armstrong —
Akins and Frank Converse as no-nonsense truck drivers in In Tan- Chicago Style (¡976 TVM); Uncle Joe Shannon (¡978); Mo’ Better
dem (¡974), and Kris Kristo›erson as the leader in charge of a Con- Blues (¡990); Dingo (¡99¡); The Mambo Kings (¡992); Giant Steps
voy (¡978). Lady truckers have been virtually ignored, although a (¡992); Lush Life (¡994 TVM); Brassed O› (¡997)
few females have nevertheless proven themselves as tough as their
male counterparts. Kim Darby and Annie Potts played spunky Tunnels
women truckers in Flatbed Annie and Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers Tunnels have been a common fixture in P.O.W. (q.v.) sagas like
(¡979), as did Deborah Ra‡n in Willa (¡979) and Helen Shaver in The Wooden Horse (¡950) and, of course, The Great Escape (¡963).
High-Ballin’. Few big-name stars have been attracted to truck-dri- The Germans built secret tunnels, too, though a British spy
ving roles, although Humphrey Bogart was behind a rig’s wheel in thwarted their e›orts in The W Plan (¡930). John Garfield mas-
They Drive by Night (¡940). James Cagney, while still on the road terminded a tunnel through a cemetery to assassinate a Cuban
to stardom, drove a truck as the St. Louis Kid (¡934). Patrick Swayze o‡cial in ¡949’s We Were Strangers. On a considerably larger scale,
played an ex-con trucker tricked into transporting assault weapons the ¡933 German film The Tunnel was about the construction of
in Black Dog (¡998). Sylvester Stallone drove a truck in Over the a tunnel connecting Europe and the U.S. It was remade in Britain
Top (¡987), but he was more concerned with arm wrestling. And in ¡935’s Transatlantic Tunnel. A Chinese army tried to “burrow”
Kurt Russell tried to outsmart bad truckers who kidnapped his its way into the U.S. to mount an invasion in Battle Beneath the
wife in Breakdown (¡997). The most existential truckers were the Earth (¡967). In ¡988’s The Navigator, some medieval villagers
ones driving nitroglycerin over dangerous mountain roads in ¡952’s enter a tunnel to escape from the Black Plague — and wind up in
The Wages of Fear and its ¡977 remake Sorcerer. The most myste- 20th-century New Zealand! Several films have featured “tunnels
rious one was the unseen rig driver who tried to run Dennis Weaver of love,” while TV even o›ered a ¡966-67 Time Tunnel series.
o› the road in Steven Spielberg’s ¡97¡ TV movie Duel. The TV se- The W Plan (¡930); The Tunnel (aka Der Tunnel) (¡933);
ries Movin’ On and B.J. and the Bear both evolved from made-for- Transatlantic Tunnel (aka The Tunnel) (¡935); Tycoon (¡947); We
TV movies. In the latter series, the “Bear” was a mischievous truck- Were Strangers (¡949); The Wooden Horse (¡950); The Hole (¡959);
ridin’ chimpanzee. See also Automobiles. Escape from East Berlin (aka Tunnel 28) (¡962); The Great Escape
212 TURTLES

(¡963); Battle Beneath the Earth (¡967); Prophecy (¡979); Berlin the Living (¡94¡); Two-Faced Woman (¡94¡); Keep ’Em Flying (¡94¡);
Tunnel 2¡ (¡98¡ TVM); El Norte (¡983); The Navigator: A Medieval The Corsican Brothers (¡94¡); The Dark Mirror (¡942); The Palm
Odyssey (aka The Navigator) (¡988); Criminal Act (¡989); Tunnel Beach Story (¡942); Nazi Agent (¡942); Dead Men Walk (¡943);
Child (aka Tunnelkind) (¡990); Lurking Fear (¡994); Daylight Cobra Woman (¡944); Here Come the Waves (¡944); Miracle of Mor-
(¡996); Chill Factor (¡999) gan’s Creek (¡944); Wonder Man (¡945); A Stolen Life (¡946); The
Guilty (¡947); Dual Alibi (¡947); Campus Honeymoon (¡948);
Chained for Life (¡950); I Cover the Underworld (¡955); House of
Turtles Numbers (¡957); The Girl in the Kremlin (¡957); Duel of the Titans
Lewis Carroll, Peter Laird, and Kevin Eastman are responsible for (¡96¡); The Parent Trap (¡96¡); Dead Ringer (aka Dead Image)
creating the cinema’s most famous turtles. Carroll, of course, in- (¡964); Open the Door and See All the People (¡964); Cat Ballou
(¡965); Start the Revolution Without Me (¡970); Twins of Evil (vam-
troduced the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland, which has been
pires, to be exact) (¡972); The Other (¡972); Sisters (¡973); Twin
filmed many times (though the ¡933 and ¡95¡ versions remain best Detectives (¡976 TVM); The Man in the Iron Mask (¡977 TVM);
known). Laird and Eastman created the underground comic book Zorro, the Gay Blade (¡98¡); Basket Case (¡982); The Dark Mirror
superheroes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in ¡984. They (¡984 TVM); Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (¡984); Cheech and
went mainstream in the late ¡980s, eventually launching a film se- Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (¡984); Brotherly Love (¡985 TVM);
ries with ¡990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (¡990). The title Deceptions (¡985 TVM); The Covenant (¡985 TVM); Killer in the
character in Gamera (¡965) could also qualify as a mutant turtle, Mirror (¡986 TVM); Double Agent (¡987 TVM); Nightmare at
Shadow Woods (¡987); Big Business (¡988); Dead Ringers (¡988);
though he was big, had fangs, and could fly. Other giant turtles
Dominick and Eugene (¡988); Take Two (¡988); Jack’s Back (¡988);
harassed humans in The Lost Continent (¡968) and Where Time Twins (¡988); The Krays (¡990); Whispers (¡990); The Lookalike
Began (¡978). A young boy who refused to speak befriended a (¡990 TVM); Life Is Sweet (¡990); A Kiss Before Dying (¡99¡); Lies
giant albino turtle in the mystical New Zealand film The Silent of the Twins (¡99¡ TVM); Double Impact (¡99¡); Double Trouble
One (¡984). The French film Totor (¡994) also revolved around (¡99¡); Twin Dragons (¡992); Twogether (¡994); A Change of Place
the friendship between a boy and a turtle. Glenda Jackson and (¡994); Separated by Murder (¡994 TVM); Nadja (¡994); It Takes
Ben Kingsley played two lonely people who freed sea turtles from Two (¡995); Steal Big, Steal Little (¡995); Hotel de Love (¡996);
Maximum Risk (¡996); Ripe (¡997); The House of Yes (¡997); Love!
a London aquarium in Turtle Diary (¡985). Rocky Balboa
Valour! Compassion! (¡997); The Parent Trap (¡998); Pleasantville
(Sylvester Stallone) owned two turtles he named Cu› and Link (¡998); The Rugrats Movie (¡998); The Man in the Iron Mask
in Rocky (¡976). And, just to show the turtle’s versatility, a (¡998); Meet the Deedles (¡998); The Patti Duke Show: Still Rockin’
tortoise hosted the animal Olympics in the appropriately-titled in Brooklyn Heights (¡999 TVM); Half a Dozen Babies (¡999
Animalympics (¡979). See also Gamera; Teenage Mutant Ninja TVM); Take My Advice: The Ann and Abby Story (¡999 TVM);
Turtle Series. Twin Falls Idaho (¡999)
Alice in Wonderland (¡933); Alice in Wonderland (¡95¡); Gam-
era (aka Gamera, the Invincible; Gammera; Daikaiju Gamera) Two-Headed Creatures
(¡965); The Lost Continent (¡968); Rocky (¡976); Where Time Began The old adage that two heads are better than one has never held
(aka Trip to the Centre of the Earth) (¡978); Animalympics (¡979); true for the movies. The first two-headed monster movie of note,
The Silent One (¡984); Turtle Diary (¡985); Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles (¡990); Totor (¡994)
¡959’s U.S./Japanese co-production The Manster (aka The Split),
concerned a reporter who grew a second head after a mad scien-
tist injected him with an experimental serum. Eventually, the
Twins man/beast split apart totally and the parts fought each other.
The most frequent use of twins has been to portray good and evil, Bruce Dern transplanted a head onto a new body in the aptly-
as in Dead Ringer and The Dark Mirror (featuring Bette Davis and titled The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (¡97¡). That film was
Olivia de Havilland, respectively, in double roles). But comedies quickly eclipsed by the following year’s The Thing with Two
of mistaken identities have been popular, too. Hayley Mills Heads, the heads belonging to Ray Milland and Rosey Grier.
swapped places with her sister (Hayley Mills, too) and reunited The theme of two men — one white, one black — connected to
their divorced parents in The Parent Trap (q.v.). In a neat tech- each other was better explored in the Tony Curtis–Sidney Poitier
nical trick, the two Hayleys even sang a duet. Two sets of twins chase drama The Defiant Ones. But, on strictly visual terms, the
separated at birth caused all kinds of confusion in Start the Rev- sight of Milland and Grier jammed together in one big suit re-
olution Without Me and Big Business. Horror movies such as Brian mains a whole lot more fun to watch. An ad man working on a
De Palma’s Sisters and cult favorite Basket Case have featured pimple cream campaign grew an obnoxious second head in Bruce
Siamese twins in murderous roles. In Whispers (¡990), twins are Robinson’s black comedy How to Get Ahead in Advertising (¡989).
made to believe they are one person. In contrast, Seduction: Three Finally, Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (q.v.) deserves spe-
Tales from the Inner Sanctum (¡992) has Victoria Principal acting cial mention since he sported the minimum requirement of two
like twins as part of a sexual fantasy game. Finally, in The Mira- heads.
cle of Morgan’s Creek, Betty Hutton gave birth to sextuplets, which The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (¡958); The Manster (¡959); The
certainly seems to fit this category in spirit. See also Basket Case Magic Sword (¡962); Jack the Giant Killer (¡962); The Incredible
Series; Lookalikes; The Parent Trap Series. Two-Headed Transplant (¡97¡); The Thing with Two Heads (¡972);
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (¡975); Willow (¡988); How to Get
Freaks (aka Nature’s Mistakes) (¡932); Strangers in Love (¡932);
Ahead in Advertising (¡989)
The Sphinx (¡933); The Black Room (¡935); Our Relations (¡936);
Man of A›airs (aka His Lordship) (¡936); A Stolen Life (¡938); The
Man in the Iron Mask (¡939); The Boys from Syracuse (¡940); Among U.N.C.L.E. see The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
 VAMPIRES 213

Unicorns Veronica. The following year, Van Damme tried to make a

Unicorns have appeared rarely in the cinema, but they have turned comeback with Universal Soldier: The Return, a theatrical release
up in a Three Stooges comedy, a Tom Cruise fantasy, and two that ignored the made-for-cable movies. It reintroduces Luc as
¡980s animated films. When Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe traveled a widower with a cute kid! However, it’s not long before Luc
to Venus in Have Rocket, Will Travel (¡959), they discovered a takes on a computer called SETH (Self-Evolving Thought
talking unicorn. Ridley Scott’s visually splendid Legend (¡985) Helix) that has assumed control of a research facility with
starred Tom Cruise as a forest denizen who caused all kinds of UniSols. Released at the end of the ¡999 summer movie season
havoc when he took his beloved Princess Lili to see the unicorns. with no press screenings, Universal Soldier: The Return died
Christopher Lee provided the voice for evil King Haggard, who quickly at the boxo›ce. See also Androids and Cyborgs.
wanted to destroy all the unicorns in the animated ¡983 feature Universal Soldier (¡992); Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms
The Last Unicorn. The following year, a little unicorn appeared (¡998 TVM); Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (¡998
TVM); Universal Soldier: The Return (¡999)
in another animated kiddie feature, The Fantastic Adventures of
Unico. There were no unicorns in Carol Reed’s touching A Kid
for Two Farthings (¡955). Instead, a poor London lad searched for Uptown Saturday Night Series
a magical unicorn, only to find a sick goat with a single horn. In Sidney Poitier directed Bill Cosby and himself in this silly ¡974
a key scene in Tennessee Williams’ oft-filmed play The Glass comedy about two friends, a stolen lottery ticket, and a Godfa-
Menagerie, the horn on a glass unicorn is broken o›— making him ther-like gangster (Harry Belafonte). In the ¡985 follow-up Let’s
just like all the other horse figurines. In The Abominable Dr. Phibes Do It Again, they used hypnosis to turn Jimmie Walker (from
(¡97¡), the revenge-seeking doctor (Vincent Price) catapults a TV’s Good Times) into an unlikely boxer. The final installment,
brass unicorn head into the chest of one his victims. The unicorn’s ¡977’s A Piece of the Action, balanced the laughs with a more se-
horn pins the corpse against the wall, so that it has to be un- rious plot about ghetto kids. Technically, Poitier and Cosby
screwed by Scotland Yard’s finest. Finally, in Doctor Doolittle played di›erent characters in each film, but audiences did not
(¡967), the good doctor’s parrot Polynesia professed to speaking seem to notice.
over two thousand languages — including unicorn. See also Cy- Uptown Saturday Night (¡974); Let’s Do It Again (¡975); A
clops; Gorgons; Horses. Piece of the Action (¡977)
The Glass Menagerie (¡950); A Kid for Two Farthings (¡955);
Have Rocket, Will Travel (¡959); The Abominable Dr. Phibes (¡97¡);
The Glass Menagerie (¡973); Blade Runner (¡982) (a dream se- Vampires
quence in the director’s cut); The Last Unicorn (¡983); The Fantas- With his sexuality, air of mystery, and aristocratic manners, the
tic Adventures of Unico (¡984); Legend (¡985); The Glass Menagerie vampire has long been a favorite subject of filmmakers. Count
(¡987); Heavenly Creatures (¡994) (a fantasy sequence) Dracula and his descendants dominated the ¡930s and ¡940s (see
Dracula entry for details). However, there were some notable ex-
Universal Soldier Series ceptions, such as ¡932’s Vampyr (aka The Strange Adventure of
Jean-Claude Van Damme, the “Muscles from Brussels,” seemed David Gray) and ¡943’s Return of the Vampire. Directed by Carl
on the verge of breaking out of B-action movies when he starred Dreyer, Vampyr is a wonderfully atmospheric, but slow moving,
in ¡992’s Universal Soldier. But while the makers of Universal classic, while Return is of interest solely because it features Bela
Soldier hit the big time four years later with Independence Day, Lugosi as a very Dracula-like character stalking victims in World
Van Damme quickly returned to run-of-the-mill action pic- War II England. The vampire was generally ignored through the
tures like Timecop (¡994) and Legionnaire (¡999). In Universal mid–¡950s, although Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (aka My
Soldier, Van Damme played Luc Deveraux, a soldier killed in Son, the Vampire) sadly marked Lugosi’s last appearance as one of
Vietnam only to be “revived” as a cyborg “UniSol” 25 years the undead. However, vampire movies made a resounding come-
later. Although scientists were supposed to erase his memory, back in ¡957-58. Herman Cohen, the man responsible for I Was
Luc and another UniSol named Scott (Dolph Lundgren) expe- a Teenage Frankenstein, made ¡957’s teen-oriented Blood of Drac-
rience flashbacks from their combat days when Scott tried to kill ula (in which a young girl is made to believe she’s a vampire). That
Luc. In no time at all, Scott takes up where he left o› in Viet- same year, German Robles made his debut as Count Lavud in the
nam and seeks to destroy Luc, along with a reporter (Ally Mexican movie The Vampire and John Beals took pills to grow
Walker) trying to expose the truth about the malfunctioning fangs in Mark of the Vampire (not to be confused with Lugosi’s
UniSols. Thematically, Universal Soldier pales in comparison to ¡935 film of the same title). In ¡958, Jimmy Sangster wrote two
RoboCop (¡987), which also dealt with past memories experi- vampire films: the competent Blood of the Vampire and Hammer
enced by a man transformed into a cyborg. However, as an up- Films’ landmark Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula), arguably the
scale action film, Universal Soldier satisfied audiences and earned most influential of all vampire movies. The Hammer approach,
respectable reviews. Surprisingly, a sequel did not appear until with its blatant emphasis on Dracula’s sexual attraction, put vam-
¡998 when the Showtime cable network aired Universal Soldier pirism in a new light. Hammer continued that trend with ¡960’s
II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Busi- Brides of Dracula, another fine e›ort in which Baron Meinster (not
ness. Both movies starred Matt Battaglia as Luc and Chandra the Count) preys upon a girls’ boarding school. French director
West as Veronica, the news reporter from the original film. Gary Roger Vadim o›ered Blood and Roses in ¡960, a less subtle varia-
Busey and Burt Reynolds, both a long way from their days as tion of the sexuality theme featuring a lesbian vampire. Naturally,
Oscar nominees, played the bad guys chasing after Luc and other countries tried to cash in on the vampire’s new-found
214 VANCE, PHILO

popularity. The U.S. contributed a vampire Western Curse of the Vampire (aka Cemetery Girls) (¡97¡); The Return of Count Yorga
Undead (¡959); Italy produced The Vampire and the Ballerina (¡97¡); The Bloodsuckers (aka Incense for the Damned) (¡97¡); The
(¡960); and Mexico added World of Vampires (¡960). Hammer Night Stalker (¡97¡ TVM); Daughters of Darkness (¡97¡); Vampire
Circus (¡97¡); Blacula (¡972); The Bloody Vampire (¡972); The
returned to its favorite subject in ¡963 with Kiss of the Vampire,
Deathmaster (¡972); Scream, Blacula, Scream (¡973); Captain Kro-
a well-acted, though unsurprising, bloodsucking tale. A year later, nos: Vampire Hunter (aka Kronos) (¡974); Spermula (¡975); Martin
Vincent Price fought a world infected by a vampire plague in (¡978); Vampire Hookers (aka Sensuous Vampires) (¡979); Love at
Italy’s The Last Man on Earth, an underrated adaptation of First Bite (¡979); Vampire (¡979 TVM); Thirst (¡979); Last Rites
Richard Matheson’s chilling novel I Am Legend. Yet, despite these (aka Dracula’s Last Rites) (¡980); I, Desire (¡982 TVM); The
lively e›orts, the vampire was becoming anemic at the box-o‡ce Hunger (¡983); Fright Night (¡985); Lifeforce (¡985) (an energy
by the late ¡960s. Hence, some new twists were introduced to vampire); Vampire Hunter D (¡985); Vampires in Havana (¡985);
Mr. Vampire (aka Geung Si Sin Sang) (¡985); Once Bitten (¡985);
draw back the dwindling audience. Hammer Studios resurrected
Vamp (¡986); Near Dark (¡987); The Lost Boys (¡987); Graveyard
lesbian vampires with its ¡970–72 Karnstein trilogy (q.v.) The Shift (¡987); My Best Friend Is a Vampire (¡988); Dance of the
Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil. Robert Damned (¡988); The Vampire at Midnight (¡988); The Understudy:
Quarry played a contemporary vampire confronted by hippies in Graveyard Shift II (¡988); Fright Night Part 2 (¡989); Nightlife
¡97¡’s Count Yorga. And in another contemporary-set tale, (¡989 TVM); Beverly Hills Vamp (¡989); Dracula’s Widow (¡989);
William Marshall played a Black African prince who is bit by Vampire’s Kiss (¡989); Transylvania Twist (¡989); To Die For
Dracula and becomes Blacula. Despite modest success, these films (¡989); Daughter of Darkness (¡990 TVM); I Bought a Vampire
Motorcycle (¡990); Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (aka
failed to ignite a major revival and the vampire sank quietly into
Sundown) (¡990); Subspecies (¡990); The Reflecting Skin (¡990);
his grave, except for occasional trips to the blood bank (e.g., Dan Pale Blood (¡990); Son of Darkness: To Die For II (¡99¡); Blood Ties
Curtis’ high-rated ¡97¡ TV movie The Night Stalker and the ¡979 (¡99¡ TVM); Howling VI: The Freaks (¡99¡); Bu›y, the Vampire
spoof Love at First Bite). By the early ¡980s, the vampire was lost Slayer (¡992); Innocent Blood (¡992); Children of the Night (¡992);
amid the slasher films made in the wake of Halloween and Friday A Vampire in Paradise (aka Un Vampire au Paradis) (¡992); To
the ¡3th. But, just to show you can’t keep a good bloodsucker Sleep with a Vampire (¡992); Tale of a Vampire (¡993); The Vampyr
down, he was revived yet again in a rash of youth-oriented pic- (¡993); Dracula Rising (¡993); Interview with the Vampire (¡994);
Nadja (¡994); Darkness (¡994); Embrace of the Vampire (¡995);
tures like Fright Night (¡985), The Lost Boys, and Near Dark (both
Here Come the Munsters (¡995 TVM); Vampire in Brooklyn (¡995);
¡987). These movies proved that there would always be an audi- The Addiction (¡995); From Dusk Till Dawn (¡996); Tales from the
ence for well-done vampire pictures, especially ones with some- Crypt: Bordello of Blood (¡996); Vampire Journals (¡997); Blade
thing new to o›er. For example, Wesley Snipes played a half-vam- (¡998); Razor Blade Smile (¡998); Vampires (aka John Carpenter’s
pire that hunted other bloodsuckers with a vengeance in the Vampires) (¡998)
box-o‡ce hit Blade (¡998). The villainous ladies in Lair of the
White Worm and The Kiss (both ¡988), while technically not vam-
pires, exhibited similar neck-biting traits. People believed they Vance, Philo
were vampires in Vampire’s Kiss (¡989) and A Vampire in Paradise S.S. Van Dine’s dapper, erudite sleuth never made much of a hit
(¡99¡). Variety noted that the title vehicle in ¡990’s I Bought a on the screen. William Powell first played the part, enjoying mod-
Vampire Motorcycle “runs on blood, doesn’t function in daylight, est success in four mysteries. Ironically, although Powell looked
recoils from crucifixes, and consumes humans and animals.” See the part, he lacked the briskness of manner that made Vance such
also Bats; Dracula; Karnstein Trilogy; Mr. Vampire Series; a memorable literary character, and his portrayal is somewhat
Subspecies Series. overrated. In his pre–Holmes days, Basil Rathbone made a more
Vampyr (aka The Strange Adventure of David Gray) (¡932); e›ective Vance in the slowly-paced, but cleverly-plotted Bishop
The Return of the Vampire (¡943); The Vampire’s Ghost (¡943); Murder Case (the murderer wrote nursery rhymes containing clues
Dead Men Walk (¡943); My Son, the Vampire (aka Old Mother about the identity of his next victim). Perhaps, the best Vance was
Riley Meets the Vampire; Vampires Over London) (¡952); Mark of Warren William, whose white gloves-and-cane portrayal sparkled
the Vampire (aka The Vampire) (¡957); Blood of Dracula (¡957);
in ¡934’s The Dragon Murder Case. Based on a Van Dine novel,
The Vampire (aka El Vampiro) (¡957); The Vampire’s Co‡n (aka El
Ataud del Co‡n) (¡958); Blood of the Vampire (¡958); Uncle Was a this underrated puzzler found Vance investigating a young man’s
Vampire (¡959); Curse of the Undead (¡959); The World of Vampires apparent drowning in a mysterious pool (haunted by a sea ser-
(aka El Mundo de los Vampiros) (¡960); Blood and Roses (¡960); pent?). William reprised the role in ¡939’s The Gracie Allen Mur-
The Vampire and the Ballerina (¡960); Slaughter of the Vampires der Case, a comedy-mystery written for Allen by Van Dine. Other
(aka Curse of the Blood Ghouls) (¡96¡); Samson vs. the Vampire actors played the part, but none could make it their own. Later
Women (aka Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiras) (¡962); Kiss of the Vance films like Philo Vance’s Secret Mission and Philo Vance’s
Vampire (aka Kiss of Evil) (¡963); The Last Man on Earth (¡964);
Goliath and the Vampires (aka The Vampires) (¡964); Planet of the Gamble were Vance films in name only — their detectives were
Vampires (aka The Demon Planet) (¡965); Munster, Go Home! clearly closer to Philip Marlowe.
(¡966); Planet of Blood (aka Queen of Blood) (¡966); Track of the The Canary Murder Case (¡929) (William Powell); The Greene
Vampire (aka Blood Bath) (¡966); The Fearless Vampire Killers; or Murder Case (¡929) (Powell); The Benson Murder Case (¡930) (Pow-
Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (¡967); Santo and Blue ell); Paramount on Parade (¡930) (Powell appears in a skit); The
Demon vs. the Monsters (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Mon- Bishop Murder Case (¡930) (Basil Rathbone); The Kennel Murder
struós) (¡969); House of Dark Shadows (¡970); Vampire Men of the Case (¡933) (Powell); The Dragon Murder Case (¡934) (Warren
Lost Planet (¡970); The House That Dripped Blood (¡970); Santo in William); The Casino Murder Case (¡935) (Paul Lukas); The Scarab
the Revenge of the Vampire Women (aka Santo en la Venganza de las Murder Case (¡936) (Wilfred Hyde-White); The Garden Murder
Mujeres Vampiras) (¡970); Count Yorga, Vampire (¡97¡); The Velvet Case (¡936) (Edmund Lowe); Night of Mystery (¡937) (Grant
 VIDEOTAPED FILMS 215

