Glen Glenn Movies

Sixth and Main is the Los Angeles street corner where on any given day you might find itinerant local "character" John Doe (Leslie Nielsen). Elegant authoress Monica (Beverly Garland) discovers that the supposedly derelict Doe has in his possession several manuscripts, all brilliantly written. John Doe had once been a high-priced screenwriter, but dropped out when he got sick of playing the Hollywood game. When Monica announces that she wants to "rediscover" him, he fakes his own death and disappears. This independently produced seriocomedy is buoyed by character vignettes from a variety of "underbelly" LA types, ranging from bitter junkies to philosophical quadriplegics.. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"You don't make up for your sins in church; you do it in the streets; you do it at home. The rest is bulls--t, and you know it." Returning to the autobiographical milieu of his 1968 debut Who's That Knocking at My Door? for his third feature, Martin Scorsese examined the daily struggles of a wannabe hood to keep his morals straight on the streets of Little Italy. Driven equally by his wish to become a respectable gangster like his uncle (Cesare Danova) and his desire to live his life like St. Francis, Charlie (Harvey Keitel) takes on his energetically unhinged friend Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) as his own personal penance, intervening to get Johnny Boy to pay off a debt to the local loan shark Michael (Richard Romanus). Despite his promises to his epileptic girlfriend Teresa (Amy Robinson) that they will move out of Little Italy once he strengthens his position in his uncle's world, Charlie's involvement with Johnny Boy further ensnares him in the neighborhood. When Johnny Boy decides to mouth off to Michael rather than pay him, Charlie, Johnny Boy, and Teresa try to flee Michael's murderous anger (and an assassin played by Scorsese), forcing Charlie to realize that the rules of the streets do not mesh with absolution. Whereas fellow "film school generation" director Francis Ford Coppola transformed the Hollywood gangster movie into metaphorical epics about the Mafia and capitalism in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), Scorsese revised the genre in the opposite direction, focusing on the gritty minutiae of daily life and drawing from personal memory. Combining documentary-style realism (even though most of the film was shot in L.A.); kinetic editing and camera movement; and expressionistic lighting, angles, and film speed, Scorsese presents an intimate picture of the trivial incidents and latent violence of Charlie's and Johnny Boy's world, naturalistically unfolding their experiences rather than simply explaining what motivates them. They lead a claustrophobic, petty existence that Scorsese and screenwriter Mardik Martin witnessed growing up in Little Italy, complete with a soundtrack of hit songs like "Be My Baby" and "Jumping Jack Flash" that had poured out of neighborhood radios. Mean Streets opened at the New York Film Festival to excellent notices and played strongly in New York but failed to duplicate that level of business elsewhere. Even so, Mean Streets established Scorsese and De Niro as formidable young talents and marked the beginning of a long-running and fertile collaboration that continued in such films as Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), and Goodfellas (1990). Scorsese's exceptional grasp of the texture of day-to-day life, the rhythm and cadences of street talk, and cinema's visual and aural possibilities makes Mean Streets one of the pivotal films of the 1970s, as well as of Scorsese's career, and an influence on such future filmmakers as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, among many others. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

A Gunfight was the first mainstream American film to be produced by an Indian tribe -- specifically, the Jicarilla Apaches of New Mexico. Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash star as Will and Abe, two long-in-tooth gunfighters with nary a dime between them. Although Will and Abe are fast friends, they agree to a winner-take-all showdown, selling tickets to the momentous event. The townspeople are certain that Will is going to win the shootout, but he knows that it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate Abe. Standing on the sidelines is Will's wife Nora (Jane Alexander), who seems curiously disinterested in the outcome, even though she may become a widow before the day is over. Despite the financial input of the Jicarilla tribe, A Gunfight has nothing to do with Indians; perhaps the tribe just wanted to put together a good, old-fashioned western, sans any social commentary. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands) is the right-wing anti-abortion fanatic who snaps when his girlfriend has an abortion. The couple naturally breaks up, but Kenneth remains bent for revenge against Cathy (Carol White). She goes on to marry a politician, but the vengeful Kenneth returns and subjects her to mental torture in an effort to get her to kill her child as revenge for the previous abortion in this disturbing drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Rhodes Reason is the requisite Hollywood "name" actor in the Japanese-produced King Kong Escapes. While hacking through the jungle, expedition leader Nelson (Reason) and his companions are attacked by a dinosaur. They are rescued by King Kong, who since his traumatic experiences in New York has evidently changed his spots and become a lovable old Joe. Susan (Linda Miller), the prettiest member of Nelson's expedition, takes quite a liking to the big ape (Kong, not Nelson), and the feeling is reciprocated. The emphasis then shifts to dome-headed mad scientist Dr. Who (Eisei Amamoto), whose plans to take over the world include building a huge "Mechni-Kong," a robot designed to put the real Kong out of commission (if Amamoto sounds familiar to you, that's because his voice is dubbed by the ubiquitous Paul Frees). The climactic battle between the two Kongs is staged on a tinker-toy replica of Tokyo Tower -- hardly as imposing a structure as the Empire State Building, but consider what they're working with here. The Rhodes Reason/Linda Miller scenes were directed in Canada by Arthur Rankin Jr., the man responsible for the King Kong animated TV series of the late 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Russell Hayden, formerly of the Hopalong Cassidy Westerns, stars in this mini-Western as "Utah" Nyes, a young rancher searching for his partner, Bill Lawton, in the Canadian Northwest. When Bill's body turns up, nasty "Nails" Nelson (Douglas Fowley), whom the murder victim had accused of stealing valuable pelts, frames Utah for the deed. When another victim of Nails' reign of terror (Guy Beach) bites the dust, Utah is again the most obvious suspect but he eventually manages to clear his name with the help of newfound ally Ivy Jenkins (I. Stanford Jolley). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Having worked as a duo in the first three entries of Monogram's low-budget "Trail Blazers" series, veteran Western stars Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson were joined by Bob Steele in the fourth, Death Valley Rangers -- reportedly much to Maynard's dismay. Although not much younger than his august partners, Steele was still nimble enough to take care of the more strenuous fisticuffs and he was even somewhat believable in romantic clinches -- as opposed to his co-stars, whose ever expanding waistlines did not allow for tender scenes. This time, "The Trail Blazers," government agents, investigate a series of gold shipment thefts in Death Valley committed by a gang headed by Jim Kirk (Weldon Heyburn, whose name was misspelled "Hayburn" in the on-screen credits!). Kirk has hired a crooked scientist, Doc Thorne (Karl Hackett), who has discovered a method to pour the stolen gold back into the rock, where it will be indistinguishable from virgin ore. Steele infiltrates the gang and with the help of his partners, Death Valley is soon safe from Kirk and his gang. Like most of the "Trail Blazers" Westerns, Death Valley Rangers was filmed at Corriganville, actor Ray "Crash" Corrigan's movie ranch in Simi Valley, California. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Though no more expensive or ambitious than any of his earlier Sam Katzman-produced vehicles, Bela Lugosi's Voodoo Man is perhaps the best of the batch, if only because of its quirky supporting cast and casually offbeat dialogue. Lugosi plays Dr. Marlowe, a practioner of voodoo who kidnaps nubile young ladies and places them in a state of suspended animation. He hopes that this practice will somehow restore his zombiefied wife (Ellen Hall) to her normal self. But when he abducts Betty (Wanda McKay), the girlfriend of screenwriter Ralph (Michael Ames), Marlowe's little scheme begins to unravel. Aiding and abetting Marlowe in collecting unwary females is gas-station attendant Nicrolas (George Zucco), while the doctor's retarded handyman Job (John Carradine, who has the film's best and most amusing scenes) dutifully looks after the quick-frozen cuties. When it's all over, Ralph enthusiastically suggests to his studio boss S. K. (not the real Sam Katzman, but reasonable facsimile John Ince) that the story of Marlowe and his voodoo-practicing cohorts would make a great film vehicle for Bela Lugosi! Best line: Lugosi calmly explaining that his wife seems so pale because "she has been dead for twenty-two years now." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Whatever poor Bela Lugosi may have done in a past life, the man did not deserve The Ape Man, arguably the worst of his Monogram horror clunkers. Viewed today, it seems that screenwriter Barney Sarecky and infamous director William Beaudine (whose nickname "One Shot" was earned helming movies like this) were out to humiliate the proud Hungarian actor at every opportunity. They had the man, who once turned down the Frankenstein monster because he found the role demeaning, walk about the entire film in a manner that was supposed to appear simian but ended up looking merely foolish. They gave him an Anglo-Saxon name, Dr. James Brewster, without bothering to explain that familiar Middle European accent. And they provided him with a spiritualist sister (Minerva Urecal), whose character name, Agatha, Lugosi of course was incapable of pronouncing. To compound matters, they wrote in a mysterious character named Zippo (Ralph Littlefield), who, in a silly porkpie hat, drifted in and out of the narrative being annoyingly mysterious, only to reveal himself in the end as "the author of the story." "Screwy idea, wasn't it?" he says blithely putting the final nail in Lugosi's coffin.

