Desert 5-2-5
The Lady and the Monster (1944)
directed by George Sherman
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
watched instantly on Netflix
This first (but not last) adaptation of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain is ultimately a referendum on domestic abuse, as the titular telepathic terror is stopped only when the professor's housekeeper (slapped by Mueller in an earlier scene) and Janice (who narrowly escaped strangulation at the hands of the man she loved) team up to shoot the mad scientist and dash the offending organ with a foot stool. I prefer variations on possession with less urgency behind them, which is why somnambulists creep me out. Once Donovan takes control, it's Katy bar the door for blind outbursts and rage.
The movie begins in Arizona, at a castle on the outskirts of Phoenix, complete with tumbleweeds and blowing sand. Czechoslovakian beauty Vera Ralston, looking like a mid-century Laura Dern, gets the best line as she anoints her pretty neck with perfume after assisting in an experiment with her guardian, Eric Von Stroheim. "This gown reeks of chloroform," she says, "and I don't want to put my dancing partners to sleep." But local color gives way to a mystery across state lines when a plane crash sends a fresh head to her foster father's lab.
Cinematographer John Alton carries the weight from there, since frankly I spaced out on the dead man's nefarious plot to cheat someone out of his remaining millions. Alton lights ostensible protagonist Richard Arlen from beneath each time he's controlled by THE BRAIN, even in comfortable offices with plenty of sunshine through the windows. Arlen moves from chair to desk but the devil-glow stays with him. Someone travel back in time and book John for my nextmovie night alone dinner party!
directed by George Sherman
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
watched instantly on Netflix
This first (but not last) adaptation of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain is ultimately a referendum on domestic abuse, as the titular telepathic terror is stopped only when the professor's housekeeper (slapped by Mueller in an earlier scene) and Janice (who narrowly escaped strangulation at the hands of the man she loved) team up to shoot the mad scientist and dash the offending organ with a foot stool. I prefer variations on possession with less urgency behind them, which is why somnambulists creep me out. Once Donovan takes control, it's Katy bar the door for blind outbursts and rage.
The movie begins in Arizona, at a castle on the outskirts of Phoenix, complete with tumbleweeds and blowing sand. Czechoslovakian beauty Vera Ralston, looking like a mid-century Laura Dern, gets the best line as she anoints her pretty neck with perfume after assisting in an experiment with her guardian, Eric Von Stroheim. "This gown reeks of chloroform," she says, "and I don't want to put my dancing partners to sleep." But local color gives way to a mystery across state lines when a plane crash sends a fresh head to her foster father's lab.
Cinematographer John Alton carries the weight from there, since frankly I spaced out on the dead man's nefarious plot to cheat someone out of his remaining millions. Alton lights ostensible protagonist Richard Arlen from beneath each time he's controlled by THE BRAIN, even in comfortable offices with plenty of sunshine through the windows. Arlen moves from chair to desk but the devil-glow stays with him. Someone travel back in time and book John for my next
posted by NPK at 9:23 AM
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