Classic Cinema: D.O.A.

D.O.A. (aka "Dead On Arrival")  (1949) 
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Beverly Garland, Lynne Bagget, Luther Adler, William Ching, and Henry Hart
Director: Rudolph Mate
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

 Frank Bigalow (O'Brien) is a small town accountant on a spur-of-the-moment vacation in San Francisco when he is poisoned by a slow acting toxin with no hope of surviving. He spends his last few hours of life trying to solve his own murder.

"D.O.A." is one of the greatest murder mystery films ever made, as well as a stellar example of the film noir genre as it manifested in American movies. It turns a number of movie and mystery conventions on their heads, and even some six decades after it was made, it feels fresh and exciting as one watches it unfold. The pace grows more frantic as the literal deadline for our hero approaches while the mystery of why he was poisoned seems to grow more elusive with each supposed clue he uncovers. It's a movie that holds up to repeated viewings--it almost demands it, because once you know the answer to the mystery, it's great fun to see how certain scenes take on a different tenor. What this film does with snappy writing, moody lighting, and artful cinematography is amazing... and I wish there was some sign that modern filmmakers watched movies like this and studied them and took lessons away from them. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

As great as I think this movie is, it's not perfect. There are a couple of ham-fisted attempts at comedy early on, as Bigalow walks into the middle of a salesman's convention at his hotel; one of the film's villains is portrayed by a performance that goes just a bit too far over-the-top in this film which is otherwise marked by fairly low-key performances; and the overly sinister and melodramatic appearance of the poisoner in the jazz club when a close-in shot of a patron switching Bigalow's drinks wold have been far more effective and in keeping with the rest of the scene. Despite my sense that the director went too far with these three elements, they still make sense within the context of the film, and given the greatness of what surrounds them, they are easily forgiven.

If you're a lover of mystery films or the film noir genre, you absolutely must see "D.O.A.". This goes double if you fancy yourself a writer or a filmmaker; we need more work like this these days. I thought I had reviewed this film years ago, but since I can't seem to find any sign of a post, I must never have gotten around to it. So, although my intent was to just make an entry in the "Classic Cinema" series and give you the chance to watch this great film right here, I figured there was no time like the present.

And there's no time like the present for you to watch "D/O.A."/ I've embedded it below for your enjoyment.

Forgotten Comics: "Jill Trent" & "British Agent 99"

During the early years of the comic book industry, more series-leading characters came and went than possibly in all the decades that have followed since. The vast majority of titles in those days were anthologies, so for every issue of a comic book, there was a need for at least three or four different series, not counting one- and two-page filler items. Once reprinting newspaper strips fell out of vogue, a vast number of original series were needed.

Some of these characters remain at the forefront of popular comics today, such as Superman, Batman, The Spirit, and Wonder Woman. Others were popular enough that they continued to receive occassional revivals, at least through the 1990s, as creators and company executives fondly remembered the comic book heroes of their earliest childhoods, such as Plastic Man and the original Captain Marvel (and Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr.)

But for every Superman, there were dozens upon dozens of characters who either had a time in the spotlight (like Black Cat) or who disolved back into the aether of imagination from which they had sprung after just a small handful of stories. And then there were the moderately successful characters who kept popping up here and there, either because just enough readers liked them, or because some editor or publisher had a soft spot for them.

One character who was featured in four issues of Pocket Comics from Harvey, and who was never seen again once that title was cancelled, was Alan Douglas, British Agent 99. Douglas was a British national and celebrated Hollywood star who left acting behind to join the British Secret Service after the German victory at Dunkirk in 1940. A master of disguise, he could become anyone with just a little time to prepare.

Splash page from the "British Agent 99" tale
that appeared in Pocket Comics #3.

