GOING, GOING, GONE, A Mystery Novel by Eliza G. C. Collins

EVERYONE seems to be a critic, so I'm sure there are those who may think that Going, Going, Gone is no great shake, but I'm not one of them. I personally enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed reading anything, even the most lauded mysteries that are out there, and that's the reason I now own both editions of the novel. The only downside I can think of is that this was Eliza G. C. Collins' (b. 1938- ) only foray into fiction; after this, and what should have been the beginning of a thoroughly successful mystery-series writing career, she concentrated instead only on authoring a non-fiction book, The Portable MBA, her third such endeavor, which may have been the dissuading factor that kept her from writing more fiction. Well that, and perhaps her important day job as senior editor of the Harvard Business Review, an obvious time-consuming occupation.

Going, Going, Gone was published in hardcover in 1986 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The dustjacket art was designed and painted by Jack Ribik, who was an active producer of cover art during the 1970's and 80's for publishers such as Bobbs-Merrill, Dial, Dutton, Houghton Mifflin, Putnam, Random House, Scribner's and St. Martin's. Beyond that fact there is no other background information about Ribik online.

 

Ribik's illustration depicts a wooden African Chieftain's sceptre, its top carved into several hideous grinning baboon faces, with tiny bits of ivory for their teeth. And yes, this is the murder weapon.

SYNOPSIS: "Helen Greene once had to sell her favorite painting-- a gorgeous landscape by Albert Pinkham Ryder-- to save her Boston gallery. Now, ten years later, the Ryder's back on the auction block, and Helen wants it-- desperately. It's the love of fine art that brings Helen to Joseph Wickham Auctions. The motives of the other auction hounds aren't so pure. Tom's scrambling to pay off a bad debt with penny-ante purchases. Julie's stalking a new partner for business and/or bed. Silky's gambling on an unsigned-- and unauthorized-Master. Will he make a killing, or get stuck with a worthless imitation? Al's trying to shake down an old business partner for his share of the till. And Barton's just being his usual high-and-mighty self. The stakes are as high as tempers, and once the bidding begins, the sky's the limit. But it's murder that fetches the highest price. And Helen is the chief suspect."

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...readers with a taste for Boston or auctions, or both, should be modestly entertained by this sedate mystery-comedy, which is intended to inaugurate a Helen Greene series."

The mass-market paperback edition of Going, Going Gone was published by Signet in September, 1987. The cover art was produced by Robert Crawford, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His paintings have appeared on scores of paperback and hardcover book covers since the early 1980's; in some instances, such as Philip R. Craig's popular Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series, he's provided every cover painting for every format that's been published. He also produced a substantial amount of imagery for advertising purposes and for magazines such as Fortune, Business Week, The Atlantic and the U.S. News and World Report.

Crawford's take on the wooden African sceptre is stylishly different than Ribik's. He also shows us the very large carved wooden box, of seventeenth-century English origin, which Helen successfully bids on during the auction and which becomes an impromptu stash place for the murdered victim's body.

PAPERBACK SYNOPSIS: "The thrill of an antiques auction was in the blood of Boston gallery owner Helen Greene. And this time the chance to buy back a painting she was forced to sell long ago had her on a razor's edge of anticipation. A gorgeous landscape by Albert Ryder was going on the block that afternoon, and Helen would do anything to outbid the cutthroat competition to possess it. But murder? She wouldn't, of course, but somebody did... for a grisly corpse among the objets d'art soon made Helen the prime suspect in a rival dealer's death. Now the price of her freedom depended on her talent for investigation... and her expert appraisal of the crafty criminal who made a real killing in antiques... "

* * * * * * *

BELOW ARE some bonus covers to enjoy by the elusive artist Jack Ribik. (I'll feature Crawford at another time, he being one of my favorite illustrators and worthy of a singular post):

The Whisper of the Axe, A Thriller by Richard Condon. Published in hardcover in 1976 by Doubleday. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik. 

 

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...enormously entertaining... though it's clear that the central performer is always Condon, a staggering virtuoso. When he describes a meal it makes Craig Claiborne's American Express orgy seem like a Pillsbury Bake-Off."

Super-Folks, A Novel by Robert Mayer. Published in hardcover in 1977 by Dial Press. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik. 

