scsu1975

I liked him too. He couldn't do that act today. Somebody would be offended.

Who is this future star?

It's about time TCM featured a former mathematics teacher!

Somebody was paying attention in math class.

I like the title track to Marlowe; that, and the opening credits which give us an eyeful of Gayle Hunnicutt. Of course, being a mathematician, I can also appreciate this shot:

#3 - Adele Jergens #4 - Cleo Moore #5 - Anita Ekberg #6 - Beverly Michaels

Island of Lost Women (1959) TCM On Demand Stupefyingly (is that a word?) dull waste of film stock, without almost nothing going on for the bulk of the movie. Two musclebound guys (Jeff Richards and John Smith) crash land on an island inhabited by Alan Napier and his three hot-looking daughters. So this should be a sci-fi film – the part about Napier having hot-looking daughters. Turns out Napier is an atomic scientist who decided to leave the human race after the atom bomb was dropped. He should have left his film contract instead. Napier and his offspring live in a cave with all the comforts of home – solar power, radar, and a cable service which offers TCM for less than $1000 a month. Richards and Smith spend large portions of the film bare-chested, trying to get off the island, while being tempted to score with Napier’s under-dressed daughters. One of the ladies is played by gorgeous Venetia Stevenson, with whom I wouldn’t mind being stranded. One newspaper report claimed that John Smith caught a fish bare-handed at Zuma Beach while on location for this film. There is no report if he caught crabs.

Marlowe and Barlow in the back seat of her cab

Thanks, that was an interesting read, although the thread morphed into Dan Duryea, whom I would not want driving my cab. It's also interesting to see how the multiple upgrades to the boards really messed up some of these old threads.

That cute lady is Joy Barlow. If you are interested in this sort of thing, her measurements supposedly were 34-24-34, 5’6” tall, 115 pounds, and with 8-inch ankles. In 1945, she eloped with a lieutenant in the Marine Air Corps, but they divorced about a year later. From 1942:

And speaking of Joyzelle Joyner, she was shot (but not seriously) by her first husband, Dudley V. Brand, in 1927. Brand had gone to her home and torn up some pictures of her, and trashed the joint a bit. Then, he returned later to find his wife and a guy named Dick Richardson (you can't make this stuff up) surveying the damage to her bedroom. When Brand charged the two, Joyner slammed the bedroom door, separating them. Brand fired two shots through the door, slightly wounding Joyner. Her younger brother Clarence managed to get the gun away from Brand. Joyner declined to press charges. "It was just a case of too much liquor and a jealous nature," she said. She eventually filed for divorce.

The dancer is Joyzelle Joyner, playing the part of Ancaria, who has a thing for Marcus ... and apparently Mercia as well.

The Sign of the Cross (1914) youtube I found this by accident on youtube. I wasn’t aware the film still existed. Apparently a company in The Netherlands has it. There are two prints online, both of which have Dutch title cards. The lesser print has English subtitles to the cards, and I would recommend that one to anyone who is not familiar with the story. Having just read the novel, I went with the better print. Both prints are 67 minutes (four reels), no musical accompaniment. This is a pretty good adaptation of the novel, faithful in most respects, including the climax. And the sets are impressive considering the time period. Testosterone-laden William Farnum stars as the Roman Prefect Marcus Superbus. Don’t confuse him with his incompetent predecessor, Marcus Belowaveragus. Marcus falls for the Christian girl Mercia. This causes problems, since Nero has just ordered Marcus to kill all the Christians. There are wild scenes of a party at Marcus’ pad, where his friends make fun of Mercia, until Marcus throws them all the hell out. The finale pits Christians vs. the Lions. If these were the Detroit Lions, at least the Christians would have a chance. Rosina Henley, as Mercia, is not unattractive, but, on the other hand, not someone I’d lose my life over. Ethel Grey Terry plays Berenice, the woman who lusts after Marcus. In the scene where he rejects her, she looks like she suddenly gets a case of IBS. I wanted to see more of Sheridan Block, who plays Nero. He seems to be wearing dreamcatcher earrings, and, in one scene, goes s p a s t i c (yes, that word was censored here) in the manner of Jay Robinson doing Caligula in The Robe. Charles Vernon, as the chubby, drunken Glabrio, definitely plays his role as "flamboyant." Worth a look, and something TCM should try to get hold of. I’d like to see the 1932 version as well – I hear it’s pretty wild.

I think you mean "Oy, I remember that."

Yes, on google books.

Which was then spoofed on SNL by having a rabbi perform a circumcision in the back seat

That's the first I've heard of this film. Amazing what you can pick up around here!

The Creeper (1948) youtube Oddball horror flick about a woman (Janis Wilson) who is petrified of cats, thinks she is being pursued by a giant catlike thing, and spends most of the film in a catatonic state. Her father, played by Ralph Morgan, is engaged in research with Onslow Stevens. They have the brilliant idea that they can illuminate internal organs. Because, don’t we want everyone to see what’s inside our intestines? Somehow this research involves experiments on cats, which, like everything else in the film, remains unexplained. Down the hall, Eduardo Ciannelli is also working on an experiment. He is trying to prove he can do a German accent. His associate, played by John Baragrey, has fallen for Wilson, much to the chagrin of Onslow’s assistant, played by the icily cold June Vincent. Now that we have all the players, it’s on to the plot. Several characters go belly up, apparently clawed to death. Is there some kind of cat creature on the prowl? Richard Lane shows up as a detective, doesn’t bother to show anybody his credentials, and yet everybody answers his questions. Perhaps he should be on a Senate committee. In the finale, we learn the killer’s identity, if you hadn’t already figured it out 5 minutes into the film. The photography is pretty good, with effective use of shadows. And the film is atmospheric, in the same sense that a solid waste disposal plant is. In an odd bit of casting, somebody named Ralph Peters shows up in a bit part. But don’t confuse him with FOX News contributor Col. Ralph Peters, who, ironically, once called President Obama a “kitty,” or something to that effect.

Reviewers in London raked this film over the coals. One paper described Liberace as "a plump piano player who talks sibilantly through his teeth and has a come-hither smile as comforting as a neon light over an undertaker's establishment."

I believe that's a still from The Creeping Nylons.

Not only that, but some of the victims actually move toward the shag carpet. Idiots.

Given the overwhelming reaction to From Hell It Came, I think it's high time that TCM features a night of killer vegetation films. I would suggest Day of the Triffids, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters, Womaneater, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Okay, so a tomato is really a fruit, but you get the idea.

I think she was closer to 17.

One of the scariest movies ever made – scary, because somebody thought that a walking tree was something the public was dying to see. Suzanne Ridgway appeared in several Three Stooges shorts. Here, we discover she is trying to get into Chief Maranka’s shorts. Linda Watkins plays the twice-widowed Mrs. Kilgore. After listening to this dame for about ten seconds, you will realize her husbands undoubtedly killed themselves. Tabanga is a native word meaning “crappy special effect.” Chief Maranka stands only three feet away from Tabanga, yet manages to miss it entirely with his spear. Tabanga then twigs him to death. I saw this film on youtube with French subtitles, which really made it hilarious: “Un monstre- arbre? Allons, je connais les fleurs carnivores, mais un monstre-arbre, c’est grotesque.” Have you ever wondered where they get that cheap crap that’s sold on QVC?

Barb: So sorry for your loss. You Mom was a pip, and I enjoyed all the stories. Nice to see some of the old gang post here again. We miss you around here. Rich