Village of the Damned (1960) * * *

(first lines)
Prof. Gordon Zellaby: (on telephone) Good morning. Uh, would you get me Major Bernard at his Whitehall number? Thank you.

As the movie opens, there are cosy English scenes of sheep grazing and Professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) standing by a fireside, but the mood very quickly changes. During a telephone conversation, he passes out in mid-sentence. All of the inhabitants and animals of the village of Midwich suddenly fall unconscious, and anyone entering the village also loses consciousness. The military arrives and establishes a cordon. When the pilot of an observation aircraft goes below 5,000 feet, he loses consciousness and the plane crashes. A five mile exclusion zone around the village is established for all aircraft. The military send in a man wearing a biological isolation suit, but he too falls unconscious and is pulled back by a safety rope. He awakens and reports a cold sensation just before passing out. At that very moment, the villagers regain consciousness, seeming otherwise unaffected. The incident is referred to as a "time-out", and no cause is determined.

A few months later, all women and girls of childbearing age who were in the affected area are discovered to be pregnant, sparking many accusations of infidelity and premarital sex. The accusations fade as the extraordinary nature of the pregnancies is discovered. All of the women give birth on the same day, and the doctor doing the bulk of the deliveries reports on the unusual appearance of the children, who all have pale blond, almost white flaxen hair, penetrating golden eyes and unusual finger nails. As they grow, and develop at impossible speed, it becomes clear that they also have a powerful telepathic bond with one another. They can tell each other anything that they see from great distances. As one learns something, so do the others. Anyone who looks at them sideways meets with a violent accident. Soon they begin to exert a sinister control over the other villagers. Professor Zellaby's wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) is scolded by her child David (Martin Stephens), and a motorist who is deemed a threat winds up driving into a wall. The initial joy felt by Anthea soon turns to fear as she wonders just what sort of baby she has given birth to, though she still retains the love of a mother for her child. The suspense builds as it becomes obvious what a threat the children are becoming.

Three years later village Professor Zellaby, whose son David is one of the children, is initially positive about them. With government agreement, he attempts to teach the children while hoping to learn from them, and the children are all placed in a separate building where they will learn and live. While the children continue to exert their will, Profesor Zellaby, who is connected to the military via his brother-in-law Michael Gwynn (Alan Bernard), attends a meeting with British Intelligence to discuss the children. There he learns that Midwich was not the only place affected, and followup investigations had revealed similar phenomena in other areas of the world. In a township in northern Australia, thirty infants were born in one day but all died within 10 hours of birth. Ten children were born in an Inuit community in Canada. Fair-haired children born to their kind violated their taboos, and all of them were killed. Zellaby learns that the Soviet government has used an atomic cannon to destroy a village in Irkutsk, Russia containing the mutant children. Everyone was killed, but the children survived and are being educated to the highest possible level by the state.

Although only three years old, the kids are physically the equivalent of children four times their age. Their behavior has become increasingly unusual. They dress impeccably, always walk as a group, speak in a very adult way, are very well-behaved--but they show no conscience or love and demonstrate a coldness to others. All of this causes most of the villagers to fear and be repulsed by them.

David Zellaby: People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad. You have to be taught to leave us alone.

They begin to exhibit the power to read minds, or to force people to do things against their will. The latter is accompanied by an alien glow in the children's eyes. There have been a number of villagers' deaths since they were born, many of which were unusual, such as the drowning of an expert child swimmer, and some believe that the children are responsible. This is later confirmed when they are shown making a man crash his car into a wall, killing him and then forcing his suspicious brother to shoot himself.

Professor Zellaby compares the children's resistance to reasoning with a brick wall, and uses this idea as self-protection after the children's evil nature becomes explicit to him. He takes a hidden time-bomb to what he expects to be a session with the children, and tries to block their awareness of the bomb by visualizing the brick wall. David scans his father's mind--showing an emotion (astonishment) for the first time: "You're not thinking of atomic energy, you're thinking of ... a brick wall!" The children exert force to try to break down Zellaby's mental wall to learn what he is hiding from them. They discover his actions just a moment before the bomb detonates.

In the final shot the glowing eyes of the children appear against the background of the burning building, then move out of view.

(last lines)
Prof. Gordon Zellaby: A brick wall... a brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... a brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... a brick wall... brick wall... I must think of a brick wall... It's almost half past eight... brick wall... only a few seconds more... brick wall... brick wall... brick wall... nearly over... a brick wall...

This moody and gripping sci-fi classic is about possessed children with telekinetic powers. Midwich's mysterious children fascinate with their glowing eyes and creepy Hitler Youth-like presence. It's a fairly faithful adaptation of John Wyndham's 1957 novel "The Midwich Cuckoos", and the film is refreshing in these days of computer-generated visual effects. Director Wolf Rilla creates unease the old-fashioned way: through atmosphere and character development. The opening sequence, in which the military attempts to figure out the extent of the Midwich epidemic, is especially unsettling. This film sags in the middle, but several interesting and provocative ideas are explored, all of them still relevant today. Foremost is the question of how societies should react to "aliens" in their midst, especially ones who are more intellectually advanced. The children are basically humans who find themselves living among Neanderthals and must struggle to survive in an atmosphere of hostility.

The cosy English setting and black and white photography make the film seem old fashioned in many ways, but also add to the reality and unsettling atmosphere. There is a naivety that permits the use of a small cast. George Sanders, for example, plays a professor whose expertise is accepted on just about anything scientific, and Michael Gwynn as Zellaby's army Major brother-in-law has a direct line to the top men in the War Office. As for the children's strange powers, the only special effects are their glowing eyes. But all of this only improves the film by making the viewer concentrate on plot and character. It's down to Earth, realistic, and has a quality that makes it utterly believable. The cast are fairly low key with the exception of the two leads. Barbara Shelley is excellent and George Sanders has a smooth, dignified style that makes him convincing leader of men. Effects are practically non-existent and the creators wisely go for off screen terrors which only heighten the fear factor. It features a great opening, some talky scenes and an ending that is a bit anticlimactic.

The film was originally an American picture when pre-production began in 1957. Ronald Colman was contracted for the leading role, but MGM shelved the project, deeming it inflammatory and controversial because of the sinister depiction of virgin birth. The film was shot on location in the village of Letchmore Heath, near Watford, approximately 12 miles north of London. Local buildings such as The Three Horseshoes Pub and Aldenham School, were used during filming. The blond wigs that the children wore were padded to give the impression that they had abnormally large heads. Children were lit in such a way as to cause the iris and pupils of their eyes to merge into a large black disc against the whites of their eyes in order to give them an eerie look, achieved by creating animated overlays of a white iris. Alternative UK prints without the "glowing eyes" effects exist, and according to Peter Preidel who played one of the children in the film the initial UK release in June 1960 had no glowing eyes. They were added for the American release in December 1960. The Guardian newspaper claimed in an article in 2003 that the British censors precluded the use of glowing eye effects in the initial UK release for being too horrific.

The cast also includes: Laurence Naismith (Doctor Willers), Richard Warner (Harrington), Jenny Laird (Mrs. Harrington), Sarah Long (Evelyn Harrington), Thomas Heathcote (James Pawle), Charlotte Mitchell (Janet Pawle), Pamela Buck (Milly Hughes), Rosamund Greenwood (Miss Ogle), Susan Richards (Mrs. Plumpton), Bernard Archard (Vicar), Peter Vaughan (P.C. Gobby), John Phillips (General Leighton), Richard Vernon (Sir Edgar Hargraves), John Stuart (Professor Smith), Keith Pyott (Dr. Carlisle), Alexander Archdale (The Coroner), Sheila Robins (Nurse), Tom Bowman (Pilot), Anthony Harrison (Lieutenant), Diane Aubrey (W.R.A.C. secretary), Gerald Paris (Sapper), and Bruno (The Dog). The Children are played by: June Cowell, John Kelly, Carlo Cura, Lesley Scoble, Mark Milleham, Roger Malik, Elizabeth Munden, Teri Scoble, Peter Preidel, Peter Taylor, Howard Knight, Brian Smith, Janice Howley, Paul Norman, Robert Marks, John Bush, and Billy Lawrence. Ron Goodwin composed the original music. Stirling Silliphant, Wolf Rilla, and Ronald Kinnoch (as George Barclay) wrote the screenplay from John Wyndham's novel "The Midwich Cuckoos". Wolf Rilla directed.

The sequel CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED followed in 1963. It's a poor follow-up that tries to blend 1960's kitchen sink drama with a new generation of alien children, but fails to advance any of the ideas from the original and produces few new ideas of its own. Moving the location from the countryside to a London school for the gifted, professor Dr. David Neville (Alan Badel) assembles high I.Q. moppets from around the world for an intellectual experiment that goes horribly awry. The sequel has its merits but it lacks the visceral and unsettling terror associated with the original. It's nice to see Alan Badel and Ian Hendry in starring roles, but this is not a highpoint of either of their careers. Unlike VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, which draws the viewer in virtually from the opening scene, CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED is tedious, unoriginal, and ultimately boring. The sequel finds six children who appear normal in all respects are actually radically evolved superior human beings with acute psychic powers. When a psychologist attempts to find out where they came from, they escape and hide in a church as the inferior human race revolts against them. CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED is morally and politically ambitious, exploring the notion that humans are perhaps far worse than the cuckoos in their midst. Unfortunately it's also very dull, with no real involvement or forward momentum, and it exists in a vacuum--the events in the first film are never even acknowledged. While the sequel suffers in comparison to the original it's still worth seeing.

John Carpenter's 1995 remake of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is lifeless, predictable and hardly worth watching. Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley and Mark Hamill are good actors, but are disappointing in this film. It's more explicit and violent than the original, but the children are laughable and the movie lacks atmosphere and a sense of horror, despite depictions of a man falling asleep on a barbecue grill and a woman eviscerating herself with a scalpel while under the children's psychic control. The children are much more alien than in the original film and become more alien in appearance as they use their powers at greater intensity. Also, a conspiracy theory permeates the plot. It is implied that the American government is willing to allow the children to grow to adulthood regardless of how many murders the children commit. However, one character states that the other colonies of children have been destroyed and that Midwich is scheduled to be next, which implies that the government is not willing to allow the children to grow up.

