THE RINGER (1952)

 

For the last few years, I've been writing plenty of posts on German Krimi films based on the writings of British author Edgar Wallace. Here's a Wallace movie adaptation that was actually made in England. It is THE RINGER, made in 1952, and included in Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION I set. 

THE RINGER is one of Edgar Wallace's most famous works. First written in novel form, the story was later adapted into a successful play, and it was made into a film several times. In this version "The Ringer" is Henry Milton, a notorious vigilante who supposedly fled to Australia and died there. The Ringer comes back into the news when it is rumored that he is threatening corrupt lawyer Maurice Meister (Herbert Lom). The Ringer's sister worked for Meister before apparently committing suicide. Scotland Yard tries to protect Meister, but no one knows what the Ringer looks like, not even his wife, who hasn't seen her husband in years. Plenty of suspects crop up, but it's the threat of the Ringer that causes more consternation than the man himself. 

Once again I need to point out that even though this movie appears in a Blu-ray set labeled "Noir', there isn't really all that much connected to that genre showing up in the feature. The 1952 THE RINGER has a lighthearted air about it, and most of the film takes place inside Meister's upscale house--there's no mean rain-slicked streets here. The movie offers up a number of enjoyably broad performances by the likes of Donald Wolfit (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE), William Hartnell (the very first actor to play Doctor Who), and Greta Gynt as The Ringer's acerbic, glamorous wife. (Gynt had already starred in another famous Edgar Wallace movie adaptation: THE HUMAN MONSTER, with Bela Lugosi.) The cast also features a very young Denholm Elliott and Mai Zetterling. 

Earlier this year I had viewed DER HEXXER, the 1964 German Krimi version of THE RINGER, so I was familiar with most of the aspects of the plot....but the 1952 version still provided some surprises. This film is dialogue-heavy, and it does betray its stage origins, but director Guy Hamilton (whose debut film this was) keeps things barreling along almost like a screwball comedy. THE RINGER is a very different product from the 1960s German Krimis, but it's very entertaining in its own right. 

As for the entire BRIT NOIR COLLECTION I, I would call it very impressive overall. I had never seen the three films included in it, and although one can debate whether or not they are truly "noir", all the movies are very well made, and they look outstanding for their age. (All three are in black & white, and the only one in widescreen is THE FRIGHTENED CITY, with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.) Each film in this set has a brand new audio commentary (I have not yet been able to listen to any of them yet). I would rate THE FRIGHTENED CITY the best movie in the set, with THE RINGER just behind, and the heavy-handed CAGE OF GOLD in the tail position. 

Kino might be taking advantage of the popularity of the "noir" label to package a random set of British crime dramas, but these are movies very few Americans know about, let alone have seen, and any company giving rare films a home video debut is a plus. Kino has two more Brit Noir Collections coming out this year, and I'm already planning on purchasing them. 

CAGE OF GOLD

 

CAGE OF GOLD is one of the three films contained in Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION I Blu-ray set. It is a 1950 film from Ealing Studios that is more of a soap opera-style melodrama than what I would call a true noir. 

Set in post-WWII London, the story concerns young Judith (Jean Simmons), who one day encounters former flame Bill Glennan (David Farrar). During the war Judith's family lived near an RAF base, and she had a huge crush on Glennan, who was a fighter pilot. Glennan once again sweeps Judith off her feet, causing her to reject her decent, upstanding doctor boyfriend Alan (James Donald). Judith gets pregnant, and she and Bill marry.....but he leaves her on their wedding night, and later Judith receives word that Bill has died in a plane crash. Judith marries Alan, and they raise her child with Bill as their own.....but Bill is still alive, and he returns to London to harass and blackmail the family. 

CAGE OF GOLD is one of those "Good woman gets involved with a bad relationship" stories that has some very predictable aspects to it. The movie is well-acted, and it is directed by the very capable Basil Dearden, but it lacks a certain spark that would make it very memorable. The main issue for me was David Farrar. He's not bad in the role of Bill, but the character is supposed to be a cad and a bounder who causes all women he meets to throw all caution to the winds, and Farrar seems too stolid and plain to be a conniving bad-boy and untrustworthy ladies man. 

A large amount of the running time of this picture involves Bill's shady doings in a Parisian nightclub (the establishment's name provides the film's title), with Madeleine Lebeau (CASABLANCA) as a nightclub singer who is another of Bill's conquests, and Herbert Lom as the mysterious fellow who runs the place. Lom gives off plenty of Peter Lorre-type vibes in his too-small role, but the nightclub scenes seem just a diversion from Jean Simmons' situation. 

