All the Money in the World (2017)

All the Money in the World (Dir: Ridley Scott, 2017). 

Based on events which shocked the world back in 1973, All the Money in the World relates the story of Pablo Getty (Charlie Plummer), 16 year old grandson of billionaire oil baron J Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer) who was kidnapped and ransomed for $17,000,000. Pablo’s mother and estranged daughter-in-law of Getty, Gail (Michelle Williams) cannot pay the fee and appeals to Getty Snr. Though a pittance to a man of his standing, Getty refuses to put up the money; instead hiring ex-Fed Fletcher Chance (Mark Wahlberg) to investigate the abduction. 

Best known for big budget sci fi and widescreen epics such as Blade Runner (R Scott, 1982) and Gladiator (R Scott, 2000), Ridley Scott may seem an odd choice to direct the true story of a kidnapping. But Scott proves his versatility in an impressively mounted, sometimes morbidly gripping thriller. Eliciting strong performances from a talented cast, particularly that of Christopher Plummer as Getty Snr. 

As was widely reported at the time, disgraced star Kevin Spacey was originally cast in the role of J Paul Getty. Dropped from the movie less than a month before its scheduled premiere, the part was recast with Plummer and all scenes involving the character were hastily reshot. A performer who I feel improves with age, Plummer is excellent in the role. As the hardened business man he exhibits a callous coolness while remaining sympathetic in his portrayal. He was deservedly lauded for the performance and, in all honesty, it is hard to imagine Spacey would have been any better. It is credit to Plummer, Scott and all involved that the newer scenes integrate seamlessly with the old. Indeed, if you didn’t know you would never notice. The rest of the cast also prove highly capable in their roles; Whalberg gives one of his most charismatic performances as Chance, while Michelle Williams gives a sensitive portrayal of a distraught and exasperated mother.  Also noteworthy are Charlie Plummer as the captive and Romain Duris as a sympathetic gaoler, in movie replete with powerful performances. 

All the Money in the World tells a grim story but a worthy and engrossing one. Unflinching in depiction of the tortures Pablo endured, it is not always an easy watch but it is a very rewarding one. 

The Giant Behemoth aka Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959)

The Giant Behemoth aka Behemoth the Sea Monster (Dir: Eugène Lourié, 1959)

Taking inspiration from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Eugène Lourié, 1953) and Godzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1954), The Giant Behemoth (released in edited form in the UK as Behemoth the Sea Monster) is 1950s monster movie mayhem on a minuscule budget.  

In a classic 'when atomic testing turns bad' scenario, a pre-historic Palaeosaurus comes ashore on the Cornish coast, threatening the lives of marine life and crusty old fishermen. Not content with terrorising townsfolk in the West Country, the rampaging radioactive reptile heads to London. What is a bored behemoth to do in the big city but riot? If only the meddling military don't stand in his way... 

It would be easy to dismiss this, admittedly schlocky, sci-fi as just another second feature monster flick with second rate special effects, but to do so would be doing The Giant Behemoth something of a disservice.

Granted, its plot is a bit of a potboiler, already over familiar by the late 1950s. Regardless of which, a great deal of pseudo science is employed to explain the onscreen events, resulting in a rather talky first half. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have too much of a detrimental effect on the pacing. Padding it may be, the 'science part' doesn't detract too much from the tension building and the movie is actually rather well paced, in spite of obvious exposition; although I am sure most audience members are just eager to see the monster create chaos in the capital.

Already a noted art director, Eugène Lourié  made his directorial debut with the influential sci-fi classic The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, often regarded as the movie which started the monster fad of the 50s. The Giant Behemoth sees him in similar creature feature territory. While the former was a low budget affair, its superior stop motion animation by effects genius Ray Harryhausen would lend the film a polish that belies its budgetary restraints.  ...Behemoth, too, utilises stop motion animation, but with less satisfying results. Harryhausen's mentor Willis O’Brien was the uncredited special effects designer and creator, although his work here is a considerable step down from his contribution to the staggering effects in King Kong (Merian C Cooper & Ernest B Schoedsack). In actuality the stop motion animation is decent here, especially when seen in wider shots. However, this is greatly undermined by some wretched close-ups of a clearly static puppet. We see the same cars trashed and the same extras attacked time and again, diminishing the otherwise sterling model work. 

