Harrison's Reports (1958)

98 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 21, 1958 "The Last of the Fast Guns" with Jock Mahoney, Gilbert Roland and Linda Cristal (Univ.-Int'l, July; time, 82 min.) Although it is enhanced by CinemaScope and Eastman color, "The Last of the Fast Guns" does not rise above the level of a fair program feature. Set in a Mexican locale and centering around a gunfighter who seeks a $25,000 reward to find a long-missing American, the chief trouble with the story, for a picture of this type, is that it is given to too much talk and not enough action. It holds one's interest fairly well, however, for it has an element of mystery concerning the identity of the missing man, and its occasional bursts of action are exciting and suspenseful. Jock Mahoney is manly and fearless as the gunslinger, and Gilbert Roland is impressive as the smiling villain. There is some romantic interest but it is unimportant. The outdoor scenery is impressive: — Mahoney, a gunfighter who longed to hang up his pistols and settle down on a ranch is offered $25,000 by Carl Benton Reid to find, dead or alive, his long-missing brother, whom he had not seen in 30 years and whom he believes to be in Mexico. He needed his brother or evidence of his death to save their interest in a gold mine, which would otherwise go to a crooked partner in San Antonio whose duplicity had driven his brother away years previously. Mahoney, intent upon buying a ranch, accepts the offer. He heads South and, after a stop at Edward C. Piatt's hacienda, used as a hideout by outlaws, his trail leads him to the Mexico ranch of Lome Greene, who lived in feudal elegance. There he meets Linda Cristal, Greene's beautiful daughter, and Gilbert Roland, his foreman. Mahoney is told that Reid's brother had died ten years previously, although there is no evidence of his death, and that two other men sent by Reid to search for him had met violent deaths. Mahoney declines Greene's advice to turn back and he induces Roland to join him in the search. In the course of their travels, someone tries to ambush Mahoney and Roland takes the shot. The bullet is removed by Eduard Franz, a dedicated friend of the Mexicans in the vicinity, who was neither a priest nor a doctor but was looked upon as such. In the complicated events that fol' low, it comes out that Roland had been promised a large sum of money by Reid's unscrupulous partner to kill the missing brother, who turns out to be Franz. Roland, at gunpoint, tries to make a deal with Mahoney whereby Franz would be killed under circumstances that will enable him (Roland) to collect from the crooked partner while Mahoney collects the $25,000 from Reid. Mahoney refuses to have any part in this scheme and is held prisoner by Roland's accomplices while the latter sets out to dispose of Franz. Mahoney manages to gain his freedom and, in a series of swift-moving events, saves Franz while Roland falls to his death from a cliff. It ends with Mahoney, who had fallen in love with Linda, accepting Greene's invitation to settle down in Mexico. It was produced by Howard Christie and directed by George Sherman from a screenplay by David P. Harmon. Family. "The Revenge of Frankenstein" with Peter Cushing and Francis Matthews (Columbia, July; time, 89 min.) Hammer Films, the British producing company that made last year's successful "The Curse of Frankenstein" and the currently successful "Horror of Dracula," have fashioned another very well produced Technicolor horror picture in "The Revenge of Frankenstein," which is a sequel to "Curse." It is a first-rate picture of its kind, but exhibitors who decide to book it had better make sure that the stomachs of their patrons are strong enough to take it, for bright red blood, made real by the fine color photography, drips all over the place as Peter Cushing, repeating his Dr. Frankenstein role, puts together a body from assembled parts of human cadavers. It is gory stuff, with enough chills and shudders to take care of a dozen normal horror films, particularly since the creature he creates turns into a cannibalistic-like monster. Young children should not be allowed into the theatre to see this picture, with or without their parents; it will give them nightmares: — Sentenced to death for his crimes against humanity, Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) cheats the gallows with the ;iid of Michael Gwynn, a misshapen dwarf, who substitutes a priest for him at the last moment. Three years later, Frankenstein, using an assumed name, establishes himself in the town of Carlsbruck with a successful society practice and also conducts a hospital for the poor. Francis Matthews, a young physician, recognizes Frankenstein's true identity, wins his confidence and joins him in his greatest secret experiment — to create a perfect body that would be guided by the dwarf's keen brain. The dwarf, unhappy with his stunted figure, had volunteered his brain for the operation. After creating the body, Frankenstein successfully transplants the dwarf's brain into it and fashions a gentle, intelligent creature. Things go wrong, however, when the creature becomes involved in a fight with a drunken janitor who damages his brain. This injury transforms him into a cannibal-like monster. He strangles the janitor to death and, becoming suddenly aware of what he had done, escapes to the home of Eunice Gayson, a voluntary worker in the hospital, who had been kind to him. Eunice shelters him, but the monster kills once again, this time an innocent young girl. Frankenstein traces the creature to Eunice's home and arrives there while a party is in progress. As Frankenstein talks to Eunice, the monster stumbles into the room and drops dead before the eyes of the assembled company. The incident is reported to the police and an investigation leads to the discovery that Frankenstein was still alive. Meanwhile Frankenstein returns to the hospital, where his ragged patients rise against him and beat him into unconsciousness. The dying Frankenstein instructs Matthews to transplant his brain to another body, and the young doctor completes the operation before the police arrive. Several months later, Matthews and another doctor whose voice is the same as Frankenstein's are shown practicing medicine in London. It was produced by Anthiny Hinds and directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay by Jimmy Sangster. Strictly for adults. "Desert Hell" with Brian Keith, Barbara Hale and Richard Denning (20tJi Century -Fox, July; time, 82 min.) An ordinary program melodrama that will have tough sledding even as a supporting feature. It is a French Foreign Legion story, centering around a Legionnaire desert patrol that tries to quell an uprising of an Arab tribe, and around the low morale of the patrol because of the conflict between its two top officers over the wife of one of them. The story, as presented, is dull, lifeless and talky, and the draggy pace is conducive to sleep. Most of the action takes place on the desert and there is a burst of excitement every now and then, but these are so few and far between that they cannot overcome the monotony of the whole. There is not much that the players could do with the script. Barbara Hale, the only woman in the cast, appears in only a few brief scenes: — Brian Keith, a Legionnaire captain, is returning to his post with a desert patrol when they are ambushed by an Arab tribe. Keith and Richard Denning, his sergeant, are the only survivors. Realizing that all the French outposts are endangered, the post commandant orders Keith and Denning to form a new patrol. While Denning recruits volunteers, Keith goes to say farewell to Barbara Hale, his wife, only to find her in the arms of Johnny Desmond a lieutenant. Keith and Desmond lead the patrol on the dangerous mission and make no secret of the hostility between them. Sniping Arabs attack the patrol from time to time and one man after another loses his life, but the patrol doggedly pushes along toward the first outpost. In the course of events, a captured Arab reveals to Keith that, though the holy leader of his tribe is signing a peace treaty at the outpost, rebellious members of the tribe planned to ambush him, blame his death on the French and thus provoke a new war. Despite the ever-increasing hostility between himself and Desmond, Keith pushes ahead and manages to warn the old chief of the rebels' plans. In the process, however, both he and Desmond lose their lives. It was produced by Robert Stabler and directed by Charles Marquis Warren from a screenplay by Endre Bohem, based on a story by Mr. Warren. Family.