It’s a review. No, it’s a rant. Stop, you’re both right. CineSavant’s overt mission is to demonstrate that old movies, especially old Science Fiction movies, are more relevant than ever. There is at present no authorized home video release of this amazing 1952 politico-religious pretzel of a movie. The surprise is that it accurately presages the media hysteria that underpins our present day Info Wars. Fake News comes from the sky, and a major world revolution results — for the better? Will religious fundamentalism rule all? This may be the most radical faith-based picture ever made.
Red Planet Mars
Revival Screening Review
Not on DVD
1952 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 87 min.
Starring: Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghof, Walter Sande, Marvin Miller, Willis Bouchey, Morris Ankrum, Orley Lindgren, Bayard Veiller, Vince Barnett, Lewis Martin.
Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc
Film Editor: Francis D. Lyon
Production assistant: Robert H. Justman
Original...
Red Planet Mars
Revival Screening Review
Not on DVD
1952 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 87 min.
Starring: Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghof, Walter Sande, Marvin Miller, Willis Bouchey, Morris Ankrum, Orley Lindgren, Bayard Veiller, Vince Barnett, Lewis Martin.
Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc
Film Editor: Francis D. Lyon
Production assistant: Robert H. Justman
Original...
- 4/3/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The renowned graphic novel from Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura comes to life in the feature film I Kill Giants, which has been acquired for Us distribution by Rlje Films. In today's Horror Highlights we also have a look at Comet TV's December viewing guide, the Indiegogo campaign for a Twin Peaks fan project, and we also enter the woods to watch the eerie short film The Temple of Lilith.
Rlje Films Acquires Us Distribution Rights to I Kill Giants: Press Release: "Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2017 – Rlje Films, a brand of Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje), Umedia and Xyz Films announced today that Rlje has acquired the U.S. rights to the highly anticipated I Kill Giants, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to critical praise. Based on the acclaimed Man of Action graphic novel by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura with a screenplay by Joe Kelly, the film was directed by Anders Walter,...
Rlje Films Acquires Us Distribution Rights to I Kill Giants: Press Release: "Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2017 – Rlje Films, a brand of Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje), Umedia and Xyz Films announced today that Rlje has acquired the U.S. rights to the highly anticipated I Kill Giants, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to critical praise. Based on the acclaimed Man of Action graphic novel by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura with a screenplay by Joe Kelly, the film was directed by Anders Walter,...
- 12/6/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The first visitor from outer space in the ’50s sci-fi boom is one very curious guy, dropping to Earth in a ship like a diving bell and scaring the bejesus out of Sally Field’s mother. Micro-budgeted space invasion fantasy gets off to a great start, thanks to the filmmaking genius of our old pal Edgar G. Ulmer.
The Man from Planet X
Blu-ray
Scream Factory / Shout! Factory
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 71 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 27.99
Starring: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel, David Ormont.
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Film Editor: Fred R. Feitshans, Jr.
Original Music: Charles Koff
Written and Produced by Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
One of the first features of the 1950s Sci-Fi boom, 1951’s The Man from Planet X set a lot of precedents, cementing the public impression of ‘little green men from Mars’ and...
The Man from Planet X
Blu-ray
Scream Factory / Shout! Factory
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 71 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 27.99
Starring: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel, David Ormont.
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Film Editor: Fred R. Feitshans, Jr.
Original Music: Charles Koff
Written and Produced by Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
One of the first features of the 1950s Sci-Fi boom, 1951’s The Man from Planet X set a lot of precedents, cementing the public impression of ‘little green men from Mars’ and...
- 6/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Gabriel Over the White House
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 86, 102 min. / Street Date October 20, 2009 / available through the Warner Archive Collection / 17.99
Starring: Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, Arthur Byron, Dickie Moore, C. Henry Gordon, David Landau, Samuel S. Hinds, Jean Parker, Mischa Auer.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Film Editor: Basil Wrangell
Original Music: Dr. William Axt
Written by: Carey Wilson, from a book by T. F. Tweed
Produced by: William Randolph Hearst, Walter Wanger
Directed by Gregory La Cava
A Review Revisit.
The unique political fantasy Gabriel Over the White House has become painfully topical lately. This is an update of a 2009 review. To my knowledge nothing has changed with the product — I saw a re-promotion of Twilight Time’s 1984 disc and thought, Gabriel is twice as relevant and at least as scary.
Unstable times in America have produced some pretty strange political-religious message pictures.
DVD-r
The Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 86, 102 min. / Street Date October 20, 2009 / available through the Warner Archive Collection / 17.99
Starring: Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, Arthur Byron, Dickie Moore, C. Henry Gordon, David Landau, Samuel S. Hinds, Jean Parker, Mischa Auer.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Film Editor: Basil Wrangell
Original Music: Dr. William Axt
Written by: Carey Wilson, from a book by T. F. Tweed
Produced by: William Randolph Hearst, Walter Wanger
Directed by Gregory La Cava
A Review Revisit.
The unique political fantasy Gabriel Over the White House has become painfully topical lately. This is an update of a 2009 review. To my knowledge nothing has changed with the product — I saw a re-promotion of Twilight Time’s 1984 disc and thought, Gabriel is twice as relevant and at least as scary.
Unstable times in America have produced some pretty strange political-religious message pictures.
- 2/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Nazis can't even keep the National Socialist propaganda out of a simple science fiction fable. Hans Albers is the Aryan King Midas as a scientist, and gorgeous Brigitte Helm the Englishwoman who thinks he's peachy keen. The climax is pure Sci-Fi heaven, an unstable 'Atomic Fracturing' installation, wa-ay deep down in a mineshaft under the ocean. Gold (1934) Blu-ray Kino Classics 1934 / B&W / 1:33 flat Full Frame / 117 min. / Street Date June 14, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Hans Albers, Friedrich Kayßler, Brigitte Helm, Michael Bohnen, Ernst Karchow, Lien Deyers, Eberhard Leithoff, Rudolf Platte. Cinematography Otto Baecker, Werner Bohne, Günther Rittau Art Direction Otto Hunte Film Editor Wolfgang Becker Original Music Hans-Otto Borgmann Written by Rolf E. Vanloo Produced by Alfred Zeisler Directed by Karl Hartl
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Hardy Encyclopedia of Science Fiction still teases Sci-fi fans that want to see everything listed in its pages. Thankfully, videodisc companies catering to collectors make possible the sale of titles that might never show up on some (authorized) streaming service. Video disc has brought us the original Der Schweigende Stern and Alraune from Germany, and I hope to someday see good copies of Kurt Siodmak and Karl Hartl's F.P. 1 Does Not Answer and the Harry Piel Sci-fi trilogy An Invisible Man Roams the City, The World Unmasked (an X-ray television camera) and Master of the World (a robot with a death ray). I've read about Karl Hartl's 1934 Gold for at least fifty years, since John Baxter's Science Fiction in the Cinema told us (not quite correctly) that its final reel had been borrowed for the conclusion of Ivan Tors' 1953 Sci-fi picture The Magnetic Monster. As it turns out, Kino is releasing both movies in the same week. Sometimes referred to as the Nazi Metropolis, Hartl's Gold is a follow-up to the director's very successful F.P.1. Does Not Answer, a spy thriller about a fantastic airport in the mid-Atlantic called Floating Platform One. Both pictures were filmed in simultaneous foreign versions to maximize the box office take. The German original of F.P. 1 starred matinee idol Hans Albers (The Blue Angel) Sybille Schmitz (Vampyr) and Peter Lorre, while a concurrent French version used Charles Boyer, Danièle Parola and Pierre Brasseur. A third English version starred Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond and Donald Calthrop. The French version starred Brigitte Helm in the same role, but star Hans Albers reportedly rebelled at making two movies for the price of one. According to reports, the exceedingly expensive Gold was in production for fifteen months. We can see the cost immediately in the enormous main set for the 'atomic fracturing' machine built to transmute lead into gold. Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau designed and filmed special effects for Metropolis and the impressive set is very much in the same style. Off the top of my head I can't think of any technical apparatus quite so elaborate (and solid-looking) built for a film until the 1960s and Ken Adam's outlandish settings for UA's James Bond films. Writer Rolf E. Vanloo had worked on the silent classic Asphalt and is the sole writer credited on the popular Marlene Dietrich vehicle I Kiss Your Hand, Madame. His screenplay for Gold is tight and credible, even if its theme is even more simplistic than -- and somewhat similar to -- that of Thea von Harbou for Metropolis. Scientist Werner Holk (Hans Albers) aids the visionary Professor Achenbach (Friedrich Kayßler) in testing what looks like an electric atom smasher. The experiment: to turn lead into gold. The 'Atomic Fracturer' explodes, killing the old genius, whose work is discredited. Holk barely survives, thanks to a blood transfusion from his faithful girlfriend Margit Moller (Lien Deyers). When agents for the fabulously wealthy Englishman John Wills (Michael Bohnen) contact Holk, he realizes that the experiment was sabotaged. Werner allows himself to be taken to a fabulous yacht and from there to a Scottish castle, where, hundreds of feet under the ocean, Wills has constructed his own, far larger atom smasher with plans stolen from Achenbach. Split between his need for revenge and a desire to prove the dead Achenbach's theories, Holk goes through with the experiment. Wills' daughter Florence (Brigitte Helm), a gorgeous playgirl, is attracted to the German visitor, Holk finds that the workers' foreman, Schwarz (Rudolf Platte) is of a like mind on economic issues. But Wills' engineer Harris (Eberhard Leithoff) is jealous of Holk's talent, and cannot be trusted. Gold begins by repeating the 'big money hostile takeover of science' theme from Fritz Lang's Frau im mond: a pioneering German scientific exploit is siezed by an unscrupulous international business entity. The unspoken message is that the weakened Germany is being cheated in the world economy because it lacks the resources to exploit its superior technology. The avaricious John Wills makes big financial decisions all day long. There's no gray area in this conflict, as Wells murders, steals and spies on people to get what he wants. We've seen his ruthless agents wreck Achenbach's original, modest experiment. This 'England plays dirty' theme mirrors Germany's bitterness toward England for at least the better part of a century of colonial, naval and financial competition. Versailles and WW1 aren't mentioned, but that had to be on the minds of the audience as well: Germany innovates and works hard, but is consistently handed a raw deal. The scenes with the sleek, fascinating Brigitte Helm would be better if they went somewhere; her Florence does what she can to entice Herr Holk but withdraws when he declares his love for his faithful girl back home, the one whose life blood now flows in his veins. 'Das Blut' cannot be dishonored, even if Holk is half convinced that Wills is going to have him murdered after the giant machine starts turning out Gold by the ton. Act Two instead becomes a conflict between Big Capitalism and the lowly-but-virtuous Working Man. Down in the underground warren of tunnels (another Metropolis parallel) Wills' Scottish workforce of sandhogs and technicians side with Holk against their boss. After a preliminary test yields a tiny bit of gold, we get the expected montages of worldwide economic panic, standard material in socially oriented sci-fi as diverse as La fin du monde and Red Planet Mars. Wells plans to grow rich by flooding the world with his artificially produced gold, a strategy that will have to be explained to me. Gold is the world's standard of value precisely because it's rare; it can't be printed up like money. Thirty years later, the surprisingly sophisticated scheme of Auric Goldfinger is to increase the value of his stash of gold bullion by rendering America's gold reserves radioactive, and therefore worthless. If scarcity raises the value of the element, making more should do the opposite. (On the other hand, what about artificial diamonds? Is there any correspondence there?) [I'm acutely aware that discussing the subject matter of movies mainly points up how much I don't know, about anything but movies.] The Incredible Holk convinces the mob of workers that he represents their interests better than the greedy John Wills. The idea that rich English capitalists need to be rejected in favor of honest German morality is the only real message here. It's as simple as the 'heart mediating between the hands and the brain' slogan of Metropolis, but with a slightly arrogant nationalism added. The lavishly produced Gold was filmed on a series of truly impressive sets, including Wills' enormous Scottish mansion. But the giant setting for the climax, deep in a mine under the ocean floor, is the stuff of core Sci-fi. Millions of volts of electricity are harnessed to transmute lead into Gold. That's got to be a heck of an electricity bill; factor in the other enormous overhead costs and we wonder if Wills will ever turn a profit. The special effects for this sequence are sensational. The enormous apparatus is suspended on huge oversized porcelain insulators. The giant glass tubes atop the specimen stage are apparently visualized with mattes and foreground miniatures. But the camera pans and trucks all over the hangar-sized set; it all looks real, with bolts of electricity flashing like crazy. It's a dynamic special effect highlight of the 1930s. The actors sell the conflict well. Beefy Hans Albers sometimes looks like George C. Scott. He exudes personal integrity and a calm force of will. Lien Dyers is as wholesome here as she was wantonly sexualized six years earlier in Fritz Lang's Spies. Michael Bohnen is more than convincing as a powerful man trying to corner all business on an international scale. Although mostly in for decoration, Brigitte Helm is a sophisticated dazzler. Those penciled eyebrows remind us that she had become the Marlene Dietrich that didn't go to Hollywood. Although she did have offers, Helm wanted to stay in Germany. The Nazification of the film industry and the appalling political climate motivated her to leave for Switzerland in 1935, abandoning her career. Although the gist of Gold fits in with Josef Goebbels' National Socialist propaganda aims, the movie doesn't attack England directly. Ufa may have held hopes of foreign distribution. The one man in Scotland that Holk knows he can trust