For what it's worth Lourié makes the best of the meagre ingredients and delivers a well paced, enjoyable B picture. He would direct four features in total, all in a similar pulp sci-fi vein. While each movie has its merits, all but The Beast... are hampered by tiny budgets. The Giant Behemoth is no monster masterpiece but it is a worthy edition to the creature feature genre. Rough and ready, certainly,  but with an undeniable cut price charm.  

Scrooge (1935)

Scrooge (Dir: Henry Edwards, 1935).

This early British 'talkie' stars Sir Seymour Hicks stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, the yuletide loathing rotter who finds redemption when visiting spirits show him the error of his ways, much to the gratification of his overworked, under payed employee Bob Cratchit (Donald Calthrop). 

Distinguished as the first feature length sound version of Charles Dickens' oft filmed novella, time has not been particularly kind to this adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Granted, it is 85 years old, but considering it is merely two years older then Walt Disney's perennial Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937), and two years younger than the innovative King Kong (Merian C Cooper & Ernest B Schoedsack, 1933), this movie seems like a product of a completely different age. 

Print deterioration undoubtedly accentuates the antiquated feel. Long in the public domain and evidently edited over the years, the version I viewed also appears to be missing a reel; the expected sequence in which the Ghost of Christmas Past escorts Scrooge back in time to his youth is completely absent. Rather the scene begins, abruptly, with the breakdown of Scrooge's engagement to Belle and is over with in minutes.  Good luck finding a more complete copy, as my attempts to find one have proved futile. 

Having played Scrooge both on stage and in the silent film Old Scrooge (Leedham Bantock, 1913), Seymour Hicks is suitably curmudgeonly as the old miser. Other performers fare less well in a movie which, perhaps due to missing footage, seems a little light on character development. Scenes showing the disparate differences between rich and poor, while commendable, feel a little like filler in such a short movie. The undoubted highlight are the scenes featuring the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The shadowy sequence displays influences of German Expressionist film and features some genuinely inventive visuals. 

Over familiarity is always an issue when watching any movie adaptation of such a well known story, but all considered, this Scrooge is an entertaining and worthy addition to ever increasing Christmas Carol canon. The movie was eventually overshadowed by MGM's more lavish A Christmas Carol (Edwin L Marin, 1938); a movie which was itself surpassed by the British production Scrooge (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1951).With an excellent central performance form Alastair Sim, that particular adaptation is rightly considered the definitive version by many. 

Its copyright status means Scrooge is easy to source on many streaming platforms, in original black and white as well as dodgy digital colour. It will probably be of interest most to Christmas Carol completists, but is recommended viewing to anyone seeking alternative festive entertainment.  

Devil Girl from Mars (1954)

Devil Girl from Mars (Dir: David McDonald, 1954). 

With Martian men on the verge of extinction, Nyah (Patricia Laffan), a PVC clad dominatrix who bears a passing resemblance to a young Agnes Moorehead, is dispatched to London to collect male specimens for the purpose of repopulating the planet. Think Mars Needs Women (Larry Buchanan, 1968) with a gender reversal and you have the idea. Accompanied by a robot seemingly made from odds and ends found in a garden shed, the would-be seductress with the voice of a British Rail announcer goes off course and crash lands in the Scottish Highlands. Here she invades the remote Bonnie Charlie Inn; the residents of which are a motley bunch including an escaped murder and his girl, an aspiring model, a scientist, an investigative journalist and a sturdy Scots landlady. The men of the Inn aren't up to spec so Nyah must repair her craft and continue on her mission. But those pesky Earthlings have other ideas and are intent on stopping her. You can bet they are sorry when she unleashes a powerful raygun and her giant flowerpot 'bot on them! 

