By Lee Pfeiffer

Twilight Time has released the 1961 film adaptation of Jules Verne's classic adventure Mysterious Island as a limited edition (3,000 units) Blu-ray. The story was Verne's sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, although the only recurring character is the reclusive genius Captain Nemo (played in this version with great dignity and charisma by Herbert Lom). Nemo doesn't appear until late in the movie and to say too much about how he fits in with the story would spoil the film's many delights. The movie starts with a daring escape by Union POWs from a Confederate prison during the final days of the Civil War. The escapees utilize a hot air balloon, that they successfully launch under gun fire in the midst of a hurricane. The newly-freed men are Capt. Harding (Michael Craig), fellow soldiers Herbert Brown (Michael Callan) and Neb Nugent (Dan Jackson), as well as a war correspondent, Gideon Spilitt (Gary Merrill). They are also accompanied by an unwilling passenger, Pencroft (Percy Herbert), a Confederate guard who knows how to operate the balloon. The disparate group endures the savage winds of the hurricane and fly for thousands of miles over a period of days before crash landing near a remote tropical island. They all survive the ordeal and discover their new home affords them to opportunity to avail themselves of food and water. As in the tradition of most castaway movies such as Swiss Family Robinson, the survivors manage to use crude tools to outfit themselves with the comforts of home, virtually overnight. Providence also provides a solution to the lack of female companionship when two attractive British women wash ashore from a convenient shipwreck. They are the aristocratic Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her gorgeous niece Elena (Beth Rogan). The two seem rather undisturbed about the predicament of being trapped on a remote island with a group of desperate men. Before long a social order is formed with the women doing womenly things while the men hunt and gather. Lady Mary also manages to whip up a gift for Elena: the first mini-skirt in history, much to the relief of her new beau Herbert (as well as every teenage boy in the audience). 

As the group explores the island, they must endure an attack by a pirate ship and an even greater threat: inexplicably gigantic animals and insects that pose a constant hazard. (In one memorable sequence, Herbert and Elena find themselves imprisoned in a gigantic honeycomb by colossal bees, thus making this the biggest "Bee" movie in history.) More immediate danger comes from a volcano is on the verge of erupting, thus blasting the small island into oblivion. It's at this point where Captain Nemo makes a dramatic entrance and his presence on the island is related to the large animal life.

The film was shot entirely in England, mostly at Shepperton Studios, and represents a teaming between producer Charles H. Schneer and SFX master Ray Harryhausen, who employed his SuperDynamation stop-action animation process. Compared to their other collaborative efforts, the matte paintings and rear screen projection effects in this film look cheesy, though apologists point out that Harryhausen may have made them that way intentionally in order to convey the sheer fantasy of the storyline. (Hitchcock fans often cite the same theory for the poor effects in Marnie). Where Harryhausen lives up to expectations is in the realm of the exotic creatures, which are magnificently rendered. The set designs are also impressive, especially in sequences showing Captain Nemo's legendary vessel, The Nautilus. This leads to an underwater sequence where our heroes are attacked by a giant squid. (Verne was not adverse to using elements of his previous stories.) 

The performances are all satisfactory, with Percy Herbert's British accent occasionally slipping through his Southern drawl. Refreshingly (for the era), the role of Neb presents a rare black character who is heroic, intelligent and not compromised by stereotypical humor. One of the most impressive "stars" of the film doesn't even appear on screen: composer Bernard Herrmann, who provides a suitably ominous and bombastic score that elevates the movie on every level.  