The first three "British Agent 99" stories were set against the backdrop of the Nazi expansion into eastern Europe and the Yugoslavian military coup and popular revolt that resulted when that nation's political leadership surrendered to the Nazis. Although Alan Douglas is fictional, many of the characters he interacts with are historical figures, and the story unfolds in a manner that stays true to the actual events. In the fourth and final tale, Alan Douglas is taken out of historical events and goes on assignment to Hollywood where he meets Black Cat and helps take down a Nazi spy ring.

Alan Douglas remained in the shadows for more than 70 years when, though complete coincidence, two different publishers decided to bring him back. 

In April of 2013, Broken Souls published "Tarnished," an anthology featuring grim takes on several Golden Age characters, including Alan Douglas and Black Cat. It's a full-color title with all new stories, and you can learn more about it by clicking here.

While the creatives at Broken Souls were slaving away, NUELOW Games--an outfit I call my own--was preparing its "Film Fun Comics" comics/fiction/gaming anthology series. We too tapped Alan Douglas to be featured, due to his back-story as a former actor and his team-up with Black Cat, the mascot of the NUELOW Games comics line, and a fixture of the "Film Fun Comics" series. As is the case with almost all NUELOW Games's comics releases, "Film Fun Comics: British Agent 99" is presented in black-and-white. We strip the color out of the scans, since the original sources are of varying quality and it's the best way we can bring uniformity to the presentation within our non-existing budget and limited resources. But... since it IS in black-and-white, I have an excuse to make a self-serving post! 

While Broken Souls may have beaten NUELOW Games to market with the first ever revival of Alan Douglas, "Film Fun Comics Vol. 3: British Agent 99" is still noteworthy, as its the first time someone has ever collected all four of Alan Douglas's adventures in one place. Click here to learn more about this important release from NUELOW Games (which also features original fiction by yours truly and a Black Cat story illustrated by Bob Powell).

While "British Agent 99" may be a bit too esoteric and crude in its execution art-wise for many modern readers, the same cannot be said about "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth," another 1940s series that has recently received the NUELOW Games treatment. "Jill Trent" is a series so full of action and Girl Power that it continues to appeal today. In fact, Jill has never completely been forgotten in the seven decades since she first appeared on the scene, as numerous little tributes to her all across the web demonstrate. 

A Jill Trent splash-page from "Science Sleuths" #1.

Jill Trent, along with her gal-pal Daisy Smythe, are independent business women who make their living selling Jill's inventions to companies and corporations. On the side, they use Jill's inventions to fight crime... and they usually beat the heck out of any bad guy unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Jill Trent, Science Sleuth" lasted some 14 episodes, debuting in Nedor's "Fighting Yank" #6, and eventually moving to "Wonder Comics" as a regular back-up feature. When "Wonder Comics" was cancelled with issue #20, so was "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth."  

This series was a lot of fun, and lead artist Al Camy had a style that still holds up nicely today. If you're one of those readers who bemoan the poor (and mostly undressed) state of comic book heroines, I think "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth" will cheer you up. (Heck, if you're an artist, get in touch. Maybe we can make NEW "Jill Trent" stories!)

Click here for more information about "Science Sleuths" #1. Jill will be headlining the first few issues of Science Sleuths, but will be sharing its pages with other science-minded (and far more obscure) characters. We will eventually run out of Jill Trent stories--around #5 if current plans hold--but we're certain readers will come to appreciate the other strips waiting in the wings.

In addition to three "Jill Trent" adventures, "Science Sleuths" #1 presents the origin story for Spider Queen. I touch on that series here.... and I will probably revisit it when "Science Sleuths" #2 comes out later this month.

Stopping the Milla Jovovich Quarterly?

From the beginning of this blog, I've been putting up a Milla Jovovich picture here at least once every 3-4 months. It started as an accident, and then it became intentional. Should the fannish madness continue? I say yes. But what say you? (We have a comments section, you know....)

Who created Spider-Man?

The question in the header is an old argument. I don't really want to engage in it, as it's rather pointless. I am just putting out a little tidbit that I stumbled across while looking for material to include in NUELOW Games's "Science Sleuths" series.

