THE FIVE MAN ARMY

 

This is a well-mounted 1969 Euro Western that, while it doesn't offer any surprises, comes off as an above-average action-adventure heist flick. Peter Graves plays a character only referred to as "The Dutchman", a soldier of fortune who brings together four other associates for the purpose of robbing a Mexican army train during that country's revolution. The other four are the big, burly Mesito (Bud Spencer), a dynamite expert (James Daly), a Japanese samurai (Tetsuro Tanba) and a young hothead (Nino Castelnuovo). 

The amount of money on the train happens to be half of a million dollars--which, as expected, creates some friction within the group, since the sum is supposed to go to Mexican rebels. Almost the entire second half of this film is taken up with the train robbery, which is staged and edited rather effectively (helped by the fact that it's the main actors themselves clambering about the locomotive and its cars.) 

THE FIVE MAN ARMY appears to have been designed to reach more of a general audience than the usual Spaghetti Western. It lacks any outlandish or ridiculous set-pieces, and it reminds one of numerous more famous films, such as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE DIRTY DOZEN, and THE WILD BUNCH. The characterizations are paper thin--none of the five main actors get a chance to stand out, and the Dutchman only reveals his past as part of a climatic plot twist. There's no main overall villain, just a bunch of faceless Mexican Federales, and there's not even one major female character. There's plenty of shootings & killings, but the overall violence is generic in scope (the movie originally had a PG rating in America.) 

Nevertheless, if you're looking for an action story that doesn't have any annoying or intrusive flourishes, this one's for you. Don Taylor (Mr. Hazel Court) is credited on-screen as director, but various sources say he didn't finish the film, or barely started on it; those sources also mention that producer Italo Zingarelli or even co-screenwriter Dario Argento directed most of it. I certainly don't know what happened, but THE FIVE MAN ARMY doesn't feel like a troubled production--the train robbery sequence has a fair amount of suspense, and the entire effort has a solid look to it. (Producer Zingarelli and cinematographer Enzo Barboni would go on to make the original TRINITY films.) 

THE FIVE MAN ARMY might rank a higher place in Euro Western history if it had a more suitable leading man. Peter Graves gives a competent performance, but he seems too clean-cut and out of place--it's as if he arrived at the set of the wrong movie. It must be noted that Bud Spencer is not dubbed in this, and he's actually speaking English. Tetsuro Tanba played the head of the Japanese Secret Service in the 007 outing YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. 

One big element of THE FIVE MAN ARMY is the music score by none other than Ennio Morricone. It contains one of the Maestro's best main themes, and the score is probably better known than the movie itself. THE FIVE MAN ARMY isn't as good as the many films it takes after, but it's an easy near two hours of entertainment. 

THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE On Blu-ray From Eureka

 

The first film in Eureka's TERROR IN THE FOG Blu-ray set is THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE, made in 1963 by Artur Brauner's CCC company. Unlike the other films in this set, this one is not attributed to the works of Bryan Edgar Wallace --it is an adaptation of an Edgar Wallace novel. Everything about the production--the opening sequence, the actors in it, the overall style--makes one think it is a Rialto Edgar Wallace Krimi, but it isn't. (The original German title of the film is DER FLUCH DER GELBEN SCHLANGE.) 

One main difference that THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE has from most of the Rialto Wallace Krimis is that it is more of an adventure thriller instead of a mystery with Gothic overtones. Half-Chinese, half-English Fing-Su (Pinkas Braun) is determined to acquire an artifact known as the Yellow Snake, a golden statuette that will somehow endow him with enough power to lead all of Asia in a mammoth battle against the West. Opposing him is his half-brother, Clifford Lynn (Joachim Fuchsberger). The two men are also caught up in a scheme to marry their cousins (Brigitte Grothum and Doris Kirchner). 

THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE has a very Fu Manchu-like aspect to it. It might have been better if it had been set back in the 1920s, when Edgar Wallace originally wrote the novel upon which it is based--the "Yellow Peril" daring-do doesn't sit too well in the 1960s. It's never explained how the Yellow Snake will give Fing-Su so much overwhelming power--he needs better henchmen than he does a mysterious knick knack. For all the glum-looking Chinese at his command, Fing-Su can't even get rid of his half-brother, a fellow who isn't all that impressive as a hero. 

It doesn't help that the makeup job used on Pinkas Braun makes him look like a Vulcan or Romulan from STAR TREK instead of a credible half-Chinese. Krimi regular Eddi Arent once again supplies the comic relief as Clifford's friend, a cowardly antiques dealer. Doris Kirchner makes a big impression as Mabel, the cynical cousin who winds up gaining the viewer's sympathy. 

