Dr. Death from This Magazine Is Haunted

The first two series of This Magazine Is Haunted (1952-54) were hosted by the genuinely macabre Dr. Death, a horror host in the best tradition of EC Comics. When TMiH as revived in mid-1957, Dr. Death was replaced by Dr. Haunt, who was almost indistinguishable from The Mysterious Traveler and was definitely much more acceptable to the recently formed Comics Code Authority. The following pages feature some of Dr. Death's more notable appearances.

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Myrna Loy is Man-Proof! (1938)

Mimi Swift (Myrna Loy) is obsessed with her penniless playboy boyfriend, Alan Wythe (Walter Pidgeon). When he throws her over to marry the rich heiress, Elizabeth Kent (Rosalind Russell), Mimi is devastated, but plots to win Alan back. She is counseled against this by her ever-wise novelist mother, Meg Swift (Nana Bryant) and her mother’s friend, newspaper artist Jimmy Kilmartin (Franchot Tone).

Man-Proof is a four-sided love triangle with each character caught up in one of the many facets of love. Immature Mimi believes she is in love, but has no clue what it really is. Desperate Elizabeth hopes that Alan is in love with her, but fears that he’s really just a gold digging gigolo. Savvy Alan manipulates the women around him by holding out the carrot of true love, but secretly knows that he has never known love, only the lust for money and prestige. Put upon Jimmy cynically rejects love and spends his time flirting harmlessly with Meg because he knows that Mimi doesn’t even notice him.

After Alan returns from his honeymoon, he and Mimi agree to continue on as the best of friends, with no hindrance of romantic love between them. However, both of them, and the viewer, know better. When Mimi finally believes that she has finally won Alan, his wife, Elizabeth, is forced to confront Alan’s true nature. That realization, in a well-crafted and well-delivered speech, ends up leaving each of them in out in the cold. No one wins.

Spinning out of control, Mimi decides to take Jimmy’s advice and reject the whole concept of love. When the two of them decide to embark on their own non-romantic friendship, of course the inevitable happens. As the movie ends on a happy note (at least for them), Mimi’s mother laughs and proclaims, “The end of a beautiful friendship!”

Sound familiar? Bogey said a much more famous variation on this line to Claude Rains as two of them walked off into the rain in at the end of Casablanca (1943).

Directed by Richard Thorpe, Man-Proof is based on a Ladies Home Journal weeper by Fannie Heaslip Lea, but the stars inject it with more humor than I’m sure the original script had. Despite a big scene at Alan and Elizabeth’s wedding, and a later scene at a boxing match, most of the story takes place in smaller rooms in combinations of just two or three actors. In this way, the film has the feel of a stage play, but without its sometimes claustrophobic nature. Each actor gets to chew a good bit of well-written dialogue that manages to avoid falling over into excessive melodrama.

In a rarity for Loy, she gets a couple of extended drunk scenes. Even in her heavy drinking days with William Powell in the first few Thin Man movies, we never saw her drunk and only once ever feeling the effects of a hangover (The Thin Man, 1934). In an early gripping scene as a drunken bridesmaid at the wedding of her ex-lover, Pidgeon, Loy suddenly sobers up to offer him a chilling piece of advice:

“Oh, I’m not a nice girl, Alan. I tried every trick in the bag to be the bride. But I’m this nice. I’m perfectly willing to warn you; when you come back, I wouldn’t have anything to do with a girl like me, if I were you. I’d keep the seven seas between us – and wish they were eight.”

This scene gives us a hint of what Loy could have done as a 1940’s-style film noir femme fatale if Man-Proof had been one, as its title strongly evokes. Loy broke into films in 1925 and quickly became type-cast playing the vamp or a villainous ‘exotic’; roles that anticipated the classic femme fatale to come later. These roles persisted up through 1932 in which year Loy played the villainous (and sadistic) daughter of the title character in The Mask of Fu Manchu and the revenge-driven ‘half-caste’ in Thirteen Woman – both well worth watching!. Her role as Nora Charles in The Thin Man series finally revealed her flair for comedy and established her as a star, allowing Loy to leave the ‘bad girl’ roles she disliked so much far behind.

Is Man-Proof worth my time? Definitely. The stars are all in top form, and despite a few creaks in the script, it is very well written and directed. The movie also benefits from a score by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Karl Freund who stages some stylish shots that help elevate the movie.

