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[December 25, 1963] Animating an Epic (Don Chaffey's Jason and the Argonauts)

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by Rosemary Benton

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Merry Christmas, everyone!

With the United States still reeling from recent events, I feel that now more than even would be the appropriate time to reflect on the past months and be grateful for the artistic talents and accomplishments that have helped bring us joy even in dark times. To that end I would like to say thank you to authors Andre Norton, J. G. Ballard and Daniel F. Galouye for their respective works of high fantasy, speculative fiction and intense science fiction/horror over the year. In film, actors Vincent Price and Julie Harris, as well as director Ishirō Honda, brought audiences horror tales both comical and macabre.

In the spirit of appreciation for the hard working men and women who bring the world its entertainment there is also one film which has been sadly overlooked this past June which I will now heap well deserved praise upon. I am speaking, of course, of Jason and the Argonauts.

Directed by Walt Disney Productions veteran Don Chaffey, and starring the wonderful acting talent of Honor Blackman and Nancy Kovack, Jason and the Argonauts is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Greek hero Jason's quest to acquire the mythical Golden Fleece and rightfully ascend to the throne of Thessaly. Through the artistic majesty of stop-motion animation and the craftiness of experienced low-budget filmmaking, Jason's eye-popping adventures through the ancient Greek world of monsters, prophecy, magic and gods come to life like they never have before. 

On the eve of the sacking of Thessaly, the antagonist Pelias (played by Douglas Wilmer) asks a prophet if Zeus has willed his victory against King Aristo. The prophet confirms that he will indeed be victorious, but as Pelias is about to lay down his sword to show faith in the prediction and his dedication to Zeus, the prophet informs him that King Aristo is not without heirs to the throne. Pelias snatches back his sword and declares that he will kill all of the royal family. In doing so not only does he falter in his faith to the gods, but goes too far when he hunts down and murders Aristo's daughter Briseis as she is praying for protection from the goddess, Hera (played by Honor Blackman). Due to his overzealousness, Pelias is told by Hera, disguised as the temple's priestess, that the infant Jason has been taken into hiding and will one day return to kill him.

The scene then cuts to Olympus where Zeus (played by Niial MacGinnis) is watching the battle through a fountain. Hera returns to bargain with Zeus for her right to seek restitutions against Pelias for the defamation of her temple. Zeus acquiesces, but only permits Hera to directly aid Jason five times for the five times that Briseis called out to Hera by name. Thus the stage is set for the inevitable reunion 20 years later between King Pelias of Thessaly and the vengeful, adult Jason (played by Todd Armstrong).

Through perseverance in daring battles against a giant living statue, harpies, a hydra and undead soldiers, along with luck granted by his heavenly protector, Jason and his crew aboard the ship Argo ultimately claim ownership of a legendary and powerful artifact: the Golden Fleece. With this in hand, he intends to return home and show that it is his divine right to rule Thessaly.

That, however, is a story for another time. The movie ends before Jason is able to retake the kingship from Pelias. After defeating seven skeleton warriors sown by King Aeëtes of Colchis (played by Jack Gwillim) using the teeth of the defeated hydra, the remaining Argonauts and the sorceress Medea set out to sea once more. The film concludes with Zeus and Hera determining that their meddling in the mortal lives of their champions is not yet over and that they may yet have further plans for Jason. 

Despite an ending that just begs for a sequel in order to finish off Jason's initial quest to kill Pelias, the film as a whole is very, very well executed. Jason and the Argonauts is a masterpiece in special effects, atmospheric musical scoring, and well paced storytelling (in spite of the choice to not conclude the film back in Thessaly). A review from Variety magazine rightfully expresses awe at the resourcefulness of Don Chaffey, making note of the fact that not only did the film showcase the pinnacle of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen's craft, but managed to stretch its meager 3 million dollar budget to include a life size replica of the Argo!

