Review: Jeopardy

While on vacation with his parents in Mexico, young Lee Aaker (star of “Rin Tin Tin” apparently) fools around on a wonky pier, and when dad Barry Sullivan attempts to rescue the kid from a serious injury (I would’ve let the foolish little shit to fend for himself, it was his own dopey fault...but I digress), he himself becomes trapped under the wreckage, and at further risk of drowning. Racing against the clock (four hours or so until the tide comes in), Barbara Stanwyck (quite good in what must be said is a slightly uncharacteristic meek part) must go for help. What she finds is sleazy escaped crook Ralph Meeker, who wants Stanwyck to drive him out of trouble with the law, and then maybe, if he takes a mind to it, he might possibly help her. He might also help himself to the vulnerable (but ultimately resilient) woman. And she, in turn, might just do anything it takes to get her husband and son out of trouble.


Unlike most people (particularly Leonard Maltin), I reckon this uneven 1953 John Sturges B-movie (from the A-level director of “The Great Escape”, “Bad Day at Black Rock”, “The Magnificent Seven”, and “Gunfight at the OK Corral”) concludes much better than it begins, not the reverse. The climax is really the only part where anything much actually happens, the rest is just build up- or more honestly, padding. It all starts out too slowly, with nothing going on (and nowhere to go, unless you wanted the film to run about 20 minutes long), but perks up when slimy Meeker (doing a pretty fair Robert Mitchum I must say) finally joins the party.


Well-acted (Sullivan’s never been a fave of mine, but he works really well with the kid, and Stanwyck- a definite favourite of mine- does well opposite Meeker), economically directed (though Sturges has done much better), but there’s just not enough material here (even though it only goes for about 70 minutes), you keep waiting for it to soar and it never really gets there.


The screenplay is by Mel Dinelli (“The Spiral Staircase”), from a Maurice Zimm (“Creature from the Black Lagoon”, “The Prodigal”) radio play. Only if there’s absolutely nothing else on TV.



Rating: C+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more