 

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...sharp, funny, and ultimately moving, with a plot that could be the R-rated version of the current hit movie The Incredibles... a cult novel that inspired a generation of comic book writers and anticipated books like The Fortress of Solitude and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods, A Science Fiction Novel by Jack Williamson. Published in hardcover in 1979 by Bobbs-Merrill. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik.

SYNOPSIS: "We can recreate the human race-- if we dare. In this exciting age of test-tube babies and reported human clones and the new miracles of recombinant DNA, That's the dazzling and sometimes disturbing promise of the genetic engineers. In Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods, a prophetic novel set in a vast future multiverse, Jack Williamson projects future centuries of genetic research."

Scandal, Or Priscilla's Kindness, A Novel by A. N. Wilson. Published in hardcover in 1984 by Viking Press. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik. 

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...coldly whimsical little treatment of a sex-scandal involving a British cabinet-minister [which combines] elements from several recent Whitehall brouhahas... with every character a fool or a faker."

Bodies, A Novel of Suspense, by Robert Barnard. Published in hardcover in 1986 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik.  

 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "In the Soho studio of Bodies magazine (porn so soft it's "practically marshmallow") are found four corpses: a photographer, his assistant, an actress-student and a young bodybuilder... the case's solution is rather strained and a bit unlikely, but the lively characters and colorful background are nicely done."

The Cherry Blossom Corpse, A Novel of Suspense, by Robert Barnard. Published in hardcover in 1987 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik. 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "The many fans of Scotland Yard's Perry Trethowan will savor his adventures in this 15th elegantly satiric mystery by Barnard. In the denouement, a shockingly inhuman plot is disclosed. Barnard's wit is as sharp as ever; depictions of Norwegian scenic splendors and food are extra attractions.

Wildcat, A Thriller, by Craig Thomas. Published in hardcover in 1989 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik.

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Another sturdy, reliable thriller for Thomas' devoted fans. The aged Aubrey is surprisingly believable as an energetic and successful spy--and there's some pleasantly ominous South Asian scenery as well."

Thunder of Erebus, A Thriller by Payne Harrison. Published in hardcover in 1991 by Crown (this is an image of the uncorrected proof softcover edition). Cover art by Jack Ribik. This is my favorite of all the Ribik's I've seen thus far; note the stylish submarine plowing through the water-- very cool.

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Soviet and American forces slug it out over strategic materials in the frozen South, where a dormant volcano is waking up in a terrible mood. Living, breathing humans and fresh scenery make this a better-than-average technobattle."

On Dangerous Ground, A Thriller by Jack Higgins. Published in hardcover in 1994 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Dustjacket art by Jack Ribik.

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "... one of Higgins' kitchen sink finales, with the principals scuba diving, stealing, kidnapping, parachuting, and assaulting their way into your hearts still again. Nowhere near the top of Higgins' form, but his hordes of devoted fans won't mind this dog-and-pony show one more time."

 [© October, 2020, Jeffersen]

DC Comics THE WITCHING HOUR!

*Note: Originally posted in 2011.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: The Witching Hour! Volume 1 (1969-1972), DC Comics, March, 2011, ISBN 9781401230227.

 

DC'S LATEST release in its ever growing Showcase Presents lineup is a massive 551 page softcover omnibus edition that reprints the first 18 issues of The Witching Hour comic in a variant black & white format. By eliminating the original four-color appearance, DC is able to price the Showcase editions modestly, giving folks an affordable way to get reacquainted with some of their favorite comics, ones they may not have access to anymore. Nick Cardy, an all-purpose artist who drew dozens of Witching Hour covers, also produced the cover art on Volume One, a re-purposing of his own work from Issue #4.

The Witching Hour started its long series run in 1969, eventually ending in 1978 with its 85th and final issue. That was nearly ten years worth of entertaining comic horror stories, or at least as entertaining as they could be within the allowance of the Comics Code Authority, the governing body created by the Comic Magazine Association to censor any and all material that was deemed inappropriate for children. And yet even under this imposition horror stories thrived. By the end of the Silver Age (1970) nearly every comic publisher had at least two bi-monthly horror comics for sale. DC continued to add even more horror titles in the years after the Silver.

