Fame Is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

 

This is my entry for the Vivian Blaine Blogathon, hosted by Taking Up Room.

 

 

 

OK. I have to admit several things before getting started. When I saw Rebecca's announcement for this blogathon my first thought was "Vivian Blaine? Who the hell is Vivian Blaine?" When I looked up her filmography I almost passed on joining because, to be honest, although she had a career of movies, there definitely seemed to be nothing I wanted to spend any time with. I don't like musicals much, so Guys and Dolls, State Fair and Doll Face were definitely off the ticket. 

But then I scrolled down to the end of her filmography career, and gee, like many other Hollywood stars, she wrapped her career up in cheesy low-budget thrillers that were apparently just something to pay the bills. Parasite 3D looked promising, but, upon investigating it, it looked like she probably wasn't going to be much of a presence in it to make it worth devoting an entry dedicated to her (maybe in a future post when my subject is the star of the movie, Demi Moore, or the director of it, Charles Band, just not for this).

The last movie she made was a cheesy sounding slasher flick that garnered my interest however. I'm Going to Be Famous sounded like just the kind of bonkers stuff I have an affinity for.

So I watched it.

And I couldn't really figure out what the hell I just watched.

So I watched it again.

I still really have no idea what it's about...

The main problem I had is the only transfer I found online was so poorly uploaded online, that it was a struggle to see what was going on. The other problem is that I don't really think the director of the film, Paul Leder, actually knew what he was trying to achieve either. That name should have been a warning signal. Aside from A*P*E, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, and I Dismember Mama, he didn't have the recognition that would have been conducive to expect much. Even A*P*E  was not really quality stuff, even if I did appreciate it's cheesiness.

The best part of the film is when one of the characters says the movie title "I'm going to be famous!" Pretty much that is the whole point of the film. You've got a bunch of people who are trying to get ahead in the "kill or be killed" business of show business. (And, yes, I realize that's a pretty cheesy description of the ultimate plot of the film, but what am I going to do? There is not much else to delve into...)

The film has some fairly well known names in it. Dick Sargent was the second Darrin on Bewitched. Meredith MacRae made her name, primarily, as Billie Joe on Petticoat Junction. George Gaynes is probably best remembered as Commander Lassard in the Police Academy films, or as the potential love interest of "Dorothy Michaels" in Tootsie. Stanley Kamel played the psychiatrist who helped Monk cope with reality on the detective series of that name. And if you watched old 50's game shows, Robert Q. Lewis was the host of The Name's the Same. 

With the exception of Kamel, most of the actors above had already passed their prime as  name recognition stars and were probably just trying to keep from retiring to the Old Folks home. I feel certain that their portrayals here are not entirely their fault. I'm just guessing that Leder didn't have a clue how to direct the film. But be that as it may, most of them don't really come off as being as qualified as their previous output would have led you to believe.

BTW, since it quite possibly was the whole point, I give a pass to the would be actors playing the "wannabe stars" in this film. None of them are very good, and if they are intentionally acting that way, then, gee, I'd have to say they did a bang up job. They could be the best actors in the whole damn film... 

 

 

Note: Unfortunately there are virtually no stills from the film that I can Google, so this doesn't have much other than my brief thoughts.

I'm Going To Be Famous (1983):

The film opens with the Director, billed as such but called Sydney (or sometimes, "Stanley") by name, (Dick Sargent) preparing to see auditions for his new Broadway play. Everybody is gung-ho to get on board because not only is he a big name in the directing field, he is also a big name in the playwright field, since the play is his own script. And Susan Barker (Meredith Macrae) is the big name star of the production. 

And that, my friends, is the only comprehensible portion of the film. The rest is a mish mash of segments involving the backgrounds of the would be actors, some of whom have problems that could make a story for a decent movie if it didn't have to have the other stories bogging it down. I particularly like the character of Kitty (Roslyn Kind), who as the daughter of a famous porn star wants nothing more than to be recognized for her own talents rather than being the daughter of a well-known sex film star. Another part of the movie that makes no real sense: This is supposedly going to be a Broadway play, meaning performed in NYC. Why are they doing the casting in L.A.?

