Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and House of Wax (1953)

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I have never been to a wax museum. The thought of viewing wax reproductions of celebrities like Michael Jackson or Humphrey Bogart or historical figures like Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill has never excited me. Just because I never saw them in person doesn't mean I'm excited to look at them recreated in wax. Having said that, I would love to visit a wax museum that contains wax reproductions of Jack the Ripper or Rasputin or Dracula or Donald Trump. I'm much more fascinated by nightmares than real life people.

Setting a horror film in a wax museum is absolute genius. People are creeped out by wax mannequins that look life like. Throw in a disfigured stalker cloaked in black, stealing bodies from the morgue to turn into wax replicas of Napoleon or Marie Antoinette or Voltaire, those are the hallmarks of a great horror film. Warner Bros. did just that with MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) and then remade it twenty years later with HOUSE OF WAX (1953). Interestingly, both films used color in groundbreaking ways. MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was made during the beginning of talkie films. 99% of films were black and white but MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was shot in two strip Technicolor giving it a lurid nightmarish quality. HOUSE OF WAX was made in 1953 when color was becoming the norm but it was an early color film shot in 3-D.

One of my favorite directors Michael Curtiz directed MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM from a screenplay by Don Mullaly and Carl Erickson based on a three act play by Charles Belden. Curtiz is best known for THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) and CASABLANCA (1942) but he cut his teeth early with horror films like 1932's DOCTOR X (which also has a scary deformed murderer known as the Moon Killer) and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. Andre De Toth directed HOUSE OF WAX, a remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM with a screenplay by Crane Wilbur based on the original film. De Toth and Wilbur deviate at times from the original but keep the basic story and characters intact. Interestingly, both directors Curtiz and De Toth were born in Hungary. What that has to do with a movie about murders at a Wax Museum I have no idea.

In classic horror film style, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM opens on a stormy night in London in 1921. Sculptor Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) puts the finishing touches on his wax subjects when he's visited by Dr. Rasmussen (Holmes Herbert) and Mr. Gallatin (Claude King). Gallatin is so impressed with Igor's craftsmanship that he pledges to submit Igor's work to the Royal Academy. But Igor's next visitor, his wax museum partner Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell), is unhappy with Igor. The wax museum is losing money. Worth wants to burn down the museum and Igor's dreams and collect the insurance money. Igor and Worth tussle. Worth starts a fire, burning and melting Igor's waxworks. Worth makes it out alive but does Igor?

We jump ahead twelve years to New Year's Eve 1933 in New York. The police arrive at a hotel where socialite Joan Gale (Monica Bannister) has apparently committed suicide. Watching from one of the hotel room windows is a white haired Ivan Igor, very much alive after the earlier horrific fire. Gale's boyfriend George Winton (Gavin Gordon) is arrested for Gale's murder. Spunky Express reporter Florence Dempsey (Glenda Farrell) is pressured by her editor Jim (Frank McHugh) to break a sensational story. The police hint to Florence that Gale may have been murdered. When Gale's body is stolen from the morgue by a mangled stalker dressed in black, Florence dives headfirst to solve the mystery.

Sculptor Igor has relocated to New York to open yet another London Wax Museum and to extract revenge on his ex-partner Worth (now a bootlegger) living in New York. We learn that Igor survived the terrible fire in London but he's now wheelchair bound with deformed hands, damaged by the fire. His assistants Professor Darcy (Arthur Edmond Carewe), the mute Hugo (Matthew Betz), and young, naïve Ralph Burton (Allen Vincent) perform his sculpting. But Florence's investigation reveals that Darcy and Hugo along with the disfigured man in black are stealing corpses from the morgue (like Joan Gale's body) to dip in wax and reproduce as wax figures of Joan of Arc (Gale's body) and Voltaire (a murdered judge who resembled the philosopher) among others.

Igor meets Ralph's pretty girlfriend Charlotte Duncan (KING KONG's Fay Wray) during the new museum's opening. Charlotte reminds Igor of his favorite wax figure Marie Antoinette. When Charlotte returns another day to see Ralph, Igor tricks her into looking for Ralph down in the work basement (complete with boiling cauldron of wax). When Charlotte can't find Ralph, Igor appears, revealing he can walk. He plans on murdering Charlotte and dipping her in wax so she can be his second Marie Antoinette figure. Charlotte claws at Igor's face, exposing it's a wax mask. Igor is the damaged monster stealing bodies from the morgue. Florence, Ralph, and the police arrive. They discover Worth's body in a crate. Igor and the police fight on a catwalk where Igor is shot and falls into the pool of hot wax.

Director Curtiz makes MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM one part horror film, one part screwball comedy, and one part mystery. The wisecracking banter between reporter Florence and her editor Jim is right out of THE FRONT PAGE (1931). When Florence asks Jim, "Have you ever heard of such a thing as a death mask?" Jim sarcastically replies, "I used to be married to one." The identity of the crippled body snatcher in black is kept secret much better in MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM than HOUSE OF WAX. The use of color, even two strip Technicolor is perfect for a film full of colorful wax mannequins and shots of bubbling wax in the finale. WAX MUSEUM was made before the Production Code (created to cut down on unsavory story elements) was enforced which is why Igor's assistant Darcy was allowed to be a drug junkie in the original. In HOUSE OF WAX, the same character now known as Leon is changed to an alcoholic.

Curtiz pulls out the Grand Guignol giving us classic horror set pieces like a mysterious scarred killer stealing corpses from the morgue or a lady in distress walking through a cavalcade of creepy wax figures, one with a pair of human eyes following her every step. The photography and set design are influenced by German Expressionism films like THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920). Curtiz's attempt to film some of the actors as the wax figures (like Fay Wray as Marie Antoinette) doesn't work (she moves ever so slightly). I thought Curtiz might be trying to imply that from Igor's perspective, his wax creations are alive. In reality, the film lights were so hot, the real wax figures would melt so the filmmakers had to use real actors for some of the close ups of wax figures.

Lionel Atwill's performance as Igor may be one of the best of his career. He transitions from a compassionate artist at the top of his craft to a crippled madman bent on revenge. We feel his pain when his unscrupulous partner Joe Worth torches his life work, forever altering his world. Atwill's Igor plays God in his wax museum.  He's the creator of all the waxworks, creating not in the image of himself but from people he has murdered. He promises Charlotte immortality once he's turned her into a wax siren. Atwill would appear in other horror films including THE VAMPIRE BAT (also 1933) and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) but MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is his chance to shine as an actor.

Horror scream queen Fay Wray, forever famous as King Kong's heartthrob in KING KONG (also 1933), is fetching as Charlotte Duncan, the living embodiment of Igor's vision of Marie Antoinette. No actress could scream better than Fay Wray. Wray had an incredible streak in the early 1930's starring in several hits including DOCTOR X (1932) also directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Lionel Atwill, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932), and KING KONG.  Rounding out the cast are Glenda Farrell as spunky reporter Florence Dempsey. Farrell would make a career playing fast talking reporters including the adventurous blonde Torchy Blane in a series of Warner Bros films. And Frank McHugh as Dempsey's newspaper editor Jim was another Warner Bros contract player who appeared in over 90 films during his first dozen years with the studio.

Which brings us to Andre De Toth's HOUSE OF WAX twenty years after the original MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was released. De Toth and screenwriter Wilbur place the remake in New York in at turn of the century 1900 and dispense with the wisecracking newspaper characters, focusing entirely on sculptor Dr. Henry Jarrod and his fall from artist to deranged madman. Once again, Jarrod is visited by wealthy admirers including art critic Sidney Wallace (Paul Cavanagh) who marvel at his wax museum. But Jarrod's partner Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) is unhappy with the profits from the wax museum. He torches the museum for the insurance money, turning on the gas as well. Burke and Jarrod scuffle as flaming timbers fall all around in glorious 3D. Burke escapes but Jarrod is presumed dead as the museum explodes.

Worth collects the $25,000 insurance money, taking his blonde girlfriend Cathy Gray (Carolyn Jones) out to dinner. When Worth returns to his apartment, he's attacked by a disfigured man in black who hangs him by throwing Worth down the elevator, a rope tied around his neck. Later, the man in black murders Cathy and then steals her body from the morgue. Cathy's roommate Sue Allen (Phyllis Kirk) finds the killer in her room but scares him away. She reports the incident to Lieutenant Tom Brennan (Frank Lovejoy) and Sgt. Jim Shane (Dabs Greer) who begin to investigate these macabre incidents.

