Shameless Self Expression

Michael Mark plays a disgruntled scientist specialising in wasps who gets fired from his job. Mark discovers that the royal jelly created by wasps has greater rejuvenating properties than that of bees, and takes his services to New York and the cosmetics company owned by Susan Cabot. Cabot even tries the stuff herself, and it works wonders on her aging skin. There are side effects, however…     Although much closer to a B-movie than a Z-movie, this 1960 film from director Roger Corman ( “Little Shop of Horrors” , “A Bucket of Blood” , “Fall of the House of Usher” , “Tomb of Ligeia” ) still isn’t quite good enough to get a B- rating or full recommendation from me. The performances by Susan Cabot, Michael Mark, and Barboura Morris stand out, and the plot and dialogue aren’t too shabby, either. Scripted by actor Leo Gordon (who also wrote “Attack of the Giant Leeches” and “The Terror” for Corman), the setting in the beauty/rejuvenation world is clever, and certainly better...

Set in London in the late 60s, the vain young man of the title (Helmut Berger) is aimlessly drifting through life when he poses for his artist friend Richard Todd. Meanwhile he is encouraged into debauchery and decadence by jaded Herbert Lom, as Dorian also takes the virginity of young actress Marie Liljedahl. But Dorian starts to resent the portrait that is ageless whilst he’s doomed to mortality. Well actually, a funny thing starts to happen with that painting…   Schlock producer Harry Alan Towers gives us a relatively serious adaptation of the Oscar Wilde novel in this 1970 film and almost pulls it off. The film is OK for what it is, but none of the actors beyond Helmut Berger and Herbert Lom offer up accomplished enough performances to make this approach work. So it might’ve been better for Towers to encourage director Massimo Dallamano (cinematographer on two of Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy) to ratchet up the exploitation content. Or better yet, bring in old friend J...