Less than half of the stories in Volume One are credited to their actual writers. The remaining contributors are virtually unknown, an unfortunate aspect of comic-book legacy. The names that are given are no doubt familiar to most Silver and Bronze age fans: Sergio Aragones, Murray Boltinoff, Gerard Conway, Mike Friedrich, Dennis O'Neil, Steve Skeates, Len Wein, Carl Wessler and Marv Wolfman. These writers were capable of producing great scripts, and usually did, but they also cranked out a lot of pedestrian material, which in all fairness to them was probably all that was needed to satisfy the comic readership at that time, that being kids 7-15 years old. The stories here certainly reflect that overall output; some are outstanding, some are good, and some are just plain awful. A few could be deemed ludicrous. Nevertheless, all of the stories seem to be enjoyable, at least in one weird way or another.

Hosting each story are three witches: Cynthia, Mildred, and Mordred. Each witch was modeled after Macbeth's Weird Sisters, representing an archetype of the triumvirate woman; Maiden, Mother and Crone. Artist Alex Toth designed their signature look (as seen above), and taken up in turn by Mike Sekowsky, Neal Adams and George Tuska.

Nearly every story focused on basic situations of revenge or retribution, ending in clever twists or revelations and usually with death in tow. Fantastic elements were also used as devices to help propel the narratives. These typically included haunted houses, alternate dimensions, paranormal events, inner & outer space, magic (or sorcery), deviltry and time travel. I suppose kids who read these stories on a regular basis were taught valuable moral lessons about the pitfalls of cultivating sin. I know I learned a thing or two. 

Though for myself, the main lure of buying comics was to collect the art itself, and to a large extent the artwork in the early years of the Witching Hour is worthy of collecting. Top notch illustrators like Bernie Wrightson, Bill Draut, Neal Adams, Gray Morrow and Alex Toth contributed regularly to the series, but alas, as always with comics, so did several of their obviously less talented colleagues. One of those unfortunates was Jack Sparling, who drew, unmercifully, the dumpiest characters in all of comicdom. His presence in any comic practically ruined it for me, even if his grotesque, unattractive style can be defended for its recognizable vigor.  

Below are some example pages of the artists that I do admire, starting with Alex Toth, a Comic Book Hall of Fame inductee. Toth illustrated four of the series best stories, and he also provided the very important framing introductions, interludes and epilogues in all of the early issues.

An icon in the field of comics, Alex Toth (1928-2006) started his career in the 1940's drawing syndicated strips and comic books. By the late 1950's he was working primarily for Dell, where he illustrated the comic book Zorro and several other media tie-in books. Hanna-Barbera then hired him in the early 1960's as a storyboard and animation design artist. His most famous creation for them is probably the Space Ghost. Toth's animation style has been parodied on the Cartoon Network and other cable shows, a definite sign of his respect and influence within the medium, and in fact he is considered a "Giant of 20th Century Cartoon Design" by animation enthusiasts. Since 1995 several books have been published by and about him, and his status as both an artist and creator continues to grow with each passing year. Pictured above is a prime example of his minimalist, almost patented style, and his unique draftsmanship, downloaded from ComputErr, a story written by Sergio Aragones in Issue #8 (note the clever use of punch holes outlining each panel; that's how computer cards looked in the 1970's).

Bill (William) Draut (1921-1993) was another excellent draftsman who had a long and productive career in comics. Some of his best work was done for the Witching Hour. Draut began drawing professionally in the 1940's, doing newspaper comic strips before signing on with Jack Kirby and Joe Simon at Crestwood Publications. His ability to draw people and faces were honed while working on their romance titles. He also worked for Harvey Comics in the late 1950's. Then, after a brief stint at Charlton, he began his longtime association with DC, primarily illustrating, but not limited to, their horror, romance and war titles. The above page is from The Big Break!, a story written by Steve Skeates in Issue #7. The black & white format actually accentuates Draut's clean ink lines and deep contrasts-- to me it's almost an improvement over the four-color method used in the originals.

