WILD SEED (1965)

 

My feelings about certain films change over time. They tend to evolve, to mature, as I evolve and mature. That could have something to do with where and how I discover such films. In my experience, getting to know a film by watching it on television resonates in a much more personal, solitary way than seeing a movie in a theater. Theaters are public settings that don't involve much privacy or solitude. This doesn't imply, naturally, that watching a movie in a crowded theater can't possibly affect one in a deeply personal way. But there is something quite different about entering into the world of a movie when you're curled up on a couch in a darkened living room all by yourself, at a late hour with the sound low. This is how I got to know those old movies from the 1930s and onward, including all of the classic horror flicks. Even though I've been able to see many of those movies on the big screen over the years, the pleasure of seeing them on TV has never left my memory. 

It's hard to believe nowadays, but there was a time when local TV stations would fill their schedules by showing old movies and old television shows, especially on weekends. This was the era before the ubiquitous infomercial culture took over the airwaves. True, the films were cut for time considerations and had commercial breaks, but it was all so normal that most of us didn't even think about it. We just relished the chance to watch movies all afternoon on a Saturday and Sunday, even movies we had seen already. WILD SEED was one of those movies that seemed to show up quite often during the late 1960s and through the 1970s. The film was released in 1965, but I never knew it existed until it played on TV. Maybe it had a short theatrical run, or maybe it just didn't play in the theaters I had access to.

The plot of the film is rather simple. Seventeen-year-old Daphne Simms (Celia Kaye) sneaks out of her New York apartment, where she lives with her adoptive parents, in the dead of night. She intends to hitchhike to Los Angeles to meet her real father. Daphne's real mother, who died when the girl was five, had told her stories about meeting and falling in love with a young military man. She left Daphne a few romantic letters from this man, who unfortunately disappeared from her life. Daphne knew her father's name, but thought he was dead until, by accident, she learned he was alive and well and owned a piano store in Los Angeles. She wrote him a letter and got no response. Nevertheless, she was determined to meet him and get to know him. Her hitchhiking soon gets her into trouble when an older man tries to sexually assault her. She manages to get away, but her belongings get left in the man's fleeing car. At a gas station, she meets a young drifter who calls himself Fargo (Michael Parks). Fargo sizes up the innocent girl as an opportunity to hustle some fast cash, and Daphne is justifiably wary of him. Soon, however, they begin to be friendly, and Fargo agrees to help her get to L.A. by riding the rails.   

 Naturally, Daphne quickly falls in love with this handsome, enigmatic young man, and, also quite naturally, Fargo, the quintessential loner, tries hard to resist falling in love with her. But, if he didn't, then the movie would have no point. So, they enter in what appears to be a very chaste love affair, with the worldly Fargo trying to protect Daphne as much as he can. Along the endless stretch of railroad tracks, they talk about life, their pasts, their dreams, and have one major run-in with the law, which doesn't take kindly to hobos and runaways hopping on and off of train cars. They also get temporarily sidetracked by Fargo becoming seriously ill and regaining his health because of Daphne's resourcefulness. 

When they reach L.A., Daphne's father is cordial but not interested in having this young girl become a part of his life, as he's married and has other children. Fargo learns that the so-called love affair with Daphne's mother was nothing more than a brief sexual encounter lasting a few days. Daphne's mother had made up a romantic story for her daughter's benefit and wrote those romantic letters herself. Her real father has sent for her adoptive parents to come and take her back to New York. Upon learning this, Fargo beats the man senseless. Fargo tells Daphne the truth about her father and tells her to go home with parents who obviously love her. The two say goodbye in a bar where Fargo is in the process of getting drunk. Later in the night, he leaves the bar and finds Daphne waiting for him. She's decided to stay with him, and they walk off together into an uncertain future.

The most important thing to realize about these two young people is that they are doomed. The next most important thing to realize is that it doesn't matter, not to them or to anyone watching the movie. This is an allegory about love and loneliness, with a dash of hopelessness thrown into the mix. There is a certain realism to the movie, with location shots and exciting cinematography. But these two young drifters almost seem to be a little too healthy, too well-groomed for the kind of hard existence they're supposedly living. But once the viewer accepts this as a romantic fantasy, such details aren't problematic. Of course, Daphne doesn't go home with her parents, choosing instead to a romantic life on the road with the young man she loves. She may even have dreams of reforming Fargo and convincing him to settle down in a domestic framework involving marriage, children and honest work. Then again, maybe she doesn't. Maybe Fargo has reformed her.

