Junior Rodeo Daredevils (1949)

Child abuse as entertainment, 6 July 2007

Man, how times have changed! If you believe what you see in Junior Rodeo Daredevils, it seems that in the 1940s, any crazy stranger could take your kid, strap him/her to some sort of livestock, and watch them get thrown to the hard ground. Oh what fun - child abuse as entertainment! What parent wouldn't want a broken neck or a ruptured spleen for their child? Instead of being brought up on charges, Old-Timer Billy Slater gets to sit back and enjoy the sight of children having their necks snapped. It did my heart good to see this crazy old coot laugh like a hyena as one child after the next received severe head trauma. Yes, Junior Rodeo Daredevils is certainly one of the most demented sights I've ever seen.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 did a wonderful job with this short. The riffing possibilities were abundant and the guys took full advantage. Much of it is laugh-out-loud funny. On my MST3K rating scale, Junior Rodeo Daredevils gets a 4/5.

2/10

Cover Up (1949)

Well worth the $2.99 I paid for it, 23 April 2006

Before his company will pay out, an insurance investigator (Dennis O'Keefe) arrives in a small town to look into an apparent suicide. But he immediately begins to suspect something's not quite right. No gun, no powder marks, no bullet, no coroner's report, and no sheriff's report seem to lead to no suicide. Was it suicide – or was it something even more sinister?

It may not be the noir I was expecting, but Cover-Up is a nice little 40s style mystery. The plot kept me going up to the end. It's full of red herrings and I could have never guessed the outcome. Other than the It's a Wonderful Life style ending, I've got nothing to complain about. The cast is more than capable with Dennis O'Keefe, William Bendix, and Barbara Britton giving nice performances. I'm not all that familiar with Britton, but it's easy to see why she was a Revlon Girl for more than a decade. The cast also features Doro Merande who steals every scene in which she appears.

I picked up the DVD on the budget Geneon label. If you don't mind a lack of extras (and that includes the absence of a menu), it's not a bad deal for the money. The cover art is misleading. I have no idea what movie it was taken from, but it most certainly wasn't Cover-Up.

7/10

Whirlpool (1949)

Too unbelievable for me to enjoy completely, 20 February 2006

I didn't think it was possible for Otto Preminger and Gene Tierney to make something this un-extraordinary. Preminger does a decent job with the direction, the acting (other than Richard Conte who comes across as a stiff) is fine, and the movie looks good. So what went wrong? The plot has so many points that stretch believability to the limit that I couldn't ever "get into" Whirlpool. There's too much of that psycho-mumbo-jumbo that really annoys me. What I know about hypnosis wouldn't fill a thimble, but I simply refuse to believe it's possible to use in the manner presented in this film. Without a strong grounding in reality as I understand it, an otherwise normal film about a murder isn't believable. I would love to go into more detail, but I don't want to ruin the film for those who haven't seen it. Just trust me when I say that what Jose Ferrar's character is capable of is as far-fetched as any fantasy film I've seen.

5/10

Criss Cross (1949)

"I shoulda grabbed you by the neck, I shoulda kicked your teeth in.", 25 January 2006

Wow! Criss Cross was a blind purchase for me. I really had never read much about it until I decided to give it a try. While I was hoping to be entertained, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it this much. Burt Lancaster has never been a favorite of mine. In fact, other than The Killers, I can't think of another role of his that I've so completely enjoyed. He's wonderful in this movie. As for Yvonne De Carlo, the only other thing I remember seeing her in was the television show "The Munsters". And, while she may not be the greatest actress of all time, she's very good here. I never pictured Lily looking like this. As for Dan Duryea, he's a great baddie. Mannerisms, speech, and the rest of the package just ooze with sleaze. Together, and with the help of an excellent supporting cast, they're great.

As for the movie, it's a very entertaining noir with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Lancaster is the kind of man who drinks too much, De Carlo is the kind of woman who uses men to get what she wants, and Duryea is the kind of man who would as soon shoot you as look at you. It's gritty, sometimes violent, and always entertaining. The film is expertly directed by Robert Siodmak, whose work I've always enjoyed. The script is exceptional with more double-crosses in the final half than one movie has a right to. No one is above double-crossing anyone else. It makes for a very entertaining hour and a half. The movie also features a nice look at Los Angeles in the 40s. The scenes of middle-class, single-family neighborhoods are quite different from the city of today.

While Criss Cross may not be the best film noir I've seen, I would place it somewhere on a list of my ten favorite noirs. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fans of the genre.

9/10

Africa Screams (1949)

One of the weaker A&C films, 5 March 2005

With Costello poising as a big game hunter and guide, the boys tag along on an African expedition supposedly looking for a giant, undiscovered ape. What they don't realize is that the story of the ape is a hoax. The expedition is really searching for diamonds. Along the way, the boys run into crocodiles, cannibals, lions, a gorilla, a giant ape, and every other sort of trouble one could find in the jungles of Africa.

There are a lot of Abbott and Costello movies I enjoy - Africa Screams is not one of them. There aren't any of those Abbott and Costello "bits" that I enjoy so much. In addition, much of the movie feels too contrived. Take the gorilla that Costello accidentally saves from a trap. I realize that these movies are corny and in no way resemble real live, but the fact that the gorilla hangs around to help Costello out of one jam after the next is just too much for me to take.

There are several familiar faces in the supporting cast - Joe Beseer and Shemp Howard being the most recognizable. Shemp's character (an almost blind killer) gets old very fast. But, Beseer steals almost every scene in which he appears. My favorite is a very small moment where Beseer interrupts Abbot and Costello by running into a tent to get cup after cup of water. When the boys finally ask him why he needs so much water, he responds by telling them that his tent is on fire. Classic moment as far as I'm concerned.

By the way, I picked-up a copy with a decent transfer on one of those budget DVDs for $1.

5/10