Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) * * *

Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) goes to see his friend chief scientist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson ), an ichthyologist who works at a marine biology institute. They plan to re-join a geology expedition to the Amazon where fossilized evidence of a "missing link" between land and sea animals has been discovered in the form of a skeletal hand with webbed fingers, and perhaps "a living amphibious missing link". Dr. Reed persuades the institute's financial backer Mark Williams (Richard Denning ) to fund the expedition to look for the remainder of the skeleton. They travel on a steam boat called the Rita captained by a rude old sailor named Lucas (Nestor Paiva). The expedition consists of David, Maia, Williams, as well as Reed's girlfriend and assistant Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) and another scientist named Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell). When they arrive at Dr. Maia's camp, however, they discover that his entire research team has been killed while he was away. Captain Lucas suggests it was done by a jaguar, but the others are unsure. The audience sees the attack on the camp, which was committed by a living version of the fossil the scientists seek.

Lucas: It is impossible. But I, Lucas, will do it.
David Reed: We didn't come here to fight monsters, we're not equipped for it.
Lucas: There are many strange legends in the Amazon. Even I, Lucas, have heard the legend of a man-fish.

An excavation of the area where Maia found the fossil hand turns up nothing. Williams is ready to give up the search, but Dr. Reed suggests that possibly thousands of years ago the rest of the skeleton fell into the water and was washed downriver. Captain Lucas says that the tributary empties into a lagoon known as the "Black Lagoon", a paradise from which no one has ever returned. The scientists decide to risk it, unaware that the amphibious Gill Man that killed Dr. Maia's assistants earlier has been watching them. It notices beautiful Kay and follows the Rita all the way downriver to the Black Lagoon. Once the expedition arrives, Dr. Reed and Mark go diving to collect fossils from the lagoon floor. After they return, Kay goes swimming and is stalked underwater by the creature, which then gets caught in one of the ship's draglines. Although it escapes, it leaves behind a claw in the net that reveals its existence to the scientists.

Lucas: I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon", a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it... What kind of fishing is that? Who eats rocks?
Carl Maia: I eat rocks, in a manner of speaking. I crush and look inside them and they tell me things.
Lucas: What do they tell you?
Carl Maia: How old they are.

Kay: Hurry, David.
Dr. Reed: I've almost got it.

More encounters with the Gill Man claim the lives of two of Lucas' crew members, before the Gill Man is captured drugged, and locked in a cage on board the Rita. It escapes during the night and attacks Dr. Thompson, who was guarding it. Kay hits the beast with a lantern to drive it off before it can kill Dr. Thompson. After this, Dr. Reed decides they should return to civilization, but as the Rita tries to leave they find the entrance blocked by fallen logs, done by the escaped Gill Man. As the others try to remove them, Mark is killed trying to capture the creature single-handed underwater. The creature then abducts Kay and takes her to his cavern lair. Dr. Reed, Captain Lucas, and Dr. Maia chase the creature and rescue Kay. The creature is riddled with bullets before it retreats to the lagoon where its body sinks in the watery depths not to be seen again--until the sequel.

Though it features one of the weakest of the classic Universal monsters, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is still a first-rate horror film. Director Jack Arnold makes excellent use of the tropical location, using heavy mists and eerie jungle noises to create an atmosphere of menace. The film's most effective ingredient is the monster itself, with his pulsating gills and webbed talons. It looks real and frightening, especially in the close-up shots of the creature when he is out of the water. Gasping for air, his mouth opens and closes in short spasms as the fins on his gills gesticulate in a parallel rhythm, and he quite convincingly comes across as a giant mutant with nothing but the most malevolent of intentions. The creature was played on land by stuntman Ben Chapman and underwater by champion swimmer Ricou Browning--who was forced to hold his breath during long takes because the suit did not allow room for scuba gear. The end result was certainly worth the effort, proven in the famous scene where the Gill Man swims gracefully beneath his female quarry in an eerie ballet--a scene imitated later by Steven Spielberg in the opening of JAWS (1975).

