Musical Monday with the Spotnicks

 

The trailblazing Swedish guitar band the Spotnicks didn't rock, they rocketed! Here they are in 1962!

Go One Step Beyond for International Clown Week!

International Clown Week (August 1 - 8) kicks off today. We're going to observe this annual recognition of clowns with a few clown-related posts. Up first, we have a review of "The Clown", one of the spookier episodes of television series "One Step Beyond". (And if you don't feel like reading, you can skip to the bottom of the post and watch the episode by clicking on the embedded video.)

The Clown (1960)

Starring: Mickey Shaunessy, Christopher Dark, and Yvette Mimieux

Director:  John Newland

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A murderer (Dark) thinks he is being stalked by the vengeful clown (Shaunessy) who witnessed the crime.

"The Clown" is one of the most intense episodes of the classic television series. With just a couple minor changes, it would even feel like something you might see on network television or some streaming service today.

The characters featured, and the actors portraying them, are what makes this episode so great. They.are ones that you love to hate, or which you just love. There's a possessive, abusive, cradle-robbing husband (played in a perfectly vile fashion by Christopher Dark) who moreso than most villains I wanted to see get what was coming to him; there's his young wife (played with believable innocence and self-unawareness by the underappreciated actress Yvette Mimieux in her second major role) who is old enough to recognize that she's beautiful but not mature enough to not delight in every bit of attention she can get; and Pippo the Clown (Mickey Shaunessy, in a performance that's gentle and completely sympathetic) who ends up paying dearly for his attempt to make the young woman happy. But not as dearly as she does...

When this episode was produced in 1960, the rules for what could and couldn't be shown on television were far more stringent than they are now. Because of restrictions on showing blood and violence, the murder that puts the story on track toward its climax is a little less horrific than it could have been, and even a little confusing. And that is the only thing that keeps this episode from getting a Nine of Ten Stars.

But don't just take my word for it. Click below... and take One Step Beyond!

For your information:

"One Step Beyond" was a television series that was hosted and primarily directed by John Newland. It was similar to "The Twilight Zone" in content, but generally more lowkey and supposedly featured stories inspired by real-world paranormal experiences. Original episodes aired on ABC from 1959 - 1961, which were then later widely syndicated during the next two decades.

Sunday Funnies!

 From the Golden Age of the Underground Comix, we present this little gem by R. White!

(Originally printed in the pages of Nobody's Bizness Funnies #1)

It's the Sunday Funnies!

This strip (by Hansen) dates from the early 1970s, yet it could have been drawn today. Have things gotten worse or has crime always been out of control?

Click for a larger, more easily readable version. (It originally appeared in Nobody's Bizness Funnies, 1972.)

Untold Tales of Jesus Christ

Since Jesus Christ's birthday celebration coming up later this month, we're going to bring you some lesser-known tales from his life. We hope you find them moving and inspiring. (Click on any panel to see a larger, more easily read version.)

Looking at Murder ala Mod

 It's some 55 years since Brian De Palma made his first feature film, "Murder ala Mod". On Friday, August 18, we're featuring it in The Screening Room over on YouTube. You'll eventually see a review of the film here, but if you have the time, we encourage you to join other film fans to talk about the picture as it debuts on our channel.

In the meantime, though, here are some stills and publicity photos from "Murder ala Mod", by way of a preview.

Musical Monday with Tom Jones

I heard on the top-of-the-news on Sunday that Tom Jones had died. Turns out, it was Tom Jones the lyricist/stage director not Tom Jones the singer.

THIS Tom Jones passed away at 95, from cancer.

This Tom Jones is still very much alive (and only in his 80s). I should have realized I was making a mistake when I thought "I had no idea he was that old")

And here's the LIVING Tom Jones and his mighty voice, in an unusual video of him from the 1960s, performing his most iconic song, "It's Not Unusual".

Musical Monday with Brenda Lee

 

On this Monday, we present a song in honor of those being celebrated on August 10, International Prisoner Remembrance Day. Maybe if some of them found in jails and prisons here in the U.S. felt sentiments along the lines of those expressed by Brenda Lee in this week's offering, there would be fewer of them locked up and less repeat offenders.

It's June...

