Peeping Tom at Lover's Loop

A CRY IN THE NIGHT (1956)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

If it wasn't for the peculiar casting of this lightweight B-movie, it might have been forgotten and placed in the annals of junk food cinema. But when watching the flat, monotonous "A Cry in the Night," it is of interest because of stars like Raymond Burr, Edmond O'Brien and Natalie Wood who pepper the screen with grains of fascination.

Raymond Burr (in one of the most uncharacteristic roles of his career) plays Harold, a momma's boy, a childlike 32 year-old man who hangs out at Lover's Loop watching couples making out in cars. Every night after work, he becomes a peeping tom while holding his lunch box. The objective is not clear other than the fact that he suffers from arrested development and has never kissed a girl. When he catches Elizabeth (Natalie Wood)  necking with Owen (Richard Anderson), Harold decides to kidnap her after giving Owen a concussion. Only dilemma is that Elizabeth is the daughter of a police captain (Edmond O'Brien), unbeknownst to the kidnapper. Harold takes her to an abandoned brick yard, though what he plans to do with her involves nothing more than friendship. Harold needs a friend, badly! In his life, his only friend is his mother whom he brings a slice of apricot pie to every day.

"A Cry in the Night" isn't even dirty pulpy fun - it is too flatly staged and boring to rate as a middle-of-the-road thriller. Natalie Wood is completely wasted and unmemorable as Elizabeth, which is shocking considering how she often burns up the screen with her presence. Edmond O'Brien is one-note as the hollering captain though he has two solid moments - one where he confronts his older daughter who feels he is too intrusive in her love life, and the spine-tingling moment he discovers Harold's true tragic nature.

Raymond Burr steals the show, showcasing a man with a boyish and unhealthy attachment to his mother. His scenes get to us emotionally in the same way Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates did a few years later in "Psycho." The rest of the movie is disposable.

Natalie Wood proving 4-H is a good thing

THE GREEN PROMISE (1949)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 As with most of the films in her career, Natalie Wood stands out. In "The Green Promise," she is the youngest, wide-eyed daughter who wants to have lambs on the farm. She is so eager, so enthused, so full of joy over the prospect that you just want to give her the precious lambs because you know they are in good hands. "The Green Promise" is a charming, inoffensive if slightly undernourished tale yet it is Natalie who lends the film its humanity.

Walter Brennan is Matthews, the stubborn widowed patriarch of the family who doesn't know when he has a good thing going. The family has just sold off their last farm and now he's got a new one to tend to. Matthews has a son and three daughters, the eldest of the bunch being Deborah (Marguerite Chapman) who has to maintain the house. Matthews wants to run the farm his way, desiring no help from a perfectly pleasant agricultural county agent, David Barkley (Robert Paige). Of course, David has got his eye on Deborah. Meanwhile, the youngest of Matthews's daughters, Susan Anastasia Matthews (Natalie Wood), has her eye on getting two lambs (something which her father rejects). After her father gets sick leaving Deborah to run the farm herself, the resourceful Susan secures a bank loan and buys the lambs!

"The Green Promise" is not only perceptive of the rigors of holding on to a farm, there is also a sequence during a thunderstorm with Susan trying to cross a bridge to save her lambs (reportedly, sweet little Natalie broke her wrist in this sequence) while the mud slides into the homestead - that is the one suspenseful scene that works well enough to inspire sympathy for Susan's cause. The rest of the movie functions as a promo for the 4-H agricultural program, its sole purpose of educating young men and women in how to raise animals in a farm and other such agricultural practices (the film was executive-produced by wealthy Texas oilman Glenn McCarthy who wanted a "family picture" because there were so few of them). When we are not learning about 4-H clubs, we have a few scenes of Matthews' having a family meeting to vote on certain matters, with the children usually agreeing with their stubborn father so as to not upset him.

As I said, "The Green Promise" is a perfectly adequate family picture though there are not enough insights into Matthews' behavior or Deborah's frustrations with her father and her sweet relationship with David Barkley. After the film is over and ends on a tidy note, it is really sprightly Natalie Wood whom we remember best. Her ambitious character, Susan, wants to rise above it all and make a difference, all in the name of 4-H. We cheer for her, and jeer her father who should know better. 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Beatles World

HELP! (1965)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

In one word, "Help!" is chaos. It is cartoonish, highly amped up, sheer manic chaos with great Beatles tunes. It is an affront to cohesive narrative, comprehensive plot or any tangible story - it is more tomfoolery coupled with an anarchic spirit than their previous film, "A Hard Day's Night." In many ways, it may be more authentic to the Beatles, at that time, than the classic "A Hard Day's Night." 

The story, oh scratch that, the idea of this movie is there is a sacrificial ring belonging to some religious Hindu cult (my guess is that it is based on the Thuggees) yet the woman that is about to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali is missing the ring. Somehow this giant red ring is on the finger of Ringo Starr's hand! The Beatles, living in a London row home, try to remove the ring with the help of specialists but somehow it is impenetrable. The last thing anyone wants is for Ringo to be sacrificed because, you know, whoever wears the ring bears the mark of a sacrificial victim.

That is the basic plot thread, the MacGuffin of the film. Beyond that the movie is full of hilarious sight gags including how many doors lead to the Beatles's residence. Even their residence is funny in terms of visual art decoration - most of the Beatles sleep on beds yet John Lennon sleeps in a bed that has been carved out of the floor! Tomfoolery abounds in this movie, from pratfalls involving skis; a pub that has a trap door leading to a basement with a tiger present; the cult's High Priest Clang (Leo McKern, in possibly the most memorable scene-chewing performance) various attempts, along with his cohorts, to get the ring including his head poking out of manholes; Eleanor Bron as the attractive Ahme wearing a diverse array of colorful outfits who sometimes warns Ringo of impending danger (her first name was the inspiration for the band's "Eleanor Rigby" song); a Tom Thumb-sized Paul McCartney in an ashtray, and some destruction of paintings using corkscrews at Buckingham Palace. Oh, did I forgot to mention the use of the James Bond theme and the inclusion of some loopy scientists? 

Either you can get into the right frame of mind with "Help!" or not. When I was a tot, the sight of Ringo relentlessly showered in red paint and the slapstick ski chase shenanigans almost made me sick (I am guessing the color red did it). Now, they are just plain goofy gags made by a team of filmmakers (led by director Richard Lester who helmed the previous Beatles movie) who were stoned and threw everything into the mix without much thought or reason. You don't have to understand it (just like the Monkees' "Head"), just sit and enjoy this most enjoyable "Ticket to Ride" rollercoaster.