Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Daisy Town (1971)

Virtually unknown in the United States, Lucky Luke has been a popular cartoon character in Europe since his first 1946 comic book appearance. Designed to be an affectionate parody of American westerns, Luke is a self-described "lonesome cowboy," traveling the west with his faithful horse, Jolly Jumper, defending innocent settlers against evildoers. Although quick with a gun, Luke tends to prefer to outwit his adversaries rather than kill them. DAISY TOWN, an animated feature produced in France in 1971, was the first attempt to bring the character to the screen.

The film follows Luke as he rides into the city of Daisy Town, once a peaceful community but now under constant siege by criminal elements. After running the undesirables out of town, Luke becomes the new sheriff. He's then faced with his biggest challenge in the form of the Dalton Gang (recurring villains in the comic and made up of brothers Joe, William, Jack and Averell). The Daltons convince a neighboring Native American tribe to declare war on Daisy Town (by telling them if the settlement were allowed to developed they would eventually be forced off their own land, which of course turned out to be completely correct) but Luke is able to quickly negotiate a truce, foiling the Dalton's plans.

The animation rarely rises above the level of Saturday morning TV but the film still manages to succeed based on the affection the filmmakers obviously had for the genre they were satirizing. There are countless sight gags based on well known western tropes such as the bartender sliding a beer to a customer at the other end of the bar to the townspeople locking themselves indoors as outlaws ride into town. There is also a terrific, almost silent sequence near the beginning of the film showing the development of Daisy Town from a dusty settlement to a crime-ridden center of industry. For the English dubbed version that I saw the filmmakers made the odd decision to hire celebrity impersonator Rich Little to voice every role. thus we have the surreal experience of hearing Little's version of well known voices acting out major roles such as the film's narrator (James Stewart, and for some reason spoken completely in rhyme), Luke (Gary Cooper), the town undertaker (Boris Karloff) and Joe Dalton (James Cagney). Luckily, the film tries to get by without dialogue whenever possible so this doesn't get too annoying.

Although DAISY TOWN was the first cinematic Lucky Luke adventure it was by no means the last. There were two more animated features, a few animated shorts and a cartoon TV series. In the 1990s these were followed by two live action films and a TV series starring iconic spaghetti western actor Terence Hill. The most recent Lucky Luke film was made in 2009 with THE ARTIST star and flavor of the moment Jean Dujardin. However since that film committed the unpardonable sin of being shot in a language other than English the chances of seeing it in an American movie theater are practically nil. Maybe we'll have better luck with the inevitable US remake.

For more overlooked film and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em (1988)

Somewhat unsurprisingly, most post-apocalypse themed movies tend to focus on the downside of the event. After all, it's hard to depict nuclear war without spending at least some time on radiation sickness, starvation and nuclear winter, making most of these films something of a downer. Not so Ray Boseley's SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM, an energetic piece of ozzploitation which tries to look at the positive side of armegeddon, namely that it's the perfect excuse for one last kickass party.

This short (48 minutes), nearly plotless film focuses on three survivors of a nuclear strike on Melbourne, Australia. One day, while scavenging the blasted countryside for supplies they stumble across a bomb shelter containing some forty survivors and a year's supply of food and alcohol. The group decide to forgo any attempt at adapting to the nuclear wasteland. Instead they'll throw a farewell bash, blowing through their supplies in a few days (after which most of them will be dead from radiation poisoning anyway) and then go out with a literal blast. They even somehow acquire a live band (the Aussie band Blue Ruin) in order to help make the party memorable, even though no one is expected to survive. The majority of the film shows the party in progress, with the revelers drinking to excess and basically just partying like it's 1999.

The most surprising thing about the film is how poignant it manages to be despite it's anarchic tone. Relationships are made, goodbyes are expressed and a good time is had by all, yet the promise of death is never far from anyone's minds. Maybe the reason why the film manages to ultimately be so touching is because their fates are treated in such a matter of fact manner. These characters are doomed from the very first frame of the film and they all know it. Their determination to at least go out on their own terms increases their likability quotient a good bit and gives them an advantage over more pretentious post-nuke movies such as THE DAY AFTER. SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM is a pleasant surprise, both funny and touching, while at the same time prodding the viewer into examining how he or she would act under the same circumstances.

