Mysterious Island (1961)

It's been awhile since I've reviewed anything like this, but it's long overdue. It's time for a Ray Harryhausen-themed review! Master of pre-computer and CGI effects, Harryhausen is a legend and for good reason. He did for movies what had previously seen impossible, bringing creatures -- real and otherwise -- to life, meant to impress, terrify and produce wonder and scale. Though I've long been aware of it, having seen bits and pieces here and there, I'd never seen in its entirety 1961's Mysterious Island, until now!

It's late in the Civil War in 1865 in Richmond and a small group of Union prisoners, led by Captain Cyrus Harding (Michael Craig), is plotting an escape from Libby Prison. Their means of escape? A hot air balloon tethered near the camp. The group manages to let the balloon loose but it gets caught up in a horrific storm unlike any ever seen before. Harding's men drift through the air for days and days until finally they discover there's no land beneath them. Finally after many days in the balloon, the escaped prisoners crash in the ocean somewhere and manage to survive by reaching a nearby island. Everyone survives as they explore the island that seems to offer at least somewhat abundant supplies of food and water. Can they be rescued? That may not be the biggest of their concerns. This island has some secrets waiting to be revealed.

What a fun movie. In the vein of Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, 'Mysterious' plays on that shipwrecked backstory and throws some twists into the movie. Director Cy Endfield brings to life Jules Verne's novel of the same name (a sequel to two previous Verne novels), a story full of the unknown and crazy prehistoric creatures and one of my favorites, a great sense of foreboding and hanging doom in the air! What exactly do the island's secrets hold? The island/beach scenes were filmed in Castel-Platja d'Aro in Catalonia, Spain, a suitable replacement for a Pacific island supposedly ignored by passing time. Throw in a score from composer Bernard Hermann and you've got a winning formula.

By 1961, Harryhausen was an established effects man with movies like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and 20 Million Miles to Earth to his name. If there's a weakness in 'Mysterious,' it's that there's not enough of Mr. Harryhausen's work! What's there is excellent, but I wish there was more. Our intrepid heroes on the island must battle a giant crab, an immense prehistoric bird, and a gigantic cephalopod as they explore their new surroundings. The stop-animation technology stands out like a sore thumb with an almost washed out, grainy look in the background now, but it's crazy to know the depths Harryhausen went to in bringing these impressive creatures to life. I just wish there was more of them! Still, what's there is excellent (with some other surprises along the way) and should definitely be entertaining, enjoyed and appreciated!

Now how about are characters who could potentially be fodder for these giant creatures? Along with Craig's heroic Captain Harding, look for fellow prisoners, cowardly Herbert (Michael Callan), heroic soldier, Neb (Dan Jackson), and war correspondent, Spilitt (Gary Merrill), with a Confederate prisoner in tow, Pencroft (Percy Herbert). For good measure, our heroes are joined by two shipwrecked ladies, the very lady-like Lady Mary Fairchild (Joan Greenwood) and her niece, Elena (Beth Rogan). A good ensemble, nothing flashy without any huge star power, but some fun characters trying to piece together the island's secrets and mysteries.

Verne's most memorable character in his stories is the iconic Captain Nemo, a brilliant man capable of inventions far ahead of his time, and an extremist idealist at the same time. His hatred? He wants the world to be at peace. Totally at peace. Here, he's played by Herbert Lom who shows up in the third act with a potential rescue but with some secrets of his own up his sleeve. Lom is excellent as the iconic Nemo, bringing a sense of menace and calm all mixed into one. We're not always sure what to think of him or what his intentions are because he's so eerily calm. The problem is that when he arrives, out goes the mystery. The payoff simply isn't as good as the build-up. By the finale, things seem a little rushed and then it just ends. A somewhat disappointing finale to an otherwise enjoyable flick. A bit of a measured recommendation, but definitely still worth seeking out.

Mysterious Island (1961): ** 1/2 /****

The Wonderful Country

Compared to the 1960's, the 1950's just doesn't stand up for me when it comes to the western genre. Movies were too much soap opera, not enough wild west. Sure, there were plenty of good to great to classic entries, but the following decade was a stretch of a genre at its best. Closing out the decade strong though was a 1957 western that's been generally forgotten over the years, The Wonderful Country.