Lugosi's Dr. Brewster had experimented with a spinal serum derived from the fluids of a gorilla. The dedicated medico naturally tested the serum on himself and now appears incapable of walking upright, in dire need of a shave. Needless to say, the only antidote is human spinal fluid (which Lugosi pronounces "fluit"). Accompanied by screaming headlines such as "Ape man killer still on the loose!" Dr. Brewster and his gorilla henchman (Emil VanHorn, whose simian suit paid his rent for years) stalk the dark streets for human prey. A couple of wisecracking reporters (Wallace Ford and Louise Currie, both surprisingly tolerable) briefly wander into harm's way, knocking each other over the head with prop vases. Happily, for unexplained reasons, the gorilla suddenly turns on his master and breaks his neck, ending the nightmare for all concerned, including, one would imagine, Lugosi himself. Typical for cheap Monogram, Lugosi stayed in his ape-like makeup throughout, the expected transformation scene never materializing. The critics were understandably severe -- "Monogram's writer didn't have to wipe the dust from Bela Lugosi's Ape Man, he had to take the mold off," chuckled the Daily News -- but as horror-film historian Tom Weaver so succinctly put it: "Despite their ruinous effects on Lugosi's career, had these Monogram pictures been made without him, they would not merit discussion today." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In a rather desperate attempt to duplicate the success of Republic Pictures' Three Mesqueteers B-Western series, Monogram producer Robert Emmett Tansey hired tired veterans Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson to constitute the "Trail Blazers." Maynard and Gibson (playing themselves) are former lawmen hired to look into the disappearance of horses purchased by Commissioner Brent (I. Stanford Jolley) of the Southwestern Railroad Company. The seller of the herd, Betty Wallace (stunt rider Betty Miles), is unaware that her foreman, Tip (Glenn Strange), is also in the employ of Mel Carson (Ian Keith), a crooked saloon owner with interests in a stagecoach line whose existence is threatened by the railroad. Despite their expanding waistlines, Maynard and Gibson manage to catch the crooks and return the stolen horses, well assisted by young, law-spouting Sheriff Bob Tyler (Bob Baker). The latter, a former Universal star, was added to the cast to provide the necessary romantic sub-plot but the cantankerous Maynard disliked him so much that he was gone by the second instalment of the "Trail Blazers," The Law Rides Again. Maynard himself ended his long starring career after the sixth entry, Arizona Whirlwind (1944), replaced in the final two films by Chief Thundercloud. The initial two "Trail Blazers" films were helmed by Alvin J. Neitz (under the pseudonym of Alan James), and proved the final directorial work of this genre-specialist whose career dated back to the silent era. After the demise of the series, Hoot Gibson and new sidekick Bob Steele filmed another three Westerns for Monogram, often mistakenly referred to as "Trail Blazers" entries. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

After an opening scene at a Washington DC cocktail party where it is demonstrated that "loose lips sink ships", the plot proper gets under way, wherein a group of six men conspire to undermine America's war effort. What is the connection between these six men, all of them outwardly respectable members of Washingtonian society? Hero Don (Clayton Moore) and heroine Alice (Joan Barclay) suspect that the answer lies with the mysterious, wryly philosophical Dr. Melcher (Bela Lugosi), a world-famous plastic surgeon. It turns out that Melcher is part of an elaborate espionage scheme hatched by the dreaded Black Dragon Society of Japan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A true "guilty pleasure" crime melodrama with horror movie touches, the low-budget The Living Ghost stars future Academy award-winner James Dunn as Nick Trayne, a retired detective hired to look into the mysterious disappearance of banker Walter Craig. Working with Craig's pert secretary Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury), Nick is questioning Craig's alarmingly suspicious friends and relatives when the missing banker (Gus Glassmire) suddenly turns up in a strange, zombie-like state. According to Dr. Bruhling (Lawrence Grant), Craig is suffering from a paralyzed cerebral cortex, a state that may render him dangerous and that is in all likelihood induced by someone else. And, sure enough, Nick has barely begun to understand what the good doctor is suggesting when Craig is found hovering over the dead body of his brother-in-law, George Phillips (J. Arthur Young). But is the cataleptic banker actually a killer or is someone even more dangerous behind the murder? The trail leads Nick and Billie to a nearby shack where strange experiments have recently been conducted and, in time, to the real culprit. The Living Ghost was released on videocassette as A Walking Nightmare, and a nightmare it certainly is. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Hoof and mouth disease reared its ugly head in this unusual Tex Ritter singing Western from Monogram. Ritter played Tex Rocketts, the sheriff of Sundown who is forced to quarantine the valley's cattle to prevent the spread of the disease. The desperate ranchers, all of whom are in debt to banker Cyrus Cuttler (George Pembroke) and his son Nick (Carleton Young), attempt to get their livestock to market anyway. When one of their number, Steve Davis (Dave "Tex" O'Brien), is arrested and jailed by Tex, the ranchers blame the lawman for their plight. Cuttler advises Steve to kill Tex but the latter, with assistance from government agent Bret Stockton (Glenn Strange), is able to prove that Cuttler's crew has been treating the cattle with acid to generate false symptoms of hoof and mouth disease. In between saving Sundown from the nefarious Cuttler gang, Ritter performed his own I've Done the Best I Could, a song reportedly inspired by the work of African-American folk musician Hudie "Leadbelly" Leadbetter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi