The Phantom Creeps (1939)

The Phantom Creeps was produced by Universal Pictures and directed by Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind.  Commonwealth Pictures was a motion picture company that dealt with the redistributing and reissuing of films and shorts but played no part in actually producing the serial.  The screen play was written by George Plympton who also wrote screenplays for some other favorites of mine such as The Green Hornet (1940), Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), Holt of the Secret Service (1941), Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949) and many, many others.  The serial stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. Zorka/Dr. Zane, Robert Kent as Capt. Bob West, Dorothy Arnold as reporter Jean Drew, and Edward Van Sloan (sans German accent) as Jarvis the spy chief.

Dr. Zorka is an inventor, but not your average inventor.  He invents things like an "invisibility belt" that can render the wearer invisible to the human eye.  He's the creator of one of the most evil looking, remote control robots that I've ever seen.  And, he's invented some little metal disks that attract exploding mechanical spiders which cause anyone in their vicinity to fall into a state of suspended animation.  Of course all these items use the power harnessed from a piece of meteorite that Zorka had previously recovered.

For some reason (potentially lots of money) Zorka doesn't want to share these discoveries with the U.S. Government, so his ex-partner Dr. Mallory (Edwin Stanley) and Zorka's wife (Dora Clement) call the military intelligence officers themselves.  After the doctor sabotages the government plane with his exploding spiders, not realizing his wife was also on board, the plane crashes and his wife is killed.  Zorka goes mad  and vows revenge on everyone and becomes intent on ruling the world.  After faking his own death in an automobile accident, and with the help of his inept assistant Monk (Jack C. Smith) who whines about getting caught and sent back to prison in practically every chapter, Zorka uses his "invisibility belt", becoming "The Phantom", to move around unnoticed and prevent the Feds from gaining access to his devices.  And, at the same time he tries to stay one step ahead of a gang of international spies, who lead by Jarvis (Van Sloane), are trying to steal his secrets and the meteorite fragment from which he extracts the element that powers all his inventions.

So what we end up with is Zorka trying to track down the "mystery box" containing his stolen meteorite which changes hands so many times, I forget who ends up with it.  Monk gets shot by the Feds and the spies so many times throughout the serial I lost count.  And of course you have Bela Lugosi putting one hundred percent effort into yet another role that he could have just slugged through half-heartedly.  But that's not the way he works.  As a matter of fact he looked like he was really enjoying this role.  You'll do a little moaning and groaning, and maybe roll your eyes a few times.  There are a few over-exaggerated gestures and over the top moments, but they just add a little fun to the overall viewing experience.  Dorothy Arnold is cute as the news reporter trying to get a scoop, but she's no Lois Lane.

There's lots of stock footage of building fires and explosions.  In one scene a train gets derailed and wrecked and I'm pretty sure it's the same scene that's in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942).  And I think I caught a glimpse of a very young Lee J. Cobb as a demolition crew foreman in one of the last chapters (maybe someone can verify that for me).  The serial's chock full of fist fights, car chases and crashes, the giant robot dispensing a few beatings (at one point the military gets involved), and impossible escapes from certain death scenarios.  At one point there's a plane crash and one of the G-men just carries someone out of the wreckage, dusts himself off, and goes about his business.  Like I said, it's a little rough in some spots but gets better towards the end so try to stick with it.

When Zorka really goes over the edge and starts bombing just about everything he sees, laughing hysterically, you see Lugosi at his best.

You never know what you'll learn watching some of these classics.  For instance, I never knew that Dr. Zorka was responsible for the Hindenburg disaster!!  Serials are so educational and informative.

Overall it's a fun serial to watch, and Lugosi fans will certainly appreciate his work.  I know I did ...

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

You know, it's been a while since I've seen "Murders in the Rue Morgue."  And the first thing I thought as the music from Swan Lake was playing and the opening credits were being displayed was "who is Sidney Fox, and why is she getting top billing over Bela Lugosi ?"  It's actually a very interesting and tragic story.  But first the film ...

The film is based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe and takes place in Paris in 1894.  A group of friends are enjoying an evening out at "Carnival" and are wandering about observing the various sideshow attractions.  Members of the group include "Mlle. Camille L'Espanaye" (Sidney Fox) and her escort "Pierre Dupin" (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames).  The group of friends decide to enter the tent of "Dr. Mirackle" (Bela Lugosi) to see what spectacle the doctor has to offer.  As they enter the tent Camille sees the doctor and exclaims "what a funny looking man, he's a show in himself."

As the show begins, Mirackle claims to be able to communicate with "Erik" his pet ape and to be able to translate what the beast says.  He asks the spectators "Do you understand him, or have you forgotten?" Mirackle translates to the crowd how Erik was taken from his home, away from his family, and how lonely he is.  He then proceeds to lecture on the theory of evolution and human's descent from the apes.  People in the audience become offended and insulted, and begin heckling Mirackle, who then exclaims that he will prove the theory by "mixing the blood of man and ape."  What no one knew was that the doctor's experiments had already begun.  And his next subject would be the object of his and Erik's obsession, Mlle. Camille.

Director Robert Florey had a unique approach to filming his scenes with the ape.  He used close up shots of a real chimpanzee and edited them in with shots of the man in the gorilla suit for more realism.  Charles Gemora played the role of "Erik" the ape and also had the distinction of playing the part of the chimp (uncredited) in the Laurel and Hardy short "The Chimp" (1932), and also played one of the aliens (uncredited) in the sci fi classic "War of the Worlds" (1953), among the many other roles throughout his career.  In an early role Arlene Francis appears briefly as a "woman of the streets", one of the doctor's victims.  The film is a Bela Lugosi tour de force and he is at his menacing and sneering prime.  The film was produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. which brings us to the story of Sidney Fox.

According to his book "Women in Horror Films, 1930s" author Greg Manks writes that there may have been some favoritism shown to Sidney Fox at Universal because of Laemmle Jr. who "discovered" her and became infatuated with her, which in turn gave her the top billing over Lugosi.  There were also rumors that there was some kind of affair between Fox and Laemmle Sr. at some point, and that many people were not happy with Fox's acting talents in general.  Ms. Fox denied all the gossip but in reality she actually did have a tumultuous personal life including a troubled marriage, and poor performance reviews throughout her brief career.  All this culminated in a "probable" suicide after consuming a large quantity of sleeping pills on November 14, 1942 at the age of 34, only ten years after this film was released.  Another tragic Hollywood ending for a young actress with a promising career.

From the Auction --



Mildred Harris Chaplin (Witzel and Hartsook, 1919)  - Two signed portraits of the first wife of Charlie Chaplin, Mildred Harris.  Ms. Harris was a most interesting woman, marrying Chaplin whilst only 17, and three years later, upon her divorce, immediately going into an affair with the Prince of Wales.  She has over 100 film credits which include everything from an uncredited appearance as a dancing girl in D.W. Griffiths' "Intolerance" (1916), to one of the best Three Stooges' shorts, 1936's "Movie Maniacs".  It was Ms. Harris who paired up Edward, Prince of Wales to Wallis Simpson (Duchess of Windsor).  Both photos are signed with the name she used from 1919-1920 while married to Chaplin, "Sincerely, Mildred Harris Chaplin."

 



 Original "The Return of Chandu" (Principal Distributing, 1934) 11x14 Lobby Card - Starring Bela Lugosi and Maria Alba.  The image is from the last scene of Chapter 12 of the serial.  Check out my previous review of "The Return of Chandu."

On Screen -- The Return of Chandu (1934)




Lugosi, Alba, and Kimball-Young

 
Princess Nadji of Egypt is in danger and only one person can help her, "Frank Chandler", better known as "Chandu the Magician".  With the advent of DVDs and DVD players we've kind of lost the anticipation that was associated with the cliffhanger serials of the 30s and 40s.  Not that it isn't great to be able to watch your favorites whenever you like, but like I said, wondering if your favorite serial character is going to survive whatever peril they're in is now just a fast-forward button push away. 