Not as kinky as it sounds, Devil Girl from Mars is a family friendly second feature. If your family likes obscure sci fi with wobbly visual effects that is. With stock characters and predictable plotting, the screenplay is just as bad as the 'special' effects. Some choice dialogue includes a nonchalant: "Mrs Jamieson, may I introduce you to your latest guest, Miss Nyah. She comes from Mars". Possibly my favourite line is the exclaimation of one character, mid-invasion: “Nothing like this has happened to me before!” In fairness, the cast make the best of the woeful script. Hugh McDermott and John Laurie are the most recognisable faces in a cast awash with actors you have seen before but cannot quite remember where. 

Director David McDonald spent the previous two decades in low budget second features. So prolific was his career in the quickies that he could have directed Devil Girl from Mars in his sleep. On the evidence of the finished film he may well have. 

Let’s be brutally honest: Devil Girl from Mars is a load of old tripe. Yet it is oddly compelling, entertaining old tripe. Campy and cringy in equal measure while at the same time oddly twee, it is sci fi schlock of the highest - or should that be lowest? - order. If low budget, lowbrow Brit B movies are your thing you could do worse than check it out. 

The Dark Past (1948)

The Dark Past (Dir: Rudolph Maté, 1948). 

Based upon a play by James Warwick, The Dark Past was filmed previously by Columbia Pictures as Blind Alley (Charles Vidor, 1939). A decade later the same studio resurrected the story for this prime slice of second feature film noir. 

The Dark Past is one of a number of films of its era to deal with the psychology of the criminal mind, the most notable of which was Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock, 1945). It was shot in the then groundbreaking pseudo documentary style utilised in such movies as Boomerang! (Elia Kazan, 1947) and The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948). 

The directorial debut of the talented Rudolph Maté and featuring a now legendary cast, The Dark Past was considered a B-picture; suggested by a short runtime and small scale approach which employs few outdoor shots and feels a little stagy. It does however, feature two powerhouse performances from its leads William Holden and Lee J Cobb.  

Told in flashback and narrated by Cobb as criminal psychiatrist Dr Andrew Collins, Collins relates how he and his family were held hostage by escaped convict Al Walker (Holden). With the help of Walker's girl Betty (Nina Foch), the good doc attempts to uncover Walker's unconscious motivation to kill, a disorder linked to a recurring nightmare following childhood truma. 

The flashback device works somewhat against the narrative, as the audience know the Cobb character survives, thereby robbing the movie of much of its impact. The thrills here are largely generated from the superlative performances, particularly from top billed William Holden whose transformation from coldblooded killer to existential psychoneurotic proved a major dramatic breakthrough for the star. 

Having shot to fame in boxing drama Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian, 1939), in the following decade Holden's natural acting talent was largely unexploited. Cast in a series of amiable, if somewhat anemic, nice guy roles, The Dark Past proved to be his most significant performance since his debut. Holden clearly relished the opportunity to play against type and delivers a barnstorming performance; anticipating acclaimed performances in weightier roles such as Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) and Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953). 

Cobb too, mostly associated with a fantastic run of on screen heavies, is here cast against type as the good guy. In a less showy role than Holden's he is entirely convincing as the stoic shrink who slowly succeeds in rooting out the cause of Walker's maladies. A sympathetic performance from Nina Foch as the killer's concerned moll completes the impressive star triumvirate. 

While much of the psycho-analysis in The Dark Past is bunk, the movie is excitingly staged by Maté and performed with such professionalism that it matters not. Small scale it may be, but this tense and compelling film noir offers terrific entertainment. Increasingly hard to find in recent years, to my knowledge the only official DVD release is of Spanish origin (titled Cerco de Odio). However, fans of the era crime dramas would do well to seek out this minor classic.