Not since KING KONG (1933) has the "beauty and the beast" theme been portrayed in such a sexually charged way. Arnold turns a B-movie plot into a moody, stylish, low-budget feature. The jungle exteriors turn from exotic to treacherous when the creature blocks their passage and strands them in the wilds. Much of the film is shot underwater, where the murky dark is animated by shimmering beams of sunlight, creating images both lovely and alien. The studio-built sets of the creature's underground lair are far less naturalistic, but serve their purpose. As with most of Arnold's 1950s genre films, he works with a less than magnetic leading man (Richard Carlson) and a conventional script, but he overcomes these limitations by creating a vivid and sympathetic scaly monster and establishing a thick moody atmosphere. Even in black-and-white, the underwater photography in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is beautiful, one of the best aspects of the film. Much of this underwater footage was shot in protected nature reserves in Florida, and though it was not directed by the film's primary director, it fits in seamlessly with Arnold's top-notch above-water directing style. The film has great photography, good acting, excellent production values, an intelligent plot, a bathing beauty, and a claustrophobic atmosphere with a realistic genuinely scary monster. Plus Julie Adams looks fantastic in a bathing suit, even in the conservative swimwear of the 1950s.

THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON was originally filmed in 3-D requiring polarized glasses, and there are some very dynamic shots that are obviously meant to exploit the 3-D technique. Unfortunately, the 3-D process originally used on this film only works with a special projection setup, so the 3-D version is not available for home video. Some art-house theaters do occasionally screen the 3-D version and its worth watching in that format if you ever have the opportunity.

The cast also includes: Bernie Gozier (Zako), Henry A. Escalante (Chico), Ricou Browning (the Gill Man in water), Ben Chapman (the Gill Man on land), Perry Lopez (Tomas), Sydney Mason (Dr. Matos), and Rodd Redwing (Louis the expedition foreman). Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein composed the original music. Harry Essex and Arthur A. Ross wrote the screenplay from a story by Maurice Zimm. Jack Arnold directed.

The film was novelized in 1977 by author Ramsey Campbell under the pseudonym of "Carl Dreadstone" as part of a series of books based on the classic Universal horror films. It gives a completely different origin for the Gill-man, who in this version of the story is gigantic, almost as big as the Rita herself, weighing in at 30 tons. It is both coldblooded and warmblooded, is a hermaphrodite, and also possesses a long whip-like tail. The gigantic creature is dubbed "AA" for "Advanced Amphibian" by the expedition team members. After slaying most of the team, destroying a Sikorsky helicopter, and kidnapping Kay more than once, the creature is killed by the crew of a US Navy torpedo boat.

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955) is the first sequel to THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. Having survived being riddled with bullets at the end of the first film, the Gill Man is captured and sent by the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and ichthyology student Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson). Helen and Clete begin to fall in love, much to the chagrin of Joe Hayes (John Bromfield), the Gill Man's keeper. The Gill Man takes an instant liking to Helen, which severely hampers Professor Ferguson's efforts to communicate with him. Eventually the Gill Man escapes from his tank, kills Joe in the process, and flees to the open ocean. Unable to stop thinking about Helen, he soon begins to stalk her and Prof. Ferguson, ultimately abducting Helen from a seaside restaurant where the two are at a party. Prof. Ferguson tries to give chase, but the Gill Man escapes to the water with her. The professor and the local police must now try to track down Helen and her amphibious abductor. Eventually they are located. The police lights anger and confuse the Gill Man so he puts Helen down. A hail of bullets throw him into the water, and he floats away using the exact same film footage from the first movie. If the plot sounds familiar, it's because it is a repetition of the first film and producer William Alland admitted both were modeled on KING KONG.

The film is notable as being the only sequel to a 3-D film shot in 3-D as well. It is also the first screen role for Clint Eastwood, who appears as an uncredited lab technician early in the film. He is shown having a discussion with the professor, accusing a test subject cat of eating a lab rat. However, his character had in fact accidentally put the lab rat in his lab coat pocket. The movie was released May 11, 1955 in the United States. In 1997, it was aired as an episode of the comedy series MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, which mocked the film.

THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956) is the final and weakest installment of The Creature horror film series from Universal Pictures. Following the Gill Man's escape from Ocean Harbor, Florida, a team of scientists led by deranged Dr. William Barton (Jeff Morrow) capture him in the Everglades. During the capture, the creature is badly burned in a fire. While bandaging the Gill Man, the doctors notice that it is shedding its gills and even breathing using a kind of lung system. Now that the creature has more human-like skin, it is given clothing. The doctors attempt to get the Gill Man to live among humans. Dr. Barton ruins the plans in a murderous rage when he kills guide Jed Grant (Gregg Palmer), who had made romantic advances to his wife Marcia (Leigh Snowden). Realizing what he has done, Barton then tries to put the blame on the Gill Man. The creature witnesses the killing and goes on a rampage. After ripping down the confining electric fence, it kills Barton and then slowly walks back to the sea. It is last seen on a beach, advancing towards the ocean.

That's all there is to this movie, except for an unimportant subplot about a decaying marriage. The dialogue is inflated, awkward, and repetitious. And the pace is slow, especially for a 78 minute movie. The Gill Man is the only good thing about this entry, a melodramatic and unnecessary good-bye, the weakest movie in the trilogy. Underwater scenes were filmed at Wakulla Springs in North Florida, today a state park. Unlike the previous two Creature films, this was not filmed in 3-D.

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) * * *

THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH is a 1978 television film mockumentary that traces the career of a fictitional British rock group called The Rutles. It's a parody of the Beatles written by Eric Idle, who directed it with Gary Weis. It features 20 songs written by Neil Innes, which he performs with three musicians. He relied on his memory of Beatles music, without listening, to create soundalike songs. It was first broadcast on March 22, 1978 on NBC, earning the lowest ratings of any show on American television that week. It did much better in the ratings when it premiered in the UK on BBC2 less than one week later.

(on manager Leggy Mountbatten's discovery of the Rutles)
Iris Mountbatten: Well, he told me that he'd been to see these young men in a dark cellar.
Narrator: Yes.
Iris Mountbatten: He was always very interested in young men.
Narrator: Oh, yes.
Iris Mountbatten: Youth clubs, Boy Scouts, that sort of thing.
Narrator: Yes.
Iris Mountbatten: But these, he said, were different.
Narrator: In what way?
Iris Mountbatten: Their hair, and... their presence... and their music...
Narrator: He liked it?
Iris Mountbatten: No, he hated it.
Narrator: What did he like?
Iris Mountbatten: Well, em... the trousers.
Narrator: What about their trousers?
Iris Mountbatten: Well, they were, eh, they were very, em... tight.

The music and events in the lives of the Rutles parallel that of The Beatles almost to the letter, spoofing many of the latter's career highlights. For instance, the cartoon movie YELLOW SUBMARINE is spoofed as "Yellow Submarine Sandwich", and the song "Get Back" becomes "Get Up And Go". A soundtrack album was released in 1978 followed in 1996 by "Archaeology", spoofing the Beatles' "Anthology" series. In addition to two albums, Innes and John Halsey toured as The Rutles in the UK--augmented by other musicians. The touring group performed songs from the Rutles' repertoire and from Innes's own career.

Archie Macaw, Record Producer: Well, one day this rather odd chap hopped into the office. He'd been to see virtually everyone in the business and been shown the door. He asked to see my door, but I wouldn't show it to him. Instead, he showed me the photographs and tapes of the Rutles. They were pretty rough, but they had something.
Narrator: What was it?
Archie Macaw, Record Producer: I think it was the trousers.

The Rutles are played by Eric Idle, John Halsey, Ricky Fataar, and Neil Innes. They had originally appeared in a sketch as a band on Idle's program RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION. The sketch was later re-broadcast on the American TV show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. For this film, Fataar replaced David Battley who had appeared as Stig O' Hara in the original sketch. ALL YOU NEED IS CASH was one of the first films of its kind, and an inspiration for the successful Rob Reiner cult comedy film THIS IS SPINAL TAP which followed in 1984.