At one point in their journey, safe in a nice, comfortable train car, Daphne challenges Fargo about his life as a drifter: "You just keep going from nowhere to nowhere. What's going to happen to you when you get older, and you can't run so fast? Don't you ever feel that you need somebody?" This is a question Fargo can't answer, and it remains unanswered at the end of the film.

Michael Parks had already worked in television, but WILD SEED marked his feature film debut. Parks is the logical successor to James Dean, both in looks and acting talent. In fact, I think he had the potential to surpass Dean as an actor, and I've always seen him as the right choice to play Joe Buck in MIDNIGHT COWBOY, not that he was ever considered for the role. He made several films during the 1960s and starred in the TV show Then Came Bronson, as well as making his mark as a singer. He was quite the hot young actor for a while, but eventually his career faltered as he got the reputation of being "difficult". Still, he continued working and appeared in such films as KILL BILL 1 & 2 and TWIN PEAKS. Parks died in 2017 at the age of seventy-seven. Celia Kaye (Burkholder), who made her film debut in 1964 in ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, for which she won a Golden Globe award, had a less prolific acting career in films and television. She was married for several years to the director John Milius. She gives a natural, unaffected performance as Daphne.

A familiar and very welcome face turned up early in the film when Rupert Crosse, known for SHADOWS (1959) and THE REIVERS (1969) appears as a hobo.

I always loved reconnecting with this film whenever it came back on TV. I was a teenager myself the first time I saw it and couldn't resist the romanticism and adventure of living a life on the road as a drifter. Maybe it was the feeling of loneliness that affected me more than anything else. It's hard to say. At some point, I lost touch with the film and pretty much forgot about it. Recently, I happened to come across the title when I was searching an online site that sells bootlegs, copies made from VHS tapes or recorded from television. I sent away for the DVD-R, and it was very well-made, considering the circumstances, and was quite watchable. There were many things I remembered about the film and even more that I had forgotten. But it was an emotional experience seeing it again. That atmosphere of loneliness and hopelessness seemed even heavier than it had when I was younger. What impressed me the most was Michael Parks' great talent as an actor. This man deserved to be a major star. 

But the film haunted me. I hadn't seen it since I was in my late twenties or early thirties. Now, I was in my 70s. So much time had passed, and I wasn't watching the movie with young eyes, with so much time ahead of me, with that sense of adventure. Fargo and Daphne were still drifting together, riding the rails. To where? To what conclusion? I watched them as they wandered off into the dark Los Angeles night at the end of the film, knowing that they were doomed. And I felt myself walking off into a dark night of my own. What haunted me were the words Daphne said to Fargo when she was challenging him about being a drifter, words that mean something entirely different to me now:

You just keep going from nowhere to nowhere. What's going to happen to you when you're older, and you can't run so fast?

MIKE'S FORMER MOVIE ROOM THAT NO LONGER EXISTS

 

While this humble blog bearing the title of Mike's Movie Room does indeed continue to exist, the actual space that was its inspiration has been vacated. After more than thirty-six years of living in a rather spacious one-and-one-half story, three-bedroom house, I have relocated to a smaller space. The spare bedroom that gradually evolved into my movie collection room, as seen in the photos on the left, is now empty of my DVDs, Blu-rays and posters, lobby cards and photographs.

There were a lot of factors that brought me to this decision to move after so many years. 

The house had many structural issues that, to my regret, were never properly addressed. And then there were the health issues, primarily having to climb stairs with two arthritic knees. The situation was getting to be a little too much for me to handle. So, I looked around for something a little more practical that was all on one level. I found a nice little two-bedroom house in a decent area and made the big move a few weeks ago. All of the "stuff" from the old movie room is safely packed away in boxes until I get the spare bedroom painted and recarpeted. After that's done, I'll start setting up Mike's Movie Room 2: The Saga Continues. It may take a while!

