MOVIES IN THE CAMPER: THE GORGEOUS HUSSY

Even though I’m not a huge Joan Crawford fan I still couldn‘t resist tuning in to the 1936 film The Gorgeous Hussy. How could I, with a cast that includes Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas, Jimmy Stewart and Beulah Bondi? It turned out to be a fun, frothy, energetic little historical tale about political scandals in Washington DC circa 1823.

Robert Taylor makes hay with Joan Crawford in The Gorgeous Hussy

 
The back drop of the film is about Andrew Jackson (Barrymore) and the scandals that plagued his election and his administration. At the center of the "Petticoat" storm and the films plot is the notorious and politically savvy inn keepers daughter Peggy O'Neal (Crawford). She is lusted after by Robert Taylor, Jimmy Stewart and Franchot Tone, but only has eyes for Melvyn Douglas. However, the fates are determined to keep them apart. Douglas, a states rights and secessionist proponent, is at odds with Barrymore and Crawford who believe in the preservation of the union. Meanwhile, Crawfords unwarranted reputation as a "hussy" causes her to be snubbed and harassed by DC society.  Barrymore, outraged at the mudslinging directed at Crawford, decides to take charge in his own rowdy fashion.

Joan Crawford only has eyes for Melvyn Douglas

No need to look for historical accuracy here, just a whole lot of fun, fine performances, soapy romance and a little political intrigue. If you’re still a little stressed from all the recent election rancor, then a little partisan free silver screen political fun to unwind with might just hit the spot. Turner Classic Movies is showing The Gorgeous Hussy this Sunday, November 11^th at 6 AM Eastern. Set your dvr’s!

MOVIES IN THE CAMPER: WILLIAM POWELL IN CROSSROADS

This week, TCM will be showing a fantastic mystery that gives us a much anticipated grudge match between two of the most famous screen sleuths: William Powell and Basil Rathbone in the 1942 thriller Crossroads.

Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor versus William Powell and Hedy Lamarr in "Crossroads"

 

William Powell is a highly regarded French diplomat married to Hedy Lamarr. When Powell is blackmailed by an anonymous man Powell quickly has him arrested. At the mans trial, he accuses Powell of being a notorious thief who double crossed his gang and disappeared after the First World War. However, shortly after the war, Powell was injured and suffered amnesia. He can't remember anything and those years are a total blank to him.

Then mystery woman Claire Trevor shows up at the trial and testifies that Powell is indeed the infamous thief and her former lover. Enter Basil Rathbone, who turns up with evidence that clears Powell. But Rathbone is anything but Powells friend and before long the two are engaged in a tense game of cat and mouse as Rathbone continues to make Powell doubt who he really is while Powell desperately tries to keep Rathbone from destroying his life.

How can you not like a battle of wits between Nick Charles and Sherlock Holmes? Great cast, great story, highly recommended and not to be missed! Crossroads is showing on Turner Classic Movies on November 9^th.

 

MARVEL CLASSICS: THE CHAMPIONS VOLUME ONE

 



I've been enjoying some of Marvels "Classics" series lately. Cheaper than buying a hardcover "Masterworks" volume and a step up from the bare bones, black and white reprints seen in Marvels "Essentials" series. The "Classics" series is a great way to get nicely reproduced color reprints of obscure bronze age Marvel titles at a fairly cheap price. The Champions Classics Vol 1 reprints Champions issues 1 thru 11.

The Champions were a rather oddball assemblage of heroes based in California. The stories weren't exactly the Bronze Age cream of the crop, but they were spirited and fun and reading them now, 30 years later, they do have a rather nostalgic charm to them. The Champions roster consists of Hercules, Ghost Rider, Black Widow and from the X-Men...Iceman and Angel. The team is assembled through coincidence and necessity, when the god Pluto turns up at UCLA with harpies, hellhounds, amazons and other various mythological monsters to force Hercules into marrying Hippolyta and to force guest star Venus to marry Ares. But there are other heroes at the campus. An unemployed Black Widow is applying for a job teaching Russian to the college kids and Bobby Drake and Warren Worthington aka Iceman and Angel are also on hand. The two X-Men are depressed at their inability to fit in with the world. Also on hand is Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider, recently freed from his ties to Satan and also feeling displaced and directionless. All of them band together to help Hercules fight off Pluto and his plans for a double shot-gun wedding.