Working for the powerful Castro family in Mexico, gunfighter and hired gun Martin Brady (Robert Mitchum) is crossing the Rio Grande and entering the United States. An incident from his past drastically changed his life, forcing him to retreat into Mexico where he developed a name for himself as quite the dangerous pistolero. Now, he's on a mission from the Castros to pick up an illegal shipment of repeating rifles and ammunition. It isn't soon after crossing the border that his horse throws him, breaking Martin's leg. He can't ride so he's forced to wait and heal in the border town, shipping the guns and ammunition back to Mexico without him. So with nothing to do but wait, Martin sits back and heals but doesn't quite know what awaits him. People from his past, new acquaintances, and those who want to see him dead, they all await in the coming weeks, especially when news reaches town that the gun shipment has been stolen. But by who?

What an interesting, genuinely odd, even offbeat movie. I watched this western from director Robert Parrish years ago and revisited it recently when it popped up on MGM-HD. I liked it a lot then, and a second viewing produced the same result...albeit with the same response. This is an odd movie, no doubt about it. There are touches of an almost art-house film sprinkled throughout. The story is disjointed to say the least, covering months (and maybe more) from beginning to end but with no real sense of the passage of time. But coursing through it all, an odd energy hangs in the air that I found appealing. A bit of a mess but a good mess to watch.

Robert Mitchum was the best. He had no rivals, a rogue in Hollywood before it was cool to be a rogue. He was one of the first anti-heroes too, the tortured hero who transitioned into bigger and better. One of his specialties? As I've mentioned before, Mitchum was drawn to Mexico including this film but also The Wrath of God, Villa Rides, 5 Card Stud, Bandido and probably several more I'm forgetting. Who better then to play an expatriate American who embraced the Mexican lifestyle almost entirely? I can't think of anyone.

Mitchum's Martin Brady is the one constant through all the craziness and winding story. Yeah, his accent is a little rough at times, but when he speaks Spanish, this isn't an actor remembering his lines. He speaks it fluently. But the character as a whole is interesting because it feels so ahead of its time. This is the somber, even doomed gunfighter running from his past but not really knowing what the future holds for him. All he's known is his pistol, but his ability with the gun has him tied down so he can't escape. From the look of the character -- the immense sombrero, the stubble, the vaquero attire -- to the potentially doomed development, it's a more than worthwhile lead performance.

The rest of the cast is more of an ensemble with a few bright spots. Julie London plays Helen Colton, the wife of the local army outpost commander, Major Stark Colton (Gary Merrill), a generally ineffective officer. Helen has a past and is drawn to Mitchum's Brady but she may have other ideas. But then things get weird in almost variety show ensemble territory, including Albert Dekker (a Texas Ranger captain), Jack Oakie (a well-meaning railroad man), scene-stealing Charles McGraw (an amiable doctor), former Negro League/MLB pitcher Satchel Paige (a cavalryman, a Buffalo Soldier), Anthony Caruso (a Mexican farmer), Mike Kellin (a Mexican pistolero), Victor Manuel Mendoza (the army officer) and his brother, the Governor (Pedro Armendariz), John Banner (the German store owner), Jay Novello (a Mexican soldier and Brady's friend) and Max Slaten (his naive visiting nephew). Enough for you? McGraw is especially good, as is Armendariz in a smaller part.

Definitely worth mentioning is the visual appeal of the movie. 'Country' filmed on-location in Mexico, making the movie look almost like a country's tour guide. Some locations are familiar from other like-minded westerns, but for the most part, you're seeing a country as it is, not done up for the sake of a movie. With a Mexican-themed score combined with that beautiful countryside serving as a backdrop, we've got a winner in the technical department. Sure, the story drifts along too much, bouncing from one character and situation to the next almost without warning, but this is a movie that's very enjoyable if you drift along with it. Not a classic, but a pretty darn good western.

The Wonderful Country (1959): ***/****

The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones

The 1950s and early 1960s were the era of the TV westerns. Countless shows from Bonanza to Gunsmoke, The Rifleman to Rawhide and many more dotted the TV landscape. Audiences wanted to see them, and the studios and channels obliged them. By 1966 though, their popularity was waning a bit. A TV movie that was never picked up as a show, The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones, was unfortunately a tad bit too late.