It takes quite a while of character development (for characters that no one probably gives a damn about in the first place), before anything decently interesting happens.

So what happens? What makes this movie worth a watch, if there is anything?

Well, those would be actors are so focused on becoming stars that they are willing to do anything (ANYTHING) to get their big break. For instance, one guy had a previous (gay) relationship with the Director, Sydney (or is it Stanley...?), and basically implies that the relationship would be made public if he doesn't get the lead role. (At that point in history it was still considered taboo to be outed...) 

The only way that this film can really make any sense is that you view at as a soap opera (and a really bad soap opera at that...) There are so many subplots going on that it's hard to keep track. One character is a parole officer who, although he is trying to keep tabs on one of his parolees, his real dream is to be an actor. (Yes, he's one of the "I'm going to be famous" people.) Another character who wants to be famous struggles when an old flame shows up, one that is not a really all that old of an "old flame", since she claims that he is the father of a baby she is pregnant with... Another actress, the aforementioned Kitty,  has trouble coping with the hectic lifestyle of trying to get famous that she occasionally overdoses on drugs or gets plastered on booze, despite the fact that her lover (or is it her husband) is trying to keep her straight. Or at least straight enough to function in society.

Then there's Vivian Blaine. I'm really not sure what she has to do with the film, other than the fact that she is an aging rich sexpot who is looking to hook up with another of those struggling would be actors. Actually I think she is the moneybags behind the production of the play, but it's never really clear.

The biggest disappointment for me is that come-on that brought me into watching this movie in the first place; that of the appellation that this was a "psychological thriller" complete with  murder. The film almost gets to the end before anyone is killed, and even then it's a bit anti-climatic. Sure, to be truthful, you don't see it coming, but by that time, I didn't even care. I did care about the last line from the guy who does the killing however... He just keeps screaming his name over and over to the TV crew that happens to be present. What he doesn't scream is "I'M GOING TO BE FAMOUS!" That in itself would have pushed this movie up at least by  ½ a star... (And, I was screaming at my screen "Say it! Say it, damn it!" No such luck).

It's anybody's guess who some of these characters are. IMDb lists several actors just by their stage names rather than who their character names are, so if you are not familiar with the actor, you won't know their character either. Neither George Gaynes nor Stanley Kamel have character name listings, but at least I recognized them. Of course, you COULD wait until the end credits run, but even that isn't very helpful, since the quality of the transfer and the black lettering of the actors is pretty unreadable. 

Roslyn Kind, quite possibly, might have gotten the role of Kitty simply because she was the half-sister of Barbra Streisand. She isn't Babs equal as a singer, and she can't even come close to competing with Barbra as an actress, but there are two scenes (added just to highlight her singing career?) in which she doesn't do too shabby a job of singing. But they have nothing to do with the film itself, except maybe to show just how far into her own dream world she has sunk.  

There isn't much about this film online either. Hell, it may have never seen the inside of a movie theater. And I found only one reviewer who even bothered to post a review. (His, or her, opinion was this was pure trash, basically). 

I cannot recommend this movie to anyone (and that makes probably only the third movie I have ever reviewed that I said that.) It's cheesy as all get out, which SHOULD have meant I'd say "give it a shot" for one view, but it is worse than even such clunkers as the previously reviewed The Beast of Yucca Flats and Teenage Zombies, both of which I would recommend you watch before this one. The highlight of the film, really, is the the title tune, played at the end of the film (some guy named Jay Arthur, who apparently never recorded anything else...)

