Arch Oboler Movies

This largely unseen film (made in 1972 and not released until 1991) was made using a 3-D stereoscopic process trademarked under the name "Space Vision." Unlike color process three dimensional films, which require specially colored glasses for viewing and which frequently produce eyestrain, "Space Vision" is based on a polarized light process and can be shot on one negative. It is viewed with polarized glasses and is easier on the eyes. The story follows an American G.I., returning from a tour in Vietnam, and his girlfriend (a sexual tease) who is going blind, as they take a tour of Japan. Very little happens, and the film appears to have been designed chiefly to show off its boffo three-dimensional effects. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Neither fish nor fowl, this docudrama is an odd combination of ostensible statistics and dramatic fiction. Using the much-touted first Kinsey Report on sexual behavior as a resource, director Arch Oboler has strung together five different vignettes on the topics of premarital relations ("Honeymoon"), infidelity ("Homecoming"), divorce ("The Divorcee"), mid-life promiscuity in men ("Average Man"), and abortion ("Baby"). The setting is a seminar given by a college professor (Leo G. Carroll), and the vignettes are introduced as remembrances of people listening to the discussions in the seminar. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Historically important as one of the first 3-D feature film- the first was the 1922 film Power of Love- Bwana Devil is an otherwise amateurish film, redeemed somewhat by good performances and a reasonably interesting script (by director Arch Oboler). The thinnish story is built around some authentic African footage lensed by Oboler in 1948. Based on fact, the plot concerns two ferocious lions, whose man-eating propensities halted progress on the building of an East African railroad. Robert Stack, Nigel Bruce and Barbara Britton appear in the dramatized sequences, which look like they were filmed for an entirely different movie. The main attraction of Bwana Devil, then and now, is its gimmicky 3-D photography, replete with thrown spears and leaping lions assaulting the camera. Industry reaction to Bwana Devil resulted in the now-famous advertising blurb "What do you want? A good picture, or a lion in your lap?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the whole, the films of producer-writer-director Arch Oboler seldom came up to the lofty standards of his radio work, but each of his movie projects had a few meritorious moments. One of the better Oboler film efforts was The Arnelo Affair, produced by MGM in 1946. Frances Gifford delivers what may be her best performance as Anne Parkson, the loving but neglected wife of busy Chicago attorney Ted Parkson (George Murphy). Upon meeting one of Ted's clients, shady nightclub owner Tony Arnelo (John Hodiak), Anne finds herself inexorably drawn to the charismatic Arnelo. He in turn is equally fascinated by Anne, but his fascination deepens into love. Upon realizing that Arnelo is essentially a cold-blooded thug, Anne tries to break off their relationship. But Arnelo has murdered his cast-off mistress Claire Lorrison (Joan Woodbury), and has arranged the evidence so as to implicate Anne in the killing. To Arnelo's way of thinking, if he can't have Ann, no one can-certainly not her scrupulously honest husband, who has gone on record insisting that he'd prosecute any criminal to the fullest extent of the law, even if that criminal was a friend or relative. Told in Arch Oboler's traditional stream-of-consciousness manner, the story comes to a violent but logical conclusion when Arnelo exhumes his own long-suppressed sense of decency. Despite competition from the three stars, and from such reliable supporting players as Eve Arden and Dean Stockwell, The Arnelo Affair is stolen by Warner Anderson as a soft-spoken, philosophical Chicago detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In many ways, the history of the cautionary fable Strange Holiday is more fascinating than the film itself. Written and directed by radio's Arch Oboler (of "Lights Out" fame), the story concerns American businessman John Stephenson (Claude Rains), who returns home after an extended vacation to discover that the U.S. has been taken over by a fascist dictatorship. Completed sometime between 1940 and 1942, the film was originally produced by General Motors as a morale-booster for the company's employees (it should be noted that the story insists that the strongest defense against totalitarianism is Big Business!) GM decided not to screen the picture, whereupon Arch Oboler sold the property to MGM. That studio also eventually passed on distributing the film, at which point Oboler and star Claude Rains, forming their own production company, repurchased the film and distributed it on a limited basis in 1945. The following year, Strange Holiday finally received a widespread national release through the auspices of PRC Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, set at a WW II munitions plant, the lives of five workers are chronicled. Their stories are told via flashback. Though they all ride together to work everyday, and they think they know each other very well, the stories they tell show them otherwise. The group of workers is made up of: a fighter for the French underground who came to America to help her countrymen back home; a race-car driver who, while racing, sustained serious injuries that rendered him unfit for military service; a disillusioned "Miss America"; a prison warden who was ordered to execute his own brother; and a hobo who decided to do something to help his country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide