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U.S.A.
/ 1959
Directed
by Roy Del Ruth
Starring
Beverly
Garland
Bruce
Bennett
Lon
Chaney Jr.
B&W / 74 Minutes / Not Rated
Format:
DVD (R1 - NTSC)
20th
Century-Fox Home Entertainment
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
It's
always fun to watch a film make that fatal misstep that takes
it from passable entertainment to insane embarrassment. Sometimes
this moment can elevate a movie to the level of 'alternative
classic' (i.e., so bad its good); most of the time this plunge
off the cliff is its only real bit of energy. Sadly, this is
the case with The Alligator People.
Though most of the cast tries to invest the story with emotion
it just doesn't work. Beverly Garland is the picture's solid
center, doing a good job drawing us into her dilemma, and Lon
Chaney, Jr. chews scenery like a mad dog, but both are undone
by lethargic pacing. Still, the movie does boast that moment
of nuttiness that makes the final few minutes a real hoot —
for all the wrong reasons. Alligator People
kicks into gear and self-destructs at the same moment.
In a drug induced hypnotic trance, Jane Marvin
(Garland) relates the tale of an earlier identity she has completely
repressed. She had been Joyce Hatten, a wartime nurse in love
with Army airman Paul Webster (Richard Crane). When Paul is
discharged from the service after a near fatal plane crash the
couple marries. She's curious about how he recovered so fast
from supposedly having most of his bones shattered in the accident,
but he's reluctant to give details. As they travel by train
to their honeymoon Paul gets a wire that sends him off without
a word of explanation to his new wife. Understandingly upset,
Joyce tracks him to his last given address — an old plantation
house in the Louisiana swamps called The Cypresses. There she
slowly learns that her husband was saved after that deadly crash
by Dr. Mark Sinclair's (George Macready) innovative experiments
in reptile limb regeneration and healing abilities. Unfortunately
this has had the side effect of making Paul's skin become scaly,
icky and generally gator-like. Joyce tries to convince her husband
that it doesn't matter, hoping that the Doc can help him. Adding
to the tension is the presence of bayou gator hater Manon (Chaney),
whose hooked left hand attests to his reasons for wanting to
kill them reptilian varmints. In fact, his hatred of all things
gator has spilled over into a dislike of the poor afflicted
Paul as well. Things are fairly dull until the story finally
flies out of control, when Dr. Sinclair decides to use a strong
form of radiation treatment to possibly cure Paul. He makes
sure we know that an exposure of more the 60 seconds would be
catastrophic and cranks up the machine. Perfectly on cue, Lon
goes on a drunken rampage determined to kill that damned Alligator
Man, disrupting the procedure and causing a further hideous
mutation. To say that the make-up for the creature's final form
is bad is to be kind. The chest piece looks like a bulging,
wrinkled wet suit while the head is one of the funniest things
in monster movie history. A hint for filmmakers: if your monster
looks like a deranged duck you've left Scary Land and entered
Toon Town. I don't know how much this costume cost but in cinematic
terms it's absolutely priceless!
I'd probably agree with every criticism leveled
against it, but like a puppy that piddles on the rug, Alligator
People is just too lovable to hate. It is a little
too slow and very dopey but between Garland, Chaney and
that crazy climax I find enough entertainment value to justify
return visits to The Cypresses manor house. Chaney throws himself
into the film as the lecherous drunk; whether pawing Miss Garland
or missing alligators at point blank range with a pistol, he
injects much needed adrenaline when things drag. Macready does
a fair job as the not-exactly-mad scientist and manages to spout
his pseudo-scientific claptrap without much stumbling. However,
Return Of The Vampire's Frieda
Inescort, as Paul's mother, is a major embarrassment. Unable
to achieve a stable southern accent, she also seems at times
to be searching for her lines on the furniture or walls.
I strongly suspect that the wraparound story
of 'Jane' being questioned under hypnosis was added after the
original production was finished. It adds nothing to the story
except time, with all the relevant information present in the
first scenes on the train. Also, Garland's occasional voice-overs
feel tacked on — maybe an attempt to punch up slow scenes. Honestly,
if not for the fact that it was in Cinemascope I'd swear Alligator
People was a TV show stretched to feature length. This
little trifle isn't for everyone, but if you like '50s monster
movies this has a few points of interest and just might hit
the spot.
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Fox
has released Alligator People in
a gorgeous letterboxed presentation that makes it look much better
than the old TV prints I've seen in the past. The picture is beautiful,
with strong contrasts and great detail in some of the scenes with
a more Noir style of lighting. The soundtrack is pretty clear
but there were a few times I resorted to the subtitles for clarification.
Unlike Paramount's bare-boned I
Married A Monster From Outer Space DVD, Fox has added a few
extras to this disc. They've included the trailers for Alligator
People, Phantom Of The Paradise,
both versions of The Fly, and The
Omen. Nice to see that they don't have a strict 'No Extras'
policy; with MGM releasing movies like this in double feature
sets, however, you can't help but feel a little slighted. Also,
even though I love the artwork on the DVD cover, the blurb on
the back claims that Chaney plays Garland's husband. Did no one
at Fox bother to watch this film before they released it? 2/28/05 |
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