For more overlooked films and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Du-beat-e-o (1984)

In 1979 the pioneering rock band The Runaways planned to make their movie debut in a film titled WE'RE ALL CRAZY NOW, a Beatles-esque romp about a typical (and fictional) day in the life of The Runaways. Plans changed when the notoriously contentious band imploded and parted ways for the last time, leaving the producers with no band to make a movie about. Founding Runaways member Joan Jett stayed with the project however and with the help of three actresses hired to play "fake" Runaways (including '70s cult movie goddess Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith as the band's drummer), production continued. About fifty minutes of usable footage were shot before the project ran out of money and was abandoned. Flash forward to 1984 when the mostly forgotten footage suddenly became a hot commodity due to Jett's successful solo career. Alan Sacks (best known for producing the sitcoms CHICO AND THE MAN and WELCOME BACK KOTTER) along with actor turned sitcom writer Marc Sheffler (the doomed, herion-addicted son in Wes Craven's LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT) were hired to come up with a film that could be used around the Jett footage, making it feature length. That production  also ran into financing problems and the finished film had to be fleshed out using newsreel footage and Polaroid stills of everything from family members to pornography to roadkill. This, ladies and gentlemen, is DU-BEAT-E-O.

The story that Sacks came up with revolves around a strung-out film director named Du-beat-e-o (real name: Alan Shapiro), whose greedy financier gives him a deadline of thirty one hours to finish editing his movie about Joan Jett. So for the rest of the film we follow Du-beat-e-o as he holes up in his apartment with his cough syrup-addicted editor (Derf Scratch, bassist for the punk band Fear) and a random woman who just happened to walk through the wrong doorway (Nora Gaye) as he struggles to put his film together. Along the way we're treated to stream of consciousness ramblings and panic attacks while the Jett footage plays on monitors in the background. In addition, Sacks and some buddies can be heard on the soundtrack throughout the film, making inane comments as they watch the finished product. It's like a DVD commentary track that can't be turned off.

As is usually the case with this kind of patchwork moviemaking, DU-BEAT-E-O is an incomprehensible mess of a film but it's also fascinating to see the lengths that Sacks and crew have gone in order to salvage a few minutes of commercially viable footage. The Joan Jett footage is great but it's too bad it's been relegated to the background of so many scenes (often with Sacks and company making disparaging comments at Jett's expense while she's onscreen). After all, that footage is the reason why the movie exists in the first place. The same can be said of Sharkey's performance. Sharkey was an actor who never did anything halfway and it's obvious that's he's at least trying to do something worthwhile here. I would have loved to see his reaction when he discovered that much of his performance had been rendered unintelligible by his own director. Sacks has since admitted that he was going through a particularly nihilistic period in his life while DU-BEAT-E-O was being made and it shows since it's the film's sense of meanspiritness that makes it a chore to watch more than anything else. DU-BEAT-E-O played at film festivals worldwide but has received only very limited distribution since, which may be why Jett never sued over the insulting way she's treated here. As it stands, DU-BEAT-E-O will never be confused with a good film but it's still essential viewing for Jett completists and weird movie aficionados. It truly is a one of a kind experience.

For more forgotten film and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: S*P*Y*S (1974)

In 1974 Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould, hoping to recapture their success two years previously in M*A*S*H, reunited for director Irvin Kershner's  S*P*Y*S. The result was a counterculture spy spoof that tunes the counterculture elements way down to the point where it most closely resembles a Hope/Crosby ROAD movie with more car chases and explosions.

Sutherland and Gould play Bruland and Griff, two not very bright CIA field agents. When they botch the defection of a Russian gymnast, resulting in the deaths of two Russian operatives, it instigates a new international agreement among the world's intelligence agencies demanding "a corpse for a corpse." Finding themselves marked for death by the CIA as well as the KGB,  Griff and Bruland, along with a beautiful French anarchist (Zouzou), flee through Europe to escape their former employers.

It's easy to see why audiences didn't respond to this film when it was released in 1974.  When inevitably compared to M*A*S*H it becomes obvious that S*P*Y*S is a much lesser film. It's cartoonish and relies much too heavily on slapstick. In fact, the whole thing feels rather like a television sitcom, which isn't surprising since its screenwriters, Lawrence Cohen and Fred Freeman, are both sitcom veterans who returned to TV shortly after writing this film. However, the film has one thing that saves it from being a waste of time: the chemistry between Sutherland and Gould. The actors are obviously friends and clearing are enjoying riffing off each other and that enjoyment is contagious. If they had wanted to, they could have been a great comedy team and it's a shame that the critical reaction to this film probably discouraged them from teaming up again.

Anyone who rents the DVD of S*P*Y*S would do well to check out the supplements on the disc including an informative featurette on the making of the film. Gould especially is very candid about his dislike of the script and how Sutherland talked him into doing the film. Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff discuss the genesis of the project, originally titled WET STUFF (intelligence agency slang for blood, apparently) and their difficulties getting the project financed even after the two stars became attached. They then talk about selling the film to 20th Century Fox who, against the wishes of everyone involved in the making of the film, changed the title and marketed the film to more directly play up the connection to M*A*S*H.