In the meantime, the photo at the top of the blog will stay where it is, as a way to remember the old room and all the good times I had over the years discovering films and reliving my lost youth with old TV shows. I have to admit that it was a cool space, albeit somewhat crowded as the collection kept growing. The new room might turn out to be even more crowded, but it's hard to say until I start setting up shelves and seeing just how much room there is. As I prepared to move, I began downsizing a lot of my collections. I gave away a lot of books and sold off quite a few records, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. My guiding principle was that if I knew I would never watch a movie again, there was no reason to keep it on the shelf. As a result, I made quite a nice chunk of change. What didn't sell went to Goodwill. I ended up giving away the bulk of a vinyl LP collection that had been growing since I was in high school. I have no regrets about it. I was determined not to haul those records to another house. Once I started letting go of items I thought I could never live without, it got easier. I still love records and still have an old-school stereo system with a turntable, but I plan to focus more on CDs for the storage factor and the general practicality.

I look at the empty rooms, and it seems like a scene from BACKROOMS, although not quite as weird and scary. What I'm left with now, I guess, is the Movie Room of the mind. Here's hoping I don't get lazy and complacent and put off the renovations for too long, with all the movies boxed and stored quietly away. The new room will be a lot different. Maybe not as interesting, but then, maybe more. This hobby has been such a big, important part of my life and I can't imagine not doing this anymore. Let's see how things progress.

Stay tuned...

PAYMENT ON DEMAND (1951)

 

When discussing a major movie star like Bette Davis, no title in her filmography can be called minor or insignificant. Laborious, plodding, and tedious, perhaps, but not insignificant. PAYMENT ON DEMAND is significant because it was the first film Miss Davis made after leaving Warner Brothers, ending an eighteen-year tenure at that studio. Her career had been spectacular, earning her two Academy Awards for Best Actress and five more nominations. She had several years of apprenticeship in B movies and a famous court battle with the studio along the way, but through hard work and determination, not to mention an amazing talent, she had become probably the most distinguished actress in Hollywood. From the late 1930s and into the mid-1940s, she had one successful film after another. In the late 1940s, however, she began to struggle. When studio head Jack Warner assigned her to BEYOND THE FOREST in 1949, a film she desperately did not want to do, she asked for her release when the film was finished.

For her first film as an independent actress, Davis returned to RKO Radio Pictures, the studio where she had made OF HUMAN BONDAGE in 1934, in a role that showed the world what a powerful talent she was. As the cold, manipulative Cockney waitress Mildred Rogers, she brought forth an intensity that shocked audiences and won her critical accolades. Her new RKO assignment would be quite different.

Davis plays Joyce Ramsey, a San Francisco socialite who is married to a successful attorney, David Ramsey (Barry Sullivan). They have two grown daughters. Joyce became a dedicated social climber when she married David, who was then struggling to get his law practice started in partnership with his friend, Bob Townsend (Kent Taylor). When a businessman comes to the law office requesting Bob to handle the patent for his new product, Joyce, who is working as the secretary, convinces the man to hire David instead, lying about his experience with patents. When David and Bob learn of her deception, Bob leaves the firm and the two friends are estranged. 

Joyce's social ambitions and control over her husband's life and career cause a strain in their marriage. When their children are grown, he asks for a divorce and moves out of their house. Joyce hires a detective and learns that David has a mistress, Eileen Benson (Frances Dee). Joyce asks for David's entire fortune as a divorce settlement, threatening to sue him and cause a scandal over his infidelity.

When she goes on a long vacation, Joyce comes to understand what her life would be like as a wealthy divorcee. She begins seeing a charming, attractive man (John Sutton), only to find out he's married and looking for a mistress who has money. She also visits a fellow social climber, now divorced and living a miserable life as an alcoholic and getting her kicks from a young gigolo. When Joyce and David are reunited at the wedding of one of their daughters, she regrets the mistakes she made, and David asks her for a reconciliation. While Joyce wants nothing more than to be with her husband that night, she asks him to wait a few days to make sure he really wants to come back to her. David walks away with a happy smile on his face, indicating that he already knows what his decision is going to be.