is the captain of Wills' yacht, a fellow German. Nine years later, Josef Goebbels' anti-British version of Titanic would make a German the single ethical person in authority on the doomed ocean liner. The fellow is constantly badmouthing the craven captain and the venal English ship owner. When Hans Albers finishes this movie with a ten-cent moral about love being the only real treasure, the show seems plenty dumb. But that amazing special effect set piece is too good to dismiss so easily. Gold is a classic of giddy '30s science fiction. The Kino Classics Blu-ray of Gold (1934) is a good encoding of the Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung's best copy of this once-rare item. The print we see is intact and with has good audio, but the contrast is rough. It shifts and flutters a bit, especially in some scenes in the middle. I did notice that the final special effects sequences looked better than much of the rest of this surviving print. But the parts of the movie repurposed for The Magnetic Monster look better on that 1953 science fiction film than they do here. In his book Film in the Third Reich David Stewart Hull explains that when the occupation forces reviewed the recovered German films, they ordered this one destroyed. They were concerned that the Alchemy / Atomic Fracturing machine might have some connection to Germany's wartime nuclear program. So how could Ivan Tors have bought the footage from Ufa, if the U.S. Army had seized it? I have a feeling - just idle speculation -- that it might have been obtained in a special deal made through government connections. Since the image looks much better on The Magnetic Monster, Ivan Tors might even have cut up Gold's only existing printing element to make his movie. After finally seeing Gold, one more thing impresses me besides the grandiose special effects. It's sort of a 'brain-drain' movie. In the '30s, Germany had a reputation for the best precision engineering in the world. Werner Holk is semi-kidnapped to serve John Wills' greedy science project, which was pirated from Germany in the first place. Also in awe of German scientific prowess is Brigitte Helm's Florence. The playgirl finds Werner Wolk's brilliance and clarity of mission irresistible. He's both smarter and more ethical than her father. Holk just stands there looking like he's posing for a statue, and Florence is carried away. Ms. Helm is terrific, but it would be nice if her character had a more central role to play in the story. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Gold (1934) Blu-ray rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Fair + This may be a rare surviving print. Sound: Good - Minus Supplements: none Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 10, 2016 (5137)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Hardy Encyclopedia of Science Fiction still teases Sci-fi fans that want to see everything listed in its pages. Thankfully, videodisc companies catering to collectors make possible the sale of titles that might never show up on some (authorized) streaming service. Video disc has brought us the original Der Schweigende Stern and Alraune from Germany, and I hope to someday see good copies of Kurt Siodmak and Karl Hartl's F.P. 1 Does Not Answer and the Harry Piel Sci-fi trilogy An Invisible Man Roams the City, The World Unmasked (an X-ray television camera) and Master of the World (a robot with a death ray). I've read about Karl Hartl's 1934 Gold for at least fifty years, since John Baxter's Science Fiction in the Cinema told us (not quite correctly) that its final reel had been borrowed for the conclusion of Ivan Tors' 1953 Sci-fi picture The Magnetic Monster. As it turns out, Kino is releasing both movies in the same week. Sometimes referred to as the Nazi Metropolis, Hartl's Gold is a follow-up to the director's very successful F.P.1. Does Not Answer, a spy thriller about a fantastic airport in the mid-Atlantic called Floating Platform One. Both pictures were filmed in simultaneous foreign versions to maximize the box office take. The German original of F.P. 1 starred matinee idol Hans Albers (The Blue Angel) Sybille Schmitz (Vampyr) and Peter Lorre, while a concurrent French version used Charles Boyer, Danièle Parola and Pierre Brasseur. A third English version starred Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond and Donald Calthrop. The French version starred Brigitte Helm in the same role, but star Hans Albers reportedly rebelled at making two movies for the price of one. According to reports, the exceedingly expensive Gold was in production for fifteen months. We can see the cost immediately in the enormous main set for the 'atomic fracturing' machine built to transmute lead into gold. Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau designed and filmed special effects for Metropolis and the impressive set is very much in the same style. Off the top of my head I can't think of any technical apparatus quite so elaborate (and solid-looking) built for a film until the 1960s and Ken Adam's outlandish settings for UA's James Bond films. Writer Rolf E. Vanloo had worked on the silent classic Asphalt and is the sole writer credited on the popular Marlene Dietrich vehicle I Kiss Your Hand, Madame. His screenplay for Gold is tight and credible, even if its theme is even more simplistic than -- and somewhat similar to -- that of Thea von Harbou for Metropolis. Scientist Werner Holk (Hans Albers) aids the visionary Professor Achenbach (Friedrich Kayßler) in testing what looks like an electric atom smasher. The experiment: to turn lead into gold. The 'Atomic Fracturer' explodes, killing the old genius, whose work is discredited. Holk barely survives, thanks to a blood transfusion from his faithful girlfriend Margit Moller (Lien Deyers). When agents for the fabulously wealthy Englishman John Wills (Michael Bohnen) contact Holk, he realizes that the experiment was sabotaged. Werner allows himself to be taken to a fabulous yacht and from there to a Scottish castle, where, hundreds of feet under the ocean, Wills has constructed his own, far larger atom smasher with plans stolen from Achenbach. Split between his need for revenge and a desire to prove the dead Achenbach's theories, Holk goes through with the experiment. Wills' daughter Florence (Brigitte Helm), a gorgeous playgirl, is attracted to the German visitor, Holk finds that the workers' foreman, Schwarz (Rudolf Platte) is of a like mind on economic issues. But Wills' engineer Harris (Eberhard Leithoff) is jealous of Holk's talent, and cannot be trusted. Gold begins by repeating the 'big money hostile takeover of science' theme from Fritz Lang's Frau im mond: a pioneering German scientific exploit is siezed by an unscrupulous international business entity. The unspoken message is that the weakened Germany is being cheated in the world economy because it lacks the resources to exploit its superior technology. The avaricious John Wills makes big financial decisions all day long. There's no gray area in this conflict, as Wells murders, steals and spies on people to get what he wants. We've seen his ruthless agents wreck Achenbach's original, modest experiment. This 'England plays dirty' theme mirrors Germany's bitterness toward England for at least the better part of a century of colonial, naval and financial competition. Versailles and WW1 aren't mentioned, but that had to be on the minds of the audience as well: Germany innovates and works hard, but is consistently handed a raw deal. The scenes with the sleek, fascinating Brigitte Helm would be better if they went somewhere; her Florence does what she can to entice Herr Holk but withdraws when he declares his love for his faithful girl back home, the one whose life blood now flows in his veins. 'Das Blut' cannot be dishonored, even if Holk is half convinced that Wills is going to have him murdered after the giant machine starts turning out Gold by the ton. Act Two instead becomes a conflict between Big Capitalism and the lowly-but-virtuous Working Man. Down in the underground warren of tunnels (another Metropolis parallel) Wills' Scottish workforce of sandhogs and technicians side with Holk against their boss. After a preliminary test yields a tiny bit of gold, we get the expected montages of worldwide economic panic, standard material in socially oriented sci-fi as diverse as La fin du monde and Red Planet Mars. Wells plans to grow rich by flooding the world with his artificially produced gold, a strategy that will have to be explained to me. Gold is the world's standard of value precisely because it's rare; it can't be printed up like money. Thirty years later, the surprisingly sophisticated scheme of Auric Goldfinger is to increase the value of his stash of gold bullion by rendering America's gold reserves radioactive, and therefore worthless. If scarcity raises the value of the element, making more should do the opposite. (On the other hand, what about artificial diamonds? Is there any correspondence there?) [I'm acutely aware that discussing the subject matter of movies mainly points up how much I don't know, about anything but movies.] The Incredible Holk convinces the mob of workers that he represents their interests better than the greedy John Wills. The idea that rich English capitalists need to be rejected in favor of honest German morality is the only real message here. It's as simple as the 'heart mediating between the hands and the brain' slogan of Metropolis, but with a slightly arrogant nationalism added. The lavishly produced Gold was filmed on a series of truly impressive sets, including Wills' enormous Scottish mansion. But the giant setting for the climax, deep in a mine under the ocean floor, is the stuff of core Sci-fi. Millions of volts of electricity are harnessed to transmute lead into Gold. That's got to be a heck of an electricity bill; factor in the other enormous overhead costs and we wonder if Wills will ever turn a profit. The special effects for this sequence are sensational. The enormous apparatus is suspended on huge oversized porcelain insulators. The giant glass tubes atop the specimen stage are apparently visualized with mattes and foreground miniatures. But the camera pans and trucks all over the hangar-sized set; it all looks real, with bolts of electricity flashing like crazy. It's a dynamic special effect highlight of the 1930s. The actors sell the conflict well. Beefy Hans Albers sometimes looks like George C. Scott. He exudes