Over the course of the first 11 issues collected in this volume, The Champions stay united to deal with mysteries in Black Widow's past, the Angel revealing his identity to the public and having his family fortune put at risk as a result as well as dealing with various villains including Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, The Griffin and two new characters; the down on his luck businessman turned super powerful villain called Rampage and Russian villainess turned Champions teammate Darkstar. The best of this collection are the stories that feature the art of George Tuska, all of which look very good. The not so good are those issues done by Bob Hall and Don Heck which are pretty rough. Also on hand to do some of his earliest work for Marvel is John Byrne doing pencils on issue 11.

The Champions certainly wasn't the best comic to come out of the Bronze Age. While it might have taken a back seat to The Defenders, they still had an entertaining and odd mixture of fun characters. The appeal to me then and now was the odd mixture of heroes, all of who had their own personalities and a unique, dynamic chemistry. It was a collection of characters that one would never have thought to put together into a team. The Champions seemed a dumping ground for unused heroes, but that gave the series a sort of "underdog" status. One of the things I always enjoyed about Marvel was their ability to make these B-Team books so engaging. Marvel Classics: Champions Volume One is definitely worth checking out.

COMICS IN THE CAMPER: THE CELESTIAL MADONNA SAGA

I’ve always been a fan of “Mantis”, the antennae sporting, half Vietnamese, half German martial arts expert, Avenger member and daughter of Libra, the sometimes hero, sometimes villainous member of the crime cartel known as the Zodiac. I was particularly excited to see this great Steve Englehart created character revived some years ago by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning as a member of the new Guardians of the Galaxy (a comic that Marvel/Disney will be adapting for the big screen in 2015). So it was only a matter of time before I purchased one of Mantis’ most popular story arcs “The Celestial Madonna Saga.

Avengers: Celestial Madonna Saga collects Avengers issues 129-135 and Giant Sized Avengers 2,3 and 4. There are some problems with this trade. One of the problems I have with this particular, relatively popular Avengers story arc is that it's less of a "Mantis" story and more of a "Kang" story in that several key Mantis appearances needed to help flesh out and give depth to the Celestial Madonna saga are not included such as Avengers #112 (first appearance of Mantis) and Avengers 120-123 (first origin of Mantis, Libra and the "Zodiac War" storyline) as well as other key Mantis plot points such as her budding relationship with The Swordsman that developed in the issues leading up to "Celestial Madonna". Since those early Mantis appearances are even harder to come by than the ones collected in this trade, this is extremely disappointing to say the least. Without those stories, the only real relevant "Mantis" story in this collection is the final entry...Giant Size Avengers #4.

However, there is also much to enjoy here. Some fine artwork by Sal Buscema, Dave Cockrum and George Tuska for example. And the Steve Englehart/Roy Thomas scripted story packs in everything but the kitchen sink. We get one of the most classic battles between Kang and the Avengers in which the Avengers discover the true nature of Kang, Pharaoh Rama-Tut and Immortus as well as Kangs plot to capture the Celestial Madonna. We also get a rather intriguing battle between The Avengers and Kangs "Legion of the Un-Living" a team of previously dead heroes and villains that includes Frankenstein, The original Human Torch, Baron Zemo and Wonderman. In Avengers 130 the Avengers travel to Viet Nam and end up battling Crimson Dynamo, Radioactive Man and Titanium Man. Over the course of the story The Avengers are witness to the origin of the Human Torch and The Vision (elements of this story were retconned in the classic and epic Busiek story Avengers Forever). 

 We also get the tail end of a subplot involving Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, Dormammu and his sister Umar. There’s also a certain amount of kooky charm to this story. Lines such as this one are a hoot…. "She CANNOT marry a TREE! And even if she could, she could never become a Madonna because they could not have a child!"
Comic books. You gotta love em. Only in the bronze age of comics could you read a line like that delivered straight and with complete sincerity. And it's that unabashed, unapologetic and crazy brand of Marvel melodrama that helps to make this often crude, unorganized and incomplete story "AVENGERS: Celestial Madonna" a little more palatable.

In the final issue of this collection, Giant Size Avengers #4 (the classic issue with the Vision-Scarlet Witch/Mantis-Swordsman double wedding) we finally discover the origin and identity of The Celestial Madonna which anyone who's even remotely familiar with Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy (or anyone who looks at the cover to this trade) already knows. Unfortunately, GS Avengers 4 is the weakest entry of the collection from a visual standpoint. Don Heck was one of Marvel Comics "workhorses" but his art could be crude at times.

