Reviews

I first saw this movie years ago on the late show one night, and was charmed by it. The low key, gentle humor, and likable love interests make for an entertaining little movie.

Vivian Blaine is really cute as the night club singer who falls for nice guy con man Bob Bailey. He's not really a crook at heart, and soon is reformed by true love, combining forces with Stan and Ollie to get back the money fleeced from Vivian's aunt by a trio of crooks.

Stan Laurel is very funny and surprisingly convincing, as the wealthy dowager character he pretends to be. Tough gal Lee Patrick putting on a bogus Southern accent, and trying to seduce first Laurel and then Hardy is a hilarious sequence. Watching Oliver Hardy waltz gracefully with Lee Patrick is a sight worth seeing.

This is a nice, fun little movie if you're not expecting Laurel and Hardy in their prime. They're still funny and endearing characters.

Some good performances and an intriguing storyline make this low budget Fifties thriller worth catching. My only complaint is that it feels sort of truncated, like too much had to be condensed, or perhaps censored from the original pulp novel by Fredric Brown.

Anita Ekberg is perfect as the sad Virginia/Yolanda, who inspires practically every man she meets to fall in love with her. She has a vulnerable, almost naive quality, that arouses a male protective attitude very understandable in her two admirers, Doctor Green and reporter Sweeney.

Philip Carey is adequate as Sweeney, but Harry Townes walks off with the movie in the complex role of the hopelessly obsessed psychiatrist.It's a performance to be studied and appreciated over and over again.

Maybe not a genuine classic, but pretty good. It would have probably seemed pretty daring for the time it was made. Definitely worth seeing.

La Caza/The Hunt is a somewhat cryptic film, in which information about the characters is revealed gradually and sparingly, through limited dialogue, and more is implied through the visuals. Unsettling drumbeats in the background help to set an ominous mood from the beginning.

The tragedy that occurs by the end of the movie is difficult to comprehend by any normal standards, but seems inevitable, as the planned hunting trip turns sour through a long, hot day. Three former friends in modern Spain set out on a rabbit hunting excursion, and find their friendships stretched to the breaking point, as minor annoyances build toward more frequent and angrier confrontations. Essentially, all three of the older men are suffering from a midlife crisis, and are trying to cope with feelings of failure. The young man who accompanies them is the only one unaffected by the increasingly bitter mood of the former friends.

This film is not easy to watch, but the performances are excellent, and the story gripping. The actors are totally natural and believable, in their roles of the former friends who can longer tolerate each other.

Definitely recommended.

I haven't seen this movie in years, but it used to be on TV a lot when I was a kid. I saw it at least two or three times and really loved it.I never knew that others had seen it and liked it when they were younger, too. I remember some scenes fairly vividly, including the tribal medicine man diagnosing the little girl's doll, Robert Taylor telling a snake to get out of the schoolroom, the oldest daughter waiting at the bus station to run away, and Johnny finding her and taking her home with him, Robert Taylor expressing his gratitude when the old Chief rescues Taylor's children from a fire.

I've never forgotten this movie. It was a really powerful adult drama to me at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Any chance of this movie ending up available for home purchase?

Return of the Archons is one of the Star Trek episodes I didn't much care for years ago, but has grown on me.The characters and themes seem close to the edge of outright silliness at times, but somehow, it works. The sense of a genuinely strange society, that the Enterprise crew have stumbled onto, is conveyed well. Seeing Captain Kirk dressed as if he were on his way to the gunfight at the OK Corral is odd enough to be memorable, along with the medieval dungeon they find themselves in, the hooded robes and staffs of the Lawgivers, and the obscure lingo about the Body, etc.

It's certainly imaginative and creatively done for a low budget TV show. Charles Macaulay, as the mysterious, seemingly benevolent Landru has such a marvelous voice and presence that I wish his character could have had more screen time.

One of the most oddly memorable scenes is that that of their host Reger showing the landing party to their quarters, and the following scene of them waking the next day, with Kirk sleeping standing up in a blanket, and Spock lying on his back in a bunk bed. The incongruity of the solemn Spock sleeping in a bunk bed is an image that tends to stay with me.

