The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965)

A Blueprint for Murder (Andrew L. Stone, 1953)

Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, and Gary Merrill for Roy Rowland’s WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)

The sparkling cast of All About Eve (1950)

From left to right:

George Sanders as Addison Dewitt

Gary Merrill as Bill Simpson

Bette Davis as Margo Channing

Ann Baxter as Eve Harrington

Celeste Holm as Karen Richards

Hugh Marlowe as Lloyd Richards

I’ve just rewatched “The Mysterious Island” (1961), based on a novel by French author Jules Verne. It’s set in the 1860s and tells the story of several Union soldiers who escape a Confederate prison via a hot air balloon. A fierce storm transports them to a remote and “mysterious” island in the South Pacific. There they help rescue two women, passengers of a boat that sunk in the same storm.

Things get interesting when they encounter several giant animals on the island - crabs, chickens, and even bees. All of them were achieved via the amazing effects created by Ray Harryhausen and his team. They holdup surprising well for a movie released over 60 years ago. Today, in a similar movie, the effects would be done via CGI. But Harryhausen’s stop motion effect feel so much more fresh and visceral.

The music for the film was done by Bernard Herrmann, Harryhausen’s frequent collaborator. The music is appropriately adventurous and dramatic.

The only effect that doesn’t stand the rest of time is the volcanic eruption at the climax of the film. It’s clearly a model and the lava doesn’t have the “weight” of liquid rocks.

Outdoor scenes were filmed on the Catalan coast in Spain, with indoor filming occurring in England. The overall design is pretty good, especially Captain Nemo’s ship the Nautilus.

The cast is mostly English, with three exceptions. Nemo was played by Czech actor Herbert Lom (best know for playing Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther films); Gary Merrill (who divorced Bette Davis only a year earlier); and Michael Callen, a young actor popular on Broadway and films in the 1960s.

Callen is a prime example of how the perception of men has changed over the years. Callen plays the heart throb and is shirtless in most of the movie. But by today’s standard he looks incredible skinny with no muscle tone.

I particularly like Michael Craig who played the castaways leader. I thought I’d seen him in some old TV westerns but nearly all of his credits are British.

The two women are played by Joan Greenwood as Lady Fairchild and Beth Rogan as her niece Elena. Greenwood has a very artificial sounding voice and I thought her dialogue may have been dubbed over by another actress (it wasn’t). About half way into the movie, Rogan switches from a long dress with petticoats into a very small and revealing leather tunic. It’s so short that her underpants are frequently revealed as she runs across the beach.

I saw “The Mysterious Island” via TUBI, a free streaming service. There were occasional commercial but not as intrusive as broadcast TV.

Gary Merrill-Shelley Winters "Llama un desconocido" (Phone call from a stranger) 1952, de Jean Negulesco.

Sci-Fi Chillers Collection will be released on May 21 via Kino Lorber. The Blu-ray set features three sci-fi/horror films: The Unknown Terror, The Colossus of New York, and Destination Inner Space.

1957's The Unknown Terror is directed by Charles Marquis Warren and written by Kenneth Higgins. John Howard, Mala Powers, Paul Richards, and May Wynn star.

1958's The Colossus of New York is directed by Eugène Lourié (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) and written by Thelma Schnee, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, and Kenneth Tobey star.

1966's Destination Inner Space is directed by Francis D. Lyon and written by Arthur C. Pierce. Scott Brady, Gary Merrill, Sheree North, and Wende Wagner star.

All three films have been have been scanned in 4K by Paramount Pictures. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

The Unknown Terror audio commentary by film historian Stephen Bissette (new)

The Colossus of New York audio commentary by film historians Tom Weaver, Larry Blamire, and Ron Adams

Destination Inner Space audio commentary by film historians David Del Valle and Stan Shaffer

The Colossus of New York interview with film historians Tim Lucas and Steven Bissette

Destination Inner Space interview with film historians Tim Lucas and Steven Bissette

The Colossus of New York theatrical trailer

In The Unknown Terror, a millionaire (John Howard) leads a remote jungle expedition to find the legendary “Cave of the Dead” where his wife’s (Mala Powers) brother had disappeared long ago. Instead, they stumble upon a mad doctor who has created a horde of foam-spewing, fungus-covered monster-men. In The Colossus of New York, when a brilliant scientist (Ross Martin) is accidentally killed, his preserved brain is transferred to the body of a giant robot so that it can continue to serve mankind. But when it gains awareness of its own hideousness, this steel colossus embarks on a rampage of destruction. In Destination Inner Space, when an object of unknown origin is detected in the area of an underwater laboratory, scientists investigate and come face to face with the object—an extraterrestrial saucer! They board the craft and discover a mysterious cylinder, which they take back to the lab for closer inspection. It is then that events take a monstrous turn!

Pre-order Sci-Fi Chillers Collection.

All About Eve

"Real diamonds in a wig; the world we live in." Gary Merrill as Bill Sampson in All About Eve (1950)

All About Eve (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz

December 29th 2022

Catacombs (1965)

AKA The Woman Who Wouldn't Die

All About Eve

directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950

Gary Merrill, Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) #DailyBette

Gary Merrill as Bill Simpson

All About Eve (1950)

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Stay cozy.

@soft-homestyle

Por trás das cenas de clássicos do cinema (velha Hollywood).