Pat Boyette (1923-2000) almost single-handedly kept Charlton Comics alive during the Silver and Bronze Ages, writing and drawing hundreds of stories for the low-budget publisher. Some of his work for them is rather shoddy, a likely result of his overworked schedule. But when he applied himself properly he was as good a stylist and draftsman as there was in the business. While freelancing at DC, he delivered some of his finest illustrations. Pictured above is a page from the premier Issue (#1) of The Witching Hour, showing Boyette's inimitably detailed, yet slightly wooden style, and his signature use of diagonally shaped panels. The story is Save the Last Dance For Me!, and it was written by the great Dennis O'Neil.

Former DC editor, writer and artist Carmine Infantino (1925-2013) had only one story published in The Witching Hour, a reprint from Sensation Comics (DC, May-June, 1952) titled Fingers of Fear. It's my favorite story from the entire series, not only because of Infantino's solid perspectives and sure-handed lines (pun intended), but because his story shares the same title with my favorite horror novel (written by John Urban Nicolson and published by Covici Friede in 1937). It also happens to be a prime example of the ludicrousity I mentioned earlier. Shown above is the splash panel and one of the pages from Issue #17. The prolific and always dependable Joe Giella was the inker for this story.

Gray Morrow (1934-2001) was a distinguished illustrator noted for his style and exceptional realism. He also painted paperback covers for more than three decades, chiefly science fiction, and worked periodically on syndicated newspaper strips. Morrow was also one of the regulars at Warren Publishing, producing superb covers and and interior art for their magazines Creepy, Eerie and Blazing Combat. Along the way he found time to work on comics, mainly for Timely, Atlas, and Classics Illustrated. Eventually he wound up working for DC in the early 1970's, illustrating stories for their horror comics. Pictured above is an excellent example of his work from Issue #13, taken from Alan Gold's and Marv Wolfman's story Maze. This particular example is bold even in Showcase's b&w format, but even more so when enhanced by color, as evidenced above in a scan of the same page from the original comic version.

MY INTEREST in comic books has always ebbed and flowed. It's been that way since I was a teenager, when I first drifted away to pursue other literary interests. Now my attention is back, but my focus is mainly on the Silver Age comics of my youth, which for me constitutes a trip down memory lane. With few exceptions, I rarely collect any of the modern comics and graphic novels that are so plentiful now though I do read as many as time will allow. It's astonishing to see just how far the medium has come since those days when I was a young devotee, sketching away in my Big Chief tablet as I were a prospective cartoonist. These days the variety of styles and subject matter seems far reaching, although in reality that diversity may not be that much greater than it was in any previous era. But the packaging of comic art has evolved dramatically since then, some of it for the better, some of it for the worse. While I would prefer to see all of the old comics reprinted in color, and that color closely resembling their original treatment, these black & white Showcase volumes do allow us to see comic illustrations from an unusual perspective, one that kids of my generation never had privy to unless we bought dedicated black & white magazines like Creepy and Eerie. 

I've thoroughly enjoy reading the Showcase editions, especially the horror reprints. They're easily recommended, not only from an aesthetic point of view, but because they're solid examples of the mediums ability to effectively transmit genre stories.

[© November, 2019, Jeffersen]

DELIVER ME FROM EVA by Paul Bailey

DELIVER ME FROM EVA is a dark-thriller that was first published in 1946 by Murray & Gee Incorporated of Hollywood, California. It has since gone on to gain considerable cult status within the horror genre. To begin with, it found a permanent place in Stephen Jones' & Kim Newman's influential, annotated reading list, Horror: 100 Best Books (Carroll & Graf, 1988), with a conveying essay by genre aficionado Forrest J. Ackerman. Then in 2007 it was republished as a high quality, limited edition hardback by Centipede Press, a unique specialty publisher out of Lakewood, Colorado.

In Centipede's newly commissioned introduction, Ackerman, once again, states his admiration for the novel and his still ardent desire to see a film made of it. Regrettably, a film was never opted, nor has the novel been published in convenient mass-market paperback format. Though in 2011, at long last, Paul Bailey's novel was republished in an affordable trade softcover edition by Bruin Books, a highly commendable Golden Age Fiction revival house.

The original Murray & Gee dustjacket art, with its severed head served on a silver platter, was produced by Jack Lynch, on whom I could find no information about beyond the fact that he provided additional cover art for the publisher during their post WWII height (see further examples below).

The author, Paul Dayton Bailey (1906-1987), was an American typographer, journalist, editor, publisher, and reputed writer of historical novels. This, apparently, was his first and only attempt at writing this type of fiction. 

