It's the final bow for Tom and Jerry

The Phantom Rocket (1933)

Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors and Singers

Directors: Frank Sherman and George Rufle

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An escaped convict hijacks Tom and Jerry's experimental space ship and turns their maiden voyage into his getaway... with disastrous results.

"The Phantom Rocket" is a kinda-sorta sequel to "Rocketeers" where Tom and Jerry are also heroic test pilots about to travel into space on a rocket ship. While this one covers some of the same ground as its predecessor--a space rocket that misfires and ends up in the ocean, for example--it's a much more capably executed space launch, as if the cartoon characters learned lessons from their previous attempt at space exploration. The production team at Van Beuren in the Real World also learned lessons from the previous adventure it is more focused in its story and humor, and the pacing is fit for a cartoon about a rocket with the action and gags coming at the viewer non-stop from beginning to end. Unlike entirely too many of the installments in this series, the jokes don't get repetitive and there is very little in the way of looped animation.  

Another strength of "The Phantom Rocket" is the music, which more often than not is the case with the installments in this series. Here, the action opens with a cute and catchy song performed by all the engineers and scientists and mechanics and technicians who made the space flight possible, as well as the press covering it... and, of course, the "two chumps" who will be undertaking the dangerous flight--Tom and Jerry. The music continues to be top-notch throughout this piece--both underscoring and helping to drive the action, as Tom and Jerry and the thug who has taken them hostage careen about in the out-of-control rocket ship, leaving all manner to surreal chaos in their wake. Eventually, they come crashing back to earth, with get a closing song that declares "Hurray for Tom and Jerry", and the film closes on a joyous high note.

In the Real World, however, Van Beuren was not cheering and celebrating the duo. As July 1933 came to an end, so did the adventures of Tom and Jerry. After 26 episodes released over a two year span (from August 1931 through July 1933), Van Beuren closed the book on them. Whether it was the inconsistent quality and tone of the series, the, quite frankly, better cartoons being produced by Walt Disney and the Fleischer Brothers, or factors that are not obvious to surface-skimmers like yours truly, Tom and Jerry never gained any market traction nor popularity. At least they went out on a high note.

As usual, you can check out the subject of this review, right here by clicking on the embedded video below. (And while this was the last cartoon to be produced, I still have 12 more "Tom and Jerry" installments to review. Watch this space for more!

It's a great-looking package... but it's empty

Darling (2015)

Starring: Lauren Ashley Carter, Brian Morvant, and Sean Young

Director: Mickey Keating

Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Darling (Carter) is hired to be the caretaker of a townhouse while its owner (Young) is away. The house as a reputation as being haunted, and the previous caretaker killed herself, but that's just superstitious gossip and coincidence, right?

"Darling" is a stylish, beautifully shot movie that puts you in mind of the psychological horror films from the period in which it appears to be set--the late 1960s or early 1970s. The technical crew and director takes full advantage of the black-and-white medium and each shot is expertly framed and beautifully balanced. The use of sound (and its absence) is also used with great effect throughout the film.

Unfortunately, for all the technical excellence on display here, the film is ultimately unsatisfying because not enough attention was paid to character and story when the script was written. I have no fundamental issue with the fact that everything is left vague and there is lots of that here. For example:

Is Darling unbalanced as the film starts, or is she driven mad by evil entities in the house? Is the man Darling meets who she thinks he is, or is she just a lunatic? Is the homeowner aware of the evil in the house, and is she sacrificing young women to it? 

I could go on, but I'd be venturing into spoiler territoriy if I did. Still, the even the open questions I listed are important questions to the story. If the situations are handled correctly, they don't necessarily need to have a clear answer... but in  the case of "Darling", they aren't. In fact, as the end credits start to scroll to hard rock music, I wondered if writer/director Keating had even given any thought to those questions whatsoever, or whether he was just so set on showing off his talent for creating striking visuals and framing scenes that the fact his movie needed some semblance of a story, and that the main character needed to be more than just another part of the sets.

Actually, having seen Lauren Ashley Carter in a couple other films (the comedic horror short "Once Bitten" springs immediately to mind), I wonder if Keating wasn't directing her as if she was part of the scenery. Carter is capable of more than just the three modes we see in this film--emotionless, hysterical, and murderously flipped-out--and I think "Darling" could have benefitted greatly if she had shown some of that range. For example, if we had seen Darling having a semi-normal reaction to something, or even engaging in some activity that didn't seem like she going through a set of stage directions while wandering through the house--like listening to the radio while reading a book, or watching television while eating lunch. Instead, she is behaving strangely from the get-go. I have no idea if this is the case, but I wonder if Keating is a George Lucas-style director in the sense that characters are secondary to visual spectacle... and the actors are only there to make scene compositions look better.