A double-feature DVD from Warner Home Video is available with VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED. It offers anamorphic widescreen versions of both films, and each film also includes its original theatrical trailer and a feature commentary. Video quality is remarkably clean, with a very solid and beautifully rendered gray scale, deep blacks and excellent contrast levels. Fine details are fully realized. There is a total lack of edge effects and other digital anomalies for an exceptionally smooth visual presentation. The audio is mono but with a considerable punch to it. For VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED there is a thoughtful and thorough audio commentary by author Steve Haberman. For CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED we get a fairly thorough commentary by the sequel's screenwriter John Briley.

The Flash Gordon Serials (1936-1940) * * ¾

FLASH GORDON is a 1930s film serial which tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. It's based on a science fiction comic strip by Alex Raymond which debuted on January 7, 1934. Universal bought the rights to Raymond’s strip and with a $350,000 budget, double the normal serial budget, aimed to make a serial to top all others. It wasn’t just the larger budget that made FLASH GORDON an important part of cinema history, it was the plot’s adult content that would thrill viewers then and now.

Three serials were produced: FLASH GORDON (1936), FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS (1938), and FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (1940). All starred Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Jean Rogers as Flash's girlfriend Dale Arden, Frank Shannon as Dr. Alexis Zarkov, and Charles Middleton as the villainous Ming the Merciless of planet Mongo. At movie theaters in the 1930s one chapter or episode of a serial would be shown each week. Always the ending of each episode was unresolved with a "cliffhanger" to encourage patrons to return the next week to see the outcome. FLASH GORDON is considered "King of the Cliffhanger Serials" because it did it best.

During the 1950s, the 3 serials were shown on American TV. To avoid confusion with the FLASH GORDON television series airing at the same time, they were retitled: SPACE SOLDIERS, SPACE SOLDIERS' TRIP TO MARS, and SPACE SOLDIERS CONQUER THE UNIVERSE. And over the years the serials have been edited into quite a few "movies" with a confusing variety of titles such as FLASH GORDON: MARS ATTACKS THE WORLD and SPACESHIP TO THE UNKNOWN.

In the first entry FLASH GORDON (1936) with 13 chapters, the planet Mongo is on a collision course with Earth. Internationally renowned polo player and Yale graduate Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe) and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) are enlisted by Dr. Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon) to save Earth from being destroyed by the runaway planet Mongo. Dr. Zarkov blasts off in a rocket ship to Mongo, with Flash and Dale as his assistants. They find that the planet is ruled by the cruel Emperor Ming (Charles Middleton), who lusts after Dale and sends Flash to fight in an arena. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Priscilla Lawson), tries to spare Flash's life.

Aura helps Flash to escape as Zarkov is put to work in Ming's laboratory and Dale is prepared for her wedding to Ming. Flash meets Prince Thun (James Pierce), leader of the Lion Men, and the pair return to the palace to rescue Dale. Flash stops the wedding ceremony, but he and Dale are captured by King Kala (Duke York), ruler of the Shark Men and a loyal follower of Ming. At Ming's order, Kala forces Flash to fight with a giant octosak. Fortunately, Aura and Thun rescue Flash from the octosak.

Prince Thun: Ming is merciless and all-powerful. He can only be taken by surprise.

Trying to keep Flash away from Dale, Aura destroys the mechanisms that regulate the underwater city. Flash, Dale, Aura and Thun escape from the underwater city, but are captured by King Vultan (Jack "Tiny" Lipson) and the Hawkmen. Dr. Zarkov befriends Prince Barin (Richard Alexander), and they race to the rescue. Dale pretends to fall in love with King Vultan in order to save Flash, Barin and Thun, who are put to work in the Hawkmen's Atomic Furnaces and where they eventually create an explosion in the furnaces.

Dr. Zarkov saves the Hawkmen's city from falling, earning Flash and his friend King Vultan's gratitude. Ming insists that Flash fight a Tournament of Death against a masked opponent, and then a vicious orangopoid. Flash survives the tournament, and Ming says, "He fights well, the Earth man." Still determined to win Flash, Aura has him drugged to make him lose his memory. But Flash recovers his memory and Ming is determined to have him executed.

Zarkov invents a machine that makes Flash invisible. Flash torments Ming and his guards. Barin hides Dale in the catacombs, but Aura has her tracked by a tigron. Aura realizes the error of her ways, and falls in love with Barin. She tries to help Flash and his friends to return to Earth--but Ming plots to kill them. Ming orders that the Earth people be caught and killed, but Flash and his friends escape from the emperor's clutches. The film ends with Flash, Dale and Zarkov making a triumphant return to Earth.

Clifford Vaughn composed the original music. Ella O'Neill, Geroge H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, and Frederick Stephani wrote the screenplay based on Alex Raymond's comic strip. Ray Taylor and Frederick Stephani directed. Runtime is 245 minutes. The FLASH GORDON serial was also condensed into a feature-length film titled FLASH GORDON or ROCKET SHIP or SPACE SOLDIERS (TV title).

In FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS (1938) with 15 episodes, another disaster is striking the Earth. A fictional chemical element called nitron is vanishing from the atmosphere, causing hurricanes and other meteorological disasters. Flash and Dr. Zarkov use an airplane to take measurements and discover that a ray-beam from Mars is the source of the nitron depletion. A comical newspaper journalist, Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr), arrives on the scene to get the scoop, and stows away when they, together with Dale Arden, leave to investigate in Zarkov's rocket ship.

They discover that Azura (Beatrice Roberts) the Queen of Mars is working with Ming the Merciless, their enemy from Mongo, not dead as they had believed, to conquer earth. All Martians who oppose her have been turned into clay humanoids, consigned to live in a world of clay-walled caverns beneath the Martian soil. Flash, Zarkov, Dale and Happy take refuge from the Martians in one of these caverns and are captured by the Clay People, and taken to their Clay King (C. Montague Shaw). From him, they learn what is transpiring between Queen Azura and Ming, and agree to become allies and help.

Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood fight against Azura's magic and her Martian space-force, Ming's weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on Mars. Finally, they win by showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her. Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. And the evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off by the now hostile Martian forces, is finally destroyed by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery.

Ray Trampe, Norman S. Hall, Wyndham Gittens, and Herbert Dalmas wrote the screenplay based on Alex Raymond's comic strip. Ford Beebe, Robert F. Hill, and Frederick Stephani directed. The runtime is 299 minutes, but a 97 minute edited movie version was also made from this serial.

In FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (1940) with 12 episodes, the story starts on Earth. A deadly plague has been ravaging the planet, known as the Purple Death. One of Ming's rockets is dropping purple dust into the Earth's atmosphere which leaves a purple spot on the forehead of its victims and causes instant death. Ming the Merciless is behind the plague, and Flash Gordon is sent with Dr. Zarkov and Dale Arden to the planet Mongo to find the cause of the plague, as well as a cure. Caused by Ming's spaceships dropping "Death Dust" into the Earth's atmosphere, they eventually find an antidote for it and Flash and Zarkov distribute it by the same method soon after the start of the series, while Dale Arden remains in the Forest Kingdom.

Soon reunited with her, the trio continue to battle Ming, his cohorts, and his underlings. Ming's Captain Torch (Don Rowan) is the "spearpoint villain" of this serial, a type of character which the previous two did not have. He takes tactical command of the efforts to stop them. Before they leave, they destroy Ming by locking him in a tower and crashing a rocket ship into it. Prince Barin (Roland Drew) takes his rightful place as ruler of Mongo. In his rage, Ming says, "I am the universe!" for nearly his last words. Ming is finally killed in this serial, the weakest of the three. With a simple metaphor, at the end of the series Zarkov says that Flash Gordon has conquered the universe.

George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, and Barry Shipman wrote the screenplay based on Alex Raymond's comic strip. Ray Taylor and Ford Beebe directed. Runtime is 220 minutes. FLASH GORDON: THE PURPLE DEATH FROM OUTER SPACE is an edited movie version of this serial.

These serials are good examples of the movie serials from the 1930s. A relatively simple plot is strung out over many episodes with each episode ending in a cliffhanger. While the costuming and special effects now look very dated, we can see why this was the perfect medium for a character like Flash Gordon. The serial format allows for a much longer story than can be told in a single 2 hour movie, but the limitation of a serial is it must recap everything the audience needs to know for every episode to keep the structure of the story linear and simple. This also makes these serials perfect for children of all ages.

Where would science fiction films be today if there had been no "Flash Gordon" comic strip or movie serials? It was the first outright science fiction serial, although earlier serials had contained sci-fi elements such as gadgets. FLASH GORDON was intended to regain an adult audience for serials and was shown in "A" Theaters in large cities across the USA. Many newspapers, including some not carrying the "Flash Gordon" comic strip, printed big feature stories in their entertainment pages with Alex Raymond drawings and stills from the serial. Because of its popularity, 6 of the 14 science fiction serials were released within five years of FLASH GORDON.

Both Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers were normally brunettes. Crabbe had his hair dyed blond in order to appear more like the comic strip Flash Gordon. He was very self conscious about this and kept his hat on in public at all times, even with women present. He did not like men whistling at him. Rogers also had her hair dyed blonde, apparently to capitalise on the popularity of Jean Harlow. FLASH GORDON benefits greatly from avoiding the other serials’ reliance on location-shooting in Bronson Canyon. The use of Universal’s soundstages combined with Ralph Berger’s art direction create a unique comic book reality that many decades years later looks great.

The book "The Flash Gordon Serials 1936-1940" by Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich and R.J. Vitone is a very good illustrated guide to the serials. It's the most complete filmography of FLASH GORDON serials ever, and focuses on all three of Flash's popular serials. Written with attention to detail and richly illustrated with film stills and promotional shots, this is the definitive history of the legendary series with Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers and Charles Middleton. There are interview quotations from cast members Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, and Caroll Borland. It features 3 appendices, filmographies for 50 of the most prominent cast members and a complete list of serials and television remakes. We learn that Charles Middleton (Ming) was paid $500 per week to act in FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS. However, he was only contracted for two weeks work. Buster Crabbe (Flash) was paid $400 per week, but worked for the entire 8 weeks of filming. There is also an overview of the serial film BUCK ROGERS (1939), also starring Buster Crabbe.

BUCK ROGERS (1939) is a Universal serial film based on the "Buck Rogers" comic strip by Philip Francis Nowlan. It stars Buster Crabbe as the heroic Buck Rogers, Constance Moore as his relatively seldom-seen romantic interest Wilma Deering, Jackie Moran as sidekick George "Buddy" Wade, and Anthony Warde as "super-racketeer" "Killer" Kane.

The story begins with Buck Rogers and Buddy Wade (Jackie Moran) in the midst of a dirigible flight over the North Pole. They are caught in a savage storm and crash--but not before they release an experimental substance called Nirvano Gas that they hope will preserve them until rescue can arrive. The Nirvano Gas works, but the dirigible is buried in an avalanche and is not found until 500 years have passed. When Buck and Buddy are found, they awaken to a world ruled by the ruthless dictator "Killer" Kane (Anthony Warde) and his army of "super-racketeers." Only those who live in the "Hidden City", run by the benevolent scientist Dr. Huer (C. Montague Shaw) and his military counterpart, Air Marshal Kragg (William Gould), resist the criminal rulers of Earth.

Buck and Buddy join the resistance, and they set out for Saturn, where they hope that they can find help in their fight against Kane. Saturn is run by Aldar (Guy Usher) and the not-so-aptly-named Council of the Wise and Prince Tallen (Philson Ahn). To the dismay of Buck and Buddy, they also discover that Kane has dispatched ambassadors of his own, headed by his loyal henchman, Captain Laska (Henry Brandon). The serial then becomes a back-and-forth struggle between Buck and Kane to secure the military support of Saturn for the struggles on Earth. Along with Lieutenant Wilma Deering (Constance Moore), Buck and Buddy join in the fight to overthrow Kane with the help of Prince Tallen and his forces. They eventually win and Earth is free of Kane's grip.

Norman S. Hall, Dick Calkins, and Ray Trampe wrote the screenplay based on Philip Francis Nowlan's comic strip. Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind directed. There are 12 chapters in
BUCK ROGERS with a total runtime of 237 minutes. It's not as entertaining as FLASH GORDON, and much of the movie takes place on Buck Roger's space craft.

Some "experts" have claimed that FLASH GORDON and BUCK ROGERS are so alike that they are virtually "interchangeable". This is not true, because they are quite different. The only real similarity is that the setting is outer space. Buster Crabbe plays a completely different character in a completely different scenario. Buck Rogers spends much of his time with teen-age"Buddy" Wade in his space craft, whereas Flash Gordon is typically with his love interest Dale Arden or Dr. Zarkov and seldom uses a rocket ship.

All three FLASH GORDON serials are available on DVD with all the episodes intact. Well-transferred to DVD, they look better than the old VHS versions. Most of the special effects are very hokey, which actually makes the films more fun to watch. They are corny and just for fun. There is plenty of suspense, both from the cliffhanger endings of the episodes and the evolution of the relationships between the characters. Several villains turn into good guys by the end. The second and third serials have good music too, including Liszt's "Les Preludes". If you are looking for high quality transfers of the FLASH GORDON series, Image Entertainment is the best. The sound is clear and images are crisp and focused. For the movie buff it is very interesting to see how the quality of sound, photography, and set designs improved every two years. The cliffhanger nature of each serial episode was an edge-of-your-seat thrill to its original audiences, and are works of pure nostalgia for us now.

The first serial has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, designated a cultural treasure for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Mork & Mindy (1978 - 1982) * * *

Mork (Robin Williams) is an alien hatched from an egg from the planet Ork sent to Earth in his egg-shaped space craft to get him off Ork and to study Earthlings. He reports to his unseen superior Orson (Ralph James). On Earth he meets Mindy McConnell (Pam Dawber), an average woman who takes him in and shelters him. She has strange adventures as Mork learns about human life, acting and looking eccentric. As an outsider, Mork is unfamiliar with human customs and often questions some of the strange traditions that we take for granted. In addition to saying "Nanoo, Nanoo", Mork has an uncanny ability to impersonate celebrity voices. Eventually, the relationship between Mork and Mindy goes from a strong friendship to romance, and they marry, eventually bearing a son Mearth from Earth, who ages backwards like his father.

This bizarre TV comedy series on ABC was a spinoff from the sitcom HAPPY DAYS. The character of Mork first appeared in the season 5 episode "My Favorite Orkan", where he attempts to take Richie Cunningham back to Ork as a human specimen, but his plan is foiled by Fonzie. The character proved to be popular enough with the audience to rate a series of his own, though in MORK & MINDY, Mork resides in Boulder, Colorado in 1978 as opposed to Happy Days' late 1950s and early '60s Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Landing in a giant egg in Boulder, Colorado, Mork tries to fit in on Earth by dressing in a suit, which he wears backwards. He befriends 21 year old Mindy, a music store clerk, after she is stranded one evening after an argument with her boyfriend. Mork offers assistance, and Mindy, not seeing his on-backwards suit, assumes he's a priest, mistaking his wardrobe gaffe for a priest's collar. Mindy is taken in by Mork's willingness to listen. Unknown to her, he's simply observing her behavior as part of his mission, and the two become friends. They walk back to her apartment, where Mindy sees his backwards suit and Mork's rather unconventional behavior for a priest. She asks him who he really is, and the innocent Mork, having not learned how to lie, tells her the truth.

Mork: If Holly liked him so much, how come she punched him and told him he was weird.
Mindy: Boys and girls often punch or push or hit each other as a sign of affection.
Mork: Punching and pushing and calling someone names means you like them?
Mindy: Yeah, it can.
Mork: Then the cowboys and Indians are lovers?

Discovering Mork is an alien, Mindy promises to keep his identity a secret and allows him to move into her attic. However, Mindy's father Fred (Conrad Janis), expresses outrage that his daughter is living with a man, especially one as bizarre as Mork. Fred's mother-in-law Cora Hudson (Elizabeth Kerr), has a much less conservative view, and approves of Mork and the living arrangement. Mindy and Cora also work at Fred's music store where Cora gives music lessons to a young black child named Eugene (Jeffrey Jacquet), who becomes Mork's friend. Also seen occasionally is Mindy's snobbish old friend from high school Susan Taylor (Morgan Fairchild).

Eugene: (Seeing Holly for the first time) She sure is a doll.
Mork: An android maybe, but not a doll.
Eugene: No, that's not what I meant. A cute chick, a fox. Real hot stuff.
Mork: Ohh, a fox. (makes noise like a barking hound)

Stories usually center on Mork's attempts to understand human behavior and American culture as Mindy helps him to adjust to life on Earth. At the end of each episode, Mork reports back to Orson on what he has learned about Earth. These end-of-show summaries allow Mork to comment humorously on social norms.

Mork's greeting is "Nanoo, Nanoo" along with a hand gesture similar to Mr. Spock's Vulcan salute from STAR TREK combined with a handshake. It became a popular catchphrase at the time, as did "Shazbot", an Orkan obscenity that Mork uses. Mork also says "kay-o" instead of OK. Often you can clearly see that Robin Williams gives up the script to ad-lib his own lines while Pam Dawber runs after him, desperately trying to keep the show under control. It's amusing at times when they're close together during a manic moment and she's looking into his eyes in amazement, petrified at what he's about to do next. Williams would also go crazy off-stage in an effort to distract Dawber when she had a scene on her own. He made up so many jokes during filming that the scripts eventually had specific gaps where Williams was allowed to perform freely. In many scenes, Dawber apparently had to bite her lip to avoid laughing and ruin the take.

The series was extremely popular in its first season. The Nielsen ratings were very high, ranking at #3, higher than the show that spawned it, HAPPY DAYS. However, ABC network management sought to "improve" the show in several ways. This was done with counterprogramming, a technique in which a successful show is moved opposite a ratings hit on another network. The show was moved from Thursdays, where it outrated CBS' THE WALTONS to Sundays where it replaced the cancelled sci-fi series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. The show now aired against two highly-rated shows: NBC's anthology series THE SUNDAY BIG EVENT and CBS' ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE. The highlight of the first season is "Mork's Mixed Emotions," a tour-de-force that TV Guide ranked among the top 100 TV episodes of all time, # 94 to be exact. Mork believes that emotions are bad, and tries to lock them inside himself, but they are unleashed in a lusty, happy, weepy, angry, envious torrent. Williams won a Golden Globe for this inaugural 1978 season.

The second season brought an attempt to seek younger viewers. The characters of Fred, Cora and Eugene were dropped, though both appear briefly in later episodes where Fred would arrive with a new bride. It was explained on the show that Fred was sent off to tour as a conductor with an orchestra, and he took Cora with him on the road. However, neither Eugene or Susan were seen or mentioned again. New cast members and a disco version of the first season's theme tune were added. Among the new supporting characters were Remo DaVinci (Jay Thomas) and Jean DaVinci (Gina Hecht), a brother and sister from NYC who own a neighborhood deli where Mork and Mindy spend a lot of time. Also added as regulars were their grumpy neighbor Mr. Bickley (Tom Poston), and Nelson Flavor (Jim Staahl), Mindy's cousin who ran for city council. The show's main focus was no longer on Mork's slapstick attempts to adjust to a new world, but on the relationship between Mork and Mindy on a romantic level. In a two-part second season episode, Raquel Welch appears as Captain Nirvana of the Necrotons, an alien species of beautiful women who are enemies of the Orkans. Due to the abrupt changes to the show and the new timeslot, ratings fell dramatically. It was quickly moved back to its previous timeslot and efforts were made to return to the core of the series, but ratings never recovered.