Mysterious Island is a consistently entertaining fantasy film and Twilight Time's Blu-ray presentation looks great. This release includes the original theatrical trailer with the type of over-the-top narration typical of a Charles H. Schneer production. A cool B&W TV spot is also featured and Herrmann's score is presented on an isolated track. As usual, film scholar Julie Kirgo provides interesting facts in the illustrated collector's booklet. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

The 1960 version of Where the Boys Are may look laughably quaint today, but at the time of its release, it was quite a groundbreaker in terms of reflecting the primitive days of women's lib in the cinema. The tale of a group of college girls who head south to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break resonated with teens across America. The film was primarily squeaky clean, but it did have some scenes and premises that were considered shocking in the day: young girls who dare to suggest that sex can be enjoyed by females prior to marriage. It also addressed the dilemma of a girl "getting in trouble" in the days before abortion was legal and the only choice was a back alley surgical operation or motherhood at an early age. In 1984, flamboyant producer Allan Carr updated the premise with a new version of the film, Where the Boys Are '84. The film has just been released on DVD on the Scorpion label as a special edition. In terms of comparing the two versions, what a difference a two-and-a-half decades can make. The '84 version reflects how far women's views on sex had progressed. This time around, one of the girls advises her friend on how to pack for the trip: "All you need is a diaphragm and a bikini!" Before long, a convertible packed with sex-crazed coeds is cruising toward Florida. Once in the midst of madness in Fort Lauderdale, they find their hotel is a dump, virtual orgies take place in the hallways, one of their group is arrested and their hard-earned savings go to bailing her out, etc, etc. Naturally, love and sex become immediate components of their stint in the sin capital of American's East Coast. They also become tight with a hunky hitchhiker they had picked up along the way (Russell Todd, who bares an almost uncanny resemblance to young John Travolta). At other times, they are wooed by Camden Roxbury (Daniel McDonald), a world-acclaimed concert pianist who disdains their hedonistic lifestyle even as he tries to romance the more conservative of the group, Jenny (Lisa Hartman) The film is only loosely based on the original, but follows the central plot premise of having each of the individual girls learn life lessons from their experiences in Fort Lauderdale. One learns that her long time boyfriend has more qualities than she realized, especially when contrasted with some of the egotistical beach boys and married men who woo her. Another reevaluates her treatment of sex as a recreational tool. Unlike the original, there are few moments that approach real drama. They are quickly discarded in favor of scenes of wild parties and sun-tanned bodies. 

Lorna Luft's memorable turn in the "hot bod" contest.

Where the Boys Are '84 is like cinematic cotton candy in that it's pleasurable but those pleasures evaporate quickly. The movie is clearly designed as a chick flick, though producer Carr obviously realized that there had to be plenty of T&A to keep boyfriends in the audience from dozing off. Consequently, there are many gratuitous shots of college girls in itsy bitsy bikinis jiggling like Jello, as well as a hot bod contest that goes topless in the final moments. Compared to the original film, this version looks like a scene from Caligula. However, over the ensuing years, it might be confused with a Disney flick when held up against today's stream of gross-out teen comedies. The primary pleasure of the movie is the engaging female cast headed by Lisa Hartman, Lorna Luft, Lynn-Holly Johnson and Wendy Schall as the adventurous coeds, with Louise Sorel and Alana Stewart playing upper crust, pretentious cougars. The direction by old pro Hy Averback, primarily known for his work on television, is competent enough, and he stages a ludicrous but ambitious scene in which countless kids use a makeshift armada to descend upon a mansion for an anything-goes style party.  The film's climax is a cringe-inducing concert that drips with so much sugary syrup that it makes the Archies look like The Sex Pistols. Purists will be relieved to know that Connie Francis' chart topping title song is played over the end credits, capably crooned by Lisa Hartman. 

The DVD includes new interviews with Wendy Schall and Russell Todd,. Both are very charming but neither presents much in the way of insights beyond "he/she was a pleasure to work with" in reference to their stars. However, they do extol the virtues of Allan Carr, whose madcap determination to make a blockbuster had him convinced this would be another Saturday Night Fever. He was wrong. The film under-performed at the boxoffice, but looking at it in retrospect, it has a certain charm for those of us with fond memories of the bygone era of the 1980s. (An original theatrical trailer is also included).