Jarrod resurfaces, seemingly back from the dead, reaching out to Wallace to invest in his second wax museum, this time a House of Horrors. Wallace agrees. Wheelchair bound and unable to sculpt, Jarrod enlists the help of assistants Leon Averill (Nedrick Young) and the muscular but mute Igor (a young Charles Bronson using his real last name Buchinsky). This time, Jarrod exhibits themes of violence, guillotines and the electric chair among the attractions. He opens up his second wax museum calling it House of Wax.

Wallace visits on opening night and introduces a young protégé Scott Andews (Paul Picerni) to Jarrod. Jarrod offers Scott some work but he's more interested in Scott's friend Sue Allen who looks incredibly like his original Marie Antoinette figure. Sue is intrigued by the Joan of Arc wax figure who eerily resembles her murdered friend Cathy. Brennan and Shane begin to also look closely at Jarrod's wax exhibits, suspecting other stolen corpses may be part of Jarrod's exhibition. When Scott tells Jarrod that Sue is coming by to see him, Jarrod sends Scott on an errand. Sue enters the empty wax museum, confirming the Joan of Arc figure is her dead friend Cathy. Jarrod appears, confessing that some of the wax mannequins are his dead enemies. He wants to turn Sue into Marie Antoinette. Sue tries to fight off Jarrod, tearing his wax mask apart to reveal Jarrod is the hideous maniac. Brennan, Shane, and Scott arrive to arrest Jarrod. Igor almost decapitates Scott at the guillotine exhibition. Jarrod scuffles with Brennan and perishes into the vat of hot wax.

HOUSE OF WAX runs eleven minutes longer than MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. HOUSE OF WAX maintains much of the plot and characters from the original but changes up the storyline too. The opening fight scene is longer and more dramatic between Jarrod and his crooked partner Worth. HOUSE OF WAX drops the newspaper reporter storyline and sets the entire film in New York in the late 19th century (utilizing Warner Bros New York street sets). MYSTERY was set in the 20th Century. I felt HOUSE OF WAX explains better which stolen corpses are transformed into which historical waxworks. MYSTERY'S wax museum was mostly French themed. Jarrod's first wax museum in HOUSE OF WAX has more historical events like Lincoln's assassination or Antony and Cleopatra's romance. But Jarrod's second wax museum House of Wax is the archetypal wax museum we expect for a horror film with a House of Horrors and more violent recreations. Both films incorporate creepy close ups of the heads of the wax figures, observing the horror and intrigue from their stationary positions.

HOUSE OF WAX struggles at times on whether it wants to be a good old fashioned horror film in glorious color or a gimmicky 3D film. Certain shots and scenes are played at the camera for intentional purposes such as Can-Can girls kicking their legs at the camera or an annoying barker (Reggie Rymal) hitting a paddle ball at the screen and breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience.  I've not seen HOUSE OF WAX in 3D but I can imagine the burning wax museum with its flames or the foggy atmospheric New York streets or the House of Horror with all its wax exhibits must have looked fantastic in 3D.

Whereas Lionel Atwill's sculptor Igor played God with his wax creations in MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM,  Vincent Price's Professor Jarrod comes off more like Pinocchio's father Geppetto. Jarrod talks to his creations as if they're alive, scolding and chiding them like a parent to his young children. Both Igor and Jarrod remind me of another tormented artist Erique Claudin aka the Phantom of the Opera. Like Igor and Jarrod, Erique (played by Claude Rains in 1943's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) starts out as a sympathetic artist (a violinist) who is wronged by a music publisher, driving him to murder. He's also disfigured when the publisher's maid throws acid on his face. Erique returns as the Opera Phantom, scaring the Opera house into showcasing his young singing protégé. Even Vincent Price's makeup in HOUSE OF WAX as the scarred killer resembles some versions of the Phantom both on stage and screen with clumps of hair springing from his ghastly burnt bald head. Like Atwill, Professor Jarrod is one of Price's finest performances, playing pathos and horror with equal aplomb.

Vincent Price as I remember him was always the epitome of the horror film actor but HOUSE OF WAX is really the film that kicked off Price's horror film career. He had played bad guys and cads in films like LAURA (1944) and THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1948) but his only previous appearance in horror was in 1939's THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (if you can consider that an appearance since he's invisible through a good portion of the film). After HOUSE, Price would be a horror regular in films like THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) and a series of Edgar Allen Poe films with American Pictures International including THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961).

HOUSE OF WAX is filled with some familiar supporting actors. My new dearest friend Paul Cavanagh (I just came across Mr. Cavanagh in 1934's TARZAN AND HIS MATE recently) with his distinctive voice  plays a good guy this time as Jarrod's benefactor Sidney Wallace. Phyllis Kirk as the damsel in distress  Sue Allen won't make anyone forget Fay Wray. Fans of THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) and DEATH WISH (1974) will recognize a young Charles Bronson (using his real last name Buchinsky for this film) as Jarrod's muscular mute henchman Igor. Frank Lovejoy who plays Lt. Brennan would play many cops in other films but I recently saw him in the desert film noir THE HITCH HIKER (also 1953). Carolyn Jones as the ditsy blonde Cathy Gray (later to become the wax Joan of Arc) would make her name later as Morticia Addams in TV's THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1964-66). And fans of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will recognize Dabbs Greer who plays Detective Shane in HOUSE OF WAX. Greer would play Reverend Alden on LITTLE HOUSE from 1974 to 1983.

Some final trivia on MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and HOUSE OF WAX. The two strip Technicolor print of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was thought to be lost forever until it was discovered in Warner Bros President Jack Warner's private collection in the late 60s, giving movie fans another chance to see this classic horror film in color (supposedly there's a black and white version of the 1933 film too). Warner Bros would make another HOUSE OF WAX in 2006. But, except for the same title, this new version bears no resemblance to either MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM or the 1953 HOUSE OF WAX. The filmmakers go with the now standard group of lost horny college students who stumble upon a House of Wax museum in an abandoned town where they're pursued by a creepy killer. The only gimmick in this modern version doesn't involve color or 3D. The gimmick is casting Paris Hilton (the original Kim Kardashian) as one of the terrorized students.

The film historian William K. Everson in his book Classics of the Horror Film which I bought in my youth sums up perfectly my perspective between MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and HOUSE OF WAX.  "The original film had seemed far subtler in its contrasting of the Old and New. It created an unreal nightmare world of wax amid modern New York, so that merely stepping from Broadway through the doors of the Museum was like stepping into a whole new world of unseen terrors...Furthermore, the original's retrained and limited use of the Monster made it less apparent that he and the sculptor (Lionel Atwill in the original, Vincent Price in the remake) were one and the same, and thus the final classic unmasking had surprise, as well as shock, in the first version. Somehow it was all handled much too abruptly and casually in the remake." Everson does express it better than I ever could.

HOUSE OF WAX has its merits and scares but it reminds us what a novel and thrilling film MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was and is when it first came out in 1933. MYSTERY goes for the jugular, having fun with the mayhem. HOUSE OF WAX has a breakout performance by Vincent Price and some nice atmospheric horror scenes. The disfigured killer in WAX MUSEUM and HOUSE OF WAX would be the predecessor to the modern horror stalker Freddie Krueger who would first appear in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET in 1984 and subsequent sequels. Ultimately, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and its remake HOUSE OF WAX give us two great horror staples: a horrifying monster and an equally scary setting.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

All good things must come to an end. The Beatles. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's marriage (twice!). Sean Connery as James Bond. Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli had to face this realization when Connery chose not to return as James Bond for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969), the sixth film in the Bond series. So hello relatively unknown Australian actor George Lazenby to inherit the role made internationally famous by Sean Connery.

Because Connery was so imprinted in my head as the only real James Bond, I never wanted to see ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.  I tried to watch it maybe 3 or 4 years ago and fell asleep half way through it (not because it was dull but because I tried to watch late at night on a work week). But I finally watched it from beginning to end. Based on Ian Fleming's Bond novel of the same title, it's a decent story with a bit of a strange premise (beautiful women brainwashed into spreading a virus to make plants and animals infertile).  Lazenby was chosen because he resembled Connery with his jet black hair and accent.  But throughout ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, the ghost of Sean Connery permeates the film. If only Connery had said that line or kissed that girl or punched that bad guy or wore a Scottish kilt for part of the film. Lazenby cannot make us forget whose patent black leather shoes he's filling. It would be Lazenby's only appearance as 007.