Louise Bailey: (in a jail cell with Mindy) Funny the way things happen. I'm in here because of a silly old parking meter.
Mindy: You're kidding!
Louise Bailey: No, I went into a hardware store and when I came out, there was a policeman writing me a ticket.
Mindy: I don't believe it, they threw you in jail for a parking ticket.
Louise Bailey: Well, in a roundabout way. You see when I put the shovel in the trunk, Walter's arm fell out.
Mindy: Who's Walter?
Louise Bailey: My husband.
Mindy: What was he doing in the trunk?
Louise Bailey: Not much... he was dead. I warned him about his snoring for years but he just wouldn't believe me. So last night I took a pair of my very best pantyhose, and I wrapped them around his neck... real tight. You know it was the first good night's sleep I've had in 31 years.
Mindy: (she gets up and walks across to the other side of the cell) Well, you look well rested.
Louise Bailey: You don't snore, do you, dear?

For the third season, Mindy's father and grandmother were brought back and added along with Jean and Remo. The show attempted to fix its previous meddling, with the third season's hour-long opener titled "Putting The Ork Back in Mork". Other supporting cast additions included two kids from the day-care center Mork worked at: the intellectual Lola (Amy Tenowich) and the gluttonous Stephanie (Stephanie Kayano). A new supporting cast member was added in Mindy's close friend Crissy Wilzak Comstock (Glenda Faye Comstock), but she only lasted one season. When these ideas failed to improve ratings, many wilder ideas were tried to attempt to capitalize on Williams' comedic talents.

Mork: (referring to the Exidor Boutique, in which Mork invested all of their savings) Come on, Mind, Exidor knows what he's doing.
Exidor: (storming out of the dressing room, talking to his imaginary friend) What do you mean the mannequins want a coffee break? They just had one ten minutes ago and all they did was dribble.
Exidor: (to Mork) Partner. Glad to see you brought the little woman.
Mindy: We want our money back now, and don't call me the little woman.
Mork: What she's trying to say is, Exidor, we've had a change of heart, you know like when Annie Richards wanted to change dressing rooms.
Exidor: I've only been open two hours. Even Evita didn't pay off its backers that fast.
Mindy: We want our money back.
Exidor: Look, business is a little slow but we're gonna have our two-for-one sale. Buy two, get one. Who could resist that?
Mindy: That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
Exidor: Listen, Perky, are you insinuating I'm some kind of crack-pot? Well, that's what they said about David Rockefeller.
Mindy: Nobody ever said that about David Rockefeller.
Exidor: I did... ( looks the other way) Pepe, Pepe. You call yourself a tailor? Just lengthen the sleeve don't clip his nails (Exidor storms off with Pepe)

In the fourth season, Mork and Mindy are married. Jonathan Winters, one of Williams' idols, was brought in as their child, Mearth from Earth. Due to the different Orkan physiology, Mork laid an egg, which grew and hatched into the much older Winters. It had been previously explained that Orkans aged "backwards", explaining Mearth's appearance and that of his teacher, Miss Geezba (Louanne). Other attempts included the use of special guest stars. However, due to the continuing ratings slide, Mork and Mindy was canceled after its fourth season, on May 27, 1982.

Mearth: (seeing that the apartment has been filled with expensive toys) Mammy, the tooth fairy has been keeping up with inflation.
Mindy: (sarcastic) Gee, I wonder who could be behind all this.
Mork: (Mork jumps out of a huge box in the middle of the room) Surprise!
Mindy: No, not really.

The cast also includes: Robert Donner (Exidor), Tom Poston (Franklin Delano Bickley), Jeffrey Jacquet (Eugene), Jim Staahl (Nelson Flavor), Bill Kirchenbauer (TNT), Ilene Graff (Tracy), Patrick Cranshaw (Jake Loomis), Tom Kindle (Buzz), Dick Yarmy (Dr. Litney), George Pentecost (Herman), Shelley Fabares (Cathy), Jonathan Ian (Jonathan), Vidal Peterson (The Elder), Foster Brooks (Miles Sternhagen), Nancy Eddo (Stella), Mark Fenske (Tom), Jim Greenleaf (Donald), Milt Jamin (Waiter), Kristin Larkin (Suzanne), Joe Regalbuto (Kalnik), Stephen Stucker (Billy Vincent), Dan Barrows (Dittman), Michael Prince (John Taylor), Jeff Harlan (Bill), Susan Lawrence (Sally), Ed Greenberg (Jack), John Miranda (Cop), William Porter (Ernest), James Staley (Reverend), Peter Elbling (Derek), Bill Morey (Mr. Prendergast), Anita Dangler (Princess Lusitania), Georgia Engel (Ambrosia), Debra Jo Fondren (Kama), Vicki Frederick (Sutra), Johnny Haymer (Danny St. Thomas), Linda Henning (Margaret), Tyler Horn (Soldier), Jeremy Krispien (Jerry Looney), Ronnie Schell (Bob Faith), David Wall (Club Owner), Raquel Welch (Captain Nirvana), Paul Willson (Bob), Scott Marshall (Boy Scout), Terrence E. McNally (Laxative Salesman), Corey Feldman (Billy), Priscilla Morrill (Miss Kalinowski), Maureen Arthur (Zelka), and Harvey Lembeck (Ovits). David Michael Frank composed the original music for the first episode. There were 30 script writers, most notably Tom Tenowich, April Kelly, Ed Scharlach, Dale McRaven, and Bruce Johnson. There were 7 directors, most notably Howard Storm who directed 59 episodes.

Mork returned to HAPPY DAYS in an episode in 1979. Mork tells Richie that he enjoys coming to the 1950s because life is simpler and more "humdrum" than in the 1970s. When Fonzie sees Mork he immediately tries to run away, but Mork freezes him and makes him stay. He eventually lets him go, but not before Fonzie asks Mork to reveal two things about the future: "cars and girls". Mork's response is "In 1979... both are faster." The episode is mostly a retrospective in which clips are shown as Richie and Fonzie try to explain the concepts of love and friendship to Mork.

Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS DVD have released the first three seasons of Mork & Mindy on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4. The cases are slim, not bulky like most DVD sets. Season one has 25 episodes, and is generally considered to be the best. The show is presented in 1.33:1 full frame, as originally shot. For a 1970s TV show it looks great with very little print damage or grain. The sound is mono and there are no extras on the DVDs.

Robin Williams and Pam Dawber are reportedly in negotiations to revive their MORK & MINDY TV characters for a new movie. Dawber has revealed that Williams has been keen to do the project for many years, but never found the time to commit. But apparently the film version of MORK & MINDY is a go. Dawber said, "Robin and I were speaking at a function, and he's the one who said he'd love to do a Mork movie sometime--and what's great about Robin is that wouldn't even consider doing it if the original cast didn't return. It was put in the pipeline, but Robin had just been so busy with all his other movies that we didn't have time for this one. Every time we bump into each other though, he still insists we are going to do it one day--a Robin promise. I look forward to it, it'll be such a blast."

The Pink Panther (1963) * * *

(first title card)
Title card: Once upon a time
(first lines)
Gem dealer 1: As in every stone of this size, there is a flaw.
Shah of Lugash: A flaw?
Gem dealer 2: The slightest flaw, your excellency.
Gem dealer 1: If you look deep into the stone, you will perceive the tiniest discoloration. It resembles an animal.
Shah of Lugash: An animal?
Gem dealer 1: A little panther.
Shah of Lugash: Yes! A pink panther. Come here, Dala. A gift to your father from his grateful people. Some day it will be yours. The most fabulous diamond in all the world. Come closer.

As a child, Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) receives a gift from her father the Shah of Lugash: the Pink Panther, the largest diamond in the world. This huge pink gem has an unusual flaw: looking deeply into the stone, one can see a tiny discoloration resembling a leaping pink panther. As the camera moves in, this image comes to life and participates in the credits as a cartoon character moving to Henry Mancini's "Theme from the Pink Panther" played on saxophone.

When Dala is a young woman known as the icy Virgin Queen, rebels seize power in Lugash and then demand possession of the jewel, but the exiled princess refuses to hand it over. Dala relaxes on holiday at the exclusive skiing resort in the village of Cortina d'Ampezzo, where British playboy Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), leads a secret life as a jet set jewel thief called "The Phantom". His trademark is a glove left at the scene of the crime. It seems that Princess Dala’s seduction is the only thing on his mind, but he’s actually more interested in the Pink Panther than the princess. His American playboy nephew, George Lytton (Robert Wagner), follows his uncle to the resort hoping to steal the jewel and blame it on the Phantom, not realizing that the Phantom is his uncle.

(Having made her tipsy with champagne, Sir Charles Lytton kisses Princess Dala)
Princess Dala: If I were my father, I'd have you tortured.
Sir Charles Lytton: No. If you were your father, I doubt very much if I would have kissed you.

On the Phantom's trail is French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) of the Sûreté, a bumbling simpleton of a policeman who believes himself to be a brilliant detective, if not a genius. He speaks in English with a ludicrous French accent, while other characters speak English, often with their own accents. His wife Simone (Capucine) is--unknown to him--the lover of Charles and helper in the Phantom's crimes. Inspector Clouseau has followed the Phantom’s trail to Cortina d'Ampezzo and he’ll do anything to catch him. His gorgeous wife is secretly working with the Phantom to steal the gem. The only passion Clouseau is more devoted to pursuing than capturing the Phantom is romancing his wife, a fruitless task that isn’t helped by the good inspector’s clumsiness, a quality that seems to amplify the closer he gets to a bed. Clouseau tries to stop the theft attempts, but he is so clueless and clumsy that when several attempts are made at a fancy costume party, he looks everywhere but the right place. Throughout the film, scenes at the skiing resort's hotel show Madame Clouseau dodging her husband while trying both to carry out Sir Charles' plans and to avoid George, who is infatuated with her.