Not only is Jason and the Argonauts a prized piece of art from Morningside Productions and Columbia Pictures, but it also stands as a proud member of a newly emerging genre within science-fiction and fantasy stories. More accurately, it is a tour de force within the hotly debated and evolving subgenre of "sword and sorcery" (as defined within the magazine Amra by Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock). What seems to be paramount to this subgenre includes the following:

World building elements of medieval and/or ancient technology enhanced with paranormal and borderline science-fiction elements.

Jason and the Argonauts has those aplenty from talking statues, gods who can teleport or grow at will, and golden ram's wool that can revive the dead. The power behind such miracles is only loosely defined as "the will of the gods", but there is a quasi-scientific ritual or pattern that brings these miracles to pass. IE to speak with Hera and receive her advice Jason must talk to the figurehead of the Argo, or to revive someone with the Golden Fleece the pelt must first be placed on the subject and then prayed over. 

and,

Developed substantial characters whose vendettas move the plot forward one personal battle at a time.

Consider the plight of Jason, rightful heir to the throne of Thessaly, and even the minor character King Phineus who was once blessed by the gods but is now cursed due to hubris. Rather than focusing on merely the politics of governance and other widespread or far reaching changes to the world, the story of Jason and the Argonauts is wrapped up entirely in the mission of only a few people. It is epic, but surprisingly small and human in a way. The entire human race isn't learning the same lessons as Jason by partaking in the quest for the Fleece with him, but we do learn as an audience when listen to the retelling of his story.

When held up against other "sword and sorcery" titled such as Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian series, C. L. Moore's Black God's Kiss and to an extent Andre Norton's Witch World, Jason and the Argonauts seems right at home. It will be interesting to see how the addition of this highly entertaining and memorable movie evolves the genre to which it belongs. In terms of the creative team behind the film, I find it hard to think of how the special effects techniques will continue to improve after reaching such perfection, but I have faith in Ray Harryhausen and hope that he can continue to find funding and future feature length partnerships in the film industry.

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Book

[Oct. 30, 1963] Jim Knopf and Lukas the Train Engine Driver by Michael Ende: A Classic in the Making

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by Cora Buhlert

Today, I'm going to talk about a children's fantasy series that may well be a future classic. But first, I want to talk about politics. For since October 16, 1963, West Germany has a new chancellor.

Now West Germany does have a president, currently Heinrich Lübke, but he is a figurehead with little political power. The real power rests with the chancellor. And since 1949, there has only been one chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. However, his final term was beset by scandals and so Mr. Adenauer finally resigned at the ripe old age of 87.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Konrad Adenauer. He did a good job rebuilding the country after WWII and his place in history is assured. But after fourteen years, it is time to let someone else have a go. The new chancellor, Ludwig Ehrhard, was secretary of economics in Adenauer's cabinet and is largely responsible for West Germany's so-called economic miracle. Therefore, I don't expect many changes, but maybe a somewhat younger government.

But now let's leave politics behind, because today I want to introduce you to a wonderful fantasy duology by up and coming author Michael Ende. Though marketed as children's books, these are books all ages can enjoy.

A most unusual visitor

 

Michael Ende, who will turn 34 in two weeks, burst onto the scene three years ago with his novel Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (Jim Knopf and Lukas the Train Engine Driver) followed last year by the sequel Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Jim Knopf and the Wild 13). The first book has just come out in English as Jim Button and Luke the Train Engine Driver. I hope the sequel will follow soon.

The book opens in Lummerland (Morrowland in English), a small island kingdom with two mountains in the middle of the ocean. Lummerland is ruled by King Alfons, the Quarter-to-Twelfth, and has only three inhabitants, Herr Ärmel (Mr. Sleeve), a bowler-hatted gentleman whose profession is being a loyal subject, Frau Waas (Mrs. Whaat) who runs the general store, and Lukas who drives the steam locomotive Emma around Lummerland.

This balance is upset when the mail boat delivers a parcel with a barely legible address and the number 13 as the sender. The inhabitants of Lummerland decide to open the parcel, hoping to find a clue about the recipient inside. Instead, they find a black baby boy. The new arrival, christened Jim Knopf (Jim Button) is quickly accepted. Frau Waas adopts Jim, Herr Ärmel becomes his teacher and Lukas makes him his apprentice, train engine driver being a dream job for many German children.