 
Availability: Man-Proof was released as a Warner Archive POD, but I don't see it listed there now. Fortunately, other on-line sellers carry it.

Living Great Apes are Smarter than Australopithecines

Kamandi created by Jack Kirby. © DC Comics

Scientists have measured the rate of blood flow to the cognitive part of the brain, based on the size of the holes in the skull that passed the supply arteries.

“Our study revealed a higher rate of blood flow to the cognitive part of the brain of living great apes compared to Australopithecus,” Professor Seymour said.

“At first, brain size seems reasonable because it is a measure of the number of neurons. On second thought, however, cognition relies not only on the number of neurons, but also on the number of connections between them, called synapses.”

“How does the intelligence of modern great apes stack up against that in our 3 million-year-old relatives, the australopithicines such as Lucy? Non-human great apes have smaller or equal sized brains compared to the size indicated by the fossil braincases of Australopithecus species, so Lucy is generally considered to have been smarter.”

“However, the study shows that cerebral blood flow rate of human ancestors falls well below the data derived from modern, non-human primates.”

Roger S. Seymour et al. 2019. Cerebral blood flow rates in recent great apes are greater than in Australopithecus species that had equal or larger brains. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286 (1915)

Part 3 of the Jack Davis "You'll Die Laughing" Topps Card Series

Part 3 of the Jack Davis "You'll Die Laughing" Topps card series is now up at the
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Miriam Hopkins in The Richest Girl In The World (1934)

$30,000 A DAY TO SPEND...and nothing to live for!

That’s Dorothy Hunter (Miriam Hopkins), who became the richest girl in the world after inheriting a fortune as an infant when her parents were lost in the sinking of the Titanic. Since then, she has been raised by her guardian, John Connors (Henry Stephenson), who has kept her so far away from publicity that the press only has a picture of her as a baby. In rare public appearances, her friend and secretary, Sylvia Lockwood (Fay Wray) impersonates her. But, Sylvia has recently married Phillip Lockwood (Reginald Denny), and wants to leave Sylvia’s employment to start her own life. Dorothy is fine with this because she believes that she will always be alone as she doubts that she could never find any man who would not love her just for her money.

Enter Tony Travers (Joel McCrea) who Dorothy falls head over heels for. Although they are both clearly attracted to each other, Dorothy decides to put him to the test. Since he believes that Dorothy is really Sylvia, and vice versa, Dorothy devises a series of ever more outlandish circumstances to drive Tony into Sylvia’s arms. If he can resist her, then Dorothy will believe that he really loves her for herself and not the money that he believes Sylvia (pretending to be Dorothy) has.

All this has the makings of a great screwball comedy, but it quickly becomes apparent (at least to this reviewer) that Dorothy is probably a bit nuts, if not an out-right masochist. She goes to absurd lengths to make Tony believe that Sylvia is in love with him, continuously driving him away every time he breaks from Sylvia to return to the real Dorothy. Even when the farce is resolved you have to wonder how long a relationship will last with a person like Dorothy who goes to such great lengths to make her life miserable.

The viewer quickly moves from good-natured bemusement, to discomfort, to almost horror as you watch Dorothy sabotage her hopes for happiness. Dorothy’s plot involves making Sylvia continue to impersonate her, while Sylvia’s husband and Dorothy’s guardian are forced to stand impotently on the sidelines. Every one of these characters should have pulled the plug on Dorothy’s crazy charade at the very beginning to save everyone’s (and the viewers) dignity; but then there would be no movie, right?

Directed by William A. Seiter, The Richest Girl In The World, has the typically lush RKO production values of the period, including music by Max Steiner and cinematography by future film noir legend Nicholas Musuraca (Out of The Past,1947).

Despite the problems with the script, the leads of Hopkins, McCrea, and Wray have good chemistry together, with Hopkins and McCrea sharing a couple of very funny scenes – all involving alcohol. The movie flaunts its post-prohibition status with Hopkins and McCrea never passing an opportunity (or so it seems) to get drunk. Hopkins and McCrea starred in a number of films together (Barbary Coast, 1935; Splendor, 1935; These Three, 1937; Woman Chases Man,1937) and have an easy rapport together.

McCrea and Wray

Although I’m a big fan of Hopkins, and I’ve never seen McCrea give a bad performance, I watched this film primarily to see Fay Wray. This was one of at least 22 films that Wray made between 1933 and 1934, but most are rare and hard to locate. But, thanks to Warner Archives, more of these are becoming available. Watch for a review of Wildcat Bus; featuring Wray in a starring role to be posted here soon!