Reporter: It must have been a great honor, meeting the queen.
Ron Nasty: Yes, it must have been.
Reporter: What did she ask you?
Barry Wom: She asked us who we were. And then to get out.
Reporter: What did you say?
Dirk McQuickly: (pointing at Ron Nasty) I said I was him.

ALL YOU NEED IS CASH is primarily a series of skits and gags that illustrate a different part of the fictional Rutles story, closely following the chronology of The Beatles' own story. The cohesive glue of the film is the soundtrack by Neil Innes, who created 20 songs for the film, each an affectionate imitation of a different Beatles song or genre of songs. 14 of the songs were released on a soundtrack album with elaborate packaging. The CD version subsequently added the six songs omitted from the original vinyl album. The album was both critically and commercially successful and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Comedy Recording of the year. Orchestrations and arrangements for the Rutles recordings were made by noted film composer John Altman.

The film is also notable for its many cameo appearances by a cross-section of both British and American comic talent, including those with ties to MONTY PYTHON, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and the lesser-known but directly-related RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION. Probably the most noteworthy cameo is by George Harrison who had earlier appeared as himself on the RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION 1975 Christmas Special. Harrison plays a TV journalist conducting an interview outside the headquarters of Rutle Corps, oblivious to the stream of people coming out of the building carrying items stolen from the office--a reference to the Beatles' famously plundered Apple Boutique and Apple Headquarters itself, where even the roof lining was looted. The interview ends abruptly as the microphone is stolen out of his hand.

George Harrison: The Rutles sort of liberated me from The Beatles in a way. It was the only thing I saw of those Beatles television shows they made. It was actually the best, funniest and most scathing. But at the same time, it was done with the most love.

Ringo Starr liked the happier scenes in the film, but felt the scenes that mimicked sadder times hit too close. John Lennon loved the film so much that he refused to return the videotape and soundtrack he was given for approval. He told Innes, however, that "Get Up and Go" was too close to The Beatles' "Get Back" and to be careful not to be sued by Paul McCartney. The song was subsequently omitted from the 1978 vinyl LP soundtrack. Paul McCartney, who had just released his own album, "London Town", always answered "no comment". According to Innes: "He had a dinner at some awards thing at the same table as Eric one night and Eric said it was a little frosty." Idle claimed McCartney changed his mind because his wife Linda thought it was funny. All the Beatles and Apple consented to the use of the Beatles' Shea Stadium concert footage, along with other "real" footage cut in with Rutle footage.

The film also features cameos from Idle's fellow Python Michael Palin, several SNL cast members including Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd, as well as SNL writers and occasional performers Al Franken and Tom Davis, Bianca Jagger as Dirk McQuickly's wife Martini, Ronnie Wood as a Hells Angel, and Mick Jagger and Paul Simon as themselves. THE RUTLES is notable for bringing together British and American comic talent in a way that has seldom happened before or since. Publicity for the Beatles was also parodied. Before the film was broadcast, areas of London had posters saying "The Rutles are Coming" analogous to "The Beatles are Coming" poster which announced their arrival in a town.

Narrator: Mick, why do you think the Rutles broke up?
Mick Jagger: Why do I think they did? Why did the Rutles break up? Women. Just women. Getting in the way. Cherchez la femme, you know.
Narrator: Do you think they'll ever get back together again?
Mick Jagger: I hope not.

THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH now has a cult status that grew from the success of the soundtrack album, and after the release of the film on the comparatively new medium of home video.

THE RUTLES Cast:

* Eric Idle as Dirk McQuickly (styled after Paul McCartney) / Narrator / Stanley J. Krammerhead III, Jr., occasional visiting professor of applied narcotics at the University of Please Yourself Ca.
* John Halsey as Barry Wom (Barrington Womble), styled after Ringo Starr.
* Ricky Fataar as Stig O'Hara, styled after George Harrison.
* Neil Innes as Ron Nasty styled after John Lennon.
* Michael Palin as Eric Manchester, Rutle Corp. Press Agent / Lawyer
* George Harrison as The Interviewer
* Bianca Jagger as Martini McQuickly
* John Belushi as Ron Decline, the most feared promoter in the world
* Dan Aykroyd as Brian Thigh, ex-record producer who turned down the Rutles
* Gilda Radner as Mrs. Emily Pules
* Bill Murray as Bill Murray the K.
* Gwen Taylor as Mrs. Iris Mountbatten / Chastity
* Ron Wood as Hell's Angel
* Terence Bayler as Leggy Mountbatten
* Henry Woolf as Arthur Sultan, the Surrey Mystic
* Ollie Halsall as Leppo, the "fifth Rutle", styled after Stuart Sutcliffe.

