The Ace Black Movie Blog

Showing posts with label Leo G. Carroll. Show all posts

Friday, 11 March 2022

Movie Review: One Spy Too Many (1966)

A lightweight spy adventure, One Spy Too Many mixes thrills with wit on a low budget.

A United States military base is infiltrated by henchman Parviz (David Sheiner). He helps his megalomaniac industrialist boss Alexander (Rip Torn) steal a new chemical weapon that eliminates the will to fight. Agents Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) are dispatched by their boss Waverly (Leo G. Carroll) to investigate and retrieve the stolen gas.

They cross paths with Alexander's soon-to-be-ex-wife Tracey (Dorothy Provine), who is also hunting down Alexander to have him sign divorce papers and retrieve a million dollars he owes her. Tracey tags along with Solo and Kuryakin on a journey to Greece, where they encounter shady archaeologist Kavon (David Opatoshu), and uncover Alexander's plot to subjugate an Asian country as a first step towards ruling the world.

Director Joseph Sargent mushes together two episodes from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. television series, adds some saucy scenes of sexy flirtation, and emerges with a James Bond knock-off theatrical release. The third in the U.N.C.L.E movie series, One Spy Too Many never takes itself seriously, and the lighthearted attitude works. This is a fun adventure with bright ideas and sharp elbows, despite all the shortcomings.

The television origins are obvious, starting with the boxy aspect ratio. The sets look cheap, the evil plot is barely explained and jumps around between various disconnected objectives, and the action scenes are clumsily staged. The threat of violence is always more implied than real, and indeed Solo and Kuryakin make it through the film with a minimal infliction of bodily harm.

But plenty of fun can be found in many corners. Rip Torn is a worthy villain as Alexander (wanting to be Great), his low-key performance doing more with less, and Alexander's obsession with violating the Ten Commandments is a nice touch. His sidekicks and fellow bad guys are memorable, including the resourceful Parviz and muscleman Ingo (Cal Boulder). A life-sized chess match between Alexander and Solo using human pieces is clever. Solo and Kuryakin find themselves in plenty of good and humorous mortal danger: Solo is tied to a table in readiness for bifurcation, while Kuryakin first has to dodge lethal farm equipment then endures mummification.

Dorothy Provine is intentionally irritating in a Doris Day-type role as the extra and unneeded spy. The true infusion of sex appeal arrives courtesy of Yvonne Craig as U.N.C.L.E's omnipresent "control", intent on attracting Solo's attention, and Donna Michelle as a seductive princess.

One Spy Too Many lacks polish, but embraces scrappy swagger.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Wednesday, 25 August 2021

Movie Review: Tarantula (1955)

A monster arthropod horror film, Tarantula offers a decent story, good build-up and modest special effects.

Matt Hastings (John Agar) is the local doctor in a small town on the edge of the Arizona desert. Sheriff Jack Andrews (Nestor Paiva) asks him to examine the disfigured body of Eric Jacobs, found dead in the desert. Jacobs was a medical researcher working with Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) at an isolated ranch. Deemer insists Jacobs died from acromegaly, but Matt is unconvinced.

Deemer is developing a radioactive super-nutrient to help fight world hunger, and his lab is filled with out-sized animals. Another disfigured man attacks Deemer, injects him with the nutrient, and sets the lab on fire, causing an overgrown tarantula to escape. Medical student Stephanie Clayton (Mara Corday) arrives in town to work with Deemer, and she starts a friendship with Matt. Soon a local rancher reports his cattle being attacked. With a huge and hungry tarantula on the loose and Deemer exhibiting signs of rapid disfigurement, the community faces a crisis.

A low-budget but still charming monster-on-the-loose thriller, Tarantula does not disappoint. The cast is strictly B-grade, the performances comfortably wooden, the dialogue obvious, the sets rudimentary, the science naturally ridiculous, and the scary moments not very scary except for the drive-in dates anyway looking to get cozy.

But director Jack Arnold makes best use of the resources at his disposal, including the relatively grounded script by Robert M. Fresco and Martin Berkeley, and in the process delivers an enjoyable romp. Through successive conversations between Matt and Deemer, genuine attempts are made to provide a rationale for the mayhem. Deemer may lack scientific discipline, but his noble intentions to solve the looming hunger crisis for the world's mushrooming population avoids evil scientist/corrupt government/military experiment/alien invasion cliches.

The special effects consist of overlaid blown-up images, and for the most part the giant tarantula is stitched into the action with passable artistry. It helps that the monster's rampage is held back until the final quarter of the brisk 80 minutes. Arnold invests the time in building tension with the cattle killings and occasional glimpses of the monster, and allows a cheery friendship/romance to blossom between Matt and Stephanie.

The climax deploys stock footage of military hardware to tilt the balance of power back from the overgrown invertebrate and to the humans, with none other than Clint Eastwood squinting into the sun to deliver an early kill. Up until then, Tarantula was feeling lucky.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.