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Everyday is Christmas at Cinema Retro, at least in terms of mail delivery. We get all sorts of quirky DVD screeners from niche-market labels. Some are grotesque home-made horror flicks that we generally ignore but others have real entertainment value for lovers of anything retro. Apprehensive Films (we love the name!) is a small DVD distribution company that has released 420 Triple Feature that is comprised of three vintage public service announcement short films designed to warn teenagers about the dangers of pot. The fact that the master prints look like they were run through a blender only adds to the appeal of this package, along with the groovy psychedelic packaging. Short # 1 is a 1969 gem titled Keep Off the Grass (get the dual meaning?) A housewife is doing a routine cleaning when she discovers her teenage son's stash of reefers. Dad is quickly brought in to straighten out junior, who inexplicably must be the only American teenager to look as old as his father. Dad tries to get down with junior by addressing his protestations that adults indulge in cigarettes and booze. However, he comes across like Jack Webb in one of those episodes of Dragnet '67, in which his attempts to identify with young people come across as unintentionally hilarious. As junior makes the rounds to visit his fellow pot smokers, he begins to see the errors of their ways as he observes fellow teenagers laughing wildly and making out passionately. (These scenes probably recruited teenagers to the drug scene.) Eventually, of course, dad's words come to haunt him, as he appears in a dreamlike state that reminds one of Brando as Jor-El. Soon, junior is noticing how his pot-smoking friends have become slackers and beggars. He also gets some info from a helpful member of the LAPD that makes him realize that a boy's best friends are mom and dad. Before long, he's washing dad's car while the old man loads it up to go golfing. Once again, conformity triumphs. 

The second installment is a 1951 short imaginatively titled Drug Addiction. In this slice-of-life B&W cautionary tale, a teenager with a doting single mother is lured into trying pot. Before you can say "Timothy Leary!", he's graduated to snorting and shooting heroin. Soon, he's dealing junk just to make enough money to pay his heartless supplier. His appearance suffers, he can't hold a job, he begins to steal and he ingests glass from drinking from broken Coke bottles. (The latter occurs when he's still in the pot stage!) The film is packed with unintentional laughs but the greatest example of child abuse is dispensed by the actress who plays his mother, in what might well be the worst performance committed to film in the 1950s. 

Rounding things out is the equally imaginatively-titled Marijuana, a 1968 short hosted by Sonny Bono, who is clad in guru gear and appears to be stoned himself. This one strives for a bit more realism, as the teenagers actually look and sound somewhat normal as they are busted by police at a pot party. They scream the standard objections that are still heard today, pointing out that there are many other more harmful substances than marijuana. Bono tries to avoid overtly lecturing kids by presenting both sides of the issue, but since it's pretty clear the United Pot Growers of America did not fund this movie, the evidence is stacked in favor of keeping the drug criminalized. While Bono says there is no evidence that pot smoking causes kids to go insane, he sticks with the old fear that it provides a stepping stone to harder drugs. Of the three shorts, this is the least hokey but it still provides plenty of nostalgic giggles. 

The DVD also includes trailers for such niche market releases as Hardware Wars, the acclaimed Star Wars remake that utilizes kitchen appliances, along with trailers for a Asian kung fu series starring handicapped martial arts experts (one has "fins" for arms and the other has no legs. We're not making this up, folks). As for the bizarre title, Amazon tells us "420 is an internationally recognized holiday and daily excuse for Stoners, Pot Heads and even the recreational marijuana user to light up, toke up and blaze a blunt on their way to the euphoric High-Way of mental freedom. Or is it an evil path to mental anguish, despair, desperation, crime and even death? The 420 Triple Feature takes on a trip down memory lane with some of the best, most idiotic, hilarious and downright absurd ""educational"" films on the subject of marijuana use." So there. 