Richards); The Gracie Allen Murder Case (¡939) (William); Calling Thomasina (¡964). The most suspicious vet was probably Hal
Philo Vance (¡940) ( James Stephenson); Philo Vance Returns (¡947) Holbrook in the ¡972 murder mystery They Only Kill Their Mas-
(William Wright); Philo Vance’s Gamble (¡947) (Alan Curtis); Philo ters.
Vance’s Secret Mission (¡947) (Curtis)
A Day at the Races (¡937); The Mortal Storm (¡940); Stallion
Road (¡947); The Three Lives of Thomasina (¡964); Clarence, the
Ventriloquists Cross-Eyed Lion (¡965); They Only Kill Their Masters (¡972); All
Creatures Great and Small (¡974 TVM); Another Man, Another
The di‡culties inherent in injecting a distinct personality into a Chance (¡977); Kingdom of the Spiders (¡977); The Beasts Are on the
wooden dummy have caused identity problems for a number of Streets (¡978 TVM); Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (¡979 TVM); All
movie ventriloquists. In the most chilling story in the classic an- Things Bright and Beautiful (aka It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet)
thology Dead of Night (¡945), ventriloquist Michael Redgrave (¡979); Baby Boom (¡987); Turner and Hooch (¡989); Bird on a
went insane after becoming convinced that his foul-mouthed Wire (¡990); Watch It (¡993); The Getaway (¡994); Go Fish (¡994)
(a vet assistant); The Truth About Cats and Dogs (¡996); Best Laid
dummy Hugo was looking for a new partner. Anthony Hopkins
Plans (¡999) (a vet assistant)
gave a tour-de-force performance in ¡978’s Magic as another men-
tally-unstable ventriloquist taking murderous advice from a
dummy with an apparent mind of its own. Another dummy Vice Academy Series
named Hugo (an obvious reference to Dead of Night) really did A successful film series — no matter how inept — will invariably
have a soul in the underrated ¡964 fantasy Devil Doll. Bryant spawn imitations. Nevertheless, it’s hard to conceive that the Po-
Halliday starred as Hugo’s “partner,” a ventriloquist who has lice Academy films (q.v.) could actually serve as a role model for
transferred the soul of his assistant into his dummy. Aside from another lowbrow comedy series such as Vice Academy. The first
horror films, the most famous film ventriloquist remains Edgar Vice Academy premiered in ¡988, the same year as the fast-fading
Bergen. He enjoyed a prosperous career during the late ¡930s ac- Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach. It sparked the inter-
companied by dummies Charlie McCarthy or Mortimer Snerd in est of B-movie viewers chiefly due to its two stars: former porn
comedies like A Letter of Introduction (¡938), Charlie McCarthy, queen Ginger Lynn Allen and cult movie favorite Linnea Quigley.
Detective, (¡939) and the W.C. Fields vehicle You Can’t Cheat an They played against type as two innocent undercover cops (Holly
Honest Man (¡939). He earned a special Academy Award in ¡937 and Didi, respectively). Although by no means a good movie, Vice
for his creation of Charlie McCarthy. Major stars who have played Academy was an improvement over an earlier Police Academy rip-
ventriloquists include Erich von Stroheim in The Great Gabbo o›, the ¡985 Linda Blair vehicle Night Patrol. In ¡989, Allen and
(¡929), Danny Kaye in Knock on Wood (¡954), and Lon Chaney Quigley reprised their roles for a sequel co-starring bodybuilder
in both the silent and talkie versions of The Unholy Three (¡925 Teagan Clive as the cyborg Bimbocop. Its plot dealt with a vil-
and ¡930). In ¡984’s Broadway Danny Rose, theater agent Woody lain named Spanish Fly who schemes to contaminate the city
Allen had a hard time finding employment for a stuttering ven- water supply with an aphrodisiac. Allen also headlined ¡99¡’s Vice
triloquist. See also Dolls. Academy III, with Elizabeth Kaitan playing her new partner
The Unholy Three (¡925); The Great Gabbo (¡929); The Un- Candy.
holy Three (¡930); A Letter of Introduction (¡938); You Can’t Cheat Vice Academy (¡988); Vice Academy II (¡989); Vice Academy III
an Honest Man (¡939); Charlie McCarthy, Detective (¡939); Dead of (¡99¡)
Night (¡945); Knock on Wood (¡954); Stop! Look! And Laugh!
(¡960); Hypnosis (aka Dummy of Death) (¡963); Devil Doll (¡964); Videotaped Films
Magic (¡978); Broadway Danny Rose (¡984); When a Stranger Calls
Back (¡993 TVM) Prior to the “digital revolution” in the late ¡990s, American tele-
vision movie producers maintained that film’s sharp, vibrant
image compensated for its added expense when compared to
Veterinarians
videotape. As a result, very few U.S. made-for-TV movies have
The cinema has typically portrayed veterinarians as gentle, charm- been shot on tape. The romantic ghost story Sandcastles (¡972)
ing animal-lovers blessed with understated strength. James Stew- was the first to employ a single videotape camera system, but even
art played a German vet who falls in love with Margaret Sulla- it was later transferred to film. Special Bulletin (¡983) was shot on
van and plots to escape from the Nazis in ¡940’s The Mortal Storm. videotape to simulate the “look” of a television newscast. Oddly,
James Herriot’s autobiographical novels about life as a Yorkshire there have also been a handful of theatrical features shot origi-
veterinarian served as the basis for All Creatures Great and Small nally on videotape and then transferred to film. The ¡965 video-
(¡974) and All Things Bright and Beautiful (¡979). In supporting tape drama Harlow, starring Carol Lynley, was converted to film
roles, veterinarians provided the love interests in Another Man, to compete theatrically with a rival biography of the blonde come-
Another Place ( James Caan), Baby Boom (Sam Shepard), and dienne (confusingly, this second film was also called Harlow and
Turner and Hooch (Mare Winningham). Vet William Shatner bat- starred Carroll Baker). Industrious producers dubbed this tape-
tled a host of hungry tarantulas in the ¡977 sci-fi thriller King- to-film process “electronovision.” The advent of high-definition
dom of the Spiders. In contrast, Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (¡979) videotape in the ¡980s renewed interest in “filming” with video-
o›ered a realistic portrayal of a ghetto youth (LeVar Burton) given tape. However, Julia and Julia (¡987), the first major movie shot
a chance to become a veterinarian’s assistant. Patrick McGoohan on high-definition tape, turned into a box-o‡ce disaster. Shortly
played an atypical heartless veterinarian, unable to comprehend after its U.S. theatrical release, it showed up — ironically — on
his daughter’s love for her cat, in Disney’s The Three Lives of videotape.
216 VIETNAM

Harlow (¡965); Two Hundred Motels (¡97¡); Sandcastles (¡972 o‡ce. In its wake, exploitative producers rushed out cheap imi-
TVM); The Catcher (¡972 TVM); Numero Deux (¡975); Give ’Em tations, like Vigilante and Vigilante Force. The most financially
Hell, Harry! (¡975); Norman…Is That You? (¡976); Victory at En- successful of these rip-o›s was ¡980’s The Exterminator, which
tebbe (¡976 TVM) (later transferred to film); Monty Python Live at
starred Robert Ginty as a Vietnam vet who used a flame-thrower
the Hollywood Bowl (¡982); Special Bulletin (¡983 TVM); Desperate
Intruder (¡983 TVM); Emergency Room (¡983 TVM); The Invisible to avenge a buddy’s mugging. Abel Ferrera’s feminist variation,
Woman (¡983 TVM); Rocket to the Moon (¡986 TVM); Julia and ¡98¡’s Ms. 45 (aka Angel of Vengeance), garnered some good re-
Julia (¡987); The Little Victims (¡989 TVM) views and has since earned minor cult status. The Star Chamber,
The Death Squad, and the Dirty Harry picture Magnum Force
showed vigilantism used by law enforcers to “correct” loopholes
Vietnam in our legal system, a plotline derived loosely from ¡942’s The
The United States’ “longest war” was ignored in movies for most Strange Case of Dr. Rx. See also Death Wish Series.
of its duration. The ¡964 A Yank in Vietnam, a low-budget ac- The Mad Executioners (¡963); Magnum Force (¡973); Death Wish
tion picture, was the first to deal with U.S. involvement. The (¡974); The Death Squad (¡974 TVM); Law and Disorder (¡974);
¡968 propaganda adventure The Green Berets glorified the fight- Rape Squad (aka Act of Vengeance) (¡974); Vigilante (aka Street Gang)
ing, while the searing ¡974 documentary Hearts and Minds crit- (¡976); Vigilante Force (¡976); Dirty Knight’s Work (aka Trial by Com-
icized it. Surprisingly, TV movies dealt e›ectively with returning bat; Choice of Weapons) (¡976); Siege (¡978 TVM); One Man Jury (aka
vets long before their theatrical counterparts. In ¡969’s The Bal- Dead on Arrival) (¡978); The Exterminator (¡980); Ms. 45 (aka Angel
lad of Andy Crocker, Lee Majors returned home to find himself a of Vengeance) (¡98¡); Fighting Back (¡982); Victims (¡982 TVM);
Young Warriors (¡983); The Star Chamber (¡983); Exterminator II
stranger to those he loved. It seemed upbeat compared to the (¡984); The Executioner, Part II (¡984; there was no part I); Sudden
brutal frankness of Joseph Papp’s production of the TV special Death (¡985); Streets of Justice (¡985 TVM); The Annihilators (¡985);
Sticks and Bones, which several CBS a‡liates refused to air. In the Brotherhood of Justice (¡986 TVM); Band of the Hand (¡986); Shadows
late ¡970s, mainstream Hollywood finally addressed Vietnam in Run Black (¡986); Street Soldiers (¡990); Shoot First: A Cop’s Vengeance
a roundabout fashion —Coming Home dealt with returning vet- (¡99¡ TVM); Keeper of the City (¡992 TVM); Guilty as Charged
erans, while Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse Now portrayed the vi- (¡992); Jimmy Hollywood (¡994); Scarred City (¡998)
olence of war in a poetic manner. It was not until ¡986’s Acad-
emy Award winner Platoon and Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket Vikings
that the major studios backed brutal, realistic portrayals of the These Scandinavian pirates plundered the European coasts from
Vietnam War. Those successes have been followed by low-bud- the ninth to the eleventh centuries. They would appear to be ripe
get clones (e.g., Hamburger Hill and Platoon Leader), big-budget subjects for fact-based adventure films. Instead, filmmakers have
clones (Casualties of War), and one or two films of genuine orig- shown an intense interest in fictionalizing Viking history. Pro-
inality (84 Charlie Mopic). See also Eye of the Eagle Series; Miss- ducer-director Roger Corman proposed that there were statuesque
ing in Action Series. Viking women who were just as tough as their men in the mem-
A Yank in Vietnam (aka Year of the Tiger) (¡964); The Ander- orably-titled Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the
son Platoon (¡967); The Benefit of the Doubt (aka US) (¡967); The Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (¡957). Hammer Films confirmed
Green Berets (¡968); The Ballad of Andy Crocker (¡969 TVM);
this hypothesis with its costume drama The Viking Queen (¡967).
Hearts and Minds (¡974); Rolling Thunder (¡977); The Boys in
Company C (¡978); Coming Home (¡978); The Deer Hunter (¡978); It mixed time periods joyously with a plot in which a Roman sol-
Go Tell the Spartans (¡978); Apocalypse Now (¡979); The Odd Angry dier (Don Murray) falls in love with a Viking queen (Carita) bat-
Shot (¡979); A Rumor of War (¡980 TVM); The Children of An Lac tling the Druids. The Disney folks revealed that a Viking settle-
(¡980 TVM); Don’t Cry, It’s Only Thunder (¡982); Boat People ment survived into the twentieth century in the ¡974
(¡982); Uncommon Valor (¡983); Missing in Action (¡984); Purple adventure-fantasy The Island at the Top of the World. And Terry
Hearts (¡984); Platoon (¡986); P.O.W. The Escape (aka Behind Jones, of Monty Python fame, spoofed the Norsemen with ¡989’s
Enemy Lines) (¡986); Full Metal Jacket (¡987); Gardens of Stone
Erik the Viking, in which the title character goes in search of a
(¡987); Good Morning, Vietnam (¡987); In Love and War (¡987
TVM); Hamburger Hill (¡987); The Hanoi Hilton (¡987); Dear life more meaningful than killing and pillaging. Naturally, there
America: Letters Home from Viet Nam (¡987 TVM); Bat 2¡ (¡988); have been some serious Viking films, such as ¡958’s The Vikings,
The Iron Triangle (¡988); 84 Charlie Mopic (¡989); Platoon Leader which ranks as a fine costume epic by any standard. Kirk Dou-
(¡989); Casualties of War (¡989); Born on the Fourth of July (¡989); glas and Tony Curtis starred as Norse brothers (although they
Air America (¡990); Jacob’s Ladder (¡990); Fatal Mission (¡990); didn’t know it) vying for the a›ections of fetching Janet Leigh
Flight of the Intruder (¡99¡); Beyond the Call of Duty (¡99¡); Fire- amid the rousing swordplay. The Norseman (¡978) was intended
hawk (¡993); Heaven and Earth (¡993); Forrest Gump (¡994); Dead
as a serious film, but somehow Lee Majors as a Viking warrior
Presidents (¡995); Operation Dumbo Drop (aka The Dumbo Drop)
(¡995); A Bright Shining Lie (¡998 TVM); Three Seasons (¡999) strikes a humorous chord. The expensive Norwegian epic The
White Viking (¡99¡) played only to arthouse audiences in the U.S.
Antonio Banderas played an Arab ambassador who teams up with
Vigilantes Vikings to fight cannibals in The ¡3th Warrior (¡999), an adapta-
Although contemporary vigilante films appeared prior to ¡974, the tion of Michael Crichton’s novel Eaters of the Dead. Finally, there
genre began o‡cially with ¡974’s Death Wish (q.v.), a highly ma- were no living Vikings in Curse of the Viking Grave, a ¡99¡ Cana-
nipulative revenge tale in which an average guy turns cold vigi- dian TV movie intended for youngsters.
lante after punks kill his wife and rape his daughter. Charles Prince Valiant (¡954); The Saga of the Viking Women and Their
Bronson clicked in the lead role and the film scored big at the box- Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (aka The Viking Women
 VOLCANOES 217