Time has been kind to S*P*Y*S.  Without the specter of M*A*S*H looming over it, S*P*Y*S has a lot less to live up to.  Also the absence of a lot of political content has kept the film from becoming too dated. It may fail as political satire but it's good-natured enough to be a pleasant way to spend 87 minutes and sometimes that's enough.

For more overlooked films and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: A*P*E (1976)

When I was a kid one on my most anticipated movies was the Dino De Laurentiis remake of KING KONG. I had heard the rumors - that there weren't going to be any dinosaurs in the film and that the much hyped forty foot tall mechanical Kong didn't work and would be replaced by a man in a suit. I didn't care. The 1933 original got regular rotation on one of our local UHF channels and I was a big fan. I couldn't wait to see what modern filmmaking technology could add to this great story. So great was my anticipation that when the South Korean KONG knockoff A*P*E came to my local theater a few months ahead of the remake I was the first in line. After all, it had two thing that even KING KONG didn't have: the giant gorilla fights a shark (cool!) and it was in 3D, back when it was a fun gimmick and not just an excuse to raise ticket prices.

The film doesn't waste any time getting to the ape action. At the film's start the thirty six foot gorilla has already been captured and thrown into the cargo hold of a ship en route to Disneyland (!) where's he's to be put on display. Within minutes he breaks free of his prison, has his wrestling match with the shark and makes his way towards a rural area outside of Seoul. The amiable ape then proceeds to try and make friends with everyone he meets, from a group of school children to a hang glider to the least convincing cow ever committed to film. All are terrified of his great size and he's about to take his toys and go home when he literally stumbles onto a film set where he crosses paths with American film goddess Marilyn Baker (Joanna DeVarona, aka Joanna Kerns of GROWING PAINS infamy). It's love at first sight and it looks like a happy ending for at least half of our star crossed couple until the army gives the order to shoot to kill, leading to a protracted (and surprisingly bloody) standoff between our hero and the military.

Obviously, the story doesn't stray too far from the KING KONG formula. Where it differs, however, is in the execution. While all three versions of KONG used the leading technology of the time to tell its story, A*P*E looks like a version of KONG filmed by children in their backyard in Super 8. The ape suit looks like it was made out of someone's old wool coat, saved from the garbage can by this production.An overwhelming aura of cheapness pervades the entire production. the scenes of "terrified" villages fleeing their homes feature literally dozens of people, many of them visibly giggling, and the toy cow that the ape interacts with has to be seen to be believed. For some reason, the ape is constantly swinging his arms over his head, like he's auditioning for an all gorilla production of Swan Lake. And then there's the 3D. As I (barely) remember, the 3D used in A*P*E's theatrical engagements wasn't any better or worse than other 3D films of the time. However, while watching it on television in 2D the attempts to simulate three dimensions are every bit as obvious and silly as you'd expect. No opportunity is spared to throw objects at the camera in order to make the little kids in the theater duck. On shot of the ape throwing a boulder at the screen is repeated at least four times. Still, you haven't truly lived until you've seen a giant gorilla flip the bird at a crashed helicopter in 3D.

Yet, for all its faults I still love this movie. The moron plotting, the nonexistent production values and the barely even trying direction all add up to something special, to me at least. Sure I'm laughing at the movie and not with it. I'm sure that the people who made this movie were laughing at it too.  After all, the thing wouldn't even exist except for the opportunity to cash in on the big budget remake. When it was originally released, Paramount forced A*P*E's distributor to put a disclaimer on the poster stating that it wasn't to be confused with KING KONG. I seriously doubt that anyone was confused. For all its similarities, A*P*E is its own thing. It's a perfect movie to watch with a few friends, have a few beers and stare in awestruck wonder at the ineptitude before you. 

For more overlooked films and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Stop Me Before I Kill! (1960)

Besides the gothic horror films that made them famous, Hammer Films dabbled in other genres with varying degrees of success including a series of psychological thrillers designed to capitalize on the success of PSYCHO in 1960.  Titles such as SCREAM OF FEAR, PARANOIAC, MANIAC and NIGHTMARE were all designed to exploit the memory of Hitchcock's film. Val Guest's STOP ME BEFORE I KILL!, the first of these films, was released only four months after PSYCHO's premiere in the US so it may be more a beneficiary of good timing rather than a conscious effort to exploit the earlier film. 