A drifting cowboy on the trail to a job, Kiowa Jones (Robert Horton) stumbles across two prisoners at an isolated cabin guarded by Marshal Duncan (Gary Merrill), a peace officer slowly dying from fever and smallpox. Duncan enlists Jones' help, swearing him in as a deputy to help him transport the duo. The cowboy wants nothing to do with it, but goes along with Duncan's plan just the same. It's less than a day later though when the Marshal dies from the fever, leaving Jones to bring the two prisoners to justice in Fort Smith. There's a problem though. One of the prisoners, Bobby Jack Wilkes (Sal Mineo), has made a standing offer. Anyone who rescues him from the hangman's noose will be rewarded with $2,000. As if his impromptu job wasn't tough enough, now Jones has to defend his prisoners from every man in the territory who can carry a gun.

First shown on TV in 1966, 'Kiowa' wasn't picked up by a network. It's unfortunate because it certainly has some potential. I think the biggest positive is Horton as the titular Kiowa Jones. He had already starred in Wagon Train and A Man Called Shenandoah so he was familiar with audiences and the genre. In other words, he knew what worked. Horton was never a huge star on film or on television, and besides the oh so awful but oh so good The Green Slime, I'd never seen him in anything in either format. The best TV westerns had memorable lead characters, and I feel like Horton's Kiowa Jones certainly had the potential to be a pretty memorable lead.

Why is that you ask? Simple. Like I reviewed recently in A Man Called Gannon, there's something iconic and even a little romantic about the concept of a drifting cowboy. Everything he owns is on his horse with him. He rides from town to town and job to job, living on his own and by his own code of ethics and morals. Horton is able to put a fresh spin on it. His Kiowa Jones is a likable, easy-going cowboy who carries a rifle but doesn't wear a pistol. Thrust into the unlikely position as a deputy, he commits to it because he gave his word. Nothing else. It would be easy to ride out, leave the Marshal behind. He could even hand over his prisoners to any of the gunmen trying to free Bobby Jack. The best part? Kiowa wants nothing to do with the $1,000 reward he would earn by delivering the prisoners. His reasoning? He'd just get in trouble with it. He likes his easy-going lifestyle. That money would just be a hassle. I really, really liked what Horton did with the Kiowa Jones character.

Getting the prisoners to Fort Smith provides about as difficult as you would assume, but 'Kiowa' introduces a solid list of supporting characters along the trail. Doing what seems like a rift on Billy the Kid, Mineo is a scene-stealer as Bobby Jack. He cackles and laughs hysterically, defying Kiowa to just let him go. The dynamic between the two reminded me a little of Anthony Mann's The Naked Spur, albeit on a smaller, less dark level. Nehemiah Persoff is similarly a scene-stealer as Skoda, Kiowa's second prisoner and a gypsy who's accepted his fate with the hangman, predicting what comes with his tarot cards. In an interesting addition, Diane Baker plays Amilia Rathmore, a middle-aged, single, even a little plain woman traveling by wagon to her new teaching post. I especially liked the give and take between her and the trail-wise Kiowa.

On the trail, also look for Royal Dano as Otto, an aging family patriarch out for revenge against Bobby Jack, with his two sons (Lonny Chapman and Zalman King) along for the ride. Harry Dean Stanton and Val Avery make a quick appearance as two greedy bounty hunters tailing Kiowa, Bobby Jack and Skoda with dollar signs for eyes. Robert H. Harris plays Dobie, the hangman.  

Clocking in at 98 minutes, the story in 'Kiowa' is episodic, dealing with one issue at a time before moving on. It is a TV movie so the budget wasn't gigantic. The entire movie is spent on the trail so there's no need for extras or towns. Nighttime scenes are clearly indoor sets, but with my penchant for anything 1960s and/or westerns, there's a certain cheeseball charm to the lack of budget. The music is a little goofy at times, little too light-hearted, but it works. Mostly though, I liked this movie a lot for the casting. I loved Horton as Kiowa. It's a fun part, but there's a darkness to it as evident when the peaceful Kiowa is forced to kill a man. It's a surprisingly dramatic moment in a surprisingly good western. Too bad it was never picked up as a show, but this is a pretty good stand-alone flick on its own.

The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones (1966): ***/****