Inspector Clouseau: I am willing to bet you ten thousand francs, that the Phantom is in Cortina at this very moment. Even, perhaps, in this very room.
Simone Clouseau: How exciting. What do you think, Mr. Tucker?
Tucker: Oh, I agree with the inspector. You see, Ten of his last fifteen victims have been guests at Angela Dunning's parties.
Sir Charles Lytton: What are we all talking about?
Simone Clouseau: The notorious Phantom.
Princess Dala: I'm afraid I never heard of him.
Sir Charles Lytton: From the little I've read about him, he seems to be quite a fellow.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau: Believe me. There are few thieves who are as clever as the Phantom. Each theft is completely different and unique, classic in its conception.
George Lytton: I thought you were working on the theory that he does repeat himself.
Inspector Clouseau: Well, only as far as Angela Dunning's parties are concerned. However, there is one other duplication, but that is his ah... trademark, his calling card, so to speak. He always leaves a white monogrammed glove.
Princess Dala: Sounds terribly theatrical.
Tucker: Your Highness, if I were the Phantom, I'd have chosen my victim already.
Princess Dala: Really? And who would that be?
Tucker: Well, who owns the most fabulous diamond in the world?
Princess Dala: I suppose I do.
Inspector Clouseau: Exactly. The Pink Panther. Such a prize he could never resist. He would be bound to try for it.
Princess Dala: I'm afraid he'd be disappointed. The Pink Panther is in my safe, at...
Inspector Jacques Clouseau: [interrupting] Your Highness, please. Don't say it, not here.
Simone Clouseau: If I'm not being too nosy your highness, I read somewhere there was some dispute over the ownership of the Pink Panther.
Princess Dala: It belongs to me. It was a gift from my late father. I shall never surrender it.
Sir Charles Lytton: Why should you?
Princess Dala: When the present government seized power, they claimed the diamond was the property of the people. There's even some talk of the international court deciding the issue.
Sir Charles Lytton: I'll tell you what, why don't I steal the diamond, leave that old glove or whatever it is behind, and you and I can split the insurance.
Princess Dala: All right.

At the posh costume ball at Princess Dala's villa, the jewel is stolen while Clouseau tries to determine the thief's identity. In spite of himself, the inspector captures Sir Charles and his accomplices. Conviction looks inevitable until Sir Charles and Simone hatch a plan to frame Clouseau. The defense calls a surprised Clouseau to the stand as their lone witness. The barrister asks a series of questions that suggest Clouseau himself could be the Phantom. The unnerved Clouseau pulls his handkerchief out of his shirt pocket, and reveals the jewel planted there by Madame Clouseau.

As Clouseau is being driven away to prison, a regretful Simone expresses fears that he will rot in prison. Sir Charles points out that "it takes years for people to rot, and when the Phantom strikes again, he'll be free as a bird." In the police car, the officers tell Clouseau that as The Phantom, he is a "national hero" and a sex idol for millions of young women. When they ask him, with some deference, how he committed all those robberies, he smiles a little and says, "Well, you know... it wasn't easy."

The cartoon character of the Pink Panther then closes the film.

In the first in a series of detective comedies from director Blake Edwards starring Peter Sellers as French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the mishap-prone inspector is actually a supporting player. David Niven is the real star with top billing. But THE PINK PANTHER made Sellers and his Clouseau act so popular that the character moved to center stage in a series of farcical sequels. This first entry was filmed in Italy, Paris, and Los Angeles. It was shot in an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 in Technicolor and was originally released theatrically by United Artists.

The absurd silliness and a weird combination of James Bond intrigue and the comedy of the Keystone Cops offers a little of everything, including action, glamor, seduction, drama, romance, satire, slapstick and a lushly costumed masque ball sequence. There’s even a musical number thrown into the middle of things for good measure. Despite all those entertaining elements it’s the comedy that stands out. Except for the party scene and big chase at the end, which is inventive and lively, THE PINK PANTHER generally moves at a slow pace, and seems longer than its 115-minute runtime. Part of the problem is that while Sellers' slapstick is superbly executed, there's little momentum, the set-up to a gag is often muddled, and much of the comedy seems aimless--but it is funny.

The movie's animated opening sequence, created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and set to the theme music by Henry Mancini, features the Pink Panther cartoon character. This character, designed by Hawley Pratt, was subsequently the subject of its own series of animated cartoons--as well as being featured in the opening of every movie in the Pink Panther film series except A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964) and INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU (1968).

The cast also includes: Brenda De Banzie (Angela Dunning), Colin Gordon (Tucker), John Le Mesurier (Defence Barrister), James Lanphier (Saloud), Guy Thomajan (Artoff), Michael Trubshawe (Felix Townes), Riccardo Billi (Aristotle Sarajos), Meri Welles (Monica Fawn), Martin Miller (Pierre Luigi), Fran Jeffries (Greek "cousin"), John Bartha (Policeman), William Bryant (Policeman), Mario Fabrizi (Hotel manager), Eugene Walter (Hotel manager, English dubbing) and Gale Garnett who dubs Claudia Cardinale's voice. Henry Mancini composed the original music. The screenplay was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards, who also directed.

THE PINK PANTHER spawned a franchise that includes several movies such as THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER (1975) and THE REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1978). They are not as good as the first. Actually, the first sequel A SHOT IN THE DARK is considered to be the best, even though it does not involve the legendary gem, just the bumbling investigator and a very crazy murder mystery. As of 2009, eleven "Pink Panther" films have been made, all but two having "Pink Panther" in the title:

THE PINK PANTHER (1963)
A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964)
INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU (1968)
THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER (1975)
THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN (1976)
REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1978) .
TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER (1982)
CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1983)
SON OF THE PINK PANTHER (1993)
THE PINK PANTHER (2006)
THE PINK PANTHER 2 (2009)

THE PINK PANTHER is available on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment. It includes a good trivia track. There is also a collectors disc set with 5 of the Clouseau films included. You get 4 great Panther movies and the bodged-together TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER, plus a disk of extras. The documentary "The Pink Panther Story" is heavy on interviews and insight and we learn that Sellers hated A SHOT IN THE DARK. The set does not contain RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, and the other non-Sellers films in the series are not included either. Individual DVDs for each film were released in the 1990s when bonus material was rare and double sided discs with widescreen and fullscreen versions on either side were the norm.

Captain Blood (1935) * * *

Set in England in 1685, open rebellion has greeted the ascension of the unpopular King James II to the throne. Irish Dr. Peter Blood is summoned in the night to attend to the wounds of a rebel fighter who had participated in the Monmouth Rebellion. A war veteran and former seaman in the Dutch navy, Dr. Blood has "had adventure enough in six years to last me six lives" and prefers practicing medicine to fighting. Swept up by the authorities, Blood is imprisoned for three months before being found guilty of treason. He asserts his innocence, maintaining that his duty was to the man’s wounds, not his politics. "Your sacred duty, rogue, is to your king!" growls the judge, who condemns him to hang. Blood and his fellow prisoners are spared when the King realizes he can turn a profit selling them as slaves. They are sentenced to deportation and slavery in the Caribbean.

Prosecutor: Peter Blood... guilty or not guilty?
Dr. Blood: It's entirely innocent, I am!
Clerk of the court: Take the stand and face his Lordship.
(Peter Blood does so)
Clerk of the court: Are you guilty or not guilty? You must use the right words.
Dr. Blood: Words is it? Oh. Not guilty. And speaking of words, I'd like to say a few about the injustice of keeping an innocent man locked up for three months in such filth and heat and ill-feeding... that my chief regret is I didn't try to pull down the filthy fellow that sits on the throne!

Shipped to Port Royal, Jamaica for sale, Dr. Blood turns his sharp tongue on brutal plantation owner and military commander Colonel Bishop (Lionel Atwill). At an auction Blood refuses to open his mouth and allow Bishop to examine his teeth like a horse, so the colonel bypasses him, thereby condemning Blood to the island's worst possible place of employment, the sulfur mines. But his regal niece Arabella (Olivia de Havilland) likes what she sees and bids for him herself. She purchases him, attracted by his rebellious nature. He amuses himself with insults to Arabella, and plans an escape to seek vengeance.

Blood toils with his friends under the lash on Bishop's plantation until Arabella arranges a more comfortable assignment for him attending to Governor Steed (George Hassell). He is taken off work detail and put to use doctoring the gouty foot of Port Royal’s governor. Blood tells Arabella, "This is interesting. I've had men tell me they had reasons for admiring me. And some few, it came, had reasons for loving me. But for a man to store up reasons for resenting me... How refreshing!" When Blood tries to kiss her, he is soundly slapped and returns his attentions to his escape plans.

(Arabella sees Blood leaving the Governor's house after treating him for gout)
Arabella: Oh, forgive me for not recognizing you, Dr. Blood. You're so changed... and for the better. You don't sound very grateful, Dr. Blood.
Dr. Blood: Do you suppose I'd be grateful for an easy life, when my friends are treated like animals? Faith, it's they deserve your favors, not I. They're all honest rebels. I was snoring in my bed while they were trying to free England from an unclean tyrant.
Arabella: I believe you're talking treason.
Dr. Blood: I hope I'm not obscure. It seems that you're continually doing me favors. Faith, I don't know why.
Arabella: Neither do I. Yes I do. It's because you're so very grateful and always thank me so prettily.
Dr. Blood: Sure now, you don't blame me for resenting you and your favors.
Arabella: This is interesting. I've had men tell me they had reasons for admiring me... and some few have even laid claims to reasons for loving me. But for a man to store up reasons for resenting me... how refreshing! You must tell me a few of them.
Dr. Blood: First, is reason enough: you bought me. I've had no lack of experiences in my time; but to be bought and sold was a new one. I was in no mood to thank my purchaser.
Arabella: That I can understand. Go on.
Dr. Blood: I've resented you because your name's Bishop. My thoughts have lumped you with your uncle. How was I to know, be dad, that a devil could have... that a devil could have an angel for a niece.
Arabella: From a resentful man that is a pretty fair compliment.
Dr. Blood: Miss Bishop, it's difficult for an Irishman to apologize; but I hope you can forgive me for having thought badly of you.
Arabella: I will if you tell me how you think of me now.
Dr. Blood: How I think of you now? I think of you... I think of you as the woman who owns me--her slave. But I think the man is lucky who can count you his friend.
Arabella: I think you know you can.
(she extends her hand for him to shake, he kisses her, she is startled, pulls away and slaps him)
Dr. Blood: Your slave is grateful for all marks of favor.
Arabella: When you forget your slavery and go so far...
Dr. Blood: Now there you're mistaken. However far this slave may go, he won't forget. That's a characteristic that the Irish have in common with the elephants.