The "Return of Chandu" is a great example of one of these serials.  Chock full of evil characters and their henchmen, women in danger, secret societies, shipwrecks, and great sets, this serial won't disappoint.  Chandu, who was raised in the East, uses his White Magic to try to save a princess from the clutches of a secret cult and their Black Magic who are going to sacrifice her in order to resurrect the goddess Ossana.  With 12 chapters in all, each chapter (except the last of course) ends in true cliffhanger fashion.  If the jungle sets look familiar, you're right ... they were used a year earlier in the filming of the 1933 action/adventure classic "King Kong". 

Another great vehicle for Bela Lugosi who stars as "Chandu", with Maria Alba as "Princess Nadji", Clara Kimball Young as "Dorothy Regent", and Lucien Prival as "The High Priest".

On Screen -- Daughter of the Night (1920)




Lugosi and Parry

 
Oh boy ...  A supposedly lost Bela Lugosi silent film known in Europe as "Dance on the Volcano" is available on DVD.  "Daughter of the Night" had potential, a spy drama about a French aristocrat "Andrew Fleurot" that gets involved with a Russian cabaret singer "Die Grafin Kaminska" who also happens to be associated with the underground revolutionary movement. 

Again this film seems to have continuity issues perhaps due to lost or damaged footage or just poor editing, and the transfer seems to have come from a well viewed VHS tape.  The awful contrast and loss of detail is even more evident when viewed on a larger screen.  There seems to have been more attention paid to the piano score for the film which comes through very nicely. 

The over exaggerated gestures usually seen in the early silent films are even more prevalent here.  Bela Lugosi does a nice job though as the aristocrat drawn into the revolution, Violetta Napierska as the spy and Lee Parry as "Tatiana/Marie Dorouska".  And I guarantee, if you're like me, you'll constantly be distracted by the "Marge Simpson" hairdos. 

Remember this was filmed more than a decade before Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula in 1931 so he's definitely not as refined in his acting skills as he is in his future attempts.  The best part of the film is when the peasants storm the castle,  unfortunately you have to sit through the entire film to get to it.  The only saving grace is that the actual running time of the film is less than an hour long. 

I would have to say that this would be another film for die hard Lugosi fans only, otherwise skip it.  Save yourself an hour and just watch the bonus feature on the Alpha Video release of Bela Lugosi’s July 27th 1953 appearance on the "You Asked for It" television show. It's about 8 minutes long and more interesting than the feature itself.

On Screen -- Return of the Vampire (1943)




Foch and Lugosi

 
 "Return of the Vampire" is a rather anemic (sorry) retelling of the same basic vampire story.  This is a low budget Columbia Pictures B-movie and it shows.  The story starts in the early 1900s with an English family disposing of "Armand Tesla", a vampire who has been terrorizing them.  Flash forward to England during WWII when a stray bomb dropped by the Nazis lands in the cemetery where Tesla's body has been resting. 

Tesla is resurrected with the aid of a couple of clueless workers in the cemetery and then assumes the identity of Dr. Bruckner who has just escaped from a prison camp. The vampire with the aid of a werewolf servant seeks revenge against the woman, "Lady Jane Ainsley" who had previously done away with him, through her son "John" and his fiance "Nicki".

This film comes complete with everything you would expect in a story about vampires including a skeptical police inspector, timelapse human to werewolf transformation., a beautiful potential victim, and fog machines working on overdrive.   At times some of the actors seem to be struggling through their lines and the continuity of the film seems a bit off.  I'm not sure if it's Matt Willis' acting or the script, most likely a combination of the two, that brings to the screen the worst werewolf character I've ever seen in a horror film (is he actually carrying laundry in that bundle?). 

A great performance, as usual, by Bela Lugosi as "Armand Tesla/Dr. Bruckner" and Nina Foch as "Nicki Saunders" make the viewing more enjoyable.  The film also costars Frieda Inescort as "Lady Jane" and Roland Varno as "John", with veteran actor Miles Mander as "Sir Frederick".  I wouldn't go as far as to say only Bela Lugosi fans need apply, the movie does have it's moments, but I think only hardcore Lugosi fans will have their horror cravings truly satisfied.