The 420 Triple Feature serves as a reminder of those Cold War shorts with titles like Duck and Cover!  that we love to watch today. We hope they have plenty of others in the archives of Apprehensive Films. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Christmas has come early for Jim Brown fans: the Warner Archive has just released four of his titles for the first time on DVD. The least-heralded or remembered among them is probably The Slams, a 1973 gritty prison film set in Los Angeles. Produced by Gene Corman (you know who's brother) and directed by Jonathan Kaplan, the film casts Brown as Curtis Hook, a tough petty criminal who, like Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, is only nominally a hero because the people he associates with are so deplorable. (When we first see him, he is force feeding cyanide gas into a room to suffocate some Mafia goons!) Hook becomes part of a heist team that steals over $1 million from some mob thugs. The plan succeeds at first but goes awry when Hook correctly suspects his confederates intend to kill him. He gets the drop on them and absconds with the loot, which he hides in an abandoned amusement park. However, he is captured by police and sent to a prison that resembles an American version of Devil's Island. The place is an urban jungle run filled with racial tensions, corrupt officials and sadistic guards. When word gets out that Hook knows where the missing money is, everyone tries to pressure him to bring them in on a deal to split the money. Hook steadfastly refuses and endures attempted mob hits, beatings and harassment from other prisoners. He concocts an ambitious plan to escape with the help of his sexy girlfriend (Judy Pace) and an aristocratic crime boss (Paul E. Harris). Hook is under pressure because, in a clever plot twist, he learns the amusement park is about to be demolished, thus insuring his loot will either be discovered or destroyed. 

The Slams is typical of crime movies the period: it's tough, uncompromising and filmed on a tight budget that gives it the feel of a grind house flick. It was clearly made for audiences on 42nd Street and at drive-in theaters, but that isn't meant as a knock. It's an efficiently-made thriller and its crude aspects only enhance one's enjoyment of watching it. Brown probably never aspired to winning an Oscar, but there aren't many leading men around today with his combination of macho self-assurance and sexual confidence.  Brown was from the era when audiences weren't interested in leading men who were in touch with their feminine sides. The supporting cast in this film is particularly eclectic with Harris providing a very amusing performance as a sleazy criminal who fancies himself royalty because he owns a Rolls Royce. The film also presents two stalwart cast members of comedy TV classics: Frank DeKova of F Troop and Ted Cassidy of The Addams Family, both of whom give fine dramatic performances. The dialogue is sometimes unintelligible due to machine-gun fire delivery of street slang, but in the aggregate, The Slams is an enjoyable thriller that Brown fans will want to add to their collections. 

The DVD contains the original theatrical trailer which, perhaps misleadingly, markets the movie as a Blaxploitation flick.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

A golden oldie that finally caught our attention is Warner Home Video's release of The Incredible Mr. Limpet with Don Knotts in his first starring feature film role. The year was 1964 and Knotts was one of the biggest stars on American television due to his role as inept Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. Knotts would win multiple Emmys for his performance on the series but was still tempted to try his hand in a starring role on the big screen.Warner Brothers sought to capitalize on his popularity by offering him the titular role of Mr. Henry Limpet. The story finds the protagonist a mousey bookkeeper in Brooklyn who has a strange obsession with owning and studying fish. When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurs, Limpet tries to enlist to fight for his country but is turned down because he can't pass the physical. Weak in body and virtually blind without his peculiar eye-glasses, Limpet feels ashamed of his apparent lack of masculinity- a weakness reinforced by his nagging wife Bessie (Carol Cook) and his best friend George (Jack Weston), who shamelessly brags that he has been accepted into the U.S. Navy. Given all his troubles in the world of humans, Henry openly wishes he could be transformed into a fish. An accidental plunge off a Brooklyn pier results in him being presumed drowned, but, in fact, Henry has achieved his wish- he is turned into a fish (amusingly with his distinctive, over-sized eyeglasses in place). Henry befriends a grumpy Hermit crab named Crusty and soon finds himself a chick magnet for the nubile Ladyfish. However, Henry has more important activities to attend to: he uses his human intelligence and his ability to emit tremendous, sonar-like roars to help the U.S. Navy thwart German U-Boat activities. He makes his presence known to his incredulous friend George and before long, Henry Limpet is the Navy's top hero and secret weapon. 