Unexpectedly, a Spanish galleon attacks the town. During the raid, Dr. Blood and his fellow slaves escape, manage to board and overtake the Spanish ship, guarded only by a few drunken pirates. As the rest of the Spanish crew attempts to come to their aid, Blood and his men attack--"Give 'em a taste of their own iron!"--thereby rescuing Port Royal from the remaining Spaniards. Colonel Bishop comes aboard to congratulate them and suggests the king might reduce their sentences on account of their heroism. Rather than hang him for his haughty insolence, Blood and his men toss him overboard. "Colonel Bishop has a kind heart... but what kind I'd hate to say," Henry Hagthorpe (Guy Kibbee) declares. Blood is torn between his freedom, and his love for Arabella, but chooses to sail to his freedom and begin a life of piracy. When the old governor is unable to contain the pirate menace, Colonel Bishop is promoted to his post.

Dr. Blood: (dictating) If a man conceal any treasure captured or fail to place it in the general fund, he shall be marooned. Set ashore on a deserted isle, and there left with a bottle of water, a loaf of bread and a pistol with one load. If a man shall be drunk on duty he shall recieve the same fate. And if a man shall molest a woman captive against her will... he, too, shall receive the same punishment. These Articles entered into this 20th day of June, in the year 1687. (having finished dictating, he addresses the crew) Now, men, you've heard the Agreement. It's the world against us and us against the world!
Rev. Uriah Ogle: "His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him." Genesis, 16th chapter, 12th verse.
Dr. Blood: Those of you in favor of these Articles raise your right hands and say, "Aye!"
(the whole crew does so)

Forging the men into a crew, Peter becomes Captain Blood, a menace on the high seas. After pillaging treasure, he settles on the island of Tortuga, "Where easy money consorted with easy virtue." He accepts an ill-advised partnership with a hard-fighting, hard-gaming French rascal, Captain Levasseur (Basil Rathbone). When Arabella and a royal emissary, Lord Willoughby (Henry Stephenson), are captured for ransom by Levasseur, Blood purchases them himself with a handful of pearls, relishing the opportunity to turn the tables on his former owner. "I don't wish to be bought by you," Arabella protests. "As a lady once said to a slave, You are hardly in a position to have anything to say about it," Blood retorts. Levasseur is as displeased with the transaction as Arabell and the men go from partners to enemies. Blood's feelings are betrayed, he challenges Levasseur, and in the ensuing duel the Frenchman is killed.

Arabella and Lord Willoughby are taken to Port Royal. As they approach the port, they see two French warships attacking the colony. Bishop and his men are nowhere to be found because Bishop has deserted his post in his single-minded hunt for Blood. Willoughby pleads with Blood to save the colony, but the captain and his crew refuse to fight for the King of England. However, when Willoughby reveals that James II has been deposed in the Glorious Revolution and that he was sent by the new king, William of Orange, to offer pardons, emancipation, and a commission with the Royal Navy to Blood and his men, they joyfully change their minds at this good news.

Dr. Blood: Men, I've just heard a startling piece of news--King James is kicked out of England and good King William reigns in his stead. (the crew cheer) For me this changes the shape of the world. For you who were slaves with me, it means that we're no longer slaves, that we once more have a home and a country. For you who are English it means a chance to fight for your native land... for I now propose to sail into Port Royal and take it from the French! Those of you who are not English will have to be content with fighting for Captain Blood, and the loot you'll find on the French ships. Are you willing to fight, men? (the crew all cheer "Aye")

Blood and his crew approach the harbor disguised under French colors and save the colony in a pitched battle. As a reward, Blood is appointed the new governor of the colony and has the pleasure to deal with his hostile predecessor, now in serious trouble for dereliction of duty, and finally wins the hand of Arabella.

Filmed in three months during the late summer of 1935, CAPTAIN BLOOD is the quintessential swashbuckler. Warner Brothers took a chance on 25 year-old Tasmanian-born bit player Flynn and 18 year-old Olivia de Havilland, a contract performer who had yet to be cast as a leading lady. Flynn shot to overnight international movie stardom with a speed almost unprecedented in Hollywood history. CAPTAIN BLOOD was an enormous success with critics and audiences, ranking among the top 25 money-makers of the year. The trailers for the film describe him as "Handsome! Dashing!". Errol Flynn plays an educated urbane man, a righteous thinking man, and we witness how injustice and imprisonment drive him to piracy. The movie also brought de Havilland important exposure, and though she did not become an overnight superstar like Flynn, the "Charming... Talented" de Havilland proved herself a worthy female counterpart to Flynn's heroic bravura. Olivia de Havilland is positively radiant and the chemistry with Flynn leaps off the screen. It's a fantastic pirate movie, with action, adventure, character development, and great character actors as well. It was the first of 8 films co-starring de Havilland and Flynn, and in 1938 the two would be re-united with Basil Rathbone in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

However, Flynn and de Havilland did not make the film a success on their own. Their contentious romantic scenes are noteworthy and the chemistry between them is clear from the start, yet CAPTAIN BLOOD's real claim to fame is as an adventure film. It is without question the greatest pirate movie ever made. Making use of both miniatures and footage from the 1924 silent swashbuckler THE SEA HAWK, the effects created by photographers Ernest Haller, Hal Mohr and Fred Jackman, in combination with the brisk pacing of director Michael Curtiz, screenwriter Casey Robinson's literate dialogue, and composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Oscar-nominated score, results in an exciting, intelligent film that received an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of the year, though it lost to MGM's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935).

Its weaknesses are some obvious rear-projection shots and painted backgrounds, de Havilland's painfully forced laughter early in the film, and Basil Rathbone's unconvincing French accent. Flynn and Rathbone's duel, filmed on the beach at Laguna, California, is a worthy predecessor to their more famous bout in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), and evidence of Rathbone's reputation as the best sword fighter in Hollywood.

The cast also includes: Ross Alexander (Jeremy Pitt), Robert Barrat (Wolverstone), Hobart Cavanaugh (Dr. Bronson), Donald Meek (Dr. Whacker), Jessie Ralph (Mrs. Barlow), Forrester Harvey (Honesty Nuttall), Frank McGlynn Sr. (Rev. Ogle), Holmes Herbert (Capt. Gardner), David Torrence (Andrew Baynes), J. Carrol Naish (Cahusac), Pedro de Cordoba (Don Diego), Harry Cording (Kent), Leonard Mudie (Baron Jeffreys), Ivan F. Simpson (Prosecutor), Stuart Casey (Capt. Hobart), David Cavendish (Lord Gildoy), Mary Forbes (Mrs. Steed), E.E. Clive (Clerk of the Court), Colin Kenny (Lord Chester Dyke), Maude Leslie (Mrs. Baynes), Gardner James (Slave), Vernon Steele (King James), and many others. Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed the original music. Casey Robinson wrote the screenplay based on Rafael Sabatini's 1922 novel "Captain Blood". Michael Curtiz directed.

CAPTAIN BLOOD is available in all formats of home video internationally, including a pastel colorized release. The black and white DVD includes the film, and also a 23 minute featurette about making of the film and how two stars were made overnight. Runtime is 119 minutes, the soundtrack is English Dolby Digital mono, and French Dolby Digital mono. Subtitles are in English, Spanish, and French. There are also a radio broadcast, newsreel footage, theatrical trailers, and three bonus shorts: JOHNNY GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA (1935), ALL-AMERICAN DRAWBACK (1935), and BILLBOARD FROLICS (1935).

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) * * *

The film starts in 1917 with a lengthy prologue to introduce 6 year-old Baby Jane Hudson (Julie Allred), a very successful vaudeville performer, and her older sister Blanche (Gina Gillespie), who remains in her shadow. Jane, "the diminutive dancing Duse", is extremely popular with the audiences and spoiled by her father Ray (Dave Willock) and mother Cora (Ann Barton). Blanche resents this, but out of consideration for their mother keeps her feelings buried.

In a second prologue set in 1935, Jane (Bette Davis) has faded into obscurity while Blanche (Joan Crawford) has become a beautiful famous movie star. However, Blanche is loyal and insists that for every picture she makes, Jane must star in one of her own. But Jane's "cuteness" is now grotesque, so her movies flop. One night after a party where Jane had been embarassingly drunk, one of the sisters walks forward to open the gate to the driveway of the Hudson mansion. We see the other sister put her foot on the gas and crash the car into the gate. When Blanche is found unconscious in the wrecked car, Jane is missing. When she is located uninjured, she is unable to explain what had happened.

The film fast forwards to the present day, and Blanche is paralyzed from the accident, with Jane apparently the one responsible. The two sisters have become recluses in their decaying mansion, where Jane cares for Blanche. Their isolation is broken only by the weekly visits of cleaning woman Elvira Stitt (Maidie Norman) and the occasional efforts of next door neighbor Mrs. Bates (Anna Lee) to meet Blanche--attempts which are always thwarted by Jane. She is now a deranged alcoholic, and vengefully bitter and jealous toward her wheelchair-bound sister secluded in an upstairs bedroom. Hatred increases when a local TV network airs a marathon tribute to Blanche Hudson movies, and Jane learns that Blanche is planning to sell the mansion, move in with Elvira, and put her in a convalescent home. Jane holds her prisoner and increases her sadistic verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. She even kills Blanche's pet parakeet and serves it to her sister on her dinner plate. Later she pulls the same gruesome prank with a dead rat for "din-din".

