THE DEATH KISS

 

A few weeks ago I took advantage of Kino's summer sale to purchase a few items. One of the Blu-rays I picked up was THE DEATH KISS, a 1932 murder mystery that has become a public domain staple. 

THE DEATH KISS has had a multitude of home video releases over the years, mainly due to the fact that it features three performers from Universal's 1931 DRACULA: Bela Lugosi, David Manners, and Edward Van Sloan. Despite this, THE DEATH KISS is not a horror film--its main novelty comes from the story being set in a minor Hollywood studio. 

The movie starts out with a very clever double twist. We see a well-dressed man exiting what appears to be a nightclub, and a sultry woman proceeds to walk up to him and give him a kiss. The man is then gunned down in a very early cinematic example of a drive-by shooting. It is revealed, however, that this is a scene being staged for a film....and then it is revealed that the actor really was shot and killed. 

This sequence is the best thing in the movie, and it also provides the reason for the title (the man in the scene was given "the death kiss"). The murdered actor is Myles Brent, who despite being the leading man of Tonart Studios has a very bad reputation. Screenwriter Franklyn Drew (David Manners) takes it upon himself to investigate the crime, even though he's hampered by a sarcastic police inspector (John Wray) and the studio manager (Bela Lugosi). 

THE DEATH KISS is what I would call a nifty little feature. There's nothing outstanding about it, but it does provide 70 minutes of decent entertainment, especially if you are an old movie geek. Seeing the behind the camera aspects of a 1930s production company is one major highlight (the story was shot at the Tiffany Studios). There's also the bonus of seeing David Manners, Lugosi, and Edward Van Sloan playing different types of characters. I've always found David Manners to be lightweight and annoying, but he comes off more personable in this picture, even though I have to agree with the police inspector that the screenwriter is a bit of a noisy pain in the neck. Edward Van Sloan plays film director Tom Avery. Usually in a movie that is about movies, directors are portrayed as cartoonish dictatorial types, but Van Sloan's Avery is shown as someone who is trying to get a job done (in more ways than one). The only major female role, that of Tonart Studios' main leading lady, is played by Adrienne Ames, whose character appears to have some sort of involvement with every man in the story. 

Bela Lugosi fans have always been disappointed in THE DEATH KISS, for he really doesn't get all that much to do in it. Bela is once again a red herring, but this time he doesn't even act all that suspicious. At least in this film Lugosi got to play a "normal" role, and he looks quite sharp wearing early 1930s-era suits. A number of misleading publicity stills (see below) were taken for this movie in which it appears that Bela is some sort of diabolical menace, which he assuredly is not. 

The mystery aspects of THE DEATH KISS are quite good, and the methods of murder are quite inventive. The movie can't be called an all-out thriller due to its excess of comedic scenes. There's a dopey studio cop (Vincent Barnett) who gets way too much screen time, and there's also the studio president (Alexander Carr) who constantly mangles the English language, and a prissy production assistant. The movie is enlivened with some brief color hand-tinting, which was restored for this Kino Blu-ray. The hand tinting is striking, but there's very little of it. 

THE DEATH KISS was the directorial debut of Edwin L. Marin, who went on to become a solid Hollywood filmmaker. Like most early 1930s pictures, the story zips along, and it's fun to see a studio from the inside, so to speak. (This movie continues a cliche that I've seen over and over again--whenever a film or TV show is set on a studio lot, we always see cowboys and chorus girls wandering around in the background. The next time you watch a show or movie with studio scenes, look out for this--you could play a drinking game with this cliche.) 

I wouldn't call this Kino Blu-ray of THE DEATH KISS a brilliant restoration, but it is better looking than the usual versions one sees of this film. If you can get over the fact that Bela Lugosi doesn't have anything major to do in it, you'll find that THE DEATH KISS is a nice example of entertaining low-budget 1930s movie making. 

Bela Lugosi and Adrienne Ames in a very misleading publicity still for THE DEATH KISS 

HORROR OF DRACULA On 35mm!

 

Last night I had the rare opportunity to see a 35mm Technicolor print of HORROR OF DRACULA in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The showing was part of the Chicago Film Society's "Technicolor Weekend" series, in which a number of classic features were shown in their original color prints--a unusual treat in today's digital age. 

