The Film Detective announced this past week that there will
be 16 new film restorations ready for DVD library-builders and collectors on
Nov. 24.
Priced to own is a newly restored DVD presentation of
producer/director Brooke L. Peters’ (aka: Boris Petroff) classic 1961 suspense
thriller, Anatomy of a Psycho, starring Darrell Howe as Chet, a teen who
becomes increasing unhinged after his brother is caught, convicted and executed
for murder. What pushes our boy Chet
over the edge is when he discovers that his sexy sister, Pat (played by Pamela
Lincoln — The Tingler), is dating Mickey (Ronnie Burns), the son of the rat
who provided the testimony that sent their brother to the gas chamber.
There is plenty of historical evidence that famed filmmaker
Ed Wood had a hand in the script for Anatomy of a Psycho (and several
music clips from his sci-fi opus, Plan Nine From Outer Space are
noted).
Which is a nice segue to another film on the Nov. 24 release
calendar from the Film Detective that is every bit an Ed Wood’s gem. That would be his 1954 lurid film noir, Jail Bait, starring Clancy
Malone as a two-bit thug named Don Gregor, who is the son a famous plastic
surgeon and the brother of the alluring Marilyn (played by Dolores Fuller — Bride
of the Monster, Glen or Glenda, etc.).
As the story develops we find that our boy Don has fallen in
with unsavory types, namely career criminal Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell) and the
pair are constantly under the surveillance of Inspector Johns (Lyle Talbot) and
his sidekick, Lt. Lawrence (played by future Hercules legend Steve Reeves in
his theatrical debut). Vintage Los
Angeles shooting sites (likely all done without permits by Wood), a robbery
gone south, homicide and a twist ending make Jail Bait one Ed Wood’s
“better” (meaning more coherent) film productions.
Also on the crime front on Nov. 24 are Monogram Pictures’ The
Phantom Broadcast (1933, directed by the prolific Phil Rosen and starring
Ralph Forbes, Gail Patrick, Arnold Gray and Vivienne Osborne), director William
A. Graham’s 1974 full-length pilot film for Teresa Graves’ Get Christ Love (she
would be featured in 22 additional episodes during 1974/1975 season and receive
a Golden Globe nomination for her work) and the 1959 mixed-genre haunted house
horror/mystery, The House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price as a wealthy
eccentric who concocts an elaborate “haunted house” story to unmask the
culprits behind his intended murder — director William Castle does a nice
balancing job between the traditional horror elements and those of a nice
whodunit thriller — spoiler alert — it was, of course, his wife (played by Carol
Ohmart) and her lover (Alan Marshal) ... or is the house really haunted!!!
For Western fans, the restored film-to-DVD selections from
the Film Detective on Nov. 24 include Rage at Dawn (1955, Randolph Scott
is joined by Mala Powers, Forrest Tucker, Myron Healey and J. Carrol Naish), Six
Gun Trail (1938, starring Tim McCoy and Nora Lane), Riders
of the Whistling Skull (1937, a Three Mesquiteers Western teaming
Robert Livingston, Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Max Terhune with the lovely Mary
Russell) and ultra-rare The Drifter (1932, directed by William
O'Connor — an early sound film shot on location in Big Bear, California and
William Farnum, Noah Berry and Phyllis Barrington).
Rounding out the film selections are the likes of director Ray
Dennis Steckler’s 1962 film “classic,” Wild Guitar, starring cult (yes
cult) actor Arch Hall, Jr. (who actually was a pretty good musician before
giving up his Hollywood career to become a commercial pilot) as an
up-and-coming singer who is taken full advantage by city slickers (the chief
among them is Arch Hall, Sr.!!!), director Lewis Allen’s 1954 presidential assassination
thriller, Suddenly, starring Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden and Nancy
Gates and director William Pine’s 1954 Swamp Fire (filmed on location in
Louisiana), starring ex-Tarzans Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe along with
the sultry Virginia Grey (Target Earth, All That Heaven Allows, The
Rose Tattoo, etc.).
For a complete listing of all of the Film Detective’s Nov.
24 DVD product offerings please see page 6 of this week’s edition of the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report.
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