DIAL M FOR MURDER - Alred Hitchcock (1954)

I just don't get it, and I guess I don't care anymore, but 37 very high quality Alfred Hitchcock DVDs post paid from China for 65 bucks is one Helluva deal!

Forget taking classes in film making, just buy this set, watch, and absorb it all, and you might just become the next Master of the Macabre!!

I'm sure that everything there is to be said about all Alfred Hitchcock motion pictures has been said! These movies I'm just enjoying, and taking a moment to remind you that when you're looking for a good movie to watch, almost any Alfred Hitchcock movie will do, and lucky for us all, there are quite a few of them, and they're readily available for the most part!

First, just go out and find yourself a copy of this book where Francois Truffaut interviews Alfred Hitchcock! Everything else will be self-evident after you do that!

I don't even care about musical sound clips any more, because.....right now, that concept is irrelevant!

The always delightful Dimitri Tiomkin composed the music for "Dial M For Murder," and if you like these kinds of superbly orchestrated sound tracks, then go somewhere like here and lay down some cash!

Future Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly is magnificent!

Grace left this world at the all too young age of 52 in a stupid car accident! Ridiculous!

For me this is one of Alfred's best cameo roles, staring at the camera in a shot from a college yearbook!

Ray Milland is one of my favourite actors for several good reasons like "The Thing With Two Heads," "Frogs," "X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes," "Panic In The Year Zero," etc. 

But Ray was also in a lot of classy movies too, like "Dial M For Murder," where he plans the diabolical and devious murder of his wife!

Although he's not a real familiar name most likely, Anthony Dawson has some pretty cool creds himself like "Curse Of The Werewolf," and three Sean Connery era James Bond flicks!

Alfred Hitchcock films are just a joy to watch! The man was so meticulous, even a simple scene like this is gorgeous!

One of the most interesting things about "Dial M For Murder" is that you know from the start who the bad guy is, but what is to be determined is whether he's going to get caught or not!

Anthony Dawson's character has been unknowingly recruited, and then blackmailed into killing Ray Milland's wife! The plan has been worked out to the last detail!

1950's stag parties were a bit different from today! Although there was plenty of drinking going on, there were no strippers!

This shot from the attempted murder almost looks like an abstract painting, and I like it!

The murder plan was doomed from the start!

And Anthony Dawson ends up with a pair of scissors in his back!

This is yet another awesome shot!

"Dial M For Murder" moves along at a pretty quick clip, so an intermission is a good chance to grab something to drink or eat!

John Williams played the role of Chief Inspector Hubbard in this movie, on Broadway, and on TV!

He also played William Shakespeare in the "Twilight Zone" episode titled "The Bard!"

Another Dungeon fave Bob (Love That Bob, Saboteur) Cummings has the role of the illicit lover! Since he was a writer of murder mysteries, it was expected that he would solve this puzzle, but then that would have been too easy!

The jig is up, so what's there left to do but have another drink?

So there you go! I like stupid trashy films as well as the next guy, but if you want to watch a good movie, you sure can't go wrong with Alfred Hitchcock, even if they do come from China! Most of the DVDs in this set have titles on the label in English, but this one is a mystery except the silhouette of a phone gives it away!!

ROBOT MOVIES OF THE FIFTIES!!

Here's a look at the movies from the fifties that have robots in them. Up to that point the robots were more goofy and awkward looking than anything, but, in the fifties that all changed... Thank you lord!

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL from 1951 is our first entry. Gort changed the game, his giant presence and futuristic look was a thrill and a half for all the kids back then!

It's almost unbelievable that ROBOT MONSTER from 1953 was shot in 3-D, it seems that the bubbles from the million bubble machine were the main focus of the 3-D effect! But, there's nothing quite like this movie, wow, what an acid trip!

TARGET EARTH from 1954 was a strange little flick, although there's supposed to be an invasion of robots, they only made one robot for the production! Great poster though.

TOBOR THE GREAT came out in 1954, I love this movie, Tobor was a masterpiece of design by the Republic studios. My favorite part is when the spies try to enter the grounds and our heroes turn on the battle attack soundtrack with strobe lights to disorient the intruders!

DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS also came out in 1954, this time, our invaders land in the English countryside to spread terror. Her robot's name is Chanti, and, it has a penchant for disintegrating things!

GOG come out in 1954 and was shot in color. Gog and Magog were robots like no other, designed to help out in the lab with an array of deadly features!

Ahh, my favorite fifties movie. FORBIDDEN PLANET from 1956 featured the greatest robot, Robby, he was a ton of fun! I saw this and the remaining titles at the theater at the time, how freakin' lucky was I...

KRONOS hit the screen in 1957, I'm telling you that seeing this thing at the time was totally amazing. Everything about the movie kept my interest, and, freaked me out a little, too!

Loved THE INVISIBLE BOY from 1957, they brought back Robby for another exciting kids' movie, this time he's controlled by a machine taken over by aliens!

COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK in 1958 was another terrific movie, man, the robot was mind blowing. Of course, he turns evil and must be destroyed at the end. And, we've also reached the end of the post! Tune in Wednesday for more cool junk from the Dungeon Gang...

CRAZY KNIGHTS - "Ghost Crazy" (1944)

Shemp Howard was one of the original Three Stooges, but was replaced by his brother Curly when Shemp decided to pursue a solo acting career, and so it went for years until Curly could no longer go on because of a heart condition!