Vladimir Pozner's skillful adaptation for the screen of Lillian Hellman's original stage play Another Part of the Forest is an almost forgotten classic, that deserves a wider audience. Performances are uniformly excellent, even in the smaller roles. Superb editing helps to create an absorbing and compelling drama of a particularly nasty family in post-Civil War Alabama.

Fredric March nearly steals the picture, with his malevolent portrayal of a tyrannical father, who enjoys pitting his offspring against each other. Ambitious older son Benjamin ( Edmond O'Brien) wants to get up in the world and make money, something his controlling father Marcus is determined to prevent. Weakling younger son Oscar ( Dan Duryea) is a joke to everyone else in the family. Spoiled daughter Regina ( Ann Blyth) is the only one of the three children to win any favor from their dictatorial father, but she is also expected to remain under his thumb. Both Regina and Ben have big plans they are keeping secret from Marcus. But a family as full of intrigue and conspiracy as this one is like a bomb with a slowly burning fuse. Eventually, there is going to be an explosion.

There are fine supporting performances by John Dall as the restless former soldier John Bagtry, who wishes to find a war somewhere to go fight in, Betsy Blair as his nervous, fragile cousin Birdy, Dona Drake as the floozy girlfriend of the weaselly Oscar, Fritz Leiber as the sadly dignified Colonel Isham, and most of all, Florence Eldridge as the ignored and ill-used wife of Marcus Hubbard, Lavinia.

Razor sharp dialogue and performances makes this a true delight to savor. Hard to find, but well worth the effort.You won't like this family, but you won't forget them.

As per the advice given by another poster here, I did see this movie while under the influence of alcohol some years ago, and it may have seemed slightly funnier, but just barely.

I think the main problem is that it tries so hard to be funny, that it just ends up being embarrassing.The goofiness and outlandish action of Corman's other movies Little Shop of Horrors and Bucket of Blood somehow do work, but this just doesn't.

As odd as this may sound, there are characters you can get involved with and care about in the other two movies, even if they're somewhat cartoonish figures like Mr. Mushnik and Seymour. Maybe the problem is that there is no real plot or point to any of the characters or action in this film. The characters simply aren't interesting or funny, where you actually feel for would-be beat artist Walter Paisley and put-upon errand boy Seymour Krelboind. The worst offender is the dimwitted gangster who makes animal noises. He makes the Three Stooges look like comic geniuses for the ages.

Corman was certainly capable of making interesting movies and even funny ones. I can't help but laugh every time I see Not Of This Earth, with the three intoxicated hobos singing " For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" to their alien host, just before he zaps them with his deadly stare. That brief moment is funnier than anything in the entire dreary hour or more of Creature From the Haunted Sea.

This is one of those Japanese films where ordinary daily life is shown as eerie enough in itself, with murder and treachery simply part of the routine of getting up and earning a living. A subtext of superstition and the supernatural adds to the grimness of the tale, without ever confirming or denying the occult powers that may be at work.

Visually alone, the film is stunning, in its depiction of an immense grassy plain in medieval Japan, apparently occupied by only two or three dwellings. The main characters are two women who survive by trapping and killing wounded samurai warriors, who have wandered from the battlefield nearby. After killing the men, the mother and daughter-in-law sell the armor and weapons they have taken from the victims, to a merchant who trades food for arms.

Their activities are shown in horrific detail, including dumping the bodies afterwards in an almost bottomless hole in the field, but the movie does not condemn them for doing what it takes to survive in the war and famine -plagued world they have to live in. Their men are off at war, and it seems to have been going on for a long time. The profiteering trader states that it can't last forever, so he must enrich himself now. At one point, the older woman bitterly declares that it serves the samurai right to end up getting killed this way, since they started the endless wars that have reduced all the peasants to desperation.

When a former neighbor returns after deserting, he tells them that the younger woman's husband was killed in battle. He and the young widow begin an affair, much to the displeasure of the older woman, who fears being abandoned and left on her own, if the two should decide to marry. One night, a stranger bursts into the hut while she is alone, and their meeting leads to a plan to put an end to the affair, but things don't work out quite like she had hoped for...