This is pure soap opera from start to finish, although that isn't problematic. Soap operas can be loads of fun, if done correctly, but that isn't the case here. The story is told in a series of flashbacks as Joyce looks back over the beginning of her marriage, the birth of her children, and the conflicts with David that led to their unhappiness. Though the movie is only 90 minutes long, it seems much longer. There is absolutely no romantic or sexual chemistry whatsoever between Davis and Sullivan. Watching these two people interact makes one wonder what possibly caused them to get married in the first place and, in later years, how they can stand to be in the same room with each other. Barry Sullivan tries to bring some life and believability to his character, but it's an uphill battle, as the role is poorly written and doesn't give him much to work with. As for Davis, by this point in her career, she had settled into an almost regal acting persona where all of her characters seemed to be the same. They may have had different names and been involved in different plots, but all of them were played in the same imperious manner and delivering their dialogue in the same clipped speaking voice that had become the actress's trademark sound. Now, for those of us who love Bette Davis, it's enjoyable to watch her in this persona. So, I'm not complaining.

The most amazing thing about PAYMENT ON DEMAND, which originally had the title THE STORY OF A DIVORCE, is what came after. Before the film was finished, Miss Davis was contacted by Daryl Zanuck, the head of 20th Century-Fox, who was in a panic. Claudette Colbert was contracted to star in the new film ALL ABOUT EVE but had broken her back. Zanuck needed a replacement right away. When Davis read the script, she was thrilled and signed on immediately. Maybe it was the incredible script, or the marvelous character of Margo Channing, or the brilliant direction of Joseph Mankiewicz, but the Bette Davis who starred in ALL ABOUT EVE had dropped the regal persona and regained all of her power and former intensity. OK, maybe Margo did have her regal moments, but they worked perfectly in the context of the character. Davis gave one of her most legendary and courageous performances. RKO withheld the release of PAYMENT ON DEMAND until February 1951, leading everyone to believe it was made after EVE.

Some interesting young performers show up in PAYMENT ON DEMAND. Peggie Castle and Betty Lynn play the two daughters, and Richard Andrson appears briefly. Natalie Schafer, always a welcome and charming presence, appears as a society lady. One of the biggest treats is actor John Sutton, a gentleman whose dignified demeanor and distinctive voice add quality to any role he plays. Speaking of quality, Otto Kruger is featured in a small role. There is also a brief appearance by a tiny little girl named B.D. Sherry, playing the part of one of Davis's daughters as a child. You might call this typecasting, as little Miss Sherry is the actress's real-life daughter. The child didn't go on to have an acting career, but she did become a writer of sorts. But that's a blog post for another time.

NIAGARA (1953)

 

NIAGARA stands out from the many Films Noir of the era. First and foremost, it was made primarily to promote Marilyn Monroe, the fastest rising star at Twentieth Century-Fox. Miss Monroe had been serving a long apprenticeship in Hollywood since the late 1940's, finally beginning to gain notice in supporting roles in Fox films such as ALL ABOUT EVE and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, both in 1950. When NIAGARA was released in January of 1953, she had reached top stardom and followed with HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES in the same year.

The film also is one of the few Noirs to be shot in color instead of Black & White. Director Henry Hathaway and cinematographer Joe McDonald were able to inject many Noirish moments into the film, with the contrast of light and shadows, while still showcasing the impressive grandeur of Niagara Falls. The location footage of the Falls is so breathtaking that it almost works as a travelogue for this very popular honeymoon destination. One of the best aspects of the film is that it exists as a loving time capsule of a Niagara Falls area that no doubt has gone through many drastic changes.

The story has two married couples' lives intersecting while they're staying at a tourist cabin resort. Polly and Ray Cutler (Jean Peters and Casey Adams) are on a belated honeymoon, having been married for about a year. Rose and George Loomis (Monroe and Joseph Cotten) have also been married for a while. George has been suffering from mental problems following his service in WW2, and has just been released from a veteran's hospital. He is deeply jealous of his attractive young wife and suspects she might be cheating with another man. His suspicions turn out to be true. 

Rose has indeed been seeing another man, Ted Patrick (Richard Allan). The two plan to kill George and make it look like an accident or possible suicide. Rose is duplicitous not only with her husband, but with the Cutlers and everyone else. She taunts her husband, trying to upset him in order to make everyone believe he's unstable and dangerous. Rose and Ted move forward with their plan, but fate intervenes and our femme fatale soon becomes a victim.