and the Sea Serpent) (¡957); The Vikings (¡958); The Last of the 80,000 Suspects (¡963); The Last Man on Earth (¡964); The Masque
Vikings (¡960); Erik the Conqueror (aka The Invaders) (¡963); The of the Red Death (¡964); Spies a Go Go (aka The Nasty Rabbit)
Long Ships (¡964); The Viking Queen (¡967); The Island at the Top of (¡964); The Satan Bug (¡965); What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?
the World (¡974); The Norseman (¡978); Berserker (¡987); Erik the (¡968); Project X (¡968); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (¡969);
Viking (¡989); Curse of the Viking Grave (¡99¡ TVM); The White Quarantined (¡970 TVM); No Blade of Grass (¡970); The Androm-
Viking (aka Den Hvite Viking) (¡99¡); Kilian’s Chronicle (¡994); The eda Strain (¡97¡); Killer By Night (¡97¡ TVM); The Satanic Rites of
¡3th Warrior (¡999) Dracula (aka Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride; Dracula Is
Alive and Well and Living in London) (¡973); The Crazies (aka Code
Violinists Name: Trixie) (¡973); Where Have All the People Gone? (¡974
TVM); The Missing Are Deadly (¡974 TVM); The Specialists (¡975
Violinists (and other string musicians) have been faced with a va- TVM); The Cassandra Crossing (¡977); Panic in Echo Park (¡977
riety of hard decisions. Young William Holden had to choose be- TVM); Killer on Board (¡977 TVM); Plague (aka M3: The Gemini
tween a distinguished career as a violinist and a lucrative one as a Strain) (¡978); Virus (¡980); The Plague Dogs (¡982); ¡9¡8 (¡984);
prizefighter in Golden Boy (¡939). That same year, Swedish vio- City Limits (¡985); Warning Sign (¡985); Wired to Kill (¡986);
linist Leslie Howard had to decide whether to stay with his loyal Quiet Killer (¡992 TVM); The Plague (¡992); Condition: Critical
wife (Edna Best) or run o› with beautiful protégée Ingrid Bergman (¡992 TVM); ¡2 Monkeys (¡995); Outbreak (¡995); Terminal Virus
(¡995); Virus (aka Robin Cook’s Virus) (¡995 TVM); Bullet to Bei-
in Intermezzo. And in ¡946’s Humoresque, John Garfield played a jing (¡995 TVM); Deadly Outbreak (¡996); Pandora’s Clock (¡996
moody musician torn briefly between wealthy patron Joan Craw- TVM); Contagious (¡997 TVM); Body Armor (¡997); Mimic (¡997);
ford and his love of music. Real-life violin virtuoso Paganini was Airborne (¡998)
the subject of ¡947’s The Magic Bow, while Hilary and Jackie (¡998)
told the fact-based story of concert cellist Jacqueline Du Pré and Volcanoes
her sister Hilary. See also Pianists; Trumpet Players.
Mountainous rumbles and spurting lava have brought an end to
The Smiling Lieutenant (¡93¡); Intermezzo (¡936); Dreaming numerous South Seas sagas, displaying a particular a›ection for
Lips (¡937); They Shall Have Music (¡939); Golden Boy (¡939); In-
termezzo (aka Escape to Happiness; Intermezzo, A Love Story) (¡939); Dorothy Lamour vehicles like The Jungle Princess (¡936) and
My Love Came Back (¡940); Melody for Three (¡94¡); The Phantom Aloma of the South Seas (¡94¡). Historical pictures, such as Kraka-
of the Opera (¡944); The Magic Bow (¡947); Humoresque (¡946); toa, East of Java (¡969) and St. Helens (¡98¡), have tended to build
Rhapsody (¡954); All These Women (aka Now About All These plodding stories around their spectacular volcanic eruptions. The
Women) (¡964); Shame (¡968); Jeremy (¡973); Basileus Quartet Last Days of Pompeii (¡935) was an exception, thanks mostly to a
(¡982); The Man with One Red Shoe (¡985); Duet for One (¡986); fine performance by Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate. Yet, despite
The Living Daylights (¡987); Cello (¡990); Two Evil Eyes (aka Due Rathbone and the thrilling Mount Vesuvius finale, the film lost
Occhi Diabolic) (¡990); Camilla (¡994); The Violin Player (aka Le
Jouer de Violon) (¡994); Hilary & Jackie (¡999); The Red Violin almost $250,000 at the box-o‡ce. James Mason and crew entered
(¡999); Music of the Heart (¡999); A Song from the Heart (¡999 an extinct volcano at the beginning of their Journey to the Center
TVM) of the Earth (¡959) and then were blown out the top of Mount
Etna at the film’s climax (they managed to survive unharmed,
Viral Epidemics though). The worldly Baron Munchausen and his followers du-
The threat of viral annihilation has been the subject of several plicated the same feat in ¡989’s The Adventures of Baron Mun-
movies. Quarantined scientists raced against the clock to combat chausen. Actually, the Baron and friends had been enjoying the
an inexplicable, self-reproducing virus in The Andromeda Strain hospitality of Vulcan inside his volcano home until Venus (aka
(¡97¡). George Maharis tracked down a lunatic who stole a deadly Mrs. Vulcan) began displaying a›ection for the distinguished
experimental virus in ¡965’s The Satan Bug, a plot more or less Baron. In Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (¡987), the Man of
borrowed from Panic in the Streets (¡950) and No Place to Hide Steel capped an erupting volcano with another mountain top and
(¡956). And Count Dracula revealed his plan to initiate viral war- blow-dried the lava. Movie villains Fantômas and Ernst Blofeld
fare in the decidedly o›beat horror tale The Satanic Rites of Drac- have used extinct volcanoes for elaborate hideouts in Fantômas
ula (¡973). In other horror films, Vincent Price met disease in- Strikes Back (¡965) and the James Bond picture You Only Live
carnate in ¡964’s The Masque of the Red Death and then battled Twice (¡967), respectively. In the movie industry, ¡997 was known
a plague of vampirism in the underrated low-budget gem The Last as the “Year of the Volcano” since it featured the releases of three
Man on Earth (¡964). A ¡924 silent film also called The Last Man rival ¡997 lava-spewing pictures: Dante’s Peak, Volcano, and the
on Earth portrayed a world where a plague had wiped out most TV movie Volcano: Fire on the Mountain. See also Disaster
of the male population. A parasite, not a disease, was the culprit Movies.
in David Cronenberg’s ¡975 cult thriller They Came from Within. East of Borneo (¡93¡); The Last Days of Pompeii (¡935); The
In Lloyd C. Douglas’s Green Light (¡937), Errol Flynn discovered Jungle Princess (¡936); One Million B.C. (aka Man and His Mate;
a cure for a more typical disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The Cave Dwellers) (¡940); Aloma of the South Seas (¡94¡); The Lost
Volcano (¡950); Stromboli (¡950); Fair Wind to Java (¡953); Secrets
The threat of epidemics aboard moving vehicles was the subject
of Life (¡957); Journey to the Center of the Earth (¡959); The Last
of The Cassandra Crossing (¡977), Killer on Board (¡977), and Days of Pompeii (¡960); Atlantis, the Lost Continent (¡96¡); The
Pandora’s Clock (¡996). Devil at Four O’Clock (¡96¡); Mysterious Island (¡96¡); Fantômas
The Last Man on Earth (¡924); Yellow Jack (¡938); Isle of the Strikes Back (¡965); One Million Years B.C. (¡966); You Only Live
Dead (¡945); Panic in the Streets (¡950); The Killer That Stalked Twice (¡967); Krakatoa, East of Java (aka Volcano) (¡969); Creatures
New York (aka Frightened City) (¡950); The Command (¡954); No the World Forgot (¡97¡); Up Pompeii (¡97¡); Island at the Top of the
Place to Hide (¡956); The Seventh Sin (¡957); The Risk (¡960); World (¡974); The Land That Time Forgot (¡974); When Time Ran
218 WALKING TALL SERIES

Out… (aka Earth’s Final Fury) (¡980); St. Helens (¡98¡); Warrior Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (¡993 TVM); A Walton Wedding
Queen (¡987); Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (¡987); The Ad- (¡995 TVM); A Walton Easter (¡997 TVM)
ventures of Baron Munchausen (¡989); Joe vs. the Volcano (¡990);
Journey to the Center of the Earth (¡993 TVM); Dante’s Peak (¡997);
Volcano: Fire on the Mountain (¡997 TVM); Volcano (¡997); Erup-
Warsaw Trilogy
tion (aka Volcano Run) (¡998) Andrzej Wajda’s powerful trilogy of life in Poland during World
War II made him a major force in Eastern European cinema. A
Generation (¡954), the first important post–World War II film to
Walking Tall Series emerge from Poland, dealt with the “lost generation” of Warsaw
The real-life story of modern-day Tennessee sheri› Buford Pusser youth who became involved with the Resistance. Kanal (¡956)
unexpectedly snowballed into a major hit in ¡973. The film drew followed a group of resisters ordered to escape crumbling War-
its biggest audiences in the Southeastern U.S., the region where saw through the city’s intricate network of sewers. Quickly lost
Billy Jack (q.v.), a similar man-against-corruption tale, encoun- in the darkness, they become stalked by the Nazis above them.
tered sleeper success in ¡97¡. Screen heavy Joe Don Baker brought The ¡958 Ashes and Diamonds shifted to the end of the war and
conviction — and a huge baseball bat — to the role of Pusser. Eliz- focused on a youth forced to choose between love and carrying
abeth Hartman played his quiet, supportive wife. When Baker out an assassination. The title was derived from a gravestone in-
showed no interest in a sequel, Bing Crosby Productions signed scription which appears in the film and summarizes Wajda’s
imposing Bo Svenson for the lead role. He played Pusser in two themes: “Here nothing but ashes will remain, the storm in an in-
sequels and a very brief ¡98¡ TV series. Brian Dennehy also played stant to oblivion will sweep them; from the ashes perhaps a dia-
Pusser in the ¡978 TV movie A Real American Hero. The real mond will emerge, shining victoriously for centuries, it will have
Sheri› Pusser was supposed to have played himself in another blossomed for you.”
theatrical sequel before he died in an automobile crash — under
A Generation (aka Pokolenie; Generation) (¡954); Kanal (aka
mysterious circumstances, according to some sources. They Loved Life; Sewer) (¡956); Ashes and Diamonds (aka Popiol i
Walking Tall (¡973); Part 2: Walking Tall (aka Legend of the Diament) (¡958)
Lawman) (¡976); Final Chapter-Walking Tall (aka Walking Tall-The
Final Chapter) (¡977); A Real American Hero (¡978 TVM)
Watchers Series
When asked about the first three Watchers films in a TV inter-
The Waltons view on TNT, Dean Koontz replied: “I sometimes question
Wholesome families have a way of lingering around — even when whether anybody involved in any of those movies ever read the
their TV series are cancelled. The Waltons, just like the Ingalls book on which any of those movies were based.” Indeed, the films
in Little House on the Prairie (q.v.), appeared in a series of telefilms jettisoned most of Koontz’s plot, retaining only the basic premise:
after the demise of the long-running TV program. However, Two telepathically-linked creatures escape from a government re-
unlike the Ingalls, the Waltons originated in a theatrical film. search facility — a friendly super-intelligent dog named Einstein
Spencer’s Mountain (¡963), written by Waltons creator Earl and a homicidal monster called The Outsider. The first, second,
Hamner, Jr., introduced the family that would evolve — with sev- and fourth movies are all slight variations of one another, the
eral changes — into the Waltons. Henry Fonda and Maureen chief di›erence being that the dog befriends a teenage boy (Corey
O’Hara played the parents, with James McArthur in the eventual Haim) in Watchers, a Marine (Marc Singer) in Watchers 2, and a
John-Boy role. Hamner first brought the Waltons to television in homicide detective (Mark Hamill) in Watchers Reborn. The he-
the ¡97¡ telefilm The Homecoming — A Christmas Story, with Pa- roes in Watchers 2 and Watchers 3 have the same name, but ap-
tricia Neal as Olivia Walton and future series regulars Richard pear to be di›erent characters and are played by di›erent actors
Thomas ( John-Boy), Ellen Corby (Grandma), Judy Norton (with Wings Hauser replacing Singer). The plot for the third in-
(Mary Ellen), and David W. Harper ( Jim-Bob). The series de- stallment resembles Predator as much as Koontz’s novel. Hauser
buted in ¡972 and enjoyed a successful nine-year run. Many plays a Delta Force veteran sent to a Central American jungle to
changes occurred over the years, with even Olivia leaving Wal- investigate the massacre of a military camp. Once there, he dis-
tons Mountain after contracting tuberculosis. Shortly after CBS covers his mission is part of a military experiment involving The
cancelled the series in ¡98¡, the Waltons resurfaced in three made- Outsider and Einstein. Koontz, who resented the day he sold
for-TV movies on NBC. Erin (Mary Beth McDonough) married rights to Roger Corman’s New Horizons film studio, sued to have
Paul Northridge (Morgan Stevens) in ¡982’s A Wedding on Wal- his name removed from all advertising associated with the Watch-
tons Mountain. That same year found Olivia (Michael Learned) ers films. For the record, the term “watchers” in the novel does
returning from a sanitarium in Mother’s Day on Waltons Moun- not refer to The Outsider, but to Einstein and his eventual fam-
tain and the family reuniting for Thanksgiving in A Day for ily — they watch over each other. See also Dogs.
Thanks on Waltons Mountain. Richard Thomas did not appear in Watchers (¡988); Watchers 2 (¡990); Watchers 3 (¡994); Watch-
any of these post-series films. However, he did appear later as ers Reborn (¡998)
John-Boy in three TV movies broadcast in the ¡990s. See also
Television Series Reunion Films.
Spencer’s Mountain (¡963); The Homecoming — A Christmas
Wax Museums
Story (aka The Homecoming) (¡97¡ TVM); A Wedding on Waltons There are two basic types of wax museum movies. First, there’s
Mountain (¡982 TVM); Mother’s Day on Waltons Mountain (¡982 the one about the resident insane sculptor who molds figures by
TVM); A Day for Thanks on Waltons Mountain (¡982 TVM); A pouring hot wax over his murder victims. Lionel Atwill made
 WEREWOLVES 219

