Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Girl Hunters (1963)

When Mickey Spillane's first Mike Hammer novel, I, THE JURY, was released in 1947 it became an instant success, selling over six million copies. Spillane's novels continued to resonate with the public, eventually selling over 200 million copies worldwide. It was inevitable that Mike Hammer would make the jump to motion pictures, which he did in 1953 with I, THE JURY starring Biff Elliot as Hammer. After three films starring three different actors playing Hammer (Elliot, Ralph Meeker and Robert Bray) and a television series starring Darren McGavin, director Roy Rowland decided to go right to the source for his newest Hammer film, THE GIRL HUNTERS: who better to play the iconic detective than Spillane himself?

THE GIRL HUNTERS, based on Spillane's 1962 novel and written by Spillane, Rowland and Robert Fellows, doesn't waste any time with character introductions, assuming (probably rightly) that any audience for the film would already know all they need to about the main players. The film begins with Hammer literally hammered, having gone on an apparently years-long bender brought on by the disappearance and probable murder of the love of his life, his secretary Velda. When Hammer hears a deathbed confession by a murder victim that hints that Velda may still be alive, Hammer sobers up with the intention of rescuing Velda and dispensing justice on anyone who harmed her. Hammer follows a trail of bodies to the beautiful widow of a anti-Communist crusading senator (Shirley Eaton, who of course is unable to resist Hammer's charms) and an elusive band of Communist agents with plans to take over the world. Hammer soon finds himself the target of master assassin The Dragon, who he must defeat in order to save Velda and make the world safe from those dirty commies once and for all.

 

The plot is pretty ridiculous, engaging in equal parts sex, violence and red baiting, but that turns out to be the film's biggest strength. The loonier the story gets the more it diverts attention from the problem at the center of the film: the gimmick casting of Mickey Spillane as Mike Hammer.  Spillane gets the tough guy attitude down but he's just not a professional actor and it shows. Many of his line readings are flat (especially the voice overs) and he's quite deficient in the screen presence department. It's pretty funny to see this overweight, heavy drinking (Hammer is referred to several times as being a recovered alcoholic but he always seems to have a beer in his hand) middle aged man be irresistible to women, especially Eaton, who is several times out of his league. Luckily, the film surrounds Spillane with some real pros, most notably Lloyd Nolan as an FBI agent who pretty much just sits around and drinks while waiting for Hammer to crack the case. And before you get your hopes up, the long awaited reunion with Velda never comes. The film seems to forget all about her in favor of an exciting, violent (at least for 1963) climax. Maybe in the next film.

There were plans to film Spillane's next Hammer novel, THE SNAKE, again with Spillane as Hammer but perhaps wisely those plans fell through. THE GIRL HUNTERS would prove to be the last on-screen Mike Hammer adventure until 1981 when Kevin Dobson played him in the TV movie MARGIN FOR MURDER. There would be one more big screen Hammer feature, 1982's I, THE JURY starring Armand Assante, before Hammer returned to television played by Stacey Keach beginning in 1984. Today THE GIRL HUNTERS is thought of, if at all, as a curiosity.  It deserves a slightly better reputation than that. It's a fun, oddball little movie and the casting of Spillane gives it some novelty. Incidentally, this wasn't Spillane's first movie appearance. In 1954 he starred as himself alongside circus owner Clyde Beatty in the bigtop mystery RING OF FEAR, also for producer Robert Fellows. I haven't caught up with that one yet but I plan to soon.

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

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)

Tom Schiller was part of the original writing team for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and stayed with the show for eleven years. During that time as part of his occasional "Schiller's Reel" segment he was given free reign to write and direct short films starring the SNL cast which became famous in their own right, most notably "Don't Look Back in Anger," featuring an elderly John Belushi dancing on the graves of his castmates (ironically made just four years before Belushi became the first SNL cast member to die). In 1984 Schiller was given the opportunity to make the leap to features with NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, a bizarre mix of comedy and fantasy which also serves as an homage to the type of classic Hollywood films that Schiller often paid tribute to in his SNL shorts.