Not only is Sean Connery missing from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, other familiar elements are missing or not as first rate. Maurice Binder's title sequence is one of the weakest in the series. There's not even a theme song to go along with the opening credits (granted ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is a tough title to come up with a theme song for). John Barry returns as the composer but most of the film uses over and over again one main musical refrain in the movie. Production designer Ken Adam's ingenious set designs are absent as Syd Cain takes over for him. Telly Savalas steps into the role of the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld that Donald Pleasence played in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967). Yes, Savalas is bald but he, like Lazenby, seems like a second choice for the role (at least they didn't have to dub Savalas's voice like some of the previous Bond villains like Gert Frobe in GOLDFINGER or Adolfo Celi in THUNDERBALL).

But there are a couple of constants. Screenwriter Richard Maibaum who would end up penning twelve of the Bond films wrote this one. And Bond film editor Peter Hunt gets his first crack at directing this Bond film. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE begins with a sense of mystery. While on vacation, James Bond (George Lazenby) rescues a beautiful woman (Diana Rigg) from committing suicide by drowning herself in the ocean. After rescuing her, two assailants try to kill him as the woman speeds away in Bond's car. Bond runs into her later at a casino. She is Contessa Tracy Draco, the daughter of crime boss Draco (Gabriela Ferzetti). Bond pays her debt much to the chagrin of Tracy. Soon, Draco's men grab Bond and bring him to meet Draco in person. Draco wants Bond to marry Tracy. She's a wild child and Draco wants a man that can handle and control his daughter. Bond considers the offer.

Meanwhile, M (Bernard Lee) pulls Bond from Operation Bedlam, a mission to find and catch SPECTRE's greatest mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Bond is obsessed with catching Blofeld who narrowly escaped him in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Bond resigns but Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) convinces M to give Bond two weeks leave instead. Bond travels to Portugal to begin a courtship with the Contessa. Bond uses Draco's contacts to locate Blofeld and discovers that Blofeld has set up an allergy clinic in an alpine fortress at the top of the Swiss Alps.

Bond also learns that Blofeld has been communicating with genealogist Sir Hilary Bray (George Baker) regarding taking on a count title. Bond assumes Sir Hilary's identity (which doesn't make sense as Blofeld already knows what Bond looks like from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE) to meet with Blofeld at his snowy hideout and uncover his diabolical plot. Blofeld's Nazi den mother Frau Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) picks up Bond from the nearby ski village. To his surprise, Bond discovers a dozen beautiful women from all over the world staying at the compound. Bond learns that Blofeld plans to ignite biological warfare by brainwashing these women to disperse a virus to all corners of the world to make plants and animals infertile unless his ransom demands are met.

Blofeld sends his angels of death off to their respective hometowns with a  nice compact filled with the deadly germs. Bond escapes from Blofeld's hideout, skiing down the Alps pursued by Blofeld's soldiers. Bond runs into Tracy who's in Switzerland for a ski vacation. Bond and Tracy flee Bunt, sneaking into a snowy stock car race to avoid Bunt before hiding out in an isolated barn. Bond asks  Tracy to marry him. An avalanche nearly kills the two of them. Blofeld grabs Tracy, taking her back to his icy lair. Bond enlists Draco and his manpower on a final assault of Blofeld's fortress. Afterward, Bond and Tracy marry. But tragedy befalls the honeymooners. An injured Blofeld with Frau Bunt as his side pull up next to the honeymooners vehicle and shoot and kill Tracy.

Besides the elephant in the room that George Lazenby not Sean Connery plays 007 in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, the Bond filmmakers try to change things up from the previous Bond films. The films begins not with an opening set piece like GOLDFINGER or THUNDERBALL (1965) but with a sense of mystery. We're not sure where Bond is or what he's doing (turns out he's on vacation). He encounters a mysterious woman (Contessa Draco) who races past him on a road. He finds her on a beach where she runs into the water, trying to kill herself. He rescues her but she takes off as he fights off a couple of thugs. Then, M nearly fires Bond. The Bond universe is out of kilter.

We also get to see  Bond's coworkers M and Miss Moneypenny in a new light. Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) goes out of her way to keep Bond from quitting, saving his job by convincing M to let Bond take a leave of absence instead of resigning. It's nice to see Moneypenny have something more to do than just flirt with Bond. We also see a gentler side of M (Bernard Lee). M attends Bond's wedding to Tracy, even conversing with crime boss Draco. If only knew what M got Bond and his bride from the wedding registry. Perhaps M and Q went in together on his and her flame throwing pens.

The previous two Bond films had introduced sexy red-headed femme fatales to dispatch Bond (actresses Luciana Paluzzi and Karin Dor respectively) but the matronly Germanic Frau Bunt (Ilse Steppat) plays the tough second villain in SECRET SERVICE. Bunt hearkens back to Lotta Lenya (she with knife blades in her shoes) in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963). Bunt is an older but just as lethal adversary (and still a ginger). And scary too. If you don't believe me, check out the scene when Bond sneaks into Ruby's (Angela Scoular) room. Instead of finding the cute allergy patient, it's Frau Bunt waiting for him under the covers. Bond's relationship with crime boss Draco is the first time we see the English agent working with a less than reputable partner. It's a trade. Draco wants Bond to wed his daughter. Bond needs Draco and his contacts to find Blofeld. In most Bond films, 007 teamed up with American CIA agent Felix Leiter. But as they say in the spy business, you sometimes have to sleep with the enemy or marry the enemy's daughter. Draco isn't after world domination like Blofeld. Bond would team up with another unsavory character Columbo in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981).

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is the first Bond film to introduce skiing to the series, not surprising since half the film takes place in the Swiss Alps. When I started going to the theater to watch Bond films in the 70s and 80s, Bond was always skiing for his life pursued by bad guys on skis with machine guns in films like THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977) or FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. It's surprising it took so long to put Bond on skis but by 1969 filmmakers were going on location and pushing the envelope with stunts. SECRET SERVICE has some excellent ski action sequences.

I'm sure George Lazenby is a nice person and a decent actor but there's no way he could win over the public (or me) as James Bond having to follow Sean Connery. Connery exuded a confidence and sexual power that Lazenby can only dream of. Lazenby handles some of the humorous scenes in SECRET SERVICE with aplomb but watching him is like watching a television version of James Bond. He looks and has some of the same mannerisms as Connery but it's not the same thing. Lazenby had never acted in a film before taking on the role. His previous experience was only commercials and print ads as a model.  Kudos to Lazenby as he doesn't fall flat on his face as the most famous British agent in the world.

Diana Rigg as Contessa Draco is a change of pace for the Bond filmmakers who chose former beauty queens for previous Bond girls. Rigg was the star of the successful TV series THE AVENGERS (1965-68) where she played a female version of Bond along with co-star Patrick Macnee. Rigg brings sophistication and class to the role as the future Mrs. James Bond. Rigg's distinguished career has continued all the way to the present. She recently finished a nice run on HBOs worldwide hit GAME OF THRONES.

Telly Savalas, at first look, seems like an excellent choice to play the nefarious Blofeld (check out Savalas's creepy turn in the 1967 war film THE DIRTY DOZEN). But Savalas doesn't seem sinister enough in the role except at the film's tragic finale. It might be I kept expecting Savalas to whip out a lollipop as detective Kojak from his KOJAK TV series (1973 -1978). Savalas's American accent is surprisingly uninteresting. It didn't help that Savalas had to follow Donald Pleasence's fantastic portrayal of Blofeld in the earlier Bond film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Fans of Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1969) will recognize Gabriele Ferzetti as the crime boss Draco. Ferzetti is fine in the role but it's not very believable that he and Tracy are father and daughter (they look to be the same age).

On the other hand, German born actress Ilse Steppat is perfect as Blofeld's tough lieutenant/mother figure Frau Irma Bunt. She's part mother hen, responsible for the twelve beautiful women at the allergy institute. But she's part Gestapo, pursuing Bond as he escapes Blofeld's fortress, guns blazing. There's an interesting mother/son dynamic between Bunt and Blofeld. Interestingly, neither Blofeld nor Bunt dies at the end of the film although we know Blofeld has a broken neck after his bobsled crash while fleeing Bond. Our last image of the two is Bunt aiding the neck-braced Blofeld as he shoots Tracy right after the wedding. It's not a very nice wedding present to the newlyweds. Sadly, actress Steppat would die a week after filming ended and never saw her fine work ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. Of the twelve actresses who play the allergy patients, only Catherine Schell (then Catherine von Schell) did anything else that I recognized. Schell starred in a British Science Fiction TV show called SPACE 1999 from 1975 to 1977.