Lummerland may seem absurd to adult readers, but it recalls the vanished world of pre-WWI Germany with its micro-states, complete with pompous rulers, where every small town had its own post office and train station. Lummerland also seems to owe more than a little to the 1958 painting Die Angst der Berge (The Fear of the Mountains) by Michael Ende's father, surrealist painter Edgar Ende. And indeed, Ende has confirmed that the painting was one of the inspirations for the story.

The fact that Jim Knopf is black may surprise many readers. There have always been black Germans, even during the Third Reich. And after World War II, their number grew as romance blossomed between black American GIs and German women and resulted in mixed race children. About five thousand so-called "occupation babies" were born in West Germany since 1945. They were subject to discrimination, both from the US Army, which discourages fraternisation, and from West German society, where the racism of the Nazi regime still festers. Some mixed race couples married and went to the US. But in many cases, the fathers were sent off to fight in Korea, Vietnam or elsewhere, leaving the mothers alone with their children. Many women were pressured to give their children up for adoption. Some of the children were adopted by black American families, others were sent to Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The plight of mixed race children has been tackled before, e.g. in the 1952 movie Toxi about an abandoned little girl who is reunited with her American father. Nonetheless, Michael Ende's choice to make Jim Knopf black is remarkable, because his situation mirrors that of many mixed race German children. His biological parents are nowhere in sight; Jim is an orphan found in a box. However, unlike his real life counterparts, Jim is accepted by the people of Lummerland and his race is never an issue. He is one of them from the moment he arrives.

Trouble is brewing in Lummerland, however, because the small island is becoming overcrowded. King Alfons decrees that one of Lummerland's inhabitants has to leave. The unlucky inhabitant chosen is – no, not Jim – but Emma, Lukas' beloved locomotive. With Emma banished, Lukas decides to leave as well. Jim tags along, because he doesn't want to leave either Lukas or Emma. Lukas and Jim set out to sea aboard Emma, who is surprisingly seagoing for a locomotive.

Eventually, Jim, Lukas and Emma reach China, where they befriend Ping Pong, grandson of the Emperor's personal chef. Ping Pong tells Jim and Lukas that the Emperor is grieving because his daughter Princess Li Si has been kidnapped and is held prisoner in the dragon city of Kummerland (Sorrowland). Of course, Jim and Lukas immediately offer to rescue the princess.

But in order to see the Emperor, they first have to brave the labyrinthine Imperial bureaucracy, which is a parody of bureaucracies everywhere. Jim and Lukas also incur the wrath of prime minister Pi Pa Po, who is about to have them executed. Luckily, Ping Pong fetches the Emperor who saves Jim and Lukas, fires the villainous Pi Pa Po and makes Ping Pong prime minister instead.

Ende's China feels as fallen out of time as Lummerland. It's a land of bonzes and emperors, pigtail braids and rijstafeln (actually a Dutch Indonesian dish) that has more in common with Franz Lehar's operetta The Land of Smiles than with Chairman Mao's People's Republic of China. However, while Lummerland feels nostalgic, the orientalist clichés of Ende's China are problematic. A fictional country would have been a better choice.

Jim and Lukas learn that Princess Li Si called for help via a message in a bottle, which includes the address where she is being held prisoner, Old Street 133 in Kummerland. Jim recognises the address, because the same address was written on the parcel which brought him to Lummerland. Maybe rescuing the princess can also shed some light on Jim's origin.

Our heroes travel through fantastic landscapes, brave untold dangers and eventually, reach the Land of the Thousand Volcanoes. Here, they make another friend, half-dragon Nepomuk, who knows the way to Kummerland but cannot travel there himself because only pure-blooded dragons are allowed to enter Kummerland. Nepomuk, however, is half dragon and half hippopotamus. Adult readers will see parallels between the dragons' obsession with racial purity and Nazi race theory. And indeed, the Ende family was at odds with the Nazi regime, which branded the paintings of Michael's father Edgar Ende as degenerate art.

