Two Films

Mothra is a totally silly yet very charming lollipop colored Japanese monster movie from 1961. The story is as usual in this mixed genre Japanese sci-fi. flicks very convoluted. This one is about a radioactive Island called Infant Island, nasty villains from a country called Rorisika who kidnap two little fairies (not the ones you see in Chelsea) but teeny tiny little things who live on the island, sing funny strange songs and worship Mothra. They're played by a once popular singing duo called the Peanuts and look like something dreamed up by Henry Darger. These two little cuties are taken to Tokyo by the evil villains and put into a garish stage show that you have to see to believe. The two little fairies sing a song to Mothra to rescue them and the big M soon arrives on Tokyo's doorstep wrecking havoc. Mothra looks very cheesy (you can actually see the strings holding him up) and is like one of those toys you find at Pearl River. The miniature tanks trucks and buildings are sooo cute I want to own them all. Finally the good guys rescue the two little peanut girls and they fly back to Infant Island I guess inside Mothra. Not to be missed.


Also of big note is Sam Fuller's The Naked Kiss, which I haven't seen in years. My head is still spinning. What was Sam thinking? This B is about a bald prostitute who happens to be one of the most violent women ever put on screen, but with a tough heart of gold. And then there is that opening which has to be one of the greatest in the history of film. So Kelly (the bald prostitute) kills her fiance by hitting him in the head with the telephone receiver, and her wedding veil falls out of the box she’s holding and covers his dead face. Bunuel must have loved that one. This is a built up film, its almost like it’s made of clay or an assemblage of bits and pieces of lost then found. The reason that guys like Fuller got away with this kind of stuff was that he was below the radar that he was able to make his B’s without the front office giving a damn. They were cheap and they were quick and that’s how many of Fuller’s films still look today. But what they also missed was Fuller’s talent and artistry and that’s also evident when you watch his movies. The cast is also strange. Besides Constance Towers there is also the great Virginia Grey as the Madame who gets money shoved down here throat by Kelly, the kind landlady played by the silent screen star Betty Bronson who was the original silent film Peter Pan, Patsy Kelly and oh yeah there are also those great names of characters, Zoukie, Farlunde, Hatrack, Marshmallow, Peanuts and Dusty to name just a few. With cinematography by the great Stanley Cortez.