Category Archives: 1959

Verboten!
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1959/USA
Globe Enterprises
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Helmuth Strasser: Polystyrene Verboten![/box]

Here we have a gonzo vision of the American Occupation in Germany as only Samuel Fuller could have imagined it.

In the closing days of WWII, American Sgt. David Brent is wounded and trapped in some rubble.  He is rescued and nursed back to health by pretty Helga Schiller.  After the surrender, fraternization and many other things are “verboten” to the American occupying forces.  So David gets a discharge and is employed as a civilian by the American Military Government.  He and Helga marry.

It turns out that this part of Germany is infested by unrepentant Nazis.  Helga’s friend Bruno leads a guerrilla movement called the Werewolves that is bent on creating hatred and chaos and forcing the exit of the Americans.  David is eventually uncertain of where the now-pregnant Helga’s loyalties lie.

This is Fuller at his most lurid.  It is by far the most anti-German of the post-War films I have seen.  Studio Hollywood was mostly on a mission of reconstruction at the time.  The acting is not great but it is not boring for one instant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqawwouPF8o

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Imitation of Life
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Written by Eleanore Griffin and Allan Scott from a novel by Fannie Hurst
1959/USA
Universal International Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Sarah Jane: I’m someone else. I’m white… white… WHITE![/box]

For 50’s Technicolor eye-candy and glamor, this can’t be beat.  For substance, I’ll take the 1934 version.

Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) is a single-mother and struggling aspiring actress.  One day at the beach she loses track of her young daughter, Susie.  She is found playing with another little girl, Sarah Jane, under the boardwalk.  Lora and Sarah Jane’s mother, Annie (Juanita Moore) strike up a conversation.  Annie, also a single mother, is in desperate straights. Lora offers her what she has – food and a place to stay for mother and daughter.  In turn, she has a life-long friend and servant in Annie.  The day at the beach will be significant for Lora in another way.  She meets aspiring photographer Steve Archer (John Gavin).  He will be a constant in her life for years to come.

Lora’s ambition proves to be all-consuming and soon she is headed straight to the top. Her career takes precedence over her daughter, who grows up to be Sandra Dee, and romance.  Sarah Jane, who grows up to be Susan Kohner, enjoys the privilege she experiences in Lora’s household.  She finds she easily passes as white.  Annie is clearly black and repeatedly blows Sarah Jane’s cover, causing a rift and heartbreak for poor Annie.

Producer Ross Hunter and director Douglas Sirk pulled out all the stops in terms of lavish decor and stunning costumes and jewels for this film.  I was engrossed all the way though.

But I couldn’t help comparing the story to the 1934 version with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers.  In that film, Annie is more of a full partner in the household, having invented the pancake recipe that makes them all rich.  Sarah Jane is played by a light-skinned black actress and she wants a chance to utilize her intelligence rather than display her body.  The Lora-Susie-Steve triangle is also more nuanced and interesting.  If you have to choose only one of these films, I’d recommend the original.

Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore were nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars.

Trailer – color is pretty faded compared to DVD

John Paul Jones
Directed by John Farrow
Written by John Farrow and Jesse Lasky Jr. from a story by Clements Ripley
1959/Spain
Samuel Bronston Productions/Suevia Films P.C. S.A.
First viewing/YouTube

Captain Richard Pearson: Captain, are you surrendering? Do you ask for quarter?
John Paul Jones: No sir! I have not yet begun to fight!

Well, this proved to be an entirely forgettable biopic.

The film tells the story of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones (Robert Stack) from his humble origins in Scotland to his command at key battles and sojourns at the courts of Louis XV and Catherine the Great (Bette Davis).  There are a couple of frustrated romances thrown in for good measure.  We see Jones struggle as he is passed over constantly for more influential captains with better pedigrees.  With Charles Coburn as Benjamin Franklin and McDonald Carey as Patrick Henry.

Robert Stack just isn’t my idea of the heroic type and the picture sinks or swims on his stolid shoulders.

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Odds Against Tomorrow
Directed by Robert Wise
Written by Abraham Polonsky (fronted by John O. Killens) and Nelson Gidding from a novel by
William P. McGivern
1959/USA
HarBel Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Earl Slater: I’m off to make my fortune.

Lorry: Aah… what kind of a fortune?

Earl Slater: Just one of those… fortune fortunes.[/box]

I was thrilled to discover a really excellent film noir so late in the cycle.

Dave Burke (Ed Begley) was a 30-year police officer who left a trail of scandal behind him. He is currently living in a run-down apartment with his dog.  Dave has big dreams and is looking for the muscle and smarts to make them come true.  Unfortunately, he turns to a couple of guys who, while a bit younger, are also at the ends of the their respective ropes.

Earl Slater (Robert Ryan) is a violent ex-con.  He is trying to make a new life with Lorry (Shelley Winters).  The couple love each other deeply despite the differences in their ages. Lorry brings in enough money to support them both but Earl cannot be happy without money of his own.

Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) is a club singer but seems to spend most of his time at race tracks.  He is now $7,500 in debt to a bunch of gangsters.  On their last collection attempt he made the mistake of threatening them with a gun and their patience is at an end.  The situation is complicated by the fact that Earl is a raging bigot and Johnny is black.