personal integrity and a calm force of will. Lien Dyers is as wholesome here as she was wantonly sexualized six years earlier in Fritz Lang's Spies. Michael Bohnen is more than convincing as a powerful man trying to corner all business on an international scale. Although mostly in for decoration, Brigitte Helm is a sophisticated dazzler. Those penciled eyebrows remind us that she had become the Marlene Dietrich that didn't go to Hollywood. Although she did have offers, Helm wanted to stay in Germany. The Nazification of the film industry and the appalling political climate motivated her to leave for Switzerland in 1935, abandoning her career. Although the gist of Gold fits in with Josef Goebbels' National Socialist propaganda aims, the movie doesn't attack England directly. Ufa may have held hopes of foreign distribution. The one man in Scotland that Holk knows he can trust is the captain of Wills' yacht, a fellow German. Nine years later, Josef Goebbels' anti-British version of Titanic would make a German the single ethical person in authority on the doomed ocean liner. The fellow is constantly badmouthing the craven captain and the venal English ship owner. When Hans Albers finishes this movie with a ten-cent moral about love being the only real treasure, the show seems plenty dumb. But that amazing special effect set piece is too good to dismiss so easily. Gold is a classic of giddy '30s science fiction. The Kino Classics Blu-ray of Gold (1934) is a good encoding of the Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung's best copy of this once-rare item. The print we see is intact and with has good audio, but the contrast is rough. It shifts and flutters a bit, especially in some scenes in the middle. I did notice that the final special effects sequences looked better than much of the rest of this surviving print. But the parts of the movie repurposed for The Magnetic Monster look better on that 1953 science fiction film than they do here. In his book Film in the Third Reich David Stewart Hull explains that when the occupation forces reviewed the recovered German films, they ordered this one destroyed. They were concerned that the Alchemy / Atomic Fracturing machine might have some connection to Germany's wartime nuclear program. So how could Ivan Tors have bought the footage from Ufa, if the U.S. Army had seized it? I have a feeling - just idle speculation -- that it might have been obtained in a special deal made through government connections. Since the image looks much better on The Magnetic Monster, Ivan Tors might even have cut up Gold's only existing printing element to make his movie. After finally seeing Gold, one more thing impresses me besides the grandiose special effects. It's sort of a 'brain-drain' movie. In the '30s, Germany had a reputation for the best precision engineering in the world. Werner Holk is semi-kidnapped to serve John Wills' greedy science project, which was pirated from Germany in the first place. Also in awe of German scientific prowess is Brigitte Helm's Florence. The playgirl finds Werner Wolk's brilliance and clarity of mission irresistible. He's both smarter and more ethical than her father. Holk just stands there looking like he's posing for a statue, and Florence is carried away. Ms. Helm is terrific, but it would be nice if her character had a more central role to play in the story. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Gold (1934) Blu-ray rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Fair + This may be a rare surviving print. Sound: Good - Minus Supplements: none Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 10, 2016 (5137)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Everybody sing!: An Italian boy from Napoli, got petrified by the scenery. Now his face is white and his arms are long. And he'd rather choke you than sing a song! Hey Ed Cahn! Do another cheapie for us Hey Ed Cahn! No more Volcano nonsense! --- A really stiff guy searches for the reincarnation of his Etruscan babe from 79 B.C.. This fave monster romp from '58 is no classic, but it's the spirit that counts. Curse of the Faceless Man Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1958 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 67 min. / Street Date February 16, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Richard Anderson, Elaine Edwards, Adele Mara, Luis Van Rooten, Gar Moore, Felix Locher, Jan Arvan, Bob Bryant. Cinematography Kenneth Peach Original Music Gerald Fried Written by Jerome Bixby Produced by Robert E. Kent Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Actually, 1958's Curse of the Faceless Man is...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Actually, 1958's Curse of the Faceless Man is...
- 1/24/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A must-have reader!
Glenn Erickson’s masterful and insightful criticism over at DVD Savant is a regular stop for many of us here at Trailers From Hell, so it excites us to no end that he’s finally released another compendium of reviews in book form. This time focusing on a genre near-and-dear to our hearts: sci-fi films. Erickson’ aptly titled Sci-Fi Savant features over 100 bits of criticism spanning the history of science fiction on film.