Believe it or not, the goofy plot of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE with twelve beautiful women brainwashed by Blofeld to deliver a virus to make sterile the world's plants and livestock is actually from the Ian Fleming book. Yes, Bond is a ladies man but a dozen gorgeous women from around the world invited to hang out with a megalomaniac seems more apropos for Dean Martin in the comedic Bond ripoff MATT HELM films than the Bond series.  SECRET SERVICE also began a trend where the filmmakers borrowed what was happening either in modern culture or movies at the time. SECRET SERVICE exudes the London Mod scene of the late 60s with women in mini skirts and boots and  Bond wearing an ascot. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER incorporates the car chase fad of the early 70s. LIVE AND LET DIE (1973) gives us the urban Blaxploitation SHAFT feel and MOONRAKER (1979) capitalizes on the STAR WARS phenomenon.

Peter Hunt started out as an editor on three Bond films including GOLDFINGER (1964). ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE would be the only Bond film he would get to direct. With his editing background, Hunt keeps MAJESTY moving at a good pace as it's one of the longer Bond films. The fight scenes are realistic, primal and savage. Other fine set pieces include the stock car race sequence in the snow and several skiing action scenes. Ironically, Hunt's editor on this film John Glen would go on to direct five Bond films including FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and the worst film in the Bond series A VIEW TO A KILL (1985).

Although ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE does not rate high on my canon of Bond films, it's surprising how much it has influenced other filmmakers and films. The snowy fortress from Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION (2010) is inspired by the Piz Gloria compound in SECRET SERVICE. And there's no mistaking that the wardrobe that Bond wears impersonating genealogist Sir Hilary (with ascot) was the inspiration for Mike Myers Austin Powers attire in the AUSTIN POWERS series. Myers borrows heavily from the Bond films for most of the plots and characters in his films. Even the relationship between Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina seems a homage to Blofeld and Frau Bunt in SECRET SERVICE.

One last tidbit on SECRET SERVICE. I actually visited Blofeld's snowy hideout location in the Swiss Alps in 1987 when I backpacked through Europe. The building sits on the top of Mt. Schilthorn. It's still called Piz Gloria and it's a revolving restaurant, the first of its kind at the time. I rode up the same gondola to the top of the Alps like Bond did. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible the day I went and clouds and fog obscured the panoramic view of the majestic Swiss Alps.

But do not sulk James Bond fans. George Lazenby would only last for one movie. Sean Connery would return for his final swan song (not counting his remake of THUNDERBALL called NEVER SAY NEVER in 1983) for DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971). DIAMONDS would usher Bond into a new decade bringing back Blofeld (this time appearing as he was described in Fleming's novels with white hair). ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is the black sheep of the Bond series, the outcast with more misfires than bullseyes. It's an interesting addition to the series and by no means the worst film of the Bond franchise.

Tarzan and His Mate (1934) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

If there's one character that's had a tough go around in Hollywood, it might be Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, King of the Apes. For those who don't know Tarzan's backstory, he's actually John Clayton, an Englishman, who along with his parents, washed up on a West African shore after a shipwreck. Both his parents would die and young John would be raised by apes, adopting the ape name Tarzan. Created by author Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan appeared in 24 books. That's a lot of material for Hollywood to pass up. But Tarzan's leap from paper to celluloid has not been an easy transition.  In the early TARZAN films (12 in all, the good ones produced by MGM and the cheaper ones by RKO) from the 1930's into the 40's, audiences didn't expect much so the filmmakers were able to get away with an athletic Tarzan played by ex-swimmer Johnny Weissmuller and not much in the way of production value (one live chimpanzee and stock footage of exotic animals in Africa).

It doesn't say much about modern attempts at bringing Tarzan back to the big screen that the most recent successful TARZAN film was Disney's animated TARZAN (1999). Live action TARZAN films have struggled in recent years. John Derek's TARZAN THE APE MAN (1981) focused more on his undressed wife Bo Derek than Tarzan. Hugh Hudson's GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES (1984) showed us Tarzan back in civilization as the Earl of Greystoke but the film was so changed in rewrites that original screenwriter Robert Towne (CHINATOWN) used a pseudonym P.H. Vazak (the name of his sheepdog) to hide his disdain for the film. But with the advent of computer visual effects, I was interested to see how the new THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016) directed by David Yates (who helmed the last four HARRY POTTER films) might tackle the pitfall of jungles and wild animals and a guy who swings on vines.

But before I blog about the new THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, I wanted to go back and see what the original TARZAN films brought to the table. The first film with Johnny Weissmuller was TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) but I couldn't get a hold of a copy so I watched the second in the series called TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934). To my surprise, the production value was much better than I expected. Produced by MGM, TARZAN AND HIS MATE was shot mostly in Florida so the jungles look fairly real. Even more astonishing, many more live animals were used in the movie besides Cheeta the chimpanzee. There were a couple of zebras, a rhino (which Weissmuller rides), a hippo, numerous elephants, lions, and even an ostrich. Yes, there is also a very fake alligator, a robotic hippo, and some actors in gorilla/chimpanzee costumes. But TARZAN AND HIS MATE, the sequel to the first TARZAN showed some promise by the filmmakers.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE is directed by Cedric Gibbons who was the art director on TARZAN THE APE MAN. Gibbons was replaced before filming ended (Gibbons was head of MGM's art department which needed him back) and completed by Jack Conway and James C. McKay (McKay shot many of the animal scenes). Neither Conway or McKay got a credit. The screenplay is by James Kevin McGuinness, adapted by Howard Emmet Rogers and Leon Gordon. Explorer Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) who was in the first film returns to Africa where he awaits his womanizing partner Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanaugh). Harry and Martin have set up an expedition to go up river to find an elephant graveyard that Harry visited in the first TARZAN teeming with ivory that they can bring back to sell. But Harry has another motive for the trip. Harry hopes to find Jane Parker (Maureen O'Sullivan) who left Harry for Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) in TARZAN THE APE MAN and convince her to return to London with him.

Before Harry can begin his quest, rival ivory hunters Van Ness (Desmond Roberts) and Pierce (William Stack) steal his local porters. Harry and Martin chase after them, trekking up river and through thick jungle. They soon find Van Ness and Pierce dead, hung upside down, an arrow in each of their foreheads. A scary tribe the Mutiri (who paint their skulls white) begins to track them. Harry leads his safari up a rocky escarpment where they're attacked by some fake looking apes. Trapped between the bloodthirsty natives and the rampaging apes, Harry's group is rescued by Tarzan (making his first appearance 23 minutes into the film) and his distinctive yell, scaring away the tribe. Jane arrives soon after reuniting her with Harry.

Tarzan and Jane bring Harry and his expedition back to where he and Jane live. Harry has brought Jane clothes and stockings from London, hoping to lure her back to civilization. Martin even flirts with Jane who rebuffs him. Harry explains that they're looking for ivory. Jane promises Tarzan will take them to the elephant graveyard but Tarzan refuses. Martin shoots a young elephant in the foot. The elephant leads them through a waterfall to the hidden graveyard, filled with elephant skeletons and the precious ivory.

Harry and Martin seemingly have a change of heart, promising to leave the ivory alone. But Martin deceives Harry. While Tarzan swims for fish and climbs the trees for fruit, Martin wounds Tarzan with a bullet. A family of chimpanzees care for Tarzan. While Harry and Jane search for the missing Tarzan, Martin leads the porters back to the graveyard where they plunder the ivory. But more local savages, the Juju tribe with their lion claw masks, trap them. The Jujus summon a pride of lions to attack the safari. Cheeta finds Tarzan and warns him Jane's in trouble. Tarzan calls on his elephant herd and ape friends to help defeat the Juju tribe as he rides in to rescue Jane.

The early TARZAN films including TARZAN AND HIS MATE dispense with Tarzan's backstory that he comes from an aristocratic family, focusing on his African adventures. The newer films eagerly explore the Greystoke storyline. As much fun as Johnny Weissmuller is as Tarzan, it would be nice if the filmmakers had let Tarzan evolve from broken English to a more eloquent speech. Tarzan's limited English lends itself to some humorous exchanges but eventually, the schtick grows old. The black porters are portrayed as superstitious and afraid although Harry's loyal lead porter Saidi (Nathan Curry) is portrayed positively, exhibiting his courage during the attack by the Juju tribe. The biggest surprise in choosing to watch TARZAN AND HIS MATE is how much the film gets away with plenty of sex and violence in the jungle. It was made Pre-Code before the conservative Hayes Code clamped down on what filmmakers could show. TARZAN AND HIS MATE shows us plenty.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE is famous for a recently rediscovered scene where Tarzan playfully rips off Jane's dress and throws her in a lake. Jane (a swimmer doubles for actress Maureen O'Sullivan) swims naked underwater with Tarzan in a four minute sequence. It's unheard of for a 1934 film to show frontal nudity but TARZAN AND  HIS MATE does. Tarzan and Jane also get away with other racy activity for 1934 like sleeping next to each other in their tree nest. Since they're not married, censors usually put a stop to that kind of behavior in films. There's much more touching by Tarzan and Jane than normally was allowed. And Jane wears a very revealing loincloth that eventually changes to a more conservative one piece jungle dress in TARZAN FINDS A SON! (1939).