... for a few more days, and we're closing out the month with a film that features June Palmer and will make it clear why she was so beloved by the readers of men's magazines. (This is the first film of the 'nudie cutie' soft-core porn short-film genre to be featured here at Shades of Gray. I don't know if that marks a is a high point or a low point in the blog's history.)

Nightmare at Elm Manor (aka "Flesh and Fantasy" and "Nude in Dracula's Castle") (1961)

Starring: June Palmer and Stuart Samuels

Director: George Harrison Marks

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A young woman (Palmer) is terrorized by a strange man (Samuels) while spending the night at an isolated house.

 "Nightmare at Elm Manor" is a brief, silent horror film that was the screen debut of nude model June Palmer. In it, all of her assets are on prominent display. Her beautiful face and statuesque figure, along with her perfect breasts, make it obvious why she was so beloved by the editors and readers of men's magazines during the late 1950s and early 1960s. She also seems to have decent acting abilities--or at least a talent for showing the sort of fear that is required for distressed damsels in gothic chillers and Old Dark House-type films. 

Based on what I am seeing here, I think it's a shame that she never broke into the mainstream, except for a few bit parts. Aside from a pretty face and a gorgeous body, June Palmer had something a little something extra--that something that causes her to light up the screen, even when fully dressed. If not for that extra bit of charisma on the part of Palmer, the lackluster nature of the villain stalking her would have annoyed me to the point where I might have marked a Star or two off the rating I ultimately settled on. Palmer (and, yes, her boobs) carry this film, almost entirely by themselves.

Palmer's screen presence is probably also why my imagination immediately began filling in holes in what passes for the film's storyline and/or explaining stupid actions on the part of her character. Why she was walking to the manor at the beginning of the film, why she is sitting around naked and putting on make-up before going to bed, why she goes looking for a drink of water in the middle of the night... all these things, I have thought up explanations for. I even have an idea for what the true nature of the creepy butler/vampire is. And I don't even feel like I should knock the film for the blanks and incongruities, because it entertained me in other ways. Or maybe I was just mesmerized by Palmer's big, beautiful breasts.

But maybe you can tell me if it was the nudity or something else about the film that sparked my imagination. If you're in the mood for an Old Dark House-style quickie, and not offended by lots of nudity, check out "Nightmare at Elm Manor" by clicking below. This is very much a "not safe for work" film, so don't make a mistake and open it there! Also, you will have to open the film on YouTube (as well as be logged into an account there, because it's for mature audiences only.

(But, hey, since you're going to be on YouTube anyway, that's a perfect time to check out my channel. If you like what you see, please subscribe and perhaps even come back every now and then. Sometimes, we watch cartoons or short films during live streams that ultimately end up being reviewed here!)

'Knife in the Water' is a great first feature film

Knife in the Water (1962)
Starring: Jolanta Umecka, Leon Niemczyka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz

Director: Roman Polanski

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A businessman (Niemczyka) invites a hitchhiker (Malanowicz) to spend the weekend with himself and his wife (Umecka) on their small yacht. The two men soon begin to compete for the woman's attention and to engage in a rapidly escalating battle to prove who is the most macho.

"Knife in the Water" is in a category of movies that I generally can't bear to watch: It's a story of people in a cramped space who tear each other apart on a psychological level for no reason other to tear each other apart. The better the acting and cinematic craftsmanship, the more uncomfortable the film is for me to watch. 

For example, I recognize "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) and "Boys in the Band" (1970) as some of the very best movies I've seen, but they are not films I would watch again unless I have to for some professional (or blogging) reason. Everything about both pictures is excellent and that's what makes them so hard to watch.

I don't like watching people tear each other apart for no reason other than to tear each other apart, especially when there isn't a character that I can cast as the villain of the piece. I watch movies for the entertainment, not to watch suffering for the sake of suffering. This is the same reason why I couldn't stand those "torture porn" films that were all the rage during the early 2000s.

With all that said, I recognize "Knife in the Water" is well-acted and well-filmed. Polanski (and/or his director of photography) did a brilliant job framing scenes so even when the characters were on the deck of the boat, with an expansive horizon ahead, things felt claustrophobic even though the surroundings were open and airy.  