It goes without saying that The Incredible Mr. Limpet isn't the equivalent of an American version of Das Boot. However, its low-brow charms are quite endearing beginning with the depiction of the animated Limpet that perfectly captures the mannerisms of Don Knotts. The rest of the animation pales in comparison to Disney work, but the film was among the first to successfully merge live action with cartoon characters. It's clear Warner Brothers gave the movie a bare-bones budget. Sets are skimpy and most of the production funding obviously went to the few scenes actually shot on U.S. Navy vessels. Knotts gives a wonderful performance and his popularity in the film led to him leave The Andy Griffith Show and establish himself as a popular leading man in family-oriented comedies such as The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Reluctant Astronaut. The film also boasts some fun performances by respected characters Jack Weston and Andrew Duggan, with Carol Cook giving a sympathetic portrayal of Henry's once shrewish wife who learns to love and respect him in his new persona. As silly as the premise is, the movie makes a profound plea to children to resist bullying and accept people for who they are. Surprisingly, the movie also has some relatively blatant sexual content. "Limpet" is the name of a German mine used against Allied ships but it also very obviously is a reference to the protagonist's sexual prowess. As a fish, Henry is constantly pursued by Ladyfish, who wants to surrender her virginity to him in the "spawning" area. Okay, it's not exactly Russ Meyer, but it's fairly racy for a kid's film made in the 1960s. 

The DVD includes an original trailer with a bizarre last-minute intro by Arthur Godfrey, who blatantly plugs one of the film's catchy songs that has been released as a 45RPM record. There are also some DVD-ROM features for kiddies and a wonderful original vintage featurette showing the film's "underwater" premiere in central Florida as part of an ambitious press junket. (Amusingly, the pre-Disney depiction of central Florida is that of a remote area located far from "the outside world". )

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is by no means a classic, but its a sweet-natured movie that extols timeless values. Pardon the pun, but I was hooked. 

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Although never regarded as a musical classic, Pal Joey gets better with time. The (very loose) 1957 film adaptation of the 1940 Gene Kelly Broadway show represents genuine Hollywood star power: Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak all together in one production. Sinatra plays Joey Evans, a small time hustler who, in between run-ins with the law, makes a living as a crooner and emcee in nightclubs and strip joints. He arrives in San Francisco and bullies his way into a job, where he casts his eyes on show girl Linda English (Novak). He rents a room adjoining hers in a nearby boarding house and romance inevitably blossoms- despite the fact that Joey is flirting with and presumably bedding seemingly every other girl in the chorus. Linda is different, however...she's brainy and classy and makes it clear she won't settle for being Joey's latest flash-in-the-pan sexual conquest. Opportunities - and problems- arise for Joey when he meets Vera Simpson (Hayworth), a one-time stripper who is now a rich widow and the epitome of class and style with the Nob Hill crowd. Before long, Joey is involved in a menage-a-trois, trying to keep both women at arm's length from each other. As Vera's boy toy, Joey gets a taste of the good life-especially when she offers to bankroll his lifetime dream of opening his own night club, Chez Joey. Predictably, the jealousy between the two women jeopardizes his plans- and he is forced to make a difficult choice about the price of leading a life of entitlement.

The film, directed by George Sidney, boasts a wonderful score by Rodgers and Hart and include such gems as My Funny Valentine, Betwitched, Bothered and Bewildered and The Lady is a Tramp. The sequence in which Sinatra serenades Hayworth with the latter song is pure magic. The three leads exude plenty of genuine chemistry and the costumes by Jean Louis are eye-popping enough even without being so magnificently filled out by Hayworth and Novak, both of whom epitomize the kind of sex siren image virtually absent from the film world today.

The Twilight Time label has now expanded beyond releasing only Fox films and has brought Columbia's Pal Joey to its full glory via a Blu-ray edition. The transfer looks wonderful and the bonus extras include a recent interview with Novak that shows tantalizing glimpses of her on her country estate. (The interviews were previously released in Sony's Novak boxed set). Novak provides many insights into the film and the industry during that era. The Blu-ray also includes the original theatrical trailer, with original footage featuring Sinatra. Julie Kirgo provides the informative liner notes in the accompanying booklet, explaining that some of the key songs weren't in the Broadway original. She also informs us that Hayworth was cast as the older woman, even though she was younger than Sinatra!

Star power doesn't get any more genuine than this- and I found Pal Joey to be totally irresistible.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

It's easy today to dismiss Love Story as some sort of guilty pleasure. Every year, Harvard students engage in a ritual screening of the film on campus, where it is mocked and derided by attendees on the basis that it's corny and overly-sentimental. (Click here for story) Certainly the film shows its age in some respects but younger viewers might want to dig a little deeper below the surface to appreciate that the film and its source novel played an important role in the kinds of freedoms they enjoy today. Erich Segal's razor-thin novel was a publishing sensation when it appeared in 1969. The tearjerker story centers on Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal), a pampered jock whose wealthy father (Ray Milland) uses his money and legacy at the school as a benefactor to try to pave the way  for his slacker son to get into Harvard Law. Oliver's life changes dramatically from a chance encounter with Jenny Cavalleri (Ali MacGraw), a tough-talking, independent Radcliffe student who delights in witty put-downs of Oliver's wealth and status. She's from a middle-class background and her father (John Marley) earns his living by running a neighborhood bakery. Romance blossoms: the ultimate example of opposites attracting each other. Before long, the two are making love in Oliver's dorm room and planning to marry. However, an awkward meeting with Oliver's parents makes it clear she will never be accepted- and the elder Barrett threatens to cut off Oliver's financial support should the marriage take place. Emboldened by the opportunity to stand on his own, Oliver rejects his father's threats in favor of working part time jobs to pay the rent and help support his new bride, who is actively trying to conceive a child. Oliver ultimately lands a job at a prestigious law firm but happiness is short-lived when it is discovered Jenny has a terminal illness.

The soap opera elements of Segal's script are not subtle but, under the direction of Arthur Hiller, the film remains consistently engrossing and even moving.Younger viewers who mock the film today don't realize that it spoke in very personal ways to the 60s  generation. Life and social mores were changing at breakneck speed. While Easy Rider has retained its status as a hip representation of personal freedom, in reality most young people of the era didn't abandon their lives to take cross-country, drug-fueled motorcycle journeys. In reality, the signs of their rebellion were more subdued: dressing in jeans, questioning authority, adopting shaggy hair style and not feeling guilty over pursuing sexual satisfaction. These are the middle-class rebellious attitudes reflected in Love Story. Within days of their first date, Oliver and Jenny are happily shagging away with no regrets, much to the disdain of his roommate who finds himself virtually outcast from his own dorm room. For a generation weened on complacency, seeing this type of behavior on screen was liberating for millions of young people. Few thought it was corny back in 1970 and the film was a huge boxoffice hit internationally. It was also critically acclaimed, though many of those reviewers who might still be with us would probably like to bury their initial critiques. The film was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture.

There is a tinge of sadness in watching the young, vibrant MacGraw and O'Neal, as we are all too aware that their seemingly promising careers would be derailed due to their tumultuous personal lives and demons. On screen, they make for an engaging couple you come to care about, especially as they try to establish a life of their own. Granted, that generation didn't have to deal with the type of staggering debt today's students have to contend with, but the transgression from college into adult life is still rather terrifying for most young people. Watching the film today, one is inspired by the superb cinematography of Dick Kratina- and it would be impossible to imagine the movie without Francis Lai's achingly beautiful score, which probably deserves co-star billing. Director Hiller creatively utilizes the Boston and New York locations and benefited greatly from an abundance of snow, which adds immeasurably to the movie's atmosphere. The film's melodramatic conclusion may come abruptly (Jenny doesn't linger in a way that might endanger a commercial running time), but I'll be damned if I still don't find the final scenes genuinely touching. A special mention should also be made of the fine supporting performances by Milland and Marley.

Paramount's Blu-ray contains previously-released extras such as a 2001 interview with Arthur Hiller, who relates he turned down directing The Godfather to do the film. He also contributes an audio commentary and there is the original theatrical trailer, that conveys the mood of the film through the use of still photos.

Click here to view 2010 reunion between Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal on Oprah Winfrey's show

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