The photography is truly compelling, along with the sound editing; mostly night time scenes of the waving grass, and the isolated hut where the women live, the ominous pit in the field, deep enough to have an echo, the silent lake where they gather water, the almost tangible heat that makes sleep difficult.

The performances are excellent, from the three primary characters to the supporting players. Onibaba has the power to hold the viewer completely in its strange spell of mystery and madness. A must see for anyone who likes Japanese movies depicting this period.

The main problem with this movie has been pointed out already by other viewers: not the low budget, or the recycled music, which is pretty well used, or the basic story, etc, but that many of the characters are pretty annoying. Jessica, the sweet young thing with the psychic gift, is just too bland to be much of a real heroine, and the hero does very little. Boyd, the sleazy ranch hand is supposed to be unlikable and he does a good job, as does the big, Lenny like guy as a well meaning , but simple character. The drunken artist is understandably P.O.'d at the way his model/fiancée Linda is acting.

The characters and performances that really stand out for me are Andra Martin as Linda, doing a very good job as the nice model, who turns into a really sensuously sinister character, under the influence of sorceror Gideon Drew. Considering he spends most of the movie as a disembodied head, Robin Hughes is very good as the undead magician.Once he's back in one piece, he delivers some effectively menacing lines quite well.

The aforementioned are probably the best performances, but the third memorable one stands out as being one of the most presumably unintentionally dislikable characters in a movie. Aunt Flavia as written is certainly not very appealing, but the actress portraying her makes her so obnoxious that she nearly sinks the picture. Other posters have referred to her "dental drill voice" and that they hoped the bad guy would get her before the picture was over, or a tree would fall on her, and I concur.

Ever since one poster referred to " the closet gay leading man", I've been forced to look at the movie differently. A couple of posters have mentioned a vaguely lesbian subtext to some scenes involving Linda and Jessica, and I have to admit, seeing the two good looking ladies sharing a bed was kind of exciting, but any possible undertones of that nature would have to have been pretty well hidden for a Fifties movie.

It certainly isn't a good movie by most standards, but it does have a kind of creepy atmosphere that works fairly well. I think it's worth seeing once, any way.

The original Invasion of the Saucer Men was no masterpiece, but it's generally agreed that this remake is far worse.Most of the intentional humor is pretty lame, and there's an amateurish quality about the film-making that at least proves the original movie was competently done.

That being said, it must be admitted that this movie does manage to be kind of entertaining, if you have nothing better to do some evening.

The young couple make a cute pair.The familiar presence of AIP leading man John Ashley is like meeting up with an old friend, and the sweet young thing played by Cynthia Hull is really pretty and appealing.

It's fun to see how much of the music you can identify from other movies. In a couple of romantic scenes, there's an instrumental version playing of a song Annette Funicello sang in one of the Beach Party movies. When people are dancing at the bar, there's an instrumental from AIP's Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow. And I'm convinced a lot of the scary music is taken from Roger Corman's The Undead. Whether all this was intended as a sort of inside joke, or just making use of stock music, I don't know. I'm also pretty sure that there's at least some music from Hammer's Dracula, Prince of Darkness.

The movie is kind of fun, if you don't have high expectations. Though made in the mid-Sixties, it has a sort of Fifties feel to it not too different from the original version.

I caught the very end of this movie on television years ago as a child, and was fascinated by the thought provoking conclusion. It made me want to see the whole movie, and though it does show its budgetary shortcomings, this picture is actually quite well made, and is definitely worth seeing once.

Leslie Bradley is excellent as the Symbol Maker, the father of the young hero, and Frank De Kova is very good as the jealous older warrior trying to get his younger rival in trouble all the time.It's true that there is a temptation to laugh now and then, as one recognizes members of Roger Corman's stock company in cave people outfits, or some obvious stock footage is used from other movies, but the overall effect is surprisingly good. The film may look kind of rushed and amateurish, but the actors play their roles with sincerity, and the whole story has an oddly convincing feel about it.

I recommend this for viewers who enjoy cave people movies and imaginative story telling on a limited budget.