this practice popular in ¡933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum, one Wenders’ Road Movie Trilogy
of the first color horror films. Twenty years later, Vincent Price “All my films have as their underlying current the Americaniza-
recreated the role in another technically historic horror film, the tion of Germany,” once noted German director Wim Wenders.
3-D classic House of Wax. As the demented sculptors, Atwill That theme runs throughout the three films known as Wenders’
and Price were splendid — no one has approached their level of “Road Movie” trilogy, each of which focuses on a journey taken
depravity. Bad movie favorite Cameron Mitchell gave it a half- by its characters. In Alice in the Cities (¡974), a German journal-
hearted shot in ¡969’s Nightmare in Wax, in which he injected ist (Rüdiger Vogler) traveling in the U.S. unexpectedly finds a
folks with a drug that made them look (and act) like wax young girl left in his custody. Wrong Move (¡974) focuses on a
figures. The second type of wax museum film is the one where German writer (Vogler) who meets three people on a train ride
figures come to life. Although a popular television plot, it has and eventually learns that one of them once ran a Nazi concen-
been used sparingly on the big screen. In ¡924’s Waxworks, tration camp. The final film in the trilogy, Kings of the Road, is
there was a nightmare sequence in which the wax figure of Jack generally considered the best. After wrecking his car, Robert (film
the Ripper comes to life. Several decades later, another story critic Hanns Zischler) hitches a ride with movie projector re-
called “Waxworks” was included in the anthology film The pairman Bruno (Vogler). As the two travel Bruno’s rural repair
House That Dripped Blood. It starred Peter Cushing as a gen- route, Wenders o›ers commentary on friendship, the cinema, the
tleman who becomes obsessed with an attractive, very life-like division between East and West Germany, and the U.S. influence
figure. on Europe. The film’s title comes from the Roger Miller hit song
Waxworks (¡924); Mystery of the Wax Museum (¡933); Steam- “King of the Road.”
boat ’Round the Bend (¡935); Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
(¡940); The Frozen Ghost (¡945); House of Wax (¡953); Samson in Alice in the Cities (aka Alice in den Städten) (¡974); Wrong
the Wax Museum (aka Santo in the Wax Museum; Santo en el Museo Move (aka Falsche Bewegung; The Wrong Movement) (¡974); Kings of
de Cera) (¡963); Chamber of Horrors (¡966); Nightmare in Wax (aka the Road (aka Im Lauf der Zeit) (¡976)
Crimes in the Wax Museum) (¡969); The House That Dripped Blood
(¡970); Terror in the Wax Museum (¡973); Lisa and the Devil (aka
The House of Exorcism) (¡975); Waxwork (¡988); Dracula’s Widow Werewolves
(¡989); Seduction: Three Tales from the Inner Sanctum (¡992 TVM) The subject of silent films like The Werewolf (¡9¡3) and The
(the “Sacrifice” segment) White Wolf (¡9¡4), the werewolf made little impact until Uni-
versal Studios introduced it at the end of its first horror movie
Welby, Marcus cycle with ¡935’s Werewolf of London. Featuring not one but two
Seven years after “retiring” from the long-running TV series Fa- lycanthropes, it abandoned familiar werewolf lore in favor of a
ther Knows Best, Robert Young took up medical practice as the more novel approach (dealing with a rare flower that cures ly-
title character in the ¡969 TV movie Marcus Welby, M.D. The canthropy). For Universal’s next furry film, The Wolf Man (q.v.),
telefilm paired veteran general practitioner Welby with young, it returned to the basics, integrating a gypsy fortune-teller and
brash Dr. Steven Kiley ( James Brolin). Naturally, the two doc- a silver-handled cane into a contemporary terror tale. The film
tors clashed initially before gaining respect for one another and made Lon Chaney, Jr., a horror star and he repeated the role in
becoming close friends. As intended, this shrewd drama ap- four more movies. Hoping to capitalize on Universal’s success,
pealed to a broad range of viewers, and a Marcus Welby, M.D. other studios also tried their hands at werewolf pictures. But
TV series debuted on ABC the following fall. Young and Brolin sometimes, things weren’t always what they seemed to be. A plot-
repeated their roles in the TV series, as did Anne Baxter as ting housekeeper convinced James Mason he was a werewolf in
Welby’s love interest Myra Sherwood (she left the series after the The Night Has Eyes— but he wasn’t. June Lockhart su›ered from
first year). Penny Santon, who played Nurse Consuelo Lopez in the same delusion in She-Wolf of London. As the ¡940s ended and
the pilot film, was replaced by Elena Verdugo. The Welby series science fiction films gained momentum, the popularity of the
enjoyed a seven-year run on ABC, becoming the nation’s high- werewolf declined sharply. Fresh ideas were needed and they
est-rated TV show in ¡970-7¡. In ¡984, Young reprised his role came unexpectedly in the late ¡950s in the form of two low-
in The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D., a novel attempt to revive budget drive-in features. The Werewolf (¡956) presented a crea-
the series (Elena Verdugo was back as Consuelo, but the Kiley ture created by a scientist, a theme aimed to please both science
character was not). The plot picked up several years after the fiction and horror fans. Far more successful was the following
original series with Welby working at a hospital where he’s being year’s I Was a Teenage Werewolf, a trend-setting mixture of teen
forced into retirement. Although a new Welby series never ma- problems, rock’n’roll, and an adolescent werewolf (Michael Lan-
terialized, this second TV movie performed well enough to war- don). In ¡96¡, Britain’s Hammer Films tried to revive the Euro-
rant another sequel four years later. Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Hol- pean legends with Curse of the Werewolf, a brooding, literary pic-
iday A›air found the good doctor in France romancing divorcee ture that was a box-o‡ce disappintment. Except for a brief
Alexis Smith. It had little to do with the TV series, but even appearance in the anthology Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, the
non–Welby fans had to admit that the hard-working physician werewolf was silent through most of the ¡960s. However, he re-
deserved a vacation after all those years. See also Television Se- bounded strongly at the end of the decade in the guise of Span-
ries Reunion Movies. ish horror star Paul Naschy. His ¡968 film Mark of the Werewolf
Marcus Welby, M.D. (aka A Matter of Humanities) (¡969 (aka Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror) was a European sensation and
TVM); The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. (¡984 TVM); Marcus spawned eight sequels with colorful translated titles like The
Welby, M.D.: A Holiday A›air (¡988 TVM) Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman and The Werewolf and the Yeti
220 WHALES

(see Daninsky, Waldemar). Still, the werewolf did not regain his compilation Make Mine Music (¡946) featured a segment on
popularity in the U.S. until the ¡980s, when The Howling (q.v.) Willie, the Singing Whale. See also Dolphins; Fish; Free Willy
and An American Werewolf in London combined humor and hor- Series; Sharks.
ror for big box-o‡ce bucks. One of the most original variations The Sea Beast (¡926); Moby Dick (¡930); Pinocchio (¡940);
on the standard werewolf premise was the spellbinding ¡984 Make Mine Music (¡946); Moby Dick (¡956); Namu, the Killer
British fantasy The Company of Wolves, a fanciful adult rework- Whale (¡966); Island at the Top of the World (¡974); The White
ing of “Little Red Riding Hood” with a wolfman in lieu of a wolf. Dawn (¡974); Orca (aka Orca, the Killer Whale) (¡977); A Whale
In addition to the werewolf, there have been a handful of “were- for the Killing (¡98¡ TVM); Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (¡986);
The Whales of August (¡987); When the Whales Came (¡989); Free
cat” movies, such as The Cat People, its ¡982 remake, Cat-Man Willy (¡993); Shadow of the Wolf (¡993); Moby Dick (¡998 TVM);
of Paris, and The Cat Girl. And in ¡933’s Island of Lost Souls, a Fantasia 2000 (¡999)
panther is surgically transformed into a beautiful girl. But that’s
not really lycanthropy. See also Daninsky, Waldemar; The
Howling Series; Humanimals; The Wolf Man. The Whistler
In the mid–¡940s, when most detective series were coming to an
The Werewolf (¡9¡3); The White Wolf (¡9¡4); Werewolf of Lon-
don (¡935); The Wolf Man (¡94¡); The Undying Monster (¡942); The end, Columbia launched this o›beat mystery anthology series.
Night Has Eyes (aka Terror House) (¡942); Return of the Vampire The films were inspired by a popular radio program, in which a
(¡943); Cry of the Werewolf (¡944); She-Wolf of London (¡946); The mysterious narrator introduced each story with the ominous
Werewolf (¡956); I Was a Teenage Werewolf (¡957); Daughter of Dr. opening: “I am the Whistler — and I know many things.” Only
Jekyll (a mixed-up movie claiming Jekyll was a werewolf ) (¡957); one film, ¡948’s Return of the Whistler, followed the radio format.
How to Make a Monster (an actor in makeup is the killer) (¡958); The others were linked solely by their twisty plots and the pres-
Curse of the Werewolf (¡96¡); Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory (¡96¡); ence of star Richard Dix. A former Oscar-nominated actor (for
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (¡965); Mad Monster Party? (¡967); ¡93¡’s Cimarron) Dix was in the twilight of his career. The
The Maltese Bippy (¡969); Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters
Whistler films allowed him to show his versatility, playing the
(aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos) (¡969); Werewolves
on Wheels (¡97¡); Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf hero in some pictures, the villain in others. In ¡944’s The Whistler,
Man (aka Santo y Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre Lobo) he played a husband so depressed over his wife’s death that he
(¡972); Santo vs. the She Wolves (aka Santo vs. Las Lobas) (¡972); hires a killer to murder him — only to discover his wife is alive.
Moon of the Wolf (¡972 TVM); Blood (¡973); The Boy Who Cried In ¡945’s The Power of the Whistler, Dix was a murderer su›ering
Werewolf (¡973); The Werewolf of Washington (¡973); The Beast from amnesia. William Castle, best known for his gimmicky
Must Die (¡974); Legend of the Werewolf (¡975); Wolfman! (¡979); ¡950s thrillers (e.g., The Tingler), produced and directed some of
An American Werewolf in London (¡98¡); Full Moon High (¡98¡); the entries. Following Dix’s death in ¡947, one more picture was
The Howling (¡98¡); The Company of Wolves (¡984); Silver Bullet made and then the series died. Columbia revived it for television
(¡985); Teen Wolf (¡985); The Monster Squad (¡987); Teen Wolf Too in ¡954, producing 39 half-hour episodes.
(¡987); Waxwork (¡988); My Mom’s a Werewolf (¡989); Full Eclipse
(¡993 TVM); Wolf (¡994); Here Come the Munsters (¡995 TVM); The Whistler (¡944); The Mark of the Whistler (¡944); The
Bad Moon (¡996); The Creeps (¡997); House of Frankenstein ¡997 Power of the Whistler (¡945); The Voice of the Whistler (¡946); Mys-
(¡997 TVM); An American Werewolf in Paris (¡997) terious Intruder (¡947); The Secret of the Whistler (¡947); The ¡3th
Hour (¡947); Return of the Whistler (¡948)
Whales
Whales on film have been portrayed as sympathetic creatures — Whistling in the Dark Series
with the notable exceptions of Herman Melville’s immortal Edward Childs Carpenter and Laurence Cross’s hit Broadway
white whale Moby Dick and the people-eating Monstro in Pinoc- comedy Whistling in the Dark was about a mystery writer forced
chio. Although Monstro was a true terror, it’s hard to classify to devise the perfect murder. MGM first filmed it in ¡932 with
Moby as a villain, for Captain Ahab’s crew perished solely be- Ernest Truex as the hero and Edward Arnold the villain. That ver-
cause of its captain’s obsession to kill the symbolic whale. The sion made a nifty profit, but was eclipsed by the ¡94¡ remake
single-minded Ahab has been played by John Barrymore in both starring Red Skelton as a radio sleuth called “The Fox,” Ann
The Sea Beast (¡926) and Moby Dick (¡930), Gregory Peck in Rutherford as his girlfriend, and Conrad Veidt as the heavy. The
John Huston’s ¡956 adaptation, and Patrick Stewart in a made- film’s surprise success resulted in MGM reuniting Skelton and
for-cable film. The killer whale Orca (¡977) devoured quite a Rutherford for two sequels. Their Southern honeymoon plans go
few humans, including Bo Derek, but his actions were in retal- astray when murder gets in the way in Whistling in Dixie (¡942).
iation for the murder of his spouse (killer whales mate for life, Baseball and mystery provided the mixture for the last film
we are told). Humans were also portrayed as thoughtless whale Whistling in Brooklyn (¡943). George Haight produced and S.
killers in The White Dawn (¡974) and A Whale for the Killing Sylvan Simon directed all three skeleton films.
(¡98¡). A mistreated killer whale befriends a lonely boy and es- Whistling in the Dark (¡932); Whistling in the Dark (¡94¡);
capes from an amusement park in the ¡993 sleeper Free Willy. Whistling in Dixie (¡942); Whistling in Brooklyn (¡943)
Whales were glimpsed from a distance in the opening of The
Whales of August (¡987), but, again, they played a symbolic part Who, Doctor
in the tender story of two elderly sisters. The crew of the En- Doctor Who, the time-traveling hero of the long-running British
terprise went back in time to save some important humpback TV series, has appeared in just three movies. Peter Cushing por-
whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (¡986). The cartoon trayed the nomadic Time Lord in Dr. Who and the Daleks (¡965)
 WITCHES 221

