Showing posts with label Barry Nelson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barry Nelson. Show all posts
 |
| Very odd pairing: Clint Eastwood and Carol Channing |
In 1897 feminist Rose Gillray (Ginger Rogers) tries to make a killing selling corsets, but when that doesn't pan out she inveigles a job selling barbed wire in the wild west, but has to deal with a powerful rancher, James Carter (David Brian), who is opposed to the use of it. Rose has a sort of thing going with Charles (Barry Nelson,) who has a horseless carriage, while her assistant Molly (Carol Channing) becomes embroiled in a romance with Lt. Rice (Clint Eastwood) in one of filmdom's strangest pairings. The performances are all good in this, with Rogers affecting a high squeaky voice and Channing, sounding just like "Satchmo," just being her own weird self. James Arness [The Thing from Another World] and Tristram Coffin [Up in the Air] have smaller roles.
Verdict: Cute picture. ***.
 |
| Marsha Hunt and Richard Carlson |
The town of Rock Bay, Long Island is in an uproar when a columnist publishes an item about how one of the maids is going to publish a memoir about the family she works for. The ladies of the town hold one meeting, while all of the maids hold another. Meanwhile Martha (Marsha Hunt), who works for the Sommerfields and is secretly married to son Jeff (Richard Carlson), has to deal with romantic overtures from her publisher, Joel (Allyn Joslyn), as well as a young lad named Danny (Barry Nelson), when she then discovers that Jeff has come home with a fiancee (Frances Drake). While Martha has some similarities to the earlier Theodora Goes Wild, it has much less on its mind, although a spirited cast makes certain that the picture is generally fun. In addition to the already named there are good performances from Marjorie Main [The Law and the Lady] as the Sommerfield cook, Spring Byington as Mrs. Sommerfield, and Virginia Weilder as her precocious daughter, Miranda. Sara Haden, Margaret Hamilton and Grady Sutton all have smaller roles. Jules Dassin also directed Thieves' Highway.
Verdict: Cute if minor comedy. **1/2.
 |
| One Might Big Crab! Note two men at lower right. |
Pete Adams (Steve Hanks) is a teaching assistant and researcher working with Dr. McNeal (Barry Nelson), who hopes to increase the size of crabs as, presumably, a food source. Pete is attracted to a woman, Jan (Jo McDonnell), who is doing a story on McNeal's work, but, implausibly, is unaware that her father was driving the car in which his parents died years ago. Pete's surrogate parents are Moody (Robert Lansing) and Rosie (Nita Talbot), the former of whom owns the tavern where Rosie works as barmaid. Meanwhile, an accident at a nearby reactor unleashes radioactive waste into the water. The combination of growth hormones and radioactivity engenders bizarre behavior in ordinary crabs, as well as creates a crab of especially humongous stature. Island Claws combines a "nature turned nasty" plot about killer animals running amok with a giant monster on the loose. The scenes with the small crabs moving en masse toward potential victims are creepy, with the crustaceans being good little actors, but they never really seem to be "attacking." The big crab -- yes, there's only one [at least Attack of the Crab Monsters had two crabs] -- appears to be a full-size mechanical model that lacks great mobility but is efficient enough and is generally masked in darkness. A sub-plot involves a family of Haitians who sneak ashore and are at first blamed for some of the strange deaths in the area. There is some attempt at creating three-dimensional characters, and the acting is generally good. Bill Justis' eerie music is a plus. Island Claws holds the attention and isn't badly done, but ultimately there's not enough of the monster. Ricou Browning, who played the Gill Man in The Creature from the Black Lagoon and its sequels, was co-scripter along with Jack Cowden.
Verdict: Has its moments, but can't beat Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters. **1/2.