I saw this film once, on the late, late show, when I was in high school. The only part that stays with me is an interesting segment that suddenly makes the previously dull movie come to life, when a group of men are holding a meeting of some kind. I remember exclaiming out loud, " Wait a minute, this is Robert Louis Stevenson's story The Suicide Club!" It was the only part of the movie that actually made any sense, and held my interest, as it was based on a strong literary source, and professionally acted and directed, in contrast with the typical Jerry Warren goofiness of the rest of the picture.

My impression of Jerry Warren is that his movies were just one slight step above the level of Ed Wood's productions. The hilarious sequence in Invasion of the Animal People, where a psychiatrist solemnly questions Katherine Victor about the argument that led to her daughter leaving the house in a snit, and later encountering a UFO, is like something you'd see on Saturday Night Live, along with the bit where the police surgeon demonstrates to his colleagues the structure of the inner ear, using a Halloween prop skull.

Surprisingly good film, with an undercurrent of self-satire. If the potentially humorous aspects of the story had been pushed more, it might well have ended up a black comedy like Corman's Little Shop of Horrors, or Bucket of Blood. There are certainly some satirical bits that poke fun at the Hollywood system, but the overall storyline is presented seriously, favoring horror over humor.

Robert Harris is brilliant as the veteran makeup man let go by the new owners of the movie company he has worked for most of his life. He brings a quiet dignity to his role of under-appreciated workman/artist, and never overdoes the insanity. Even at his most demented, at the climax of the picture, he avoids cackling craziness, and plays Pete Dumond as almost a tragic character.

Many reviewers have commented on the homosexual undertones of the character, with his paternalistic attitude toward the young actors he refers to as his " boys". How much of this was intentional is hard to say, but it's there.

This is a clever film, that offers AIP fans an in-joke by the studio. I wonder if the writer and producer dreamed up the idea after a few drinks at a Hollywood watering hole one night.

I hadn't seen this episode probably since it first aired, but picked it up recently, and was amazed by some of the bits of business going on with the crew of the Enterprise. A much calmer Sulu is tending to plants, crewmen are flirting with Uhuru, and Uhuru seems like she's more than a bit interested in Mr. Spock.

Spock's nonplussed reaction to Uhuru's flirtatious banter is priceless. Spock was essentially a serious character, but there is an unmistakable undertone of comedy to the role. Spock in his first appearance here seems genuinely baffled by humans, and not as dry and sardonic as he became later.

The monster becomes almost sympathetic when it speaks in disguise as Dr. McCoy. A really well written script makes this early episode hold up well.

Strong performances from Glenn Corbett and Elinor Donahue help raise this episode to classic status. A touching love story between a man isolated on a planet by himself, and a caring, alien life form he refers to as " the Companion" is a thoughtful and moving story.

The scene in which Kirk attempts to explain to the Companion why she must allow " the man" to leave with them, and it becomes clear that the entity is female and in love with her charge, is incredibly powerful. Elizabeth Rogers' vocal performance of the Companion makes her truly a compelling character, as fully realized as any of the others.

Elinor Donahue is transcendent at the conclusion, when her dying human form merges with the Companion, and " the man" decides to remain with her, rather than return to civilization with Kirk and the rest of the crew.

This episode is a standout among the regular story lines, with a real emotional impact. Even Spock seems intrigued by the relationship between the human and nonhuman beings and is able to appreciate their unique bond. This episode is certainly not typical of most Star Trek shows, but it wears well.

I hadn't seen this episode in years, and I was amazed by how tense it is, especially at the beginning. There is a really tangible feeling of menace and the unknown, as Kirk and Nurse Chapel explore some mysterious caverns, while searching for her former fiancé, a famous scientist.

Acting is top notch, with a performance of restrained power by Ted Cassidy as a cryptic android, and a more nuanced Kirk from Shatner, without his later tendency to go over the top. Majel Barrett displays a fuller presentation of Nurse Chapel than any other episode I can recall, with fine supporting performances by Michael Strong as Dr. Korby and a touchingly vulnerable Sherry Jackson as the lovely android Andrea.

A clever and intriguingly unpredictable storyline from author Robert Bloch and some atmospheric sets make this a remarkably good episode that has stood the test of time well. Highly recommended.