and Daleks — Invasion Earth 2¡50 A.D. Both features pitted Dr. young woman (Ami Dolenz) moving into an apartment where she
Who and his comrades against the fearsome Daleks from the finds a Ouija board left by the deceased previous tenant. Before
planet Skaro. Encased in pot-shaped time machines armed with you can spell “possession,” a spirit — who may be good or may be
mounted guns, the Daleks sought to turn all life forms into their evil — inhabits the young woman’s body. Both the original film
slaves. In ¡996, Paul McGann took over the title role for Doctor and its first sequel were written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney,
Who, a TV movie in which a malfunctioning time machine a UCLA film school graduate who was also responsible for the
landed both Who and The Master, an evil Time Lord, in San Night of the Demons series (q.v.). Tenney cowrote the screenplay,
Francisco in ¡999. None of the Who films duplicated the appeal but had less to do with the third installment, Witchboard III: The
of the TV series. In the series, Dr. Who would periodically re- Possession (¡995). This final outing featured a young stockbroker
generate himself, which conveniently allowed di›erent actors to named Brian (David Nerman) who inherits a Ouija board after
assume the role. Each performer gave Dr. Who a di›erent per- his landlord commits suicide and develops a Faust-like relation-
sonality, which contributed substantially to the enduring popu- ship with a soul-hungry demon. See also Ghosts.
larity of the show. On television, Dr. Who has been played by: Witchboard (¡987); Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway (aka
William Hartnell (¡963–66); Patrick Troughton (¡966–69); Jon Witchboard 2) (¡993); Witchboard III: The Possession (aka Witch-
Pertwee (¡969–73); Tom Baker (¡974–80); Peter Davison board: The Possession) (¡995)
(¡980–84); Colin Baker (¡984–86); and Sylvester McCoy
(¡986–96). See also Time Travel. Witchcraft Series
Dr. Who and the Daleks (¡965); Daleks — Invasion Earth 2¡50 The twelve Witchcraft films undermine a smart premise with weak
A.D. (aka Invasion Earth 2¡50 A.D.) (¡966); Doctor Who (¡996) plotting and poor thesping. The first film, ¡989’s Witchcraft, re-
calls Rosemary’s Baby with its tale about a pregnant woman who
Windmills discovers that her baby is a warlock — along with her husband and
No movie has been able to top the splendid climax of ¡960’s witch of a mother-in-law. Thematically, it functions as a pro-
Brides of Dracula for imaginative use of a windmill. In Terence logue, for the series’ premise is introduced in ¡990’s Witchcraft
Fisher’s lively vampire film, an athletic Van Helsing (Peter Cush- Part II: The Temptress. The warlock baby has grown into a ¡7-year-
ing) dives onto a revolving windmill, his weight pulling the arms old named Will (Charles Solomon). However, instead of prac-
into the shape of a cross. The light of a full moon behind him ticing black magic for his own ends, Will denies his dark side. He
casts the shadow of the cross onto the ground, thus destroying a even dates a minister’s daughter (Mia Ruiz), until a voluptuous
hissing vampire caught in its path. The Frankenstein Monster witch (Delia Sheppard) almost lures him back into the fold of
was burned in a windmill at the end of ¡93¡’s Frankenstein, only witchery (and a marriage of evil). Will fights o› such temptations,
to escape from the flames in the beginning of ¡935’s Bride of however, and becomes a lawyer in Witchcraft III: The Kiss of
Frankenstein. Windmills were used to signal enemy planes in Death. This third installment pits the heroic warlock against a
Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (¡940). In the underrated ¡986 vampire-like creature which sucks the life out of its victims
fantasy Highlander, Christopher Lambert and Clancy Brown (shades of Lifeforce). In ¡992’s Witchcraft IV: Virgin Heart, Will
staged an elaborate swordfight throughout Lambert’s windmill gets mixed up with a stripper/singer/witch, a warlock disc jockey,
home. Michael Caine played a spy whose kidnapped son was and a girl so suspiciously good that she must be bad. The script
being held hostage in The Black Windmill (¡974). No discussion borrows shamelessly from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Walter
of windmills would be complete without mentioning Don Hill’s Crossroads (both ¡986). Charles Solomon, who played Will
Quixote, the gallant Spanish gentleman who imagined them to be in the middle three entries, lacked screen charisma and failed to
dragons. Of related interest, Joanne Woodward’s river mill home bring out the potential complexities of his character’s internal
provided an atmospheric setting for the ¡964 mystery-thriller good/evil battle. David Byrne took over as Will Spanner in later
Signpost to Murder. entries like Witchcraft 7: Judgment Hour (¡995) and Witchcraft IX:
Frankenstein (¡93¡); Bride of Frankenstein (¡935); Foreign Cor- Bitter Flesh (¡996). However, by that point, the Witchcraft films
respondent (¡940); Brides of Dracula (¡960); The Aristocats (¡970); had become mired in a repetitious sex-and-sorcery formula. See
Don Quixote (¡973); The Black Windmill (¡974); Highlander also Witches.
(¡986); Army of Darkness (aka Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3) Witchcraft (¡989); Witchcraft II: The Temptress (aka Witchcraft
(¡993); Madame L’eau (aka Madam Water) (¡993); Don Quixote Part II: The Temptress) (¡990); Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death
(2000 TVM) (¡99¡); Witchcraft IV: Virgin Heart (¡992); Witchcraft V: Dance
with the Devil (¡993); Witchcraft 6: The Devil’s Mistress (aka Witch-
Witchboard Series craft VI) (¡994); Witchcraft 7: Judgment Hour (¡995); Witchcraft 8:
The “witchboard” is a Ouija board that allows mortals to com- Salem’s Ghost (aka Witchcraft: Salem’s Ghost) (¡996); Witchcraft IX:
municate with spirits — both good and bad — in this competent Bitter Flesh (¡996); Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft (¡998);
Witchcraft XI: Weird Sisters (¡999); Witchcraft XII: Sisters in Blood
horror film series. In Witchboard (¡987), a young woman named (2000)
Linda (Tawny Kitaen) uses the board to “talk” to the friendly
ghost of a ten-year-old. Unfortunately, one day the spirit of a
murderer makes a visit through the Ouija board and Linda be- Witches
gins displaying symptoms of “progressive entrapment” (i.e., un- Not surprisingly, witches show up in all kinds of movies: chil-
knowingly allowing oneself to be possessed by a ghost). The se- dren’s fantasies, comedies, horror flicks, and literary adaptations.
quel, Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway (¡993), finds another Margaret Hamilton played the most famous of them all: the
222 WITHERS, HILDEGARDE

Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (which also boasts der. It was a lively yarn, with a dramatic courtroom climax, but
Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch). Other children’s films the film’s highlight was the rapport between Oliver and co-star
featuring notable witches include Snow White and the Seven James Gleason as Inspector Oscar Piper. The gru›, wisecracking
Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Bewitch- Piper masked his respect for Hildegarde, calling her a “nosy old
ing comedies have garnered laughs by casting against stereotype. dame” but later conceding: “That old battleaxe is the best friend
Hence, instead of featuring witches with green skin and warts, I have in the world.” The pair teamed for two more RKO series
both I Married a Witch and Bell, Book, and Candle o›er curva- entries, then Oliver bowed out due to poor health. Helen Brod-
ceous, blonde-haired witches (Veronica Lake and Kim Novak, erick replaced her for one film and then a miscast Zasu Pitts made
respectively). The best horror film about witches is probably Burn, the last two RKO Hildegarde Withers mysteries. James Gleason
Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle), in which Janet Blair resorts remained as Inspector Piper for all these films. In ¡97¡, Eve Arden
to witchcraft, first to further her husband’s career and then to save revived Hildegarde Withers for a TV pilot movie called A Very
his life. Barbara Steele was a revenge-minded witch in Mario Missing Person, but a regular series never materialized.
Bava’s eerie Black Sunday and Mia Farrow discovers her neighbors The Penguin Pool Murder (aka The Penguin Pool Mystery)
belong to a witches’ coven in Rosemary’s Baby. On the literary side, (¡932) (Edna May Oliver); Murder on the Blackboard (¡934)
prophesying witches open up all film versions of Macbeth, and (Oliver); Murder on a Honeymoon (¡935) (Oliver); Murder on a Bri-
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible remains a potent condemnation of dle Path (¡936) (Helen Broderick); The Plot Thickens (aka The
the infamous Salem witch trials. Roald Dahl’s charming chil- Swinging Pearl Mystery) (¡936) (Zasu Pitts); Forty Naughty Girls
(¡937) (Pitts); A Very Missing Person (¡97¡ TVM) (Eve Arden)
dren’s book The Witches reached the screen in ¡990, with Angel-
ica Huston making a marvelous Grand High Witch. The ¡999
sleeper The Blair Witch Project was a “fictional documentary” The Wizard of Oz
about a three young people who disappear while making a movie Published in ¡900, L. Frank Baum’s immortal children’s novel was
about a legendary witch. See also Witchcraft Series. filmed twice in the silent era, first as a ¡9¡0 two-reeler starring
Witchcraft Through the Ages (aka Haxan) (¡922); Maid of Salem Bebe Daniels (later a femme fatale) and then in ¡925, with Dorothy
(¡937); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (¡937); I Married a Witch Dwan as Dorothy and Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodman. The
(¡942); Day of Wrath (¡943); Weird Woman (¡944); The Woman screenplay for the latter version was written by L. Frank Baum, Jr.
Who Came Back (¡945); Macbeth (¡948); The Undead (¡957); The Of course, the most famous adaptation is MGM’s classic ¡939 mu-
Crucible (Witches of Salem) (¡957); Bell, Book, and Candle (¡958); sical The Wizard of Oz, which annually ranks among the most-
The Day the Earth Froze (¡959); Sleeping Beauty (¡959); Black Sun-
watched films on television. Amazingly, it was not a commercial
day (¡960); Horror Hotel (aka The City of the Dead) (¡960); The
Witches’ Curse (¡960); The Witches Mirror (¡960); Snow White and success when originally released. Budgeted at a hefty $2.8 million,
the Three Stooges (¡96¡); Burn, Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle) it took The Wizard of Oz twenty years to recoup its cost. The cast,
(¡962); The Magic Sword (¡962); Terror in the Crypt (aka Crypt of one of the finest ever assembled, was formed almost by accident.
Horror) (¡963); Witchcraft (¡964); The Devil’s Own (aka The Shirley Temple, a huge box-o‡ce star in ¡938, was the first choice
Witches) (¡966); The She-Beast (¡966); The Witch (¡966); A Witch to play Dorothy. However, 20th Century–Fox, which owned her
Without a Broom (¡968); The Conqueror Worm (aka Witchfinder contract, refused to cooperate with MGM. (To atone for its poor
General) (¡968); Crowhaven Farm (¡970 TVM); Cry of the Banshee
decision, Fox cast Shirley in ¡940’s The Blue Bird, a similar fan-
(¡970); Night of the Witches (¡970); Pufnstuf (¡970); The Witches’
Mountain (¡970); Bedknobs and Broomsticks (¡97¡); The Blood on tasy — and a financial flop.) The rest of the original cast included
Satan’s Claw (aka Satan’s Skin; Satan’s Claw) (¡97¡); Macbeth (¡97¡); Ray Bolger as the Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen (later Jed on The Bev-
Night of Dark Shadows (¡97¡); Brotherhood of Satan (¡97¡); Simon, erly Hillbillies) as the Scarecrow, and Bert Lahr as the Cowardly
King of Witches (¡97¡); Touch of Melissa (aka Touch of Satan; Night of Lion. However, Bolger, a Broadway dancer, lobbied for the role
the Demon) (¡97¡); Daughters of Satan (¡972); Necromancy (aka The of the Scarecrow and he and Ebsen switched parts. Then, Ebsen
Witching) (¡972); Race with the Devil (¡975); Deathmoon (¡978 developed an allergic reaction to the metallic paint used on his face
TVM); A Stranger in the House (¡978 TVM); Witches Brew (¡980);
and was replaced by Jack Haley, who gave his most memorable per-
Midnight O›erings (¡98¡ TVM); The Worst Witch (¡986); Bay Coven
(¡987 TVM); Love at Stake (¡987); Hansel and Gretel (aka Cannon formance as the Tin Man. More liberal adaptations of Baum’s book
Movie Tales: Hansel and Gretel) (¡987); The Witches of Eastwick include ¡976’s Oz, an Australian rock musical, and The Wiz (¡978),
(¡987); Spellbinder (¡988); Teen Witch (¡989); Witchery (aka Witch- a film version of the hit Broadway play starring Diana Ross as an
craft) (¡989); The Witches (¡990); The Haunting of Morella (¡990); older Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, and Richard
To Save a Child (¡99¡ TVM); Ernest Scared Stupid (¡99¡); Warlock Pryor as the Wiz. Although Baum wrote ¡3 additional books (and
(¡99¡); Hocus Pocus (¡993); Sorceress (¡994); Witch Hunt (¡994 others have added to that total), few of those have made it to the
TVM); Four Rooms (¡995) (“Strange Brew” segment); Here Come the
screen. In ¡9¡4, he adapted his own novel The Patchwork Girl of
Munsters (¡995 TVM); The Craft (¡996); The Crucible (¡996); A
Simple Wish (¡997); Lady of the Lake (¡998); I’ve Been Waiting for Oz and then wrote and directed His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz
You (¡998 TVM); The Blair Witch Project (¡999); (Despite their ti- (aka The New Wizard of Oz). An obscure musical version of The
tles, the Disney kiddie adventures Escape to Witch Mountain and Wonderful Land of Oz appeared in ¡969. Five years later, Liza Min-
Return to Witch Mountain have nothing to do with witches — only nelli ( Judy Garland’s daughter) and Margaret Hamilton provided
alien children.) voices for the animated Journey Back to Oz. In ¡985, Disney released
a costly, non-musical called Return to Oz, which was based on
Withers, Hildegarde Baum’s novels The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz. Despite impres-
Edna May Oliver first brought Stuart Palmer’s umbrella-toting sive technical wizardry, it received scathing reviews and died at the
schoolteacher sleuth to the screen in ¡932’s The Penguin Pool Mur- box-o‡ce. Foreign language interpretations of Baum’s works
 WRESTLING 223

