“Tell me — what really did happen in Africa?”
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Review: Note: Price and Lee appear together on-screen near the end, but only for a brief moment, and they don’t exchange dialogue. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Famine, pestilence, war, disease, and death — they rule this world.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: SPOILER ALERT “… that the denouement will contain the standard triumph of good over evil, but this is not the case” — rather, “the Death that claims victims does not choose according to whether one believes in God or Satan”. He argues that the “film is in its way as philosophic as Bergman’s picture; Corman’s characters are as hopelessly confused and terrified, because the God in whom they had faith abandoned them”. He points out that this movie, “filmed in England, in Technicolor” is “the most handsome of Corman’s films”, with “the set design by Daniel Haller and photography by Nicholas Roeg” “exceptional”. I chose to (re)-watch The Masque of the Red Death as part of my ongoing revisit of all the Poe-inspired films made by Roger Corman, not quite realizing exactly how timely this tale would feel during our COVID-19 pandemic. This film about an evil nobleman and his willing compatriots denying refuge to plaintive villagers provides a potent cautionary tale about the need to continuously support one another through the hardest of times, across all boundaries: social, economic, racial, and religious. The “Red Death” can come at any time, to anyone, and no amount of denial or cruelty can stop its path. Viewers should be prepared for some surprisingly disturbing scenes — such as Price nastily ordering his guests to act like beasts (“How like a worm you are. Be one.”); Magee openly leering at a young woman (Greenlaw) who looks like a girl (and was actually performed by a child); Court orgiastically bonding herself to the devil through self-branding an upside-down cross onto her bosom; and Price voicing countless creepy lines (“The way is not easy, I know, but I will take you by the hand and lead you through the cruel light into the velvet darkness.”) Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“The Usher line is tainted, sir.”
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“There’s nothing as real as money.”
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The cinematography and sets are appropriately atmospheric, and Bernard Herrmann’s score gives clear indications of what was to come with his best-known work in Psycho (1960). Note: According to TCM’s article, Mason referred to this as “one of the few films he made in Hollywood that he could still watch with pleasure”. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I am responsible; if it were not so, she would not want to haunt me.”
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“Watch for the woman in red.”
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The supporting performances are all fine — particularly Lowe (who looks eerily like a serious Lionel Barrymore) as “Specs” — and Tierney instantly proved his ability to embody psychopathic impulses without a blink. Especially tense and well-played scenes are those focused on Dillinger seeking revenge: Dillinger revisiting a bar (“You don’t remember me, do you?”) where a waiter once made the mistake of referring to then-penniless-Dillinger as a “two-bit chiseler”; Dillinger confronting Specs with the hyper-realistic wooden gun he made while in prison. This 70-minute flick is well worth a look. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“That ain’t a band — it’s a unit! It’s one guy multiplied five times.”
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that shift the film into yet another category of cinema altogether. Field gives a red-hot performance, future-director Kazan hops around on screen like he’s on speed, and there’s no guarantee at all of where or how things will end. Is this really what the blues look like at night? Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“When strangers come here from the outside, they always cause trouble — they’re always seeking something.”
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… finding modern conveniences to be ridiculous:
… and having trouble dealing with the values of civilization and articulating his own pure philosophy” — comes across as a “savage” in the courtroom:
but redeems himself once “he finds his niche… at the circus, where animals (including his longtime friends, the elephants) are held captive.”
It’s refreshing if awkward to see the series taking such a different route, and there are some notable highlights — specifically Tarzan’s epic escape across New York (amazing stunt work!).
However, this one is only must-see for fans following the series closely. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Gold no good — Tarzan get dinner!”
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“Conway is vile:
… and Weissmuller is an ideal adventure hero”, as evidenced in the “exciting finale” when Tarzan “swims to the rescue, fights a giant crocodile, battles cannibals, and calls on the elephants.”
Peary notes that “the most interesting aspect of the film, considering the entire series was accused (rightly at times) of racism, is that a little black orphan boy [Cordell Hickman] becomes an adopted member of Tarzan’s family and is right there with them at the end” (though “predictably, he wasn’t even mentioned in the next Tarzan film”).
Otherwise, there’s absolutely nothing to distinguish this flick from others in the series: it follows the same exact formula, down to final capture by a “savage” local tribe. Only diehard fans of the series need check this one out. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Go to your father, Boy — and later on, he’ll teach you all the things you’ll ever need to know in the jungle.”
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Hunter and Inescort are appropriately smarmy as the dubious relatives clearly on the take for money, not the privilege of parenting Boy.
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