Similarly, the acting is universally excellent--generally restrained and in perfect keeping with the slow burn of the film's story. The calm demeanor of the characters, coupled with the way they are clearly trying to get under each others skin, along with the knowledge that none of them have anywhere to escape to when the inevitable explosion of rage happens.

The pacing of the film is immaculate almost up the very end... and perhaps even at that point. It felt to me like the aftermath of the eventual confrontations, as well as the lead-up to the film's cryptic ending felt like it dragged a bit. I don't know if that sense was just my reaction to the conflicts in the film mostly having been resolved, or if it was my unfulfilled expectation that there would be an additional twist.

"Knife in the Water" was Roman Polanski's first feature-length film, and it shows that he had a great eye for framing scenes from the very beginning, as well as pacing the story for maximum building of tension. As mentioned above, he doesn't quite manage to deliver a solid ending--we can see how much he improved as a storyteller in the similarly-structured "Cul-de-Sac" a couple years later--but this is still a very well-mounted film. It's also a fine example of what a talented filmmaker can do with a limited budget, and it's worth examining by would-be filmmakers to this day.

Musical Monday with Johnny Cash

Fifty years ago, on January 16, 1973, the celebrated western television series "Bonanza" came to an end after 14 seasons and 432 episodes.

We observe this milestone in broadcast history with this rare clip of Johnny Cash and a back-up band performing the "Theme from Bonanza" with the complete lyrics.

 

On the 11th minute, of the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month...

 ... World War One officially ended. On this day, we now observe Veteran's Day (originally Armistice Day) to honor those who have graced us with their military service. It can be a solemn occasion.

But not here at Shades of Gray.

A Special Musical Monday with Julie Newmar, the Abe Lyman Orchestra... and YOU!

In celebration of all the faculty members and students returning to the halls of higher education, with a spring in their step and a song in the hearts--because of the student loan cancellations/forgiveness decreed by President Joe Biden--we present a sing-along! Click on linked video and sing along with the lyrics presented next to Professor Newmar (and repeated for your convenience and more easily-read at the bottom of this post)!

Before Bill & Ted's adventure, there was 'De Düva'

De Düva (aka "The Dove") (1968)

Starring: George Coe, Pamela Durell, Sidney Davis, Madeline Khan, Peter Turgeon, and David Zirlin

Directors: George Coe and Anthony Lover

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

In the twilight of his life, a brilliant scientist (Coe) returns to region of his youth and remembers the time he met Death (Davis).

"De Düva" is a hilarious 14-minute short film that pokes fun of the more idiosyncratic hallmarks of Ingmar Bergman's films from the 1950s and 1960s, with "The Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries" being the most obvious targets of the spoof. A highlight of the film is one of the one the earliest lampoons on Bergman's famous Death character and his love of games; it's almost as goofy as what would appear in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" some 20 years later. 

Film students and lovers of "art films" and "foreign films" will get a kick out of every moment of "De Düva". Even the blurry, worn quality of the film is there to make you smile, as it isn't the result of a copy or a copy or a worn copy, but rather originally made to look like that. The film even makes fun of how many older "lesser" films reach us lovers of cinema, even now in the age of digitization.

The cinematography and acting styles are perfect send-ups of Bergman, with the very emphatic deliveries of all lines greatly adding to the comedy. Even the subtitles have jokes, including what appears to be a mistranslation that casts the relationship of the main characters (young lovers played by George Coe and Pamela Durrell) in a very disturbing light. Although, given some of the themes in Bergman films, perhaps I am hoping that's an intended joke...

One of the things I found to be the most hilarious in the film is the language it was made in. Most of Bergman's films were made in Swedish, and, coming to this one not knowing what to expect other than a spoof, I figured it would be in Swedish, given the title. It is NOT in Swedish, however. I don't know whether you have to be a polyglot to find the made-up language spoken by the actors hilarious, but I was laughing out loud at a lot of it. (Spoiler alert: All dialogue in the film is delivered in a made-up language that kinda-sorta sounds like a cross between English and Swedish but is actually neither. It is then subtitled in English, mostly accurately.)

As the title of the embedded video below states, "De Düva" was in the running for a "Best Short Film" Academy award in 1968. That, plus the fact it marks the first film appearance by Madeline Khan and the first leading role by George Coe, makes it worth watching for those with an interest in film history. I think everyone else  will enjoy it as a goofy spoof of what film snobs find entertaining.

