The Old Dark House: "It's not good to be frightened on an empty tummy"

Fenella Fielding and Tom Poston.

William Castle's 1963 adaptation of J.B. Priestley's novel Benighted has little to do with the book or James Whales' 1932 film version. Screenwriter Robert Dillon jettisons the original premise of a group of travelers forced to spend the night in the ancestral home of the unusual Femm family. Instead, we have Tom Poston as an American car salesman who is invited by his "friend" Caspar Femm to spend the weekend at Femm Hall in Dartmoor. Given that Tom Poston is the lead, you may have surmised that the emphasis in this version is on comedy.

The Femm family is still an unusual lot, but that's to be expected when you're home-bound. It turns out that the Femm children's great, great grandfather was the pirate Captain Morgan who, before being hanged, wrote a will with a peculiar provision. Each family member must appear at a midnight gathering or forfeit his or her share of the family fortune. Thus, every time a Femm dies, the survivors grow richer.

Joyce Grenfell as Agatha Femm.

Yes, The Old Dark House boasts a creaky old plot that eventually wears out its welcome. However, that's not to say that the cast, peppered with seasoned pros, don't make it mildly entertaining. Robert Morley makes a dry, surly head of the house, while Joyce Grenfell (the "lovely ducks" lady in Hitch's Stage Fright) has fun as the matriarch (who knits "by the mile"). She has many of the best lines, including the sage remark that "it's not good to be frightened on an empty tummy."

Janette Scott as Cecily Femm.

Mervyn Johns (Dead of Night), Fenella Fielding (you'll recognize her voice instantly), and the lovely Janette Scott round out the supporting cast. Scott, who also starred in The Day of the Triffids and Paranoiac, became a cult movie star of the 1960s. She was immortalized in the song "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Singer Mel Torme was the second of her three husbands.

As the hero, Tom Poston executes the required pratfalls and looks of distress. However, he lacks the comic flair necessary to carry off this kind of role (Bob Hope and Lou Costello did it much better). Poston was always more at home as a TV series supporting player, where he found great success. For the record, he also starred in another William Castle picture: the previous year's fantasy-comedy Zotz!

The Old Dark House boasts an unusual production pedigree in that it's a co-production between Castle and Hammer Films. The film's crew includes many names familiar to Hammer fans: set designer Bernard Robinson, editor James Needs, cinematographer Arthur Grant, and others. Allegedly, Hammer's Anthony Hinds co-produced The Old Dark House at Bray Studios in Great Britain. However, his name is missing from the credits. Furthermore, the last two credits are very unusual: "Produced and directed by William Castle" is followed by the redundant "Directed by William Castle."

Speaking of the stylish credits, they were done by the famous cartoonist Charles Addams (creator of The Addams Family). His hand appears on screen as he signs his name in cursive. Hey, even Saul Bass, the most famous creator of credits, never got to do that.

There's a Crack...in the World!

"Slow in takeoff and inclined to over-clinical scientific exposition, (the) action gradually hits its stride when the experiment backfires and results in giant earthquakes, tidal waves and general destruction of the world."

That was Variety's assessment of Crack in the World when it was released in 1965. I pretty much agree, although time has been kind to this well-made, modestly-budgeted science fiction film. In retrospect, it is one of the better sci fi efforts of the 1960s, though certainly not in the same category as the somewhat similar The Day the Earth Caught Fire.

Dana Andrews as Dr. Sorenson.

Dana Andrews stars as Dr. Stephen Sorenson, a dedicated scientist who hopes to create "limitless, clean heat" by drilling to the magma at the Earth's core. Unfortunately, after drilling down two miles, his team hits a portion of the Earth's crust that can't be penetrated by mechanical means. Sorenson's solution is to use a thermonuclear device to punch through that final layer.

His colleague, Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), adamantly opposes that plan, claiming the explosion will trigger ruptures in existing fissures created by previous nuclear tests. Sorenson ignores Rampion's warnings and, after securing permission by a government commission, he detonates the atomic bomb. Without minutes, an earthquake creates a crack in the Earth's crust that travels along a fault line at 3 miles per hour--threatening to literally cut the Earth in half.

Rampion (Kieran Moore) in the volcano.

