The Exhibitor (1966)

5495 February 1, 1967 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR directors as a reward for his service to Ryan. He accompanies Ryan to the home of collector Bill Dana, where the latter is blown up by a booby-trapped barbecue. He is mourned by his wife, Arlene Golonka. His death leaves a deep impression on his colleagues when they learn that he has been buried in his blue collector’s suit, which should contain a million dollars sewed into the lining. Caesar is sent to get it from the grave, but he finds the coffin empty. This leads him to the undertaker’s parlor, which gets him involved with a couple of more murders. Ryan decides that Caesar must have taken the money and orders him killed. Caesar investigates further and becomes involved with Anne Baxter, who, with husband Jan Murray, planned an insurance swindle and stole Dana’s mutilated body. The trail takes Caesar back to Golonka, who is going away. He discovers that she is color blind and that she gave the undertaker the wrong suit. Caesar calls Ryan to come over, but the money isn’t in the blue suit. Caesar realizes that Ryan was respon¬ sible for the theft of the money and the death of Dana. Ryan tries to kill Caesar on the roof but is knocked to his own demise when Cae¬ sar’s mother and Golonka come to the rescue. It looks as though Caesar and Golonka are destined for a future together. X-Ray: There’s a story line of sorts to tie together the shenanigans of a number of comic characters, with some “name value,” and in¬ terest is maintained fairly well throughout. A number of fun routines and situations provide chuckles amid capable performances, smart and efficient direction and production. A thin, versatile Sid Caesar comes off well, and there’s solid support from many of the others. A bit of extra selling can mean some extras at the boxoffice. Color helps. The screenplay is by Ben Starr, based on a novel by Donald Westlake. Ad Lines: “The More Murder The Mer¬ rier”; “When A Body Needs A Body — It’s Gone* The Deadly Bees (6619) Paramount (Technicolor) (Filmed in England) Drama 84M. Estimate: Fairly interesting programmer. Cast: Suzanna Leigh, Frank Finlay, Guy Doleman, Catherine Finn, John Harvey, Mi¬ chael Ripper, Anthony Bailey, Tim Barrett, James Cossins. Produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky; directed by Freddie Francis. Story: Singer Suzanna Leigh collapses from overwork, and her doctor suggests that she visit with an old friend on a remote island for sev¬ eral weeks. Guy Doleman greets her warmly while his wife, Catherine Finn, is disinterested. Doleman gets Katy Wild, daughter of an inn¬ keeper, to come in to help out. Doleman is interested in bees as a hobby and keeps a hive which is occasionally invaded by the bees of a neighbor, Frank Finlay, who though he claims to know very little has his hives and bees well organized. Some of Doleman’s movements seem a bit mysterious to Leigh, and after meet¬ ing Finlay, she confides in him. He is more than eager to get information on Doleman, intimating that some of his bees are killers. He asks her to keep her eyes open. Later, Finn’s pet dog is attacked by a swarm of bees and killed, which drives Finn to distraction. She tries to destroy Doleman’s hives. Later, Finn is also attacked and dies from the bee stings. At the inquest, Doleman denies that the bees were his. Leigh is attacked in her room but manages to survive. She leaves Dole man to go stay with Finlay. In the latter’s house, she finds proof that Finlay is an expert on bees and that his killer bees have created the mayhem on the island. She escapes the swarm of bees again by spilling the attracting liquid on Finlay, who dies from the stings of his own bees. Leigh is rescued as the house catches fire. X-Ray: This can serve as an exploitable programmer with the bee angle a bit different as regards killers. Some of the story is on the hazy side, but the execution and special effects are adequate. There is some suspense. The acting is average, and the direction and pro¬ duction are fair. The screenplay is by Robert Bloch and Anthony Marriott, based on a novel, “A Taste For Honey,” by H. F. Heard. Color helps. Ad Lines : “Hundreds of Killers Swarm Into Action”; “An Isolated Island Is The Scene Of Seyeral Unusual Murders.” The Vulture (6620) Paramount Drama 91M. Estimate : Lower half exploitation entry. Cast: Robert Hutton, Akim Tamiroff, Broderick Crawford, Diane Clare, Philip Friend, Patrick Holt, Annette Carell, Gordon Sterne, Edward Caddick. Executive producer, Jack O. Lamont; produced, directed, and writ¬ ten by Lawrence Huntington. Story: School teacher Annette Carell takes a short cut home through a