Carroll Borland Movies
An exotic beauty, Carroll Borland is best remembered for playing the luminous vampire Luna Mora in Tod Browning's haunting horror classic Mark of the Vampire (1935) opposite Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi. She made her film debut in 1933 in Me and My Pal. In the late '30s, she retired from acting to pursue a doctorate in education. Following graduation, she became a professor at the Pacific Oaks College for a few years before moving to Virginia with her husband Vernon Patten, a film publicist. Borland returned to acting, appearing briefly in a few early-'80s horror films for Fred Olen Ray, including Scalps (1982). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1985
Florida shlockmeister Fred Olen Ray cranked out this ludicrous little charmer about a trans-dimensional mutant which "crosses over" via the annoying intervention of a busty psychic researcher of some sort (Anjelique Pettyjohn, who Star Trek fans may recognize as the green-haired female warrior who gets the hots for Captain Kirk in the episode "Gamesters of Triskelion"). Upon arrival in this dimension, a canister bearing the space-hopping beastie is left on someone's kitchen table (naturally) and eventually pops open, releasing its ravenous contents. After groping Pettyjohn for several minutes, the ineffectual hero manages to find a solution for stopping the rapidly-growing monster's rampage... or not. Daring viewers who manage to wade through this mutant mess are rewarded (kind of) with a gratuitously rockabilly-themed end title sequence intercut with outtakes that are more entertaining than the entire movie. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aldo Ray, Angelique Pettyjohn, (more)
Dr. Howard Machen (Kirk Alyn) and his students have been raiding California's Indian graveyards for archeological artifacts, a criminal practice that the university wants him to stop. After being ordered to make a complete inventory of his illegal finds, Machen regretfully withdraws from the latest field trip, but sends a group of students to dig without him. The young people stop at a remote gas station and receive a warning from an old Indian man (George Randall). He tells them to steer clear of Black Tree, where a great battle took place a century ago that returned many braves to the earth. The students find the location and an excavation yields plenty of ancient items, but strange things start happening and soon flaky D.J. (Jo Ann Robinson) is claiming that she senses evil about them. Her suspicions are confirmed when Randy (Richard Hench) is possessed by the spirit of Black Claw, a brutal Indian warrior who was known for dabbling in black magic. One by one the expedition is dispatched with arrows, clubs, and tomahawks and their skulls are peeled clean. Horror cult figures Forrest J. Ackerman and Carroll Borland make cameo appearances as faculty members in Scalps, which was an early film from prolific exploitation director Fred Olen Ray. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirk Alyn, Carroll Borland, (more)
- 1935
Mark of the Vampire is Tod Browning's remake of his own 1927 thriller London After Midnight, which unfortunately no longer exists. The sudden appearance of ghostly vampires in a remote mittel-European community is seemingly tied in with an old, unsolved murder case. Police inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwill) and occult expert Prof. Zelen (Lionel Barrymore) investigate, with the full cooperation of leading citizen Baron Otto (Jean Hersholt). For awhile, it looks as though the vampires -- Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his chalky-faced daughter Luna (Carroll Borland) -- will continue to hold the community in thrall, but the truth behind their mysterious activities is revealed midway through the film, whereupon the story concentrates on identifying the well-concealed murderer. In the original London After Midnight, Lon Chaney played both Count Mora and Prof. Zelen, which should provide a clue as to the film's incredible outcome. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Bela Lugosi, (more)
- 1933
It is Oliver Hardy's triumphant wedding day -- he is marrying the boss's daughter and thus becoming general manager for the International Horsecollar Corporation. The so-called best man (Stan Laurel -- who else?) arrives with the ring and tickets to Chicago for the honeymoon (Ollie actually wanted to go to Saskatchewan, but Stan tells him "the man said there was no such place as Seskatch, Suscuash..."). He has also brought a wedding present, which Ollie insists that he open right away. It's a jigsaw puzzle. Ollie is properly disgusted by such a silly gift, but when Stan starts trying to put it together, he is inadvertently drawn into working it, too. The taxi comes to take them to the wedding, but the cab driver (Eddie Dunn) winds up coming in the house and also becoming hypnotized by the puzzle. The cab is parked by a fire hydrant and the ticket-writing cop comes in the house and he now becomes engrossed in the puzzle. Ollie makes a few attempts to leave the house but never quite makes it, and finally the angry father-of-the-bride (the perpetually ire-filled James Finlayson) storms over to Ollie's home. But the policeman refuses to let anyone leave -- a puzzle piece is missing! A huge fight ensues, the house is all but destroyed and everyone is arrested -except Ollie and Stan, that is. They come out of hiding and Stan pulls out a telegram that had arrived while everyone was working on the puzzle. It's from Ollie's broker, telling him to sell all his stock at a profit. But before he can even think of reaching for a phone, a news flash comes on the radio, saying that the company has been wiped out. As Ollie sits and contemplates his ruined life, Stan finds the missing puzzle piece. Ollie resoundingly throws him out. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
