Monday, March 4, 2013

JUNGLE JIM IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND / Katzman Corporation - 1952

It's Forbidden Land Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a wild 'n' weird flick starring Johnny Weissmuller as Jungle Jim with the cool tagline... JOHNNY LEADS A SAFARI INTO THE FORBIDDEN LAND OF THE GIANT MEN! Funny, Johnny kinda talks the same as Tarzan did! Released on my 4th birthday in 1952.

Eegah!! sent over this nice little soundclip from the flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there on the control panel, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... JUNGLE JIM IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND!

Well now, ain't that cute?!..

Pretty Angela Greene plays Dr. Linda Roberts, she's in Africa to track down a tribe of giant people that is supposed to exist there, she gets Jungle Jim to assist her in her quest. Angela was also in NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST and THE COSMIC MAN. Once when I interviewed director Bernie Kowalski about the Blood Beast movie, he told me that Angela was married to his dentist! She was born in Dublin, Ireland and died at the young age of 55 in 1978.

On the way to the land of the giants, there are plenty of hair raising adventures!

Jim ain't no dummy and knows when there's danger around every corner! He ends up kicking both those dudes' asses but good! Johnny was married six times, once to actress Lupe Valez, an early WB cartoon had him and Lupe both swinging from vines at a club, as she was a for-real Mexican Spitfire!! Johnny was born in Romania.

Here's the doc at work, measuring some skulls in a scientifical methodology!

The giant women aren't as hideous looking as the men. The close-up of the dude reminds me of stories where they were so rushed during the shoot that, sorry, things had to be left the way they were. Look at those teeth, what a mess, it's like they rushed putting them in or something, it looks like shit and totally ruins the drama... MST fodder.

Here are two of the greedy ivory poachers, Denise and Zulu. Nice looking scene.

Jim and the doc take a ride on an elephant while Cheetah tosses this ammo belt into the fire, causing enough confusion for Jim to escape the bad guys. Cool trick!

I wonder how many old cowboy movies had this giant boulder in it, since this is part of Corriganville in Simi Valley.

Jim shows his skill with a dart gun...

Fatally wounded from gun shots, the giant dude grabs Denise and takes her over the edge of the cliff with him!.. CRIME DON'T PAY!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH - "Black Dice" (1948)

Nothing says Saturday Night Special like a good gangster movie, so let's get the show rolling with tonight's special UK feature from 1948, "No Orchids For Miss Blandish!"

The reason no characters resemble any person living or dead is because they've all been killed by gangsters!!!

Linden (Edgar Wallace's The Terror) Travers is the classic beauty Miss Blandish!

And why "No Orchids For Miss Blandish?" She keeps getting flowers from an anonymous admirer, and she keeps turning them down!

Miss Blandish's fiancée is the bland one in the relationship! That's John (Goldfinger) McClaren as Foster Harvey!

This movie is everything you could ask for in a movie, Greasy, Dirty, Sleazy, and Grimy! That's right, the four dwarfs you never heard about before, and that ain't no Snow White neither!!

So these bozos kill Miss Blandish's ex-future husband, and kidnap her in an attempt to get some good old fashioned ransom money out of her Pop who is loaded to the gills!

"No Orchids For Miss Blandish" is known to this day for raising a big stink because of this inferred rape scene! The film was given a D rating for Disgusting!!!

The Boss shows up and rubs out cheap thug Leslie (Attack Of The Crab Monsters) Bradley for being a stupid lowlife! The Boss has a nervous habit of continually rolling dice when he's thinking!

The Boss runs a big organization out of this club called "Grissons" and that's where they end up bringing Miss Blandish to!

They've got some great entertainment at "Grisssons!" There's specialty acts Halama and Konarski, and Toy and Wyng all played by themselves! There's a real comedian played by Jack Durant, and then there's Zoë Gail as Margo performing great numbers like George Melachrino & James Dyrenforth's "When He'd Got It, Did He Want It?"

That, my friends, is the face of a woman who is stuck on the horns of a dilemma!

And that is what the back of a dilemma looks like walking up stairs!!

The Boss is a fellow named Slim Grisson, a hard-living Bogeyesque tough guy played by Jack (Mind Your Own Business) La Rue, and he's got one very big problem!!!

Despite being the man in charge and the ultimate bad guy, Slim Grisson is very much in love with Miss Blandish............

..........and she in turn is very much in love with him! You see, it was Slim that had been sending her the flowers all along!! You didn't think this was a love story, did you, but it is, a very sad love story, because there is no way in living Hell that they can possibly make this work!!

Lilli (The Long Dark Hall) Molnar as Slim's Mom is also a big player in this story and one of the major obstacles standing between Slim and Miss Blandish's happiness! This is one of my favourite shots, because of the juxtaposition of Ma Grisson and a bottle of "Old Crow" whiskey sitting on her desk!

There's more than enough problems with Ma and the other members of Slim's gang, but once the cops get involved you know it's curtains! I love this movie, catch it on TCM when you get a chance!!!

Friday, March 1, 2013

HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS / Alta Vista Productions - 1964

It's another Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon! We gots an Italian flick under the Alta Vista Productions banner for some reason, this time the story places Herc in Poland, not Greece. Whoa!!.. Anyway, Mark Forest goes to help Poland free itself of Mongol invaders in the 12th century.

Eegah!! sent us over this cool soundclip from the movie, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the Pit of Doom, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS!

This pic shows rabid Mongol hordes storming a compound in Poland.

This pic shows Mark Forest as Hercules on his white stallion. Mark's complete film career consisted of starring in 12 sword and sandal movies done between 1960-5, his real name is Lou Degni. He competed for the 1952 Mr. America title and finished 27th at age 19.

Herc encounters a giant serpent in a pit he gets trapped in!

Then, he saves this Polish princess from being burned alive.

Love this shot, free for all polo blitz!

Eventually, Hercules is captured and has to deal with the Barbarian leader.

Herc and the princess escape and then have to trek across a burning volcanic landscape...

Recaptured, Herc has to physically prove himself with one test after another!

The Barbarian leader is holding all the cards until a metal gate comes down on top of him!

But, Herc's pal bites the dust in the final battle, so, not a completely happy ending...

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??