I had already owned THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE on DVD--it was included on one of Retromedia's Edgar Wallace collections. Eureka presents the film uncut, in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, and most importantly, the print includes the original main titles, which feature a striking injection of color. The black & white image on the print is very sharp, and German and English voice tracks are available, along with English subtitles. 

THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE shares the first disc in Eureka's TERROR IN THE FOG set with THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE. Among the extras included on this disc is a six-minute program in which Tim Lucas defines what actually is a Krimi (he does this by mostly differentiating it from the Giallo). Lucas also provides an introduction to YELLOW SNAKE, where he discusses the film's complicated genesis. 

THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE also gets a brand new audio commentary, featuring Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw. The duo spend a lot of time talking about Edgar Wallace's life, work, and how his output stands up in the 21st Century. Both men are also not very impressed with Eddi Arent's role in the film. Any one wishing to know more about the Krimi genre would do well to listen to the comments made by Lucas, Newman, and Forshaw on the extras. An original German trailer for YELLOW SNAKE is also included. 

This film may have been meant to be a close copy of an entry in the Rialto Edgar Wallace series, but it feels different from those movies, with its threats against the Empire storyline and serial-like thrills. THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE is a diverting enough tale, but the rest of the films in the TERROR IN THE FOG box set all have much more traditional Krimi aspects. 

Book Review: DEALS WITH THE DEVIL, DIALOGUES WITH DEATH

 

DEALS WITH THE DEVIL, DIALOGUES WITH DEATH is the fifth volume in writer Frank Dello Stritto's Historical Monster Fiction series. All five books feature characters from various classic films and TV shows taking part in and existing alongside real life historical events, an idea that is ingeniously and creatively accomplished by the author. 

This time around Dello Stritto covers numerous cinematic and television presentations of the Devil and physical manifestations of Death. An unnamed young American male is working on the passenger ship General Slocum when it catches fire and sinks on June 15, 1904. The man appears to have drowned, but he's given a second chance, due to a mysterious figure who calls himself Cadwallader. The man's "deal" with this fellow gives him immortality and indestructibility. For about the next hundred years, the reader follows the man's strange experiences. 

The man cannot die, but in a way he can't actually live either. Instead of making the most out of his prolonged status, the man constantly winds up involved in one famous disaster after another, all the while remaining alone and mostly cut off from the rest of humanity. The man continues to encounter the Devil in various guises, but he also has many meetings with different representations of Death, since his true appointment with the Grim Reaper was back in 1904, and his tab is still waiting to be collected. 

DEALS WITH DEVIL, DIALOGUES WITH DEATH is a fascinating read, but it's also somewhat darker than the author's other books in the series. A number of weighty factors are measured throughout, such as the meaning of life and death, what it is to really live, and whether the choices we make are our own, or that of some higher power. Despite all these important questions, the book isn't a depressing slog--it's a fast moving tale that makes the reader wonder what the main character will experience next. 

History and movie geeks will both enjoy DEALS WITH DEVIL, as the author once again impressively ties in actual famous events with numerous fictional film and TV characters, along with their dialogue and actions from the productions they appeared in. Dello Stritto favorites such as Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and even Abbott & Costello get cameo roles. Fans of THE TWILIGHT ZONE will adore this volume, since many of its episodes are referred to. The book's magnificent cover art is by George Chastain, and it's clean, concise design is by Rick Brower. (The volume is published by Cult Movie Press.) 

I'm a huge fan of the entire Historical Monster Fiction series, so much so that whenever I finish reading the latest entry I can't wait for the next one. The "Strittoverse", in my opinion, is far more entertaining and interesting than most blockbuster films and trending TV shows of the present day. If you have a taste for world history and classic genre storytelling, Frank Dello Stritto's DEALS WITH DEVIL, DIALOGUES WITH DEATH is perfect summer reading. 

THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE On Blu-ray From Eureka

 

So we finally come to the very last entry of the 1960s German film series detailing the nefarious activities of super villain Dr. Mabuse. This one is called THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE, and it was made in 1964. (The German title of this film is DIE TODESSTRAHLEN DES DR. MABUSE, and it is also known as THE SECRET OF DR. MABUSE and THE DEATH RAY MIRROR OF DR. MABUSE.) 