Jim and Lukas enter Kummerland by disguising Emma as a dragon. They locate Old Street 133 and find a school, where several children, including Li Si, are chained to desks, with the dragon Frau Mahlzahn (Mrs. Grindtooth), whose idea of pedagogics is barking orders at her pupils, as their teacher. Author Michael Ende is a supporter of Waldorf education and has said that Frau Mahlzahn's school was inspired by his experiences with the Nazi education system.

Our heroes overpower Frau Mahlzahn and free the children. Li Si explains that the children have been kidnapped by a pirate gang called the Wild 13 and sold to Frau Mahlzahn. The same fate was intended for Jim, only that he was mailed to Lummerland instead.

Jim, Lukas, Emma and Li Si return to China with a reformed Frau Mahlzahn in tow. The Emperor promises Li Si's hand to Jim, though both of them are a little young to get married. Frau Mahlzahn announces that she will hibernate to become a golden dragon of wisdom. Frau Mahlzahn also comes up with a solution to Lummerland's space problems, for she knows the location of a floating island that would make a good extension for Lummerland.

The novel ends with Lukas, Jim. Li Si and Emma returning home, the floating island in tow, which is dubbed Neu-Lummerland. And not a moment too soon, for Lukas reveals that Emma is pregnant. I don't even want to imagine the mechanics of this, but luckily the young target audience is more accepting. Emma gives birth to a baby locomotive named Molly and Jim now has a locomotive of his own.

Jim Knopf's adventures continue!

 

The adventures of Jim, Lukas and their friends continue in Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Jim Knopf and the Wild 13). As the title indicates, the second book focuses on Frau Mahlzahn's partners in crime, the pirate gang known as the Wild 13, who remain unseen in the first book. Though Wild 13 is a misnomer, for there are only twelve pirates, all identical brothers, but they counted the leader twice. What is more, each pirate can only write a single letter of the alphabet, which explains their spelling problems and why their mailings keep ending up at the wrong address.

When the Wild 13 kidnap Molly, Jim, Lukas, Emma and stowaway Li Si go after them. Everybody except Jim is taken prisoner. Jim uses the fact that the pirates aren't particularly bright against them and gets them to accept him as their leader. One thing I like about the Jim Knopf books is that the villains are reformed rather than vanquished. This solution might seem a little too neat for adults, but learning that enemies can become friends is an important lesson for kids.

Jim also learns the truth about his origin. He is Prince Myrrhen of the sunken land of Jamballa who was kidnapped and sold to Frau Mahlzahn, but ended up in Lummerland instead. And because a prince needs a kingdom, Frau Mahlzahn and the Wild 13 help Jim raise Jamballa from the ocean (after sinking it in the first place). Jim takes the throne, marries Li Si and everybody lives happily ever after.

The parallels between Jamballa and Atlantis are obvious. Ende subverts the Nazi take on the Atlantis myth here, according to which Atlantis is the original homeland of the Aryan race. One example is the 1930s Heftroman series Sun Koh – Heir of Atlantis by Paul Alfred Müller a.k.a. Freder van Holk, which has several parallels to Jim Knopf's story. Like Sun Koh, Jim is the prince of a sunken kingdom, which he raises from the ocean. Only that in Ende's version, the original inhabitants of Atlantis – ahem, Jamballa – were not Über-Aryans, but descendants of the Biblical Wise Man Caspar and therefore black.

Michael Ende does his best to create a diverse and inclusive world, where yesterday's enemies can become today's friends and little black boys can become both kings and train engine drivers and marry the princess, too. Li Si is not just a damsel in distress, but a smart and resourceful person in her own right. Future generations may find issues with the books, but for now Michael Ende has created a remarkably progressive fantasy series.
 