The film opens with an extended look at the Falls and then shows a troubled George Loomis walking alone in the early morning, the watery mist soaking through his clothes. Then we are introduced to Rose as she lies awake in her bed in the cabin. Miss Monroe, actress and star, is fully made up, with bright red lipstick and every blonde hair in place. Naturally, every woman looks like this when she wakes up in the morning! When Rose hears George coming back into the cabin, she feigns sleep, giving him a contemptuous look. It must be said that this is the one and only time that Monroe was given the chance to play an evil character, and she makes the most of it. The studio made sure that the majority of her roles during her career were comedic, the only other exceptions being DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952) and her last film, THE MISFITS (1961). She was able to show some depth of character in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and Fritz Lang's CLASH BY NIGHT (1952), but nothing was ever seen of her like in NIAGARA. The studio's narrow attitude towards their luminous star is a great loss to the cinema. Monroe had tremendous potential as a dramatic actress.

The most fascinating aspect of Rose is that she manages to gain the sympathy of the viewer, in spite of her murderous intentions. Rose/Marilyn is such an overwhelming image of female sexuality and desire that it almost seems right that she should find the sexual satisfaction that is her due. And if she can't find that satisfaction with her damaged husband, then why not with a young, virile lover? As the plot begins to twist and cast Rose as a victim, she becomes even more sympathetic, leading the viewer into that Noirish perversity where the lines between good and evil become confused.

While it's true that other people exist in this story, such as the aforementioned Cutlers, all getting involved and reciting appropriate dialogue at appropriate times, no one and nothing else seem terribly necessary when the film presents us with Miss Monroe in a slinky pink dress. When this monumental moment occurs, we are transported to another dimension, a dimension where dialogue, plot points, and even acting simply don't matter. Monroe in that pink dress is an Event, one that needs no other context or explanation. There is a legend concerning actress Monroe, one that was repeated by several of her colleagues, that she only came to life and became truly beautiful when she went in front of the camera. There is a brief moment in NIAGARA, during the pink dress segment, when the light flashes across her face, as seen in the photograph above. As the light caresses her face, Marilyn's lips are parted, almost as if she were receiving that life-giving light as a sacrament, a gift of love. It happens so fast, you almost miss it. But it's one of her most memorable images.

And NIAGARA is one of her most memorable and important films. There is much to see in this movie, including an exciting climax featuring energetic performances by Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters. But even though Miss Peters is also a leading lady with perhaps more screen time than Marilyn, this is Marilyn's show all the way, as Twentieth Century-Fox intended. The theatrical trailer says it all: 

Niagara and Marilyn Monroe...the two most electrifying sights in the world.

Niagara (1953) Trailer #1

THE INVITE (2026)

 

After reading a very positive review of this film, I found myself compelled to shake off the cobwebs and once again venture out to my local multiplex to lay down some cash for the struggling film industry. This was my first trip to a theater since seeing BACKROOMS a few months ago. BACKROOMS is an incredible film, one which I definitely want to see again before it leaves the theater. But if I were to attempt to write about it, I'm afraid my brain would explode. I'll leave that existential masterpiece to the folks who understand existentialism and have less fragile brains.

THE INVITE is classified as a comedy, and the review I read compared it to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966). I agree with both descriptions, and I think that George and Martha would definitely get more than a few laughs out of this new film. Of course, they also might be slightly jealous over the uncensored language they weren't allowed to use in the ancient world of 1966.

The storyline is rather uncomplicated. An unhappy married couple, Joe and Angela (Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde), invite their upstairs neighbors, Hawk and Pina (Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz) to their apartment for dinner. We get a few details about the lives of our host couple in the first part of the movie: Joe used to be a musician in a band that had one hit and then broke up. He now teaches music at a school in San Francisco. He and Angela inherited their apartment from Joe's family, and the couple have a twelve-year-old daughter. Joe has back trouble and feels he has failed in life. Angela doesn't work and is obsessive about decorating and spending too much money. Their marriage is a mess. They bicker. Incessantly.