include Aysecik and the Bewitched Dwarfs in Dreamland, a Turkish pilot for a series that was postponed when Thayer died unex-
version of The Wizard of Oz, and Mago de Oz Cuento de Frank pectedly. However, the hour-long TV series Nero Wolfe finally
Baum, a film of a Mexican stage production. John Ritter played aired in ¡98¡ with William Conrad in the lead and Lee (Matt
Baum in the ¡990 TV movie biography The Dreamer of Oz. The Houston) Horsley as faithful Archie.
same year, cult director David Lynch o›ered a warped Ozian anal- Meet Nero Wolfe (¡936); League of Frightened Men (aka League
ogy — complete with violence, sex, and Elvis Presley songs — in of Missing Men) (¡937); Nero Wolfe (¡977 TVM)
Wild at Heart. Finally, Baum’s original book played a major role
in John Boorman’s futuristic fantasy Zardoz (¡974), which derived Wong, Mr. James Lee
its title from The WiZARD of OZ. Monogram initiated this low-budget film series in ¡938, hoping
The Wizard of Oz (¡9¡0); The Patchwork Girl of Oz (¡9¡4); His to duplicate the success of the Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto mys-
Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (aka The New Wizard of Oz) (¡9¡4); teries. Hugh Wiley’s Chinatown detective proved nowhere nearly
The Wizard of Oz (¡925); The Wizard of Oz (¡939); The Wonderful
as popular as either of his contemporaries and the films are pretty
Land of Oz (¡969); Aysecik and the Bewitched Dwarfs in Dreamland
(aka Aysecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde) (¡97¡); Journey obscure today. Boris Karlo›, who was eager to break from hor-
Back to Oz (¡974); Oz (aka Twentieth Century Oz) (¡976); The Wiz ror movie typecasting, played Mr. Wong in all but the last entry.
(¡978); Under the Rainbow (¡98¡); Mago de Oz Cuento de Frank In ¡940’s Phantom of Chinatown, Keye Luke, Charlie Chan’s for-
Baum (aka El Mago de Oz) (¡985 TVM); Return to Oz (¡985); The mer #¡ son, played Wong, but he didn’t prove to be right for the
Dreamer of Oz (¡990 TVM) part.
Mr. Wong, Detective (¡938); Mr. Wong in Chinatown (¡939);
The Wolf Man Mystery of Mr. Wong (¡939); Doomed to Die (¡940); The Fatal Hour
(¡940); Phantom of Chinatown (¡940)
The Wolf Man appeared in five Universal films in the ¡940s and
yet it’s di‡cult to classify these movies as a series. That’s because
he was the featured monster only once — in his ¡94¡ debut The Worrell, Ernest P. see Ernest
Wolf Man. This simply-plotted picture reaped benefits from a
splendidly foggy atmosphere and a fine cast of Claude Rains, Wrestling
Ralph Bellamy, Warren William, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspen- Championship wrestling broadened its appeal — and its outra-
skaya, and Lon Chaney, Jr., as the sympathetic werewolf Larry geousness — in the late ¡970s and suddenly became a hot movie
Talbot. Despite a warm box-o‡ce reception, Universal decided property. Subsequently, recent films have tended to focus on the
that Chaney needed some horrific support, so he was paired with sport’s sillier side. In contrast, John Ford’s Flesh (¡932) was a
the Frankenstein Monster (Lugosi) in ¡943’s Frankenstein Meets gloomy tale about a German immigrant wrestler (Wallace Beery)
the Wolf Man. The two monsters’ climactic confrontation lacked involved with shady characters. Richard Widmark was a loser
excitement and was cut short by a torrent of water released by the trying to break into the London wrestling racket — and running
local villagers. But the film inspired Universal to package the afoul of kingpin Herbert Lom — in Jules Dassin’s moody Night
Wolf Man, Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and a couple and the City (¡950). Early wrestling comedies include Swing Your
of mad scientists in House of Frankenstein (¡944) and House of Lady (¡937), with Humphrey Bogart as a promoter who sets up
Dracula (¡945). Thankfully, Chaney/Talbot/Wolf Man was cured a male/female wrestling match and ¡945’s Here Come the Co-eds,
in this last entry. He did, however, turn up in fur again in ¡948’s which sent Lou Costello into the ring for one of his better vi-
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Lon Chaney, Jr., was the gnettes. In Mexico in the ¡960s, movie wrestlers turned into su-
only actor to play Larry Talbot/the Wolf Man. North Carolina perheroes in highly-popular series such as Santo, Blue Demon,
filmmaker Earl Owensby’s Wolfman! had nothing to do with Tal- and Neutron (qq.v.). These films typically pitted the masked
bot. See also Werewolves. wrestlers against armies of vampires, werewolves, and mummies.
The Wolf Man (¡94¡); Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (¡943); Probably, the most interesting films for American audiences were
House of Frankenstein (aka Chamber of Horrors) (¡944); House of those starring the Wrestling Women. These rough-and-tumble
Dracula (¡945); Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (¡948)
senoritas never achieved the popularity of Santo, but they more
than held their own against the baddies in wonderfully-titled pic-
Wolfe, Nero tures like The Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (¡964). In
Rex Stout’s heavyweight detective genius has been restricted to a the dubbed English version, the Wrestling Women were known
handful of screen appearances. Edward Arnold made a delight- as Loretta and Ruby. In the early ¡980s, stateside lady wrestlers
fully self-indulgent Wolfe in ¡936’s Meet Nero Wolfe, an adapta- were the subjects of Below the Belt (¡980), All the Marbles (¡98¡),
tion of Stout’s classic mystery Fer-de-Lance. Arnold seemed well- and Mugsy’s Girls (¡985). Henry Winkler donned a blonde wig in
cast and the critics were kind, but a series failed to materialize. the ring as a flamboyant wrestler trying to attract attention in
The following year, Walter Connolly took over the role in League ¡978’s The One and Only. Two ¡985 movies, Vision Quest and
of Frightened Men (aka League of Missing Men). Lionel Stander Hadley’s Rebellion, explored the world of high school wrestling.
played Wolfe’s legman Archie Goodwin in both films. Over forty Sylvester Stallone took leave from the Rocky series (q.v.) long
years later, Stander was still playing in mysteries, as the Harts’ enough to make Paradise Alley, a nostalgic wrestling picture about
chau›eur Max in the ¡979–84 TV series Hart to Hart. Nero made three ambitious brothers. Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (¡985) was
his own television debut in the ¡977 TV movie Nero Wolfe, star- a documentary-style satire (along the lines of This Is Spinal Tap)
ring David Thayer and Tom Mason as Archie. The movie was a about an outrageous wrestler called Mad Dog Joe De Curso. Some
224 YEAR IN TITLE