In the end, I find myself unable to recommend "Darling" (and these days, I am trying hard to only watch and review films that I can recommend, because I am trying to be an oasis of positivity in a world's that's going to Hell). I love the moodiness of the picture, and it's spectacularly filmed... but it's ultimately hollow. Maybe that's exactly what the writer/director was going for? If so, perhaps I am just missing the point of it all--and I certainly missed the point of the "big reveal" at the end when Darling finally breaks into the mysterious locked room she was told by the home owner to never enter. I couldn't decide to whether this was a 4 or a 5 on my 0-10 ratings scale, but I eventually settled on the higher of the two. There's no denying that this is a visually impressive and atmospheric film.

"Darling" is included as one of the free streaming movies for Amazon Prime subscribers, so if you want to check it out--for the visuals, or to double-check my take on it--it might not cost you anything but time.

Wonder Woman All-Star Wednesday

By Gary Frank

As we wait (and hope) for the new Wonder Woman movie to show up in theaters, we continue to bring you a gallery of portraits of our favorite Amazon every other Wednesday. This time around, we bring you the work of nothing but the most famous artists lending their talents to capture her eternal strength and beauty!

By Aaron Lopresti

By Jose Luis Garcia Lopez

By Neil Vokes

By David Finch

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By Frank Cho

By Jae Lee

Happy Birthdays!

William Powell and Thelma Todd, two of the favorites here at Shades of Gray, share the birthday of July 29. Powell was born on this day in 1892, and Todd in 1906.

Powell and Todd also shared the silver screen in the 1927 silent movie "Nevada". Click here to read my review of it, and to even watch the movie.

Not one of Melies' best, but still worth watching

Parafaragamus the Alchemist, or The Infernal Horn 

(aka "The Mysterious Retort" and "The Alchemist and the Demon") (1906)

Starring: Georges Méliès

Director: Georges Méliès

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

An aged mystic (Méliès) drifts off to sleep in his workshop, and his magic still malfunctions and creates spirits--but not the kind you drink.

"Parafaragamus the Alchemist, or The Infernal Horn" is one of the many fantasy shorts that Georges Méliès created during the first decade of the 20th century to showcase his groundbreaking cinematic special effects. It's not the best example of his work--what little story we have here doesn't make a lot of sense, and he did better and more elaborate effects in films--but it only runs roughly three-and-a-half minutes, so it's okay for what it is. (The overall message--mess with the demons, you'll get the horns--but there's not much else going on... except perhaps for the clever bit where Melies shows that something good MIGHT have come from the experiment if only the old man had been awake.)

Despite my negativity above, I do have say that like all of Méliès' fantasy-oriented shorts, it holds up better to modern sensibilities than do the ones where he's just replicating stage illusions, or using film to create elaborate magic tricks that would been impossible  to do live on stage. I think the film is also remarkable in the way it manages to both be goofy and grim at the same time.

As is my habit with these silent shorts, I make them available for you watch in the same post as my review. While there may be better examples of Melies work out there, I think this one is still worth the few minutes of your day it will take you to watch it. (And if you disagree with my estimation, be sure to leave your your take on it in a comment below.) 

Musical Monday with UnderOath

The Florida band UnderOath began its existence as a Christian hard rock band in 1997. Since then, it has gone through (numerous) complete line-up changes, disbanded and reformed, and moved through genres from heavy metal, to emo-core, to hardcore. They've even recently distanced themselves from their roots as a Christian band.

UnderOath comes to Shades of Gray on this Musical Monday with their 2019 video for "Bloodlust". It's an interesting song and a visually engaging little film. I have NO idea what's going on in the video, but watching it was quite the experience!

Olivia de Havilland dead at 104

Two-time Oscar-winner and all-around cinematic legend Olivia de Havilland passed away on July 26, 2020. Here's a gallery of portraits in her memory.

John Saxon has passed away

One of film and television's great character actors, John Saxon, passed away on July 25, 2020. He was 88 years old.

Born in 1935, Saxon began his career in 1954, spending his first decade or so playing hunky, romantic characters, but by the early 1960s, he had transitioned into the character roles that would make him the cold-hearted man-of-action or stern-faced villain that movie goers would love to hate.

Saxon appeared in some 200 movies and television series, including milestone films like "Enter the Dragon" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and, one of my all-time favorites, "The Girl Who Knew Too Much". His final film, "Bring Me the Head of Lance Hendricksen"--a comedy in which he appears along side other great character actors and B-movie stalwarts lampooning themselves, their public images, and the film business--is currently in post-production and slated for release in 2021.

Saturday Serial: Jenna of the Jungle

Continuing Don Hudson's "Jenna of the Jungle" (and including a random bonus jungle girl afterwards). Click on any panel for a larger version, and come back next Saturday for Part Eleven.


JENNA OF THE JUNGLE: PART TEN
By Don Hudson

To Be Continued...

Girls of the Jungle

By William Brown

Firearms Friday with Elsa Martinelli

Born in 1935, Italian actress, model, and interior designer Elsa Martinelli began her show business career as a fashion model at the age of 16. After coming to the attention of Kirk Douglas and his wife, who owned a fashion business, her career path was re-directed into movies. 

