Stealers Wheel

Alfred Hitchcock: “When we tell a story in cinema we should resort to dialogue only when it's impossible to do otherwise. I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between.” It is quite clear that Dario Argento took this quote from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, to heart when co-writing and directing his 1977 horror film Suspiria. An atmospheric mood piece, for much of its runtime, it plays as close to a silent film as you can get.

If you’re looking for a cool piece of trivia you probably didn’t know, Revenge of the Creature (1955), the sequel to the Universal monster movie classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, holds the distinction of being Clint Eastwood’s first feature film (a small role as Lab Technician Jennings... his second role for anyone asking – Francis in the Navy). Helmed once again by Jack Arnold, the story picks up quite promptly after where the original left off. Having heard of the impressive gill-man specimen that has been seen in an Amazonian lagoon, the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida sends off a small but well prepared team to capture the unknown species with the help of the Captain who helmed the first venture, Lucas (Nestor Paiva returning). After a bit of a struggle, they’re able to transport it back from the Amazon, chaining it in a tank in the above mentioned tourist attraction and zoology study centre.

It’s funny how things have changed so much over the years, but at the same time, human beings seem to have changed so little. Single men complain about women, while single women complain about men just as much... something discussed quite frequently in the romantic dramedy Three Wise Girls (1932), directed by William Beaudine and based upon Wilson Collison’s novel “Blonde Baby”. Cassie Barnes (Jean Harlow) is a small town soda jerk... and with her shapely body and platinum blonde locks, she attracts all the wrong kinds of men. Having had enough of the lecherous men back home, she makes the move to New York City, quickly finding work (and a whole new crop of creeps) while working the ice cream and soft drink game.

Comedic war-tinged movies were all the rage in Hollywood during World War II... a way to ease the tension while keeping morale up. Think Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940), Abbott and Costello’s quasi trilogy of Buck Privates, In the Navy, and Keep `Em Flying (all of which were released in 1941), Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be (1942), as well as today’s feature, the Sidney Lanfield directed, Bob Hope starring My Favorite Blonde (also 1942). A wartime crime caper woven within a Bob Hope vehicle, Karen Bentley (Madeleine Carroll – The 39 Steps), is a British secret agent who is given the unenviable task of delivering a cipher after her partner is murdered by a ruthless group of German spies led by Madame Stephanie Runick (Gale Sondergaard – who was also in The Cat and the Canary, Never Say Die, and Road to Rio with Bob Hope).

If you’ve ever seen anything from the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, you’ll know that it is rather rare to find anyone who will take up the screen as much as good old funny man Lou... that is, unless he’s paired with comedienne Martha Raye – there’s a reason she’s known as “The Big Mouth”. In Keep `Em Flying (1941), they would share the silver screen for the first and only time... but Lou had his work cut out for him, as she plays twins. The team’s fourth starring movie released in just ten months (and the third military movie to keep spirits high during World War II), all four were manned by Arthur Lubin (their next film, Ride `Em Cowboy would be his last with the duo), a steady hand that helped keep the boys in line.