Bondmania hadn't reached its full heights yet, but DEATH RAY has a very distinct 007 flavor. Once again Peter van Eyck plays a British secret agent (as he did in the Mabuse film before). This time he's called Major Bob Anders, and he's sent to the island of Malta to protect the inventor (O.E. Hasse) of a--you guessed it--death ray that can affect the stability of the entire world. Mabuse (still controlling the physical being of Prof. Pohland, played by Walter Rilla) wants the infernal device, and, as Anders discovers, it appears every citizen of Malta is working for the diabolical doctor or for the British Secret Service. 

DEATH RAY has more of a Eurospy feel than that of an urban, noirish Krimi. Much is made of the sunny locations (most of the film was shot in Italy) and there's a lot of underwater sequences. The entire movie could have easily been remade in the 1970s as one of Roger Moore's Bond outings. DEATH RAY is more lighthearted than the rest of the Mabuse series, and Bob Anders gets to deal with three different beautiful women (Rika Dialina, Yvonne Furneaux, and Yoko Tani). Unfortunately Peter van Eyck doesn't have the natural charm and screen presence that Roger Moore had. (For those that might think DEATH RAY was a lower-budget copy of THUNDERBALL, it has to be stated that the former film was completed before the latter movie was even put into production.) 

Rika Dialina steals the film as Judy, Bob's ditzy girlfriend (he takes her along to Malta as a cover story that he's on vacation, but everyone he meets knows who he is and what he is doing there). Dialina winds up working for British Intelligence--they set her up in a brothel!--and her relationship with Bob reminds a viewer of the Bond-Mary Goodnight byplay in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. While Judy's antics are entertaining, they are also a far cry from the shadowy, conspiratorial world of Fritz Lang's original conception of Dr. Mabuse. 

The supporting cast of DEATH RAY is augmented by British character actors Leo Genn and Robert Beatty, and while the death ray inventor's laboratory isn't on a 007 level, it's still impressive nonetheless. This movie was directed by Hugo Fregonese, a Hollywood veteran, and he keeps things moving along, although some may wish certain plot details had been made a bit clearer. 

Speaking of that, the disc in Eureka's MABUSE LIVES Blu-ray box set that DEATH RAY appears on also has a longer cut of the film, an Italian version called I RAGGI MORTALI DEL DR. MABUSE. It's 17 minutes longer, in fact, and it clears up some of the story confusion, and it also has more footage of Rika Dialina as Judy. It also has a lot more underwater scenes, and they always bring the movie to a screeching halt. In the extras Tim Lucas and David Kalat both state that they prefer the Italian cut, but I have to disagree--I think the Italian version has a tendency to drag. It is still a major plus that Eureka made it available on this set. 

THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE gets its own disc in the MABUSE LIVES! set, and the standard version of the movie looks fantastic (surprisingly it was filmed in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio). As with the other Mabuse films in this set, both German and English voice tracks are presented, along with English subtitles. The Italian version of DEATH RAY has of course an Italian voice track with English subtitles, and the extra footage it contains is shown in SD. 

Once again Tim Lucas introduces the feature, and he points out its similarities to the Bond series, and he tells a long story about a real-life con artist who used the film as a basis for his schemes. David Kalat returns with another new audio commentary, and he also delves deep into the movie's connections with the Bond series. Kalat also spends a lot of time going off course and talking about such subjects as Claude Chabrol. 

THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE brings an end to the series produced by Artur Brauner's CCC company--or maybe not, depending how you feel about THE VENGEANCE OF DR. MABUSE, made by the notorious Jess Franco, a movie that I haven't seen, and ironically will be released on Blu-ray later this summer by Kino. Overall the films in the Mabuse series are above-average adventures that will appeal to film geeks and to those looking for something a bit different. 

As for Eureka's MABUSE LIVES! box set, it's a great compilation, and you certainly get your money's worth, with six different films, an informative booklet, and a boatload of extras. (Consider that right now, the MABUSE LIVES! set can be had for a lower price on Amazon than any of the recent new special editions released by Hammer, which contain only one feature.) I'll be doing blog posts on the individual films in Eureka's TERROR IN THE FOG Krimi set very soon. 

DON'T BET ON BLONDES

 

If any movie deserves the appellation "Snappy little programmer", it's DON'T BET ON BLONDES, a fun 1935 Warner Bros. production. The story revolves around "Odds" Owen (we never find out his real first name), played by one and only Warren William. Odds is the biggest bookmaker in NYC, but he's getting tired of all the underhanded activities involved in the gambling racket. Odds decides to imitate Lloyds of London by starting up a business that will insure just about anything, such as the voice of the world's greatest husband caller. 