So, would I, in retrospect, wish I had gone with one of those musicals I avoided? Probably not, but I can guarantee that the two times I watched this clunker will be the only times I ever watch it. My recommendation? Turn on your TV and watch the World Arm Wrestling Championships. A lot more excitement happens in two minutes of that than happens in the entire 90 minutes of this movie.

Until next time, drive safely. Even if you want to be "famous", causing some kind of train wreck like this film is not the best way to go...

 

Quiggy

 

 

   

 

 

Announcing The Back in Black: Another Film Noir Blogathon

Anyone who has been a reader of The Midnite Drive-In knows how much I like the film noir theme. It is one of the types of movies that inspired me to become a film reviewer in the first place. My first ever blogathon that I ran was a Film Noir Blogathon back in 2016. It's been 10 years since that blogathon, so I thought it was high time to address the issue again. 

Film noir is something that I typically describe to the novice as being films where the good guys are not much better than the bad guys with the exception that the good guys have a moral compass. That may be a rather simplistic definition, of course, and not all movies that are classed as film noir could actually fit into said description. But it serves as an introduction to the genre, for me, nonetheless.

The heyday of film noir was in the 40's and 50's, but the essence of the theme has been used in films classed as "neo-noir" (Chinatown, Body Heat, L.A. Confidential), "future (or sci-fi) noir" (Blade Runner, Dark City, Upgrade), and even sometimes "comedy noir" (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)

My friend Rachel (Hamlette) shares an avid love of this classic genre. So we created this blogathon to celebrate what is one of the more intriguing (and accessible) themes in film. Although some genres tend to have a somewhat limited fan base (not everyone loves science fiction or horror), I think the film noir genre is one that even someone whose primary love is, say, musicals can get into.  

For the purposes of the Back in Black Blogathon you are encouraged to write about your favorite film(s) that exhibit the essence of film noir as it's theme. If you need help, any movie listed here (from the classic era) will automatically be accepted. But since we are including neo-noir and sci-fi noir (and other variations I may be missing), feel free to make your choice from elsewhere. For example: I am going with the 1988 remake of the classic D.O.A. (neo-noir) and The Thirteenth Floor (sci-fi noir) as two of my non-classic choices.

My co-host, Hamlette, created some fantastic looking buttons for this blogathon. Feel free to use one on your blog to promote this blogathon.

 

 

 

  

Let Hamlette or me know of your choices. There are plenty of options, so only one blogger per movie. But there is room for diversity. If someone has already chosen The Big Sleep another blogger could include it as part of an overview of Humphrey Bogart film noir films. And, if the whim hits you, you can choose to make multiple posts. (I'm doing 3 myself...)

So to sum up, the rules are:

1. Choose your movie(s) and let us know of your choice.

2. Promote the blogathon on your blog.

3. Let one us know when the blog is posted.

4. Above all, have fun. 

 

The Back to Black: Another Film Noir Blogathon blogroll:

The Midnite Drive-In: Out of the Past (1947), D.O.A. (1988) and The Thirteenth Floor (1999) 

Hamlette's Soliloquy: The Asphalt Jungle (1950) 

Make Mine Film Noir: Murder, My Sweet (1944) 

Cinematic Scribblings: Such a Pretty Little Beach (Une si jolie petite plage) (1949) 

Realweegiemidget Reviews: The Unfaithful Wife (La femme infidèle) (1969) 

Movies Meet Their Match: The 39 Steps (1935)

Crítica Retrô: Johnny Eager (1941) 

Stories of the Jazz Age: The Docks of New York (1928)

18 Cinema Lane: Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

Smoke in the Library: Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) 

Whimsically Classic:  favorite Ida Lupino noir films

Speakeasy: Hollow Triumph (1948) 

Silver Screen Classics & Nostalgia: Tomorrow is Another Day (1951) 

 

 

Announcing the Film, Release. Repeat Blogathon

 

 

Hollywood has, for most of it's history, had a mindset of "why mess with a good formula?" Of course, that means that you get such things as, currently, 11 (count 'em... 11) sequels to the original 1984 film Children of the Corn.  Additionally, sometimes the studios in Tinseltown think they can improve on the formula by remaking a classic film. Sometimes those sequels and remakes hit a positive nerve and sometimes the public and the critics both howl with indignation and consternation at the chutzpah that the studios had to making such endeavors.