Is The Richest Girl In The World worth my time? I can’t completely recommend it, but I would urge anyone who is a fan of Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea or Fay Wray to add it to their library. Although my review may seem overly harsh, there are enough good scenes between Hopkins and McCrea to hold you to the finish (over long at 76 minutes). If, like Tony and Dorothy, you watch this with a good highball you can enjoy its strengths (the performances) while scratching your head over how the script by Norman Krasna ever got nominated for an Academy Award!

Availability: Pick up a copy from Warner Archives.

The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

The Mummy's Curse (1944) represents the almost last gasp for Universal’s original classic horror cycle before its final coda with Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein in 1948. That film saw Lon Chaney, Jr., give his final performance (in continuity) as Larry Talbot, the Wolfman, as well as Bela Lugosi’s only other performance as Count Dracula since his 1931 debut in the role.

Although Universal cranked out the oddball House of Dracula in 1945 (again with Chaney as Larry Talbot), and She-Wolf of London (1946), as the tangentially last tread in the Wolfman tapestry, after this the Mummy would be put to rest until being re-exhumed in Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy (1955). That film has little to recommend it, except for the novelty of seeing the Dick Van Dyke Show’s put upon, Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), as the head of an ancient Egyptian cult. Deacon turned up in a surprising number of genre films, including This Island Earth (1955), The Birds (1963), and The Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956) that also features this film’s Princess Ananka as a pod person!

 Peter Coe & Martin Kosleck

The Mummy’s Curse was directed by Leslie Goodwins and stars bland Dennis Moore as Dr. James Halsey, Virginia Christine as Princess Ananka, and Chaney in his third and last outing as the Mummy, Kharis. By this time, the franchise has thrown logic and continuity to the wind, e.g., the previous film, The Mummy’s Ghost (1944) ended with the Mummy sinking into a swamp in Massachusetts, only to turn up here in a swamp somewhere in the deep south.

For The Mummy’s Curse, the viewer only needs to know that Kharis is again brought to life by an Egyptian priest (Peter Coe) to recapture the ever-illusive Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine) so that the two ancient souls can be returned to their rightful burial places in Egypt. Of course the plan goes off the rails when priest’s acolyte, Ragheb (the ever reliably evil, Martin Kosleck), gets the hots for Ananka leading, ultimately, to the ‘demise’ of the ancient lovers. Christine makes an effective Ananka, regally beautiful and blessed with the knowledge of the past, but she is given little to work with in this by-the-book script.

By now, Kharis has been reduced to a shambling, almost mindless henchman who is about as threatening as an incapacitated senior in a wheelchair. It’s farcical how this crippled mummy, with only one good leg, can carry out any of his missions, let alone murder as many people as he does. Every time that Ananka runs past or away from him, you can almost see Kharis sigh with resignation as he turns to shamble off after her – again!  In the finale, the script finally allows Kharis to through off his enfeebling shackles to unleash a hitherto suppressed power as he tears the Princess’s tomb apart to destroy the turncoat acolyte. Always give the kids a rousing finish!

Buried under bandages and make up, Chaney is so unrecognizable that any stuntman could have performed the role; indeed, some critics have made the case that Chaney was employed only for his name recognition, and that he actually was only in his Mummy make up for some key scenes. Given how humiliating such a role must have been, it’s no wonder that all reports from the making of the film indicate that Chaney was perpetually drunk on the set. Such a fall from his highpoint in 1941’s, The Wolfman! As a side note, I’m sure the opening credits for The Mummy’s Curse are played over a panning shot of the forest set from The Wolfman.

Is The Mummy’s Curse worth my time? Only if you are a die-hard fan of The Mummy franchise, or a completist (like me) for watching all of the classic Universal monster films.

However, it does contain one of the eeriest scenes in any Universal horror film – Princess Ananka clawing her way out of her bogy tomb. This scene can still raise the hairs on the back of one’s neck even after all these years. Its legacy can be seen in films like Night of The Living Dead, and many others. Even if you decide to skip watching the whole movie, at least fast forward to this classic scene. 

Finally, sadly, this is the only entry in the four film "Kharis" series (post Karloff’s 1932 Mummy film) in which perennial horror-favourite, George Zucco, does not appear.