 

Contemporary readers might find this collection of Avengers tales rather quaint compared to later works by Busiek and Perez and that's to be expected. While I can't recommend putting this at the top of anyone's buy list, I do recommend it to those Avengers completists out there as well as those looking to read some classic Avengers history or for those Mantis fans out there, or those simply looking for a little Bronze Age nostalgia.
 

MOVIES IN THE CAMPER: THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE

One of the highlights on TCM’s viewing schedule this week is the 1933 film The Story Of Temple Drake. The movie that apparently many film historians consider to be the straw that broke the pre-code camels back, leading to the introduction of the Hays Code. It's based on the controversial William Faulkner novel Sanctuary. However, even in pre-code Hollywood, not everything is filmable and Temple Drake is missing some of the more disturbing, graphic scenes from Faulkner’s novel (such as the notorious bloody corn cob. Don’t ask).

The film stars Miriam Hopkins who is the title character, a judges daughter and southern wild child party girl. She's even "popular" enough with the boys to have a dirty limerick written about her on the men’s room wall. But Temple gets more than she bargained for when she ends up stranded at the home of creepy bootleggers and is raped. From there her degradation continues as she ends up living with her bootlegging rapist in a brothel where she ultimately kills him.

Her only hope of escaping the world she's found herself in is the Lawyer who loves her and whose proposal of marriage was spurned by her (for his own good as Temple tells him and boy, she ain't kidding!). He knows that her testimony can save a man who is soon to be hanged for murder. But to do so Temple has to tell the truth about herself and the murder she committed. While I enjoy Hopkins in pretty much everything she’s ever been in as well as in this film(I don‘t think I‘ve ever seen Hopkins look more stunning than she does in this film with the possible exception of Becky Sharp), I’m not sure I can honestly say she was the best choice for this particular role. Hopkins is far too resilient and perky for someone who is subjected to all sorts of misogyny and degradation as well as what should be a horrific psychological metamorphosis. Watching her in this role I kept flashing back to her performance in Becky Sharp. Another disappointment is the finale when Temple must face what has happened to her in a courtroom finale. Instead of powerful, emotional catharsis, we get Hopkins fainting. Oh well.

The film is attractively shot. The beauty of the film comes in the many close ups. There are many facial reactions and scenes between the characters where the actors are talking at the camera. Many scenes are like watching talking George Hurrell head shots thanks to the lovely Karl Struss photography. Really nice stuff. The Story Of Temple Drake is salacious, tawdry, violent and disturbing in the best possible Hollywood pre-code sense. It’s not perfect, but it is very entertaining. If, like me, you‘re a fan of early thirties, pre-code Hollywood, then be sure to watch The Story of Temple Drake this Monday, November 5th on Turner Classic Movies. 

TV IN THE CAMPER: 70's DETECTIVES AND THE RETURN OF FRANK CANNON!

Throughout most of the 70s the majority of television heroes were detectives. They monopolized evening television. Unlike the television shows of today the older actors were actually the star of the show, the younger actors played sidekicks. No, really! It’s true! It was rare to find a television star who didn’t hover between the 40s and a little shy of 70. Experience came with age. Older folks would smack you around like nobody’s business and if you condescended or patronized guys like McCloud or Barnaby Jones, they would probably kick your ass. I know. It’s hard to believe. It was a glorious time.

I'm Barnaby Jones, punk!

Another thing that was pretty awesome about these detective heroes of the 70s was that they actually looked like normal people. Darren McGavin was no pretty boy. Mannix was no teen idol. Nor did you see a whole lot of Telly Savalas pictorials in Tiger Beat. Ironside was a disabled detective but he was one wheelchair bound tough guy that few wanted to cross. These detective heroes looked like your father or grandfather, or a teacher or a mechanic or the owner of the local hardware store. Sometimes they even looked like your parents (McMillan & Wife anyone?) As a kid, I didn’t want to be like the 20 somethings. I wanted to be like the 40 and 50 somethings. They knew things. They’d been in wars, they’d been around and they commanded respect.