Jane: It's just that nosy Mrs. Bates going on about your picture last night.
Blanche: Oh, really, did she like it?
Jane: (imitating Blanche's voice) Oh, really, did she like it?... She liked it!

Elvira Stitt: (shocked at some obscenities Jane has scrawled) I can't remember the last time I saw words like that written down!

Blanche: You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I wasn't in this chair.
Jane: But ya aah Blanche, ya aah in that chair!

Jane decides to stage a show-business comeback and hires shiftless pianist Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) to accompany her. Although he immediately realizes she has no talent, he goes along with her plan for the money. Jane garishly dresses up as a little girl as she is being coached by Edwin Flagg for an improbable comeback. She croaks, "I've Written a Letter to Daddy":

"I've written a letter to Daddy
His address is Heaven above
I've written "Dear Daddy, we miss you
And wish you were with us to love"
Instead of a stamp I put kisses
The postman says that's best to do
I've written a letter to Daddy
Saying "I love you"
Now when I'm very good, and do as I am told
I'm Mama's little angel and Papa says I'm good as gold
Now when I'm very bad and answer back and sass
Then I'm Mama's little devil, and Papa says I've got the brass
Now I wish that you would tell me
Cos I'm much too young to know..."

Jane: You certainly can play, can't you?
Edwin Flagg: And you certainly can sing!

Jane becomes increasingly more vicious, thwarts Blanche's efforts to contact Mrs. Bates, who is unaware of Blanche's desperate predicament. When Blanche manages to climb down the stairs and telephone her doctor for help, Jane comes home, finds her on the phone, and violently beats her. She gags and ties up Blanche in her bedroom. Impersonating her sister on the phone, Jane manages to stop the doctor's planned visit to the house. Jane then fires Elvira without good reason. Uneasy about the situation at the house, Elvira returns while Jane is out and finds the bound and gagged Blanche. As she attempts to free Blanche, Jane arrives home and creeps up on Elvira from behind and kills her with a hammer. Late that night, Jane bundles up Elvira's body, loads it into the car, and drives off to dispose of it.

Edwin, somewhat drunk, is brought to the door by the police as a prowler suspect. They leave Edwin when Jane says he has an appointment with her. Edwin demands his promised advance. Upstairs, hearing voices, Blanche manages to untie herself and knock over a bedside table in a frantic effort to attract help. Hearing the sound of the crash, Edwin rushes up to investigate. At the sight of the haggard, helpless Blanche, he flees in horror from the house. Jane fears that Edwin will contact the police, so under the cover of darkness she drives Blanche to a nearby beach.

Jane: (running after Flagg as he flees the house) Edwin, you forgot your money!

As morning comes, dozens of people begin to arrive at the beach. A radio report and newspaper headlines reveal that the police have initiated a search for the once-famous sisters after the body of Elvira was discovered. While lying on the beach in the blazing sun, the slowly dying Blanche confesses the secret she has held for 25 years: It was she, Blanche, who had tried to run over Jane outside of their house. However Jane saw the oncoming car and moved out the way just in time. Blanche slammed into the entrance gates, snapping her spine. Jane was too drunk to realize what had happened, and has believed she was responsible for the accident ever since, something Blanche had never denied. Jane says, "You mean, all this time we could've been friends?"

Jane goes off to a snack stand to buy ice cream cones for the two of them. Two policeman at the food stand recognize Jane and run after her. Soon, when the policemen catch Jane, a crowd gathers around her. The now completely deranged Jane begins to entertain them with a song-and-dance routine as they watch, giving her the attention she so desperately craves. The policemen ask her the whereabouts of Blanche: "Won't you show us where she is, please?" "Won't you take us to her? Please, Ms. Hudson." The film ends with a long shot of the beach. The police spot the limp body of Blanche and run over to her, leaving Jane happily dancing within a circle of onlookers.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? is an American drama film based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. It's a macabre masterpiece of casting, directing, and performing. The idea of putting these two stars in the same picture was a stroke of genius on the part of director Robert Aldrich. He made a film that is both claustrophobic in its set pieces and one that uses the black and white photography to great advantage. Bette Davis' and Joan Crawford's careers had fallen on hard times, and the two detested each other. The film really succeeds, however, because of Bette Davis. She blows Joan Crawford out of the water in this movie, although to be fair Davis had the best role. Her garish appearance and screeching voice deliver chills, and her progressive decline into insanity is shocking and absolutely convincing. Davis was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Jane Hudson, and Crawford was infuriated for being overlooked. She contacted the Best Actress nominees who were unable to attend the ceremonies and offered to accept the award on their behalf should they win. When Anne Bancroft was declared the winner for THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962), Crawford triumphantly pushed her way past Davis saying "Step aside!", and swept onstage to pick up the Oscar. Davis later commented, "It would have meant a million more dollars to our film if I had won. Joan was thrilled I hadn't."

The film was a massive success. With a budget of $980,000 it grossed $9 million at the worldwide box office and $5 million in rentals. It's success led to other projects featuring psychotic women, directed and/or produced by Aldrich, including HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1965) and WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE (1969). The original novel has a much darker and macabre tone than the film. Jane has dark brown hair dyed slightly red, whereas Blanche is described as "the blonde girl with the sooty eyes". The maid Elvira is named Edna in the novel, and half of the scenes are set in the late evening or night, whereas most of the scenes in the film are set in the daytime.

The cast also includes: Wesley Addy (Marty Mc Donald), Marjorie Bennett (Dehlia Flagg), Bert Freed (Ben Golden), William Aldrich (Lunch counter assistant at beach), Russ Conway Police Officer), Maxine Cooper (Bank teller), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Shelby), Michael Fox (Motorcycle cop at beach), Barbara Merrill (Liza Bates), Don Ross, James Seay (Police Officer), John Shay, Jon Shepodd, Peter Virgo, Bobs Watson (Clerk in Newspaper Classified Ad Department), Debbie Burton (Singing Voice), and Ernest Anderson (Ernie, Ice Cream Vendor at Beach). Frank De Vol composed the original music with Sidney Cutner and Ruby Raksin. Lukas Heller wrote the screenplay based on Henry Farrell's novel. Robert Aldrich produced and directed.

Warner Brothers has reissued WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? in a special 2-disc DVD edition. The film has excellent picture and sound quality, and there are plenty of extras. A new documentary entitled "Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition" features interviews with various film scholars and biographers, including drag artist/playwright John "Lypsinka" Epperson, and actor/playwright Charles Busch. Epperson and Busch provide a lot of witty and interesting anecdotes concerning the film. The other features include the Turner documentary "All About Bette", hosted by Jodie Foster, and a segment from "The Andy Williams Show" featuring Davis singing "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?". There are also "Star Profile: Joan Crawford", an interview for British TV filmed at the time Crawford was filming BERSERK (1967), and a short feature entitled "Behind the scenes of Baby Jane", made during the filming. The film was remade in 1991 as a TV movie starring real-life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, with Lynn Redgrave in the malevolent title role and Vanessa as Blanche. In 2003, the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) * * *

Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye) is a daydreaming proofreader for a magazine whose overprotective mother Eunice (Fay Bainter) arranged his marriage to the beautiful but childishly dimwitted Gertrude Griswold (Ann Rutherford). He is henpecked and harassed by everyone in his life, including his overbearing, idea-stealing boss Thurston Hall (Bruce Pierce), Gertrude's obnoxious would-be suitor Gordon Jones (Tubby Wadsworth), and her loud mother Emma Griswald (Florence Bates). As he looks over the covers of magazines, Walter retreats into his fantasy world, where he is heroic, self-assured, and the master of his fate. Glancing at the cover of a western periodical, Walter imagines himself the two-gun "Perth Amboy Kid". A war magazine prompts Walter to envision himself as a fearless RAF pilot, and he also becomes a riverboat gambler, a sea captain, surgeon, and so on.

Mrs. Mitty: The clock didn't strike. I definitely heard it not strike.
Gertrude Griswold: Walter, what's that awful smell?
Walter Mitty: It's that cologne you gave me for Christmas.
Gertrude Griswold: It's lovely, isn't it?

All the daydreams are very entertaining and a few are especially appealing. Mitty becomes RAF Whig Commander Mitty, the modest hero and scourge of the Luftwaffe in North Africa, while stoking the heating boiler. He is awoken from this daydream by his mother, who orders him to come to dinner. Believing he is still a British fighter pilot, he salutes, and places a red-hot poker under his arm--only to burn a hole in his suit jacket. As Dr. Walter Mitty the eminent surgeon, he operates with the aid of instruments that look like a can opener, a sock stretcher, a sprinkling can and over-sized knitting needles. His icy-nerved Mississippi gambler is delectable too, and for his "Anatole of Paris" skit he is a fey women's milliner whose inspiration for the ridiculous chapeaus he creates is his loathing of women. The Anatole character is based on "Antoine de Paris", a women's hair-salon professional of the era, known for creating preposterous hairstyles. Lyrics to the song "Anatole of Paris" were written by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine, and the film includes many of Kaye's trademark patter-songs. "Symphony for Unstrung Tongue" is another fine musical number with future director Robert Altman appearing as an extra.

Walter Mitty: (singing while daydreaming that he's Anatole of Paris) And why do I sew each new chapeau with a style they must look positively grim in? Strictly between us, entrez-nous, I hate women. (giggles)

Throughout all his imaginary adventures, a beautiful mystery woman weaves in and out of the proceedings. Then his dream girl shows up in the flesh as blonde Rosalind van Horn (Virginia Mayo). She hands him a little black book. According to her it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden from the Nazis since World War II. Rosalind is working with her uncle Peter van Hoorn (Konstantin Shayne) to help find the jewels, and is being pursued by a gang of thieves headed by Dr. Hugo Hollingshead (Boris Karloff), a clever psychiatrist who manages to convince Walter that he's simply imagining things again, and that Rosalind never existed.

