Daily Archives: March 26, 2016

Swamp Women
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by David Stern
1956/USA
Bernard Woolner Productions
First viewing/YouTube

Billie: [digging for diamonds] Ouch! I busted the only nail I had left!

If you are interested in a very bad movie, women in short-shorts, cat fights, and a few smiles, this one is for you.

After what seems like five or ten minutes of stock footage of the New Orleans mardi gras, we are introduced to an oil man (Treat (AKA Mike) Connors) and the gold digger who is after his money.  The couple decide to make off to the swamp where he wants to check out an oil prospect.  Then we get to the main story.  A police woman is on the trail of a fortune in diamonds.  She is convinced that some female convicts know where the loot is stashed and gets herself locked up with them.  She helps them escape and they lead her to that self-same swamp.  The girls capture the oil man and his girlfriend as hostages.  They spend the rest of the film fussing, fighting, coming on to the stud muffin, and confronting the elements.  With poor Marie Windsor and Beverly Garland as swamp women.

This has the advantage of being only 67 minutes long and does not overstay its welcome. Mainly interesting for an early look at Roger Corman’s money saving film techniques.  The acting is not as bad as it could have been thanks largely to Windsor.  What in the hell was she thinking?  Probably about the pay check.

Trailer

Crazed Fruit (Kurutta kajitsu)
Directed by Kô Nakahira
Written by Shintarô Ishihara
1956/Japan
Nikkatsu Film Company
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “Don’t let two men fall in love with you, girls. It’s not the sort of thing that ends well.” — Ally Carter, Uncommon Criminals[/box]

If this movie did not predate the movement, it could have been the inspiration for the French New Wave.  It surely inspired the next generation of Japanese filmmakers.

Natsuhisa and Haruji Takishima are brothers.  They are members of the “taiyouzoku” (Sun Tribe), affluent twenty-something slackers that spend most of their time at beach resorts, playing in the water, catching a few rays, and chasing women.  The older brother Natsuhisa is a playboy.  Haruji is still an idealist and a virgin.  Haruji spots a young woman, Eki, at the train station and is immediately taken with her beauty and body.

When the two brothers run into her again, Haruji and Eki begin dating.  Haruji takes her to a party where he wins a contest to bring the most beautiful three girls with just one woman.  Natsuhisa finds out that Eki is married to a foreigner and, discovering that she actually cares for Haruji, blackmails her into sex.  The rest of the film takes the sibling rivalry to its natural conclusion.

This movie seems very modern and almost European.  It looks stunning.  The scene at the end with the speed boat circling a sail boat is unforgettable.  The commentary said it was like Blackboard Jungle for the Japanese, in that it appealed to the aspirations of teenagers.  The score is fantastic.  I liked this a lot.  Recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6RnpTkOh8c

Trailer