James Garner as Jim Rockford
 

The averageness of these detective heroes also made it easy to identify and sympathize with them. Whenever Jim Rockford punched a guy he would often break his hand. He would blow off work to go fishing with his dad who whole heartedly disapproved of his often dangerous profession. As a nerd who grew up dealing with his fair share of bullies in school, it was somewhat comforting to see a guy like Rockford who had no problem fighting dirty when the odds were against him. When Rockford got scared he had no problem admitting it and that was pretty damn cool. When he was outnumbered by the villains, Rockford would get the hell out of there and come back when the odds were in his favor. Most of the time he stood his ground and took a beating in order to protect an innocent or just because he‘d had enough of being pushed around.

William Conrad as Frank Cannon

Along with Jim Rockford there was another detective hero that, as a chubby nerd, I tended to identify with. His name was Frank Cannon. Cannon was fat. He had the face of a bulldog and the gruff voice to match. Even though he was overweight, he would chase after a bad guy for all he was worth. Unlike the fastidious and static Nero Wolfe(who Conrad would go on to play after his Cannon days were over), Cannon was a man of action. He often incapacitated his foes with a judo throw or karate chop to the neck or just a straightforward and rather devastating right cross to the jaw or gut. He would get beat up from time to time but always got up, dusted himself off and carried on, more determined than ever. He was self depreciating about his weight and approached people with a sense of humor, kindness and quiet strength. When he was bullied by hard headed cops or threatening villains, he faced them head on and threatened them right back. He was methodical, intelligent, cultured and underestimated (although not as often as you might think). Needless to say, I thought Cannon was awesome.



Cannon was played by the talented actor William Conrad. Conrad was a character actor in film, television and radio. He was the voice of the radio show “Marshall Matt Dillon” on Gunsmoke for almost a decade. He starred in many low budget 50s film noir, often cast as the corrupt cop or the villain. One of his more memorable jobs was as the energetic narrator of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. But it was as the rotund, tough, no nonsense detective Frank Cannon that Conrad found world wide stardom. Cannon ran from 1971 to 1976. During the 1973-74 season, Cannon was extremely popular, particularly in the UK. He even had his own comic strip segment in the British television fan magazine Countdown aka TV Action, a magazine that started out featuring comic strip versions of Gerry Anderson properties but eventually included many British action TV shows such as the Protectors, the Persuaders, Dr. Who and many American TV shows including Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii 5-0, Mission Impossible and Cannon (drawn by the talented strip artist Martin Asbury).

 



Conrad with Diana Muldaur

I was reminded of Cannon this week when I happened to see The Return of Frank Cannon on cable TV. I was fairly excited to revisit this old favorite of mine yet hesitant that my fond memories would be tainted by quaint and dated writing. I was happy to find that Cannon still holds up in this surprisingly entertaining TV revival movie. It’s almost five years since he quit the investigating biz. Cannon has retired and opened up a fine dining restaurant where he even does the cooking from time to time. Cannon is visited by the daughter of an old friend to Cannon. A friend who has apparently committed suicide. The daughter refuses to believe that her father, a former CIA agent, has killed himself and implores Cannon to investigate. This opens some old wounds for Cannon who was once in love with the wife (television icon Diana Muldaur) of his old friend.

Almost immediately Cannon realizes that there has been a cover up. Investigating the crime scene, Cannon amusingly chews out the local police over their shoddy, lazy and unprofessional investigation. Naturally this sets up a rather antagonistic relationship with local law enforcement but Cannon doesn’t care. Like an angry bull, Cannon charges through all the resistance that comes his way. Along the way Cannon runs into red herrings, betrayals and a cabal of retired CIA agents, some of who miss the dangerous and duplicitous lifestyle and who go out of their way to prevent Cannon from finding out the truth about his friend. Through it all, Cannon is undeterred. In one scene, he walks in on a bunch of former CIA agents, the leader played by the always creepy William Smithers (aka “Jeremy Wendell”, villainous oil baron who was always trying to take over J.R. Ewings company in Dallas). Cannon faces down the group of agents and lets them know in no uncertain terms that he’s going to get to the bottom of things no matter what!

 

 



George Peppard as Banacek

This was an enjoyable little mystery. Like many of these 70s detective shows the plots are not inherently connected to the protagonist. You could easily replace Frank Cannon with Jim Rockford or Banacek or Columbo and not miss a beat. The enjoyment came from watching William Conrad’s performance as Cannon. As a kid, I liked seeing this chunky guy take on the baddies and enjoyed it just as much now as an adult. In school, the fat kids and the nerds were often the targets just as Cannon was often a target. But Cannon proved to the doubters and bullies who underestimated him that you could be overweight and still be intelligent, courageous, strong and sometimes even win the girl. Watching Cannon’s strength of character and belief in his own talents and abilities and accept who he was inside and out encouraged me to be more confident and courageous.