In terms of remakes, the standout successes with such endeavors such as the Humphrey Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon (which was actually the third attempt at the story, as there had been two previous film adaptations, in case you didn't know...) are paralleled to the Gus van Zant debacle of a remake, Psycho, the horrendous "tribute" to Alfred Hitchcock's original film, Psycho. Additionally, when Hollywood tries to capitalize on box office bonanzas by making sequels to great movies, the results can be equally varied. Many people consider Aliens, the second film in the Alien franchise to be one of the greatest sequels of all time. On the other hand, many fans refer to the Highlander sequel, Highlander III: The Final Dimension  as "Highlander: The Apology", because Highlander II: The Quickening is considered to be such a phenomenal dud.  

The essence of this blogathon is to address some of those classic and not-so-classic films that came out in the aftermath of beloved films. You can have your choice in your selection of the movie(s) you choose to review here. You can pick a remake or a sequel that improves on the original in some way, or you can choose to discuss a remake or a sequel that should never have been green-lighted in the first place. You are not limited to just the immediate sequel or remake in this. For example, one of the movies I am choosing for my part in the blogathon is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The Star Trek franchise had four previous major motion picture releases prior to that, to varying quality in story and production.

Additionally, if you think a film got short shrift in it's reception, feel free to defend it with all your might. Maybe you think the van Zant Psycho was a better movie, who knows...? 

My co-host for this endeavor, Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy and I have a few guidelines to help you make your decision. 

1. Choose your movie(s) and notify either her or me of your choice. There are enough sequels and remakes out there to go around, so we are only going to allow only one person per movie. But the parameters are open to possibilities.  One person could choose to cover, say, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, while another could do Police Academy 2: The First Assignment, while still another could write an overview of the entire Police Academy franchise. The only real requirement here is that your entry focus more on the remake or the sequel, and not the original film. Try to limit yourself to two entries each for the blogathon,  so as to give others a chance at some beloved (or not-so-beloved) follow up attempts at greatness. 

2. Grab one of the banners that Rachel has made for this blogathon and promote the event. 

3. After you post the review, let one of us know of it's URL so we can link it in our wrap up post during the event.

4. Most importantly, have fun.

 

 

 

The Roster: (so far)

 Hamlette's Soliloquy: You've Got Mail (1998) {remake}

 The Midnite Drive-In: The Thing  (1982): {remake}

                                        Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) {sequel} 

NitrateGlow: You Can't Run Away from It (1956)  {remake} 

Cinematic Scribblings: Carmen's Innocent Love (1952) {sequel}

Angelman's Place: A Star is Born (1976) {remake} 

Classic Movie and TV Corner: An Affair to Remember (1957)  {remake} 

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure  (1979) {sequel} 

Crítica Retrô: Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) {sequel}

Movies Meet Their Match: Top 10 sequels 

The Wonderful World of Cinema: Cape Fear (1991) {remake}

Hoofers and Honeys: comparison of The Mummy (1999) {remake} to the original. 

18 Cinema Lane: Lovey: A Circle of Children: Part II {sequel}

Silver Screenings: Blondie (1938) and Blondie Meets the Boss (1939) {sequel} 

The Hit The Road Blogathon Hits The Road

 

 

 

Finally! The last opportunity of the summer! Pile all the kids and the spouse in the car and head out for that last fling before the school year makes such things a difficult proposition. Or, just gather a few friends and make that fantasy of heading to Cabo San Lucas for a weekend fling. Or, just get the heck out of Dodge, with or without the authorities giving chase.