If TARZAN AND HIS MATE were released today, it would garner a PG or PG-13 rating. The film has a high body count with mutilations, porters impaled by spears, bodies thrown from high rocks, a bloody sacrifice, lions mauling people, and even Tarzan killing a (fake) alligator and rhino. The deaths of Van Ness and Pierce are gruesome, their bodies hanging upside down, mutilated with ants crawling on their faces. Normally, films in the 30's and 40's kept the violence off camera but TARZAN AND HIS MATE shows arrows sticking out of porters and a knife thrust into a sacrifice victim. It's a free for all and makes for an exciting ride

Johnny Weissmuller will never be remembered as Laurence Olivier but he set the standard for Tarzan. Weissmuller, a five time Olympic gold medal winner in swimming, had the physique and athleticism needed for the role. He also had great chemistry with Maureen O'Sullivan who played Jane Parker in six of the TARZAN series. Tiring of the role, she asked to be killed off in TARZAN FINDS A SON! but fans wouldn't let her die. O'Sullivan's vivacious, sexy turn as Jane was just as crucial to the TARZAN series success as Weissmuller. Interestingly, author Burroughs wrote Jane as an American but the early films kept her as British. O'Sullivan is the mother of actress Mia Farrow.

Two of the more interesting characters that make TARZAN AND HIS MATE so good are Jane's ex Harry Holt played by Neil Hamilton (who would become more famous as Commissioner Gordon on TV's BATMAN) and the roguish Martin Arlington played by Paul Cavanaugh. Harry is torn between winning back his lost love Jane and bringing back the ivory to make himself wealthy. Harry has a conscience and in the end, he sacrifices everything to make things right for Tarzan and Jane. Paul Cavanaugh has all the best lines as the wolfish Martin, trying to seduce every woman he meets in Africa including Jane. "You know, you're the first woman I've ever had to coax into an evening gown," he says to Jane. TARZAN AND HIS MATE has many innuendos that again thanks to this film coming out Pre-Code the filmmakers get away with.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE runs a little too long with sequences like the Jane nude swimming scene or Tarzan's fight with an alligator but no one can argue that TARZAN AND HIS MATE isn't jam packed with almost non-stop action. Ironically, the new LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016) at times needed a little more action. One of my pet peeves with LEGEND OF TARZAN director David Yates is he tends to skimp on the action. Yates brought some needed realism to the later HARRY POTTER films but he often missed out on extending a good action sequence like Harry Potter discovering the dragon in the vaults of Gringott in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART I (2010).

But THE LEGEND OF TARZAN is the first TARZAN movie to be made with the advent of Computer Generated Images (CGI).  Lion and apes and all manners of beast are painstakingly created by the computer instead of using trained animals or even worse fake animals as seen in TARZAN AND HIS MATE. And instead of filming in Africa (which can be costly), Yates sent his camera crew to film the jungles of Gabon which were then added by computer to the background of a London soundstage.

Director Yates and screenwriters Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer bring back some of the intriguing back story from Edgar Rice Burroughs stories for THE LEGEND OF TARZAN that the old TARZAN movies neglected. They dispense with showing us how Tarzan became Tarzan (except for a couple of flashback scenes). Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) is back in London as John Clayton III, Earl of Greystoke, his rightful place. Jane (Margot Robbie) has been changed from English back to an American as Burroughs had written her. But the writers also incorporate a piece of history to drive the plot with the colonization (and slavery) instituted by Belgian King Leopold I with his newly acquired Belgian Congo.

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN begins with a history lesson. The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 divides up part of Africa. The Congo is divided between England and Belgium. But ruling the Congo costs money. Belgium's King Leopold II sends his emissary Leon Rom (Christophe Waltz) on a trek to locate the diamonds of Opar to help fund his ambitious colonization which includes a railroad and standing army. Rom and his troops go on a trek to find Opar where they encounter Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou) and his warriors. Mbonga promises Rom all the jewels his men can carry if Rom will bring him Tarzan. Mbonga apparently has unfinished business with Tarzan.

But Tarzan aka John Clayton III (Alexander Skarsgard) is far removed from Africa. He now lives happily in London with his American wife Jane Clayton formerly Porter (Margot Robbie). Rom through King Leopold sends a request for Tarzan to return to the Congo. Tarzan is against it but Jane yearns to return to Africa where she and Tarzan first met (also shown briefly in flashback). The English Prime Minister (Jim Broadbent) asks Tarzan to go as a representative for England. Tarzan reluctantly agrees. Also joining Tarzan and Jane on the trip is an American and former Civil War soldier George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), sent by the American government to investigate allegations of slavery in the Belgian Congo.

Tarzan smells a trap. Instead of arriving by train to the capital of Boma to meet Rom, they jump off early and visit a village that befriended Tarzan and Jane many years earlier. Rom and his small army of mercenaries track them down, kidnapping Jane, burning the village, and heading up river toward Opar on a steamboat. Tarzan manages to escape with Williams help. Tarzan and Williams happen upon and rescue a Belgian military train carrying slaves, proving Leopold has reinstated slavery. As they track Rom's steamboat, they encounter a band of apes that Tarzan grew up with including his ape brother Akut. Because Tarzan had deserted his ape brothers, Akut holds a grudge toward Tarzan. Tarzan challenges Akut to a fight. Tarzan loses but regains some of Akut's respect again.

Jane momentarily escapes from the steamboat, swimming to the nearby jungle where she finds herself surrounded by Akut and the other apes. Rom and his mercenaries track her down, killing many of the apes. Tarzan arrives to save the remainder of the apes. Rom escapes again with Jane, finally reaching the Kingdom of Opar. Mbonga honors his promise, providing Rom with a chest full of diamonds. Tarzan arrives too late as Rom and Jane head back to the capital of Boma. Mbonga fights Tarzan to avenge the death of his son. Akut arrives with an army of simians. Tarzan and Mbonga make peace as Tarzan explains Rom's motive. As warships arrive in Boma, Tarzan enlists his animal friends (wildebeests, lions, elephants, and zebras) to destroy Boma as he and Williams rescue Jane and defeat Rom and his Belgian mercenaries.

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN pushes all the right buttons, trying to make up for the previous modern TARZAN films failures. Tarzan is ripped and handsome (and he speaks eloquently). Jane is beautiful yet feisty. The animals all look lifelike. The CGI jungle scenes are realistic. The plot has historic elements with the occupation of the Congo by Belgium and the character of George  Washington Williams who was based on an actual black Civil War veteran who went to the Congo to investigate slavery allegations. Unlike TARZAN AND HIS MATE which just had anonymous tribes, LEGEND gives us an identifiable leader in Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou). And Leon Rom is a multi-layered villain, a cultivated sadist played with great relish by Christophe Waltz (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED).

With all that going for it, THE LEGEND OF TARZAN is missing a little more action, a couple of additional set pieces. After an exciting opening sequence as Rom's men are picked off by Mbonga's warriors as Rom discovers Opar, there isn't a standout action scene until the migration stampede finale back in Boma. It's hard to believe that TARZAN AND HIS MATE had more action and adventure than the newer LEGEND OF TARZAN. LEGEND'S story stalls when Rom takes Jane up river on his steamboat. Even Tarzan's battles with Akut and later Mbonga are routine.

Give director Yates credit for compiling a formidable cast for THE LEGEND OF TARZAN. Alexander Skargard (son of actor Stellan Skarsgard) is physically imposing and chiseled in the role of John Clayton aka Tarzan. He can act too. Skarsgard's probably the least famous of the cast but he's well know to fans of HBO's TRUE BLOOD vampire series. Australian Margot Robbie shows her range as Jane, playing a totally different character than we've seen from her in films like THE WOLF OF WALL STREET or SUICIDE SQUAD. If Samuel L. Jackson (PULP FICTION and THE KINGSMAN) is in your film, you know you're in for a good time. Jackson's George Washington Williams is based on an actual African-American Civil War veteran who traveled to the Congo and criticized Belgium's treatment of the locals. William and Tarzan form a good partnership as they pursue Rom and Jane.

Christophe Waltz adds Leon Rom, King Leopold's envoy, to his list of charismatic villains he has played which includes Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's INGLOROUS BASTERDS (2009) and Blofeld in Sam Mendes' SPECTRE (2015). Waltz may be the best actor working today in playing villains and flawed characters. Lastly, Djimon Hounsou as Chief Mbonga, ruler and guardian of the jewels of Opar, is another strong black character. Mbonga looks intimidating in his leopard skin garb.

It could be said that the works of author Edgar Rice Burroughs may be the most difficult to adapt for Hollywood. Besides Hollywood's nearly 200 films and TV shows with Tarzan in it, Hollywood attempted another Burroughs adventure story involving Confederate Captain John Carter's adventures on Mars called JOHN CARTER (2012). The film did not perform well at the box office and struggled to find an audience. Even though THE LEGEND OF TARZAN may not have hit the mark as the best of the TARZAN films, it's certainly the best of the modern live action TARZAN films of late.  And with other titles like Tarzan and the City of Gold or Tarzan and the Leopard Men in Burroughs Tarzan collection yet to be made, it will be interesting to see if Hollywood brings back the series that surprisingly had a good run in the 1930's and early 40's or takes a hiatus for another 10 years.

Cannery Row (1982)

I like to visit locations that I have seen in movies. I visited Mt. Rushmore because of Alfred Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959). I saw Devils Tower in Wyoming thanks to Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977). In San Francisco, I've walked in the very same spot James Stewart's character pulled Kim Novak from the chilly waters at Fort Point in VERTIGO (1958) and hiked up the steep streets that Steve McQueen chased hired killers down in BULLITT (1967). New York City, Los Angeles, Rome, and Salzburg are famous cities but I know them as locations for GHOSTBUSTERS, THE TERMINATOR, ROMAN HOLIDAY, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC.  The one location I long to visit is Eileen Donan castle in Scotland where the climax to MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) was filmed.

But Cannery Row in Monterey, California is the first location I visited inspired by a literary source. Author John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath) wrote Cannery Row and Sweet Tuesday about the colorful derelicts that inhabited a section of the Central California coastal town in the 1940's. At its peak, Cannery Row was the fish cannery capital of the world. But when the sardines got fished out, the canneries closed and hard times fell upon Cannery Row. I had never heard of Cannery Row until one spring vacation in the mid-80's when my then girlfriend (now wife) took me to Monterey.

I recently went back to Cannery Row a couple of years ago. Even more enchanted with the name and its past, I returned home and read Steinbeck's first book Cannery Row. It's a funny, sweet, quirky short novella that captures the spirit of Cannery Row and the people who lived there. Naturally, a film was made based on the two Steinbeck books called CANNERY ROW and I decided it was time to see if these Steinbeck stories could translate to film.

I was actually interested in David S. Ward's film of CANNERY ROW (1982) when it was filming in the early 80s as one of my favorite actresses Raquel Welch was originally cast to star in the film opposite Nick Nolte. But MGM, the studio that bankrolled the film fired Welch early in the shoot for showing up late to work and replaced her with a younger actress Debra Winger (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN). Welch would sue MGM (she eventually won the lawsuit). When Welch was let go, my interest in CANNERY ROW disappeared.

Director Ward was the perfect choice as writer/director of CANNERY ROW as Ward had captured the Depression era so well as the screenwriter of the hugely popular THE STING (1973) directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Redford would seem like the perfect actor to play Doc (based by Steinbeck on real life Cannery Row marine biologist and friend Ed Ricketts) but Ward cast Nick Nolte as Doc instead. Nolte is a bit gruffer than Redford but he's surprisingly understated as the restless, unfulfilled Doc. It's perfect that director John Huston (TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE) is the narrator for CANNERY ROW. Huston brings a touch of Steinbeck to the narration and one wonders how this film might have turned out if Huston had ever wanted to make the film maybe twenty years earlier.

CANNERY ROW centers around Doc (Nick Nolte), former baseball player turned marine biologist who works out of Cannery Row, studying and collecting aquatic specimens to sell to colleges and museums. Doc is beloved by the town's outcasts which includes a group of out of work bums led by Mack (M. Emmett Walsh) and the giant man child Hazel (Frank McRae); Fauna Flood (Audra Lindley), madam to the only brothel and hotel in town called the Bear Flag Lodge; the Seer (Sunshine Parker), an enigmatic hobo with a mysterious connection to Doc; and Joseph and Mary (Santos Morales), the town grocer who will barter for anything. Doc's world is turned upside down when he meets Suzy Desoto (Debra Winger), a pretty young drifter from Indiana who arrives on Cannery Row looking for work.

Suzy convinces Fauna to add her to her stable of prostitutes but Suzy quickly realizes she's not cut out for that line of work. Doc and Suzy first meet at Joseph and Mary's store. Fauna notices a connection between them. Fauna asks Doc to treat Suzy like a lady, give her some confidence so maybe she'll leave the hotel. Doc and Suzy begin an unlikely relationship. Doc likes Suzy's feistiness. Suzy is intrigued by Doc's past. She discovers that Doc used to be a baseball player but quit under mysterious circumstances. Doc and Suzy are perfect for each other if they weren't so stubborn and set in their ways. As Doc says, "the only thing we have in common is that we're wrong for each other." They try dancing with mixed results. Doc takes Suzy out to a nice dinner and then a romantic walk on the beach. But Doc puts up his guard again when he returns from the tide pools the next day to find his lab all cleaned up by Suzy.

 

Mack wants to do something nice for Doc. He and the other hobos Hughie (Tom Mahoney), Jones (John Malloy), Eddie (James Keane), and Hazel decide to throw a surprise party for Doc. But since they're all penniless, they need money. Mack sends Hazel to ask Doc if he needs any aquatic animals captured to sell to the university. Doc offers Mack and the boys five cents for every live frog they catch for him. Mack and the boys head out one night to a nearby pond on the great frog expedition where they corral a heap of frogs. With a little money in their pockets now, Mack and the boys and Fauna and the girls decorate his laboratory and choose a costume theme (Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's) but the night ends in disaster. First, Doc angers Suzy when he appears embarrassed to take her with him to an upcoming conference. Then, a group of fraternity boys from Monterey College show up to the party, igniting a fight that destroys Doc's home and laboratory.

Doc returns the next morning to find his place in shambles. After punching Mack, he forgives him and cleans up the mess. A gloom falls over Cannery Row. Suzy moves out of the Bear Lodge and into an abandoned boiler. Doc tries to apologize to Suzy but she says she forgives him and apparently has moved on, working at the Golden Poppy as a waitress. It looks like Doc and Suzy will never be a couple until Hazel comes up with a most unorthodox plan that brings Doc and Suzy together and order back to the bums and prostitutes that make up Cannery Row.

CANNERY ROW the movie does not live up to Cannery Row the book for me but director/writer Ward captures pieces of magic from the two Steinbeck  books. You really sense Doc and Suzy are restless souls, two people meant for each other if they could just put aside their stubbornness. The best moment of the book Cannery Row is the great frog expedition and Ward makes sure to include that pivotal comic scene in the film. The sequences of Doc exploring the Monterey tidal pools are beautiful (CANNERY ROW was photographed by Sven Nykvist who also worked with the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman). The tide pools are like Doc's altar where he most feels in harmony with nature. Steinbeck's eccentric characters from Cannery Row and Sweet Tuesday manage to leap from the pages and onto the screen in CANNERY ROW from Doc and Suzy to Mack and Fauna.

If anything, CANNERY ROW is missing some star power. Nolte and Winger are fantastic and have great chemistry (both with warm husky voices) but neither was a bona fide movie star when CANNERY ROW was released (Nolte would hit it big the same year with 48 HOURS). I liked Nolte's performance but I wonder if Redford or Harrison Ford had played Doc could the film have done better commercially. Ironically, marine biologist Doc's wardrobe (fedora, leather jacket) made me think of archaeologist Indiana Jones (who appeared for the first time a year earlier in 1981's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK). Winger would have a big year in 1982 with CANNERY ROW and AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN but I like her performance in CANNERY ROW a great deal more. I like her toughness yet vulnerability. Winger has never looked more beautiful and as much as it pains me to admit it, she probably was a better choice than Raquel Welch.

M. Emmett Walsh and Audra Lindley stand out in the supporting cast as Mack and Fauna respectively. Both are excellent in their roles, bringing humor and pathos to their characters but again, neither are household names. Walsh would also appear in BLADE RUNNER (1982) and BLOOD SIMPLE (1984). TV fans will remember Lindley as the sexually frustrated Mrs. Roper in the comedy sitcom THREE'S COMPANY (1976 - 1982).