There's something compelling and strangely believable about this episode. From the very beginning, an atmosphere of tension is created by the knowledge that a certain planet is going to explode within a few hours. Kirk, Spock and McCoy have beamed down to evacuate the inhabitants, all of whom seem to have left already for parts unknown, except for an elderly librarian.

The librarian's polite but cryptic advice about where all the citizens have gone to is interrupted by a crisis in which all three Enterprise crew members find themselves unexpectedly hurled into different eras of the planet's past. Kirk finds himself in a time period resembling 17th Century England, while Spock and McCoy are stranded in a desolate, frozen waste.

The intercutting between the two stories, and the different hazardous situations the men find themselves in is superbly handled, with return to the present an unknown chance, while the minutes are counting down to the planet's explosion.

Imaginative writing and fine acting characterize this episode, with a touching performance by Mariette Hartley as a woman exiled to the Ice Age, and Ian Wolfe as the urbane Librarian. Somewhat reminiscent of the classic episode City On The Edge of Forever, this time travel story is a rich and compelling finale to the series, which concluded one episode later. This has to be one of the best of the whole series, especially remarkable given the generally lesser quality of the third season overall.

This film begins with a bang, as a man is attacked by a ferocious female something, shown in silhouette. We then see the distinguished Doctor Fletcher refusing to speak on his behalf at an inquest on the dead person, who he says was not human. This leads into flashbacks of his investigations into the strange history of Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman.

Acquanetta outdoes her previous appearance as Paula in the first movie, with the addition of some dialogue and more screen time. Her unexpected, sultry introduction of herself to the hero, after everyone assumed she was mute or catatonic, is quite a surprise, and not welcomed by the fellow's fiancée, who happens to be Dr. Fletcher's daughter.

The influence of Val Lewton's Cat People is quite apparent, as the jealous Paula begins stalking the couple, in some very effective sequences. Acquanetta may have been limited as an actress, but she is just right for the part of the beautiful but savage Paula. The scene of Doctor Fletcher finding her sobbing in her room, as she sees the happy couple through her window, is startling and memorable. Some genuine menace is built up, as Paula obsessively pursues the hero Bob, while fending off advances from the Doctor's slow-witted assistant, Willie.

This may well be the best of the three Ape Woman features, and is definitely worth the time of any Forties horror movie fans.

For my taste, there's too much humor in this semi-spoof of the old dark house type mystery, but it manages to be fairly entertaining anyway.

The strongest thing the movie has going for it is the marvelous sets, that really convey the feeling of a large and elaborately furnished old mansion out in the country. The typical thunderstorm that strands a group of people for the night is present and contributes greatly to the spooky atmosphere.

Cecelia Loftus is wonderful as the old lady whose will has a surprise in store for her greedy relatives. Good supporting performances from Anne Gwynne as the nicest member of the family, with such reliables as John Eldredge and Basil Rathbone among the would-be heirs, including a surly young Alan Ladd and Gladys Cooper as Rathbone's long suffering wife. Bela Lugosi gets to look sinister a lot, but his character is actually benign, if a bit cryptic.

The weakest parts have to do with the rather forced comedy involving real estate hustlers Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert, who are hoping to sell the old house and its collection of antiques. Crawford's character is meant to be a sort of bumbling hero, but he gets pretty annoying, with his almost manic energy. Hugh Herbert has a few amusing moments, such as his naive conversation with the predatory Gale Sondergaard as the housekeeper, when she offers him a suspicious looking cup of tea. But his brand of absent-minded humor is more intrusive than comical most of the time, and the picture would have been better if played a little more straight.

This is a fairly entertaining little movie overall and should be enjoyed by most viewers who like the mysterious old house type of film.

This final installment in the short-lived Universal series about Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman, has some fairly creepy moments, and a good monster. Unfortunately, the Ape Woman doesn't have much to do here, unlike her two earlier appearances. She spends most of her time in the secluded laboratory of Stendhal, the mad doctor who hopes to achieve some kind of scientific goal by reviving the deceased creature.

Rondo Hatton turns in his most multi-faceted performance as Moloch, the assistant to Stendhal. Unlike most of his other movie roles, where he just stalks around and kills people, here he acts friendly toward the beleaguered heroine, even smiles and makes a joke at one point, and is about as normal and likable as he would ever be shown in his Forties horror pictures. He becomes a sort of human King Kong, whose sympathy for the captive girl finally causes him to turn on his master to save her from further cruel experiments. It shows possibilities unhinted at in his other roles and is quite unexpected.