From the publicist:
Sci-fi Savant‘s 116 separate title entries are in chronological order starting with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and ending with James Cameron’s Avatar. Many are exclusive to this book. In addition to representing all of the key classics of the 1950s, the selection gives full coverage to more arcane but equally significant titles.
A brief list of notable rarities:
La fin du monde (The End of the World), Abel Gance’s weird apocalyptic epic,...
Glenn Erickson’s masterful and insightful criticism over at DVD Savant is a regular stop for many of us here at Trailers From Hell, so it excites us to no end that he’s finally released another compendium of reviews in book form. This time focusing on a genre near-and-dear to our hearts: sci-fi films. Erickson’ aptly titled Sci-Fi Savant features over 100 bits of criticism spanning the history of science fiction on film.
From the publicist:
Sci-fi Savant‘s 116 separate title entries are in chronological order starting with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and ending with James Cameron’s Avatar. Many are exclusive to this book. In addition to representing all of the key classics of the 1950s, the selection gives full coverage to more arcane but equally significant titles.
A brief list of notable rarities:
La fin du monde (The End of the World), Abel Gance’s weird apocalyptic epic,...
- 11/2/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
Actor Peter Graves was best known for his starring role as Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Mission Force, on the popular television drama series Mission: Impossible, from 1967 to 1973. He took over as star of the series from Steven Hill with the second season.
Graves was also a leading actor in science fiction films in the 1950s. He spoke with bible-quoting Martians in the 1952 Cold War thriller Red Planet Mars, and battled bug-eyed aliens in Killers from Space in 1954. He fended off a creepy Venusian invader in the Roger Corman cult classic It Conquered the World in 1956, and saved the country from gigantic grasshoppers in 1957’s Beginning of the End.
He was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 18, 1926. He served in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II.
He followed his brother, actor and future Gunsmoke star Jim Arness, to Hollywood in the late 1940s,...
Graves was also a leading actor in science fiction films in the 1950s. He spoke with bible-quoting Martians in the 1952 Cold War thriller Red Planet Mars, and battled bug-eyed aliens in Killers from Space in 1954. He fended off a creepy Venusian invader in the Roger Corman cult classic It Conquered the World in 1956, and saved the country from gigantic grasshoppers in 1957’s Beginning of the End.
He was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 18, 1926. He served in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II.
He followed his brother, actor and future Gunsmoke star Jim Arness, to Hollywood in the late 1940s,...
- 3/17/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
American actor and star of television's Mission: Impossible who made fun of his image in Airplane!
Despite his long career as a serious actor in dozens of films and television shows, Peter Graves, who has died aged 83, might be most remembered for a role that lampooned his square-jawed, stolid screen persona. As the captain of a plane heading for disaster in the spoof movie Airplane! (1980), Graves got laughs by playing it as straight as his other roles. (Although his roles in a number of trashy, low-budget science fiction movies in the 1950s had produced unintentional laughs.)
Audiences around the world were also familiar with Graves as the tall, gruff, deep-voiced, silver-haired Jim Phelps, head of the Imf (Impossible Missions Force), an elite American espionage group, in the TV series Mission: Impossible (1967-73). He won a Golden Globe in the role in 1971.
The show famously opened with the words: "Your mission,...
Despite his long career as a serious actor in dozens of films and television shows, Peter Graves, who has died aged 83, might be most remembered for a role that lampooned his square-jawed, stolid screen persona. As the captain of a plane heading for disaster in the spoof movie Airplane! (1980), Graves got laughs by playing it as straight as his other roles. (Although his roles in a number of trashy, low-budget science fiction movies in the 1950s had produced unintentional laughs.)
Audiences around the world were also familiar with Graves as the tall, gruff, deep-voiced, silver-haired Jim Phelps, head of the Imf (Impossible Missions Force), an elite American espionage group, in the TV series Mission: Impossible (1967-73). He won a Golden Globe in the role in 1971.
The show famously opened with the words: "Your mission,...
- 3/15/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
'Airplane!' and 'Mission Impossible' star died in Los Angeles on Sunday.
By Gil Kaufman
Peter Graves
Photo: Getty Images
Actor Peter Graves, whose career spanned a star-making role in the 1960s TV series "Mission Impossible" to a late career reboot in the 1980s as Captain Clarence Oveur in the two slapstick "Airplane!" movies, died at age 83 on Sunday.
According to CNN, Graves collapsed in the driveway of his Los Angeles home on Sunday and was found by his daughter, who attempted to perform CPR unsuccessfully. A spokesperson for the actor said he was in good health and died of natural causes.