Details regarding the lives of Hawk and Pina don't come forth until later in the movie. At first, we only learn that they are relatively new neighbors, Joe finds them irritating, and he and Angela are forced to listen to their loud, aggressive sex life at three in the morning, because their bedrooms are right on top of each other. Joe wants to bring the subject up and ask them to tone it down a little, but Angela is actually intrigued by what appears to be Pina's obvious enjoyment of her nocturnal activities.

What ensues after Hawk and Pina arrive is much too good to give away with spoilers. I would hate to cheat anyone of the exchanges of dialogue, the awkwardness between these two very different married couples, or the surprises that come forth as they begin to relax (sort of) and get to know each other. I will say, however, that any similarity to VIRGINIA WOOLF soon goes right out the window. This isn't about a psychologically damaged older couple spending a torturous night with a doomed younger couple, with a devastating secret revealed at the end. In this film, we have a couple coming to the end of a marriage and encountering another couple with an entirely different approach to relationships and sex. The script is a hot mix of satire and painful truth, much of it spoken fast and furiously by these four talented actors. And the ending? Forget it; I ain't talking.

Olivia Wilde directed the film, and the excellent screenplay was written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. All things considered, this was another positive movie-going experience. I think I'm getting spoiled. Very highly recommended! 

DEAD RINGER (1964)

 

It's been another very slow month on my blog. In spite of my resolve to get some creative juices flowing and put a little effort into writing about films on some kind of regular schedule, I seem to have failed miserably. Not that there haven't been many false starts. All sorts of brilliant ideas pop into my head, only to dissipate after the first paragraph. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me that I need to write reviews consisting of just one fact-filled, emotionally charged, extremely erudite paragraph and leave it at that. 

So, since my writer's block has reached toxic levels, let me try something a little bit different. Here is a video I made for my Youtube channel several years ago when some of my friends and I were doing a series called Movies From A-Z. Actually, we did this project more than once and it was great fun, giving all of us a chance to talk about favorite films and compare ideas. This video gave me the pleasure of talking about Miss Bette Davis, with a brief mention of Miss Joan Crawford. Enjoy the video!

MOVIES FROM A-Z 2019 DEAD RINGER (1964)

NOTES FROM THE MOVIE ROOM June 10, 2026

 

🎬 I achieved a cinematic milestone of sorts this evening while watching the 1969 film MARLOWE, starring James Garner as the venerable detective. I was browsing through my local Barnes & Noble and saw the Arrow Video Blu-ray release of the film, which I had never seen. As much as I keep trying to avoid blind buys, I couldn't help myself with this one. It's always fun to discover a film from the 60s and get the chance to immerse myself in the atmosphere of that sacred decade. Garner's supporting cast included Gayle Hunnicut, Rita Moreno, Sharon Farrell, Carroll O'Conner and Kenneth Tobey. Not a bad film, even though I had a hard time following the plot. It was based on the Raymond Chandler novel The Little Sister, which I had read a few years ago, but that didn't help me very much. Still, it was quite colorful and enjoyable. And the film provided an especially great showcase for the gorgeous Miss Moreno, playing a burlesque dancer and seriously getting into her role, skimpy costumes, sexy dance moves, and all.

So, what was the cinematic milestone, you may well ask? This was the first time I ever saw the legendary Bruce Lee in a movie. OK, I know...I know. Blasphemy, right? Hey listen, I've been totally honest about being cinematically challenged. I just never got around to seeing this man in any of his films or TV shows that he made during his short life. Or if I did see him at one time or another, I've completely forgotten. He made quite an impression in MARLOWE as a character named Winslowe Wong, who entered the private detective's life for nefarious reasons and proceeded to kick and chop his way through a series of walls, doors, windows and basically destroying every set he walked into. In the film's most memorable scene, he has Marlowe cornered on the ledge of a high-rise office building. When it looks like Marlowe is done for, Mr. Wong gets somewhat over excited with one of his strenuous kicks and ends up flying right off of the building. What an exit! A star was born!!

I didn't know much about Bruce Lee, so I looked him up on Wikipedia. His filmography goes all the way back to 1941. MARLOWE was his first Hollywood film appearance, and he served as the action director as well. He previously served as action director on THE WRECKING CREW. Martial arts flicks aren't my thing, but he added something really special to this movie. 

He almost steals the film from Rita Moreno. Almost.