 

Stumbling across this little gem in the distant corners of YouTube reminded me that I've had Bergman's "Hour of the Wolf" (1968) in my To Watch pile for several years now. I need to get around to watching and reviewing it!

'The Diadem': Emma Peel's Most Secret Mission?

The Diadem (1967? 1968? 1969?)
Starring: Diana Rigg

Director: Uwe Beetz

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A woman of mystery (Rigg) engages in a deadly struggle with a group of murderous thugs over a secret recording, a piggy bank, and valuable jewelry.

 

Either shortly after she left "The Avengers", or during or shortly after she finished work on "In Her Majesty's Secret Service", Diana Rigg made a pair of made-for-home-viewing short films for a German production company. One of these, "The Diadem" was released both in color (the shorter version, which runs about 7 minutes) and black-and-white (the longer version, which runs about 12 minutes).

The information available about "The Diadem" is long on speculation and short of facts. There are no credits to speak of on the film, so the supporting cast, writer, and crew outside the director are anonymous... and since there only seems to be one source for the director's name, one has to wonder if even that is accurate.

To make matters more complicated, it seems like there are people who may be commenting in authoritative tones about this silent short film who seem to not even have seen it... since they reference events that don't seem to take place in it. (At least not in the version I watched. Maybe the color version isn't just a shortened release of the black-and-white one, but has a different scene or two?

One thing all sources seem to agree upon is that "The Diadem" was made while Rigg's star was shining very brightly during the late 1960s. There is no logical reason for her to star in this weird, ultra-low budget short film. so maybe she did as a favor to a friend? Maybe she had a spare weekend, and she thought it would be fun working with friends? Perhaps, someday, writers and historians more devoted to research and Truth than I will find the answers, but that day is not here.

As for what is actually in "The Diadem", it plays like something of a tribute to "The Avengers", the series where Diana Rigg played Mrs. Emma Peel, the role that catapulted her to fame. One can easily imagine this as a solo adventure for Mrs. Peel, either before, during, or after her gig as a "trouble-shooter" for the British government. Every minute of the film plays like an overly stylized attempt to capture the feel of action scenes from "The Avengers" and the character that Rigg portrays is Mrs. Peel in every way except by name. 

Although for all we know, perhaps we ARE to imagine that this is Emma Peel taking down bad guys and that the filmmakers meant for this to be an authorized sequel to her television adventures... something that hard-core fans could enjoy in their homes on their 8-mm film projectors. The music that plays during the version that watched is even slightly reminiscent of what you might hear on "The Avengers"... although I have no way of knowing if this is what heard when the film was first released.

I think that if you've enjoyed any episodes of "The Avengers", you'll find the "The Diadem" to be a lot of fun. What passes for the plot is a little disjointed and illogical, but the action and weird, artsy choices of camera angles make up for that. The Six Rating I am giving it is as high as it can be, and the only reason it's not a Seven is because the otherwise rapid pacing sputters a bit and is uneven at the halfway mark.

We began 2021 with a look at Emma Peel's first big adventure while she was still a teenager, and we're ending with what could be the last of her adult adventures... bringing The Year of the Avengers to a perfect close.

We hope you have fun watching "The Diadem", and we hope to share another 200-300 posts with you in 2022!

The Avengers: Honey for the Prince

Honey for the Prince (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Ron Moody, Zia Mohyeddin, George Pastall, Bruno Barnabe, Roland Curry, and Peter Diamond

Director: James Hill

Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

The Avengers (Macnee and Rigg) are called into action to find out who murdered two British and agents and to stop the assassination of the crown prince of an oil rich nation who is visiting England with his 320 wives.

This episode deals with the intersection of modernity, Western culture, and conservative Middle Eastern culture, as well as class struggle and the right and wrong ways to work toward social change. These are all topics that I suspect would be near and dear to many potential viewers of this episode... if they could get past the obvious sexist bits, very-much-intentional racist bits ("intentional" because they are there to shed negative light on those holding the attitudes, despite the comedic presentation), and the cartoonish portrayal of the Saudi Arabian prince. And for those who don't care about social commentary, the episode has Emma Peel dancing around dressed as a harem girl, lots of funny lines, some of the best action/fight scenes of any episode so far in the series, and a great performance by Ron Moody. In fact, I think Ron Moody's presence and character puts this among the best episodes of "The Avengers", and the action scenes pushes it into Very Best territory.