After a brief sojourn in Hollywood, she returned to Europe where her star rose steadily throughout the late 1950s and kept soaring through the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout her career, Martinelli purposefully sought out a variety of projects to keep from getting typecast, and she played everything from a damsel-in-distress to a vampire, and appeared in everything from period romance films to gritty crime dramas. Although she mostly appeared in Italian productions, she became renowned for her ability to work seamlessly on the multinational productions that were the life's blood of the European film business during the height of her film career.

With the arrival of the 1980s, Martinelli turned a long-time side interest in furniture design and interior decorating in to her main vocation. She continued to accept the occasional role, primarily in Italian television series and movies until her final retirement from acting in 2005. 

Elsa Martinelli passed away in 2017.

Cuteness abounds in Blunderland

Betty in Blunderland (1934)

Starring: Bonnie Poe (as the voice of Betty Boop)

Director: Dave Fleischer

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Betty falls asleep while putting together a jigsaw puzzle and dreams that she travels to Wonderland and becomes Alice.

"Betty in Blunderland" uses elements of the novels "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" to create a lighthearted fantasy romp featuring not only the characters you expect but also a few other fairy. The cartoon is at its strongest early on--the best part is Betty's crossing over into Wonderland and following the White Rabbit to the Mad Hatter's tea party. (Betty's tumble into Wonderland is especially amusing--even if there's a punnish pop cultural reference that I'm sure the 1930s audiences got but which left me baffled.)

From there, the cartoon goes into cuteness overdrive, with the iconic Wonderland characters singing and dancing and generally being goofy, and ultimately gathering around Betty so she can sing to them in a forest grove. Everyone is having a grand time--until the Jabberwocky shows up and spoils the party. The remaining few minutes are still cute and fairly amusing, but they are also completely predictable. Essentially, it feels like the animators felt obligated to include a chase scene and this was the best they could come up with.

There have been worse adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice tales, but there have also been better. Although it gets a bit shaky at the end, at least this one never bets boring and is sure to put a smile on your face, whether you're a fan of Betty Boop or Alice in Wonderland. It's also just a little above 7 minutes long, so why don't you give yourself a break and check it out right now by clicking below? 

The Incarnations of Della Street

Mention Della Street to "Perry Mason" fans, and most of them will see Barbara Hale in their mind's eye. However, from Della's first appearance on the silver screen through her various television incarnations, a total of eight different actresses have played the character between the years of 1934 and 2020.

THE INCARNATIONS OF DELLA STREET

The first to portray Della on film was Helen Trenholme, in "The Case of the Curious Dog" (1934). It was her second of only two known film appearances, as she retired from acting after getting married the year it was released. It's a shame, because Trenholme seemed to be a talented movie actress.

Helen Trenholme

Next up was Claire Dodd. She portrayed Della in two films, "The Case of the Curious Bride" (1935) and "The Case of the Velvet Claws" (1936). In the latter film, she gained the distinction of being the only Della to ever agree to marry Perry Mason.

Claire Dodd

Claire Dodd

In between Claire Dodd's turns as Della Drake, Genevieve Tobin took on the role in "The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935).

Genevieve Tobin

Genevieve Tobin

Then June Travis portrayed Della in "The Case of the Black Cat" (1936). This film also marked the first time the screen "Perry Mason" would be rebooted, as Perry and Della were back to being boss and secretary/partner rather than husband and wife.

June Travis

June Travis

The last actress to portray Della Street during the 1930s is also the one among them who is best remembered over all, Ann Dvorak. She was Della in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop" (1937).

Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak

Next to portray Della was Barbara Hale. Hale is the actress rightfully most closely associated with the character, as she portrayed Della steadily for a total of 20 years. Hale first played Della in the long-running "Perry Mason" television series from 1957 to 1966. She then returned to play the character in 30 made-for-television movies from 1985 to 1995.

Barbara Hale, in the 1960s

Barbara Hale, in the 1990s

In between Barbara Hale's turns as Della, Sharon Acker portrayed the character for 15 episodes of "The New Perry Mason" (1973 - 1974).

Sharon Acker

The current Della Street is Juliet Rylance. So far, Rylance has played in eight episodes of  HBO's "Perry Mason" series that aired in July and August of 2020. As of this writing, it's unknown if there will be further episodes produced for this new series, but it seems likely it has been the highest rated series on the HBO streaming service in recent years.

Fans of "Perry Mason" (like yours truly) are especially eager to see more episodes of the HBO series. The new series takes place before Perry Mason is the high-powered, maverick criminal defense attorney we know and love. In fact, in the initial episodes of the series, he isn't even a lawyer yet. (Della is the secretary of the attorney for whom Perry works as an investigator.)

As we wait to hear what the future holds for our favorite attorney and his friends and colleagues, keep an eye on this space for "The Incarnations of Perry Mason".