One of the great adventures that sit idly in the back of the mind of the average person is to take off on a journey to yet undiscovered locations. The purpose of the Hit The Road Blogathon is to highlight some of the great (or even not-so-great) films in which the goal was to get from point A to point B and all the shenanigans that come with it.

The Hit The Road Blogathon is not closed yet. You still have time to join if you so wish. In the meantime, this post will update you on the journeys some of my fellow bloggers have chosen to review. Keep coming back all weekend to see where my friends want to take you.

 

Realweegiemidget Reviews highlights Ron Ely's attempts to find romance on The Love Boat.

 

 

 

The Midnite Drive-In hits the road with rebel truckers (Convoy and The Great Smokey Roadblock) 

 

 

 life and death in l.a. takes us on a gritty cross-country car trip (twice) with Vanishing Point and Two-Lane Blacktop

 

 

Angelman's Place covers the Depression era back roads with Paper Moon 

 

 

 Make Mine Film Noir adds a film noir flair to the trip on an ocean liner with Dangerous Crossing

 

 

18 Cinema Lane goes out west with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon  

 

 Taking Up Room goes on a sea cruise from Heck with Out to Sea

Hamlette's Soliloquy rides the rails with a wolf with The Journey of Natty Gann 

 

 

18 Cinema Lane turns off the projector and reads a good book: Santa Cruise

 

 

Keep on truckin' back for other reviews, coming soon. 

Quiggy

 

 

Announcing the Hit The Road Blogathon

 

 

The essence of adventure! Whether the beginning of summer (in the northern hemisphere around Memorial Day) or the end of summer (again, in the northern hemisphere, around Labor Day), many start plans to make a road trip for vacations. (National Lampoon's Vacation)

But a road trip is not limited to just that.  There can be any variation of motivation to make a trip. It can be as simple as "I wanna go see Grandma and Grandpa, let's pile up in the car and HIT THE ROAD". (The Visit comes to mind, but there are others)

Or it can be a matter of necessity.  "We have to get this package to someone and we gotta get it there yesterday". (Think Smokey and the Bandit)

Or just a venue to give a background to a story involving improving relationships between two characters who may need to change their previous situations. (I'm thinking Over the Top here, which is more about father and estranged son becoming more intimate with each other than the actual road trip itself.) 

One of the things I remember from years past is that the best part of going somewhere is the process of getting there. Not everyone has the wanderlust like me. I sometimes get in the car with no goal other than just to go driving. But the need to accomplish a goal that involves moving from one point to another is something that just about everybody has at some point in their lives.

That is the essence of the Hit The Road Blogathon. For the purposes of this blogathon, any film, TV show or, even, book is fair game. I am encouraging you to look at your vast collections and write about any such motivational stories that involve getting from point A to point B. Hell, I'll even accept an entry of your own past if you have one that brings back fond memories (but a film or book would be better).

So here are the basic rules:

1. Pick a movie, TV show or book in which the main part of the story involves travel. And this is wide open. It can be by car (Green Book), motorcycle (Easy Rider) semi (Convoy), walking (Stand by Me) bus (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), or even spaceship (Battlestar Galactica). As long as the piece in question has at it's core a trip from point A to point B and the trials and tribulations involved in said trip, it's fair game. I will consider any movie acceptable as long as the trip itself is the core focus.

2. Let me know of your choice so I can add it to the roster. (Include the mode of transportation, if it's not obvious.) Multiple entries on the same movie are not out of the question, but, please, let's not have 100 people choosing one film.  Try to be a little varied.

3. Grab one of the following banners that my friend Rachel @ Hamlette's Soliloquy created for me to use and include it in your post. Thank you Rachel for these. (The movies in the banners, by the way, are Stand by Me, Green Mile, Easy Rider, and Convoy.)  

 

 

 

4. Post your entry sometime between Aug 28 and Sept 1 (Labor Day weekend here in the northern hemisphere) and notify me so I can include it in the wrap up post.