A lady from the Chicago Film Society gave an introduction before the showing, and she explained that this print of HORROR OF DRACULA came from a private collector, who couldn't remember where it came from. It was the real deal--it opened with the Universal-International logo, and it was the full version of the movie, or at least the full American version of the film. 

The print had not been restored or remastered in any way--it had some scratches on it, and there were times when the focus wavered a bit, and it had some wear--but it was a glorious experience to see one of my favorite movies shown in this manner. 

One thing I noticed in particular was how deep and vivid the colors were. if you've seen HORROR OF DRACULA you know that the main titles are in red--and this was a very rich red. The settings and the costumes came off magnificently. The sound was very clear and direct--James Bernard's fabulous punctuation of a score came out wonderfully. 

Once again, this wasn't the version that the present-day Hammer is preparing to put out on home video soon. This was the 1958 HORROR OF DRACULA, shown to American audiences....and I can assure you, there was absolutely no blue tint!!!!

Now....I have to cover the audience reaction, which was notable, to say the least. 

First of all, the seating accommodation in the theater in which it was shown wasn't large, but nearly every seat was filled. I assumed there might be plenty of other Hammer fans in the audience....but as the movie was rolling along, there were plenty of snickers and laughs. There were even some laughs during the climax!

I certainly didn't expect people to worship this film, but some in the theater were laughing at it most of the time. I thought maybe a big-city audience made up of cineastes would put HORROR OF DRACULA in the proper context, but maybe I was expecting too much. (Michael Gough's performance as Arthur Holmwood really got blasted--the audience laughed at nearly everything he said and did.) 

And to top it off, I wore my Peter Cushing shirt to the event.....and no one acknowledged it. Maybe it was because I was also wearing a White Sox hat, or maybe I'm just weird to begin with--heck, I don't know. 

Even though the audience didn't react the way I thought it should, I don't regret driving all the way out to Chicago and dealing with tolls and bad traffic--when are you going to be able to see a Peter Cushing-Christopher Lee film in original 35mm Technicolor? Seeing HORROR OF DRACULA on the big screen in an actual theater was truly tremendous. 

THE MAN UPSTAIRS

 

The final film that I will be covering in Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION III Blu-ray set is THE MAN UPSTAIRS, a 1958 film released by British Lion. 

The entire story of THE MAN UPSTAIRS takes place in a dingy apartment building. The man of the title is played by Richard Attenborough, who one cold night goes out of his way to annoy nearly everyone else in the building he is staying at, causing one of the tenants to call the police. When the police arrive, the situation takes a turn for the worse. The mysterious man (who goes by the name of Wilson) barricades himself in his upstairs room, while various authorities and the other tenants debate how to deal with him.

One would expect THE MAN UPSTAIRS to be all about Attenborough's character and his problems, but he doesn't have as much screen time as one would think. Much of the story is devoted to how numerous officials react to the situation, and how the other tenants feel about Wilson in the context of their own lives. The other tenants are a bickering lot, and they become so annoying that one wonders if they are the ones who have driven Attenborough over the brink. 

The movie tries hard to create sympathy for Attenborough's character and his plight, but it doesn't give the viewer much to go on. Attenborough is edgy, nervy, and temperamental, and eventually we learn he was somehow involved in some sort of accident which caused the death of his fiancee's brother, but this incident isn't established enough. The result is that while watching this movie I kept thinking "Is someone finally going to go up there and deal with this guy??" (I kept expecting a flashback explaining what set off Attenborough, or at least one showing what his character was like when he was "normal", but it never comes.) 

The supporting cast does what they can with some very one-note roles. Bernard Lee is a tough police inspector who just wants to go up and end the situation once and for all (and I can't say I blame him), while Donald Houston is a welfare officer who bends over backward to try and help Attenborough. Patricia Jessel (from CITY OF THE DEAD) is the building's brash landlady, while Kenneth Griffith is a milquetoast tenant and a young Edward Judd plays a constable. 

