Not sure what I can say about FRANKENSTEIN that hasn't already been
said. The film really kicked off the monster cycle in Hollywood, and
continues to be copied to this day (and even more copies copy the
copies, anymore). FRANKENSTEIN told the story of the obsessed Dr.
Frankenstein, and his experiments to create life from dead tissue.
Frankenstein pieces together a man from the parts of dead bodies and
then revives the creature by lightning shocks. The real trouble is that
Frankenstein's assistant Fritz (Igor was
actually a character introduced much later in the series) didn't get
the brain Frankenstein wanted, so his monster has the brain of a
lunatic. There's some interesting stuff here in terms of contemporary
scientific discoveries and experimentation. A team of scientists would
later (reportedly) revive a puppy from the dead, that the subject of the
film LIFE RETURNS. The brain, in particular, was still being studied
when FRANKENSTEIN emerged as a massive hit at the box office. Of course,
the story had been filmed earlier (by Thomas Edison, in fact), but
Universal's version was the one to really take it's place as King of
thrillers. Following his success in DRACULA, Universal intended the film
to star Bela Lugosi as the monster. Bela thought the part all wrong for
him, since it would be done minus his brooding voice, and Boris Karloff
got the part instead. The two actors would reign as the joint monarchs
of horror for the next two decades. FRANKENSTEIN was such a hit that
Universal demanded a sequel. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is considered by
many to be the single finest horror movie of the era.
I
only recently discovered the teleseries F-Troop, but I'm so glad I did!
Ken Berry is the accident-prone, but by-the-book, unlikely war hero to
emerge from the last days of the Civil War. Youngest of a family of
illustrious military heroes, Wilton Parmenter is given the rank of
Captain and sent to man the frontier fort, Fort Courage. Once there,
Parmenter tries to run things as military as possible,
unaware that he's constantly being taken advantage of by his chief
officer Sgt. O'Rourke -as played by Forrest Tucker. O'Rourke's sidekick
and partner-in-business is the slow-witted Corp. Agarn, as played by
Larry Stroch, who really steals the show. O'Rourke and Agarn have a
thriving business arrangement with the near-by Heckawi Indians, who
among other things supply whiskey for O'Rourke's saloon! Former cowboy
star Bob Steele plays old timer Trooper Duffy. Frank DeKova is Heckawi
chief Wild Eagle, the chicken of the redskins ("Heckawi lovers, not
fighters!"). And of course, every red-blooded male will take notice of
Melody Patterson's feisty trader "Wrangler" Jane, who's sweet on
Parmenter and will do or die to be his bride. The show was absolutely
crazy. 1965 was superimposed over 1865 and from that came much of the
humor. The writing was constantly strong, with hysterical scripts packed
with fun characters. Of course, a show like this works mainly due to
casting, and F-Troop boasts the near perfect cast. Larry Storch combines
the physical comedy of a silent movie star with the elastic facial
expressions of a living cartoon, his character given some of the best
lines on any sitcom. Tucker was an actual Cavalry officer, and so brings
an authenticity to Sgt. O'Rourke one seldom sees even on dramatic
shows. Miss Paterson was only 16 when she began the series, and
overnight became a G.I. dreamgirl. In the second season, the show went
full color, one of the very last shows to do so after starting in black
and white. Unfortunately, the second season was to be the last, and a
great show left the air.
THE CREEPING FLESH was an interesting, if not overly successful, British
offering. In the film, Peter Cushing discovers the skeleton of an
ancient man-like creature that from all appearances was quite advanced
yet extremely savage. While cleaning the bones, he discovers that
application of water restores flesh to the ancient bones, complete with
living blood. There's some interesting bits from there, but the film's
twist ending is somewhat underwhelming. Peter Cushing and Christopher
Lee are the main highlights, as is usually the case when they are cast.
Perhaps the main hindrance is that the concept isn't fully exploited,
and the film plays more to psychological thriller than
monster-on-the-loose. That might work well in another picture, but this
one just feels unfulfilling.
