Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1963)

"The Raven" Su4i*te44 'Rating Q O O Laughs and chills aplenty in tongue-in-cheek version of Poe's classic. Price, Lorre, Karloff vie for honors. Color. When one terror trio (Edgar Allan Poe, producer-director Roger Corman, American International Pictures) teams up with another (Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff) , the outcome figures to be an entertaining blending of horror and ham. That is exactly what is in store for you in this loose, tongue-incheek version of Poe's famous chiller poem. The combination augurs good returns in the action-ballyhoo market. Scripted along terror-comic lines (with the accent on comedy) by Richard Matheson, "The Raven" tells of three magician sorcerers, circa, sixteenth century England. One, Price, lives with his daughter, Olive Sturgess, and mourns the apparent death of his wife, Hazel Court. One night he encounters Lorre who has been turned into a Raven for daring to challenge the power of Karloff, the sinister Grand Master of the United Brotherhood of Sorcerers. The fight for power among these three results in such popular shock devices as a return from the dead, hypnotism, revenge and torture. Mugging credits go to Lorre who, as secret agent for Karloff, expertly steals each scene. Price, a meek-type, and Karloff fight him scene for scene. Corman's direction is first-rate in the first half (the encounter between Lorre and Price), then the pace lags during the middle section, but picks up again with the magical duel-to-the-death finale. The sets and special effects are eerie and effective. Price changes Lorre back to a human and the latter convinces Price that he's seen Miss Court at Karloff's castle. The two of them, accompanied by Miss Sturgess and Lorre's son, Jack Nicholson (the attractive romantic interest), pay a visit to Karloff. Price learns that Miss Court has tricked him into believing her dead so she could desert him for Karloff's superior wealth and power. The climactic duel of magic between Price and Karloff finds Price the victor, Karloff and Miss Court perishing in flames and Lorre, returning once again, to the form of a Raven. AIP. 86 minutes. Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff. Produced and Directed by Roger Corman. "Cairo" OK suspense-action melodrama should satisfy in action market. George Sanders heads competent cast. George Sanders stars in this mild suspense meller about the preparation, execution and aftermath of a robbery of antique jewels from the Cairo Museum. Much of the ground has been covered before, and this M-G-M release emerges as a fair dualler largely on the basis of (1) solid performances, (2) tight direction by Wolf Rilla who only now and then allows Joanne Court's crisp screenplay to become overly melodramatic and (3) picturesque Egyptian backgrounds, plus an exotic musical score. It is best suited for the action market. Sanders portrays a cynical, suave, woman-conscious international thief who masterminds the daring robbery of the King Tutankh-Amun jewels. In support are: Richard Johnson, an unhappy drug addict and Arab gunman; John Meillon, an Australian explosives expert who has worked with Sanders before; Eric Pohlmann, a Greek nightclub and illegal gambling house owner; Walter Rilla, an importer-exporter with a weakness for young girls; Ahmen Mazhar, a coffee house owner and the getaway driver. Several Egyptian lovelies add spice to the proceedings. The jewels are stolen from the safe, but a series of alarms go off accidentally and Meillon is seriously wounded during the getaway. An accomplice of Rilla's tries to take the jewels at gunpoint, but he is killed and Johnson is wounded. Rilla becomes implicated and nut i Ufl kills himself. The police rush to Meillon's flat only to find him dead from his wounds. Sanders delays his escape to watch a belly dancer at a night club. With a shrug of acceptance he hands over the jewels to the police. Johnson, delirious with pain, heads for his parent's farm. He arrives, collapses and dies. M-G-M. 91 minutes. George Sanders, Richard Johnson, Faten Hamama. Produced by Ronald Kinnoch. Directed by Wolf Rilla. "Rice Girl" Sututeu, /Rate*? O O Sex-sparked Italian melodrama with incestuous undertones. Dubbed, CinemaScope and color. Exploitable entry. Backed by an imaginative promotion campaign, this dubbed, sex-sparked Italian import about life in the great rice fields of the Po Valley might make a fair showing in ballyhoo situations. It is being coupled as a dual bill combo with "Fatal Desire". Filmed in CinemaScope and Eastman Color, the Ultra release tells a soap opera-type story about one of the manywomen employed as migrant rice harvesters. Uneven editing and a hackneyed plot prevent the film from achieving dramatic intensity, but there is a fair sprinkling of sex, a couple of fights and a fire sequence. Elsa Martinelli stars as the pretty Milanese girl who becomes involved with her boss, Folco Lulli, he believing Miss Martinelli might be the daughter of his old love. Michel Auclair plays Lulli's spoiled, handsome nephew, and Rik Battaglia is a hard-working mechanic. Raffaello Matarazzo's direction is competent though uninspired. Miss Martinelli becomes troubled by Lulli's interest, but she warms to him slightly after he saves her from the fire. However, she falls in love with Battaglia, then loses him when he shows jealousy over Lulli's actions. During the festivities following completion of the season, Auclair tries to rape Miss Martinelli in an empty building and Battaglia comes to her rescue, accidentally kills Auclair. Lulli appears, tells Miss Martinelli she is his daughter, sends the two lovers away, takes the blame for Auclair's death. Ultra Pictures. 90 minutes. Elsa Martinelli, Folco Lulli, Michel Auclair. A Carlo Ponti-Excelsa Production. Directed by RaffaeJIo Mataraizo. "Fatal Desire" Anthony Quinn, May Britt give marquee value to slowmoving, dubbed import. OK as dualler with "Rice Girl." Ultra Pictures is packaging this dubbed, non-musical version of Pietro Mascagni's opera "Cavalleria Rusticana" with the exploitable "Rice Girl," and box-office returns will lean heavily on the advertising campaign for the combination. Promotion mileage can be made out of the presence of Anthony Quinn, currently one of the "hottest" names extant, and May Britt. However, word-of -mouth will work against this Italian import, since the heavy-handed direction of Carmine Gallone fails to develop the violent aspects of this tale of tormented love, intrigue, betrayal and revenge. Plus factors are the excellent Sicilian countryside photography and Mascagni's effective musical background. Quinn portrays a simple, shy but brutishlooking worker who marries the beautiful Kerima. Ettore Manni is Kerima's former sweetheart, returning to his village after five years of military service, and Miss Britt is a pretty villager secretly in love with Manni. Bitter over Kerima's marriage, Manni turns his attention to Miss Britt, who soon declares her love for him. They plan to marry. But Kerima, now bored with the dull Quinn, begins tempting Manni. One night, while Quinn is away. Miss Britt sees Manni entering Kerima's house and admonishes him, but he declares his indifference to her entreaties. Hysterical, Miss Britt tells Quinn what has been happening. He challenges Manni to a knife duel and kills him. Ultra Pictures. 80 minutes. Anthony Quinn, Kerima, May Britt. An Excclsa Film Production. Directed by Carmine Gallone. Film BULLETIN February A. 1963 Page 23