I can’t remember if I ever saw this film – if not it was probably the trailer that I saw – and they seemed to be extremely good at selling the next week’s film and I reckon it was the trailer I saw and not the film.  Bobby Darin who was Sandra Dee’s husband at the time starred in this one.

This is a fan’s comment as below – and very good it is :-

This delightful, romantic, funny romp is now available on DVD (as are “Come September” and “That Funny Feeling”), so people can indulge in this fun fest and the chemistry between Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin (then married in real life).

The plot concerns a wealthy young socialite, Chantal Stacy (the lovely and priceless Dee) who as trouble finding Mr. Right, until she meets photographer Eugene Wright (the cute and hilarious Darin). After she marries him, she tries to use her mother’s advice by treating him like a pet, thinking that will make him a more affectionate and attentive husband. It works for a while, until Chantal spills her “secret” to her school friend (a young Stefanie Powers), who, just slightly tipsy, lets Eugene in on it, and leaving Chantal to find a different way to get his attention. Again, she turns to her mother for advice for some jealousy tactics. Micheline Presle is a gem as Chantal’s mother, while John Lund is perfect as Chantal’s protective father. And Cesar Romero is impeccable as Eugene’s “dirty old man” artist father taking part in one of the schemes. And the cute dogs and the new little “addition” to the family . . . . .

Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin were an adorable couple, and this movie confirms it. Don’t listen to the critics’ opinions about this blast from the past – it’s a jewel. It’s great that so many of these older movies are being released on DVD, as they so justly deserve to be. Now a whole new generation can enjoy them!

This is a first rate remake of  THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME .   The 1932 movie with Joel McCrae, Leslie Banks (as the mad Count Zaharoff )Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong. It captures the best aspects of the short story, but not all the  details.  The same sets were re-used by the same production group (along with Fay Wray, Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot) for KING KONG shortly afterwards.

The hero  is the sole survivor of a shipwreck, and finds himself on an island owned by the villain played by Leslie Banks.  He is a master hunter, is insane, and has found there is only one game worth hunting – “the most dangerous game” or man, the only animal that one knows can think. He gives his “guests” (he has caused the shipwrecks) a good dinner or two, and then they proceed to run for their lives or until he kills them. But Rainsford  is a trained hunter too. So for a change, Zaharoff really has a worthy opponent. The ending of the tale I will not give away.

But this 1956 film is an interesting version of the original. The scene shifts to an isolated jungle area of Mexico. Richard Widmark and Jane Greer are in a plane crash, and are rescued by Trevor Howard and Peter Van Eyck, both of whom are far from welcoming. Widmark is not sure, but he keeps thinking he knows Howard, although he’s never seen him. Then he realizes it’s Howard’s voice – he heard it in World War II, as a Nazi propaganda figure (a British traitor). In short, Howard is a version of William Joyce, “Lord Haw Haw” (see SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR). Van Eyck is Howard’s brother-in-law.

Howard and Van Eyck have been less than willing to help Widmark and Greer get back to civilization before, because they did not want to have them report them to the authorities – they are wanted for war crimes (at least Van Eyck is). Widmark, when he makes the mistake of discovering who his hosts are, suggests that if they help him and Greer get back, he can take a message to Howard’s loved ones about their safety. Unfortunately, Howard explains, his wife and children were killed in the war by bombing. As it is apparent that Van Eyck wants to see the strangers dead, Widmark and Greer take off to try to get to safety. And then the story follows the lines of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME.

But ironically there is a final twist to the tale. Howard has been connected to Van Eyck only by the marriage – personally he has no liking for the man. As it turns out, he would not mind if he could get out of the jungle – away from this remnant of a bloody, horrific past and so the film actually goes onto a somewhat different conclusion. We had better  leave that to the viewer though.

Whenever I see Strictly Come Dancing – which I do each Saturday evening – and see Gleb Savchenko, I  am  struck with how much like Errol Flynn he looks.

Just take a look at these pictures below, and see if you agree

Above – Gleb Savchenko

Above – Errol Flynn

Bomba and The Jungle Girl 1952.

This film in the Bomba series finds Johnny Sheffield both finding out his true identity and dealing with a usurper who has taken the leadership of the Masai tribe.

It seems as though Bomba’s real parents were government agents who knew the truth of the coup in the Masai tribe. Martin Wilkins is the usurper and he reals with help of Suzette Harbin who has the meatiest role in the film that of his daughter and chief enforcer. She’s a real piece of work and goes out in quite a fashion.

Helping Bomba is Walter Sande who is in the Masai village on a survey and his daughter Karen Sharpe and of course that symbol of jungle authority Commissioner Barnes as played by Leonard Mudie, the other recurring character in the Bomba series.

Kansas Territory 1952

The second film on the Double Feature has Joe Daniels  ( Bill Elliott billed here as Wild Bill Elliott ) returning to Kansas to kill the murderer of his bother. Surviving the attempt on his life he arrives to find everyone hates him because his brother was bad. He knew his brother to be good and believes they are all mistaken. When he finally finds the killer he also now realises that the townspeople were right. His brother had gone bad and deserved to die.

 The Majestic Cinema

We can only speculate as to where this cinema was – there used to be a Majestic Cinema in a Lincolnshire town – a cinema which is now sadly no more. Could have been that one.

Rex Reason has died

I acquired these some time ago – it seemed that Jig Saw Puzzles from the films were in vogue in the early Fifties.

I do have FOUR from the BlueLagoon of 1950 and remember having one or maybe more than one from Diamond City long ago.

Wish I still had them. Well in fact I do have the set of FOUR from The Blue Lagoon 1949.

These are extremely rare jigsaw puzzles from Walt Disney’s live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood (1952). Printed in lovely bright colours!

This is an interesting promotional advertisement from the very early 1950s.

Bomba, The Bowery Boys, Blue Grass of Kentucky – a film title I seem to remember because to me as a child it sounded so good.  Don’t think I ever saw the film – must get it.

However I have found this review – as follows :-

Saboteur was shown again on BBC 2 In England yesterday Saturday 5 December 2015. It’s a Hitchcock film I like as it takes us on a roller coaster ride across the USA and back to New York Harbour – as this final scene sequence shows when the hero Robert Cummings and villain Fry played by Norman Lloyd climb out onto the torch of the Statue of Liberty. In this sequence  how varied the shots are. We don’t just get a shot of the statue followed by close-ups of the action, we get this complex series of Matte shots – see below

Maybe this is why I find myself drawn to the sequence – in that it is so unusual and original with shots cut in from every angle.

powered by

An  article in The Daily Herald of 8th September 1951  –  refers to the death of The Queen of Technicolor Maria Montez. It seems that she stepped into a bath of very hot water, collapsed and died. Her sister found her dead in her flat in Paris and despite strenuous efforts to revive her she sadly passed away. Friends had said that she had previously complained of heart trouble but this was thought not to be serious.

She was born in the Dominican Republic and had come to Hollywood