 

Here's a brief excerpt from the Murray & Gee preface:

"When he'd (the publisher) finished the last gripping line his blood was running as cold as a lizard's belly, and for a week he dared not turn off his lights at night... we swear it's the most gosh-awful, horrific spine-tingler imaginable, but we're not revealing any of its awesome secrets."

That type of prelude may seem a tad old fashioned today, but it certainly evokes, or at least promotes, an anticipation of mystery, suspense, and the preternatural to follow---and follow it does! Bailey's unique plot centers around complications ensuing from experiments to increase intelligence artificially. This scientific aspect allows for some unpredictable turns and grotesqueries to develop, and Bailey delivers them all in Grand Guignol style. I was enthralled by every aspect of his story; the whirlwind romance, the majestic manor-house setting, the increasingly bizarre revelations, the madcap science, the black humor---but also by the beguiling, femme fatale Eva Craner, possessor of amazing intellectual abilities and astounding musical capabilities, who is strangely obligated to the weird demands of her arcane family. One of those family members suffers a fateful introspection that quickly becomes the catalyst for the story's shocking finish.

And yes, Ackerman was right---it's ideal B-movie material.

Bailey has crafted a tremendously lurid, atmospheric horror novel that can also double as a weird mystery or even a unique science-fiction novel. It's a remarkable achievement for a writer with no previous experience in the realm of the fantastic.

 

The 2007 Centipede cloth edition has a stunning, pasted down image on its cover from Swiss symbolist painter and printmaker Carlos Schwabe (1866-1926). Schwabe routinely explored mythological, allegorical and social themes in his paintings; women also featured heavily in his work, sometimes representing suffering and death, other times inspiration and guidance. He was also an important book illustrator, representing the works of Emile Zola, Charles Baudelaire, Maurice Maeterlinck, Albert Samain, and many other notable fin de siècle writers.

The 2011 Bruin softcover featured an anatomical drawing of the human body by Sixteenth-Century Dutch engraver and artist Jan Wandelaar (1690-1759), one of forty incredibly detailed drawings of the human body that he produced over an eight year period in collaboration with his friend, the Dutch physician and anatomist Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770). These were originally published in 1747, in a volume titled Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani (Tables of the skeleton and muscles of the human body). Click on the image below to see the original drawing in large format.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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BELOW: BONUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM Lynch, Schwabe and Wandelaar/Albinus:

Nobody Loves A Dead Man was published in hardcover by Murray & Gee Inc., in 1945, with dustjacket art by Jack Lynch.  The author, Milton M. Raison (1903-1982), wrote six mystery novels: The Phantom of Forty-Second Street (Macaulay, 1936), No Weeds for the Widow (Murray, 1947), Murder in a Lighter Vein (Murray, 1947), Tunnel 13 (Murray, 1948), the above title and also the below title, in addition to his first published work, Spindrift (Doran, 1922), a book of verse. Mysteries aside, Raison was primarily a screenwriter in Hollywood for both film and television, with 59 total credits, largely for B programmers. He was also a special feature writer for the Sunday World, a reviewer for the Herald Tribune and the New York Record, a magazine writer for popular slicks, a radio writer and a publicity agent for many of Broadway's shows and producers.

 

The Gay Mortician by Milton M. Raison was published in hardcover by Murray & Gee in 1946, with dustjacket art by Jack Lynch.

Say Uncle was published in hardcover by Murray & Gee in 1944, with dustjacket art by Jack Lynch.  The author, Dorothy Burgess (1907-1961), was an American actress with 47 film credits to her name. She turned to writing after her acting career stalled, but only managed to complete one novel, the above title, a thriller purportedly about vampires. "I worked six hours a day for eight months on Say Uncle," she told the Hollywood Citizen News. "You work on what you write until you think it is perfect, and then you write some more." Boy, can I ever relate to that!

Jack Lynch also produced the cover art and interior illustrations for the children's book The Quinducklets, The Adventures of Five Little Ducks, by Ruth & Helen Rames. It was published in hardcover by Murray & Gee in 1945.  Helen Rames Briggs (1908-2010) was a longtime resident of Glendale, California, and for many years she owned and operated a bookstore there, but she was also a determined writer, publishing more than 50 articles, poems and children's stories. She is the author of just this one book though, co-written with her sister Ruth Rames Munson (1907-1994).