NOTHING LASTS FOREVER takes place in an alternate reality New York City designed to evoke the 1930s (although it's set in the present day) where, after a crippling transportation strike, the Port Authority has taken control of the city, installing a totalitarian government complete with strict immigration laws and P.A. announcements signaling the beginning and end of each work day. Into this insanity comes Adam Beckett (a pre-GREMLINS Zach Galligan), a wanna-be artist who after failing a Port Authority issued art aptitude test is given a dead end job as a sentry at the Holland Tunnel. Because of his acts of kindness towards the city's street people, Adam is adopted by an Illuminati-like cabal of homeless folk who live under the city. The leader of the group (played by veteran character actor Sam Jaffe in his last role) explains that they control every aspect of people's lives everywhere except one place - the moon, which has been turned into a shopping destination for senior citizens under the control of the U.S. government. So Adam boards the next bus to the moon (complete with complementary Lunartinis and on-board entertainment by Eddie Fisher) in order to free the people of the moon, find his purpose in life and meet Eloy, the moon girl of his dreams (Lauren Tom).

NOTHING LASTS FOREVER is every bit as quirky as it sounds and while quirky can also mean irritating in this case it means inventive. The film is so imaginative from the very beginning that by the time Adam boards a bus to a moon populated by hula dancing moon ladies it really doesn't seem like that much of a leap. I get the feeling that Schiller must have thought he wouldn't get the chance to make a second feature (at least with as much creative freedom) so he'd better cram all of his ideas into this one. It also helps that the film is cast with lots of well known actors (Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Imogene Coca, Mort Sahl) that help to make the surroundings less strange. The film is shot is beautiful black and white (which turns to color during the Illuminati and moon sequences) and Schiller makes the most of a meager budget by incorporating stock footage from silent and early talkie films in place of building expensive sets. It's all topped of by a wonderful Howard Shore score that evokes B films of the 1930s.

 As can probably be expected for a film of this nature, it's had its share of distribution troubles. The film went unreleased by its distributor, MGM, perhaps not surprising given their financial problems at the time and the utterly noncommercial nature of the film. However, it has also never had a release on any home video format due to elusive "legal issues." It's surfaced occasionally over the years at special screenings and it had at least on European TV broadcast.  Bill Murray in particular has been a vocal cheerleader for the film and has shown up to help publicize screenings of it whenever possible. Hopefully the film will eventually be able to clear its legal hurdles so it can find a wider audience. It's a fun, lively little film and one that could never get financing from a major studio today. It's a shame that the only convenient way to see this film is via a cruddy bootleg and it would be wonderful if a quality, legal version were to finally be made available.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Yor, Hunter from the Future (1983)

Part prehistoric adventure movie and part futuristic science fiction, the creative team of YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE decided to merge two fantasy genres in order to see if they were indeed two great tastes that taste great together. The result, directed by Italian exploitation veteran Antonio Margheriti (using his American pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson) is truly one of the loopiest and enjoyable bad movies ever made.

Fresh from his stint in two Captain America telemovies, Reb Brown plays Yor, a bleach blonde caveman with designer fur booties who enjoys wandering aimlessly around the prehistoric landscape accompanied by his own heroic theme song (sung by Oliver Onions). After saving the beautiful Ka-Laa from a rampaging triceratops Yor is adopted into her tribe and invited to a victory feast. No sooner is Yor wowed by Ka-Laa's impromptu victory dance (think QUEST FOR FIRE meets FLASHDANCE) that she proves herself to be very high maintenance by being kidnapped by a tribe of nasty ape people. This leads to the best scene in the movie where Yor uses a dead pterodactyl as a hang glider i order to fly to the rescue.  All would be well except for Yor's nagging feeling that he's not really from around these parts. As it turns out (and as hinted at by the film's title) our story is not really taking place in Earth's prehistoric past but instead its post-nuke future. You see, Yor's parents were killed while trying to escape from the one island left untouched by the bomb, which is now ruled by a tyrannical overlord named, um, Overlord. Now it's up to Yor to defeat Overlord and his android army and restore democracy to the planet.

As you can probably tell by the synopsis, YOR is quite a film.  Apparently the 88 minute film released to US theaters was edited down from a 200 minute version that aired as a miniseries on Italian TV. I'd love to see that version to see if it answers any of the several hundred questions left unaddressed by the theatrical cut, such as how a nuclear war could result in the return of the dinosaurs. It probably doesn't and that's okay. Anyone watching this movie looking for logic is completely missing the point.   The pleasure of this movie comes from watching it start off weird and crazy and then watching it become progressively crazier as it goes along. It has so many things to satisfy the bad movie connoisseur, from Ka-Laa's decidedly unprehistoric hairstyle to the unconvincing dinosaur puppets to Overlord's android henchmen who look like they're wearing modified Darth Vader helmets. And then there's that theme song.  YOR is tons of fun and I defy anyone to watch it without laughing out loud at least once. To put it in culinary terms, YOR may not be a full course meal but if all you're looking for is a cheesy appetizer you really can't go wrong.

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

 

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.