Change Your Image
tlm1215
Reviews
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Oh, Man! Karloff! LOL
I'd stumbled upon the entire Dick Tracy cartoon series on DVD while browsing the public library catalog -- aren't libraries great? -- and was pleasantly surprised to see these old live action Tracy movies on our shelves. (Alas, no Mumbles, Prune Face, Flat Top or Hemlock Holmes!) There was some lame acting, but, despite that, it actually wasn't too bad. The real attraction was Boris Karloff playing a toothpick-chomping hood! I wasn't expecting that, but it was totally worth the price of admission! :-D Had no idea he was as agile as he was, especially when you see him plodding through monster pictures. The scene in the morgue, the character names (Drs A. Tomic, L. E Thal and I. M. Learned), the punnery, and the action made it a nice 60-odd minute romp.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Submarine Sunk Here (1964)
Excellent!
I'd read reviews of this one before I saw it (after all these years, just now seeing the black & whites) and I must say the positive reviews were spot on: this one was totally tight -- claustrophobic, noir-ish, and intense, it had me on the edge of my seat! The camera angles and dark cinematography had you in the disoriented, disabled sub, sweating right along with the terrific ensemble cast, who acted their asses off! With the fire, flooding, fights, and everything else that happened (what, no famine and pestilence?), to be totally noir, somebody would've had to have gotten stabbed or something! Fortunately that didn't happen. My main takeaway was the awesome cooperative effort it took from the crew, on and off, to get this problem solved. Great episode!
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Return of Verge Likens (1964)
My favorite AHP episode!
The first time I saw this, I was totally engrossed, trying to see where this one was gonna go. Peter Fonda reminded me so much of his dad, Henry. He was so damned cool, ice wouldn't have melted in his mouth! He was the ultimate smooth criminal, kinda like Norman Bates after being arrested: he wouldn't hurt a fly! This is such a good episode, funny in places, creepy, just all around excellent. The accents, the supporting cast, the whole storyline had me from the opening. I've seen it enough times now, to use some lines of dialogue in everyday convo -- "There ain't a scratch on 'im" -- complete with big cheesy grin!! "Don't fergit my name: Verge Liiiii-kens, Verge Liiiiii-kens."