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An illustration by Carlos Schwabe from Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), a book of lyric poetry by Charles Baudelaire. It was published by Auguste Poulet-Malassis in 1857. Medium: pencil, watercolor and gouache.

La Mort Du Fossoyeur (Death and the Gravedigger) by Carlos Schwabe, ca. 1895. Medium: pencil, watercolor and gouache.

Les Champs-Elysees (Elysian Fields) by Carlos Schwabe, ca. 1903. Medium: pencil, watercolor and gouache.

La Vague (The Wave) by Carlos Schwabe, ca. 1907. Medium: oil on canvas.

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Set of four anatomical drawings of the human body by Jan Wandelaar and Bernhard Siegried Albinus, ca. 1747. The rhinoceros was modeled after an Asian one named Clara, who resided in the Amsterdam Zoo, and was at the time the most famous creature of its kind in Europe.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

[October, 2019, © Jeffersen]

MY TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF ALL TIME

Webster's defines HORROR as: ( n. ) 1. the strong feeling caused by something frightful or shocking; terror and repugnance.  2. strong dislike or aversion.  3. the quality of causing horror.  4. something that causes horror.

Webster's defines ADVENTURE as: ( n. ) 1. the encountering of danger.  2. a daring, hazardous undertaking.  3. an unusual, stirring experience, often of a romantic nature.  4. a liking for danger, excitement, etc.

 

MY INTEREST in horror movies has less to do with their actual elements of terror and fear and more to do with their innate ability to create adventurous environments around those elements. It's that requisite search for adventure that has pushed me to watch, or sample, hundreds of horror films throughout my lifetime, and often to my own detriment (so much of it is gawd-awful!). But I do admit to enjoying the often brilliant performances of the many unsung actors that populate the field, as well as basking in the incredible milieu, robust atmosphere and scariness that is so central to the genre's popularity.

One of my favorite "horror-adventure" films from the early days of Hollywood is The Most Dangerous Game, a pre-Code, RKO Radio Picture production released in 1932. Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, of King Kong fame, were the film's co-directors. The score was produced by Max Steiner.

The film is based on a short story of the same name by Richard Connell (1893-1949), originally published in Colliers on January 19, 1924, with illustrations (pictured below) by the American born artist Wilmot Emerton Heitland (1893-1969). Connell's yarn won the O'Henry Memorial Award for short fiction the year it was published.

Connell's story has been reprinted at least sixteen times in various English language anthologies, but illustrated only twice on an actual book cover. The first was on Berkley's 1957 paperback anthology, The Most Dangerous Game and Other Stories of Adventure, with cover art by Mel Crair, and the second on Random House's 1967 hardcover anthology Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbinders in Suspense, with cover art and interior illustrations by Harold Isen (both are pictured below).

Fay Wray and Joel McCrea were cast as leads in The Most Dangerous Game. Wray of course would be destined for ultimate remembrance one year later for her iconic role as Ann Darrow in King Kong, while McCrea would become, after effectively starring in such classic films as Foreign Correspondent and Union Pacific, one of Hollywood's most forthright, leading men, especially in Westerns.

Their characters Eve Trowbridge and Sanger "Bob" Rainsford are shipwrecked on a remote island, inhabited by the fiendish megalomaniac Count Zaroff, played melodramatically but effectively by the great English stage actor Leslie Banks, who forces them to engage in a sadistic hunt with the two of them as his human prey. The hunt, aided by Zaroff's loyal henchmen, becomes a testosterone fueled duel in which the world class hunter Rainsford's honor-bound rules are challenged in the most extreme way, with Eve as the compulsory prize to the successor.

 

It's been stated that the film represents American isolationist fears during the Great Depression, with Zaroff's fuehrer-like figure symbolizing decadent Europe. That expositor certainly feels accurate, but even with that political conflagration in place I see this movie only as a concentrated adventure story, but one tinged with underlying Sadeian horror.

RKO Pressbook, 1932.

