BOOWAH Reviews

Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957)

Unfogettable For More Reasons Than One

[26 December 2007]

In the late sixties (Pre-VCR) we had three UHF stations in our area, and they all signed off at 12 midnight. Unfortunately I worked second shift at a local factory and was just getting out at that time. One of our stations, bowing to public pressure, agreed to remain on after midnight and show movies. "Great...Right? "No, Not so great!!! They purchased four films, one of which was "Woman In A Dressing Gown", and showed them over and over again. "My God, It was just like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" I still have the dialogue running through my head even today. (He covers everything I make in sauce...Dollops of sauce) The remaining films were(in order of boredom):

The Burning Hills, Teenagers From Outer Space,and Dangerous Youth

One Man's Way (1964)

Awe Inspiring Message

[24 August 2004]

Although I have not seen the film in quite a while, I still remember the Rev. Peale's sermon on death and dying from it. Just as appropriate today as it was then, Rev.Peale spoke about parents of a dying child trying to comfort and prepare him for death. Likening it to awakening in a different place, they told him "Mommy and Daddy will see you in the morning" The memorable line was again replayed upon Dr.Peale's death in the movie, with his devoted wife telling their son that they indeed would "see him in the morning" A message of hope in a troubled world! Don Murray does an excellent job in portraying arguably the greatest prelate of our time, displaying not only his strengths but his faults as well.

Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona (1941)

My Childhood Heroes

[14 July 2004]

My two brothers and I used to pretend that we were Crash, Dusty, and Alibi, running through the back yard with cap guns blazing. I only remember seeing three of the 24 films that they starred in, but of the three, the most memorable was Tumbledown Ranch. This film evoked the earliest vestage of time travel, with the trio assuming a modern day personage of their "Range Buster" ancestors. After vanquishing the evil doers, they all awaken under a tree, back in their own time. Although their films would appear "corny" by today's standards, for my brothers and I they provided just the role models we needed growing up in the fifties.

Macabre (1958)

Great Marketing Trick At The Box Office

[21 January 2003]

What set this film apart from all others playing at the time, was an insurance policy, issued by Lloyds Of London, given out at the box office, and insuring the patron against "death by fright" during the viewing. Of course, I doubt that anyone's relatives managed to collect the one million dollar face value, but it certainly managed to lure in a packed house.

One scene ,in particular, caused a few hesitations in my cardiac functions, despite the films generally boring overtones. One of the many false leads in the search for the missing child, led to a graveyard. An interrment was taking place during a dismal rainstorm,and the child supposedly was buried in the open grave. The camera was positioned up in the trees, as the would be rescuers dug frantically at the grave, rapidly filling with rainwater. As the coffin was unearthed and opened, the camera zoomed in for a closeup of the morbid contents, prompting ear splitting screams from the audience,and raising me out of my seat. Although only a partially melted wax doll, it did resemble a decomposing corpse.

This excellent use of the element of surprise and shock, made this ordinary film, memorable.