The Intruder (Shame)

 (1962)
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Charles Beaumont
Starring William Shatner, Frank Maxwell, Jeanne Cooper, Robert Emhardt, Leo Gordon
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Roger Corman is recognized as one of the kings of schlock horror of the 50s and 60s. But he occasionally got away from directing it to try something a bit more serious. The Intruder (also known as Shame) was a surprisingly strong dramatic film about a serious issue.

Adam Cramer (William Shatner) arrives in the southern town of Caxton, clearly with something on his mind more than visiting. Desegregation is now the law of the land, and most of the residents aren't happy about it, but are willing to go along with the war. Cramer is charming, and starts to go about changing everyone's mind. People start to get violent against the Blacks in the community and with people like Tom McDaniel, the local newspaper editor, who tried to help out. Vern Shipman (Robert Emhardt), one of the town's wealthiest men, support Cramer, even as the hatred becomes more violent. Cramer seduces the wife of a neighbor, Sam Griffin (Leo Gordon); he confronts Cramer and threatens him with Cramer's own gun, showing the man to be all talk but cowardly underneath. Still, things get even more tense when a high school girl, under Cramer's urging, falsely charges a Black student with attempted rape.

The movie is uncomfortable to watch, since it doesn't shy away from using racist terms and ugly mob scenes and violence. But it is a strong condemnation of racism in the darkest terms.

Shatner is excellent. He hadn't developed the mannerisms that are now his trademark and his Cramer is charming on the surface but ruthless in trying to achieve his goal of spreading hate. Robert Emhardt also does a good job and showing his character's racism, but in such a way that once he learns the truth, he is willing to admit he took it too far.

In the cast were several writers. Charles Beaumont, who wrote the script and the novel it was based on, has a small role. He, George Clayton Johnson, and William F. Nolan* were writers for The Twilight Zone; these are their only screen appearances.

This was clearly meant to be a strong stand against racism, but wasn't a big hit a

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* Nolan was a friend of Ray Bradbury and co-author (with Johnson) of Logan's Run. One of my favorite short story collections was one of his, with the charming "One Love Have I," one of the most romantic SF stories every written.

Lady of Burlesque

 

(1943)
Directed by William Wellman
Written by James Gunn, based upon a novel by Gypsy Rose Lee
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea, J. Edward Bromberg, Stephanie Bachelor, Pinky Lee. Gerald Mohr
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Gypsy Rose Lee was quite a legend in her time. She was known for her strip tease act* and became a celebrity outside the Burlesque circuit, even being the subject of the Broadway musical Gypsy. And she even wrote a mystery novel, The G-String Murders, which was filmed as Lady of Burlesque.**

Dixie Daisy (Barbara Stanwyck) is the star of a burlesque company, wooed by comic Biff Brannigan (Michael O'Shea), though she refuses his advances having had bad experiences with other comics. During a police raid, someone tries to strangle her; she is rescued by a stage hand in the nick of time. But later, a member of the cast is found strangled, a g-string around her neck, after arguing with her gangster boyfriend Louie Grindero (Gerald Mohr). The plot goes out from there, with another star is found dead the same way -- on stage as Dixie starts her act.

The movie is full of twists and red herrings, but its strength is portraying the backstage life of burlesque performers. There are hints and quick glimpses of acts, but most of it stays in the dressing rooms, and deals with the issues of police raids and other things.

One of the actors is Pinky Lee, a baggy pants comedian who worked in vaudeville and burlesque, and who I remember for a kids show in the early 60s. Another name I recognize was Gerald Mohr, who did a lot of radio work, including a long stint as Phillip Marlowe.

Given the censorship of the Hayes office, this was a touchy subject to film. They refused to allow the title of the book attach itself to the movie, even though the term "G-String" is used throughout and the book was not only successful, but even had a feature article in Life Magazine. And, of course, the more risque parts of the acts were toned town; when Dixie sings about "bump and grind," the camera stays off her.

It's a decent mystery, fast-paced and with plenty of humor. Well worth a viewing.

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*Not stripping -- she joked and teased as she slowly removed her clothes, and didn't really show herself nude.

**Burlesque was low on the totem pole beneath legitimate theater and vaudeville, known for more adult and bawdy themes and very broad comedy.