The aspect of this episode I found the most enjoyable was the eccentric owner of a very strange business--and how the episode's villains made use of it. Ron Moody portrays Hopkirk, a writer and organizer of live-action roleplaying game scenarios that lets people live out action and adventure in the safety of his "danger rooms." Since roleplaying games and writing has been a vocation and avocation of mine for the majority of my life, I loved this angle to the show. Given how popular RPGs have become in recent years, I think it's an aspect that might appeal to a whole host of viewers.

"Honey for the Prince" was the final episode of "The Avengers" that was made in black-and-white, so this is where we part ways with the very entertaining team of Mr. John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel. They remained partnered for one more patch of episodes... and maybe we'll have to revive the Watching the Detectives blog for a second Year of the Avengers in 2022. Time will tell. (Stick around here for the time being... there are a couple more posts to come for the 2021 Year of the Avengers here at Shades of Gray!)

The Avengers: A Sense of History

A Sense of History (1966)

Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Patrick Mower, Nigel Stock, John Ringham, and Jacqueline Pearce

Director: Peter Graham Scott

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

John Steed (Macnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) go undercover at an elite university to find who murdered a leading economist by shooting him in the back with an arrow. They discover a plot to shape the economic future of a united Europe by murdering key politicians and researchers. But which scholars are involved, and who is the mastermind?

I am torn when it comes to this episode. There are things I really like and there are things I can't stand.

On the one hand, I love the set-up and the nature of villains, from how they're characterized, to what motivates them, and through to the plot twists and turns of who the mastermind behind the plot truly is. I also loved the way one cliffhanger resolved into another cliffhanger as the episode reached its climax during a masquerade ball.

On the other hand, the mix of the sinister and the goofy stereotypical Sixties Youth Culture that embodies the student group at the heart of the episode gets tiresome quickly. It becomes downright annoying once it's clear how wrong-headed they are in their destructive beliefs--I just wanted Mrs. Peel to punch each of them in the mouth as soon as it they opened them--but maybe it's a combination of the passage of time and my own worldview that's causing that reaction, or maybe those characters were just supremely annoying. (They're in the same mold as the villains in "A Touch of Brimstone", but far more irritating, partly because their evil here is flavored with wholly undeserved self-righteousness.)

I also felt like the writers wasted too much time on the hipster evil of the young set. This is an episode with a really convoluted plot and a story that is slightly over-stuffed with characters, and some of it doesn't reach its full potential because of the writers belaboring certain social points. 

 

The student group was so annoying to me that I almost rated this episode at the low-end of average (which is a Five of Ten Stars here at Shades of Gray), but as I thought about it, the witty banter between Steed and Peel, plus the Robin Hood puns and sly references scattered throughout, turned my attitude toward "A Sense of History" (even if one of them was a bit forced and nonsensical plot-wise). Emma Peel crossdressing as Robin Hood in short-shorts also went a long way to improving my outlook... 

All things considered, this isn't a terrible episode, but it's far from one of the best. (The end-of-episode gag with Steed and Peel driving off on a motorcycle--with Peel driving and Steed in the sidecar--is, however, among the best of those.)

The Avengers: The House That Jack Built

The House That Jack Built (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Macnee, Griffith Davies, and Michael Wynne
Director: Don Leaver
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

The past returns to haunt and torment Mrs. Emma Peel (Rigg) when she becomes trapped in the nightmarish hallways and rooms of a mansion left to her by her recently deceased Uncle Jack.

The set-up of this episode seems a bit far-fetched to me. If faced with the same situation that Emma Peel is presented with, I never would have exposed myself to the situation she ends up in... and I find it far-fetched that little old me, who whose life hasn't been steeped in international and industrial intrigue and danger since my teenaged years is more cautious about unexpected news than someone like Mrs. Peel that led Emma Peel. I similarly understand completely why John Steed took the steps he is revealed to have taken as the show unfolds, even if they were completely ineffectual, because he seems to have a more cynical outlook about the unexpected than Emma Peel does.