Jerome Cowan is good as a breezy police detective investigating the various murders and disappearances, but Otto Kruger is so menacing as the crazy scientist that he all but steals the picture. His low key portrayal of the cold blooded experimenter is actually quite unnerving in its realism. He refuses to play the part in an eye-rolling, hammy clichéd way, and is thus frighteningly believable.

Not a great movie by any means, but worth seeing for fans of low budget Forties horror movies.

This movie offers plenty of fun for lovers of murder mysteries set in spooky old houses. All the ingredients are here: an isolated old mansion in the country, frightened servants, rumors about the return of an unknown killer calling himself the Bat, missing bank money, suspicious characters, a stormy night, and murder victims galore.

Vincent Price has one of his best roles as a cryptic doctor who conducts bizarre experiments with bats in his laboratory. His sly, politely insulting verbal duels with stern police Detective Anderson, ( Gavin Gordon) are a delight, as the two men exchange thinly veiled hostile remarks, with Anderson all but accusing Dr. Wells openly of being the Bat, something that seems to amuse the doctor no end.

Agnes Moorehead is obviously enjoying herself as the doughty mystery writer investigating a real crime, with the aid of her skeptical maid, Lenita Lane.Most of the rest of the cast is fairly bland, but a fair amount of suspense is worked up, as the homicidal villain searches the old house for what he's after, and the plucky heroines plot to trap him.

This is no classic, but it's quite enjoyable. Price basically steals the show with his sly portrayal of the suave, ambiguous Doctor Wells.

This is by no means a great film, but it's awfully entertaining. An isolated old mansion is the scene of a strange experiment, with a scientist preparing to test a secret formula by having himself buried alive. At the same time, a madman with snaggle teeth and wild eyes is on the prowl, stabbing a lengthy list of victims, and leaving a newspaper clipping about himself pinned to the corpse's clothing each time.

Throw in Wallace Ford as a fast talking reporter who's investigating the murders, and romancing the pretty niece of one of the victims, a mysterious servant played by Bela Lugosi, Tully Marshall as a rich man who gets killed off, leading to a classic reading of the will sequence, and a black chauffeur who asks to be disinherited when he hears that he is to be paid a pension " for as long as (he) live(s)". Add some dislikable relatives plotting to cut the servants out of the will, a grumpy police detective getting fed up with unsolved murders and the reporter's jibes, various hapless victims of " The Maniac", vintage cars, clothing and telephones, along with the basic collection of sliding panels, secret tunnels, clutching hands, etc.

Result: one very entertaining old movie, with more action crammed into an hour than ten other movies put together. There's a slightly tongue in cheek quality reminiscent of Doctor X, though not as openly satirical. Anyone who enjoys old dark house mysteries and Thirties horror movies should get a kick out of this.

This movie has some good performances and suspenseful sequences, alternating with unintentionally funny moments. There's something irresistibly humorous about the scene where earnest college professor Arthur Franz's lovely fiancée confides to her college president father, in what sounds like a genuine Southern accent, " I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing him talking to Madagascar about a fish!" The scenes where the partially glimpsed monster stalks people are effectively done, especially the moment when a horrified couple discover the body of a victim hanging from a tree by her hair. The darkened campus at night as a place of potential terror is contrasted effectively with the opening daytime scenes of students strolling around. There are plenty of nicely done character roles such as the genial grounds-keeper, Helen Westcott as a nurse who has a thing for the Professor, and Judson Pratt as a worldly-wise police detective. Whit Bissell as a disbelieving colleague and the grumpy university president are also effective.

Arthur Franz carries the movie as the dedicated scientist who can't get anyone to believe in his strange discoveries, or his theory about a prehistoric man being the killer the police are searching for. He plays his role so seriously that it risks becoming unintentionally humorous at times, especially the moment when he puffs on his pipe without realizing he's ingesting some pretty strange stuff that got into it by accident.