A few years ago, there was a legal dust-up between Jack Kirby's heirs and Marvel Comics over character ownership, who created what during the 1960s at Marvel Comics, character ownership, and lots and lots of dollars in potential royalties and other payments.

One of the characters that the Kirby team threw onto their list of creations of Jack Kirby was Spider-Man. Now, from the outside, it seems clear that Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko--something Stan Lee has asserted in numerous interviews. The Kirby suit was relying on completely unused art and story concepts for their claim that Jack Kirby helped create Spider-Man.

While the suit was working its way through the courts and the claims and counterclaims were flying, fanboys divided into camps and much virtual ink was spilled all over the web.

But if and when such an argument starts up again--most likely just in the fanboy realm these days, when it comes to the question of "who created Spider-Man--Lee, Ditko, and/or Kirby?"--at least when it comes to many of the fundamentals, maybe the answer is none of the above?

Exhibit A: Pages 3 and 4 of the first "Spider Queen" story, published in 1941 in the pages of "Eagle Comcis" #2 by Fox Features Syndicate and credited to "Elsa Lisau."

In the first three panels on page 4, you see Shannon King (Spider Queen) shooting web-fluid from a gun (as Kirby's "original" Spider-Man did) and you see her eventually creating wrist-gadgets to shoot said fluid (as Lee and Ditko's "original" Spider-Man did). Hmmmm....

Kirby and Lee were both active in comics during the 1940s. It's entirely possible that either one, or both, came across Spider Queen during her very short life in comics; there's even a slight chance that Kirby had a hand in her creation, since he did a little work for Fox back then. Certainly, either Roy Thomas or Mark Gruenwald were aware of this character, as they retro-fitted her into the Marvel Universe as a Nazi agent in a 1993 issue of "The Invaders."

Spider-Man is much more than wrist-shooters and web-fluids, but the next time some court battle erupts over who owns what and who created what when it comes to that and related characters, and fanboys start huffing and puffing indignantly over creators' moral rights, someone will hopefully think about "Elsa Lisau" and Spider Queen... who was doing doing the Web-Slinging and Web-Swinging thing more than 20 years before he was.

Who created Spider Queen? At this late date, we may never know. However, a prevailing theory that behind "Elsa Lisau" are the artistic team of brothers Louis and Arturo Cazeneuve. (Comparing the art in the three Spider Queen stories to other known or attributed work of one or both of the brothers--such as "Agent 99" and "Phantom Sphinx" (from Harvey Comics, 1941), or "The Queen of Evil" (from Fox Features, 1941), it seems to be a sound one. Louis's hand in particular seems clearly in evidence throughout the three published Spider Queen tales. But whether they were the writers as well as the artists--that will remain a mystery.

And as for the claim Kirby created Spider-Man? Well, unless Fox stole the web-gun idea from him, I think we can toss that one out the window--as the courts did, if memory serves. Also, from what I've seen publically when it comes to the costume that Kirby's Spider-Man would have worn, it looked like a retread of his Golden Age redesign of Sandman, which was a retread of his Golden Age Stuntman character. I LOVE Kirby's work--I rank "Kamandi" among my top ten favorite comics of all time--but the Kirby heirs really should have left Spider-Man off the list of characters that he created/helped create.

Spider Queen is featured in the first three issues of "Science Sleuths." Click here to get them at a discount.

(If you want to see more of the Brothers Cazeneuve right now, check out NUELOW Games's "John Kerry vs. The Queen of Evil" e-comic. Spider Queen and Jill Trent will be featured in "Science Sleuths" issues.)

For some background on this post, click here, here, here, and here. (Oh... and that Wiki page? It's a prime example of why you shouldn't trust what you read on Wiki.)

Classic Cinema: The Cat and the Canary

"The Cat and the Canary" is a 1927 film that many of those who like to think they know how to make a horror film, as well as many of those who think they know how to make a comedy REALLY need to sit down and study.