The ending of this film wraps things up way too neatly, but the climax at least has Bernard Lee as a stalwart police inspector. One can't help but feel that if CAGE OF GOLD were made by Americans, the movie would have had more excitement to it. If this movie qualifies as a noir, it is a very mild-mannered, very British example of the genre. 

THE FRIGHTENED CITY

 

Kino Lorber has just released the BRIT NOIR COLLECTION I, a two-disc set containing a trio of British crime thrillers made in the 50s and 60s. The movie I chose to view first was THE FRIGHTENED CITY, a 1961 mob tale starring a pre-Bond Sean Connery. 

The plot of THE FRIGHTENED CITY revolves around corrupt accountant Waldo Zhernikov (Herbert Lom), who comes up with the idea to convince the leaders of six different London criminal gangs to merge all of their protection rackets. To help make sure the blackmail money is collected properly, petty thief Paddy Damion (Sean Connery) is hired, due to the fact that he is tough, but smart. Zhernikov and his shady associates start to rake in the dough, but the accountant gets even more ambitious. Zhernikov uses one of the crime bosses (played by Alfred Marks) to partake in a scheme to put the squeeze on some of London's major companies, which causes consternation among the other mob leaders. The scheme also causes Paddy to question whether his activities are worth doing. 

THE FRIGHTENED CITY is a movie I was not aware of, even though I'm a big Sean Connery fan. It's a decent crime story, with efficient black & white photography by Desmond Dickinson and a jazzy music score by Norrie Paramor (the movie's main theme was successfully covered by The Shadows). The film doesn't have as much action as one would think, and what action there is has a ragged feel to it. This factor does make the story come off as more realistic, even though despite the title, the viewer doesn't believe that London is in a panic mode. (If the production had more of a budget, no doubt we would have seen more criminal violence.) 

I have no idea whether James Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman saw THE FRIGHTENED CITY, but the movie is a great showcase for the talents of a pre-007 Sean Connery. Connery's Paddy isn't a swaggering, brutish enforcer.....he has a quiet self-assurance while still maintaining a "Don't mess with me" vibe. Paddy isn't so much an out-and-out criminal as he is an anti-hero. Paddy also has a belief in "honor among thieves", and his experiences with Zhernikov make him realize that he's working for the wrong people. Paddy also develops a relationship with Zhernikov's nightclub singer mistress (Yvonne Monlaur). As always Monlaur looks stunning, and she and Connery project some major heat together. 

Connery is actually billed behind Herbert Lom and John Gregson, who plays the world-weary Inspector Sayers, a police official determined to find who is behind the city-wide protection scheme. Despite his billing Lom doesn't have all that much screen time--his Zhernikov is a clever (and shady) upper-class type who would rather control things behind the scenes instead of being upfront and getting his hands dirty. Like just about every British film made in the 50s and 60s, THE FRIGHTENED CITY has a fine supporting cast, with the likes of Alfred Marks, George Pastell, and Kenneth Griffiths. 

John Lemont co-wrote and directed THE FRIGHTENED CITY, which may shock some people, since Lemont is probably best known today for making KONGA! Despite the low budget Lemont keeps THE FRIGHTENED CITY rolling along, and he knows enough to keep the focus on Sean Connery. I wouldn't call this movie a hard-boiled noir, but it is an effective and entertaining crime story that proves even before he became James Bond Sean Connery could carry a feature. 

I plan on writing blog posts on the other two films included in this set. Kino also has two other Brit Noir Collections set for release this year. Whether all the movies that will be in them actually qualify as "noir" is debatable, but at least Kino is releasing a number of titles that most Americans (such as myself) have not been exposed to. 

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT

 

I'm currently reading BEASTS IN THE CELLAR: THE EXPLOITATION FILM CAREER OF TONY TENSER, written by John Hamilton. The book takes a deep, insightful dive into the movies produced by British showman-impresario Tony Tenser. Tenser made a number of provocative genre films during the 1960s-early 70s that are now regarded as cult classics. Tenser wasn't interested in gaining critical plaudits or mainstream respect--his specialty was making movies that got attention and drew audiences. 