5. As always, have fun.

If you need any suggestions, just message me.  I have a raft of movie ideas that I can give you.

 

 

The Roster (so far):

Me:  Convoy (1978) and The Great Smokey Roadblock (1977) {big rig trucks}

Hamlette's Soliloquy: The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) {trains}

Realweegiemidget Reviews: The Love Boat (TV series) ep. featuring Ron Ely: (1980) {cruise ships}

Angelman's Place: Paper Moon (1973) {cars}

Taking Up Room: Out to Sea (1997) {cruise ships}

In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood: The Long, Long Trailer (1953) {camper trailers}

Silver Screenings: China Seas (1935) {ships} 

18 Cinema Lane: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) {horses}

18 Cinema Lane: Santa Cruise (novel by Mary Higgins Clark) {cruise ships}

life and death in l.a. Vanishing Point (1971) {cars} 

life and death in l.a. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) {cars}

Whimsically Classic Two for the Road (1967) {various transports}

Make Mine Film Noir Dangerous Crossing (1953) {ocean liner} 

 

 

A Bizarre Love Triangle

 

This is my entry in the Luso World Blogathon hosted by Crítica Retrô and Spellbound with Beth Ann

As Joe Bob Briggs writes in his enormously entertaining tome Profoundly Disturbing: "Unlike Frankenstein and Dracula,  Creature from the Black Lagoon had no literary pedigree." The  previous two were, of course, based on previously published (literary) novels: "Frankenstein" was based on a novel by Mary Shelley, written in 1818 and "Dracula" was a based on a novel published in 1897 by Bram Stoker.

The "Universal Monsters", as they have come to be known, were all influential in the early days of horror cinema. The Invisible Man also came from a literary background, having been based on H. G. Wells' classic novel. The Phantom of the Opera had been based on a novel by Gaston Leroux. While the other films were based on legends (The Mummy and The Wolf Man), Creature from the Black Lagoon had it's origins based on "a conversation at a cocktail party"  (again, from the Briggs entry).

Side note: Creature from the Black Lagoon, without the definite article "the" preceding it is actually the correct title. For years, before I actually acquired a DVD of the film, I thought it's title was The Creature from the Black Lagoon...) 

Remote unexplored areas of the Earth often had such legends.  And Hollywood often made use of such local stories to turn into shock films. You can find this kind of thing going on from the early days to modern times.  One of the first such "legends translated to film" movies was a silent film from 1915, The Golem, which told of an animated creature made from clay, a Jewish folklore tale. 

Creature has it's legend come to us from the stories told by natives of the Amazon jungle, about a half-man half-fish creature that came out of the remote jungle to claim a female once a year. (Kind of like the natives in King Kong, who ritually sacrificed one of their virgin females to the giant ape to appease it.) 

Creature takes place in, of course, the Amazonian jungle of Brazil, although it wasn't actually filmed there.  Production costs pretty much made it prohibitive, so parts of California and Florida do the substitution thing, and for someone who has never been in the jungle, I guess they didn't do too bad a job of it.   The film was directed by Jack Arnold, the same man who brought us It Came from Outer Space, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula! and The Space Children.

Besides the Brazilian location of the story, the Portuguese connection also extended to one of the stars of the movie, Nestor Paiva. Paiva has also been featured in other movies reviewed here, including Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and The Madmen of Mandoras. He has over 400 films to his credit, although quite a few of them fall into the category of what I call "blink and you'll miss him". Here he plays the captain of the ship and has a significant presence in the film.

The most interesting thing I found in my research was that there was apparently something of a feud between the actors that played the Creature. Yes, there were two. Ben Chapman was in the suit whenever the creature was on land, and swimming star Ricou Browning did the swimming scenes.  Apparently Browning had been going around signing autographs on pictures of the creature taken when on land.  Chapman got a little irked about it since Browning was actually autographing pictures that were actually him instead.