"The Cat and the Canary" is one of the earliest horror films and it remains one of the best. The scary bits are as scary today as they were in 1927... and the same is true of the funny bits. There are even some visual flourishes that few filmmakers have managed to best in nearly 90 years since its release.

You can watch the film in its entirely right here on this page. The version I've embedded features somewhat better musical selection that many versions out there, but it's still rather random. Personally, I like watching silent films to Mike Oldfield CDs like "Ommadawn" and "Incantations."

Click on the arrow below to start the film, or click here to read a longer set of comments from me first.

Classic Cinema: Hitchcock's "Young and Innocent"

This 1937 film by Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favorites from the great director.

"Young and Innocent" is one of Hitchcock's many "wrongfully accused man on the run to prove his innocence" tales, but it's one I never get tired of watching. Nova Pilbeam and Derrick de Marney are perhaps as good as they ever were in this quick-moving film that dances deftly from drama to comedy to nail-biting thriller mode and back again over and over. And the climax at the restaurant is something filmmakers should look at and try to emulate even today.

Check out this week's "Classic Cinema" entry. If you've never watched early Hitchcock, "Young and Innocent" is a great place to start. (It's actually a better film than some of his more famous 1930s efforts.) Click here to read my review, or feel free to go straight to the movie below. And have a great weekend!.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day, America! The A-Team (Ava Gardner, Alice White ]in another one of her many bizarre hats] and Ann Miller) are pitching in to make it an extra special one both here at home and abroad!

Classic Cinema: The Man Who Changed His Mind

This time around in Classic Cinema, Boris Karloff plays an obsessed scientist who has found the secret of the human soul and how to preserver it and transfer it between bodies. He summons his prize student, played by Anna Lee, to help him in the final stages of his research... but that's when things start to go horribly wrong.

"The Man Who Changed His Mind" is a spectacular early sci-fi/horror flick from England. The script is expertly paced and hits all the right notes, humorous, dramatic, and horrific. The cast all give fine performances, the script hits but Anna Lee is the true stand-out among the cast. Watch for the scene where she teeters on the brink between brilliance and madness herself -- it's a powerful bit of acting that's done purely with her eyes and facial expressions.

Click below to watch "The Man Who Changed His Mind" in its entirety, or click here to read my review first.

Lights, Camera, and plenty of Black Cat Action!

"Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. Him" is now available for purchase and download at DriveThruComics,com, DriveThruFiction.com, DriveThruRPG.com, and RPGNow.com,  It's a 48 page  book that presents four stories illustrated by the, great Joe Kubert--some of his earliest professional work--and three stories illustrated by the artist most closely associated with the Golden Age Black Cat, Lee Elias.

As a little preview, here's the splash-page from one of the Kubert stories (click on the image for a larger version):

Also, as a special treat, here's a short Linda Turner story NOT included in the book. My partner in NUELOW Games efforts L.L. Hundal felt that three non-superhero Lee Elias two-page stories were plenty, so this one got held for one of our planned follow-up "Film Fun Comics" editions--or just for posting here... time will tell!. Click on the images for larger versions.

If you've enjoyed this blog over the years, I encourage you to get a copy of "The Black Cat vs. HIM!". I edited the book and wrote "Excerpts from the Diary of Linda Turner," which is a fiction piece that adds a little more flesh to the "revised background" for Black Cat that's been implied in previous NUELOW Games products featuring the character. Supporting that book is supporting me and my love for places where "everything is in black and white" and my ability to have the time to put this blog together. (And other books like the "Film Fun Comics" series.)

Your support will be greatly appreciated. If you DO get a copy, please let me know what you think of "Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. HIM!", either here, or in the comments section on the download page!

Classic Cinema: Curtain at Eight

Get the weekend stared right by watching a classic murder mystery where everyone's a suspect, including the chimp.

Is Dorothy MacKaill happy he's dead, or just smiling for the camera?

Click below to watch "Curtain at Eight" in its entirety, or click here to read my review first.