The film begins with professional race car driver Alan Colby (Ronald Lewis) showing he may want to rethink his chosen profession by barely surviving a head-on collision en route to his honeymoon.  A year later Alan's still not quite over his brush with death so he and his wife Denise (Diane Cilento) decide to take a vacation in the South of France as a means of getting Alan to relax. It turns  out that Alan is afraid to have sex with Denise because of an overwhelming compulsion to strangle her to death afterwards.  Luckily, the couple meet a dedicated, cat-loving psychiatrist, Dr. Prade (Claude Dauphin), who is willing to work with Alan to rid him of his compulsion. All goes well until the morning when Denise disappears amid signs of a struggle and a box full of bloody surgical tools.

PSYCHO worked because Anthony Perkins was able to create audience sympathy for Norman Bates. Unfortunately Ronald Lewis is unable to make Alan Colby, as tortured as he is, into a halfway sympathetic character. As written, not only is he a potential murderer but he's also an arrogant hothead, constantly flying off the handle  at whoever he's interacting with at the moment and accusing them of thinking he's insane (which he certainly appears to be). This film could just as easily been called STOP ME BEFORE I ACT LIKE A JERK!  Also it doesn't help that the plot  revolves around him being an abusive husband (intentionally or not). After all, he doesn't want to kill anyone else, just Denise.

Still, the film does have its pleasures, chief among them the performance of Claude Dauphin as Dr. Prade. It's not to guess that his motives in the film might not be entirely altruistic but he still exudes a trustworthy, paternal quality that makes it a pleasure whenever he's onscreen. I also found the film depiction of psychiatry to be interesting. I was very amused when Prade lists lobotomy as a treatment option in his first session with Colby. Also very intense was the scene where Prade forces Colby to breath carbon dioxide in order to literally choke repressed memories out of him.

Val Guest contributed several classics to the Hammer Films canon both as a writer and director, including QUATERMASS 2 and THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE. STOP ME BEFORE I KILL! may be minor Guest but it's still interesting enough to be recommended. It's dated somewhat and its twists aren't terribly difficult to see coming but it's still able to entertain as an example of a competently made B movie of the period. Just keep away from the carbon dioxide.

For more overlooked films and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Lisztomania (1975)

Throughout his long career Ken Russell, who passed away on November 27 at age 84, showed a desire to elicit visceral reactions from his audience through his use of outrageous imagery, whether it be sexual, religious or surreal.  LISZTOMANIA is easily Russell's most visually extravagant film and to this day remains one of his most polarizing for viewers.

Advertised by its studio as the film that "Out Tommys TOMMY," LISZTOMANIA was Russell's followup to that box office hit.  It features TOMMY's very English leading man, The Who's Roger Daltrey, in a biopic of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. Russell uses Daltrey to reimagine Liszt as the world's first pop star, complete with perm and outfits emblazoned with giant keyboards.  The film follows Liszt's dealings with his various mistresses and groupies, his romance with Princess Carolyn of Russia (Sara Kestelman) and his struggles to create great music.  However, the main focus of the film is Liszt's relationship with Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas) which begins as a friendly professional rivalry and ends much more seriously when Wagner marries Liszt's daughter and his music begins to be used as propaganda espousing pro-German superiority.

Throughout the film Russell outdoes himself in terms of crazy visuals, most of which are informed by his love of pop culture. For instance, Wagner's nationalism eventually causes him to to transformed into a Nazi uniform wearing Frankenstein's monster, complete with a machine gun guitar. The film's sweetest sequence shows Liszt in domestic bliss with his wife, shown as a parody of THE GOLD RUSH complete with Liszt as the Little Tramp. And I would dearly have loved to be in the room when Russell explained to Warner Brothers executives the rationale behind the scene where Liszt returns from Heaven in a music-powered spaceship in order to defeat the Nazis.

Daltrey has since proven to be a capable enough actor in the right role but he's pretty much out of his element here. Like in TOMMY, he pretty much acts with his hair, tilting his head so it sways in the breeze at a tempo that corresponds to whatever emotion he's supposed to be feeling at the time. At least he's better than Ringo Starr, who cameos as the pope, complete with a eyepatch with a rhinestone cross sewn on it.

Obviously this kind of thing isn't going to be everyone's cup of classical tea. I'm not sure what value, if any, this film has as a biography.  I didn't learn a whole lot about Franz Liszt and I'm even hard pressed to remember any of his music from the film (the score is credited to Rick Wakeman "with assistance from Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner"). In the film defense I'll say that I was never bored and was constantly amused at how Russell constantly managed to top himself with one insane sequence after another. Today's film industry simply won't allow another maverick like Ken Russell an that's really too bad. Like it or loath it, there's never been another film like LISZTOMANIA and there's not likely to be again.

For more overlooked film and a/v visit Todd Mason's blog.