A Southern Colonel (Guy Kibbee) takes out a policy to insure that his daughter, a young attractive stage actress named Marilyn Youngblood (Claire Dodd) doesn't marry--the Colonel is afraid that if she does, she'll quit performing and also quit paying all his bills as well. Odds and his motley associates take great pains to make sure that they don't have to pay off all the various strange policies, but in the act of making sure Marylin stays single, Owen starts to fall for her. Marylin discovers what her father has done, so she takes it upon herself to play up to Odds and then pull the rug out from under him.....but in usual early 1930s Warners fashion, all sorts of crazy complications pop up. 

DON'T BET ON BLONDES was helmed by Robert Florey, but this isn't a director's film--the movie succeeds due to the personalities of the cast and the momentum of the story. Warren William is his suave, sneaky self as Odds, a distinguished looking gent who thinks he knows the angles on everything until he meets up with Marylin. Claire Dodd is a great match for William, due to the fact that in her screen career she played as many chiselers as he did. 

Warren William calculates the odds with Claire Dodd

Guy Kibbee steals the film as the mint julep-sipping Colonel, who is writing a book on how the South actually won the Civil War! Vince Barnett, William Gargan, and Spencer Charters are the gang that put Odds' schemes into motion, and a clean-shaven Errol Flynn, in one of his very first film roles, plays an unsuccessful suitor of Marylin. 

The whole idea of an insurance company that underwrites weird policies is an intriguing idea--I think it would make a great TV series. If anything DON'T BET ON BLONDES doesn't give that idea enough coverage--the movie is only 59 minutes long. It's very rare that you watch a film and, at the end of it, you wish that there was more to it, and that you could spend more time with its characters--but DON'T BET ON BLONDES fits that bill. 

THE SHIELD OF HONOR

 

THE SHIELD OF HONOR is a 1927 silent film produced by Universal, available on DVD-R from Alpha Video. The movie deals with Los Angeles police officer Jack MacDowell (not the former White Sox pitcher), played by Neil Hamilton (best known for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the 1960s BATMAN TV series.) 

What makes MacDowell stand out is he's the first "Air Patrol" officer in Los Angeles--he has his own plane (which, perhaps not coincidentally, resembles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis). Jack is also the son of longtime patrolman Dan MacDowell (Ralph Lewis). Dan has just turned 65, which means he must retire, a situation he isn't happy about. Jack develops a relationship with Gwen O'Day (Dorothy Gulliver), the daughter of a rich jeweler. A number of jewel thefts have been traced back to the O'Day store, and both MacDowells get involved in the case, since Dan becomes a security guard at the store. The main culprit is Chandler (Nigel Barrie), O'Day's manager, and the MacDowells use their skills--and Jack's plane--to put an end to the crimes. 

The main reason I had any interest in THE SHIELD OF HONOR was due to the fact that Thelma Todd, in one of her first screen appearances, has a small role in it. The movie itself isn't anything spectacular, but it does what it was designed to do--be an entertaining (if predictable) adventure that also serves as kind of a advertisement for the Los Angeles police force. (The film opens with two different dedications to the policemen of America.) 

THE SHIELD OF HONOR was directed by one Emory Johnson, a former leading man for Universal who made a number of similar action-filled movies during his career. SHIELD moves along very well (it is only about an hour long), and while nothing really stands out about it from a cinematic point of view, it's a capable good guys vs. bad guys story that takes advantage of the then-current aviation craze due to Lindbergh's famous flight. 

Neil Hamilton makes a dashing hero--he looks quite good in his police uniform, and a present-day viewer can see why he was a leading man during the silent era. (Ironically, if a Batman movie had been made during the 1920s, Hamilton would have been an excellent choice to play the title role.) Ralph Lewis does what is expected with the "Despondent Middle-Aged Man Forced Into Retirement" part, while Dorothy Gulliver is a rather generic leading lady. 

Perhaps Gulliver would have made more of an impression if Thelma Todd wasn't in the production. Thelma plays Mr. O'Day's secretary, a young lady who also happens to be Chandler's girlfriend, and is involved in all his schemes. Todd gets a fantastic introduction--as Chandler and his gang are plotting their latest heist, Thelma is sitting off to the side, legs crossed, while languidly smoking a cigarette and looking as glamorous as possible. The camera tracks in on her, making sure the audience gets a good look. Thelma doesn't have much to do after that, but one has to assume that Emory Johnson realized how much screen presence this young actress had by making her the recipient of such a attention-getting moment. 