There are similarities and themes between CANNERY ROW and some of John Steinbeck's other books. The man child Hazel in CANNERY ROW is described as having "the mind of a small boy grafted to the body of a bull." Hazel resembles a slightly gentler version of Lennie, the large child-like migrant worker from Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Family is important in Steinbeck's stories.  We all remember the persevering Joad family from Steinbeck's great American novel The Grapes of  Wrath. The inhabitants of Cannery Row are family. Doc the surrogate father, Fauna the surrogate mother and the bums and prostitutes their children. Man's compassion for one another is another Steinbeck theme. Whether it's George sticking with his large, doomed buddy Lennie in Of Mice and Men, the generosity of strangers to the Joad family in California in The Grapes of Wrath or Doc bringing food and building a home for the Seer in CANNERY ROW, compassion can be found in the most unlikely and horrible circumstances. And of course, Steinbeck set many of his novels in the Salinas Valley of Central California where he was born and grew up. CANNERY ROW takes place in and near Salinas Valley.

CANNERY ROW is David S. Ward's directorial debut. As mentioned, he wrote THE STING but he would have to wait almost a decade to get his first shot at directing. Like THE STING, CANNERY ROW has many colorful characters. Ward seems drawn to a large array of players. Ward would go on to write and direct the baseball comedy MAJOR LEAGUE (1989) which would also have a menagerie of eccentric characters played by Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger. Ward's love of baseball is foreshadowed in CANNERY ROW. I don't recall any baseball stuff in the book Cannery Row but it might be from Sweet Tuesday or Ward created that part himself (CrazyFilmGuy will investigate). We learn Doc was a pitcher for a couple of years in the major leagues before a horrible incident during a game made him quit. Suzy listened to baseball games on the radio growing up. Director Ward even stages a baseball/softball game with Mack and the boys and some of Fauna's girls (a precursor to 1992's A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN that featured women in WWII playing baseball).

Like with history, there's something about visiting the real life location where a film or book is set that I find thrilling. For a brief moment, the intersection between reality and fiction is briefly connected. Whether you read the book or watch CANNERY ROW, go visit the charming sea town of Monterey, California. Close your eyes and you might just hear Mack and the boys over at Doc's laboratory, singing and laughing with Fauna and her girls, celebrating their friendship with Doc down on Cannery Row.

A Guy Named Joe (1943) and Always (1989)

In the late 70's and 80's, Steven Spielberg ruled the roost with a series of hit films including JAWS (1975), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), and E.T. (1982). Every time Spielberg had a new film, Time Magazine would do a story on Spielberg besides reviewing his latest movie. Often, Spielberg would mention he wanted to remake his favorite film when he was growing up, a WWII fantasy called A GUY NAMED JOE (1943) starring Spencer Tracy and directed by Victor Fleming. Spielberg would get his chance in 1989 with his version called ALWAYS.

But be careful what you wish for Steven Spielberg. Remakes are a tricky business. SCARFACE is a fine example of a successful remake taking the Chicago gangster boss in 1932 and transplanting him as a cocaine kingpin in Miami in 1983. Other remakes should never be attempted as the source is too perfect to try to attempt again such as Gus Van Sant's shot by shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO (1998) or Jonathan Demme's updating of the John Frankenheimer classic political thriller THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004).

Kudos to Spielberg for transferring the story from WWII pilots in A GUY NAMED JOE to fire fighting tanker pilots in modern day Montana for ALWAYS instead of using the same scenario. The original lovers Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne are now Richard Dreyfus and Holly Hunter in the new version. But in trying to remake his beloved movie from his past, Spielberg learns that a movie that you loved from your childhood doesn't always translate to the same great movie when you become an adult. A GUY NAMED JOE was made as World War II was still going strong. War is a powerful dramatic component, more compelling than a forest fire. JOE has some big time creative talent involved starting with actor Spencer Tracy as the devil may care pilot and director Victor Fleming who knows something about fantasy having directed THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1941).

A GUY NAMED JOE was written by the great screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlett Brennan based on a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm. Pete Sandidge (Spencer Tracy) is a hotshot American bomber pilot over in England during WWII flying B-25's with his buddy Al Yackey (Ward Bond). Pete is a skilled but lucky flier. After one of his bombing missions, he barely makes it back, crash landing the plane while it's on fire and no landing gear.  Pete's got a date that night with the love of his life Dorinda Durston (Irene Dunne). Dorinda's a pilot too, jettisoning planes to different bases. Pete's group commander "Nails" Kilpatrick (James Gleason) reprimands Pete for flying too low on the bombing mission. Dorinda criticizes Pete's daredevil flying as well. Nails has Pete and Al transferred to foggy Scotland to fly less risky reconnaissance missions.

Dorinda catches a ride to Scotland to visit Pete and Al. Dorinda confides to Pete that Nails wants Pete to teach pilots to fly back in the States. Dorinda notices Pete's plane in the fog and has a premonition that Pete's number is up. Pete's against the idea but realizes he'll lose Dorinda if he doesn't go along. So he agrees to the plan. But Pete and Al have one last reconnaissance mission. They're sent to check out a Nazi convoy in the Atlantic. A squadron of German Messerschmitts ambush them. With no time to call in help, Pete dive bombs the German carrier, blowing the ship apart but his plane is hit and Pete crashes into the ocean where he dies.

But Pete isn't dead. His body might be but his spirit goes to heaven. He's greeted by another WWII pilot Dick Rumney (Barry Nelson) who takes him to meet the General (Lionel Barrymore). The General explains to Pete that his mission now that he's dead is to be sent back to earth to become a guardian angel to a living pilot. Pete and Dick travel to Luke Field near Phoenix, Arizona, basic training for new pilots. Pete is assigned to wealthy but quiet greenhorn Ted Randall (Van Johnson). Ted's not a very good pilot to begin with but Pete helps Ted to relax as he flies. Later, Pete encourages Ted to ask a pretty girl Ellen Bright (Esther Williams) to dance when he and his college football friend and fellow pilot James J. Rourke (Dom De Fore) hit the town one night.

Ted and the other recruits get called up to active duty. They're sent to the Pacific, the island of New Guinea to be exact. Pete's former buddy Al, now a colonel, is in charge of the new pilots. Al is reunited with Dorinda who happens to be ferrying a plane in from Australia. Al takes her to the Officers Club where she meets Ted. Ted begins to fall in love with Dorinda. Pete becomes jealous and tricks Ted into flying recklessly. Pete is called back to heaven by the General who reminds Pete his role is to give back to the future, keep those pilots alive by helping them, not tricking them. Ted accepts a suicide mission to bomb a munitions dump on a key Japanese island. Fearful that Ted will die just like Pete, Dorinda steals Ted's P-38 and flies the deadly mission herself. With Pete in the cockpit, he guides Dorinda to a successful bombing run and brings her back safely to her new love Ted. Pete gives his permission for Dorinda to love again before he leaves Ted, Dorinda and Al behind, his mission complete.

One can see why Spielberg was attracted to A GUY NAMED JOE as it has a little of everything in it. It's a war film with some excellent aerial battles and an intense bombing scene by the Japanese on the U.S. base.  It's got a nice love triangle between the deceased Pete vying with the living Ted for Dorinda's love. It's got another of the ultimate movie buddies (besides George Kennedy) in Ward Bond as Pete's best friend in the world Al Yackey. The chemistry between Tracy and Dunne is as good as any of the multiple films Tracy did with frequent costar Katherine Hepburn.

There's one scene early in A GUY NAMED JOE that may have caught young Spielberg's fancy. Pete is leaving the airfield having just landed his shot up plane. A bunch of English kids stop and quiz him about which plane is better and what's it like to fly alone. Pete tells them he hears music when he flies and he feels he's half way to heaven. The way Pete talks to the children like they're adults and not kids may have rubbed off on Spielberg. Many of the child actors who worked with Spielberg like Henry Thomas in E.T. or Christian Bale in EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987) give breathtakingly adult performances.

Director Victor Fleming made the greatest fantasy film of all time in THE WIZARD OF OZ (and I should mention he directed a little film called GONE WITH THE WIND also) but his work on A GUY NAMED JOE is much more grounded than the colorful OZ. There are no halos or wings or any kind of angelic special effects as Pete returns to earth. Pete is still wearing his bomber jacket and slacks. Tracy is always in the scene with the other actors. The living just can't see him. Heaven is shown as an infinite white soundstage with mist swirling around Pete's feet (Warren Beatty would use the same style in 1978's HEAVEN CAN WAIT a remake of the 1944 HERE COMES MR. JORDAN). There are no pearly gates just a small office that the General inhabits.

Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson would work again as pilots the following year in THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944) about Doolittle's Raid on Japan in WWII (also written by A GUY NAMED JOE screenwriter Dalton Trumbo). Irene Dunne as Dorinda isn't your classic beauty but she's perfect as one of the boys, an equal to her flying boy friends. Ward Bond who most film aficionados will know from numerous John Wayne films like FORT APACHE (1948) and THE QUIET MAN (1952) is perfect as Spencer Tracy's pal and later Van Johnson's superior. And look for the beautiful Esther Williams, who made numerous "Aqua Musicals" for MGM and was a teenage National Swimming champion, in a minor role as Ellen Bright, a young lady that Van Johnson's Ted meets in a club one night.

Steven Spielberg would make his version of his favorite childhood film A GUY NAMED JOE in 1989 calling it ALWAYS. Spielberg would keep much from the original version while updating the setting from World War II to modern day fire fighting in Montana. He keeps the three lead characters names Pete, Al, and Dorinda.  Screenwriter Jerry Belson combines Ted Randall and his big football friend Rourke from the original into one character Ted Baker played by Brad Johnson. This Ted has chiseled good looks but he's clumsier and more blue collar than Van Johnson's Ted.  The war against Japan is replaced by a war against forest fires. Tanker pilots Pete and Al drop thousands of gallons of water instead of bombs. The God like figure the General (played by Lionel Barrymore) changes gender and becomes the divine Hap (played by Audrey Hepburn). Spielberg deviates from the original ending slightly giving Pete and Dorinda a momentarily reunion. I didn't care much for the change but it distinguishes ALWAYS from the original.

In Spielberg's reimagining, Pete Sandich (Richard Dreyfus) and Al Yackey (John Goodman) are hotshot pilots who fly air tankers over forest fires in Montana, dropping thousands of gallons of water and retardant to slow the flames. Pete's girlfriend Dorinda Durston (Holly Hunter) helms the control tower. ALWAYS opens with Pete pushing his plane and luck to the limit, barely making it back to the airport after a drop with no fuel left. It's Dorinda's birthday (actually Pete has the day and month wrong but Dorinda lets it slide). Pete's gift to the tomboyish Dorinda is a beautiful white dress that she puts on to the delight of the smoke jumpers. Dorinda wants to fly tankers but Pete's against the idea. Al wants Pete to follow him to Flat Rock, Colorado to teach new pilots how to fly tankers. Dorinda tells Pete she can't love him when he takes so many risks. She's had a premonition that Pete will die.

On Pete's day off, Al comes to him needing an extra pilot to battle a new inferno that has sprang up. Pete agrees over Dorinda's protests but promises he'll look into Al's training job. As Pete and Al fly low over the blazing forest, Al's plane catches fire. Pete positions his tanker over Al's and dump water onto Al's plane, extinguishing the fire. But Pete's plane catches fire too. It explores in mid-air, killing Pete. Pete finds himself in a smoldering forest. He comes across a round green patch of heaven where his celestial guide Hap (Audrey Hepburn in her last film role) awaits. Haps asks Pete to return to earth to provide inspiration and guidance to someone who's still alive.

Pete becomes the guardian angel to Ted Baker (Brad Johnson). Ted's a pilot for a Wing and a Prayer air delivery service but he wants to become a tanker pilot. Ted's initial test flight goes badly. Pete, the prankster, has Ted drop retardant on Al who's watching from a nearby hill. Al asks Ted to leave. Ted flies out of Flat Rock dejected but bad weather forces him to land prematurely. Pete convinces Ted to return to Flat Rock and follow his dream. While on business in San Diego, Al reunites with Dorinda. Neither are over the loss of Pete. Al convinces Dorinda to come to Flat Rock and work with the new pilots.

Al takes Ted back as a training pilot. Ted becomes a better pilot with Pete's coaching. Pete sees Dorinda for the first time since he died. Ted and Dorinda meet and a romantic spark begins. Dorinda has Ted over for dinner. As Pete watches Dorinda with Ted, he realizes what he's lost. He's jealous of Ted. Pete returns to Hap who reminds Pete he needs to settle with the ones he loved and give back to the living. A group of smoke jumpers become trapped by a raging fire. Ted prepares to go fly and assist them. Dorinda doesn't want to lose another love. She takes Ted's tanker instead. With Pete guiding her in the cockpit, Dorinda drops a trail of water, leading the smoke jumpers to safety at a nearby river. But Dorinda's plane has to ditch in a lake. Who will save her?

I wasn't overly impressed when I first saw ALWAYS in a theater. I didn't have the context of A GUY NAMED JOE to reference ALWAYS from. I thought some of the humor was forced and why fire tanker pilots as the protagonists? Now that I can compare the two films, ALWAYS is a little better than I originally thought but not one of Spielberg's strongest films. Spielberg does maintain the essence of the original. Pete's death as his plane explodes in mid-air is powerful and well-staged. It's no surprise that the flying sequences as the tankers fly low and through flames are intense. Spielberg at his best although ALWAYS is one of his least special effects laden pictures.

My favorite scene in ALWAYS is total Spielbergian. Ted and Dorinda (with Pete tagging along) come across a school bus stopped in the middle of nowhere. The bus driver lies seemingly dead on the road having suffered a heart attack. The bus driver appears next to Pete (both dead) as Ted applies CPR to the bus driver's body. Pete tells Ted to give up. But Ted revives the bus driver who comes back from the dead. Pete is all alone again, the bus driver returned to the living. It's a magical scene, one of the few in ALWAYS that doesn't seem forced.

Forced is a good word. Dreyfus and Goodman as Pete and Al are much more practical jokers in ALWAYS then Tracy and Bond in A GUY NAMED JOE. Dreyfus and Goodman are almost too alike in their goofiness. Yes, Tracy and Bond tease each other but they're more reserved, more reverent about their friendship. Dreyfus can't play straight man to Goodman and visa versa. It's an odd pairing. Dreyfus (a Spielberg favorite having worked with the director in both JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND) would fare better when teamed with Emilio Estevez in STAKEOUT (1987).

The biggest change Spielberg makes is reuniting Pete and Dorinda briefly in the ALWAYS finale, after Dorinda crash lands in a mountain lake. In A GUY NAMED JOE, Pete and Dorinda never see each other again after he dies. Dorinda feels his presence in the cockpit as she bombs the munitions dump but he never materializes to say goodbye. It's implied that they make a final connection. Modern audiences aren't sophisticated or patient enough for that type of otherworldly love story. They want the characters to have a visual resolution. So Spielberg has Pete rescue the drowning Dorinda from the lake in ALWAYS. Dorinda may think it's a dream but she does believe Pete reaches for her and pulls her from the depths of the lake. A final, delayed good-bye. Spielberg would use this improbable reconciliation scene again in his 2001 Sci-Fi film A.I. - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE when young Haley Joe Osment reconnects with his dead mother in a very distant future.

Spencer Tracy and Richard Dreyfus aren't your typical leading men. They don't have the matinee looks but they have personality. Dreyfus has played romantic leads before like in THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977) but I'm not sure he's the right casting for ALWAYS.  He's a great actor but not a star. Dreyfus does have good chemistry with Holly Hunter who's perfect as his Hawksian like girlfriend Dorinda Durston. Holly Hunter made my heart swoon in films like RAISING ARIZONA (1987) and BROADCAST NEWS (1987) with her southern accent and firecracker personality. Hunter makes ALWAYS enjoyable whereas Spencer Tracy is the best part of A GUY NAMED JOE.

John Goodman is fine as Pete's best friend Al (although he's hammy at times) but the surprise for me watching ALWAYS again is Brad Johnson as Dorinda's new love Ted Baker. I though Johnson was stiff and uninteresting when I originally saw ALWAYS but I found Johnson to be funny and engaging. Spielberg is considered a great visual technician but give him credit for getting a great comic performance out of the newcomer Johnson. Other faces to look for in ALWAYS include Marg Helgenberger (TV's CSI) as the mechanic Rachel, Keith David (PLATOON) as another training pilot Powerhouse, and Dale Dye (usually a military technical advisor for films like PLATOON or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) as Don, the leader of the smoke jumpers.

Spielberg's ALWAYS won't rank up there as one of the director's finest films but CrazyFilmGuy wouldn't have sought out A GUY NAMED JOE to watch if it wasn't for Spielberg's love and appreciation for the whimsical and moving fantasy. A GUY NAMED JOE although part war film preaches the virtues of life, how good life is. Respect life, don't take life for granted, and don't take unnecessary risks as they could have unintended consequences for your loved ones. So go hug a loved one now. You never know when their time might be up.