Aside from the weak set-up, however, this is one of the most intense episodes in the entire fourth season. Other episodes have flirted with trapping characters with horror and/or trapping characters in a surreal, mind-twisting environment (with "Too Many Christmas Trees" being foremost among them), but this one nails it perfectly and it keeps the tension building and mystery deepening throughout the episode. Even after the full extent of the villain's scheme and depraved, revenge-driven creativity has been revealed, there still seems very likely that Peel is going to meet her end, trapped in a nightmare maze.

And speaking of Peel, this episode is focused pretty much entirely on her. Diana Rigg is really the only actor in the episode who has any significant amount of screen time, and we get to see her full range of talent on display. Fans of Rigg should love every minute of this episode.

This episode is even more interesting, because it tells us of Emma Peel's life before she went to work for the British government as Steed's partner. It also bridges the gap between her nomadic childhood as the daughter of a hands-on international captain of industry and her modern life as a multi-discipline subject matter expert who sometimes has to kill people. One question that wasn't answered, however, is whether Peel stepped away from actively running her business because she got married, or if she had already chosen to pursue the more varied life that her wealth allowed.

"The House That Jack Built" is one of the must-see episodes of "The Avengers". I can nitpick the set-up, but what follows is brilliant in every way. It's low on the humor content, but it's more chilling than many straight-up horror movies. 

Of Wolves and Girls in Hoods: Sam the Sham

 

I am fairly certain everyone reading this knows the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" (if not, read this and this, and then come back) and possibly even a few horror stories (by they film or comics) based on it. Some of you may even have seen more "adult" adaptations of the story.

This month, we're going to spotlight a few of the more unusual versions of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story. We're kicking things off with a couple of songs from Sam the Sham. (There are no neat visuals with them... that'll come with the cartoons when we post them.)

First, it's Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs with a song conveying a modernized, tongue-in-cheek version of the Little Red Riding Hood story, as seen through the eyes of the Big Bad Wolf. In 1966, this song was a smash hit on AM radio and reached the Top 5 and even better on numerous charts. 

Striking while the iron was hot, Sham and his back-up singers--the Sham-ettes, recorded and released a sequel/point-of-view reversal on the relationship between the wolf and the maiden in the first song. And the wolf may be in for a surprise. Without further ado, we invite you to click below and enjoy "Big Bad Wolf" by the Sham-ettes.

(Maybe I've seen too horror movies, or read too many horror stories, but in my imagination, these two songs add up to a couple of psychopathic stalkers finding that they're each other's soulmate and then go skipping off in search of victims.)

Still relevant, sixty years later

The Fat and the Thin (1961)
Starring: Roman Polanski and André Katelbach
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A scrawny slave (Polanski) labors to keep his slovenly, obese master (Katelbach) happy... until one day, he decides to escape to the promise of a better life in the city. His master, however, has a plan to keep him obedient and trapped...

Great works of art continue to feel relevant decades and centuries after they were made. The relevancy may or may not relate to the circumstances under which the work was created, nor the message the creator was trying to convey, but the fact that it speaks loudly to future generations and continues to feel fresh is the hallmark of an artistic masterpiece.

"The Fat and the Thin", one of the first works Roman Polanski completed after leaving his homeland of Poland for France. Sixty years after its release, this feels like it could have been made yesterday. The events of this absurdist silent comedy can be taken as an allegory for several different social conditions, most of which originate with power structures and how they can be abused. (One can even see the film as a statement about commercial 

As with all short films from the dawn of Polanski's career, "The Fat and the Thin" is a silent movie, and one so well-executed that no dialog would even be needed if it wasn't, nor were any intertitles required. Everything the audience needs to know is communicated by the actions of the characters on the screen. The only problem with this film is that it drags a little close to the halfway mark. I understand that Polanski was trying to drive home the sense of drudgery and boredom that slave felt, but he was perhaps just a little too effective... or maybe not effective enough. Regardless, the film could have benefitted from some trimming in the middle. 

 But why don't you take a look at the film for yourself by clicking below? Watching this true classic from one of the 20th century's best filmmakers is well worth it; maybe you can even leave a comment below with a few words about whether or not you think "The Fat and the Thin" still has relevance today, and why.