The Villain Still Pursued Her

 

(1940)
Directed by Edward Cline
Written by Elbert Franklin, Ethel La Blanche
Starring Hugh Herbert, Anita Louise, Alan Mowbray, Buster Keaton, Richard Cromwell, Margaret Hamilton, Billy Gilbert
IMDB Entry

Sometimes bad acting can be fun. Plan 9 from Outer Space is a case in point. And withThe Villain Still Pursued Her, the bad acting is deliberate and very funny.

The movie is a broad parody of the idea of the old-time melodrama. It starts out with a stage proscenium, where the announcer (Billy Gilbert) comes on to introduce the play. Then we see Mary Wilson (Anita Louise) talking with her aunt (Margaret Hamilton) and laying out the situation: Edward Middleton (Richard Cromwell) has inherited the mortgage on their house from his kindly father and they are afraid he will foreclose. Cribbs (Alan Mowbray) comes by to tell them they will have to move. When Edward is on the way to the house, Cribbs intercepts him, pushing him to foreclose, but when he sees Mary, the two fall in love.

At their wedding, the scheming Cribbs inveigles Edward into trying alcohol for the first time. He immediately becomes a drunkard, and Cribbs tries to trick him into crime, which he refuses. Cribbs forges Edward's name on a check, but but Dalton (Buster Keaton), Edward's friend, exposes that crime. and others. With the help of Frederick Healy (Hugh Hubert), Edward becomes sober and all is well.

Everyone overacts. That's the point. Cribbs often addresses to audience to talk about his nefarious plans, while the others will soliloquize about their thoughts and feelings.

Mowbray is full-on Snidely Whiplash as Cribbs, moustache and all.  He was a busy character actor, appearing in movies and films for over 40 years. 

I was interested in the film because the many familiar faces. Buster Keaton was the big one, but he was given very little to do. Margaret Hamilton was Mary's kindly mother, a big departure from her role the year before in The Wizard of Oz. Billy Gilbert did a lot of comedy -- most notably as Mr. Pettibone in His Girl Friday -- and was the voice of Sneezy in the Disney Snow White. Hugh Hubert is forgotten today, but his ditzy character was very popular in the 30s, with his fluttery mannerisms and his catchphrase "hoo hoo hoo," which often was parodied in cartoons. I also spotted Vernon Dent, the Three Stooges' greatest straight man.

Director Edward Cline was responsible with several W.C. Fields features and also directed several of Keaton's short subjects.  

The joke does perhaps go on too long, and has one somewhat racist non-sequitur joke, but it does remain amusing as a send-up of  old-time stage melodramas.

"Pimpernel" Smith

 (1941)
Directed by Leslie Howard
Written by Anatole de Grunwald, Ian Dalrymple (screenplay), A. G. Macdonell, Wolfgang Wilhelm (Story)
Starring Leslie Howard, Francis Sullivan, Mary Morris
IMDB Entry

I'm a fan of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the template for modern superheroes. Leslie Howard played him credibly in a 1934 movie and once World War II broke out, he had the idea of remaking it and changing the time from the French Revolution to the current time. He directed and produced a current-day version, "Pimpernel Smith."

In 1939, Archeologist Horatio Smith (Leslie Howard) takes a group of Cambridge students on an expedition to examine archeological sites in Germany. They soon discover that the mild mannered professor is helping people escape from Nazi Germany. Gestapo General von Graum (Francis Sullivan) is desperate to stop the man. Discovering the person helping them is British, he blackmails Ludmilla Koslowski (Mary Morris) to ferret him out; Ludmilla's father is a Gestapo prisoner.  She finds Smith and urges him to save her father. Smith denies he has anything to do with it, but comes up with a plan to get him and some other prisoners out of Germany, with von Graum suspicious that he might be the man he is looking for.

The movie starts a bit slow, but eventually shows Smith and his students working to achieve the escape.  The Scarlet Pimpernel books showcased the Pimpernels' cleverness, and this version has it in spades. The escape plans are very worthy of the original.

Leslie Howard played the original Pimpernel a few years earlier and clearly wanted to do an updated version for the wartime audience. He is much like the original in most respect. Frances Sullivan makes Von Graum a decent antagonist, though he isn't quite as good as Citizen Chauvelin in the books. 

Overall, this is a nice update on a classic hero.