Except for occasional stock footage,which is ill-matched for the most part, there's a dearth of disaster scenes in Crack in the World until the fiery climax. Still, veteran director Andrew Marton (King Solomon's Mines) mounts two impressive sequences in the film's final half-hour. The first one generates effective tension as Rampion emplaces another thermonuclear device into a live volcano, hoping to create a hole big enough to stop the crack. Marton's other highlight is an action sequence with Rampion and Sorenson's wife (Janette Scott) racing to higher ground to avoid crashing boulders and streams of steaming lava.

The film's human elements don't work as well. The terminally-ill Sorenson pushes away his younger wife--right into the arms of her former lover Rampion. If it was because he was concerned about her future happiness, he might come across as sympathetic. As it is, Sorenson remains an egotistical genius ("I have an opportunity to turn the pages of history"), who becomes consumed by guilt after his actions result in thousands of lost lives.

Janette Scott as a blonde.

Except for Andrews as Sorenson, the cast is saddled with stereotypical characters. That said, Kieran is fine as the stalwart Rampion--part scientist and part action hero. Sadly, the lovely Janette Scott is wasted in the thankless role of Maggie Sorenson. It's a sharp contrast to the resourceful heroine she played in Day of the Triffids.

Shot in Spain, Crack in the World looks more expensive than its budget. Much of that credit belongs to Eugène Lourié, who received credits for both art direction and special effects. Born in France, Lourié first gained fame as an art director working with Jean Renoir on classics such as Grand Illusion (1937). He moved to America during World War II and worked on films ranging from the The House of Fear (with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes) to Charles Chaplin's Limelight. Lourié also directed occasionally, with his best work being another above-average 1960s sci fi film Gorgo.

People-eating Plants Stalk Howard Keel and Janette Scott in "The Day of the Triffids"

British author John Wyndham provided the literary basis for two of the most compelling science fiction films of the 1960s: Village of the Damned and The Day of the Triffids. While the former film has a more prestigious reputation, Triffids has its share of admirers. While a low budget often prevents it from achieving its aims, The Day of Triffids remains an intriguing, satisfying vision of life on Earth after a different kind of alien invasion.

As in Village of the Damned, an inexplicable, seemingly harmless phenomenon ultimately threatens the existence of the human race. In this case, it’s a worldwide meteor shower touted by the media as a “once-in- lifetime spectacle that must be seen.” Unfortunately, the glare from the meteors severs the optic nerve—leaving most of Earth’s population blind. To make matters worse, the meteors activate exterrestrial seeds that had been dormant for years. The seeds quickly sprout into Triffids, giant man-eating plants that can uproot themselves and seek their human quarry.

The film’s main protagonist is Mason (Howard Keel), a first mate who can see only because he was recovering from eye surgery on the night of the meteor shower. As Mason travels throughout the ruins of Europe looking for answers, his story is intercut with the Goodwins. Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) is an alcoholic marine biologist battling Triffids in a remote lighthouse laboratory off the coast of Cornwall with his long-suffering wife (Janette Scott).

When I first saw The Day of the Triffids, I was struck by the film’s unusual structure, for the two plots (Mason and the Goodwins) never converge. Years later, I learned that the footage of the Goodwins was filmed by famed cinematographer and occasional director Freddie Francis after principal photography was completed. The reason: the film’s original running time was too short! Ironically, it’s the most interesting plot because of what it doesn’t tell us. We never learn why Tom started drinking or why Susan stays with her self-centered husband. It’s almost a snapshot of a faltering marriage, with no beginning and no end.

The film’s strength, though, lies with its frightening premise. Forget the Triffids (who are too lumbering to be a real threat). Imagine what would happen if most of the world’s inhabitants suddenly went blind. Day of the Triffids explores this theme with several chilling sequences: a airplane full of panicked passengers; blind people groping frantically when they learn a young girl can see; and escaped convicts who take advantage of the visually impaired. It’s too bad that the variable, low-budget special effects (by Wally Veevers from Night of the Demon) lessen some of the impact.

Those who have read Wyndham’s novel deride the 1962 version of The Day of Triffids. They tend to favor the 1981 British miniseries, which I've never seen. It may be very good, but the original Triffids will always remain a favorite: a well-done, low-budget feature that rises above the ordinary on the basis of its ingenuity.