One of the things that the aforementioned author Joe Bob Briggs points out is how popular this movie was with prepubescent boys, indicating that probably the primary infatuation was not for a pretty cool looking monster, but a pretty hot looking female co-star, and that swimsuit had a lot to do with it.  No wonder she attracted the creature's attention.

   

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954):

The narrator (voiced by Art Gilmore) begins the movie with a mélange of Biblical and evolutionary theory of the creation of the Earth. 

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth, and the earth was without form and void. This is the planet Earth, newly born and cooling rapidly, from a temperature of  6000 degrees to a few hundred in less than five billion years. The heat rises, meets the atmosphere, clouds form and rain pours down upon the hardening surface for countless centuries. The restless seas rise, find boundaries, are contained. Now, in their warm depths, the miracle of life begins. In infinite variety, living things appear, and change, leaving a record of their coming, of their struggle to survive, and of their eventual end. The record of life is written on the land, where fifteen million years later, in the upper reaches of the Amazon, man is still trying to read it."

I understand the need to appease the Catholic Church and other religious factions that, at least in the 50's, had a strong influence on what was presented in the movies, so that first line coming directly from Biblical scripture was probably somewhat necessary.  But since no such creature appears in Biblical scripture as the Creature, I don't really see the point.

The actual beginning of the movie finds an archaeological dig discovering an odd looking hand embedded in the rock.  

 

The scientist in charge, Dr, Maia (Antonio Moreno),  takes the fossil back to civilization to try to study it, leaving two of his native helpers, Luis (Rodd Redwing) and Tomas (Perry Lopez), in charge. (BTW, neither Lopez nor Redwing are actually Brazilian.)  Dr. Maia  heads back to civilization, but neither he nor the two natives are aware that a live creature lurks in the nearby lagoon.

Dr,. Maia meets up with Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and his colleague, Kay (Julia Adams).  Kay is also David's girlfriend, although he seems to be reluctant to make it an official relationship (as in, marriage). Dr. Maia shows Dr. Reed and his associates the fossil and wangles to get funding to dig deeper for the rest of the skeleton.

Meanwhile, back at the encampment, the live creature attacks and kills Luis and Tomas.  Guess it doesn't like the intrusion in his home. 

As the crew, along with the captain (Nestor Paiva) of the boat, called the "Rita", sail up the river, they discuss for what they are searching. Dr. Williams (Richard Denning) proves himself to be all about success as opposed to scientific inquiry.  (Dr. Williams, as opposed to the creature, seems to be more in line with being considered the villain at this point, if not just an extremely unlikable character... (and hey may prove to be more unlikable as time goes on.)

When they arrive at the camp, the crew finds the bodies of Luis and Tomas.  The captain suggests it may have been a jaguar that attacked them. But that doesn't dissuade them from their objective. They jump right away into trying to dig out the rest of the skeleton. But they don't have any success.  Dr. Reed suggests they sail up river to an area known to the locals as the "Black Lagoon", because he theorizes that the rest of the remains may have been taken that way by forces  of nature.

They sail up to the Black Lagoon where they do some investigating, all under the watchful eye of the creature, who is probably wondering what he did to deserve having a sudden wave of interlopers in his humble abode. After they find some interesting rocks they go back to the boat, but Kay wants to go for a swim.  And the creature, seeing Kay in her swimsuit, has decided he doesn't dislike ALL these interlopers after all...

When Kay gets back aboard , something gets caught in their net, and, boy,  is it a STRONG thing.  It almost threatens to capsize the boat.  When they finally get the net up above water, it has been totally demolished, leaving them to wonder just what kind of fish could no that! (Hint, fellas... that's no fish... Not even Jaws, which was still years down the road and miles away...)

The guys decide to go back down to look for this elusive creature (which considering how it demolished that net, seems a bit over-confident...).  And Williams is proving more and more to be at odds with the rest of the scientists.  He wants to kill the creature, rather than just take it hostage for study.  While underwater they finally spot the creature and Williams fires his spear gun at it.  But apparently it just pissed off the creature rather than kill it.

Back on the ship, the creature tries to take the new found love of his life, but she isn't so hot for him and resists.  Eventually the scientists chase him down and trap him. Williams is all for packing up and going home with their prize, but Reed says they HAVE to investigate the creature's home a bit more.  Williams, entirely out of character for being one to concede, actually lets Reed have his way.  They go, leaving the creature under the care of the other scientist who has accompanied them.  (I never hear them call him by name, but the credits list him as Dr. Thompson. He is played by Whit Bissell, who many of you will recognize as a prolific secondary character from TV and movies).

The creature escapes it's cage and attacks Thompson who, despite serious injury manages to drive off the creature.  As a result, Reed decides that they must leave, despite Williams insistence that they stay, because after all, the creature means more to him than lives of any bystanders. You get the idea that the creature is missing a bet on who the most threatening of these interlopers is when it is attacking...

They try to leave, but the creature isn't quite through with them yet.  It sets up a blockade to keep them from leaving. (A last ditch effort to make a final play for Kay to change her mind and set up house with him?) Ultimately the creature makes that last ditch effort, but even this is fruitless.

Creature from the Black Lagoon sparked two sequels,  Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us, both featuring Ricou Browning as the swimming creature, but with two different actors filling the suit on land.  Some of the scenes may look a little odd on screen, angles featuring the creature advancing to the camera and some of the underwater scenes.  This is because the film was originally released in 3-D. It wouldn't be much longer before the 50's fad of 3-D faded.  In fact, the aforementioned sequel, Revenge of the Creature is credited as the final gasp (no pun intended). I would love to see some of these in the original 3-D. 

Both sequels finally moved the creature to Florida, where it still struggled to find a suitable companion, but being butt ugly, he had no success in Florida either. The creature pops up now and again in films.  One of the better appearances was the 80's movie The Monster Squad (a movie that was promoted as a kid's movie, but I suggest you watch it with older kids, as it may be just a bit spooky for pre-teens...)

Another movie well worth checking out is the recent Oscar darling The Shape of Water which was inspired by the older movie.

Well, folks, the old Plymouth is not ready for an underwater trip, so I hope the roads aren't flooding on the way home.  But just in case, I'm packing a couple of cans of Flit.

Drive safely.

Quiggy

Back to 1985 Blogathon is Here

 

There is something about 1985 (at least for those of us who were alive then) that resonates. And not just in movies. It was the year of the first Live Aid events (remember those?). We also got We Are the World, a phenomenon in itself. Both Playboy and  Penthouse published naked pictures of Madonna. Coca-Cola introduced "New Coke" in April. And due to the backlash from that fiasco, they announced the return of the classic Coke later that year. 

But also some of the most iconic movies of the 80's (or even all time) were released in 1985, like Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club and The Color Purple. Even movies that may or may not be as memorable came out that year. As I said on the announcement page for this blogathon, I think I saw more movies in the theater in 1985 than I saw any other year of my life.

So Rachel @ Hamlette's Soliloquy and I now present you with some of the more memorable of those movies, as presented by fellow bloggers who joined us in this celebration.  This list will be updated as more entries come in. Read about....

The Midnite Drive-In: "Science 101": Weird Science, Real Genius and My Science Project

Angelman's Place: Private Resort

 

 

18 Cinema Lane: The Bride 

 

 Hamlette's Soliloquy: Clue

 

 

 

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Letter to Brezhnev 

 

 

Any Merry Little Thought: Back to the Future

 

 

 

Sidewalk Crossings: White Nights

 

 

 

Taking Up Room: Jewel of the Nile 

 

 

 

Movies Met Their Match: The Breakfast Club 

 

 

Dubism: Brewster's Millions 

 

 

 

18 Cinema Lane: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

More to come...