I was probably  eight or nine when I first saw The Most Dangerous Game broadcast on television. Even now, a half century later, its legacy of suspense, adventure and horror hasn't diminished at all with me. In fact, when I began assembling my list of Top-Ten favorite movies for this posting I felt compelled to include The Most Dangerous Game, along with several other films of the same ilk. They are, by their release dates, as follows:

• The Most Dangerous Game  (1932)
• King Kong  (1933)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon  (1954)
• Curse of the Demon  (1958)
• The Mysterious Island  (1961)
• The Haunting  (1963)
• Jaws  (1975)
• Alien  (1979)
• The Thing  (1982)
• Aliens  (1986)
  

By strict definition all but one of these films, that being The Most Dangerous Game, are "Monster Movies", a sub-genre within horror which seems to incorporate adventure into itself almost by virtue of its very nature.

However, if I could be allowed an alternative list it would look like this:

• Lost Horizon  (1937)
• Casablanca  (1942)
• 7th Voyage of Sinbad  (1958)
• Dersu Uzala  (1975)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales  (1976)
• Star Wars  (Ewoks aside, Episodes IV, V, VI; 1977, 1980, 1983)
• The Road Warrior  (1981)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark  (1981)
• Ofelas aka Pathfinder  (1987)
• Last of the Mohicans  (1992)
  

Most of the films on my secondary list are not "monster" related per se, but they are powerful adventure stories, each and every one. And yet great films exist even outside of the genres that I so blatantly favor, and I could be swayed to include almost any film from the 1970s, be it comedy, drama, crime, exploitation, historical, fantasy or science-fiction. The 1970s was, arguably, the greatest decade for movies ever, and any intelligent person shouldn't have to look anywhere else to find a favorite film representation, and one that will stand the test of time. Go back even further to 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and then cap it off with 1982's The Thing, and what you have in between is simply undeniable in its importance as cultural, cinematic entertainment. I even have a soft spot for 1979's terribly underappreciated More American Graffiti.

But seriously, how can anyone compile a Top-Ten list and then stick with it for all time? Isn't our favorite movie merely the last great one we've seen, or re-seen? If I re-watch any of Hitchcock's best films again, Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960), I'm apt to make a change in my top-ten. Perhaps my list should be expanded to include no less than 100 titles. After all, entertaining films, in any category, will always have an inherent ability to influence our opinion, even if our initial love of the medium began with a specific genre amalgamation.

Map of Baranka Island. CLICK TO ENLARGE

1999 Criterion Collection DVD Liner Art. Designer(s) unknown.

2007 Legend Films DVD Liner Art. Designer(s) Unknown.

2012 Flicker Alley Blu-Ray Liner Art. Designer(s) unknown.

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MY TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF ALL TIME:

The Most Dangerous Game (RKO Pictures, 1932). Artist(s) unknown.

King Kong (RKO Pictures, 1933). Artist(s) unknown.

Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal Pictures, 1954). Artist(s) unknown.

Curse of the Demon (Columbia Pictures, 1957). Artist(s) unknown.

Mysterious Island (Columbia Pictures, 1961). Artist(s) unknown.

The Haunting (Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1963). Designer(s) unknown.

Jaws (Universal Pictures, 1975). Art by Roger Kastel.

Alien (20th Century Fox, 1979). Designer(s) unknown.

The Thing (Universal Pictures, 1982). Art by Drew Struzan.

Aliens (20th Century Fox, 1986). Designer(s) unknown.

*   *   *   *   *

 

MY ALTERNATE TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF ALL TIME:

Lost Horizon (Columbia Pictures, 1937). Art by James Montgomery Flagg.

Casablanca (Warner Bros., 1942). Designer(s) unknown.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Columbia Pictures, 1958. Art by Studio Brini.

Dersu Uzala (Nihon Herald Eiga, 1975). Italian, poster art by Averado Ciriello.

The Outlaw Josey Wales (Warner Bros., 1976). Art by Ron Anderson.

Star Wars, Episodes IV, V, VI (20th Century Fox, 1977, 1980, 1983). Art by Tom Chantrell, Roger Kastel, and Kazuhiko Sanu.

The Road Warrior (Warner Bros., 1982). Art by Commander.

Ofelas aka Pathfinder (Carolco Pictures, 1987). Designer(s) unknown.

The Last of the Mohicans (20th Century Fox, 1992). Designer(s) unknown.

[Originally posted in 2008. © September, 2019, Jeffersen]