churchyard ceme¬ tery and is horrified when a grave opens, and a huge bird with a human face emerges and flies over her. She collapses, and when found the next morning, her hair has turned white. She tells the same story over and over again in the hospital. Investigation by the vicar uncovers an old legend which states that the inhabitant of the grave was buried alive in the fifteenth century hy ancestors of local squire Broderick Crawford, his brother Gordon Sterne, and their neice Diane Clare, the latter married to American nuclear scientist Robert Hutton. The police believe vandals are respon¬ sible, but Hutton investigates and decides there’s more here than meets the eye. He warns Crawford to beware while he goes to talk to professor Akim Tamiroff, an expert on an¬ tiques and a friend of Crawford’s. Tamiroff can shed little light. Hutton begins to wonder whether the monster bird wasn’t created by a nuclear experiment which failed. Crawford is killed and carried off by the bird-like thing to a cliff cave. Later, Sterne is also killed. Only Clare remains of the family, and she is lured into a trap by Tamiroff, who sends Hutton on a wild goose chase. The latter arrives in time to save Clare, and Tamiroff stands revealed as a mad scientist whose experiment went awry. They decide to take the man with a bird-like body and dump it into the sea — then take a real holiday. X-Ray: Here is a long, drawn-out, highly over-imaginative yam that has atmosphere but little substance to back it up. The atmosphere can be exploited, as can the brief glimpses of the so-called monster-bird. The acting is fair, and direction and production are passable. Editing could have aided the overall result. Ad Lines : “The Appearance Of A Mystery Monster-Bird Meant Death”; “Death On The Wing In A Most Unusual Film.” DO SAVE . . . pink REVIEWS They provide a permanent evaluation of all features as caught by our skilled reviewers. Pages are cumulatively numbered. 20TH-F0X Prehistoric Women Melodrama 20th Fox (Filmed in England) (Color) Estimate: Exploitation entry for program. Cast: Mari tine Beswick, Edina Ronay, Michael Latimer, Stephanie Randall, Carol White, Alexandra Stevenson, Yvonne Homer. Produced and directed by Michael Carreras. Story: Hunter Michael Latimer takes off after a wounded leopard with some natives to put it out of its misery and to minimize the danger to others. He reaches a point in the forest marked by a white rhinocerus, a mys¬ terious place shunned by all. He ventures in alone and is taken captive by masked natives. He is sentenced to death for trespassing. A native girl, Edina Roney, whom he tried to help, is also recaptured. Taken before the queen, Maritine Beswick, he refuses her roman¬ tic advances and is thrown into a dungeon which contains other male prisoners. He goes along with Beswick to see whether he can’t force the freedom of himself and the others. He falls in love with Ronay. She refuses to let him go through with the subterfuge, and again he is imprisoned. He and the men free them¬ selves and overthrow the rule of the natives and Beswick. He also rescues Ronay from a sacrifice ceremony. They are forced to part after they are reunited, but she pledges eternal love. He returns to camp not sure whether it was all a dream. His only proof is a small emblem he took from Ronay. He is in time to greet a number of newcomers and finds among them Ronay in modern dress. X-Ray: While watching this story, one gets the impression that the story and some of the situations are really labored. Some of the better highlights are the songs and dances performed by the natives. There is enough ceremonial hodge-podge and native nonsense to hold attention of sorts, and it should do okay as a support feature or as an exploitation item where costumes, drums, leopards, etc, as well as furry bikinis can be utilized. The perfor¬ mances, direction, and production are passable. The screenplay is by Henry Younger. Color helps. Ad Lines: “Women Kept Their Men Pris¬ oners Until They Needed Them”; “A Fierce Breed Of Beautiful Women With A Moral Code All Their Own.” UNIVERSAL Deadlier Than The Male Melodrama 97M. Universal (Technicolor) (Filmed abroad) Estimate: Tongue-in-cheek spy meller spiced with sex should satisfy fans. Cast: Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Nigel Green, Suzanna Leigh, Steve Carlson, Laurence Naismith, Leonard Rossiter, Zia Mohyeddin, Lee Montague, Milton Reid, George Pastell, Virginia North. A Sydney Box-Bruce Newberry Production; pro¬ duced by Betty Box; directed by Ralph Thomas; screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, David Osborn, and Liz Charles-Williams. Story: The seemingly unrelated deaths of