real-life wrestlers made cameo appearances in the ¡986 comedy two other zombie movies: Voodoo Man (¡944), a Monogram pro-
Bad Guys, while wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan starred in his grammer co-starring George Zucco and John Carradine, and the
own feature, ¡989’s No Holds Barred. Nils Allen Stewart played classically inept Zombies on Broadway (¡945). In the latter film,
the title role in The Jesse Ventura Story (¡999), a hastily-assembled gangsters import some real zombies (including Darby Jones again)
TV movie biography of the wrestler-turned-governor of Min- as a novelty act for their night club. It was the only zombie foray
nesota. Paul Le Mat and Sylvester Stallone played arm wrestlers into show business. A more common use of the undead was for
in, respectively, P.K. and the Kid (¡982) and Over the Top (¡987). soldiers, as in Revolt of the Zombies (¡936), King of the Zombies
See also Blue Demon; Neutron; Santo. (¡94¡), and Revenge of the Zombies (¡943). Cesare the somnam-
Flesh (¡932); Swing Your Lady (¡937); Here Come the Co-eds bulist from the German classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (¡9¡9)
(¡945); Alias the Champ (¡949); Bodyhold (¡949); Night and the exhibited many zombie traits, although he was merely asleep, not
City (¡950); Mr. Universe (¡95¡); Doctor of Doom (¡962); The dead. See also Ghouls.
Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (¡965); Babe (¡975 TVM);
White Zombie (¡932); Revolt of the Zombies (¡936); The Ghost
Mad Bull (¡977 TVM); The One and Only (¡978); Take Down
Breakers (¡940); King of the Zombies (¡94¡); I Walked with a Zombie
(¡978); Blood and Guts (¡978); Paradise Alley (¡978); Below the Belt
(¡943); Revenge of the Zombies (¡943); Voodoo Man (¡944); Zombies
(¡980); All the Marbles (¡98¡); Tough Enough (¡983); Hadley’s Rebel-
on Broadway (¡945); Scared Sti› (¡953); Creature with the Atom
lion (¡985); Mugsy’s Girls (aka Delta Pi) (¡985); Vision Quest (¡985);
Brain (¡955); Voodoo Island (¡957); Zombies of Mora Tau (¡957);
Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (¡985); Bad Guys (¡986); Spooner (¡989
The Dead One (¡96¡); Plague of the Zombies (¡964); Zombies (aka
TVM); No Holds Barred (¡989); The American Angels: Baptism of
Zombie; I Eat Your Skin; Voodoo Blood) (¡964); War of the Zombies
Blood (¡990); Knockouts (¡992); Mr. Nanny (¡993); The Jesse Ven-
(aka Night Star-Goddess of Electra) (¡965); Terror Creatures from the
tura Story (¡999 TVM); Beyond the Mat (2000); Ready to Rumble
Grave (¡965); Sugar Hill (aka The Zombies of Sugar Hill) (¡974);
(2000)
The Dead Don’t Die (¡975 TVM); Shock Waves (aka Death Corps)
(¡977); Revenge of the Zombies (aka Black Magic II) (¡98¡); Zombie
Year in Title Island Massacre (¡984); I Was a Teenage Zombie (¡987); Zombie
Sweeping sagas with year-oriented titles include Bernardo High (¡987); Dead Heat (¡988); Zombie Brigade (¡988); Hardrock
Bertolucci’s six-hour Italian epic ¡900, Horton Foote’s nostalgic Zombies (¡988); The Serpent and the Rainbow (¡988); Voodoo Dawn
family drama ¡9¡8, and Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction classic 200¡: (¡989); Cast a Deadly Spell (¡99¡ TVM); My Boyfriend’s Back (¡993)
A Space Odyssey. George Orwell’s bleak view of the future, ¡984, has
been filmed twice, in ¡956 and (appropriately enough) ¡984. Zoos
One Million B.C. (¡940); ¡984 (¡956); Terror from the Year While circuses (q.v.) have proven to be popular film settings, zoos
5000 (¡958); Panic in the Year Zero (¡962); Daleks — Invasion Earth have attracted the interest of few filmmakers. This favoritism to-
2¡50 A.D. (aka Invasion Earth — 2¡50 A.D.) (¡966); One Million ward circuses could be a result of the human-to-wild-animal
Years B.C. (¡966); 200¡: A Space Odyssey (¡968); Summer of ’42
(¡97¡); Dracula A.D. ¡972 (aka Dracula Today) (¡972); Class of ’44 ratio. In other words, circuses emphasize human performers over
(¡973); Class of ’63 (¡973 TVM); Death Race 2000 (¡975); ¡900 the animals, while zoos focus almost totally on the animals. At
(¡977); September 30, ¡955 (aka 9/30/55; 24 Hours of the Rebel) any rate, there have been very few films set principally in zoos.
(¡978); ¡94¡ (¡979); Class of ¡984 (¡982); ¡990: The Bronx Warriors Loretta Young played a homeless girl who lived in one in the ¡933
(¡983); Nineteen Eighty-Four (¡984); ¡9¡8 (¡984); 20¡0 (¡984); ¡9¡9 romantic-comedy Zoo in Budapest. Michael Gough ran a bizarre
(¡986); ’68 (¡988); Cherry 2000 (¡988); Class of ¡999 (¡990); ¡87¡ private zoo — he employed the lions to dispose of his enemies —
(¡990); The Spirit of ’76 (¡99¡) in The Black Zoo (¡963). John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis strug-
gled to keep a marginally-profitable zoo open in the lightweight
Zombies comedy Fierce Creatures (¡997). And acclaimed documentary film-
Commonly confused with ghouls, zombies are dead folks brought maker Frederick Wiseman took his cameras inside Miami’s
back to life, usually by means of voodoo. Ghouls (q.v.) are dead, MetroZoo for ¡993’s Zoo. Several films, set primarily outside zoos,
too, but unlike zombies they must feed upon the flesh of the liv- have featured notable scenes behind the concrete walls. Both Si-
ing for their sustenance. With their slow movements and blank mone Simon and Nastassia Kinski were attracted to the leopards
stares (apparently indicating a lack of wit), zombies rank among in, respectively, the ¡942 and ¡982 versions of The Cat People. The
the screen’s duller, less menacing monsters. Still, there is some- ever-growing Venusian monster in Ray Harryhausen’s 20 Million
thing bothersome about being chased by a dead person. And zom- Miles to Earth (¡957) escaped from a Rome zoo and wreaked havoc
bies often display great strength, which comes in handy for mur- before being destroyed. Ben Kingsley and Glenda Jackson “res-
der. There have been only two zombie classics: The Halperin cued” turtles from a zoo in ¡985’s Turtle Diary, while Clint East-
Brothers’ White Zombie (¡932) and Val Lewton’s I Walked with a wood smuggled his orangutan into a zoo for a simian rendezvous
Zombie (¡943). In the primitive, but eerily e›ective White Zom- in ¡978’s Every Which Way But Loose. In Disney’s Lady and the
bie, Bela Lugosi plays a zombie master named Murder Legendre. Tramp, the canine couple visited a zoo where a beaver helped
The film’s most famous sequence shows a zombie falling silently Lady remove a confining muzzle. The Mel Gibson–Goldie Hawn
to his “death” in a sugar mill, while his zombie coworkers con- comedy Bird on a Wire (¡990) and the o›beat French-Canadian
tinue to grind sugar emotionlessly. I Walked with a Zombie is a Night Zoo (¡987) featured climaxes in zoos. Although technically
more literate movie, sort of Jane Eyre set in the West Indies. Darby not zoos, the wildlife park in The Beasts Are on the Streets (¡978
Jones’s brief, powerful appearance during a climactic walk through TVM) and the Sea World setting in Jaws 3 (¡983) deserve hon-
the sugar fields is startling — one of the cinema’s finest moments orable mention. Likewise, Jurassic Park (¡993) would have been
of quiet terror. In addition to White Zombie, Lugosi appeared in a zoo for dinosaurs had it ever opened o‡cially. See also Circuses.
 ZORRO 225

Zoo in Budapest (¡933); Murders in the Zoo (¡933); The Cat gard for Zorro’s origins — pairing him with the Three Musketeers
People (¡942); The Reformer and the Redhead (¡950); Lady and the and with the mythic muscleman Maciste (qq.v.). Sean Flynn,
Tramp (¡955); 20 Million Miles to Earth (¡957); The Black Zoo Errol Flynn’s son, unexpectedly showed up as the masked hero in
(¡963); Zebra in the Kitchen (¡965); Legend of the Werewolf (¡975);
¡963’s Il Segno di Zorro. French star Alain Delon earned good no-
Every Which Way But Loose (¡978); The Cat People (¡982); Wild
Beasts (¡983); Turtle Diary (¡985); Night Zoo (¡987); Bird on a Wire tices for Zorro (¡974), which transplanted the action to South
(¡990); Zoo (¡993); Baby’s Day Out (¡994); Eraser (¡996); Fierce America. That same year, Frank Langella starred in a respectable
Creatures (¡997); Mighty Joe Young (¡998) TV movie remake of The Mark of Zorro. On the heels of his suc-
cessful vampire spoof Love at First Bite, George Hamilton made
Zorro, the Gay Blade (¡98¡), an uneven comedy with Hamilton
Zorro playing Zorro and his twin gay brother Bunny Wigglesworth.
Johnston McCulley created the masked hero Zorro in “The Curse Not surprisingly, it was the last significant Zorro until the char-
of Capistrano,” which was published in ¡9¡9 in the pulp maga- acter was revived with style in ¡998’s The Mask of Zorro. It starred
zine All-Story Weekly. But it was Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who im- Anthony Hopkins as an aging Don Diego de la Vega who grooms
mortalized the character a year later in the swashbuckling classic the young, revenge-minded Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Ban-
The Mark of Zorro. Fairbanks gave one of his best performances deras) to take his place as Zorro. Despite an over-the-top climax,
as Don Diego Vega — the son of a Spanish aristocrat in Old Cal- this big-budgeted Zorro tale captured the spirit of McCulley’s
ifornia — who transforms himself into Zorro to fight a wicked, stories en route to becoming one of ¡998’s biggest hits. In addi-
greedy governor. It’s this film version, and not McCulley’s novel, tion to his many film appearances, the Zorro character has been
that originated Zorro’s calling card of a large “Z” etched with the featured in at least three live-action TV series: the aforemen-
tip of his sword. The story owes much to the Robin Hood leg- tioned Disney series; Zorro and Son (¡983) with Henry Darrow
ends and to Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel (like Sir Percy, and Paul Regina; and Zorro (¡990–93) with Duncan Regehr.
Don Diego plays the part of a lazy, self-centered gent to throw Zorro has also been the subject of a stage musical, animated TV
suspicion o› himself ). In ¡925, Fairbanks made a sequel, Don Q, series, comic books, and a comic strip. By the way, the word
Son of Zorro, an adaptation of the novel Don Q’s Love Story by Kate “zorro” is Spanish for fox.
and Hesketh Prichard. It a›orded him the opportunity to play The Mark of Zorro (¡920) (Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.); Don Q,
both son Don Cesar and father Don Diego. Over the next ¡5 Son of Zorro (¡925) (Douglas Fairbanks Sr.); The Bold Caballero
years, the Zorro character appeared in the B-movie The Bold Ca- (¡936) (Robert Livingstone); The Mark of Zorro (¡940) (Tyrone
ballero (played by cowboy veteran Bob Livingston) and in two Re- Power); Il Sogno di Zorro (¡952) (Walter Chiari); El Zorro Escarlata
public serials. The masked hero made a spectacular comeback in (¡957) (Luis Aguilar); The Sign of Zorro (¡960) (Williams); Zorro,
¡940 with The Mark of Zorro, a remake that improved on the the Avenger (¡960) (Guy Williams); La Venganza del Zorro (aka The
Shadow of Zorro; Zorro the Avenger) (¡962) (Frank Latimore); Zorro
original Fairbanks film. Tyrone Power gave a strong performance Alla Corte di Espagni (¡962) (Giorgio Ardisson); Zorro and the
as both the more-foppish-than-ever Don Diego and as the dash- Three Musketeers (aka Zorro e i Tre Moschiettieri) (¡963) (Gordon
ing, mischievous Zorro. He displayed his charming side in a scene Scott); The Three Swords of Zorro (aka La Tre Spade di Zorro)
in which he poses as a priest to listen to beautiful Linda Darnell’s (¡963) (Guy Stockwell); Il Segno di Zorro (aka Duel at the Rio
confessions of love. He showed o› his man-of-action side in one Grande) (¡963) (Sean Flynn); L’Ombra di Zorro (aka Cabalgando
of the cinema’s most famous fencing duels (opposite the villain- Hacia la Muerte El Zorro) (¡963) (Frank Latimore); Samson and the
ous Basil Rathbone). The Power film remains Zorro’s finest hour. Slave Queen (aka Zorro Contro Maciste) (¡963) (Pierre Brice); El
Zorro Cabalga Otra Vez (aka Il Giuramento di Zorro) (¡965) (Tony
Throughout the rest of the ¡940s and ¡950s, Zorro appeared pe- Russel); Zorro il Ribelle (¡966) (Howard Ross, also billed as Renato
riodically in serials (Linda Stirling was a female Zorro in Zorro’s Rossini); I Nippotti di Zorro (¡968) (Dean Reed); El Zorro la Volpe
Black Whip) and in a couple of European films. The character (aka El Zorro) (¡968) (Giorgio Ardisson); El Zorro de Monterrey
generated renewed interest with the premiere of the Disney TV (aka Zorro, the Invincible; Zorro il Dominatore; Zorro, La Maschera
series Zorro in ¡957. Although the audition for TV’s Zorro drew Della Vendetta) (¡969) (Carlos Quiney, also billed as Charles
well-known performers such as Hugh O’Brien, Dennis Weaver, Quiney); Zorro Alla Corte D’Inghilterra (¡969) (Spyros Focas); El
and David Janssen, the part went to former bit-player Guy Zorro Justiciero (¡969) (Martin Moore); Zorro Marchese di Navarro
(¡969) (Nino Vingelli); The Erotic Adventures of Zorro (¡972)
Williams (now best remembered as John Robinson on TV’s Lost (Douglas Frey); Les Aventures Galantes de Zorro (aka Zorro dans Ses
in Space). The series scored good ratings, but was canceled fol- Aventures Galantes) (¡972) ( Jean-Michel Dhermay); Il Figlio di
lowing a legal dispute about ownership between Disney and ABC. Zorro (aka El Hijo del Zorro) (¡973) (Alberto Dell’Acqua, also
Disney edited several episodes into The Sign of Zorro (¡960), billed as Robert Widmark); El Zorro (¡974) ( Julio Aldama); Zorro
which was released theatrically to mild results. Another film de- (aka El Zorro la belva del Colorado) (¡974) (Alain Delon); The
rived from TV episodes, Zorro, the Avenger (¡960), was released Mark of Zorro (¡974 TVM) (Frank Langella); Il Sogno di Zorro
overseas only and made its U.S. debut decades later on the Dis- (¡975) (Franco Franchi); Zorro, the Gay Blade (¡98¡) (George
Hamilton); The Mask of Zorro (¡998) (Anthony Hopkins and An-
ney cable channel. In ¡959, in the wake of the Disney series, Re- tonio Banderas)
public released edited movie versions of its earlier serials Zorro
THE REPUBLIC ZORRO SERIALS: Zorro Rides Again (¡937)
Rides Again and Ghost of Zorro (Clayton Moore had since achieved ( John Carroll); Zorro’s Fighting Legion (¡939) (Reed Hadley);
fame as TV’s The Lone Ranger). In the ¡960s, Zorro’s popularity Zorro’s Black Whip (¡944) (Linda Sterling as a female Zorro); Son of
sky-rocketed in Europe, where the character appeared in numer- Zorro (¡947) (George Turner); Ghost of Zorro (¡949) (Clayton
ous Spanish and Italian films. Some of these films showed no re- Moore)