The movie has been released on DVD, originally in a 66-minute version incorporating cuts for syndication, later in a "special edition" restored to its full length of 76 minutes and with extras including a commentary by Idle. The full-length version replaces a spoof newsreel voiceover by Idle with an American-sounding announcer. The soundtrack was reissued on CD. It included additional tracks from the original TV sessions remixed in stereo by Neil Innes. He, Fataar and Halsey returned in 1996 to record The Rutles "Archaeology", but without the involvement of Eric Idle.

A sequel titled THE RUTLES 2: CAN'T BUY ME LUNCH was produced in 2002. It was modelled on the 2000 TV special THE BEATLES REVOLUTION, was made in 2002, remained unreleased for a year, then released in the US on DVD in 2003. The film features an even larger number of celebrity interviewees discussing the band's influence. This was met with mixed reactions from fans, especially since it used material culled from the original. Documentary interviewer Melvin Hall (Eric Idle) asks mainstream artists, actors, and musicians about the days of the popular band The Rutles, though mostly ending up in the wrong country. Melvin also interviews a gay sexologist named Hans Hänkie.

In the interviews with David Bowie, he is seen holding a copy of the vinyl album "The Rutles 1", calling it a "piece of marketing extravagance". Bowie discussing the album on one of the DVD's extra features is hilarious. The interview in the film shows the cover of the album with a black circle that has the words "27 No. 1 Songs On One LP". In the DVD extras, the circle on the album cover says "27 No. 1 Songs On 1 CD", even though this is a vinyl record album. Either way, this was the only time that a Rutles album was practically identical to a Beatles album in both album cover and title.

The plot remains the same as its 1978 counterpart, with a new introduction and conclusion with Idle's character, Melvin Hall. This comedy is a ghost of its earlier incarnation. There are tons of footage from the original and a smattering of new interviews, but the whole thing just doesn't have much zest to it. Part of this has to do with the fact that half of The Beatles are gone. George made a notable cameo in the first Rutles film, but this new mockumentary showcases the loss of John Lennon and George Harrison. Between pussyfooting around certain issues and not going for hard-hitting jokes, Idle and company just tread water here. Basically it's a disappointment. A DVD has yet to be released in the UK.

THE RUTLES 2 Cast:

* Eric Idle as Narrator / Dirk McQuickly / Lady Beth Mouse-Peddler
* Neil Innes as Ron Nasty
* Ricky Fataar as Stig O'Hara
* John Halsey as Barry Wom
* David Bowie as Himself - Interviewee
* Billy Connolly as Interviewee
* Carrie Fisher as Interviewee
* Jewel Kilcher as Interviewee (as Jewel)
* Steve Martin as Interviewee
* Mike Nichols as Interviewee
* Conan O'Brien as Interviewee
* Salman Rushdie as Interviewee
* Garry Shandling as Interviewee
* Robin Williams as Hans Hänkie
* April Adams as Groupie Interviewee (scenes deleted)
* Clint Black as Interviewee
* Jimmy Fallon as Reporter
* Tom Hanks as Interviewee
* Bill Murray as Bill Murray "The K" (archive footage)
* Graham Nash as Interviewee
* Kevin Nealon as Kevin Wongle
* Catherine O'Hara as Astro Glide
* Jim Piddock as Troy Nixon
* Bonnie Raitt as Interviewee
* David A. Stewart as Interviewee
* James Taylor as Interviewee
* Jann Wenner as Interviewee
* Hans Hänkie as Interviewee

RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION (1975-76)

The Rutles began in 1975 as a sketch on Eric Idle's BBC2 television series RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION. Two seasons, the first consisting of six episodes and the second seven, were broadcast in 1975 and 1976. A Christmas special also aired on Boxing Day 1975. The fictional TV station is strapped for cash, so all of its productions tend to be "cheap and cheerful". It spoofs documentaries, presents bogus news items, parodies period dramas, and includes all kinds of other television-related skits. This was Idle's first television project after MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS ended the previous year.