You don’t see a whole lot of guys like Frank Cannon around on television these days and that’s a shame. Cannon was a smart, formidable protagonist who might have been underestimated on occasion but was just as often recognized for his brains and tenacity. Today someone who looks like Cannon would most likely be the butt of a joke, or play an idiotic, beer guzzling sidekick to the good looking star. But in the 70s, guys like Cannon were the star, kicking ass, taking names and commanding the respect of friends and foes whether they be short, tall, thin or fat. In a world of yogurt eating spies and doctors with nicknames like “McSteamy”, watching a guy like Frank Cannon in action again was a nostalgic breath of fresh air.

MOVIES IN THE CAMPER: ISLE OF FURY

Isle of Fury is based on the Somerset Maugham novel The Narrow Corner, but if you’re looking for a faithful adaptation of the Maugham book then you’ll definitely be disappointed. The only thing that Isle of Fury has in common with Narrow Corner is that both feature an island. That’s basically where the similarities end. Still, I kind of enjoyed this island adventure.

 
The film opens with Val (Bogart) trying to marry a somewhat pensive Lucille (Margaret Lindsay) on an island in the Pacific during a terrible storm. The wedding is interrupted (almost suspenseful so) several times and immediately after they are declared married, Val rushes off to help the passengers of a ship caught in the storm. The only people saved are the ships captain (Paul Graetz) and Eric (Donald Woods). Naturally, Eric is immediately attracted to Lucille. The islands resident doctor and dispenser of wisdom Dr. Hardy (E.E. Clive) suspects that there is more to Eric than just a shipwrecked stranger. And he’s right. Turns out, Eric has been searching for Val who is wanted for murder back in the states. Val has been living on the island and has built a pearl trading business that is struggling due to the sudden refusal of the islanders to go diving. Seems that several divers have gone pearl diving and have disappeared. The islanders suspect bad mojo.

Val, with Eric and Lucille in tow, tries to convince the islanders that they’re just acting like old women and that there is nothing to fear. To prove this, Val goes diving. Unfortunately for Val there is something to fear…a giant squid! The squid pulls Val down deep causing his airline to be disconnected. Eric dives to his rescue, kills the tentacled terror, allowing the natives to dive for pearls in relative safety. Now Eric and Val are even, both having saved the others life. Eric tries to convince Lucille to leave Val and return with him to the states, telling her that she’s too young to be stuck on the island. Lucille tells Eric that, even though she’s not in love with Val, she likes him and promised her dying mother that she would someday marry Val. We’re not really sure why her mother wanted Lucille to marry Val, but hey, a promise is a promise.

Meanwhile, Val has grown fond of Eric and invites him to be a full partner in his pearl business. Eric refuses, telling Val that he’s going to leave soon. While all this is going on, Dr. Hardy has somehow figured out who Eric is and what he’s doing there. He tells Eric that Val was wrongfully accused of murder which was why he fled to the island in the first place. Eric believes him but still loves Lucille. Dr. Hardy recites the cautionary tale of David and Bathsheba which gives Eric pause. Of course in the end it all comes out in the wash. Accusations are leveled, evil islanders try to steal Val’s pearls and several people end up dead.

 

This is early in Bogart’s career. So early in fact that he was still relatively new to being cast as the baddie in various James Cagney gangster films.  The studios still had him testing the waters and doing a variety of roles from lawyers to dashing, non cynical love interest to WW1 pilot. Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and other famous Bogie roles were still a ways off. E.E. Clive has a lot of fun with his role as the all seeing, all knowing, wisdom and bible story dispensing Doctor. Margaret Lindsay doesn’t do much other than look worried and then flashing a nervous smile to let us know she‘s just fine. Her final decision at the end seems highly at odds with the direction that the films narrative is pushing her. The entertainment comes from seeing Bogart early in his career and seeing him play a different kind of hero than we’re used to seeing him play. The story moves quickly but with a one hour run time, it doesn’t have much choice. Still, I love watching these early thirties gems and marveling at how expedient they were in their storytelling. A lot happens in this one hour film and most of it is pretty fun to watch.