CREATURE OF THE KNIGHT!!!

The Fleapit sends its congratulations to Christopher Lee who was honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours with a Knighthood. Sir Christopher (as he will soon be) has been a familiar part of any film fan's life for many years, from his early supporting roles in British Films to his classic starring roles in many Hammer Horror films such as DRACULA, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY and on to a succession of memorable appearances in the STAR WARS saga, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy etc. I have been lucky enough to meet Sir Christopher on at least five occasions once was privileged, along with fellow fan Gary Parfitt, to be a guest for the evening at his then flat in London's Cadogan Square (where his neighbour was Boris Karloff) and on the sets of such films as THE OBLONG BOX and SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN. I always found him friendly and happy to talk about his films, if somewhat aloof. Few actors today have appeared in such a wide range of films and the Knighthood is more than deserved. Arise, Sir Dracula!

Farewell Grasshopper....peace be with you.

DAVID CARRADINE
1936 - 2000

" Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced. "

Master Kan : KUNG FU television series 1972

DRUMS OF JEOPARDY (1931)

From the title I expected a voodoo thriller.....but I'm still not sure what I got! The film's open ing scenes inroduce Dr. Boris Karlov (I kid you not) in what seems like a standard early thirties mad scientist thriller, then the film brings on a plot about a cursed necklace (known as The Drums of Jeopardy) and just as you think you are going to settle down to a nice horror film the production does an about face and becomes a sort of spy thriller with bolshevik agents in New York trying to kill Russian aristrocrats. You are just beginning to accept this when the film becomes an Old Dark House thriller, a serial (hero and heroine trapped in a chamber filling with water) and ends with a police siege and shootout that wouldn't disgrace a Warner's gangster epic. Director George B. Seitz keeps things bubbling along at a fair pace so there is little chance to get bored.Cast are adequate with Warner Oland stand out as mad Dr.Boris Karlov. Rating ***

THE MONSTER (1925)

Roland West was a technically inspired director working during the silent era and in the early days of sound. Most of his films are lost but luckily his three most famous films, THE MONSTER, THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS, the ones his reputation rests on are all preserved. Thanks to my good friend Cerpts I finally get to see THE MONSTER starring the great Lon Chaney. Lon plays mad surgeon Dr.Ziska who takes over the lunatic asylum where he has been incarcerated and kidnaps travelers to try a little cross gender soul transference. It's all nonsensense and knows it. West is playing it for laughs and keeps the pace rattling along - helped by not having to insert the usual dreadful comedy relief that bogs down most old dark house films. West's comedy comes from his three talented "victims" - Johnny Arthur, Gertrude Olmstead and Hallam Cooley - who play it for all its worth without becoming irritating. Chaney is terrific as the mad doctor - bearing a strange physical resemblance to some of the mad doctors later played by Karloff with the likeness being quite startling at times. The film is continually inventive with some great stuntwork and some engaging slapstick. The disc also contained an interesting documentary from the TV series THE FEARMAKERS that discusses director West's contribution to the horror genre and his involvement as a suspect in the possible murder of his lover, the actress Thelma Todd. Rating ****

PRINCE OF JUTLAND (1994)

Back in the early 1960's one of my favourite historical novelists, Henry Treece, wrote a wonderful novel called The Green Man which told the tale of Hamlet based on the old legend rather than the Shakespeare version. I always thought that would have made a good film so when I heard of the existence of this film which takes its plot from the Saxo Grammaticus version of the Hamlet story, I couldn't wait to see it. It receives several rave reviews on the IMDb but, sadly, it didn't work for me. Given that the film stars Christian Bale, Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Cox and Tom Wilkinson, one would be forgiven if for doubting my judgement but for me the film fails on several levels. The acting is simply dull with the more than impressive line up of talent going through the motions with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.The direction by Gabriel Axel is poor and the dialogue banal in the extreme. Overall the film totally lacks the real passion that the story cries out for. Instead it gets all the conviction of an amatuer dramatics production. Dull, dull, dull. Rating *

THE WILD ANGELS (1966)

It is hard to believe that both Roger Corman's THE WILD ANGELS and THE TRIP were banned in England and back in 1967 I had to join Derek Hill's cinema club to see them. As a Corman devotee at the time who thought the great man could do no wrong I kind of liked them. Seen today they are both not only not very good but a bit embarassing. Like many films that were considered "hip" at the time they have not aged well. This even applies to EASY RIDER and that film is a couple of notches above THE WILD ANGELS. The plot is virtually non-existent. A gang of motorcycle freaks set out to bury one of their kind who was killed during a pursuit by the cops. They break up the church and their leader realises that their way of life is pointless. And that's about it. If you are a Corman fan there are a few things that just about make it watchable....Dick Miller as an oilman, watching Bruce Dern steal the films as a a strangely flexible corpse, Frank Maxwell as the preacher and if you look closely at the climax of the film you might spot a very young Peter Bogdanovich as one of the townsfolk (the only one with dialogue) and another performance by my favourite, Barboura Morris (Corman's regular innocent bystander) - remember her lovely bit with Fonda in the launderette in THE TRIP? It ain't a patch on Laslo Benedek's THE WILD ONE with Brando and Lee Marvin strutting their stuff through similar territory twelve years earlier. Rating **

Jane Randolph dies in Switzland.

Just learned of the death of pretty and talented Jane Randopph who starred in Val Lewton's classic chillers CAT PEOPLE (1942) and CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944) as well as two excellent film noir for Anthony Mann, RAIL ROADED and T-MEN (both 1947). Jane retired from the screen after appearing in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1947) and moved to Europe with her Spanish husband.

Jane Randolph 1915 - 2009
R.I.P