Horrorama Week! January, 1956.

1956 got off to a great start in Los Angeles, thanks to the RKO Hillstreet Theater. Maybe even better than the weeklong monster rally in Boston the previous month.

Blu-Ray News #361: Rock Around The Clock (1956).

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Produced by Sam Katzman
Starring Bill Haley & His Comets, Alan Freed, The Platters, Tony Martinez & His Band, Freddie Bell & His Bellboys

Was sure stoked to see this this morning. Sony has announced an October Blu-Ray release for Sam Katzman’s Rock Around The Clock (1956). 

Katzman could smell a trend a mile away and he pounced on Bill Haley and His Comets after his tune in Blackboard Jungle (1955) became a sensation. This picture concocts a pretty phony story about the origin of Rock N Roll music.

Katzman and director Fred F. Sears, along with Haley and Alan Freed, would be back in theaters soon with Don’t Knock The Rock (1956). That one has a slight edge since it adds the great Little Richard to the mix — he does “Long Tall Sally” and “Tutti-Frutti.”

A Sam Katzman picture making its way to Blu-Ray is always something to celebrate. This one’s highly, highly recommended.

Blu-Ray News #359: Tales Of Adventure, Collection Two (1948-1956).

Imprint’s done it again. With their Tales Of Adventure, Collection Two, you get three Republic jungle pictures, along with two major-studio things featuring the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Victor Mature and Dana Andrews.

Angel On The Amazon (1948, AKA Drums Along The Amazon)
Directed by John H. Auer
Starring George Brent, Vera Ralston, Brian Aherne, Constance Bennett

Herbert J. Yates, the boss at Republic, was Czech figure-skater girlfriend a movie star. (It didn’t really work.) Here, she’s a mysterious woman who rescues the survivors of a plane crash deep in the jungle.

Daughter Of The Jungle (1949)
Directed by George Blair
Starring Lois Hall, James Cardwell, William Wright, Sheldon Leonard

This time, a plane crashes in Africa, not the Amazon, and Lois Hall and her dad come to the rescue. The lovely Lois Hall is shamefully overlooked and under-represented on DVD and Blu-Ray. She was in some really cool stuff, ranging from Johnny Mack Brown Westerns at Monogram to Sam Katzman serials at Columbia to The Lone Ranger.

Fair Wind To Java (1953)
Directed by Joseph Kane
Starring Fred MacMurray, Vera Ralston, Victor McLaglen, Paul Fix

Herbert Yates paired Vera Ralston with all sorts of stars in his efforts to make her a star — this time it was Fred MacMurray’s turn. This was a pretty big protduction by Republic standards, and he Lydecker Brothers have a field day (in Trucolor!), with model pirate ships and a fake volcano (built at Mono Lake). 

Elephant Walk (1954)
Directed by William Dieterle
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch, Abraham Sofaer

This story of stampeding elephants and a tea plantation was to have starred Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh. She had to pull out and Olivier went with her. They say you can see her in some long shots — and if this looks as good as Imprint’s stuff usually does, you’ll be able to see for yourself!

Safari (1956)
Directed by Terence Young
Starring Victor Mature, Janet Leigh, Roland Culver, John Justin, Earl Cameron

Here, a pre-Bond Terence Young takes Victor Mature and Janet Leigh (and a CinemaScope lens) to Kenya, where they take on everything from the Mau Mau to alligators.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, this set is gonna be terrific. The Lydeckers alone make it must! Stacked with extras and highly recommended.

Blu-Ray News #321: Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon (1956).

Written & Directed by Curt Siodmak
Starring John Bromfield, Beverly Garland, Tom Payne

Wow, here’s one I never thought I’d see. Vinegar Syndrome Labs is bringing Curt Siodmak’s Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon (1956) to Blu-Ray — from the 35mm dupe negative.

It’s got a great cast of 50s sci-fi/horror veterans (I’d watch Beverly Garland in anything). Writer-director Siodmak had already written The Wolf Man (1941), Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943) and I Walked With A Zombie (1943) — and the novel Donovan’s Brain.

So, there’s a bird monster in the jungle and it gets ahold of an expedition looking for a drug used by natives to shrink heads. It’s sort of like a Jungle Jim movie in color, with the added benefit of a bird monster. In other words, it’s perfect.

Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon was shot in Brazil in Eastmancolor for about $150,000. Universal International distributed it, pairing it with The Mole People (1956) — what a night at the movies! And it got a glorious poster from Reynold Brown.

Since U-I had it in 1956, it played at 2.00:1, which is how Vinegar Syndrome is presenting it. There will be a commentary and other supplemental things. Recommended!

Thanks to Dick Vincent for the news!

DVD/Blu-Ray News #395: Congo Crossing (1956).