This movie isn't too bad, taken all together. It's a bit dull in spots and could have used some more action of the monster, but there are compensations in the form of classic Fifties automobiles on display ,along with beautiful women wearing very becoming Fifties fashions. Good fun for fans of Fifties science fiction and those who enjoy a bit of camp humor.

I have mixed feelings about this film, owing partly to the way it was promoted on its original release in the U.S. in 1974, as a titillating quasi-porn movie. In fact, the movie is actually somewhat restrained, considering the grim subject matter.

My most recent viewing leads me to consider it as a better movie than I had thought before, with genuinely disturbing overtones, and a far more serious exploration of a desperate and unhealthy love than one would expect. By the time the film ended, there was no question in my mind that ex-Nazi Max and former prisoner Lucia were in fact hopelessly in love with each other and needed each other in a way that far transcended a more normal relationship. The almost casual way that Lucia abandons her bland and clueless husband for her former captor/lover is amazing in its down to earth simplicity. Nothing is more important to her than Max, and he is willing to die for her.

Not that this is a beautiful love story, or a perfect movie. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the backgrounds of the two main characters, and I wish Lucia's personality and motivations had been explored in more detail. There are moments that risk seeming unintentionally funny, despite the somber approach. I found myself wishing that the writer and director had skipped all the intrigue with the Nazis spying on each other, and concentrated more on the affair between Max and Lucia.

The acting is generally good and the storyline made fairly credible. It's hard to imagine anyone but Charlotte Rampling in the difficult role of Lucia, and she is amazing in her passion and perversity. The problematic role of Max is handled well by Dirk Bogarde, managing to evoke some sort of sympathy for the character, which is certainly not easily earned, considering his background as an SS officer at a concentration camp during the war.

This is an odd, thought-provoking movie, that can be both frustrating and fascinating to watch, and is definitely not for everyone. More than one viewing is required to begin to appreciate the depths of the performances undertaken by Bogarde and Rampling, but it can leave a bad taste in the mouth. The film is probably best regarded as a sort of highbrow guilty pleasure.

One more thing: I kept finding myself thinking of the Italian film Kapo, a seldom seen movie with a young Susan Strasberg as a camp prisoner who does what it takes to survive. These two pictures might make for an interesting double feature.

A simple story, beautifully enacted. A trio of enthusiastic, if not over-talented performers tries to make a living in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, which is increasingly being won by Franco's Nationalists. After a rousing success entertaining a group of Loyalist fighters, the weary actors take a wrong turn on a foggy road and end up in Nationalist controlled territory, where they do their best to convince the Italian and Spanish officers that they are simply performers without politics.

Impresario Paulino, husband of star Carmela, befriends an Italian officer with theatrical ambitions, and the actors are told to put on a show for the Nationalist troops. Carmela hates the idea, but loves her husband and the mute young man they have adopted, Gustavete, so she agrees to give it her best effort. Things don't work out quite as planned, however. Some background on the Spanish Civil War would help many viewers get more out of the movie, though explanatory titles are provided. Visually, the film is crammed with authentic details, such as home-made armored cars used by the Republican militias, recruiting posters, Anarchist and Republican flags, Moorish troops aiding the Spanish Nationalists, and even Generalisimo Franco himself attending the performance. The actors who play the trio of performers are admirably cast, especially Carmen Maura as Carmela. Her energy and zest during passionate, romantic songs and dances are wonderful to see. Her deep compassion for others is frequently on display, as in the maternal attitude she takes toward the unofficial son she and Paulino have taken under their wing, and her grief over the certain fate of the Polish prisoners from the International Brigades. Her humor and strong will in the face of terrifyingly unpredictable situations help keep the other two going. Andres Pajares plays the quick-witted Paulino, a former seminarian who has taken up musical comedy instead of the priesthood. His ability to size up a situation and get on the good side of dangerous people helps the little troupe to survive , but at some cost to his dignity. Paulino is a survivor who will do what it takes to get through a war, and his main survival technique is the attitude of being a performer, whether you like any particular audience or not. Ay, Carmela is a very engaging film that is at times quite amusing, but ultimately heart-breaking. This film deserves to be released on a Region 1 DVD that could be made available for a wider audience to appreciate its moving and memorable story.