Stan Simmons Movies
E. L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime was a sprawling fictional account of American manners and mores in the years between 1900 and 1913. Among the mosaic of colorful factual and fictional characters in the novel were escape artist Harry Houdini and radical Emma Goldman. Both characters are all but eliminated in the film version, which only concentrates on three of Doctorow's many plot threads: The story of an immigrant artist (Mandy Patinkin) who becomes a movie director; the saga of "Gibson Girl" Evelyn Nesbit Shaw (Elizabeth McGovern), for whose sake playboy Harry K. Thaw (Robert Joy); kills architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) and a lone black man's (Howard Rollins Jr.) quest for justice when his car is destroyed by a racist fire chief (Kenneth McMillan). This last subplot consumes most of the film's running time, to the overall detriment of the pacing. There are also several scenes involving an unnamed upper-middle-class family (headed by James Olson and Mary Steenburgen) who are evidently meant to be the audience's eyes and ears, but are frankly not terribly interesting. Back in 1981, Ragtime was given plenty of press coverage as the "comeback" picture for James Cagney, after twenty years in retirement. The problem is that Cagney's character (a police commissioner) isn't in the book, and his inclusion not only throws the story off balance, but necessitates the removal of several potentially interesting characters and events. Another detriment is the gratuitous (and illogical) nudity in the Evelyn Nesbit scenes, which earned the film its "R" rating. An ornate misfire, Ragtime is of interest today only for its remarkable cast of veterans and stars-to-be, including Pat O'Brien and Eloise O'Brien, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Allen, Moses Gunn, Jeff Daniels and Fran Drescher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Brad Dourif, (more)
- 1965
This horror movie, the third and final entry in "The Fly" series, features a failed teleportation device, a mad scientist, a fugitive from a looney bin, and a closet full of mutants. The trouble begins again after a young woman escapes from a mental institution and ends up at the home of the Delambre family. There she finds the family leader continuing his experiments in using a machine to teleport people from one place to another. She also finds his handsome son whom she marries. After she discovers a closet filled with failed teleportation experiments, the police are notified. The crazed scientist tries to use his machine. Again it fails and all that remains of the mad inventor is a gooey blob. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Carole Gray, (more)
- 1963
Producer Anthony Hinds used the alias John Elder to pen the screenplay of Kiss of the Vampire. Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), an early 20th century Bavarian, entices a British honeymooning couple, Gerald and Marianne (Clifford Evans, Jennifer Daniel), to accept his hospitality. Once ensconced in Ravna's chateau, the couple discovers with horror that Ravna, Bavaria's biggest fan of Count Dracula, is the leader of an enthusiastic vampire cult. Clifford Evans plays the Van Helsing counterpart, Professor Zimmer, a vampire expert who first tries to warn the couple out of the area and then saves Marianne. Not as horrific as the title suggests, Kiss of the Vampire concentrates on the seductive, sensual side of vampirism, especially in a surrealistic masked-ball sequence. Though it contains far less bloodletting than most Hammer productions, Kiss of the Vampire was severely cut for its American TV release (and retitled Kiss of Evil). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifford Evans, Noel Willman, (more)
- 1958
In this crime drama, a Yankee rocket scientist stationed in Great Britain becomes an undercover investigator when he suspects that his laboratory base has been infiltrated by an enemy spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