A hard but certain sell

 
The reaction to the books was mixed. It took Michael Ende three years to find a publisher. Furthermore, contemporary German literature is focussed on realism and fantasy novels are dismissed as escapism. This is unfair, for the Jim Knopf novels are so much more. The jury of the Deutscher Jugendbuchpreis agreed and named Jim Knopf and Lukas the Train Engine Driver the best children's book of 1960. The popularity of the Jim Knopf books inspired the Augsburger Puppenkiste marionette theatre to adapt them into puppet plays, which were also filmed for television. And children everywhere love the adventures of Jim, Lukas and friends.

Jim's story came to a neat ending in Jim Knopf and the Wild 13, but will adventurers like Jim and Lukas really retire or does Michael Ende have yet more stories up his sleeve? But whether Ende revisits Lummerland or not, he is a great emerging voice of German fantasy and I for one can't wait to see what he will do next.

A lovely story about a boy, his friends and his locomotive. Four and a half stars.




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Book

[October 22, 1963] A Whole New Fantasy (Andre Norton's Witch World)

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by Rosemary Benton

Andre Norton (a common name for me now) released her new book into the wild of the science-fiction section of local book stores earlier this month! Being October and therefore the prime time to read anything horror or fantasy related, I didn't spend much time dithering about adding Witch World to my pile of literature by the bookstore register.

For this adventure, veteran story teller Andre Norton starts by introducing her audience to disgraced U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Simon Tregarth as he flees on his last leg from some unsavory business associates. After a chance meeting with a renowned people smuggler, he bargains for passage from our reality to one which he is promised to be “attuned" with. Skeptical, but figuring that his only other option is death at the hands of thugs, he agrees to what is supposedly a one way passage off of Earth. After successfully traveling through the supposed Siege Perilous, he jumps to the aid of a ragged woman pursued by hounds and soldiers. He quickly learns that the person he has saved is a witch (also referred to as one of the Women of Power) of the besieged land of Estcarp. Jump forward a time and Simon has almost seamlessly integrated himself into this strange new world of sword, guns and fickle sorcery.

Over the course of the story he travels over the known world, coming face to face with oddly advanced machinery within what is otherwise a medieval society. Ultimately he learns of forces and enemies which he and the native people within the realms barely grasp. The book wraps up with Simon and his allies winning the day against their mutual enemy, the Koltar. However, in doing so the extent of his adopted world's vulnerability from other realities begins to become clear, and with that realization the story ends with an uneasy sense of dread.

The plot of of Witch World is passable, but unfortunately the enjoyment of the novel is not to be found in any thrilling exploits of its characters. Overall their personalities do not come with anything particularly remarkable, and unfortunately that translates into character arcs that are alright, but not unexpected. The real reason to read Witch World is the vivid plethora of mythos and the fantastical history which shapes Norton's world. It's absolutely brimming with potential that I hope Norton will take advantage of in future stories.

Despite the bizarre whimsy of the cover by Jack Gaughan which prominently features a gun wielding man in a blue leotard with a comical bird beak sticking far out from his forehead, the cultures and environments of Witch World are filled with intense, gritty peoples who have distinct traditions and garb best suited to their rough lives. Spandex is pretty much the opposite of what anyone in Witch World wears. This is a high fantasy world with magic and chain mail, medieval feudalism and tribalism, and primitive, cruel ideas about a man and woman's roles. At the same time, however, there is deliberately juxtaposed science-fiction technology thrown in. Robotic birds, surgically and chemically induced mind control, and guns spring up with little preamble.

The way in which Norton merges a handful of advanced technology with a deeply structured fantasy culture struck me as distinct from other genre bridging stories. Previous sci-fi/fantasy stories I have pored through seem to favor the merger of the two genres almost equally. Some novels seem to use magic merely as another word of misunderstood science. Consider, in John Brunner's Secret Agent of Terra, the isolated people of Planet 14 who are not privy to exactly how an ancient food processor works and consider the domestication of animals to have mystical origins. The visitors from Earth do know how to work the old technology and are well aware of the planet's history of animal husbandry, yet they feed this misconception so as to not disturb the planet's natural evolution from magic believers to scientific pioneers. And therein lies the rub – for every “spell" there is a hidden keep of exposition.

When the subject of magic is approached in any of Norton’s writing there is never any easy solution lying right below the surface. Her flaire for piecing out information and not revealing more than what the characters themselves know keeps the reader on edge, as well as humble. This sense that there are always bigger forces at play, yet are never fully explained, teases the rational mind of the reader and allows for there to be doubt that anything “magical" can be easily quantified by rational, scientific method. It's very disquieting when Norton's established and venerated forces, like the witchcraft of the Women of Power and the Axe of Volt, are threatened by something indefinable that is even older and more powerful – travel across dimensions.

To belabor the point, Norton's book is in desperate need of a new front cover in future editions to better advertise this unease, since it is by far one of the biggest things the reader takes away from the novel. That and, of course, the potential for more stories of branching off of Witch World. The expansiveness of Norton's world is, frankly, astounding. The potential for twists and turns in future stories is greatly aided by the dimension travel that Norton subtly echoes back to again and again.

Andre Norton's Witch World has a spark of something much bigger, and while this first foray into its world was rather standard in terms of the main plot, the visible layers and grandiosity of Witch World just begs to be explored. It's hard to give a book like this a rating. Was it fun to follow the exploits of Simon Tregarth, Koris, Briant, and Jaelithe? A little, but they were not really the most interesting aspect of the novel. Did the story achieve what it set out to do in terms of world building? Absolutely. Did it make me want to read more? If any further Witch World books can make me as riveted to the history of this world as much as this book did, then absolutely. Ultimately I would say this was a three and a half star book. Well worth reading for the intricacy and intrigue of the universe Norton has created, but with characters who were outshined by their surroundings.

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Movies

[January 3, 1963] The Enchanted Theater (Fantasy and Horror Films of 1962)

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by Victoria Silverwolf

Our esteemed host has already provided many detailed analyses of 1962's science fiction films, as well as others tangentially related to SF (including one which also features the pretty actress pictured above, Ms. Barbara Eden.) But missing from the Traveler's roster of reviews has been a focus on the related genres, the fantastic and the horrorful.  With that in mind, I 'd like to fill this gap with brief reviews of last year's pictures with more supernatural themes, as well as a few others which may not technically be fantasy, but which have the same feeling.

(Perhaps I am in a retrospective and nostalgic mood because of the heavy storm that struck part of the United States on New Year's Eve.  Even in my neck of the woods, in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, an appreciable amount of snow fell, swaddling us in a cozy quiet blanket.  Shown here are playful students at the University of the South, not far from where I live.)

So enjoy a mug of steaming hot chocolate and sit near the fire as we talk about the magical movies of last year. 

Fantasy Films of 1962

Though nothing released last year captured the sheer wonder of 1959's The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, nevertheless, that excellent movie did inspire a handful of similar films, albeit without the special touch of Ray Harryhausen's stunning visual effects.  Before I consider these pale imitations, allow me to dismiss a pair of silly comedies.

The title of Moon Pilot (based on Robert Buckner's novel Starfire, discussed here a while ago) suggests a serious tale of the near future, but the plot of this lighthearted farce is pure space fantasy.  An astronaut (Tom Tryon, seen in the surprisingly good SF movie I Married a Monster from Outer Space) is scheduled to leave Earth on a secret flight to the Moon.  He meets a mysterious woman (French actress Dany Saval) who warns him not to go into space.  She's actually an alien from the planet (sic!) Beta Lyrae.  Hijinks and romance ensue.  Although the leads are attractive, the comedy is very broad.  Kids may get a kick out of the antics of the movie's chimpanzee co-star.  Two stars.


Our two star-crossed lovers bursting into song.