Dave’s foolproof plan involves knocking over a bank at closing time.  It seems to be a cinch since the bank is occupied only by one elderly guard and a small group of middle-aged cashiers counting out money for pay packets.  We find out all the ways Dave’s plan can go wrong en route to an explosive ending.  With Gloria Grahame as a seductive neighbor.

I loved this one!  Ryan and Begley are fantastic in their parts.  The dialogue is spot on and Wise creates an atmosphere rich with decay and despair.  The heist is well done.  The only thing I can really fault is the ending which seemed a bit heavy-handed in terms of a “mutually assured destruction” message.  Still highly recommended.

Trailer

House on Haunted Hill
Directed by William Castle
Written by Robb White
1959/USA
William Castle Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Annabelle Loren: And you call this a party?

Frederick Loren: Could be.[/box]

I can’t believe I lived this long without seeing the quintessential Vincent Price performance! It was well worth waiting for.

Millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) offers seven strangers $10,000 apiece if they can stay until morning in a haunted house.  After midnight they will have no choice as they will be locked into the impregnable fortress.  He claims the “party” was his wife Annabelle’s idea, though she refuses to participate at first.  Before midnight, a number of shocking events have the guests ready to flee but they are not quick enough.

Then things get even spookier.  To add to the fun, Loring passes out guns to each of the participants for “self-defense”.  With Elijah Cook Jr. as the owner of the house.

This movie is 110% fun!  Price is at his snide, menacing best with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek at all times.  The scares are frightening enough to make a girl clutch her date’s hand but not enough that you’ll want to close your eyes.  The plot falls apart after about 30 seconds of scrutiny but we’re not watching for that, are we?  Recommended.

Trailer

Plan 9 from Outer Space
Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written by Edward D. Wood Jr.
1959/USA
Reynolds Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Colonel Tom Edwards: This is the most fantastic story I’ve ever heard.

Jeff Trent: And every word of it’s true, too.

Colonel Tom Edwards: That’s the fantastic part of it.[/box]

When the extremely weird meets the utterly inept, you have a classic, my friends.

Earthlings refuse to admit the existence of flying saucers so aliens are forced to resort to “Plan 9”. Plan 9 involves resurrecting the dead to attract our attention. Ultimately, our visitors aim to prevent our “juvenile minds” from destroying the universe. I think.

The ineptitude of this movie must be seen to be fully appreciated. It cannot be topped for chutzpah. For example, Bela Lugosi supposedly plays one of the zombie creatures. Inconveniently, he had died several years earlier. This did not deter Ed Wood. He simply combined footage taken of Lugosi with film of a much shorter, younger actor holding a cape across his face. Gravestones are obviously made of cardboard and shake when the actors walk by although how hard could it have been to film in an actual cemetary?

That said this was a lot of fun and don’t forget: “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRq80QNnJM

Classic clips

Return of the Fly
Directed by Edward Berends
Written by Edward Berends from the short story “The Fly”
1959/USA
Associated Producers
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] [first lines] Francois Delambre: [voice over] Here passes from this earth Helene Delambre, widow of my brother, Andre, whom I loved deeply, hopelessly. She was destroyed in the end by dreadful memories, a recollection of horrors that did not dim as the years went on, but instead grew monstrously, and left her mind shocked and unsteady, so that death, when it came, was a blessed release.[/box]

Along with the color, this sequel removes a certain oomph from the original.  It’s very watchable though.

Philippe, the son of star-crossed inventor Andre Delambre and his beloved wife Helene, is left an orphan at the beginning of the film.  Kindly uncle Francois (Vincent Price) takes him under his wing.   Not even the most doting uncle can keep the boy out of his father’s lab, however.  Fate has a double-whammy in store.

This is quite OK.  The effects are good but nowhere near as creepy in black-and-white.

Trailer

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Peter Bryan based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle
1959/UK
Hammer Films
First viewing/YouTube rental

[box] Sherlock Holmes: This is, I think, a two-pipe problem.[/box]

Peter Cushing gives my beloved Basil Rathbone a run for his money in the Sherlock Holmes department.

The plot is a spiced up version of the Arthur Conan Doyle story.  The movie starts in the distant past when a vicious dog gets revenge on the sadistic Sir Hugo Baskerville after he rapes and murders a servant girl.  Some believe that the Baskerville descendants are cursed to die in the same savage manner.

Centuries later, Sir Charles Baskerville apparently dies from either a heart condition or fright depending on the belief of the diagnostician.  His heir Sir Henry (Christopher Lee) comes to England from South Africa to claim his title.  It is immediately apparent that the nobleman’s life is in grave danger.  Who better to call on than Sherlock Holmes (Cushing)?

Hammer did a great job all-around with the gothic atmosphere in this one.  Cushing had Holmes’s intelligence and supercilious attitude nailed.  It was nice that the filmmakers did not choose to make Watson a comic relief character as in the Rathbone series.  This is a very strong issue in the Hammer catalogue.  Apparently, the public expected monsters with its gothic thrillers and Hammer stopped after its first Holmes title.

Trailer