THE MAN UPSTAIRS was directed by Don Chaffey, who is best known now for helming such colorful fantasy adventures as JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. Those movies are about as far away from THE MAN UPSTAIRS as you can get. THE MAN UPSTAIRS is in black & white, very talky, and very claustrophobic. Chaffey and cinematographer Gerald Gibbs do throw in a few unusual shots here and there, and the pace does go up a bit as the story goes along....but just when it seems things are coming to a boil we get another sequence where various people stand around and debate what to do. THE MAN UPSTAIRS might have been better if the focus was squarely on Attenborough and the viewer had more info and insight into his character. 

As in the other BRIT NOIR COLLECTION sets, the visual and audio quality in the third one is excellent. Once again new audio commentaries are provided for each film. In my opinion PAYROLL is the best movie in the third set......and yes, Kino has a BRIT NOIR COLLECTION IV set coming soon. 

If Hammer Films Had Made THE ODYSSEY

 

I know what you are thinking....."Hammer Films would have never had enough money to make a version of THE ODYSSEY!!!" Your thoughts are correct--they would have never even attempted such an epic and highbrow concept. 

But let's say that Hammer's 1965 version of SHE became a huge mainstream success, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, their partner in that production, decided that they wanted to use the British company to make even more ancient spectacles. So....MGM gives Hammer more money than they are used to working with, and they suggest an adaptation of Homer's classic tale. 

Let's imagine that the movie starts out with Peter Cushing as Homer, telling the story to a rapt audience. The film then fades into the main action, with Cushing's voice periodically narrating parts of the story and filling in gaps (such as describing scenes that Hammer didn't have the money or the wherewithal to shoot). 

The cast & crew of this non-existent spectacular is listed below. I know one thing--no matter how it would have turned out, it wouldn't have taken more than three hours of your time to watch it! 

MGM and Hammer Films Presents THE ODYSSEY 

Starring 

Stanley Baker as Odysseus

Oliver Reed as Telemachus

Barbara Shelley as Penelope

Ursula Andress as Helen of Troy

Christopher Lee as Agamemnon

Michael Gough as Antinous 

Michael Ripper as Eumaeus

Martine Beswicke as Athena

Hazel Court as Calypso

Francis Matthews as Menelaus

Andrew Keir as Eurylochus 

Milton Reid as the Cyclops

Richard Pasco, Patrick Troughton, Duncan Lamont, Marne Maitland and George Pastell as members of Odysseus' crew

With special guest star Barbara Steele as Circe and Peter Cushing as Homer 

Special Effects by Ray Harryhausen 

Music by Bernard Herrmann

Screenplay by Richard Matheson 

Produced by Michael Carreras and Anthony Nelson Keys

Directed by Don Chaffey 

THE ODYSSEY

 

I realize that this movie is the major trending topic right now, but personally I wasn't impressed with it. Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's ancient epic is a lumbering, dreary affair that has a murky, overcast look to it. 

Nolan tries to make the story "realistic", which results in a lot of awkward dialogue and awkward performances. None of the main actors seem comfortable with what they are doing--things might have worked better if Nolan used a cast of unknowns, but if he did he wouldn't have gotten the clickbait he received from the trendy people he did use. 

There's a lot of flashbacks and flash-forwards in THE ODYSSEY, which is a Nolan staple, but here it just seems to drag things out more. As with all of Nolan's work, there's a remoteness and coldness here that prevents a viewer from being all that engaged with what is going on. 

Plenty of folks are absolutely gushing over this film, so what do I know? For whatever reason, I just wasn't able to get into it. If someone had given Mario Bava about $200,000, a cast of European cult actors, and about 90 minutes of screen time, and told him to do a version of THE ODYSSEY, he no doubt would have a much more entertaining--and much more interesting--film. 

THE MAVERICK QUEEN On Blu-ray From Kino

 

This is a 1956 Republic Western that I had never seen, despite the fact that it stars one of my favorites, Barbara Stanwyck. 