Thelma Todd's introduction in THE SHIELD OF HONOR

The Alpha Video presentation of THE SHIELD OF HONOR isn't very impressive--the print isn't in very good shape, even though it's watchable, and the music accompanying the film seems to have been cobbled together from about a half-dozen different sources. There are better looking versions of SHIELD one can find available to watch on the internet, but at least I got the Alpha DVD-R at a cheap price. It's a decent enough movie, notable mainly for Thelma Todd and its account of the future Commissioner Gordon's early police activities. 

THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS

 

My recent purchase of Criterion's Blu-ray set of director Richard Lester's THE THREE/FOUR MUSKETEERS inspired me to seek out this sequel, which I had never seen. THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS was made in 1988 by Lester, and it reunites most of the same cast, and it was even shot mostly in Spain, as were the first two films. 

If you were not aware that there was a later sequel to the Lester MUSKETEERS films, don't feel bad--when it was originally released in Europe in 1989, it didn't do much at the box office. In fact, it didn't even get a theatrical release in the United States--it made its American debut on the USA TV cable channel in 1991. 

Another reason the movie has faded into obscurity is due to the tragedy that happened during its filming. Actor Roy Kinnear, reprising his role as D'Artagnan's comic servant, fell off a horse during a sequence and died the next day. This event cast a pall over whatever reception the film might have gotten, and it was a major reason why Richard Lester never directed another feature film. It's hard to watch THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS without constantly thinking of Kinnear's untimely demise. (Kinnear still appears in the film, and in some sequences he is doubled by another actor who never shows his face--a very distracting process.) Christopher Lee, who returns in this film in his role as Rochefort, was even quoted as saying that it would have been better if the film had been shut down after Kinnear's accident. 

So, how is the film itself?? It's much better than I thought it would have been, but it isn't on the level of the first two of Lester's MUSKETEERS films. RETURN tries to recreate the dash & panache of the earlier entries, but there's a sense of something missing. It may have been that the main actors were a bit older--although, looking at it from a 21st Century perspective, they weren't really that old when this movie was made. Certainly Kinnear's death must have had a major effect on the production, but one gets the feeling that the final result wasn't what Lester and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser intended. 

The movie is well-made--the Spanish locations are very striking, and the production design and costumes are at the same level as the first two films. The film is based on Dumas' TWENTY YEARS AFTER, so it's not as if this was just a random attempt to squeeze more money out of a long-ago franchise (which is now standard operating procedure in today's cinema). A number of elements of Dumas' book are actually used in Fraser's screenplay. 

If RETURN has a major fault, it's that the fine line Lester and Fraser drew between high adventure and slapstick comedy in the first two films veers too much into humor in the sequel. There's a lot of background detail in RETURN concerning the political situation in France, and there's also a subplot dealing with Oliver Cromwell and the execution of England's King Charles I, but most of this will go over the heads of any viewers, since it is the comic elements that are emphasized. 

It is nice to see Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, and Frank Finlay reunited, and the four still have an easy chemistry with each other, although they almost never appear all together at any time in the film. Geraldine Chaplin returns as Queen Anne, and as mentioned Christopher Lee comes back as Rochefort (although the actor gets very little to do). Jean-Pierre Cassel, who played King Louis in the first two Musketeer films, gets a very silly cameo here as Cyrano de Bergerac (a cameo I believe the film would have been much better without). 

To compliment all the veterans in RETURN, there are two major roles for then-young actors C. Thomas Howell and Kim Cattrall. Howell plays Raoul, the adopted son of Oliver Reed's Athos. Cattrall gets the showiest role of all as Justine, the daughter of the diabolical Lady de Winter. Cattrall plays it to the hilt, and she winds up making the biggest impression. (I wonder if Lester was setting up Howell and Cattrall to be the stars of any later future Musketeer adventures.) 

Overall I would say that THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS is an above-average film, and it's certainly worth seeing for the cast alone. Like so many other sequels/remakes/reboots/reworkings, RETURN suffers from the "We've all seen this before and in a much better context" disease. If Lester had really tried to make a faithful adaptation of TWENTY YEARS AFTER--a story concerning the trials and tribulations of four old friends who now find they are past their prime, and the regrets and longings they have--that would have been something unique. (I'm thinking something along the lines of Lester's ROBIN AND MARIAN.) But it appears that the money men behind RETURN wanted something entertaining and lighthearted, basically more of the first two films. Roy Kinnear's on-set death has given THE RETURN OF THE MUSKETEERS an unsavory reputation, but I don't think it's a film that should be put on the shelf.