***

Equally goofy is Zotz!, based on a novel of the same name by Walter Karig.  Tom Poston stars as professor who obtains an ancient amulet with mystical powers, leading to slapstick complications.  Surprisingly, the screenplay is by Ray Russell, who wrote the brilliant Gothic chiller Sardonicus, published in Playboy in 1961 and quickly adapted into the pretty good horror movie Mr. Sardonicus, directed by William Castle, who also gave us the far inferior Zotz!.  We'll meet again with Mister Russell a little later in this essay, with something more appropriate.  Two stars.


The enchanted amulet that leads to so much mischief.

***

Turning from wacky antics to swashbuckling adventures, we have a trio of movies, ranging from expensive spectacles to low budget quickies.  The degree of entertainment supplied is not necessarily proportional to the amount of money spent.

Filmed in Cinerama, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm uses the talents of George Pal, which made The Time Machine such a delight, to bring three fairy tales collected by the pioneering folklorists to life. 

In The Dancing Princess, a humble woodsman (Russ Tamblyn) discovers that a beautiful princess (Yvette Mimieux, also of The Time Machine) secretly goes out at night to dance wildly with gypsies.


Looks more exciting than sitting around the palace.

The Cobbler and the Elves features puppets in the familiar story of the shoemaker's helpers.


George Pal displaying his experience with Puppetoons.

The most elaborate special effects are reserved for The Singing Bone, which includes a battle with a dragon, as well as a rather grim (pun intended) tale of murder and a message from beyond the grave.


Impressive cave, goofy dragon.

Unfortunately, these enjoyable sequences alternate with dull sequences set in the real world.  Barbara Eden plays the love interest of one of the Grimms (hence her appearance at the start of this article.) Two stars.

***

More modestly funded was Jack the Giant Killer, clearly intended to remind audiences of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.  Both films star Kerwin Mathews as the hero and Torin Thatcher as the villain.  They even have the same director, Nathan Juran.  Too bad they couldn't get Ray Harryhausen for the special effects.  His replacements do a decent job, but they can't quite capture the same magic.  Still, the movie is reasonably entertaining. 


Pretty cool two-headed giant, not-so-cool sea monster.

No reason to go into details about the plot.  The Good Guy battles the Bad Guy's monsters, winning the hand of the Princess.  Three stars.

***

An even lower budget brought moviegoers The Magic Sword.  Bert I. Gordon, who created abysmal science fiction movies of the Big Bug variety, including Beginning of the End and The Spider, adds a sense of humor to the story.  Our hero is George, the adopted son of an elderly sorceress.  With the help of the title weapon and six knights brought out of suspended animation, he rescues yet another beautiful princess from yet another evil wizard (the great Basil Rathbone.)


Don't hurt yourself with that thing.

The special effects are shoddy, but the sorceress and her two-headed servant are amusing.  Three stars.


Too many heads spoil the broth.

Horror Films of 1962

Movies dealing with the darker side of the fantastic ranged from abysmal to excellent.  Let's look at the ridiculous before we talk about the sublime.

You're more likely to scream with laughter than fear while watching Eegah, an absurd tale of a giant caveman vaguely terrorizing some young folks.  Arch Hall (senior) directs Arch Hall (junior) as the hero, making this more of a home movie than a feature film.  One star.



The monster and hero; can you tell who is who?

***


Equally inept, but a lot less innocent, is the gruesome shocker The Brain That Wouldn't Die.  A mad scientist keeps the head of his girlfriend alive after she is decapitated in a car accident.  He then hangs around figure models, searching for the perfect body to transplant onto what's left of her.  There's also a monster locked up in his laboratory, which is responsible for a particularly bloody scene near the end.  One star.


I hope her nose doesn't itch.

***

On a more professional level, two studios released movies that were mediocre variations on what had come before.

In the United States, Roger Corman offered his third Poe adaptation, The Premature Burial.  Loosely adapted by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell, the story features a man with a morbid fear of being buried alive.  He builds an elaborate system of devices in his mausoleum, in order to make his escape if this happens.  Things don't go well.  Ray Milland replaces Vincent Price, so memorable in House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum, in the lead role.  It's a fairly dull affair, although nicely filmed and with an unexpected twist ending.  Two stars.


Part of Milland's tool kit.


Meanwhile, the British studio Hammer, which had so much success bringing Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Jekyll and Hyde, the Mummy, and a Werewolf back to the silver screen, revived another classic movie monster with The Phantom of the Opera.  This remake can't compare to the 1925 original with the great Lon Chaney.  Two stars.


Any requests?

***

Slightly more original (although clearly influenced by the frequently filmed story The Hands of Orlac) was Hands of a Stranger.  A concert pianist's hands are destroyed in an accident.  In desperation, a surgeon transplants the hands of a recent murdered criminal onto the musician's wrists.  Surprisingly, the pianist does not become possessed by the dead man.  The horrible events that happen after the procedure result from the musician's rage at his inability to play.  This was a modest but interesting movie, with some striking visuals and a great deal of unusual dialogue.  Three stars.


That little boy is going to be very sorry he made fun of the way that man plays.

***

A most unusual double feature appeared in movie houses in 1962. 

The unwieldy title The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus is the disguise worn by the French film Les yeux sans visage (The Eyes Without a Face), dubbed and edited for American audiences.  A physician kidnaps women in order to surgically remove their faces and transplant them onto his daughter, whose own face was ruined in an accident.  The replacements do not last long, so he must repeat his crimes many times.  Despite this disturbing plot, the film is surprisingly beautiful and darkly poetic.  Four stars, and I can only hope that a subtitled, unedited version will be available some day.

***


The daughter, hidden under the mask she wears between transplants.

The Manster is an American production filmed in Japan, with a mostly Japanese cast and crew.  An American reporter interviews a Japanese scientist, who secretly injects him with an experimental formula.  An extra eyeball appears on his shoulder, eventually growing into a second head.  This movie is even more bizarre than I've made it sound.  I can't say it's a good film, but the sheer weirdness of it holds the viewer's attention.  Two stars.


Not what you want to see in the mirror.

***

Made on a tiny budget by a director of documentary short subjects, Carnival of Souls overcame its limitations to become a haunting tale of life after death.  A woman survives a car accident.  Later she is haunted by ghoulish figures.  The story is simple enough for an episode of Twilight Zone, but the film creates a genuinely eerie mood.  Four stars.


The haunting begins.

***

The best horror film of 1962 was probably the British production Night of the Eagle (released in the USA as Burn Witch Burn.) The script is skillfully adapted from Fritz Leiber's classic 1943 novel Conjure Wife by talented fantasy writers Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, as well as British screenwriter George Baxt, who wrote another excellent chiller a couple of years ago, The City of the Dead (known in American as Horror Hotel.) As in the novel, a skeptical college professor is married to a woman who secretly uses conjuring spells to protect her husband.  When he discovers her magical objects, he forces her to destroy them.  Things go rapidly downhill from there, as the professor discovers to his horror that witchcraft is very real, and that someone is using black magic to destroy his career, his marriage, and his life.  The movie is exquisitely filmed, with fine acting and a dramatic climax.  Five stars.


The professor at work.


Confronting his wife about her use of magic.


Up to no good.

***

Although it contains no supernatural elements, I would like to end this discussion with the psychological thriller Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.  Like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho of a few years ago, it explores the darkest places within the human mind.  Legendary actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play sisters with a history of bad blood between them.  Crawford is confined to a wheelchair, and Davis is as mad as a hatter.  She was a child star many years ago, and she still dresses like a little girl, her aging face covered with grotesquely heavy layers of makeup.  As Baby Jane's mind continues to deteriorate, the rivalry between the sisters (a reflection of the dislike the two stars had for each other, according to Hollywood gossip) leads to horrible consequences.  Davis gives a bravura performance.  Four stars.

***

And… there were other kinds of film released in 1962, I suppose.  But they are beyond the scope of this article.  Until the next sf, fantasy, or horror flick hits the cinema, see you at the movies!

[P.S. If you registered for WorldCon this year, please consider nominating Galactic Journey for the "Best Fanzine" Hugo.  Check your mail for instructions…]




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