Stanwyck plays the title role, a hard-edged woman named Kit Banion. Kit has managed to make herself a bigwig in the Wyoming town she resides in, mostly due to her association with Butch Cassidy (Howard Petrie) and the Sundance Kid (Scott Brady). A drifter named Jeff (Barry Sullivan) rides into town, convincing Kit he's one of the Younger gang....but he's actually an undercover Pinkerton agent who is trying to infiltrate the Wild Bunch. Kit starts to fall for Jeff, but he has an interest in local cattle rancher Lucy (Mary Murphy). 

THE MAVERICK QUEEN was based on a Zane Grey novel, but its most notable quality is that it was shot on some spectacular locations in Colorado. There's some stunning scenery here, all rendered in a widescreen process that Republic called "Naturama" and a technique the studio referred to as "Trucolor". Director Joe Kane makes great use of the outdoor locations, and the result is one of the best looking Westerns of the 1950s. 

The story is rather predictable--Stanwyck had already played a number of roles just like Kit, and there isn't much surprise in how the ending comes out (especially considering that Mary Murphy, who gets as much screen time as Stanwyck, is the "Good Girl" equivalent to Kit). The main notable aspect of the plot is that it involves Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, over a decade before their famous big-screen portrayals by Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Here Butch and Sundance are about as far away from Newman and Redford as you can get. Howard Petrie and Scott Brady are scruffy, ornery, and violent....and in this movie they are most assuredly not good buddies. 

Like most Westerns of the 1950s, THE MAVERICK QUEEN has plenty of recognizable actors, such as Jim Davis, Wallace Ford, and John Doucette. Mary Murphy is very good as the spunky Lucy, and of course it's a treat to watch Barbara Stanwyck in anything. Barry Sullivan may not be most people's choice as a formidable Western hero, but he and Stanwyck work well together (the two would reunite in Sam Fuller's FORTY GUNS). Being that this is a Republic film, the stunt work is as excellent as expected. 

Kino's presentation of THE MAVERICK QUEEN on this Blu-ray is simply astounding. The movie is shown in the 2.35;1 aspect ratio, and the colorful transfer looks gorgeous. Other than some trailers for some similar films, the only extra is a new audio commentary by Dwayne Epstein, a somewhat ragged talk in which he spends most of the time reciting personal details about many of those involved in the production. 

THE MAVERICK QUEEN isn't what I would call a game-changing Western, but it is an entertaining one, and it is one of the best-looking 1950s movies I've seen on Blu-ray. 

NOWHERE TO GO

 

It's back to Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION III Blu-ray set, with NOWHERE TO GO, a 1958 Man-On-The-Run story from Ealing Studios. 

The movie opens with an impressive sequence detailing a man breaking into a prison to break another man out. The escapee is Paul Gregory (George Nader) a Canadian who conned an older woman out of her rare coin collection. Gregory sold the coins, then put the money in a safe deposit box, while allowing the law to put him away. Gregory's overall goal is to get out of prison, get the money, and get out of England--but of course, things don't go as planned, as the felon gets himself into more and more trouble. 

NOWHERE TO GO reminded me of the 1950s low budget crime stories made by Hammer Films, mainly due to the fact that it has an underwhelming American-born leading man trying to get out of a desperate situation. The director of NOWHERE TO GO, Seth Holt, would even go on to work for Hammer a number of times. This was Holt's feature film directorial debut (he had mostly worked as an editor), and he brings plenty of style and panache to a very simple tale. Holt probably felt he had to do this, because George Nader shows no charisma, or even likability, as Gregory. If the story had Gregory set up for the crime, or a victim of mitigating circumstances, the viewer might have had more sympathy for his plight, but he's a criminal through and through, and he doesn't seem a very bright one at that. 

This film's supporting cast has several notable names, such as Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Lionel Jeffries, Andree Melly (THE BRIDES OF DRACULA), and Howard Marion-Crawford (Dr. Petrie in the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu series). Silent film star Bessie Love plays the woman fleeced by Gregory in the beginning of the story, and Maggie Smith gets her first major film role as an upper-class young woman who tries to help Gregory (her character readily admits to having a thing for hard cases). 

NOWHERE TO GO is a very apt title, because with such a dour personality as George Nader in the lead, the movie literally has nowhere to go. It is Seth Holt's direction and the supporting cast that makes NOWHERE TO GO notable.