Born Peter Aurness on March 26, 1925, Graves had a long and storied career in Hollywood that spanned more than 70 movies and a number of TV series, beginning in 1942 with an uncredited debut in the war film "Winning Your Wings." He moved out to Hollywood to join his older brother,...
By Gil Kaufman
Peter Graves
Photo: Getty Images
Actor Peter Graves, whose career spanned a star-making role in the 1960s TV series "Mission Impossible" to a late career reboot in the 1980s as Captain Clarence Oveur in the two slapstick "Airplane!" movies, died at age 83 on Sunday.
According to CNN, Graves collapsed in the driveway of his Los Angeles home on Sunday and was found by his daughter, who attempted to perform CPR unsuccessfully. A spokesperson for the actor said he was in good health and died of natural causes.
Born Peter Aurness on March 26, 1925, Graves had a long and storied career in Hollywood that spanned more than 70 movies and a number of TV series, beginning in 1942 with an uncredited debut in the war film "Winning Your Wings." He moved out to Hollywood to join his older brother,...
- 3/15/2010
- MTV Music News
Julie Hagerty, Lorna Patterson, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves in Airplane! Peter Graves, the star of TV’s Mission Impossible and the airplane pilot with a fondness for little boys in the 1980 comedy hit Airplane!, was found dead today at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades. The 83-year-old actor apparently died of natural causes. Graves was best known for his television work as Mission Impossible’s silver-haired, gravely authoritative James Phelps, a role later played by Tom Cruise – minus the silver hair and the grave authority — in the big-screen versions. Additionally, Graves had a long career in films, beginning in the early 1950s. Among his screen credits are the sci-fier Red Planet Mars (1952); Billy [...]...
- 3/15/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Peter Graves who starred as Jim Phelps on the hit TV series "Mission Impossible," and more recently served as alternating host of the A&E series "Biography," has died.
The actor died Sunday of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, a week away from his 84th birthday.
Graves was the younger brother of "Gunsmoke" star James Arness, a TV icon from the '50s. Graves is perhaps also best remembered by Baby Boomers as the ranch owner on the popular Saturday morning TV series, "Fury," the adventures of a boy and his horse. More recently, Graves was featured in the opening scene of "Men in Black II."
Playing against his image as a tall, silver-haired authority figure, Graves co-starred as Captain Oveur in the zany comedies "Airplane!" (1980) and "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982). Along with such serious acting figures as Robert Stack and, at the time, Leslie Nielsen,...
The actor died Sunday of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, a week away from his 84th birthday.
Graves was the younger brother of "Gunsmoke" star James Arness, a TV icon from the '50s. Graves is perhaps also best remembered by Baby Boomers as the ranch owner on the popular Saturday morning TV series, "Fury," the adventures of a boy and his horse. More recently, Graves was featured in the opening scene of "Men in Black II."
Playing against his image as a tall, silver-haired authority figure, Graves co-starred as Captain Oveur in the zany comedies "Airplane!" (1980) and "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982). Along with such serious acting figures as Robert Stack and, at the time, Leslie Nielsen,...
- 3/14/2010
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We here at ComicMix pride ourselves on being not only a comic book site, but also a pop culture site and so we cannot let the passing of House Peters, Jr. go by without noting it. The actor, born January 12, 1916, died from pneumonia on October 1.
Who you might wonder? The actor was the model for Proctor & Gamble’s Mr. Clean, an icon that has gone largely unchanged.
The actor also had an early role as a Sharkman in the original 1936 Flash Gordon serial.
His son Jon Peters said in a release, "he always played the heavy. Even though he wasn't happy about being cast in those roles, he worked really hard at it."
Peters’ credits include roles in The Twilight Zone (1960), Target Earth (1954), Port Sinister (1953), Red Planet Mars (1952), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), King of the Rocket Men (1949), and Batman and Robin (1949). It wasn’t until he starred in...
Who you might wonder? The actor was the model for Proctor & Gamble’s Mr. Clean, an icon that has gone largely unchanged.
The actor also had an early role as a Sharkman in the original 1936 Flash Gordon serial.
His son Jon Peters said in a release, "he always played the heavy. Even though he wasn't happy about being cast in those roles, he worked really hard at it."
Peters’ credits include roles in The Twilight Zone (1960), Target Earth (1954), Port Sinister (1953), Red Planet Mars (1952), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), King of the Rocket Men (1949), and Batman and Robin (1949). It wasn’t until he starred in...
- 10/4/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
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