Dr. Hollingshead: Perhaps you are mistaking me for someone else.
Walter Mitty: Oh, no. No one looks as much like you do as you do.

Caught up in a real-life adventure that seems unbelievable to him, Walter attempts to hide his double life from his family and friends. Eventually, he acquires the courage to stand up to those who kick him around and vows to live his life in the "now" rather than in the recesses of his mind. He rescues Rosalind from the gang's clutches, puts his mother and Gertrude in their proper places, and fast-talks his way into a better position with the publishing firm.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY is a Technicolor musical comedy loosely based on the 1939 short story of the same name by James Thurber, who wasn't too happy with the film adaptation of his story. He allegedly offered producer Samuel Goldwyn $10,000 to not make the film. But it proved to be a cash cow at the box office. It's a very funny movie starring a very talented actor in a big colorful show. Maybe it's just a little too big, for it is difficult to sustain a comedy for close to two hours without a letdown every so often. Much of the flavor of the Thurber character is lost because of the lack of contrast between Walter Mitty's dream world and actual experiences. After an appropriate humdrum start as a timid proofreader, he is suddenly thrust into a melodramatic adventure involving a beautiful woman, stolen art treasures and murder, which rivals the boldest of his fantasies. This turn of the plot detracts somewhat from the effectiveness of Mitty's illusions. The character of Walter Mitty made such an impact on popular culture at the time that the name came to stand for a daydreamer. In fact, "Mittyesque" can be found in the dictionary, defined as someone who is an absent-minded dreamer.

The cast also includes: Reginald Denny (Colonel), Henry Corden (Hendrick), Doris Lloyd (Mrs. Letitia Follinsbee), Fritz Feld (Anatole of Paris), Frank Reicher (Maasdam), Milton Parsons (Butler), The Goldwyn Girls, Eddie Acuff (Wells Fargo cowboy), Ernie Adams (Flower Truck Driver), Robert Altman (Man Drinking), Sam Ash (Art Editor), Mary Anne Baird (Model with Wolf Man), Audrey Betz (Dowager), Edward Biby (Director), Ted Billings (Huckster), and many others. David Raksin composed the original music. Ken Englund, Everett Freeman, and Philip Rapp wrote the screenplay based on James Thurber's story. Norman Z. McLeod directed.

The remake of the film, or more accurately a new film adaptation of the original short story, has a troubled history. At first, producer-directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, with many screenwriters, and Kevin Anderson as Mitty, were going to re-do the film but it fell through. Then it was to be made at Paramount Pictures by producers Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., his brother John Goldwyn, and Richard Vane, with director Mark Waters and Owen Wilson cast as Mitty, with a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese. It was supposed to be released in 2007. Then it was taken over by 20th Century Fox, with Mike Myers in the title role, and scheduled to be released in 2009. Probably owing to the production of this film, the DVD release of the 1947 version was withdrawn from distribution and was briefly an expensive collector's item. DVD extras have no deleted scenes, but there's a scene in the trailer with Boris Karloff and Henry Corden in a pub that is not in the film. Virginia Mayo appears in the intro and outro of the featurette with brief comments about most of her co-stars: "Ann Rutherford was delightful...Fay Bainter was a consummate actress." The Italian film SOGNI MOSTRUOSAMENTE PROBITI (1982) is based on this movie, with Paolo Villaggio playing the role of Walter Mitty.

Alfred Hitchock Presents (1955 - 1962) * * *

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS was an anthology TV series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. It premiered on CBS October 2, 1955 and ran until June 1, 1962. The series featured dramas, thrillers, mysteries, comedy, terror, and the macabre, usually with twisted endings. Time magazine named it one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of all time". When it premiered, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades, and his show was an instant hit. Every Sunday at 9:30 p.m., the series began with the familiar theme of Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" as Hitchcock himself appears in silhouette from the right edge of the screen and then walks to center screen to eclipse the caricature. The drawing was the work of Hitchcock himself. He then almost always says "Good evening."

The weekly "play" opened and closed with the series' most popular feature: Hitchcock delivered sardonic introductions and epilogues to each week's episode, written by James Allardyce, and frequently taking polite pot-shots at CBS sponsors, or skirting around broadcast standards, which demanded that no crime could go unpunished. Hitchcock humorously explained how the show's killers and criminals were brought to justice--though always with a nod and a wink to the viewer. He told TV Guide that his reassurances were "a necessary gesture to morality." When the stories appear to end with evil triumphant, the situation is always resolved following the last commercial. Hitchcock returns to explain, in his deadpan way, what silly mistake or chance occurrence had finally done the villain in. He closed the show in much the same way as it opened but mainly to tie up loose ends rather than joke.

Alfred Hitchcock: (he arrives for his introduction dressed in a safari outfit and pith helmet) Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to darkest Hollywood. Night brings a stillness to the jungle. It is so quiet, you can hear a name drop. The savage beasts have already begun gathering at the water holes to quench their thirst. Now one should be especially alert. The vicious table-hopper is on the prowl, and the spotted back-biter may lurk behind a potted palm. To take me through this most savage of lands, I have hired a native guide. (He snaps his fingers. An old man joins him, wearing a billboard sign that reads, "Maps of the Movie Stars' Homes--For Sale".)

At least two versions of the introductions and epilogues were shot for every episode. A version intended for the American audience would often spoof a recent popular commercial or poke fun at the sponsor, leading into the commercial. An alternative version for European audiences would instead include jokes at the expense of Americans in general. For later seasons, opening remarks were also filmed with Hitchcock speaking in French and German for the show's international presentations, reflecting his real-life fluency in both languages.

Many talented writers contributed teleplays, both original and adapted, that maintained a high standard of excellence. Hitchcock directed four of the first season's 39 episodes, including the premiere episode "Revenge" and the season highlight "Breakdown", with Joseph Cotten as a car-accident victim, paralyzed and motionless, who's nearly left for dead. It's a perfect example of visual and narrative economy, executed with a master's touch. The fourth episode, "Don't Come Back Alive", is also a popular favorite, with the kind of sinister twist that became a series trademark. Robert Stevenson directed the majority of the remaining episodes with similar skill, serving tightly plotted tales by such literary greats as Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Cornell Woolrich, Dorothy L. Sayers, and John Collier.

Adding to the series' prestige was a weekly roster of new and seasoned stars, with appearances by: Cloris Leachman, Darren McGavin, Everett Sloane, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson, Barry Fitzgerald, John Cassavetes, Joanne Woodward, Thelma Ritter, Ed Asner, Mary Astor, Roscoe Ates, Gene Barry, Ed Begley, Jack Cassidy, Dabney Coleman, Joseph Cotten, Bob Crane, Hume Cronyn, Robert Culp, Bette Davis, Francis De Sales, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, John Forsythe, Anne Francis, Cedric Hardwicke, Lou Jacobi, Carolyn Jones, Don Keefer, Brian Keith, Jack Klugman, Peter Lorre, Dayton Lummis, E. G. Marshall, Walter Matthau, Steve McQueen, Tyler McVey, Joyce Meadows, Vera Miles, Vic Morrow, Jeanette Nolan, James Philbrook, Judson Pratt, Vincent Price, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, William Shatner, Jessica Tandy, Dick Van Dyke, Dennis Weaver, Joanne Woodward and Fay Wray. Actors appearing in the most episodes include Patricia Hitchcock (Alfred Hitchcock's daughter), Dick York, Robert Horton, John Williams, Robert H. Harris, Claude Rains, Barbara Baxley, Ray Teal, Percy Helton, Mildred Dunnock and Alan Napier.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS was originally 30 minutes long, and aired weekly at 9:30 on CBS on Sunday nights from 1955 to 1960, and then at 8:30 on NBC on Tuesday nights from 1960 to 1962. The series expanded to 60 minutes in 1962 and was retitled THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR. It lasted for three seasons, September 1962 to June 1965, adding another 93 episodes to the 270 already produced for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. It was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1964, and on NBC from 1964 to 1965. The last new episode aired on June 26, 1965, but the series continued to be popular in syndication for decades.

Hitchcock himself only directed 17 of the episodes of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and only one of the hour-long episodes, "I Saw the Whole Thing" with John Forsythe. His show paved the way for THRILLER, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and other series that maximized the anthology format's storytelling potential. In 1985, NBC aired a new TV movie based on the series, combining newly-filmed stories with colorized footage of Hitchcock from the original series for introductions. The movie was a huge ratings success, and sparked a brief revival of the anthology series genre that included a new version of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and others. THE NEW ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS series debuted in the fall of 1985, five years after Hitchcock's death, and retained the same format as the movie: newly filmed stories, a mixture of original works and updated remakes of original series episodes, with colorized introductions by Hitchcock. The new series lasted only two seasons before NBC cancelled it, but in 1987 it was produced for two more years by USA Cable Network, which is now co-owned with NBC under NBC Universal.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the first three seasons of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS on DVD. The first season was released on October 4, 2005, the second season on October 17, 2006, and the third on October 9, 2007. They are also available on Hulu, the iTunes Store, and on NBC's website. Packed onto three double-sided DVDs, these 39 episodes per season hold up quite well despite not being "restored". Some prints show the wear and tear of syndication, but they look and sound surprisingly good, although audio compression will cause many viewers to turn up the volume. Extras are very limited. There are written episode summaries, and the 15 minute bonus featurette, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Look Back" is perfunctory at best. However, it's good to see new anecdotal interviews with producer/director/actor Norman Lloyd, assistant director Hilton Green, and Hitchcock's daughter Pat (a frequent performer on these episodes), who survived to see the popular series benefit from the archival convenience of DVD.