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT (1964) was one of the films Tenser made in partnership with Michael Klinger for their Compton production company. The story--five sailors and one passenger looking for excitement during a night in London while their ship is docked there--has all sorts of exploitative possibilities, but the movie looks quite tame today. The London presented in SATURDAY NIGHT OUT is a black & white, dreary, unfriendly, working-class place, and none of the men on shore leave experience what they expect (except for one of the sailors who literally has a girl in every port, and who happens to spend the entire night with her in bed). The intertwined stories of the men have an air of sadness, loneliness, and frustration about them--there's no sense of a mod Swinging London here. 

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT is actually more notable for its cast than anything else. The various ladies that the men meet in the film are played by such actresses as Heather Sears (from Hammer's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), Erika Remberg (CIRCUS OF HORRORS), Francesca Annis (Polanski's MACBETH), Vera Day (QUATERMASS II), Toni Gilpin (THE GORGON), and Margaret Nolan (GOLDFINGER). Martine Beswicke is in this film too, even though you barely get a glimpse of her, and on the male side there's Bernard Lee (the original "M" of the James Bond films) and Nigel Green (ZULU). The pop group The Searchers also show up to perform a couple of numbers, although their appearance seems forced into the proceedings. 

The women who get the most screen time are Heather Sears as a kooky chatterbox who falls for one of the sailors, and Francesca Annis (who I'll always think of as Agatha Christie's Tuppence in the British PARTNERS IN CRIME TV series) as a vulnerable orphan who forms a bond with the youngest and most innocent of the men on leave. 

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT was directed by Robert Hartford-Davies, who at times tries to bring a documentary-like tone to the various happenings. The movie was written by brothers Donald and Derek Ford, and they and Hartford-Davies would work with Tony Tenser numerous times. According to John Hamilton, the movie didn't make as much of a splash as Compton's other "slice of life" melodramas, and one can understand why after viewing it. None of the characters are particularly interesting or charismatic, and the men on leave seem far too willing to walk right into trouble (or just too naive to begin with). SATURDAY NIGHT OUT is very much a product of its time, but it does rate attention from film geeks and fans of 1960s British genre cinema. 

A Few Words About Joseph Cotten

 

Last weekend I wrote a blog post about the Euro Western WHITE COMANCHE, in which Joseph Cotten received top billing in the credits. It got me thinking about the films that Cotten appeared in over his long acting career--a list of movies that defines the word "eclectic". 

Consider this group of films that Cotten starred in: 

CITIZEN KANE (Directed by Orson Welles)                                                                                

GASLIGHT (Directed by George Cukor)

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (Directed by Alfred Hitchcock) 

DUEL IN THE SUN (Produced by David O. Selznick) 

THE THIRD MAN (Directed by Carol Reed) 

In this collection of movies Cotten worked with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers of all time. Now consider this list: 

THE HELLBENDERS (Directed by Sergio Corbucci)

LATITUDE ZERO (Directed by Ishiro Honda)

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (Directed by Robert Fuest)

LADY FRANKENSTEIN (Directed by Mel Welles)

BARON BLOOD (Directed by Mario Bava) 

The second list is a collection filled by either all-time cult directors or all-time cult movies.....and I'd venture to say that some film geeks (like myself) might be more impressed with the second list rather than the first. 

Just think about the names of the directors on these lists. If you had tried to work with all these various men on purpose, you probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off. I'm sure Mr. Cotten would have been more inclined to have not worked on most of the movies of the second list, but to be able to have worked with all these filmmakers is an impressive feat. 

Consider also that Cotten appeared in AIRPORT '77 and HEAVEN'S GATE, and he had several television credits as well....he even showed up on an episode of THE LOVE BOAT. There's no doubt that monetary decisions played a part in a lot of Cotten's acting roles in the 60s and 70s....actors have bills to pay just like anyone else. 

However you look at it, Joseph Cotten had an incredible filmography.....although I have a feeling he might have described it in another way. 

WHITE COMANCHE

 

WHITE COMANCHE is a 1967 Euro Western starring--of all people--William Shatner, who made the film during a break in his STAR TREK schedule. What's more, Shatner plays twin brothers, sons of an American father and a Comanche mother. Johnny Moon is a decent man who has chosen to live in the white world, while his brother Notah is a murdering renegade. 

Shatner was one of the many 1960s American male actors who traveled to Europe hoping to emulate Clint Eastwood's success with Spaghetti Westerns. If Shatner thought his time on the plains of Spain would give him some big-screen clout, he was sadly mistaken. 

Johnny Moon is constantly being mistaken for his brother Notah, and constantly blamed for the latter's crimes. This is such a problem that one wonders why Johnny just doesn't go ahead and kill Notah when they confront each other at the beginning of the film (of course if he did, the movie would be only five minutes long). Instead Johnny challenges Notah to meet him in the nearby town of Rio Hondo in a few days. Until then Notah continues his depredations, while Johnny gains the trust of Rio Hondo's Sheriff Logan (Joseph Cotten). 

The situation of William Shatner playing twin brothers, with one of them in Native American garb, calls to mind the STAR TREK episodes "The Enemy Within" (where a transporter malfunction creates a good Kirk and a bad one) and "The Paradise Syndrome", in which the Captain loses his memory on an unexplored planet and is assimilated into an indigenous tribe. Shatner does quite well as the tight-lipped Johnny. He's proficient in the action sequences and he rides a horse very well (which will be no surprise to anyone who knows about the actor's personal hobbies). When it comes to the role of Notah, Shatner just can't cut it. Notah is a peyote taking, crazed savage, and the whiter-than-white clean-cut Shatner looks ridiculous trying to emulate him. (It's easy to tell the brothers apart--Johnny wears a shirt, while Notah doesn't.) 

The lackluster production didn't do Shatner any favors. The movie has a cheap feel to it, with choppy editing, strange camera setups, and mediocre music. The version I watched of this film had an English-language soundtrack, and while Shatner and Joseph Cotten provided their own voices, the rest of the cast sounds flat (and it doesn't help that at times the sound of gun shots are not properly aligned with weapons being fired in the scenes). You can't really call WHITE COMANCHE a true Spaghetti Western, since it was a Spanish-American production, with a Spanish director named Jose Briz Mendez, who is credited as Gilbert Lee Kay in the main titles. One of the producers of the film was Sam White, who was the brother of long-time Three Stooges associate Jules White. 

Rosanna Yanni, an actress who would later work with the likes of Paul Naschy and Jess Franco, plays saloon girl Kelly, who is raped by Notah and later falls in love with Johnny. Yanni has screen presence but it's a bit of a stretch to think her character would have feelings for the identical twin of the man who viciously assaulted her. Joseph Cotten doesn't have much to do as Sheriff Logan, even though he gets top billing above even Shatner. No one else in the cast particularly stands out. 

Much of the plot seems an excuse just to kill time before the final confrontation between Johnny and Notah--a confrontation that winds up being very underwhelming. William Shatner probably assumed that getting a dual role in a European Western would give him a chance to show off his acting chops, but it didn't do much for his career. (I've been an original STAR TREK fan for most of my life, and I barely knew anything about this movie, and hadn't even seen it.) For those who enjoy the camp aspects of William Shatner's performances, WHITE COMANCHE might be of interest, but overall it's a below average Euro Western that might have had a lower budget than the average STAR TREK episode. 

HATE FOR HATE

 

This is a 1967 Euro Western that I was not aware of (its original title is ODIO PER ODIO). It turned up on Turner Classic Movies earlier this week. 

The movie stars Antonio Sabato as Miguel, a poor Mexican prospector who is trying to raise enough money to move to New York and become an artist, and John Ireland as James Cooper, a bandit who is hoping that after one last robbery he can go back to his wife and daughter, who he has not seen in years. Circumstances bring Miguel and Cooper together--the bank that Cooper and his backstabbing partner Moxon (Mirko Ellis) broke into happened to hold Miguel's life savings. After some misunderstandings, the duo join forces to go after Moxon and his gang. 

Despite its title, HATE FOR HATE has a jaunty air about it at times. The charismatic Miguel always has a big grin on his face, and John Ireland lacks the intensity that most vengeance-obsessed Spaghetti Western protagonists have. The pairing of a cocky youngster and a middle-aged gunman is a common one in Euro Westerns, and the element of Cooper's wife and daughter adds some drama, although the situation isn't explored properly. 

HATE FOR HATE is a decent enough production, but there isn't much in it to make it stand out. There is a brief shootout in a rainstorm, and Cooper happens to be dying of malaria that he contracted while in prison, but the movie overall lacks style and energy. Spaghetti Western veteran Fernando Sancho makes an appearance, and honestly he would have made a much better main villain than Mirko Ellis. 

One Domenico Paolella directed this film, and among the multiple screenwriters are such Euro Cult names as Fernando Di Leo and Bruno Corbucci. The best thing about HATE FOR HATE is the engaging lead performance by Antonio Sabato.