Directed by Joseph Pevney
Starring Virginia Mayo, George Nader, Peter Lorre, Michael Pate, Rex Ingram, Raymond Bailey

Explosive Media has a great run of Universal International 50s Westerns coming out throughout the summer, and now they’ve announced Congo Crossing (1956), a U-I jungle picture with a great cast (including Mr. Drysdale himself, Raymond Bailey), Russell Metty cinematography (shot for 2.0) and the Arboretum and Botanic Garden in LA doubling for Africa. This is one I’ve never seen, and I can’t wait!

Thanks to John Knight for the tip!

Blu-Ray News #365: Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949).

Directed by William Castle
Starring Howard Duff, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Tony Curtis, John McIntire, Gar Moore, Leif Erickson

Kino Lorber is continuing their terrific noir Blu-Ray series Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema with Volumes VI and VII.

Volume VI contains John Brahm’s Singapore (1947), with Fred MacMurray, Ava Gardner and Roland Culver; George Sherman’s The Raging Tide (1951) with Shelley Winters, Richard Conte, Stephen McNally, Charles Bickford, Alex Nicol and John McIntire; and William Castle’s Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949).

In Castle’s picture, Federal agents need Johnny Evans (Dan Duryea), who’s doing time in Alcatraz, to rat on some drug dealers and hit men. Johnny’s not to hip to the idea. It’s a solid effort from Castle. Recommended.

Volume VII will contain Byron Haskin’s The Boss (1956) starring John Payne; Sidney Salkow’s Chicago Confidential (1957) with Brian Keith, Beverly Garland and Dick Foran; and Dana Andrews, Dick Foran and Marilee Earle in Jacques Tourneur’s The Fearmakers (1958).

Blu-Ray News #353: Cold War Creatures – Four Films From Sam Katzman (1955-57).

Some days, the world seems so rotten and godforsaken, it’s hard to get out of bed. Then along come four Sam Katzman movies on Blu-Ray.

If you look at my blogs with any regularity, you probably know that Sam Katzman is one of my all-time favorite humans. His cheap movies, from The Bowery Boys to Jungle Jim and from Jesse James Vs. The Daltons (1954) to Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956) and from Hootenanny Hoot (1963) to Harum Scarum (1965), are a complete and utter joy. Arrow has gathered up four of his best 50s sci-fi/horror pictures for Blu-Ray, giving us a high-def version of Columbia’s Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman DVD set — now loaded with extras.

Creature With The Atom Brain (1955)
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Starring Richard Denning, Angela Stevens, S. John Launer, Michael Granger, Gregory Gaye, Linda Bennett

An ex-Nazi scientist has created a gang of radio-controlled zombies. Unfortunately, the experiments were funded by a gangster who wants to use the zombies for his own purposes. Cheesy and a bit creepy at times.

The Werewolf (1956)
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Don Megowan, Joyce Holden, Eleanore Tanin, Kim Charney, Harry Lauter, Steven Ritch 

An interesting rethinking of how the whole werewolf thing works, with solid direction from Fred F. Sears and excellent performances across the board, especially from Steven Ritch as the werewolf. One of the best werewolf movies ever made, if you ask me.

The Giant Claw (1957)
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday

A perfectly respectable 50s sci-fi movie is destroyed by maybe the worst monster in cinema history. Katzman’s attempts to save a buck backfired on him with this one. Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday take on what looks like a marionette of a turkey with a skin condition.

Zombies Of Mora Tau (1957)
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Starring Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes, Autumn Russel

The best thing Zombies Of Mora Tau has going for it is the lovely Allison Hayes, which for most men with a pulse is more than worth 69 minutes of your precious time. Along with Ms. Hayes, there are diamonds, a sunken ship and — oh, yeah — some zombies.

Arrow’s making the world a better place with this terrific set in September. Absolutely essential!

Thanks to John Knight for the tip.

Blu-Ray News #322: The Court Jester (1956).

Directed by Melvin Frank
Starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury and Cecil Parker

Paramount is bringing the very funny Danny Kaye movie The Court Jester (1956) to Blu-Ray in January. A 6K (yes, 6!) should make for an eye-popping presentation of its Technicolor and VistaVision. This is one a lot of folks have been wanting to make its way to high-def, and it sounds like it’s gonna be worth the wait.

RIP, Little Richard.

Richard Wayne Penniman
(December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020)

The great Little Richard has passed away at 87.

Maybe due to his over-the-top personality, lots of folks today don’t realize just how incredible Little Richard was. Take a look at his scenes in Frank Tashlin’s The Girl Can’t Help It (1956, above), and you’ll see what I mean.

Dialogue Of The Day: The Killing (1956).

Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor): You don’t understand me, Johnny. You don’t know me very well.

Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden): I know you like a book. You’re a no good, nosy little tramp. You’d sell out your own mother for a piece of fudge. But you’re smart along with it. Smart enough to know when to sail and when to sit tight, and you know you better sit tight in this case.

Sherry Peatty: I do?

Johnny Clay: You heard me. You like money. You got a great big dollar sign, there, where most women have a heart.