This 1944 feature titled "Crazy Knights," and later released as "Ghost Crazy" was about three quarters along in Shemp's career that included many colourful zany characters with names like Dopey, Clem, Lefty, Smokey, Shemp, Henry, Knobby, Happy, Wacky, Gabby, Dizzy, Dingbat, and Mumbo!

 

 Shemp and his pals are a bunch of small-time hucksters!

It's a side-show act featuring a super intelligent gorilla named Borneo!

To make the act legit, they have a real gorilla, and his body double in a gorilla suit that Shemp wears when they ask the gorilla questions! (Of course, the REAL gorilla is a guy in a gorilla suit too!)

They might be small time con men, but they have a really nice woody that would make any surfer green with envy!

Any student of 1950's TV will recognize Minerva Urecal who was Tugboat Annie, and Jim Bowie's Mother! Among her 275 credits are a couple of other gorilla suit movies, "The Ape," and "The Ape Man!"

Billy Gilbert played Billy, with Shemp as Shemp, and Maxie Rosenbloom as Maxie, in more than a couple of movies with titles like "Three Of A Kind," and "Trouble Chasers!" 

So it looks like somebody in a ghost outfit is trying to scare the boys!

But then the ghost disappears into the night, and into this grave, and you begin to think that this a story about the supernatural, but after this, it's just guys in ghost costumes again!

Billy finds a ghost costume and proceeds to scare the pants off of Shemp!

The rest of the cast from left to right are Bernard Sell who had small roles in the ultra-classics "The Day The Earth Stood Still," and "Them!" It's pretty amazing how many roles Bernard also had as just a guy somewhere in a bar, or a restaurant, a nightclub, a casino, or a guest at a party!  Then there's the blonde and beautiful Jayne Hazard, whose first role ever was as a party girl in another great ape flick, "The Monster And The Girl," and who, if it hadn't of been for the war years, might have been a name as recognizable as Marilyn Monroe today cause she is drop dead gorgeous, and finally John Hamilton, who even though he had 346 acting credits, I only can think of one thing when I see his face, and that is Perry White in 102 episodes of "The Adventures Of Superman!"

Shemp puts on his gorilla suit to try and stir up some truth, and Barney the gorilla escapes from his cage at the same time, so you can imagine how much havoc that creates! The guy inside the Barney suit was Art Miles who donned the hairy tuxedo in at least three other movies or shorts, "The Gorilla," "Moon Over Vegas," and "A Bird In The Head!"

 Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom might have been a buffoon in the movies, but in real life he was a championship boxer whose career spanned 16 years, and ended with a record of  274 fights, with 207 wins, 39 losses, and 26 draws! Maxie wasn't a big knockout artist and only had 19 KO's out of all those fights, so that means he went the distance in about 90% of those bouts! He was one tough dude!

"Ghost Crazy" comes off as one long extended Three Stooges episode with Billy and Maxie replacing Moe and Larry, and makes you realize why the Three Stooges shorts were so good, because they had the good sense to make them only 15 or 20 minutes long!
If you've got nothing better to do, you can watch "Ghost Crazy" for free on Youtube and transport yourself into better times some 72 years in the past! Pretty amazing we're still here!

GIANT INSECT & SPIDER MONSTERS From The FIFTIES!!

Here's a batch of movies from the fifties, all featuring big bugs and spiders, and, what made for a ton of fun for us kids back when...

MESA OF LOST WOMEN is our first entry from 1953. Man, what else can be said about this crazy movie and all its characters, love this flick forever!

WB came out with THEM! in 1954, always a crowd pleaser with a nice budget. Exciting stuff, sad though when James Whitmore gets killed.

Universal's TARANTULA from 1955 scared the crap out of me when I saw this one at the theater when I was just 7 years old! For me, John Agar was perfect for the lead role.

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL came out in 1957, this one has giant wasps as a result of some of the little critters being shot into space, then landing back in Africa!

1957 was a banner years for classic monster movies and the year THE BLACK SCORPION hit the screen. Saw this one at the theater, it was an awesome treat for a 9 year old monster nut!

Bert I. Gordon's BEGINNING OF THE END in 1957 was about a giant locust invasion, growing to enormous size due to feeding on grain laced with atomic radiation... That poster is a prime example of just how appealing they made it for the kids!

Holy cow!! My dad took me to see THE FLY in 1958 when I was 10, this is like one of the five movies I saw at the theater in the fifties that absolutely blew my mind. What people always forget, is, what is was like to be there at the time, not now for cripes sake, back then!

I saw THE DEADLY MANTIS in 1958 with my neighbors, it really was a special treat for us, a terrific movie back then!

Saw EARTH vs THE SPIDER at the theater in 1958, it seemed a little schlocky to me. Great poster though!

The British COSMIC MONSTERS also hit the screen in 1958, aka THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X. This one's filled with lots of big ugly bugs and spiders!

THE WASP WOMAN aka WASPER WOMAN was maybe the first monster flick Eegah!! and I saw together in 1959. This is really a nice little movie, but, if they could have just made her makeup better!

Saw RETURN OF THE FLY in my home town of Tulare, CA with my cousins in 1959, my favorite part was when the inspector gets mixed up with the guinea pig!

I'm including HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND since it was really shot in 1959, and, has a very unique German monster. Well, that's all folks, tune in again tomorrow for more from the Dungeon Gang!