One sketch presented Neil Innes, an ex-Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band member, fronting The Rutles singing "I Must Be In Love", a pastiche of a 1964 Lennon-McCartney tune. The band's name was a continuation of the premise of the TV show on which the skit originated. It was presented as a program by a fictional TV network in Rutland, the smallest county in England. One running joke was that it was run on a shoestring. If the show parodied a topic, it would use names derivative of "Rutland". To rut is a seldom used word meaning to have sexual intercourse, and the show used "rut" in countless ways. When Idle and Innes created a parody of the Beatles, Idle suggested "Rutles". Innes was the musician/composer for the series and wrote all the songs. He came up with the spoof "A Hard Day's Rut". He had written "I Must Be In Love" which he realized sounded very "Beatley" and thought of the Rutles skit. He passed the idea to Idle, who had a separate idea about a boring TV documentary maker. They merged the ideas into one extended film shot for the TV show. David Battley, Henry Woolf, and Gwen Taylor were also regulars on the show.

None of the episodes have been released on DVD because the show has complicated rights issues, belonging to both the BBC and Idle, and with issues concerning appearances by former-Beatle George Harrison and the songs of Neil Innes. He claims that Idle has no interest in seeing the series released because it reminds him of an unhappy time in his life, but recent litigation and bitterness concerning THE RUTLES spin-off may also be a consideration.

Eric Idle, in a 1975 Radio Times interview said, "It was made on a shoestring budget, and someone else was wearing the shoe. The studio is the same size as the weather forecast studio and nearly as good. We had to bring the sets up four floors for each scene, then take them down again. While the next set was coming up, we'd change our make-up. Every minute mattered. It's not always funny to be funny from ten in the morning until ten at night. As for ad-libbing, what ad-libbing? You don't ad-lib when you're working with three cameras and anyway the material goes out months after you've made it."

In merchandising for the TV series, references were made to a Rutles album (Finchley Road) and a single ("Ticket To Rut"). In 1976, BBC Records produced "The Rutland Weekend Songbook", an album containing 23 tracks including the Rutles songs "I Must Be In Love" and "The Children Of Rock And Roll"--later reworked as "Good Times Roll".

On March 17, 2008, all four Rutles reunited for the first time at a 30th anniversary screening of ALL YOU NEED IS CASH at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The event included a Q & A session and performance by members of the tribute show "Rutlemania" which ran for a week at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in Hollywood before doing a week in NYC at The Blender Grammery Theater. The "Rutlemania" live show was conceived and written by Eric Idle which starred The Beatles tribute group "The Fab Four" as "The Pre-fab Four" Rutles. In February of 2009 on his website InnesBookOfRecords.com, Neil Innes released what he refers to as "Ron Nasty's Final Song", titled "Imitation Song"--a parody of "Imagine".

Eric Idle did not write, sing or perform any Rutles music, ever. However, Idle, as the face that was most identifiable to Americans as the lip-synching Dirk McQuickly narrator, took whatever credit there was to be had for the Rutles. He enjoyed this for years, until the Rutles album was re-released in the 1990s, when the true genius of the team was revealed to all as Neil Innes. Now Innes and Idle have nothing but animosity between them.

On DVD The look of THE RUTLES film is exactly right, the writing is very funny, and the songs are surprisingly Beatles-like and quite listenable. Extras are quite good and include a brief intro by Eric Idle's narrator character, as well as audio commentary and text memoirs from Eric Idle. His commentary is excellent, informative and entertaining. There are also 4 deleted scenes that last about 18 minutes, a photo gallery with 29 pictures, and a "Play Songs Only" option, where you hear only the film's songs: "Goose Step Mama", "Number One", "Between Us", "With a Girl Like You", "Hold My Hand", "I Must Be in Love", "Living in Hope", and "Ouch!"

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).